I recently read an article giving advice on the best ways to promote a book as an author.
One of the first items on the list was to share portions of the book in a blog
in order to offer people who might be interested in reading it a sneak peek. I
think this is an excellent idea and have decided to follow it. So, over the next
couple of weeks I will share pieces from my book, The Gift, that others who
have already read it believe are interesting or captivating portions and are also
their favourites.
This first
excerpt is from Chapter Two, pages 10-13 of "The Gift" by Daniel
Sweetnam:
I was seeing things about people that no
one had ever told me. Maybe this is what the spirits and creatures were trying
to teach me. Somehow they always knew peoples thoughts and secrets and used
that information to influence them. Perhaps they gave me the same power, so I
could use the knowledge to bring people hope or punish them just the same.
However, I had another horrible nightmare which
changed my opinion of this gift once more. I saw a plane crash into the side of
a small mountain. I watched in the dream, as one of the plane’s engines failed
and the people inside began to panic.
Inside the plane I could see a dark haired
man leaning over and crying. I saw a mother holding her young daughter tightly,
whispering words of comfort into her ear. There were people arguing and others
pushing and climbing to the front. Some people just closed their eyes and held
the hand of another. Several, one old lady in particular, were desperately
praying asking God for help.
I saw the crippled, smoking plane get
closer and closer to a tree filled mountain side. The pilots were doing
everything they could to avoid the inevitable destruction awaiting them all. I
saw everything as if I was there, part of the horror that was happening; yet
just outside of it all, helpless to do anything. The pilot’s couldn’t stop it.
I couldn’t stop it. It was hopeless.
I heard their screams of anguish as the
plane plunged against the mountain side. The screams lasted for only a moment,
then silence. All that was left from the exploded plane were bits and pieces of
burning rubble, debris and bodies spread across the mountain side, and the
eerie silence.
I woke up in a panic, sweat dripping from
my body.
“It was just a dream, wasn’t it? It felt
so real, like I was actually there; like I crashed too.” I spoke out loud.
I was still in my bed, safe and warm. I
lied there wondering why I would have such a horrible dream; how could I
imagine something that seemed so real, so alive and yet so terrible.
When I finally calmed down, I got dressed
and went downstairs for breakfast. My mother was already up and was at the
table watching the news.
She turned to me and said, “This is
horrible, so sad. A plane crashed and everyone died. Imagine all those poor
families, losing their loved ones like that.”
I turned nervously towards the television
as the news started showing more images of the crash site and pictures of people
who had died.
My heart sank within me, it was the people
from my dream, the same plane and the tree filled mountain; I had seen it all
happen just a short while before. The pictures of the people they were showing
were of the dark haired man, the lady and her young daughter, even the old lady
that was praying. I had just seen them all die. This couldn’t be real, it isn’t
possible is it?
My mom’s voice jolted me back to reality.
“Are you okay Malachai, maybe you shouldn’t be watching this, I think it’s scaring
you a little. Maybe it’s too graphic. How about you get some breakfast and I’ll
find something nicer to watch.” She said.
I started to cry and answered, “No mom, I
just had a horrible dream about all of this.” Then I told her about my dream.
She didn’t know what to say, except,
“Maybe you just heard the news off the radio or something like that, which made
you have the dream.”
“But mom, the plane just crashed early
this morning and I had the dream this morning; maybe even at the same time it was
really crashing. How could I have heard it from anywhere else if it’s only on
the news now?” I said.
She couldn’t answer me. All she could say
was, “You better get ready for school or you’ll be late.”
