What Time is It? Demon Time 3

The Friendly Demons in The Tales of Abu Nuwas: Setara's Genie

Demons are horrible, ugly, and cruel, right? Minions of Satan (or Shaitan since we’re talking middle-eastern mythology here), their purpose is to create havoc and torture souls. Pitchforks, red skin, fangs, and other nasty features depending on a person’s cultural background. Also, according to Islamic tradition, Shaitan employs jinn to do his dirty deeds. Well, I couldn’t have that since one of the heroic figures of Setara’s Genie happens to be a jinn. I turned that traditional view on its head, so why shouldn’t I also mess with the concept of demons?

Two of Setara’s best friends happen to be demons. Azizah and Kairav are blue demons, which are generally nice beings who go about their business and don’t harm humans. Azizah is a cave demon and spends her time (yes, demons have gender) tending to caves. She keeps the caves neat (in her own manner) and even builds new caverns using her magic with rock. Kairav is a water demon who cares for all types of water—pools, rivers, lakes, and streams.

They don’t usually buddy up with people either, so old tales paint all demons as evil. There are bad demons, true. For example, the blue demons are enemies with the purple demons.

In another of my middle-eastern books, a character points out that blue demons are good and purple demons are bad, so I’ve maintained a consistent view of demons within my tales, even if I’m at odds with the rest of humanity in that regard.

Excerpt:

Setara is traveling with Azizah as they search for a home for the demoness. Along the way, they chance upon a beautiful pool in a forest glade. This excerpt shows the introduction of the two demons, Azizah and Kairav, to each other.

Basit frowned when he heard the voice and then snapped his fingers. “Kairav, is that you?”

The water dropped back to the surface, and an enormous form stood up out of the pool in place of the towering water. Clearly, this was another demon, although a lovely shade of light blue, almost a match for his pool if the sun were shining. The figure rapidly shrank to a more reasonable size, no larger than Basit.

With a booming voice, the figure cried, “Basit, you old dog! What have you been up to?” Then, more subdued, the demon continued, “Why I haven’t seen you since, when was it? Oh, yes, when old Shairan got tricked into the lamp by that Aladdin boy.”

Kairav stepped out of the pond and gave Basit a big hug, lifting him off his feet. Basit laughed and pounded Kairav on the back, which swooshed a wave of water over Setara, Azizah, and Sheik. “Oh, sorry!” Kairav said with a laugh. Sheik shook from head to tail tip, splashing even more water on Setara. Despite the soaking, she couldn’t help but grin at the happy reunion.

Finally, they broke apart, and Basit gestured to his comrades. “This is my mistress, Setara the Fair.” Setara felt her cheeks glow at Basit’s compliment. “Her fine dog, Sheik.” Sheik woofed a greeting when he heard his name mentioned. “And lastly, but certainly not least, the lovely cave demon, Azizah. We’re helping her find a new cave.”

“Ah, Azizah, eh? Are you not the mate of Petros? A fine demon, him.”

Azizah sniffled. “Yes, but I’m sad to say he passed on to the great cave in the sky a few seasons back.”

“I’m sorry to hear it. He was a good demon. Took care of his cave and never blocked up the streamlets running through it. That’s important to us water demons. Too many thoughtless demons blocking up the waterways. Should be a law against it.”

“Pardon my rudeness.” Kairav rubbed his hands together. “Please, take your ease.” With a flip of his hand, the water ran back into the pool, leaving the rocks around it perfectly dry.

Basit looked around the pool with more interest than he’d shown before. “Nice place you’ve got here, Kairav. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a more lovely setting for a demon pool. The waterfall is a nice touch.”

The demon puffed out his chest. “Thank you. I’m rather proud of it.”

Basit rubbed his chin. “Say, Kairav, what’s under the waterfall?”

“Nothing. It’s just a rock wall. I diverted quite a few small streams to get the waterfall flowing. I worked for a couple of months on that alone.” Kairav surveyed his little realm with a satisfied look.

The genie and the demon continued to chat about past experiences and common friends. Setara listened closely, fascinated by the accounts of the private lives of magical beings. She noticed Azizah looking glum, so she went to the side of the she-demon and touched her arm. “Are you all right, Azizah? You look a little blue. Oh, I mean, sad. Of course, you look blue.”

“Kairav reminded me of how much I miss Petros, that’s all. It’s the past now, so I need to move on, but it still makes me sad to think of him.” The dark blue she-demon smiled bravely, which, if one didn’t know her, could be quite frightening.

Setara noticed something else. Kairav kept glancing in Azizah’s direction. Setara wondered if there were rules about demon relationships. Could a cave demon and a pool demon get along? They were both shades of blue if it mattered.

* * *

The Tales of Abu Nuwas: Setara's Genie

Amazon Kindle and Print

What Time is It? Demon Time 2

From Tales of Abu Nuwas 2 - Faizah's Destiny

Encyclopedia Mythica has plenty to say about Persian mythology. The three demons in "Faizah's Destiny" are minions of Dev, the war god.

Aesma is the demon of lust and anger, wrath and revenge. His wrath is mainly directed towards the cow (go figure). He is the symbol of violence, a lover of conflict and war. He's resting on his laurels these days since war just seems to keep going from inertia. 

Buyasta is an ancient Persian demon of laziness who tries to prevent people from working. He's even lazier than usual lately since plenty of people are out of work without his help.

Nanghaithya An archfiend, which is a demonic upgrade. Nanghaithya is busy making people discontented. It seems that this guy has plenty of work in this downturn economy.

My Mashup

Dev (the little devil) wants a war to usher in Armageddon. Why? Because war is his thing and wiping out all humankind is on his to-do list.

To that end, he sends three daevas (demons, if you will) to turn Faizah’s companions on the quest to the dark side (sort of a Darth Vader thing).

