Friends to the End

by Cherie Colyer

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GENRE: Middle Grade Action Adventure

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BLURB:

Twelve-year-old Zach is convinced he’ll never be happy without his best friend Jeremy by his side. But both of their lives changed with a bang five months ago, and as far as Zach’s concerned, it’s his fault Jeremy will never see his twelfth birthday.

When Zach moves with his family to a Chicago suburb, he quickly becomes friends with a group of thrill-seeking kids trying to find a disappearing haunted house. But Zach’s not worried. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he follows them into a wild, dangerous encounter that becomes a battle to decide what’s real and what’s not.

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EXCERPT

My bewildered gaze slithered from Dom to Josh, finally coming to a stop on Morgan as I tried to decide if they were crazy.

“If the house is invisible, how do you expect to find it?” I asked.

Morgan sat on the stoop next to me. “It’s not always invisible. My brothers saw it once. They said it’s a big house with a long porch. It vanished before they could set foot on the first step, and I’m glad, too.”

“Why? What would have happened if they were on the steps?” I asked. Not because I believed an old ghost story had any truth to it, but I was curious to know what she’d say.

Morgan had to pick her jaw up from the walkway before she could answer, and when she did her voice came out in a high-pitched squeak. “If they had been on the porch or worse—” she swallowed loudly “—inside, they would have disappeared with it.”

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5 Ways to Engage Readers

By C.L. Colyer (Cherie)

1. A strong opening sentence is a must. A writer’s job is to grab readers’ attention so that they want to read more. Friends to the End opens with a line from later in the book that gives the reader a sneak peek of what dangers lie ahead…

This was it—the end for us. What would the headlines in the paper read? “Local Kids Vanish Into Thin Air,” maybe. Not that the reporter would know we literally did.

This is followed by a comment from our brave, twelve-year-old protagonist, Zach.

I was heading toward the end of my life and my parents were driving me there.

Both are meant to pique readers’ curiosity. (I hope they piqued yours!)

2. Likable characters readers can relate to. No one is going to waste their time reading a book if they don’t like the protagonist. Zach isn’t happy to be moving to a new school or to be the new kid no one knows. Many of us can relate to the anxiety that comes with change.

3. A kick-butt adventure that takes the reader on a wild ride. It can be a golden ticket, a hunt for a mysterious vanishing house, a personal journey, a fantastic mystery, and so on. As long as it’s exciting and entertaining, readers will tag along.

4. Interesting setting. Readers travel the world and beyond in books, and as a writer, I want to create a world (even if it’s a contemporary world) that readers want to explore.

5. Suspense. This is what keeps us on the edge of our seating, turning the pages to read just one more chapter until there are no more to read.

I’m going to add one more because no book, movie, or TV show is complete without…

6. A twist. I love books with a twist, especially when I don’t see it coming. Wouldn’t you agree?

What makes you want to read a book?

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

C.L. Colyer found her love for writing in first grade when her class was sent to the library and asked to find a book for their first book report. While she doesn’t still have this book report, she’s very proud to say she got an A on it. Her favorite thing about the book was that it had no words. That’s right, not one! That gave her the freedom to interpret the pictures in any way she wanted and write her own story.

This sparked her love for writing essays. It wasn’t until she was an adult that she sat down and penned her first novel. This story has a special place in her heart because it’s the story that helped her discover her passion for writing. She has since written several books, many of which may never see the light of day, but all of which helped her learn to combine her passion for writing with her fascination with all things mythical.  You’ll find examples of this in her novels.

She lives in Illinois with her family.

Keep in Touch:

Website: https://cheriecolyer.com/children/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cherie-Colyer-author-250631921629169

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CherieColyer

Instagram: www.instagram.com/cherie_colyer/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21748654.C_L_Colyer

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/C-L-Colyer/e/B09C6JPT3X/

Bookbub author page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cherie-colyer

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GIVEAWAY

Cherie Colyer will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway