New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 

M’kar winced, feeling a single throb of psionic ache that she suspected had come from Thyal to her. A blurry silver image flashed in her mind’s eye and she knew what had happened. Not how, but what. Or more accurately, who.

Granny somehow knew what M’kar had been showing Thyal, and she teleported in from Anwesta to scold and lecture.

By the time Thyal reopened their link, M’kar had her theory. Infrenx had probably picked up the images from Thyal as M’kar gave them to him. She didn’t understand anything except that it had to do with other dracs. Being exposed to the hierarchy of the Academy in action every day, she had done the logical thing and went to the highest authority to explain the matter. Meaning she had gone straight to Granny, on Anwesta Medical Station, and shared the images picked up from Thyal.

Judging from the nearly fifteen minutes of silence from Thyal, M’kar guessed he had needed help calming Granny, and probably had had to make some promises to her.

Please tell me you aren’t heading for the nearest available ship to take you and her to Draxonis, she said, when she felt Thyal’s mind-call.

Nearly. I had to promise you would report regularly. She’ll have to wait for you to come back to Anwesta.

And she agreed to it?

She did. At least, as much as I can understand. How can someone with no language manage to mutter under her breath?

M’kar laughed and slouched a little against the pedestal.

I’m sure she’s planning something. If the distance weren’t so great, I’d be half-afraid she’d focus on all the dracs on the Defender and find some way to teleport herself and join you.

Please, Thyal, convince her to wait. M’kar shuddered at the mental image of Granny killing herself with the effort. Moving dozens of eggs up from Draxonis to hide them on the Defender had worn her out, and she had had help from most of her tribe. If the distance from the planet to a ship in high orbit had done that to her, the distance of numerous galaxies, with four intervening jump gates, would do more than wear out the little silver drac. It could erase her from all existence. Granny’s spirit and determination were a force to be reckoned with, but her body was frail. M’kar could only hope Granny was smart enough to realize her limits and not do something that would result in suicide.

Thyal planned to confer with Dulit and Flinders, two drac parents acting as liaisons between the drac population and the medical personnel tending the cocoons. Hopefully with the help of their dracs they could work with the older dracs on Anwesta and find some understanding of the situation with Forbidden Island. That was the best they could do.

M’kar said a quick prayer that Granny would have calmed down by the time the Defender returned to Anwesta. Then she went to her duty station to put together a formal report to send with the next message burst Genys was ready to transmit. Sometimes she wished she and Thyal didn't have to pretend they didn't have their mental link, because pretending to communicate by slower methods could sometimes be a problem and a pain. Her parents and Thyal's parents knew, and Dulit, and the Masters at the Academy, of course. The more people who knew, the greater her chances of being transferred off the Defender and turning into a long-term scientific study. She swore if that day ever came, she might just steal a ship and turn pirate, to stay free.

Off the Bookshelf: BEX CARTER #1: AUNT JEANIE'S REVENGE, by Tiffany Nicole Smith

 

Middle Grade fiction

Bex Carter series

Bex and her sister are living with Aunt Jeanie because of family problems where they can't live with their parents, or their grandmother.

Bex refers to Aunt Jeanie as "Aunt Meany," and apparently with good reason. Her aunt is constantly trying to make Bex into a girl she isn't -- and Bex is constantly getting into trouble, even when she tries to be good.

Things just get worse when Aunt Jeanie wants her to join a society for girls, called the Silver Roses. Bex is positive her aunt  has enrolled her in the Silver Roses to punish her. The girls learn to do makeup and dress  up and dancing and how to do community service. That's fine on the surface, but some of the upstanding young ladies that Aunt Jeanie wants her to learn to be like, to become friends with -- they aren't very nice girls. Bex is well aware of the irony and hypocrisy when one of the worst bullies in her grade announces that her goal in life is to stop bullying!

Through a series of misadventures and silent grumbling, Bex learns some things about herself, and even tries to do the right thing, even when it hurts. She and Aunt Jeanie both learn a few things, and their relationship might just be improving.

Love the sense of humor and accurate insight into the trials and tribulations of a girl who just wants to be left alone to be herself.

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 From Ye Olde Dragon Books

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Barroo chirped and an image of him playing tag in the air with Infrenx came through their bond.

Troublemaker wants to say hello to Infrenx.

Thyal’s chuckle felt deeper this time, wrapping around her like a hug. She says hello back. You need to convince your captain to bring the ship back here before Infrenx drives me to the breaking point, wanting to see Barroo. Visiting with the dracs up on Anwesta isn’t enough for her.

You could apply to join my ship as a consultant, she offered. A moment later, M’kar nearly slapped her hand over her own mouth. Where had that idea come from and why had she let it mentally vocalize to him?

