Every week or two, Terry wakes up in a different time. She’s been ‘switching’ - that’s her word for time traveling - for the past eight months, and she has no recollection of her life before then. She doesn’t know who she is, why she’s time traveling, how to get home, or even when home is. Then Terry meets some fellow travelers and finds out she’s not alone… and that there might be a way to get home. But the others have their own agendas, and Terry needs to be careful where she places her trust. She finds herself falling for one traveler, but a terrible secret bars his way home. Another traveler is growing desperate, and he doesn’t care who he uses in his attempt to get home… even if it puts them all in danger. Can Terry find a way home before he tries something dangerous? Or will he prevent her from getting home at all?
***For a chance to win an e-book of this YA time travel novel, please visit Jody's Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/jodykiharabooks Leave a comment there telling her which time/place you'd most like to travel to and why. The best answer wins! Contest ends 4/5/13***
EXCERPT from Chapter One
I kept my eyes closed as I drifted awake, letting my other senses feel out my surroundings first. I was someplace clean, which was wonderful, and it had a nice homey smell, like a house or an apartment. And the silence was equally wonderful: no people coughing, muttering, or worse, tripping over me.
The smart thing to do would have been to open my eyes right away, but waking up with a nice, safe, warm feeling was something that happened rarely, and I wanted to make it last. I luxuriated in those few moments of peacefulness, trying to ignore the fact that as soon as I opened my eyes, I’d have to figure out where I was. I lay still, shoring up my strength to face reality. Or whatever it was you could call my life, which was probably as far from reality as a person could get.
I wished I could draw out my enjoyment of the moment, but there was a little thing called survival demanding my attention. Tentatively, I opened my eyes. I was lying on a sofa in someone’s living room, with gentle sunlight streaming through the window. A crocheted blanket covered me. It was an ugly blanket, at odds with the modern décor of the rest of the apartment. There were lots of wooden surfaces and plants, and light gleamed off the polished, pale wood floor. I pushed myself up on one elbow to look around.
The lack of ornamentation told me it was a guy’s apartment. There were shelves with books and CDs (CDs, okay, first clue as to what decade I was in), a desk with a computer that looked like an old 486 — already, I was picking up on the rest of the clues.
And then, on the coffee table in front of me, was the best clue of all: a newspaper. Happily, I reached for it. Saturday, September 20, 1992.
The early 1990s — an okay place to be, I supposed, although in a way it didn’t make much difference. The plus side was that clothing-wise, I wouldn’t look like I’d stepped out of the wrong decade; pretty much anything went in the nineties. The downside was that my money wouldn’t go as far as it did in my last switch. I only had a few dollars in my purse, which would get me coffee and maybe a donut if I went someplace cheap.
Then again, I was in an apartment, which meant there would be food! Was I alone; could I go rooting through the kitchen?
I heard footsteps, and before I had time to prepare myself, a door opened.
The guy gave a shout of surprise when he saw me. I almost did too; he was naked.
The door closed again. I sat up, making sure I was fully clothed. I was, of course; I never let myself fall asleep any other way. The strap of my backpack was hooked around my ankle, as it should be. My heart always skipped a beat when I checked to make sure it was there.
Quick, think up a story, I told myself.
***For a chance to win an e-book of this YA time travel novel, please visit Jody's Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/jodykiharabooks Leave a comment there telling her which time/place you'd most like to travel to and why. The best answer wins! Contest ends 4/5/13***
Buy link:
Contact the Author:
Website: www.jodykihara.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jodykiharabooks
Twitter: @jodykihara
This is an awesome premise for a story!
ReplyDelete