Sneak Peek: Curse of Stars by Donna Compositor with Giveaway

Curse of Stars

by Donna Compositor

(Diamond Crier #1)

YA Fantasy

COMING. . .

FEBRUARY 19TH, 2017!!!

Sabi Perez is the last Diamond Crier, only she doesn’t know it. Not until a crazed ruler from another world comes to collect her priceless tears and won’t take no for an answer.
Living in New York, Sabi’s seen some nasty things, but the lengths to which her captor will go to keep his crown are things found only in the darkest nightmares. Afraid and alone, Sabi finds solace in her cellmate, Anya, and Cabal, a fellow Crier who also has powers, a rare combination that buys his favor from the ruler. Only it’s a favor he doesn’t want.
In a fit of rage, power erupts out of Sabi, the same power Cabal has, and a spark of hope ignites. Together they may have a chance at escape, something no other Crier has done. Except a ruler hellbent on draining them of every last diamond tear isn’t their only hurdle. If they escape they’ll be hunted to the ends of the earth, if they survive the trek to safety. If they stay the ruler will leech them dry. Sabi would rather die trying than lie down and die, even if that means running away into even more danger.
“. . . vividly imagined and deftly plotted dark fantasy . . .” BookLife Prize in Fiction

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EXCERPT

“You must be Sabina,” he said.
Her heart felt ready to explode. Ringing in her ears made it hard to hear but she could have sworn he called her Sabina. She didn’t know whether to answer him or not. She went by Sabi but her birth certificate said Sabina. He wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t about to admit that.
“Sabina Petris.”
The sound of his voice was soft, almost welcoming. But the way he looked at her, how his gaze bored directly into her eyes, it sent goose bumps across her skin. All she wanted to do right then was leave.
“Sorry,” she choked, the word barely making it out. “You have the wrong house.”
The thin smile that sliced across his face like a paper cut cracked open to reveal gleaming teeth underneath. Sabi couldn’t help but think of a wolf and how he would eat her with his big teeth.
“I don’t think so. But maybe it’s Perez now, yes? At least that’s what my sources say.”
Every thought she had smashed together in her head. He had her name. Her name. But who was Sabina Petris? And why did he say Perez like that wasn’t her real name? Crap, she needed to get out. Now.
“Baby, you okay?”
Sabi jumped and nearly choked on her heart. Keeping her eyes on the man in front of her she called down to Mrs. Wexler in the steadiest voice she could muster, “Fine. I’m fine.”
Nothing about her cracking voice sounded fine.
“Why don’t you come on down? Come sit with me until your Mama gets home?”
Yes! That’s what she’d do. Nothing could happen if she stayed out in the open with Mrs. Wexler. She took a step backward, not daring to turn her back on the man, but she stopped when he spoke.
“Perhaps you shouldn’t. Or your sister, Matti is it? Could feel the effects of that poor decision.”
Bile burned Sabi’s throat and her vision swam. The man took a step closer.
“You are my property, Sabina. Your parents knew this. They knew this would happen. Come with me now and I’ll forgive their indiscretions. I can’t say the same for their people, of course. So many deaths piling up behind your parents. Something like that is hard for people to forgive.”
Everything in Sabi’s head cleared and one thing rang out above it all: Matti. Get to Matti. Whoever this guy was, whatever he was saying, he wasn’t right. In the head, in life, in anything. Except just looking at him Sabi knew he was far from harmless. He was too casual, too confident. He was the wolf and she the prey and she was getting too close to backing into a corner.
With every ounce of air she had in her lungs Sabi screamed Mrs. Wexler’s name and booked back down the stairs. Footsteps thundered up to meet her and Mrs. Wexler mumbled ‘outside’ and nearly pushed Sabi down the rest of the stairs. But she didn’t need any help. And she didn’t stop on the stoop or to see what her neighbor was going to do.
Guilt slowed her down, but the way Matti rolled off the man’s tongue made her pump her legs harder. It was blocks to the school, but Sabi wasn’t about to wait at a subway stop, sitting like a duck with a price on its head. She needed to get to Matti.

And here she is. . . 

Donna has been writing since she was in the single digits when she first realized she needed to do something about all the thoughts in her head. After a stint with bad poetry she finally found her way to novels, mainly of the young adult fantasy variety. When she’s not cranking out more stories she works a regular 9 to 5, reads anywhere from 2 to 3 books a week, drinks copious amounts of tea, eats way too much, and makes her own beauty products because her skin turns into a sentient hive if she uses anything else. This is mostly because she lives in the desert where the air siphons water clean out of her. She lives with a man named Steve and several quadrupeds: three cats named Renfield, Sam, and Dean; and a MinPin named Malfoy. 

