Tag: sci-fi novels

New! Sci-Fi pre-order: The Moon Crossing by Eileen Troemel and Jan Selbourne

The Moon Crossing: Troemel and Selbourne

USA Today Bestselling Author Eileen Troemel and 2019 Coffee Pot Book Club Historical Book of the Year Silver Medal winner Jan Selbourne present an alternate history, sweet romance of life after the Moon Landing in 1969. Release date: November 13.

Blurb:

In 2030, World Correction Center – the Earth’s most secure prison – is a miserable place to land. Since it’s on the moon, it’s inescapable. It contains the worst criminals Earth has ever seen. So why are the brilliant minds across the globe being sent to this black hole of the justice system. When renown archaeologist Micky Cooper is charged with embezzling, his sister Susan knows it’s a set up.  It’s up to her to prove his innocence. Susan thinks she might be paranoid but she swears she’s being followed and should she trust the nice man whose cousin has disappeared as well? Was it a chance meeting or is he against her too? Teaming up with Greg Tanner, a man equally resolved to prove the innocence of his cousin, Samantha Tanner – a word leading linguist – Susan and Greg seek clues wherever they can find them, but they’re barely keeping one step ahead of those who want them to stop.  They begin to unravel the web of lies, fraud and cover up. Just when they start to put pieces together, Susan and Greg are forced to run for their lives.  With a nudge from Samantha they find someone to help. Is this woman an ally? Or simply part of a greater conspiracy to hide the truth? What exactly is on the moon and why are the Earth’s greatest minds being sent there to serve time?

Pre-order link Get your copy now for 99¢:
Amazon US

The Moon Crossing: Troemel and SelbourneExcerpt:
Could the government really make someone disappear? The little voice in her head replied, ‘yes they could. Taking a step back into the alley, she watched Greg enter the coffee shop. “Okay. Do I trust his or not?” she muttered. “What if I just listen? Would it hurt to listen?

“Shit, I’m nutso standing in a dark alley talking to myself,” Susan said. Closing her eyes, she tried to consider her gut instinct. She didn’t know. At five minutes past, she raised her chin and opted to trust – for now.

Looking both ways, she crossed the street. She deliberately wore practical clothes, tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a tank top. Over the top, she wore a hooded sweatshirt. Seeing herself reflected in the glass door, she wondered if she dressed too casual. Too late to change now.

He sat in the back facing the door. A smile lit his face as soon as he saw her. Is he faking it?  It looks like a real smile.  He stood, sort of old fashioned but Susan liked it. He seems sincere. Feeling awkward for analysing his every expression, she approached the table. “Hi.”

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said.

“Me neither,” she slid into the booth. He sat opposite her as the waitress brought their coffee. “They have a good peach pie here.

“It’s really good today,” the waitress said

“Give us two pieces,” Greg said.

Waiting for the waitress to leave, Susan assessed him. She liked what she saw but this was not a date. “Did you find out more about your cousin,” she asked as she sipped her coffee

“A colleague of hers said she worked day and night on a project. It’s who my appointment was with yesterday,” he said. “I know how she gets. She has a puzzle, and she won’t stop until she solves it.”

“Do you think she got sent to the moon as well,” Susan reached out to touch his hand. It felt warm and strong.

“I don’t know,” he said. He gripped her hand. “They said a secured facility. The moon is for the worst of the worst… or so their website says.”

“The prisoners are only allowed visitors once a month,” she said. “I get they’re bad people but they still deserve to have visits. Do you know how much it costs to get to the moon?”

“You’d go,” Greg said. “I watched a few of the first launches.”

“They have the shuttle now,” Susan said. “I saw a video of a recent launch.”

“From their site,” Greg asked.

“No this was on the internet,” Susan said. “It was in one of the chat rooms.”

“You’re a bit of a computer geek,” Greg grinned.

She liked his smile, firm lips surrounding white teeth, a light in his eyes indicated laughter even though he hadn’t laughed yet. “A bit,” she said. “I tinker a bit with it.”

“If we believe our loved ones are innocent,” Greg said.

“We do,” Susan said.

“Then how were they both falsely accused and convicted of crimes they didn’t commit,” he asked.

“It’s more than that,” Susan said. “Not only were they convicted but they were sent to the worst prison. Why? How does it serve them? What could they have been working on to annoy someone so much they wanted them out of the picture? They timed it well.  I was out of the country.”

“Wait, so was I,” Greg interrupted.

“See, it’s no coincidence you and I, their closest relatives, were out of the country. That’s what we’re talking about isn’t it?”

Greg sat back and rubbed a hand through his hair. “What if it wasn’t they wanted them out of the picture but rather, they needed them on the moon for some purpose,” Greg asked.

“Why wouldn’t they just ask them to work for them or with them,” Susan countered.

“Maybe they did but they turned them down,” Greg leaned forward again gripping her hands.

Susan glanced at their hands. “This is crazy. You know what this sounds like?”

“We’re a couple of conspiracy theorists,” Greg shook his head.

She couldn’t look at him, staring at their hands she considered all they discussed. Could the government kidnap scientists?

“I… I’m staying at my brother’s house,” she said slowly. “I’ll have a look through his things.”

“Want help,” Greg asked.

She stared into his warm caramel eyes. Did she trust him? Was this too convenient? She hadn’t a clue how to help Micky, but could she rely on this man? With a deep breath, she said, “Sure.”

The waitress returned with two plates of pie. Greg asked, “I’m really sorry. Can we get those to go?’

“Sure,” she said. They rose and followed her to the counter.

Susan paid, she insisted on it. As they stepped out of the coffee shop, Susan saw a flash of light. Across the street, a black SUV parked in the line of mid-sized cars. It looked out of place. She couldn’t see the plates. Were they watching her, following her?

“Everything all right,” Greg asked.

“No, it’s not,” Susan said walking away from the street. “Have you ever felt like you were being followed?”

“Yeah,” he scanned the street. “More often recently.”

She stepped close to him, pulled him close to her. She brushed her lips across his. His arms slowly closed around her. “I think we’re being watched,” she murmured as she made it look like they flirted and had an assignation rather than plotting… whatever they were plotting.

Meet the authors:

Eileen TroemelUSA Today Bestseller Author Eileen Troemel writes action packed and emotionally powerful fantasy, scifi, romance. She’s versatile and writes in many genres.  She’ll try almost any genre if it means she can tell a good story.  In addition to her writing, she loves to read, crochet, and research genealogy. Her best days are spent with her family of three adult daughters and her husband or writing.  

Website: https://eileentroemel.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/EileenTroemel
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EileenTroemelAuthor/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eileentroemel/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-troemel-6667825b/
MeWe https://mewe.com/i/eileentroemel
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7868345.Eileen_Troemel

Jan SelbourneJan Selbourne was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and her love of literature and history began as soon as she learned to read and hold a pen. After graduating from a Melbourne Business College her career began in the dusty world of ledgers and accounting, working in Victoria, Queensland and the United Kingdom. On the point of retiring, she changed course to work as secretary of a large NSW historical society. Now retired, Jan is enjoying her love of travelling and literature. She has two children, a stray live-in cat and lives near Maitland, New South Wales.

