{Giveaway + Review} First Pages – FALLS THE SHADOW (teen SciFi) by Stefanie Gaither

First Pages is a series featuring an early draft of a published book’s first page and a short commentary from the author describing how that draft evolved into its published form. Being the first-page whore that I am (you can find me at Barnes and Noble flitting from book to book, reading a bit of each first page with either a nose wrinkle or approving nod), I’ve read a couple thousand first pages, and I started this series to study how authors get it right. It takes a lot of courage for authors to share their first or early draft, so these are a real treat!

In this installment of the series, we look at FALLS THE SHADOW, a Young Adult Soft SciFi involving siblings by Stefanie Gaither (Nov 2015, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers). Reviewers have lauded the intriguing concept and compelling characters in this novel:  “A solid debut whose gut-punch ending leaves room for a sequel.” (Publishers Weekly)

Early Draft of First Page

Chapter One: The Replacement

I took some of the flowers from my sister’s funeral, because I thought her replacement might like them as a welcome-to-the-family present.

They were in my lap, some of the velvety petals with little tears and creases in them, because I couldn’t seem to get my fingers to hold still; Mother had already fussed at me for dragging my nails through the leather seats (you’ll leave scratches!) and for drawing pictures on the foggy windows (those were just cleaned!). And when I absently sent yet another piece of petal fluttering to the floorboard, her hand snapped out, wrapped like a whip around my wrist.

“Honestly Katelyn, I wish you would stop fidgeting. There will be nothing left of those flowers by the time we reach Huxley.”

I sank farther down into the seat. The seatbelt cut into my neck and shoulders, but I ignored the burning and focused instead on the wobbly, watery world outside my window. Any second, the towering gray buildings of the Huxley Laboratory Compound would be coming into view. Father was already there. He probably already had the paperwork filled out, and New-Violet was probably already waiting by his side.

Not New-Violet, mother’s voice scolded my thoughts. Our Violet. The same, the one and only Violet.

She was right, of course. The girl we were picking up couldn’t have been any more identical to the big sister I’d always known. She was her perfect genetic copy. And thanks to our full cooperation with the labs, she had all our family’s memories, too. She would fit right in. It would be like Violet never left.

I was still nervous.

Some thoughts from author Stefanie Gaither

The first line was the same from the first draft to the final—it usually is for me. One reason for that is because I generally don’t start a book unless I have two things in order in my head: a strong blurb and a strong first line. I come from a marketing background, and I know how important these first-impression words are, so I really, really stress over them! Another reason is that I’ve also never really been the quick drafting type. I take my time and edit as I go, even though I know a lot of people say not to do that. I’m too much of a perfectionist to not at least try to make my first attempt as close to a ‘finished’ product as I can make it. And in the case of my first page, I got pretty close.

The rest of the book… not so much 😉 That’s why there are a few changes—Violet’s memory for one, things like the mention of “Huxley’s advancements in mind-linking and uploading technologies” which gave New-Violet all of Violet’s memories; that wasn’t mentioned in the first draft, because it didn’t exist in the first draft! It ended up playing a huge role after revisions done at later points in the book, though, so I wanted to be sure to come back and mention it as early as possible. Other small things: Chapter One became a Prologue, because in the original draft, there wasn’t a four-year span between Violet’s arrival and the main events of the book. Oh! And Katelyn became Catelyn. I honestly don’t remember why. Just because? I wish I had fascinating author insight into that, but I think I just liked the way the ‘C’ looked on the page better…and sometimes that’s all revisions come down to, honestly 🙂

Final Version of First Page

Prologue: The Replacement

I took some of the flowers from my sister’s funeral, because I thought her replacement might like them as a welcome-to-the-family present.

An hour’s drive later, most of the velvety petals had little tears and creases in them, because I couldn’t seem to get my fingers to hold still. Mother had already fussed at me for dragging my nails through the leather seats (you’ll leave scratches!), and for drawing pictures on the foggy windows (those were just cleaned!), and when I absently sent yet another piece of petal fluttering to the floorboard, her hand snapped out and wrapped like a whip around my wrist.

“Honestly Catelyn, I wish you would stop fidgeting. There will be nothing left of those flowers by the time we reach Huxley.”

I sank farther down into the seat. The seatbelt cut into my neck, but I ignored the burning and focused instead on the wobbly, watery world outside my window. Any second, the towering gray buildings of the Huxley Laboratory Compound would be coming into view. Father was already there. He probably already had the paperwork filled out. New-Violet was probably already waiting by his side.

Not New-Violet, my mother’s voice scolded my thoughts. Our Violet. The same, the one and only Violet.

She was right, of course. The girl we were picking up couldn’t have been any more identical to the big sister I’d always known. She was her perfect genetic copy. And thanks to Huxley’s advancements in mind-linking and uploading technologies, this Violet had all of the old one’s memories, too. She would fit right in. It would be like my sister never left.

I was still nervous.

 Summary

Amazon  | B&N  |  BAM  |  Indie Bound | Malaprops Bookstore | Goodreads

The sequel to Falls the Shadow, told from the point of view of Catelyn’s sister, Violet, is now available in print, eBook, and audio formats!

Amazon  | B&N  |  BAM  |  Indie Bound | Malaprops Bookstore | Goodreads

About Stefanie: After co-managing a coffee shop for several years while simultaneously earning her B.A. in English, Stefanie left the small-business world behind to focus on her author career instead. Now, in addition to writing YA novels, she also works part time as a copywriter for an advertising agency. She lives near Charlotte, NC with her artist husband, a ridiculously spoiled shih-tzu named Shakespeare, and a baby-to-be (currently affectionately known as Bumpeh) who will be making her debut in early December. You can find out more about Stefanie and her books at www.stefaniegaither.com.

Confessions of a First-Page Whore (from the cave-brain of your hostess, CM McCoy)

I grab a book from the shelf and devour its first page. Some sentences wind up on my Post-It Note Wall of Great Line Fame and some get rewritten inside my head as I read. I love them all. I am a first-page whore, and these are my confessions: FALLS THE SHADOW edition.

Best first sentence of a book I’ve ever read. Period.

I’ve read thousands of first lines, and this one set the high-water mark. I love the opening of this book so much, I use it as the golden example of first lines at my workshops:

I took some of the flowers from my sister’s funeral, because I thought her replacement might like them as a welcome-to-the-family present.

That one sentence tells me everything I need to know about this book:

1. Readership: it’s probably YA. She’s welcoming a sister replacement to the family, which means she probably still lives with her parents, so it’s either MG or YA. Given the funeral, I’m guessing YA.
2. Genre: we’re replacing a dead person with another person. This is SciFi.
3. Mood: this book will be creepy. We already have a dead sister, a funeral, and some flowers the main character took from that funeral, which she’s about to give someone as a “welcoming gift.” That’s messed up. And now I know I’m going to LOVE whatever else leaked out of this weirdo author’s brain.
4. Character building: the main character has lost her sister. She’s got to be grieving, but even so, she’s thoughtful enough to pick up some flowers for her new sister to welcome her to the family. That’s sweet–in a Wednesday Addams sort of way.
5. World-building: for me, the first page of this book built this SciFi world perfectly. I feel like I get it: we live in a place, where, when someone dies: no big! You go down the Huxley and pick up a replacement, an exact copy complete with memories. What could possibly go wrong? <– cue the ominous piano chords.

Now that I know about author Stefanie Gaither’s marketing background, this makes perfect sense. She understands the gnat-fart attention span of readers like me, and she knocked this opening out of the park.

Stefanie packs a ton of info into her sentences without hitting me over the head with it, which makes this story move fast and sets a fire in my belly. That’s suspense, baby!

The only gripe my brain had was this: when Cate sinks into her seat, the seatbelt cuts into her neck. When I sink into my seat, the seatbelt brushes over my chin and hits my giant nose. It only cuts into my neck if it’s ratcheted and I lean forward against it.

I do love Mom. She’s the perfect unaffected control freak, refusing to let herself grieve. But really, why should she? Her daughter isn’t really dead after all–she’s just…taking a day off from life until the clone’s ready. That’s all. Maybe she’ll be stuck in permanent denial. Maybe she’ll never think about her Violet’s soul and the afterlife. Maybe God doesn’t even exist in her mind. Whatever her malfunction, I’m in love with all the places my gray matter has gone, and I’m sold on this book.

Cover and Title

The cover and title gave me no indication of the creepy awesomeness within. I honestly thought this was literary fiction when I picked it up.

From a distance, the cover looks like mountains. Up close, it reminds me of those silhouette pendant necklaces–you know the ones. I didn’t even notice the screaming shadow until after I read book. Maybe it reveals something disquieting about my personality, but my eyes just didn’t see it. Shame, because that’s pretty cool. I do love the colors, though, which is what ultimately drew my eye.

The title is a bit oblique, way too cerebral for me-the-browser, but super cool now that I know a little more. It told me nothing about the genre or plot, and I opened this book expecting a main character with a schizophrenic other personality called Falls. However, the first page shed some light. (<– see what I did there?)

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

• T.S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

We’re celebrating clones! I had so much fun these past few days imagining what it would be like to be Cate’s sister, New-Violet, the clone. And I can’t wait to read Gaither’s sequel, INTO THE ABYSS, which is available now, and sadly, has ZERO reviews on Amazon! Granted, the eBook is $10.99 (COME ON PUBLISHERS!! THAT’S WAAAAAY TOO MUCH!) But, the hardcover is on sale for $12.55 on Amazon at the moment, and the audio book is free with a 30-trial of Audible, so there you go 🙂 I sure hope I can get to this in time to be the first review. But if any of you beat me to it, I’ll send you t-shirt.

This is the “What’s in Violet’s Goodie Bag?” Giveaway. Violet is a clone, so she’s probably a little confused as to where she fits in. So here’s what’s in her bag and therefore in this prize pack:

• An “I am other” notebook, stickers and keychain
• A paperback copy of Richard Dawkins’ RIVER OUT OF EDEN, A Darwinian View of Life (awesome book–loved it!)
• A gorgeous and trendy sparkly stone cross on a glimmering ribbon necklace
• A brain-teaser puzzle
• Artificial hears post-it notes
• A cheerful reusable shopping bag to carry it all
• A banshee tooth file (nail file), because nobody likes a banshee either.

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