Hello, everyone! I’m still working on that getting back to normal thing. In the meantime, I’ve a guest for your reading pleasure. For lovers of SF and YA , Mr. Michael S. Fedison is here to talk about his new release, The Eye-Dancers. Michael, you have the podium, sir!

I want to thank Juli for giving me this great opportunity to post on her website!  I really appreciate it!

Late last year, I published a Young Adult sci-fi/fantasy e-book called The Eye-Dancers.  This was a novel I felt I was meant to write.  The four main characters are inspired by friends I knew growing up, and the themes in the story—the challenges, joys, and struggles of adolescence; the bonds of friendship; the mysteries of what we term “reality”; the concepts of quantum physics and parallel worlds; and an exploration into the oneness of all existence—are all things that resonate on a deep level for me.

I had a lot of fun writing The Eye-Dancers, and it is my hope that it takes readers of all ages on a wild and imaginative ride.

Here is a brief overview of the story . . .

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Mitchell Brant is not your typical seventh grader.  He is a compulsive liar, who adamantly defends his lies, no matter how outlandish they are.  When he is tormented by a recurring nightmare of what he has come to call “the ghost girl,” he is certain that no one will believe him. Three nights in a row, he has dreamed of this “ghost girl” and her blue eyes that expand and swirl when he gazes into them.  He is sure she is not of this earth, and that she is trying to draw him in to her world—wherever that may be—through the hypnotic power of her eyes.

Desperate to tell someone about his dreams, he decides to confide in Joe Marma, his best friend. To Mitchell’s surprise, Joe believes him; because he, too, has been having the same dreams—three nights in a row.  They soon discover that their friend, Ryan Swinton, is also haunted by the “ghost girl.”  What does it all mean?  Who, or what, is this girl?  And will she indeed transport them to her world the next time they fall asleep and dream?

Banding together, and convincing their classmate Marc Kuslanski to stand watch as they sleep, the three boys, along with Marc, are unwillingly thrust into an empty blue void.  When they awake, they find themselves in a world that seems much like their own, and yet very different at the same time.  The layout of the streets, the contours of the land, the feel of the place is familiar, almost like a replica of their town on earth.  Yet the differences are puzzling.  Old-fashioned cars that resemble 1950s designs; currency they’ve never seen before; an absence of PCs and cell phones.  Even the spelling of words is slightly off.  They wonder if this is all an extension of their dreams—or if it is actually real.

To solve the mystery, they need to work together, as a team.  Joe, a natural leader and take-charge person, is short, with a chip on his shoulder, eager to think with his fists instead of his head.  Ryan is the class clown, always wanting to elicit a laugh, but unable to make a decision on his own, preferring to go along with the group.  Marc is a science whiz, and looks at the world through a rigid lens of rationality and logic.  He continually tries to view their situation through scientific reason.  This naturally collides with Mitchell’s storytelling and less logical, more intuitive nature.

Marc suggests they are in a parallel world, a variant of their hometown in a different universe, and the mystery deepens when they spot a poster of a kidnapped girl nailed to a telephone poll.  They realize with astonishment that the picture is of their “ghost girl,” who is, evidently, not a ghost at all, but a seven-year-old girl named Monica Tisdale who has been missing for several days.  It all adds up, though the conclusions strain belief.  This kidnapped girl has somehow managed to pull them into her world, in a parallel universe, because she needs their help.

Marc rejects this explanation, and attempts to find a way back home based on the principles of quantum mechanics.  But Mitchell, Joe, and Ryan understand—the only way to return home is to rescue Monica Tisdale from her kidnappers.  Questions remain.  Why were they chosen, from a different universe, to come to her aid?  If she has such great powers, why wasn’t she able to communicate with people from her own world through the vehicle of dreams?  The answers are elusive—for the boys and even for Monica Tisdale herself.  They were chosen.  That’s all that really matters.

Throughout their experience in Monica’s world, each of the boys must confront not only the dangers of the situation, but also himself.  Mitchell learns that he doesn’t need to puff himself up through lies to be heard and appreciated; Joe discovers that fighting isn’t always the way to solve one’s problems; Ryan realizes he has what it takes to stand up and be decisive when he needs to; and Marc comes to understand that science and logic and theories cannot always solve all of life’s mysteries.  There are some things that can never be fully explained or comprehended.

Finally, they learn that everything is connected.  Events and people that seem so far away, a universe away, are, in actuality, much closer to us than we ever dared to think.

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For much more information on The Eye-Dancers, including where it is sold, please visit www.eyedancers.wordpress.com.

Please check out The Eye-Dancers on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Eye-Dancers/213004492164436.

And please follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/msfedison27.

Thanks so much for reading!

Thanks for being with us, Michael and best of luck with The Eye-Dancers! Folks, if you’d like to check his book out it is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Kobo.