Thursday, July 28, 2016

Special excerpt for the mystery The Empty Room by Sarah J. Clemens

My feature today is a special excerpt from the romantic mystery, The Empty Room by Sarah J. Clemens.

During her virtual book tour, Sarah will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

A little bit about the author:
Sarah J Clemens is the author of the debut novel, The Empty Room. She began writing The Empty Room in 2008 and formed her own publishing company in 2016 called Off the Page Publishing.

Sarah was born in California and now lives and works in Boise, Idaho. In addition to writing fiction, she is a legal assistant with an Associate of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.

A little bit about the novel:
The small town of Eastbrook, Maine seemed like the close-knit community where newlyweds Dean and Elizabeth Montgomery could begin their lives together, and the 1901 Victorian seemed like the house they’d always dreamed of owning. The only condition for purchasing the property was that it was sold in “as-is” condition.

When the couple arrives in Eastbrook, they receive anything but a warm welcome from the local residents. And when they realize that as-is condition meant that the previous owner of the house had left every worldly possession behind, the dream of the small town life starts to take a mysterious turn.

Day after day, Dean and Elizabeth uncover more truths than they could have ever imagined, or ever wanted to know about the secrets that were hidden in the small town of Eastbrook. And as neighbors become growingly hostile with every encounter, this young couple searches furiously to uncover what the residents are trying to hide.

As their journey unfolds, Elizabeth goes missing and Dean must turn to the very neighbors he fears may have known what would happen to her from the moment the couple arrived for help. Because in this town, some secrets are better off hidden.


Excerpt from The Empty Room:
The car grumbled to a stop at the end of the gravel driveway. The three-day car trip was finally over. The gas station food and bathrooms stops were all behind them. They were home. The house might have been filled with someone else’s belongings, but they owned it now.

The house looked like a postcard from the outside. Small shrubs lined each side of the driveway as it suspiciously winded its way to the front porch. The grass was wet with dew after the recent rain.

As though looking at a piece of abstract art, Dean and Elizabeth both leaned forward in their seats toward the dash and squinted from inside the window of the car. Their eyes moved from left to right, making sure to taste every detail that first met their view.

“It’s gorgeous.” Elizabeth peered out from beneath the windshield.

With her eyes squinted and her mouth opened slightly, she studied every feature of architecture as though the house would greet her with an exam before allowing her to enter. She broke her concentration from the house and pressed her hand to the passenger side window, looking up and down to visually imprint every detail that awaited.

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10 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thanks for hosting!

Sarah Clemens said...

Thank you so much for featuring The Empty Room on your page Lisa!

Peggy Hyndman said...

Who are some of your favorite authors; what strikes you about their work?

Unknown said...

Congrats on the tour and I enjoyed the excerpt.

Victoria Alexander said...

Thanks for sharing the excerpt!

Rita Wray said...

Thank you for the excerpt.

Anonymous said...

Do you read much and if so, who are your favorite authors?

Sarah Clemens said...

Peggy,
One of my favorite authors is Nora Roberts. Her writing, in my opinion, personifies how you take the words off the page and create a world. And it doesn't have to be a fantasy. She doesn't write fantasy stories. But her descriptions are so vivid, her words are so lyrical and her characters are so relatable that readers can't help but be transported into another time, even if that's a few hours from now a few states over. She has taught me that fiction and love stories and mystery can be just as submersible as a far away world. It's a beautiful art.

Sarah Clemens said...

Becky, to be honest, I was not a huge bookworm as a kid. I really wasn't. But I always, always loved writing. I started writing poetry before I even really knew what it was and before I was old enough to understand what I was talking about. It wasn't until I reached college and wasn't "required" to read a book a week that I found a love for reading as a hobby. I had some time off work for a medical issue and had nothing to do with my time and I suddenly found myself going through a book a day. That was when I discovered the love that I have now for authors like Nora Roberts and James Patterson. In my love for reading I truly honed my skills for writing.

Sarah Clemens said...

Thank you!