Aug 15 2025

First Meeting Snippet from ARRIVAL (PLANET OF LAST RESORT) SciFi Romance with Zombies

VS: I always wanted to write a post apocalyptic zombie story and me being me, I had to put the events on a remote colony planet in my interstellar civilization the Sectors. Here’s how the book starts, with a hint or two of the disaster to come:

Melly stood on the cracked landing field and took a deep breath of fresh air, rejoicing in being home, finally. Four long years at a mid-Sectors university, then completing her degree and residency as a doctor and she was finally able to return to Randal Four. Sure she owed the government five years of service as a doctor now to pay off her student loans but all Melly had ever wanted to do was practice medicine on her home world and take care of people. The fact Randal Four was still designated as a colony, despite its three bustling major cities and other amenities, had made it possible for her to accomplish her dream.

One week from today she’d be reporting to the big hospital here in Central City as Dr. Jericho, thank you very much, and her long journey to achieve her goals would be complete.

If the darn robo ground tram ever showed up to whisk her and her luggage away from the landing area and off to the terminal. Shading her eyes with one hand, Melly stepped away from the flimsy shelter offered by the robo dropoff area and stared across the shimmering surface toward the terminal. Nothing. There was a small cargo mover quite a distance away but it wasn’t moving and the doors were open. Was that a body on the pavement next to it?

She blinked and tried to refocus. Surely not.

Her train of thought was interrupted.

“Does it usually take this long to pick up arriving passengers?”

Startled, she turned to the man who’d spoken. He was good looking, imposing in size and build, with a military stance, despite being dressed in casual clothing. Four men stood at his back. They’d all flown to the planet with her in the robo shuttle, Randal Four wasn’t big enough to warrant an actual piloted shuttle. The only ships which touched down here were government, military or free traders. Cheap cruise liners like the Solar Flower operated with a minimum of crew and even fewer luxuries. It was a tired old ship plying the Outer Sectors and ferrying humans and other sentients from one colony world to another. It had been the last leg of her trip from the Mid Sectors and at each stage she’d found herself on less congenial vessels, with the Solar Flower being the least amenable of them all.

But it was cheap. The price was right. The government only paid so much to transport a brand new doctor like herself to her assignment.

Melly hadn’t seen these five aboard the cruise ship but she’d pretty much stayed in her tiny cabin. Since they’d landed she’d been observing them surreptitiously, not wanting to seem rude, but the five were an interesting group. “No, I was wondering about that myself actually. There should have been ground transport here waiting for us.”

“Hmmm.” The man contemplated the far off terminal complex with a frown before giving her his attention again. “Jeff Pearson, recently retired from the military,” he said, putting his hand out.

“Welcome to Randal Four,” she said, shaking the proffered hand. Mr. Pearson had a firm grip and a direct gaze, his blue eyes piercing. “Dr. Melisande Jericho. I’m coming home after completing med school and my residency.”

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ARRIVAL (PLANET OF LAST RESORT BOOK ONE)

Melisande “Melly” Jericho is a newly licensed medical doctor, returning to her home planet to practice family medicine. She hasn’t been home in years and is excited to see her friends and family again. But when her shuttle lands, the spaceport seems deserted and she can’t get her handheld to connect to the network to call for help. Stranded on the landing pad far from the terminal, she joins forces with the only other passengers to arrive, never dreaming they’ll all soon be plunged into a life-or-death situation.

Jeff Pearson, retired Sectors Special Forces captain and his friends have come to colony planet Randal Four to take up ranching. He’s attracted to the curvy doctor as soon as he sees her on board the shuttle to the planet and hopes he can at least get her com details and maybe set up a dinner date before he and his team leave the city to reach their waiting ranchland. His tentative plans come to a crashing halt as a strange horde of moaning, growling people emerges from the terminal, headed in their direction with clearly murderous intent.

Jeff, Melly and the others make a desperate run to escape from the mob and begin an adventure the likes of which none of them could ever have predicted. As they struggle against overwhelming odds to survive, evade the infected, escape the city and reach her family home, the attraction and trust between the two grows ever hotter. But so does the danger and the mystery of what happened to the people of Randal Four

Planet of Last Resort is book one in a new scifi romance series set in the Sectors. This book will end in a Happy For Now situation for the two main characters; however the series arc will continue and the challenges and dangers will not be resolved in this book. Melly and Jeff will find some of the answers they’re seeking with more mysteries to solve.

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Aug 9 2025

First Meeting Snippet LADY OF THE NILE Paranormal Romance in Ancient Egypt

Cover by Fiona Jayde

Last week I shared the first time the two main characters noticed each other but today I’ll share their actual face to face encounter.

Tuya is a senior lady of Pharaoh’s Court, lady-in-waiting to the queen. She’s jaded and bored and finds her life confining. Khian is a captain in the army, from a distant nome (province), in Thebes for a short term assignment.

Tuya has been to the temple of Mut, carrying out duties as a priestesss. She had a vision of the goddess and when she awakens, the hour has grown late.

Tuya’s back hurt. Opening her eyes, she stretched, amazed to find herself reclining on the hard stone bench in Mut’s tiny garden. I fell asleep? More than a little afraid, she craned her neck to look at the statue of the goddess, but the carving was unchanged, Mut’s face serene as always. Tuya realized the light was going fast as Ra’s sun boat glided over the western bank of the Nile.

Unable to believe how long she’d been napping, or more correctly, caught in the goddess-sent vision, she got to her feet with difficulty, stiff after lying on the unforgiving bench, and hastened down the path toward the area where the litters waited. Stumbling a bit, she was relieved to see her conveyance and servants, although dismayed to find hers was the only one left.

“My lady, thank the gods, you’re here.” Hemaka, the chief of her household, straightened from where he’d been leaning against the gilded litter.