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Review: The Outs by E.S. Wesley

THE OUTS

by E.S. Wesley

Curiosity Quills Press

YA Thriller/Paranormal

Caleb’s been changing ever since the memory-stealing blackouts—the Outs—started. He used to be a good, dependable, honor-student, but now his parents have vanished, and something inside tells him their disappearance is his fault.

That something has a voice—a voice that's pushed him to kidnap a little girl. Caleb believes he did it to protect her, but now he’s starting to wonder if he’s the one she needs protection from.

Then there’s his friend, Kitzi. Kitzi knows a secret she can’t share, locked in her head behind layers of brain damage. Kitzi wants to help Caleb, but she suspects a connection between this little girl and the Outs. If she can survive Caleb’s mistakes and the strange girl’s reality-bending fits long enough to put the pieces together, her secret might save them.

Or it could mean the end of everything. 

MY TIDBITS

This book is like jumping onto a roller coaster at night during a thunderstorm, and there's no guarantee that the ride will end where it should. 

The Outs started months before. Electricity disappears. Cars won't run. Terrifying things happen. Deadly things. But when the lights go back on, everything's forgotten as if it never happened at all. Only the remaining chaotic scenes remain. Caleb is caught up in the thick of it, not sure what horrible acts he's committing. And Kitzi, his friend, is the only one who remembers. She's the only one who truly sees.

If you're in search of originality, this book is it. The reader is yanked into a dark world, where chaos reigns. It's bloody. It's terrible. But then, the lights go on, and it's over. Everyone who died, comes back to life, but they remember nothing. Only the blood they're coated in and the chaos around them hints at what happened. And it's exactly this ray of hope, which rescues the scenes from going off too far into gruesome. 

Packed is a word which defines this story in so many ways. It's action packed-from beginning to end, there's always something coming and barely any time to breathe in between. It's packed with character depth-right and wrong become a gray smudge as two very different characters question themselves, each other and the true meaning of existence. Plot packed - twists and turns control every chapter, making it impossible to figure out what is going on. 

There are two main characters, both in their upper teens. Caleb's parents both disappeared and while trying to cope, he ends up in a very dark place. This is where the story takes off. Caleb is actually a guy with a golden heart, who has just tipped in the wrong direction and is a little lost. He's easy to like despite his flaws. Plus, the author does an intriguing thing with this 'split' in Caleb. He brings the inner battle between good and evil to distinct life. The visual back and forth between Caleb and 'Crimes' not only adds delicious twists and turns, but opens up a treasure chest of deeper questions to inner battles and right vs. wrong.

Kitzi is a treat all for herself. She's the light in the darkness, but not without her own corners. An accident has left her unable to clearly communicate, an impediment which disappears during the Outs. She's Caleb's rock and holds everything together. But when Kitzi appears, the story always seems to switch into overdrive.

The only thing which hitched in this book was the logic. Most of the book is so tension packed that it's unclear (and intentionally so) what the truth behind the Outs is. And this part is masterfully woven together. Toward the end, however, the logic grows thin. The ending itself is interesting and refuses to let the reader go. That and the rest of the book make for a fantastic read. But deeper thought at the explanations behind everything won't entirely click into place. 

Summed up, this is a dark read which will keep fans of science fiction/paranormal thrillers on the edge of their seats and guessing until the very end.

The Gryphon Series Coloring book by Stacey Rourke

The Gryphon Series Coloring Book

by Stacey Rourke

 Teen Fantasy

Cover Designer: Broken Arrow Designs

Illustratored by Crystal Ord and Robert Immings

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR




Journey into the fantastical world of The Gryphon Series, written by Stacey Rourke, with original artwork that brings to life pivotal moments from the beloved Young Adult series!

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel

Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012

Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013 

Stacey Rourke is the author of the award winning YA Gryphon Series, the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga, and the romantic comedy Adapted for Film. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. 

Visit her at www.staceyrourke.com

diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com

Facebook at www.facebook.com/staceyrourkeauthor

or on Twitter or instagram at Rourkewrites.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1OJcVNO

Buy Links to the Series:

#Free with #KindleUnlimited

Conduit (FREE): http://amzn.to/2acPikz

Embrace: http://amzn.to/2geQHwG

Sacrifice: http://amzn.to/2fSMETY

Ascension: http://amzn.to/2fexxTC

Descent (Novella): http://amzn.to/2eYdx6V

Inferno: http://amzn.to/2fDCqpM

The Gryphon Series Coloring Book: http://amzn.to/2kimDPX

Guest Post: Paula Berinstein and the Amanda Lester Detective Series

Today, I'd like to welcome one of my favorite Middle Grade/Young Adult mystery authors -
PAULA BERINSTEIN!!!

