bliss lane
macklin celebrini has autism
🩵 avery cochrane 🩵
shark vs the universe
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
Sade Olutola
Show & Tell
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Game of Thrones Daily
PR's Tumblrdome
tumblr dot com
Jar Jar Binks Fan Club
Discoholic 🪩
todays bird
official daine visual archive
🪼
Not today Justin
Andulka
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
The Stonewall Inn
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from Kenya
seen from United States
seen from Bangladesh
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Kenya
seen from Bangladesh
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Venezuela
@bookwormgirls88
Hey guys! New post on my blog, featuring all of these lovely books, plus a couple more hidden gems. Link is in my bio if you want to check it out! ☺️ What are your favorite underrated books? • • • #toptentuesday #underrated #underratedbooks #undeadgirlgang #girlwiththeredballoon #bookstagram #bookblogger https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnl3SOBFMAe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jm5p1qydr9ks
It’s now day 5 of the #Borrowathon - smack dab in the middle - and I’m finally posting my #TBR! I’ve already finished The Archived (it was fantastic) and Speak (so powerful) and now I’m on to Gizelle’s Bucket List! I love this readathon. Libraries are amazing! • • • #readathon #bookstagram #readathontbr #borrowathontbr #TheArchived #veschwab #victoriaschwab #Speak #lauriehalseanderson #gizellesbucketlist #theravencycle #allycarter #childrenofbloodandbone
#mypagehabit Definitely not my best “work”, but I loved this box and I definitely wanted to share it! @booksandlala your pick has blessed my life and I cannot WAIT to start this 😂
Normally I️ wouldn’t post twice in a row, but I️ missed yesterday, so I️ mean.... 💁🏼 Anyhoo, I️ couldn’t pass up Amazon’s Cyber Monday deal, so I️ picked up these two beauties! I’m so excited to read them; no idea if I’ll get to them this month, but a girl can dream, right? ;-) . Challenges: #GrimDragon [Minimalistic] #Decinbooks17 [Most Anticipated Dec Reads] . . . #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #bookhaul #haul #girlwiththeredballoon #thegirlwiththeredballoon #shemyselfandi #soexcited #red #orange
Wow, so... Obviously I️ failed at my October “challenge”! I’m excited for this month, though, so I️ thought I’d share my TBR with you (or at least part of it). I’m super excited about all of these books! Which should I️ prioritize? . Challenges: #GrimDragon [TBR] #DecinBooks17 [Anticipated Dec Read] All of these, but Gideon’s Gift is a Christmas book that my aunt gave me, so that one in particular. #CircleofBookishFriends [TBR] #AlltheBooksDec [TBR] . . . #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #TBR #December #DecemberTBR #Challenge #Decmberchallenge #purple #Christmas
Okay, so clearly I’m pretty terrible at #bookstagram. But I want to give it another shot! I’m going to participate in the #spookathon next month, so my goal is to meet these challenges every day in October. Yikes. Keep your fingers crossed for me! ;-)
I posted my review for the Day 2 blog challenge of the #biannualbibliothon yesterday! Everything All at since was SO good. I highly recommend it. :-) The whole post disappeared for a little while but I got it back, thank god! So scary! You can check it out here: http://dlvr.it/PYQK9z • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #everythingallatonce #katrinaleno #bibib #summerbibib #blogging #reviews #bookreviews
Hey guys! I'm a blogger host for the #BiannualBibliothon ! It's coming up fast, so yesterday I made sure to pick up the remaining booksI don't own on my #TBR from the library, and I thought I would share it with you. My (tentative) TBR is as follows: Group book- Flame in the Mist A host's favorite genre (historical fiction)- A Spy in the House A banned book- Some Girls Are (this is the second book in the What Goes Around bindup; hence the bookmark) Throwback (a book you were really excited for but never picked up)- Allegedly Read and watch an adaptation- A Monster Calls A book you heard about somewhere besides BookTube- Song of the Current An LGBTQ+ book- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Are you participating in the #bibib? What's on your TBR? • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #summerbibib #readathon #readathontbr #plant #gottaloveplants #reneeahdieh #yslee #courtneysummers #bannedbooks #allegedly #amonstercalls #patrickness #bookadaptation #songofthecurrent #aristotleanddantediscoverthesecretsoftheuniverse
