Excerpt & #Giveaway – Not So Wicked by T. A. Moorman @GothicMoms #Vampires #YA #Paranormal #NewRelease
Not So Wicked by T. A. Moorman
Published October 30, 2018 by GothicMoms Studios
YA Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Synopsis
Caught in a realm they know next to nothing about, in a time where they’re hated for not what they are but how they look, these supernatural teens may find it harder to curve their bloodlust than they thought.
Like most teens, even those with supernatural powers and abilities, Elvira thinks that her days at Be Prepared High are a colossal waste of time. Especially Feeding 101, since she’s a cursed vampire that was born without fangs. She and her friends view most of the classes as useless since they never plan on venturing to the human realm. Why would they when Underlayes was made specifically for every factions’ safety, where they could roam free day or night with not a care in the worlds.
But just like her parents always told her, sometimes you’re put into situations you can’t control.
Elvira’s life takes an unexpected turn when a wizard hell bent on misplaced revenge kidnaps her and several of her friends. Not only does she send them with a one-way ticket to Detroit, Michigan, she sends them to a time when the tension amongst the races is at its highest. And having to deal with race issues is the one thing that has never even been so much as a thought to any of them and is the one course not on the roster.
But will everything they’ve learned in school be enough to keep them alive? What will they all do when racism stares them in the face? Most importantly, how will they get back home?
Books 2 Read
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Once upon a time… Really? I’m not starting my story off with that lame ass cliché. Fat chance. Not when my story is anything but classic. You can think of this as the life and times of a teenage vampire. A real one, not one that sparkles as though we were sprinkled with some type of fairy dust. Oh! And we’re born, not made by just being bitten, consuming blood from another vampire, or any other legend you may have researched somewhere. The bitten one is the most ridiculous theory any of us have ever heard of. I mean really, think about it, if everyone ever bitten by a vampire were to turn into one how could they ever go back for seconds on the same victim, er donor? Could you imagine how large the vampire population would be? Anyway, you wanna hear my story? Just sit back, grab a pint of blood, or milk, and have a listen.
First off, I don’t live in your dimension, I live in a separate one called Underlayes. Where the things that go bump in the night – werewolves, vampires, mermaids, sirens, witches, and so much more – truly are real. Underlayes has regular neighborhoods just like Earth does, we don’t live in a ton of dug out caves, or cryptic looking castles; besides the royals anyway. We used to live amongst you guys, but that was way before my time, and a story way too long and boring for me to bother with repeating. Just know that we all truly do exist and a very few of our number walk alongside you still. So, you may want to think about that before you lay down at night after bullying the school nerd or your shy co-worker. If they’re the silent and quiet type they’re more than possibly plotting your untimely demise and deciding what side-dish you’d go best with. Or what curse to place on you. Something my Mom should have thought about a long, long time ago.
Me? The names Elvira, yea, Mom and Pops have a sick and twisted sense of humor. Which when you come to think of it is actually a very good thing, since Mom was dumb enough to piss off a witch when she was preggers with me and my brother, Dracula (yup, again with the humor), Drake for short. During one of her many mood swings dear old Mom went completely off on an already pissed off witch; something about the witch crossing in front of her, and Mom thinking that would make us come out cross eyed (and you thought your mom was superstitious, Ha!). Miss Witch decided to do her one better and really did curse us both. I was granted with the gift of being the only vampire known of with NO FANGS! Since Underlayes doesn’t have hospitals bagged blood isn’t exactly just lying around. Why not just bite down extra hard you say? Probably because that leaves a big chunk of meat in my mouth and vampires can’t digest meat; we have a strictly all liquid diet. Why not just slit someone’s wrist and pour it in a cup you ask? If you were on an all liquid diet, would one glass a day keep your hunger pains at bay? NO! And draining someone completely dry doesn’t work either, unlike how they portray things in your human movies, blood clots up pretty quickly when it hits air; unless pumped up with nasty anti-coagulants which leave a horrible aftertaste and makes the blood nearly impossible to digest. So the blood shortage on your neck of the veil? Feel free to blame that on us, Mom and Dad had to feed us somehow during the experimental processes of properly bagging and storing the blood the way humans do. But no worries, they haven’t had to raid your neck of the realms in a long time now. The alchemist’s studied the components your scientists used and now have it down pact.
I’m not really sure if Drake’s curse is worst or pretty much just as bad. Him? He goes into a full-blown shock at the very sight of blood; fainting spells, seizures, black outs, the works. Though lucky for him rarely all of those at once. Lucky for Mom and Dad, he could still at least savor the taste and smell of it. But talk about being seriously dependent upon someone else, hard to nourish yourself when you can’t even look at your food. And as a baby? You try putting a blindfold on an infant, especially one with fangs, and let me know how well that works out for you. Ah, but it made for some fangtastic pranks when I was thirteen, which also ended in a lot of punishments. But they were so worth it!
So that’s us, Elvie and Drake, two of the only known vampires forced to live on bagged blood. Though Drake may get lucky one day and be able to savor a neck or two, as long as he keeps his eyes shut tight and doesn’t dribble.
Can’t we just break the curse you ask? Ask Aunt Flo that one. Did I fail to mention the witch in question was, and still is Mom’s best friend? She’s also a witch with more power than she can handle who needs to watch what she says at ALL times. The curse was supposedly never intentional and trying to undo it has proven pretty much impossible.
Mom, Trinity Alkaev, is a beautiful creature with a body neither skinny nor large, but what one describes as buxom perfection. Also, one of the most patient females you will ever meet, and a truly ferocious beast, fangs and all, when pissed. Dad, Borya Alkaev, is the strong not so silent type, with a chiseled chin and sculpted cheekbones in which I heard would give Michaelangelo a run for his money. Born after the creation of Underlayes, he’s only two hundred years old, so I never understood how he ended up with such a thick accent as if he just left the great Motherland of Russia. The exact opposite of Mom when it comes to patience, but the best dad any set of unorthodox twins could ask for. Neither of them were an only child, but both are the youngest and only surviving children from both of their respective lines. Many died before the dimension of Underlayes was made, some during the move. And Aunt Flo, I’m not even getting into that one. And as far as looks go Drake and I are a perfect combination of the two, with the exception of the fact that I have no fangs.
THUD. CRASH. SCREAM.
What in Hel’s name was that?
“Elvira Esfir Alkaev!” Moms blood-curling screams vibrated through the floorboards, “How many times do I need to tell you not to leave your blood bags lying around? Get down here and help me clean up this mess. And carry your brother to his room!”
Well there you have it, the usual beginning of a day in the house of Alkaev.
“Now young lady!”
About the Author
When you become a Mom, you begin to put yourself last, and your combat boots begin to collect dust. Going to your child’s PTA meetings in full Gothic, especially industrial, regalia is pretty much frowned upon. Especially by your own children, and your teens would die of a heart attack. But, one should not have to completely stop being themselves, uniqueness is greatness. So all of that darkness is put into words in her books, and designs in her jewelry sold in her Gothic Moms Dark Charms shop on Etsy and Rebels Market.
Single mother of five beautiful children, but by far more than just that. T. A. Moorman is an artist, a former violinist, a seamstress, a crafter, a writer, a blogger, a reviewer, a dark confidant and a darkly dangerous, fiercely protective friend. She still hopes to one day find her Dark Knight in shining armor, since Prince Charming would never be able to handle her. And currently broke, so go buy something of hers and tell everyone you know how much you love this book.
sherry fundin
Love that cover. Thanks for sharing the excerpt.
sherry @ fundinmental