The Bright Spot: A Chase in the Aftermath of Society

The Bright Spot: A Chase in the Aftermath of Society

Fallout meets The Sunlit Man in an eternal race against the sun. Do the survivors strive to maintain society, or do they revert to their animalistic nature?
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Booktopia 2024 📚
#Indie
#Post-Apocalyptic
booktopia-2024

This project is part of Booktopia 2024 📚, which runs from September 5th - September 26th 2024. Learn more →

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The Bright Spot

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The Bright Spot Preview Chapter


Read a preview chapter from The Bright Spot here
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What if

  • What if you were in an eternal race with everyone alive and the Sun was in the lead?
  • Would you use tools from remnants of a society long gone?
  • Or would you revert to mankind's animalistic intrinsic nature?
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Blurb

The planet Nivalis has an unusually slow rotation, almost tidally locked to its home star. This results in only a small section of the land being illuminated at a time. As the planet turns, this band of light gradually travels around Nivalis, leaving the majority of the planet in darkness. For centuries, its inhabitants lived in harmony with this astronomical quirk, building thriving civilizations in the light and darkness. But one day, the darkness became corrupt, freezing the land and everything in it, causing towns and cities to degrade over time.

To survive, groups of people now follow this "Bright Spot" as it travels around the planet, lest they fall behind and freeze to death. This moving oasis of light has become a focal point of religion for many, with some leaders exploiting their followers' dependence for power.

Caelius is a member of The Brightest, a group religiously devoted to staying at the front of the light. But when The Brightest decide to halt their journey, Caelius witnesses firsthand what centuries without structure does to people—transforming them into something less than human. Now, he must confront a terrifying choice: will he give in to the primal instincts that threaten to consume him, be corrupted by the power thrust upon him, or fight to retain his humanity in a world that has lost its way?
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Specs:

Formats:
  • A gorgeous 8.5x5.5 inch paperback
  • E-Book formats for viewing in your favorite reader (pdf, mobi, epub)

Genre: Sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, thriller

Page Count: ~320

Recommended Age: 17+
Warnings:
  • Violence
  • Gore
  • Disturbing Scenes
  • Mild Language
  • Drug Use

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The Planet of Nivalis



Nivalis is an Earth-sized planet with an unusually slow rotation, where only a small section is illuminated at a time. It is also almost tidally locked to its home star. Because of this astronomical quirk, the illuminated area slowly travels around Nivalis, leaving most of it in darkness.

Its inhabitants used to live in harmony with this quirk, building civilizations and integrated societies, until one day the darkness and everything in it froze, leaving towns and cities to degrade over time.

Now, 600 years later, Caelius and his acquaintances suffer from the aftermath. They learn what centuries without structure do to people, reverting them back to their primal instincts.  Does he succumb to his animalistic instincts, become corrupted by power, or resist the lure of evil? 
 
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The Cast

Caelius is a hunter and a protector for The Brightest, a religious caravan who stay at the very front of The Bright Spot. Because of this, they are secluded from the evil and cannibalistic world behind them. Many members of The Brightest are even unaware that such people exist. Caelius sees first hand how evil these cannibals can be and is mentally scarred, altering the decisions he makes.

Hadrian is the leader of The Brightest caravan. His goal is to have as many people dedicated to 'The Path.' He struggles with making decisions on what's right for the group while trying to not turn his followers against him. Hadrian hides a secret that may be a detriment to The Brightest and their safety.

Oberon is a father, husband and best friend. He is strong to his values and will do anything to keep his wife, Dolora, and his daughter, Brena safe. When his best friend Caelius, starts making decisions that may hurt the group, he is stuck with an internal struggle. Does he stay loyal to his friend or does he stay loyal to his family?

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Addons

Bookmark

Don't fall behind the sun! Keep your location with The Bright Spot Bookmark!
Pledge ($10 USD) to get this awesome reward
 Printed with VistaPrint

Sticker Pack

Make even your most boring of items a little bit cooler with a Bright Spot Themed Sticker Pack.
Get the Naidraug Insignia, The Planet of Nivalis, and Ride With The Sun sticker for only ($10 USD)
Printed with Redbubble
 
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Partner Project: Gamer


Belinda Crawford's Gamer is sci-fi thriller with a hefty dose of virtual reality, about a woman out to get revenge for her murdered parents. If you're a fan of The Blacklist, Blindspot or How To Get Away With Murder but wished they'd thrown in a little Ready Player One action, you're gonna love it.

Find Belinda's Campaign here Gamer: A Futuristic Techno-Thriller
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The Bright Spot Oracle Cards

Belinda Crawford and I have joined forces to use our power to bring you special collectible cards that you can display. Both of us designed our own set of three cards as a reward for supporting both of our products.

