Book Promo Day: 5th September, 2013

Pick ‘N’ Mix by Francis James Franklin

Pick ‘N’ Mix is a collection of stories from various authors in order to raise money for the charity, Eaves for Women. Included in this collection are:

• Duvet for One, Jacquelynn Luben
• Fishing Pole Variation, Roger Cave
• An Aromantic Romance, Francis James Franklin
• Save the world, get the girl, Richard Mark Bacon
• Morning Raga, Frances King
• Jump, Richard Mark Bacon
• The Camera, Jonathan Hill
• Teeny Tiny Tale #15, Willie Wit
• Wilted, Sandra Giles

Duvet for One
A man living rough on the streets thinks back on recent events, baffled at the way his life has fallen apart while his wife has grown independent.

Fishing Pole Variation
Alec Fincham, special operative with the elite Special Boat Service, is once again on a vitally important mission – but an utterly bizarre one. He’s watching goldfish!

An Aromantic Romance
Andy and Nina are friends and lovers, but Andy needs more romance than Nina is able to give. Both must compromise for the relationship to develop…

Save the world, get the girl (A story from The W.A.T.C.H. Chronicles)
Jennifer Austen, special agent, is in the middle of a firefight against alien clones when her partner suggests they go on a date – if they survive, that is.

Morning Raga (a poem)
A young woman is to meet her future husband today – her parents have arranged the marriage – and she sings the song her mother sang every morning…

Jump
In facing one fear, Neville finds the courage to face another.

Camera
Peter’s building rage against a local vandal reaches a violent peak just as he receives a mysterious and seductive gift that offers to solve the problem.

Teeny Tiny Tale #15 (flash fiction)
The shocking truth behind the disappearance of the dinosaurs…

Wilted (Collision of Worlds)
Skye’s father is dying but he’s determined that she should marry, so they hold a competition to find the right man.

More information:

£0.77 Amazon UK / $1.15 Amazon.com
Shelfari

Author’s website

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Tried & Tested – 101 Recipes by Carol Jones

I have recently had a book published for Kindle (currently only available on Amazon until 2nd October). It is a cookery book, primarily aimed at beginners, but it could also be used by anyone who enjoys cooking and creating good, wholesome family meals.

Tried & Tested – 101 Recipes contains recipes covering soups, poultry, meats, fish, vegetarian, pasta & rice, potatoes, vegetables, dressings, sauces & marinades, desserts, baking and sweet things. I have personally tried, tested and modified each recipe until it works easily, giving excellent results. I have worked in the catering industry for many years running restaurants in north-west England and Jersey (which is renowned for fine dining).

My book is approx 181 pages in length, or 253 Kb. It already has several 4 & 5 star ratings and reviews.

On 22nd July my book was no 12 in the top 20 Amazon Bestsellers for Food & Drink> Quick & Easy.

It’s available at:
Amazon UK

More information:

Author’s website

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Language in the blood by Angela Lockwood

Cameron Blair was born in 1895 in Edinburgh. He would have liked nothing better than to have married his fiancée Fiona and to have had the occasional pint with his friends, but the war and a stupid vampire changed all that. This light-hearted story follows Cameron from his first days as a hapless vampire in war-torn France to the glamour and riches of the Côte d’Azur of the present day, where Cameron has developed a taste for small dogs and champagne-infused blood.

Until the outbreak of the First World War, young Cameron Blair would have liked nothing better than to stay in Edinburgh and marry his childhood sweetheart. As the call to arms goes out, Cameron and his pals sign up to fight for their country. They are soon delivered into the nightmare of war, and there Cameron more than meets his maker.

The story follows Cameron as he comes to terms with his new ‘life’, from his first days as a hapless vampire in war-torn France to the glamorous modern day setting of the Côte d’Azur. Along the way, he develops a distinctive taste for the finer things in life: jewels, yachts, small dogs and champagne-infused human…

Available at £1.99 (3.00$) on Amazon.com

More information:

Facebook
Author’s website

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The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! by Bette A. Stevens

Summary: HOUR of FUN! The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! by Bette A. Stevens is a resource for multicultural and interdisciplinary studies in the classroom or at home. Integrates Math (measurement and geometry) and Language Arts (research and writing) for elementary and middle school students, while presenting a few historical facts about tangrams. Tangrams and word puzzles (riddles/poetry) encourage students to have fun while they’re learning, and then to demonstrate what they’ve learned. Includes ideas for home/school projects. Tangram outlines, with rhyming riddles as clues, are even labeled for coloring for preschoolers. Fun for the whole classroom/family!

