The Book
Element
by CM Doporto
Genre: New Adult Sci-Fi/Romance (ages 14 and up)
Pages: 169
Word Count: 45,807
Book Description
College freshman, Natalie Vega, offers to be a test patient for several vitamins and supplements created by Kronberg Laboratories, a large pharmaceutical company where she interns. Immediately her body starts going through physical changes but when she runs into her former high school crush, Ryan Garrett, she is unaware of the life altering affects he will have on her.
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1 — NEW BEGINNINGS
“Ladies and gentlemen we are approaching a storm and it’s going to be a little rough until we clear it.” The captain announced and then paused before continuing. “Please stay seated and turn off all electrical devices immediately. Thank you.”
Natalie looked out the small oval window. Raindrops smeared across it, dancing their way to the side. Lightening flashed and she shuddered. She didn’t mind flying but she could do without the terrible storm. For a moment, she wished she would have taken the later flight, but she wanted to get back early since classes resumed tomorrow. She reminded herself that she had a great Spring Break in Chicago with her family and ending it with her cousin’s fairytale wedding made it all worth it.
A sudden jolt called her attention back to the situation at hand. She looked out the window again. The plane shook and rattled as it flew on the edge of thick, dark clouds. Within seconds, darkness consumed the plane and the day turned into night. Out in the blackness of the sky she could see powerful flashes of light stretching out like tentacles waiting for the plane to enter. She pulled the blanket closer to her, clutching it up against her chest, somehow hoping it would calm the drumming of her heart.
“What the —” she blurted out when the plane hit another patch of rough turbulence. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
A horrible rumble echoed through the plane, and it wavered from side to side. Gasps and sighs along with people begging and pleading to God were heard throughout the plane. She swallowed hard, feeling the vitamins she took ten minutes ago ease their way up. Without warning, the plane dropped several feet. Her heart hit the bottom of her stomach. Gasping for air, she struggled to catch her breath. An alarm sounded and emergency instructions echoed through the overhead speakers. She grabbed the arm rests and her body stiffened. Her eyes stayed fixed on the flashing red and white lights above her head. Please God, don’t let me die! Please.
“Natalie… Natalie, wake up. You’re having another nightmare.” Lise shook her several times before she finally awoke.
“What?” She sprung up from her bed. Sweat trickled down the sides of her forehead and she breathed heavily.
“You’re okay. It was just a nightmare.” Lise sat down next to her.
It took a few seconds for her to realize that she had been dreaming. She wiped the sweat away and the pounding of her heart turned into slow thud. She lay back on to her pillow and took a few deep breaths. “I don’t know why I keep having these darn nightmares.”
“Well I do.” Lise replied.
Natalie looked at her. “You do?”
“Uh, yea… because you said you nearly died on that plane. It’s post trauma you’re experiencing.”
Natalie swallowed hard. She couldn’t be experiencing post-traumatic stress because only soldiers suffer from things like that, right? “No, I don’t think so. I mean, it was horrible and scary but—,”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Lise’s eyes softened.
“What is there to talk about?” Natalie sat back up. She hadn’t told anyone the full details about what she experienced, including her parents. She wasn’t about to tell Lise either.
“Sometimes it’s good to talk about horrible events. It can help you get over them.” Lise played with the edge of her t-shirt, rolling it up.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” She glanced over at the clock on the window seal. “I guess we should start getting dressed.”
Lise turned and looked at the clock. “Crap, I don’t want to be late.”
Natalie threw back the covers. “Neither do I. First impressions are everything.”
“Ladies and gentlemen we are approaching a storm and it’s going to be a little rough until we clear it.” The captain announced and then paused before continuing. “Please stay seated and turn off all electrical devices immediately. Thank you.”
Natalie looked out the small oval window. Raindrops smeared across it, dancing their way to the side. Lightening flashed and she shuddered. She didn’t mind flying but she could do without the terrible storm. For a moment, she wished she would have taken the later flight, but she wanted to get back early since classes resumed tomorrow. She reminded herself that she had a great Spring Break in Chicago with her family and ending it with her cousin’s fairytale wedding made it all worth it.
