Today we’re excited to share Breeana Shields’ excerpt from her novel, Poison’s Kiss as part of the YABC Scavenger Hunt! Read on for more about Breeana, her novel, and an extra giveaway! And don’t forget to answer the question from this post on the Scavenger Hunt form for a chance to win the Grand Prize!
You can find Scavenger Hunt rules and entry form HERE.
Meet Breeana Shields!
Breeana Shields was born in the same small Idaho town where the T.V. was invented, but she still always preferred books to any other form of entertainment. At the age of nine, she decided she wanted to be either a writer or a ballerina. Since she can’t dance, she writes stories for teens (and adults with excellent taste). Poison’s Kiss is her first novel.
Marinda has kissed dozens of boys. They all die afterward. It’s a miserable life, but being a visha kanya—a poison maiden—is what she was created to do. Marinda serves the Raja by dispatching his enemies with only her lips as a weapon.
Until now, the men she was ordered to kiss have been strangers, enemies of the kingdom. Then she receives orders to kiss Deven, a boy she knows too well to be convinced he needs to die. She begins to question who she’s really working for. And that is a thread that, once pulled, will unravel more than she can afford to lose.
This rich, surprising, and accessible debut is based in Indian folklore and delivers a story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
EXCERPT:
I’m not a bad person.
At least that’s what I tell myself over and over as I wend my way through the marketplace, past the vendors selling spiced meats and bright fabric, incense and rare birds. Not a bad person. Not a bad person. It’s a mantra I’m hoping will loosen the knot of dread that has been twisting in my stomach all afternoon.
It’s not working.
I lift my hair off the back of my neck and yearn for a breeze that fails to materialize. It’s hot today; far too hot for my waist-length mane, but Gopal took one look at my hair this morning coiled in a tight knot at the back of my skull and groaned. “No, Marinda,” he said. “The boy will favor the hair down.” His sudden concern about the preferences of any boy—especially this boy—struck me as laughably ironic, but I didn’t argue. I just took out the pins and let my hair tumble around my shoulders. “Better, rajakumari,” he said. “Much better.”
The meeting is supposed to happen near the fruit vendor on the other side of the market. The streets are thick with people—women balancing baskets of laundry atop their heads, men pulling heavy carts loaded with bags of rice and tea, children chasing each other between vendors.
I feel a tug on my skirt and whirl around. A fortune-teller sits on a bright blue carpet surrounded by cards. Her hair is braided in intricate coils, and gold hoops dangle from her ears. She shows me her teeth—it’s meant to be a smile, but it looks more like a challenge. “Let me read your future,” she says, her fingers still clasped around a fistful of my sari.
“No, thank you,” I tell her, and I have to take a step back before she lets go. Gita says that most fortune- tellers are frauds and a waste of good money. Even if she’s wrong, it doesn’t matter. I have no interest in knowing anything about my future.
I continue pressing through the crowd and I start to think about the boy I’ll find waiting for me at the fruit stand. It’s a bad habit, one I’m trying to break. I hope I don’t like him. It will make it so much easier to walk away without feeling guilty. And I’m always the one to do both—the walking away and the feeling guilty. I wonder what he’s been told about our meeting today. What does he expect from me? What does he know?
By: Breeana Shields
Release Date: January 10, 2017
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
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What superpower would you like to have? Would you also use your power for somebody to decide?
I am so excited to read Poison’s Kiss! Who is your favorite character and what is your favorite scene in the book, Breeana?
Great question! I’d love to be able to teleport. How great would it be to travel the world without having to pack or go through airport security?!?! 🙂
I’m so glad you’re excited to read! Thank you! My favorite character to write is Kadru. She’s scary and complicated and every time I put her in a scene, she just takes over.
What is your third-favorite kind of animal?
That would have to be the Plougshare Tortoise, John. And I admire your cheekiness. 😉
How did you come across the visha kanya? Are you really into Indian folklore and found it that way? I’m excited to get my hands on and read this book!
I was actually listening to a lecture series on espionage when the visha kanya was briefly mentioned. I couldn’t stop thinking about it after that, and so I started researching and writing. 🙂
Who inspired you to start writing?
Do you listen to music when you write?
I’ve loved to write since the moment I could hold a pencil, so it was pure love of words and stories that inspired me to start writing. However, I had an English teacher in high school–Mr. Beck–who most definitely pushed me to write better and inspired me to believe I could actually have a writing career. I’ll be forever grateful for his influence and encouragement!
I can’t have any music in the background when I write, but I find music extremely helpful when I’m in the planning, plotting and brainstorming stages of a project.
I can’t have any music in the background when I write, but I find music extremely helpful when I’m in the planning, plotting and brainstorming stages of a project.
I’m pretty sure not everyday is easy for you to keep writing. So what motivates you when you have a writer’s block?
What research did you have to do for this book?
Where did you get the idea for that amazing cover?