March 29, 2011

Sneak Peak of John Trevillian Punk Noir Scifi Thriller- "The A-Men Return"

Guest Blogger- John Trevillian Gives us a Sneak Peak of his Book 'The A-Men Return'





Blurb:


Abandoned by her beloved Jack, Susannah Jacqueline Saint-Clare has flown to the ArcAfrican continent for a fresh start and a new career; as assassin for hire. Unfortunately her activities have provoked the native Wolves of Owando clan, and also brought herself to the attention of those who can offer her a chance for her long-awaited revenge. Here we join her as she makes the drop into Dead City to locate and destroy her ex-lover – who also holds the key to the salvation of the near-space starstations from imminent destruction.




Excerpt and Sneak Peak:


Twelve thousand metres up, my baby-blue eyes open to a world that is dark and foreboding. Just like the last time I left this miserable, rat-forsaken hellhole of a city. That miserable bastard of a man. And now I’m going back. I am a faceless, trikevlar-clad hardbody and like a bullet fired down into the night, I fly. Straight down. This is a shock. As are the broken maw of buildings racing up to greet me beneath my trianon-graphite kickboots. Readouts mark this as Dead City. One of fifty-eight inderdicted zones in this once-great continent. My former home. But they’ll be time for reminiscing later. Right now, I have to make some sense of my situation and make that checkpoint.


“Run tropix,” I say.


>Executing tropospheric sequence. Primary subject: Troposphere. Secondary subjects: Free Atmosphere and Planetary Boundary Layer.


“Go pressure.”


>Geopotential pressure equals 850 hPa. Height equals 9042gpm.


Shit, there’s a storm coming and I’m dropping right through the front of a developing cell. Finally thank my dedication at Astrogations class. It’s ironic. I only went ’cause of the cute instructor.


“Compensate frictional drag,” I mutter and the tech manual corrects.


The sky is gun-metal grey, tinged with a sickly cast of green. Even within the suit I can feel the heaviness in the air. The sticky, uncomfortable humidity. Blips on the periphery of my retinal interface show distant thunderheads, a well of anxiety headed almost tangential to my position.


“Should I be worried?” I ask the onboard node.


>Coriolis Effect in mid-Tropopause. Cyclonic. Type: Hazardous.


I also get a construct view. Spelling out its position, shape, vorticity and shear.
“Define hazardous.”


Systems rattle out data. It’s a severe local storm. A short-fused, small scale thunderstorm, with expected wind damage and possible flash floods. Like eighty-three-over-one-hundred possible. Rough upshot: it’s a pit of darkness and it’s heading my way.


And all the while I’m evaluating this, the city’s getting closer.


Falling with me, corded to my suitpack, is a roughly missile-shaped carrier case. Seemingly random spray lettering adorns its outside while inside lurks my kit for this mission: a first-in-class performance Osakimo geocycle. Well, how else did you expect me to get around a devastated, corpse-strewn megalopolis? Take a taxi?


“Initiate flex at thirty-five-hundred.”


Twist in the air and bring the bullet between my thighs. Force my gauntlets into the handles and snap-on. Readouts whirr metre counts until three-thousand five hundred when the pod deploys. Grip tight as the wings appear, then release and go for hands-free trim. The weather hazard makes the manoeuvre tricky, but I manage. Ditch the casing as three thousand turns to two, then one. Kickstart the systems and release the macrolight. Wheels click down, engine selfstarts and I feel the gut punch as forward speed kills downward momentum. 


Full-initiate the geo. Watch as the triangular casing splits and unfolds, disclosing a copper-plated tank and waxed fabric seat. Just like the rest of my kit the geocycle has an aggressively militaristic design. Beneath the harshness though lies a heavily revised engine that even at one-ninety emits the merest bee-hum of resonance. The sculptured seat, chopper-style foot pegs and air-cooled, 1,131cc V-twin engine combine to give a girl the ride of her life.


Flip up my face shield to get a smell of just how bad the air is down here. Roll my wrists forward, engaging smoothly into fifth, propelling myself gently down the roadway. I feel a molten burning sensation travelling upwards from my inner thighs, across my genitals and into my belly. I twist the throttle and race away like the tooled-up turn-of-the-new-century dominatrix I am.


I crack a grim smile. Hi, honies, I’m home!


My muscles strain, my face wind-glazed. I think down the visor, shift flat on the Ny-Tok seatpad and punch one-sixty.


With me on the ground I get to thinking about what Lucille said before she left. The bit about revenge. I’m not one for regrets, but the day The Nowhereman tossed me aside still stings. Memory’s buried deep in a place I rarely acknowledge let alone touch. But now I’m back and I’m packing. Ravn always said that my love of the gun would one day cross the line between sex and death, but I blame my mother. On the day of my first date when I broached the subject of protection, she loaned me her Luger.


Dodging wrecks and debris I speed as fast as the terrain and sensors allow, pushing one-seventy on the long dark stretch that was once U Street Corridor.


“Estimated zero-point.”