Aesma appears to Parvaiz in the form of a bear with a serpent’s tail. Parvaiz was a slave and has a mile-wide chip on his shoulder. Aesma fuels that anger and convinces Parvaiz that the others are his enemies, not his friends. He’s told to wait for Dev to call him into battle. And, of course, keep his mouth shut about the little meeting.

Dev sends Buyasta in the form of a giant spider to Bahaar, who has always dreamt of becoming a warrior. The demon takes advantage of that dream to make Bahaar fall asleep (laziness) and dream of himself as a mighty fighter in a huge battle. The good part: Bahaar is kicking major butt. The bad part: The butts he’s kicking are those of his best friends.

Nanghaithya has a little un-pep talk (he’s a voice-over character) with Harib claiming that his friends all laugh at him and only keep his company because his father is rich. The demon attempts to make Harib discontented with his relationship with the others. Harib, however, is having none of it. He’s the only one of the three boys who stays true to Faizah.

Who's your personal demon? For writers, it seems Buyasta (sloth) and Nanghaithya (insecurity) have alternating work schedules. Hopefully, the seesaw demons don't turn an author to Aesma (anger).

* * *

TALES OF ABU NUWAS 2 - FAIZAH'S DESTINY
The gods are at war and only a farmer’s daughter can save the world from Armageddon.
Buy on Amazon: Faizah's Destiny

The village magician has gone missing.  His four pupils think he has left a clue to his whereabouts in the Magicalis Bestialis--the book of magical creatures.  They must seek the help of the elusive Simurgh, the mythical birds who know all the secrets of the universe.

However, this is not an easy camping trip into the mountains.  Spirits, gods, and demons confront the four friends, who are not aware they’re being set up by otherworldly forces for a much larger task.

A farmer’s daughter, Faizah is chosen to lead the humans in the battle. She must persuade a slave, an orphan, and a rich merchant’s son to join in the battle on the side of good. Although divided by Dev, the evil god of war, the teens must band together to find the Simurgh, rescue their teacher, and stave off Armageddon.

　

What Time is It? It's Demon Time!

IT'S DEMON TIME!

Setara and her genie, Basit, meet many interesting mythological creatures, but only two should be included in the category Monsters. Here’s a bit about the role each monster plays in Setara’s Genie.

Azi (or Azhi) Dahaka

Azhi is a dragon demon who’s supposed to be dead, but comes back to life a little bit ticked off because his blood was used by the Great Vizier hundreds of years before to create a breed of fire-breathing, flying horses.

From the Encyclopedia Mythica (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/azi_dahaka.html)

A storm demon from Iranian mythology. He steals cattle and brings harm to humans. It is a snake-like monster with three heads and six eyes who also personifies the Babylonian oppression of Iran. The monster will be captured by the warrior god Thraetaona and placed on the mountain top Dermawend. In a final revival of evil, it will escape its prison, but at the end of time (fraso-kereti) it will die in the river of fire Ayohsust.

Even though this particular description includes multiple heads and pretty bad attitude, I also found an ancient bas relief that purports to be Azhi Dahaka. Decide what you will. A monster is a monster no matter how many heads he or she has.

Excerpt Featuring Azhi Dahaka

Setara rounded the bend in the tunnel and stopped dead in her tracks. Azizah and Kairav stood at one end of a huge cavern, heaving large stones as fast as they could. At the other end, about forty feet away, the strangest creature she’d ever seen was shooting jets of fire from its mouth. It had great bat-like wings that created a rush of wind each time the dragon stroked downward. It possessed four legs but had reared up and clawed at the air with the front set. Fangs at least six inches long lined the animal’s jaws. It seemed reptilian with its elongated head and scaly sides. However, it was huge by reptile standards, being more than twenty feet long and barely fit in the end of the cavern. Its scales rippled with colors—green, violet, orange, blue.

Basit flew around the cavern, attempting to outflank the creature. He began hurling balls of light from his fingertips. They didn’t appear to do anything other than annoy the beast, but the interruption did distract it from breathing fire at Azizah and Kairav. When it turned its head to shoot fire toward Basit, Azizah ran forward and threw another huge rock. It struck the beast’s head, knocking it against the wall.

It turned one last time and let out a loud roar that shook small stones off the walls. Then, it shrank rapidly to no more than ten feet long. With a single bound, it leaped into the tunnel on the far side of the cavern and was gone in a flash of purple and green.

Setara ran to Azizah, who dropped the stone she was just about to throw. Kairav and Basit joined them. Sheik ran in circles around the group, barking for all he was worth.

“Shush, Sheik. We can’t hear ourselves think.” Setara chastised the agitated dog. Sheik dropped to his belly panting from the excitement.

“What was that thing?” Setara looked at the grim faces of her friends.

“Azhi Dahaka,” Basit answered.

* * *

Amazon Kindle

Revealed: The Mystery Free Book for Feb. 26th

If you'd been quicker on the draw, you could be reading this book right now. It was free yesterday, February 26th. Come back every Friday for a new Freaky Friday deal until I run out of books to give away.

FIRST DUTY (#free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers and Prime Kindle Owner's Lending Library)
A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties. 

Facing a life of drudgery on a repressive factory planet, Nyra Hutchings 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, Nyra 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 FIRST DUTY?

Freaky Friday #Freebie (2/26)

FREE eBOOK AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 26TH - MIDNIGHT TO 11:59 PM

I decided to try out a giveaway every Friday. Click on the covers below to get your free book of the day for February 26th. The only hint you get is the free book is one of those pictured in the graphic. A different book every Friday, so come back every week for another.

All of the books are Kindle ebooks on Amazon. Go ahead! Click up a gift for yourself.