“Why didn’t you come check on me?” she asked. “We’re late.”

“It’s not my place to interrupt your devotions,” he said, eyebrows raised. “You’ve made the rule clear in the past.” He helped her into the litter and, as she settled against the cushions, he gestured for the four men to raise the elongated chair into the air and start marching. “We’ll have to return to the palace through the city, my lady.”

“Is using city streets a good idea, so late in the day? Why can’t we take the private road, as we usually do?”

“No one uses it after dark,” he reminded her. “There will be no guards and it’s possible thieves will be keeping an eye out for anyone unwary enough to risk the route.”

She toyed with her ornate golden collar. “But at this hour, with the work day complete, the people of the city will be in the roads and the squares—it’ll be crowded.”

“The situation can’t be helped.” He leaned over. “Best you pull your cloak closed, conceal the richness of your attire.”

As she complied, she thought with regret of the palace guards to which she was entitled by virtue of being senior among Ashayet’s ladies. She hadn’t requested an escort today because she was with other noblewomen priestesses, and there’d been an honor guard for the entire complement from the palace. Tuya was angry with herself for being careless about the time of day. But if the goddess wished to send me a vision, there wasn’t anything I could do about it. She shied away from contemplating the substance of the vision, even though every moment was clear in her mind.

Moving quickly, the litter bearers entered the edge of the main square. Keeping the pace, Hemaka directed them to work their way along the fringe and Tuya relaxed a bit as she hoped she might reach the palace with no problem after all. Even as she had the thought, shouts sounded up ahead and the litter slowed.

“Two men, arguing,” Hemaka said, tall enough to see over the heads of those surrounding them. “And a crowd gathering to watch, making bets.”

Forward progress became impossible. Tense, Tuya sat upright on the litter and stared at her servants in the flickering torchlight. “What do we do? Should someone run to the palace for help?”

“Well, what do we have here?” The voice was harsh, the accent thick. “Are you lost, pretty lady?”

There were jeering laughs from the companions of the man who’d spoken. Reinforced by their approval, he swaggered closer, thumbs hooked in his belt.

Tuya forced herself to take a deep breath. “I’m returning to the palace. Kindly move out of my way.”

“We’d escort you. For a price.” The heavyset man came closer, shoving a protesting Hemaka out of his way with ease. “Or we might escort you somewhere else. Someplace private.” He gestured at his comrades, who pressed closer. “We’re guests in your fair city – shouldn’t you be more welcoming?”

She smelled stale beer on his breath and shrank back when he reached for her. “How dare you threaten to lay hands on me? I’m a member of the Pharaoh’s court.”

“Pharaoh should take better care of his ladies then.” The thug grabbed her by the arm and tried to drag her from the cushions.

A thug tripped the litter bearer on the front left corner and the platform tilted, spilling her to the ground. She landed hard on her side, breaking her fall awkwardly, biting her lip from the pain.

There were shouts and the sounds of men running and the next thing she knew, a man had placed himself between her assailant and Tuya. Sword raised, he said, “Show proper respect to your betters or the edge of my blade will sever that unruly tongue from your head.”

“Apologies.” The man bowed his head but eyed the soldier slyly. “You don’t have enough men with you to arrest all of us. I’ve my entire crew here with me.”

“I’m concerned with getting the lady to the palace, where she belongs, and nothing else. If you leave now, I’ll forget your face. Go seek trouble elsewhere while I’m busy here.”

Laughing, the street tough pivoted and strutted away.

Sheathing his sword, her rescuer bent over to lift Tuya to her feet. “Drunken sailors from Minos. Scum. Are you all right, my lady?”

“My—my wrist hurts.” Dazed from the fall, she stared at him in the flickering torchlight. “You seem familiar. Thank you for your timely assistance.”

He kept his gentle hold on her as he checked how efficiently his squad of men had routed the other bystanders and would-be trouble makers. Then he gave his full attention to her. “Captain Khian, at your service, my lady. If I may be so bold, we saw each other at Pharaoh’s audience a few days ago.”

She put a hand to her head to straighten her wig. “Oh yes, I remember now. Congratulations on your gold of valor.”

“Kind of you to remember. As I told the Great One, we merely stood our ground and fought.” Khian checked her wrists, first one then the other, sliding his strong fingers across her skin with a reassuring touch. “Nothing broken. A sprain perhaps, when you attempted to break your fall.” He took a scarf from her belt, ignoring her exclamation of protest and made a rapid sling, looping it over her neck and supporting the affected wrist. “How does that feel?”

Realizing his intent had only been to help, she smiled. “Much better, thank you. How is it you’re here, captain? I’m grateful, of course—”

Her servants had righted the litter, and Khian handed her into it, making sure the pillows were adjusted behind her back. “Move out,” he said to Hemaka. “We’ll accompany you to the palace, my lady, make sure there are no more unfortunate incidents.”

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LADY OF THE NILE by Veronica Scott

Tuya, a high ranking lady-in-waiting at Pharaoh’s court, lives a life of luxury, pageantry and boredom. Khian, a brave and honorable officer from the provinces temporarily re-assigned to Thebes, catches her eye at a gold of valor ceremony. As the pair are thrown together by circumstances, she finds herself unaccountably attracted to this man so unlike the haughty nobles she’s used to. But a life with Khian would mean leaving the court and giving up all that she’s worked so hard to attain. As she goes about her duties, Tuya struggles with her heart’s desires.

When Tuya is lured into a dangerous part of Thebes by her disgraced half-brother and kidnapped by unknown enemies of Egypt, Khian becomes her only hope. Pharaoh assigns him to bring the lady home.

