Skycliffe by Z. Moss - Book Tour Giveaway
Skyclyffe
by Z. Moss
Genre: Middle Grade Science Fiction
Rex Bright enjoys drawing in notebooks and dreaming. He’s thirteen, and his life is ordinary. Until he sees a face in a cloud which changes everything. Rex glimpses the girl from an airplane window while travelling to his aunt and uncle’s farm for the summer. Her features are so perfect, Rex can’t believe she’s only vapor. But Cloud Girl is real. A week later, Skyclyffe, a mysterious airship cloaked in a cumulus, abducts Rex and his family. The captors expect the Brights to live in their flying city forever. And, although he’s kidnapped, Rex loves the craft filled with robots, scientific discoveries, and silvery-white beings. Before long, Rex will be forced to decide whether to escape, or if Skyclyffe and its secret wonders are worth never stepping foot on Earth again.
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Rex shook on the inside like a
mouse who’d realized he was about to become a snake’s lunch. His mom
disembarked first and smiled, encouraging him to follow her. Radar jumped down,
skidding on the concrete floor. Once Old Fart emerged, they stationed
themselves in front of the wing, Dan and Sue flanking Rex and the dog.
Now that Rex could see, three
extraordinary things caught his attention: a massive machine with a long
articulating gun, robots zooming
by … and a pirate.
Yes, a pirate stood with the
others, dressed in black, including a swashbuckling coat and an outrageous hat.
His plumed tricorn was overshadowed only by a beard that radiated from his
chin, twisting into many points so it resembled a wild, upside-down crown.
Either the young man left a play still in his acting wardrobe or had special
needs, so the older adults let him walk around in his ridiculous getup.
The sea rover cleared his
throat.
“Welcome aboard,
Bert, Susan, Daniel, and Ann—” He halted then looked to the person on his left.
She whispered something into his ear. “Holy catfish! Why wasn’t I informed?”
The woman bowed her head as she muttered more words. “Oh, I see. Well, nothing
we can do now.” He turned back to the Brights and raised his arm in a flourish.
“I am Captain Vance Merriweather.”
Could this day get any
stranger? How on Earth did the “captain” know who they were? Clues pointed
again to an elaborate reality TV show. Or Rex was at the farm or hadn’t left
home, and this was a Dr.-Pepper-and-supreme-pizza-with-jalapeños-induced dream.
Rex quit wrestling with the
mental muddle. Be it hallucination or actuality, his brain and muscles ached
from permanent freak-out. Plus, if these events were occurring in the real
world, his mom would take care of things.
The result liberated him. Rex
kicked back, excited to face whatever came next, even if it turned out to be
horrible monsters, tap-dancing buccaneers, or complete humiliation in front of
a laughing audience. Just don’t call him Bert.
A girl donning a cowboy hat,
boots, and a T-shirt portraying a horse with a windswept mane appeared then
blended into the background. None of the adults noticed her.
Captain Vance Merriweather
carried on with his salutation.
“Welcome
to Skyclyffe! I give you a
great, hearty greeting. I’m looking forward to getting to know each of you—but,
by living thunder, where are my manners? Let me make introductions.” He patted
a shoulder of the barrel-chested man on his right. “This is our sheriff, Cleve
Bowman, and Noble Berry, our chief Telerayist, is next to him. On my other
side,” he turned and bowed to the two ladies, “I have Philomena Ferguson, head
of navigation, and Hazel Kiely, our principal doctor.”
Hazel was the
vaporizer-wielding incarnate of Rex’s old teacher.
“Well,
there’s plenty to do and a young lady waiting to have dinner with me, so it’s
no time to lollygag. Daniel, if you please, remove the penknife from your
pocket and entrust it to Cleve.” He waited while the transaction took place.
“Thank you. Our scans found no other security issues, so everything else is
shipshape. My crew will get you settled. It’s fantastic to meet you at last.”
The captain gave a wink, a curt
bow, and left with a showy swing of feathered hat and swarthy coat.
What a weirdo.
Z. Moss lives in Stillwater, Minnesota and is currently working on the sequel to Skyclyffe. Two dogs, three cats, and two turtles run the household, including the real-life Radar.
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2 Comments
Thank you for hosting Skyclyffe on your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! :)
DeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.