Fire and Ice is honored to be included in the incredible line up of blogs for the official Crewel Blog Tour! Read on for an exclusive deleted scene plus book and swag giveaway…
Crewel
by Gennifer Albin
Paperback, 357 pages
Expected Publication Date: October 16th 2012
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 0374316414
Book Source: publisher
Summary from Goodreads: Incapable. Awkward. Artless.
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.
Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.
Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.
Deleted Scene: This scene from the original version shows Adelice taking on neighborhood bully, Beth, for picking on her sister, Amie. This was cut in favor of a different scene between Adelice and Amie, but I actually really like it because it hints at some elements that come into play in the sequels.
“None of Amie’s friends had seen her, and I was halfway home before a little Yuna from
down the street ran to me, waving her arms frantically.
“Adelice…” she gasped for air, having run much faster than her age to find me. “She…has…Amie.”
I didn’t have to ask who Yuna was talking about, because I knew immediately. I dashed
in the direction of Yuna’s outstretched finger, and she hurried after me. Beth had Amie face
down in the dirt in the public greenspace the metro patrolled a block from our house.
Beth was pushing her harder against the ground, and I could tell by the way Amie’s
hands were flailing that she couldn’t breath. As I got closer, the texture of the moment
shimmered lightly in front of me, and I started to reach out to the subtle weave. I could save
Amie that way, mess with the threads all around us. Somehow I knew that, but the thought
paralyzed me.
But then Beth slammed her palm into Amie’s hair and called her a “loose strand.” The
weave vanished, and I clocked her. Beth was dazed for a moment, but then her eyes focused on
mine, and I saw her mouth the word freak. I swung back to hit her again, but Amie’s hands
caught my arm and she looked up at me with wide-eyed fear.
“Let’s go,” Amie said. “We’ll get in trouble.”
I wanted to tell her Beth deserved it, and that only our horrible neighbor would be
punished. Except Amie was right, fighting was a level three infraction. It was serious enough to
result in disciplinary action, which meant a visit to the metro clinic. I let her lead me away.
I was so focused on the fury welling up inside me that I didn’t notice how her lower lip
trembled at first.
“What happened?” I asked her quietly.
Amie shook her head.
Did she say something to you, or did she just hit you?” I pushed.
Amie looked down, and I realized whatever Beth had said to her, Amie wasn’t going to
repeat it. I knew that meant it had been about me.
“It’s okay, Ames,” I said, trying to sound playful. “We’ll get you cleaned up, and Mom
will never know.”
She turned the full force of her pale green eyes on me then, and I saw the tears glistening.
“But we were fighting,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry about that,” I said with a shrug. “If anyone is going to get in trouble, it will be Beth. She attacked you.”
“But you hit her back,” Amie said as the tears finally poured down her cheeks.
She was right, but I didn’t tell her that.
Author Bio: I like coffee. A lot. Writing gives me time to go get a cup without my kids. I like books as much as I like coffee, but it is easier to read with children hanging on you than drink coffee due to the threat of third degree burns. That’s why coffee gets top billing in my intro: its unattainability.
I hold a Masters in English with a specialization in 18th century women’s studies. While this is a highly marketable area of expertise, I stay home with my kids, which means my 3 year-old son uses correct grammar and doesn’t burn down the house.
I have a ridiculously supportive husband who dreams of being included on a book jacket: “The author lives in Kansas with her husband, two children, and a Tuesday cat.”
I’m represented by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.
Crewel Blog Tour Schedule
The Giveaway: Fire and Ice is giving away a hardcover copy of Crewel to go with the blog tour, plus a Crewel bracelet courtesy of MacKids Books. US and Canada only. To enter fill out the rafflecopter form below.
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