JC's CHOC-A-BLOG

Author of Sepculative Fiction:

M. D. Benoit

PRESS RELEASE

From 28 March to 11 April, M. D. Benoit will be going on a virtual book tour to promote her upcoming alternate reality novel, Synergy. During that period, ten people will host her on their blog for one day. There will be discussions on the book, Synergy, its themes, characters, interviews with the author, reviews of the book, etc.

Every day, on her own blog, Life's Weirder than Fiction (http://mdbenoit.com/blog), she will announce where she will be that day, as well as talk a bit about her host.

Synergy's Virtual Book Tour will culminate with a Virtual Book Launch, on 15-16 April (http://mdbenoit.com/synergy). M. D. can be contacted at mdbenoit (at) gmail (dot) com.

SYNERGY

Barcina's xylopoiesis. The disease was dormant in his son's body, ready to burst inside him, waiting for the right trigger. Laslo knew the symptoms by heart: first, incoordination of voluntary movements and aphasia, the loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken language; then, gangrene and blindness.

Laslo rubbed his eyes. Zelimir's nerve endings would begin to die, starting with the toes. Their muscle cells would transform into wooden tissue then rot, forcing the surgeons to amputate. The mutation would creep up to the torso, where it would attack the major organs, shutting them down as it invaded them.

To extend his life expectancy, surgeons would excise the rotting parts, piece by piece, until all that was left of Zelimir was a trunk with a head. Death would come soon after, the pain excruciating, his son blind, unable to express what he felt.

AUTHOR BIO

M. D. Benoit discovered science fiction and mystery through her father's bedtime stories, which were always full of gadgets, dark doorways, and disappearing people. She lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and her cat (who is really an alien in disguise). She has a Masters Degree in Psychology from Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she lived for eight years before moving to Ottawa, Ontario. M. D. has been writing for over ten years. Metered Space was her first published novel. The next one in the series, Meter Made, came out in November 2005. Another Jack Meter Case File, Meter Destiny, as well as an SF story on genetic warfare entitled Synergy, are scheduled to come out in 2007-08, from Zumaya Otherworlds.

Check out her website at: www.mdbenoit.com.