Now taking excerpts from my newly published scifi romance COLONY UNDER SIEGE: INTERSTELLAR PLAGUE.

Here’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

May be edited a bit from published version.

The excerpt from close to the book’s beginning, where we met Dr. Saffia Mandell at a colony social event. I’m skipping ahead. She’s decided to walk home from the gathering:

A groundcar slid up beside her, powerful engine thrumming as it idled, and Saffia startled as the window slid aside. Adrenaline rising, she tried to think where she’d bolt to if the driver had less than neighborly motives for accosting her. She might be able to lose a pursuer in the underbrush and trees off to her right but she was afraid she’d get lost as well.

“Didn’t anyone warn you not to go hiking alone at night?”

The voice belonged to Micah, the ranger and the next moment she saw his concerned face in the light from the car’s instrument panel. He leaned across the seat to stare at her, eyebrows raised, “It’s not safe.”

“The colony has a low crime rate,” she said, hating to sound defensive over what she understood too late wasn’t a wise choice. She’d been regretting not asking any of her acquaintances for a ride home for the last fifteen minutes. “No one said anything to me otherwise.”

VS: The rest of the excerpt:

He laughed and the door swung open. “The wildlife wouldn’t consider it a crime to dine on a wandering human, trust me. Get in, doctor, and I’ll drop you off at your place, safe and sound.”

Saffia studied the undergrowth, terrified she’d see something looking back at her. The dark night suddenly seemed even more menacing and every sound full of deadly import. “Wildlife?” Hating the telltale squeak of fear in her voice, she slid into the passenger seat, grateful for the warmth of the vehicle’s cabin.

Micah extended his hand. “I’m Chief Ranger Navonn. I’ve seen you around but we haven’t been introduced.”

The blurb: Newly graduated from a prestigious interstellar medical school, Dr. Saffia Mandell has been assigned to the Haven Two colony on the galaxy’s outer rim as the only doctor for some 2000 human residents. She’s counting the days until her five years there is up, trying to adjust to rural living after life in the crowded Inner Sectors and fighting her attraction to Chief Ranger Micah Navonn. She’s dreading the upcoming tourist season when the rich and pampered will descend on the planet for the scenic wonders and novel sports opportunities and no doubt inundate her little clinic but the colony depends on the seasonal income to survive.

As the senior official for his people, the Calinurra, the indigenous inhabitants of Haven Two, Micah enforces the treaty, regulates the tourist permits, patrols the forests and resists his fascination with Dr. Mandell. He never expected to be involved with a human woman and doesn’t want to believe in the concept of a fated mate. He wants to keep his life simple and isn’t ready for any long term commitment. Besides Saffia keeps proclaiming she’ll be leaving when her appointment is up in four and a half years so why should he risk his heart?

Then a ship arrives unexpectedly carrying a very ill little girl and soon the deadly virus is spreading through Haven Two. The colony authorities are desperate to cover up the problem to preserve the all-important tourist season and Saffia and Micah have to work together to battle the outbreak, the local administration and their undeniable feelings for each other.

Can the colony survive? And will Micah and Saffia be able to move past their fears about entanglements to act on the mutual attraction?

An 87K word novel of the far future…

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