She's currently doing a tour, explaining exactly how she built characters, scenes and all sorts of whatnots in her books. (Follow it here: You can see the tour schedule here) I've been following them and find these posts a treasure chest of information.

Post 3. How I create Amanda’s physical world

Before I started writing the Amanda Lester series, I didn’t realize that a novelist has to be an architect, interior designer, landscape artist, and city planner. I learned fast. Fictional characters move around within an environment, and you have to create that space for them. If you want it to be interesting it has to be detailed, which means you have to imagine the macro and the micro of it and everything in between. It also has to work in the story, which means travel times have to be realistic, buildings need to be large enough to house the people and activities they contain, characters need ways to get around, and details must be plentiful and accurate.

My stories involve not just an English boarding school but the town and region that surrounds it. I’ve studded them with Neolithic tunnels, an old factory, a clock tower, a lighthouse, a boat, trains, other schools, shops, hotels, caves, churches, police stations, garages, homes, and a whole lot more. Some of these places actually exist. Most are made up. In both cases I have to know where rooms, doors, and staircases are placed; how the spaces are lit; what can be seen from various angles; how to get into and out of them; what they’re made of; what colors they are; who uses them; what they’re like during various seasons of the year; what happens when they’re beset by earthquakes, floods, and age—you get the picture.

The most complicated environment to create was the secret detective school, Legatum Continuatum. For this and all the places in the series I did a lot of photo research. I had to decide how many stories to make the school, how to lay it out, where to locate the staircases and elevators, what to do about the hospital and morgue, etc. I decided that three stories should do it. I could get all my classrooms, dorms, common rooms, kitchen, dining, administrative, medical, and so on into a building that size. The gym and assembly hall would have to reside in separate buildings, however, which my research told me was credible.

You can’t imagine how hard it was to draw the school. I wanted it to be full of odd shapes to show that it had been added onto over the more than one hundred years it had been in existence. I also had to figure out how to fit in storage areas, restrooms, hallways, a foyer, and offices. I don’t know how many sketches I went through but it was a lot. It was worth it though because the school has served me for six books so far.

The second-hardest environment I had to create was the criminals’ school. I knew it was going to be in a castle so I needed to figure out how big castles are and how to fit classrooms, kitchen, dining room, residences, and all that stuff into one. (Many castles are way too small for all that, believe it or not.) I also needed to figure out how much it would cost to acquire and fit out such a castle because I needed to finance the school. Let me tell you, that was something. I looked at tons of pictures of castles, read about layouts and square footages, examined real estate listings. (Yes, you can actually buy a castle and I would love to, but I’ll have to sell a few more books in order to make that dream come true.) Then, after I decided how big to make the castle, I needed to come up with a layout that worked in my story.

As I sketched the Schola Sceleratorum castle I realized that it was looking a lot like the detective school, and I couldn’t have that. The criminals had to be completely different from the detectives. So I tried different arrangements until my pencil was dull, but I could not come up with anything unique . . . until I hit on the idea of circles.

As you can see in the graphic, Schola Sceleratorum is composed of a huge number of round rooms and towers. To my knowledge no real castle has been built that way, but it works for me. While there’s no such thing as a typical hall in my design, I do have passages that ring the circles. These not only function as halls but as secret passages for intruders to sneak around in.

I also had to imagine the interior of Nick’s boat, the Moriartys’ sugar factory, Amanda’s mother’s house, Stencil Moriarty’s London mansion, and the Neolithic tunnels that run under the Lake District. Trust me when I say that I initially got some things wrong. English houses are not laid out the way California houses are, but I’d written the scene where Amanda goes to Stencil’s house as if they were. My tunnels are much more comfortable than real Stone Age tunnels would be (and better lit). I’m not sure the conveyor belt Amanda rides in the sugar factory would actually work either, despite the fact that I found pictures of such a device and wrote from them.

Which brings me to another point. Thank goodness a writer has license to play with geography and other environmental characteristics. While there are quarries in the Lake District, none actually exists in Windermere. I made mine up. Nor is there a little church outside Penrith that connects to an underground network, nor a Lake Enchanto like the one that borders Legatum (although there is a Lake Enchanto in Agoura, California, near my house). On the other hand, there really are factories like the Moriartys’ sugar plant along the Thames near the London City Airport, there really is a zoo near Windermere, and Simon’s London adventures in Book 6 are based on the actual layout of the city.