Hey guys! I'm a blogger host for the #BiannualBibliothon !It's really coming up fast, so yesterday I made sure to pick up the remaining books I don't own on my #TBR from the library, and I just posted it on the @BiannualBibliothon account, but I thought I would share it here as well! My TBR was also just posted on my blog today. :-) My (tentative) TBR is as follows: Group book- Flame in the Mist A host's favorite genre (historical fiction)- A Spy in the House A banned book- Some Girls Are (this is the second book in the What Goes Around bindup; hence the bookmark) Throwback (a book you were really excited for but never picked up)- Allegedly Read and watch an adaptation- A Monster Calls A book you heard about somewhere besides BookTube- Song of the Current An LGBTQ+ book- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and I'm a blogger host. :-) The #BiannualBibliothon is creeping up on me quick, so yesterday I made sure to pick up the remaining books on my #TBR from the library, and I thought I would share it with you. My (tentative) TBR is as follows: Group book- Flame in the Mist A host's favorite genre (historical fiction)- A Spy in the House A banned book- Some Girls Are (this is the second book in the What Goes Around bindup; hence the bookmark) Throwback (a book you were really excited for but never picked up)- Allegedly Read and watch an adaptation- A Monster Calls A book you heard about somewhere besides BookTube- Song of the Current An LGBTQ+ book- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Let me know if you're participating in the Bibib! I'd love to hear what's on your TBR. ;-) • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #bibib #readathon #readathontbr #plant #gottaloveplants #reneeahdieh #yslee #courtneysummers #bannedbooks #allegedly #amonstercalls #patrickness #bookadaptation #songofthecurrent #aristotleanddantediscoverthesecretsoftheuniverse #lgbt #lgbtbooks
Hey guys! I'm participating in the #makemeread readathon, where you have other people vote on which books you should read first. These are the books I've chosen as options, so I would love it if you would either leave a comment with your vote or vote in my original poll via the link in my bio. :-) Thanks! • • • *Never Never Part 3 by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher *Emma by Jane Austen *A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron *Firegirl by Tony Abbott *A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray *The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder *Uprooted by Naomi Novik *Until the Beginning by Amy Plum *A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess *Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco • • • And if you're still here, sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth for a while! I had my surgery four weeks ago tomorrow, and it went quite well! However, I was in the hospital for a week and I've been really restricted in my movement, etc., for the first four weeks. My brother was kind enough to help me with this picture and lend me his camera! ;-) • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #makemereadit #makemereaditreadathon #makemereadit2017 #makemeread2017 #vote #poll #nevernever #colleenhoover #janeausten #adogspurpose #uprooted #stalkingjacktheripper #readathon #tbr
Chapter 1: Mel
Disclaimer: The Starkillers Cycle contains strong language and graphic content. It is not intended for readers under age 18.
–
Blood was a lot stickier than Mel remembered.
And shivs were a lot messier.
With one knee digging into Kress’s emaciated gut, Mel used the shiv’s toothbrush handle to prod the bloody hole in his neck. Afternoon heat coiled off the prison’s black asphalt, and the jungle humidity sank into her gray prison coveralls.
Blinking away sweat, Mel leaned in close to Kress. The prison ID numbers stamped along his uniform collar were fading beneath an endless stream of blood. The shiv’s blade had gotten wedged below his Adam’s apple. Now she needed to get it back out.
Otherwise, this asshole was going to die.
But it wasn’t the blood loss that would kill him. It was the poison she was pretty positive he’d laced along the razor’s edge.
“Was it Plutax?” she asked, poking again at the slice in his neck. More blood oozed, dribbling as halfheartedly as her attempts to find the razor. “Or was it just good old fashioned arsenic?”
Kress groaned; his sunburned eyelids fluttered open. “Bitch,” he gurgled out.
“Never heard of that one.” She pushed off Kress, flinging aside the toothbrush and sinking into a crouch. He’d always been a small guy, but he looked really small prostrate and bleeding like this. “If you don’t give me a real answer, Kress, then I can’t get you an antidote. The guards will show up any second now, and they’re gonna have a lot of questions.”
