From Ashes Arise: A First Look at Chapter One
From Ashes Arise: A First Look at Chapter One
The wait is almost over.
I am thrilled to pull back the curtain on From Ashes Arise finally. If you’ve been waiting for a story that blends the gritty, neon-lit underbelly of the drug trade with high-stakes cosmic fantasy, this is it.
We aren’t starting in a castle or a battlefield. We’re starting in Allentown, in the shadows, where the only magic most people believe in comes in a powder or a pill.
Meet Rezz Parker
In Chapter One, you’ll meet Teresa “Rezz” Parker. To the outside world, she’s a part-time club DJ and a full-time dealer who values privacy above all else. She’s built a wall around herself, keeping her neighbors at arm’s length and her clients in check. She thinks she has everything under control — her business, her addictions, and her trauma.
But Rezz has a secret she can’t even admit to herself. She is haunted by vivid, terrifying dreams of a rainbow-hued sea and the sensation of wings on her back.
The Gritty Meets the Divine
From Ashes Arise isn’t just about surviving the streets; it’s about what happens when the streets start hiding monsters. Letti isn’t just a junkie prostitute; Seth isn’t just a college kid looking for a fix; and the massive stranger named Errol is definitely not from around here.
Rezz is about to find out that the burning inside her isn’t just a fever — it’s a destiny she’s been running from her entire life.
Here is a sneak peek from the opening pages:
Teresa “Rezz” Parker was a part-time club deejay and short-time drug dealer who’d been around long enough to build up a reputation for being careful and staying under the local fuzz’s radar. As such, she avoided affiliations with any of the gangs that constantly waged war across the city’s neighborhoods. She liked it that way; her income stayed high with a steady parade of regulars treating her entryway like a well-used revolving door most Friday and Saturday evenings…
She enjoyed smoking for these effects, but she imbibed more for the dreams and other memories it kept at bay. Teresa took another long, powerful hit and blew it out… She mentally drifted, thoughts covering immense distances. Sleep claimed her quickly, almost lovingly.
She woke gasping, heart hammering in her chest and ears. Images of a rainbow-hued sea, each wave crashing upon the rocky shore just inches from her feet, a different color than the last, lingered against the matte black of her closed eyelids. That dream. That damned dream!
Why You Should Read It
This book is for readers who want their urban fantasy with teeth. It explores:
- Trauma and Addiction: The crutches we use to survive a reality we hate.
- Hidden Identities: When your friends (and enemies) are literally not human.
- Cosmic Balance: The war between Order and Chaos is fighting over a single, reluctant soul.
When Can You Read It?
The full first chapter will be available right here on the blog this Sunday.
Get ready to meet Rezz, Seth, and the forces hiding in plain sight. The fire is rising.
— Andrea Houtsch
Are you ready to see what Rezz is hiding? Let me know in the comments!
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