Above Ground: A Blog Tour

As promised, A. M. Harte stops by on her Above Ground blog tour.  Today, All Souls Day, she brings an excerpt from her new dark fantasy, Above Ground.  Not only is she sharing a tantalizing tidbit to read, she comes bearing gifts, in the form of a Rafflecopter contest.  So read on and then enter (the contest that is)...

Excerpt: Above Ground by A.M. Harte

The midday sun beat down on werewolf and girl alike, withering the plants, sucking every ounce of moisture from the air. Great clouds of red soil swirled upwards with every beat of the werewolf’s paws, and within minutes Lilith’s cheeks were stinging from the heat and the flecks of grit in the air. She pressed closer to his fur, jostled by each leap, certain she would soon fall.

“Hey!” The wind tore the word out of her mouth. “Hey you! Slow down!”

No response. Ahead there was nothing but open land. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed Lilith's suspicions: they were going the wrong way. She tugged on the thick fur of Wolf’s neck, trying to steer him towards the cliffs, but either he couldn't feel what she was doing or he was ignoring her.

“Turn around! You’re going the wrong way!”

Wolf flicked back an ear but didn’t stop running. With every passing moment the theatre—her only way back home—faded further into the distance. Unless she wanted to remain stranded in the middle of nowhere, it was time for drastic measures.

This was going to hurt.

She let go of Wolf’s neck. There was no time to think. Lilith threw herself sideways and saw the ground rush up to meet her. Her eyes squeezed shut. The air was kicked out of her, dust rising in a cloud as she tumbled across the sandy soil.

It took a moment for Lilith to realise she had stopped rolling. Dirt choked the inside of her nose and mouth, and her head was still spinning, struggling to catch up. She kept still, winded. Her shoulder ached and the oppressive heat made it almost impossible to move. A tall shrub obstructed her line of sight, yet she could feel Wolf looming.

Lilith flexed her right leg, then the left. Her fingers curled into the dirt, her shoulders rolled obligingly. Nothing broken.

She sat up carefully. Her clothes were streaked with red dust and her palms stung.  She wiped her hands on her jeans as she stood slowly, legs trembling. Then she forced herself to turn around and say, “I asked you to take me home.”

The werewolf ignored her—or, more likely, didn’t understand. He stood still, ears pricked forward, tail up, staring warily in the direction from which they had come. A vast expanse of barren earth separated them from the theatre, its domed roof reflecting the sunlight. At this distance the building was no longer impressive; it was not, as Lilith had initially thought, reaching towards the sky. Instead it huddled at the base of the cliff face, cowering into the ground.

The enormity of the situation struck her: she was above ground.

     This was unchartered territory, the heart of wilderness: the land stretched out uninterrupted in every direction, and the sky above was a flat, endless blue. Not even the largest of caves in the Lower Halls could compare to the infinity of the sky. Even the air was different, drier, as if someone had left the dehumidifier on all night—but up here there were no dehumidifiers. Above ground, there were only monsters.

Above Ground

The first glimpse of sun may be her last.
When Lilith Gray goes above ground for the first time, she hardly expects to stay there — much less be trapped on the surface with no way home.
Hunted by trackers and threatened by the infected, Lilith is on the run, desperate to return underground. Her only hope for survival lies with a taciturn werewolf with a dark agenda of his own.
Lilith’s old carefree life has been reduced to one choice:
Adapt. Or die trying.

Author Bio:

A.M. Harte writes twisted speculative fiction, such as the post-apocalyptic Above Ground and the zombie love anthology Hungry For You. She is excellent at missing deadlines, has long forgotten what ‘free time’ means, and is utterly addicted to chocolate. She lives in London, a city not half as foggy as some seem to think.

You can find her Above Ground blog tour schedule here:  http://amharte.com/aboveground/

RaffleCopter Contest:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love and Brains: A Review of Hungry For You

My Book Review of Hungry For You by A. M. Harte:

Any book that starts with a zombie apocalypse love poem is my kind of tome. Hungry For You by A. M. Harte is a well penned, alluring collection of romance stories laced with a satirical edge of zombie madness.

The book is a gentle smorgasbord of dark horror, small portraits of life gone horribly wrong, but still clinging to some redemption. It is a glimpse of love surviving in the zombie apocalypse, and once or twice, of other tales of undead romance. As one might expect, I enjoyed some stories more than others, but they were all well-written, engaging and great fun to read.

Hungry for You has a subtle touch of dark humour, but also has a sweet undercurrent of affection and warmth. It maintains love can survive total catastrophe, that even zombies have a heart.

