THE HUNTING BEGINS

INDIGO AWAKENING

The Hunted Series, book 1

Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 9780373210763

Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.

Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He's warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish. On her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can't explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—even though he scares her.

They discover Lucas is running from the Believers, a fanatical church secretly hunting psychic kids—gifted "Indigo" teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind. Now Rayne's only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all.

EXCERPT   

MEET JD

HarperCollins launched Jordan Dane’s suspense novels back to back in 2008 after the 3-book series sold in auction. Ripped from the headlines, Jordan's gritty plots weave a tapestry of vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense thrillers to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag. This national best-selling, critically acclaimed author’s debut novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM was named Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2008. Dane writes her Sweet Justice adult thriller series for HarperCollins. Her young adult novels, IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS and ON A DARK WING, are with Harlequin Teen. Currently, she is writing a new series for Harlequin Teen – THE HUNTED – slated for release in 2012-2013. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full time. Jordan and her husband share their Texas residence with two cats of highborn lineage and two very lucky rescue dogs. 

INDIGO AWAKENING -- PSYCHIC POWERS

by JORDAN DANE

The real phenomenon of Indigo children drove my Indigo Awakening plot (Book #1 in the HUNTED series), but I super-sized their psychic abilities and wanted them to evolve into more than one simple power per kid. With Indigos sharing a “hive mind,” I thought it might be possible for their abilities to grow and change once they came in contact with each other. So below is a list of psychic abilities that I drew from initially. Imagine what it might feel like to have any one of these abilities.

• Apportation - Materialization, disappearance, or teleportation of an object.^[1]
• Aura reading - Perception of the energy fields surrounding people, places, and things.^[2]
• Automatic writing - Writing produced without conscious thought.^[3]
• Astral projection or mental projection - An out-of-body experience in which an "astral body" becomes separate from the physical body.^[4]
• Bilocation or multilocation - Being in multiple places at the same time.^[5]
• Clairvoyance, second sight - Perception outside the known human senses.^[2]
• Death-warning - A vision of a living person prior to his or her death.^[6]
• Divination - Gaining insight into a situation via a ritual.^[7]
• Dowsing - Ability to locate objects.^[8]
• Energy medicine - Healing by channelling a form of energy.^[9]
• Faith healing - Diagnosing and curing disease using religious devotion.^[10]
• Mediumship or channeling – Communicating with spirits.^[11]
• Precognition, premonition and precognitive dreams - Perception of events before they happen.
• Psychic surgery - Removal of diseased body tissue via an incision that heals immediately afterwards.^[12]
• Psychokinesis or telekinesis - Manipulation of matter or energy by the power of the mind.
• Psychometry or psychoscopy - Obtaining information about a person or object.
• Remote viewing - Gathering of information at a distance.
• Retrocognition - Perception of past events.
• Scrying - Use of an item to view events at a distance or in the future.
• Telepathy - Transfer of thoughts or emotions.
• Transvection - Bodily levitation or flying.

Since the idea of man’s evolution is a key concept to my story, I wanted some of the powers to start simply, but get complicated as the kids develop to their full potential. Gabriel Stewart is my central character for this metamorphosis, but here is more about the powers I use in the book.

Indigo Children/Indigo Warriors - In my story, for the purposes of fiction, I make Indigo kids more plentiful, with the status of a Crystal child more unique and powerful. Indigos are highly intelligent intuitive teens who “feel” their way through life, trust their instincts above all else, and can often see angels and the dead. Indigos tend to be warriors. They have a fierce fighting spirit and a rebellious nature. They don’t accept things the way they are. They see how things can be. Indigo warriors can also be a little older than teens, those who have come before to pave the way and protect the Indigos who will follow. Gabe’s mother and his uncle Reginald are examples of early Indigo warriors.

Crystal Children – Crystal children are a higher level of power and attainment in the collective than Indigo kids. Only Lucas Darby and Gabriel Stewart reach Crystal child status in Indigo Awakening. They are the elite. Since Lucas is only fifteen-years old when he reaches this level, he becomes the obsession of the Believers. These church fanatics believe his “mutation” is more dangerous. He “turns” too early, so they think that Indigos are evolving more rapidly than they first suspected. They want to get their hands on the boy, to “study” him. Gabriel is eighteen and has been hiding in secret, off the grid, but he is far more powerful than even he imagines. Once he links to the “others” of his kind, he transforms into something amazing. He will be the most dangerous among these kids. In Gabriel, the Believers truly have something to fear.

Individual Indigo Powers – by Character

The Effin brothers are Indigo twins with the ability to attack the hypothalamus gland within the human brain. This gland affects the Four F’s – to feed, to flee, to fear, and to…hook up. As you might imagine, they can make anyone do anything with this ability, even though the twins think of their gift as a funny game. These boys are younger and very peculiar, even among Indigos. They only communicate telepathically, within their immediate hive, and they are most powerful when they are together.