Strictly Analog Special Price

Don't miss out on the 99 cent special deal for this book from 2/22-2/29. Buy Strictly Analog at Amazon. Keep up to date on Richard's books on his website: Richard Levesque

When the World Is Wired, Sometimes You Need a Man Who Isn’t…

Welcome to the world of Strictly Analog, a world not too far in the future: California has split from the United States and is run by a corporate government; electric cars prowl the streets blaring customized drive tones; and everyone is constantly connected to the web. Almost everyone. Because of injuries sustained in California’s border war with Nevada, Ted Lomax is physically unable to log into the technological wonderland that surrounds him.

And that’s just fine with Ted.

How does one man survive in a wired world when he is unable to take advantage of constant connectivity? For Ted Lomax, the answer isn’t just simple: it’s simplicity itself. Like a lot of other people who are disadvantaged in one way or another, Ted lives a life without frills. His dwelling is a converted storage garage where his neighbors are scavengers and scroungers. Rather than connect through the high-tech devices that others take for granted, he uses a disposable pink phone that’s more suited to a fourth-grade girl than a jaded private detective. And when he needs to look up information, he does it the old-fashioned way—by going to the city’s one remaining library, jostling with the homeless and the hustlers in the sad stacks of forgotten books.

Of course, Ted does have other ways of getting information. He wouldn’t be much of a private detective if he didn’t. He’s got friends who are connected, friends like the handicapped hacker genius Philly and the eBay-savvy Angel.

Ultimately, though, Ted Lomax is on his own. It was making connections that got him into trouble eighteen years earlier when he slept with the wrong woman, a mistake that cost him one eye, his military career, and any sense of a future he might have had. Being on his own makes him more trustworthy to his clientele; they need someone who’s off the grid if they’re going to keep their sins from becoming public.

And that’s thing about the high-tech world of Strictly Analog—and maybe the high tech world we’re living in today. Information is everywhere; everything is public. The wrong pic on one’s profile, the re-tweet that reveals something unsavory about one’s likes and dislikes, the off-hand comment on someone else’s post that gets taken the wrong way—these are the kinds of things that have cost people jobs, scholarships, relationships...the list goes on. When it’s exposure that people in Ted Lomax’s world are worried about, they need a guy like Ted to look in the dusty corners and help them clean up the messes they’ve made.

Sometimes the messes are pretty bad, though. And there’s more than just dust in those corners. At times like that, it’s especially useful for Lomax to be off the grid. If he can’t connect, there’s no digital trail for anyone else to follow.

And it’s also a good thing Lomax only has one eye. It makes it just a little easier for him to look the other way…

Writing Tips: The Rashomon Effect

One multiple POV method not mentioned is called the Rashomon effect because of the excellent way it was used in the Japanese film, Rashomon. A Wiki article lists several more examples of the technique used in popular culture.

This quote from Wiki is quite good: The Rashomon effect is the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it.

In "Missing, Assumed Dead" several characters are telling the main character, Kam McBride, what had happened in the past (a flashback). To avoid simple telling, I switched to another character's POV. I delineated these flashbacks into scenes and even made them italic to set them off from the narrative.

The fun part is that the characters are relating the same incident to Kam, but each one has a slightly different view of the events, usually making themselves a bit more heroic than the other people in the same scene. This allows the reader to be suspect of the truthfulness of the characters.

It's not my original idea. That's why it already has a name, Rashomon Effect, in honor of the great Samurai movie of the 50s, directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring the wonderful Toshirō Mifune.

In the film, a crime occurs, and the filmmaker presents it four times, each from a different character's POV. Needless to say, the versions of the events vary, sometimes wildly, from each other. By the end of the film, you still don't know exactly what happened since none of the characters can be fully believed.

In addition to the contradictory retelling of the events by the different characters, there are two additional flashbacks. By the time they appear in the book, I hope the reader will be looking at everyone with suspicion.

Here are a couple of excerpts from "Missing, Assumed Dead," illustrating the Rashomon Effect in action. Two characters, Ray and George, describe their meeting to discuss the disappearance of Salvadore Vasco, the missing man of the title. Same event, but a big difference in the perception.

Ray's Story:

Ray went up the three steps into the Courthouse and turned left into George’s office. The self-appointed police chief sat behind his desk with his boots propped up on it. He raised his eyes from the Zane Grey novel he’d been reading.

“Hey there, Ray. What can I do you out of?” The fat man’s belly jiggled when he laughed at his own stale joke.

“I come about Salvadore.”

“Vasco?”

Ray shifted his weight from one foot to the other and glanced at the chair on his side of the desk. His legs ached, but he didn’t want to settle in for a long chat. George tended to run on some. “Only Salvadore in these parts far as I know. Anyways, has a habit of comin’ to town once a week, but he didn’t come last week nor this ’un.”

“So, what do you want me to do about it? Man’s gotta right to come to town or not.”

“True thing, but you know us old fellas like to stick to a schedule. It ain’t like him to not come in. I think someone oughta go up there and check on him.”

George glanced at the copy of Riders of the Purple Sage on his desk. “Why don’t you go, Ray? You’re his friend.”

“Yep, but he’d think I was buttin’ into his bizness if he’s okay. If you go, you can say sumthin’ about looking for someone else or what not.”

“So, I should lie to him but really just be checkin’ on his welfare, eh?”

“Yep. That’s what I’m thinkin’.”

George's Story

George sat in his office reading the latest statewide all-points bulletins for wanted criminals and stolen vehicles. Old man Ray from the Jack and Jill’s came in looking worried.

“Chief, I ain’t see Salvadore in a couple a weeks. I thought I’d better tell ya, since you’re the police and all.”

“Now, don’t get yourself all worked up, Ray. Old Salvadore prob’ly just don’t want to eat no more of your burnt burgers.”

Ray shook his head. “I don’t know what to do, George. Can you go check up on him?”

“Why sure, Ray. I’ll head up tomorrow morning for a welfare check.” George stood and walked around his desk. He patted Ray’s shoulder to comfort him. “You go on home and don’t fret. George is on the job.”

* * *

Missing, Assumed Dead is available in ebook, print, and audio.

