Holoddities #3

Continuing the Weird Christmas Traditions for your entertainment.

 Kallikantzaroi

• Latvia: A group of "mummers" travel from house to house where they are given a treat in return for their blessing. This sounds more like Halloween to me.
• Guatemala: Folks sweep out their houses and put all the dirt in a communal pile with an effigy devil on top which is then burned. This must be an "out with the evil" gesture.
• Cuba: Every December, Cuban city Remedios hosts the Parrandas Festival. The city splits in half, with each side building the biggest, baddest, fanciest light sculpture display ever. My husband does this by himself every year. No competition so far.
• Bavaria: Bavarian Highlanders dressed in lederhosen fire mortars into the air. Sure, why not? 
• Greece: The evil goblins, the Kallikantzaroi, lurk in the depths of the earth until Christmas Eve, when they spring up to create havoc. I wonder if anybody has seen this. It seems it'd be a great tourist draw.
• Slovakia: The most senior man of the house takes a spoonful of loksa pudding and flings it to the ceiling. The more that sticks, the better. What is it with weird things to do with pudding?
• Japan: Christmas cards are also a Japanese tradition, but they never ever are red. Red, of course, is the color for funerals. I suppose that means the cards could have lots of black, making them dual purpose for Halloween as well.
• Canada: The Canadian postal service recognizes the address "SANTA CLAUS, THE NORTH POLE, CANADA HO HO HO." Letters addressed this way are opened and replied to by the well-known Royal Canadian Mounted Elves.
• Finland: Holiday cards have tributes to the dearly departed. Finnish Cemeteries are lit with Christmas lights, making them a lovely sight on Christmas night.
• Iceland: The kids leave a shoe on their windowsill for the 12 Days of Christmas. Each night, some Finnish elves fill the shoes with candy and other goodies. I like the Finnish elves. They're a generous lot.
• England: Stockings are hung by the chimney with care with hopes St. Nicholas doesn't just leave a lump of coal.
• South Africa: A little rotter named Danny ate all of Santa's cookies, the legend goes. Granny wasn't happy about this and killed Danny for being a greedy little punk. This is far worse than getting a lump of coal.
• United States: In many cities, the Running of the Santas, draws a large crowd of spectators as the Santas rush from pub to bar to tavern getting as drunk as they can on the free drinks provided by the owners of the establishments. Of course, they sell a lot of drinks to the folks who want to watch the Santas get smashed.

That's all the weird stuff I have for now. If I find more, I'll most certainly add it to the lists. In the meantime, consider books as the perfect gift for any friend or member of the family.

How about some Science Fiction? These two books have the same plot. One is not the sequel of the other. Here's the difference: Ultimate Duty is R-rated and has some additional space battle scenes. First Duty is PG if you're looking for the same fantastic plot but without the sex.

Ultimate Duty $3.99 at Amazon, $8.19 Print, Audiobook at Audible $19.95 or free with subscription.

and First Duty $2.99 at Amazon, $8.99 Print, $13.08 or Audiobook at Audible or free with subscription to Audible.com

FYI: Tall, redheaded heroines kick ass. 

Yes, they do. But mostly only in fantasy and science fiction. When I wrote a redheaded heroine in my books "First Duty" and "Ultimate Duty," I used as my model a real-life person I had known years ago. She was a natural redhead, close to 6' tall (and more in her Frye boots), and she kicked every single ass while barely moving a muscle.

ULTIMATE DUTY:  A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

Facing a life of drudgery on a repressive factory planet, Remy Belieux longs to escape. Her only option for release is to enlist in the Space Service, becoming a soldier for her own world’s oppressors.

She receives her first assignment: guarding a charismatic rebel leader being transported to a prison planet. When rebel troops surprise them, Remy fails to thwart the ambush. Despite a commendation from her Captain, she feels she must redeem herself by recapturing the handsome fugitive.

Shocked by what she learns during the pursuit–her own family’s past involvement in the rebellion–Remy faces a dilemma: remain loyal to the oath she swore as a soldier or join the rebel cause and condemn herself to a death sentence for treason. What is her ULTIMATE DUTY?

FIRST DUTY: Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life.

When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. 

Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds. What is her FIRST DUTY?

SciFi Kickass Heroines

Most of my books are fantasies suitable for middle-grade and older kids. I also delve into other genres. If you like Science Fiction, you might enjoy one of these books. They are essentially the same plot, but "First Duty" is a nice PG-rating, while "Ultimate Duty" has adult material. Not erotica by any means, but stuff you could watch on British TV.

Free at Smashwords (you need a .MOBI file for Kindle, .EPUB for B&N Nook, .PDF is for Acrobat reader):
First Duty
Ultimate Duty

Both of these books are also available in audio format. Ask for a coupon code to get either for free. How do you ask for the freebie? Send me an email at mgdasef@gmail.com - Specify which book you want and someplace I can send you the code. Replying to your email would be easiest for both of us.

Tall, redheaded heroines kick ass. 

Yes, they do. But mostly only in fantasy and science fiction. When I wrote a redheaded heroine in my books "First Duty" and "Ultimate Duty," I used as my model a real-life person I had known years ago. She was a natural redhead, close to 6' tall (and more in her Frye boots), and she kicked every single ass while barely moving a muscle.

ULTIMATE DUTY:  A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

Facing a life of drudgery on a repressive factory planet, Remy Belieux longs to escape. Her only option for release is to enlist in the Space Service, becoming a soldier for her own world’s oppressors.

She receives her first assignment: guarding a charismatic rebel leader being transported to a prison planet. When rebel troops surprise them, Remy fails to thwart the ambush. Despite a commendation from her Captain, she feels she must redeem herself by recapturing the handsome fugitive.

