From the Desk of...

...author L.M. Preston!

Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog. I'd love to tell you about what I'm working on.

It’s been a busy year for me. My debut, MG novel Explorer X – Alpha hit the shelves in Febuary of this year and The Pack, my YA series about a teenaged blind vigilante comes out this August. My new YA series, Bandits comes out next spring followed by the sequel to Explorer X in the fall. Here’s some tidbits about the exciting new books I have coming out.

The Pack comes out Aug. 1st, 2010.

There were several things that influenced the idea of The Pack. I had originally planned for this character to be a male. I had told my beta team (my kids and husband) about this idea I had about a blind vigilante that organizes a group of misfit kids to fight against a major crime organization on Mars.

My daughter told me that she wanted me to write about a female main character. That it would be cool to have a girl in the role. I smiled and Shamira’s face appeared in my mind’s eye.

I decided that her mission would be to save missing kids, because I wanted to write about missing kids escaping from captivity. Every day at my job, I passed a board of missing children. My heart went out to them, and I always hurt for their loss. Once a former colleague who’d been a police officer told me of a horrible case where he had located missing kids that were captured and being used in despicable ways by their captors who had enslaved them for years before disposing of them. These sad facts were the makings of The Pack.

It is a two-book series that I truly enjoyed writing. It’s aimed at kids 14yrs and up. It has adventure, twist and romance all in one. The true adventure is the building of trust and true friendship that empowers Shamira to become the champion she was meant to be. I’m currently writing the sequel, THE PACK – Retribution due out in 2012.

Bandits, a YA Scifi adventure novel with a twist of romance comes out Spring 2011.

Bandits, the first in a two book series, is about a teenaged boy who was raised as a thief and mercenary by his renowned father. His relationship with his father was strained due to his father’s refusal to continue his role as a leader of the Zukar. With his father’s murder, he discovers that his father snatched, then hid a treasure that is not only worth killing for – but holds a power beyond mortal control. He sets out with his brother and friends to find the treasure before his father’s murderer does. His time is running out as the killer closes in, and the price to stop the inevitable destruction of his world becomes higher than he could ever pay.

My first novel, Explorer X - Alpha, just came out a few months ago and the sequel, Explorer X – Beta, comes out Fall 2011.

Explorer X-Beta is the second book in the Explorer X series and will be full of surprises. The world I created for this book has me excited. This will ultimately be a four book series that will come to a climatic end that is so unpredictable yet powerful. I can’t wait. I’ve outlined the entire series and am finishing up the first draft of Explorer X-Beta, which is scheduled to come out Fall of 2011. In Explorer X-Beta, Aadi realizes that it’s okay to make mistakes, that leaning on your friends make you stronger, and that people are not always what they seem. I’ll give you a hint, he’s on his way to save Dakota and Carter, but in doing so, unveils something about the species in which he and the others were created from. The depth of the deception of TECRC becomes more obvious, and the burgeoning power of each character comes to the surface.

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Thanks so much for stopping by Lanita. I can definitely see why the kids in THE PACK were so strong-willed and independent. Thank you for sharing your inspiration for the story and for letting everyone know what you're working on. I'm looking forward to reading more of your work and getting my hands on a copy of the sequel to THE PACK.
 
Make sure to check out my review if you haven't already!
 

Explorer X- Alpha

 

 

The Pack

***Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a chance to win a copy of THE PACK along with some other goodies!***