Semi Short chic: Blitz: Soul Mirrors by Wiley a Haydon III

My love of storytelling traces back to my step-mother, who spun wonderful fantasy stories when I was child. I finished my first novel at sixteen. That first attempt was terrible, but taught me quite a bit about story construction. Though I would start numerous other projects in the following years, I wouldn't actually complete another book for another 21 years.

I wasn't idle in that time, though. I earned a degree in engineering, married the love of my life, worked as a semi- truck driver crisscrossing the country, moved from Texas to North Dakota and then came back home.

It's been a fun and interesting journey. I really enjoy engineering, but writing was my first passion, and I'm excited to share it with you.

I currently live in West Texas with my wife and our two adorable (but weird) cats.

Connect with the Author here:

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"No one knows how human genetics evolved to create Mirrors. No one knows how the evidence of a criminal’s last horrendous act can be confirmed in a single gaze of a child’s silvered eyes. But just because science can’t explain something doesn’t mean it can’t be used, and this gift is simply too valuable to ignore.

Twins Thomas and Ashley Ross have grown up knowing they would be used as Mirrors for the “good” of humanity. When their powers mature at age twelve, they are taken weekly to fulfill their role. By reliving the most heinous crimes from a perpetrators’ perspective, they alone can assure that no innocent people will be executed, and that the worst offenders are not set free due to lack of evidence.

Justice is not without cost, however. Taking on the memories of others is a destructive process, one that quickly consumes the children involved until most take their own lives. As despair threatens to drown Thomas and Ashley, a distant hope keeps them from succumbing: If they can make it to their eighteenth birthday, their contract with the government will be fulfilled. Changing views on the morality of their role threatens to tear them apart, but the twins struggle to cling to each other and try to construct a fragile life above the weekly flood of horrors.

As their work takes it toll, however, a new question emerges: does survival even matter when you’re already broken beyond repair?"

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Snippet:

“Why do you think I do this?” Sam demanded suddenly. His voice was hard, almost angry.

“It’s a paycheck.”

Sam shook his head firmly. Even in the dark, Thomas could make out the gesture. “I told you the day I met you that I could make more money doing something else.”

Memory of a conversation floated to the surface, and instinctively Thomas pushed it away before realizing that this time the memory seeking his attention was his own. He remembered sitting in the plane, talking after that first Reflection.

“To make a difference,” Thomas said. “And you don’t think you’d have done that today.”

“Yes, Thomas. Someday I’ll lose this job by caring too much for one of my kids, but it wasn’t today. I’m not going to sacrifice everything when it won’t make any difference.”

For a long moment, Thomas processed that. Then, quietly, he said, “It would have made a difference to me.”