Title: The Foundlings

Author: R.M. Garcia

Published: June 2011

Page Count: 396

Genre: Urban Paranormal Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+

Awards: Received 2nd place in the 2011 Reader View Awards

Synopsis:

After the worst year of his life, all Donnie wanted was happiness, and when he met Abbie, he was sure he had found it. But their happiness together is placed in jeopardy when they are dragged in to the world of Vampires. Orphaned, now they must fight to survive, fight to live and fight to keep their love alive. They find themselves outcasts in this world, the world of the Foundlings.

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Excerpt:

DONNIE’S TENSION LEVEL rose significantly as the situation escalated. Abbie was in front of him and was guarding him against the old tall bum. He was not sure what was going on, but Abbie and the old man, who he now knew as Hulderich, were getting ready to square off for some unknown reason. To make things worse, a storm front rapidly enveloped the area. The winds picked up and so did the moisture in the air. Abbie leaped forward and attacked Hulderich, and he was still not sure what he was witnessing. Abbie delivered three swift punches to Hulderich’s abdomen; each blow drove him back several feet. He countered with a sweeping back hand that sent Abbie flying back into an exterior wall of the cottage. Wood splintered under the force of her impact. Donnie moved forward to help Abbie, but she looked to him, and he froze in his place at what he saw next. “Stay back, Donnie!” she yelled to him with her fangs bared. Donnie stared in disbelief as she bounded forward yet again. Hulderich was ready for her this time and caught her in mid-leap by her throat. He bared his fangs at Abbie as she struggled against him.

“Foolish girl, you have no chance against me, yield!” Hulderich ordered.

“No! I will not! I . . .” Abbie said as she struggled. Hulderich slammed her in into the sand repeatedly, and then pinned her in place, and then delivered several blows to her chest with his free hand. With each blow, Donnie could hear Abbie wince in pain as her bones shattered. The action was fast, almost too fast for normal eyes to follow, but Donnie found that he was able to see everything clearly. He began to move to help her.

“No, Donnie, stay back!” she cried out from the sand.

“That’s good advice, boy” Hulderich said as he stood up. Abbie began to get to her feet, but Hulderich delivered a vicious kick to her head. The force of his boot drove her through the cottage wall, and she ended up in the kitchen. Donnie moved to the hole and spotted Abbie; she was trying to get up but collapsed onto the floor. Donnie had enough!

Donnie began moving toward Hulderich, “Hey, asshole, how about picking on someone your own size?!” There was a flash of lightning overhead. For a brief moment, it was as bright as any day. Hulderich was eerily standing in the sand, and his smile reminded him of pure evil. The skies opened up, and an immense downpour began. The winds raged and howled with angry tones. The rain seemed to be coming from every direction as the wind violently pushed it around.

“Very well, I don’t need you alive,” Hulderich said and charged at Donnie.

“Bring it!” he yelled back and moved forward. Hulderich took several swings, and Donnie evaded them easily. He performed flips and rolls that kept him away from Hulderich’s strikes. He realized that he was much faster now. Hulderich’s swings seemed to be coming at him in slow motion, and even the rain seemed to be falling slower. He took a few swings of his own on Hulderich. The old man was obviously an experienced pugilist and blocked the attacks easily. He continued to trade swings with Hulderich, and neither had yet to land a blow.

About the Author:

Born and raised in NJ, R.M. Garcia is the son of Puerto Rican parents who moved to NJ from PR shortly after getting married. He has two younger siblings, twins, Eric and Erica. Growing up he was a simple child who never asked for much because his imagination provided him with everything he would ever need. He was considered a dreamer by all of his teachers, but he never thought that was a bad thing. R.M. was initially very shy until he got older and stopped caring what others thought about him. Either you liked him or you didn’t but he was always true to himself. He has been called weird, quirky, funny, and trustworthy; all titles he holds dear.

R.M. originally wrote the short story of The Foundlings when he was still in High School and it was not until much later that he fully developed it into a book. Back in the day, he used to write poetry and often compared his work to the work of a friend, Travis, who was far better at poetry in R.M.’s opinion. After High School, R.M. moved to Florida where he attended college before dabbling in varied professions over the next several years. Such jobs included Hotel Manager, Accountant, Insurance Agent, Travel Agent, Customer Service Rep, Draftsman, and even a Fry Cook. When R.M. started writing his book, he realized that writing was his true passion and what he is ultimately meant to do.

R.M. loved writing The Foundlings and even if it does not become a bestseller, he will continue to write. God willing, and with the help of his fans, The Foundlings will make a mark in the literary world.

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Giveaway Details:

There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:

• Grand Prize: Signed print copy of EACH of the following:
•  The Foundlings
• The Beasts Within
• The Vampir Manual of the Reich
• The Codez of Vampiric Bloodlines
• 5 eBook copies of The Foundlings via Smashwords

Giveaway is open to US, UK, and Canada only for the print books and the Smashwords coupons are open Worldwide.

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Book Review By Jessica A. Weiss (Dark Reader)

Review of “The Foundlings”

By R.M. Garcia

To be honest, this wound up not being my type of book. I chose to read “The Foundlings” because I thought it sounded like my usual reading, and because I’ve shied away from anything vampire related since the whole “Saga” blew up.

That being said, “The Foundlings” is an excellently written book with a different spin on how vampires come to be and what they do. The different family lines (of which one was particularly interesting to me) were humorous as well as interesting.

Though I love teenagers and their dramatic approach to everything, I’m not into teen romance, and there is plenty of that in “The Foundlings”. I’d recommend this to teen readers and adult readers who like to get lost in a teenage world.

Without giving spoilers, I give “The Foundlings” by R.M. Garcia a 3 ½ stars. I look forward to reading more by this author.

I asked R.M. Garcia why he chose the subject of vampires when vampires are currently flooding the market and not the most popular after all the "sparkly" ones?

This is what he had to say:

That is an excellent question Jessica. I actually have other writing genres scripted, but I still went at vampires full throttle, so why then? I am a fan of the Urban Paranormal Genre, and always will be. I have read and watched just about every book and movie out there worth reading, and I found the genre lacking as of late. Back in the 80’s and 90’s there was some great stuff out there, that still holds its own against the trash that has been coming out lately. I mean just look at Hollywood for instance, it seems that original stories are few and far between so we keep seeing remakes and more remakes, and that is why I wrote the Foundlings. I feel that the reader will get something completely different from the story while still retaining a lot of what a reader expects from a vampire novel. I personally do not like the concept of vampire walking around in daylight, much less sparkling, but it was a different take on the vampire mythos, and it grabbed hold with a select and rabid fan base. My vampires are more traditional, they burn in the sunlight, but each Bloodline has a different “consequence” that they take on when they become a vampire of that Bloodline.  Here is an example; in The Foundlings you encounter a Bloodline named the Adored. They are generally female, and they are what you would consider the traditional super sexy seductresses. Once you join this Bloodline your physical attributes change, and you become extremely attractive, they emit strong pheromones which confuse and hypnotize the opposite sex, but their consequence, is that they can never again see their own reflection. This is the ONLY Bloodline with that limitation; all others can see their reflections. Each Bloodline has a similar consequence based on vampire mythos.  That is why I wrote this Genre, I was hoping to add something fresh and exciting back in the Genre, which in my opinion has been lacking as of late.