The Tangram Zoo is available in paperback from Amazon.com ($6.29) or your favorite online bookstore.

More information:

Author’s website

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The War of the Stolen Mother by Lorinda J. Taylor

In this first volume of my series The Labors of Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head, the Champion of the intelligent termite people becomes involved in a 10-year war where the life of a Mother is at stake.

The Kindle and Smashwords versions are on sale for 99 cents through Sunday at Amazon and Smashwords.

More information:

Author’s website

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Book Promo Day: 29th August, 2013

A Dozen Shorts by J. H. Bogran

An eclectic collection of short stories coming from the mind of J. H. Bográn and his muses.

This collection comprises diverse characters on both sides of the law, from rogue FBI agents, to professional assassins, and everyday men and women facing impossible odds.

The Author strongly recommends popcorn and soda as companions while delving into these stories.

Purchase from:
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E3HMCNE/
The collection is priced at $0.99 through August 31, 2013.

More information:
Author’s website

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Little Miss HISTORY Travels to the Statue Of Liberty by Barbara Ann Mojica

Since her last trip to Mount Rushmore, Little Miss HISTORY has journeyed more than 1700 miles over land, sea and air to reach her second destination, The Statue of Liberty. This national treasure stands proudly in New York Harbor welcoming all people to the land of freedom and opportunity. In this second book of the series, Little Miss HISTORY will help you discover who thought of the statue in the first place, the values she symbolizes, the architects and engineers who built Lady Liberty, and the little known individuals who contributed their pennies to make her debut in New York’s harbor possible. You will learn about why she remains a promise and symbol of the hopes and aspirations of many people around the world and not just to immigrants coming to America. Come now and follow Little Miss HISTORY as she enlightens you about The Statue of Liberty!

Purchase from:
CreateSpace

More information:
Author’s website
CreateSpace

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For the Sake of Mercy by Steve K Smy

Merchant Captain Henri Duschelle, a man Union Fleet wish they had, must lead his loyal, hard fighting crew on a seemingly impossible mission: to deliver a vital organ to the dying son of one of his crew, across the longest span of the colonised worlds – to an insane deadline. He is convinced that only his ship, the stunningly beautiful Persephone, can make such a journey in the time allowed. But dangers lie in wait on this, perhaps the greatest voyage ever made by humans…

The first novelette in the series: The Captain Henri Duschelle Stories.

More information:
Author’s website/blog

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Fumbling Through Friday

My Conscience Is Being Difficult

I have been considering what to do about the short stories in my Thief series.  These have been available for free download for a considerable length of time, now.  I have, however, been considering withdrawing them from the list of free ebooks I have out there.  If I did so, I would place all of them in a single, omnibus, volume, possibly with the title The Thief of Ur’gavan.  This would allow something that I don’t think is viable while they are just short stories: release in paperback!  Obviously, there’s absolutely no way that I could do that for free!  So, that leaves

Wandering On Wednesday

The Delight of Unexpected Reviews

I was thrilled to discover that two of my books were reviewed and given 5 stars! Shade of Evil and Evil Under The Circle, Parts 1 and 2 of G1: The Guardians, were reviewed by Chris The Story Reading Ape and the reviews can be found on Goodreads, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.  You can find all of Chris’ reviews on Goodreads.  Of course, you can also find Chris’ reviews on his own blog.  I would like to express my sincere thanks to Chris for his kindness and honesty.  Having friends who understand fully that you only wish to receive absolutely genuine reviews of your works is beyond valuable.

I was further delighted to find a 5 star review of Intruder from the Thief series of free short stories!  The review, posted on Barnes & Noble is so heartening!  I quote it below:

This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the last word was read.

