On Tour with Prism Book Tours...
It's time to leave Earth and cross over to the other side... it's not as far away as you think!!
The Second Chance Institute (SCI) reigns supreme on Thera, the main setting for daynight. The SCI is an interesting entity, being in the business of providing second chances. But instead of nurturing and fostering the downtrodden, they use the Second Chancers as science experiments for new political ideas they want to push on Earth.
Brad: Megan, I suggest you go off and explore the beautiful canyons beyond the Eco Barrier. I’m just not going to tolerate that kind of bashing against an organization who has done so much to help so many.
Megan: I think I’ll pass. You have zero jurisdiction over me.
Brad: Not yet.
Megan: Not ever if I have any say in it.
SCI: History
Brad: The SCI started with the same benevolent purpose as their mission statement that we have today—giving people a second chance at life. We are completely focused on the people we serve.
Megan: You mean completely focused on ruling over and destroying the lives of people you serve.
Brad: Hardly. Let’s be honest though. Even my ancestors understood that the Second Chancers should be really grateful. In fact, they should serve us since we are providing everything for them. It’s completely justified if we observe their behaviors. They won’t know any better. Furthermore they may need some occasional course corrections. We’re still on the balance doing the universe a great favor. So we may manipulate the variables a bit. It’s only to see how the Second Chancers react to different conditions. Their sacrifices will end up benefiting everyone on Earth. Well, once we push the “new way” down their throats…I mean once we introduce these “new and better” ways of living, they’ll be filled with gratitude for our thoughtfulness and efforts on their behalf.
Megan: (Rolls eyes at that rationalization puff piece.) The SCI’s a real piece of work. Got Ego? Why yes, yes they do.
Brad: We have every reason to have pride in what we do.
Megan: Is that what you’re calling revisionist history these days?
SCI: Desired Results
Brad: We want only the best for humanity. All you have to do is turn on the news on Earth to know that humanity’s been in a downward spiral. Someone’s got to step up and nip these issues in the bud. And I don’t know any organization better prepared to do just than than The Second Chance Institute.
Megan: Let me translate. The SCI thinks they’re the God of Universal Checks and Balances. They think behavior on Earth is out of control and want to mold it to be more to their liking. They are willing to go to great extremes to achieve their desired result. Some seriously sick stuff.
Brad: You mean some seriously necessary stuff.
SCI: Political Science Experiments
Megan: The SCI’s smart enough to know that it is tough to get change to happen on Earth, particularly in places where democracy is prevalent. So they have a multi-pronged approach:
1) Use their status as a beloved non-profit on Earth to their benefit.
2) Lobby, lobby, lobby—from the outside and the inside.
3) Use Second Chancers as subjects of their political science experiments.
The SCI has a captive audience on Thera. They take advantage. Every city on Thera has a different governmental structure, allowing the SCI to test best practices. In Garden City, the setting for daynight, the SCI is testing Cleaving—an edict where at the age of eighteen citizens are Cleaved for life (if they haven’t Cleaved on their own) to another person. As a political science experiment, the SCI is seeing whether the practice of Cleaving can reign in waning morality and promiscuity.
Brad: Are you seriously arguing against Cleaving? It’s absolutely brilliant. I think you’d find if you actually visited Garden City to find the people there to be gloriously happy.
Megan: And if they aren’t happy?
Brad: We simply relocate them to a place where they can create their own happiness.
Megan: I’m not seeing a whole lot of happiness in those living in Exile.
SCI: Enforcement
Brad: Let’s face it. When you’re a totalitarian ruler you’ve got to make sure your subjects stay obedient. There’s several ways to this.
1) Information. We at the SCI are completely up front about the rules and regulations. Everyone knows where they stand at all times. And they know the consequences for making poor choices. [Megan: maybe on Thera they are up front…but in their Clean Slate Complexes on Earth…not so much.]
2) Monitoring. To know how your citizens are trying to thwart the unnatural order of things, a lot of monitoring’s in order. If you’re wisely discreet the citizens won’t feel any sort of intrusion. [Megan:aka so you can keep up the ruse that everyone lives in a state of never-ending bliss.] So we choose, in most cities, to skip out on the burly dudes with uzis on every street corner and simply record everything. For everyone’s protection, of course.
3) Manipulation. Sometimes people need a little extra nudge here and there to make the right decisions. Take Kira Donovan for example. She actually considered giving up a full-ride college scholarship for a complete tool of a guy. We in the SCI have a real knack for giving people a certain sense of clarity and removing unwanted obstacles from the equation. [Megan: it’s the way the SCI removes obstacles that I take issue with. Brad tries to make it sound like their obstacle removal service is a kind gesture here.]
4) Stick and carrot system. In Garden City people are rewarded by following the rules. But if they don’t follow the rules, we’ve got to bring out the stick. And we have a really large stick. Depending on the offense someone may lose a few notches on the Circle of Compliance. Or they may face Exile or Death. The best way to avoid extreme consequences is to avoid extreme lapses in judgment. [Megan: lapse of judgment = any thought that disagrees with SCI edicts.]
Megan: You fail to mention that there’s a pretty low bar to be Exiled or killed.
Brad: As I said, we educate everyone on the rules. Folks who follow the rules and don’t question the status quo will live long and happy lives.
SCI: Bipolar Nature
Megan: I think the entire SCI needs to start taking bi-polar meds. You do realize that you’re not actually giving people a second chance at life when you make all their decisions for them and take away all their freedoms, right?
