The Icing on the Cake - Influences for 'Beacon' by Angela Brown

The Icing on the Cake

Beacon is my YA urban fantasy dystopian. That’s a mouthful. It all means my story mashes up elements of a couple of genres. And it’s by no accident. There are three major influences for my story.

First, the gist of my novel is based on The Hunger Games: Girl lives in the outliers of a revamped society > a selection process occurs > girl ends up having to go to the capital city and it’s kill or be killed. To ensure I didn’t railroad the story straight into fan fiction-ville, I chose a more “utopian” atmosphere where those who suffer are only those who aren’t registered citizens. The selection process is for something everyone and their dogs want to be chosen for: to be an Attendee at Jubilee. And when Macie, the main character for Beacon, makes it to the capital city, there is bloodshed. There is pain. But not because she’d been pitted against several other teens/preteens out to be the last one standing.

Second, fans of True Blood will recognize my interest in having the humans and vampires - or vampeer as they prefer to be called in Beacon - coexisting in the open. It’s a sort of treaty. The gift of human blood every three months to feed the vampeer is the gift of peace. As you read, you’ll learn other creatures abound.

The third element, the icing on the cake, is The Matrix. I really like The Matrix. Probably more like LOVE The Matrix. Did I mention how much I really love The Matrix? I did? Oh, good. If you’ve never seen this movie… where have you been? No, seriously, it’s more than action packed. It’s drama and it’s pulling away the smoke and mirrors to reveal the truth, in many instances, an ugly one. In Beacon, Macie knows two things: she’s only ever cared for one boy and that she’s just a girl. Nothing more, nothing less. Even this comes under fire when what has counted for normal in her life comes to a halt. She must open her mind to the revelations or drown in life’s unraveling.

As you can see, there’s plenty of reason why Beacon doesn’t fit into one genre nook. And I’m sure there are other movies or books readers find similar to Beacon. Please feel free to share. If I haven’t read it/watched it, I consider it time to beef up my to-be-read and to-be-watched lists.

Beacon

by Angela Brown 

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BLURB:

Tsunamis reduced the USA into a shell of itself, called The Fold. Surviving humans and vampires joined forces to form The Colony, where registered citizens do as they're told.

They donate blood quarterly and dream of being chosen as Attendees for the Jubilee celebrations, that is, everyone except Macie Breen. With high school graduation near, she’s anxious to ditch the rules in hopes of starting a new life with Thane, an unregistered and also her best friend.

Her hopes fizzle when Macie is selected as an Attendee, forever registered. Any future with Thane…impossible. Being chosen comes with another unexpected price.

Truths about The Colony blaze into ashes and lies when she discovers the vampires haven't kept their part of the bargain. Worst still, Macie’s life unravels as her stint in the city of Bliss forces her to face daunting truths about who, and what, she really is.

Read an excerpt:

The corner of Thane’s lips curved in his infamous smirk. “I’m here to protect you from you, silly.”

The elevator dinged our arrival to our floor. Thankfully, floors for the Attendees were guarded by other Surreption agents, to prevent citizens from accessing them by surprise––and to keep out the expected rebel against Bliss.

I fell silent, thinking about Thane’s answer. Any other day, it would have been a joke. We’d ha, ha, ha, laugh it off as Thane being the smartass he was. I’d punch him in the shoulder. He’d feign pain and we’d move on. But now, what if he was right? Not just keeping me from taking my anger out on some pink-haired guy making fun of me. But from whomever—or whatever—I really am. What if it was the world that needed protection from me?

Buy links

Amazon / Evernight

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, Angela now calls Central Texas home. She's a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy and paranormal to contemporary - mostly young adult - fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: "You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6476148.Angela_Brown

Angela Brown in the Pursuit of Publishness blog: http://publishness.blogspot.com/

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Angela-Brown/e/B009JJEX60

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaLBrownWrites

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALBrownwrites

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