The clock is ticking. - Imparting by Heather Letto

In this final installment of The Ascension Series, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness go head to head with evil in an effort to save a city.

And a girl.

Description:

Publication Date: December 15th, 2015

The clock is ticking.

Chan has been chosen to deliver the good news and healing antidote… If his body doesn’t reject the antibodies.

Pete, who has been imprisoned and tortured by the Council, has been selected by Retter to be ambassador to the residents. But, does he possess the authority needed to persuade an entire city of skeptics?

And, while in the Open Air, Fran struggles with her own failures questioning whether she’ll always be an outcast living on the fringe of society.

In this final installment of The Ascension Series, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness go head to head with evil in an effort to save a city.

And a girl.

GUEST POST 

Interview

Hi! I’m whispering right now, because I’m waiting in a small chamber behind The Council Meeting Room. The entire cast of The Ascension Series has requested my presence to field a few Q & A at the Impervious Town Meeting. I’m stoked! 

Whoa! Check this out… a wall, which appeared to be a normal looking wall, is sliding open like an elevator door. Very cool. I move through the opening, and find myself on a stage. I squint into a blinding spotlight and a voice thunders past my ears. “Please welcome Heather Letto, author of The Ascension Series.” 

After a short round of applause, the stage light dims and the house lights come up. I look out into the audience and see them all. My heart swells. These are my babies! In the front row, sit the main cast of characters. Fran, Pete, Chan, Retter, Tanya, Ema, Doc, Ruth, Ian, Ted, Nissa… everyone! Even Freddie. I allow my gaze to rest on each of them for a short moment. Fran stares me dead in the eye. I can’t quite read her expression, but as room quiets, she stands and displays a small crinkled bag. 

“What is this?” she asks. 

I squint before quickly recognize the brand. “Oh. Those are my gluten-free pretzels.” 

“Scuze me?” She chucks the bag onto the stage. “I’m not really sure what you just said, but I found them in my sleeping niche. You can have them back.” 

Fran crosses her arms and stares me down. Pete stands and drapes his arm over Fran’s shoulder. She casually molds to his side. What a great looking couple, I muse. Both sort of willowy, but his dark hair so perfectly contrasts her springy blond curls. I silently pat myself on the back as he clears his throat. 

“Mrs. Letto. I think this is yours, too.” He holds up a gray coffee mug. A perfect match to the set in my cupboard. 

I smile. “Oops. Thanks, Pete. Didn’t realize I’d left that behind.” 

Suddenly every character in the front row holds up a matching mug. I blush. “Sorry, guys. I guess I do drink a lot of coffee.” 

After my face cools, I lift my chin. “So, any questions for me today?” 

Freddie stands. I cringe. I really did paint him ugly. “Tell me something,” he says. 

I smile politely and nod. 

“I always heard annoying symphonic music in my head. Day and night. No matter what I was doing. To tell you the truth, I thought I was going crazy, till I asked a few of my friends, here.” 

I flick my gaze away from Freddie and see Ret. Square jaw, high cheekbones and thick shoulders are just a few of his perfect attributes. As our eyes meet, I become unglued, and a strange embarrassment creeps up my neck. With a slight nod of his head, I can see he’s in agreement with Freddie. I turn my attention back Freddie’s unibrow and answer his question. 

“Well, I usually had Pandora’s classical music station playing when I created your stories,” I confess. 

Fran throws her hands in the air and puffs out a breath. A murmur breaks out in the crowd. 

“I mean I tried to keep the volume very low,” I mutter. “I know it can be distracting…” 

Ema raises from her perch in the front row. She smiles and nods at me. I feel a great connection to her and am pleased that she seems to like me. I’m sure she will be a voice of reason. 

“Dear,” she begins. “Can you tell me why I had a strange desire to shake my bootie every day in the late afternoon?” 

I swallow hard. “Five o’clock dance break,” I whisper. 

“I see.” She smiles and sits down before adding, “And are you really all about that bass?” 

“No treble!” Someone shouts from the back row. 

Oh boy. I’m really in a corner here. My eyes dance over to Ruth, Fran’s mother. She’s such a soft heart, just like my own mom. 

With mother’s intuition, she stands to rescue me. “Mrs. Letto, it is such a pleasure to meet you.” 

I nod. “And you as well, Ruth.” 

“Can you tell me what inspired you to create our world?” she asks. “Was there another similar world that you knew of?” 

I release my breath. Finally. A real question. “Well, it has to do with an allegory to a bigger story, you see—” 

“Excuse me, dear.” A few seats down the row, Doc stands. “Please forgive me for interrupting, but I’d just like to clarify, that it was I who created the world of Impervious.” 

“Oh, of course,” I agree. 

Doc dips his chin and settles back into his chair. Ruth smiles an apology for Doc before easing back into her own seat. The air becomes uncomfortably quiet. 

“Hey,” Fran interjects into the silence. 

I turn back to Fran and see an impish grin emerging across her face. “Who’s your favorite?” 

“My favorite?” I scan the faces of the audience. Truly, I have an affinity for each and every character. Even creepy Ethan who’s standing in the shadows toward the back of the room. As the moments pass, nervous murmurs pass through the crowd. I lock my blue stare onto Fran’s similar eyes. Simultaneously we both run nervous fingers through our blond hair. We squint at each other. She’s so young. I’m so… not young. 

But she knows. 

We nod to one another before I smile at the crowd. 

“I could never pick just one,” I say. “You are all special in my heart.”

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About the author:

Heather Letto was born in the hills of Ohio and raised in the 'burbs of Chicago yet fancies herself a stranger in a stranger world. She wears her creativity like a second skin and is immensely grateful to her heavenly Father who gives good gifts. Her debut novel, Impervious, is the first book of The Ascension series, a trilogy written for young adults.

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