Yesterday's Gone
Yesterday's Gone
by Kelly Pawlik
young adult horror sci-fi
Book one of the Olympic Vista Chronicles novella series follows Darius and Adelaide as they explore a house rumoured to be haunted. What they find is so much worse.
An eager new kid, a deadpan music-lover, a fast-talking troublemaker, an anxious bookworm and a girl torn between popularity and adventure. Follow this group of friends as they delve into the mysteries of their small town while juggling the trials and tribulations of their home lives.
A tale of friendship, love, and coming of age (with a healthy dose of horror) in the late 1980s.
Excerpt:
Darius glanced over at Adelaide. She looked out toward the playground. “So, I heard this place is weird,” he said. “Because of The Link.”
Adelaide’s gaze was still on the playground. Tetsu shrugged. Sophie flicked her hair over her shoulder and smiled.
“They do a lot of experiments there, I guess,” Kurt said. “They say it doesn’t affect us and there’s a lot of safety protocols in place. Between you and me, though,” Kurt said, leaning in, “it’s full of commies. They are the real threat.”
“Come on, Kurt,” Sophie said as she rolled her eyes.
Kurt pursed his lips and looked at the ground. “That’s what my dad says.”
“No one believes that. And the other stuff is just rumours,” Tetsu said. “Got nothin’ to do with commies or Nazis. It’s just some stupid science building and observatory.”
“What about the haunted house?” Darius had thought about it nonstop since he’d heard about it yesterday. He wanted to ask Dillon or the twin boys more about it, but he hadn’t seen them at the school. “Have you guys ever gone there?”
“What haunted house?” Adelaide’s eyes flicked back to him.
“The one on Hyacinth Street. It isn’t far from where I live.” Darius liked her eyes on him.
“That’s a really nice area,” Sophie cooed.
Darius shuffled a step away from Sophie. Unlike with Adelaide, he didn’t like how she looked at him.
“I was going to check it out.” Darius ran his hand through his hair, and looked back at Adelaide. “Tonight.”
Adelaide cocked her head and looked at him. “I’m in.”
Darius grinned.
About the Author
Kelly Pawlik dabbled with story writing from a young age. She spent her childhood reading, dressing her beloved cat, Midnight, up in doll clothes and hunting garter snakes in the backyard. Her childhood dream was to be an author and she is proud to have made her fiction debut with the Olympic Vista Chronicles novellas.
Kelly is a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) writer and has released multiple RPG supplements with her husband under their micro-publishing company, Dire Rugrat Publishing. She has also contributed to several best-selling works with Kobold Press.
Kelly lives on Vancouver Island, BC with her husband, their three inquisitive children, and two lazy cats.
Q&A With the Author
When did you first consider yourself to be a writer?
I thought I was a writer a long time ago, but I didn’t share my writing with very many people. I think I’ve been a writer since high school, or perhaps even long before that when I tried to write stories and couldn’t spell half the words so I’d beg my older half-brother to write it out for me. I think anyone can be a writer, but I loved the thrill of taking the big step of publishing this novella as it means I can call myself a published author!
What advice do you have for a new writer?
Write. Read. Edit. Practice.
Read books in your genre, read books outside your genre, read books on writing.
And just write.
What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
I love writing the dialogue and I find it often flows very well. The kids have these strong personalities and they feel very real to me, so their interactions with the world, and with each other, are often easy to write. It’s like having a conversation with a good friend!
What is your favorite part of this story?
My favourite parts are how Darius handles the strange news. It isn’t just his excitement when he hears about the haunted house and his eagerness to go inside it, but the way he interacts with his new friends when they find trouble. There is this great scene around the middle of the book where some of the friends are scrambling to come to terms with something they encounter, and Darius’ reaction always makes me laugh.
Which Character was the most fun to write about? Why?
Darius! He is so enthusiastic and eager. I love his passion for adventure, his excitement about Olympic Vista, and his love for Adelaide.
Which Character was the hardest to write about? Why?
Kurt can be hard to write about. He is a great character, and I love him for so many reasons, but he has his own trouble in his homelife. I want to do them justice and handle those issues carefully.
You can follow Kelly on:
Facebook: kellypawlikauthor
Instagram: kellypawlikauthor
Twitter: @KellyPawlik84 or visit her website at olympicvistapublishing.com
FREE SHORT STORY: Sign up to receive Kelly’s newsletter and get access to sneak peeks of upcoming novellas, behind the scenes information and other exclusive content. PLUS, you’ll get “Snow Day,” a short story set in the Olympic Vista Chronicles universe, right away! Sign up now.
Yesterday's Gone is free for the length of this book tour so pick up a copy today!
GIVEAWAY
Kelly Pawlik will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Q&A and the excerpt, Kelly! Yesterday's Gone sounds like a thrilling read and I can't wait to get started following Darius and Adelaide on their adventures! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a spectacular holiday season!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yesterday's Gone is free for a limited time, so it's the perfect time to jump into the series. Happy reading!
DeleteThank you so much for hosting me on this tour!
ReplyDeleteIf any one has any questions or comments, I'll be checking in throughout the day.
Thank you for sharing your Q&A and for the heads-up about the book being free currently, I have purchased my copy and added the others to my wish-list. Do you have any more stories planned for the series?
ReplyDeleteHi Bea! Adelaide and Darius have many more adventures in store. I'm currently working on book four in the series and hope to have it out early next year. Thanks so much for your interest and for picking up Yesterday's Gone. Hopefully someone will treat you to the other books over the holidays :)
DeleteThank you for responding to my comment. I am glad to hear that there will be more stories, I love a long series with a group of characters that I can stay with for a while
DeleteThen I think you'll like the Olympic Vista Chronicles :)
DeleteOooh sounds like my type of book!.thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Katrina! If you'd like to give Yesterday's Gone a read, you can pick it up for free right now. Happy reading!
DeleteAn interesting Q & A. Dialogue is all important.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, Mary! Dialogue is super important. I think there's some pretty fun back and forth between the kids in these books, and it really helps to shape the character.
DeleteI really like the cover and the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteWant to know a secret, Sherry? This is version two of the cover and I'm still torn between which one to use!
DeleteWe used to have a phone like the on on the cover in our kitchen when I was growing up. It was pink tho and had a really long cord
ReplyDeleteWeren't those old phones something? Did you ever twist the cord around your finger while you were talking on the phone?
DeleteIt's a wonder anyone even remembers what the landline phones looked like--and I suspect the idea of a party line would completely blow the minds of younger people now!
ReplyDeleteHa! That is very true. It's crazy to think about how different phones are now compared to the 80s. The Olympic Vista Chronicles are full of nostalgic tidbits like this, so if you have a fondness for the 80s, feel free to grab your free copy of Yesterday's Gone before November 24th!
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