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The Orphan, The Soulcatcher, and the Black Blizzard Blog Tour

Posted June 7, 2012 by Christine in Blog Tour / 23 Comments /

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Author Kimberlee Ann Bastian has stopped by my blog today with an excerpt for her blog tour. Check it out!

Most of his life, Charlie Reese has been surrounded by a loving family and all the comforts of home. But when a house fire claims them, he and his cousin, Jimmy are sent to an orphanage in the heart of ‘Depression Era’ Chicago. A year later, Charlie’s life is shaken by yet another tragedy and with it comes the mysterious introduction of a secretive runaway, named Bartholomew. As Charlie begins to discover more about his new companion, he unknowingly becomes a participant in a two-hundred year old secret. Come the morning of the Black Blizzard, Charlie finds he must make a choice – flee the destiny laden at his feet or take on his responsibility and follow a path full of supernatural wonders.

“Automobiles” From Chapter 4: Morgan Street – Bartholomew’s first reaction to the modern world

“Charlie, what are those?” he asks pointing at the bizarre horseless carriages roaming about the street. The faint smell of rotten eggs and exhaust tickles his nose.
“Those are automobiles, Buck.” Charlie looks at the kid sideways in surprise. “You act as if you’ve never seen one.”
“Well, of course, automobiles,” backpedals Bartholomew. He does not want Charlie to start asking questions he cannot answer. “What I meant to ask is what kind are they?”
“Well, those black ones there sitting in front of the apartment complex are the original Model Ts. My pa and Uncle Gert had one back on the farm. That blue one parked in front of the two-story white house with the long nose is a Cadillac, the filthy white one turning the corner onto Thirty-Fourth Street is a Chevy, and of course there are the freight trucks. You’ll see a lot of those round this neighborhood.”
“Fascinating, each of them has its own name.” He takes note of the mortals steering a wheel of some kind behind a sheet of glass.
Charlie raises an eyebrow.
“How do they work?” asks Bartholomew.
“What?”
Bartholomew turns to Charlie. “What?”
Charlie halts on the corner below the 34th Street sign. “Did you just ask me how automobiles run?”
Bartholomew pauses when he notices an unfamiliar expression on Charlie’s face as a slender woman with a basket of linen walks into them.
“Excuse you,” she says crossly.
Charlie moves out of her way. “Ma’am,” he says politely.
The slender woman flicks up her nose in disgust and continues on her way. The scent of lye soap leaving with her. When she is out of earshot, Charlie turns back to Buck.
“How old did you say you are?”
Bartholomew thinks quickly, finding the question a particularly hard one to answer, seeing as he is well over five thousand years old, at least by mortal standards. His mortal likeness, however, has remained the same since his creation, the image of a young boy, somewhere between a child and young man. Bartholomew never thought to put a mortal age on himself. He wonders what Charlie will believe.
“How old are you?” he asks, steering the spotlight back onto Charlie.
“I asked you first.”
“Well, I asked you second.”
Charlie bats his eyes. He does not particularly like this game, simply because he never wins. Jimmy always did.
“I just turned seventeen a few days ago on May second.”
“Well, to be honest,” says Bartholomew, “I am not sure how old I am. I lost count.” He hopes Charlie will accept his feeble answer. “If I have to guess, maybe fourteen?”
“And you don’t know how an automobile works?” Charlie repeats.
Bartholomew catches a spark of curiosity in Charlie’s eye. He will have to choose his next few words carefully.
“Not really,” he admits with a shrug. “My masters never gave me the opportunity to see one, and to be honest, they did not own one, themselves. So no, I do not know that much about them.”
“Are you sure you ran away from a workhouse and not some Amish community in rebellion?” questions Charlie, remembering his visit to an Amish village in Wisconsin when he was younger.

Author’s Links:

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Thank you so much to Ms. Bastian for stopping by my blog today!!!

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23 responses to “The Orphan, The Soulcatcher, and the Black Blizzard Blog Tour”

  5. goldensylph

    Landed here and snooped around. From blog tours…Rachel Marks. 😉 Ah ha! Thanks for posting this. Keep up your writing…it's who and what you are. Joined your blog a while ago…via networked and google. Hope you joined mine…at http://www.thefatandtheskinnyonwellness.com/

    Also tweeted and promoted your blog…and on my FB pg where I promote authors…at https://www.facebook.com/Writingdivine

    Hope you can return the favor and like the page if you haven't already done so in our travels around Blog Tours.

    Thanks,
    A pleasure,
    Carole Di Tosti

  6. goldensylph

    Landed here and snooped around. From blog tours…Rachel Marks. 😉 Ah ha! Thanks for posting this. Keep up your writing…it's who and what you are. Joined your blog a while ago…via networked and google. Hope you joined mine…at http://www.thefatandtheskinnyonwellness.com/

    Also tweeted and promoted your blog…and on my FB pg where I promote authors…at https://www.facebook.com/Writingdivine

    Hope you can return the favor and like the page if you haven't already done so in our travels around Blog Tours.

    Thanks,
    A pleasure,
    Carole Di Tosti

  16. Kimberlee Ann Bastian

    Thanks Carole for stopping by and for the words of encouragement. Of course I'll return the like, got you on Facebook. I totally dig the assortment of info you have:)

  17. Kimberlee Ann Bastian

    Thanks Carole for stopping by and for the words of encouragement. Of course I'll return the like, got you on Facebook. I totally dig the assortment of info you have:)