Paperback

Kindle Ebook

Audiobook (purchase with the ebook on Amazon for a great deal)

Revealed: The Mystery Book for 2/19

You could have downloaded a free copy of my murder mystery "Missing, Assumed Dead." I consider this topical since it's set a hop and skip from the Malheur Refuge, has a pack of wannabe fake cowboys intent on giving grief to the Basques in the area, a haunting from a Native American medicine woman, a meet cute, a couple of shootouts, and much more.

Prejudice, murder, insanity, suicide: Every small town has its deadly secrets.

MISSING, ASSUMED DEAD only $1.99 at Amazon. Also in Print and Audio.

When 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. But since she’s the only one available, she grudgingly agrees.

En route, she runs afoul of a couple of hillbillies and their pickup in an accident that doesn’t seem...accidental. Especially when they keep showing up wherever she goes. Lucky for her, gorgeous Deputy Mitch Caldwell lends her a hand, among other things. Her suspicions increase when the probate Judge tries a little too hard to buy the dead man’s worthless property.

Working on a hunch and trying to avoid the Judge’s henchmen, Kam probes deeper into the town’s secrets and finds almost no one she can trust. With Mitch’s help, she peels away the layers of prejudice, suicide, murder, and insanity. But someone in town doesn’t like her poking around, and when they show their intentions by shooting her through the police chief’s office window, the stakes are raised. Kam must find out what really happened to her dead relative before someone in this backward little town sends her to join him.

And she thought Oregon was going to be boring.

Freaky Friday #Freebie (2/19)

FREE eBOOK AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 19TH - MIDNIGHT TO 11:59PM

I decided to try out a giveaway every Friday. Click on the covers below to get your free book of the day for February 19th. The only hint you get is the free book is one of those pictured in the graphic. Different book every Friday, so come back every week for another.

All of the books are Kindle ebooks on Amazon. Go ahead! Click up a gift for yourself.

Richard Levesque Ebook 99 Cents

I very much enjoyed Richard Levesque'sbook, Take Back Tomorrow. It'll be on sale for 99 cents from 2/16-2/23.

Take Back Tomorrow by Richard Levesque
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book for several reasons. First, it's a nicely done noir detective/mystery set in the 1940s. Second, it's got time travel, and I find that irresistible. Third, it shows a fine knowledge of the Golden Age of SF writers.

There were a couple of places where I wrote a note on my Kindle with a BIG question on the logic of certain things, but overall, I didn't find those so egregious as to warrant even a slight mark downward.

Richard Levesque has a dandy story here. Yeah, you can argue the methods of time travel, but until we discover real time travel, every writer has a right to their own view on how it is accomplished.

I liked the 1940s vibe and the errata was at a very low level, so I can't complain about a few typos. Note to every writer: Peak and peek are different words. Do not confuse the two.

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anybody who likes SF, time travel, and even a bit of noir mystery. Good job. Very readable.

Revealed: The Mystery Book for 2/12

If you played the Freaky Friday game in my last post, you'll have the mystery book on your Kindle device now, or decided that I really should pay you for taking it. Nevertheless, the book of the day was Eagle Quest, and has returned to his hideously expensive regular price of $1.99 (or the equivalent in foreign currency for which I've already paid the VAT for your country).

EAGLE QUEST
A Vision Quest turns deadly when four friends confront eagle poachers in a wildlife refuge.

Fiona, Hap, Billy, and Mitch make an odd set of friends, as different from the usual junior high school crowd as they are from each other.

Mitch, the oldest of the four, is a half-breed Native American, adopted by white parents. Troubled that he doesn't know his tribe, he avidly studies Native American history and lore. Learning the nearby Bear Valley Wildlife Refuge is a bald eagle nesting site, he wants to add an eagle feather to his medicine bag and explore the refuge as a site for his Vision Quest, a Native American rite of passage. He and his three friends get far more than an overnight camp out as they encounter a black bear, a retired forest ranger living in the refuge, and a pair of eagle poachers. Bringing the poachers to justice, they test their courage and gain confidence in themselves and each other.

Freaky Friday #Freebie (2/12)

FREE eBOOK AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 12TH - MIDNIGHT TO 11:59PM

I decided to try out a giveaway every Friday. Click on the covers below to get your free book of the day for February 12th. The only hint you get is the free book is one of those pictured in the graphic. Different book every Friday, so come back every week for another.

All of the books are Kindle ebooks on Amazon. Go ahead! Click up a gift for yourself. Happy Valentine's Day!

First Two Sentences Contest

Adventures in YA Publishing has a first two sentences contest a couple of times each year. It gives authors a chance to see if their work in progress will grab attention immediately. While adult literature does allow for a page or two to gain reader interest, middle-grades are a fickle lot. You'd better be able to hold their attention at least to the third sentence.

For grins and giggles, I entered the first two sentences of my totally uncompleted WIP. The title isn't even carved in talc, much less stone. Anyway, since this is the ONLY day those two lines will be seen in public, I invite you to check it out. All 50 entries are on the blog starting today (Feb. 11th) and readers have a chance to throw in their own two cents on the entries in the comments.

My entry is for the fourth book in the Witches of Galdorheim series. Besides the three novels, the series has an outlier short story about a popular character, Rune, the younger brother of the protagonist. Adult women are eagerly awaiting the cocky and cute vampire/warlock to come of age so they won't be too embarrassed at panting after a 14-16 year old boy. If Rune's book finds a way to complete itself, it will be added to the series. If not, then the reading audience have only themselves to blame. If they'd bought more of the books in the series, the fourth book wouldn't be so shy about joining the adventures of Kat the inept teen witch.

Here's my entry in the two first sentences contest.

Title: Blood Ties Tested

Author: Marva Dasef
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

First Two Sentences: A dark figure dropped silently from the window ledge to the alley below. Dressed in a black curiously darker than a coal mine, which, of course, no clothing had a right to be, no casual observer would notice the movement

Here's info on the rest of the series. Keep your eyes peeled. The 3-book box set will be on special in March.