Hungry for You is an interesting take on your typical zombie story, and will keep you entertained, as well as occasionally queasy.

Interview with A. M. Harte

We're welcoming author A. M. Harte to the blog today, who (much like me) writes dark, speculative fiction.  Come and enjoy this wonderful interview:

Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself and your books.

I’m a London-based chocolate addict and avid reader, with a penchant for dark speculative fiction tales. On top of being an indie author, I’m a strong webfiction (or online fiction) enthusiast, and am writing several ongoing series available for free online: Above Ground, a post-apocalyptic fantasy; and DarkSight, a contemporary horror serial.

How long have you been writing?

I like to say I’ve been writing far longer than anybody’s been paying attention -- although I imagine that’s true for most writers! Ever since my early teens, I’ve been scribbling out stories, although it is only in the last couple of years that I decided to take the next step and approach writing from a more professional point of view.

Can you to tell us about your latest book?

“Hungry For You” is a zombie love speculative fiction anthology which takes a hard look at love and death, because at the end of the day, what else is there to write about? The collection is a study of extremes, from all-enduring love to twisted relationships, from traditional brain-eating zombies to thinking, sentient creatures.

Perhaps my favourite description of the book is from one of my reviewers, Lauren Smith (from Violin in a Void) who said: “Hungry For You makes zombies less scary, more revolting, but also morbidly fascinating. It’s smart and spunky, bringing together horror, tragedy, romance and dark humour.”

Why did you decide to write in the speculative fiction genre?

I don’t think it was a conscious decision -- speculative fiction has simply always fascinated me, and the books that have moved me the most have nearly always fallen into this genre. Perhaps it is a question of escapism, being able to daydream about what my life would be like in an alternate universe where magic exists, or demons are real, or everyone lives in space. It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a daydreamer!

What do you find different about writing short fiction as opposed to longer novels?

I like to think of short stories as the summer flings and novels the long-term relationships. Writing a short story can be very quick and intense, because your space is limited – you need to convey a lot in very few words, which means it’s a constant challenge to tighten your prose and hone your writing. But overall I would say more of my heart and soul goes into writing a novel; the characters are dearer to me because I’ve invested so much more time in them.

What is the hardest part of writing speculative fiction?

Making everything seem plausible. As much as a reader of speculative fiction is looking for something different, your story always needs to be coherent and consistent. You may have werewolves or cabbage-eating fairies or cars that run on toothpaste, but they’ve all got to make sense in the world you’ve built, and you need to remember what the rules are so that you don’t contradict yourself later. For example, you can’t say that cars only run on fluoride toothpaste and then have someone fill up their car with mouthwash (unless the car then breaks down or explodes).

How did you research your books?

I don’t, mostly! Actually, that’s a lie. I generally end up asking unusual questions on twitter, or otherwise Google odd requests like, “What does snake poo smell like?” (Yes, really.) I don’t know how writers in ye olde days managed, but I rely heavily on the wealth of expertise available online. And if worst comes to worst, I’ll invent an answer.

What advice would you give beginning writers?

Read critically. Write furiously. Experiment with ideas and styles; don’t pigeon-hole yourself into one plot, one novel, one genre. And accept all feedback and criticism graciously, no matter how much you may disagree.

Who has inspired you as an author?

One of my favourite novels of all time is “The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman; I would love to write a novel like that. Other favourites include “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Margaret Atwood), “The Postmistress” (Sarah Blake), “The Bell Jar” (Sylvia Plath), and Dune (Frank Herbert) – very much an eclectic mix, I know!

As for fellow indie authors, I’m very much inspired by fellow 1889 Labs author MCM’s professionalism and dedication. Horror author Zoe E. Whitten deserves recognition for being enviably prolific; I wish I could write as quickly as her! And from the online fiction community, MeiLin Miranda (historical fantasy) and MCA Hogarth (science fiction) are absolute stars, lovely ladies, and great writers.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently editing my first novel, “Above Ground”, which will be released as an ebook and in print in September 2011. It’s a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy where humans live underground and monsters live on the surface. “Above Ground” follows the adventures of Lilith Gray, a human girl who is trapped on the surface, and struggles to survive as she fights to return back home.

After that, who knows? I still have many stories to tell.



A.M. Harte is a speculative fiction enthusiast and a chocolate addict. She’s a writer, editor, practical joker, and the author behind the online dark fantasy publishing project Qazyfiction. She is excellent at missing deadlines, has long forgotten what ‘free time’ means, and enjoys procrastinating over at http://amharte.com.

On Twitter: @am_harte

And for more on her book, Hungry For You, check out this spotlight: http://afstewartpromotion.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-spotlight-hungry-for-you.html