Brad: I believe our doctors and scientists are a little more advanced and informed than yours. And while I don’t think they’d back yournon-medical opinion that SCI employees self-medicate, I do believe that the SCI is well prepared to share some of our medical advances with those on Earth. Soon we’ll be doling out more second chances than ever before. It gets me all teary-eyed just thinking about it.
Megan: Yet I fail to see the tears.
Brad: Just like you fail to see the good in the SCI.
Megan: Because neither the good nor the tears exist.
Brad: I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that.
Megan: I think we’re done here.
Brad: Yeah, you’re done all right.
Megan Thomason lives in paradise aka San Diego, CA with her husband and five children. A former software manager, Megan vastly prefers writing twisted tales to business, product, and marketing plans. When she isn't typing away on her laptop, she's reading books on her phone—over 600 in the last year—or attending to the needs of her family. Megan’s fluent in sarcasm, could potentially benefit from a 12-step program for road rage, struggles with a Hot Tamales addiction, loves world travel & fast cars and hates paperwork & being an insomniac. Daynight is Megan's first published novel, but fourth written one.
Find & Follow:
daynightby Megan Thomason
Paperback, 324 pages
Published November 26th 2012 by Creatspace
Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex. Punishment for disobeying SCI edicts? Immediate Exile or death.
Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.
Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.
Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.
clean slate complexby Megan Thomason
Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Worldwide non-profit and do-gooder organization. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Life(TM). Reality: hidden behind every kind act is a dark agenda designed to gain control and force societal and moral extremes. Currently, the SCI’s pushing Project Liberate, a program to woo the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes—where “everything is provided” from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch…
Meet Alexa Knight. Feisty, tough and currently homeless in Los Angeles, Alexa agrees to help the SCI in return for medical care for her sick mother. When she starts to suspect there’s more to the SCI than meets the eye will she believe Adam—the boy who saved her life and the SCI’s biggest champion, or Joshua—the attractive enigma who sings about conspiracy theories and pretends to be someone he’s not?
Full of action, humor, romance, twists and turns, clean slate complex is a companion story to the highly-praised dystopian novel, daynight. It can be enjoyed before or after readingdaynight.
daynight Second Chances Giveaway:
Choose what you enter to win wisely. Your stay on Thera may be extended indefinitely.
Highlighting a different giveaway every daynight of the Tour... International Winners will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and US Winners may choose $25 GC in lieu of Prize Package.
US only. International winners will receive $25 Amazon gift certificate. US winners can opt to receive $25 Amazon gift certificate in lieu of any prize package.Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced on Rafflecopter and Grand Finale posts as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and Prism Book Tours and sponsored by Megan Thomason. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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Become an SCI Recruit
The Second Chance Institute (daynight's Dystopia)
April 22 - Launch!The Second Chance Institute (daynight's Dystopia)
- My Seryniti - Review
- Little Library Muse
23 - Tressa's Wishful Endings
- Buckeye Girl Reads - Teaser
- Marked by Books - Review
- Red Headed Bookworm
Welcome to Thera!
Building Thera
24 - Coffee Books and MeBuilding Thera
Stressed Rach
Snuggling on the Sofa - Review
25 - Christy's Cozy Corner - Teaser
- All Fantasy Words - Review
Kira * Blake * Ethan
Character Backgrounds & Posters
Character Backgrounds & Posters
26 - Susie Q-Pons and Giveaways - Review
- My Passion for Books - Review; Ethan
- Paranormal opinion - Blake
- The Cozy Reading Corner - Kira
- Book, Books, the Magical Fruit - Teaser
- Bookaroo-Ju - Teaser
27 - Bookworm Lisa - The Characters
- Getting Your Read On - Review
- Pause Time
- A Backwards Story
- Beck Valley Books
29 - I Am a Reader, Not a Writer - Teaser
- Books Mystify - Review
- Mel's Shelves - Review
2 - A Tiffyfit's Reading Corner - Review
- Lovin' Los Libros - Review
- Paulette's Papers
- Becky's Barmy Book Blog
3 - Backing Books - Teaser
- Book Snob - Review
4 - Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- Living a Goddess Life - Review; Recipe
- My Passion for Books - Review; Ethan
- Paranormal opinion - Blake
- The Cozy Reading Corner - Kira
- Book, Books, the Magical Fruit - Teaser
- Bookaroo-Ju - Teaser
27 - Bookworm Lisa - The Characters
- Getting Your Read On - Review
Cleaving
daynight's Controversy of "Cleaving"
28 - Fantastical World of Wonders - Reviewdaynight's Controversy of "Cleaving"
- Pause Time
- A Backwards Story
- Beck Valley Books
29 - I Am a Reader, Not a Writer - Teaser
- Books Mystify - Review
- Mel's Shelves - Review
Vacation on Earth!
Escapism
Escapism
30 - The Broke Book Bank - Review
- Letters to the Cosmos - Review
May 1 - Life of a YA Girl - Review
- Fuonlyknew - Teaser
- Jack's Junk Drawer - Review
Risking Exile
Dystopian Survival 101
Dystopian Survival 101
- Lovin' Los Libros - Review
- Paulette's Papers
- Becky's Barmy Book Blog
3 - Backing Books - Teaser
- Book Snob - Review
4 - Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- Living a Goddess Life - Review; Recipe
Clean Slate Complex
5 - Mortality Bites
- The Book Eater
- Deco My Heart - Review
6 - Passion and Life - Teaser
- The Reading Diaries - Review
7 - Grand Finale Blast!!
- The Book Eater
- Deco My Heart - Review
6 - Passion and Life - Teaser
- The Reading Diaries - Review
7 - Grand Finale Blast!!
:-) Beautiful!!
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