When I started publishing almost four years ago, I was a reading intervention teacher at two different elementary schools. I worked with a lot of fourth and fifth graders who wanted to hear about my writing. They were fascinated with The Clandestine Saga, even though I never told any of them the title because that series isn't exactly for kids. I promised them, though, that someday I would write a series they could read.
My intentions were to take Cadence Findley, the main character in Clandestine, and create a series about her younger sister, Cassidy. Since the kids at school seemed to want to read about vampires, I thought Cassidy would be the perfect heroine for them. Even though it's been a long time since I initially thought of writing this series, I'm proud to say the first book in the series,
So You Think Your Sister's a Vampire? is finally finished, and I'm hoping to publish it in July. I hope that those same kids who were asking so many years ago will be excited to read it, along with lots of other kids and adults who like The Clandestine Saga series.
The series will be at least three books long and will follow along as Cassidy Findley discovers something odd is going on with her older sister. It parallels The Clandestine Saga but is appropriate for kids as young as ten years old with no bad language or other inappropriate content. There will be some vampire slaying eventually, but it won't be as descriptive as the other series written for adults. I let my second grader read this book, so it's definitely fine for audiences of all ages, in my opinion, but I think grownups will like it, too.
I will be looking for people interested in receiving an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review soon, so if you think you'd like to read it before it's published, let me know at authoridjohnson@gmail.com. Below, you'll find an excerpt to give you an idea of what the novel is all about. (Please keep in mind my editor hasn't gone through the manuscript yet!)
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| Young Adult Vampire Adventure, Coming Soon! |
Chapter One
You think
you know someone, and then they go and turn into a creature of the night, a
bloodsucker, a vampire, right before your very eyes, and then you realize, you
don’t really know anyone at all, perhaps not even yourself.
My name’s
Cassidy Findley, and up until a couple of weeks ago, I was living a pretty
mundane existence. I live in a small town in rural Iowa where the most exciting
thing that ever happens is someone shoots a deer or a friend’s hog has piglets.
No, really, those are the kinds of stories I’ve come to expect to hear in the
hallways of Shenandoah High School on a Monday morning. Okay, I might be
exaggerating a little bit; sometimes there are stories about who is going out
with who or who met a hot stranger at the mall—which happens to be about an
hour away from here in Council Bluffs, so no one can ever verify those sorts of
stories. Yeah, nothing exciting ever happens in Shenandoah, that is until the
night before Thanksgiving. Nothing would ever be the same after that night.
Actually,
things started to head in the direction of a downward spiral a couple of nights
before that. My older sister, Cadence, is nineteen and attends college at the
University of Iowa in Iowa City—well, she did go to college there, anyway. I’ll
get to that soon enough. She was back in town for the week because of the
holiday, and I was so happy to see her. My sister and I have always been very
close—until recently.
Her whole life, my sister has
talked about wanting to be an elementary school teacher, so the fact that she
dropped out and took a job with some sort of security company would’ve been
shocking if I hadn’t already figured out by then what was happening. Again, I’m
getting ahead of myself. I guess it would make sense if I just started at the
beginning.
Cadence was
super popular when she was in school. She was a cheerleader, in the choir, and
in a half-dozen other clubs. I do some of those things, too, but I definitely
don’t get the same sort of attention as Cadence did, which is fine. I don’t
need that sort of spotlight. Not that she ever seemed to want it either, but
that was just part of who she was. My sister is beautiful, with long brown hair
and big brown eyes. I’ve seen guys literally crumple when she flashes them her
dazzling smile. She’s totally oblivious, though. Still, being so well-liked
garnered her a group of friends that went practically everywhere with her when
they were in high school and a boyfriend that was the envy of all the other
girls. Even after she and Jack broke up, he still continued to follow her
around like a puppy dog every time she came home. So, it was no surprise that
one of the voices I heard through our adjoining bedroom wall that night was
his.
I try not
to eavesdrop as a rule. I think it’s underhanded and sneaky. But… my sister’s
friends are loud, so I can often hear most of their conversations just by not
listening to any music or watching anything on my laptop when they’re chatting.
Like I said, none of what I overheard was on purpose. And sometimes I wish I
hadn’t heard anything at all. But I did.
I was
sitting on my bed, trying to decide whether to watch a movie or catch up on
some TV when the whole group of them came up the stairs. I closed my laptop and
went into “not eavesdropping” mode. I heard Cadence’s friend Drew Peterson’s
voice first. She’s still in high school and on the Varsity cheerleading squad.
Since I’m on the JV squad, sometimes we practice together, and she’s usually
nice to me. She has short, curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. She’s really
pretty, but unlike my sister, she knows it. Drew’s the kind of girl who will
use her looks to get whatever she wants, and I always wondered why my sister
hung out with her when Cadence usually likes people who are more down to earth.
I remembered
that she used to date my sister’s friend Kash Donetello as soon as I heard his
voice. “That’s why,” I reminded myself. Drew started hanging out with my sister
when she was dating Kash, and even though they broke up a while ago, Drew has
stuck to my sister like bubble gum on her Converse. She just won’t go away.
Drew’s
laughter peeled through the wall, and I heard my sister mention she has a paper
that she’s got to work on. Why her friends were here while she was doing
homework is beyond me, but I figured it is back to the sticky factor. Once
someone has latched on to Cadence, she has a hard time shaking them.
I heard her
two other guy friends—the aforementioned Jack Cook, ex-boyfriend and star
baseball player who now attends college in Nebraska, and Jon Chancellor, who
decided not to go to college. Jon is one of those guys who is always joking
around about everything, and although I’ve personally never thought he was
particularly funny, I guess Cadence does. She has always had a strange sense of
humor.
I could
hear two other female voices, too, though not well-enough to make out what they
were saying. Still, I knew that they are my sisters real best friends, the ones
she’d choose to keep if she had to whittle down this group. Taylor Christianson
and Sidney Cox are to Cadence what my two best friends, Lucy Burk and Emma
O’Sullivan, are to me. I have other friends, too, like Milo Parker and Wes
Standford, and then there’s Liam White who is super cute, but I think is just
using me to pass Algebra II. If I had to pick my two BFFs, though, there’s no
question it would be Luce and Em hands down. I know that’s a lot of names, and
for right now, you probably don’t have to worry about most of these people. The
only ones that are super important are my sister, of course, and Drew. If I had
known then what I know now about the fate of Drew Peterson, I would’ve burst
into my sister’s bedroom and ordered everyone to go home immediately.
But I
didn’t do that because I had no idea that the conversation my sister was having
through that paper-thin wall would be so significant.
I adjusted
my position on top of the floral print bedspread my mother had purchased me a
few years earlier when I decided I was too old for Disney Princesses and tried
not to not listen to my sister’s
conversation. You’d think the walls would be thicker considering that was
supposed to be the master suite. Despite the fact that Cadence had an en suite bathroom and a closet big
enough to hide all of her friends should my parents ever care that she was
practically throwing a party in her bedroom, I was never jealous. My parents’
bedroom was downstairs in what was meant to be a mother-in-law suite, but my
Grandma Janette lives in Des Moines and my other grandparents still have each
other. So, everyone else has spacious bedrooms with attached bathrooms, and I
have to walk down the hall a little way to take a shower. Really not a big
deal—not even a first world problem. Still, I could practically hear my sister
and her friends breathing, which is why I can say I definitely wasn’t trying to
hear what they were talking about.
But I heard
nonetheless. Drew was talking about an Eidolon Festival. I’d never heard that
word before and thought at first that I just wasn’t hearing it correctly
through the drywall, but I did what I always do when I hear a word I don’t
know—I looked it up. Even before she stopped talking, I had it on Wikipedia.
Since I was pretty sure she wasn’t talking about idolizing anyone, that only
left one alternative. “A specter or phantom,” I read aloud, my forehead
crinkling. Why would anyone want to go to
a festival for that? I wondered. It definitely didn’t sound like something
my sister would like. She wasn’t even a fan of Halloween. Not that she was
scared; she just thought it was pointless to walk around dressed like someone
you’re not, trying to scare people or collecting candy. I tended to agree with
her and waited to hear her tell Drew to forget about it.
