Ch. 1 Paragraph 1

I’m Jillian, and Momma says I’m smart as a whip. I saw a picture of a whip once; it didn’t look too smart. But I’ve learned to nod and smile, even if I don’t understand. Ain’t no better accomplisher than me in all of Atlanta or Georgia or these here sweet Southern states, as Nana likes to call ’em, and that’s a fact. Momma says it’s not nice to say such things, but I never get no good idears about what she means when she scolds like that.

*****

So, what do you all think of this excerpt? Good? Bad? Not enough? Too much?

Mass Email Text

Hey all,

(I am linking the amazon paperback page because it’s a little convoluted to get there. Basically, amazon has it pop right up with the ebook version. Then you can click on that and find the paperback.)

Below is the text for a mass email. Any and all who can help, please use the text to tell all your friends about the book.

Dear Fellow Reader,

Check out the new book Ashlynn’s Dreams.

Jillian’s normal life shatters the day she is kidnapped. She needs all of her stubborn will to learn her Gift, find her brother, help her genetically altered siblings, and escape with her babysitter.

In a way, Jillian and her siblings are slaves of a sort with varying degrees of their lives controlled by others. In real life, the institution of slavery still exists, and it is far messier than this sterilized, kid-safe version. Research modern day slavery and see how you can take part in the noble cause to end it.

Sincerely,

Julie C. Gilbert

Excerpt from Hardcover Version

It’s kinda funny in a mighty sad, awful sort of way. If Momma had known what we know today and not cared one whit about me, she coulda sold me for a lot of money. Maybe not enough to set her up for life, but she coulda at least collected a couple of million dollars. I feel funny saying that ’cause I don’t want y’all to get the impression I view myself higher than I ought to. Caden Phillips probably came closest to summing things up, and he just said I was a freak. He was trying to be mean, but he was right. It’s gonna take many more chats with Dr. S. to come to grips with that without wanting to cry, but I’m getting there.

Reviews Needed

Hey all,

Sorry for my totally uninventive name. I probably should have set the thing up myself, but good help just ain’t easy to find these days. Kidding. I will do my best to update this thingy, but I have a lousy track record with blogs.

What I need now is people to review the book on amazon and bn and the other online sites it is available at. The paperback is now available from amazon, though I couldn’t find it at bn. Ebook is available both places. Encourage your library to buy the book, then you don’t have to 🙂 Or give it as a gift then borrow the gift. (I’ve done this with books before, it’s a beautiful system.)

I’ll try to remember to post a short sample tomorrow.

Any and all feedback welcome.

Ashlynn’s Dreams

Jillian Marie Antel Blairington came about from a writing group story prompt: a cereal surprise. I liked the southern, no-nonsense child so much that I wrote a series of shorts about her. Then, last summer, I sat down to write a longer story and came out with Ashlynn’s Dreams. Low page count aside, it’s a book for all ages. The “target” audience may be pre-teen, but some of my proofreaders passed that stage before I was born.