A sudden jolt called her attention back to the situation at hand. She looked out the window again. The plane shook and rattled as it flew on the edge of thick, dark clouds. Within seconds, darkness consumed the plane and the day turned into night. Out in the blackness of the sky she could see powerful flashes of light stretching out like tentacles waiting for the plane to enter. She pulled the blanket closer to her, clutching it up against her chest, somehow hoping it would calm the drumming of her heart.
“What the —” she blurted out when the plane hit another patch of rough turbulence. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
A horrible rumble echoed through the plane, and it wavered from side to side. Gasps and sighs along with people begging and pleading to God were heard throughout the plane. She swallowed hard, feeling the vitamins she took ten minutes ago ease their way up. Without warning, the plane dropped several feet. Her heart hit the bottom of her stomach. Gasping for air, she struggled to catch her breath. An alarm sounded and emergency instructions echoed through the overhead speakers. She grabbed the arm rests and her body stiffened. Her eyes stayed fixed on the flashing red and white lights above her head. Please God, don’t let me die! Please.
“Natalie… Natalie, wake up. You’re having another nightmare.” Lise shook her several times before she finally awoke.
“What?” She sprung up from her bed. Sweat trickled down the sides of her forehead and she breathed heavily.
“You’re okay. It was just a nightmare.” Lise sat down next to her.
It took a few seconds for her to realize that she had been dreaming. She wiped the sweat away and the pounding of her heart turned into slow thud. She lay back on to her pillow and took a few deep breaths. “I don’t know why I keep having these darn nightmares.”
“Well I do.” Lise replied.
Natalie looked at her. “You do?”
“Uh, yea… because you said you nearly died on that plane. It’s post trauma you’re experiencing.”
Natalie swallowed hard. She couldn’t be experiencing post-traumatic stress because only soldiers suffer from things like that, right? “No, I don’t think so. I mean, it was horrible and scary but—,”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Lise’s eyes softened.
“What is there to talk about?” Natalie sat back up. She hadn’t told anyone the full details about what she experienced, including her parents. She wasn’t about to tell Lise either.
“Sometimes it’s good to talk about horrible events. It can help you get over them.” Lise played with the edge of her t-shirt, rolling it up.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” She glanced over at the clock on the window seal. “I guess we should start getting dressed.”
Lise turned and looked at the clock. “Crap, I don’t want to be late.”
Natalie threw back the covers. “Neither do I. First impressions are everything.”
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Guest Post
The Story Behind The Story by CM Doporto
When I decided that I was going to take a chance at writing, I had no idea it would be fiction. The reason being, I was an avid non-fiction reader and had always planned on writing a leadership or change management book one day. However, I knew I was experiencing burnout in my professional field and struggled to come up with an idea for a book. Until one morning, my husband shared his dream with me and for some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I had just finished reading The Twilight Saga books and I kept thinking how Stephenie Meyer got her idea for Twilight - a dream about a vampire in a meadow with a girl. My husband and I are both notorious for having vivid and unique dreams that we say, sounds like a movie. But why couldn’t these dreams sound like a book? My husband’s dream refused to leave my mind and I thought, what if I write about that? Stephenie did it, why can’t I? Not that I expect my books to become big hits and turn into mega million dollar movies likes hers, but I felt that my husband’s dream made a good storyline.
You are probably wondering what the dream was about that sparked Element? My husband dreamed that every time he came near me his pheromones would change me into a female version of the Hulk. Can you imagine me looking like this? (Now I know why my husband dreamed it!)
I decided that this dream had something unique and special about it, so I made up mind to take a stab at writing a fiction story about it. I obviously had to come up with something different than the main character turning into She Hulk, unless I wanted Marvel coming after me. I came up with the idea of the female character turning into the four elements of the earth, with earth being the primary element. The next week we went on vacation and when we returned, I had the entire plot and characters written out for Element.
It took over two years for me to write the story and it went through many, many drafts and a re-structuring to make it an upper young adult book. In the end, I’m grateful my husband shared his dream with me. He has made my dream come true of writing a book one day.
About the Author
CM Doporto
She writes Young Adult and New Adult Sci-Fi/Urban Fantasy stories about ordinary women who do extraordinary things, become a heroine, and find love along the way.
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