I might do that, just to avoid all the not-so-subtle hints from some of the Masters who want to study our bond. Warning, some theorize all the tweaking your ancestors did to your Nisandrian genetics is part of why our part of the team mind-circle stayed open. I've already warned your father to make himself scarce, so they don't put a mental whammy on him and get him to agree to all sorts of tests. All right, I’m out where we won’t be interrupted. What’s the problem?

M’kar tried to make her sigh of relief entirely physical. She gathered up the images and thoughts and impressions she had semi-organized on her walk to the observation dome. Focusing, she imagined it compressed, then sent everything to Thyal. Then she settled herself to be as comfortable as she could to wait for however long was necessary.

Fascinating, he responded after only a few breaths. This negates the hoped-for proof of racial memory locked in the genetics.

Is that all you got out of my latest drac-based headache?

No. Just the first layer. I wonder if I can claim the physical and mental health of my drac as reason enough to come out there to join – Uh, sorry. Firestorm alert.

Then he was gone, entirely gone from the link.

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 

Barroo shuddered and rose up to clutch at the front of her jacket with all four paws. His eyes shifted to mostly yellow, with streaks of red. Fear. M’kar couldn’t repress a partial smile. At least her brown baby wasn’t angry with her. If anything … she thought he was afraid for her. She cuddled Barroo to comfort him.

“Face it, Junior, your mommy is a coward.”

Barroo let out an indignant snort and reared back, bracing his forepaws high on her chest, so he could look her in the eyes. M’kar tried to meet his unblinking gaze, but as usual, he always won the stare-off. Laughing quietly, she scratched down his back to the base of his tail, then from under his chin to the center of his chest. Purring, he settled down, eyes half-lidded, and gave her that sleepy, adoring look that melted her heart. She silently thanked Enlo that Barroo couldn’t speak, because then she might never be able to say no to anything he wanted to have or do.

Thyal … we have a problem. Pull out all your diplomatic skills and experience handling difficult students and their triply difficult parents.

Give me a moment. His chuckle came through their link, crossing multiple star systems and jump gates without a heartbeat of delay. You’re leaking a little bit –

I do not leak! Immediately, tension eased out of her shoulders. Leave it to Thyal to know exactly what to say.

Then how do you explain all the blurry images I’m getting before you even start talking?

She had a flash of an image of him sending his hoverchair out into the sprawl of formal gardens behind his parents’ home on Le'anka.

Fine. I’m just frazzled enough to admit to leaking. This once.

Off the Bookshelf: FAIRENDALE 1: THE TREACHEROUS SECRET, by L.R. Patton

Middle Grade fiction

"The Treacherous Secret" is more like the first chapter in a long, involved fantasy series full of magic and treachery and prophecies. I have to admire the author for the intense worldbuilding done, all the rules involved in magic.

Danger and threat are evident from the first scene!

Fairendale was a kingdom of magic and beauty, before a scheming conqueror took over and deposed the true king. The current king is even worse than his father, scheming and lying and hunting down anyone who stands in the way of keeping the throne, and ensuring his son keeps the throne.

In this magical world, people with magic can pass on their magic to one of their children, but then no longer have any magic of their own. So what do you do if you gave your magic to the wrong child, who doesn't do things or see things your way? And what if it's safe for girls to have magic, but not safe for boys to have magic? They're growing up under the watchful, paranoid eyes of the king who fears the one boy who will have magic enough to take the stolen throne from under him, or his son, who he can't give magic to no matter how he schemes and threatens.

It's enough to destroy friendships and shatter families and bring about dark, dreadful prophecies. And that's just in the first book. Prepare to keep buying each short book in the series quickly to keep the story going!

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 From Ye Olde Dragon Books

M'kar had the choice of waiting until Thyal contacted her, once the ship came through the Chute and their psionic link resumed, or contacting him to discuss the discoveries on Draxonis. She needed to question Granny and the older dracs on Anwesta about Forbidden Island, and any shared memories about the people who had once lived there. The chance of eliciting a furious firestorm from Granny was good enough reason to present the questions and images to Thyal and have him act as go-between. Get the initial uproar out of the way before the Defender reached Anwesta.

Sometimes, she was grateful for this link between their minds that seemed to defy all distances, even jump gates. Everything but Chutes. Let Thyal deal with Granny. He was certainly better equipped to handle stubborn, domineering creatures of all races, as a Le'ankan Master with all the attendant discipline training. And a healthy dose of serenity. That had certainly helped him endure his two-years-and-counting of recovering the use of his own body.

As soon as her duties for post-Chute transition status checks finished, M'kar made her way up to the observation dome for some enforced quiet and solitude, and exhaled a long, cleansing breath in the chilly, dark silence. On her shoulder, Barroo let out a soft trilling coo and nuzzled her cheek.

“Are you mad at me for asking these questions?” She found the empty equipment pedestal and settled down on the floor with her back against it.

Barroo crawled down the front of her jacket and settled on her lap, then looked up at her, big eyes blinking and glowing yellow and green. Curiosity and a little confusion. He tipped his head to the right, then to the left, let out a deep sigh, and curled up, those big eyes focused on her. 

M’kar braced herself and called up some of the images she had gathered from the coastal dracs in their fury, and the images Celeste had drawn.

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 

The various survey teams gave the equivalent of a shrug when Genys reported what the Defender had sensed and theorized out in space on the other side of the planet. They focused on two things. Finding more caches of plates. Or finding the now-dead nanites, to unravel the alien technology to determine if the destruction of their civilization had been an idiotic accident, a result of hubris, or inflicted on them by the planet Draxonis had been fighting. If the images and impressions from the dracs were interpreted correctly.

A new cache of plates found just that morning was generating excitement with Maora's team. The drawings of plants and animals and theoretical genetic code had been replaced by what might be a written language, along with diagrams of machines. Hopefully that would include the nanites. More proof of Maora's theory, that the Draxonans knew their impending doom, and the ceramic plates were their effort to preserve their knowledge.

Among the plates were more theorized genetic code and intricate, finely detailed renderings of creatures that the life sciences team could only, with caution, label dragons.

“Five species,” Boran, chief xenobiologist reported two days later. With a tap on his tablet, the file of his report appeared on the tablets of all the officers and section heads in the conference room. “We’ve studied them every way we know how and compared with the sketches Celeste and M’kar got from the dracs’ memories. Because of the size differential, we can't determine if they are precursors of dracs, if dracs came from them, or they are two different species. Dracs share characteristics with all five species but are not direct copies of any one of them.”

Asking the coastal dracs proved fruitless. They refused to have anything to do with anyone who went to Forbidden Island. They caught on that the pictures M’kar asked them about came from Forbidden Island, and refused to look. Barroo and the other dracs on the Defender spent a large portion of their time on the planet either giving their Humans sorrowful looks, or driving away the dracs who shrieked and scolded. The uninvited visitors from Draxonis had stopped popping onto the ship. The prohibition against Forbidden Island and what it contained was that strong. 

When the teacher dracs on the Defender and the remnants of Granny's tribe on Draxonis were asked about Forbidden Island and the existence of the "big ones," they knew nothing. M'kar and Brea estimated they were all young adults and adolescents. Anyone who might have knowledge gathered from other drac tribes had gone with Granny when they stowed away aboard the Defender, and were now tending cocoons on Anwesta Medical Station. M'kar and Genys did not look forward to interrogating Granny about what she might know of Forbidden Island and the "big ones." On a positive note, they had been overseeing the study of Draxonis for nearly six decs now and might never leave.

Off the Bookshelf: SOPHIE WASHINGTON: QUEEN OF THE BEE, by Tonya Duncan Ellis

 

Middle Grade fiction

Fun book, which I admit I got from Kindle to learn how to write Middle Grade fiction ... but very enjoyable just in itself!

Sophie is a very real girl, with real attitudes and reactions and problems. Her nosy, interfering, exasperating brother, and a snotty boy in class who has to be better than everyone -- and who, as she learns along the way, doesn't have it very easy at home.

Sophie wants a pet fish, but getting her dream doesn't seem very possible. Her parents have all sorts of objections, and reasons why they think she isn't ready for a pet of any kind.

Then her big-mouth brother lets everyone know about the spelling bee, and her parents want her to participate. Sophie is kind of reluctant, until the snotty boy in class lets her know she might as well give up, because HE is going to win. So she buckles down and studies and works hard and ... not going to tell you the ending, but it's satisfying, and Sophie and her brother both learn something along the way.

There are a lot more books in the Sophie Washington series. Check them out!

Off the Bookshelf: FORTUNE AND GLORY, by Janet Evanovich

 

A Stephanie Plum novel.

Tantalizing Twenty-Seven

Aarrgghh! I almost didn't read this one. When I searched for the next upcoming Stephanie Plum novel in the library, they didn't list it by the number -- usually the number is in the title. Fortunately, I saw the book in the store and realized the subtitle had the number. NOT a nice trick to pull on loyal readers.

This is another madcap Plum adventure, swinging rapidly from danger to insanity and back again, and swinging rapidly between Morelli and Ranger. Warning: Stephanie gets her hair cut and tries on a new "look." Could she finally be growing up?

The book picks up where twenty-six left off -- meaning the treasure hunt and trying to dig up the clues left by Grandma Mazur's recently departed ex-mobster new husband. And of course, there are a few crazy guys gunning for Stephanie and Grandma because they think Grandma has the missing clues. Plus the usual assortment of Lula-isms and frustrating run-ins with lunatic criminals who have broken their bond and need to be captured and returned to the authorities. Stephanie delivers what's expected, with a lot of satisfying chuckles along the way. (But honestly, haven't you learned by now that when you let Grandma drive a fancy car ... someone or something won't survive the experience?)

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 From Ye Olde Dragon Books

“What exactly is a nascent Gate alert?” she said, after discarding several responses that would have impugned Jasper's experience and intelligence.

Taggert slowly raised his hand. “It’s experimental. Something we cobbled together after a really long Brain Blast tournament,” he said with a shrug. “We’re getting some spatial anomaly readings up here, Jasper. I've been doing a search backward, and it appears to have started maybe four days ago, but the changes haven't been strong enough to register or trigger any warnings until now. The flux shifted, progressing a dozen degrees in an hour, when it was taking two days for each degree until now. Something is developing out in space, with Draxonis between it and the Chute.”

“How come the teams down on the planet haven’t noticed it or alerted us to it?” Genys said.

 “That’s easy,” Jasper said, after only a few seconds of silence.

Meanwhile, Taggert consulted his station and Genys listened for any emergencies or problems coming from the rest of the ship. She silently thanked Enlo for the efficiency of her crew, so they didn’t need her to deal with trouble right now.

“They’re looking down, focusing on the planet. They’re not watching over their heads, and they aren’t expecting anything. Kind of stupid, if you think about it,” he added, his voice softening.

Taggert grinned and one eyebrow cocked upward so high it would have vanished into his hair, if he had any.

“And we noticed it because?” she prompted.

“We’re constantly looking,” Taggert said.

“Why a nascent Gate?” she had to know. “Nobody knows what a nascent Gate would look or sound like or the energies it would give off. We don’t know what an actual, functioning Gate sounds or looks or feels or tastes like.” She had to fight to keep her voice down at the end of that statement.

“Stories,” Jasper said with a chuckle. “We set up our criteria based on all the legends of Gates and all the theorizing over the years. Even if it isn’t a Gate, and even if the Gatekeepers aren’t about to burst out and tell us it’s about time we showed up … something is happening out there.”

“Oh, joy…” Genys whispered.

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 

"Captain to the bridge." Gate Team Head Taggert broke into Genys' morning workout in the simulator. “Ma'am, I'd like to report a spatial anomaly.”

She barely refrained from asking, "How can there be another spatial anomaly with a Chute so close?" What she understood of Gates and Chutes, it was impossible for any other anomalies to form close enough to the Draxonis Chute for the Defender's sensors to catch it. Simply put, Chutes sucked up all the energies for several light years around and in a sense yanked all the tangled energy lines straight, preventing other anomalies.

"What kind? Where?" she said, after pausing a few seconds to consider different questions that wouldn't imply Taggert had just suffered a lapse of some kind. She mentally shrugged and chose to head for the bridge in her workout clothes.

"Haven't exactly located it yet. I'm just getting readings."

"On my way."

The bridge was quiet, everyone focused on their stations, when Genys hurried through the lift doors ten minutes later.

"Update?" she said, crossing over to Taggert's station.

“Can’t exactly pinpoint it.” Taggert’s nose gave the characteristic rabbit-like twitch that indicated excitement, not fear. One good point Genys was glad to note. “Readings put it almost equally distant from Draxonis, on the other side of the planet, nearly on a straight line …” He shook his shaved, ebony head three times before looking up from his station. “It’s something out of legend.”

“Legend.” Genys fought a dropping-twisting-nauseated sensation. She always associated the word “legend” with Captain Shryne of the Inquest. Granted, the woman was a hero to a large portion of the Fleet and the Alliance, but "legend" now also implied darker, dangerous tendencies that quite frankly verged on insane and suicidal, thanks to Captain Shryne and her adventures.

“Does somebody up there want to tell me why we’re getting a nascent Gate alert down here?” Jasper called from Engineering. 

Genys shook her head, never breaking eye contact with Taggert. She swallowed hard and sorted through several dozen responses. Just the fact Jasper was calling up to her was startling. Jasper never called her with a question or problem. He dealt with it, and she never knew there was a problem until after the fact. After he lectured whoever of his engineering geniuses hadn’t been genius enough to deal with it before he had to deal with it.

Off the Book Shelf: THE DRAGON SQUISHER, by Scott McCormick

 

Audible, Audible Original

Warning: this is a Tolkein parody like no parody I've ever heard before. Not that I've actually listened to or read all that many, but ... *snort* *giggle* *groan*

Poor Nigel, the guy who wants so much to be popular and successful with the girls and impress people, with a smart mouth and a talent for making all the wrong choices. He finally messes up so badly he gets sent off to military school. One bright spot: he's finally getting away from too-perfect Lance .... but Lance who was there and participated in the prank that went so terribly wrong, so everybody in their village hates Nigel ... he turns himself in, essentially volunteering to spend the rest of his life in the military. With Nigel. They're surrounded by drill sergeants who hate them and idiots and clueless commanders. Then war with the Gorks is declared. Nigel has been working so hard to get himself thrown out of military school, so he doesn't have to go to war ... and just when he isn't trying, he messes up so bad he and Lance get banished. And sent on a quest that makes no sense.

Why do I say it's a parody of Tolkein? Well, there are the magical panties (9 rings of power), the Cufflinks of Doom (one ring to rule them all), Lord Smoron (Sauron), and the enormous sniffing nose in the void that keeps getting closer every time Nigel uses the amulet of power (the Eye of Sauron). Oh yeah, and a Halfling named Elbow, who went on an epic quest 2,000 years ago ... but if Nigel and Lance and their Gork ally, Eldrack, have anything to do with it, the quest will never have happened ... maybe.

Not bad for a trio of fourteen-year-olds. What kind of trouble will they get into next?

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

From Ye Olde Dragon Books

Captain's Log

Draxonis Survey Mission: Day 45

Chief Engineer Lore has discovered nanites at the core of the probe malfunctions. As theorized, once he located the proper frequency, he sent the shut-down command. The probes can now carry out their functions.

Addendums Drax-31-101, -102, -104, -106, and -111 contain all the scientific analyses and sociological theorizing resulting from the cascade of discoveries once our teams were able to cross the strait and set foot on Continent Drax-02.

This required half a day of negotiations between Chief of Talents Lt. M'kar and the local drac population. It appears several tribes of dracs have the task of keeping all life forms from crossing the strait to the next continent. After condensing the impressions received, the continent is now called Forbidden Island. Special commendation to Lt. M'kar for the physical strain from being overwhelmed by forty-some-odd infuriated, panicking dracs.

Base theory: there was once an advanced civilization on Draxonis. Whether they were limited to Forbidden Island, or they retreated there as their civilization decayed, we have yet to determine. The nanites appear to have just one function: to kill all technology. Destroy programming, then take apart any synthesized or processed materials. This explains why preliminary scans of the planet's surface revealed no signs of civilization. No manufactured compounds. No machines of any kind. No signs Humans ever lived here, other than caches of ceramic plates, unofficially labeled libraries by the sociologists.

We are fortunate, protected by Enlo, that it appears no nanites migrated off of Forbidden Island. Otherwise the Corona might have been infected and brought the nanites back to the Alliance on their first trip, and spread who knows where or how long, until someone came up with a solution.

Lt. Cmdr. Sociologist Maora theorizes the civilization knew what was happening to them, and they recorded what they could in a material not targeted by the nanites. Whether this was in the hope they could rebuild their civilization someday, or as a warning for their descendants, we can only theorize.

New Book! HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS, AFV Defender, Book 2

 Releasing TODAY in print and ebook:

From Ye Olde Dragon Books

Dracs: the gift that keeps giving. And making life very interesting for the crew of the AFV Defender.

 

A spatial anomaly near the drac homeworld, a forbidden island, and signs of a civilization that self-destructed are just the tip of the iceberg. When spoiled brat Ambassador Vitiarre's plot to get his hands on dracs is foiled, he sets out to make trouble for the Defender, and especially Chief of Talents M'kar. His long-standing feud with her father, Ashrock, just makes everything worse.

Then a new Chute opens up near the drac homeworld, leading to a planet with dragons in its legends. Despite no dragons present on the planet now, Vitiarre breaks regulations to invade and claim his own dragon. His schemes lead to the Defender being sent to mend the trouble he made with the matriarchal society of Castitarus.

 

The misfit luck of the Defender is hard at work. Male crew are kidnapped. The dracs develop allergies. Female officers are offered diplomatic gifts of men. And the crew race to find a cure for a disease that turns grown men into children -- starting with Security Chief Decker, and Ashrock.

 

A typical mission for the crew of the AFV Defender.

 

Off the Bookshelf: THE SODA POP WARS, Iggy & Oz, by J.J. Johnson

 

Middle Grade

Fun, silly, tongue-in-cheek adventures with two brothers in a slightly strange neighborhood -- complicated by their efforts to save the world without their parents finding out and grounding them.