There is a serious threat that exudes evil and wants to claim the land in this sci-fi fantasy.  Mages, which this author describes as magicians of a sort, are sought to help go up against the evil.

Characters are richly described and likable and fascinating.  This is a novella which is a quick read but this reader did not want the story to end.  The author is a very talented and creative storyteller. I will be reading many more of his stories. This is an excellent choice of reading for YA.

Review by jesNH, 6th August, 2013.  5 stars awarded.

I would like to thank jesNH for such a glowing review!

Going for a New Look – Again!

Yes, I’m afraid I’m going to be tinkering again!  The main page of posts can be rather overwhelming, especially when the posts are long!  I’ve decided to try to improve things by making use of a WordPress post facility.  This will involve adding the codeword More to all long posts, which will mean that only part of the post will appear on the main page and you will need to click on the More… link in the post to read all of it.  One advantage of this is that it will give easier access to other facilities, such as commenting, sharing, rating and liking.  In respect of special days (Book Promo Day and Blog Browser Day), I will endeavour to place the codeword in such a place that the link has to be clicked or some of the detail information will be lost to the reader.  Obviously, this will be subject to any feedback – positive or negative – as to whether I continue to use the codeword.  Also, I will not be going back to posts already displayed.  I simply don’t have the time to edit all those posts (around 270 of them)!

If you wish to provide any feedback on this change, at any time, please  contact me using the contact form on the blog, or via email if you have my address.  I would suggest not using Facebook or Twitter, as messages are too easily lost unless the direct message system is used.

Uncovered: The Naked Manuscript

If by any remote chance you’re waiting for Part 4 of G1: The Guardians, which will also be the first novel I will have released, I’m afraid the waiting must continue.  It still lacks a cover.  My son is extraordinarily busy now, with negligible time for such extra projects.  My own attempts have been woeful, to say the least, and I simply can’t afford to pay anybody to provide a more professional cover.  I can assure you all that I am more frustrated than anybody else.  I even considered abandoning my original vision for the cover, even if only for the first edition, and going with an extremely simple cover.  So desperate have I become!  There has been a consequence to this situation, too, in that the work on Part 5 is crawling along.

“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

No – they dream of having more storage space  built into their main circuitry!  How do I know?  Well, I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830i and it is forever complaining that its built-in memory is almost or actually full!  The kind folk of Samsung allow the use of micro SD cards to obtain more space.  Unfortunately, that really doesn’t help because they have been so miserly as far as the built-in space is concerned!  Don’t misunderstand me.  This isn’t a problem unique to Samsung,  I had, for a short while, an Android tablet, and that suffered from exactly the same problem!  Sure, most apps are installed to the SD card, along with things that they handle – such as the Kindle app and the ebooks that you download for it.   I was amazed, having watched TV adverts talking about the vast number of available apps, that this ‘phone has so very little actual capacity.  Every app installed contributes to the space consumed in the ‘phone itself, regardless of where the app itself is installed to!  And even more annoying is the fact that there are pre-installed apps which you can’t uninstall!  Some of these are massive (‘bloatware’) and I know that I’ll never use them, but Samsung have decided that they should be locked in, untouchable.  I find it increasingly difficult to understand how Samsung, and most other Android device manufacturers, expect to compete with Apple’s devices!  For example, the internal, built-in storage of the iPod Touch is impressive.  Sure, you can’t expand it, but at least most of the storage is available without all the nonsense problems of the Android competition.  Yes, there are locked apps with Apple too, and yes, it would be hugely beneficial if we could remove them, but even then I can get loads more apps on the standard, basic iPod Touch than I can on the Android smartphone!

(Apologies to Philip K Dick, author of the book whose title I have stolen for this section!)

Book Promo Day – 13th June, 2013

Dessi’s Romance by Goldie Alexander

Dessi’s Romance explores some of the choices these young people make. As the story continues, all have the value of their friendships confirmed, and learn that their adventures in life and love will help them mature.