Website: https://nomadauthors.com/JanSelbourne/index.html
Blog: http://nomadauthors.com/blog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JanSelbourne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jan.selbourne
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14661584.Jan_Selbourne?from_search=true
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Selbourne/e/B0184OSZ6E/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/h8t2y6
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-selbourne-2817b6140/

The trick to writing a series by Eileen Troemel

Welcome, Eileen Troemel!!

How to Write a Long Series
(in theory)

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

If you want to write a long series, you should probably start a spreadsheet for all your details. Names, descriptions, scenes, ideas, summaries of books, and so on. That would be the logical way to start a series. If you are a person who plots out your books, that’s probably the best way to start a series.

I don’t plot my books. I just write them. I sit down to my computer and start with an idea. I let things flow as they come. If I’ve finished something, I look through my WIP folder and open what sounds good and then I read. I edit as I go because the mistakes offend me (yes even in my own stories).

I wrote a series of nineteen books – one short story (prequel) and eighteen full length novels. I sat down to my computer and wrote. Before I started the second novel, I reread the first one. Then I let the characters take me where they wanted. This is how I’ve written most of my novels. I think it’s worked well.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

It sounds like I’m super disorganized, doesn’t it? How in the world did I manage to write so many in a series? The snarky(ish) answer is – one story at a time. Let me give you some background.

In 2014, I published my first books (romance novel, meditation self help book, and three poetry books). Like all new authors, I was pretty clueless. Reading articles – they all said don’t wait, publish your next book.
My middle daughter and I had this conversation about books – one of like a billion. She asked what I was doing next. I said I didn’t have any idea. She asked for a space scifi romance where the woman comes from a vulnerable point.

Ideas popped into my head. I pulled from different experiences in building my character and the world (or more appropriately universe) she was in. Put in ideas on travelers, gypsies, and other nomadic societies, my love of Star Trek, Star Wars (and other space type movies) and about a thousand other ideas and experience into my head, mix and spew out the results. Five months to the day from my first book, I published Wayfarer.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

For me, it was one and done. Then my readers got a hold of it. My daughter finished it and said – what’s next? (this is a theme). I said – no I told her story. I’m done.

I was but Adara and Decker weren’t. I don’t think it took long and I was working on Wayfarer Clans… and then Wayfarer Immemorial… and – well you get the idea. By the end of 2014 I’d published four Wayfarer novels. In January 2015, I published Wayfarer Wedding and I thought I was done. My main characters were married. They had their happy ever after – right?
Nope. I wrote the prequel next and then just kept writing their story.

Clearly, I did not start out to write a series. I almost never plot out a book. When I started Wayfarer – I only had the female main character, her race, and a vague setting. I’m pretty sure I wrote several scenes before she even had a name.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

As soon as people – i.e. authors – hear I wrote a series with eighteen novels and a short story, the first question is – How did you keep track of everything?

First book, I didn’t. I think I was three novels in when the idea of keeping a spreadsheet came to me. One thing I did not want to do as I wrote a series was to mess up someone’s backstory or say someone had green eyes in one place and blue in another.

So I started a spreadsheet. I reread all the books and each new character, Wayfarer words, ship, and other details in the books went into my spreadsheet. I’ve got nine tabs in it. On some of the tabs, I’ve got a ton of information and others ended up being just a short list.

I know at one point, I added the number of books so I could track who came in when and who was in which books. I used this to keep a summary of each book. I cannot tell you how many times I used the summary to figure out days between events. There’s a lot of pregnancies in my series so making sure the right amount of time had passed was key. But I also used it to figure out ages and other things. If I was working on a Wayfarer novel, I had my spreadsheet open. It was my ultimate referral.

One other thing which helped me was to reread the books. One reason to reread the previous books was to get the feel for the characters, setting, and tone. It helped me fall back into Adara’s head or whichever character I needed to write about.

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Rarely did I start a book with a plan. When I reached book ten (Wayfarer Expansion), I freaked out a bit. TEN books. It seemed like such a big deal. Was the story good enough to be book ten? Obviously it had to be BETTER! I edited and edited and edited. In passing, I told a friend how I was feeling and she reminded me numerological a ten is a one so it’s a beginning. It was simple. It’s just another step in the series. I finished my edits and published.

My middle daughter and I talked (another of those billion book conversations) about authors who kill off characters. Somewhat to tease her, I said maybe I should kill someone off in the Wayfarer novel. What was meant to tease my daughter turned into a serious discussion of how it should be done. When I started writing Wayfarer Acceptance, there were two things I knew – I did not want to write another birthing scene and one of the characters would not survive the end of the book.

Around book twelve (Wayfarer Convictions) or thirteen (Wayfarer Limits), I realized the stories were leading to a huge change in the storyline. I knew at this point where Adara was going to end up. What? Plotting? Yes – minimally.

One of the things I hate about long series is without fail, repeats occur. I looked at where I’d been in the series and realized I was coming to the end.

My daughter and I talked about different crimes and different overall themes and at some point, I realized – wow this is so hard to write without giving spoilers. Let’s just say my characters evolved to a point where their lives were changing. By book fourteen, I knew how many books I had left to write. It was supposed to be three more but when I wrote the last book it ended up being too long for one book. I split it and the series ended with eighteen full length novels.

My lessons from this… well bullet points work for me:

  • Each book has to have a beginning, middle, and end. This doesn’t mean a storyline can’t carry over but there has to be some sort of conclusion.
  • Use a spreadsheet or something like it to keep track of all the details in your series.
  • Avoid any kind of formulaic format.
  • Stretch yourself and your skills by taking risks.
  • Follow the story and be true to your characters.
  • Know when it’s time to end the series.

It doesn’t matter how you write – plotting or writing as it comes or jumping all over the place. What matters is the story. Each book has to be unique and different so the reader doesn’t know what to expect. Once your reader knows what to expect, they start to get bored. Bored readers are never good.

The answer to the question – how do you write a long series? – is not simple or easy. You write your way, honor your characters and your story, and hope the readers LOVE what you write.

Read Eileen’s interview about writing the Wayfarer series

About Eileen:
Author of Moon Affirmations as well as poetry, novels, and short stories, Eileen enjoys telling a good story or expressing a heartfelt emotion.  She’s been published in The American Tarot Association’s Quarterly Journal, What’s Cooking America, Children, Churches and Daddies, and many other publications.  In addition to her writing, she loves to read, crochet, crafting, research genealogy, and spend time with family.  She has three adult daughters and has been married to her husband for 38 years.

I hope authors will check my social media for information to help authors who are featured.  I have four categories which specifically pertain to authors.

