Kasis is an uninhabitable planet, yet there they were – inhabiting. It’s no wonder that prolonged colonization produced…side effects. Or gifts. But with a militarized government that persecutes people for being different, using such a gift could mean certain death. Auburn Alendra is one of the gifted. Her power allows her to hear into the deepest corners of the polluted city, gathering secrets and using them to her advantage. When one of those secrets threatens her very existence – along with thousands of others throughout the city – Auburn must do everything it takes to fight back. Along with a resistance force known as the Lunaria, “Burn” races against the clock to infiltrate the government’s Peace Force in search of answers and discover a way to avoid all-out warfare. Join Burn on a thrilling adventure as she navigates the perils of a scarred dystopian landscape and discovers the true cost of survival. This book started as a dream.  An actual dream while I was asleep - one in which people with crazy powers battled each other to the death and a giant land-based octopus held me captive in an underground lair. Needless to say, I had to tone it down a bit for the actual book. However, the real story of how this book came to be started with COVID-19, and it was far more difficult than a plot just coming to me in my dreams. Like thousands of people throughout the country, I was downsized when coronavirus struck, leaving me stranded. I didn't know what to do with myself each day, how to get out of bed and keep moving. My only other creative output, local theater, closed its doors due to the virus and left me without a place to feel at home. So I created my own. I had always wanted to write a book. I studied journalism in school, wrote for national print publications, and helped companies tell their own stories through print and digital avenues. Of course, I always had a book or two on the back burner. But I'd never had the time or creative energy to fully invest in a story, to shape its characters and mold its plot in the way that I wanted. Then this "new normal" came, bringing the world to a standstill, and I found myself with all the time in the world. I could no longer go outside, see friends, or do the things I loved. But through Auburn I could. Creating Kasis and its inhabitants allowed me the chance to go on an adventure, a journey that was denied to me in real life because of the threat lurking just outside my door. As I wrote, striking similarities became clear between the world I was creating and the one in which I was living. It was a world where prejudice and discrimination flourished, where those in power used their positions to further their own goals instead of those of their people, where even the air was dangerous and wearing a mask was the only way to protect yourself. When these very same issues began to dominate the daily headlines, it became more important than ever that I finish what I'd started. With this book, I hope people find a way to escape their lives and delve into something new and magical, a story that sweeps them away and inspires their imaginations. But I also hope that it makes them question what is and encourages them to consider what could be. Auburn sat in prison. It was, she thought, an unfortunate turn of events. It wasn't like she'd been doing anything wrong...yet. On the surface Kasis is a highly functional and structured society, albeit with high levels of pollution. But underneath lies a grimy underbelly of sanctioned murder, bribery, and corruption. When the military rules your fair city, what else can you expect? Burn's mission is simple: to overthrow the government. Her particular gift does give her a leg up, after all. You see, Burn can hear things - the small things whispered in dark corners and the secrets shared between lovers on cold nights. And the corrupt machinations of the ruling class, who seek to destroy the mutated freaks that inhabit the bottom levels of the city. Joined by a ragtag group of rebels, Burn has three days to infiltrate the government's Peace Force, discover their heinous plans, and come up with a way to foil them that doesn't include mass casualties. Simple, right? Burn's search takes her across the tiered city, from the glamorous homes of the elite to the drug-infested slums. With the Peace Force on her tail and time rapidly running out, does Burn have what it takes to outwit her enemies and save her city