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.
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.
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.
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.
Rafflecopter Widget
Code:
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.
