Angel on the Ropes

by

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Pub Date Feb 20 2014 | Archive Date Aug 15 2013

Jill Shultz | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Members' Titles

Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy

Description

Dazzling trapeze artist Amandine Sand leads a perilous double life. Will her secret—and her choices—save her planet or ruin it?

Amandine walks a high wire between two lives—hobbled by a life-threatening secret. She’s a “leopard,” one of the spotted humans wrongly accused of being a plague carrier. Leopards like her are hunted by zealots to protect their offworld colony from the scourge. Despite this threat, Amandine spends her days guiding other leopards to an underground shelter run by the pacifist Seekers. At night, with her own spots hidden, she takes to the air, the one place this extraordinary artist feels free and gloriously alive.

When the persecution of leopards explodes into widespread violence, the Seekers demand more of her time. But her circus is teetering toward bankruptcy and desperately needs her, too. She has no time to breathe…and then she meets a stranger who leaves her breathless. And might just be the biggest risk of all. If her trust is misplaced and she’s unmasked, everyone she loves—and everything she’s fought for—could crash.

In her darkest hour, Amandine must draw upon everything she’s learned from the circus and Seekers to bring peace to her fractured society. Can a reluctant angel fly beyond her limits to save her life, her love, and her world?

Author Bio:
Jill Shultz is the author of Angel on the Ropes. She has a B.S. in Biology from Cornell University and M.S.T. in Environmental Sciences from Antioch University. For most of her career, she zigzagged between environmental and arts organizations; some of the strange but true consequences can be found on the author page of her website, www.JillShultz.com.

Dazzling trapeze artist Amandine Sand leads a perilous double life. Will her secret—and her choices—save her planet or ruin it?

Amandine walks a high wire between two lives—hobbled by a...

A Note From the Publisher

• Also available in eBook format, $5.99

• Edited by award-winning SF author Kelley Eskridge

• DRM-free versions available

• Special 50% discount on ebooks for libraries through Smashwords.

Advance Praise

“Thrilling and stunningly imaginative, Angel on the Ropes snared me into an alternate world I completely believed in. Jill Shultz tells a wondrous tale!”—Tess Gerritsen, internationally best-selling author of Last to Die

“Jill Shultz’s debut novel is a fascinating journey into the far-future, but one that is immediately recognizable. A seamless blend of speculative imagination and heart, Angel on the Ropes is a novel that soars.”—Kristen Britain, New York Times best-selling author of the Green Rider series

“In Angel on the Ropes, Shultz introduces us to a complex, richly imagined world populated with engaging characters. The circus motif is magical!”—Lynn Flewelling, author of the Nightrunner series and Tamir Triad

“Angel on the Ropes is a riveting story that has everything one could want from a novel: a complex, beautifully realized world, a society caught between choices, and a protagonist who has to balance head and heart—and soul. It’s a compelling read, and one that will stay with you for a while.”—Melissa Scott, award-winning author of 32 science fiction and fantasy novels

“It’s so exciting it almost made my palms sweat.”—Peter Gold, trapezist, formerly with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Marketing Plan

• ARC giveaway on GoodReads with $250 of concurrent advertising (March 1-31, 2013; 10 paperbacks)
• ARC giveaway through LibraryThing (April 1-30, 2013; 100 ebooks)
• Author reading and workshop at the Ithaca Literary Festival, SpringWrites (May 3-5, 2013, Ithaca, NY.)
• Book giveaway on GoodReads with $250 of concurrent advertising (May 1-31, 2013; 10 books)
• One-of-a-kind book launch party featuring free flying trapeze lessons for attendees in honor of the book’s protagonist, who is a trapezist. Author will literally launch her book. Author and one of her trapeze advisors will do a Q&A about the “impossible trick” and more. Flying, reading, book sales & signing, Q&A. (June 1, 2013, West Palm Beach, FL.)
• Reading, signing, and the Northern book launch party at author’s hometown indie bookstore. Debut of new book format, the autographed ebook edition, for sale through select indie bookstores. (July 19, 2013, Binghamton, NY.)
• Featured author on National Public Radio call-in show about books, “Off the Page” (date to be determined, streamed online by WSKG-FM).
• And more underway, through SF/F cons, other literary festivals, and college book programs.