>Point-zero in 6.645 klicks.


Once this neighbourhood was what the corporates would laughingly call culturally diverse. For Exxo this was where the workers went for their kicks. A district stuffed block after block of tri-rise bistros, hip sidewalk cafés and rooftop restaurants. I can see them now squatting on low leather hassocks around a mesabgrab at some swanky Ethiopian. They’d drink medium-dry, small talk, watch the world go by.


Then the world went bye-bye.


And now there’s just a death valley cluttered with four years-worth of neglect.


Zero-point is a former blues club, the playfully named Hooker June’s. Osakimo stooges will be there. Some goons called ZipSqueal and Brender. 


Race down Connecticut, K Street and finally into Vermont. And there she is. Ms June. All dead neon swirl of naked sax-playing blonde. Club’s name emblazoned across her flashing cleavage.


Kick the geo down to second and slide up outside. Wonder how Lucille’s faring with her part of the mission. Wonder how I’ll fare with mine. How when I see that dirty skanker I don’t just lose it all again and paint another wall another shade of crimson.



Links
Author website: 
www.trevillian.com



Full and unabridged audio podcast of the first novel: 
http://trevillian.libsyn.com/ 
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-a-men-john-trevillian/id372409870

John Trevillian is an author of punk-noir science fiction novels. His newest work The A-Men Return is available from Amazon and at the author's website (www.trevillian.com). 


March 28, 2011

Jane Toombs Has a Fondness for Fantasy!

Please Welcome Jane Toombs!


Although I read both SF and fantasy, I do believe I’m a bit fonder of fantasy than I am SF.  I would hesitate to actually write SF because I am not science oriented and I would have to be to do a credible job.  Fantasy is different.  Writers without science majors write good fantasy all the time--from demons popping out of toilet bowls to  the urban fantasies where weird things happen in civilized communities.



My fantasies include weredragons in the USA, and any number of odd happenings in my neck of the woods --I refer to it “North Of Nonesuch,” which is what I named the anthology that contains were creatures, a djinn,  an evil vampire, caprics  (half-goat, half-human) and a totem bear.  Only the first story in my anthology is not set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wilderness, but in New Mexico and it’s also a fantasy.  Since all theses tales end happily, they also romances.



I recently released another fantasy volume that I have to admit contains a bit of SF, since one story takes place on another planet, but it’s still more of a fantasy. This one is titled Ten Past Midnight: Dark Tales by Jane Toombs.  And yes they are, although two do end sort of happy for now.  


But I also write sweet romances, historicals, including Regencies, gothics and paranormal romance.  Oh, and one horror.


All my books, including the Darkness Of Dragons Trilogy can be found at my  website: www.JaneToombs.com  Most are also on Kindle.  







Bio: Jane Toombs, the Viking from her past and their calico grandcat, Kinko. live on the south shore of Lake Superior where the three other wonderful seasons almost make up for the nasty winters. Jane has over eighty published books to her credit and uncounted novellas. Her stories range from sweet to sensual and a lot of them are paranormal. 

March 13, 2011

An Excerpt of "Rachel's Desire" by Dawne Prochilo

Rachel's Desire



Rachel's Desire Promo


Blurb:

What's a woman to do when her sexual needs are ignored? Every woman has needs and sexual desire.

When Rachel Chambers' married lover is selfish and demanding, she turns to her best friend Kari Burton for support, venting...and love. A girl knows what she needs and right now Rachel needs Kari.

A girl's night in turns into a night of explosive passion and realization of frenzied love.




Excerpt:

Deke Ellington wasn't obsessive compulsive. He just liked order in his life. He kept a routine. A strict schedule was of the utmost importance, even when it came to sex. In and out, literally in six minutes flat. That is, six minutes if his cock cooperated. If not, the act could take up to nine minutes. But good ole' Deke prepared for that nine-minute deadline and if he finished in the six-minutes, then he had three more minutes in his day to be productive.
Rachel Chambers watched the older man as he buttoned his dress shirt. Each button took precisely one and a half seconds to clasp. But who was counting? She stretched under the cotton sheets, her bare legs escaping the confines of the sheet, exposing a perfectly toned leg. She released a yawn as Deke finished buttoning his shirt and moved onto the tuck.
The tuck us, for all mental purposes, the extreme measures Deke took to make sure his shirt was exactly  perfect and evenly positioned into the waistband of his pants. The process annoyed Rachel every time she witnessed it.
She glanced at the bedside alarm clock. Today's f*** was a good one. Deke finished in record time. He arrived, stripped, fucked her and was almost re-dressed in under seven minutes. He'd probably have to try to break the record some day. Wouldn't that be just like him she thought. Get his fuck of the day and be back at his Fortune 500 Company in a matter of a quarter of an hour.
Rachel released an elongated sigh then leaned on her right elbow, “Can't you stay a little longer Deke?”

Website




March 11, 2011

Writer's Block!