Shocked by what she learns during the pursuit–her own family’s past involvement in the rebellion–Remy faces a dilemma: remain loyal to the oath she swore as a soldier or join the rebel cause and condemn herself to a death sentence for treason. What is her ULTIMATE DUTY?

FIRST DUTY: Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life.

When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. 

Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds. What is her FIRST DUTY?

FREAKY FREEBIE FEBRUARY - WEEK 3

I'm setting some of my books free! Let them run like the wind!!!! Right onto your Kindle. There are a few books that appear to not like the corral that is KDP Select (e.g., sell only from Amazon). Since they don't sell, I'll just give them away. They'll still be on Kindle, but after their KDP Selection expiration, they will become available in other formats (EPUB, PDF) and will spread further afield to places like Barnes and Nobel, Kobo, and a bunch of independent distributors where they will be pirated and put up on a Chinese website. They're all out there somewhere, so it makes little difference.

Did you miss the first two weeks? That's okay, there's plenty more where that came from.

FEBRUARY 14TH, 21ST, 28TH - MISSING, ASSUMED DEAD

February 15th - 19th

Mixed Bag - Short Story Collection

The same as Mixed Bag II, but without the adult material. This is kid-friendly.

A little science fiction, a bit of fantasy, plenty of humor, and some really shocking horror. These are tales to suit any mood. All stories in this book were previously published in on-line or print publications. The author is re-issuing the stories since an editor somewhere liked them enough to publish them in the first place. 

FEBRUARY 21ST, 28TH - MISSING ASSUMED DEAD

February 22nd - 26th

The Compleat and True History of the Witches of Galdorheim - 5 book box set

After 10 years in print as individual books, the Witches of Galdorheim saga is now presented with every word of of the four books and one short story comprising the entire series. This is it in all its radiant glory.

*NOTE: Compleat is an archaic spelling of the word complete. See Izaak Walton's "The Compleat Angler."

FEBRUARY 14TH, 21ST, 28TH - MISSING ASSUMED DEAD

Prejudice, murder, insanity, suicide: Every small town has its secrets.hen Kameron McBride receives notice she’s the last living relative of a missing man she’s never even heard of, the last thing she wants to do is head to some half-baked Oregon town to settle his affairs. 

FREAKY FREEBIE FEBRUARY - WEEK 2

I'm setting some of my books free! Let them run like the wind!!!! Right onto your Kindle. There are a few books that appear to not like the corral that is KDP Select (e.g., sell only from Amazon). Since they don't sell, I'll just give them away. They'll still be on Kindle, but after their KDP Selection expiration, they will become available in other formats (EPUB, PDF) and will spread further afield to places like Barnes and Nobel, Kobo, and a bunch of independent distributors where they will be pirated and put up on a Chinese website. They're all out there somewhere, so it makes little difference.

Did you miss the first week? That's okay, there's plenty more where that came from.

FEBRUARY 14TH, 21ST, 28TH - MISSING, ASSUMED DEAD

February 8th - 12th

First Duty SF Space Opera

Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

FEBRUARY 14TH, 21ST, 28TH - MISSING ASSUMED DEAD

February 15th - 19th

Mixed Bag - Short Story Collection

The same as Mixed Bag II, but without the adult material. This is kid-friendly.

A little science fiction, a bit of fantasy, plenty of humor, and some really shocking horror. These are tales to suit any mood. All stories in this book were previously published in on-line or print publications. The author is re-issuing the stories since an editor somewhere liked them enough to publish them in the first place. 

FEBRUARY 21ST, 28TH - MISSING ASSUMED DEAD

February 22nd - 26th

The Compleat and True History of the Witches of Galdorheim - 5 book box set

After 10 years in print as individual books, the Witches of Galdorheim saga is now presented with every word of of the four books and one short story comprising the entire series. This is it in all its radiant glory.

*NOTE: Compleat is an archaic spelling of the word complete. See Izaak Walton's "The Compleat Angler."

FEBRUARY SUNDAY FREEBIE - MISSING ASSUMED DEAD

Have a Sunday special free book. On the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th, this mystery is free on Amazon.

Prejudice, murder, insanity, suicide: Every small town has its secrets.en Kameron McBride receives notice she’s the last living relative of a missing man she’s never even heard of, the last thing she wants to do is head to some half-baked Oregon town to settle his affairs. 

Speculative Future Politics

I write almost all genres from humor to horror to romance to science fiction to mainstream to...some unexplainable genres. This story, however, is good old social science fiction. What does the future hold for oppressed minorities? For that matter, who are those minorities? Read it and see what you think.

Originally published in Lorelei Signal and “A Time To..., Volume 1” from Wolfsinger Publications. Illustration by a really lovely artist whose name escapes me. Since the on-line archives are unavailable, I can only apologize for the omission. I loved this illo a lot.

And, as usual, all my stories are included in the collection "Mixed Bag 2: Supersized" on Amazon or Smashwords and other on-line estores. It's also available in paperback at Amazon.

SciFi Kickass Heroines

Most of my books are fantasies suitable for middle-grade and older kids. I also delve into other genres. If you like Science Fiction, you might enjoy one of these books. They are the essentially the same plot, but "First Duty" is a nice PG-rating, while "Ultimate Duty" has adult material. Not erotica by any means, but stuff you could watch on British TV.

On sale until whenever I change the price again. Call this a Christmas Special.

On Sale at Amazon for 99 cents each:  Ultimate Duty and First Duty 
First Duty at Smashwords
Ultimate Duty at Smashwords

Tall, redheaded heroines kick ass. 