Tips for Authors (https://eileentroemel.com/category/tips-for-authors/).  This is a series of blog posts which I hope will help writers who think they are ready to step from final draft to editing and hopefully publishing.  As I think of more topics I plan to add to this.  Editor Interviews (https://eileentroemel.com/category/editor-interview/) which asks editors key questions.  This gives authors a chance to get to know editors and how they think. Book Tour (https://eileentroemel.com/category/book-tour/) which I get book information from companies who offer book tours. 

However, I also post for any author who asks.  All they have to do is provide me with the information.  I’ve worked with a lot of authors and I’m now starting to get requests from publisher.  Author Interviews (https://eileentroemel.com/category/author-interview/) In this section, I send out 10 questions to authors who want to be interviewed and they provide me answers and pictures and graphics to post.  These all get posted on my web site and then they go out to my social media. 

One last thing – though this isn’t on my blog but in my group on Facebook – I’ve been doing live (typed) interviews.  I create a post about the author and the book we’re talking about.  Then in the comments I ask question and the author answers.  Others are invited to ask as well. 

One thing I want to say – I don’t charge for any of this.  Yes, it takes time and effort but I’m not out any money.  I’ve gotten to know some great authors and learned about genres I don’t write in. 

My philosophy – hmmm well I’d like to have some lofty esoteric response here but the answer is simple.  I’m an author.  Almost daily, I get requests to advertise with some group or someone wants to do a review – but of course there’s a charge for it. Being an author is expensive.  Most of us in this field are saving for expensive items like editing and book covers.  While we put out a lot for these ($300+ for editing and anywhere from $50 up for covers) we make very little in royalties – even as a self published author a lot of people take their share first.  I don’t have the money to help in most situations but I can say – hey come put your stuff on my site and I’ll post them. One post – if it’s sent to me in an organized fashion – takes very little time and effort on my part.  If it takes very little effort and it helps people, then why not do it? So I do.

Website: https://eileentroemel.com/ 
Twitter https://twitter.com/EileenTroemel
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EileenTroemelAuthor/ 
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eileentroemel/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-troemel-6667825b/
MeWe https://mewe.com/i/eileentroemel

Alana Lorens: Strong women and why I write them

1911

Alana Lorens
My grandmother and her kitty

As a romance (and also sci-fi/fantasy) writer, one of my goals is always to have a strong woman as a central character. Why is this? They’re more interesting. They have more resources, mentally and physically. They’re just more fun to write!

My mentor and best example of a strong woman is my grandmother, Mildred Moore Ogle. Today would be her 109th birthday. Born in 1911, when strong women were discouraged, she grew up in Indiana farmland, daughter of a well-to-do family. She was the only girl child; her two brothers were educated well, as was the custom of the day. She didn’t get to go to college.

Her brothers went on to join the military. Jim would become a decorated Navy veteran who survived Pearl Harbor. Paul was captured by the Japanese and died as a prisoner of war. That left her as the one who stayed home, doing what women did at the time, learning to care for a home and family.

She inherited the family home in Bunker Hill, Indiana, an old brick two-story that was a homestead farm established by her parents in 1883. She married a man who’d worked in a bakery, but gave up his job to come live with her and learned to run the farm. He may have worn the overalls, but for those of us who saw their relationship later, I’d definitely say she wore the pants.

They had two children, one of whom was my mother. My grandmother

My square-dancing grandparents

proved to be too strong for my mother, and she spent her life trying to avoid contact. Her son, on the other hand, did his Navy service, then returned to the area with his family. They grew up close to my grandmother and experienced her strength, as my grandfather passed, and she continued running the farm business on her own, keeping it a success even through the difficult economy years.

As for me, and my three sisters, we grew up with our fathers. This provided the opportunity to visit with my grandmother, who we called Maudie, after she came to take care of us during a mumps infection blitz. She said, “Just call me Maude the maid,” and it stuck. Over the years, she came to be the woman who filled our need for female mentorship. She really tried to make sure we had the “family” influence in our lives.

Zinnias–my grandmother’s flower

She succeeded. We wanted to be like her. To this day, we all try to cultivate zinnias, because of the gardens she grew. We admire and collect Fiestaware because that’s what she served her home cooked meals on. We eat rhubarb and rice and raisins because that made us feel loved at her table.

The woman with a spine of steel and limitless determination lived to the age of 93, and she continues to inspire us. Let’s celebrate the strong women we know and we write about! We owe them the world. Who’s your favorite strong woman, real-life or fictional?

BIO:
Alana LorensAlana Lorens has been a published writer for more than forty years. Currently a resident of Asheville, North Carolina, she loves her time in the smoky blue mountains. One of her novellas, THAT GIRL’S THE ONE I LOVE, is set in the city of Asheville during the old Bele Chere festival. She lives with her daughter, who is the youngest of her seven children, two crotchety old cats, and five kittens of various ages.

ROMANCE/suspense Alana Lorens

Website  https://wordpress.com/page/alana-lorens.com/21
Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/AlanaLorens/
Goodreads   https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4829967.Alana_Lorens

Amazon Author Page  https://www.amazon.com/Alana-Lorens/e/B005GE0WBC/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

SCI-FI/ fantasy Lyndi Alexander

Website https://lyndialexander.wordpress.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lyndialexander13/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4185290.Lyndi_Alexander

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Lyndi-Alexander/e/B005GDYPU2/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lyndi-alexander

Relaunch! The Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

This is so exciting! Eileen Troemel is relaunching her fabulous Wayfarer series. What an opportunity to binge read–and no waiting for the next book to be published. I’m pumped!

Blurbs:

Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Wayfarer Aegis (prequel)  (Pages: 75)
Pilot Adara Stone boarded the Aegis, an explorer class ship, to make a journey into unknown space.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Aegis-prequel

Adara Stone – pilot for the Interstellar Planets Union services.

She’s half Wayfarer and half human and Captain James’ last choice as a pilot.  Excited for her first long contract and explorer class ship, Adara knows she’ll spend seven years flying a ship in unknown space. She can’t wait to see what’s out there.

By the book, Captain Alden James does not want anyone varying from his flight plan.  He quickly loses patience with Adara breaking protocol.

Adara craves a family but finds only recrimination and punishment.  She taps into the skills dismissed by her captain and the services in order to be the best pilot she can be.  When Fate intervenes, will her Wayfarer skills be enough?

Wayfarer  (Pages: 184)
“Just sign your contract and be there by 1700,” Decker said.  He knew he just hired trouble.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-book-1

Recovered from the disaster of the Aegis, Adara longs to fly in space again.

Emotionally and physically battered, she applies to every piloting position but her heart and soul long to fly the Pritchard.  The Manu investigatory ship requires all types of flying from chasing raiders, rescuing ships in danger, and getting investigators on site.

Captain Decker Flannery gets to hire his entire crew for the first time.  He doesn’t want some damaged pilot to mess with the balance of his crew.  When one of his pilots takes a better offer, he has no choice but to hire Adara Stone, highest ranking survivor from the Aegis.  He doesn’t want her on his ship, he thinks she’s trouble.

Can Decker see through Adara’s quiet and discover more than he bargained for?