Kendra Walker is an Indigo who is similar to a modern day Joan of Arc. She’s strong and rebellious, driven to protect the Indigos right to live. She has the ability to connect with other indigos, to draw them to her and track them, but only with a limited range and often with one-way communication from her to them. She is a healer and uses herbs and her garden to not only feed her street family, but she also hears the voices of “the others” through her plants, especially as she tends her garden.

Lucas Darby is an evolving Crystal child who has been stunted by his time locked up in a mental hospital. Drugs were used to control him and have taken a toll. His potential is similar to the gifts that Gabriel Stewart has, but Lucas also shows the ability to read other people’s memories. This psychic gift is called Retro-cognition. Crystal children tend to be more benevolent and peace loving by nature and Lucas is no exception. He’s at odds with Kendra’s warrior nature to protect her kind. Once he sees how far the Believers will go to destroy innocent lives, Lucas will be forced to take a stand he’s not prepared for.

Rafael Santana is a street kid who communes with the dead and easily connects into the spirit world. He’s the heart and soul of Kendra’s Indigo family, a simple guy so desperate to have a real family of his own, that he takes on the role of big brother to an abused homeless kid, ten-year old Benny. Although Benny isn’t psychic, these two are inseparable kindred spirits. Rafe is beyond wishing anything for himself, but he doesn’t wallow in self-pity over how his life turned out. Instead he takes on the responsibility of caring for a young boy and no one comes between Rafe and Benny, not even Rafe’s beloved Kendra and her Indigo rebellion.

Gabriel Stewart is the most powerful Crystal child. He thought he was an Indigo, like his British mother, but after he meets Lucas’s sister, Rayne, and links to the collective hive mind through Lucas (another Crystal child), he is gripped by a metamorphosis that he can’t stop. He can connect his consciousness through animals and the dead, but his powers evolve into much more. I can’t say too much about his abilities without giving away strong elements to the story, but Gabe is seriously cool.

Hellboy is featured on the cover of Indigo Awakening and is Gabe Stewart’s ghost dog. He’s a portal to the “other side,” or is he?

In book #2 of the Hunted series – Crystal Fire – more Indigo kids and their powers will be revealed. There is a dark side to having these powers and the Believers tamper with science and human nature to battle something they should respect.

FIND JORDAN

Website   Facebook     Twitter @JordanDane     Goodreads   YouTube  Pintrest   
Blog   ADR3NAILIN3     Fringe Dweller     The Kill Zone

Previous GLIAS interviews

UP NEXT for JORDAN

CRYSTAL FIRE

The Hunted series, book 2

Harlequin Teen

December 2013

PREVIOUS RELEASE by JORDAN

ON A DARK WING 

Harlequin Teen

December 2011

IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS

Harlequin Teen

April 2011

RECKONING FOR THE DEAD

Sweet Justice Thriller series Book 4

HarperCollins

Oct 2011

JORDAN is  giving away a copy of Indigo Awakening for anyone who can tell me what kind of psychic power they’d like to have and why. The most intriguing answer wins. North America entrants only.

Note: COMMENTERS are encouraged to leave a contact email address to speed the prize notification process. Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

DON’T FORGET to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes. Join me Wednesday when I host debut Desire author, Kat Cantrell. And come back tomorrow when Maureen hosts Eileen Rendahl.  ~Angi 

JORDAN WANTS TO KNOW:  If you could have a secret Indigo power, what would that be?   Have you ever experienced a psychic moment or do you know anyone who is a real psychic?

Jordan Dane's TEEN Thrillers

IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS
HARLEQUIN TEEN
ISBN: 0373210299

Two years ago, Brenna did the unthinkable. She witnessed the aftermath of a murder and accused her only true friend--the first boy she ever loved--of being a killer.

Now sixteen, Brenna returns to Oklahoma only to discover that Isaac "White Bird" Henry isn't in juvie. The half-breed outcast is in a mental hospital, frozen in time, locked in his mind at the worst moment of his life. And when Brenna touches him, she's pulled into his hellish vision quest, seeing terrifying demons and illusions she doesn't understand.

Feeling isolated and alone, she's up against the whole town, targeted by bullying former classmates, a bigoted small town sheriff, and a tribe who refuses to help one of their own. But when Brenna realizes she's as trapped by the past as White Bird is, this time she won't turn her back on him. She's the only one who can free them both.

Even if she has to expose her secret--a "gift" she's kept hidden her whole life.

PROLOGUE
I sleep with the dead.

I don’t remember the first time I did it and I try not to think about why. It’s just something I do. My fascination with the dead has become part of me, like the way my middle toes jut out. They make my feet look like they’re shooting the finger 24/7. My “screw you” toes are my best feature, but that doesn’t mean I brag about them. Those babies are kept under wraps—just for my entertainment—the same way I keep my habit of sleeping in cemeteries a secret from anyone. Not even my mother knows I sneak out at night to curl up with the headstones…and the stillness. Some things are best left unsaid.

In the arms of stone angels, I’m not afraid.

I wish I had remembered the part about not telling secrets when I came across my friend White Bird under the bridge at Cry Baby Creek. A woman’s spirit cries for her dead baby and haunts that old rusted steel and wood plank footbridge. I’d seen her plenty of times, I swear to God. She never talked to me. The dead never do. She only cried and clutched the limp body of her baby to her chest.

Back then I didn’t fully understand how fragile the barrier was between my world and another existence where the dead grieved over their babies forever. And I had no idea that a change was coming. Someone would alter how I saw the thin veil between my reality and the vast world beyond it.

And that someone was my friend, White Bird.

When I saw him crying in the shadows of that dry creek bed, just like the ghost of that woman, the sight of him sent chills over my skin. I should have paid attention to what my body was telling me back then—to stay away and leave him alone—but I didn’t.

He was rocking in the shadows and muttering words I didn’t understand. When I got closer, I saw he wasn’t alone, but I couldn’t see the girl’s face. And tears were running down his cheeks. They glistened in the gray of morning, at the razor’s edge of dawn. I wish I had stayed where I was that day—hiding in the dark—but my curiosity grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.

Like an omen, the buzz of flies should have warned me. And thinking back, I wish that I had paid more attention to the sound. Even now, a single housefly can trigger that dark memory. And on nights when the dead can’t comfort me to sleep, I still hear the unending noise of those flies and I think of him. Our paths had crossed that day for a reason, as if it was always meant to be, and both of us were powerless to stop it.

I remember that morning like it was yesterday and I can’t get him out of my head.
White Bird was the first boy I ever loved. He was a half-breed, part Euchee Indian and part whatever. He was an outcast like me, only I couldn’t claim anything cool like being Indian. Because he was half-breed and without parents, the Euchee didn’t officially claim him, but that didn’t matter to White Bird. In his heart he belonged to the Dala, the Bear clan of the tribe, because the bear represented the power of Mother Earth. And the strong animal was a totem sign of the healer. The way I saw it, he had picked his clan well.

In school, the teachers called him by his white name, Isaac Henry. But when it was just the two of us, he preferred I call him by his Indian name and that made me feel real special. He was different from the other boys. I was convinced he had an ancient soul. He was quiet and didn’t speak much, even to me. But when he did open his mouth, the other kids listened and so did I.

Some people were scared of him because he was taller and bigger than most of the boys and he kept to himself. Sometimes he would get into fights. But after he got his tribal band tattoos, the fights stopped and everyone left him alone, including his teachers. His tattoos made him look like a man. And that was fine by me.

He wore his dark hair long to his shoulders and his eye color had flecks of gold and green that reminded me of a field of wheat blowing easy in the Oklahoma wind. And his skin made me think of a golden swirl of sweet caramel. That’s how I thought of him before the nightmare happened. He dominated my mind like a tune I couldn’t get out of my head, something memorable and special.

White Bird was my first crush.

And in a perfect world, my first crush should have been unforgettable and magic. But when mine turned out to be the worst nightmare of my pathetic excuse for a life, I knew I’d never deserve to be happy and that magic was overrated. And as for White Bird being unforgettable, the day I saw him under that bridge covered in blood and ranting like a crazed meth head over a girl’s corpse with a knife in his hand, I knew that image would be burned into my brain forever.

It was highly unlikely that I’d forget him and I made sure he’d never forget me. I was the one who turned him in to the sheriff.

ABOUT JORDAN DANE
HarperCollins launched Jordan’s suspense novels back to back in 2008 after the 3-book series sold in auction. Ripped from the headlines, Jordan's gritty plots weave a tapestry of vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense thrillers to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag. This national best-selling, critically acclaimed author’s debut novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM was named Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2008. Dane’s first Young Adult book is IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS (Apr 2011, Harlequin Teen) with ON A DARK WING set for January 2012. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full time. Jordan and her husband share their San Antonio residence with two cats of highborn lineage and two very lucky rescue dogs.

BEHIND JORDAN
ANGI: How often to you get lost in a story?
JORDAN: If a story can make me forget that I’m an author, that’s when I really get lost…and fast. Right now I’m reading Ilsa J Bick’s ASHES, a dark YA that has sucked me in. She writes beautifully. Love her word choices, but her characters are very strong and her settings are atmospheric and eerie. Love her.
http://www.ilsajbick.com/

ANGI: What’s the first book you remember reading?
JORDAN: Being a Texas girl, I grew up with a love for horses. The first books I remember craving were any novels with horses in them. Westerns with lone wolf cowboys & fantasies with flying horses suckered me in. I hung out at my elementary school library and read every single book that had a horse in it. With my first summer job, I bought a horse and had a few horses for years until the upkeep got too much with school too. Great memories though.

