Guest Blog & Giveaway: Linda Gerber “Trance” on The Subtle Supernatural

I love subtly supernatural stories like THE BODY FINDER or NUMBERS that don’t necessarily take place in full blown alternate paranormal worlds (although I love those too) which is my I’m so glad to have Linda Gerber joining us today to talk to us about her new paranormal YA book, TRANCE (available now), about a girl who can not only predict when bad things are going to happen, but is forced to experience them.  Be sure to check out the giveaway to win a copy of TRANCE. See details below. 

The Subtly Supernatural
(Why Werewolves, Vampires, and Fairies Aren't for Everyone)
by
Linda Gerber

I’m excited to be blogging at ATUF today. Abigail asked me to write about “subtle” supernatural, and gave me the above title. At first I hesitated, afraid it might send the wrong message (that I was dissing werewolves, vampires and fairies… that they aren’t for me.)

So let me make it clear right up front. I love a good vampire/werewolf/zombie/faerie/pixie/demon/immortal/fallen angel story as much as the next rabid reader. My reading list for the past few years, as well as my towering TBR pile(s) can attest to that. It’s just not what I want to write.

Not that I don’t drool over a nicely-buffed vampire/werewolf/zombie/faerie/pixie/
demon/immortal/fallen angel. I love the escapism. It’s just that I don’t believe - no matter how much I am pulled into the story – that I’m ever going to meet a vampire/werewolf/zombie/faerie/pixie/demon/immortal/fallen angel in real life.

The possibilities of the paranormal, however, have the ability to make me shiver.  Psychic phenomenon, otherworldly visitors, energy vibrations, auras... bring it on. I’m fascinated with the unexplained, and I love to make up stories about strange happenings, while letting myself believe it could happen.

For example, my latest book, TRANCE deals with precognition, trance writing, and cryptic messages coded in numerology. The concept evolved from a real life experience I had involving a dream and an eerily similar plane crash that made me a firm believer in premonitions.

It’s that possibility of real that draws me to the subtler shades of supernatural fiction. Real experiences, real phenomenon, real characters in real situations – even if what they are dealing with is decidedly unreal.

Here are some of my favorite YA non-vampire/werewolf/zombie/faerie/
pixie/demon/immortal/fallen angel books with paranormal elements:

1. The Wake Trilogy by Lisa McMann

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....

1. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world’s most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.
Instead, it turns out to be her last. Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

(OK, by my own criteria, this might not qualify since a day you live over and over isn’t a “real” possibility for most of us, but since those relived days could be the final thoughts/regrets from a dying girl, I’m including it.)

1. The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

There's a hot guy in Susannah Simon's bedroom. Too bad he's a ghost.

Suze is a mediator-a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help…

(This one qualifies to me because ghosts can be considered paranormal beings, and because the idea for the series was spawned by a real-life experience. From Meg’s website: “I first got the idea for The Mediator series after my father died in 1994. My brother and I kept thinking we saw him out of the corners of our eyes. I know it was just a trick of our unconscious, but it did seem a little like Dad-who had a good sense of humor, and played a lot of pranks-was haunting us, in a joking way. That got me thinking-what if there WERE such a thing as ghosts? And what if, instead of just the ghost of someone YOU happened to know and love, you were someone who could see EVERYONE's ghost?”)

What are some of your favorites?

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Linda Gerber recently returned to life in the Midwest after four years in Japan where she served as the RA for SCBWI Tokyo. Her books include SASS: Now and Zen, SASS: The Finnish Line, Death by Bikini, Death by Latte, Death by Denim and the upcoming novel, Trance. She currently lives and writes in Dublin, Ohio, blissfully ignoring her husband, four kids, and one very naughty puppy"

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Visit Linda online:
Website|Blog|Facebook|MySpace|Twitter

Want to read more from Linda Gerber?

Death by Bikini
1. Death by Bikini
2. Death by Latte
3. Death by Denim
The Death by Bikini Mysteries (omnibus)

Trance

Giveaway

Giveaway Courtesy of Linda Gerber
One copy of TRANCE by Linda Gerber

Description

It begins with a subtle vibration, a tingling. There is time to take only one breath. The trance begins. When it is through, she is certain of two things: Someone she knows is about to die. And she is powerless to stop it.

Ashlyn Greenfield has always known when bad things are going to happen. Each time that familiar tingling at the back of her neck begins, she knows what's to come a trance. She's pulled in, blindsided, an unwilling witness to a horrible upcoming event. But she's never been able to stop it not even when the vision was of her mother's fatal car accident. When soulful Jake enters Ashlyn's life, she begins having trances about another car accident. And as her trances escalate, one thing becomes clear: it's up to her to save Jake from near-certain death.

GIVEAWAY GUIDLINES

1. Open Internationally
2. Leave a comment answering Linda’s question about your favorite subtly supernatural story
3. Entries must be received by Midnight MST on Nov 13th

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