Yes, they do. But mostly only in fantasy and science fiction. When I wrote a redheaded heroine in my books "First Duty" and "Ultimate Duty," I used as my model a real-life person I had known years ago. She was a natural redhead, close to 6' tall (and more in her Frye boots), and she kicked every single ass while barely moving a muscle.

ULTIMATE DUTY:  A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

Facing a life of drudgery on a repressive factory planet, Remy Belieux longs to escape. Her only option for release is to enlist in the Space Service, becoming a soldier for her own world’s oppressors.

She receives her first assignment: guarding a charismatic rebel leader being transported to a prison planet. When rebel troops surprise them, Remy fails to thwart the ambush. Despite a commendation from her Captain, she feels she must redeem herself by recapturing the handsome fugitive.

Shocked by what she learns during the pursuit–her own family’s past involvement in the rebellion–Remy faces a dilemma: remain loyal to the oath she swore as a soldier or join the rebel cause and condemn herself to a death sentence for treason. What is her ULTIMATE DUTY?

FIRST DUTY: Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life.

When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. 

Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds. What is her FIRST DUTY?

Review: Derelict (Halcyone Space #1)

Derelict by L.J. Cohen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Buy at Amazon

This first book in Cohen's Halcyone series is a great start. The main character, Ro Maldonado, is a prickly and talented young woman with an abusive father. And let me tell you, her father is a major jackass, a criminal, and an all-round candidate for worst father ever. However, his bad parenting is almost equaled by Micah Rotherwood's dad, a disgraced senator in league with Maldonado senior. All of the despicable behavior is in spoiler territory, so 'nuff said.

When Ro discovers Micah in the crashed derelict ship, she wants to move in as well. She's fascinated by the 40-year-old tech and wants badly to fix this abandoned ship for her own. Micah has been using the space for botany experiments, which involve growing some illegal plant material.

Jem Durbin is a brilliant kid who is a little bit infatuated with Ro and eagerly takes on projects to help her revive the Halcyone. His brother, Barre, is a genius in a completely different way involving music, but has a bit of a drug habit. When Jem finds Barre unconscious, he asks Ro to hack the medical system to get rid of any evidence of drugs in Barre's system. As soon as he can get his brother up and moving, he takes him to the Halcyone to hide out from their parents. Jem knows Barre will be sent to rehab if he's found, so off they go to join Ro and Micah on the derelict ship.

Okay, four brilliant teens messing about with an old ship. What could go wrong? Plenty is barely sufficient to cover it.

Overall this is a great setup for the series as we learn about the main actors in the series books to come (there are three in the series as I'm writing this, so hurry up and get started now).

This is a strong opening to an entertaining series which is not all fluffy YA kid stuff. There is plenty of tech here to satisfy the hardcore Science Fiction fan.

Highly recommended. I'll definitely be hitting the other books in the series soon.

Nyra Hutchings and Remy Belieux

*** I just heard from Dawn after years apart and decided to re-run this post in her honor. She didn't know she was a role model.***

In honor of my friend Dawn, I've lowered the price from $2.99 to $0.99 on
Amazon:  First Duty and Ultimate Duty 

Tall, redheaded heroines kick ass. Yes, they do. But mostly only in fantasy and science fiction. When I wrote a redheaded heroine in my books "First Duty" and "Ultimate Duty," I used as my model a real-life person I had known years ago. She was a natural redhead, close to 6' tall (and more in her Frye boots), and she kicked every single ass while barely moving a muscle.

I hung out with Dawn a few years of my college life. Her brother was a temporary boyfriend of mine (also a redhead and quite tall). When that relationship ended, I kept his sister. One excellent reason for doing so beyond her being a funny and witty woman, was her ability to attract men. They flocked to her, growling at each other like the wolves they thought themselves to be. Dawn would laugh.

She flat out told me she could get any guy (who was looking for a hook up, and some that weren't) just by standing up in a room. As that magnificent mane of red hair rose above the crowd, it was as if somebody threw a bucket of chum in the ocean. The sharks circled for a few moments then moved in for the kill.

Dawn would laugh. Place her ringed index finger gently on the chest of the closest and give the guy a tiny push. She had just kicked his ass...big time.

When I released "Ultimate Duty" after it ran for more than three years under the Eternal Press banner, I found another kick-ass redhead to adorn the cover. She looks a lot like Dawn. Dawn would laugh.

So all you other SF/F writers with your tall, redheaded kick-ass heroines, find yourself a real live one like my friend. I have the rights to her (whether she knows it or not), while you all are probably just thinking how cool a tall redheaded kick-ass heroine would be. Have you actually met one? I thought not. Dawn would laugh.

If you have modeled your tall redheaded kick-ass heroine after a real person, tell us about her in the comments. I'll give you a copy of both of my tall redheaded kick-ass heroine books.

Holiday Gift Ideas - Science Fiction

Without a lengthy explanation, I'll just get to the gist of the matter. I have two science fiction books available in ebook and print. They are the same plot. The difference is that the shorter (first published) book is PG-13 and the longer book is R.

First Duty is approximately 38K words; Ultimate Duty is approximately 60K words. If you have read First Duty, you'd recognize the plot of Ultimate Duty. Names are changed. The longer book has some additional space battle scenes and a rescue not in the shorter book.

I don't feel like I'm trying to fool anybody here. I even put a note in the Ultimate Duty description on Amazon so people would buy the longer book with full knowledge the plot was essentially the same as First Duty.

The paperback editions are available only through Amazon this month since I wanted to keep the price as low as possible. The ebook editions are $1.99 and $2.99, respectively.