The Witches of Galdorheim: Volumes 1, 2, and 3 Katrina the teen witch with her half-vampire brother, Rune, brave crossing the arctic sea, being attacked by a polar bear, fighting giants, dodging magic attacks by an evil shaman, and that's just in book 1 of this trilogy. Complete in a single volume, follow Kat's adventures from the arctic circle to the Otherworld in Scotland.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

The Year of the Monkey begins! 

According to the Chinese Zodiac, year 2016 would be the year of Monkey. The Year of Monkey runs from February 08, 2016 to January 27, 2017. The element involved is Fire. The lucky color for the year would be Red and the associated number is 9. Monkey is the 9th sign in the Chinese zodiac. The associated energy is Yang. People born in the year of Monkey are said to be cheerful, energetic, flexible, wise, charismatic, and have leadership qualities. Their negative traits include being egoistic, arrogant, crafty, restless and snobbish. Monkey natives are usually found to be very skillful. They are quick and intelligent that they often win laurels in studies. 

Preview - First Duty

I wrote "First Duty" long ago. It was published as a paperback by the (now departed) Sam's Dot Publishing. Ebooks weren't a big thing back then, so I self-pubbed the digital version and cobbled up a cover from some free template. Since that time, digital publishing has improved and so have my covers. A few years later, I decided to build on the "First Duty" basic plot and characters to make it fit for the SFR audience. 

That meant adding a few sex scenes. I also added more action, fights, and drama. This became "Ultimate Duty." This book was published by Eternal Press. It's now Damnation Press and still refuses to take UD out of service although the contract has long since expired and I've written the publisher lots of times telling her she no longer had rights to the book. So, back to self-pubbing.

I didn't want to dump "First Duty," though, because it was nice and clean for the younger audience and people who just don't care to read anatomical discussions of human and alien mating habits. I still like this book, so I'm keeping it around. It's the first book of mine to be published by a 'real' publisher (or almost the first), so I sure can't just dump it. That'd be mean to my original kick-ass redhead heroine, Nyra Hutchings. Her new name in the R-rated "Ultimate Duty" is Remy Belieux. I like her just as much as Nyra because, after all, they are the same character. I like her by both names.

Books and Reviews at Other Amazons

Authors who work with Amazon tend to view the Amazon store associated with their country. I'm US American, thus look at Amazon.com. I have friends who are featured primarily at their own country's Amazon presence. We authors forget (at least I do) that our books are sold in those other countries through the other Amazons.

If you're Canadian, you shop at Amazon.CA, if British, you use Amazon.UK, and so on for Germany (DE), France (FR), Spain (ES), Italy (IT), Japan (JP), the Netherlands (NL), Brazil (BR), Mexico (MX), Australia (AU), and India (IN).

Recently, a Brit mentioned reviewing one of my books. I was mystified since I didn't see the review on AMAZON.COM. It shook my brain enough to take a look at AMAZON.UK. By golly, there it was. An outstanding, well-written, and positive review with plenty of detail.

And I had missed it because I usually only look at my "local" Amazon store (.COM). I checked a couple of other countries where I know a book or two was sold. Most didn't have any local reviews, but the product pages did list reviews from the US store.

For authors: Check all the countries where your books are available. You might find a nice review or even a pan you never knew existed.

A big thank you to Dave Higgins for making me look further afield than my own neighborhood. And thank you for the nice review you left on Amazon.UK for one of my books.

You can read all of Dave Higgins' reviews on his excellent blog as well. Now, I'll be a regular reader.

Preview - Faizah's Destiny

Read the preview on-line. If you purchased an early copy of this book that doesn't include "Tales of Abu Nuwas 2" in the title, let me know and I'll send you this updated version. It is now wrapped in the frame tale of the old story teller, Abu Nuwas, relating the tale to a former slave boy. Adds some interest, and a couple of thousand words in length. Hit Preview to read the beginning of the tale as related by Abu Nuwas. The book is now on Kindle Select and can be read free by Kindle Unlimited subscribers and borrowed through the Kindle Owners Lending Library (or so I've been led to believe).

Preview - Setara's Genie

Take a look at the Amazon Preview mode right here on my blog. Another feature on Amazon book product pages allows you to grab the HTML code to display the Search Inside preview. Authors ought to love the ability to take your preview with you to your own blogs and websites. This book is in the Kindle Select program making it free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers and lendable through the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

 

Preview - Bad Spelling

The first book in the Witches of Galdorheim series. Now on Kindle Select, it can be read free by Kindle Unlimited users, borrowed, and will be blood sacrificed occasionally as a free book or in a Kindle Countdown deal. Read the preview right here.

Kindle Select/Kindle Unlimited/Kindle Lending Library

By this time, most of my books will only be available on Amazon. The "Brand X" distributors didn't try hard enough to sell the books and made maintenance of separate editions for different places a pain in the butt and didn't get me a dime. So screw 'em. I'll just have everything on Amazon and if Kindle Unlimited subscriber stumbles on one of them, they can read it free. All of the books will also be available in the Kindle Owners Lending Library. Amazon Prime users can borrow a book a month. Keep it as long as you want. No two-week return requirement.

When I run any of the Kindle promos like #free  or #countdown, I'll post it here and other places like Twitter. That's about all I'll do for promotion.

I did some updates while making my books Kindle-only. I added tables of content to the ones that made sense to have a TOC (this may still be a work in progress thing). I tried to catch any typos still left. If you happen to see one, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know. I can always fix them.

So, that's it. My entire book collection is now on auto-pilot at Amazon. Reviews are always appreciated, of course. Retail prices are listed, but Kindle Unlimited is always free to subscribers. Amazon Prime users can borrow them from the Kindle Owners Lending Library, and the Matchbook prices are always less than the retail. Bonus deal: If you gain possession of certain books, you can also buy the audio book for a cheap $1.99.