The
discussion went on for a few minutes, and I could hear Cadence saying she
didn’t want to go. It sounded like Taylor was actually afraid, like she was
about to cry, so I thought for sure this would be the end of the discussion. But
then Drew started whining, and I know that’s my sister’s weakness. “You all
went away to college and left me here,” she was saying.
Like
kryptonite, the tears of Drew Peterson melted my sister’s iron resolve, and the
next thing I hear is Cadence agreeing to go. I can hardly believe my ears.
Whatever this thing is, it sounded dangerous, and it’s not even in town.
They’ll have to drive to Villisca. A festival of ghosts in a town made famous
for an axe murder? I’m pretty sure this is a bad idea.
I know what
you’re thinking, and you’re right. You’re asking yourself, “If Cassidy Findley
is such a good girl, why didn’t she get up and go tell her sister not to go?”
Or, “Why didn’t she head straight downstairs and interrupt her parents’ viewing
of CSI Miami to let them know her
older sister was planning to lie to them and use a cover story of spending the
night at Drew’s house to sneak out?” And you’re right—you’re absolutely right.
I should’ve done one or both of those things. And now, here we are, a few weeks
later, and everything in the world is completely different. This is a guilt I
will carry with me for the rest of my life. I no longer feel like the good girl
who always makes the right decisions. What I overheard that night has led me
down a dark hole, one where I not only eavesdrop on every other member of my
family, I’ve also become a master of deception. As a matter-of-fact, I’m pretty
sure someone is dead because I didn’t stand up and say something. What’s even
worse (yes, worse than death) is that, because I chose not to burst through my
sister’s door and tell her not to go to that stupid festival, my sister is now
a vampire; I’m almost sure of it.
Chapter Two
The night
before Thanksgiving, I went to bed a little earlier than usual. I wasn’t
particularly tired, but I was worried, and I didn’t want to hang around my
parents any more than I had to because I was certain they would be able to tell
something was bothering me. Cadence had sat around the house most of that day,
trying to act inconspicuous, but I could tell by the way she twisted the ring
on her right hand that she was anxious. I wanted to ask her why she had agreed
to go to this festival if she knew it was a bad idea, but she had no idea I
could overhear her conversations with her friends in her bedroom, and I was
still under the impression that breaking her trust would be worse than just
letting her go. For the most part, my sister has good judgement, and I still
expected her to find a way to talk her friends out of going.
Ever since
I’d heard Drew use that word—Eidolon—I’d been doing some research. I thought if
I knew more about where they were headed, maybe I could come up with some sort
of a way to trick them into not going. But no matter how much searching I’d
done using the keywords I’d overheard from their conversation, nothing came up.
Even though I had heard enough to know this Eidolon Festival in Villisca was
supposed to be the night before Thanksgiving at the witching hour, which is
3:00 AM, nothing popped up. I’d considered asking Emma to help me because, when
it comes to computers, Em’s a whiz, but I didn’t do it. I was still thinking I
was overreacting, though somewhere deep down inside, I felt a stirring, like
this night would be a turning point of sorts. I played it off, because that
just sounds ridiculous. I wish I would’ve listened to my gut.
We were
eating dinner, chicken casserole, one of my mom’s specialties, and the table
was mostly quiet except for the clatter of silverware. I could tell my mom was
going over her list for Thanksgiving dinner in her head, and my dad was
probably thinking about the football games he’d be watching the next day.
Cadence was much quieter than usual, and I wanted to ask her to stay there with
me that night, to watch a movie, but when she was done eating, she cleared her
throat and said, “I’m heading over to Drew’s.”
“Oh?” my
mom had said, clearly not expecting that.
“Yeah.
She’s having us all over to watch movies. I might just sleep over at her house.
I don’t want to come back in the middle of the night and wake everyone up.”
My sister wasn’t looking at either
one of my parents. She was looking right over their heads, like she couldn’t
meet their eyes. And I wanted to yell out, “Liar!” But instead I shoved a fork
full of noodles and overcooked chicken in my mouth.
Dad looked at Mom and shrugged.
“Okay, honey. Just be back plenty early in the morning.”
“I was hoping you could give me a
hand in the kitchen.” My mom managed a small smile, but she didn’t protest.
Now, I wonder if perhaps her intuition had kicked in, and she’d somehow sensed
her oldest daughter was in danger, but like me, she’d chosen to ignore that
voice in the back of her head.