“They can’t help … anyway,” he rasped. “It’s … Vips,”
Vips—slang for Viprizec, a popular poison for all one’s execution needs. No antidote, a lot of pain, death in minutes … and Kress had just tried to use it on Mel.
Well, fuck trying to save his life.
It felt like only seconds ago that she’d scarfed back her lunch and slunk out here. She did it everyday—and all the inmates knew to stay the fuck away so she could have her five minutes of peace and quiet. Even the guards let her wander out alone since they could see her on their ten million security cams, anyway.
But Kress had brilliantly decided to hide in the shadow of the women’s bathroom twenty paces away and slice her up from behind—or try to slice her up. It was a really dumb move, even for Kress.
Eyes narrowing, Mel shifted her face toward the nearest camera at the top of the bathroom’s brick wall. The lens was angled in the opposite direction.
Her gaze snapped further on, to the nearest of eight metal towers that stood sentry along the compound’s edges. Scaffolding webbed around each tower—reinforcement added after the earthquake six years back—and every inch of steel was covered in roving cams. And yet not a single building, beam, doorways had cams facing her either.
Maybe not quite as dumb a move as she’d thought. It would seem Kress had found a blind spot—which meant that no one would see she’d fought in self-defense. The guards would just assume it was cold-blooded murder.
After all, that was what had landed her in prison two years back.
Mel’s head whipped back to Kress. “How the fuck did you know this was blind?” With eight gleaming high-rises and hundreds of buildings between, the cameras picked up everything the prisoners did on the compound—from pissing to showering to fighting. “No way this was just luck.”
He laughed—or tried to. The blood bubbling between his teeth made it hard.
“Who set you up for this?” she demanded.
“You really have … no idea … do you?” He coughed; blood sprayed onto her chin, mixing with her sweat.
She bit back a frown. Blood on her hands was one thing—she’d killed enough people to stop caring if it got under her fingernails. But blood on her face …
She dragged a sleeve over her chin. “I’ve only got a few minutes before the guards notice this, and you’ve got even less time than that. I know P.G.E. is the reason I’m in prison, and I know you just tried to kill me. What I don’t know is why.”
“Fuck … you.” His lips twitched up, and even as his eyes rolled back in head, his wicked satisfaction was clear. “I was on death row anyway, but you just … hit … ten. Have fun on Rix … ” The end of the name vanished beneath a choked gurgle.
Kress was dead.
“Well, shit.” Mel pushed into a standing position, dragging her bloodied hands down her coveralls.
Have fun on Rixion—that’s what he’d been about to say. It was the highest security prison planet in the entire Federation of the Cavillis Axis, and a guaranteed death sentence. Not from the convicts sentenced there, but from the hard labor—mining, forging, and shipping steel. Compared to Rixion, the prison-planet of Hatha was a five-star hotel.
Mel’s teeth clenched together, gritting in her ears. Ten strikes guaranteed her a one-way ticket to Rixion. And to think, she’d only been at eight strikes before lunch. Now, two stale sandwiches and a bloody round of self-defense later, she was one strike over the finish line.
She threw another glance at the mess hall … then in the other direction. The security fence loomed a hundred yards away. It was an easy scramble—only fifteen feet of chain-link. Tall ferns towered beyond, unmoving in the thick, humid afternoon. Even the usual screech of insects seemed dulled. A quarter mile further, past a dense sprawl of scrub and secondary growth, the jungle’s tree line began, fat gray trunks blending into a wall of greenery.
“Shit,” Mel repeated, louder this time. When she’d woken up this morning and knocked back her UV-tabs before working the cattle fields, she had not imagined striking out into that Hathan jungle beyond the fence … and then getting her name struck off the Warden’s list of prisoners.
Strikers, everyone called them—the prisoners stupid enough to choose Hatha’s jungle over its prison, to choose scarce game over tasteless gruel, to face the so-called monsters that occasionally got through the fifty-foot concrete wall around the prison farms and nearby jungles.
The Warden didn’t give two shits if people chose the life of a Striker. It was their death wish and one less mouth to feed. He even made it easy to escape: there was always at least one section of fencing that had its electricity switched off.
