"Blood and Sand"

C. V. Wyk was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She has lived in five states in the continental US (and hopes to add a few international locales to that list). Prone to wanderlust and getting lost, Wyk likes to explore local hiking trails, mountain ranges, dark caves where nefarious mythical creatures undoubtedly reside, and libraries. She currently lives in Maryland with a precocious mini poodle and a demanding guinea pig.

Wyk's applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Blood and Sand, and reported the following:

Blood and Sand is a story about rebellion, identity, loyalty, and redemption. Funny enough, page 69 of the book actually touches on all of those things. It’s the end of a chapter and a pivotal scene for one of the main characters—a moment when her rage and fury narrow and focus, when her mission as the scion of Thrace crystalizes in her mind. Ironically, it also emphasizes the conflict between the efficiency she’s learned through her training and the recklessness inherent to her youth, a conflict that she doesn’t even truly realize is there. For all her abilities, she is still very young, and her emotional responses to certain events—even when they are hidden behind a mask of calculating ruthlessness—are clearly those of a teenager, albeit one who is highly trained and highly skilled. The page shows just how much growth she has left to achieve before she can truly accomplish the world-changing mission she’s set for herself, even though—in her mind—she has finally found her path forward.

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--Marshal Zeringue