Serenity Valle-author, supporting fellow authors, game creators and more...one blog post at a time!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

No Happily Ever After & Wonder Never. Amanda Gatton




Amanda Gatton is an author of young adult horror fiction.  Currently, the author is working on a series entitled "The Enveloping" which is an apocalyptic story.  Additionally, Gatton will soon be releasing another dystopian series called, "The Encyclopedia of Witches."  In Gatton's telling of the end of the world, only witches survive the zombie infestation.  Amanda Gatton also writes adult fiction under the pen name, M Jet.  Those titles include some horror, romance, and LGBT.

Currently, Gatton's series "The Fairytale Diaries" is available on Amazon for Kindle and in print.  This is a two part series for young adults (high school) readers, but is appropriate for all audiences.  The books are modernized retellings of a number of the most loved fairytales, in which the characters are modern teenagers in the town of Faraway, Washington.  The twisted tale of the rebooted intermingling fairytale characters is told in the chilling style of Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and other classic fairytale masters.  In addition to the two novels, there is a third part, which is an art journal and coloring book of creepy fairy tale renderings, available for $7.99 on Amazon.



The town of Faraway, Washington is buried under a particularly harsh winter.  Teenagers in attendance at Faraway Senior High find themselves restless, bored, and experiencing a myriad of problems ranging from mild to extreme.  Cailyn Pure discovers her father involved in an adulterous affair with a wicked woman who is obsessed with apples.  Ella Cinder is victimized by her evil foster mother Thelma Dark, and Thelma's ugly twin biological daughters.  Aspen Briar finds herself once again on the verge of being uprooted and moved by her parents who are constantly on the run from a mysterious woman from their past.  Stella Rampion is ever smothered by parents who consider her their miracle baby; only conceived once her mother consumed a supposed "magical" flower.  Her parents are so overprotective; she's never even been allowed to cut her hair.  Zoe Locke feels neglected and ignored, so much so that she begins breaking and entering in and around Faraway; just for kicks.

Enter the three Bars. 

One night, on the cusp of a blizzard, Zoe burglarizes the fairytale like home of the uber wealthy Bar family.  What she discovers in their basement sends her into a terrified frenzy, especially when the family unexpectedly returns while she is still inside the home.  She breaks her leg while escaping, and is eventually apprehended by Officer Hook.  Zoe Locke is sent to juvenile detention and nobody believes her desperate pleas to investigate the Bars.  Unfortunately, the oversight on the part of local law enforcement will cost many lives, and the disappearances of numerous Faraway teens.  A series of dastardly events is triggered by Zoe's infraction that will bring the town of Faraway to its knees.  All involved will learn, there is no happily ever after.



Josh Cross has finally escaped his frightening roots in Faraway Washington.  Thanks to kind carnies from Carnaval de le Nuit, he has been warmly welcomed into their fold and has blossomed completely from the ugly duckling he once was.

Several months have passed since he obsessed over the rash of murders and disappearances back home.  The carnival has traveled around from show to show, touring tirelessly and has collectively decided to spend an entire month set up in Enchantica, Louisiana.  Upon arrival, Josh finds himself enthralled with the town, the weather, and the beautiful scenery.  At first opportunity, he takes off to explore his new surroundings.

Faraway is the furthest thing from his mind, but the memories come rushing back when he finds himself face to face with someone he knows to be missing and presumed dead from his hometown.  She claims her name is Alice, but he knows that she is lying.  He can tell she recognizes him too and suspects she is being held against her will.

A small hyperactive man with tufts of white hair demands that Alice come with him, and the pair disappears into a thick swampy forest.  Fearing for "Alice's" safety, Josh follows.  Deep in the forest, a shocking secret is revealed to Josh; a secret so terrifying he wants nothing more than to convince himself it is all a terrible nightmare.

Anything but a dream, the horror triggered by Josh's discovery is all too real.  Just like that, he is once again thrown into darkness in a land as fantastical and fearsome as any Wonderland or Never Never Land ever could be.

Follow Amanda Gatton:


...you can't take the books from me...
Serenity

No comments:

Post a Comment