Wayfarer Clans  (Pages: 175)
Estranged from her family at ten, Adara Stone finds herself embroiled in a crime wave where the Pritchard might be hunting her family.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Clans-book-2

Are Wayfarer Clans kidnapping children, teen girls, and scientists?

A rash of kidnappings lead Adara to suggest a Wayfarer clan is adding to their clan. Chasing down a stolen Science Corp vessel, Adara Stone beats the pilot and rescues the ship and all its occupants.  The pilot of the ship shocks Adara.

Decker and Adara struggle to cope with her family relations as the crew dives deeper into the kidnapping cases.  Friction arises between the two.

Will her family put a wall between Decker and Adara?

Wayfarer Immemorial  (Pages: 195)
Hailed as Hero of the Aegis, Adara Stone confronts her fears while her enemies in the Barion race target her and her maite saol Decker Flannery.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Immemorial-book-3

The Barions are back!

Decker wants Adara nowhere near the memorial but she insists on helping the survivors and the families of those lost on the Aegis.

With her plate full as a new clan leader, Adara leaves security up to Decker, Franklin, and Paul.  Her only requirement – she must attend the memorial service.

Barion battlecruisers invade the Services space while a rogue Barion attempts to meet privately with Adara.

Will Decker and Adara survive this encounter with the Barions?

The Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Wayfarer Negotiator  (Pages: 266)
Chaos reigns – until Adara negotiates a settlement.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Negotiator-book-4

A riot on a space station throws Adara Stone into a new role.

When Wayfarers clash with shopkeepers, Adara’s asked to step in to settle the dispute.

Decker’s parents are visiting but he doesn’t want her to meet them.  He leaves her on the ship while he spends time with his family.  Until Avin’s, the Etienne hunter, murder case interrupts with an important break.

Negotiating, Decker and Adara clash over her continued health issues.

Can they come together to negotiate a peaceful settlement?

Wayfarer Wedding  (Pages: 198)
A demanding future mother-in-law, a secret mission, and a thousand guests, Adara’s on edge and ready to elope.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Wedding-book-5

Adara and Decker’s big day fast approaches!

Before they can wed, her family is sent on a covert mission to collect information on a hostile race.

Decker’s mother makes demands on how the wedding should be causes tension in an already stressful situation.

Will Adara and Decker be able to protect her family and return in time to have their wedding?

Wayfarer Trials  (Pages: 230)
Her senses on overload, Adara discovers more skills as she faces one hazard after another.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Trials-book-6

Humans only!

Returning from their honeymoon, Adara and Decker with their crew face a rash of attacks on non-human females.

New trainees bring a sense of danger.  Decker and Paul try to protect Adara through a series of explosive events.

Can Adara protect her people with her skills?

The Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Wayfarer Destruction  (Pages:  215)
Everything Adara loves is threatened.  Will she be able to save the Pritchard and her crew or will she lose all she loves again?
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Destruction-book-7

Someone wants Adara dead – again.

A disastrous first flight leads Franklin to expose sabotage and industrial espionage threatening Adara’s life.  Orders come down, Adara and Decker are to seek out and meet with the Hettians. They are to return the Hettian prisoners to their home world.

Dr. Nukpana is on the loose, trying to recruit Wayfarers and testing his formula on humans.  The bodies pile up while Adara and Decker cope with an arrogant and foolish diplomat.

Everything Adara loves is threatened. Many she holds dear are at risk. Will she be able to save the Pritchard and her crew? Or will she lose all she loves again?

Wayfarer Freedom  (Pages: 267)
Decker sustains an injury while protecting Adara.  Will the forces against Adara and the Wayfarer succeed in eliminating her?
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Freedom-book-8

Adara can’t shake her grief.

Without a ship and home, she feels untethered. Adara is pulled in many directions with her negotiations, training, and consulting. In the chaos of all her responsibilities, her life is threatened.  Is it because of the crimes she’s helped solve, the enemies she’s made at Command or with Nukpana?  Who is after her?  She struggles to find her balance as Decker is injured protecting her.

Wayfarer independence comes before the legislature.  The clan leaders decide Adara is the best woman for addressing the large assembly.  Adara would like anyone else to do it but agrees because her people need her to.

Will she be able to persuade them to give Wayfarer their independent status?

Wayfarer Salvation  (Pages: 252)
Adara, Decker and the Command staff fumble their way through a crime wave, a pregnancy, and the growing pains of a new ship.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Salvation-book-9

Adara’s pregnant!

Adara and Decker experience the fears and joys of expecting their child.  Fears remain from the previous miscarriage.  Decker wants to protect her, shelter her.

With twists and turns of crime fighting, pregnancy issues, and growing pains, the crew of the Phoenix fumble their way through the first days of their contracts with Decker, Hal, Adara, and all the command staff trying to guide them.

Will they succeed on the new ship?

The Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Wayfarer Expansion  (Pages: 232)
First contact with a new race, Adara’s assistants get in a bar fight, and Decker tries to restrict her.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Expansion-book-10

Friend or foe?

Mostly over her morning sickness, Adara juggles Decker being over protective, a new relationship for her niece Jolen, and meeting a new race.  While escorting settlers to a new planet, Adara and Decker meet the Tuscalain people.

Will they be as dangerous as the Hettians or an ally?

Wayfarer Acceptance  (Pages: 204)
Giving birth in a shuttle, Adara and Decker escape kidnappers as they discover who has been behind all the threats.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Acceptance-book-11

Adara gives birth!

Their daughter arrives early and under less than ideal circumstances.

Finally they learn why so many attempts have been made on Adara’s life. While Adara and Decker get used to being parents, Jolen and Tillie take on a hacker. Rhia and Bas work on a murder case.

Adara meets thirteen year old Bethania from the Holy Cross. The Holy Cross is an old private vessel carrying too many people.

It spells disaster.

Wayfarer Convictions  (Pages: 283)
Raiders, Tuscalains, a Services efficiency expert, and a firebug amounts to just another day on the job for Adara and Decker.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Convictions-book-12

Raiders, Tuscalains, and cold cases!

Walter Farento, a services efficiency expert observes the Phoenix. Rhia fumbles for leads in her cold case, while the hacker eludes Jolen. Avin hunts a firebug. Sabotage threatens the assembly of a new station. A breakthrough in the cold case points to something deeper and more sinister.

It all amounts to just another day on the job for Adara and Decker

The Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Wayfarer Limits  (Pages: 193)
Racial unrest ripples across the human territory, hitting close to home with Adara’s family.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Limits-book-13

Command changes the rules.

Disagreeing without fighting, Adara and Decker face the new challenges as Command issues new mandates restricting how all members do their jobs.  Tension rises on the ship and across the human territory.  Diplomatic relations with the Tuscalains goes poorly for the humans but not for the Wayfarers. Racial unrest ripples across the human territory, hitting close to home with Adara’s family.

Will Decker and Adara get on the same page?

Wayfarer Contentious  (Pages: 199)
Command mandates, racial tensions, complaints from trainees lead to Command issuing an ultimatum to Adara.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Contentious-book-14

More Mandates!