FIRST DUTY
Print Edition on Amazon ($5.99)
Available in Ebook Format at Amazon and Smashwords

Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

ULTIMATE DUTY
Print Edition on Amazon ($7.99)
Available in Ebook Format at Amazon and Smashwords

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaved her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

Two Freebies - NOT an April Fool Joke

Free on Smashwords - No coupon needed

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424221

SPELLSLINGER - A Witches of Galdorheim Tale

What does a teenage half-warlock, half-vampire do to have fun? Why build an old west town on a glacier in the Arctic. There he can play at being the good guy sheriff up against mean old Black Bart.

That things will go horribly wrong is a given. But how does Rune get into and out of the predicament?

This prequel story to the Witches of Galdorheim series gives the reader a chance to get to know the smart-aleck kid, Rune, before he got his magic down pat.

Free on Smashwords until April 7th. Use coupon code PN34E on checkout.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/403811

ULTIMATE DUTY - Sexy Space Opera

A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her ultimate duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

Writing Believable Aliens - Jaleta Clegg

Release Date August 10 at
 http://journal-store.com/bookstore/priestess-of-the-eggstone/ 

Jaleta Clegg
http://jaletaclegg.blogspot.com/
http://www.jaletac.com/
http://www.nexuspoint.info/


What makes aliens tick? How do you invent an alien species? How do you make them believable? Hard questions, but a lot of fun. This is one reason I love science fiction.

Star Trek did it by making almost all aliens humanoid. Adding face paint was a whole lot easier and cheaper than full body costumes and prosthetics. With CGI, it’s a lot easier to create some very non-humanoid aliens for cheap, true. But are they still believable?

Humanoid aliens tend to act human. It’s the way we think. Their cultures are a lot like ours, because that’s the easy way out. Non-humanoids can be too alien. You have to leave your reader some common ground, some way to relate, even if it’s “I want to eat your flesh.” We understand hunger. We understand curiosity. We understand territorial instincts.

In Priestess of the Eggstone, the Sessimoniss, seven-foot-tall lizard men, are very human in many ways. Their culture was based off baboon culture, though. It’s all about clans and your place within your clan. A baboon cast out from its clan usually doesn’t live very long. But baboon society is fluid compared to Sessimoniss society. Sessimoniss position within a clan is determined by biology. Were you born with the right attributes to be an alpha male? Welcome to the warrior class. Otherwise, you’re a servant. Were you born to be a breeding alpha female? Then that’s what you become, sheltered and hidden after your marriage to another clan. Not born with those genes? You get to stay an immature female and serve the breeders of your clan.

One of my biggest pet peeves about aliens is that they seem to have a monoculture. One culture, one society, one type of everything. If humans can evolve thousands of different societies, why not aliens? If you’re going to have a monoculture, like the Sessimoniss, you’d better present good arguments for it. I blame mine on their biology and the fact that they are on the brink of extinction. But change can and does happen within their society. It takes an external force to initiate the change, but that’s a good portion of the storyline in Priestess of the Eggstone.

What are your favorite aliens? What makes them memorable? How do they compare to human societies? Read your favorite books and pick apart the author’s work. Find out how they did it. It’s one of the best ways to learn how to create your own aliens and make them believable.

* * *

Bio: Jaleta Clegg loves to play with words. She writes science fiction and silly horror, and dabbles in everything else. Priestess of the Eggstone, book 2 in her series The Fall of the Altairan Empire, releases on August 10. Pick up your copy at http://journal-store.com/bookstore/priestess-of-the-eggstone/

Book 1 of The Fall of the Altaiaran Empire, Nexus Point, is available from several sources. Check http://www.nexuspoint.info/

* * *
Let's see if you're paying attention. Leave a comment about Jaleta's nice essay. Include contact info and GIMME THE BOOK, and I'll be sending somebody a real paperback copy of my own science fiction novel, Ultimate Duty. I've got some extras lying around doing nothing, and I want to give them to a good home. No aliens, but some fairly hot sex scenes. US and Canada only please for mailing, ebooks to anybody who wants a copy.

Melisse Aires - Ten Reasons to Try Steampunk

Melisse writes Steampunk Romance (duh!). Here are her reasons why you should read Steampunk. By the way, I'm becoming a steampunk fan, partly because of the Firefly, which isn't 19th C., but is so steampunky in tone. I'll really happy to have Melisse on-blog today.

Ten Reasons to Try Steampunk

1 Victorian clothes are so cool.
2 It is the only genre that might pair a governess with a Space captain.
3 You are a secret Browncoat.
4 The Mad Scientist might be the nerdy but hawt hero.
5 Robots and Flying machines abound.
6 Fine hand-embroidered undergarments add a nice touch to love scenes.
7 Your Gallant Hero might pack a laser gun.
8 You enjoy grand adventure in your romance.
9 You secretly desired Dr. Emmet and Clara Brown's Hovertrain in Back to the Future III

10 A Lady can  be resourceful and use her parasol, laser or hatpin  in sticky situations.

I hope you will give it a whirl. My Steampunks/spacewestern:

The Starlander Frontier Book 1: 

Starlander's Myth

Rangy, handsome Jack Starlander--his plan to live as an isolated asteroid miner is foiled by widow ladies. Story includes a gyphon shifter heroine, slavers, a shoot out, widows, small and illegal children, a strange space beast and hot steamy love. Also, bustles and corsets!

*Buy*
*Kindle*

Please check my blog for upcoming steampunk fun: http:melisseaires.blogspot.com

Excerpt

Jack Starlander crept silently over the rocky outcrop to see what was happening on the other side. The newcomers hadn't been quiet at all. Of course, sounds tended to magnify and distort under the bubble. It sounded like an army of flyers descending, but it was really only four.

