Tag Archives: Escape From Zulaire

Mar 29 2014

Into the Burning House ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE SFR Brigade Presents

THE SFRB Presents(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by otherDABWAHAScienceFiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

From my SFR Galaxy Award winning novel (whch also was voted into DABWAHA by Readers – thank you!), loosely inspired by the Sepoy incident in 1857 but set on another planet in the far future….

In the last few weeks I gave you the opening of the book and then as Andi has returned from theSFR Galaxy Award wedding of the Planetary High Lord’s daughter to her host’s summer home, she found a squad of Sectors Special Forces soldiers waiting. The officer in charge claimed they’d come to rescue her and needed to leave at once. Unconvinced, she argued.  And as it turned out, they couldn’t leave right away. Andi goes on with her social duties, attending the reception in the evening, where Captain Deverane catches up to her and  asks her to dance. They soon decide to go outside since the dance floor is so crowded. While they’re outside the lights flicker, there’s an explosion and screams. Andi and Deverane escape across the lake in a boat.

Continuing on from last week, Andi goes inside the burning house to see if the children have been rescued.

Carefully, she stepped barefoot through the mess to the emergency supply cabinet next to the pantry, where she grabbed a hand lamp. Pointing the cone of light ahead of her, she jogged into the service cor­ridor to the main part of the house. Fear of what she might find made her lightheaded, and she took a few careful breaths to calm her nerves.  I’ve got to make sure the kids aren’t trapped upstairs in their cribs. With the nurse gone, there may not be anyone else but me to double-check.

Tripping, Andi fell headlong. The body she’d stumbled over cushioned her fall for the most part, although her right elbow smashed into the floor. Sitting up, she rubbed her elbow, looking for the hand lamp she’d dropped. Instead, she saw the bloody face of the elderly cook, starkly outlined by the beam of light. The elderly woman’s sightless eyes were wide open in death. Stifling a scream, Andi scrabbled away from the corpse of the cook, who’d been stabbed multiple times.

When she felt her back against the wall, Andi reached for the lamp, then used the wall to lever herself to her feet. After sidling past the corpse, she ran down the hall and opened the door to the main entryway. Curling like a living thing, a thin layer of smoke drifted across the foyer, about ten inches off the floor. The flicker of reflected flames in the library tinted the area in orange light.

A piercing shriek echoed from the second floor. 

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResThe story:

Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Available on AMAZON  Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   iTunes   Xin Xii   Google Play 

 

Mar 21 2014

Are the Children Safe? ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE SFR Brigade Presents

THE SFRB Presents(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other DABWAHAScienceFiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

From my SFR Galaxy Award winning novel, loosely inspired by the Sepoy incident in 1857 but set on another planet in the far future….

In the last few weeks I gave you the opening of the book and then as Andi has returned from the SFR Galaxy Awardwedding of the Planetary High Lord’s daughter to her host’s summer home, she found a squad of Sectors Special Forces soldiers waiting. The officer in charge claimed they’d come to rescue her and needed to leave at once. Unconvinced, she argued.  And as it turned out, they couldn’t leave right away. Andi goes on with her social duties, attending the reception in the evening, where Captain Deverane catches up to her and  asks her to dance. They soon decide to go outside since the dance floor is so crowded. While they’re outside the lights flicker, there’s an explosion and screams. Andi and Deverane escape across the lake in a boat.

I’ve skipped ahead to right after they get across the lake:

A reverberating explosion shook the hillside as flames shot from the roof of the mansion, followed by a smaller eruption where the garage stood. Lords of Space, are rebels attacking here as well? Flinching at the sudden high-pitched whine of Sectors blasters somewhere in the darkness, Andi hugged the ground.

From her prone position she stared at the mansion, trying to figure out exactly where the fire was blazing. Flames were licking at the walls in a number of rooms, including the far end of the third floor. Adrenaline coursed through her. “The fire’s on the top floor where the nursery is. I can’t leave until I’ve made sure the children are safe, Captain.” She held up a hand as he drew a breath. “I know, you’ve mentioned your orders enough times, but we’re talking children. I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t at least check the nursery.”  Before he had a chance to stop her, Andi was on her feet and running. He’ll have to follow me since his precious orders are to protect me, so if I can just get to the house, I’ll have him—and his blaster—for backup.

 Sure enough, she heard Deverane give chase, but she had the advantage of a head start and familiarity with the grounds. She sprinted to the side door, entering the house through the kitchen. One dim light glowed from an emergency panel in the ceiling. A half-eaten meal sat on the table. The chairs were toppled, one broken as if it had been used as a weapon in a violent struggle. A bloody knife lay on the floor.

