Let the countdown begin!

I think I was supposed to tell ya'll something. What was it exactly? That's right...it was the release date! Okay. Kaleidoscopes will be available: February 19th! I'm totally setting my countdown. 25 days!!! Hooray!

Now it'll all depend upon how long it takes Amazon and Barnes and Noble  to upload the book once I send it in, but February 19th is looking better and better every day! It will also be available through iBooks and Smashwords...pretty much making it available for all types of e-readers. If you don't have an ereader, but still want to read Kaleidoscope, you can read it on your phone, tablet or computer you just have to download the right applications. And to clarify, for now it will only be available as an ebook. Hopefully in the next 6 months I can make paperbacks available, but we shall see!

I wanna celebrate with a rather long excerpt so...you're welcome.

The deeper I trekked into the forest the greener it was. The tree trunks were
cloaked in twirling vines and rich green moss. Thick fallen logs turned into hillsides as moss and ground cover crept over them, bringing the dead wood to life once more. The trickle of a stream babbled to my right. It didn’t bother me that I didn’t know how far I had gone into the canopy of trees. I felt at home.
Without warning a figure flipped down, landing perfectly in front of me.
Startled, I let out a shriek and stumbled back nearly falling to the ground, but he caught my arms easily, steadying me then releasing me just at swiftly.
“Watch your step,” he said melodically.
What the…
When I took in his appearance my jaw must have dropped as my eyes flew wide open to take in every inch of him. His eyes were unreal, a mix between violet and blue, unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life. They were deep blue, yet reflected back in an even deeper purple and still bright. His dark chocolaty locks curled right above his eyes, framing them.
Where had he come from?
“You can see me can’t you?” His voice was velvety smooth. Too alluring to be natural. Too silky to be human.
I could only nod. He stood there in all his olive skinned glory with only a pair of dark brown homemade cut offs and a small-leaved vine twining up one of his sinewy arms. A black band held a small sharp weapon at his hip. Was this guy for real?
“That’s not possible,” he said, folding his arms across his lean chest. Every time he spoke my stomach tingled.
“Well apparently it is,” I said quietly, wanting to flee. I wasn’t quite sure why, but a feeling inside of me told me to stay put.
“But you’re still human.” He started to move toward me, but I stepped back. Being close to him couldn’t be smart.
“Typically, that’s what we’re called,” I said skeptically.
His gaze deepened, his indigo eyes staring into my soul. Aside from the color there was something unusual about his eyes. They were…bigger. Not disturbingly large, but definitely not as small as they should be. I took another step back, losing any confidence I had gained by passing the property line. This had been a bad idea.
“Don’t go,” he nearly pleaded, speedily reaching his hand out to me. The earnestness in his voice stopped me. “Stay.” His voice changed. “I won’t hurt you.” He was more at ease, alluring. My uncertainty must have been apparent because he tacked on, “Please?” which didn’t seem like a word he knew how to use.
“Give me one reason to stay.” Under the shelter of these trees—secluded—with a stranger. An all too fascinating stranger.
“It doesn’t make any sense.” The strange boy didn’t answer my question. I suppose he wasn’t really a boy. He appeared to be a few years older than I was—two or three years, maybe—but not quite a man.
I wanted to laugh. What didn’t make any sense was a guy without a shirt, dressed in tattered cut offs with vines spiraling up his left arm like some wild man, standing in my backyard. I looked back to a wall of trees and vegetation. I couldn’t technically call this my backyard anymore. The reassuring sight of my house was nowhere.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked.
“I should ask you the same thing.” He cocked one side of his mouth up in a half-smirk. “Your father is right. You never know what’s lurking in these woods.”
My stomach churned. How long had he been here…watching me? He took a few steps toward me into a spot where the sun streamed through the full branches, casting light across his perfectly sculpted face. A couple things clenched my breath. One, he was striking, more so than the shadows gave him credit for. His rich violet eyes were even more vibrantly intense, beautifully peculiar under the glow of sunlight. I couldn’t find the words. And two…two was his ears. They were…pointed.