My Son of a Mermaid series started several years ago, with a small publisher who has since folded shop. I re-grouped and re-branded, and re-released the first two books in the series before life events slowed my progress. But I love this story, and my characters...and will keep writing.
For those of you who have seen the pretty covers, but haven't read the story, I thought I'd give you a taste. The story begins with Shea MacNamara, who thought he was a fairly normal 15-year-old farmboy from Oklahoma. His mother split when he was a baby, so he had no memories of her, but his dad was always there. Until the day a tornado ripped through their farm and destroyed everything. His dad's body was never found.
Moving halfway across the country to live with relatives he'd never met was something of a culture shock, but nothing compared to the first time he fell in the ocean...
Excerpt from DESCENT: Son of a Mermaid Book One
“I
love watching the tide come in,” Hailey said. The pair sat on the edge of the
dock mesmerized by the flowing water, bare feet dangling inches above the
rising surface. Fishing poles and sandals lay discarded behind them on the
wooden walkway. “It’s like the river went out to play in the ocean and is now
rushing home for lunch.”
He
elbowed her ribs. “You think about food all of the time, you know that?”
She
turned and grinned. “I’m food deprived. Have I mentioned my mom can’t cook?”
“Only
forty million times. And I’ve only known you about a week!” He paused, watching
a seagull wheel overhead. “Finding all those wooden lures this morning made me
want to go fishing. You didn’t have to tag along.”
“I
wanted to.” She turned her face upward to watch the same gull. “Fishing is a
good Cape Cod experience, and it gets me out of the house. Chip has been awful
to live with lately.”
“He
still doesn’t like it here?”
Hailey
shook her head. She stood on the dock and pulled her hot pink shirt over her
head, revealing a plain, black one-piece bathing suit. “C’mon, Shea, let’s jump
in.” She shimmied out of her shorts, dropped the clothes in a heap on the
wooden dock, and cannonballed into the river.
He shielded
his face with his arm across to block the splash. “Watch it! And no, I told you
I don’t know how to swim. I’ll sit here and watch you drown.”
With
an exaggerated pout, she swam toward him. “It’s no fun alone. Pull me onto the
dock.” He stood and bent to help her, but she tugged his arm instead.
He
toppled into the river beside her. The blue-green coolness swirled as he
tumbled through the water, arms and legs flailing. He struggled to hold his
breath, his cheeks puffing like a chipmunk. Somehow he managed to right
himself, head over kicking feet, but still he sank into the murky depths.
Millions
of air bubbles traced the path of his body, the precious oxygen escaping from
his clothing and through his nose. He hadn’t been kidding when he told Hailey
he couldn’t swim. Suddenly, he realized he was inside a scene from one of his
nightmares, except this time it was real.
He
was drowning.
Eyes
wide with panic, he clawed helplessly at the water. A huge school of minnows
parted down the middle to swim around him, surrounding him like walls on either
side of his body. Turning his face upward, he saw Hailey’s legs kicking above
him as he sank further and further under the water. He had no idea the river
was this deep! How would he ever get back to the surface?
His
throat and lungs burned from the effort of holding his breath. Darkness pressed
hard against his eyes as he sank deeper, swirls of strange colors dancing in
front of him as his whole body strained against the sudden lack of oxygen.
I
need to breathe, he thought desperately, his whole body feeling like it was
on fire. This isn’t a dream. I’m going to die! His flailing limbs slowed
their movements when his feet thunked onto the mucky river bottom.
His
eyes squeezed shut, an image of his father playing in his mind. Next to his
dad, he saw the face from his dreams. The blonde woman, the one he now knew was
his mother. The one who looked like a mermaid. If he opened his eyes now, would
she be hovering in front of him, like in the dreams? Fear of the unknown
shivered down his spine and his eyes stayed closed.
Searing
pain ripped through his throat, as if his entire body would explode any second
from the effort of holding his breath. Finally he opened his eyes, expecting to
see her there by his side. Smiling at him. Reaching for his hand, just like his
dream.
Nothing.
Nothing
but swaying fronds of seaweed grabbing at him, tangling themselves around his
bare shins. There was no mermaid to save him.
He
was going to die.
Finally,
the pain overwhelmed him. He gave up trying to fight. Shea opened his mouth to
exhale the stale air pounding like a jackhammer in his lungs. Large bubbles
rushed to the surface in a hurry to escape. Water gushed in, filling his mouth
and lungs. He struggled to breathe, but there was no air on the river bottom,
only water.
Water
that somehow acted like fresh air to his exhausted body.
I
can breathe under water?
He
took a second deep and satisfying breath. How could it be possible?
I’m
breathing water! Maybe this is how drowning feels.
His
head pounded and his entire body still felt like it was on fire, burning out of
control. But he was breathing. Water. He sucked big mouthfuls in and out,
faster and faster, realizing he wasn’t going to die after all.
Not…going…to
die…
His
eyes rolled backward and he drifted into shocked unconsciousness.
Grab your copy on AMAZON
No comments:
Post a Comment
Go ahead - leave a comment! You know you want to! But don't be Anonymous - that'll just get you deleted. And who wants that?