author Susan Kaye Quinn

When transcending humanity is the prize,

winning the Game is all that matters.

Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender–a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid–after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron.

But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is.

The Legacy Human is the first in Susan Kaye Quinn’s new young adult science fiction series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world… and how technology will challenge us to remember what it means to be human.

Thomas-Adam Habuda – Center of His Universe – From ‘The Freak Inside‘ album

“…but you mustn’t rush it,” she says. “You have to have patience, Eli, not push beyond what you’re ready for.”

Eli. My name on her lips torments me. Her purple-blue eyes are close and concerned. Her face is so near, I could lean forward and kiss her right now. But her lips are drawn into a tight line of disapproval. And I can’t imagine Marcus would tolerate a kiss, even if I could steal one.

“You were the one rushing me five minutes ago.” I stay in her embrace even as I protest with my words.

“It wasn’t five minutes ago, Elijah.” She drops her hands from my face. The alarm is back in her eyes. “You painted for an hour.”

An hour. I forgot there’s always a time loss with the fugue. Only this time, she watched it happen. They both did, watching me paint in a trance for an hour then end up on the floor. She and Marcus both have to know something is seriously messed up with my process.

I have absolutely no idea how I can possibly master something that hits me like a freight train, but I have to try. It would bring everything into my reach. Including her. “I can do this, Lenora. Please. Let me do this. I’ll prove it to you.”

“No.” For a second, the gray pallor of her skin flickers, and a ribbon of darker gray trickles across it… then it’s gone. “I’m not going to let you attempt this when you’re not ready. I won’t sponsor you.” She gives me a stern look. “And you can’t go without my approval. I will terminate your patronage.”

Breath escapes me, but the hurt is still trapped inside. She means it: she would cut me off if I even tried to go. My mind can’t wrap around it. Does she have so little faith in me?

Or worse: maybe she’s afraid I’ll actually win.

In The Legacy Human, the main character, Elijah, is an artist who can only create great art when in a fugue state. He struggles to master the “beast” within.

Share a personal story about your own artistic struggles in the comments section below by March 12th, for a chance to WIN a signed copy of The Legacy Human and a digital copy of The Freak Within album!

What difficulties do you encounter when creating and how do you overcome them?

WINNERS

Signed copy of The Legacy Human – Djinnia

Digital copy of The Freak Within album – Pavarti K Tyler

Congrats to our winners & many thanks to everyone who shared their stories! Winners, please contact me with your mailing/email address to receive your prizes!

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The Third Daughter of the Queen wants her birthday to arrive so she’ll be free to marry for love, but rumors of a new flying weapon may force her to accept a barbarian prince’s proposal for a peace-brokering marriage. Desperate to marry the charming courtesan she loves, Aniri agrees to the prince’s proposal as a subterfuge in order to spy on him, find the weapon, and hopefully avoid both war and an arranged marriage to a man she does not love.

“You will say yes, won’t you? When I ask?”

He gently pulled her face up to look at him. “When you are free to marry for love, Third Daughter of the Queen, you had better not ask anyone other than me. I’ll have to hang myself from the nearest tree or else die of a broken heart.”

Her shyness was banished in a stroke. “Aren’t courtesans supposed to be the ones breaking hearts?”

“Truly,” he said with mock despair. “There’s nothing more sad than a broken-hearted courtesan. I would have to commit suicide just out of professional courtesy.”

The Future of Storytelling

“The poetry of human experience lies at the heart of every great story.” – Immersive Entertainment

Imagine stepping into the world of your favorite novels, experiencing the story through the eyes of the narrator while being surrounded by a rich landscape painted with words and music! Stay tuned for the next stage in literary evolution with author Susan Kaye Quinn‘s Debt Collector series and The Dharian Affairs trilogy, as Immersive Entertainment brings them to life in Virtual Reality.

“We create next-generation Virtual Reality Experiences that represent a new form of entertainment. It bridges the gap between video games and movies, providing a level of immersion, emotional engagement and realism never before seen.”

– Immersive Entertainment

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With plans for a second skyship exposed, Third Daughter Aniri fears her sister, Seledri, will be caught in a war between the three Queendoms. Seledri is the Second Daughter of Dharia, which means she had no choice in her arranged marriage to the First Son of Samir–a country with whom they may soon be at war. As Aniri fights to free her sister from a husband and a country she does not love, she questions her own rushed betrothal to Prince Malik, the noble barbarian who controls the skyship–and whether a love pledged in the heat of adventure can survive the looming threat of war.

Aniri turned to Ash, a thousand questions on her lips, but he met her by sliding his arms around her waist, then devouring her with a kiss.

She was shocked… then consumed. He spun her around and pressed her to the door, crushing his body against hers as if he couldn’t get enough contact between them. Her corset was an effective barrier, and his glittering black formal wear was similarly constraining, but that didn’t stop his hands from roaming or his kiss from deepening. Aniri’s fingers wound into his hair, then clutched at his shoulders, taking the stolen moment for all it was worth. Ash slid his kisses to her jawline and edged toward her neck. The room turned as hot as if the fire had spilled from its place and ignited the walls around them. Aniri gently pushed him away, urging him to stop and sucking in air she had neglected to breathe. His heated breath puffed against her skin as he slowly trailed his lips in a line across her cheek.

“A week feels an impossibly long time to wait to make you my wife.” His voice was deep with the passion of their kiss.

Tina Guo has developed an international multi-faceted performance and recording career as a classical cellist and heavy metal electric cellist, erhuist, and composer known for her distinctive sound and improvisatory style in major motion picture, television, and game scores.

R. Armando Morabito, is an Electronic / World Music Producer, Songwriter and Director. In 2013 after moving to Los Angeles, CA he co-founded MG Music Int’l with his wife, cellist and composer Tina Guo. The production company specializes in epic cinematic music in all genres for TV, Film, Video Games, and Trailers.