“Sure. I’ll be back in plenty of
time,” Cadence had said, a nervous smile on her face. She’d scooted her chair
back, the legs screeching across the surface of the oak floor beneath our feet,
and took her plate into the kitchen. I wanted to follow her, to confront her. I’d
taken another bite of my dinner now tasting nothing.
The break in the silence started a
conversation between my parents, and my mom started talking about the sales on
Friday. She has friends who go Black Friday shopping, and while she’s not much
of a fan herself because of the crowds, she seemed to be considering going this
year.
“May I be excused?” I asked,
interrupting their conversation.
“Sure,” my mom had said, as if she
wasn’t expecting me to be so polite. I’m not sure why I asked either—it’s not a
rule at my house—but I was in the kitchen a few seconds later, practically
running into Cadence as she came around the corner of the counter by the
dishwasher.
“Oh, Cass. You scared me,” she’d
said, clutching her chest.
I’d wanted to say if she scares
that easily, perhaps she shouldn’t go out tonight, but I had just stood there,
holding my half-eaten dinner. I remember noticing she wasn’t quite dressed like
someone who was going to her friend’s house to watch movies. She was wearing
knee-high brown boots, thick tights, and a skirt. I’d seen her bring down her
brown jacket, which I assumed she’d toss over her brown cashmere sweater. I
didn’t comment on the fact that sleeping in that outfit wouldn’t be very
comfortable, and maybe she should consider taking an overnight bag. Instead, I
just muttered, “Sorry,” and stepped around her to scrape off my plate.
“You got plans tonight?” she’d
asked. My sister was always trying to figure out whether or not I had a secret
boyfriend. I could see the twinkle in her eye as she hinted that this is what
she was really asking.
“No,” I’d said, thinking now would
be the perfect time to tell her I know more about her plans than I was letting
on. Instead, I turned on the tap and rinsed my plate before sticking it into
the dishwasher next to hers.
“Well, you should call one of your
friends or something. You never have any fun, Cass.”
I was thinking at least I am not
sneaking out behind mom and dad’s backs, but I just looked at her, wondering
why we were so different. I would have never considered doing such a thing, and
my sister was supposed to be a good girl, too, though I know this isn’t the
first time she had lied to our parents.
I must’ve been staring too
intently, because her forehead furrowed. “You okay, Cass? You feeling all right?”
“I’m fine,” I’d managed, trying to
force a smile, but my face was frozen, and I am guessing it came across as a
grimace.
She did not look convinced. “Okay.
Well, I hope you find something fun to do.” She smiled at me and headed toward
the kitchen door.
“Cadence!” I hadn’t meant for my
voice to be so loud, but she’d stopped and turned to face me, still puzzled.
I’d taken a few quick steps over to her and wrapped my arms around her. It took
her a moment to hug me back, and at the time, she’d probably thought I’d lost
all of my marbles. “Be careful,” I’d said into her shoulder.
A nervous giggle had escaped her
lips. “I’m just going to Drew’s,” she’d reminded me.
Somehow, I’d managed to regain my
composure and stepped back, releasing her. “Right.”
Cadence continued to look at me
like she thought I might need to be professionally evaluated before she said,
“Goodnight, Cassidy,” and backed out of the swinging door into the dining room.
“Goodnight.” Only she hadn’t heard
me. She was gone by then. I could’ve ran after her, grabbed ahold of her, and
not let go until she promised me she wouldn’t go to that stupid festival, but I
didn’t do it. I stood in the kitchen, fighting back tears, wishing I’d been
strong enough to speak up. While I was certainly unsettled, even then, I had no
idea that was the last time I’d ever see my sister alive. She’d come back to
the house later that night, but by then, I’m pretty sure the change had already
started taking shape, and she was already undead.
Whatever the reason, I’d gone to
bed early that night, thinking there was a shift on the horizon, something
bigger than anything I’d ever known before. Eventually, I’d dozed off, but my
suspicions that all was not well were confirmed when I awoke sometime between
4:00 and 5:00 AM to the sound of an unfamiliar voice coming from my sister’s
room, an engine outside, and footsteps on the roof.
***
