ON SALE for $1.99 plus EXCERPT
Well Below Heaven
by Idyllwild Eliot
Well Below Heaven by Idyllwild Eliot is ON SALE for only $1.99 (save $7) to 16 May. Don't miss out on this amazing bargain! The author stops by today to share an excerpt from the book. Keep an eye out for my review coming in June.
Description
Seventeen-year-old Kelly is in a spartan boarding school in northern Idaho, sent away for drugs - as planned. Her little brother Sammy is left home in Missouri, getting ready for high school. He is quirky, quick, writes dark poetry and longs to play football. He’s also got a nose for trouble, and Kelly has left a truckload. And it’s sordid and dangerous. Her sadistic ex is involved, so is one twisted teacher, and so is the object of Sammy’s crush. Kelly warns him away, to no avail. He’s in too deep, and the repercussions could shock the town, and cost him his life.
Excerpt
Prologue
October 28
—————
Sammy,
Dad’s in the car already and Mom’s downstairs screeching for me, so this is it. But you need to remember something. Even though out of state—way out of state—was always the plan, NOW was not. Not until I’d graduated and you’d finished freshman year and we’d at least convinced them to let you play football. THAT was the plan—to come home from college and watch you juke. But it won’t be bad. Really. Eat your limas—use ketchup if you have to. Study hard and don’t do what I did and all the other sisterly crap I’m supposed to say. But I mean it. Don’t screw around where you shouldn’t and you’ll survive. OK—she’s about to stroke. Write me. Bye.
Kelly
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
“Idyllwild Eliot’s Well Below Heaven is a dark novel of sibling loyalty ... rich with the joys and miseries of teenage life ... that will warrant comparisons to the work of Laurie Halse Anderson or Walter Dean Myers, relating stories of adolescent challenges without condescending or moralizing.” ~ Foreword Reviews
“Idyllwild Eliot’s edgy, epistolary YA novel takes readers on an absorbing emotional roller coaster ... language and content that includes references to sex, child/teen pornography (which figures large in the plot), abortion and drugs make the novel best suited for older teens. This content, however, never feels prurient or gratuitous, and Eliot’s skillful writing and deft characterization create a story adults may savor as well. Readers will surely find themselves thinking about Well Below Heaven long after turning the last page.” ~ BlueInk Review
“... leading to a series of shocking incidents ...That these events don’t feel gratuitous is due to Eliot’s skill in building up to them and to the achingly realistic voices revealed through Kelly’s and Sammy’s letters, reflecting the teens’ angst, anger, betrayals, triumphs, new insights, and the subtle changes that take place with the passage of time and their life experiences.” ~ Kirkus Reviews
“Idyllwild Eliot presents this as her debut novel, which gives her credit as a creative author who views adolescent years differently, maybe more accurately than others. This novel is refreshing as it hits problems some teenagers face though seldom written about.” ~ JoJo Maxson
“Bravo, Ms. Eliot! Your debut novel is intensely felt and the characters ' insights wonderfully documented. Definitely inspired a second reading.” ~ Camile Fontaine
About the Author
After an adolescence survived in the Midwest and a few obligatory years at the university, Idyllwild Eliot embarked on a journey of internal and external exploration. With stints in Houston, Louisiana, and even Thailand, where she studied yoga, Ms. Eliot has become a semi-professional vagabond. Most recently (at the time of publication) she has been experiencing the North American west. If not sipping a cocktail on a deck in the northern Rockies, she might be found bodysurfing in Southern California, watching Bald Eagles in Montana, or in some other picturesque town hiking, meditating, or sitting with her laptop open and, at its side, a stout mug of black coffee. Well Below Heaven is her debut.
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