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResThe story:

Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Available on AMAZON  Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   iTunes   Xin Xii   Google Play 


Mar 14 2014

Can You Swim? ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE SFR Brigade Presents

THE SFRB Presents(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other Science SFR Galaxy AwardFiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

From my SFR Galaxy Award winning novel, loosely inspired by the Sepoy incident in 1857 but set on another planet in the far future….

In the last few weeks I gave you the opening of the book and then as Andi has returned from the wedding of the Planetary High Lord’s daughter to her host’s summer home, she found a squad of Sectors Special Forces soldiers waiting. The officer in charge claimed they’d come to rescue her and needed to leave at once. Unconvinced, she argued.  And as it turned out, they couldn’t leave right away. Andi goes on with her social duties, attending the reception in the evening, where Captain Deverane catches up to her and  asks her to dance. They soon decide to go outside since the dance floor is so crowded. While they’re outside the lights flicker, there’s an explosion and screams. Andi and Deverane escape across the lake in a boat.

“Do you think the Tonkiln house has been attacked?” Andi worried about heading into an even worse situation than the one they’d left behind.

Not looking at her, he just shook his head. “Let’s deal with that when we come to it. Don’t steer straight to the dock—we’d be too obvious, sitting ducks. We need to land and work our way to the house without attracting attention.”

Angling the boat off to the east, Andi set a course to avoid the dock as ordered. “I never considered an attack on the family’s home. Lords of Space, what about the kids? Sadu and his two little visiting cousins—their Shenti nurse went home to her village last night—there’s only old Iraku and a few of the housemen there to protect them.” Worry about the younger family members gnawed a pit in Andi’s gut. “Lady Tonkiln must be terrified.”

“I have to extract the Sectors citizens, not risk my men trying to rescue anyone else against over­whelming odds. The Tonkilns aren’t my concern, understand?” His voice was flat, the words dismissive.

Andi jerked her head around to stare at him. “We can’t ignore the danger to them.”

 “Lady, I have orders.” Shaking his head, he grabbed the wheel and yanked it, sending the boat veering away from its route to shore. “Cut the engine and get down. Someone’s moving by the dock.”

Cold flooded her body at the thought of enemies watching them. With fumbling fingers, she flipped the switch. Drifting through the dark waters, their craft floated in silence, slowing as the momentum died away. Andi crouched in the bottom of the boat, Deverane’s body warm and reassuring beside her.

“Can you swim?”  he asked.

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResThe story:

Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Available on AMAZON  Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   iTunes   Xin Xii   Google Play 

Mar 6 2014

Beginning of War? ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE for SFR Brigade Presents

THE SFRB Presents(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other Science Fiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

From my SFR Galaxy Award winning novel, loosely inspired by the Sepoy incident in 1857 but SFR Galaxy Awardset on another planet in the far future….

In the last few weeks I gave you the opening of the book and then as Andi has returned from the wedding of the Planetary High Lord’s daughter to her host’s summer home, she found a squad of Sectors Special Forces soldiers waiting. The officer in charge claimed they’d come to rescue her and needed to leave at once. Unconvinced, she argued.  And as it turned out, they couldn’t leave right away. Andi goes on with her social duties, attending the reception in the evening, where Captain Deverane catches up to her and  asks her to dance. They soon decide to go outside since the dance floor is so crowded. This excerpt comes after a bit of conversation….

The lights along the path and beside the benches flickered and went out, plunging them into darkness.

            Glancing around, Deverane frowned in the moonlight. He released her, keeping one hand around her wrist and putting the other on the butt of his blaster. “Is that normal?”

            “The generators have been known to be troublesome in the summer. Probably nothing.” The moment was gone, the spell she’d been under broken. Am I disappointed? Relieved? Things had been moving way too fast between them for people who had just met. “Fortunately, we still have enough moonlight to see the path.” Andi took a step toward the clubhouse.

           He tightened his grip on her wrist, forcing her to stop. “Wait.”

            Yelling broke out in the large building on the rise behind them. Glaring, spora­dic flashes burst from the general direction of the parking area and from the main wing of the celebration hall itself. Making the forest brighter than day, a sizable explosion obliterated the light of the two moons for a moment. Clapping her hands to her ears at the concussion, Andi ducked, crowding into the reassuringly hard-muscled captain.

In one fluid motion, he had his blaster in hand. Still keeping his grasp on her wrist, he drew Andi farther away from the path, taking cover behind a wide, multiple-trunked tree. Placing himself between her and the build­ing, he leaned out, reconnoitering the pathway. The screams and shouts were increasing in intensity and number.

