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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

How to be a Mermaid (Falling in Deep Collection #10) by Erin Hayes

Everything’s great until she meets a gorgeous real-life merman named Finn. Suddenly, what she thought was a dream turns out to be a nightmare — she’s turning into a mermaid herself. For real.


Description:

Published: July 7th, 2015 

All Tara ever wanted was to be a mermaid.

So she takes a year off between high school and college to don a fake tail and tour aquariums across the country in a professional mermaid troupe.

Everything’s great until she meets a gorgeous real-life merman named Finn. Suddenly, what she thought was a dream turns out to be a nightmare — she’s turning into a mermaid herself. For real.

Yet when she returns to the sea to seek out Finn and reverse her transformation, she finds herself in the middle of an impending war between the land and sea. Tara may have always wanted to be a mermaid, but now it’s sink or swim. In order to survive, she has to learn how to be one, too.
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Summer 2015, award-winning, and best-selling authors will bring you romantic tales of mermaids, sirens, sprites, and other creatures of the deep! Keep in touch as we reveal each title in our collection!

EXCERPT



Anyone who ever bragged about being a good public speaker never had to do it in front of more than thirty kids and their parents while wearing a bikini top and a mermaid tail.

I’d spent the night before in our hotel room preparing my answers, and I still wasn't ready. I was sitting on a chair in the rotunda of the Houston Aquarium, looking out into a sea of faces and I’d never felt more self-conscious in my life. My friend and fellow mermaid, Christine, stood to my right, a little bit behind me with a few volunteers and ushers from the aquarium to help out.

Every single eye was on me, and a barrage of questions came at me from all directions. I've performed our water ballet many times before, although this was the first time I was face-to-face with a crowd. I was a dancer, not a spokesperson.

As a result, my first meet and greet as a professional mermaid was receiving a lot of scrutiny from a bunch of kids under the age of eight.

“How are you on land?”

“Do you swim with whales?”

“Why isn't your hair red like Ariel's?”

“How old are you?”

“How did you become a mermaid?”

My answers didn't make much sense because my nerves were getting the best of me. Throw me in the water, and I can make you believe that mermaids are real. Expect me to entertain a bunch of kids like this, and I drown.

“I was carried here by my helpers, that's how I'm on land. Sometimes I swim with Beluga whales... I have dark hair, while Ariel dyes hers. I just turned eighteen, and I've wanted to be a mermaid since I was a little girl...”

My voice trailed off as I realized that my last answer gave too much away, by nearly admitting that we weren't real mermaids. Christine shot me a concerned look, like I'd raised the curtain too much and these kids would be able to see behind it.

“What Mermaid Tara means is, she's so glad to be a mermaid,” Christine said with a warm smile. She was a bit older than me, in her early thirties, and she was a good mentor for my first two months on the job.

The kids seemed to take her at her word, and my secret that I'd had a normal human childhood was safe.

Yet, despite Christine's save, what I'd said was true.

******

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man pulling himself up and over the fence by me. At least, I thought it was a man—he was hidden by the shadows and I couldn't be sure. Curiosity overtook fear and I straightened from my kneeling position to get a closer look. Maybe it was a cleaner. Or a trespasser, in which case, I should be running.

I walked towards the figure as it began crawling across the ground, recovered from its climb.

It was dark, so I could barely see the outline of a man's body stop and look at me. Then I saw the impossible, long, single fin on his lower half instead of two feet, and the scales cascading down from the man's waist.

A mer tail. Not like the silicon kind I used for my performances. Even in the dark, I could see that it writhed and moved with a mind of its own, fully an extension of his body.

Reflexes and survival instinct took over before my mind could react. I backpedaled, trying to get away from the mysterious figure, only I misjudged how far I was from the edge of the water. And how wet the ground was.

My foot slipped and I fell head-over-heels backwards, plunging over the side of the fence and onto the rocky crags below. I screamed for help, but when my head struck solid rock and the rest of my body impacted with the ground, I fell into an unyielding darkness, one that was haunted by merman-shaped shadows emerging from the ocean.


About the author:
Sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, and wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes writes a lot of things. Sometimes she writes books, like the fantasy mystery novel Death is but a Dream, the sci-fi middle grade book Jacob Smith is Incredibly Average, and the Her Wolf paranormal series.

She works as an advertising copywriter during the day, and she moonlights as an author. She has lived in New Zealand, Texas, and now in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, cat, and a growing collection of geek paraphernalia.

You can reach her at erinhayesbooks@gmail.com and she'll be happy to chat. Especially if you want to debate Star Wars.

Website ** Goodreads ** Facebook ** Twitter
Author's INT Giveaway
A mermaid care package to help you be the best mermaid:
A signed copy of How to be a Mermaid ** Tara's necklace ** Two Mermaid Mix soaks ** A mermaid mirror compact ** Six starfish hairpins ** A mermaid wallet ** Mermaid perfume ** Mermaid Tail Nail Polish ** A mermaid makeup bag ** Four Little Mermaid Buttons ** And one mermaid handbag to carry all your dinglehoppers

7 comments:

Debbie Joyce said...

Please and thank you, I would love to read your books! You are a new author for me:)

Juana said...

I want to read this book. Story sounds like a keeper. I love mermaid/mermen stories.

Jan Lee said...

My great niece is an Ariel fanatic and wants to be Ariel when she grows up. Every time she takes a bath she says "call me Ariel." lol I'd like to read this book and save it to give to her when she's a bit older :)

Carol L. said...

Loved A Little Mermaid. This sounds like a fascinating read. Thanks for the post & the giveaway chance.
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for being a part of the blitz, and good luck everyone! xxErin Hayes

Anonymous said...

This sounds fantastic!! Thank you for the opportunity to win!

Arf2-D2 said...

But it doesn't come with a dinglehopper! LOL.
Sounds like a great read. I wonder how she averts the war (I assume she does).