Guest Author: Sherri L. Smith

Sherri L SmithI am excited to welcome Sherri L. Smith, who is celebrating the release of her new novel, Orleans.

First came the storms.
Then came the Fever.
And the Wall.

After a string of devastating hurricanes and a severe outbreak of Delta Fever, the Gulf Coast has been quarantined. Years later, residents of the Outer States are under the assumption that life in the Delta is all but extinct…but in reality, a new primitive society has been born.

Fen de la Guerre is living with the O-Positive blood tribe in the Delta when they are ambushed. Left with her tribe leader’s newborn, Fen is determined to get the baby to a better life over the wall before her blood becomes tainted. Fen meets Daniel, a scientist from the Outer States who has snuck into the Delta illegally. Brought together by chance, kept together by danger, Fen and Daniel navigate the wasteland of Orleans. In the end, they are each other’s last hope for survival.

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away a Delta Relief Kit, complete with a signed ARC, a blood type ID dog tag, a glow stick, and the ever-crucial Snickers bar—everything you need to navigate Orleans, at least from the comfort of your armchair!
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Love Your Mother – Orleans and the Dying Earth

It’s an old trope in science fiction—the dying earth. Whether it’s a manmade disaster, like a nuclear war, or a natural cataclysm, mankind flees the planet in search of a new home among the stars. It’s very romantic and inspiring, chock full of hope and adventure. But, we just ended the Space Shuttle program. If the earth chooses to breathe its last, there’s not a lot of chance we’ll be able to hit the evacuate button any time soon. The world of Orleans is about the other option, the one where we stay put.

Imagine you live with your parents, you are totally dependent on them. And your room is a mess. Your mother tells you to clean it up, and you say you will but you don’t, at least not as well as you should. So one day, when you’re off having fun, your mother invades your room and cleans it to her satisfaction. You come home to a spotless space where all of your treasures—the junk you considered important—has been tossed out in favor of the necessities: a tidy bed, some clothes (her favorites, not yours), maybe a desk. That’s it.

In Orleans, the planet is mess and Mother Nature is starting to clean it. It’s no mistake that a hurricane swirls in the same scouring motion as a scrub brush. Earthquakes shake loose the landscape the way a feather duster disrupts the dust. Tornados scoop up and throw things out. And usually, there’s a bucket of soapy water, hence the melting of the ice caps. The trouble is, we like our planet the way it is. And when Mother Nature starts cleaning, she’s going to destroy a lot of stuff we love.

Orleans depicts two different worlds, each dealing with the dust-up in its own way. The Outer States of America, with its gas lines and poverty, its technology and its faults, is trying to fight Mother Nature. The Wall is a big shield of denial, an attempt to ignore what is happening to the planet. Perhaps hoping it’s not a fait accompli and the topic is still open to discussion.

In the Delta, where our heroine Fen lives, it’s a totally different tactic. Life is all about survival. Mother Nature is having her way, slowly scrubbing the Delta clean. The tribes that live there are just keeping ahead of the broom, trying to survive. After all, when you come home to a cleaned room, you might complain, but at least your mom still lets you live there. Especially considering the mess you made.

In the real world, as in Orleans, there is no escape button. What happens on Planet Earth stays on Planet Earth. The question is, what can we do to tidy up the room before Mother Nature comes knocking? And if she’s already started cleaning house, how do we stay ahead of the broom?
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Meet Sherri L. Smith!

Bio InfoSherri L. Smith has written several award-winning novels for young adults. Flygirl (2010) won the California Book Award, was a YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, and has received fourteen State Award nominations. She lives near Los Angeles. For more information, visit her website or her blog, The Middle Hundred. She can be found on Twitter.

SSmith-OrleansContact Info
Website: website
Blog: Blog
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter

Want to purchase Sherri’s novels?
Lucy the Giant
Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet
Sparrow
Flygirl
Orleans
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Contest Time!

SSmith-Delta Relief PackageThank you Sherri for taking the time to stop by Literary Escapism!

Sherri is giving away a Delta Relief Kit, complete with a signed ARC, a blood type ID dog tag, a glow stick, and the ever-crucial Snickers bar—everything you need to navigate Orleans, at least from the comfort of your armchair!. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: question Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered.

Even though I’m not giving the additional entries any more, you can still help support the author by sharing their article, and this contest, on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere you can. After all, the more people who are aware of this fabulous author ensures we get more fabulous stories.

The winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.

The contest will stay open until August 15th at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from this snazzy plug-in that I have.
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About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for having me, Jackie! The support is appreciated. Your site makes me think being buried under a pile of books wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Think of all the reading you could do!

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