Beacon by Angela Brown – Guest Post + $75 Giveaway

Beacon by Angela Brown
Ripped Ties Book 1

***When ignorance is bliss, Bliss is power.***

Tsunamis reduced the USA into a shell of itself, called The Fold. Surviving humans and vampires joined forces to form The Colony, where registered citizens do as they’re told.

They donate blood quarterly and dream of being chosen as Attendees for the Jubilee celebrations, that is, everyone except Macie Breen. With high school graduation near, she’s anxious to ditch the rules in hopes of starting a new life with Thane, an unregistered and also her best friend.

Her hopes fizzle when Macie is selected as an Attendee, forever registered. Any future with Thane…impossible. Being chosen comes with another unexpected price.

Truths about The Colony blaze into ashes and lies when she discovers the vampires haven’t kept their part of the bargain. Worst still, Macie’s life unravels as her stint in the city of Bliss forces her to face daunting truths about who, and what, she really is.

Amazon | Evernight

Angela Brown is here today to discuss how she created the dystopian society in her book, Beacon. Thanks so much for a great post, Angela! I enjoyed it and I know my readers at Brooke Blogs will, too.

Creating a Dystopian Society by Angela Brown

Creating a society that is the opposite of “perfect” isn’t as hard as some may think. Glancing at the situations of some third world countries can provide an idea of the basics to building a society where the human condition is less than great or the rules to manage the masses are strict to the point of ludicrous.

For Beacon, I wanted to go with something more dualistic. I started with a country in ruins: the devastated land of the former United States of America after natural disasters turned the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains into the new east and west coasts. This, I call The Fold. With this as my foundation, I decided to zoom in on one nook of the country. The Colony pursues the title of a utopian society. Registered citizens have places to live, food to eat, and receive schooling… as long as they follow all of The Colony’s rules, including only wearing Colony designated clothing and sunset curfews. And to do all of this without asking questions.

Yet even within the walls of this perceived-to-be-perfect society, the dystopian angle exists. Unregistered citizens are shuffled aside, left to fend for themselves. In the township of New Festus where Macie (the main character) lives, the unregistered must hunt for their food, sow their own clothes or use leftovers of Colony rejected fashions Only the jobs The Colony deemed unfit for registered citizens or that required additional labor were/are available to unregistered. As for how the laws are applied to unregistered, well, all depends on the whims of the authority figure since they aren’t registered citizens.

Even in a duplicitous society as The Colony with all its rules, some things can’t be kept down. In Beacon, Macie’s best friend isn’t another registered citizen. She’s too odd, asks too many questions and only an unregistered boy takes on the job of being the shoulder she can cry on during moments when wishing her missing parents would come became too much. Their friendship wasn’t forbidden, but anything more could not be, not as long as Macie remained a registered citizen. Macie had big plans to change her status when she graduated high school. But plans are like promises, sometimes made to be broken.

You can find out more about Macie’s waylaid plans and what she discovers behind The Colony’s smoke and mirrors in Beacon, my YA urban fantasy dystopian.

Excerpt One:

“We’re not kids anymore, Macie. You’ve learned what little The Colony had to say about the vampeer, wights and devil spawn. There’s something else they’ve hidden from you. From all registered citizens. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time why we met. Just how special you really are. But you won’t want to be my friend anymore once you know the truth. Losing you would be…”

Words trickled from my mouth unfiltered. “I, what do you mean I wouldn’t…”

He turned to me, chewing his bottom lip. The last time he did that was the day I broke first blood.

We were playing at knight warriors, a favorite of ours since we were kids. I thrust my wooden sword forward. It clattered to the ground as I doubled over from a sharp spasm in my stomach. I tried to shoo Thane away, deal with the pain on my own. But, noticing the grimace on my face – I really tried hard to be quiet, but I cried out anyway – he wouldn’t have it. When he glanced at my yellow cargo pants, he chewed his bottom lip, eyes wide. My gaze trailed down to the bloody mess I’d become. My face couldn’t have flashed hotter if I set it on fire.

Now he was doing it again, chewing his bottom lip. What could he possibly have to say? He opened his mouth to speak when the tent flap ripped away. We jerked our heads around to face a tall being covered in shaggy, brown fur from scalp to hoof. A shadowy glow encircled it like a dirty aura. Two arms protruded from both sides. Jagged teeth crowded its mouth. Drool leaked down its chin. Reptilian eyes shone bright white with a red slit down the middle. One set of eyelids blinked side to side as the second set followed up and down. It snarled, spat and drooled some more. My bladder felt one moment away from losing it.

About the Author

Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, Angela now calls Central Texas home. She’s a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy and paranormal to contemporary – mostly young adult – fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6476148.Angela_Brown

Angela Brown in the Pursuit of Publishness blog: http://publishness.blogspot.com/

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Angela-Brown/e/B009JJEX60

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaLBrownWrites

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALBrownwrites

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by my tour spot for Beacon by Angela Brown. Be sure to enter the giveaway above, then click the tour banner at the top of this post. You can see the schedule and visit other blogs for reviews, excerpts, guest posts and more.

Related Posts