Aided by the gods, Khian races into the desert on the trail of the elusive kidnappers, hoping to find Tuya before it’s too late. Neither of them has any idea of the dark forces arrayed against them, nor the obstacles to be faced. An ancient evil from the long gone past wants to claim Tuya for its own purposes and won’t relinquish her easily.

Can Khian find her in time? Will he and his uncanny allies be able to prevent her death? And if the couple escapes and reaches safety, what of their fledgling romance?

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Aug 1 2025

First Meeting Snippet LADY OF THE NILE PNR Romance in Ancient Egypt

Cover by Fiona Jayde

Tuya is a lady of Pharaoh’s Court in 1550 BCE, world weary, sophisticated, bored wih her life and her place in Egyptian society. Khian is a captain from a distant nome (province), in Thebes temporarily after serving in an ongoing war against Egypt’s enemies. He’s at Court to receive gold of valor for his actions in battle and she’s in attendance as a lady-in-waiting to the queen.

This isn’t their actual first meeting with conversation – I’ll do that one next – but this is where they take note of each other…

Boredom had been weighing on Tuya all afternoon. She’d sat through many audiences at the court of Pharaoh Nat-re-Akhte and this one was no different—newly arrived dignitaries to greet, a few issues needing Pharaoh’s judgment, gold of valor to be awarded to a deserving soldier or two. In her five years as chief lady-in-waiting to the Royal Wife, Tuya had seen all variations.

Pharaoh would present the gold of valor next, and Tuya found herself glancing at the assembled soldiers. The officer captured her attention instantly. Something about his face drew her gaze. He had the look of a man going into combat and she guessed his unfamiliarity with royal protocol and the customs at court might lie at the heart of his tension. Or he was worried for his men that they’d manage the moments under Pharaoh’s scrutiny with honor. Direct attention from the living god was a frightening thing to most people. She wished she could take the officer aside for a moment and reassure him that Pharaoh was a kind man, a soldier himself in fact, and would most likely be tolerant of any minor breaches in protocol from overawed rural troops.

The captain was looking at the crowd now, as he waited, and when his attention turned to her, she smiled and tried to project encouraging thoughts for him. It doesn’t matter how the court perceives you, only Pharaoh’s opinion counts with the gods. She guessed something of her attitude might have come across, as he gave her a smile and a little bow. Tall and muscular, he really was handsome, with a strong jaw, chiseled cheekbones and piercing hazel eyes.

Of course, thinking of becoming better acquainted with the man was foolish. A high-ranking lady like her would never mingle with common soldiers from some remote province of Egypt. Her usual companions were the nobility and the highest ranking officers of the army.

“Captain Khian of the Jackal Nome,” said the chief scribe, “And his personal honor guard, drawn from members of his provincial command, to represent the rest.”

The officer stepped forward, his plain blue cloak swirling around his legs. Six soldiers stood ramrod straight behind him and all saluted.

Pharaoh leaned forward to speak to the solider. “My general tells me your men held off the enemy at the Meribe Pass long enough for him to bring up reinforcements and turn the tide of battle. Well done.” He took the gold of valor, a heavy necklace of golden flies, from the scribe and looped it over the captain’s neck.

“It was either dig in and fight or jump off the cliffs at our back, Great One.” This Khian’s voice was deep, his smile engaging. “I didn’t see much choice in the moment, frankly. So we made a wall of our shields and dared the Hyksos to overrun us.”

Tuya held her ostrich feather fan still, waiting to see how the ruler would react to being addressed. Normally, the recipients of honors merely saluted and murmured their brief, awed thanks.

But Pharaoh was a former military man and in a good mood. He laughed. “Sometimes the best strategy is just to survive and fight like hell, captain, I quite agree.” He addressed the scribe at his side. “A land grant and a writ of amkhu for the captain.”

Tuya was surprised. Amkhu, the honor of being buried at Pharaoh’s expense, was rarely bestowed these days.

Pharaoh continued, “Extra commendation to all members of his company and a gold bar for each man.”

Never at a loss, even when faced with unexpected requests, Edekh, chief scribe of all Egypt, turned to his assistant scribe, who handed him two scrolls. A tiny table was brought, the scrolls unrolled and held in place by servants, as Pharaoh impressed his seal into melted red wax.

“With Egypt’s gratitude.” Pharaoh handed the scrolls to the officer personally.

Tuya shook her head in wonder. This man and his soldiers must have accomplished quite a feat, no matter how low-key the discussion today was. Receiving the scrolls from the hand of the Great One was an incredible distinction.

Captain Khian saluted, his men following suit, and withdrew from the chamber, led by a scribe who stepped to his elbow when it was clear Pharaoh had completed what he wished to say. The group marched past Tuya, and she was surprised when Khian glanced sideways in her direction, inclining his head again ever so slightly.

She flickered her fan in front of her face as she blushed. The lady next to her leaned over, giggling. “Was the rustic flirting with you? Here, in front of the entire court?”

“Did the queen see?”

“No, calm yourself, Tuya, no one saw but me. Don’t worry; there’ll be no vicious gossip about you today, nor merciless teasing about your new taste for commoners. Your momentary inattention went unnoticed.” Her friend laughed and switched her focus to the next group claiming Pharaoh’s attention and the audience continued.

VS: But the two will meet again…

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LADY OF THE NILE by Veronica Scott

When Tuya is lured into a dangerous part of Thebes by her disgraced half-brother and kidnapped by unknown enemies of Egypt, Khian becomes her only hope. Pharaoh assigns him to bring the lady home.

Can Khian find her in time? Will he and his uncanny allies be able to prevent her death? And if the couple escapes and reaches safety, what of their fledgling romance?

