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Bittersouls by L. A. Morton - Yates

11/5/2023

8 Comments

 
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Bittersouls
L.A. Morton-Yates


Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Synthesis Press
Date of Publication: 12/17/2022
ISBN: 979-8-9866022-0-2 (eBook)
ISBN: 979-8-9866022-1-9 (Paperback)
ASIN: B0BQFLM7D4
Number of pages: 286
Word Count: Approx. 99,500
Cover Artist: César Pardo

Tagline: A Shade. A Storm. A Soul.

Book Description:

Cursed with forbidden knowledge, 19-year-old Dela must hide her secret from her nomadic tribe or face exile into the frozen wasteland of the Bitters. When she becomes separated from her people during a blizzard, a mysterious and dangerous wanderer named Talon promises to help her find her way back to them. She quickly learns that nothing is what it seems, that her curse may actually be a gift, and that the Bitters are far more dangerous than she could have imagined.

Packed with unexpected twists, Bittersouls is a mixture of survival, adventure, and slow-burn romance that is sure to get your heart pounding.


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Excerpt:
Something moved at the edge of the horizon. It was like a shadow, black as a cloud but moving fast across the snow plain. Time seemed to stop, but Dela could feel herself sliding forward as if she were standing on a lake of ice. Freja was still yelling, but she couldn’t hear her. Her arms were flailing, but Dela hardly noticed.
A wave of lights moved in front of the thing, jumping and turning, quick as sparks. It was like a field of quails fleeing into the sky before a coming wolf, but the wolf—the shadow—followed them. The closer it got, the more the shiver racked her spine. She knew exactly what it was, though she’d never seen one. No one in the congregation had. There were no stories. No whisperings. Only a name.
“Shade.”
Freja stared at her, bewildered into silence. Perhaps she was going to speak, but then--
“Shade!” Dela reached for her friend, snatching her by the sleeve and pulling her toward her. They ran, berries forgotten even as the bags bounced in Dela’s grip. They were a dozen strides from the bush before she thought to secure them to one of her belt hooks. How could she even think of them at a time like this? They had to get to the camp. People had to know.
They skidded to a stop at the edge of the overhang they’d climbed. The tents were only a dozen feet below, and a handful of people had gathered at the commotion. They stared up at the two girls with confusion intermingled with irritation. They weren’t used to their evening being disturbed by shouting, and the long journey had people’s nerves worn thin.
None of that mattered. All that mattered was what they would do. What were they supposed to do?
“Shade coming from the east!” Dela yelled. “Get the Ministers!”
Chaos possessed the camp. People scrambled, yelling. Others just stood with disbelieving frowns. Some started running in no particular direction. As if that would save them.
Would it?
Dela knew nothing about Shades. She hadn’t put much thought into what they might be or do or want. All she knew was that whatever that thing was, it was one of them. And the lights? The things it was chasing? What were they?
Freja was trembling as she crouched and threw her legs out over the edge of the rocks. It was a maneuver she’d done a hundred times, and in colder weather than this. But for fear or anger or nerves, her grip failed. Dela lurched downward, chest striking hard against the rocks as her hand snapped out into the air—and caught her friend’s arm. She grunted as she swung the girl toward the rock wall, which Freja caught in an instant. They exchanged an important glance, but there was time for little else.
Dela stood again, scanning the snowfield for signs of the shadow. It was still gliding forth on nothing but empty air, like a nightmare in a dead sprint toward an innocent dreamer. But, she realized, it was not heading straight for them. It had deviated, aiming toward the empty field north of them, and if it kept going that way, it might miss them entirely.
Could it see? It didn’t seem to have eyes. Nor any other body part, per se. Did it smell, then? Or feel? How could it expect to find anything out here in the cold, white abyss of the Bitters?
Whatever rules it followed couldn’t be the same as what humans or animals followed. It didn’t make any sense.
Then she saw the reason. One of the congregation, maddened by fear, had made a break for it, out into the open Basin. The Shade wasn’t just going to miss the camp. It was going after him.
He’d made it a hundred feet from the camp, and showed no signs of looking back or slowing. From the angle of approach, the man couldn’t see the shadow coming. Couldn’t see it bearing down on him. Couldn’t see the impossibility of his flight.
The Shade engulfed him as though it was little more than a localized fog. He vanished entirely from view, and for one bizarre moment, the beast of a cloud seemed to stop.
Then they heard the scream.

