The Hunt for the Legendary Mr. Morris

My new novel, The Hunt for the Legendary Mr. Morris is coming out in September of 2020! In honor of that I would like to give a sneak peek of the novel as well as one of the pre-release reviews and tell you all the places to find my stuff!

Sneak Peek:

"... A ping echoes through the confines of my curved room, alerting me of my visitor. I turn off the projection in a hurry to not allow her to see its contents. Once I’m sure there is no trace of my pastime, I command the door to allow in my mother.

Mom looks at me with her usual smile. I love my mom. She’s kind and loving and a tad crazy. Her brown hair is done extravagantly with curls and beads. Her face and neck are covered in glitters and knock offs of popular trends. All the adult women will be wearing similar garments, though they will likely have bought newer versions. It’s beautiful on my mother but it doesn’t quite match her half-done makeup. My mom doesn’t often dress up with jewelry, this is the nicest she owns. They are hand-me-downs from my grandmother. I never met the women but apparently the hair beads are third generation, my mom brags every year about it- She says that being poor is all about owning that you’re poor, making others think your lifestyle is more of a choice than it is- Hence bragging about three generation old jewelry.

“I wanted to remind you about the kids party tonight after the Remembrance Ceremony.”

“Mom, I’m thirteen, I'm not a kid anymore.”

“Of course not, you're my little man. Anyway, I put your good clothes on top of the dryer, they should be wrinkle free since I ironed them. Hurry up and get dressed. Your transport pod leaves in two hours. Don't make Sylas wait, he’s a good kid.”

Leave it to my mom to think that it takes two hours to put on some stupid pants and a dress shirt, She started getting ready for the grown up party three hours ago, that’s three hours plus the two hours she’s giving me- that's five hours! That’s a bit extreme. That is the perfect word to describe my mother, extreme. She’s a worrier and an extremist...an extreme worrier. It fits her character- she works as a teacher, a stressful and underappreciated job. She teaches little ones, so she is very doting and always looking for better ways to teach them. She always had a strict schedule- for work and for the family. Dad used to call her a “walking schedule” and it’s more accurate this time of year. The annual visit to “the original”, identified as Pod A but locally it’s nicknamed the original. Everyone from every Pod must go and learn again about our history. I would look forward to it if:

1) They gave me new information.

2) I wasn't certain that it’s complete crap.

I hate doing this, the only good part is being able to see my friends from a different pod. The food, the food is okay, not great but there’s enough, so I get to eat as much as I want. I guess that's two good reasons to go, not that I have a choice in the matter.

“Mom, why don't you like Brodin? She’s a good person.” I clarify and drag out the word, we aren't kids.

“Oh, she’s a terrible influence on you, you know what they say about that girl. She’s a complete troublemaker. And a thief of all things! I really wish you wouldn’t spend so much time with her. I only allow it since I trust you to make good choices.”

I know it was stupid to argue but I love my friends, all my friends, not just the ones she approves of. Besides, she’s all wrong about Brodin.

People don't like Brodin because she questions all the crap they spew. And I hardly consider her a thief. Sure, she steals CD's and breaks into the record room but it’s not like it's locked or private. Anyone can go in during the daytime and browse the records...Brodin just chooses to go in the night and borrow some of the CD's and files for a while. It’s not a big deal. I want to say all this to my mother, but I know how that would go: she'd shut me down so fast I wouldn't be able to get two words out.

“Right,” I say as I go to shut my door, “I’ll be ready in time, Mom.”

Once safely behind my door, I add the forbidden CD to my bag of CD's I've watched this year. I need to return them to Brodin so she can put it back in the records room. Sylas, Brodin and I all switch out CD's each year. Brodin gets the CD's, Sylas shows us how to hack our projectors so we can watch them, and I... well, I don't do anything useful but I do draw comic books of what we have seen in those CD's. I make it so after we watch them, we can all have drawn copies of the more important parts since we return the CD's - which is another piece of evidence that Brodin is not a thief.

Everyone in the pod community knows Brodin takes the CD's. If it were me or Sylas, we’d be in big trouble but Brodin Ellis is a 3106th generation Ellis. As in the Ellis Family, who years and years ago, supplied the funds for the first pod. Her lineage goes back further but honestly, we only started counting a few years before the war destroyed everything. Nothing before that really matters. In other words, Brodins parents are the most respected of any pod just for their long and important lineage. They host this party every year to celebrate another year of survival. So, when I express that Brodin is untouchable, I mean it. No one would say a bad word about their daughter, not to their faces at least.

I do spend the next two hours packing for the party, but not getting ready with clothes or showers or hair gel. I put an extra set of clothes in my bag. On top, I get my pencils, paper, my pre-made comic copies to give to my friends. I’m sure to grab headphones for three, my flashlight in case we have to turn the lights off in our hiding spot, and I fill whatever room is left in the bag with snack food. I know it is sort of pointless for me to pack beef jerky, but I tend to wake up hungry at night. I don’t really eat much throughout the day when we are there, I get looks from the other boys my age.

