In my debut book, BLACK BIRD
OF THE GALLOWS, we meet Angie Dovage, high school senior with a talent for
music and a crappy past. Her dream of coasting through that her last year of
school under the radar are blown to smithereens when Reece Fernandez moves in
next door with his family. She thinks heโs hot (naturally) but so does half the
student body. Angie notices other things about him, though, that begin to make
her wonder if Reece is a little moreโor lessโhuman than he takes such pains to
appear. So Iโm turning it over to my heroine, Angie Dovage, to share her three
step program of determining if your hot new neighbor is supernatural, in her
words (passes the keyboard to Angie)โฆ
Okay, so hey. Thanks, Meg. Also, thanks for, well, deciding Black Bird
didnโt needed to be a tragedy. Even if you were just
worried about bad reviews if you killed me or Reece off, whatever. Iโm grateful.
Iโm not holding it against you for making my love interest a harbinger of
death or anything. No, not at all. Actually, you did make Reece
pretty amazing. But anyway, you want me to share my three steps to know if the
guy youโre crushing on is supernatural? Hereโs what to look out for:
The dude wonโt talk about his past. Reece WOULD NOT talk about where he came
from, and seriously, most guys LOVE talking about themselves. They can talk,
talk, talk about mind numbingly boring stuff, like sports, but if your
guy wonโt even share the state he last lived in? Uh huh. Heโs probably not
human.
The dude is unnaturally mature. Seriously? Most high school guys are
thinking about one thing, with one particular organ doing the thinking (hint:
itโs NOT their brain). But if your guy likes thoughtful, deep conversation and
isnโt all grabby the instant youโre alone, BUT heโs clearly into you? Itโs a
good indication that heโs older than he looks, and thus, supernatural.
The dude has weird associates. There were always strange people around
Reeceโhis family was unusual, with that gorgeous โmomโ who instantly enthralled
my dad (ugh) and all those adopted kids who were so well mannered, but knew
way too much about me. Then, there was that one scary guy with all
those bees who Reece clearly knew, even though he denied it at first. THAT guy
caused me enormous trouble, but I digress. So, if your guy is frequently spotted
with folks who donโt seem quite human, chances are your guy isnโt either.
Thatโs it! Those are the 1-2-3s of figuring out if the mysterious hottie who
moved to your neighborhood might be supernatural or not. Now, in my case, I had
other little clues which were Reece specific, and I did catch him in
the act of catching death energy, but that was only after I started stalkingโer,
I mean, monitoringโhim for his weird behavior. So, if you keep an eye out, and
your heart open, you may just find yourself falling for a guy who falls outside
the boundaries of human. But believe me when I say, itโs TOTALLY worth it!
A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues
will soon be full.
Angie Dovage can tell thereโs more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall,
brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she canโt imagine his
presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something
supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and
evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece―and heโs not
human.
What's more, she knows something most don't. That the secrets her town holds
could kill them all. But thatโs only half as dangerous as falling in love with a
harbinger of death.
Young Adult
Paranormal [Entangled Teen, On Sale: September
5, 2017, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781633758155 / eISBN: 9781633758155]
Meg Kassel is an author of fantasy and speculative books for young adults. A
graduate of Parsonโs School of Design, sheโs always been creating stories,
whether with visuals or words. She worked as a graphic designer before realizing
the thing she did for pleasure (writing) was something she should do for real.
Meg is a New Jersey native who lives in a log house in the Maine woods with her
husband and daughter. A fan of โ80s cartoons, Netflix series, and ancient
mythology, Meg has always been fascinated and inspired by the fantastic, the
creepy, and the futuristic. When sheโs not writing, Meg is reading, hanging out
with her family, hoarding peanut butter cups, or playing video games. She is a
two-time finalist and the 2016 winner of the RWA Golden Heartยฉ contest in YA.
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