Ghosts & Ashes by FT Lukens
Ghosts & Ashes by FT Lukens
Summary
Three months have passed since the events of The Star Host, and Ren is living aboard the Star Stream under the watchful eyes of the Phoenix Corps. Plagued by vivid nightmares that ravage the ship in his sleep, he struggles to prove he isn’t a threat and fears he has traded one captor for another. His relationship with Asher, whose efforts to balance his personal loyalty to Ren with his professional duties to the Corps are failing, fractures.
Adrift without an anchor, Ren must return to his home planet of Erden if he has any chance of reversing his dangerous descent into madness. There, he hopes search for his missing brother and salvage his relationship with Asher. What he nds is knowledge that puts everyone’s allegiance to the test.
Excerpt
“There you are!” Asher said, striding toward him, wrapping him in an embrace. “Stars, you’re freezing.” Asher rubbed Ren’s arms; his palms swept over the chilled skin. “Where have you been? You left and never came back. Jakob and I have been looking all over for you.”
Ren pitched forward, planted his face in Asher’s chest, and shook. The terror at being taken again mixed with the crushing truths from his parents overwhelmed him.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay.” Asher pulled Ren close. “What happened? Was it a dream? Sleepwalking?”
Ren stilled. Pressed close to Asher’s body, it would be easy to give into the urge to tell him everything, to spill the truth about what his parents had said about the Corps and the star hosts and the history his life was mired in. But his mother’s words lingered in the back of his mind, and Ren remembered how Asher had sided with VanMeerten so many times since the debacle on the drift. Asher was Phoenix Corps, through and through. His allegiance was split, torn between Ren and his duty as a soldier. And how much did he know? Was Asher aware that the first mission of the Corps was to hunt down the scattered remnants of the star hosts? Or did he only know what he had been told, like the rest of them?
Character Bio
The Basics:
What is your character’s name? Does the character have a nickname?
Ren – Ren’s full name is never revealed and Ren may even be a nickname. It’s the name he goes by and the name he identifies with.
Asher Morgan – Asher’s friends and family call him Ash.
What is your character’s hair color? Eye color?
Ren – dark hair and brown eyes. Except when Ren taps into his technopathic power, his eyes turn blue
Asher – blond hair, green eyes
Does your character have a birthmark? Where is it? What about scars? How did he get them?
Ren – he does not have a birthmark or any distinguishing features. After the events of this book, he’ll definitely have a scar on his torso.
Asher – Asher has a tattoo on his shoulder that is the Phoenix Corps symbol. He also has a scar that runs through the tattoo. Asher’s scar is from a shoulder injury that he received on an assignment for the Phoenix Corps. The injury destroyed his shoulder and now he has a mechanized joint.
Who are your character’s friends and family? Who does he surround herself with? Who are the people your character is closest to? Who does he wish he were closest to?
Ren – Ren is very close to his half-brother, Liam, who is the reason Ren is catapulted on his journey. His goal is to find his brother and reunite with him. Along the way, Ren makes a found family in the crew of the Star Stream. He’s closest with Asher, but views Ollie as a big brother and Jakob as a sibling.
Asher – Asher is close to his sister, Rowan, who is the captain of the Star Stream. He wants to be closest with Ren but throughout the novel struggles with that relationship.
When has your character been in love? Had a broken heart?
Ren and Asher are in love with each other but throughout the novel it’s a difficult road. They both experience heartbreak in the novel, but in different ways.
Fun & In-Depth Questions
Look at your character’s feet. Describe what you see there. Does he wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Is he in socks that are ratty and full of holes? Or is he wearing a pair of blue and gold slippers knitted by his grandmother?
Ren – Ren wears a pair of new boots. Asher’s mother purchased them for him after the events of The Star Host. They’re more comfortable than the ones he had on Erden and fancier. He wears them on the ship, drifts, and planets. But when he’s in his room, he prefers bare feet.
Asher – Asher wears military style boots with his Phoenix Corps uniform. But on the ship, and not reporting, he pads around the ship in his socks.
When your character thinks of her childhood kitchen, what smell does he associate with it? Sauerkraut? Oatmeal cookies? Paint? Why is that smell so resonant?
Ren – Ren thinks of his mother’s cooking. She was the cook for the family and he thinks about the breakfasts, and dinners she had made for him. The lunches she’d back when he worked in the fields or the barns or went on trips to neighboring towns. He remembers the smell of baking and the cakes she’d make for birthdays and the village holidays.
Asher – Asher grew up on a drift and while the apartment had a kitchen, his family did not cook. Asher took his meals on the drift or when on a ship, the ship’s kitchen.
It’s Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. If he’s eating breakfast, what exactly does he eat? If he’s stretching out in her backyard to sun, what kind of blanket or towel does he lie on?
Ren – In Ghosts & Ashes, on a Saturday at noon, Ren is most likely having a nightmare. He’s in his bunk, attempting to catch up on sleep, but he can’t because of the dreams that have plagued him since the events of The Star Host. He’s twisted up in his sheets, trying not to enter the ship, and kill the crew.
Asher – Asher is in the common room eating lunch with the crew, trying not to worry about Ren.
About the Author
F.T. Lukens is an author of Young Adult ction who got her start by placing second out of ten thousand entries in a fan community writing contest. A sci- enthusiast, F.T. loves Star Trek and Fire y and is a longtime member of her college’s science- ction club. She holds degrees in Psychology and English Literature and has a love of cheesy television shows, superhero movies, and writing. F.T. lives in North Carolina with her husband, three kids, and three cats.
Her rst novel in the Broken Moon series, The Star Host, was published by Duet Books in 2016.
Connect with F.T. at authorftlukens.wordpress.com on Twitter @ftlukens, on Tumblr at ftlukens.tumblr.com and on Goodreads at goodreads.com/ftlukens.
Purchase Links:
Interlude Press: https://store.interludepress.com/collections/ghosts-ashes-by-f-t-lukens
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2mrjGzC
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ghosts-ashes-ft-lukens/1125684487?ean=9781945053184
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ghosts-ashes/id1202752621?mt=11
Google: https://books.google.com/books/about/Ghosts_and_Ashes.html?id=ujwDMQAACAAJ&hl=en
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ghosts-ashes
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/701877
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Ghosts-Ashes-F-T-Lukens/9781945053184
Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/978-1-945053-18-4&aff=interludePress
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