Brodin and Sylas don’t look at me funny when I eat so I can only really eat with them or by myself. Even mom looks at me as if it’s an odd sight. Someone skinny eating a meal that is relatively the same size as my head. The jerky is just a precaution since Bridon normally feeds me pretty well when we are alone in hiding, I just never want them to feel obligated to do so.

I take the last twenty or so minutes putting on my dress clothes and playing a memory game with the hologram setting of my projector. I’m pretty good at useless stuff like that-- drawing, remembering weird stuff, video games-really useless talents.

Sometimes I wonder if, since I’m not exceptionally good at anything important, I hold any importance to anyone. Sometimes I think about how replaceable I am. Anyone can draw a few shaded lines on the projectors, and anyone can play online games. I’m not like Sylas with his crazy smarts and expected contribution to the pod community or Brodin with her title and her ability to command attention from any crowd she wants- she’s useful to the pod community too. I’m just another face.

I go to the mirror after beating my high score, just making sure I look presentable for my mother. There isn’t much about me to bring her pride so I can at least try to look decent, despite the body I have. ‘Decent’ is hard for me since I’m so skinny. Being odd looking is what brought Brodin, Sylas and I together, we’re all skinny. My mom used to get a lot of crap from other parents about it. They said I resemble people from the ‘evil generation’ that brought war on itself. It used to be a rumor that I was a bad omen. Of course, it was just a rumor. Pod people are people of science and luxury; no one would say they believed such a thing, even if they did...."

Review of The Hunt for the Legendary Mr. Morris:

" In essence, this story is similar (in theme) to Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) and Hatchet (Gary Paulson). It is essentially a story of hardship and survival from its three, diverse protagonists. Travailing miles of forestation for their imminent survival, in search of Mr. Morris, but left to find that it's better to depend on their own strengths. A deluge of science fiction and teenage angst, a tale of hardship and perseverance; The Hunt for the Legendary Mr. Morris is a must-read for anyone looking for a young adult, dystopian adventure of epic proportions."

- H.E Rogers, Author of 真柏Project

Current contest/giveaway from my facebook page (link below):

Another art challenge in response to my new book The Hunt for the Legendary Mr. Morris and it's near release! The last art contest was a huge success and a lot of people enjoyed it so I decided this was the perfect time for another one!

Challenge:

Use the given (possibly bad) synopsis (and any information gained from the sneak peek posts) to create your own version of the cover (There is no cover released publically yet). This should be fun, creative, and done in any style you'd like!

Prizes:

I will select 3 winners (whose art I really liked or who were very close to the original idea) who will receive a shoutout and free signed copies of the book upon its release! Additionally, my favorite of the three will receive a $10 gift card!

Synopsis:

Kade- A creative, insecure boy with hidden talents even he doesn’t recognize.Brodin- the boss, the thief, a girl of many names. Brodin is the future as anyone would know it, she’s brave, a leader -too bad she loves mischief and history more than anything her community can offer her. Sylas- the smartest prodigy in the pod community, Science is his only god, he may be ill but he is everything you could want in a young scientist. What they have in common- They are all skinny, they don’t believe a word Brodin’s parents spew, and they love to delve into forbidden waters. All three seek the knowledge of a world outside their safety pods, outside the community of luxury, outside the world they know. The world- What’s left of the human race live in luxury thousands of years after the war until creative Kade, brave Brodin and a very smart Sylas set off a chain of events they never thought possible. They are trapped in the world they dreamed of, left with a task of which failure is not a viable option, and time is ticking down. Kade and his friends must find the only man able to fix the mess they caused but how will they survive a world where they are nothing but a delicacy of the food chain? How will they keep their humanity- if they can? Is Mr. Morris even alive as they hope? There is no time to waste, the end is near.

rules:

-can not be one of the artists who worked on the book

-must not be photoshopped or stolen

-please send your entries through direct message either on my Facebook (@sashasworks1999) or my Instagram (@insta_sashasworks1999). Entering the contest permits me to post your work, please let me know if you have a specific name or link to use for recognition and credit. If selected, I will ask for your email address to mail the prize to you, if you do not respond within 24 hours I will choose another recipient. No part of your art will be used for the cover unless agreed upon by both parties in writing.

-have fun with it! This isn't a rule but I would really appreciate it you liked, followed, shared my social media.

Where to find more:

My Author Page displays all my work, including my three other publications on Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07G2SPKGH

My Goodreads Author page, https://www.goodreads.com/sashasworks1999

My Facebook Page, where I post other sneak peeks, contests, givaways and other fun stuff, https://www.facebook.com/Sashasworks1999/

Instagram: @insta_sashasworks1999 for pictures of (mainly) my cats and a more personal look into my life.