Witches of Galdorheim Series (3-Volume Book) $6.99
   Bad Spelling $2.99 (Buy the ebook, get the audio book for $1.99)
   Midnight Oil $2.99 (Buy the ebook, get the audio book for $1.99)
   Scotch Broom $2.99 (Buy the ebook, get the audio book for $1.99)
   Spellslinger $0.99 (This short story is in audio format to listen free on SoundCloud)

The Tales of Abu Nuwas
Setara's Genie $2.99

Faizah's Destiny $2.99

Science Fiction
Ultimate Duty $2.99
First Duty $1.99

Oregon Set Mystery/Adventure
Missing, Assumed Dead $1.99 (Buy the ebook, get the audio book for $1.99)
Eagle Quest $1.99

Collections and Short Stories
Tales of a Texas Boy $2.99 (Buy the ebook, get the audio book for $1.99)

Mixed Bag II: Supersized $1.99

Mixed Bag Short Story Collection $0.99
Fish Story: A Three Story Sampler $0.99

Lemons and Other Kid Tales $0.99

Eagle Quest $1.99

Preview - Ultimate Duty

Preview - Eagle Quest

Preview - Tales of a Texas Boy

Preview Books from a Link

Amazon has added a feature for authors (or anybody who wants to use it) on the product pages of books. An Embed option gets the link or a full HTML display of a book's preview and you don't have to download a file to your ereader to look at it. It appears much like the Look Inside feature on a book's product page. Well, easier to show than tell, so click the following link to see the preview of one of my books. It's really rather cool. The rest of my book preview links are below the cover on this post.

MISSING, ASSUMED DEAD Preview

Here's the book cover just for a graphic on this post.

Teen Fantasy

Witches of Galdorheim Series 

Bad Spelling

Midnight Oil

Scotch Broom 

Spellslinger 

Tales of Abu Nuwas: Setara's Genie

Tales of Abu Nuwas 2: Faizah's Destiny 

Mystery/Adventure

Eagle Quest

Missing, Assumed Dead 

Science Fiction

First Duty (YA)

Ultimate Duty (Adult) 

Collections

Tales of a Texas Boy 

Mixed Bag II (Adult) 

Mixed Bag (Kid friendly stories from Mixed Bag II) 

Lemons and Other Kid Tales (Kids) 

Fish Story Sampler (3 stories from Mixed Bag II)

The End is Nigh

For the name your own price deal I've been running on Smashwords to encourage readers to give my books a try. Since the option (set price) is only available at Smashwords, but not any of the retailers who distribute my books, it's the best price in the world. Pay anywhere from $0.00 to $2.99 for ALL books retailed priced at $2.99.

The final sale day is January 31st. So, get yourself over to Smashwords and rob me blind. Of course, if you WANT to pay something ($0.99 recommended), feel free. I could use the lift in my spirits to have someone value my hard work. Hey, all of you out there whose books I've reviewed, how about return the favor. I appreciate the reviews. It's not money, but it's something. Please review on Goodreads and Amazon (if they let you). Thanks.

Here's the Name Your Own Price book list. All are retail priced at $2.99.

The Witches of Galdorheim series:
   Bad Spelling
   Midnight Oil
   Scotch Broom

The Tales of Abu Nuwas Series 
  Faizah's Destiny
  Setara's Genie

Science Fiction
  Ultimate Duty

Miscellaneous
  Tales of a Texas Boy

Mystery
 Missing, Assumed Dead

Xena - My Hero

Remember Xena Warrior Princess? 1995 was long, long ago and far, far away. Recently, I was reminded of Xena in some conversations. For you those of you who might be fans or never had the chance to see the series, it's available at Netflix. This picture is how I think of her. Bad to the gone and a total hero. I wish I was a quarter the woman she was. Yes, I'm fangirling here. Be a hero, not a victim. Good advice from Nora Ephron.

Most of my books have a strong female protagonist. Every single one has some Xena in her: Kat, Nyra, Remy, Kam. All of them warriors. Now, back to my binge-watching the Xena series. Oh, one last thing: big thanks to Lucy Lawless for bringing Xena to our TV screens. Thanks to Sam Raimi for having the guts to make a series about a kick-ass woman back when most of the heroes were men.

Review - Future Tense by LJ Cohen

Future Tense by L.J. Cohen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Matt has a super power, and he hates it. Not only does it show up randomly, he can't control it or direct it or change it. Knowing the future leads to heartbreak and fear, feeling helpless. It's a super power he wishes didn't exist.

When he sees a future event for a girl, Amara, he's desperate to stop what he sees happening to her, but everything he does seems to push her closer to the disaster rather than away.

That's a lot of weight on a 17-year-old boy in the foster car system. When he meets Amara's grandmother, Rose, he's baffled by her ability to see the future like he does, but with far less detail--she only gets a fortune teller's vague visions. One thing Rose can teach Matt is how to read the clues of what leads to an event. Maybe that little bit of foretelling will help Matt control his visions.

Future Tense is an absorbing YA read (adult language warning). Matt is a good kid. We readers are rooting for him throughout. We also hopes he gets the girl and learns how to use those Tarot cards.

My only complaint, and it's small, is that I felt too much time was spent in Matt's head. While he's tortured by re-runs of events he saw but could not prevent, we readers don't need to go through them every time. Yes, we know what the smell of smoke means after the first three or four mentions. Leave the fifth through umpteenth in Matt's head and show us what's happening to him in the moment. The action is well-done and easy to visualize.

Like YA paranormals with tortured teens trying to overcome obstacles? You'll like Future Tense. The end is satisfying, but does allow for additional books in the series. I'd love to see Matt learn to control his visions and begin to use them for good.


View all my reviews

Authors Promoting Authors

The Grimace & The Giggle

Join in the cross-promotions of your books with other authors. A community on G+ is forming to coordinate promotion efforts. The promotional website is called the Grimace and the Giggle. Yeah, that tickles me, too.

