Enhanced by Robert P. Beus and S.T. Ranscht

Some might call this shameless self-promotion, but until we sign an agent, who else is there to do this dirty job? Tomorrow, it’s back to the fun stuff! I promise.

Why was I going to apologize? Robb and I wrote Enhanced so we could work together to create a story we could share with people like us — people like you. We’re proud of what we’ve written. We believe it’ll stick with readers like good books do, and we dare to hope it can be a beacon for kids — and adults — who feel like they’re outside the mainstream.

So without apology, I want to tell you about it. But not about our “writing process” — in the name of all that’s holy, not the “writing process”! (…unless you ask…)

Since the beginning of language, there have been storytellers.

“Hey, do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard.” The 11th Doctor

Have we got a story for you!

“All I read is young adult science fiction, so when I tell you I’ve never read this story before, you know it’s original!” Jessica Watterson of The Sandra Dijkstra and Associates Literary Agency talking about Enhanced

That’s some humbling praise. Robb and I hoped our story would be original; we worked to make it original. And exciting. And smart and provocative and edgy. With three-dimensional characters on an alien but familiar world, wrapped in a multi-layered story that draws readers in, carries them along, and leaves them wanting more.

If you loved Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Hunger Games, ENHANCED should be on your list. It’s Book One of The Second Earth Trilogy, an epic tale about belonging and not belonging, and the harm that comes to any society that excludes or oppresses those outside the mainstream. Think: LOST meets Josef Mengele.

It’s 50 years after thousands of refugees from Earth settled on Second Earth, a planet already inhabited by semi-primitive Genics with Enhanced Vision or Hearing. The technologically advanced First Earthers call themselves Mainstreamers.

Isn’t that always the way?

Although brainy, science-minded Ellisyn and her closeted gay surrogate brother Tadeh take planetary Equal Rights for granted, the fearful and the bigoted are now demanding the use of Enhanced Senses be severely regulated. Intolerance is trickling into Mainstream government. When a lander explodes and then one of their native Genic friends goes missing, the two teens uncover conflicting plots that could end in a race war the Genics can’t win. They have one week to bring both conspiracies down before the upcoming election propels their world into genocide and darkness.

You can read Chapters 1-3 here. Inkshares says it’s a 10 minute read, but I think that’s true only if you’re in first grade and have to sound out the big words. So check it out and tell me what you think, okay? I’d really like to know.