Nov 10 2018

No Shared History Weekend Writing Warriors

I’m taking snippets from my most recently released scifi romance Timtur: The Teacher’s Alien Healer (Badari Warriors) this week. (GABE just went to the formatter so it’ll be out soon, by the way.)

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!)

Punctuation may be wonky to comply with our guidelines here. May be edited a bit from published version.

If you haven’t read any of my Badari Warriors books, here’s the background:

Genetically engineered soldiers of the far future, the Badari were created by alien enemies to fight humans. But then the scientists kidnapped an entire human colony from the Sectors to use as subjects in twisted experiments…the Badari and the humans made common cause, rebelled and escaped the labs. Now they live side by side in a sanctuary valley protected by a powerful Artificial Intelligence, and wage unceasing war on the aliens. The luckiest Badari find their mates among the humans.

The alien scientists never bothered to create female Badari.

The excerpt – The pack Alpha, who is mated to a human, tries to answer Timtur’s question from last week about whether it’s possible to balance his duties with having a mate:

“I refuse to believe the goddess would send the human women to this planet at the very time, the first time in eight hundred years we’ve been able to enter into pair bonds as free men, and then expect you, of all people, to resist her gift. The Great Mother, as I understand her, isn’t a jealous or a capricious deity. I think she wants us to live. And mating and having children is the essence of life. She may even be counting on you to help show the way for others. A balance in all things is called for, true, but serving the needs of the pack and being a fully committed mate can be done.”

“Those are my hopes as well, but I take my duty to the pack so deeply,” Timtur remembered the interrupted picnic, when he’d left Lily and rushed off to care for the injured Badari soldiers. He still believed that was the right action at the time but now he could see he should have paused to reassure Lily he wanted to continue their conversation as soon as he could return to her. They had so little shared history, no deep understanding of each other’s life experiences, which he now saw was a lack he needed to rectify – the human life in the Sectors and his existence as a captive in the labs were so removed from each other that of course she had no instinctive comprehension of his pack bonds.

The Badari had no mating rituals and he’d no idea what courting behaviors a human woman might expect.

The blurb:

Far from her home in the human Sectors after the mass kidnapping, teacher Lily Garrison is making a niche for herself in the valley by running a school for the Badari young. Although she yearns for Timtur, the pack’s healer, another Badari male has his eye on her and won’t take no for an answer.

Timtur feels the weight and responsibility of being the pack’s only healer, constantly on call as the soldiers fight ferocious battles against the alien scientists and their troops. With scarcely a moment to himself, he’s drawn to the gentle Lily but worries he won’t be able to juggle his duties, his loyalty to the pack and a relationship with a human woman.

When Lily’s stalker takes direct action to kidnap her and steal her from the safety of the valley, she’s forced to reach deep inside to find the strength to battle for her life. Timtur realizes too late how foolish he’s been to resist the bond with his fated mate and leads the rescue effort.

Before this situation can be resolved both will have to put their lives on the line and decide what really matters in a dangerous world ruled by the enemy.

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Nov 3 2018

Heavy Responsibilities Weekend Writing Warriors

I’m switching to my newly released scifi romance Timtur: The Teacher’s Alien Healer (Badari Warriors) this week. (The first book in the series, AYDARR, just won the I Heart Indie contest for SciFi & Fantasy by the way!)

Punctuation may be wonky to comply with our guidelines here. May be edited a bit from published version.

If you haven’t read any of my Badari Warriors books, here’s the background:

Lily and Timtur are having a hard time moving from being friends to a deeper relationship. Here Timtur talks to Aydarr, the pack’s Alpha about his misgivings and seeks advice. Aydarr has a human mate.

The excerpt:

Pulling vulnerable emotions out of his heart and putting words to them was like standing naked and declawed in a vermore pit while the poisonous creatures crawled over him. Talking about his deepest emotions and vulnerabilities wasn’t something he was used to doing at all. Even as he had the thought, he took himself to task. Lily wouldn’t hurt him by being cruel, even if she didn’t accept his proposal to be mates. But if he worked up the courage to ask her his question and she said no, he didn’t know how he’d go on. She was as essential to him as air to breathe.

