Christmas on a Bus
Christmas trees are going up, carols are being sung, I’m living on a bus. Must be the holiday season.
This year, aside from working on Boy of Blood, I’m performing on the national tour of The Wizard of Oz. It’s a great time, spreading joy and wonderment to children of all ages, but we don’t get to go home for a brief Christmas break until two days before Christmas Eve. So, our decorations will be carefully hung above our seats on the tour bus, our shopping will be done on brief lunch breaks and via Amazon prime, and Christmas movies will be watched on our laptops on long bus days.
I’m not trying to say there won’t be any Christmas cheer before the flight home for the holidays. Detroit offered some pretty amazing Holiday Spirit, complete with an ice skating rink, and one of our many hotels even had a full set of Christmas trees in the lobby!
But spending mornings sleeping on the floor of the bus and nights in so many different cities I rarely know where I am, let alone where I’m supposed to be tomorrow, is rough.
I want to wrap presents and pick out a tree. I’d love to curl up on my couch and watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. But much like Elle in Nuttycracker Sweet, performing has called me far from home to entertain the masses this December. I may not be dancing around in pointe shoes as the Sugar Plum Fairy, but frolicking in the Emerald City is almost as glamourous.
I may have traded in twinkle lights for stage lights this Christmas, but with wifi and a laptop, Boy of Blood is moving ahead at a wonderful pace, I’m helping children fall in love with Dorothy and Toto, and if the flights stay on time, I’ll still be home for Christmas.
Boy of Blood
by Megan O’Russell
Series: Girl of Glass
YA Dystopia
Fiery Seas Publishing
Publishing Date: April 10, 2018
After Nightland’s vicious attack on the domes, the safety and perfection of the world within the glass has been contaminated. Desperate to rebuild, outsiders are allowed into the domes to help, breaking the cardinal rule: outsiders and Domers must always be separated. But the city is in shambles, crumbling into chaos without the Vampers of Nightland to keep order, and one name is carried on the wind: Nola.
Clinging to Jeremy, Nola struggles to find a way to exist in the domes, turning her back on all she learned in the city. But when one of the outsiders brings the dark secrets of the domes to light, the line between survival and murder blurs against the spectre of the dying world.
Can Nola follow the dark path laid out by the Domes? Will the dangers of the night become her new sanctuary?
About the Author:
Megan O’Russell is the author of the young adult fantasy series The Tethering, and Nuttycracker Sweet, a Christmas novella. Megan’s short stories can also be found in several anthologies, including Athena’s Daughters 2, featuring women in speculative fiction. Megan is a professional performer who has spent time on stages across the country and is the lyrist for Second Chances: The Thrift Shop Musical, which received it’s world premier in 2015. When not on stage or behind a computer, Megan can usually be found playing her ukulele or climbing a mountain with her fantastic husband.
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