Now what was that? A woman and a child, both dressed in the latest frilly fashion seen dirtside, surrounded by a bunch of armed men. Not saloon style clothes on the woman, either. Her shirtwaist buttoned clear up to her neck, with no bare flesh at all except her face and hands. The child wore a pink ruffled pinafore over her blue dress, her hair was well kept, curled into ringlets, held back from her face by a floppy pink bow. You didn’t see well cared for kids among the saloon whores. They tended to be wild little beasts in rags, looking to pick pockets or beg for cryst chips.

The woman sat the child down on a large flat-topped rock and watched the men.

These all looked like city dwellers from Hogtie or Abercrombie; well fed, well dressed and well armed, except for two young men. Worker bees. Jack ducked behind a rock. Why was a group of armed men on that empty claim? Were they after him? Records would give his name as being the claim holder of the adjoining property. Why bring a woman and child out to this deserted place?

They didn't need to know he was overhearing their business. He pulled on his protector hood, not because the bubble had a breach, but because the hood had vision enhancing goggles with audio amplification.

He crawled back up the rock, keeping his head low, and found a better spot to observe the group. He could see more details now. The woman was young, with golden blonde hair. Her gown had layers of ruffles over the rear, the latest puffed-out style, which he didn’t care for at all. He liked to get a sense of a woman’s actual shape down below. She looked nervous and held the little girl’s hand tightly. Why the heck would anyone bring a woman and child out to a mining claim?

Jack recognized Galto, a mining official who’d approved his claim here on Yonder Beltway 7, the asteroid that the Collingwood Mining Company had bubbled for mining. They'd got lucky here. There'd been enough ice to form wells and pools once they'd heated things up so they didn't have to import water. Collingwood was making good profits here, but then so was he. He had a nose for cryst. But Galto was not a man to be trusted. Not that any mining officials were. That was why he had half of his haul stuck to a rock in space too small to be noticed by the mining company.

A finely dressed man with a thick gold chain suspended across his protuberant belly, covered in a bright green waistcoat, hobnobbed with Galto. Jewels flashed on his fingers, tie tack and cuff links, and he sported a thick white handlebar mustache. Whiskers were all the style but Jack kept his face military smooth with a shave every morning. Army ways were hard to shake. Even Galto now sported a thin mustache, which looked out of place on his well fed face.

The two simply dressed men rode cheap flyers, the kind that had to enhance their power cell lift with pedal action. Quite tiring on a long journey and this claim was pretty far from the spaceport. They were both big fellows, heavily muscled. Goons. Well armed goons, he amended when he saw their side arms. The woman and child were the only ones in this little group who were unarmed. Interesting.

“Well, I enjoy working with an educated client, such as yourself, Mr. Galto,” the finely dressed man said in a hearty voice. “You are so right, sirrah! Traditionally the gryphon hunted gold. But I have trained this young woman myself to find cryst. Let me demonstrate. Please allow Yurgy here to hide these bags of cryst.” He handed Galto cloth bags. “If you search the bags you will see that some are high grade ore, some are very poor grade.”

“Come here, Mrs. Farrel.” The woman got the child down from the rock and the child clung to her skirt. The mustached man pulled out a scarf and blindfolded the woman. “Here, friend Galto, please check this cloth yourself to verify that it will blind Mrs. Farrel adequately.”

Galto checked the blindfold and appeared to be satisfied.

“You, sir.” Mr. Mustache waggled his jaw at one of the young armed men who accompanied them. “Take these bags of cryst and take off and drop the ore one by one in those rock hills in the distance. Then we'll see my girl do what she's trained to do.” He turned to the young man on the flier. “Oh, and young man? Bury those samples. We all know cryst is rarely found on the ground just waiting to be picked up, don’t we?”

The man flew off with the bags and was soon out of sight.

Jack decided the child must be the woman’s daughter. Though their coloring was different, their facial features were alike. The little girl pressed closer to her mother. What was their role in all this? Perhaps she was the wife of the mustache? Odd that a man of business would bring a woman and child to a place like this. They seemed nervous or afraid, too.

“Now, this is an exceptionally secret procedure, Mr. Galto. Assure me again that we are in a secluded area. I don’t want to have to shoot some miner who stumbles on our little exhibition.”

“Nothing to worry about, Mr. Snurr. The claim over that ridge is Jack Starlander's but he's got a nice vein of cryst on the far side of his land that'll keep him busy for some time. We are unobserved.”

Jack didn’t appreciate Galto knowing so much about his operation but he was a mite pleased Galto was wrong about his whereabouts.

“Starlander? One of the infamous Starlanders?”

“Oh, a cousin or relative, I think. Not the main family. No doubt using the name for clout.”

Jack grinned, Galto was wrong on all points. Yeah, his vein of cryst was making him rich. That's why he’d bought the robots. They could work without supervision, giving him time to sniff out another vein.

The young flier returned after a bit and Galto retrieved a cloth out of his bag. “Here Gentlemen. Stretch this out between you and turn your backs on Mrs. Farrel, please. She has to disrobe for the transformation.”

“You know what to do, Mrs. Farrel.” Not married to the fat man.

The young woman walked behind the sheet, though from Jack’s angle he could see her from the side. She proceeded to disrobe all the way to what nature had given her. Whoa, not expecting a sight like this. Jack felt heat in his face and other places, too. She was perfectly formed and the corset barely made any difference in her high-breasted lithe figure. She took her bright gold hair down from its low bun and it fell to her waist in a gleaming ripple.

The golden hair seemed to grow. He stared in fascination as her skin turned from pale tan to gold, then wings appeared with golden feathers. Strong legs with claws. A hot damn gryphon shifter! He’d heard about them, they were legends in mining camps, but never thought they actually existed.