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Jan 31 2025

Why I Wrote ARRIVAL (PLANET OF LAST RESORT BOOK ONE) + Excerpt

The simple answer is that I always wanted to write a dystopian, post apocalyptic novel and now I have!

The first one I ever read was the classic Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank and it immediately became one of my favorite genres. I’m not really all about the gore and violence – I’m always fascinated by the people and when did they start to suspect something was wrong, how did they react in the moment when the apocalypse of whatever type it might be struck and then how do events unfold thereafter. I like to compare their reactions to how I think I would react. When I decided to write this new novel of mine, I knew I wanted to place it in the Sectors and I had to think hard about what kind of apocalyptic event would make sense in that framework.

I settled on a virus that produces zombies, which may or may not have been manufactured by alien enemy agents. Now personally I enjoy a good zombie tale, from The Walking Dead to World War Z to Kate L. Mary’s Broken World to Dee J, Holmes’ Pandora Strain trilogy. I’m not into the gore part of things though and so I guess my zombies in this book are “zombie lite” in that I don’t get into too much explicit detail of how they look, or the fight scenes.

The Female Main Character is a doctor (I seem to gravitate toward the medical profession for my FMC’s on occasion) and the Male Main Character is a retired Sectors Special Forces operator who has come to Randal Four to claim his veterans’ acres and ranch.

There’s a dog, which survives of course!

I enjoyed placing my characters into various scenarios as they make their way across the planet, taking some of my favorite parts of the post apocalyptic genre into account. I’m always trying to write a book that I’m going to want to read – that’s why I started writing in the first place, way back when I was seven. I hope you’ll enjoy the adventure and action in this one, as well as the romance of course! I definitely plan on at least two more books in the series.

Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of the book:

One week from today she’d be reporting to the big hospital here in Central City as Dr. Jericho, thank you very much, and her long journey to achieve her goals would be complete.

She blinked and tried to refocus. Surely not.

Her train of thought was interrupted.

“Does it usually take this long to pick up arriving passengers?”

But it was cheap. The price was right. The government only paid so much to transport a brand new doctor like herself to her assignment.

“Impressive! Congratulation.” He waved at the other four men, who nodded as he made a rapid-fire introduction. “Cody, Zach, Samms and Trent. We’re here to take up our veterans’ acres and make a living ranching.”

“Welcome to the planet then,” she said with enthusiasm. She was matching her observations to the names and trying to keep the four men straight in her mind. Cody was the one who’d been pacing and playing with a spinning fidget toy, which made her dizzy to watch. Trent had been listening to music, tapping his toes, very much at ease. Samms played some game on his handheld and barely took his eyes off the screen to wave at the introduction. He reminded her a bit of her younger brother, who was also an avid gamer every chance he got to play. Zach was built on a massive scale, with tatts on his bulging biceps. He stood well over six feet and dwarfed the others, even Jeff, who was pretty buff himself.

“My guess is we need to hike, captain,” said Zach now. “No one’s coming with a welcome wagon today.”

“All right,” he agreed, turning away from her. “Get your gear squared away and let’s go.”

She certainly wasn’t going to wait endlessly out here on the landing pad either, so Melly gathered up her backpack and small carryon. “Mind if I join you?” she asked, walking over to where the group was dealing with their own possessions.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Jeff’s grin lit up his face, which she’d already decided was handsome enough for a highly effective recruiting poster. “Not leaving you here by yourself. Can you manage your things or do you need us to carry them?”

With a laugh she surveyed the men in front of her, each with his own rucksack. “I can manage, thank you. The rest of my stuff was in the cargo pod which hopefully landed okay a few hours ago.”

“We sent ours ahead on an earlier ship,” Jeff told her. He looked past her to the two businessmen. “You coming, gentlemen?”

“I suppose,” one said, running a hand over his sweaty face and sounding aggravated. “Really the service here is abysmal, Paulson. If we didn’t need the contract so badly—”

“It wasn’t this bad last time we came through,” his companion said as if trying to make up for the first man’s brusque remark. “Probably a minor thing. Once we’re at the terminal we’ll be fine, Baird. We have plenty of time to make our first meeting.”

“After you,” the captain said to Melly, with a good humored expression and a sweeping gesture as if inviting her to a dance.

Feeling more lighthearted now she was taking action, Melly began walking. She speculated where exactly the men were going to stake their veterans’ acres claim and hoped it wouldn’t be too remote. She realized the group had formed up around her as if she was a celebrity they needed to protect as they proceeded. The two businessmen trailed behind, Baird huffing and puffing. She might have to give him medical attention by the time they reached the terminal. The thought reminded her of what she thought she’d seen beside the stationary cargo mover. She paused and looked in that direction again.

“Something wrong?” Jeff asked, coming to a halt beside her.

“I—I think maybe someone is on the ground next to the hauler over there,” she said, pointing. “You go ahead—I need to check on them.”

“We’ll go with you,” he said. “We’re in no rush and if the person does need attention, you may need help.”

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ARRIVAL (PLANET OF LAST RESORT BOOK ONE) by Veronica Scott

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Jan 25 2025

What Would You Ask the Goddess? Snippet from HEIRESS OF THE NILE

The snippet from near the beginning of the novel. Pebatma, whose noble family has fallen on hard times, has grown sad and distressed and a kindly priestess has invited her to sit and rest:

Feeling as if she’d lost control of the situation, Pebatma allowed herself to be drawn through a narrow door she’d never noticed before and walked into a cool, green garden. A fountain played lazily in the center and the overflow ran in a burbling stream until it disappeared from sight. The smell of the blue lotus was pleasant on the air and Pebatma found her chest loosening with each breath. Birds sang a merry tune. The well-designed garden and the granite bench carved in the shape of a reclining cow, with the seat projecting from the beast’s stone side reminded her vaguely of her family’s estate, before they’d fallen from favor of course.

