The Devil at Play By Marcus Damanda ~ The Devil in Miss Drake's Class ~Giveaway ~

The Devil at Play

The Devil in Miss Drake's Class, 3

By Marcus Damanda

Giveaway: 
$10 Evernight Teen Gift Card. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter.

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THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE DEVIL IN MISS DRAKE’S CLASS

When I was thirteen years old, I wrote a little kidnapping thriller I was very proud of called The Falcons. I know—real original title, huh? I’d already been a writer (a term I apply to anyone who does it for fun, not just because they’re told to) since I was nine. But that was the year, and that was the story, when I started imagining “soundtracks” to my tales.
The Falcons got written in my living room, not my bedroom, while I played the songs from the Kevin Bacon movie Footloose on repeat, over and over. And, yeah, the teeny-bopper dance tracks may seem wildly incongruous at first estimation for a kidnapping thriller, but if you listen to some of those tracks, and if you were to read that story … Well, the song Never has a lot of desperation and hope in it. And Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero … Okay. I was thirteen. Give me a break, already.
Up until recently, I honestly thought the whole make-a-dream-soundtrack-for-my-book thing was something only I did. Now I see it’s a common thing, and they get posted everywhere. So, with that in mind, I figured I’d share my latest dream soundtrack with you—not just for The Devil at Play (available NOW! They make great late Christmas gifts!), but for the whole trilogy.
The thing is, I don’t listen to these “soundtracks” while I write anymore. I write in total silence, then I celebrate the session with a listening afterwards. Usually I’m playing a video game by then, while scribbling fresh ideas on notecards. And I do utilize those songs during revision. They run over and over and over, once I get to that point.
I got on a real KONGOS kick while doing the trilogy version of these PARTICULAR stories (the original single-book version had a different soundtrack). Some of the songs, like the first track by Pink Floyd and I’m Only Joking, are lyrically good matches for the themes in the books. Others just connect in a purely sonic way. They’re in order, each pertaining to a particular scene or character from the books. Have fun guessing them out, if you have a mind. Anyway, here they are:

For DEVILS IN THE DARK:
Another Brick in the Wall Part 3 (not to be confused with Part 2, the radio hit)—Pink Floyd
I’m Only Joking—Kongos
Trance Awake—Lacuna Coil
The Beautiful People—Marilyn Manson
Planetary (GO!)—My Chemical Romance
Kids These Days—Kongos
This Time I Won’t Forget—Kongos
March of the Damned—Judas Priest

For A DEVIL IN DAYLIGHT
(The biggest book in the trilogy has the shortest soundtrack. Go figure.)

Bully—Shinedown
Teenagers—My Chemical Romance
Numb—Linkin Park
The Nobodies—Marilyn Manson
Hey, I Don’t Know—Kongos
Useless Talent #32—Rose McGowan, from the Grindhouse soundtrack

For THE DEVIL AT PLAY

Zombie Dance—Escape the Fate
Nowhere Kids—Shinedown
Trap Door—Ozzy Osbourne
Whispers in the Dark—Skillet
Wish—Nine Inch Nails
Spider Baby—Fantomas
Bye Bye Beautiful—Nightwish
Two Against the World—Rose McGowan, from the Grindhouse soundtrack
The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago—Johnny Cash, the live version from At San Quentin

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“Everyone loves the devil until they know him. Until they see him for what he really is.” 

Nobody ever did, even as the bodies started to pile up. 

But now, too late for it to matter, Audrey understands at last. The devil of Fairview has been courting her for days, and watching her for much longer than that. The murderer is her boyfriend—and he’s been killing on her behalf. 

His name is Jack Maddox, but everyone calls him Mad Jack. He’s planning a party, where everyone is invited, especially Audrey’s tormentors—especially the Facebook Fifteen. 

Audrey will have her revenge, whether she wants it or not. 

Because, in Miss Drake’s class, the devil will have his due.

14+ due to violence and adult situations

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Buy Links:  

Evernight Teen    Amazon

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 Excerpt:

As he cleaned the knife, she fought her way back to the surface. Eventually, she managed words. “I still don’t know which parts of this were real. Or if I’m completely crazy.”

“You’re not crazy, Audrey,” he reassured her. “You never were. No more than I was. And you’re not crazy now. Just the opposite, in fact.”

