The Descendant by Melissa Riddell

The Descendant

by Melissa Riddell

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GENRE: Sci-Fy Romance

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Blurb: She wants her world back; he wants her heart.

Tilly Morgan and her four-legged companion, Kodiak, are just trying to survive the alien arrival. Two years ago, the visitors unleashed devastation—a world-wide EMP followed by a deadly virus that wiped out more than half of humanity.

Traversing the lonely landscape, she runs into an alien on patrol with one order: eradicate all human life. A mysterious, dark-haired stranger named Jareth comes to her aid, and she reluctantly allows him to join her quest to find her sister. He even persuades her to let the damaged alien tag along against her better judgment.

As her group travels the desolate world and inches closer to her goal, she’s forced to examine her unwanted feelings for Jareth and come to terms with her heart, even if the truth threatens to destroy her and everything she’s come to believe.

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Excerpt:

Walking down a long, metallic corridor, the hall opens, and I see people sitting at terminals or standing on discs.

Visual readouts project holographic images at the stations. Some of the crew wear visors over their eyes and move gloved hands to swipe at virtual images of the triangular ship and the solar system. When Eva passes their stations, several follow the procession with guarded faces.

The back of a chair rests in the middle of the spacious room. Before the seat is an enormous window that looks out into space.

One soft, polished boot dangles over the side of the chair. Long, deft fingers drum a beat on the black coat that covers the knee.

Freaking, evil granny. I should’ve known she wouldn’t keep her nose out of my business.

In slow motion, the chair swivels in my direction.

I want to crawl and hide. Instead, I stand and stare like the idiot I am.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Melissa Riddell is from a small, West Texas town in which she still lives with her husband. Her writing career started as a hobby when she was a teenager, writing poems and short stories. Eventually, she branched out and began constructing novels. When not contemplating new story ideas, she can be found traipsing around Texas State Parks, herding her cats, or reading a book.

You can follow her on several different social media platforms below:

Facebook: facebook.com/melcriddell / Twitter: twitter.com/MelCRiddell / Instagram: instagram.com/averela / Goodreads: goodreads.com/melcriddell

Website: https://averela13.wixsite.com/melissariddell

Amazon buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Descendant-Baltin-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B07ZWHVKBP/

The book will be $0.99 during the tour!

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

Melissa Riddell will giveaway to randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter a $10 Amazon/BN GC, a signed copy of The Descendant (book 1), or an ARC of the second book in the series.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Interview! 

Hello and welcome to my blog! Can you tell me a little about yourself, and how you became an author?

Thanks for having me on your blog!. I’m married and have one daughter. I dabbled in writing as a teen but didn’t seriously start it again until two or three years ago.

On a whim, in early 2019, I decided to submit a few chapters of a story I’d recently written, hoping an editor would take pity on me and give some valuable feedback. To my shock, I received a full manuscript request, and a month later, I was offered a contract by DLG Publishing Partners. My poor editor—she had her work cut out by teaching me the ropes. Hahaha.

What is your book about?

The Descendant follows a twenty-year-old woman named Tilly Morgan. It’s in first-person present tense, so the reader sees everything through her eyes. Humanity and the world’s electrical grid and electronics have been wiped out by mysterious aliens, and she’s one of the few survivors.

Lonely, she hopes her sister is also immune to the virus and begins a quest toward Florida, hoping to either find her sister or say a final goodbye. On the way, a lovable mutt named Kodiak adopts Tilly, then she meets a handsome, charismatic stranger named Jareth. The story focuses on Tilly and Jareth, showing two completely different personalities trying to survive in the aftermath of the apocalypse. Lots of readers love the twists and turns the story takes, too.

Who is your heroine? Is she based on someone in real life?

Tilly is the protagonist. She’s not exactly a hero, but she’s a strong female lead. I don’t know who she’s like. I see a lot of myself in her, so perhaps she’s my alter ego. She’s a headstrong little scrapper with a dirty mouth, so yeah, the more I think about it, the more I’m pretty sure I know where she came from. Ha.

What are your favorite times for writing? Morning? Evening?

I love mornings, but I usually write in the evening because I work a daytime job.

Who are your favorite authors? Did they influence your writing, and if so, how?

Stephen King, Robert Jordan, Veronica Roth, Laura Thalassa, and so many more. Yes, I’m sure they influence my writing, but no one’s ever mentioned my books reminding them of another author, so I guess that’s a good thing. I definitely want to have my own writing voice.

Did you have a favorite book as a child? Did it influence your choice to become an author?

My favorite books, when I first got into reading around ten or so, were the Choose Your Own Adventures stories and a series called The Unicorn Queen, or something like that. After those, I graduated to Christopher Pike and read everything he released until I leveled up to Stephen King.

I’m sure they influenced me into becoming an author because those stories instilled my love for the written word.