Andi huddled against the tree, rough bark scraping her arm. He was right, this sounds like the beginning of war. Trembling, she had to lock her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering as one piercing shriek rose above the rest of the general uproar.

“I’m afraid we missed our deadline for a clean escape.” 

The story:

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResAndi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Available on AMAZON  Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   iTunes   Xin Xii   Google Play 

Feb 28 2014

Shall We Dance? ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE for SFR Brigade Presents

THE SFRB Presents(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other Science Fiction SFR Galaxy AwardRomance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

From my SFR Galaxy Award winning novel, loosely inspired by the Sepoy incident in 1857 but set on another planet in the far future….

In the last few weeks I gave you the opening of the book and then as Andi has returned from the wedding of the Planetary High Lord’s daughter to her host’s summer home, she found a squad of Sectors Special Forces soldiers waiting. The officer in charge claimed they’d come to rescue her and needed to leave at once. Unconvinced, she argued.  And as it turned out, they couldn’t leave right away. Andi goes on with her social duties, attending the reception in the evening, where Captain Deverane catches up to her and  asks her to dance. Andi is speaking as the excerpt opens:

“Not that I’m ungrateful for the dance, but I never expected to see you here.”

“I never expected you to leave the house and be here.” He sounded annoyed. “The situation is unsafe, you’re unprotected, vulnerable—”

“You don’t think the Tonkiln’s protection will be enough?” She was surprised.

            “No.” Breaking off the dance, he stared into her eyes, still holding her close. Annoyed couples bumped into them on both sides. Andi staggered, and the captain steadied her, but another somewhat inebriated couple jostled him. Shielding her from the impact, Deverane fended off the other dancers with his hip and elbow. “Look, we can’t stand here to discuss it. And we sure as hell can’t dance and have a debate. Agreed?”

            She nodded, but with a sigh. He was the best partner she’d ever danced with. It had been effortless to follow his lead, like flying. Why couldn’t this have lasted longer before reality broke in on us? “We don’t have to go back to the Tonkilns’ yet, do we? Is the APC repaired?”

            “No, my men are working on it. Let me get you something to drink, and we’ll step outside where we won’t draw so much attention.” Deverane led her by the hand through the throng of onlookers, back to the intimate groupings of small tables along the wall.

VS sez: This is about the last peaceful moment in the book so if you return next week, be prepared!

The Story:

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResAndi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Available on AMAZON for kindle and as POD paperback   Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   and iTunes   Xin Xii

Feb 21 2014

Surely We’re Safe Here? ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE SFR Brigade Presents

THE SFRB Presents(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other Science Fiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

From my SFR Galaxy Award winning novel, loosely inspired by the Sepoy incident in 1857 but set SFR Galaxy Awardon another planet in the far future….

In the last two weeks I gave you the opening of the book and then as Andi has returned from the wedding of the Planetary High Lord’s daughter to her host’s summer home, she found a squad of Sectors Special Forces soldiers waiting. The officer in charge claimed they’d come to rescue her and needed to leave at once. Unconvinced, she argued. Their conversation continued and Andi is finally convinced. She’s speaking as the excerpt begins. (Some editing from the published version has occurred, to fit the word limit):

            “I’ll go back to the capital with you in the morning.”

            “In the—” He glared at her, eyebrows drawing together in an impressive frown, forehead wrinkles deepening even more. “Have you been listening, Miss Markriss? This planet is in a precarious state. We can’t wait for your convenience. We need to leave tonight. The sooner the better.”

           “I don’t think we can leave tonight, Captain, no matter what you want.”

            The door handle moved under her hand. Startled, she released it, falling back a pace or two. When the door opened, Iraku stood there, condescending as ever, face contorted in a sneer, lips pursed in disapproval. Hands on their curved belt knives, two of the armed household guards stood a few steps away. Startled by their hostile expressions, Andi retreated a step.

             Addressing her but staring at Deverane, Iraku asked, “Is there a problem, miss? Lady Tonkiln wishes to speak with you regarding the presentation at tonight’s ceremony.”

            Andi shook her head. “No problem, I’ll be right there.” She turned to Deverane, holding out one hand, palm up. “Better ask your sergeant what’s wrong with the APC’s engine.”

            “What are you talking about?” Deverane strode to her side.

            “He told me there was an engine problem. The corporal said it was going to take all night to fix. Listen, assuming your men can’t repair the APC tonight, I’ll go to the reception, do my duty for Loxton, and leave with you in the morning. No problem.”

