Posts

Book Excerpt: Shattered by M. Terry Green

Image
Last Monday , we revealed the cover for Shattered , the third book in the Chronicles of White World series from M. Terry Green. This week, Green has granted us permission to reveal a sample of the story. Enjoy! Shattered by M. Terry Green “What's wrong with your father?” Thirteen asked. As usual, Miyu stood tucked against her side. Although the eight-year-old was small, there was barely room at the bow for one person. She wore a parka, three layers of thermals, and goggles to stay warm, but still preferred the wind to the comfort of the cockpit. Turning the opening of her hood to face aft, she looked at her father. As he had since they’d taken the slaver sloop, Cord piloted the ship. Thirteen hadn’t questioned it. Her eyesight was needed forward. Though the trimaran was iceworthy, it had no sounding buoy. Without the sound and flag warning system, any vasses that lay ahead would have to be sighted. While Thirteen waited for Miyu’s answer, she continued to scan. Although the freez...

Cover Reveal: Shattered by M. Terry Green

Image
M. Terry Green has revealed the third cover in her Chronicles of White World series, Shattered . The series takes place in the distant future whereupon an ice age has buried our civilization. Humanity has survived, but it's as cold as the environment that it lives in. As with the other covers in this series, it was created by Tom Edwards . To learn more about this book and the rest of the series, please visit Green's website .

Boys by Scott Semegran

Image
These are the stories of three boys living in Texas: one growing up, one dreaming, and one fighting to stay alive in the face of destitution and adversity. There's second-grader William, a shy yet imaginative boy who schemes about how to get back at his school-yard bully, Randy. Then there's Sam, a 15-year-old boy who dreams of getting a 1980 Mazda RX-7 for his sixteenth birthday but has to work at a Greek restaurant to fund his dream. Finally, there's Seff, a 21-year-old on the brink of manhood, trying to survive along with his roommate, working as waiters and barely making ends meet. These three stories are told with heart, humor, and an uncompromising look at what it meant to grow up in Texas during the 1980s and 1990s. The collection opens with Wiliam's story, "The Great and Powerful, Brave Raideen". It's a short story with a predictable plot element, but it's nicely done. The characters are honestly portrayed; the dialogue genuine. It demonstrates...

Cover Reveal and Kindle Scout Campaign for Citizen Magus

Image
Rob Steiner has started a new series: the Journals of Natta Magus. Here to tell us more about the book and its Kindle Scout campaign is Rob Steiner. I’m really excited to announce a Kindle Scout campaign for my new novel, Citizen Magus . Remington Blakes, a magus from a 21st century where magic powers the world, has a big problem. His former mentor, William Ford, stranded him in ancient Rome without a memory as to how or why. Well a guy has to eat, so he’s forced to eke out a living as a magus-for-hire among Rome’s plebeians. But when Ford conjures daemons to kidnap a senator’s young daughter, Remi tracks him to the Germanic frontier to not only rescue the child, but learn the terrible secret behind why he left Remi in Rome. The campaign works like this: Readers can nominate my book for a publishing deal with Kindle Press. If Kindle Press picks up my book, your nomination will earn you a free copy once it’s published. The more nominations I get, the better my chances for a deal ...

I Truly Lament: Working Through the Holocaust by Mathias Freese

Image
In this anthology, Mathias Freese has composed twenty-seven short stories about the Holocaust . They're an attempt to gain some form of understanding about it. In the Preface, Freese states: "All literary depictions of the Holocaust end as failures..." and "Every artist who struggles with the Holocaust must begin with an acceptance of failure, and that must be worked through before art begins." If I'm interpreting him correctly, the reason why all attempts end as failures is because no mere words on a page can ever truly convey what it was like to have been there. But nothing short of a fully immersive virtual reality program (and none has been created yet) ever could, so why set the bar so high? I'm not sure why Mr. Freese wrote this book. A tribute to the dead? The survivors? He states that: "No piece of art...can ever expunge the Holocaust." To which I rather flippantly say, "Well, duh." If this was ever his intent, it's a foo...

Void Contract by Scott Rhine

Image
A veteran of the Gigaparsec War, Dr. Max Culp catches alien war criminals with his skills as a !Kung tribal hunter. Suddenly, his only surviving teammate is kidnapped. To free his friend, Max is forced to take a mob contract on a Saurian fugitive hiding at the borders of Human space. But Max is tired of wet work and alien conspiracies. Can he find a path back to civilian life without losing what’s left of his soul or those closest to him? This is the first book in a new series, but it takes place in the same universe as Jezebel's Ladder , just 400 years later. While several books followed Jezebel's Ladder , they are not required reading for this book. However, if you enjoy this book and want to know how Earth got to this point, then you should consider picking them up. The book starts off with a fair amount of action. Rhine does a good job introducing us to Max and the universe he lives in without drowning us in background. Once Max is forced to accept the job from the alien mo...

Author News - July

Image
July 14th - Mike Reeves-McMillan released The Well-Presented Manuscript , a guide for authors looking to improve their chances of getting published by avoiding the most common issues. July 20th - Horror maven Michaelbrent Collings released The Deep . July 24th - Cold Fusion Media, the folks who published the Shared Nightmares anthology, offers Christmas in July. Sort of. The Last Christmas Gift: A Heartwarming Holiday Tale of the Living Dead written by Nathan Shumate is released today. Special book launch party on Facebook ! August 3rd - John Vorhaus will release How to Live Life , his philosophy on—you guessed it—how to live life.