At least, that's my interpretation of the fast-moving adventure. I've read J.J. Johnson before, more adult, still tongue-in-cheek -- with a hero (Mercury) who is mentioned by the brothers in the course of the story. 

The brothers are still recovering from their previous adventure dealing with toy dinosaurs that came to life. This time, the same strange old house that delivered the first problem has dumped something new on the neighborhood -- a soda pop machine that dispenses bottles with bizarre flavors and temporary superpowers. Some are kinda gross, and some unfortunately let the neighborhood bully be even meaner to the smaller kids at school. Well, what are our heroes going to do, when they find out their arch nemesis has access to his own soda pop superpowers? They have to get the bottles away from him. Easier said than done, when the girl of Iggy's dreams seems to be about to have a date with the bully, and they have to keep their parents from finding out that the world is in danger once again.

Lots of fun and a fast read. Take a break from the current nastiness, stupidity and angst in the so-called real world, and visit with Iggy and Oz and their friends.

New Release Sample: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

 "It's not like you can't handle something like that with your sports reporting and copy editing," Harry offered.

"Someone else is doing the sports reporting. Big-shot new owner has a whole staff to cover four counties, so he doesn't want to inconvenience poor little me. Make me go to sporting events where I might be so depressed, seeing all those athletes in action while confined to my wheelchair. Can we say Tiny Tim syndrome?"

"So… Are we going to get any new material about the boss from h-e-double-hockey-sticks?" he murmured, and very carefully didn't look at me.

"You might. If I don't invest in voodoo dolls or a Mafia contract, first." I caught sight of the Golden Arches too late to get into the curb lane to pull in. The guys didn't seem to notice.

"So the bozo took away your sports column. Not a smart move. Having you write romantic advice is like—" Pete snickered and slid over in his seat, to protect his knees.

"Like having me for a track coach? I've been a track coach. And even though I haven't had a date since… Okay, longer than I want to remember. I can still give advice to idiots who think a stranger can help them when they can't seem to find their common sense with both hands!" I narrowly missed pounding the horn, sparing the guy in the rustbucket Ford in front of us a heart attack.

"So tell us what you really think." Harry dug in his pocket for his phone. "Mancuso's for pickup?"

"You got it. The usual, please."

Now that I had gotten the bad news out in the open, and the guys gave me their usual teasing sympathy, my appetite was coming back. Extra-thick pizza, onions, olives, marinara sauce and garlic, with cheesecake on the side. It might not give me a good night's sleep, but it would go a long way toward soothing the ache in my soul.

I had a good record on the track and on the basketball court in high school and college, and had proven myself as a part-time sports stringer for the Tattler. It hadn't been pity that prompted Conrad Severidge to give me the sports beat. Or let me keep it after I turned my back into modern art. I had proven myself. (Okay, it also helped that I introduced him to his wife. And let him marry her. Hey, she was my college roommate.) So why did it look like pity in Daniel Sheridan's eyes, when he gave me my unwanted new assignment?

I wanted to strangle someone. I wanted to leave tire tracks up the back of his designer suit and skid marks across his too-handsome face. I entertained myself with thoughts of what Felicity and Kurt could do to make Sheridan's life miserable, once they found out about this afternoon's development. A certain rich boy might soon find himself in some pretty unhappy, peculiar, embarrassing situations. It was good to have friends who knew what would make me happy, even though I didn't have the guts to defy how my parents raised me and do it for myself.

Amazing what having friends and a good pizza could do to make the world a friendlier place.

New Release Sample: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

 

The problem with living in a small town like Neighborlee (besides the rotten name for the high school sports teams, because who really wants to win when you're named after a fish?) is that chances were good you worked with relatives. Harry's contract to pick up papers from the big printing plant over in Valleyview meant he was in and out of the office a dozen times a week. He was there when Conrad raved about my story on the Neighborlee Pikes and announced it had already been picked up on the wire by a few national magazines.

He wasn't there when Mrs. Sloane and Sheridan invaded the office and rearranged our lives.

"You're looking at the new writer of the Talk to Terry column." I concentrated on pulling out of the parking lot into the dwindling traffic around the club. "You guys want to stop at Mac's on the way home?"

"Uh oh. It's the junk food defense," Pete sing-songed. He ducked before I could consider reaching back between the seats to slap him, so I didn't try. Besides, I was driving.

"So that's not a good thing? Never heard of it, but it sounds like a gossip column or something. Conrad's adding it to the paper?" Harry said.