Escalating conflicts plague the command staff and Decker and Adara.  New trainees arrive with an unexpected addition.

Racial tensions rise with many attacks on other races. Allies are attacked, humans only is on the rise.

Have they reached a tipping point?

Wayfarer Home  (Pages: 225)
A saboteur dogs Adara’s new leadership as she builds a new society.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Home-book-15

It’s time to leave!

Adara and Decker gather up the Wayfarers, Humans, Briskans, and a variety of other races to leave.  Friends, Georgette, Luke, and Drake, join them bringing needed skills.

Building a new society, Adara struggles with all the responsibilities on her shoulders.  An uncomfortable ship, seven months pregnant and a saboteur create an intolerable situation.  Teamwork and drawing on all resources, including the children, helps get all the tasks done and sets a precedent on how they move forward as they travel to their new home.

Will they survive the saboteur?

The Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Wayfarer War  (Pages: 292)
In the wake of the Hettians invasion of human space, Adara, Decker, and the Wayfarers gather information and resources to aid the few survivors.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-War-book-16

The Hettians attack!

Rushing through Human territory, Command does not respond to the attack leaving the outer stations, planets and settlements undefended. Death and destruction follow the Hettians.

Pregnant with twins, Adara fears for her family and her people.  She wants to fight, to protect but doesn’t have the fire power to take on the Hettians.  Short staffed and short on supplies, she questions every decision.

The Lux becomes a way station for those escaping the Hettian invasion.  With assistance from the Etiennes, Adara works to rescue survivors but also tries to let the unsuspecting stations and settlements know what is headed their way.

Will the Hettians annihilate the Humans?  Will any race be safe from them?

Wayfarer Evolution  (Pages: 220)
Unrest with the Humans only group causes conflict and violence on the newly established home world of the Wayfarers.
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Evolution-book-17

Humans only survives

Old prejudices haunt the Wayfarers as they make room for the survivors of the human race.  Little incidents of vandalism and bigotry pile up.  Adara and Decker face the day to day running of the Wayfarers both on planet and off.  With Oakes’ reassurance and Decker’s support, she plans to take the new ship and explore their sectors.

Before they can go, humans only make an attempt to harm their children and family. Taking a hands off approach, the investigation is handled by people outside the family.  Violence against the family and Adara’s assistants lead to the Wayfarers first trial.

Back in space, Adara settles into running the Wayfarers and exploring space.  She finds comfort and excitement in learning how to delegate and balance her life.  But the conflict isn’t resolved and follows her.

Will the Wayfarers and Humans come together?

Wayfarer Resolve  (Pages: 233)
The family is threatened by the people Adara rescued. Can they find a way to peace or will the prejudice tear apart the connections Adara and the Wayfarers are making?
https://books2read.com/Wayfarer-Resolve-book-18

Bigotry haunts Adara.

Adara and Decker set out in their new ship to take workers to Monroe and find a new planet for the Etiennes.  While they address violent riots on Homeworld, their children are attacked.  Adara must be Mathair Naclan – mother of the clans.  She learns to take control and stand firm behind her decisions which follow beliefs from a range of races including her own heritage of human and Wayfarer. The bigotry threatens the most vulnerable of her family.

Bias within the Wayfarers and against the Wayfarers frustrates Adara as she and her admin council defend against the Humans only group.  The family is threatened by the people Adara rescued.

Can they find a way to peace or will the prejudice tear apart the connections Adara and the Wayfarers are making?

Excerpt from Wayfarer book one

Hair sprawled out over her pillows, Adara lay naked on her bed. She returned to her quarters after the fighter vessel detained the long hauler. Lolli was returned to her father frightened but relatively unharmed. The other victims of the human traffickers weren’t as lucky. Adara scrambled on hearing a knock at her door. She grabbed the first shirt in her drawer. “Just a minute,” she called rushing to find jeans.

The t-shirt hung to her mid-thighs, she gave up on trying to grab pants and answered her door, hoping it would be Lisa. Captain Flannery stood at her door. “Sir,” she said. She backed into her quarters.

Decker stepped into Adara’s quarters, noted the heap her uniform lay in on the floor. The t-shirt she wore was inside out. “Did I wake you?” he asked remembering she slept nude. He felt a tightening in his groin at the thought of her warm and naked in bed.

“No, sir,” she blushed.

“I see,” he said.

“I wasn’t up yet,” she tried to explain.

He paced around her small quarters. Seeing a basket with her crocheting in it, he noted the yarn was something he and Hal bought her. She still had no pictures or decorations in her quarters. He came to tell her she did a good job. The Etiennes certainly thought she had. Patr had scooped her up into another hug, kissed her forehead as she left the bridge. Frall had even hugged her warmly. What was with these other men touching her? He felt fire and rage in him as he thought of her being with them.

“What’s your relationship with Patr,” Decker demanded completely forgetting why he was there.

“I told you. He’s a brother to me.”

“The way the two of you fondled each other on the bridge didn’t seem very sibling like,” Decker accused.

“He… he put his hand,” she stumbled over her words.

“Yes. That’s my point. His hands were all over you,” Decker growled at her.

“His hands weren’t all over me. He took my hair down and he put his hands on my shoulder to offer support. I’d hardly call that fondling,” anger came to her defense.

“He certainly seemed to consider you his property,” Decker said.

“He did not,” she said. “Etiennes would never mate outside their species. The life span is too different.”

“Sex doesn’t have to mean mating,” Decker said. “I’ve heard Wayfarer women are quite amorous and promiscuous.”

“Hang on just a minute,” Adara’s temper flared. “What right do you have to question my relationship with someone? I’ve not reported any nor is it required I do unless it’s with someone in the services. Patr isn’t in the services so even if I were having sex with him, it would be none of your damn business.”

“I don’t like people man handling my crew,” he growled at her.

“He was hardly man handling me. If he was, it’s up to me to complain about it not you. It’s my body. You have no say in what happens to me in that way,” she said stepping so close their bodies almost touched.

He grabbed her arms and pulled her on tiptoe. He looked down at her breasts pushing against him, “Don’t push me, Adara.”

She put her hands on his chest. His heart thudded quickly under her hands. She caught her breath as he dragged her against him. She felt his arousal and felt an answering need in her own body. “You’ve overstepped your authority, captain,” she said. His mouth was so close, she wanted it on hers.

The Wayfarer series by Eileen Troemel

Let’s meet this amazing author!
NA: Eileen, before we get into the actual interview, I’d like to thank you for all you do to support and work with other authors. Will you tell us a bit about your blogs, the work you do with authors and publishers, your writing and philosophy? We all appreciate you!
ET: Thank you, I hope what I do helps the authors who are featured.  I have four categories which specifically pertain to authors. Tips for Authors (https://eileentroemel.com/category/tips-for-authors/).  This is a series of blog posts which I hope will help writers who think they are ready to step from final draft to editing and hopefully publishing.  As I think of more topics I plan to add to this.  Editor Interviews (https://eileentroemel.com/category/editor-interview/) which asks editors key questions.  This gives authors a chance to get to know editors and how they think. Book Tour (https://eileentroemel.com/category/book-tour/) which I get book information from companies who offer book tours.  However, I also post for any author who asks.  All they have to do is provide me with the information.  I’ve worked with a lot of authors and I’m now starting to get requests from publisher.  Author Interviews (https://eileentroemel.com/category/author-interview/) In this section, I send out 10 questions to authors who want to be interviewed and they provide me answers and pictures and graphics to post.  These all get posted on my web site and then they go out to my social media.

