by Mia Marshall
“I don’t know. Carmichael and Johnson want to have words with us.”
“About…?” I gestured behind me.
“No idea,” she said. “But probably not this, since Carmichael called last night. Said he had something to ask us.”
“Huh. When I last talked to him, he did sound like he was up to something.” I vaguely wondered if I should worry about that, then decided I really didn’t care.
I stood and stretched, shaking off the blanket. The sun was beginning to drop in the western sky, but I felt the chill leave my bones. I wasn’t warm, not yet, but I might get there. Eventually.
Behind me, I heard Vivian squeak and take several quick steps toward us. It looked like she’d found Brian.
Sera stood with me. She put her fingers to her lips and let out a piercing whistle. She waved to the others, indicating they should join us. “Let Josiah deal with that mess. In his way, he helped cause it.” She reached out a hand to Vivian, helping her over a particularly tall bit of rubble. The three of us moved down the steps, toward Mac and Simon.
“You tell me, Ade. What happens now?”
“Now,” I said, “we go home.”
Elements, Etc.
The Elements series, in order:
Broken Elements
Shifting Selves
Turning Tides (available May 2014)
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Acknowledgments
Writing a novel is much like making pancakes, in that it requires a whole lot of ingredients to produce something that isn’t a big, soggy lump no one wants to consume. Completing a first novel comes with its own set of challenges, and I have many people to thank.
First and foremost, I must thank Shelly, without whom this book might never have existed in the first place. She was there at its inception and was the first to tell me I could actually write when I most needed to hear it. Sounding board, beta reader extraordinaire, and dear friend. I’m keeping you around for the next book, okay?
While I’m at it, I’d like to thank her partner Melissa, whose favorite T-shirt showed me who Vivian really was after she floundered across the pages for the first two drafts. Yes, the Marxist feminist dialectic is a real shirt, and you can buy it.
Jenn and Rachel were invaluable in helping me work out the book’s rougher edges and asking important questions such as, “How would a hermit know about tablet computers or data clouds?” and “Couldn’t you leave Carmichael’s question for the next book?”
Kaari Busick, my editor, forced me to explain things I was certain were totally obvious. It’s a better book for that, and I understand my own world more clearly thanks to her questions. Special, updated thanks to Carrie Stewart and Sarah Goshman, who were instrumental in the book’s rerelease.
I need to give props to those mad geniuses of NaNoWriMo, who decided it was perfectly reasonable to ask thousands of people to write 50,000 words in a month. Their organization, and the supportive/competitive spirit it creates each November, helped me finally break through my doubts and resistance and just write a damn book, already.
I have to thank my mom. She knows why. I’d go into more detail, but I suspect I’ll be thanking her in every book I ever write, so I’d like to spread it out over time.
Finally, I would like to thank any reader who took a chance on a debut novel published by an independent press. Your enthusiasm for reading and for trying new authors is inspiring, and I am tremendously grateful for it.
About the Author
Mia Marshall has always been obsessed with stories. When younger, her version of cleaning her room involved neatly organizing her books, then ignoring all other messes in favor of re-reading The Wizard of Oz series just one more time. As an adult, she earned an unnecessary number of degrees in literature, education, and film. She planned to spend the rest of her life teaching stories to others until she got distracted and started writing those stories herself.
Mia has lived all over the US west coast and throughout the UK. These days, she lives somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where she is hard at work on the next Elements book.
Broken Elements
Copyright © 2012 Mia Marshall
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9889761-1-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-9889761-0-8 (ebook)
Book design by Cynthia Fliege
Match Books Press
http:/matchbookspress.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Elements, Etc.
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright