The Basement: Robbie’s Rite of Passage

Hello everyone! I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve shared anything about my novel The Basement. I’ve been lucky to have acquired some new followers since the last time I posted anything about my book. So–in light of this,  I’ve decided to take this opportunity to share a couple of my latest (short) reviews from Amazon, and my book trailer, which I am really excited about. I hope you enjoy the post.

The Basement Book Trailer

Art by Denise Spencer (black & white drawings) and George Miltiadis (color images)

Voiceover by Mike Paine

Writing by Vashti Quiroz-Vega

Produced by IBP: International Book Promotion

THE BASEMENT is an unusual coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old boy, Robbie, who is barely surviving a grim life with an alcoholic father and non-entity mother until the day he must pass a terrible test set for him by the father. Robbie is prepared, in a way, by an accident and subsequent ordeal waiting to be rescued during a scout outing, but his father’s cruel test is to leave the boy overnight in a rat-infested basement of a tenement house. Robbie draws strength from his belief in God and eventually wins through, with a courage that helps to transform his father.

The main theme is that of finding courage to survive abuse. The book would be a good candidate to be read out loud to a middle grade instruction class or to young abuse survivors, with characters, concepts, and some advanced vocabulary all offering good discussion opportunities.

– Carmen Amato

 

 

A fantastic read from Vashti Quiroz-Vega!

Immediately the author draws you into this wonderful story by showing great observational skills. Vashti has a talent for great and unusual details in her writing. The tale has very realistic descriptions with nicely developed characters, which took me back to younger days. Kids playing, exploring and the thoughts and feelings they encounter along the path of life. The story is creative, imaginative and a gripping read, full of excitement and sentiment.

I really loved this little section and it gives a good taste of the book: Then it would be time for him to go on his treasure hunt in hell. He shuddered and closed his eyes tightly to say a little prayer. Please, God, send one of your angels to protect me from whatever waits in that basement. Amen.

The Basement is a thrilling story and will leave you wanting more- this is a real page-turner.
Vashti Quiroz-Vega is certainly an author to watch out for in the future.  A highly recommended 5*****

– Peter Martin

 

 

This is a well written book. The story line is so interesting, it really painted vivid images in my mind while I read. I did not want to stop reading the book!

I am sure you won’t be disappointed if you purchase this book. I am definitely looking out for all of Vashti’s books!

Happy reading everyone!

– Dee

 

 

You can read a chapter from The Basement:

It’s Only Water? Tell That To A Drowning Boy

Natasha’s Descent Into The Basement

 

 

The two Black & white illustrations below are my concept brought to life by artist Denise Spencer. They are featured in the book along with a few others.

The illustrator of these two drawings: Denise Spencer also illustrated the book cover, which was a finalist in the AuthorDB Book Cover Contest.

 

 

Below is a drawing of Natasha, one of the characters in my book.

Fan Art by illustrator George Miltiadis

A little update about my work in progress:

I’m editing my second book ‘The Fall of Lilith‘. The Fall of Lilith is the first installment of my Fantasy Angels Series. The process has been slow because I’ve had to do it in parts. I’ve also began writing the second book in the series, ‘Dracul‘ (tentative title). If you’d like to read snippets from ‘The Fall of Lilith’ or ‘Dracul’ you can check out my board on Pinterest or my Excerpts Page on this blog. You can also check out my Facebook Author Page. In the near future I will post a chapter from The Fall of Lilith. I would love to get some feedback from you all.

Let me know your thoughts.  What’s new with you?  What are you up to?