Collections: Giveaway + Excerpt: Forty Days and Forty Nights by Stephanie Parent

Forty Days (Neima's Ark #1) by Stephanie Parent

Release Date: 02/10/13

The entire village knows Neima’s grandfather is a madman. For years the old man has prophesied that a great flood is coming, a flood disastrous enough to blot out the entire earth. He’s even built an enormous ark that he claims will allow his family to survive the deluge. But no one believes the ravings of a lunatic…

…until the rain starts. And doesn’t stop. Soon sixteen-year-old Neima finds her entire world transformed, her life and those of the people she loves in peril. Trapped on the ark with her grandfather Noah, the rest of her family, and a noisy, filthy, and hungry assortment of wild animals, will Neima find a way to survive?

With lions, tigers, and bears oh my, elephants and flamingos too, along with rivalries and betrayals, a mysterious stowaway, and perhaps even an unexpected romance, FORTY DAYS is not your grandfather’s Noah’s Ark story.

FORTY DAYS is approximately 45000 words, the length of a shorter novel, and is the first installment in a two-part epic story. It does contain a cliffhanger ending.

Readers looking for a traditional, religiously oriented version of the Noah’s Ark story should be warned that FORTY DAYS may not appeal to them. The novel will, however, appeal to lovers of apocalyptic fiction, historical fiction, and romance, as well as anyone who’s ever dreamed of having a baby elephant as a pet.

Get your copy FREE:

Forty Nights (Neima's Ark #2) by Stephanie Parent

Release Date: September 2013

Neima, her family, and her grandfather Noah have found themselves trapped aboard an ark as a great flood destroys all life in the world. As their time aboard the ark lengthens, food begins to run out, wild animals grow restless, and family tensions become as much of a threat as the flood outside. In the second and final installment of Neima’s Ark, the stakes are higher, the conflicts are greater, and Neima finds herself facing a choice as impossible as the destruction all around her.

Forty Nights is a continuation of the story begun in Forty Days, and it’s recommended that you read Forty Days first for the best experience. Forty Nights does, however, contain a character guide to refresh readers’ memories. The Neima’s Ark series is a historical, feminist reimagining of the story of Noah’s Ark rather than a religiously oriented one, and the novels are best suited for readers who are comfortable with new interpretations of biblical stories.

Available from:

EXCERPT

If I kiss Jorin again, I’ll be making a promise. A promise I’m not sure I’m prepared to offer, much less keep. I turn my head away…
…and the want, the need rises inside me again, forcing aside all thoughts of being fair and reasonable. Just as before, when Father made his terrible confession, when Kenaan helped heal our dove, I’m overcome with the thought that everything is wrong, upside down, broken. The wanting consumes me, until I would do anything, anything to turn things right once again. Only now—now I know how to make the world whole, if only for a moment.
In one swift movement, I pivot back toward Jorin and press my lips to his.
I’d swear the rain grows stronger as our mouths open, tongues meet, hands roam and clutch at each other’s arms and shoulders and necks. Water whirls around us, slams into us from all sides, forcing us closer and closer together until our edges dissolve and we become one thing, one seeking, reaching, desiring being. The rain can go on forever, can pelt us like stones, break us to pieces. I don’t care, so long as I can stay like this.

PRAISE FOR THE NEIMA’S ARK SERIES:

“Stephanie Parent takes a story I would have immediately shrugged off and turned it into a story with a surprising amount of reality and despite being religious based is not at all religious. Stephanie somehow created a paradox… When I think of a word to describe this story I think, layers. The tension is extremely layered. We get internal tension among the characters, tension relating to the animals, and tension from the storming raging outside. It’s not even supernatural elements, it’s all practical points like food and animal needs. The characters are also well defined and fleshed out.”

--Michelle, In Libris Veritas

The romance is slow and imperfect, but it's realistic and believable. I can honestly say that this love story is one of if not the best one I've read so far…a very thrilling read full of some great twists…[the ending] was everything I could have asked for and more, it was a perfect ending to an imperfectly perfect story.

--Zachary Flye, Zach’s YA Reviews

About the Author: Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block's WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.

Author Links: