The Genesis of Seven
The Empyrean Trilogy, #1
by Sara M Schaller
Date of Publication: July 7th 2020
Publisher: Designs by Seraphim
Cover Artist: Sara M Schaller
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
ISBN: 9781732516205
ISBN: 9781732516212
ISBN: 9781732516229 - ebook
Number of pages: 368
Word Count: 86,902
Tagline: In the beginning he was one of us.
BLURB
Eighteen-year-old Jordan Conway has always wanted to help people, but helping seven archangels to achieve their divine duty was never quite what he had in mind…
When Jordan is entrusted by the head nun of his orphanage to deliver a mysterious backpack to a New York City address, he comes unexpectedly face-to-face with Archangel Gabriel. Their acquaintance fast uncovers a labyrinth of secrets that connect Jordan’s once-normal life to an ancient heavenly prophecy. Now, he must help Gabriel to reunite the archangels before evil forces grow too strong.
Soon, Jordan and Gabriel find themselves on a divine quest across the globe, while deep in the pits of Hell, Satan plots his return to earth. To gain control, however, Satan needs the powerful prophetic objects locked safe inside Jordan’s backpack—and the devil will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
With that notion threatening his only family and the safety of his newfound friends, Jordan must do whatever it takes to protect the ones he loves and help the archangels succeed. If that means sacrificing all he thought he knew to go to war with the devil himself? Bring it on.
Excerpt:
“Run!” Sister
Helen shouted.
Somehow, my body
obliged. My legs carried me down the alleyway, past dumpsters and trashcans. At
the street, I stopped briefly to figure out where to go next. I glanced at the
paper and realized I had a bit of distance to cover. The address was near
Central Park, but the orphanage was in the opposite direction. In fact, the
orphanage wasn’t even in Manhattan. There wasn’t time to figure out a route
though. At the sound of running footsteps, I looked over my shoulder and saw
two men dressed in black fast approaching.
Without a second
thought, I broke into a sprint and headed right.
I’d never been
chased in my life and soon realized I was the worst person for it. I kept
running straight for blocks. Not once did I try to evade my chasers. I was
merely in flight mode, running forward without a thought of where I had to go.
The backpack hit my shoulders every time I moved my legs, creating a rhythm my
heartbeat began to mimic. I was scared senseless, had no idea what to do, and
was weighed down by the duffel bag, which gave me a weird, galloping stride.
As I raced on,
some unknown part of my brain took over and told my legs to veer left into an
alleyway. My chasers passed by, unsuspecting, though they soon backtracked and
followed. At that point, my run became a series of quick turns and dashes
through side streets and alleys in an attempt to evade them.
Breathing hard,
heaving the cursed bag, and almost tripping over my own feet, I came to a
standstill in front of a chain-link fence. Did this seriously have to turn into
some iconic movie chase? I groaned as I sized up my new enemy, wondering why I
never took gym class seriously. Surely, completing the rope climb—something I’d
never successfully achieved—would come in handy right about now.
At the last
second I decided to backtrack, but the two chasers blocked my path. One was a
big, burly man, and the other was the second guy from the subway, who was much
taller and leaner than his accomplice.
Frustrated, I
ran up to the fence and swung my duffel bag through the air. It landed
surprisingly safe on the other side of the chain-link barrier. Without a
moment’s hesitation, I ran and jumped at the tall gate, latching onto it with
my hands. Flashbacks of the rope climb came to mind, and I knew this wasn’t
going to be easy. In a struggle, I scrambled up as my chasers approached.
By some miracle,
I made it to the top, and I was preparing to swing my leg over and ring that
fictitious bell when a hand gripped my ankle. When I looked down, a menacing
skull tattoo met my gaze.
Author Info
Sara M Schaller is a paralibrarian, publishing professional, and young adult author. She lives in Colorado with her mom, dad, brother, and four furry canine siblings. Sara loves the world of pop culture and the performing arts, so when she is not reading or writing, she is either watching movies and shows, attending conventions, or going out to see live performances. She likes to write stories for all ages in the fantasy genre, and her writing usually contains elements of speculative fiction and features a large cast of characters. Sara has a Bachelor’s degree in English, Art History, and Religious Studies from the University of Denver, and a Master’s degree in Publishing from Pace University. For five years, Sara worked as a graphic designer, and her creativity in design carries over into other areas of her life like writing. You can visit her online at www.saramschaller.com.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with Sara M Schaller . . .
What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?
In terms of mindset to write, I need to be in what I call “muse mode.” It’s hard to describe but I get these points of creative energy where the story just wants to pour out onto the page. These times are somewhat random, but I notice after I exercise is usually when they occur because I’ll be thinking about my story as I work out and I get in all this thinking time that once it’s time to write, I know what I want to write. Another way to look at it is that I need to give myself an hour of just thinking about the story to get me in the right mindset to write.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
For me, character prep is the most important phase of plotting a story. I cannot start writing until my characters are fully formed. Now, that doesn’t mean they can’t change on the page, but I do need to know a lot about them before I can write them. I actually think having a character change and grow as the story progresses is essential.
Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
I have about 2 or 3 characters that I can’t wait to put to paper, and I know I’ll get to each at some point. It’s actually reassuring that I have stories waiting to be written because that just means more books will be coming.
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
My next project is the sequel to The Genesis of Seven. So far, I can say that it will be releasing in 2021 and it will be written in multiple points of view, much like the first book. However, there will be two new voices introduced.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
To generalize it, I would want to spend one full year in Europe, half in England and the other half in France. I’ve been to England once before when I was fourteen. I went on a school trip and really enjoyed it, but looking back now there were so many things I didn’t get to see and that’s what I would do with this time. English history, literature, and art are big favorites of mine so I would fill all my time with these things. As for France, I have never been there so naturally I really want to go, and I would probably do the same thing—take in the history, literature, art, and architecture of the country.
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