Off the Bookshelf: LEVERAGE IN DEATH, J.D. Robb

Is there anything better than getting a new book in a favorite series the DAY it officially releases?
How about not having to pay the hardback price? Thank you, Cuyahoga County Public Library system, and being able to order books online!
I ordered the physical book this time, instead of reserving an ebook of the latest In Death book -- the adventures of futuristic homicide cop Eve Dallas.

Is there anything more despicable than an emotionally stunted jerk who's out to punish the world because he decided he was cheated in childhood, and happy little families don't deserve to be happy? And if he can make a profit out of it while he's getting some payback, he should? How about two of these selfish bozos? How about, after threatening people with the torture and death of their loved ones, to make them commit horrible crimes, they turn around and say they were only bluffing, that their victims chose to do what they did, that they're to blame because they didn't call the bluff?

Go get 'em, Dallas, and lock the scumbuzzards up for a couple dozen consecutive life sentences.

As always, the tightly knit plot and search for creepazoid killers takes a close second place to the interaction of the characters and their personal lives, their affection for each other, their teamwork -- and of course, Dallas' continuing bafflement when it comes to things like fashion and pop culture and idiomatic phrases. *sigh* I was in agony whenever I had to put the book down to work and earn a living.

So, when does the next book come out?

Catching Up

This morning's Verse of the Day from my devotions/Bible reading app.

Hard to believe September is almost over!

Tonight is Homecoming at my alma mater, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. Go, Royals!! If you're going to be there, either for the game or just to catch up with alumni, or you're a student or parent, hope to meet up with you. I'll be in the alumni tent and helping with cleanup. You have got to check out the great carnival set up for kids of all ages, and the food trucks and goodies provided by and for alumni.

Incredible developments over the last few months. Some of you probably heard, and others probably haven't: Desert Breeze Publishing, which did my Tabor Heights, Quarry Hall, and Guardians of the Time Stream series .... has closed its doors. All of those books (39 total) are off the market ... but only temporarily. I am turning over Tabor Heights and Quarry Hall and my SFR books, Blue Fire and Starblue to Writers Exchange of Australia. I will be re-releasing the Guardians of the Time Stream series through the new small press, Mt. Zion Ridge Press, starting in spring of 2019.

In fact ... I'm one of the founders of Mt. Zion Ridge Press. Check us out! https://mtzionridgepress.wixsite.com/mtzionridgepress

We have 2 books so far, and are gearing up to release our third late fall, with lots more slated for the next year. Right now we're re-releasing our orphaned DBP books, but we're going to be sending out invitations soon for people to submit for a Christmas anthology for 2019, and then late in 2019 we'll be opening the door for submissions. More on that later -- check out the MZRP site for details.

Here's the cover of our first book, available in paper and ebook. FROM THE LAKE TO THE RIVER: Buckeye Christian Fiction Authors 2018 Anthology. Very proud of this anthology that offers a lot of bite-sized stories for different tastes, genres, and time periods -- all set in Ohio!

If you're going to be in Troy next Saturday, October 6, PLEASE STOP IN at Around About Books, on W. Main Street, right off the center of town -- if you find the roundabout, you're close! I will be there with most of the authors participating in this anthology for a book release and booksigning. It'll be great fun! Check out Around About Books' website for more details.

Feature: BY FIRE AND STARS, Chorillan Cycle, Commonwealth Universe

SF from Writers Exchange:

Vidan was again reaching out to the stars: sadder and wiser... and cautious, unwilling to repeat the mistakes of the ancestors. The Commonwealth was born, reaching out to lost colonies and establishing new ones, rediscovering lost technology and how to navigate the star-ways. Many of the lost colonies not only survived but thrived--and they remembered their abandonment and the harsh centuries of the Downfall...

Lucas Aidan, Kay'li Fieran's childhood friend, faces the greatest fear of children born on Chorillan: Phase. His family tries to hide his condition and ease his torment during the worst part of the illness, but when tragedy strikes he flees into the wilderness. He learns to survive, guarded by Azuli and learning the secrets of the Wildlings who never returned from Phase.

When he is captured and brought back to civilization years later, he is a figure of legend, a leader for all Wildlings, and someone the corrupt government of Chorillan would do well to fear.

AVENGER: Star Trek Fan Fiction, Chapter 4

For your reading pleasure.

Now appearing on Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/617013411-avenger-a-star-trek-fan-novel-avenger-chapter-4

Feature: SCOUTS; PRIDE, Chorillan Cycle, Commonwealth Universe

SF from Writers Exchange:

Vidan was again reaching out to the stars: sadder and wiser...and cautious, unwilling to repeat the mistakes of the ancestors. The Commonwealth was born, reaching out to lost colonies and establishing new ones, rediscovering lost technology and how to navigate the star-ways. Many of the lost colonies not only survived but thrived--and they remembered their abandonment and the harsh centuries of the Downfall...

When Miranda dies of the same degenerative disease that killed her father, Ian and their daughter, Kay'li, flee Chorillan to keep Miranda's powerful family from taking the child away from him. Ian returns to the Scout Corps, and Kay'li grows up on board the Leaper ship, Estal'es'cai, seeing first-hand the requirements and the price of true heroism.