He fell back on the primary issue confusing him—duty to his pack and to the goddess. Timtur decided to keep the emotional jeopardy he felt in broaching the topic with Lily in reserve. Maybe he wouldn’t have to explain himself on that score, depending what Aydarr counseled. “You said it yourself, earlier: I’m the one in our generation who speaks to the goddess, keeps the traditions aligned, carries the messages of the ancestral memory to those who follow.”

“Heavy responsibilities…”

The blurb:

Before this situation can be resolved both will have to put their lives on the line and decide what really matters in a dangerous world ruled by the enemy.

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Can he find her in time_ canva

Oct 20 2018

Where Did You Train Weekend Writing Warriors

Last excerpt from STAR CRUISE: MYSTERY DANCER. Going to move on next week to my newly released book – more on that below the excerpt. NEWS – the Pets in Space 3 anthology made the USA Today Best Seller list!

Punctuation may be wonky to comply with our guidelines here. May be edited a bit from published version.

The excerpt – I promised to include some of the dancing in a snippet, so here’s a bit from the audition. Micki is a girl who befriends Tassia during the long day of auditioning:

DepositPhoto

By the time her turn came, Tassia decided to do a sequential series of rapid steps, pirouettes and showy poses requiring supremely good balance, which she could fit to the music being provided. It was her observation from watching the judges that dancers who showed technical skills appeared to make more of a favorable impression than the ones who did flashy, sexy moves. She walked confidently to her designated spot on the temporary wooden dance floor, assumed the opening pose and launched into her routine as the first notes sounded. Remembering to smile as if her audience was composed of her best friends, she had no clear memory of the two minutes when she finished with a graceful final pose. As she walked from the space, she believed she’d done well.

“Wow, you’re something else,” Micki grabbed her by the elbow. Micki had been one of the candidates demonstrating spins and beautiful extensions, combined with sexy shimmies, “Where the seven hells did you train?”

“Private tutors when I was a kid,” Tassia said vaguely, “Did I look all right, compared to the others?”

Micki laughed, “Miss High and Mighty Director never took her eyes off you. I’d say you’re clear to the semifinals at least.”

STAR CRUISE: MYSTERY DANCER blurb: Tassia Megg is a woman on the run after the death of her elderly guardian. Her search to get off the planet in a hurry comes when chance directs her to an open dance audition for the luxury cruise liner Nebula Zephyr’s resident troupe. If there is one thing Tassia can do, it is dance!

Security Officer Liam Austin is suspicious of the newest performer to join the Comettes. She shows all the signs of being a woman on the run and seems to fit the Sectors-wide broadcast description of a missing thief, accused of stealing priceless artifacts. As he gets to know Tassia during the cruise, he starts to wonder if she’s something more – a long vanished princess in hiding from deadly political enemies of her family perhaps? And what’s the story with the three-eyed feline companion other crew members swear Tassia brought aboard the ship? Does the animal even exist?

As the ship approaches its next port of call, all the issues come to a boil and Liam must decide if he’ll step in to help Tassia or betray her. Life is about to get very interesting aboard the Nebula Zephyr as Liam tries to uncover the truth. Could F’rrh, the peculiar alien cat he has been hearing about, be the key to the mystery and Tassia’s fate?

Anthology Blurb:

Pets in Space™ is back! Join us as we unveil eleven original, never-before-published action-filled romances that will heat your blood and warm your heart! New York Times, USA Today and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, Anna Hackett, Ruby Lionsdrake, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Carol Van Natta, Tiffany Roberts, Alexis Glynn Latner, E D Walker, JC Hay, and Kyndra Hatch combine their love for Science Fiction Romance and pets to bring readers sexy, action-packed romances while helping our favorite charity. Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space™ authors have donated over $4,400 in the past two years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space™ 3 today!

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And about my new release:

Genetically engineered soldiers of the far future, the Badari were created by alien enemies to fight humans. But then the scientists kidnapped an entire human colony to use as subjects in twisted experiments…the Badari and the humans made common cause, rebelled and escaped the labs. Now they live side by side in a sanctuary valley protected by a powerful Artificial Intelligence, and wage unceasing war on the aliens. The luckiest Badari find their mates among the humans.