There is nothing worse than looking at a blank MSWord document. Trust me, I've been doing it for the past hour. Why? Well, I have a guest blog to write. It's supposed to be insightful as I talk about my latest release, Blood Moon, and just a tad amusing. I mean, who doesn't want to be liked by their readers. I did everything I could think of to get the creativity going, but nothing worked. Finally, after I asked my husband for what seemed like the millionth time what I should blog about, he said, "Tell them what you do when you're stuck."


Don't tell him this, but sometimes my husband is a genius.


When I get stuck, infamously known as writer's block, I first read through what I have to see if my main character doesn't like what I've done. It's been known to happen, especially when I'm writing from Sarah's perspective, but it's not always the case. I then go through a list, checking off things that might have stalled my Muse. Do I have the right music, munchies, drink, etc.? If I was listening to music I'll turn it off to see if that does the trick. But sometimes, even after all of that, I am still stuck with a blank MSWord document. Then I have to face reality…


My Muse has gone on a fabulous vacation and left me here to rot.


Gee, thanks Muse. It would have been nice if you let me know this an hour ago.


Don't tell my Muse this, but some days I like when she goes on vacation. Like today; I got to spend time with my family, go to the park with my son, and have an all around great day.


So tomorrow, when I sit down to write, I know I'll have lots to say. After a day like today, who wouldn't be inspired? Sometimes, writer's block is a fabulous thing.


My latest release, Blood Moon, is the third book in the Sarah Vargas series, picking up right where Malevolent Dead left off.

Blood Moon Blurb:

After she broke her contract with the Blood Moon Corporation, Sarah Vargas knew that it was only a matter of time before they came for her. What she didn't know is what lengths they would go to make sure that she had no where to run. Everyone Sarah has every relied on is in danger during a time when friends become enemies, and Sarah quickly realizes that the Blood Moon Corporation will never give up until she is dead. The Blood Moon Corporation is coming, and even Sarah doesn't think she can make it out alive.


All proceeds from Blood Moon will be going to MUSC Children's Hospital.


Please visit http://www.musckids.com/ for more information about this wonderful children's hospital.




Buy Links


Blood Moon: Book Three of the Sarah Vargas Series, Eternal Press
Malevolent Dead: Book Two of the Sarah Vargas Series, Eternal Press
Fade to Black: Book One of the Sarah Vargas Series, Eternal Press
Promises to Keep, Eternal Press




Coming Soon


Epiphany, Decadent Publishing (TBA 2011)


 Visit Heather Kuehl online at


http://www.heatherkuehl.com/,

http://www.heatherkuehl.blogspot.com/ or follow her on

Facebook or Twitter.





March 1, 2011

Shifters, Shifters Everywhere!

Shifters, shifters everywhere!

I love shifter books. The raw, primal feeling these guys and gals have amid the pages really has me glued to the book, flipping the pages so fast it looks like I am a NASCAR race. My favorite shifter book has to be by Deborah Cooke. Her Dragonfire novels are one spellbinding story from start to finish. When I sit down with one of her books, I am blown away by the way she created this world and populated with shape-shifting dragons. Now who doesn’t like a good dragon story? I love them.

In my Devon Falls book, Fiery Magic, I got the idea to make one of the characters a dragon and the heroine called him “pretty”. Now tell me, are dragons “Pretty”? To me they are wild, primal and pure fun as in the case of Smokey from Yasmine Galenorn’s Otherworld series. Each author makes the shifter, be it dragon, wolves, tigers or, heck, even ferrets, their own and they each incorporate something that will have the reader clamoring for more.

In Fiery Magic, we met the Dracon twins; one is a dragon shifter, the other a wolf shifter; one family-many generations- who are shifters of some kind. I made my shifters a bit different, where each person in this large family, is something different. They didn’t get bit by the animal; case in point a werewolf, but were born as a shifter of some kind. It is the magic in their blood that defines what they become. Eventually we will meet a cousin of Rod and Damien Dracon- a woman who, in this large family of shifters, has no shifter powers what so ever. What do you do if you have no powers but what god/goddess gave you? That is the question I will ask her and her hero………eventually. :)


My next Devon Falls book introduces a new character in Michael Barnes, who is a rare white tiger shifter who is all alone with no pride. He roams from place to place and is friends with Damien Dracon, who tries to get him to Devon Falls to no avail in years before. He was an interesting character to write about. Here you have a lonely, quiet man who has no place to call “Home”. He longs for mate, hearth and kits of his own but knows that with no pride; he is limited in his choices…….or so he thinks. We meet the woman who will knock him flat on his back and show him that home is where the heart is in Moonlight & Magic.
Shifters are a world where readers and authors can explore with pure enjoyment. I love reading them and hope to eventually expand on shifters as an author to include Kitsunes and others that fire the imagination. In the meantime, I am going to sit with my dragons and explore their world because Ms. Cooke and Ms.Galenorn are calling me from the bookcases. So what are your favorite shifters to enjoy? Any author you love that write about shifters?



Raine Delight

You can find her on the web at:

http://www.authorrainedelight.com/

Secret Cravings Publishing

Shadowfire Press