Here's the link to the G+ community (you have to be a G+ member). You probably already are and don't know it. Do you have a Google sign in? That'll work to get you to G+.

Check out the Grimace and the Giggle website. This is nexus of the promotions. Everyone can share their own promo links from here. Contact the site owner as described in the G+ community.

Eagle Quest - More On Oregon Wildlife Preserves

With Oregon's Malheur Wildlife Preserve in the news recently, I thought you might be interested in some of the other wildlife areas in Oregon. These preserves protect endangered or indigenous species. They weren't created just to take away land from somebody, but to make the world a better place. Preserves belong to the PEOPLE already. The current occupiers at the Malheur preserve 1) have no rights to the land whether or not it's held by the US government, and 2) most of the land didn't belong to anybody when the preserves were created. So, guess what? The wild bunch in Burns are full of eagle excrement. Read Eagle Quest to learn a little more.

Eagle Quest - MG/YA Adventure Listed $7.00 at Amazon for Print, $1.99 for ebook

Set in the Klamath Wildlife preserves in Southern Oregon, this book is about the Bald Eagle flyout area in Bear Valley. Yes, we have Bald Eagles like they were pigeons in the park around Oregon. And we're danged proud of our big birds. The cover shot was taken by Coralie, a professional wildlife photographer and my long-time friend. See her work on her website at http://www.mrsroadrunnerphotography.com/

Book Blurb:

Fiona, Hap, Billy, and Mitch make an odd set of friends, as different from the usual high school crowd as they are from each other. Mitch, the oldest of the four, is a half-breed Native American, adopted by white parents. Troubled that he doesn't know his tribe, he avidly studies Native American history and lore. 

Learning the nearby Bear Valley Wildlife Refuge is a bald eagle nesting site, he wants to add an eagle feather to his medicine bag and explore the refuge as a site for his Vision Quest, a Native American rite of passage. He and his three friends get far more than an overnight campout as they encounter a black bear, an old man living in the refuge, and a pair of eagle poachers. Bringing the poachers to justice, they test their courage and gain confidence in themselves and each other.

Want an excerpt?

“Hey, you guys!” Billy called out, “Look up ahead.”

“What is that?”

“It looks like feathers. Maybe they’re eagle feathers.”

As the kids walked nearer the pile of feathers, their smiles dropped away as they could discern the body of the large bird. There were feathers scattered around the body, but someone had removed the wings and cut the talons from the legs.

“Oh, man. That’s disgusting. Did something get it, like a bear?” Billy said as he looked down at the remains of the large bald eagle.

“No, it wasn’t an animal. Look at how they removed the wings. Done with a knife,” Mitch said through teeth gritted in anger at the desecration of the beautiful bird.

The stood in silence, looking down at the pitiful remains.

“Should we take some feathers?” Billy asked.

“No. It wouldn’t be right. That’s not how you’re supposed to get your feathers. You find one on the ground because the eagle has left it for you. To do this...this is horrible, just wrong,” Mitch said, feeling tears brimming in his eyes. He gave them a quick swipe, but saw that Fiona’s cheeks showed rivulets of the tears she was shedding.

“Poachers. It has to be poachers,” she said through her tears. “We’ve got to do something.”

“We could go back to the old man’s place. He must know the people in charge and can contact them,” Hap suggested.

The others were nodding, ready to turn around and head back to the old man’s cabin.

Mitch stopped. “No. We should find the poachers first. The eagle hasn’t been dead very long. 

Look,” he said as he pointed toward the pitiful bird, “Blood is still seeping from where they cut off the wings. I think the poachers are close by. If we can find them, we’ll have more information to give the people in charge.”

The others didn’t look too excited about the idea of tracking down poachers.

“I think it’s enough just to tell them about the eagle,” Hap said.

“That’s fine. You guys go back to the cabin, but I’m going to find the poachers.” Mitch began looking at the ground around where the eagle lay.

“Footprints. They head off in that direction,” he said and started following the trail. The others looked at each other, then one by one followed Mitch.

Domestic Terrorists

MISSING, ASSUMED DEAD
Prejudice, murder, insanity, suicide: Every small town has its secrets.
Buy the Ebook, Print, or Audio at Amazon
Buy the Audio Book at Audible.com or iTunes
Audio Samples on SoundCloud for all my books.

Recent unfortunate events in Oregon (the self-named "militia" who are essentially domestic terrorists) led me to thinking about the villains of this mystery/thriller. I made the terrorist group in the book white power proselytizers. The out-of-state agitators holing up in a Federal building on Federal land no doubt carry the same prejudices around in their pointy heads. For your consideration, I submit to you the ignorant racist elements of civilized society who say "constitution" as if they had a clue what was in that document. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to introduce a very similar bunch of "bundies."

FEAR AND POWER

I didn't want to let the Judge rant on about his prejudices, so I'm covering for him. This is one mean, nasty old man. But one soft spot in his heart does him in.

In "Missing, Assumed Dead," a self-proclaimed 'judge' runs a small Justice Court (really only traffic court) in a tiny town in Southeast Oregon. He has appointed his nephew, George Leiper, de facto town police chief. Of  course, there is no police department, but George loves to wear the uniform and enjoy the comforts of his own office in the City Hall.

Nobody cares to oppose the Judge as long as he keeps his connection to the White Power groups away from Rosewood.

But that's not always the case. He brings the darkness of the Aryan Brotherhood right to the town's front door when he forces his daughter, Miranda, to marry one of the brotherhood, Cole Bristow. Mostly, the Judge want to get his daughter away from a Basque shepherd, Salvadore. When Salvadore disappears mysteriously, the town populace whispers behind closed doors, but don't dare cross the Judge with his connections to the White Power group.

