Title: Fading into the Shadows
Author: Kelly Hashway
Genre: Young Adult
Release Day: January 16, 2017
Blog Tour: January 23 - 29
About Fading into the Shadows
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Fading Into the
Shadows Excerpt
I had to figure out what this place was and find someone who
could help me get home. I had no clue if Avery was really here either, but I
wasn’t going to find out staying in one spot.
Keeping my head down to shield my eyes from the sun, I
climbed over the boulders to an area filled with bare trees. If it were winter,
this wouldn’t have been weird. But it was July. The trees should’ve been green
and full of leaves. These trees were blackened like they’d been burned. I
looked up at their singed branches and saw an enormous pair of eyes staring
back at me.
“Oh!” I stumbled backward, tripping over a pointed rock, and
did the exact opposite of a belly flop onto a large boulder. My spine felt like
someone had taken a hammer to it, but I was grateful I hadn’t hit my head. I
sat up slowly, and that’s when I noticed the sky. Or should I say, the sky
noticed me?
Even though it was night, the stars weren’t twinkling lights
shining down on me. They were actual living, breathing forms. All the
constellations were figures in the sky. Solid figures. A bull, which I guessed
was Taurus. A goat for Capricorn. And some other constellations that weren’t
exactly alive but were still objects, a crown or a shield, instead of stars. I
stared at them in amazement. Sure stars were beautiful and I watched them every
night before I fell asleep, but this was seriously awesome. As a kid, I always
daydreamed about playing in the clouds, and it kind of looked like that was
what these constellations were doing here. I forced my eyes to get used to the
brightness as I studied the figures.
By the arrow pointing in my direction, I knew it was Sagittarius,
the archer, staring at me through the branches of the tree. He held his bow
firmly, but he smiled at me. I couldn’t help staring at him. I’d seen pictures
of centaurs in Greek mythology books and in movies, but that was nothing
compared to seeing this larger than life image hovering above me in the
heavens. Sagittarius had thick, dark wavy hair and a beard that perfectly
matched his long flowing tail. He looked like he was solid muscle, both his
human upper body and his horse lower half.
He raised his right hoof slightly in front of him, and I got
the impression he was trying to wave to me. I wasn’t about to offend a guy
pointing an arrow at me, so I gave a small wave in return. I checked out the
rest of the sky. Amazing! Like someone plucked creatures and people and other
things right off the ground and placed them in the sky. I was so mesmerized by
the constellations that the sound of rocks falling behind me didn’t register as
possible danger until it got so loud I knew I was in trouble. Something was
coming toward me. Something big.
About Kelly Hashway
Kelly Hashway grew up reading R.L. Stein’s Fear Street novels and writing stories of her own, so it was no surprise to her family when she majored in English and later obtained a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching middle school language arts for seven years, Hashway went back to school and focused specifically on writing. She is now the author of three young adult series, one middle grade series, and several picture books. She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Ashelyn Drake. When she isn’t writing, Hashway works as a freelance editor for small presses as well as for her own list of clients. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering with the PTO. Hashway currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets.
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