I don’t know if every novelist designs environments the way I do. I know from the maps in many books that writers work out the geography of their environments, but I’ve never heard anyone mention designing a manor house or a castle or a zoo. Writers, please share! Inquiring minds and would-be architects want to know!

Tomorrow I will discuss the villains of Amanda’s world.


All about. . .


Paula Berinstein is nothing like Amanda. For one thing, she’s crazy about Sherlock Holmes. For another, she’s never wanted to be a filmmaker. In addition, compared to Amanda she’s a big chicken! And she wouldn’t mind going to a secret school at all. In fact, she’s hoping that some day she’ll get to build one.

You can find and contact Paula here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads
- Paula's blog on Goodreads
- The Writing Show podcasts
- Newsletter

The Amanda Lester Series

The Amanda Lester series is a Middle Grade/ Young Adult Mystery series.
The series contains 5 books so far and at least 2 more books are planned. The first four books are also available bundled in a box set. And the first book is also available in audiobook format. The currently published books are:
- Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
- Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis (Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
- Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
- Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
- Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)

The First book in the series:

Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy

 (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)

by Paula Berinstein

Amanda Lester wouldn’t be caught dead going into the family business. Her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes’s colleague Inspector G. Lestrade, is a twit. Nevertheless her parents refuse to see his flaws, and she’s going to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives whether she likes it or not.

When Amanda arrives at the dreaded school, she considers running away—until she and her new friends discover blood and weird pink substances in odd places. At first they’re not sure whether these oddities mean anything, but when Amanda’s father disappears and the cook is found dead with her head in a bag of sugar, they’re certain that crimes are taking place.

Now Amanda must embrace her destiny and uncover the truth. The only snag is that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty, a descendant of Holmes’s nemesis Professor James Moriarty, might be involved, and he doesn’t like nosy little girls interfering in his business.

You can find Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy on Goodreads

Get the e-copy for free!
The e-copy of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy is free now on all vendor sites! Grab your free copy here:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo
- Smashwords

Get the Audiobook!
You can buy the audiobook of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy here:
- Audible
- Amazon
- iTunes

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here on Soundcloud.

All five books in the series

Buy the whole series on Amazon!
The first Amanda Lester book is free and book 2, 3, 4 and 5 are only 0.99$ per book or can be bought as part of a box set. Links to each book on Amazon are below:
- Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
- Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis(Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
- Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
- Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
- Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)
- Amanda Detective box set Books 1-4
- The Amanda Lester series page

The Amanda Lester books on other vendors
The Amanda Lester series is also available on other vendor sites. Get the books on B&N, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.


This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 30 January till 5 February. You can see the tour schedule here

GIVEAWAY!!!

There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of the Amanda Lester series. These are the prizes you can win:
- One winner will win all 5 Amanda Lester books in paperback.
- Two winners will win a set of all 5 Amanda Lester books in e-format.

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
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Celebrate The Ceruleans by Charlotte Wilson with a Giveaway

THE CERULEANS

5 Book Series

YA Paranormal

by Charlotte Wilson

DEATH WISH (Book One)

Seventeen-year-old Scarlett Blake is haunted by death. Her sister has made the ultimate dramatic exit: run away from school, join a surfing fraternity, drown in a tragic ‘accident’. 

Following in her sister’s footsteps, Scarlett comes to an isolated English cove to uncover the truth. And, as it turns out, to fall in love with the place and its people, especially a certain blue-eyed surfer with a serious case of the heroics. 

But as Scarlett’s quest for the truth unravels, so too does her grip on reality as she’s always known it. Because there’s something strange going on in this little cove. A dead magpie circles the skies. A dead deer watches from the undergrowth. Hands glow with light. Power. 

What transpires is a summer of discovery: of what it means to conquer fear, to fall in love, to choose life, to choose death. 

To believe the impossible. 

The Ceruleans: soulful, coming-of-age romance with a paranormal edge. Five books, one question – if the might of the heavens were in your hands, would you be sinner or saint? 

Anniversary

The cake was homemade. Lopsided. Slathered in gloopy frosting. Judging by Adam’s previous attempts in the kitchen, it was safe to assume it would be inedible.

Estelle loved it.

‘You baked? For me?’

She reached over and pulled Adam into a hug, awkward with the massive baby bump wedged between them.

‘Happy anniversary!’ he said.

Estelle pulled back, frowning. ‘That’s tomorrow.’

A year since she had Become a Cerulean. A year since she had died.

‘I know,’ said Adam. ‘But I have a surprise for you. A… gift. And I wasn’t sure how you’d take it, so I thought: give it to you today, and if you… well, if it’s not what you want, then it hasn’t spoiled tomorrow.’ He smiled at her – nervously.