Before this situation can be resolved both will have to put their lives on the line and decide what really matters in a dangerous world ruled by the enemy.

Although this is the fifth book released in the Badari Warriors scifi romance series, the story of Timtur and Lily is a standalone and actually comes immediately after book two’s events.

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Dec 9 2017

Deeper Implications Weekend Writing Warriors

This will be the last excerpt from The Fated Stars, because I had a new release this past week. Details below!

The excerpt – skipped ahead a bit from last week, to a point after Larissa has had a short telepathic conversation with the seer, where he asked for her help:

By the time she was walking through town back to her ship, tossing the sickly sweet candy in the nearest recycler, Larissa was even more convinced something ominous lay behind the traveling fair’s agenda.

She had the Valkyrie’s AI begin a crawl through all the databases accessible to her, a few of which were authorized for mercenaries, the general ones the entire Sectors used, and a few classified areas Sectors command wouldn’t be happy to know she could still access.

Searching for data on the carnival, Larissa was surprised how little information existed. From all indications, the operation appeared full blown about four years ago, traveling an interesting route along the Sectors frontier in this area of the galaxy, visiting the colonies in a leisurely itinerary. The AI reported there was another traveling show with the same name, in an adjacent, slightly more settled portion of the Sectors’ border.

“There can’t be many credits in carting mangy animals, cheap rides and attractions around the galaxy. Not to mention the risk of holding illegal slaves, if the seer is telling me the truth about his situation.” She leaned back in her chair at the control console and sipped her coffee.

Larissa had to admit she was intrigued on several levels now, not just because of her innate compulsion to help a sentient in trouble. There could be deeper implications for the security of the Sectors at stake here.

The story:

Larissa Channer, a tough no-nonsense mercenary in the Sectors, is celebrating success on her last job and a big bonus, with no slightest thought of taking on another assignment anytime soon. Out for a night of carousing with her friends at a third rate carnival on a backwater planet, she walks into the tent of a fake fortune teller and finds herself confronting the most intriguing man she’s ever seen. But something’s wrong, ominous currents lie beneath the surface of their encounter and Larissa can’t leave well enough alone.

Samell, a powerful, high born empathic priest, has been kidnapped from his own primitive planet along with a number of his people, and sold to the shady operator of an interstellar carnival. Kept enslaved, pretending to be a fortune teller while forced by his captor to steal information from the minds of all who come before him, Samell despairs of every breaking free.

Until Larissa walks into his tent and he recognizes the warrior who might mean the difference between life and death.

The situation becomes dire when Larissa and Samell come to the attention of the Shemdylann pirates who kidnapped him in the first place and the deadly Mawreg, aliens who threaten the Sectors. Can she save herself and the empathic alien noble, and derail the Mawreg plot against the Sectors? And will the soldier end up with her prince when all’s said and done?

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Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000038_00068] NEW RELEASE: Aydarr (A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel): Sectors New Allies Book 1

Jill Garrison, a maintenance tech at the Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in her nightgown stranded in the middle of a forest on an unknown world. There’s no time to think as she’s stalked by carnivorous predators and rescued by genetically engineered warriors calling themselves the Badari. Turns out they and she, along with her whole colony, are now prisoners of the Khagrish, a ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the Sectors, the Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.

Aydarr, the Badari alpha, isn’t sure he can trust Jill but his attraction to her is undeniable. He impulsively claims her as his mate to prevent her death at the hands of the Khagrish.

Can he continue to protect her from the experiments already underway? Will his claiming her put his pack in jeopardy from their alien masters?

As Jill searches for a way to rescue her fellow humans and get them all to safety, she finds herself falling for Aydarr, despite the secrets he’s keeping. She has a few of her own.

The situation becomes dire when Aydarr and his pack are sent offplanet on a mission, leaving Jill unprotected, prey for the senior scientist. Can she escape the experiments he has in mind for her? Will she be able to thwart the Khagrish plans and liberate humans and Badari alike? How will she and Aydarr reunite?

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