When she let the silence stretch again, making it meaningful, he continued.

“Your problem is the same as mine. You see things how they really are, and it makes you sad. Makes you angry. What happened here wasn’t a hallucination. What happened here was justice—for you.”

Polishing the blade, he glanced at her sidelong, expectantly.

He’s holding a knife, she said to herself. And spoke her mind anyway. “I’m nothing like you.”

He smiled. “You’re nicer than me, that’s for sure. No contest.”

“You’re… like the devil, Jack.” Please don’t kill me. You can read my thoughts, I know it now. You’ll know if I lie. I’m being honest with you. I want the truth.

“The devil?” Jack said, chuckling. “Not sure if I believe in ‘the devil.’ Never been to the other side, either way. But I know from pictures he has red skin, pointy tail, horns, carries a pitchfork… usually has pretty big eyebrows.”

Audrey put her hand over his wrists, stopped his polishing. “No, Jack,” she said. “The devil is far too smart to look like that. Everyone loves the devil, until they know him. Until they see him for what he really is.”

They regarded each other.

“Does this mean we can’t be friends?” he joked. “Bet you never thought you’d have first period English with the devil.”

“No,” she said. “I never did.”

“By your description,” Jack said, his smile fading. “The devil was in Miss Drake’s class. But it wasn’t me.”

“Jack,” Audrey said, giving up. “I want to go home. Can I go home, please?”

“Soon,” he said, tossing the knife in the sink, turning around, and leaning up against it. “You have to do something for me first. Don’t worry. I don’t think you’ll have a problem with it. I hope not, anyway.”

Audrey narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t afraid. After tonight, she didn’t know if she had any fear left in her. “What?” she asked.

“In order for you to understand the ‘what,’” he said. “You first have to understand who Ireally am. Completely—or at least as much as I understand, myself. Time is short, so pay attention.”

Audrey listened.

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About the Author:

Marcus Damanda lives in Woodbridge, Virginia with his cat, Shazam. At various times throughout his life, he played bass guitar for the garage heavy metal band 

Mother’s Day, wrote for The Dale City Messenger, and published editorials in The Potomac News and The Freelance Star. Currently, while not plotting his next foray into fictitious suburban mayhem, he spoils his nieces and nephews and teaches middle school English.

Find Marcus Damanda here:

Website: http://www.marcusdamanda.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarcusDamandaAuthor?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarcusDamanda

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A Devil in Daylight By Marcus Damanda ~ The Devil in Miss Drake’s Class ~ Interview ~ Giveaway

A Devil in Daylight

The Devil in Miss Drake’s Class, Book Two

By Marcus Damanda

Giveaway:

$10 Evernight Teen Gift Card. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. 

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Interview: 

Crystal: Today I have the pleasure of asking Marcus Damanda a few questions. Welcome Marcus, I'm so happy to have you here today. Would you share a little bit about yourself with us today?

Marcus: Hi, Crystal! Thanks for having me back so soon.
It’s a busy time right now—but it’s all good. We’re in the last couple weeks at school before the holiday break, so my sixth graders are getting squirrely. And I’m the school spelling bee coordinator, which is this Friday. I just finished edits on Book 3 in this series, THE DEVIL AT PLAY. And then there’s this wonderful blog tour, the second in a couple weeks! Lots going on. It beats being bored.

Crystal: Do you have a favorite scene you would like to share with us?

Marcus: For A DEVIL IN DAYLIGHT, that’s really hard to pick. The whole thing is a gradual building of character tension and suspense. Audrey’s a much stronger character in this book. But I’m really proud of the material with the thousand ghosts, too. When they come for Heather Roberts, that may be my favorite. It’s really over-the-top and horrifying.

Crystal: Where did you come up with the idea for your current release?

Marcus: A lot of the character stuff comes from being around kids all the time—not just my students, but my teenage nieces, too. The horror stuff, I have no idea. My brain just defaults to weird places, I guess.

Crystal: What are you currently working on?

Marcus: I’m about sixty pages into the third book in my FOREVER SHOW series. I really do love my vampires. I also have a prologue written for something else, a little something I hope to add to my author library at Evernight Teen, if I should be so fortunate.

Crystal: Do you have any special routine that you follow when you are writing? 

