Duplication
Duplication Trilogy # 1
By- Leigh Clary Abdou
Genre- Sci Fi
Our tomorrows are today, our yesterdays a secret memory.
Under the new world dictatorship of Pangaea, religion dominates, putting those marked as Christian at a disadvantage. Forced to wear crosses on their clothing and adhere to strict governmental rules, Katrine Matthews and Ramsey Greene find themselves oppressed, living under a government duplicating events from the darkest hours of history.
Together, with people of all faiths, Ramsey decides to fight, while Katrine learns to confront her two greatest fears: falling in love and death, which push her to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Excerpt:
KATRINE CLEANED HER APARTMENT and
what felt like seconds later, Ramsey knocked. The Saturday grocery store ordeal
had arrived. She dreamed someday of ordering groceries via the drone delivery
method, but costing extra, Katrine and Ramsey opted for pick-up.
Grabbing David, she pinned on their
crosses. Placing him on her hip, she looked in the mirror, taking a last
fleeting glimpse at her somewhat tamed hair. Blue eyes, green eyes, and two
blonde heads returned their stare.
Black bags hung heavily under her eyes,
accompanied with a dull, blue hue. The past two years had been difficult. Was
she even the same girl? She thought so…maybe. Or maybe she didn’t know her
identity anymore.
She looked at their shirts and took
in the crosses pinned right above their hearts. In Pangaea, Christians were
branded like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. She opened the door to find
Ramsey with his cross pinned as well. Public outings without the mark weren’t
permitted.
“Okay, let’s go. We want to be one
of the first ones there.” Katrine motioned and Ramsey nodded, holding open the
door. Christians weren’t allowed in the grocery store until after two PM on
Saturdays and Sundays.
Author Interview-
What inspired you to write Duplication?
I had just finished “Sarah’s Key”
by Tatiana De Rosnay and tried to put myself in the shoes of a Jew living
during the Holocaust. From there, the thought crossed my mind “what if history
repeated itself?” My mind then moved to my own religion (Christianity),
wondering what it would be like to experience something like this from a
different perspective. I made a futuristic society and the rest of the book
just tumbled out.
When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?
About the third grade. My first
book was four chapters long and about a blind girl who was lost on the ocean in
a boogie board. It does have a happy ending! I have been writing my entire life
due to a huge imagination. Taking that and creating worlds and characters has
been a part of me for as long as I can remember.
What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?
I remember learning to read in
the first grade and how excited I was. I’ve read like every Nancy Drew book
ever written, so when I think of my earliest books, I think of these.
What genre of books do you enjoy reading?
I read anything and everything.
My favorites are: romance, science fiction, contemporary fiction, fantasy,
romantic suspense.
What is your favorite book?
Gone with the Wind
You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite
author and why?
Anything by Colleen Hoover. She
hasn’t written a book yet that I haven’t LOVED.
If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time.
Where would you go
and why?
I would want to go to Europe
during WW11 to observe and study the Holocaust, as well as, to the south during
the Civil War, and to Scotland during the 1700’s - inspired by the Outlander
books (Diana Gabaldon). I would like to be an invisible bystander to watch and
study these pivotal moments in history.
When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is
it a difficult task?
Writing is hard work and writing
a novel takes a lot dedication. However, anything you love doing isn’t really
work. The storylines and plots come natural - sitting down and making them into
a readable novel isn’t easy, but worth it in the end.
Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?
No pets. I have a husband and two
children...it takes everything I have to remember to feed them lol!
What is your "to die for", favorite food/foods to eat?
M&M’s and sweet tea. They
make any bad day better and any headache instantly disappear.
Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?
Write, write, and write! Read,
read, and read!
When I write a book, I do about two
or three re-writes per book...writing is like a muscle, the more you use it,
the stronger it becomes.
I also read EVERYTHING. I heard an author say that reading
is research, and that’s so true! I used to follow books paragraph by paragraph
to see how they were developing characters and how they were using punctuality.
I learned everything from reading and then implementing what I had read into my
own writing.
