Read an Excerpt from "The Gloom" by Piper Kelley

Piper Kelley has been gracious and sent an excerpt of her book "The Gloom" to share with us today.  This book sounds very interesting and cute.

Book Description: As a lazy summer evening comes to a close, Poppy finds herself out by the hollowed out tree in her backyard, avoiding the ire of her stepmother for an incident that occurred while Poppy was babysitting her little sister. All her life Poppy has had questions about her real mother, who disappeared when she was an infant. She gets an unexpected answer when an ill-tempered pixie captures her and takes her through the tree and into Winsome, a magical kingdom that is suffering from a powerful and evil force known as the Gloom.




Excerpt time! 

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"I think I know where to start,” he says, as he looks around the camp for anything he might have
missed.


"And where's that?" I say, with a small laugh.


"The imps, of course!" he says, rather pleased with himself.


"Of course,” I reply, in disbelief. "Of course there are imps, and talking squirrels. There's a bit of
everything, isn't there?"


"You don't have squirrels where you're from?" he asks.


"Well, yes. Ours don't talk though. And they very rarely attack humans,” I say, incredulously.
"Relax, most of our squirrels don't talk, either. There's magic everywhere here.” Brady takes one last
sweep of the camp with eyes, trying to gauge what he will miss once we're on the road. Satisfied, he pats
his bag and smiles at me. "You ready?"


I nod, and we walk into the trees. Dry leaves crunch under our feet and it is the only sound I hear for
what feels like miles. It's a little disconcerting that I haven't heard a bird sing. Actually, I haven't seen one
at all so far since I've been here.


"Where are all the birds, Brady?" I whisper to his back.


He stops and faces me. "A bird?"


"Yes, you know? Small animals, they have feathers? They fly?" I say, flapping my arms to
demonstrate, rather ridiculously.


"Nothing flies here, Poppy,” he says, and turns away. He's walking faster now, and I am just barely
managing to keep up. Twigs scratch at my exposed calves and my feet are screaming for mercy when I
see salvation in the form of a break in the trees up ahead. I pick up my pace as much as I can. I'm about
to pass Brady when he throws a hand out to stop me. I shoot him an annoyed glance as he motions for
me to stay still and be quiet.


"Gus?" he calls in a sing-song voice, as if calling a pet for dinner. I look at him, perplexed by this, but
then a tiny, rather crackly voice returns his call.


"Guuuuus."


"Just me, Gus. It's just me,” Brady says, and leads me into the clearing.
My eyes widen in wonder at the vast metal graveyard that stretches the entire clearing. Nuts and bolts
of all sizes litter the ground. Old screws and nails stick out of the ground haphazardly. An old fork lies
twisted amongst the mess. A muffler with a fine patina of rust lies in the center of the junkyard. And,
amazingly, an old abandoned bicycle that seems to have been sitting so long it has become part of a tree,
lies among the ruin.


I catch a slight movement from the corner of my eye. I turn and watch, mesmerized, as what appears
to be little more than a stack of kindling crawls out of a hole in the rusty muffler. To my astonishment the
small amount of wood seems to have two large, soulful eyes. I hear the crackling of a fire, and then a
swift woosh, as if someone has thrown water onto it. Steam rises off its small form.
"Guuuuuuuuuus,” it calls again. Its voice is louder now, more sure of itself.

********************

This is the first book of three.  Here are the synopsis and covers of the other two!

The Doldrums:  Over the past year Poppy has made many trips back into Winsome, catching up with the friends she’s made. On the anniversary of her first visit to the kingdom, a gala is cut short when Augusta’s aide, Benny, is found gruesomely injured, and Poppy’s friend, Annie, has been abducted and taken into the mysterious goblin caves known as the Doldrums. Poppy decides that she must travel into the elaborate mountainside maze to rescue her friend and halt the efforts of an old adversary.

The Dregs:  Since her first adventure into Winsome, Poppy has encountered magic and power greater than she had ever imagined. But, what will happen when evil finds its way into the human world? In this exciting final installment of The Gloom Trilogy, Poppy finds herself in the Dregs, a run-down industrial park with danger lurking around every corner. Somewhere hidden in this wasteland of factories and warehouses is an old foe of Winsome, who has eluded her twice before. Here, Poppy must put an end to this terrible force for once and for all, before both Winsome and the human world fall victim to her enemy’s dreadful magic.

About Piper: Piper Lee Kelley was born in a small suburb of one of America's largest cities.  Although the beach was a mere block from her home, she still harbors a general distaste for sand and ocean water.  Since her father hated to drive, her explorations in the city were relegated to walking, usually barefoot.  Growing up without television or even a phone, Piper relied on her creative mind to conjure elaborate fantasies, which propel her work to this day.

She moved away from the beach around the age of 25.  She misses it terribly, but the loss came with the gain of a wonderful family of her own.  Piper has been with her husband for 10 years and, along with two wonderful children and two obnoxious cats, she now spends her time in the suburbs of a much smaller city.  Her cats spend their time cuddling up with her laptop.

In Piper’s debut novels, she explores the nature of family, love, forgiveness, and bravery.

Author links!

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Purchase Links! 

amazon kindle: The Gloom (The Gloom Trilogy) / Barnes and Noble