Behold, the cover of THE YEAR OF LIGHTNING!

Hey, book fans! Don’t you hate it when you move to a new town and discover it’s being destroyed by freak lightning storms? Let me tell you, that makes for a tough year. You’ll find that, and much more, in my debut YA novel THE YEAR OF LIGHTNING. I am completely in love with this cover and so excited to share it with you. After you drink in its awesomeness, keep scrolling down for a brief synopsis, plus a giveaway contest that you can participate in right here in the comments.

Curious about the story? Here’s a description:
The house has no doors. It’s been abandoned for decades. Yet one night, Malcolm sees a face in the window. Fifteen-year-old twins, Malcolm and Valentine Gilbert, never imagined an old house across the street could be so much trouble. A secret machine inside has woken up, and its power is growing.

Meanwhile, lightning storms are breaking out all over town. They’re getting worse every week and seem to enjoy striking kids who just want to pass science class and mind their own business. Lightning, however, is rarely cooperative—and when Malcolm and Valentine discover a connection between the house and the storms, their situation goes from mysterious to crazy-stupid-dangerous. As they hunt a powerful enemy, they’ll realize that lightning is only the beginning. Their town’s very existence hangs in the balance, and the only clues are written in the sky.

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One huge way you can support authors is by pre-ordering their books. So if THE YEAR OF LIGHTNING sounds like fun to you, here is a link to the Amazon pre-order page.

Now, onto the giveaway contest!

How would you fight a lightning storm? In one paragraph, tell me exactly how you’d do it, and don’t hold back! Get as crazy/silly/stupid/super-tough as you want. The sky is literally the limit. I’ll pick a winner and send them a package containing an awesome secret clue to the central mystery in THE YEAR OF LIGHTNING. I can’t wait to read what you come up with!

Thanks so much for stopping by to see the cover. This is only the beginning! I plan to be entertaining you with awesome stories for many years to come.

Ryan Dalton