Newest Release
What Branches Grow - Tina S. Beier
A boldly imagined, exhilarating quest through post-apocalyptic America, where human nature is torn between the violent desperation to survive and the desire to forge connection.
Thirty-five years ago, the world was ravaged by war. Delia, driven from her home in Savannah by loss, travels North in search of a future. Gennero is tortured by his violent past and devotion to his hometown. Ordered to apprehend Delia, he follows her into the post-apocalyptic landscape. The wasteland is rife with dangers for those seeking to traverse it: homicidal raiders, dictatorial leaders, mutated humans, and increasingly violent and hungry wildlife.
What Branches Grow is an unflinching depiction of life after civilization, where, above all else, trust is the hardest thing to achieve and give. The survivors have an audacious dream of a better life, but their quest may end up being a fruitless endeavour in a world openly hostile to hope.
BUY IT HERE:
Ingram Spark (Print) ISBN/SKU: 9781777129521
Apple Books [forthcoming]
Video Trailer: https://youtu.be/vCaHdTNQvhw
Reviews
Always Me Book Blog
4 Stars
I'm so glad I decided to give T.S. Beier's debut novel What Branches Grow a try. If you're a fan of post-apocalyptic and dystopian stories it's a real must read. I couldn't put it down and I quite enjoyed her writing style. It's a real ride across what was once America as we know it. I don't know about you, but it's very strange to read post-apocalyptic or dystopian stories right now with everything that's been going on this year. I've read quite a bit of this genre, and it's always intriguing to see an author do something unique. While it doesn't always feel entirely new (it checks a lot of the standard elements of the genre), it still manages to feel refreshing and a lot of that comes down to her cast of characters and world-building. If you're a fan of The Road, Mad Max: Fury Road, or Blood Red Road by Moira Young, I have a feeling you'll want to try debut novel. I can't wait to see what Beier will do next. Thank you again for the opportunity!
- Lauren Stoolfire
Amazon Verified Purchase Review
"Very suspenseful with lots of adventure and great characters"
5 Stars
I wasn't sure what to expect as I don't often read adventure genres, but I like dystopian fiction and thought I would give this book a try after reading the reviews. It was really good! The author managed to create characters that were multi-dimensional and unique, flawed but likeable. I appreciated the diversity and queer representation. More than the adventure romp I thought it might be, this novel forced me to question the very world we live in today while keeping me on the edge of my seat!!
- N. Holton
"What Branches Grow is like Cormac McCarthy on steroids, with a healthy dose of 'Mad Max' thrown in for good measure. Beier navigates her characters through these troubled waters, providing readers with both an adventure and some lingering questions on which to reflect. This is far from your average dystopian novel – it is a humanistic quest into personal morality and the fortitude one can uncover when hope is all that remains, for a startlingly original debut in the genre." Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★
A Little Bit About The Book
While not my first novel, What Branches Grow is my baby. I started writing it in 2010, inspired by the post-apocalyptic genre as a whole, but specifically "Mad Max", "Book of Eli", McCarthy's The Road, Stephen King's The Waste Lands, Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. I've always loved the "wanderer" aspects of these stories, but what intrigued me was a simple question: what about the antagonist's second-in-command? What compels them to do what they do? To follow such a leader? As such, Gennero was born. And Delia is the tough, no-nonsense woman I've always admired. I finished writing WBG in 2014. Every six months or so I would self-edit it, until, finally, in late 2018 I applied to Humber College's Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing. My advisor in the program, author Karen Connelly, was a fantastic mentor. She not only helped me tighten my prose considerably but inspired me to make two very important changes that made the story so much better. All this being said, What Branches Grow has been with me for a long time. It was hard to send my baby out into the world, but sometimes you need to let them go. If you've read the novel (and *hint hint* put a review on Amazon) and want to learn more about it, please see my video [upcoming] where I fan-girl over my own book and talk about where my ideas came from.
Upcoming Releases
The "Tenuous Alliance" Trilogy | Fall 2020 (Book 1) - Summer 2021 (Book 3)
It's a working title. It took me 8 years to decide on What Branches Grow, so this one is subject to change. I've finished Book 1, Book 2 is nearly complete, and Book 3 is plotted. This trilogy is lighter in tone than What Branches Grow, taking its cues from space opera. What's the premise? During the aftermath of galactic conflict, two Terran marines must work with their recent reptiloid-alien enemies to escape a massive alien ship controlled by a new alien species with unfathomable intentions. These four, already at odds with one another, are joined by two more alien races: the piscine, physically weak Pir-An and the nightmarish Rips. These eight disparate people must learn to work together if they are going to survive. Snarky banter? Undoubtedly. Space battles? Oh, just a few. Weird aliens with interesting cultural and physical traits? You bet. It's like Mass Effect meets Firefly meets Alien. And that's just Book 1.
The Empty Junction Glitters in the Sun | Winter 2023
The most "literary" of my works (so far), Empty Junction is waiting for the year W.H. Auden's work enters the Public Domain (hint: 2023). Why? Each chapter of this novel takes a cue from Auden's poem sequence, The Quest. The plot centres around a small scientific expedition sent to study a ring of asteroids just outside our galaxy - these asteroids are intriguing because probes have detected a new mineral not found on Earth. What the crew finds is not what they expect. While the mystery is important, the story is focused more on the crew and the problems they are running from that follow them even out into space.
The Adventures of Panacea Nil, Bounty Hunter | Release Date Unknown (likely 2022)
This is also a working title. Panacea (clearly a codename), is a bounty hunter/assassin living in the pseudo-futuristic city of Imperium. This story is episodic in nature, following Panacea as she completes bounties and tries to keep herself sane within the criminal world she willingly entered into. It's like "Barb Wire" meets William Gibson's Neuromancer; I was inspired heavily by cyberpunk and new noir. Oh, and Sin City, of course.
The Wastes of Eternity Saga | Release Date Unknown
I'm not sure when/if this will be released. If so, it will likely be re-titled. It's 680,000 words. It's massive. I've edited it with abandon 6 times in the past twelve years, but whether it's worth trying to market it is the question. I think it's a lot of fun, but paying an editor for that many words? Yeeeesh.
I also have other projects underway or outlined, so one of those will likely sneak their way into 2022 or 2023. Either way, if you enjoyed What Branches Grow, subscribe to my newsletter! Who knows - you might win a free copy of one of these novels when they come out!