If you enjoy books with mystery, intrigue, and revenge served cold, you must check out Gamer:  A Futuristic Techno-Thriller!
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Why You Should Back

The Bright Spot will not be available for purchase for three (3) months after backers receive their copy. This decision is a 'Thank you' gift to all those who back during the campaign. Backers will also will receive exclusive signed first editions by backing now instead of waiting for public release.

Also by backing instead of waiting for release you ensure the success of the project by bringing it closer to each goal where I can fully fund the production of an audiobook or hire professional editors.
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Shipping

Shipping will be calculated and collected after the campaign through the Pledge Manager.

The prices for shipping may be different depending on where you live.

US: $4.63 USD 
UK:  £22.97 ($30.45 USD)
AUS:  $44.82 AUD ($39.30 USD)

If you are curious about shipping in a different country, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you ASAP!
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Meet the Author

Hello! My name is Shawn Raben. I was born and raised in a small town in Nebraska and moved to Wisconsin to experience new opportunities. Ever since I was little, I had an affinity for creative writing and loved to read series like Percy Jackson and the Olympians. In 2017, I listened to a book called The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and it changed my life forever. A new love for reading blossomed as I uncovered mysteries, tragedies, romances, and magic under thousands of layers of paper. Inspiring me to eventually start this passion project of mine.
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Other Fantastic Projects

Belinda Crawford is my current Booktopia partner. Without her, I wouldn't be where I am today. She's helped me fine-tune my campaign page, helped come up with ideas and imagery, along with being amazingly supportive through the difficult writing journey.
Gamer is sci-fi thriller with a hefty dose of virtual reality, about a woman out to get revenge for her murdered parents. If you're a fan of The Blacklist, Blindspot or How To Get Away With Murder but wished they'd thrown in a little Ready Player One action, you're gonna love it.

JC. Spark was the first person who reached out to me when I joined the Booktopia Event. She helped me find a place in the community and helped me find my Booktopia Cross-Collaboration Partner: Belinda Crawford.
If Good Omens and Dr. Who had a baby, it would be DIRE CONTACT: the birth of the Space World universe, a Supernatural Sci-Fi Thriller series.


Aimee Cozza has put in a TON of effort on making the Booktopia Cross-Collaboration Oracle Card rewards amazing. She has come up with a consistent design for all those who are doing Cards as rewards. Each card has their own style, individualized by the author and their illustrator, however each card has a border that she designed, so you know that you have an exclusive Booktopia 2024 card! 
Do robots feel warmth? Are they able to fall in love, despite it going against their programming? If you are a fan of Asimov's iRobotor the game Detroit Become Human. You must check out THE WARM MACHINE
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Booktopia 2024

 📚 Welcome to Booktopia — a celebration of creativity and collaboration from a vibrant collective of writers, authors and artists collectively running crowdfunding projects from September 5th - September 26th.

🔥 Limited Cross-Collaboration Freebies — All 50+ Booktopia creators have paired up with a fellow participant to create two unique and limited freebies together. If BOTH projects successfully fund, backers who support BOTH will get the TWO [2] cross-collab freebies listed on their campaign page, one will ship from each creator. The more pairs of Booktopia creators you support, the more freebies you will earn ✨

🧧 1 FREE Limited Edition Booktopia 2024 reward if you back FIVE [5] or more projects. Exclusive reward for Booktopia - Black Metal Bookmark!

Booktopia 2024 Bookmark Reward


Oracle Cards
Get your set of six Oracle cards by checking out Belinda Crawford's Gamer. Without her help, The Bright Spot wouldn't be where it is today. If you enjoy books with mystery, intrigue, and revenge served cold, check out Gamer:  A Futuristic Techno-Thriller!
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Oracle cards, exclusive to Booktopia!

This year, as part of BackerKit's inaugural Booktopia event I and 17 other creators are partnering to bring you an exclusive oracle card deck! 

To get the full deck, all you need to do is back each of the projects in the Oracle Deck Collection (linked below) at a physical tier, and if all the projects reach 100% funding the deck is yours! How easy is that?!


Back these projects and get the entire deck!
  • The Warm Machine
  • Lesbians in Space
  • Dire Contact
  • The Fractured Balance
  • Nuclear Strudel
  • Mermaid Song
  • Master & Servant
  • Amara
  • Shuttered Stanzas
  • Gamer
  • The Bright Spot
  • Warm Like Plastic
  • First Life Duet
  • The Eyes of Mandoral
  • Sombulus
  • Ruthless Wolves
  • My Body Beeps
  • Weave of a Thousand Lies
If you believe that this project is not in compliance with BackerKit’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, you can file a report by sending a message via this link: Report this project
Cross Collab Project

Backing this project and its cross collab will unlock free rewards.