And today, it was that piece straight ahead—as if this had all been planned just for Mel. As if someone wanted her to live out there instead of rotting in the compound.
Mel kicked into a jog toward the chain-link fence, pulse dancing dangerously fast. That wouldn’t do—oh, no. She had to get her adrenaline under control stat.
The rest of the plants blurred into a mass of green as Mel honed in on a single fern. Its fingerlike leaves seemed to beckon to her, taunting.
At ten paces from the fence, she eased to a stop and inhaled deeply into her stomach. Her pulse slowed, her awareness increased. The sound of insects and distant prison conversations grew sharper as the layout of the jungle separated into navigable pieces. She’d cross the fence, run toward that spiky hedge, twirl behind it, and then keep close to the ground until she hit the tree-line.
A door slammed with a resounding clang! The mess hall; the other prisoners had finished their sandwiches. They’d march onto the rec tarmac at any moment, then around the women’s shower after that—and then the guards would definitely see Kress’s body.
After one more controlled breath—the boot steps of Mel’s fellow inmates stomping nearer—she bolted into action.
In half a moment, she reached the fence. A single jump later, and her fingers were locked around the chains, her boots shoved in as she scrambled up. The fence rattled—clink, clink, clink.
She reached the top, came face to face with the fern, and then she was leaping over. The air whizzed past her ears.
She slammed into the ground. Her ankles screamed and her knees popped, but Ronin’s training took over. She propelled forward, transferring gravity’s power into a roll.
Before the other prisoners had even reached the outhouses, she was back on her feet and sprinting full-speed, sweat burning her eyes. The soft soil cushioned each step as she flew through leaves and tall grass, over tree stumps and hedges..
Yet as Mel ran, gaze focused on the ground ahead, ears on high-alert, she started to smile—teeth bared and everything.
Because she was a Striker now, and this was the first time in her entire twenty-four years of living that she’d ever had a taste of absolute freedom.
It tasted good.
Read Chapter 2 > >
An Introduction to THE STARKILLERS CYCLE
So, it’s no secret that we (Susan and Sarah) are:
besties
BAMFs
co-authors.
A few years ago, we spent a rather debauched New Year’s Eve together in Las Vegas (details of which will never, ever be shared, but we DID have dollar bills thrown at us by B.O.B. at one point. It’s not what you think.). On New Year’s Day, while shoveling down gloriously greasy hangover food, we came up with the idea that would later become THE STARKILLERS CYCLE. We sat at that dingy restaurant for HOURS, plotting out the saga, the characters, the world.
The story draws on so many things that we love (and things we’ve built our friendship on): Star Wars, steamy romance (and hot-hot-hot dudes), Battlestar Galactica, mecha/Gundam/anime, alien flicks (everything from Alien to Independence Day), Jurassic Park (you read that right), Pitch Black, and badass heroines.
In a nutshell, THE STARKILLERS CYCLE is a space opera set in a diverse and cutthroat galaxy. From an escaped convict with blood on her hands to a society girl turned fighter pilot, the saga follows a sweeping cast of characters as they learn that the galaxy is a far bigger—and more terrifying—place than they ever imagined.
Once we returned from Vegas, we began drafting the saga as a way to blow off steam from our other obligations (Sarah’s first chapter was originally titled: “I Should Not Be Writing This Right Now.”). Writing the first Cycle of the saga was surprisingly liberating. There were no boundaries, no rules, no expectations.
But as we wrote it, we realized two things:
We loved this story. We loved it so much that every time we got together, we spent most of our time brainstorming—plotting and daydreaming and flailing.
But the other thing we realized—especially as the story kept unfolding and unfolding—was that this was…a saga. It did not fit neatly into any boxes—and if we wanted to tell the story the way we envisioned it, it might not work in book form.
But because we fell so wildly in love with it, we decided we really, truly wanted to share it. And because we’re so vocal about our coauthoring and creative processes online, we thought that sharing it online—for free—might be a really fun way to show those processes.
Both of us have a background in writing fanfiction and writing on FictionPress.com—it’s how we met, actually. So what better way to share the story than in a similar, serialized fashion, updating as we write?