“Will you have a bite to eat? These are from the temple’s inner sanctum,” the priestess said with a wink. “Blessed but safe for human consumption.”

Unsure if she could avail herself of the offer, Pebatma heard her stomach rumble embarrassingly and she selected a fragrant sesame roll glazed with honey. “You’re very kind.”

If she hoped to receive a name from the woman, she was disappointed. As Pebatma nibbled the roll, the priestess said, “You’ve been a devoted servant to the Great One, through all your own travails. Not a word of reproach have you offered to her for what your family has suffered. Diligent in your daily prayers, offering what you can, when you can. I’m sorry you never became one of the sacred order yourself, but Shai the God of Fate had other plans. We must all bow to his will of course.”

Wondering how this person could know so much about her, when she’d never spoken a word to anyone at the temple since the day she and her mother were refused entry, Pebatma swallowed hard. “You’re remarkably well informed, my lady.”

With a vague gesture, the other dismissed the remark. “Temple walls have eyes and ears, or so it is said. Why not tell me yourself what troubles you today? What would you ask of Hathor were she standing here?”

Pebatma heard a cow moo in the distance and the faint sounds of a sistrum whirring. Goose bumps rose on her skin and she shivered, unable to take another bite of the roll. She became uneasy about where it was she truly sat right now and to whom she spoke.

Deposiphotos

The book blurb: 1550 BCE – Forced by a vengeful Pharaoh to flee for her life and hide in the poorest section of Thebes, Lady Pebatma has scraped and struggled to support her ailing mother and young brother for the past two years. Now, out of funds with the rent to pay and no possessions left to sell, she begs the goddess Hathor for help. With a new pharaoh taking the throne, surely something can be done…

A powerful general in command of the army and best friend to Pharaoh, Marnamaret has everything a nobleman in Egypt could desire…except for true love. He refuses to settle for less. On a whim, he prays to Hathor to send him the woman of his dreams.Will the goddess answer these heartfelt petitions? And if she does, will Shai the god of Fate allow the course of two lives to be changed by love? For none can deny Fate….

Author’s Note: This is a connected series. Heiress of the Nile can be read as a standalone. The story falls between Priestess and Warrior timewise and is set in the early days of this Pharaoh’s reign.

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Jan 5 2025

Close the Door Snippet DANGER ON THE NILE Paranormal Romance in Ancient Egypt

The excerpt, from close to the beginning of the book. Mayet, a new priestess, is in the inner sanctum of the temple, cleaning the altar:

The sound of the heavy door opening caused Mayet to spin with a gasp. She wasn’t finished yet—the high priestess was early. Punishment for disappointing the goddess would be swift and Mayet would walk in pain for several days after the whipping she knew would be meted out. Or perhaps the priestess would be more merciful and spare the rod but put her on bread and water for a few days.

But the door seemed to be stuck, opening only a small way and Mayet heard whoever was at the entrance breathing heavily, almost gasping. She rushed to the portal, finding the high priestess clinging to the locking mechanism, her dress stained with blood, her wig askew and her eyes wild. Her elaborate makeup was smeared and the kohl left tearlike marks on her cheeks.

“Help me, child,” Inu said in a weak voice.

“What happened, my lady?” Trembling, Mayet supported the other woman and half carried her to the closest surface where she could sit. She glanced at the door, worried about the sounds drifting in from the outer temple area. Shouts, screams and the clang of metal. Swords? Here?

“Close the door quickly,” Inu said, slumping against the wall, smearing blood across the vivid paintings of the goddess in her garden as she moved.

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DANGER ON THE NILE (CHILDREN OF FATE) by Veronica Scott

1550 BCE. Mayet is a newly appointed priestess at the temple of Isis in a southern Egyptian border town. When enemies attack the city, she must flee alone with a sacred effigy to keep the invaders from claiming it and using it for their own magic rituals. Joining with other refugees from the stricken city, she has to hide the statue from curious eyes and comfort her companions as if she was a learned, senior priestess. They all look to her for leadership on their desperate trek north. With the enemy close on their heels, Mayet stumbles over an ancient, abandoned fort, where her party takes refuge. Surrounded and trapped by the invaders, she faces a bleak future.

Khay is a high-ranking Egyptian officer, sent by Pharaoh to negotiate treaties with various southern tribes. He and his soldiers narrowly escape an ambush at the city where Mayet’s temple was located and are on the run from the invaders when he sees the shelter of an abandoned fort. Now he and his men are also trapped inside the stout walls with no food and no hope of rescue. Yet he has no regrets for the priestess leading the refugees is the woman the goddess Isis has shown him in a vision, the one who could become his wife.

Together Mayet and Khay must find a way to bring their people to freedom. Will Isis listen to pleas from such a fledgling priestess? Khay comes from a famous family, smiled upon by other gods – will any of them come to his aid? As the pair struggle to stay alive and save the other Egyptians, attraction grows and unites their hearts. But is there to be a future in this world, or only in the Afterlife?

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My other ancient Egyptian paranormal romances…

Jan 4 2025

I Have to Fight Snippet from RENNYR SciFi Romance Gladiator

Sharing from my second scifi romance gladiator novel RENNYR (BADARI GLADIATORS BOOK TWO).

If you want the full story of what this couple goes through and how they battle to survive and protect each other, and their romance, with all the nuances and details, the book is available wide.

The excerpt:

All along the corridor the force barriers deactivated and men were herded away as he had been previously. His own cell remained locked. Rennyr paced, the great beast inside him impatient to get on with whatever today held for them.

