I’m sending you a small excerpt from the chapter called "Full Moon." I hope you enjoy it!
...Outside, at last! Mat closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of freedom. He was conscious of the way the still-hot evening air felt on his bare arms. He allowed himself a few moments to relish the wonderful feeling, knowing that time was of the essence if his escape was to succeed. He quickly brushed the dirt off his clothes and straightened them out. He started to walk around to the side of the building to where Deltare was surely waiting for him in her car. That had been the plan. But Mat was suddenly derailed by the early nighttime sky. The stars! The glorious stars!
Facing north for the first time in 15 Earth-years, Mat easily found the bright star the humans called Polaris, and the group of stars they called Ursa Majoris just to the left of it. His eyes automatically went to a faint pinpoint of light in the south-central part of this constellation, and he was blinded by a sudden flood of unexpected tears. He could actually see his home star! He could imagine his planet, Torkiya, in orbit around it! He was overwhelmed by a dizzying rush of feelings as he realized everyone he had ever known and loved in Torkiya was long since dead and gone. The reality of his profound disconnection brought him a powerful wave of paralyzing depression and loneliness. He couldn’t move.
This is such a turning point in Mat’s story. Mat (Dorothy), you are not in Torkiya (Kansas) anymore!
His influence is already established, and now his personal adventures on the planet Earth are about to begin. How fun! :-)
AUV along with its sibling books in the Sword and Laser collection, The Life Engineered and Asteroid Made of Dragons, has been nominated for The Dragon Awards at this years Dragon Con in Atlanta. Yulric and company are in the "Best Horror Novel category (with Life Engineered in Sci-Fi and Asteroid in Fantasy.) 
