Frozen Heart Book Tour: guest post and excerpt
Author: Annabelle Blume
Genre: science fiction/dystopian
Format: paperback and ebook
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing (August 7, 2012)
Summary: A decade surviving on her own. Three days with the enemy. Can love conquer all?
Cressenda knows how to survive. With her sled dogs as her only companions, she’s spent the past ten years hiding in the snow covered wilderness from the oppressive regime of the Affinity. When a routine trip to civilization takes a turn for the worst, Cressenda is forced to take refuge with the enemy or lose her life to the frozen countryside.
But Beckett, a Guard of the Affinity, is more than a man in uniform. His desperate need to help Cressenda escape both the blizzard and the Affinity, makes her feelings for him all the more troubling. Will Beckett be true to his word and set Cressenda free? Will her heart let her leave after all they’ve shared?
Guest Post:
Can you tell us about the setting for your novel? Why the snowy wilderness and sled dogs?
I wish I could tell you a romantic story about being snowed in and cranking out the entire novella over the course of three days. I can’t. It doesn’t even snow where I live. I hate the snow. Maybe that’s why the idea of fighting for survival in what I see as the harshest of conditions spoke to me.
When I started writing Frozen Heart, I didn’t know I was writing a story of a woman contemplating the meaning of freedom. The first scene, of Cressenda sitting at the table with her mug of tea, wondering who or what is outside of her cabin, came to me without any more of the story attached. I “pants-ed” the whole thing. But I knew there had to be a dire reason for Cressenda to take on such a risk. No one would choose to live that way unless the stakes were terribly high.
Why Cressenda lived in the wilderness with only her dogs as her companions unfolded for me the same way it unfolds for the reader. Bit by bit I came to understand her. And the way I saw it, if you didn’t have some kind of companion if that isolated environment, you’d end up like Tom Hanks in Cast Away talking to a volley ball named Wilson. Cressenda’s will to survive, her instinct to fight for her life needed to be clear. No peculiar hermit behavior would have been acceptable.
Plus, dogs are amazing! No other animal would stand by her side the way a dog would. Knowing that dogs function better as a pack, I felt Cressenda would have more than one dog, so I gave her Tonk and Tilo. Each dog has its own distinct personality. If you’ve ever owned a dog (I have three), you know this is an accurate portrayal of the canine mind. I worked hard not to humanize them, despite their important place in Cressenda’s life.
In the end, the snowy wilderness provided the perfect setting for my characters, Cressenda and Beckett, to stretch out the boundaries of freedom, play with its definitions and theories, and to find out for themselves what freedom really meant.
Frozen Heart Excerpt:
“You…you’re a...sympathizer.” It sounded dirty as the words passed between my lips. I wanted to snatch them back and swallow them down again. The sting of my insult was evident in the painful expression that settled on his face.
“It doesn’t matter what I am. You want to be free, don’t you? Then go.” His authoritative facade crumbled and the innocent hurt of a young boy dripped from his soul as he spoke. “You won’t get far enough if you don’t get out now.”
I placed my hand over his, unlatching his fingers one at a time from the tender inside of my bicep. My steps were measured and controlled as I backed away from the Guard. I neared the clear walkway of the Trade Path just as a shrill alarm sounded. Every transaction halted and everyone held their breath for a split second, merchants and traders alike. In the blink of an eye, the entire population of the Path turned to the entrance and moved hurriedly, as if they were trying to contain a generalized franticness.
“What is it? Where are they going?” I asked no one in particular.
“It’s a blizzard warning.”
I cursed. A blizzard. I’d never make it home now. Conditions would be impossible: no visibility, forty-foot snowdrifts, and gale-force winds. The boys and I would never survive. I stood, motionless, while bodies spun and twirled on the periphery of my consciousness. I was stuck in the Collective with nowhere to go and, worse, nowhere to hide.
“Come with me,” the masculine timbre commanded over my shoulder before lacing his fingers in mine. His gentle hold of my hand gave me comfort and lulled me into a hypnotic state. The Guard led me forward until I broke from my daze.
“Let me go!” I yanked my hand from his. “I have to get out of here. I have to beat the blizzard.”
Before I could break into a sprint, the Guard whirled me around. I teetered, stunned by the force. He moved in close and arched over me while he spoke. Not to intimidate but to cover me, protecting me from the eyes around us.
“You’ll never make it. Never. Come with me. You can wait out the storm at my cabin. When it’s over, you’ll be free to go.” His eyes searched my person for the answer to the question in his mind. Wherever it is you live.
I stared at him, doubtful and distrusting. I had only seconds to decide if this tall, hulking citizen of the Collective, official of the Affinity, could really, truly be a sympathizer.
Her Sociology degree did nothing to progress her writing skills, but has given her the ability to construct worlds that exist only in her head and translate them passionately to the page. The time spent studying individuals, interpersonal relationships, and particularly, women, within the constraints of our society led to Annabelle's unabashed ability to talk about sex as it fits into our modern lives.
She's also the author/personality of The Bombshell Mommy at Vitacost.com, where she expounds her knowledge of being a vixen clad in sweatpants.
Author links: Facebook | Twitter: @AnnabelleBlume | Web Site
Comments
Post a Comment