One last thing – though this isn’t on my blog but in my group on Facebook – I’ve been doing live (typed) interviews.  I create a post about the author and the book we’re talking about.  Then in the comments I ask question and the author answers.  Others are invited to ask as well.

One thing I want to say – I don’t charge for any of this.  Yes, it takes time and effort but I’m not out any money.  I’ve gotten to know some great authors and learned about genres I don’t write in.

My philosophy – hmmm well I’d like to have some lofty esoteric response here but the answer is simple.  I’m an author.  Almost daily, I get requests to advertise with some group or someone wants to do a review – but of course there’s a charge for it. Being an author is expensive.  Most of us in this field are saving for expensive items like editing and book covers.  While we put out a lot for these ($300+ for editing and anywhere from $50 up for covers) we make very little in royalties – even as a self published author a lot of people take their share first.  I don’t have the money to help in most situations but I can say – hey come put your stuff on my site and I’ll post them. One post – if it’s sent to me in an organized fashion – takes very little time and effort on my part.  If it takes very little effort and it helps people, then why not do it? So I do.

NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book?
 ET: For a long time, I tried to be traditionally published.  I finally gave up on publishers and decided to leap into the deep end of the pool.  Once I started, I published all my backlog which included a meditation book, romance novel, and three poetry books.  Then I sat back and said – ‘What’s next?’  During a discussion with my daughter, she told me to write her a scifi romance with a woman who wasn’t all that strong to begin with but by the end of the … book but in this case series as well, she was strong and confident.  So Wayfarer came to be.

NA: What sort of research did you do to write this book?
 ET: I’m not big on research.  First I write off the cuff.  So as the story comes to me, I write it.  If I need to know something, I use my phone and google it.  But prior to starting Wayfarer, I did a lot of things.  Science fiction for me put it squarely in the space arena.  I knew I wanted to focus on a woman.  I started thinking about her being different and how did she stand out.  This led me to well if she’s in space maybe she’s not fully human.  When I thought of an alien race, I considered what we here on earth didn’t like.  Prejudices… now this is a big topic and no I’m not diving into politics… but I grew up watching westerns and remember a lot of derogatory comments about people with mixed races – so part Native American and part white typically in those stories.  I also considered groups of people who are disliked.  Being partly Irish, I considered the Travelers – they have a bad reputation along with Gypsies or Romani – not trying to insult anyone here – just thinking of groups who’ve been disliked on sight.  Put all of this into a pot and stir and I came up with Adara, half human and half Wayfarer, pilot for spaceships who has skills because of her genetics but also because of her genetics people distrusted her.

NA: A fun fact about writing your book.
ET: Fun fact… well this was supposed to be a stand alone, one and done book.  I finished the first book, sent it to my readers, and started thinking about what next.  Then all of my readers came back and said – what’s next?  I said – no.  Her story is done.  Again my daughter who wanted the story in the first place said – but you left things incomplete.  Now I hate that in books so I panicked.  She said – well what about her family?  What happened with the Barions are they going to let go or will they come after her again? This started me thinking and the next thing I knew – book 2 happened – Wayfarer Clans

NA: Do you have a day job?
ET: Yes, I do have a day job.

NA: What was your job before you started writing full time?
ET: I work at a University as an administrative assistant.

NA: What started you on the path to writing?
ET: This is easy – my 3rd grade teacher when I was 8 assigned us a short story to write.  It’s the first time I realized I could create stories from my imagination.

NA: What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?
ET: I have a ridiculously large family between my family and my husband’s.  Some – well I’m not sure if they even know I write.  I’ve not had any negative reactions from them.  My mom even knew I write erotica (under a pen name) and she shrugged.  She never read it but she never said anything negative about it to me.  She loved my poetry books and any book with no sex in it.  She even read Wayfarer.  I said, you know there’s sex in there.  She said she skipped over it.  Many of my friends have been asked odd questions when I know they’re experts in something.  Some people have asked to be put in my books.  On occasion I’ve done that.  And yes, I’ve even killed off people in my story who annoy me.  But I’m not telling you who and why.

NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
ET: I write as I go. If the characters aren’t talking, I’m not writing.  I have almost 30 WIPs (works in progress).  I also write from start to finish.  If I write out of sequence, I struggle to make it all fit.

NA: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?
ET: This is easy – when a reader says – I love your books.  I feel such a sense of relief that my stories aren’t complete crap (yes on my bad days I think they are) and that someone actually likes them.

NA: Which kind of scenes are the hardest for you to write? Action, dialogue, sex?
ET: This varies for each story.  I think the first time I wrote an action scene where I had to describe in detail what happens to the human body when you stab it or slam a hammer into it – that was hard finding the right balance between me gagging because I hated the scene and still being descriptive enough that the reader wasn’t disappointed.  As for sex scenes, these are really technical.  You want the soft words and the sensual feeling but gauging the level of heat in them is crucial.  Additionally, you don’t want extra arms or readers saying – If they’re doing this, how can they be doing that?  So it’s technical.  Plus coming up with words which aren’t the anatomical words can be tricky because you don’t want them to sound completely ridiculous.  I actually find these scene particularly fun to write – not for the sexual content but because they make me think and work at writing.

NA: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
ET: Aside from writing, I love to crochet.  I’ve been crocheting since I was 12.  I’ve had patterns published in magazines and have even published my own patterns.  I also have a large family.  In my own family, I have a husband and three daughters but our expanded family is ridiculously large.

NA: A pet peeve.
ET: Let me preface this by saying I’ve been in customer service for most of my adult life.  I do not like rude people.  If you have a problem, state it politely and clearly.  Accept that sometimes the answer is no.  I’ve been in stores and other places where people are trying to get their way and they can’t – usually it’s against policy.  I remember standing in line at the DMV (department of motor vehicles) and this woman was complaining because the person behind the counter wouldn’t allow her to do what she wanted.  Now, I worked at the DMV phone line, and KNEW state statutes.  This woman got louder and louder.  I could see the person behind the counter getting more and more nervous.  I spoke up and said, you’re asking her to break state law.  She cannot do that.  She’ll lose her job.  The person didn’t like it but I think the people around me were happy the argument ended.  It probably helped the line moved forward too.

NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the in the morning?
ET: Fair warning – this is not a polite answer …. SHUT THE FUCK UP!  I don’t like mornings. [NA: LOL!]

