the_tethered_files

this past November, I wrote a book. a wonderfully terrible book. it was supposed to be scary, but it ended up more like a road trip where my characters never left their small town. this book was about a town filled with secrets, a girl who just wanted to be herself without anyone's expectations riding on her shoulders, and a messenger of death who feared death itself. ghosts and creepy 7-11's run rampant in this book, and there might have been some haunted house antics (I'm a sucker for a good carnival scene). my book was supposed to be just fun and a little creepy to write, but it actually meant a lot more. you see, this book ended up being about prejudice and stigma, about light and dark not always being what you think they are, and about the fact that broken people are still people. I'd never written anything like this, and I am proud of every terrible word--and there are exactly 71,960 of them.

that novel, right there. my child.

this book is Tethered, and it's time to start sharing it with you all.

throughout the month of January, I'll be sharing short stories from the Tethered universe--some are actual passages or chapters from the book and some are little bits and pieces I wrote for fun. you'll get to see Neil as a kid, Cora as she struggles with all that she is and has to be for the world, the people of Halloway through the eyes of the town itself, and the event that forced our main characters into each others paths. hopefully, you'll fall in love with them as much as I have. as of right now, I'm restraining myself to just January, because I have no idea how school is going to change my blogging habits, but I definitely hope to be able to continue these stories beyond just one month. we'll see, though.

(and yes, I am totally copying the format of the Mr. Robot episode titles. fight me.)

while you're waiting for the first short story, which is also the first scene of Tethered, here's a somewhat vague blurb about my precious little ghost novel. enjoy!

the sun rises when the moon sinks; the everlasting connection between them has always existed, but no one ever notices.

Neil Ruthers didn't sign up for being a reaper. After his father's death, it was thrust upon him at the young age of fourteen. Now, as an adult, he is rejected by society thanks to his penchant for death. Trouble follows him wherever he goes, as well as a constant horde of spirits, desperate to be cleansed from this world and transported into the next. He withdraws from life in an attempt to avoid the stigma assigned to his unwanted profession, but when he drunkenly stumbles into a 7-11 one dark and stormy evening, everything changes.

Cora Hart was born a guardian, born with talents and protective powers that make her constantly sought after and coveted as a good luck charm. She believes that being a guardian is her true calling; however, she cannot deny the unrest that lurks within her, especially when her duty as a guardian denies her wishes as a human. A chance encounter with a reaper and the darker side of Halloway open her eyes to the things that guardians reject and ignore, and Cora must quickly come to grips with the fact that everything she knows and trusts may be built upon a lie.

With ritualistic murders, dark spirits, and the heaviness of coming chaos occurring more and more in the small town of Halloway, Cora and Neil must learn to overlook the lines between their worlds and work together to stop whatever it is that brews in the darkness--or the humanity they try so hard to protect will be destroyed, forever.

the_reaper's_son will be posted on Saturday. *dun dun dun* see you then!