Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Twinned Universes by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan - Virtual Tour and Giveaway


Today we're spotlighting author Sandra Ulbrich Almazan on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for "Twinned Universes".

Sandra will award one randomly chosen commenter the choice of a $50 Amazon gift card or a gift pack of all of the following items related to Twinned Unniverses: two Shakespeare mugs, a Sears tower pendant, a book by Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space), and a signed copy of the first book in the series, Lyon's Legacy. So comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner at the top, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops)! The more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win a prize!

Paul Harrison always wanted to play Hamlet, but he never expected he’d live the role first.

In the aftermath of a family tragedy on 21st century Earth, Paul discovers he’s the clone of Sean Lyon, his great-great-grandfather and a famous TwenCen musician. Suspecting his mother’s death was no accident, Paul comes up with a plan to trick the answers out of the great-uncle who had him cloned. But in order to make his plan work, Paul needs help from Sean himself—and Sean’s time is running out in the TwenCen universe next door. Although Paul’s family lives on the spaceship that travels between the universes, he’s never been allowed on TwenCen Earth. Now, with the help of his friends, his disguise-creating holoprojectors, and a quantum quirk, Paul must make his way to Sean while evading other time travelers who fear he’ll change the history of the TwenCen universe. If Paul is to achieve justice, he must not only risk his own life, but the wormhole connecting the universes. “To be or not to be” was a simple question in comparison....


Paul didn’t care what Dad thought; Great-Uncle Jack was the most promising suspect. He hated Mom, so he’d have no problem getting rid of her, especially if it made Paul more like Sean. How could Dad expect him to forget about the matter when it was his own fault? How could he expect Paul to do nothing? He’d be eighteen in a couple more months, old enough to handle responsibility. Maybe he would be useless with the genetic research, but there had to be something he could do. But what?

All I’m good at is acting, and that doesn’t matter out here. It’s no help being in space when Great-Uncle Jack is back on Earth. Paul broke down the cardboard boxes for composting. But maybe when I get back….

Hamlet had staged a reenactment of his father’s death to gauge his uncle’s guilt by his reaction. Perhaps Paul could do something similar. For a moment he pictured himself playing his own mother, accusing her uncle. The image made Paul smile, but he was too tall to play her convincingly. There was only one role he could manage, the most dangerous one.

If Paul proclaimed on returning to Earth that he was willing to become a Sean impersonator, Great-Uncle Jack would be so ecstatic he might let his guard slip. If he wanted Paul to write songs, he’d write one about his mother and play it for the world. Perhaps that would make Great-Uncle Jack confess. All Paul had to do was learn a role he could get trapped in.


Sandra Ulbrich Almazan started reading at the age of three and only stops when absolutely required to. Although she hasn’t been writing quite that long, she did compose a very simple play in German during middle school. Her science fiction novella Move Over Ms. L. (an early version of Lyon’s Legacy) earned an Honorable Mention in the 2001 UPC Science Fiction Awards, and her short story “A Reptile at the Reunion” was published in the anthology Firestorm of Dragons. She is a founding member of BroadUniverse and a long-time member of the Online Writing Workshop for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror. Her undergraduate degree is in molecular biology/English, and she has a Master of Technical and Scientific Communication degree. Her current day job is in the laboratory of an enzyme company; she’s also been a technical writer and a part-time copyeditor for a local newspaper. Some of her other accomplishments are losing on Jeopardy! and taking a stuffed orca to three continents. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, Eugene; and son, Alex. In her rare moments of free time, she enjoys crocheting, listening to classic rock (particularly the Beatles), and watching improv comedy.

Sandra can be found online at her website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook. Upcoming projects from Sandra include a standalone fantasy story called “The Fighting Roses of Sharon”; Twinned Universes, the second book in the science fiction Catalyst Chronicles series; and Scattered Seasons, the first book in the fantasy Season Lords series.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Twinned-Universes-Catalyst-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00BO9GIHU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1362864991&sr=1-1&keywords=twinned+universes

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twinned-universes-sandra-ulbrich-almazan/1114756241?ean=2940016176840

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/291642

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for having me! I'll stop by around noon CDT and this evening to answer any questions.

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  2. seems like a quirky and original story!! Thanks for sharing!

    andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

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  3. Sounds like a very intriguing story.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  4. While writing this book, how involved did you get with planning the twin universes? Did you have a flow chart of sorts for people, places and things in each to help you keep details straight?

    kareninnc at gmail dot com

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  5. What an intriguing book! Enjoyed the excerpt. Thanks for the sharing.
    bhometchko(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  6. I've never heard of anything quite like this one! In the best way possible! :-)

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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  7. You wrote a play in German in middle school? How did that come about?
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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  8. Sounds intriguing

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

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  9. Thanks again to the hosts for having me!

    Karen, the two universes have a shared history up to the point where the story begins. However, one universe is about a century (at one point it was 87 years, but I may have changed that) ahead of the other. I didn't have trouble keeping track of what belonged to what universe, but I did have to research aspects of both time periods.

    Catherine, my middle school offered French, Spanish, and German. German was the least popular language, with maybe half a dozen students in the whole school. When we had our foreign language fair, the German class didn't have enough students to perform dances, so I came up with the idea to put on a play. It was called "A Little Demonstration of German," and it was very short, just a couple of pages. I remember one of the lines was something like, "I must feed my dog." We never actually performed it, but I won a special certificate in German that year. I think I still have it in my basement.

    Thanks again for stopping by, everyone!

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  10. Sounds very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
    -Amber
    goodblinknpark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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  11. I want to know more about the cloning. That's always a worry to me. Fascinating reading though.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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So... inquiring minds want to know: what do you think?