First Look Friday with author Meradeth Houston

Finishing off what I've thought of as a fun hop, fellow Evernight Teen author, Meradeth Houston is on my blog today giving readers a first look at what's next for her. Thanks for joining me today, Meradeth, and in finale mode, thank you to all the YA readers out there who support us authors. We love you all and don't forget to enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes!

YA Reader Appreciation Blog Hop: First Peek Friday

Thanks so much for hosting me! It's always so fun to get to visit my favorite places around the web :) Today we're supposed to be sharing a little teaser from one of our books. I'm really excited to share something from my upcoming release, Absence of Light, with Evernight Teen. It's a little different from my Sary series, but it's also really near and dear to my heart. I thought I'd share a little from the beginning of the book. Hope you enjoy!

**Please note that this is still not the final version, so things might change before publication!**

The dead don’t blink. My father’s blank stare seemed to follow me around the room. My mother beside him had a narrow-eyed glare that made me flinch. I couldn’t bear to look at my sister. Something about her frozen expression made my stomach tighten. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her be still. Ever.

This image always reminds me of
this book! Creepy, right? :)

The wail of a siren in the distance settled my new reality around me like a heavy shroud. I’d called 911 when I saw the front door ajar. I hadn’t expected to find this inside. Now I had to get out before anyone saw me.

Blood, cool and sticky, seeped through the knees of my jeans. Hitching back a sob, I pressed my lips to the forehead of each of my family members. A silent goodbye, which should have been so much more.

With stumbling steps, I hurried through my darkened house. They’d made sure not a single bulb worked, which pissed me off enough to worm through my grief.

“Miserable, shitty, stupid, things,” I growled. My feet crunched over broken glass in the kitchen and I slid into the counter. My mother’s favorite pitcher sat there, full of iced tea, ready for dinner just like any other night. A bloody handprint streaked across the counter next to it. With shaking fingers, I pressed my palm against the print. It had to be my mom’s—her hands were the same size as mine.

A hitching sob doubled me over. How could this happen?

The siren grew louder, wailing like the beast of my grief in my chest. All I wanted to do was to huddle on the floor and whimper. But I had to get out. If I didn’t go now, I’d never escape. No time for clothes, extra cash, anything.

They wanted it that way. Stifling a cry at this painful realization, I fumbled with the back door, finally releasing the lock. Run, run, run!

--I hope this caught your interest. The novel will be available this coming November!

Meradeth Houston is the author of the Sary Society series: Colors Like Memories, The Chemistry of Fate, and Surrender the Sky. Catch the first two books for just 99 pennies! Soon to be released will be a sci-fi novel with killer aliens: Absence of Light. When she's not writing, she's an anthropology professor who talks a whole lot about dead people's DNA!

Find Meradeth Houston online at: www.MeradethHouston.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and of course her blog!


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