NA: What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
ET: They aren’t famous but I’d like to gather my mother and aunts, grandmothers, great grandmothers, and so on going back in my family.  I’d like to listen to all their stories and learn about their lives.  Of course it would need to be recorded so I get every word.    

NA: What are you working on now?
ET: Well typing this out is going to make me tired but just for you.  I’ve got two short stories I’m writing for two different anthologies. I’m working on a co-write with another author for a children’s book which is probably going to morph into three books.  I’m doing refreshes on a number of my early books.  I’m working on the third Wild Magic book.  I’ve got two finished books which need editing and prep for publishing. I’ve got three crochet pattern books to do final touches on.  Other authors have asked me to edit their books – we’re trading services – so two full length novels to edit. I’m helping someone hone their editing skills.  Did I mention the 30 or so WIPs that tug at me?

NA: What is any question we didn’t ask that you would like to answer?
ET: When I first started writing I said I wanted to write at least one book in every genre.  I know that will never happen because there are genres I won’t touch.  I typically write scifi fantasy romance.  I’m stretching out into paranormal and others.  I won’t write in horror, dark anything, and probably not historical – too much research is needed.  Fantasy is probably my favorite genre to read and write because I love seeing the different worlds and societies that come from people’s minds.  I get to make all the rules.  Who wouldn’t want ultimate control like that?

Author bio and links:
Author of Moon Affirmations as well as poetry, novels, and short stories, Eileen enjoys telling a good story or expressing a heartfelt emotion.  She’s been published in The American Tarot Association’s Quarterly Journal, What’s Cooking America, Children, Churches and Daddies, and many other publications.  In addition to her writing, she loves to read, crochet, crafting, research genealogy, and spend time with family.  She has three adult daughters and has been married to her husband for 38 years.

Website: https://eileentroemel.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/EileenTroemel
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EileenTroemelAuthor/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eileentroemel/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-troemel-6667825b/
MeWe https://mewe.com/i/eileentroemel

 

Ménage a many #MFRWHooks

Bride of the Pryde by Dee S. KnightThis is a blog hop. Be sure to check the link at the bottom to see posts from other authors!

Blurb:
DAT agent Susan McAllister escapes Earth with killers in hot pursuit. She normally runs toward danger not away, and she likes controlling her own fate, not relying on three strange men and an irreverent cyberbot. Skilled and experienced, she doesn’t believe there’s any way the three crewmen of the cargo ship Erik’s Pryde can help her.

Captain John Erik thinks the sexy, headstrong passenger is nothing but trouble, but he also knows she needs help. And not being men to shrink from adventure, he’s convinced that he and his crew are the ones to provide it. When they’re infected by an illegal drug that releases inhibitions, the crew of the Pryde shows they are men who not only can fight, but can satisfy a woman’s every fantasy.

It’s no surprise when Susan discovers that being a member of the Pryde’s crew has unexpected, lasting benefits.

This is a futuristic space romp!

Buy link:

Kindle
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

MFRW Book HooksExcerpt:

The smell hit Susan McAllister first. The sharp scent of iron, immediately recognizable, stung her nostrils and madeher gag. Then she noticed the door, normally locked at all times, hung open a crack.

She’d been ready to call out that she’d brought back French pastries from the restaurant where she enjoyed an early lunch but instead dropped the white bakery bag on the back steps. Removing her Renthaur X-89 laser pistol from her oversized shoulder bag, she inched forward and released the safety. She eased open the door and stepped inside and then pushed it nearly closed. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust from sunlight to the dim interior.

The office fronted as a real estate agency but actually served as Centre District’s Domestic Anti-Terrorism headquarters. Susan had arrived that morning from the global headquarters in Mt. Saussat. In fact, if not for the fact that she never ate while flying and wanted an early lunch upon arrival, she would have been here for whatever shit had gone down.

Hugging the wall, she edged toward the workroom where her close friend and office manager, Lisle Hamilton, had set up the hologram generator, coffeepot, and storage shelving that helped form their cover of handling real estate. Behind an encrypted-lock vault door and out of sight, secure phones and code-deciphering, sub-particle computers were used for the real business of the storefront.

The Centre City office took a lot of ribbing in the Agency because of their cover. The joke was, what’s more boring than a DAT agent on desk duty? A realtor. What’s deadly boring? A DAT gent on desk duty posing as a realtor.

Deadly boring? The overwhelming scent of blood seemed to prove it. Criminy. What in hell happened?

Susan dropped to a crouch at the corner where the back hall entered the workroom. Pistol aimed up and grasped with two hands in classic shooter pose, she slowly leaned forward and peeked into the workroom.

Blood had begun to congeal where it covered the floor. Mark Nichols, who she’d just met that morning, lay on his back, his right hand inside his jacket pocket as though reaching for his weapon. Anne Barnewell lay face down. The size of the hole in the back of her head indicated a Succher 380, the weapon of choice for big-time drug dealers.

Also for cops’ personal weapons. The thought ran quickly through her mind and left just as fast.

The workroom connected to the main office by a swinging door of louvered wood, reminiscent of mid-twentieth-century architecture. From under the door she saw the body of Kyle Angustino, the son of one of Lisle’s friends and an actual real estate intern who had nothing to do with the DAT. Six people worked in the office, including Kyle, five of whom were DAT agents. Susan had no hope any of them were alive unless, like her, they’d been out of the office when hell struck.

The place appeared to be empty, but Susan didn’t change her position. Instead, she examined everything in her line of sight and listened with an intensity that had her shoulders tight with tension. Peering along the wall to the left she scrunched her brows in worry. The vault door stood ajar.

The only person in the office who had the combination was Lisle. A woman’s foot extended out the door, her burgundy shoe half-off. Lisle!

Her friend had bragged about the “killer burgundy pumps with little gold bows” when Susan had called to make arrangements to use one of the office cubicles for the week she would be in Centre City. They’d gone through Agency training together, and their paths crossed regularly. Later she would grieve for Lisle, but right now she needed to keep her wits about her and her emotions in check.

The bell over the front door tinkled, indicating someone entering from the street. A woman said, “Here’s a box for—Oh, dear God, what is this? What’s going on here?” There was no answer. Then, “No, please, no! Oh—”

Susan heard the unmistakable sound of the Succher firing and then a loud noise as something fell to the floor.

“What the hell?” A man pushed the vault door farther open. All that showed was a cuff-linked, white-shirted arm and a hand with long fingers. “What’s going on out there?”

“Nothing,” came a male voice from the front. “I didn’t have the keys to lock the door. I thought pulling the blinds would be enough to make people think we were closed. Forgot about delivery people.”

“Goddamn it. Go through Hamilton’s purse, for Christ’s sake, and find the keys.”

“Okay,” the guy in the front grumbled.

“Jesus, I have to do everything,” Vault Man said.

Susan pulled back. The lead guy knew Lisle’s name. Because he knew her or because of information gleaned while there? And how did he know about the vault room? Had he come to the office because of it, or had he and his buddy happened into the office and thought the heavy door hid more than it did? She dismissed that idea right away because really, who in the world robbed a realtor’s office? So, assuming they already knew about the vault and Lisle, the conclusion was ominous—the murderers were associated with DAT.

