Wattpad Block Party - Winter Edition III

StoryofAshlyn Presents: A Story to Write & A Story to Share

StoryofAshlyn Presents: A Storyto Write & A Story to ShareHello and welcome: the Wattpad Block Party strikes again! It's an honorto be included among such incredible writers, readers, imagination-weavers anddream-chasers. I'm back with a special announcement and a NEVER BEFORE SEENlook at the BRAND-NEW version of STAINED GLASS SOULS. I have the privilege of sharing my work with you on both Wattpad, and nowRadish. If you haven't heard of Radish, it's a site that allows authors to makemoney – and even a living – out of their passions while bringing fresh contentto their readers across multiple platforms. For a while now I've been tinkeringwith an edited version of SGS, but something didn't feel quite right. Thepieces didn't fit together. While I'm still struggling with the finer detailsand the coffee-chair-write routine, I've pleased to present a fresh look at myYA novel. It's the book I wanted to read, three years ago, but couldn't find – thebook I wanted to write, but the story I didn't have the strength or grace totell properly.Check out the excerpt below and let me know what you think. Curious? Wantto read more? Follow me on Wattpad and stay tuned for announcements as to whenthe first four chapters will be going live on Radish. (Around February.) In themeantime, thanks for dropping by, and enjoy! #Teaser: Chapter 1: Ariel

Saturday, Week 1

My mother found me lying on the bathroom floor, hipbones lurking craters in the downturned bowl of stomach, ribs, and skin. Fist of black hair tangled around my fingers. Dye and bruises staining my knuckles, purple flowers blossoming into crimson, green, and brown against my white-scarred elbows, ankles, the backs of my knees.

Geo – cold hands at my throat, nails scratching hair back from my temples, flashlight bright as the crack and flare of a flame against my pupils – Geo, she's not – I don't think she's breathing, oh god, oh god, oh god, she isn't breathing –

My father, lumbering up the stairs: slow down Sara, I've got the toaster rattling like a goddamn alarm clock and the neighbors are pointing their hose at our kitchen window, the nerve, I have to work, I have to –

Silence. I remember nothing after this point, all though I recall the faintest details. The flicker of a pale, compressed face. Blue and red lights sliding over my skin, firework shadows reflected back through the night. Bumping, rattling, whining, the screech and whistle of metal doors sliding open, the swish of ER doors sliding shut.

And light: so much light, when all I wanted to see was warm, soft darkness.

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The disappearing act I pulled in June – twist the faucets, crank up the steam, slip on the tiles, whoops, we all fall down – earned me a trip to three months of in-patient. Nurses watched me pee and brush my teeth; nurses handed me pills in plastic cups and shots of Ensure for breakfast, lunch, dinner; nurses kept their eyes fastened to me in the shower, around silverware, every time I folded my arms over my chest and spilled my guts in group therapy. Not speaking marked me as a loose cannon, so I talked about my vainglorious older sister and some shitty make-believe boyfriend who told me I wasn't good enough.

I lied my way up the front steps inside and back out again.

Both parents became more interested in my life than they had when I was lead soloist, burgeoning McDonald's employee, problem math student, or part-time daydreamer. Calories in, calories out. Twenty-four seven watches eased to twelve. Six. Three.

It was all going according to plan, until:

My cousin, Randall, had to go and die on me.

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Ashlyn, @StoryofAshlyn, is a two-time Wattys winner for her novels STAINED GLASS SOULS (2014) and THE EYES OF SEPTEMBER (2015). She's also a student, blogger, coffee enthusiast, 90s TV addict, and advocate for body positivity & eating disorder recovery.

Follow her on Facebook (Story of Ashlyn) / Twitter (@StoryofAshlyn)

STAINED GLASS SOULS Trailer:

Don't forget to enter her giveaway! The winner receives a dedication in one chapter of STAINED GLASS SOULS and a shout-out on Wattpad and all social media channels.

                   

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P.S. Don't forget to enter the 130+ #WattpadBlockParty Giveaways! Clickable links are at the top of my Wattpad profile! :)

GIVEAWAY LINK ONE:

http://kellyanneblountauthor.blogspot.com/2017/01/giveaways-for-wattpad-block-party_31.html

GIVEAWAY LINK TWO (with Widgets):

http://kellyanneblountauthor.blogspot.com/2017/01/giveaways-with-widgets-for-wattpad.html