End of school is a crucial time for life -making decisions.Eighteen year old best friends Dessi Cowan, Lilbet’s grandniece, and her best friend Emma Simpson have planned a celebratory trip to the Gold Coast. Emma is an artist, Dessi a poet; their mothers long term ‘best friends’.  In the past the girls have always been there for each other and this relationship is central to their lives. However, when Emma meets charming Abdul Malouf and Dessi is forced to stay in Melbourne to recover from a car accident, Emma asks her friend to look after Abdul while she is away.

More information:

Author’s Blog

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The Eye-Dancers by Michael S. Fedison

Seventh-grader Mitchell Brant and three of his classmates inexplicably wake up at the back edge of a softball field to the sounds of a game, the cheering of the crowd.  None of them remembers coming here.  And as they soon learn, “here” is like no place they’ve ever seen.  Cars resemble antiques from the 1950s.  There are no cell phones, no PCs.  Even the spelling of words is slightly off.

A compulsive liar, constantly telling fantastic stories to garner attention and approval, Mitchell can only wish this were just one more of his tall tales.  But it isn’t.  It’s all too real.  Together, as they confront unexpected and life-threatening dangers, Mitchell and his friends must overcome their bickering and insecurities to learn what happened, where they are, and how to get back home.

The answers can be found only in the mysterious little girl with the blue, hypnotic eyes.  The one they had each dreamed of three nights in a row before arriving here.  She is their only hope.  And, as they eventually discover, they are her only hope.

And time is running out.

Current price:

ebook: $2.99

Purchase from:

Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble.com
Smashwords.com
Kobobooks.com

More information:

Author’s Blog

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Charlie the Horse by Deanie Humphrys-Dunne

Charlie dreamed of becoming a famous racehorse like his dad, Charles the Great. But will he have the talent to succeed? Does Charlie focus on his work? What happens when Charlie encounters problems on the racetrack?

Charlie the Horse is a humorous, entertaining story that will delight your child, while teaching important lessons. Charlie the Horse has received several 5-star reviews, as well as a book of the week selection.

Recent review:

jemsbooks.wordpress.com

Purchase from:

Amazon.com (ebook or paperback)
Barnes & Noble

More information:

Author’s Website/Blog
Author’s Facebook Fan Page

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I Was In Love With A Short Man Once by Kim Dalferes

Have you ever wondered if the life of the woman standing next to you in the check-out line is as weird as yours? Could it be possible that you are trapped in a bizarre reality show, where the object of the game is to get the crazy lady to flip-out; just one more time? If so, then this book confirms that you are in good company.

I Was In Love With a Short Man Once is a story collection written from the perspective of a crazy, southern, Irish gal. Follow her as she reflects on: growing up as a child of limited means in South Florida; managing a self-financed college education; balancing work as a federal official with the joys of single motherhood; and navigating the amusing challenges of being a second-time-around wife.

•       Coming Up Stories reflect the distinctive surroundings of South Florida through stories such as “Flagpole.”
•       Jimmy Stories illustrate the bond between mother and son.  Stories here include “Kool-aid Mom” and “Zamboni” and reveal the life lessons that our children teach us.
•       The Rest of the Stories round out the author’s quirky observations, including “Naked in a Hot Tub in Vegas” and “Crazy Virgo Tendencies.”

Available as an ebook, paperback or hardback.

More information:

Author’s Website

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Reviewing The Adventure So Far

I thought I’d share a photo’ or two.  These are the first two paperbacks of my novelettes.  I was finally able to get some batteries for my camera.  Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to get them into good light so there’s some flash flare on the photo’.  Still, I think it’s better than a simple scan!  I still can’t begin to describe just how it felt, after waiting 43 years, what it’s like to hold them in my hand.  Don’t get me wrong!  I doubt very much that I would have them now, if I hadn’t first discovered the miracle of ebooks.  Seeing my ebooks receiving interest gave me the courage to go for the ‘real thing’!

Perhaps that’s the true importance of ebooks and self-publishing.  Without ebooks, I would have continued to write, but what I wrote would have remained forever a curious pile of paper or collection of computer files, gathering dust, getting damaged or lost.  I’ve never had the resources to mail agent after agent, publisher after publisher – well, not since my youth, anyway.  As many manuscripts I produced were either written longhand or typed in non-manuscript format (MS format took far too much paper), I couldn’t even afford to have them typed professionally, ready in case somebody actually showed interest.  But ebooks!  Oh what a revolution!

Early experiments with PDFs had not convinced me.  I don’t like them.  It’s as simple as that.  SO a handful of half-hearted attempts at writing on the computer simply sat there, doing nothing.  discovering Kindle ebooks and ePubs transformed everything!  A good number of short story ebooks yielded the fact that I could get readers – judging by the number of downloads.  It was this that led to the novelettes.  Naturally, like the vast majority of Indie writers, translating hundreds of downloads of free stories into sales of longer tales has not been quite so impressive.  In fact, I still get excited by a sale.  That gives you some idea of how quick sales are going!  Despite that, I know that there are millions of people who don’t like ebooks, so I decided to issue the novelettes as paperbacks, at the absolute minimum price.  I’m not sorry I did, even if I’m yet to get any sales!

And that’s the thing.  I have made a discovery.  I now know that the dream on its own is enough!  Yes, some sales would be very nice, and no, they’ll never make me rich – or even financially ‘comfortable’, but, I have realised the most cherished dream of my life!  Yes, I would feel immensely honoured to have readers, especially ones who come back for more, but that would be icing on the cake, and icing without a cake is rather pointless.  After all these years, I now know that it is simply the sense of having moved from a manuscript to a finished, honest-to-goodness, book is incomparable in terms of satisfaction.

Does that al sound egocentric?  It probably does, but I’m honest enough to acknowledge the truth, now that I understand it.  This realisation of a simple fact caused me to consider something.  Is my ambition now fulfilled?  Do I now move to something new?  Well, you may be unhappy to learn that I intend to continue writing.  I have another ambition, and it may even be the one that has driven everything else this far.  I want to see one of my novels not in ebook format, nor even in paperback.  I really wish to see one in hardback!  More, it should be a stylish hardback, such as anybody would be proud to display on their most publicly visible bookshelf.  Sure, it can have a slip cover, but the bare book, without that paper wrapping, however ‘pretty’ is very much secondary.  And here, I will make a confession.  I came very close to having that a very long time ago.  I contacted a company I thought were legitimate publishers.  In fact, I discovered that they were ‘Vanity publishers’.  Still, if I had had more money and less sense, I would have leapt at the opportunity to see my book published.  I had a clear impression of how it would look, and I so wanted it!  Yet, with the good sense instilled in me by excellent parents, I recognised that it would be an expensive way to massage my ego.  As a result, and not without a few twinges of regret, I rejected the deal and returned meekly to the realms of the author dreaming but not succeeding.  Today, I am very glad that I didn’t take that route.

The other two of my novelettes are on the brink of appearing as paperbacks.  My recently completed novella will follow as swiftly as possible.  I’ve now begun writing another book, which will be the fourth of the G1: The Guardians series, and I don’t yet know what length it will be.  It is my hope that it will be the longest tale yet, but that could mean that it will still be of novella length.  My production rate has declined, but that’s natural given the increased length of each book.  I’m not really writing less, it’s just more concentrated.

So far, this adventure has been fascinating and fun.  With any luck, it will continue in the same vein!

~ Steve

Dancing With Joyness!

‘Joyness’?  What the heck is that?

Okay, so I know there’s no such word as ‘joyness’!  The word ‘joy’ was insufficient and ‘ecstasy’ has an unfortunate alternate meaning.  So I got inventive for this post.  What am I feeling joyness about?  It’s very easy to answer that: I have another novelette available in paperback with one more almost there!

The Ossilan Affair, which is the second novelette in the Captain Henri Duschelle Stories series, is now available through skoobebooks.  It should be noted that, while skoobebooks are in the UK, they do fulfil international orders – please check the website!

I am very excited to see these paperback editions appearing.  While there have been no sales so far, unfortunately, I feel that I’m now offering my books in a more complete sense, and not confining them to only those with eReaders/computers with eReader apps.  I’m seriously considering bringing together the Thief series short stories in a compendium, which would be offered both as an ebook and a paperback.  If I did so, however, I would have to remove the free ebooks, which is a stumbling block to the idea’s progress.  I would love to hear from you if you have any views on the possibility, especially if you’ve done something similar!

