#NewRelease – THE LOST by Cindy Cipriano

Author Cindy Cipriano released The Lost: Book Three of The Sidhe on May 19. Check out the excerpt below.

Excerpt – Prologue 

“I beg of you. Please don’t do this,” cried the frail man. He was gaunt and looked as if he hadn’t slept in months. “I’ve changed, give me another chance.”

“I’m in no position to judge you. Nor can I give anyone anything,” said Finley.

His gaze traveled over the man’s hunched shoulders to the green sky, searching, as always, for any way out of the Void. Finley had hoped he’d leave the Void before he had to push the next depereo into the Underworld. He always hoped this, but to no avail. There was always another depereo.

“Please, please,” said the old man, clasping his hands in front of him as if in prayer.

It wore on Finley when the depereo were awake, begging for mercy. Their pleas made his task more difficult. And, it was harder for him to forget about them after he sent them to the Underworld. Finley rubbed the bridge of his nose, wishing again for a way out.

“May I go then?” the old man asked, looking at Finley with hopeful, teary eyes.

Finley looked down at the shriveled old man. He looked like someone’s kindly grandfather. He wondered what the man could have done to wind up here.

How dangerous could this old man be?

An odd feeling traveled through Finley’s veins.

Compassion.

The feeling disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived, leaving Finley with his constant companion.

Desperation.

Finley reminded himself that the choices this depereo had made during his life had brought him here. Like the depereo who came before him, this Sidhe’s evil ways had put him onto the path that led straight to the Void. This man was already dead. His eternal fate had already been decided. Finley was just tasked with delivering the sentence.

I should have used the club like Sun showed me.

“To make sure they’re unconscious,” Sun had explained.

Finley wondered what had happened to Sun. Was his friend all right after his return to the Realm of Man?

No matter, Sun was better off. He had to be.

“May I go?” the man repeated, dusting grains of blue sand from his palms.

“There’s nowhere to go,” said Finley. He pulled the man to his feet effortlessly, as though he weighed nothing. As though the man was nothing.

Just as I am nothing.

“Please, don’t,” begged the man. “I have money. I will give you anything you want. I’ll do anything you ask.”

“Don’t you understand?” asked Finley. “I have no control over any of this. There is no bargain that can be made. I’m condemned. Just like you.”

“But, I am powerful. I can get you out of here.”

“No one can get me out!” yelled Finley. Of all the things the depereo said to him, that was the worst. If a depereo couldn’t change their own fate, how did they think they could change his?

The man stared at Finley, curiously. “How can you bear this?” he asked a touch of pity in his voice.

“I can’t,” said Finley. He shoved the man hard through the gash in the large black boulder then turned away. Finley walked back to the blood-red forest with the man’s horrified screams ringing in his ears.

Book Blurb

Calum Ranson is now closer than ever to finding his lost cousin Finley: he knows where he is, he just doesn’t know how to get there. Stuck in the Void between the world of the living and the Underworld, Finley needs to get home soon before he is changed forever. It’s up to Calum and his friend Laurel to figure out how to free him.

Adding to the challenge, Calum can no longer turn to his other cousin and best friend, Hagen, who has become mysteriously close to one of their school’s biggest bullies, Riley Sloan. Why has Hagen suddenly started treating Riley as his girlfriend when she used to be his enemy? And can Calum succeed in saving Finley without Hagen’s help?

From studying to school dances, field trips to first kisses, the third book of the Sidhe depicts a typical middle school experience, peppered with magic, faeries, and truly heroic deeds.

About the Author

Cindy Cipriano lives in North Carolina with her husband, son and their 27 pets.

 

Not really. Just three dogs who think they are children and three cats who think they are raccoons. It only seems like 27. Cindy enjoys spending time with her family and the avoidance of cooking.

 

Cindy credits The Sidhe series to an idea that came to her when she was a small child during, “one of my many “time-outs.” The characters, particularly Uilleam, were born out of her curiosity about what might be found underneath one of the tiles in the floor. It is for this reason she encourages all writers to record everything because, “There is no such thing as an ordinary life. Each of our lives are filled with stories begging to be told.”

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You can find out more about Cindy on her website.

You can purchase The Lost on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million.

