Categories
EC: Battleground Sample Sundays

Sample Sunday 36

samplesunday

Here is approximately 100 – 150 words from a randomly selected original piece for your enjoyment. These samples can include excerpts from my all my WIPs and my Eternal Curse Series, but only as works in progress (not the final products). These samples of published and unpublished works are protected under the U.S. Copyright agreement.

Eternal Curse: Battleground chapter 5 (wip)

We all sat in the cold darkness of the laboratory and listened to Dad talk about the glory days of Mom and his nights out on patrols. I guess by the time I came along, a lot of things must have changed, just as he’d said. I never knew about these patrols he and Mom went on until that moment.

Reliving the past was helping and enlightening us all in so many ways, but Dad’s reaction was the most obvious. Slowly, little by little, Dad was beginning to transform. I escaped up stairs briefly, through an old lift system that ran straight through Sheldon’s quarter and even onto the third level of the domicile, to gather up Dad’s things so we could help him dress. We were all optimistic that he might’ve actually been able to make his public appearance at the service later on.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Divergent

Divergent (Divergent, book 1) by Veronica Roth

I give this book a 5.

LoveIt

Here is a story that is simple and yet compelling all at once. It’s YA and I like it, no question, which is really saying something for me.

As with all dystopian novels, there is a ridiculous amount of struggle in this book, but if there wasn’t it wouldn’t be dystopian. I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but this story screams irony to me. Factions are somehow established to keep order and bring peace to this world seemingly built of wreckage, but the characters in the book don’t seem to realize how their factions are flawed and will be their ultimate demise (just a prediction).

Beatrice starts out as a small and meek member of the selfless faction and through a series of hard to imagine, understand, and believe events ends up being, Tris, a semi femme fatale member of the brave faction. There is a great deal of violence to this story that may be all shock value, but I like action in my movies, so why not in my books. There are several unanswered questions remaining when this book comes to an end, but I didn’t feel like I was lost in my understanding. I know what I know about the story and assume the rest will be explained later. Even if my questions are never answered, I’ve enjoyed the intrigue.

While this is a great novel for teens, I wonder if younger teens will be able to grasp the meaning of it all. I enjoyed the story immensely, but could understand why someone who is either a true fan of dystopian works or who isn’t a true fan of YA works might have problems with it. In any case, I think it’s worth a read just to find out whether you like it or not.

*I can’t imagine what Hollywood will do to this story on the big screen. I’m a little scared.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
EC: Battleground Fun Hops

WIP The Movie! Blog Hop #cursescanbebroken

This blog hop is co-hosted by Kyra Lennon and Rachel Schieffelbein.

I have several WIPs at the moment, but the one I’m most excited about is the follow-up to my first novel. This first book, Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel,  just came out, but I’m not sitting around idly waiting for people to fall in love with it. There’s so much more of this story to be told. The idea of casting the characters of this book for a movie blew my mind, and don’t even get me started on the soundtrack.

So here is it, the line-up for, Eternal Curse: Battleground…Character Spoilers present but no plot points.

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Giovanni– He’s the title character of the first book and is actually a dual character. Giovanni/Bletsian is a kind of a shape-shifter with angelic and demonic ancestry. For him, I think I’d try to cast a complete unknown so there would be no preconceived notions about how this character would act. But I do have a specific look in mind when I picture him. I picture a handsome Middle Eastern man like Naveen Andrews with Hugh Jackman’s tall frame and Wolverine body, but with long black hair…Oh, and G/B has gray skin, so ethnicity doesn’t doesn really matter here.

 

      from Google search- www.fanpop.com  | from Google search- www.businessinsider.com

When I think of how G/B feels about and interacts with the overall story and the other characters, I think of the song, Thank You by Dido. (click here to watch video)

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Mira– She is human and is G/B’s love interest, and she’s also black (which some people find shocking). What is so special about this character in this second book is that because she’s been around G/B’s supernatural presence for so long, she too has begun to change. She is older and aging, but aging incredibly graceful. For her I picture a combination of two actresses:  Angel Bassett and Naomie Harris. Angela looks more than good for her age making her idea for the role, but Naomie fits her better in every other possible way.