He paused in midstep and rushed to the force barrier as a new squad of guards and robos arrived, passing him by again and going to the big cell at the end of the corridor. He heard a commotion, shouted orders and the buzz of blasters and guessed a few of the prisoners must have resisted the guards. Heart beating wildly, he prayed to the goddess the woman hadn’t been involved. Footsteps echoed and the remaining special prisoners marched past his cell, closely watched by the guards. Rennyr focused on her in the middle of the group, pale and appearing shaken but unharmed.

She glanced at him and for a moment time stopped. Swallowing hard, he yelled out, “What’s your name?”

“Jaine,” she said as she kept walking, jostled by the men around her.

“I’ll find you,” he shouted but she was too far away now to acknowledge his pledge.

“Hey,” Rennyr yelled at the guards, surprised and worried because no one was stopping to collect him. “You forgot one. Let me out.”

Captain Symonds shook his head. “Calm down, you’re not fighting today. You can relax. Westklin’s not going to waste a potentially valuable property like you on another death match, not now. You passed the test.”

“But I have to fight,” he said, dismayed not to be given the opportunity to defend his newly found mate.

VS: So what will Rennyr do next? Jaine has no chance in the arena…more next week.

RENNYR (BADARI GLADIATORS SERIES BOOK 2) by Veronica Scott

Rennyr was a genetically engineered senior soldier in his Badari Warrior pack until one day he woke up on a strange planet naked, disoriented and about to be sold into the gladiator arena for the rest of his life. Unscrupulous guards faked his death in the lab where he was created and sold him into slavery in the galaxy’s hinterlands. Kill or be killed is the rule in his new life and a Badari never gives up. He’ll fight to stay alive until the Badari goddess sees fit to decree his death and release him from the wretched existence.

Jaine Mitchel of the Sectors was on her way to an exciting research internship until pirates seized the spaceship on which she was a passenger and took her to feature in a gladiator ‘death match’ in the galactic hinterlands. She has no hope of surviving in the arena until a man she only glimpsed in passing breaks out of his cell and saves her life, declaring her to be his fated mate. Given to Rennyr as his reward for winning the death match, Jaine must share a cell and a bed with the handsome, not human, gladiator and together they have to find a way to survive in this merciless world of violence and death. Their mutual attraction is off the charts. Falling in love is the easy part, finding a way to escape or even to remain together is the challenge. At any time their mutual owner could decide thumbs up or thumbs down on one or both of them, or sell them separately.

Their only hope is a mysterious gladiator master from offworld who may be coming to buy Rennyr. Will he take Jaine as well? Could Rennyr win freedom for them both if he does well enough in the arena? Badari Warriors claim their mates for life and Rennyr has no intention of losing Jaine…RENNYR is an 80K word novel and can be read as a standalone. KYDEN is the first book in the series.

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VS: There’s also a box set available with all three titles in one! Available wide. Here’s the AMAZON link.

Jan 3 2025

How Many Oxygen Breathers Snippet WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM “Titanic in Space”

The excerpt: The ship has suffered an unexplained accident and the crew seems to have disappeared. In the absence of any crew members Special Forces operator Nick Jameson takes charge of loading a lifeboat. The D’vannae Brother helping him is an assassin/bodyguard serving an alien goddess of flames.

“Quiet down now,” he said, watching the people in the front row of the mob, getting eye contact, to personalize his commands, make them feel like responsible individuals, not a mindless, panicking herd.

The blaring sirens and recorded emergency warnings cut out, resumed briefly and then died away in a slowly fading gibberish. The lights in the corridor flickered, causing gasps here and there in the crowd.

“Are there any SMT officers or crew here?” Nick said.

Desperation, fear, and puzzlement on the faces in front of him. Many sidelong glances, mute head shakes.

Silence.

“All right, then. I’m Captain Jameson, Sectors Special Forces. I’m taking charge of this LB portal. I need four volunteers besides this man,” nodding at the D’nvannae, “to help me keep order here. You can’t all get into this LB. No one’s going to make it off unless you keep your heads and we go about this calmly and quickly.” He pointed at some likely candidates. “You, you, you and you.”

He’d picked out a quartet of fairly good-sized men, who seemed calmer than some of the others ringing him. Pointing at the Brother, he said, “What’s your name?”

“Khevan.”

“Fine, Khevan, you and these four gentlemen form a ring. No one gets by until I say so. Watch my back while I open this damn portal.”

Nodding, the D’nvannae and the four men linked arms and established a perimeter. Nick gave his attention to the locked access. Damn, there should have been at least one SMT crew person at each LB by now, with the unlock code, getting the civilians safely off the ship as fast as possible. Nick spared a second and a small part of his mind to swear at the inefficiencies and lax discipline of this ship’s captain. Lucky for all these nice people I know how to open the thing.

Nick scanned the portal info display as he keyed in a code on the access panel. “Capacity one hundred sentients,” the label declared in Basic and the other five languages. Okay, Jameson, quick, calculate what the limit really means, what the margin of design safety probably was. How many extra oxygen-breathers can I shove onto the thing without killing them all?

As the door cycled open, Nick assessed the waiting throng. The crowd, even larger now, probably in excess of two hundred men, women and children, pressed forward. They were pushing his ring of volunteers closer to him before the men dug in and shoved resolutely back.

“This LB can only support one hundred and twenty-five,” Nick announced to the assembled passengers, pitching his voice to carry to the edge of the crowd. “I’m not allowing one more person to board beyond the limit. I’m taking children and their caretakers first, followed by as many other adults as possible. Anyone with children, come forward now. We’ve got no time to lose. No luggage! No pets!”

Depositphotos

WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM

Traveling unexpectedly aboard the luxury liner Nebula Dream on its maiden voyage across the galaxy, Sectors Special Forces Captain Nick Jameson is ready for ten relaxing days, and hoping to forget his last disastrous mission behind enemy lines. He figures he’ll gamble at the casino, take in the shows, maybe even have a shipboard fling with Mara Lyrae, the beautiful but reserved businesswoman he meets.