The next ‘ebook goes paperback’ will be Evil Under The Circle, which is the second of the G1: The Guardians series.  I decided to go to skoobebooks for this, too, because my experiences with them, compared to FeedARead, were so good.  With the third in this series now completed, I’m still trying to decide whether to release the ebook or the paperback first.  If I choose to go for the paperback, there will be a delay before the release…

Where next…

I’m between stories now.  The novel is still in limbo.  I haven’t yet been hit by inspiration as to what comes next.  I’d love to pursue the Duschelle and Guardians series, but both obviously require the vision of where they are to go from the last books.  It’s obvious that I’m building up in length of these tales, so I really need some storylines appropriate to a longer format.  That said, there’s still room for more stories in the Thief series – or do I look to writing a longer tale there too?  Finally, I started writing a children’s story, but lost several pages of work when the battery died on my netbook!  Despite OpenOffice autosaving, all I had left was a little over one paragraph – which was soul destroying.  I do have notes for that story, but I’ve not had the heart to start again, so far.  It would also be complicated, because I’d like to include some black and white illustrations and my own drawing skills are not adequate for the images I’ll need.

It’s all very unclear at the moment.  In the meantime, not writing is an unhappy state for me!  Ah, the joys of being an author…

Review Delight

New Reviews

I was browsing, this morning, when I had the delightful experience of discovering that I had received three new reviews, on Goodreads, for the first three of my short stories in the Thief series.  And here, I might sound somewhat critical, but I’m simply making an honest observation: Unlike some authors, I don’t ‘cherry pick’ only five star reviews.  I can say with hand on heart that I am grateful when anybody takes the time to leave any kind of comment or review against one of my books!  Whatever their verdict – from “it sucks” (not in those words, please) to “I love it” – I am happy.  You see, I like to know that somebody has taken the trouble to deliver their verdict, good, bad or indifferent.  I don’t expect to please everybody.  If we all liked the same things, we might only have one book to read!  Honesty is a very important trait, as far as I’m concerned.

All that said, here are the review links:

1. Thief (4 stars)
2. Gabrin: The Avatar (4 stars)
3. Ur’gavan (3 stars)

I would like to thank Magda for taking the time to comment.  It is very much appreciated.

Nearly There

I am very close to finishing my new mild horror/supernatural/future fiction tale in the G1: The Guardians series!  It will be my first novella.  I say finishing, but of course, I’m talking about the writing part of it.  The reading, editing, fixing and repairing are to come.  Before anybody says anything, I don’t have the option of getting any help from an editor or such.  Operating with a zero budget prohibits such things, unfortunately.  I have to rely on myself to act as impartially, and accurately, as possible.  It isn’t ideal, and I really would do things properly if I could afford it.  I am not inclined to beg for freebie help in these arduous tasks.  I’m also not interested in joining a ‘critique’ group, or similar.  My experience with such groups, in the field of art, have not been happy, with too many members having their own agendas and with motives that are sometimes questionable.  So I will continue as I must.

~ Steve

Book Promotion Day: 16th May, 2013

The Tattered Prayer Book by Ellen Bari, illustrated by Avi Katz

The Tattered Prayer Book  is a gentle introduction to the Holocaust for children ages 6-10. Ruthie discovers a secret about her father, while looking through a box of mementos from the ‘old country.’ As her father tells his surprising story, Ruthie learns a piece of her father’s story, a slice of Jewish history and the circumstances under which the family fled Nazi Germany.  A burnt prayer book taken in secret from a destroyed synagogue after Kristallnacht offers solace to her father as a young boy, at the most difficult time in his life. Once safely settled in America, he tries to bury the prayer book along with his painful past.  Many years later, sharing the story with Ruthie, allows father to heal and daughter to grow.

Price:

$18.95 7” x 10” hard cover, 32 pages.  ISBN: 978-0-9819906-8-2

Purchase from:

Gihon River Press, Inc.

More information:

Gihon River Press, Inc.