Today’s Featured Author: Cindy Cipriano

Today I welcome author Cindy Cipriano to my blog. Her second book, The Choice: Book Two of The Sidhe, is set to be released on June 9th.

Interview

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I believed I was a truly a writer the night I received my first critique of the manuscript of The Circle. It was amazing listening to six writers discuss my story and its characters as if they were real people.

What is the best thing about being a writer? The worst?

The best part about being a writer is fully immersing myself in another world. I love my time in the series experiencing the characters’ lives and when I’m not writing I miss them! The worst part has nothing to do with being a writer, but the fact there is never enough time.

Do you outline your books or just start writing? 

I try, try, try to outline my books. And, I do have some ideas sketched out in a quasai outline form, but it is by no means a formal outline. For the most part, I just start writing.

Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your next book?

I am currently working on The Lost, Book Three of the Sidhe. I have also finished a YA which has just found representation by the fabulous Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary.

Please tell us about your current release.

The Choice is the second book in The Sidhe Series. Here’s the book blurb:

For Calum Ranson, seventh grade brings changes in his relationship with his parents and his friends, and a confrontation with his bully. Calum’s talents have also developed to a level unheard of in the Sidhe world.

When Calum goes against everything he knows is right, he makes a choice that may cost him his friendship with Laurel. An old friend steps in, but her mysterious ways leave Calum questioning her motives.

In the second book of The Sidhe Series, Calum, Laurel, and Hagen reunite in their search for Finley. And while many things have changed, Calum remains steadfast in his belief that Finley is still alive and Calum will bring him home.

What inspired you to write this book?

The Choice is the second book in a seven-book series. I was inspired to start the series from a daydream during a time-out as a young child. I wondered what I would find if I lifted a tile in the floor of my room. I imagined a long winding staircase and at the bottom, a bearded old man working by candlelight. This man became Calum’s grandfather, Uilleam.

How did you come up with the title?

Here’s a little trivia. The title was originally The Lost. But, when I completed the manuscript for book two, I realized The Lost made more sense for book three as a title. The Choice really is a perfect title for book two and I’m so glad my publisher agreed!

What kind of research did you do for this book?

I researched faeries in great detail before I wrote The Circle, Book One of The Sidhe. I visited many websites, and have acquired lots of research book over the few years I’ve been working on this series. It is important to me that I get the faerie aspect of the story right.

Which of your characters is your favorite?

My favorite character is Donnelly Dunbar. I just love his intensity and his love of his family.

Can you tell us any about the next book in the series? 

In the third book, The Lost, Calum and his friends are in 8th grade and the stakes are getting higher. I like to include real places in my stories (i.e., Fairy Stone Park in The Circle, the Brown Mountain lights in The Choice). The Lost has a very interesting and real setting as well.

What was the most difficult thing/scene to write in this story?

There were two scenes. One involves Calum and Laurel. The other involves Finley. The Circle has a fandom, and I have received a lot of email/messages from some of my fans. They have a definite opinion on Calum and Laurel, and on Finley. It was difficult to write scenes where these characters have some serious choices to make.

What book are you reading right now? 

I am reading two excellent manuscripts by fellow writers Lynn Chandler Willis and Sandra Rathbone. These are going to be awesome books!

About the Author

Cindy Cipriano lives in North Carolina with her husband, son, and 27 pets. Okay, maybe not 27. More like three dogs, three cats, and many, many fish. Cindy enjoys spending time with her family, and the avoidance of cooking.

Cindy writes middle grades and young adult fiction. Her first novel, The Circle Book One of The Sidhe Series (Odyssey Books), won the 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book Silver Award for Pre-Teen Fiction, Fantasy. Coming soon! The Choice, Book Two of The Sidhe Series (Odyssey Books).

 

Two of Cindy’s short stories, “What Lance Saw,” and “Miller’s Island,” were published in the children’s anthology, Doorway to Adventure (2010). In addition to SCBWI, Cindy is a member of the Triad Writers and the Drawbridge Writers critique groups. Cindy is represented by Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary Agency.

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You can find out more about Cindy at her website. You can purchase The Circle: Book One of the Sidhe on Amazon. The Choice: Book Two of the Sidhe will be available on June 9th. To pre-order it, click here.