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<\/p>\nToday at Celtic Connexions,\u00a0 I’m welcoming Hetty Waite and her novel, Evolve.<\/p>\n
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Having survived the attack led by her sister, Cara is ready to move on.<\/span><\/p>\n A new city means a fresh start and a chance for her and Brown to live together, as equals.<\/p>\n However, the perfect fa\u00e7ade of the Amex community hides dark secrets. With a nightly curfew and a mysterious scientist in charge, Cara is convinced all is not as it seems.<\/p>\n As her doubts grow, so do the arguments with Brown. And with Myla still alive and looking for revenge, it\u2019s not only the danger from inside the city walls that threaten to tear her world apart \u2013\u00a0forever.<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, she will need to make a choice: protect her family at all costs, or save herself.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n KINDLE –<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Evolve-Chromosome-Trilogy-Book-2-ebook\/dp\/B0FSD813JK<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n PAPERBACK –\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/aw\/d\/B0FWB7XCZG<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Hetty Waite lives in Derbyshire with her husband, daughter, and cavapoo.<\/span><\/p>\n A former teacher, she spent many years sharing her love of stories with teenagers in the classroom before turning her own ideas into fiction. It was during the pandemic, while on maternity leave, that she finally found the time to write her first novel.<\/span><\/p>\n After initially self-publishing, a chance meeting with a director from Spellbound Books Ltd at a writers\u2019 school changed everything. Impressed by her debut, they offered Hetty a three-book deal for her Young Adult dystopian series, The Chromosome Trilogy. The first instalment, Mutate, was re-released in 2024, followed by Evolve in October 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n When she\u2019s not writing, Hetty tutors English, marks exam papers, and enjoys life in Derbyshire with her family and their lively cavapoo.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE\u00a0–\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/stores\/Hetty-Waite\/author\/B0BP7RSGRM<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>WEBSITE\u00a0–\u00a0https:\/\/hettywaite.co.uk<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>FACEBOOK –\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100086494572838<\/span><\/p>\n INSTAGRAM –\u00a0https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hettywaite<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>X – @HettyWaite<\/span><\/p>\n Today at Celtic Connexions,\u00a0 I’m welcoming Hetty Waite and her novel, Evolve. Blurb Having survived the attack led by her sister, Cara is ready to move on. A new city means a fresh start and a chance for her and Brown to live together, as equals. However, the perfect fa\u00e7ade of the Amex community hides … Continue reading Evolve by Hetty Waite #EVOLVE<\/span> ![\"Evolve\"](\"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/thumbnail_image0-2.jpg\")
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Excerpt<\/h2>\n
Inspiration behind The Chromosome Trilogy<\/div>\nI\u2019ve always been fascinated by the way societies function \u2014 and how fragile that balance can be when something unexpected shifts it. The idea for the trilogy came from a single, unsettling thought: what if a virus only affected men? I wanted to explore not just how that might change the world, but what it would reveal about power, identity, and the ways we connect to one another in times of crisis.<\/div>\nI wrote Mutate, book one of The Chromosome Trilogy, during the Covid lockdown, so the atmosphere of uncertainty and helplessness we all felt at that time definitely crept into the story. I wanted to capture that sense of powerlessness, and the dystopian setting gave me space to imagine a world where people are divided not by choice, but by their genetics.<\/div>\nAt its heart, though, the trilogy is a love story. That thread was really important for me to carry through into Evolve, the second book. I also wanted to do something a bit different this time, which is why I moved the story to a new city. It puts the characters out of their comfort zone and opens up space for new faces \u2014 some of whom definitely aren\u2019t what they seem. I loved writing Evolve because, with the main characters already established, I could focus more on their growth and relationships as the world around them becomes increasingly dangerous.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nExtract 1:<\/div>\nThe book\u2019s Prologue:<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Wilders were everywhere.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSurrounded, their best hope was a quick and brutal counter-attack. With a bit of luck, they could take out a few of them and scare the rest off.<\/div>\nA plump baby might make a tasty morsel, but it wasn\u2019t worth losing your life over.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cThis is horribly familiar,\u201d Brown said, slowly reaching around to his rucksack.<\/div>\n\u201cAt least this time we\u2019re prepared,\u201d Cara answered, hand already on her weapon.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe biggest of the Wilders gestured to the others, snarling at the prey in its path. Fingers twitching, it signalled silent orders, tugging the bone in its ear and swiping a hand across its face.<\/div>\nIts meaning was clear: kill them quickly.<\/div>\nWith hair a ragged haze of fuzz wafting in the breeze, Brown couldn\u2019t tell if this was an X or a Y. Prominent eyes bulged, a hungry look driving the slow licking of its lips. It approached warily, flanked by the small army now encircling them, like coiled vipers poised to strike.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt doesn\u2019t matter, Brown thought. We\u2019ve overcome so much worse. These creatures will not be the ones to take us out \u2013 the real danger is far more frightening, far more deadly than a pack of feral kids.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cYep. We\u2019ll finish them off without too much effort, I reckon,\u201d he said.<\/div>\nBoth waited patiently for the charge, ready to fight off any threat to their sleeping child.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt was one small sound that changed everything.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nClick.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe unmistakeable sound of a gun\u2019s safety mechanism being switched off.<\/div>\nIt took only seconds, no more than a few, before the Wilders had melted into the air, disappearing as stealthily as they had surrounded them.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cHello, Sis.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBrown\u2019s heart dropped; he hit the ground, knees giving out.<\/div>\nThat voice. The one he heard in his nightmares, especially since the Amex attack.<\/div>\nShe\u2019d found them.<\/div>\nBook Links<\/h2>\n
About the Author<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nWEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS<\/span><\/h2>\n
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