Marcus: I try to do a page a day. I plot on note cards, then outline on a computer, then write what I can. Getting a single-spaced page in, once I’m up to that part of the process, is a minimum. If the spirit’s in full-throat, I go much longer—especially as the story nears its end.

Crystal: Did you have to do a lot of research for this book or any other? If so do you have a fascinating fact that you have learned you would like to share with us?

Marcus: I interviewed my school nurse for this book. I’ve spent some time on Web MD, too. I had to research psychosis and depression quite a lot for all the books in this trilogy. Here’s an interesting tidbit I learned while researching black widow spiders for Book 3: their venom asphyxiates, and they release an enzyme to melt the insides of their prey.

Crystal: Who are some of your favorite authors that you like to read?

Marcus: A few I didn’t mention in my other interviews that are worth recommending in the horror and thriller genre: Joe Lansdale, Mary Shelley, Michael Crichton. For teen fiction, whether mainstream or suspense, I grew up on Robert Cormier—THE CHOCOLATE WAR wielded a real influence over A DEVIL IN DAYLIGHT.

Crystal: Is there any genre you haven't written that you would like to try?

Marcus: Speaking of that prologue I finished, it’s in the dystopian future genre—a whole new thing for me. We’ll see if it happens!

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Blurb:

“You will account for what you did to Audrey.”

After three months in the suicide prevention wing of St. George’s, Audrey Bales is finally coming home. Enrolled at a new school, she plans to reinvent herself with a new look, new friends, and a second chance to be just like everyone else. But the kids who drove her over the edge aren’t through with her yet. 
And one of her new friends has an agenda all his own.

 “You, and all the others.”

 During the day, the halls of Battlefield High will echo with their screams.

 “It will never stop.”

 And at night, their screams will be silenced.

 “Until one of you ends it.”

Evernight Teen, 163 pages
Horror/romantic elements
16+ due to violence and adult situations

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Buy Links:  

Evernight Teen |  Amazon

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Excerpt: 
Audrey watched the knife go in. Alex’s Swiss Army knife, from Scouts.

That’s right, sis, Alex’s ghost said. You’re doing it. Good girl.

Blood welled up from her wrist, at first in bubbles and droplets, then in a line.

Ignore the pain. Block it out. Deny it, like it’s not even there.

And it wasn’t. Weird. This was supposed to hurt.

Her reflection in the computer screen showed black hair. And that, too, was weird. She hadn’t had black hair in months. Not since her first days in the hospital.

Nor was she supposed to be seeing him. She’d beaten him—banished him.

She had to saw to break the vein. A small, red jet squirted over her keyboard.

On the screen, Val—her one-time best friend—was reaching out to her. Audrey? Audrey, don’t be dumb. Come on.

Alex stopped talking, stopped coaching. From behind, he held on to her shoulders and squeezed.

She still had the strength to use the knife again, going down from the wrist. There was no pain, after all. She had the strength for that and for one more thing.

She set down the knife in a puddle of her own blood, then picked up her cell phone and took a picture, even as her wrist squirted again.

She hooked the phone to a USB cable and to the computer. She posted the picture, unhooked it, and let it drop. It clattered off the side of the desk and onto the floor, but Audrey didn’t even notice.

She tried to put her chin in her right hand. She wanted to watch the responses. See what Val thought. See what Maggie thought.

Maggie, who had started all of this. Maggie, who had ruined Audrey’s life because she’d thought Audrey had been ogling her in the locker room at school. Spoiled, rich little Maggie Lassiter, with the angel earrings—it had been those Audrey had been staring at—and the countless followers that Maggie called her friends. But it hadn’t been enough. No, she had to steal Audrey’s friend, Valerie Mills. Her only friend….

Putting her chin in her hand didn’t quite work out. Her elbow slipped in the blood on her desk. She felt her face hit the hard wooden corner of the desk on her way to the floor.

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About the Author:

Marcus Damanda lives in Woodbridge, Virginia with his cat, Shazam. At various times throughout his life, he played bass guitar for the garage heavy metal band 

Mother’s Day, wrote for The Dale City Messenger, and published editorials in The Potomac News and The Freelance Star. Currently, while not plotting his next foray into fictitious suburban mayhem, he spoils his nieces and nephews and teaches middle school English.

Find Marcus Damanda here:

Website: http://www.marcusdamanda.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarcusDamandaAuthor?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarcusDamanda

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