            What Deverane would have said next, Andi didn’t wait to hear. After all, the Tonkilns had a small army of Naranti servants and household guards. Every Obati household in the summer colony did. The well-trained security force ought to be enough protection from any hotheaded Shenti warriors bent on making mischief.

 Rolling her shoulders as she walked down the hall, she took a deep, calming breath. We can’t leave now anyway, so I might as well stick with protocol. Nothing’s likely to happen tonight, not here in the middle of the Obati stronghold.

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResAndi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Available on AMAZON for kindle and as POD paperback   Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   and iTunes      Smashwords  Xin Xii

Feb 14 2014

Just A Pawn ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE SFRB Presents

THE SFRB Presents

Sorry I didn’t have any Valentine-themed excerpts to give, from my science fiction romance! I didn’t want to jump ahead to the pages where the romance begins to develop and then backtrack.

(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other Science Fiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

Last week I gave you the opening of the book. This excerpt is a bit later, as Andi has returned from the wedding of the Planetary High Lord’s daughter to her host’s summer home, only to find a squad of Sectors Special Forces soldiers waiting. The officer in charge claims they’ve come to rescue her and need to leave at once. Unconvinced, she argues with Captain Tom Deverane and is speaking as the snippet starts:

“You’re insinuating my hosts have deceived me and deliberately put me in harm’s way? I find that insulting.”

            Eyes closed, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re a pawn to them.” Now he reopened his eyes and flung his arms out, hands wide open. “You mean nothing to them. If you’re going to refuse my offer of evacuation, then you’d better be ready to take care of yourself because I guarantee you the Obati won’t.”

“Give me some specifics to back up your claims, captain,” Andi said. “So far I only have your word there’s a problem. No insult intended.”

          He nodded. “All right,” he said, his voice crisp. “Fair enough. One of your own Loxton agents was murdered in the southern region, along with all his Shenti guides and workers. The cargo wasn’t even stolen, just left to rot in the haulers. I’m told that was the incident which spooked your boss to close the office and leave the planet.”

            “One of the Loxton crew? Who?” As Deputy Agent she knew and worked with all of the Loxton crews. Mentally reviewing who might have been in transit, seeing the faces of men and women who were her friends as well as coworkers, Andi felt a wave of nausea. 

          “Someone named Kane. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you all this.”

            Andi nodded, her mind racing. She swallowed the bile in her throat and said, “When did this happen?”

            “Two weeks ago.”

            “And no one thought I needed to know? No one saw fit to tell me?” Her voice rose as she got angrier.

The Story:

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResAndi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

SFR Galaxy Award

ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE is a 2014 SFR Galaxy Award Winner…

Available on AMAZON for kindle and as POD paperback   Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   and iTunes      Smashwords  Xin Xii

Feb 7 2014

How Did She Get Talked Into Doing This? ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE SFRB Presents

SFR Galaxy AwardI’m very pleased and thrilled to announce that Escape From Zulaire is a 2014 SFR Galaxy Award Winner! (Complete info on the awards here.) So I thought I’d do some excerpts from the novel for the next few weeks…

(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other Science Fiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

THE SFRB PresentsHere are the first 200 or so words from the book (story synopsis below the excerpt):

This is the most absurd thing I’ve ever done as Assistant Planetary Agent for Loxton Galactic Trading – standing in as a bridesmaid in a borrowed puce dress because some other girl failed to show up.  Andi Markriss sighed, feeling the garment binding too tight across her chest. I didn’t mind representing the company as a guest, but this is way outside the line of duty.

Early afternoon on Zulaire was too warm for an outdoor ceremony but the Planetary High Lord’s spoiled daughter Lysanda didn’t care to be ready any earlier in the day. Her guests’ comfort wasn’t a consideration.

An inch at a time, Andi shifted from her assigned spot into the shade cast by the towering stone pillars. How did I get talked into this? Oh yes, Lysanda wept and her mother made vague threats about her husband reviewing our shipping contracts. As the musicians played, Andi turned, watching Lysanda pace toward the dais in time to the music, smiling for her groom-to-be.

 The local priest took a deep breath and launched into a lengthy blessing, invoking the deity and relating the history of the planet’s three Clans – Obati, Shenti and Naranti. Andi chanted along with him, under her breath. Overlords, Second Class and Neutrals, as her boss had told her when she arrived on Zulaire six years ago. Easy to keep them straight that way, he’d said, but don’t ever slip and use the nicknames out loud.

The Story:

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResAndi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Oct 21 2013

ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE Video Book Trailer Debut

Escape-from-Zulaire2HighResI’m always thrilled to have a new book trailer to debut and it’s such fun to work with the awesomely talented (and patient) Theresa McClinton of Making It Reel. Here’s the backstory of how we work on the trailers!

