Tuesday, July 8, 2014

RELEASE DAY: TC Booth "Beyond Vica"


Blurb:

Gabby and her two best friends share a constellation in the sky named VICA. The trio named the constellation that tells the tale of their childhood friendship. Now that Gabby is fifteen, this tale written in the stars means more than ever. Gabby finds herself facing the threat of losing her best friend, Sam to cancer.

The sudden interest in Sam from people at school raises Gabby's suspicions. They've never cared about Sam before, with the exception of Brody, Gabby's other best friend. His insane good looks and off the scale popularity attracts the attention of most girls. Gabby's learned to keep her guard up with these girls who've attempted to befriend her in order to get close to Brody. She won't stand for Sam being used as a pawn in their games.

Grief over Sam's situation triggers memories of Gabby's past. She's flooded with images of a tragedy that happened when Gabby was five. To complicate matters even more, Gabby finds herself turning into one of the girls she's always complained about...the girls that drool after Brody. Gabby's afraid to let herself feel anything for Brody other than friendship. With the threat of losing Sam, she can't take a chance on jeopardizing her only other friendship.

  As Gabby's world crashes down on her, she's forced to face the realities of life, death, grief, and love. How will she survive without the friendship that's written in the stars?


Author:

TC Booth was born and raised in the small town where she currently lives and teaches.  She is married with two daughters, teaches, and holds a master's degree in education.

 She discovered her enjoyment of writing at a young age with the writing of poetry. This love of writing devopled into writing short stories for her family and students.

 She wrote the children's story, The Time Travel Storm  for her class that was published in 2102. Her short young adult fiction story titled "A Seasoned Card Player" was published in an anthology called A Certain Kind of Freedom  last year.

She feels blessed  to be living her dream of not only teaching children, but writing stories for them and young adults to enjoy as well.



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Excerpt:

Chapter One

My eyes rest on his empty desk in front of mine. Sam didn’t return to school in January from winter break, so his desk has been vacant for 72 days, counting today. The cancer that had been in remission for almost six months reappeared in time for Christmas. Talk about a Christmas that sucked. Nobody deserves that, especially Sam.

“Well, Gabby? Do you?” Mr. Blackwell, aka Mr. Baldy, calls on me. He narrows his eyes above the rectangular black-framed glasses that rest on the tip of his nose. His bald head turns a light shade of pink, a sure sign he’s annoyed.

I clear my throat and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Sorry, what?” I sense twenty-three pairs of eyes on me and feel my cheeks burn.

“Do you have the answer?” Mr. Baldy gestures toward the problem displayed on the whiteboard.

I don’t care about your math problem, I want to say. Instead, I shake my head. “No.”

He sighs and looks at another student.

Emily waves her hand in the front row as if she’s hailing a taxi. He calls on her, “Yes, Emily?”

She gives the answer, smirks at me over her shoulder, and flips her blond hair. She should be proud of herself. It’s not often that she figures out an answer before I do.

Sam and I would make blonde jokes about her. I smile as I remember him saying, “Did you hear about the blonde who sold her car for gas money?”

The buzzer announces both the end of the period and my escape to the restroom. I gather my things and dart into the hall. I weave through the sea of bodies until I reach the girls’ room. Once I'm secured in a stall, I send Sam a text telling him about Blondie and Mr. Baldy, hoping to make him laugh.

While waiting for a reply, I read the latest news etched into the ugly green paint of the stall door. Someone named LD loves HT. Monica is a b*&#^. Brody is hot. I roll my eyes. Of course it’s Brody. The girls have drooled over him since we were in middle school.

I glance at my phone. No reply. Sam usually replies right away if he is having a good day. I hold my breath and pray that he is doing well.

I allow my eyes to drift to the mirror while washing my hands. An arm stacked with bracelets at the sink next to me catches my eye. I look up to see a girl with pink-tipped black hair. Her brown eyes are lined in purple. Jamie, the new girl. According to rumors, she'd been kicked out of her old school. She shifts her eyes in my direction and I look away.


****


My cafeteria tray brushes the back of a girl who’s explaining to three other girls where she bought her sparkly black fleece-lined boots. She frowns at me over her shoulder.

“Sorry,” I mutter, even though I’m not. She shouldn’t block the door of the lunchroom to discuss fashion when my stomach growls at me to feed it.

“Gabs! Over here.” Brody motions me to his table with the jocks. I slide onto the bench beside him and am instantly overpowered by the smell of popular cologne. How’s a girl to breathe with ten athletic male bodies at one table, all wearing the same smell? I cough and slyly cover my nose with the back of my hand.

“Have you heard from Sam?” Brody asks.

“I texted him before lunch, but I haven’t heard back.” All eyes bore into me, waiting for an update. I want to roll my eyes, but don’t. Everyone is so concerned about Sam now that his cancer is back. Sam and I were never allowed at this table before he was sick.

“Me either. I texted him this morning.” Brody’s gray eyes are filled with concern. I used to say in fourth grade that Brody was my second best friend and Sam was my first best friend. I glance at his dark hair and the way his mouth turns down at the corners. His dimples pop even when he’s frowning. Not much has changed. Brody, Sam, and I have been best buds all of our lives. When we hit middle school, our classmates splintered into groups but the three of us stuck together, even as freshmen.

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