“Fetch the cryst, Mrs. Farrel,” Snurr said. He picked the little girl up. The little girl held herself rigidly away from the man and looked on the verge of tears but made no sound.

With a swish of powerful wings the gryphon launched into the air. For such a large creature its flight was graceful. Jack suspected the gryphon was incredibly strong.

The child was the insurance that she would comply, he guessed.

A few minutes later, the gryphon returned with the cryst bags in its beak and claws. It dropped them at Mr. Snurr’s feet.

“Please verify if these are the chunks I had Yurgy hide.”

Galto inspected the bags inside and out. “The very ones.”

“Very good, sir!” Mr. Snurr sounded delighted. His rich voice was beginning to grate on Jack’s ears. “Is she not just as valuable as I told you?”

“Indeed.” Galto said. “I'll take her at the price we agreed upon.”

Slavers. God he hated those!

The men shook hands. “She'll do what you want to keep the child safe.” Snurr said. “I've only used her to hunt cryst, but she's an attractive woman. Wouldn’t you agree? I'm sure you can find some good use of her. The child might be of profit too. Resembles her mother and might have that rare gryphon heredity.”

Oh, now for sure they just need to die.

Another Way by Nancy Gaffney

ANOTHER WAY
What part of 'over my dead body' didn't you understand?

By Nancy Gaffney http://www.valkyrieromance.com/
From Eternal Press
http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615723737
Also available at Amazon:
Kindle format: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZR9O4C/
Print format: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1615723749/

Bio: Nancy J. Gaffney lives on Martha’s Vineyard with her boyfriend, laptop and an imagination that keeps her pecking at her keyboard, until the small hours of the morning. She loves exchanging e-mails with readers and authors, and writing stories with fabulous, flawed, female leads and really bad weather? thunder, lightning, the fiercer the better.

Description:
A thousand years ago, in the name of ‘the greater good’, a great betrayal occurred. In the name of righteous retribution and justifiable genocide, a peaceful planet is attacked. A civilization a thousand years in the re-building is razed. An idyllic society, steeped in music, literature, and civic duty, is forced to flee the only home they’ve ever known. In middle of the struggle for survival, Shannen ‘Keeper’ Everett, Jason ‘Preacher’ Carrack and Colonel Robert Preyar must find a way to stay alive and thwart enemies no one ever knew existed. The battle for life as they knew it is on.

Excerpt:
Jason heard Shannen’s request for him to switch to gamma frequency. He didn’t have to ask his Navigator to give him privacy. Whatever they were going to say would stay just between the two of them.

“Jason?” Shannen – not Keeper – was on the other end of the comms.

“I’m here, Shannen.” Jason – not Captain Preyar or Preacher – answered her. “No chance of some mind-numbing plan taking shape in that brain of yours?”

“Funny you should ask that – I was going to ask you the same thing.” Shannen replied. “Got any super-secret maneuvers hidden up your sleeve?”

They both knew that this was how it could end, but for some reason a sense of disbelief and unpreparedness had them both rattled.

“I don’t know how to say this to you.” The honest tremble in her voice was different from the voice she used to convey the end game they faced.

“Neither do I.”

It wasn’t a cop out and this wasn’t the time for flowery speeches. This was it and they both knew it.

“I love you, Shannen.”

“I love you too, Jason.”

Hearing her swallow, her next words made his eyes sting.

“If you see Jesse before I do, let him know I won’t be long, okay?”

“Done; the same goes for you, you know.” Jason couldn’t keep the thickness out of his voice.

“Not a chance, Carrack. I’ll wait for you, if that’s the case. I think I like the idea of exploring the Elysian Fields with you for the next eternity or so. Jesse can find us if that’s going to be the case.”

Jason could feel the sincerity in Shannen’s promise.

“Forever never sounded so good, Shannen.” Jason offered his own promise. “We’ll find Uncle Bob while we’re at it.”

Jason smiled weakly. Dying didn’t seem so bad knowing that Jesse, his mom, his dad, his uncle and Shannen were going to be waiting for him on the other side. Not to mention sending an Ark full of war-mongers to the deepest bowels of Tartarus as a post-script on a set of service records only the stars would bear witness too.

“Can’t wipe your eyes with a helmet on, can you Lieutenant?” Preacher deliberately broke the moment. They had a job to do and, afterward, a family reunion to attend.

“No you can’t, Captain.”

Her voice might have cracked as she stumbled over the word “Captain”, but Keeper’s bravado carried across to CentralOps when she switched back to the attack frequency.

“Senator’s Son – Alpha; do what you can and leave the Ark and Cardinal to us. I’m invoking Blood Rights. Their asses belong to us.”

Magical Mystery Month (June) Line Up

June on this blog will be busting out all over with ... mystery writers! Well, mystery, suspense, thriller mixed with a bit of romance and a dab of science fiction.

6/1 Roseanne Dowell - Double the Trouble

6/3 Ginger Simpson - Beside Myself

6/5 Larriane/Larion Wills - It's Still Tomorrow / White

6/7 Lisabet Sarai - Exposure

6/9 Arlene Webb - Ashes

6/11 Lorrie Struiff - Gypsy Crystal

6/14 Anna MacLean - Louisa and the Missing Heiress

6/15 A.R. Norris - Duty and Devotion

6/17 A.M. Roelke - The Space Station Murders

6/19 Pat Dale - Crossed Lines

6/21 J.Q. Rose - Sunshine Boulevard

6/23 John Roseman - Dark Wizard

6/24 Ellie Burmeister - How to Get an Agent in Two Murders or Less (*NEW)

6/26 Frank Scully - Dead Man's Gambit

6/28 Heather Haven - Wedding to Die For

6/30 L.J. Sellers - Dying for Justice

Mixed Bag II: Supersized Now at B&N and Kindle

UPDATE: Also available at Amazon Kindle.