All his plans vaporize when the ship suffers a wreck of Titanic proportions. Captain and crew abandon ship, leaving the 8000 passengers stranded without enough lifeboats and drifting unarmed in enemy territory. Aided by Mara, Nick must find a way off the doomed ship for himself and several otherinnocent people before deadly enemy forces reach them or the ship’s malfunctioning engines finish ticking down to self destruction.

But can Nick conquer the demons from his past that tell him he’ll fail these innocent people just as he failed to save his Special Forces team? Will he outpace his own doubts to win this vital race against time?

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Audiobook, narrated by Actor Michael Riffle – Available Now at Amazon and iTunes

Available as a box set with the two sequels!

Dec 7 2024

Memorable Moment RENNYR Badari Gladiator

VS: Amazon says RENNYR is my least popular scifi romance at the moment so I decided to share a snippet from his book today. He’s rescued the Female Main Character Jaine from the alien arena and they’re sharing his cell. Right now she’s asleep in the bed while Rennyr watches over her.

Jaine stood in the center of the arena. The lights were dim and there was no audience. The sand had been raked and cleaned and stretched away from her on all sides. The atmosphere was eerie and unsettling, even knowing she must be in a dream. She made a 360 degree turn but there was no one else present and no open doors. The walls stretched high above her, impossible to climb and far above the starry night sky beckoned, which of course further proved the unreality of this experience because the arena had a dome.

At least my arms don’t hurt.

Puzzling over why she was having this dream, she took a step toward the place she remembered the door to the medics’ room as being, for lack of anything better to do. Only to stop with a gasp because now there was a woman standing here, watching her. Clad in diaphanous white robes, seeming youthful, the lady’s face was in shadows.

“You were to have died here today,” she said. The words were shocking, although her musical voice softened the impact a bit. “Your story was done.”

Who is she supposed to be? The unknown woman was taller than Jaine and her bluntness was daunting and not being able to see her face heightened Jaine’s unease. “The whole experience was terrifying,” Jaine said since the other appeared to be waiting for a reply. “I know I wouldn’t have made it without Rennyr. But I don’t understand why—”

Head tilted, the woman’s features tantalizingly not in focus, she asked, “He frightens you?”

Jaine took a moment to consider her answer. “I think he’s sexy as hell,” she said frankly, discretion loosened by the medications. “And I appreciate his help but I’m concerned what he may be expecting in return. And I don’t begin to comprehend why a man—a being—who doesn’t know me at all would risk his own life in this horrible place just to save me. There—there must be other women—”

Her companion shook her head. “Not for him. It will be you or no one. You can trust him. Whether you ultimately decide to extend any other emotions to him will be entirely up to you. He knows my commandments and will honor them.”

The woman was right next to Jaine now, although she had no memory of having seen her move. Dreams are so weird. A beautiful perfume, like a field of flowers in the warm sunshine, filled her nostrils and she inhaled sharply, enjoying the scent after the stench of the arena during the battle and the institutional odor of the cells. She sought the source of the aroma and was startled to see swathes of purple flowers growing on the sterile arena sands.

“Your life has been set into a new course and there will be no returning to the old path, do you understand? His life has been redirected as well. The two of you can help each other, if you choose. Forge a new beginning, with Rennyr but remember he isn’t human, he has a heart and he can be hurt. And I did not alter your fate to see my Badari suffer. I did it on behalf of you both but he’s the one who looks to me.”

Jaine opened her mouth to protest or to ask more questions, she wasn’t sure which, but the woman was gone. Mist crept in, blotting out the view of the arena and she fell to the sands, eyes closing despite her best effort to remain awake in the dream.

VS: Meeting the Great Mother goddess of the Badari is always an eerie occasion…

RENNYR (BADARI GLADIATORS SERIES BOOK 2) by Veronica Scott

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Nov 22 2024

From the Archive: Why I Wrote STAR CRUISE GHOST SHIP “Mary Celeste in Space”

Since I was a child I’ve always been fascinated by the story of the Mary Celeste, a freighter found under sail in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872 with no crew aboard, no lifeboat and no clues as to what happened. The ship was seaworthy and the mystery has been enduring, with many theories ranging from alien abduction to mutiny to a very scholarly discussion of fumes in the cargo hold causing the crew to take to the lifeboat. The captain was known to have had his wife and young daughter on board with him, which deepens the tragedy.

I’ve always wanted to provide my own version of this tale in a science fiction format, set in the far future of course. So STAR CRUISE GHOST SHIP was inspired by the Mary Celeste. It made sense to me to have this begin and end (more or less) on my interstellar cruise liner, the Nebula Zephyr, which comes across the derelict space freighter Mebsuta C and sends a salvage crew over to take the prize to the next port.

Depositphotos Generic Clipper Ship

I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what elements of the Mary Celeste I could adapt to my scifi story and then expanding from there as the events became my plot and affected my characters in their battle to understand what was going on inside the ship and to survive. I wove in some paranormal-style happenings, with the ghost of a child roaming the corridors that only certain people could see. I tried to achieve a Twilight Zone style of telling the story, with unexplained occurrences and people questioning themselves about reality. (I do provide an explanation by the end.)

Speaking of the characters, I figured it was more than time for Security Officer Jayna Evans to get her own adventure in the Star Cruise series. She’s been in the background in most of the books, standing guard, being part of patrols and rescue missions, but never the Female Main Character with the romance going on. I had to figure out her backstory and motivations and why certain things would happen to her, and how she’d react.

For the Main Male Character I introduced Theo Knox, Sixth Officer on the Nebula Zephyr, who has his own backstory and reasons for caring so desperately about the fate of the Mebsuta C.