"The column runs in four papers and is being added to eight, including ours. We have a new owner." No way was I going to say the name of the Evil Overlord and pollute the interior of my beloved Jeep. "We're getting lumped together with all the other papers he just bought, and a bunch of the columns are getting picked up in all the papers."

"So, Terry, what do you write about?" Harry leaned into the door on his side of the Jeep and turned sideways to grin at me as we reached a red light.

"It's mostly an advice column." I swallowed hard and wished I had a big can of ginger ale to wash the bad taste out of my mouth and settle my stomach. "Mostly lovelorn junk."

"Ick. Gross. Mental deterioration of the—" Pete ended on a yelp as my fist connected with his knee. My radar worked as faithfully as always, letting me swing back between the seats without looking. His leg jerked, hitting the back of Harry's seat. Two birds with one wallop.

Off the Bookshelf: FORSAKEN ISLAND, by Sharon Hinck

 

The Dancing Realms, Book 2

Ever feel sometimes like life itself conspires to keep you from getting back to a book you really, really want to read? <G>

That's what happened with this book. So many projects, so many deadlines, and when I keep promising myself I will spend Sundays just reading, nothing else ... *sigh* ... projects pop up or I'm wiped out and spend the afternoon snoozing.

As always, Sharon delivers an engrossing, utterly believable slice of fantasy. Her worldbuilding is incredible, and I just want to sit down with her and listen to her talk about how she came up with the Dancing Realms, what research she did, how she figured out the physics of this world of sweet, citrus sea water and floating islands and starshowers and ... wow.

On the heels of the monumental task of essentially remaking the society of their world of Meriel, Carya and Brantley have a new challenge -- another floating island/world has appeared on the horizon. With the people of Meriel desperately in need of food as they repair the damages done by the Order, the two cross the water to explore and obtain supplies and make contact with whoever might be living there. Before they know it, they are trapped -- the plants themselves have closed up and formed a wall to keep them from getting back to the water. 

As they explore and meet the people and navigate the disturbing patterns and rules and expectations of the different colored villages, each one named for a different color of starshower, Carya and Brantley learn the awful truth, the deception and enslavement that have overtaken the people. It could cost them their lives, and their growing love for each other, if their faith in the Maker falters.

Read this slowly, to savor every detail -- but make sure you have big chunks of time, so life doesn't keep getting in the way and stopping you from reading.  Congratulations on the 2020 Christy Award, Visionary, for Hidden Current (Book 1) Sharon!

New Release Sample: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

 "Yeah, problem," Pete said, as he gave the windshield wiper blades one last thud to clear ice off them. He stuck his tongue out at me for good measure.

I sighed for the good old days, when I could talk him into putting his tongue on icy metal.

"What makes you guys think—"

"You can't lie to us," Harry said. "Something was off when you picked us up to head here, but we both thought it was just you gearing up for tonight. What let the air out of your tires?"

"Yeah, and don't try giving us some fake story," Pete added as he got into the back seat. "We aren't living lie detectors like you—"

"That's on the fritz, remember?" I crossed my eyes at him in the rearview mirror.

Truthfully, that particular talent usually meant getting an image in my head that contradicted what the person said, and always needed interpretation. I would have preferred to be invincible. Flying and the ability to bounce off walls and have bullets bounce off me just sort of seemed to belong together. Obviously, given my permanent four-wheel-drive situation, God hadn't made me bulletproof. There was a reason. There had to be a reason. I just hadn't discovered it yet.

Such thoughts didn't help me now, when my brothers were gearing up to grill me on why I wasn't still high on satisfaction after my successful comedy gig. That, and the relief of escaping the horrors of the after-Thanksgiving shopping crush with Felicity.

"I thought you were happy the Pikes smeared the Bulldogs," Harry added. "When I stopped in the office this afternoon, Conrad said your take on the whole season was the best thing you've ever written. So what happened at work after I left?"

New Release Sample: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

 

The high of a successful gig stayed with me for nearly an hour. Ramon paid me and asked me to come back on alternating Friday and Saturday nights starting in January. That was good. When I hesitated, thinking of my wheelchair basketball schedule, he added a share of the entry fee to the pot. When I explained that I might have basketball games on Friday and Saturday nights, he got that stunned, jaw-dropping look on his face that I loved to inspire in people. Why did they find it so hard to visualize a woman playing basketball in a wheelchair? The Ezekiel's Wheels, my team, wasn't as popular as the Cavaliers, and we certainly didn't make the money they did, but we had a loyal following. We got in the papers. Not the front page, though. I wondered if I would have to bring my scrapbook or one of our league trophies to my next gig, to prove my athletic tendencies. Then Ramon shrugged and said we could schedule around my games. As long as I got on stage by nine, that was fine with him. That worked for me.