‘O-kay,’ said Estelle. She couldn’t fathom what gift she could potentially dislike that much. Unless he’d bought her something girlie. She didn’t do girlie.

‘Good,’ said Adam. He grabbed her hands. ‘Ready?’

She’d barely begun to nod when it happened… the picnic blanket, the beach, the ocean, all gone, replaced, in the bewildering blink of an eye, by a grimy urban alleyway.

What came next was not pretty. Estelle hadn’t been that sick since her first trimester.

‘Are you insane?’ she hissed eventually, when she was done and could get a word in edgeways between Adam’s apologies and panicked are-you-okay-is-the-baby-okays. ‘You Travelled us to…’ She looked about and recognition made her jaw drop. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Truro?’

White-faced, Adam nodded. He didn’t say anything; he just pointed at a shopfront visible at the top of the alley. The sign was so weathered it was unreadable. That didn’t matter; Estelle knew exactly what it said: Tattoo Tony’s.

Furious, she rounded on Adam. ‘You’d better start explaining right now.’

‘The nightmares you’ve been having about… him. I couldn’t do nothing. It’s not right, Estelle, that he’s living his life here. Unpunished. So…’ He held out his hands. Ethereal blue light lit the alley.

‘Quit it!’ Estelle slapped his hands, hard. ‘Adam…’ She stared at the one person she loved, who’d given her a home and a purpose – to whom she’d confided her deepest, most painful secret: that when she was nine, the year before her mother ODed, a man named Tattoo Tony had abused her.

Adam stared right back at her, and there was a spark in his eyes she’d never seen before. ‘What’s the point of having power over life and death,’ he said, ‘if you can’t use it to take out a bad guy? One touch, Estelle. That’s all it would take.’

No! she should have yelled. No, Adam, that’s sacrilegious, against everything the Ceruleans stand for. But the words wouldn’t come.

She looked up the alley again, at the shop. She lay a hand on her swollen belly. Then she reached out and took Adam’s hand, and they walked toward the street.

They would have looked an odd couple – he the picture boy for geek chic, her Gothed out from head to foot – had they been visible. They weren’t, though, thanks to Adam’s power. They could walk right across that street, into the tattoo parlour and kill a man, and no one would ever know it was them.

At the door to the shop, which was propped open, Estelle pulled Adam to a stop. She could see an old man inside. He was gaunt and stooped, and his breath was coming in wheezy pants.

‘Do you feel it?’ she murmured to Adam.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Lung cancer, I think.’

‘How long does he have?’

‘Months, if that.’

Estelle thought carefully before asking the next question: ‘Do you feel the pull? Are you meant to heal him?’

She saw Adam shake his head. No. This man was destined to die. Slowly. Painfully.

Suddenly, she realised that she could see Adam; he was no longer shielding them from view. That’s how well he knew her. There would be no wicked deed here today, no Falling from grace. Only justice of the karmic kind.

‘God I love you,’ she said, and she pressed her lips to his.

‘Er… can I help you?’ Tony had come to the door and was frowning at the couple kissing on his doorstep.

Estelle and Adam broke off, but they didn’t even look at the man beside them.

‘Take me home,’ Estelle told Adam… and he did.

They stayed on the beach for the rest of the day, lying in the sun, paddling in the surf. When the sun set there wasn’t a crumb left of that cake. It was dry. It was salty. It was crunchy with egg shell. But it was the most delicious thing either of them had ever eaten.

Buy links

https://www.amazon.com/Charlotte-Wilson/e/B00TDH4XLS/

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/death-wish-30

https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/charlotte-wilson/id200555

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-wish-charlotte-wilson/1125314541

And here she is. . .

Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that when she grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy princess. ‘Write, Charlotte,’ her grandmother advised. So that’s what she did.

Thirty-odd years later, Charlotte is a professional writer. For authors and publishers, she writes and edits books as The Book Specialist. For herself, she writes soulful, coming-of-age romance for young adults.

Charlotte grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in a village of Greater Manchester with her husband and two children. When she’s not reading or writing, you’ll find her walking someplace green, baking up a storm, or embarking on a DIY project. She recently achieved a lifetime ambition of creating a library in her home to house her ever-increasing collection of books. She pretends not to notice that the shelves are rather wonky.

You can find Charlotte online at:

www.thebookspecialist.com

https://twitter.com/bookishcharlie

https://www.facebook.com/bookishcharlie

https://www.instagram.com/bookishcharlie/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15932269.Charlotte_Wilson

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