You’ve probably seen authors talking about characters who take over the story and tell the author what will and won’t happen? Believe it! Jayna and Theo took charge of this one, and pretty much changed the course of their romance that I had envisioned. I had to rework a few scenes to accommodate the way they wanted the story to go. So now, as the book begins Theo and Jayna are having a no strings attached hot and heavy affair but Theo wants more and Jayna is fighting her deeper attraction to him because of her past.

It’s a romance so of course there’s a Happy Ever After ending!

STAR CRUISE GHOST SHIP by Veronica Scott

After losing his Space Navy career due to an unfortunate accident, Theo Knox is looking for any opportunity to distinguish himself as an officer aboard the luxury cruise liner Nebula Zephyr. When they come upon a derelict freighter, he’s happy to lead a small crew to salvage the ship and bring her to port. But once he’s boarded the little ship questions pile up. What happened to the original crew? Why is the lifeboat still docked? Is the ship haunted? What’s in those mysterious crates in the cargo hold? Security Officer Jayna Evans has complicated feelings about Theo so she’s pleased to be assigned to his salvage crew. She hopes they can work out their future while bringing the derelict to port but the uncanny events aboard the abandoned vessel pile up and she can’t trust anyone, not even Theo. Can Theo and Jayna salvage the ship and their relationship? Will anyone survive a cruise on the Ghost Ship? This 38K word Star Cruise novella is the latest installment in the ongoing, connected series. Have you booked your Star Cruise yet? There is a very brief mention of the loss of a previous pregnancy.

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(The book got a wonderful 5 Star review from the Books of My Heart blog, by the way…)

The excerpt – Theo and Jayna begin exploring the derelict ship:

With Jayna leading the way and the other security officer bringing up the rear, Theo set out into the corridors, following a mental map of the ship’s layout, which he’d committed to memory. The captain’s cabin was down one level, on the way to the surprisingly large cargo compartment on the lower level, at the stern. “I wish we knew more about these people,” Theo said as they walked. He had the pernicious feeling of being watched, although the vidscreens he passed at regular intervals were either dead or full of static. Objectively he believed the ship was empty but he couldn’t shake the expectation of running into someone around any bend of the corridor.

“And where they went.” Jayna added. “And why. Did you notice the lifeboat was stowed? If they weren’t taken by pirates, which the lack of disorder and the presence of cargo indicates, then what in the seven hells happened?”

He wondered the same thing but deliberately took an optimistic tone. “Judging by the undisturbed dust everywhere, whatever took place was a long time ago. Nothing to concern us.”

“Hmmm, wish I was as sure about it as you are.”

At the entrance to the captain’s cabin, Theo stood aside out of Jayna’s way as she and her teammate prepared to open the door, which they did with practiced efficiency, entering the room with weapons hot and ready. “Clear,” she said, which was his signal to enter.

The captain had a suite as it turned out. The first room was a combination bedroom/sitting room and looked as if the residents had merely stepped away. The bed was made but there was an indentation in the blanket as if someone had been sitting on it. An old-fashioned handheld, several books and a messy stack of paper were on the dining table and a stylus lay on the floor next to the chair, which sat crookedly to the side. All the surfaces were covered with dust. Theo picked up the handheld but the power source was long exhausted and he couldn’t even get a flicker from the screen. Setting it on the table, he checked the papers cursorily but didn’t find anything to grab his attention.

“If we get the order to take the ship as a prize, we’ll have time to search for answers later,” he said, “And names.” Ready to leave the cabin, now Theo was eager to check out the cargo hold. Depending on what the Mebsuta C had been carrying the value of this salvage could increase exponentially. Or it could have all gone to dust.

“There was a kid on board,” Jayna said with dismay, from the doorway to the next room.

Hastily he stepped to join her and saw what was indisputably a child’s room, with a small bunk and toys and books scattered across the deck. A brightly colored stuffed, six-legged animal sat forlornly on the bed, leaning on the pillows.

“Angelee,” Jayna said.

“How do you know—?” He spun on his heel to see her pointing at a gaily painted sign hung on the bulkhead, proclaiming the child’s name in flowing Basic, decorated with fantastical creatures. Thinking of his own nieces and nephews, he felt a pang, hoping the girl’s fate hadn’t been a bad one. “Must have been a family business, running freight and maybe a few paying passengers while living aboard.”

Needing to escape the cozy but desolate scene, Theo made his way out of the cabin, entering the bright, sterile corridor with relief. “No more stops. Let’s get to the hold as quickly as we can.”

He appreciated the fact Jayna and her teammate never relaxed their alertness as the trio made their way through the ship, heading toward the hold, which occupied most of the stern. Theo was convinced the ship was empty of anyone but the Nebula Zephyr crew but reminded himself to stay frosty as well. Interstellar space could spring surprises on a person, most of them nasty.

The portal to the hold opened smoothly in response to the controls and the lights came on, although not as brightly as in the outer corridors. Jayna in the lead, they moved into the cavernous area.

“Make a complete circuit,” Theo said. “Just to be sure.”

She veered to the right. The hold was jampacked with containers of all size, stacked tightly. Theo marveled at the sheer amount of freight the long-gone captain had managed to pack into his ship. If he’d reached his original destination, wherever it might have been, he’d have had a successful trip for sure. They walked and walked and it seemed a long time to Theo before Jayna turned again and led them past the rear of the cargo. It was an even longer walk before she could go left and march carefully along a narrow path between the containers and the bulkhead.

“This is impossible,” she said, giving voice to what he was thinking with puzzlement. “There’s no way all this freight fits into the ship we boarded. What the seven hells is going on here?”

Have you booked your Star Cruise yet?