ANGI: Can you tell us about a real-life hero you’ve met?
JORDAN: I’m featuring a hero that I know in my upcoming book ON A DARK WING (Harlequin Teen, Jan 2012). David Clampitt is a cousin of mine and he consulted on this book to help me uncover the heart of my fictional character, Tanner Lange, who is confined to a wheelchair after a tragic four-wheeler accident. In real life, Dave lost the use of his legs when he was a teen and is wheelchair bound. Now Dave is a physical therapist and helps others get back on their feet. He’s happily married and a great guy. An inspiration to me. I had always been impressed with his physical strength, watching him move with such independence and his humor is out of bounds. Dave shared his personal stories of how people treat him—right after the accident to now—and some of those stories broke my heart. I had to include them and infuse Tanner Lange with Dave’s real experiences. Dave Clampitt is who I think of when I see the word “hero.”

ANGI: What’s your favorite cartoon character?
JORDAN: I love Pepé Le Pew. He has obvious drawbacks that he ignores. He’s a lover not a hater. And his rose-colored glasses make him very happy.

ANGI: What turns you off like nothing else?
JORDAN: Chaotic crowds, intense traffic, and slow computers. I need to get better at accepting things beyond my control (like Pepé Le Pew) and enjoy the moment, but I can turn into a crazy person in a heartbeat. Must be my Latin blood. It can be the best of me and the worst. 

ANGI: Is there a playlist you’d recommend for reading your latest release?
JORDAN: I usually have a playlist for my YAs, only because it keeps me plugged into the music scene and I love how song lyrics can set the tone for a character or even inspire twists in the plot. I had Buck Cherry & other songs mentioned in this book but one song in the story really makes me smile. It reminds me of my niece who recommended it to me. My character, Brenna Nash, liked this song and so do I.

“I Like Giants” by Kimya Dawson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwhxSV8dLdA

ANGI: Where do you read and how often?
JORDAN: I read every day and it’s become a bedtime ritual. I even go to bed early if I have a particularly good book on my nightstand or on my kindle. I do my edits for the material I wrote that day, but then I indulge in reading other people’s books. Reading transports me to a place where my mind can relax, even if the book is dark, I love how a good story can mellow me out.

ANGI: What’s your favorite movie of all time?
JORDAN: People ask this question of me all the time and look at me strangely when I say that I don’t have one favorite. I love so many movies for the various things they do for me and at the time of my life they came along. Even if I started a list, I don’t think it would ever be complete. I recently saw THE TREE OF LIFE and I’m still scratching my head, saying, “huh?” Definitely beyond awful. Sorry, Brad.

ANGI: Is writing or story-telling easier for you?
JORDAN: Story telling is always easy because it’s part of who I am and I do it for me. Writing is harder because I do it for others. I have to filter my word choices through my life’s experiences and struggle with the best way to convey what I need in a scene. I don’t even need a glass of wine to story tell. Just sayin’ 

ANGI: What’s something you’d like to tell your fans?
JORDAN: I’m so excited to be launching a virtual tour for ON A DARK WING (HarlequinTeen, Jan 2012) in Nov-Dec and YA Bound is hosting it. This will be my first YA tour so I’m very excited. There will be really cool prizes. With each signed book, my character Abbey is sending a surprise care package to every winner. (Abbey hasn’t told me yet what those will be. She’s such a drama queen.) Stay tuned for grand prize news. Amazing! (Advance review copies are available on Netgalley.) I love this book and hope you will too.
http://www.YaBound.blogspot.com

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: Hey, Jordan…Out of all the books you’ve written, who is your favorite hero and why?
JORDAN’S GOTTA ANSWER: This is the same as asking a mother who her favorite kid is. Come on. Every character is a part of me and my life’s experiences. How could I say one has it over another? With each character, I find vulnerability that endears them to me. Many break my heart, but most stick with me even to this day. I feel badly for treating them the way I do too. I’m a bad momma, I guess.

UP NEXT FOR JORDAN
ON A DARK WING
ISBN: 978-0373210411

“The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for and Death would be my willing teacher.”

Five years ago, Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her lucky break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again. Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

STAY IN TOUCH WITH JORDAN through her Website Twitter @JordanDane Blog

JORDAN WILL BE DRAWING for 3 signed copies of IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS from those leaving comments through Sunday, Oct 30th.

Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

JORDAN WOULD LIKE TO KNOW: Which of my characters do readers like best and why.

READERS DON’T FORGET to follow us on Facebook or Twitter >GetLostInAStory or #GetLostStories< for a daily update on who’s visiting GLIAS and what they might be giving away! Join us on Monday when Jill hosts Christine Cody. ~Angi