The Firestone Crystal
Agathea
Fulstropp is looking forward to a luxury break in the Caribbean with her
parents, but is livid when they announce that the trip has to be
cancelled due to work commitments! So instead of spending six weeks
sunning herself on a tropical beach, Thea – as she insists on being
called – finds herself unceremoniously packed up, and sent off to stay
with a grandfather she barely knows for the entire summer! But it turns
out to be the best summer of her life when her grandfather has a
strange reunion with a mysterious childhood friend, and she is given the
opportunity of a lifetime.
To visit a world beyond the stars, and become
Earth’s first student to be enrolled in an experimental Inter-Planetary
Education Programme at the Firestone Academy, where lessons in
telepathy, mind-reading and astral projection are the norm.
Things, however, are not as straightforward as they
seem. One of her fellow students makes no secret of the fact that he
despises her, and will stop at nothing to make her leave…she is having
increasingly disturbing, vivid dreams…and just who is that hideously
deformed cave creature, and more to the point, what does it want with
her?
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Excerpt:
“So,”
remarked Annalije casually as they ate, “you’re the Earthonian who
saved the Academy from a Trogaloid invasion!” Thea smiled at the
thought of being called an ‘Earthonian’. In her opinion, it sounded so
much better than ‘Earthling’.
“Trogaloid invasion?” she repeated curiously, around a mouthful of chips, “What’s a Trogaloid?”
“The
Trogaloids,” explained Annalije, matter of factly, “are the people
whose place you snatched away at the last minute, and I understand they
are pretty mad so you’d better watch out.” She leaned forward, lowering
her voice teasingly, “Kuldarr especially is none too happy with the
situation!”
Seeing Thea’s blank look, she gave a rich purr of
delight. “Oh my!” she exclaimed deliciously, “You don’t know what’s
been going on do you?”
Thea, bewildered now, leaned back in her chair. “No I don’t,” she began frowning, “what do you -?”
Well, whatever else she had been about to say was
drowned out by what can only be described as an inhuman roar of rage
from across the room, as a hulking great figure launched itself onto
their table, sending trays of food crashing to the floor. All activity
ceased as everybody in the Halls of Dining watched in stunned silence.
In total shock, Thea instinctively pushed back from
the table, but was unable to move any further because of the wall behind
her. She found herself looking into the glowering eyes of none other
than Kuldarr himself, who growled softly beneath his breath and pushed
his sneering face within inches of her own. Transfixed, Thea was
trapped like a frightened rabbit, unable to speak or tear her gaze away.
She was terrified…more terrified than she had ever
been in her life. And he was like a wild animal! Scared as she was she
didn’t dare take her eyes off him, watching in horror as those sharp
teeth came closer and closer. She winced at every snap and snarl,
whimpering in terror at the thought that any minute now, those massive
jaws would be clamped around her throat...
The Hidden Realms of Firestone
She
may not have the sweetest of natures, being spoilt, temperamental and
often downright moody, but what twelve-year-old Agathea Fulstropp (Thea
to her friends), does have is a rather unusual secret – a secret shared
only by herself and her grandfather.
She is Earth’s first and only pupil to be enrolled at the Firestone Academy on the faraway Planet of Aruuliah!
Preparing
for a new term, packed with the excitement of making new friends,
confronting old enemies and getting to grips with alien technologies,
Thea is soon to discover that being from Earth has its drawbacks as she
becomes the target of a sinister plot to remove her from the Academy -
permanently!
Help, however, comes from the most unlikely of
places and she, unwittingly encounters a hidden realm concealed within
the grounds of the Academy – a world made up of pure energy, populated
with mythical creatures of legend and folklore, and whose existence
remains a closely guarded secret from all physical beings, whether human
or alien.
Time is running out though, as Thea, along with her
best friends Jojan and Annalije, desperately try to figure out who,
amongst her peers, hates her enough to wish her gone.
Can they solve the mystery before it’s too late, or will Thea, having
faced mortal danger once already the previous summer, be lucky enough to
escape, unscathed a second time?
Excerpt:
She was lying
on her back on a soft bed of grass staring straight up at the night
sky. The sky, however, was not the pale lavender of the Planet
Aruuliah, it was a deep, burnt orange, lit by what looked like an
enormous silver moon. Raising herself up onto her elbows, she saw she
was surrounded by the iridescent greenery of lush plants and trees and a
stunning array of colourful flowers.
But the strangest thing of all was the way in which
everything around her seemed to sparkle and shimmer constantly as though
alive with energy. Sitting up now, she looked to her left. Jojan was
lying there on his back, eyes still closed, but murmuring to himself as,
like her, he slowly began to awaken. She looked at him closely – there
was something very strange about him.
Thea rubbed her eyes, thinking that what she was
seeing had something to do with the fact that her vision had not yet
returned to normal, but when she looked at him again, the strange
phenomenon was still in effect.
Jojan’s skin was glistening, alight with sparkles,
in fact his whole body positively radiated with it. She held up her own
hands in front of her eyes and saw the same thing. She too, was aglow.
“Thea?”
She looked to her left from her seated position. There were two figures hovering over her – literally hovering!
She
blinked rapidly and focused her eyes once more. The two figures
whispered to each other and then seemed to float gently down to the
ground. Now that they were no longer airborne, Thea was able to see
with perfect clarity the gossamer wings behind them. One of the figures
was female, clothed in a colourful dress made from a beautiful, gauzy
material and dainty shoes and a male wearing a smart tunic over
stockinged-legs and sturdy boots. Fine, elfin features, characterised
by pointed ears told Thea she was looking at some sort of faerie, a
mythical creature which was the subject of many a legend throughout the
history of the universe. Nobody had ever been able to prove or disprove
their existence, and so they remained one of life’s many unresolved
mysteries.
Thea continued to gaze at them, unsure whether she
was dreaming or awake now. They too, had skin that glistened in the
light, giving the impression of having hundreds of tiny flickering
lights surrounding them...
Author Bio
Linda
David is a single mother of two and currently work as a college
lecturer in childcare. She was born in Cyprus in 1967 to parents who
both hail from the Caribbean island of Nevis, and has also lived in
Germany as well as St Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies.
The idea for the book, The Firestone Crystal, came
about 10 years ago when she was on maternity leave, and started off as a
short story that she would be able to read to her children when they
were older. It continued to grow as she occasionally added a chapter
here and there as the years went by, eventually turning into full-length
novel.
She has always enjoyed reading and was encouraged to
do so from a very early age, and that is partly what inspired her to
write. Even today, she can remember the excitement and wonder she used
to experience as a child when reading fantasy and adventure stories, and
she hopes that through her writing, she will be able to inspire and
encourage other children's interest and pleasure in reading as well.
My Links:
1 comment:
Hi Becky
The promotion looks amazing!
Thanks again for the opportunity to promote my work on your site - book promoters and reviewers have such a big role to play in helping to get the word out about new work from new authors.
I hope I have an opportunity to work with you again in the future.
Best of luck to you with your website.
Kind Regards
Linda
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