First I give her the book cover art, the blurb and any really quotable reviews there might be. Then we start by selecting the music – she sends me a set of suggestions, which I dutifully listen to and make notes about. Last time I even got brave and went questing on the soundtrack site for a few more choices (fast tempo, drums – that’s me LOL). Ultimately we went with her top choice but bookmarked my favorite for possible use on our next SFR trailer. It just wasn’t quite the right “feel” for ESCAPE.

Then it’s on to the images and video clips. She and I go back and forth on the stock photos as she has excellent instincts for what might work but ultimately it’s my book and my characters and we authors are funny about the little worlds we create. (Which Theresa totally gets as she is an author herself). We had an easier time of it collaborating on the video trailer for my “Gods of Egypt” paranormal series because there are wonderful stock photos and computer recreations to use, both of Egypt itself and of artifacts from the time period I set my novels in. Please feel free to judge that video for yourself on youtube!

A challenge I do run into on book trailers for the Gods of Egypt is that the models in stock photos (or their photographers) tend to think that old, hackneyed “walk like an Egyptian” dance craze is the pose to use (um no) AND/or they’re wearing what look like bad Halloween costumes. Not what you want for your serious, romantic book video! Someday maybe I’ll have the luxury and fun of doing my own photo shoot for the covers and videos. I have looked into the idea, for the future, but to do it right, since authentic-looking costumes, wigs and elaborate makeup would be required, I’d need a decent budget and right now, that much promo for any one book just isn’t in the (credit) cards.

For ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE, the requirements included the far future, an alien planet and alien sentients. Again, without a Star Trek or Star Wars-sized budget, I think Theresa was quite artistic in choosing the photos that made the final shoot. There is a whitewater rafting incident in the novel and my characters do visit a monastery high in the mountains seeking help along the way, so we could use some Earthly photos to suggest the feel of those episodes on Zulaire. After all, Zulaire has to be quite Earthlike for my characters to survive without life support or spacesuits.

Luckily for us, the female cover model had a variety of other poses available we could use in the video but the hero, much as we both liked him,  took all of nine photos in one session, once, as far as we can tell from searching the photo sites, and that was it. So we had something of a challenge in assembling a video that told the story effectively in about two minutes, using stock photos of the original book cover art models.

Once Theresa has assembled a rough cut of the video she sends it to me to review. First I’ll watch the trailer two or three times without analyzing or commenting, just to get an overall sense for the feel of it, does it convey the feel of the book to me, are any elements standing out – good or bad – on repeated viewings? I make detailed notes for her, with the exact spot in the video that is affected, down to the second. Some elements are only a few seconds long but they all add up to the experience of the  final product.  Sometimes I want the wording changed a bit and sometimes I’m not resonating with a particular photo or video clip. But we rapidly reach the point where I LOVE it and then the video goes live for everyone else to (hopefully) enjoy.

I hope our mini movie will please you (and the book of course, which so far has spent nearly two months on the Amazon Science Fiction Romance Best Seller lists…)

Sep 29 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors Save your Breath on Zulaire

better wewriwa

We’ve shifted away from Ancient Egypt for a few weeks to my newly released, best selling science fiction romance novel (story blurb below the picture). I’m thinking maybe two more excerpts from this book and then it’ll be time for Ancient Egypt again.

I’m going with an excerpt from a bit further into the book, after the war has broken out and they’re fleeing the burning compound.  Andi has been talking with Sergeant Wilson about the events at the house where she’d been staying, how he and a few of his men escaped when the fight started.  The sergeant is speaking. Although a little creative editing has occurred today,  I’m adhering strictly to the WeWriWa eight sentence rule:

“…We was pretty keyed up. Sure glad you and the captain made it out of the ambush in one piece.”

Andi glanced ahead to where Deverane led the column. If I’d been inside the dance hall when the terrorists attacked, could I have gotten myself out somehow? Would he have been able to rescue me? Having seen the captain in action, she figured he would have found a way, even against dismal odds.

As if the mere mention of his name had conjured him out of the air, Deverane circled back to check on them, saying, “Save your breath, Sergeant, Miss Markriss, we need to make serious time here, not discuss current events.”

I  love and appreciate your comments and feedback every week! Go here  to find all the other Weekend Writing Warriors and read  an amazing variety of  terrific excerpts…

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And the story blurb:

Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE is available now  on AMAZON for kindle and as POD paperback   Nook  Kobo All Romance eBooks   and iTunes      Smashwords