The releases begin to seep out into the world. The new, larger, improved edition of Mixed Bag (only 99 cents) titled Mixed Bag II: Supersized is now available at Barnes and Noble.

Here's what you get in the supersized edition. There is something for everyone here. While some of the stories are for an adult audience, there is no erotica. Unless ant attacks are your thing or if Big Foot drives you wild with desire.



Fish Story - Science Fiction
The Vision - Horror/Fantasy
Chilpequin 22 Miles - Fantasy
Coward - Horror
Heather's Pain - LitFic
The Delegate - SciFi
No Deposit, No Return - LitFic
Taxman - Humor
The Country Faire - Horror
Fair's Fair - Fantasy
If You Could See Her - Romance
Ma 'Yote and Her Cubs - Nostalgia LitFic
Invasion - Horror
The Cursed Valley - Fantasy
Shasta Lake - LitFic
Big Bessie's Place - LitFic
The Hunter - Horror
The Great Writing Competition - SciFi
A Good, Honest Dog - Non-fic
A Visit to Potter's Field - Fantasy
Extraordinary Rendition - LitFic
Jonathan Swift Finds Nemo - Alterate History
Lemons - Children
Neighborly - LitFic
A Grab Bag of Drabbles

Lindsay Buroker - Author of Encrypted

Guest Posting 101 by Lindsay Buroker

Welcome to my guest post about…guest posting. I could have written about my lovely new novel, Encrypted, today, but I’m a professional blogger for my day job, and I get more questions about blogging than I do about my stories (I’m trying to decide whether or not to be offended by that).

People, especially authors and book reviewers, often ask me for tips on building up a blog that draws lots of visitors every day. Authors are looking to create awareness about their books (and selling them is pretty okay too). Book reviewers are looking to make some money blogging about their passion for literature (if that’s a new idea to you, check out a series I’m running on my site on how to make money as a book blogger). Either way, we all seem to want more visitors to our blogs.

Guest blogging is a great way to achieve this. You can guest post for other sites, and you can invite others to guest post for your site. There are benefits to both.

Guest Posting for Others

The best way to get more visitors to your blog is to get links from other sites. This not only helps by sending you direct traffic but by improving your blog’s “authority” in the eyes of the search engines. The more links pointing to your site, the more important Google, Yahoo, etc. are going to think it is (and they’ll be more likely to rank your pages in their search engine results).

You probably won’t get far randomly asking people to link to your blog, but if you surf around and visit other sites, you’ll find folks open to hosting guest bloggers. If you’re willing to write a free, original article their readers might appreciate, they should be willing to include a bio (with links to your site) or perhaps, for my author friends out there, information about your book and where it can be purchased.

If you’re interested in more information, I’ve written a post on Guest Blogging Your Way out of Obscurity.

Inviting Guest Bloggers to Your Site

Now that we’ve talked about why you might want to guest post for someone else, let’s talk about why you might want to host guests on your own blog.

Or maybe you already know. You’re already thinking…ah, I need to finagle people into posting for me, so I can take some days off! That’s actually why many folks start hosting guest bloggers—as a way to continue posting fresh content for readers even when they are out of town or too busy to blog every day.

Other reasons to take on guest bloggers are: 

• to offer you readers fresh points of view.
• to share information on areas in which you’re not an expert.
• to get some help with promotion (guest bloggers often mention the posts they do on other people’s blogs, so this can also be a way to get some link loving!).

Of course, it isn’t always easy to attract guest bloggers, especially if your site is new. You may want to work on building up your own content and increasing readership before trying to woo folks to write for you.

Once you feel a slot on your blog would be a worthwhile reward to a guest writer, add easy-to-find information about your guest policy (most folks will look for this information in the contact or “about” area, but you can also add a link to a dedicated page). That way, visitors don’t have to hunt around to figure out if you accept guest posts or not.

You can also ask for guest bloggers on various social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook. I’ve seen quite a few people recruiting over in the Writers’ Café on KindleBoards.com. Make sure bloggers know you’re willing to provide links to their sites as a reward for their hard work.

For more on snagging folks (and why you’d want to), check out my post on “How to Attract Guest Bloggers.”

Now, I hope you’re excited to go out and guest blog for people, and maybe invite some folks onto your blog as well. Go forth, and write!

Read all about Lindsay's work on her website: http://www.lindsayburoker.com/

ENCRYPTED SYNOPSIS AND EXCERPT

More about Lindsay's exciting new science fiction romance, ENCRYPTED

Professor Tikaya Komitopis isn’t a great beauty, a fearless warrior, or even someone who can walk and chew chicle at the same time, but her cryptography skills earn her wartime notoriety. When enemy marines show up at her family’s plantation, she expects the worst. But they’re not there to kill her. They need her to decode mysterious runes, and they ask for help in the manner typical of a conquering empire: they kidnap her, threaten her family, and throw her in the brig of their fastest steamship.

Her only ally is a fellow prisoner who charms her with a passion for academics as great as her own. Together, they must decipher mind-altering alchemical artifacts, deadly poison rockets, and malevolent technological constructs, all while dodging assassination attempts from a rival power determined the expedition should fail. As if Tikaya didn’t have troubles enough, her new ally turns out to be exiled fleet admiral, Federias Starcrest, the man who recommended taking over her nation. To trust him could be a mistake; to fall in love with him would be a betrayal to her people, her family, and the fiancé she lost in the war. Those runes cloak more than mysteries, however, and he may be the only one who can help her unravel them before their secrets destroy the world.

