Slip (Slip #1)
by David Estes
Published December 1st 2014
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science
Fiction
Blurb:
Someone must die before
another can be born...
As sea levels rise and
livable landmasses shrink, the Reorganized United States of America has
instituted population control measures to ensure there are sufficient resources
and food to sustain the growing population. Birth authorization must be paid for
and obtained prior to having a child. Someone must die before another can be
born, keeping the country in a population neutral position at what experts
consider to be the optimal population. The new laws are enforced by a ruthless
government organization known as Pop Con, responsible for terminating any
children resulting from unauthorized births, and any illegals who manage to
survive past their second birthday, at which point they are designated a
national security threat and given the name Slip.
But what if one child slipped
through the cracks? What if someone knew all the loopholes and how to exploit
them? Would it change anything? Would the delicate resource balance be thrown
into a tailspin, threatening the lives of everyone?
And how far would the government
go to find and terminate the Slip?
In a gripping story of a
family torn apart by a single choice, Slip is a reminder of the sanctity of a
single life and the value of the lives we so often take for granted.
Goodreads ~ Amazon
Guest Post:
Plotter or Pantser?
By David Estes
Every author
has their own way of doing things, and there’s not necessarily a “right” way to
write a novel. From my humble beginnings as I stumbled through writing my first
book, to now, having written and published more than 20 twenty novels, I have
always been a pantser at heart. It’s funny, I never really made a conscious
decision to say, “Hey, I’m too cool to outline, so I’m just going to sit down
and start writing!” It was more that the thought of writing an outline made me
cringe and think of school and homework. It just wasn’t for me, and if
anything, would’ve stifled my creativity and artistic process. That being said,
I am not an advocate of writing by the seat of one’s pants; you simply have to
write the way YOU feel works the best for YOU. That could be a detailed
chapter-by-chapter outline, complete with character cards, character arcs,
major plot points and twists, etc, or something less specific, say a rough
outline. In any case, here’s how I
roll:
I start with
an idea. The hook of the story, as it’s called. From there I just close my eyes
and think for a while. If my idea were a type of cooking, you could say I let
it marinate. This is one of my favorite parts of the writing process, because
there are no limitations, and the possibilities are endless. This is where I
make the idea MY story. I let various characters speak to me, some of whom end
up being the perfect characters for my book, and others who don’t fit quite
right, and never see the light of day. I consider major plot points, characters
attributes, twists, etc. This is my outline, only it’s all in my head.
From there,
I jot down some bullet points. Not many, maybe a dozen. These are the sparks
that will help me light the fire that will carry my book to completion. I don’t
necessarily have to stick to all of these points, but in many cases I do.
What do I do
next?
I start
writing! That’s what makes me a pantser. The entire preparation phase for a new
project for me is a couple of hours. That’s it. The stories I have inside me
are like a flood building behind a dam, demanding to be let through. So I poke
a hole or two. I literally sit down, write the title or working title for the
book, and then “Chapter One”, and then I go. I don’t agonize over the first
word or the first line, I don’t seek perfection, I just start writing whatever
pops into this strange head of mine, and then see where that takes me. At the
end of my first writing session, which is usually between two and three
thousand words, I take a bunch more notes, because NOW the ideas are really
flowing and the story is starting to take even more shape in my head. I don’t
try to push things too much during the first week or two, keeping my daily word
counts relatively low, because sometimes the more important time I spend is
sitting back and THINKING.
As the weeks
go on, I ramp things up, writing four, five, or even six thousand words a day,
the story pouring out of me, moving from a light rain to a torrential downpour.
The story is like a living, breathing thing, changing, growing, surprising even
ME with the twists and turns it takes. On numerous occasions my readers have
applauded me for twists that “shocked” them. I have to admit, sometimes those
twists shocked me too! A good example is one of my most popular dystopian
series, THE SLIP TRILOGY, where there are a number of twists from book to book.
Honestly, I didn’t come up with most of those twists until almost just before
they appear in the books! The biggest one of all, which makes PERFECT SENSE,
didn’t come to me until the very end of the third book. But when it did, I
jumped out of my chair and did a fist pump and probably looked completely
insane. Because it was perfect, poetic and chilling and everything a twist is
supposed to be. After I thought of it, I wondered why it took me so long to
come up with it. And then I realized it was because I needed to let the rest of
the story build first, preparing myself and my characters for that particular
revelation. For me, that’s a major part of what I love about being a pantser,
the excitement that comes as each new piece of the puzzle takes shape in my
mind, clicking into place to form something that was MEANT TO BE.
As I like to
say, creativity breeds creativity, and until you start writing, you don’t
really know what kind of story you have. At least that’s the way it is for me,
from the very beginning. There is no right or wrong way to write a book, only a
right way for each author. For me, that’s PANTSER all the way! If you’re
interested in checking out THE SLIP TRILOGY, or any of my other dystopian and
post-apocalyptic books, check out my Amazon author profile for a full listing.
Happy
Reading!
My Review:
Imagine living in a world where if
you want to have a baby then someone else must die. Before you can have said
child then you must register the birth and get a Death Match for your baby. But
what if your child’s death match was a dud? What if the person that was
supposed to die so you could have your baby didn’t? What would happen to your
child? To you? To your family? This happened to Michael Kelly and his family. His son’s death match did not
die. Now his child is a “Slip”.
Michael must now keep his child, the
boy with no name a secret from the rest of the world. He keeps him locked up
away from the eyes of the world. This is all the boy with no name has ever
known. He loves and trusts his father and only wants to make him happy by
always doing what he tells him to do so therefor he never tries to leave or run
away. But like all kids he is very inquisitive and has lots of questions for
father about his life.
Michael works for the company that is
in control of the population, PopCon and it is run by the government. PopCon
hunts down the slips and kills them and anyone who is harboring them. Michael
is not happy with his job and doesn’t like what he does but he does his job for
his family and the boy with no name. It all goes back to what lengths would you
go to for your child? What would you do to protect your child?
I know I have said this many times
before but I know for a fact that Slip is one book that I will never forget. I
really love the whole concept that made Slip what it is although; I did do my
share of crying at times. I can’t understand how anyone could have so much hate
in their hearts. How could anyone live like this without ever questioning it? I
guess it is just like any society where you are told something and it is passed
down from generation to generation and before long no one is left alive that
knew what life was like before. So therefor no one thinks to question it or
think outside the box so to speak.
If you like reading science fiction,
dystopian books with some awesome characters that live in a world where one
must die before another can be born then you are going to love Slip. Pick your
copy of Slip today so that you can enter into the lives of the “Slips”. Trust
me you won’t regret it.
About the Author:
David Estes has written more
than 20 YA and Children's science fiction and fantasy books. He has a love of
dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), is a
mad-skilled ping-pong player, an obsessive Goodreads group member, and prefers
writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table. He loves chatting with his
readers, all of whom he considers to be his friends. David lives in Hawaii with
his beautiful Aussie wife, Adele, his asthmatic cat, Bailey, and his
rambunctious son, Beau.
Join David’s official Goodreads fan
group:
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