This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.
Brenda Marie Smith will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
GENRE: Sci-fi, Science Fiction (post-apocalyptic)
Description of If The Light Escapes
IF THE LIGHT ESCAPES,
A BRAVING THE LIGHT NOVEL
By Brenda Marie Smith
A standalone sequel to IF DARKNESS TAKES US
A solar electromagnetic pulse fried the U.S. grid. Now northern lights are in Texas—3,000 miles farther south than where they belong. The universe won’t stop screwing with 18-year-old Keno Simms. All that’s left for him and his broken family is farming their Austin subdivision, trying to eke out a living on poor soil in the scorching heat.
Keno’s one solace is his love for Alma, who has her own secret sorrows. When he gets her pregnant, he vows to keep her alive no matter what. Yet armed marauders and nature itself collude against him, forcing him to make choices that rip at his conscience. IF THE LIGHT ESCAPES is post-apocalyptic science fiction set in a near-future reality, a coming-of-age story told in the voice of a heroic teen who’s forced into manhood too soon.
Read an Excerpt of If The Light Escapes
OPENING LINES:
Bright green lights stream and pulse across the northern sky all night now, growing from thin and wispy to bold and fat, expanding, contracting, sending out bands of yellow streamers like they’re partying on ecstasy at some cosmic rave. The lights are pretty, and they’re hypnotic, and they creep me out to the core.
Northern lights every night for two solid weeks in Texas. Halfway to the equator from where they belong. They’re supposed to be a phenomenon tied to the magnetic poles—it’s a scientific fact.
Nothing is right about this. The only explanation I can think of is that the north and south poles are shifting. I don’t know what that means for the planet and the future of its creatures. We don’t have TVs or talking-head scientists to tell us…
The universe just won’t stop f**king with us.
Today, I’m hoeing corn in our front yard, sweat stinging my eyes. It’s blistering hot out here—early December in what used to be high-tech Austin, until the … sun zapped us with an electromagnetic pulse and took our power, our cars, the damned running water. It stopped pretty much everything—everything modern, that is.
It’s been fourteen months, and all the front yards in our subdivision are mini-cornfields now. We grow beans and veggies in the backyards. It’s a desperate attempt to keep us alive when our food stockpiles run out. Don’t know if it will work, but I’m doing my damnedest to make sure it does.
About Author Brenda Marie Smith
Brenda Marie Smith lived off the grid for many years in a farming collective where her sons were delivered by midwives. She’s been a community activist, managed student housing co-ops, produced concerts to raise money for causes, done massive quantities of bookkeeping, and raised a small herd of teenage boys.
Brenda is attracted to stories where everyday characters transcend their limitations to find their inner heroism. She and her husband reside in a grid-connected, solar-powered home in South Austin, Texas. They have more grown kids and grandkids than they can count.
Social Media:
Website: https://brendamariesmith.com/
Blog: https://brendamariesmith.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrendaMarieSmithAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bsmithnovelist
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJlLSnORIyoaygvZ1j49ZKw
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58043963-if-the-light-escapes?ac=1#
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/If-Light-Escapes-Braving-Novel-ebook/dp/B09CMZZRKZ/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-the-light-escapes-brenda-marie-smith/1140037562
BookPeople: https://www.bookpeople.com/book/9781970137224
Brenda Marie Smith will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Goddess Fish Promotions
November 4, 2021 at 11:26 amThank you for hosting today!
Brenda Marie Smith
November 4, 2021 at 1:17 pmThanks so much for hosting me and my book today. Makes me happy.
Deborah Bailey
November 4, 2021 at 1:23 pmWelcome back to the blog, Brenda! Great to have you here today.
Brenda Marie Smith
November 4, 2021 at 5:24 pmThank you, Deborah. It’s very sweet of you to host me here.
Sherry
November 4, 2021 at 7:00 pmThis book looks like a great read!
Brenda Marie Smith
November 4, 2021 at 7:06 pmThank you, Sherry. I hope you get a chance to read it.
Eva Millien
November 4, 2021 at 10:53 pmI enjoyed reading the excerpt, Brenda and your book sounds like my kind of book! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a great day!
Brenda Marie Smith
November 5, 2021 at 12:49 amThank you, Eva. I appreciate that. I’m more than happy to share it. I hope you can get a chance to read it.
Athena Graeme
November 5, 2021 at 1:42 amI love that description of the northern lights
Brenda Marie Smith
November 5, 2021 at 3:06 amThank you. I rewrote it several times before I got there. I’m glad that you like it.
Piroska
November 5, 2021 at 5:11 pmThe book sounds fascinating! I love the cover.
Brenda Marie Smith
November 6, 2021 at 4:19 amThanks, Piroska. I appreciate that. Olivia Hammerman is the most excellent cover artist.
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November 5, 2021 at 11:47 pmOqjAwPNJWG
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November 5, 2021 at 11:48 pmJQdKbkxVa