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alisha costanzo, author, betas, blood, blood phoenix, book, Broken World, chapter five, coffee, die, draft, drool., editing, edits, excerpt, fangs, fantasy, faux cover, feed, go green, horror, hunger, James, Manhattan, manuscript, monster, old books, overpopulated, paranormal, progress, publishing, Ria, urban fantasy, vampire, writing
Hi, Everyone!
Now that the revisions are winding down, I wanted to share some progress!
After a final run-through of the manuscript, I will be sending the draft out to betas, and perform a final tweak! The cover is scheduled for mid-October, so reveals will be coming soon for the cover, bookmark, buttons, and etc. I can’t wait to share it all with you!
Thank you again for all of you who have supported my project! Please enjoy an excerpt below.
Alisha Costanzo
[Please note that this is not the commissioned cover art for the novel but merely a faux-cover-creation out of boredom.]
Excerpt from Chapter Five:
“Get up, Ria. This is nonsense.” Bending before me, I saw the soft carmeling in the center of his eyes. “Stopping comes with years of practice, so get over your hang ups quick or die for real. The world’s overpopulated as it is, so think of this as doing your part to save the planet. Go Green, as it were.”
He hefted me up to my feet, where I wobbled and brushed my knees free of gray dust. This man obviously didn’t know me very well. Yes, he could push my buttons after a mere two weeks. He’d been inside my home. He’d even distracted me from his relationship status long enough to kiss me, but challenges only made me angry and determined. Heat rolled over the consuming cold pit, and I said, “Just tell me how.”
Warm fingertips pressed my chin and jaw. “You should be able to feel it. Now, whether your hunger lets you or merely acknowledges those very obvious signs is another matter. Because your hunger will be massive and constant no matter how long you live. You will either learn to curb yourself or you won’t. You’re a vampire. Being hungry is your nature. In that regard, you’re no better or worse than any other living creature.”
His grip dropped, and I toppled backwards, swallowing hard. See, his reasoning didn’t work for me. I couldn’t grapple with being a monster when I did perfectly well as a human. But screw him, I’d learn on my own.
With new resolve, I walked around him and toward the Manhattan streets. The chilled air caused the red dress to cling to my skin. Briny ocean water mingled with the dirty wet dog smell of the streets, with take-out pizza, with coffee. My city didn’t smell this way. My city smelled of old books, sweat…and coffee.
I gagged as I reached the street, covering my nose and mouth with my hands as I blinked away tears. A new smell filtered through my fingers, sweet and meaty, like pulled pork. My hands fell from my mouth, wetness rising around my tongue.
