Genre: New Adult Dystopian
In a future ravaged by greed and
war, The Domicile has emerged. A new civilization governed by clandestine
Elders where citizens are united by white masks and uniform identities. To
remove one’s mask, to go outside the Domicile, to show defiance, means being
sent to the Meurtre, a horrifying death sentence.
Q437B doesn’t follow the rules. She
craves sunlight, dares to love her childhood friend B116A, and – the most
forbidden of all – has seen the true face of her beloved beneath the mask.
But when Q becomes an Adulte, The
Domicile threatens to take away everything that makes her happy. She is forced
to marry an abusive soldier who demands she conform. Whispers spread about the
unconventional lessons she teaches her new students. And when Q openly disobeys
the Elders, the people become restless, questioning the truth of the world in
the wake of such defiance.
Rumblings of discontent stir as
others begin to follow the path toward their freedom. The Revolution has begun,
and Q is the spark that ignited the flames.
Excerpt:
“We have no choice. All of our decisions are made for us.”
This time I saw the lips moving, in the back row. The pale
lips of a young girl, her mask showing the contoured lines of her face. Her
eyes squinted, almost tightly closed. She understood the consequences of saying
such a thing. But she also knew this was an opportunity to say she was not
satisfied with the life she was living. Maybe she longed for a choice to show
her fingers and her real face. Maybe she longed for the decision of who she can
be friends with and fall in love with. To see people receive a fair hearing
about punishments rather than going straight to the Meurtre. In that moment,
she reminded me of me.
I admired her. Her courage. It was hidden underneath her
white mask with light-rose lips and slightly lilac cheeks. Her face was turned
down to stare at the floor. But her eyes were staring at me. Her eyes were not
scared. They were waiting. Waiting for me to lead her to choices.
I nodded at her. “We have no choices. No free will.” Now
Grandmother’s explanation made sense to me. Free will to wear something other
than black. Free will to be with someone we love. Free will to believe what we
want to. Free will to choose.
Author Bio
Courtney’s love for
writing started pretty much when she learned to read, which her mother would
tell you was a feat in itself back when she was in the first grade. Once she
aced those flashcards with vocabulary words, Courtney’s writing took off. And her love with it. In school, she was always writing short
stories on a word processor (What?? Word processor with floppy disks?). Oh yes,
she literally had a card filing case full of floppy disks.
Now getting her
Doctorate in social work, she’s used this education to help her writing some of
the gritty issues entwined in her stories. When Courtney isn’t writing her next
book while drinking coffee, you can find her doing homework (drag) with
chocolate chip flavored coffee, reading series of books (because school books
are only so interesting) while drinking pumpkin flavored coffee, playing with
her little boy, or daydreaming of future beach houses while drinking some other
scrumptious flavor of coffee.
Links
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017O08SDO
Twitter: @AuthorCRuggles
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