Too bad the comedy scene in northern Ohio was almost as depressed as I felt after getting my sports beat taken away. Otherwise, I might have been tempted to quit my day job and pursue comedy.

Remembering the bomb that hit me that afternoon succeeded in dragging my spirits down as the boys and I crossed the slushy back parking lot to my Jeep. I got into the front seat while Pete took care of cleaning the windows of the crusty slush that had accumulated while we were indoors. Harry got my chair into the back of the Jeep.

"Okay, Lanie, what's the problem?" Harry's demand was accented by the thud of the hatch closing.

"Problem?" I fluttered my eyelashes at him as he slid into the front passenger seat. Anybody who didn’t know us might have thought I was flirting with this gorgeous Latina guy—who was seven years younger than me. Harry was my brother. Didn’t matter if all three of us were adopted, we were tighter than blood.

Goodreads Giveaway!!!

 Want to win a FREE book?

In anticipation of the release of HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS, AFV Defender Book 2, you can now enter a giveaway on Goodreads for Book 1: FRIENDLY FIRE.

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/314954-friendly-fire-afv-defender-book-1

#1 Friendly Fire

Captain Genys Arroyan has a problem with her shiny new command -- the dregs of the universe are laughing.

While the Defender is in spacedock, getting upgrades, Genys has to deal with mind-hunters and farting fur balls, merchants-of-insanity and diplomatic intrigue. Her Chief of Talents is hiding from forced matrimony and her new crewmembers aren't too happy to be

transferred to the Nanny Ship.

Then she finds out that the insectoid Hivers have a taste for the brains of the children of her crew. Falling through a Chute to another galaxy might turn out to be a good thing, even if dangerous.

A rescue mission turns into a battle to save a race of miniature dragons from genocide. They might just be sentient -- but more important, dracs could turn out to be the defensive weapon the Alliance needs against the Hiver threat. Genys and her crew could end up breaking dozens of regulations in the quest to save dracs and maybe the Human race.  Just how much trouble could teleporting, fire-breathing creatures with the personalities of four-year-olds cause on board a military vessel?

The misfit luck of the AFV Defender might finally be running out.

#2 Here There Were Dragons 

Dracs: the gift that keeps giving. And making life very interesting for the crew of the AFV Defender.

A spatial anomaly near the drac homeworld, a forbidden island, and signs of a civilization that self-destructed are just the tip of the iceberg. When spoiled brat Ambassador Vitiarre's plot to get his hands on dracs is foiled, he sets out to make trouble for the Defender, and especially Chief of Talents M'kar. His long-standing feud with her father, Ashrock, just makes everything worse.

Then a new Chute opens up near the drac homeworld, leading to a planet with dragons in its legends. Despite no dragons present on the planet now, Vitiarre breaks regulations to invade and claim his own dragon. His schemes lead to the Defender being sent to mend the trouble he made with the matriarchal society of Castitarus.

The misfit luck of the Defender is hard at work. Male crew are kidnapped. The dracs develop allergies. Female officers are offered diplomatic gifts of men. And the crew race to find a cure for a disease that turns grown men into children -- starting with Security Chief Decker, and Ashrock.

A typical mission for the crew of the AFV Defender.

New Release Sample: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

 The comedy club audience inhaled on cue, a packed house, with the suction power that rivaled my super-duper-deluxe vacuum cleaner when it was brand new. Too bad I couldn't harness all that sucking power and turn it into profit. I needed some extra money, with Christmas approaching. And wanting to quit my job.

The guys fumbled and stammered and basically got in my way as I climbed back into my chair. Thank goodness for upper-body strength developed from years of pushing my own chair everywhere in town. The boys were useless, thanks to stage fright.

In those few seconds when my misspent life flashed before my eyes, the most dominant thought was, "Someone is definitely out to get me." In the last couple of weeks, I'd had two flat tires, a dozen prank calls at the office, and just as many middle-of-the-night hang-up calls on my cell phone and the landline at home. And now someone had stolen the ramp up onto the stage. What else was I supposed to think?

Someone was out to get me!

The silence, once the guys stepped out of the spotlight, was profound enough to hear a pin drop from across the street. Without super hearing. This was the type of moment in a struggling performer's career when you either called it a night, permanently, or you took the equivalent of a bloodbath on the next smart-alec line that popped out between your teeth. I flashed those bug-eyed, horrified people my best Pac-Man grin, buying a few seconds to think.

I swear, the only inspiration that came to me was Kermit's line from The Muppet Movie.

"I hope you all appreciate the fact that I do my own stunts."

Silence.

Oh…heck. What I wouldn't give for the power of invisibility, or to turn time backwards a whole day.