In
Another Life
Carys
Jones
Genre:
Fantasy
Publisher:
Self Published
Date
of Publication: 13th May 2016
ASIN:
B01BZ7S9L8
Number
of pages: 316
Word
Count: 72120
Cover
Artist: Carys Jones
Book
Description:
Pans
Labyrinth meets Once Upon A Time in this fantasy thriller from Carys
Jones
Returning
home one weekend Marie Schneider’s life changes forever when her
car collides with a lorry on the motorway and she is left fighting
for her life. Whilst in a coma, Marie awakens in the fantastical
world of Azriel which appears to be right out of the pages of a Fairy
Tale book. Here, Marie learns that she is their long lost Princess
North, and that Azriel is where she truly belongs.
When
Marie eventually wakes from her coma her thoughts of Azriel are still
very present in her mind and she struggles to adjust to her 'normal'
life. Everyone around her insists that Azriel is just a figment of
her imagination but as she tries to recover from her wounds people
start approaching her on the street, insisting that Azriel needs her
and that she must return there at once.
Confused,
Marie tries to discover which reality is the right one. Could she
truly be a long lost princess from another world or is she just
losing her mind? As the world of Azriel starts to creep in to her
current life it gets harder for her to ignore that perhaps she really
is Azriel's Princess after all...
Excerpt:
Beginnings
The
unusually bitter October wind pulled at loose strands of Marie’s
hair as she walked briskly along the busy pavement. Checking her
watch she noticed with a plunging sensation in her stomach that she
was already running five minutes late.
“Damn
it,” she cursed aloud as she tried to increase her walk from brisk
to fast. Her high heeled shoes clipped manically against the floor
creating a sharp staccato soundtrack to her commute.
With
as much speed as the six inches of her stilettos would afford her,
Marie descended down from the pavement and the ominous grey clouds
overhead into the underbelly of the city and the tube railway system.
Despite
having lived in London for almost eighteen months Marie still
struggled to accept the infiltration of her personal space each time
she rode the tube to work. People would push up against her as though
she were completely invisible. She’d learnt to use her bony elbows
as a weapon against the more persistent of intruders. Clutching her
handbag tightly to her chest she boarded her train, moving with the
same militant precision as the commuters around her. Everyone seemed
to move with such urgency, as though their very being depended on
boarding the waiting train before them.
As
the train surged in to motion and swept the passengers deeper into
the city, Marie dared to remove one hand from her hand bag to wipe
wearily at her eyes, careful not to smudge the mascara she’d barely
had time to apply.
Marie
was tired. The previous night, like all the nights before, the twenty
seven year old had struggled to sleep. She lay awake, anxious, as
though she were waiting for something though she had no idea what.
It
took twenty minutes for Marie’s train to arrive in central London.
Not quite long enough to remove her Kindle and delve in to the latest
fantasy novel she was reading. She thought about the story as she
looked forlornly out of the train windows. Endless miles of
nothingness sped by. She missed travelling through the countryside
and looking out and seeing endless fields of luscious, green grass.
Marie Schneider was a city girl by necessity, not choice. She’d
grown up amongst trees and fields not sky scrapers and stop signs.
Every
morning as she stood on the tube she wished the same thing; that she
didn’t have to go to work that day that instead she could stay home
and read and get lost in another world.
“You
spend far too much time with your head in books,” her mother would
note with disapproval.
“Reading
stories won’t get you anywhere,” she’d add callously. Marie
would just roll her eyes. Her mother didn’t understand the magic
which existed within a great story. She was too pragmatic, existing
only in the moment. But Marie dared to dream bigger. She always
secretly harboured the belief that she was meant for great things,
that her destiny would somehow be wondrous.
Yet
as she stepped off the tube and an overweight man in a suit already
covered in sweat pushed a little too close up against her Marie
realised she was hanging on to her romantic notions of a better life
with a very thin thread.
“Excuse
you!” Marie exclaimed as the man peeled himself off her and headed
towards the escalators. He didn’t so much as turn back and offer an
apologetic glance.
“Chivalry
is so dead,” Marie muttered to herself as she straightened her blue
dress which was adorned with patterns of white tipped daisies.
Checking her watch she realised she was still running late, so taking
the briefest moment to tuck back any loose strands of hair which had
wrangled themselves free of the bun at the nape of her neck Marie
headed out of the tube station, back up to the surface.
Emerging
in to the dim light of an autumn morning Marie squinted slightly,
feeling momentarily as blind as a mole squinting up from the ground.
She could scarcely afford even a second to get her bearings. Her
boss, Amanda Pickens loathed tardiness almost as much as she loathed
those who opposed her right to wear real fur.
When
Marie finally pushed her way through the glass doors of the office
building where she worked her cheeks were flushed and a slight
spattering of perspiration had formed upon her forehead.
About
the Author:
Carys
Jones loves nothing more than to write and create stories which
ignite the reader's imagination. Based in Shropshire, England, Carys
lives with her husband, two guinea pigs and her adored canine
companion Rollo.
When
she's not writing, Carys likes to indulge her inner geek by watching
science- fiction films or playing video games.
She
lists John Green, Jodi Picoult and Virginia Andrews as her favorite
authors and draws inspiration for her own work from anything and
everything.
To
Carys, there is no greater feeling then when you lose yourself in a
great story and it is that feeling of ultimate escapism which she
tries to bring to her books.
For
more information about Carys please visit www.carys-jones.com
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