Velveteen

"Everyone was sick in those days, sick and dying. Even me."

"Especially me."

Long Island is in the first throes of a deadly outbreak, but for six-year-old Cassie Stemple, the world is much smaller. Her family has been recently shattered by the tragic loss of her baby brother, and her parents are struggling to stay together. As they struggle to protect Cassie from the terrifying disease swiftly overtaking them, they fail to recognize the infection already killing them from within. After Cassie's beloved pet rabbit suddenly dies and her health begins to fail, her parents make one last desperate attempt to escape the island. But Cassie refuses to leave her rabbit behind. She knows she can still save him; she just needs more time. A long, long time. Because that's how nursery magic works.

It's been twelve years since the outbreak. It's time for Cassie to grow up.

A part of the dystopic world of S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND series, "Velveteen" may be read as a standalone novelette.

For readers age 14 and older.

If you haven't already read the series' first season, you can get a sense of it in the included short excerpt where Jessie encounters Cassie shortly after entering Gameland (Episode 4: "Sunder the Hollow Ones"). (For those who might be wondering about Shinji: Yes, he does make an appearance in "Velveteen," but only in a supporting role. The focus of this story is Cassie and, of course, her rabbit.

Also included are brief excerpts of two upcoming novels from the same world: "Jessie's Game," a continuation of the GAMELAND saga (due out fall 2013), and "A Dark and Sure Descent," a bridge between the original series and "Velveteen." "Descent" tells the story of the Long Island outbreak and the role which Cassie's parents, as animal researchers at the controversial Laroda Island animal research laboratory, play in it (due out winter 2013).

Total book length with excerpts: 17,600 words.