Today I am proud to host Katie French, author of the series, The Breeders.
Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. It was about birds and frankly, it wasn't very good, but it sparked a love of literature. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. This thoroughly solidifying her status as a class-A nerd. She currently works as a high school English teacher, a job that she loves even when it exhausts her. In her free time she writes, reads great books, and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is represented by Amanda Luedeke of MacGregor Literary. Her young adult best selling series, The Breeders, is available now on Amazon.
I’ll admit it here before God and everybody: I broke a cardinal rule of the dystopian series. I did not write a trilogy. Now, once the audible gasp of horror settles down, I want to take a moment to defend myself. My series, The Breeders, will not be ending after my latest installment releases. The reasons for this are legion, but I will give you my favorite. I love a long series. The two best series in my book are The Dark Tower by Stephen King and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. If you haven’t read them, crawl out of your nuclear bomb shelter and head to your local library. If you have read them, you know what a long series can do to a person. Reading these books changed me, for good or ill, only my husband can be the judge. But a long series give the reader time to form some serious bonds with the characters. I wanted that for my readers.
However, I know that some readers will be disappointed when they get to the end of book three and see there is no neat, red-ribbon ending. So, I’ve compiled a list of things I will say to them to excuse my egregious disdain for modern dystopianism.
Tactic 1 – Denial: “What do you mean the series didn’t end with book three? I can’t believe they’d mess up like that. Well, that’s what you get when you rely on Amazon. You know those money-hungry fools are always trying to gouge the little man.”
Tactic 2 – Distraction: “What? Oh, my series? It didn’t end? Speaking of series, did you hear that on the next season of Orange is the New Black that Crazy Eyes and Piper get married? No, really it’s true. I heard it on Access Hollywood.”
Tactic 3 – The “Justin Beiber”: “Yeah, so my series isn’t a trilogy. Who cares? I’ve got good hair and chicks dig me. If I call you baby with my eyes half-lidded, you’ll forget your last name.”
Tactic 4 – Saying Sorry: “I’m sorry that you’ll have to read more heart-pounding, page-turning books. Imagine all the levels of Candy Crush you’ll miss reading more of my stuff.”
Tactic 5 – Honesty: “I want to give you more in Riley’s world. Stick around. It’s going to be a hell of a ride.”
All jokes aside, I hope you like book three enough to read book four. And really, if we love books and the characters that inhabit them, don’t we wish for more? What I wouldn’t give for another Harry Potter book or another ride with Roland toward the Dark Tower. I hope that someday someone feels the same way about my books. I hope I don’t let them down.
Learn more about Katie and The Breeders by visiting any of these links:
Check out her Blog / Find her on Facebook / Holla at her on Twitter / Find her books on Amazon / Find her on GoodReads
The third book in the award-winning, best-selling dystopian series, The Breeders.
They’ve escaped the Breeders.
They’ve broken out of the Citadel.
Now, after all they’ve been through, Riley, Clay, and Ethan know one thing for sure: nothing tastes sweeter than freedom. And no one can rest easy with Auntie Bell in bondage. The group journeys home to rescue her and liberate Clay’s town from the cruel Warden. But when an ally betrays them, they must face the very enemy they’ve been trying to avoid.
Captured and separated, Riley is sold to a slave-owner who uses human beings for sport, while Clay and Ethan become the latest in a series of lab rats to be poked and prodded. As a slave, Riley conceals her identity to survive among the other benders, but it’s only a matter of time before a dangerous job takes her life. Clay and Ethan find themselves a war zone between a madwoman and marauders. And the odd don’t look good.
Reviews:
"Thrilling, chilling, and creepy in all the right ways, The Benders will more than satiate French's fans!" --S.K. Falls, bestselling dystopian author of World of Shell and Bone
“A full throttle race to the finish, The Benders is electrifying. The third book in The Breeders Series only made me hungrier for the next.” --Kimberly Shursen, author of thrillers HUSH, Lottery and Itsy Bitsy Spider
"Once again, the characters you know and love are in peril. Don’t pick up The Benders if you have an appointment to make or a train to catch." --Amy R. Biddle, author of The Atheist's Prayer