Soon after bearing her daughter, Mirabel, Miranda commits suicide rather than remain married to Cole. The whole town worries, but fear keeps the secrets hidden.

The judge becomes the guardian of his granddaughter, but keeps her away from the rest of the town. Even her uncle admits that she's not right in the head. Something happened to her around the time Salvadore disappeared. What happened to Salvadore, and why is Mirabel insane? Is the Basque shepherd her father rather than Cole, Miranda's husband?

Here's an excerpt from the book that shows you a little about Judge Leiper and how the terrorist groups get their ideas of right and wrong.

* * *

George hadn’t wanted to drive the judge to the meeting. He couldn’t get all fired up about hating kikes, niggers, and spics like those other men. Sure, he wished anybody who wasn’t white would go back where they come from but didn’t feel like doing anything about it. The men, and some women, wore swastika armbands, and the big picture of Hitler gave George the willies. Just ’cause you wanted America to be a good, all-white Christian nation didn’t mean you had to hate like that bastard. He killed a lot of white boys, too.

The ol’ man climbed up on the platform at the end of the meeting room with Hitler peering over his shoulder. George sat in the back just wishing it were over.

His uncle was in fine form. He hollered and pounded the lecture table like an old-time preacher in a tent revival. George’s mind drifted back to when he was a boy and his pa took him to the traveling meetings. George’s ma, the judge’s sister, died from the cancer when he was a boy. All the prayer vigils didn’t help none. The judge was a rich man and showed an interest in his nephew. When George’s pa died, the judge took him in. He owed the judge a lot, and the judge never let him forget it.

George’s attention returned to the lecture. The judge was talking about the Spanish War, the one where Hitler bombed the Basques. He got them all worked up. Seemed like those fellas didn’t know about it, and it gave them a good excuse to be pissed off at somebody close by. Everybody stood up and clapped up a storm. George rose along with them, so’s nobody would notice him.

After the ending prayer, the judge led a group to the local watering hole to discuss the situation some more. It was only at the tavern that George realized the judge was talking about Salvadore Vasco. He noticed Cole Bristow standing next to the judge. George wondered how the judge felt about his son-in-law when he run out on Mirabel and left the judge to raise her. They acted friendly, though, so George figured they’d mended any broken fences.

Cole walked over to George and threw a heavy arm around his shoulders. “How’s it hangin’, cousin?”

George edged away but forced a grin and shook Cole’s hand. “Hangin’ fine. How ’bout you?”

“Good, good.” Cole leaned forward and tapped the lip of his beer bottle on George’s chest. “Say, George, I didn’t want to ask the judge, but how’s that little girl.”

“Mirabel?”

“Yeah, yeah. I wanted to know if she’s come out dark or light.”

George shook his head, confused by what Cole was getting at. Then a light bulb lit, and he realized Cole wanted to know if Mirabel was his daughter. “She’s fair-skinned, Cole. Looks like her mom.”

Cole chuckled deep in his throat and tapped his beer on George’s chest again. George took a step back and glanced down at the beer spot Cole left behind. “Miranda was a hot number, all right.”

George nodded but thought Cole talking about his dead wife like that was, well, it was disrespectful. Before Cole could tap him again, George made his way to the judge’s side. “Shouldn’t we go home soon? It’s a long drive.”

“In a minute, George. Find yourself another beer.”

George looked at the group of men standing around the judge, all practically foaming at the mouth talking about going out and ‘taking care’ of Vasco. The judge grinned and clapped them on the back, sayin’ he’d be grateful to whoever helped him out in sendin’ a message to the Basques around Jordan Valley. No good white folks wanted them around, and they’d best move along.

When they drove back to Rosewood, the judge was laughing and happy. “It’s about time something was done about Vasco. Teach the Basques to keep their dirty paws off white women.”

“Yessir.” George agreed some, but not with what the judge was saying. Salvadore and Miranda hadn’t been together for years, so George couldn’t see how it mattered anymore.

You Set the Price at Smashwords

The entire Witches of Galdorheim series are Set Your Price (that includes free) at Smashwords.

Get the links to the entire collection here.

Bad Spelling (Book 1 of the Witches of Galdorheim Series) by Marva Dasef

Series: The Witches of Galdorheim. You set the price! Words: 45,670. Language: English. Published: November 6, 2014. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy

Katrina’s spells don’t just fizzle; they backfire with spectacular results, oftentimes involving green goo. A failure as a witch, Kat decides to run away and find her dead father’s non-magical family. But before she can, she stumbles onto why her magic is out of whack: a curse from a Siberian shaman. 

Midnight Oil (Book 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim Series) by Marva Dasef

Series: The Witches of Galdorheim. You set the price! Words: 47,410. Language: English. Published: November 6, 2014. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy 

Kat is a nervous wreck waiting for her boyfriend's first visit to her Arctic island home. He doesn't show up, so she's sure he’s given her the brushoff. When she learns he’s disappeared, she sets out on a mission to find him. Things go wrong from the start. Kat is thrown overboard during a violent storm, while her brother and his girlfriend are captured by a mutant island tribe. The mutants hold the girlfriend hostage, demanding the teens recover the only thing that can make the mutants human again–the magical Midnight Oil. 

Scotch Broom (Book 3 of the Witches of Galdorheim) by Marva Dasef

Series: The Witches of Galdorheim. You set the price! Words: 48,470. Language: English. Published: November 6, 2014. Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Contemporary 

Kat expects to have a great time on her graduation trip to Stonehenge. However, from the moment she leaves the witches’ arctic island, Galdorheim, she gets in nothing but trouble. Her younger half-brother tries to horn in on her trip, she gets lost in the magical Otherworld realm, is led astray by a supposed friend, then she has to confront a Scottish goddess who’s fallen on hard times.

Spellslinger - A Witches of Galdorheim Story by Marva Dasef

Series: The Witches of Galdorheim. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 9,110. Language: English. Published: March 30, 2014. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Short Stories 

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.