If The Light Escapes

 

 

If The Light Escapes

by Brenda Marie Smith

Sci-fi (post-apocalyptic)



A standalone sequel to IF DARKNESS TAKES US

A solar electromagnetic pulse fried the U.S. grid fourteen months ago. Everything’s gone: power, cars, running water, communications, all governing control and help—gone. Now northern lights have started in Texas—3,000 miles farther south than where they belong. The universe won’t stop screwing with eighteen-year-old Keno Simms.

All that’s left for Keno, his family and neighbors is farming their Austin subdivision, trying to eke out a living on poor soil in the scorching heat. Keno’s still reeling from the the death of his pregnant sister. His beloved Nana is ill, Grandpa’s always brandishing weapons, and water is far too scarce. Desperate thieves are hemming them in, yet he can’t convince his uncle and other adults to take action against the threat.

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 at every turn, forcing him to make choices that rip at his conscience. If he can’t protect Alma and their unborn child, it will be the end of Keno’s world.

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.


Excerpt

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 the Author


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 own 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.

Her first novel, Something Radiates, is a paranormal romantic thriller; If Darkness Takes Us and its sequel, If the Light Escapes, are post-apocalyptic science fiction.


Social Media:

Website

Twitter: @bsmithnovelist

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Goodreads


Buy links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

BookPeople Austin


GIVEAWAY

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Comments

  1. Brenda Marie Smith is a fairly new author to me. I have read 1 of her books, and I really enjoyed it.

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    1. Thank you, Audrey, for reading the book. It makes me happy to know that you enjoyed it. All my best to you.

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  2. Sounds like a very interesting book. I love the excerpt and the cover.

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    1. Thank you, Anita. Olivia Hammerman is the mega-talented cover artist, and I'm so lucky that she's done the covers for both books in this series. Glad you liked the excerpt as well.

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  3. Replies
    1. Thank you, Nancy. Olivia Hammerman is the artist. I'm enthralled with her work.

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  4. Great cover for this post-apocalyptic read. I enjoyed the excerpt

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    1. Thank you, Katie. I feel so fortunate to have Olivia Hammerman as the cover artist. I'm glad that you liked the excerpt.

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  5. Thank you so much for hosting me and my book today. I'm sorry to be late getting here. Things happened, lol. But I'm really looking forward to chatting with your readers and I appreciate you.

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  6. Thanks for hosting another great book!

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  7. Oooh soon as I saw this with the Northern lights it grabbed my attention - it sounds fun, just like the author! Wow!

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    1. True story. I didn't think of adding the Northern Lights until a late draft of the book. Sure glad I thought of it. Don't know where the idea came from, but I liked it as soon as it came to me.

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  8. Scary times to lose all power like that.

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    1. Yes, indeed. We got a small taste of it when we lost power for 3.5 days in single-digit temperatures this past February. It was scary, and luckily I knew what to do because I lived off the grid for years in the seventies. It was eerie using the same skills as the characters in the book do.

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  9. If Light Escapes sounds really good. Thanks for sharing an excerpt!

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    1. Thanks for saying that, Elizabeth. Glad you liked the excerpt.

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  10. I like the blurb. Thanks for the chance.

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  11. It's been fun chatting with you all today. Thanks again for the opportunity. Wishing all of you the very best!

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  12. Keno and Alma are prisoners in a world gone terribly wrong. This science fiction novel combines interesting characters with a mind blowing plot.

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