Synopsis
Take a journey into the gritty world of political espionage through the eyes – and lies – of one extraordinary girl. A wholly original tale of friendship and betrayal from the author of The Jane Austen Academy series….Sasha has a secret – that she can make you spill your secret with nothing more than a question. Her strange gift makes her a burden to her foster family and a total freak of nature. Not that Sasha cares. Why should she when no one cares about her?
Then the CIA knocks on her door. They want to give Sasha a new identity and drop her into a foreign country to infiltrate a ring of zealous graffiti terrorists. They want to give Sasha something to care about.
To survive a world where no one is who they seem, Sasha needs to make people trust her. But when that trust blossoms into love, Sasha is forced to decide between duty and friendship, between her mind and her heart, and whether to tell the truth or keep her secrets.
- Goodreads -
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Excerpt
All
alone in a foreign country, Sasha isn't sure what to do so she hits the
streets, trying to get her bearings…
Brussels, Belgium
I tighten my scarf, shove my hands in my pockets,
and quicken my pace.
I challenge myself to make it downtown without
peeking at the map. The residential townhouses give way to a bustling business
district with dimly lit storefronts. Pockets of bundled pedestrians lazily
stroll by.
It's unreal to clop down a cobblestone street in a
foreign city like a real spy. Since getting wind of the new assignment, I've
watched countless espionage movies and read an endless supply of intrigue
books—about other people.
Now, this is me.
These are my sneakers squeaking
against stone damp from tonight's rain. My
breath fogging the chilly air. My
adventure in full swing.
Who needs boring dinner conversation when I have
this?
When the suit first laid out the CIA reassignment,
I'd assumed I'd be based in Baghdad or London. I wasn't psyched when I got
Brussels. I kept thinking, how am I supposed to flex my mojo in the city of
Brussels when nine times out of ten, Brussels makes you think of sprouts? The
city's claim to fame is a statue of a naked kid pissing into a fountain.
Seriously. And a comic strip about tiny blue creatures who live in 'shrooms.
Again—seriously.
But then I learned Brussels is home to the European
Union. Headquarters for Europe's political shenanigans.
If I play my cards right, Brussels could be home. My
own apartment. One door instead of the revolving door of well-meaning foster
parents, overeager research scientists, and partners who would rather not
double as a babysitter. It's all led here.
This will make it worth it.
~~~~~
Stella
Artois Restaurant and Bar, Brussels, Belgium
The wooden door swings into a smoky tavern with a
wall-length bar backed by hundreds of colorful bottles stacked to the ceiling.
Clinking glass and hushed conversation muffles a peppy rock beat. Cigarette
smoke cloaks the room and settles into the fibers of my clothes and hair. A
shiver of excitement rocks through my body. My new life, my awesome mission,
and now my first bar, thanks to Belgium's low drinking age. Chelsea would freak
if she knew.
The bartender doesn't seem old enough to drink beer
in America, either. He wears a white V-neck tee that sets off a deep tan and a
head of close-cropped black curls. He wipes down the counter in slow circles.
Exit—the porthole door behind him that likely leads
to a kitchen with an alley door. Weapon—any of the glass bottles behind the
bartender, broken in half.
He glances up—chiseled jaw, pronounced nose—and
holds my gaze from across the bar with dark eyes that scrutinize the newcomer.
I amble up to the counter and take a seat on a red stool.
You've also written The Jane Austen Academy series
of lighthearted romance-heavy contemporary novels but DRAWN is a dark spy
thriller – why the change?
I love stories about girlfriends and
girl dynamics, so while The Jane Austen Academy series is romantic contemporary
and Drawn is a spy thriller, both stories deal with complicated female
relationships and navigating girl dynamics where you aren't sure how much of
yourself to share or how much to trust new friends.
What kind of research did you do to prepare for
DRAWN?
In Drawn, Sasha is assigned to find
local graffiti artists and convince them do jobs for her so I took a
how-to-graffiti class. It was taught by a real graffiti artist Jeremy Novy who
does the coi fish sidewalk graffiti in San Francisco.He taught negative stencil graffiti which finds the picture by spraying its negative space. So for example, if you want to stencil a donut, you would do it by painting what is NOT the donut. It's kind of a mind boggling thing for me because I'm a terrible artist and can barely draw what I want to draw, much less not draw what it is I want to draw.
It was also great to get a sense of the teaher's political feelings and priorities which came out a bit during class and that led me to read up on graffiti artists and watch a few documentaries. While Sasha isn't a graffiti artist, she interacts with some in the book and I wanted to represent their commitment to this way of life and self-expression.
It was also kind of fun, if nerve
racking, to be incognito with a can of spray paint.
Drawn also takes place mostly in
Brussels, Belgium and I lived there for a few years when I was the same age as
Sasha. A lot of the culture shock she goes through is stolen straight from my
life.
Is there a sequel to Drawn? What's next for you?
Drawn was imagined and written as a
standalone, and I really like where I left Sasha at the end of the book, but I
have had some grumblings for more stories in this universe so I could see doing
a spin-off although I haven't planned one.
My next release will be the final two
books in The Jane Austen Academy series and I'm also working on a dark
contemporary thriller for 2015, which thankfully feels like an eternity away.
Author Bio
Cecilia Gray lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she reads, writes and breaks for food. She also pens her biographies in the third person. Like this. As if to trick you into thinking someone else wrote it because she is important. Alas, this is not the case.Cecilia has been praised for “instilling a warmth and weight into her characters” (Romancing The Book Reviews) and her books have been praised for being “well-written, original, realistic and witty” (Quills & Zebras Reviews).
Her latest series of young-adult contemporary Jane Austen retellings was named a What’s Hot pick (RT Book Reviews magazine) and is a Best of 2012 pick (Kirkus Reviews) where it was praised for being a “unique twist on a classic” and offering “a compelling mix of action, drama and love.”
She’s rather enamored of being contacted by readers and hopes you’ll oblige.
Extra
Title: Drawn
Author: Cecilia Gray
Publication date: November 13th 2013
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult
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