In the Rearview: A Young Adult Novel About Self-harm and Hope

Heartbreak, Healing, Hope

Blurb: When Meagan’s secret is found out, and she realizes there is no way to outrun her habit of cutting, she tries to work through it, and her depression, before she cuts too deep, making a mistake that can never be undone.

Meagan's problems aren't like every other adolescent's no matter how much she wishes they could be. Hers are worse. They've pulled her down into the depths of a depression that is anything but normal. She begins her pattern of self-harm as her depression threatens to drown her. She starts with one cut that leads to the next, and the next. After starting, it's apparent that there's no stopping, and Meagan spirals into a dark and cruel world she doesn't understand. Meagan cuts to feel better, but that comfort doesn't last long enough, and soon life is worse than it ever was before.

While learning to quit cutting Meagan faces life-altering obstacles and grows up in the process. IN THE REARVIEW is a story of pain, loss, confusion, and hope told through Meagan’s poems, journal entries, and a splash of narrative.

Excerpt:

Meagan stared down at her desk. Her focus moved beyond the assignment in front of her without actually seeing what she was looking toward. There were lines, spaces of white, and blobs of writing, but nothing seemed important enough to consider closely. Truthfully she didn’t care.

She didn’t feel the need to focus.

Her gaze slowly moved up to the front of the classroom, and again she fixated on a point past what was before her. She did not concentrate on the teacher. There was a face, a moving mouth, but she didn’t connect it with the sounds struggling slowly, like sticky sludge past her ears. She didn’t hear the instructions being uttered; each word fell on deaf ears as she mindlessly doodled.

Twisting her hair around her finger, she thought about how nice it would be to be at home, in bed, with the curtains closed instead of in this loud and hyper school. It seemed her classmates had recently started caring too much about what was going on around them. There was too much drama, too much noise, too much concern jumping all around her. It was all so taxing.

It was such a bother.

Meagan, in contrast, was usually in a world of her own. Her head felt fuzzy most of the time, and unless she used a lot of energy, most conversations sounded muffled, like there was cotton in her ears. She didn’t feel the need to engage anymore. Her desire to try so hard just to do what had once come easily had dwindled to nothing. At first she’d tried, but not now. Not anymore. It had become too difficult to care.

And that was her biggest problem. Meagan didn’t care much about any of these changes. She was fine walking through school without any effort. Her feet felt a little heavier as each day passed, and her head felt a little more under pressure of a crushing fog that numbed her, but she pushed through it all. She didn’t mind neglecting what used to bring her excitement. In fact, it was just easier not to give a crap.

Everything was distinctly lackluster these days.

And so she wrote

About me: Maria Green currently lives in Minnesota, despite its bitter winters, with her husband. She graduated with a degree in Psychology and a minor in English. When she isn’t writing, Maria loves to read with a cup of strong coffee or a glass of sweet wine, craft, and spend time with her family. This is her first published novel. 

My favorite YA Contemporary books:

Thirteen Reasons Why,

Cut,

You Remind Me of You,

The Catcher in the Rye

Books I still want to read in this genre:

Uses For Boys,

Perks of Being a Wallflower,

Speak

Fun facts about me: My favorite color is pink, yes still. My lucky number is 13. I love coffee, sweet white wine, and anything chocolate. I love having painted toenails. Scarves are my favorite Accessory. My favorite season is fall, and we have beautiful ones in Minnesota. I have a cat named Riley who was named after the character in National Treasure. My favorite place on earth is Paris, and I hope to go back someday. 

Fun facts about the book: Meagan (the main character) went almost ten years without a name. For the longest time she was just "she" or "her" or "me." The narrative was the last part to be written. The poems were the first. So far it is the only YA book I've written. Also, my husband came up with the title.

Top Songs for Rearview: 

1) Heavy In Your Arms - Florence & The Machine

2) Breakdown More - Eric Hutchinson

3) Perfect - Simple Plan

4) The River - Missy Higgins

5) Better Than Me - Hinder

6) Never Too Late - Three Days Grace

7) Decode - Paramore

8) Closer To The Edge - 30 Seconds to Mars

9) It Ends Tonight - All American Rejects

10) Flaws - Bastille

11) You Found Me - The Fray

12) Superheroes - The Script

13) I Wish I Didn't Care - Lovesick Radio

My links:

*My website: www.mariaanngreen.com

*My Blog: www.mariaanngreen.com/blog

*Goodreads(me): https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20358446-maria

*Goodreads (book): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22877564-in-the-rearview

*Twitter: https://twitter.com/missmariaann

*Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/MariaAnnGreenAuthor?ref=hl&ref_type=bookmark 

** BUY LINKS:

Nook: http://bit.ly/1pG2CRk

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/in-the-rearview-2

Kindle: http://amzn.to/1kPJmk9

*Also available where other ebooks are sold (iTunes, Smashwords, etc!) 