EXCERPT:

A man towered a few paces away, a dagger and cutlass at his belt, and a muzzle-loading rifle crooked in his arms. His bronze skin and dark hair would have marked him a foreigner even if the black military uniform with its fine factory weave did not. It was a uniform she had not seen in a year, not since the war ended, but she had not forgotten its significance: Turgonian marine.

Swallowing, she shifted her gaze left and right, hoping to spot a couple of the seasonal laborers her father hired to harvest the cane. But the day grew late, and she had worked herself into a private corner of the field. The house stood hundreds of meters away. No one would hear her yell.

The marine said nothing, though his dark eyes followed her darting gaze. Running  would confirm she had a reason to hide; maybe she could trick him into thinking she was  no one of consequence. Not that being an innocent would necessarily make her safe from  a Turgonian.

“If you’re looking for rum,” she said, his language sliding off her tongue automatically, “my brother’s working in the distillery. He can sell you enough for your entire ship at a fair price.”

The marine’s eyes widened, and a satisfied—no, triumphant—smile stretched across  his face.

Dread curled through her belly. They knew who she was, what her role had been in  the war. Addressing him in his language had been a mistake, a confirmation that they had  found the right person. She eyed the rifle, noticed it was loaded and cocked. A huge mistake.

First Duty - On Sale at The Genre Mall

FIRST DUTY by Marva Dasef (that's me)

Order your copy from The Genre Mall. $7.70 plus $4.00 S/H
Order directly from my website for an autographed copy.

THE GREAT NORTHWEST [SDP] -- Years ago, Robert A. Heinlein thrilled millions of younger readers with his YA novels filled with adventures among the stars. Remember The Star Beast? Citizen of the Galaxy? Podkayne of Mars? Starman Jones? Now comes a YA novel from Marva Dasef that is surely the adventurous equal of those long-ago tales.

First Duty is the story of Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, who is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

Cover illustrated by Dan Skinner of Cerberus.

The Good Ol' Days

Jeffery Lloyd Castle - a two-book wonder. Rummaging thru my bookshelves for something to read (other than tons of ebook and on-line great stuff), I found a copy of "Vanguard to Venus" by Castle. It's a book of the month club hardback. Published 1957. Cool, methinks, the Golden Age or at least close to it. Here is the backcover copy:

LIFE Magazine says there are more than TWO MILLION science fiction fans in this country. From all corners of the nation comes the resounding proof that science fiction has established itself as an exciting and imaginative NEW FORM OF LITERATURE that is attracting literally tens of thousands of new readers every year!
Why? Because no other form of fiction can provide you with such thrilling and unprecedented adventures! No other form of fiction can take you on an eerie trip to Mars . . . amaze you with a journey into the year 3000 A.D. ... or sweep you into the fabulous realms of unexplored Space! Yes, it's no wonder that this exciting new form of imaginative literature has captivated the largest group of fascinated new readers in the United States today!

Warms your cockles, eh? Now we all know when Science Fiction became mainstream. This book's publisher (Dodd, Mead) is pretty darn sure that Castle's book announces the GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION! Woo hoo!

From the jacket flap:

There is an accuracy and integrity about the writing of Jeffery Castle which distinguish his work from the FREAKISH IMAGININGS of lesser writers. And there is more than a touch of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells at their best in the verve and excitement with which he crowds the pages of this new book.

Oh, I guess that's the freakish imaginings of lesser writers such as Manley Wade Wellman, H.P. Lovecraft, E.E. Doc Smith, Jack Williamson, Murray Leinster, Karel Capek, John W. Campbell, C.L. Moore, Stanley Winebaum, Henry Kuttner, Eric Frank Russell, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and others. Oh, that was just the 1930's!

My conclusion is that Sci Fi went mainstream around the 50's. I'm not a student of the history, but I recognize and have read all of the above. Never head of Castle, but I'll salute him in getting the big time publishers to figure out this crazy stuff was going to be big. Really, really big.

Just a blast from the past that I found interesting and amusing. The book ain't half bad either.

News From Sam's Dot Publishing

Marva Dasef's "First Duty" Reaches Earth

Order your copy from The Genre Mall. $7.70 plus $4.00 S/H

THE GREAT NORTHWEST [SDP] -- Years ago, Robert A. Heinlein thrilled millions of younger readers with his YA novels filled with adventures among the stars. Remember The Star Beast? Citizen of the Galaxy? Podkayne of Mars? Starman Jones?

Now comes a YA novel from Marva Dasef that is surely the adventurous equal of those long-ago tales. First Duty is the story of Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, who is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

Marva Dasef lives in Eugene, Oregon, with her husband and a fat cat. She has dabbled in a variety of genres, with fantasy, science fiction, romance, literary, children's, and historical fiction published in a variety of on-line and print magazines. First Duty is her breakout into longer fiction.

First Duty - Scifi for June Publication

Sam's Dot Publishing is a good friend of mine.

Well, Tyree, the managing editor must be in any case.I sent Tyree "First Duty" a science fiction novella yea these many moons ago. It's finally on the front burner and scheduled for a June release. I would LOVE to show the rough cover art for the book, but I'll hold off until Tyree tells me it's a done deal.In any case, here's the book's backcover blurb:

Nyra Hutchings, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life.

I would like to give credit where it's due. I posted my original query letter and synopsis on my critique group's forum. A lovely young woman, who goes by EmeraldSky, wrote the above and I just couldn't find fault with it. Thanks, Em! You're a peach and write a hell of a query paragraph.

To add to the short form, "First Duty" is a pure scifi. No romance here, folks. I really don't think that the heroine needs to fall for some hunky space cadet. Nyra is her own woman. She has to make some tough decisions, but she's up to the challenge. I hope folks will enjoy the story.