Promotional Event and Guest Post: Otherborn by Anna Silver

Title: Otherborn

Series: Otherborn, #1 

Author: Anna Silver 

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing 

Release Date: April 4, 2013 

Pages: 290 

Format: Paperback, ebook 

Genre: YA 

Subgenres: dystopian, science fiction 

Book Description:

London and her teenage friends live in a reprocessed world. 

Confined within Capital City’s concrete walls, London has done the impossible and the illegal. She’s created something New- a song. But her mentor, club owner Pauly, is not impressed. Since the historic Energy Crisis forced everyone behind walls generations ago, the Tycoons have ensured there is truly nothing new allowed under the sun. Pauly warns London to keep her song to herself, if she knows what’s good for her.  

What he doesn’t know is that London is keeping an even bigger secret: she dreams. And she’s not alone. London’s band-mates and friends have begun dreaming as well, seeing themselves in “night pictures” as beings from another world. As Otherborn, they must piece together the story of their astral avatars, the Others, in order to save their world from a dreamless, hopeless future.  

When Pauly is murdered and an Otherborn goes missing, London realizes someone is hunting them down. Escaping along the Outroads, they brave the deserted Houselands with only their dreams to guide them. Can they find their friend before the assassin finds them? Will being Otherborn save their lives, or destroy them? 

Otherborn Synopsis, short: 

Confined within Capital City’s concrete walls, London keeps an impossible secret: she dreams. And she’s not alone. Her friends are seeing themselves in “night pictures” too, as beings from another world. Together they uncover the story of their avatars, astral shamans they call Otherborn.  

When one Otherborn is murdered and another goes missing, London realizes someone is hunting them. Escaping along the Outroads, they brave the deserted Houselands with only their Otherborn to guide them. Can they find their friend before the assassin finds them? 

Otherborn Pitch: 

In a reprocessed world, London and her friends must dream their way to a New hope. 

Book Links: 

Otherborn book trailer on Youtube

Excerpt

Amazon Paperback 

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble

Author Bio: 

Anna Silver is an author and artist living in the greater Houston area with her family, pets, and overactive imagination. Her art has been featured in the Houston gallery Las Manos Magicas. She studied English Writing & Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University. She's freelanced for private clients and small publications like the Hill Country Current. OTHERBORN, her first published novel, has been featured on 2 of Amazon's "Bestsellers" lists. She is represented by Rebecca Podos and Nicole LaBombard of Rees Literary Agency. 

http://www.livingbetweentheworlds.blogspot.com/

Author Links: 

Website: http://www.annasilverauthor.com/index.html 

Blog: http://www.annasilverauthor.blogspot.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaysAnnaSilver 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorannasilver 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6862122.Anna_Silver 

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/AnnaSilver/ 

Publisher: http://www.sapphirestarpublishing.com/ 

Author Blurbs: 

"Anna Silver weaves a dark new world full of taut suspense and characters that leap off the page." –Sophie Jordan, NYT bestselling author of the Firelight trilogy 

"Travel to a world where dreaming is a radical act that can save the world… Anna Silver’s post-apocalyptic vision is rich with imagery and metaphysical ideas, grounded by vivid, three-dimensional characters. A truly fresh take on dystopian." –Nina Berry, author of the OTHERKIN series 

“Silver built the right amount of conflict and tension to draw readers into her dystopian world, and created characters who are leery, yet determined to embrace New.” –Natasha Hanova, author of Edge of Truth 

To see my review of Otherborn please click HERE. 

The Books and Authors that Inspired Me to Write

The first book I remember falling in love with was called Howliday Inn. It was second grade and my very pregnant teacher, Mrs. Maddox, would read a little of it to the class every day, even going so far as to give the characters their own voices and accents. Maybe it was her fake Southern drawl, or maybe it was the brilliance of a murder mystery set in a kennel, but I was hooked— utterly and completely. From that point forward, books were my secret paradise and I had one goal in mind, to be an author. So I guess you could say that the one that started it all, the most influential book in my life, was Howliday Inn by James Howe. (Eat your heart out Hemingway!)

After that, I devoured anything and everything I could get my hands on to read. I’ve always been eclectic in my tastes, and reading is no exception. The following list is a very brief snippet of some of the books and/or authors who have radically influenced me and my writing.

1. Howliday Inn by James Howe- as explained above.

2. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle- I read the first three books in this series and loved them. L’Engle’s work was my early introduction to science fiction and I was captivated by her mix of science and fantasy and the horror and beauty of the worlds she created.

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë- I never get sick of this one. This was the gut-wrenching love story that showed me how incredible romance can be. I still think Heathcliff is the ultimate bad boy. He is my all-time favorite book crush. (Yes, I am twisted that way. He was a sick, sick man and I love him still.)

4. The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe- My mom bought me a book of short stories by Poe from a garage sale when I was about eight or nine. I don’t think she had any idea what she’d done. I doubt she’d ever read Poe. This is my absolute favorite. It scared the ever-loving poop right out of me. Didn’t sleep for days. Poe taught me all about how to build tone and tension. (For a fun adaptation, check out Bethany Griffin’s YA novel Masque of the Red Death.)

5. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood- My first dystopian read and still a favorite of mine. The world Atwood created for Offred gives me chills. But what I loved most about this book, and some of Atwood’s other works, is that this is the novel where I became conscious of voice. I love Atwood’s voice; I think her work is poetry in motion.

6. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle- I met Beagle a few years ago and was a total fangirl mess. This novel began my deep love of fantasy. In the succession of my life, before Tolkien there was Beagle. Later I found The Hobbit and LOTR and whole lot of other reads that have only deepened my love and respect for this genre.

7. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley- I love this book so much I literally have no words to describe it. Bradley introduced me the spiritual side of fiction, along with Paulo Coelho and a few other writers. This novel has been a huge inspiration behind one of my most recent works, which is currently being shopped, The Orders.

8. The Fault in our Stars by John Green- I wanted to end with something current. And this was by far one of the best reads of my life. I laughed and cried in equal measure and that is a rare gem, a book that can get you so deeply emotionally invested from the very beginning. Green is a consummate master. I bow down.