A Question of Boundaries: A Realm Hopping Paranormal Romance

I love alternate history novels, don't you?

I'm adding to my To Be Read list

 Sandy Bruney's paranormal fantasy romance, A Question of Boundaries

  

Caroline trusts Nathan with her life…but can she trust him with her heart?

By 1895, the United States is in the 80^th year of the isolation imposed by King Thomas I and upheld by his successors. But, some are chafing under the shortages and restrictions, and when inventor Dr. Featherstone declares he has found a way to override all borders, there are those who applaud the discovery and those who fear it.

When Dr. Featherstone fails to return home for an important scientific gathering, his daughter Caroline enlists the help of the Member of Parliament from Charlotte, Nathan Llewellen. As the two search for the kidnappers, Caroline is plunged into a world where travel to other realities is possible in the blink of an eye, and people can assume the forms.

Excerpt

Not wasting time in thought, Caroline gathered her skirts in her fists and ran. There was an alley not five feet from her and she slipped between the two buildings and scurried down it, ignoring the filth underfoot. She heard angry cries behind her and ducked into a side alley between two of the buildings. These, she could see now, were in a state of disrepair that suggested they had been abandoned years ago. Windows were broken and left gaping, doors hung aslant from their hinges. She paused a moment to catch her breath before continuing down the smaller alley, in reality a path not wide enough for two people to  pass each other. The dank smell made her gag and she covered her nose with one hand, the other still holding her hem out of the mud. She held back a scream as a rat ran over her shoe and into a hole in the crumbling brickwork.

The pathway ended without warning and she was in a side street. There were no street lights and the shadows cast by the buildings shifted and eddied as though the bricks and stones were alive. There were no people, either, for this was a section of the city not many visited unless they were hiding from someone or something. She wondered if she was meant to be a prisoner in one of the derelict buildings. No one would think to look for her there.

Hearing voices again, she knew she had not escaped. She cast a frantic glance around her and saw an opening: another alley. Not quite sanctuary, but close enough. She ran as fast as her shaking legs would carry her, coming to a halt by an iron gate. She attempted to open it, but the rough metal gouged her fingers, drawing blood. Whirling, she looked back. It would be a matter of seconds before her pursuers guessed where she had gone. She was trapped unless the alley was so dark they could not see her and would go on by.

A hand closed around her mouth as someone grasped her arm. “Hush. Be still.”

For a moment her mind reeled in denial. How had they come up behind her so quickly? Then she caught a tantalizing, familiar scent: a faint masculine odor mixed with the clean smell of pine-scented soap.

Nathan.

Seeing she recognized him, Nathan removed his hand. He didn’t have to tell her to be quiet. The light at the end of the alleyway was blocked by the silhouettes of two men.

She raised her brows in inquiry. Had they been seen? Her unspoken question was answered as the men began to walk forward.

“Got to be in here. Nowhere else she could go,” she heard in the broad accent of the man who had first tried to kidnap her in the lobby of the Capitol building. She held up four fingers to tell Nathan how many were searching for them.

Leaning his head down so his lips touched her ear, he whispered, “Caroline, do you trust me?”

She nodded, not daring answer aloud. Their pursuers were halfway to them and would spot them in seconds.

Nathan took her hand in his. “Hold tight,” he said.

And then everything disappeared.

Buy Links:

 Amazon      Barnes and Noble     Smashwords     Kobo Books

Sandy Bruney is a writer living in North Carolina with her husband and a rescue calico cat. She is the author of several works of women’s fiction, but broke away from that genre with the paranormal romance, A Question of Boundaries “because it was so much fun to write.” She has also written a non-fiction book recounting her journey with cancer, and co-wrote a psychological thriller with a former newspaper co-worker.

A Question of Boundaries will be followed by A Question of Loyalty in 2015, also from Astrea Press. Find out more about her books at Amazon’s Author Page.

Contacts:

www.sandrazbruney.com

http://sandybruney.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandra-Z-Bruney/144258408921090