Feature: AZULI EYES, Chorillan Cycle, Commonwealth Universe

SF from Writers Exchange:

Vidan was again reaching out to the stars: sadder and wiser... and cautious, unwilling to repeat the mistakes of the ancestors. The Commonwealth was born, reaching out to lost colonies and establishing new ones, rediscovering lost technology and how to navigate the star-ways. Many of the lost colonies not only survived but thrived--and they remembered their abandonment and the harsh centuries of the Downfall...

Scout Captain Ian Fieran cleans up operations after battling a Gen'gineer team that attacked and decimated a small colony. The crime of the colonists? Their genetics didn't suit the exacting standards of the Gen'gineers, who continue the dogma and goal of the Set'ri from centuries ago in their attempt to create the "perfect" Human genome. Captured data leads Ian and his team of Scouts across the galaxy to the Rim colony world of Chorillan, where they hope to track down a Gen'gineer nest.

At the same time, Miranda Riallon, a schoolteacher and daughter of very important members of the Colony Council, worries about one of her students. The boy is an orphan, and she wants to adopt him. However, Ranny shows all the signs of going into Phase--the sensory overload that hits some children near adolescence. No one knows what causes Phase, and there's no known cure. Some fear that the Azuli--sentient canines native to Chorillan--are stealing the children when they escape into the wilderness to ease their discomfort. When Ranny vanishes, Miranda heads into the forests of Chorillan to find him.

She meets Ian and his Scouts. They help her look for Ranny while she helps them hunt down the Gen'gineers. As each side educates the other, they come to a partnership, then friendship. The choices Ian and Miranda make during their hunt will change Chorillan for generations to come.

Off the Bookshelf: COILED, by H.L. Burke

There's been some excitement in the fantasy community over this book -- and well deserved!!

I heard the story talked about on various podcasts and on different Facebook groups, so I was pretty confident buying it.

COILED is lovely.

The simplest description is a re-telling of the Psyche and Cupid legend, and yet .... can I say WOW?

Laidra and her sister, and Calen and his brother are twins -- and more than that, both sets of twins are cursed at birth with what is called a mirror curse. And yet it's not the same curse in that the effects are not the same between both sets of twins. Laidra and Calen, our heroes, are considered the monsters .... and yet that is only physical. The personalities of their twins are truly the "monsters" in the story, and what their parents do to each other, to their children, and the lengths they go to try to break the curse and cure their children ... heartbreaking. And infuriating. I just wanted to reach through the screen and slap some of them. Don't get me started on the creep who put the curse on the innocent babies.

How enthralling is this story? I picked it up late at night, planning to read a couple chapters ... and finally stopped about 2am with dry eyes and about 20 percent of the book left to go. I would have finished it that night/morning, but I needed to get some sleep!

Take my advice and put aside a big chunk of time so you can read from cover to cover. You'll be glad you did.

AVENGER: Star Trek Fan Fiction, Chapter 3

For your reading pleasure.

Now appearing on Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/617012885-avenger-a-star-trek-fan-novel-avenger-chapter-3

Feature: TAKSEARHE, Wildvine Book 6

Fantasy from Writers Exchange:

In multiple worlds, universes and dimensions of reality, there are tales of Hub Worlds where many different realms can meet and intersect. Some travel between worlds through the power of the mind and with Talents born into the blood, while others are chosen through vision and prophecy and step between worlds with the power of talismans. None can go to the others' worlds, except when they meet in a Hub World.

Wildvine County, somewhere in the United States, is that pivotal point where the travelers from multiple worlds and universes meet.

Bree has lived with the burden of knowing she's born to be a Taksearhe, the highest level of strength among all the Talents, with the ability to travel between worlds. Yet childhood trauma has blocked her gifts. She knows she travels to other worlds in her dreams yet can't remember where she went or how when she wakes up. The exiles from Rehdonna are depending on her, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to learn what's going on in her brain and dreams to awaken her gifts.

When she joins a dream and sleep study program at Lyndvale University, she's relieved when Dr. Harland, the man her mother is dating, takes her under his wing to protect and guide her. With the help of her roommates and then contacts in other worlds, she learns to awaken and control her gift, but not before she attracts the attention of evil forces that want to use her to open the doorway to Earth.

Bree's wishes come true, but the cost if she takes just one wrong step could deprive her of friends, her heritage, and the soulmate who's reached out to her from another world.

Off the Bookshelf: The JOY SPARTAN Series, by Ruth I Johnson

I remember reading and enjoying these books in the church library when I was in junior high. Funny, but they're almost as old as me ....

Joy Spartan is a PK -- preacher's kid -- in the 60s. A simpler age (allegedly), but still just as uncomfortable and demanding and frustrating and embarrassing for a pre-teen even without the demands of social media. Yeah, everyone still managed to watch every move a PK made, even without the help of the Internet.

Joy and her twin brother Roy got in trouble  with the stuffed shirts at church, as well as with peer pressure and normal problems that still plague kids today. Along the way, they solved a few mysteries and helped straighten out a few troublemakers, and even faced an escaped convict. Being a PK, she got more than her fair share of Bible verses flung at her, but I think she still turned out okay. Read these books for a bit of nostalgia, and share them with your kids, who might just find a trip to the deep dark distant pre-Internet past fascinating.

Joy Spartan of Parsonage Hill
Joy Spartan and Her Problem Twin
Joy Spartan and the Vacation Mix-Up
Joy Spartan and the Money Mix-Up
Joy Spartan and the Mystery in Room 7