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City of the Gods: The Descendant by S J McMillan

In 700 A.D. Teotihuacan, Mexico, the High Priest believed himself to be a powerful as the gods. He set a plague on the city as a demonstration of his power. The Gods took pity on the remaining loyal congregation. They granted each survivor immortality and an extraordinary ability. Three loyal survivors were given a mission of great importance: train the lone human descendant of their civilization to stop the evil from damning the rest of humanity.

Now in San Diego, California, the time has come to finally make Katalina Deckard aware of her destiny. Her life has been a constant struggle since the loss of her parents when she was young. These struggles have made her a fighter, but she doesn’t believe they have prepared her to save the world. Her friends, who have survived for so long, must convince her that she has what it takes to accept the mantle of the Redeemer.

City of the Gods: The Descendant is the first book in an urban fantasy trilogy. The second book, City of the Gods: The Betrayal will be released later this year.

Price and Purchase from:

Paperback is available on Amazon.com for $12.99 plus S&H.
E-book format is also available on Amazon for $6.99.
It is also available on Barnes & Noble.com and Kobobooks.com

More information:

Author Website: www.mcmillansj.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mcmillansj
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mcmillansj

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Culloo by Murielle Cyr

Tala can’t answer the door. The welfare officer is knocking and her father isn’t home again. She needs to find him before her and her young brother get placed in foster care. Their quest brings them to secluded woods where they discover bear poachers are responsible for their father’s disappearance.

Their adventures bring them in contact with the legendary woodland characters: the pipe-smoking frog-like people and the giant, ferocious black bird. Will they be able to survive the night alone with hungry bears and angry poachers and find their father before the hunters do?

Price:

$1.17 Kindle ebook

Purchase from:

Amazon.com

More information:

Author website: www.muriellerites.wordpress.com
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/Murielle-Cyr/e/B00C4L464O

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First Paperback Released!

Yes, that’s right!  My first paperback has been released!  You may recall that I mentioned in previous posts that I was trying two different ‘Print On Demand’ (POD) services.  Well, the clear winner in terms of timescale and level of communications is skoobebooks.  Skoobebooks had everything but the final )printer’s) proof sorted by last weekend, and that last proof was sorted yesterday.  I would like to express my thanks to Keith at skoobebooks for all his hard work.  Needless to say, more paperbacks will be entrusted to them!

FeedARead are still processing the novelette I sent them.  They have finished the interior but the cover hasn’t yet been finished.  Considering the fact that I sent the manuscript to FeedARead first, I’m not overly impressed with their performance so far.

Now, as to the actual, real live paperback:

For the Sake of Mercy (A Captain Henri Duschelle Story) is available for ordering.  It costs £3.99 GBP, plus post & packaging, and is normally despatched in 5-10 days from skoobebooks.

To repeat the book’s blurb:

Merchant Captain Henri Duschelle, a man Union Fleet wish they had, must lead his loyal, hard fighting crew on a seemingly impossible mission: to deliver a vital organ to the dying son of one of his crew, across the longest span of the colonised worlds – to an insane deadline. He is convinced that only his ship, the stunningly beautiful Persephone, can make such a journey in the time allowed. But dangers lie in wait on this, perhaps the greatest voyage ever made by humans…

A novelette in the series: The Captain Henri Duschelle Stories.

The paperback has 68 pages.

About the Series:

For those ‘not in the know’, the series of The Captain Henri Duschelle Stories made an early start with the short story To Sail The Dark Sea.  I decided that that tale would, for now, constitute Number 0.5 of the series, with For the Sake of Mercy being Number 1 and the next novelette, The Ossilan Affair, being Number 2.  At this point in time, there isn’t a set chronology, other than the fact that Number 2 most definitely follows immediately on from Number 1!  That may sound obvious, but those numbers may change in time, if new tales actually precede them chronologically.  The numbers, therefore, are rather arbitrary.  It’s not even certain, at this point, that the short story occurs earlier than the tales in the two novelettes.  The numbers are there purely for convenience.  Also, there is no certainty that future tales will all be either short stories or novelettes.  It is an entirely flexible arrangement.  All I can say, with any certainty, is that the existing short story will continue to be available for free download, though it may be added to another, longer, tale in the future, as ‘bonus material’ for anybody who hasn’t availed themselves of the offer.

~ Steve