Release date: May 8, 2016
Subgenre: YA fantasy, Fairytales
About The Fairytale Curse:
Most people only wake up with hangovers after parties.
Seventeen-year-old Violet wakes up with frogs falling out of her mouth
whenever she speaks, and her twin sister CJ’s dripping diamonds with
every word. As if starting at a new high school wasn’t hellish enough,
they’ve been hit with a curse straight out of a fairy tale, with not a
handsome prince in sight.
Apparently Mum and Dad don’t work for the military after all, but for a secret organisation dedicated to keeping the magical denizens of the world safely locked away. These are not the harmless fairies of children’s tales, but powerful beings with a score to settle for their long years of imprisonment. Now the barriers are failing, and if Vi can’t find answers fast the world will be overrun with vengeful fairies. And then there’ll be no happily ever after for anyone.
Apparently Mum and Dad don’t work for the military after all, but for a secret organisation dedicated to keeping the magical denizens of the world safely locked away. These are not the harmless fairies of children’s tales, but powerful beings with a score to settle for their long years of imprisonment. Now the barriers are failing, and if Vi can’t find answers fast the world will be overrun with vengeful fairies. And then there’ll be no happily ever after for anyone.
Excerpt:
The girl on the TV wore a long white dress, as if she’d been on the
way to her wedding when she decided to lie down in a glass coffin
instead. Her skin had a healthy glow; her cheeks were a rosy pink
and her lips bright red. She certainly didn’t look dead. I almost
expected her eyes to flutter open as I watched.
“Janey!” Dad never took his eyes off the TV. “Come and look at
this.”
Mum came in with a this better be worth it expression on her face. She didn’t approve of watching TV at
breakfast time. Whenever Dad picked up the remote, she’d roll those
sharp green eyes of hers and sigh in that I’m so disappointed in you way. Not that Dad took any notice. You’d think she’d have gotten
used to it after twenty-one years of marriage, but every morning it
was the same old same old. It always ended with her huffing off to
another room as soon as her cereal was done, where she made as much
noise as possible until the TV was turned off again.
The footage was wobbly, as if it had been taken with a mobile
phone, and only lasted a few seconds. The camera panned around a
small clearing in what looked like dense forest. And not the kind
we have in Australia, either. This was forest straight out of
Central Casting, dark and foreboding. Huge pines towered over the
scene, leaning in as if whispering secrets to one another. In the
centre of the clearing, in the gloom beneath the pines, stood a
massive marble platform. How the hell it got there, I couldn’t
imagine, since there didn’t seem to be any gaps in the trees big
enough to drag a huge lump of stone like that through. On top of it
rested the glass coffin.
The girl inside was laid out like royalty at a state funeral. Her
dark hair fanned neatly across the pillow, and her hands were
clasped precisely on her chest. Whoever had put her there had
obviously taken a great deal of care. They’d even tucked a single
red rose into her hands, its colour a perfect match for the
lipstick she wore.
“The unidentified girl was found early this morning in the Blue
Mountains west of Sydney, not far from the popular tourist
destination of the Three Sisters.” The camera zoomed in on the
girl’s still face as the reporter spoke. She could have been
anything from sixteen to twenty-six. “This footage was taken by the
hiker who discovered her. Despite appearances, she isn’t dead.
Emergency services took her to hospital where doctors found her to
be in a deep coma, though apparently healthy. There is no visible
sign of trauma, and police are appealing for anyone who can shed
any light on the mystery of the Sleeping Beauty to come forward.”
Dad snorted. “Sleeping Beauty, my foot. Idiot doesn’t know his
fairy tales.”
Amazon
About Marina Finlayson:
Marina Finlayson is a reformed wedding organist who now writes fantasy. She is married and shares her Sydney home with three kids, a large collection of dragon statues and one very stupid dog with a death wish.Her idea of heaven is lying in the bath with a cup of tea and a good book until she goes wrinkly.
No comments:
Post a Comment