So here we are, sharing the first Cycle. Think of each “Cycle” as similar to a season of a TV show. As of right now, there are 7 Cycles in total, and this first one is called LIFE-GIVER. We still have our contracted novels/series to work on, so writing this will remain a fun side project that will be updated frequently, but perhaps sporadically.
So if you like what you read, PLEASE subscribe (see the link in the sidebar) or reblog. If you subscribe, you’ll (usually) receive new chapters days before we push them onto Tumblr.
Of course, before you begin reading, we do have some disclaimers to share:
This is an ADULT story. So, expect lots of cursing, violence, sexytimes. If you are a younger reader, BEWARE. This is meant for an older audience (18+).
This saga is a work-in-progress. We are still drafting it, and are sharing it here for FUN. And because we’re still drafting it, we are also still figuring out stuff. Which means that we will, on occasion, go back to earlier chapters and tweak things. If/when we do, there will be a mention on the saga’s Tumblr of the change.
We are not astrophysicists, and our focus is on the characters and world. Therefore, if you are a fan of hard sci-fi, then this might not be the story for you. Sorry! (BUT if you like sci-fi more along the lines of Star Wars or Battlestar, then WELCOME!!!!!)
Please do not distribute this story outside of Tumblr. It is copyrighted 2013-2014 © to Susan Dennard and Sarah J. Maas (us, obviously), all rights reserved, and we have intended the Cycle for distribution via Tumblr and our newsletter ONLY.
Again, this project is for FUN! We wanted to share a glimpse into our co-authoring and creative processes. Now, we just hope you have as much fun reading the saga as it unfolds as we have had writing it.
Annnnd that’s it! Again, please subscribe or reblog if you like what you read and want to continue reading, or if you feel inclined to spread the word.
Hooray!
Start reading THE STARKILLERS CYCLE > >
Day 10 of the #bookartpride challenge was to create a poem! Lo and behold, I dug up this spine poem that I made for the #coyerphoto challenge ages ago and never ended up posting! Hope you guys enjoy! • The In-Between How to be brave where futures end? Meant to be... Staying together? Coming apart? Time between us the unfairest of them all. If I could fly after the end, The cage nevermore.... [But] as simple as it seems, A night divided what we saw; The probability of miracles After everyone we've been Uprooted. • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #poem #spine #spinepoem #spinepoetry #bookpoem #bookpoetry #writing #thistookages #somanybooks #somanyhashtags #theinbetween #poems #poemsareawesome
Day 3 of the #fairyphoto2 challenge was the mythology book, pen, and your TBR! I haven't read the mythology book yet but I'm super excited to. I love the pen, too; it's my new favorite pen because I love how it writes so much! I didn't even know I could have a favorite pen! And finally, the five books on the right are just a few of the summer-y reads on my TBR! I'm hoping to get to at least some of these this summer. :-) • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #fairyloot #fairylootmay #summer #romance #summerromance #pink #teal #turquoise #blue #myth #mythology #myths #tbr #summertbr #toread #wendywunder #beautifulbooks
Day 8 of the #bookartpride challenge's topic is simply "FUN!" I was cleaning out my room and I realized that I had not ever built the Lincoln's Memorial lego set! I've actually been there and I had quite a bit of fun making this. The top with the windows comes off and there is actually a little person in there! ;-) I even got this historical fiction book about Abraham Lincoln's sister from the bookshop there! It's super interesting and I definitely recommend it. I missed day 7 and 9 due to being away at camp, but I figured I'd post this one anyway! • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #lincoln #abraham #abrahamlincoln #sallylincoln #aftertheend #historicalfiction #lego #girlinthebluecoat #soclosetoyou #fun
Day 2 of the #fairyphoto2 challenge was Fairyloot in the wild! I brought my precious babies all the way out into my YARD for this one. ;-) You can see I've got the tea from last month, Empress of a Thousand Skies, Flame in the Mist, and Given to the Sea, as well as the bookmarks from April and May! • • • #Books #bookstagram #bookworm #bookphotography #bookish #bibliophile #book #booklove #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookpic #bookphoto #fairyloot #fairylootchallenge #bookmarks #tea #greentea #flameinthemist #empressofathousandskies #giventothesea #outside #booksinthewild #reneeahdieh #ahdieh #rhodabelleza