  

from Google search- kissrichmond.com | from Google search- www.hellomagazine.com

When I think of Mira, from both the first book and the second, I think of Superwoman by Alicia Keys. (click here to watch the video)

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Tori (Victoria)- She is a new character to the series and pretty much the heroine of this installment. She is Mira’s daughter, but there’s more to that story than I’m currently willing to giveaway. Needless to say, they don’t really look alike. Tori is also human. She sounds nice and sweet, which she is for the most part, but later on it becomes clear why her name means “victory”. For her I picture someone like either of the Mowry Twins (more Tia Mowry-Hardrict) or Sydney Tamiia Poitier.

 

from Google search- www.eurweb.com | from Google search- www.fanphobia.net 

When I think of Tori, I think of Fighter by Christina Aguilera.

(click here to watch the video)

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Sheldon– He is also a new character to the series, and is by far, the saddest character in my story simply because of who he is. He’s a pale prepubescent boy with pointed ears, a tail, and an inability to grow up. He is G/B’s son and also a supernatural being, in case that wasn’t clear. For him I might also go with an unknown simply because kids grow up so quickly. When I think Sheldon, I think compare him more to other child characters. I guess for him, I could image some actors when they were younger, such as: Ernie Reyes Jr., Dante Basco, and Noah Hathaway.

  thelastdragontribute.tumblr.com | rufiozuko.tumblr.com | hermes-trismeg.blogspot.com

When I think of Sheldon, the song Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve comes to mind. (click here to watch the video)

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The next few characters I won’t spend so much time on because I could just keep going on for days and pages. These are secondary characters who are vital to the overall story.

Jack– He is new to the series and is another human who is up in age, though he hasn’t aged so gracefully. However, he is strong and physically fit from never faltering on an active military-like lifestyle.  For him I image someone like, Stephen Lang.

Google search- screencritix.com

Lilly– She is also human but is a returning character to the series. When my readers first meet her she is a young child, but in the second story she is a simple elderly woman of Asian descent.  For her I imagine someone like Amy Hill.

from Google search- www.asiansonfilm.com

Michael (Michelangelo)- He is another human and new character to the series and just happens to be crazy about Tori. For him I image pretty much any young, tall, blond actor. For now I’ll go for Colton Haynes with a dye job.

from Google search- instinctmagazine.com

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Up top are the major players, but I have so many more worth mentioning, but I’ll only throw in a few.

Fred– He’s a supernatural character who is new to the series. He’s tall, dark-skinned, and nice looking from the front, but from behind has a spine lined with spikes. His knees and elbows are also spiky.

Ester– She is a very important supernatural character who is also new to the series. She is a symbol and representation of purity; for that reason her skin is white like marble. She is completely hairless; yes that means she’d bald, but she still exudes femininity.

Iris– He is also new to the series and is a supernatural character. He’s a very serious character and a leader. He’s very tall and muscular and looks like a tar statue. His skin is actually black as tar.

Marcos– This is the same villain from the first book. Just as in the first story, Marcos remains a hideous troll, the opposite of his once beautiful self. In this story however, Marcos spends most of his time hidden in the form of his host. He’s uses his host body so that he’ll not have to face the harsh reality of his true appearance.

Ivor– He’s the host for Marcos in this story. He’s an average looking man, but even before he encounters Marcos he is deeply troubled and has a rather menacing look about him. He was once a gypsy.

The overall feel of this second Eternal Curse book makes me think of Uprising by Muse.
(click her to watch the video)

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ECGA coverWhile I’m making efforts to get this manuscript out to some beta readers and lastly into final edits, why not check out the first installment in the Eternal Curse Series to see where all this stared.

Click here or on the image up top to visit more stops on this hop.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords