I am hoping to find a Beta Reader/Proofreader for my novel. It was published on a bit of a whim, but I know it needs a very good brushing up on grammar (at the very least).
Book's genre: Paranormal/Dark Fantasy Word count: 70,000
Anna walked between the tall gates of two neighboring houses. “Here is number 61, and there is number 65. So, where in the bleeding Hell is house number 63?” She looked around but the street was deserted, and even the dilapidated houses looked dark and forlorn. She brought back her phone and called Blake, already expecting a reprimand from her brother for not being able to perform a simple delivery without mucking it up, but his phone was off. She tried the number in his office, usually reserved for customers, but it also seemed to have been disconnected. “Well, that’s odd. Maybe he was that bothered by the conversation,” she said feeling perplexed. “So, what I am supposed to do now?” She pushed the doorbell on house 65, but no noise came. “Hey, is anyone home? I have a delivery!” she shouted, shaking the adorned grating that surrounded a depressing, unkempt garden. To her right, the metal gate next door opened slightly with a tired creek. It was a different gate from the one that had been there before. The black iron twisted and bent into unfamiliar shapes before her eyes. At its center, the metal changed to outline the number “63” which rapidly disappeared under layers of the newly formed grating. With the point of her steel-toe boot, she pushed one side of the gate open which offered little resistance and entered beyond the fence. A strong gust blew past her and piped a loud tune through the ever-changing holes and whorls of the iron filigree. There was no other sound, only the netherworld cacophony. Anna glanced around. Even though, the street had been well lit before she stepped in, the twilight of approaching night threw its shadow over the place. There were no lights in the house. She balanced the package under her right arm, letting her bracelet slip down her other arm and hang loosely around her wrist. She felt it getting excessively warm against her skin, empowered by her agitation. The air was humid and dank, but heat gathered as she approached the house. Over her head, the mosquitoes buzzed maddeningly and swelled to a swarm in the stone front porch. She climbed the stairs and swatted them with her free hand, but they zoomed around her head, winding and twining as insubstantial tendrils that compelled her forward. From the front door, the unmistakable smell of stagnant sewer in its pungent and cloying funk filled her nostrils. “Nope,” she said to herself, turning in place. “That is quite enough.” She bent to place the green package at the top of the stairs and jumped as a cold, sharp wind brushed against her back. Anna whirled to peer at the garden, her heart thumping against her chest when something held her jacket and dragged her backward.
Book's genre: Paranormal/Dark Fantasy
Word count: 70,000
The book already has a couple reviews. Into the Darker Half
Excerpt:
Anna walked between the tall gates of two neighboring houses. “Here is number 61, and there is number 65. So, where in the bleeding Hell is house number 63?”
She looked around but the street was deserted, and even the dilapidated houses looked dark and forlorn. She brought back her phone and called Blake, already expecting a reprimand from her brother for not being able to perform a simple delivery without mucking it up, but his phone was off. She tried the number in his office, usually reserved for customers, but it also seemed to have been disconnected.
“Well, that’s odd. Maybe he was that bothered by the conversation,” she said feeling perplexed. “So, what I am supposed to do now?”
She pushed the doorbell on house 65, but no noise came. “Hey, is anyone home? I have a delivery!” she shouted, shaking the adorned grating that surrounded a depressing, unkempt garden. To her right, the metal gate next door opened slightly with a tired creek.
It was a different gate from the one that had been there before. The black iron twisted and bent into unfamiliar shapes before her eyes. At its center, the metal changed to outline the number “63” which rapidly disappeared under layers of the newly formed grating. With the point of her steel-toe boot, she pushed one side of the gate open which offered little resistance and entered beyond the fence. A strong gust blew past her and piped a loud tune through the ever-changing holes and whorls of the iron filigree. There was no other sound, only the netherworld cacophony.
Anna glanced around. Even though, the street had been well lit before she stepped in, the twilight of approaching night threw its shadow over the place. There were no lights in the house. She balanced the package under her right arm, letting her bracelet slip down her other arm and hang loosely around her wrist. She felt it getting excessively warm against her skin, empowered by her agitation.
The air was humid and dank, but heat gathered as she approached the house. Over her head, the mosquitoes buzzed maddeningly and swelled to a swarm in the stone front porch. She climbed the stairs and swatted them with her free hand, but they zoomed around her head, winding and twining as insubstantial tendrils that compelled her forward. From the front door, the unmistakable smell of stagnant sewer in its pungent and cloying funk filled her nostrils.
“Nope,” she said to herself, turning in place. “That is quite enough.”
She bent to place the green package at the top of the stairs and jumped as a cold, sharp wind brushed against her back. Anna whirled to peer at the garden, her heart thumping against her chest when something held her jacket and dragged her backward.