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About the Author:

A life-long lover of the magic of storytelling, L.A. wrote his first story at the age of 7 and has been writing ever since. Speculative fiction, particularly fantasy, has always held a special place in his heart for the uniqueness of the places and the questions it can address. Though veiled by apparent strangeness, he has always seen it as capable of revealing deeper truth about our own reality.
​
L.A. graduated from Montana State University in 2015 with Honors in Biochemistry and a minor in Music Composition. This helped nurture his critical thinking and research skills which continue to be instrumental to his writing.  During his collegiate years, he also met the love of his life, Julie, whom he later married. At once his greatest supporter and his staunchest critic (when he is wrong, which is more often than he’d like to admit), she has been an integral part of his creative process ever since.

In February of 2018, L.A. became the father of his first son, Griffin. His second son, Tiber, was born in December of 2019 and his third son, Malachi, was born in January of 2022. Though life has become considerably busier since he became a family man, L.A. continues to work on writing in what little spare time he can find. He hopes to one day pass on his love of literature to his sons.

Twitter - https://twitter.com/lamortonyates
 
Substack- https://lamortonyates.substack.com/ 
                                                        
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lamortonyates/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/authorlamortonyates


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8 Comments
Marisela Zuniga
14/5/2023 01:51:52 am

The cover looks very nice

Reply
Barbara Montag
14/5/2023 02:10:51 am

Everything is so unique about this book makes me want to read it!
Thank you for sharing it.

Reply
Luke Morton-Yates link
14/5/2023 05:13:23 pm

Thank you! It was an adventure to write and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Reply
Stephanie Ann
14/5/2023 05:03:01 pm

What were your favorite books growing up?

Reply
L.A. Morton-Yates link
14/5/2023 05:20:22 pm

Thank you for commenting!

Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a beautiful book. Though the author has yet been unable to complete the series, the first two (and a half?) installments are a fantastic read. The language is poetic without being too overbearing and the world is so full of mysterious and intriguing forces that you can’t help but want to know more.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu is one of those books that, though it has been far removed from it’s original context, remains as fascinating as it is poignant. Not all the points it makes have direct equivalents for the more mundane context of modern life, but there are a surprising number of useful insights that, especially in high school, I found extremely engaging.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini was the book that I wished I wrote for the entire span of my middle school years. I grew up wanting to be a writer, so the early success of Paolini (and the fact that he wrote about dragons, which at the time I felt were the most interesting possible subject) meant that I felt as much affinity as I did jealousy for the work. A lot of my early work stemmed from these feelings, but I eventually grew out of them and moved on from dragons as the end-all-be-all subject for fantasy books.

Feed by M. T. Anderson is one of the best soft science fiction novels I have read to date. The characters and narrative are compelling, but what truly sticks with you is the harrowing picture of the trajectory society might currently be on. My psyche and therefore my work still reflects on a number of the observations made in it. Even today, I strongly recommend it.

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson might not fit amongst the other books I have listed here, but it was no less important to me as a child. At the same time encouraging imagination and warning against completely disconnecting from reality, I have countless fond memories of this comic book. Notably, my earliest attempts at writing at the age of 7 were in the form of a comic book!

Reply
Barbara Montag
14/5/2023 05:15:46 pm

Is it hard to think of names for your characters?

Reply
L.A. Morton-Yates link
14/5/2023 10:26:46 pm

It depends. Usually it's easy to come up with *a* name, but coming up with the *right* name can be a great deal more challenging. My advice to writers struggling with this is to just give the character a name that works and keep moving, you can always perfect it in revision.

Reply
Barbara Montag
17/5/2023 03:39:54 am

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Reply

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