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Sci-fi gay romance! The H-Gene by Lisabet Sarai

New Release!The H-Gene by Lisabet Sarai
The H-Gene:
After the Plague Book 1
By Lisabet Sarai

When love is forbidden, the whole world’s a prison.

Blurb
Dylan Moore will do anything for freedom. Seven years ago, a gay plague spread to heterosexuals, killing millions and sparking brutal anti-gay riots. The Guardians rounded up men who tested positive for the homogene and imprisoned them in remote quarantine centers like desolate Camp Malheur. Since then, Dylan has hacked the camp’s security systems and hoarded spare bits of electronics, seeking some way to escape. He has concluded the human guards are the only weakness in the facility’s defenses.

Camp guard Rafe Cowell is H-negative. He figures the lust he feels watching prisoner 3218 masturbate on the surveillance cameras must be due to his loneliness and isolation. When he finally meets the young queer, he discovers that Dylan is brilliant, brave, sexy as hell — and claims to be in love with Rafe. Despite his qualms, Rafe finds he can’t resist the other man’s charm. By the time Dylan asks for his help in escaping, Rafe cares too much for Dylan to refuse.

Dylan’s plan goes awry and Rafe comes to his rescue. Soon they’re both fugitives, fleeing from militant survivalists, murderous androids, homophobic ideologues and a powerful man who wants Dylan as his sexual toy. Hiding in the Plague-ravaged city of Sanfran, Dylan and Rafe learn there’s far more than their own safety at stake. Can they help prevent the deaths of millions more people? And can Rafe trust the love of a man who deliberately seduced him in order to escape from quarantine?

Note: This novel was previously released by Pride Publishing under the title Quarantine. It has been revised and re-edited for this release.

Buy Links

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/7233-the-hgene-after-the-plague-book-1/
Amazon  US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CVNK6NL
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CVNK6NL
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1032512
Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-h-gene-lisabet-sarai/1137338272?ean=2940164186050
Kobo –  https://www.kobo.com/th/en/ebook/the-h-gene

Add on Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54529211-the-h-gene

Online Excerpt
https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-release-and-giveaway-gayromance.html

The H-Gene by Lisabet Sarai

Excerpt:
The fact was, no one really knew who the Guardians were. At the height of the Plague, thousands had been dying daily. The streets stank from the smoke of burning bodies and torched buildings. Crazed mobs had roamed the cities, looking for the “carriers” they blamed for the death of their loved ones. The fact that gays had been dying twice as fast as straights hadn’t stopped them.

Then the Robbies had marched in, a small army, with Tasers and tear gas. At first, some people had screamed about an alien invasion. Within hours, the messages began coming from “the Guardians of American Greatness”, urging people to be calm, promising to contain the scourge of the perverts. Gradually, the chaos had subsided.

Dylan vividly remembered being dragged to the testing center by a pair of robots. They’d smashed in the door of the Castro District apartment he’d shared with his lover. Miguel’s body had been sprawled on their bed, his coffee-colored skin riddled with the oozing sores that were the Plague’s mark. Dylan had been crouched on the floor, crying and rocking back and forth, while explosions shook the building and sirens wailed.

He hadn’t put up any fight. What would have been the use? Miguel was dead. The world was in flames. He’d been seventeen.

But he was ready to fight now. He’d do whatever was necessary to get out of this hell. Dylan reached into the basin of the chemical toilet, feeling around the inside rim. The slimy plastoceramic surface made his skin crawl. Ammonia fumes burned his nostrils. He grinned as his fingers found the item he sought. Detaching the object from the hook he’d installed, he brought out an oblong about the size of a cig pack.

He unwrapped the protective plastic and switched on the controller. The organic LCD screen glowed pale blue. He’d lifted it from a discarded microwave oven. His fingers danced over the keyboard, composing his message. The interface was crude but adequate for his needs.

Closing his eyes, he brought up an image of the brawny black guard who was his target. What would work best? He didn’t know much about Rafe—he hadn’t been able to hack the guy’s dossier. He could read boredom and frustration in the man’s strong, regular features. He knew from their first encounter that Rafe had a temper. Yet Dylan also sensed a streak of decency. Most of the human guards at Malheur were supposed to be

The H-Gene by Lisabet Sarai

About Lisabet
Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, Pinterest, and  Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

New Sci-Fi! Codename Salamander by Herbert Grosshans

Codename Salamander by Herbert Grosshans

Codename Salamander, Book 1 of the Operation Stargate series

Blurb:

Xenologist Bret Grayson was hired to make contact with one of the indigenous tribes roaming the savannas on the planet Salamander. He soon finds out the real purpose he is on Salamander. His uncle, the legendary Master Scout Terrex Stonewall, also has a hidden agenda, but even he doesn’t know about the secret that lies beneath the original military outpost. It seems every species living in this part of the Galaxy has a sudden interest in Salamander and they are willing to risk a war to keep the secret from falling into human hands. Grayson and Stonewall have no choice but to form an alliance with representatives from the Spiders, the Anorians, and the Accilla. The motley group embarks on a journey that takes them to regions unknown. They face dangers they can only overcome if they set aside their prejudices and work together as one unit.

Excerpt:
There was a time when everyone who knew Phillip Lacrosse considered him a handsome man. Handsome and young. Now he was neither. Now he was just a lonely, crabby old man who should have retired a long time ago. That had been his plan, but what does a man do with his time after losing his wife and two daughters?

Lacrosse studied the picture of the woman and the two girls at her side, the only piece of memorabilia left of his family. Everything else was destroyed when a pirate ship attacked and blew up the transporter that was supposed to take them to one of the newly established colonies.

The pirates had been members of the reptilian species known as Mollard. It didn’t matter to Lacrosse which one of the Dragon races had been responsible. He had little love for any of the scaly races. Even the fact that a Union Battle Cruiser hunted and obliterated the pirate ship did nothing to appease Lacrosse and to change his attitude toward the Dragons.

After the mishap with his family, his plans changed. He had no reason to retire and spend his time feeling sorry for himself. When Salamander Mining Ventures offered him the position of Supervisor of Salamander Town he accepted. The planet was far enough from civilization and established trade routes to make it the ideal place for a man like him. Of course, his loneliness was not the only reason he accepted the offered position. The people he worked for urged him to forget about retirement, because he was the ideal candidate for that job.

Salamander Mining paid him a salary he would have died for years ago, but now it meant nothing. He would probably die a rich man. Without heirs, all his wealth would go to the Agency, but that was okay.
He stopped contemplating and looked up when the door to his office opened. A man wearing the brown uniform of the Scouts entered. Behind him stood four humans he had never seen before. At least, he didn’t remember them.

“Master Scout Stonewall, what can I do for you?” He scanned the faces of the strangers. Two men and two women, dressed in primitive clothing fashioned from swamp grass.

“I just returned from a training exercise,” Stonewall said. “We ran into some people you may want to meet, sir.”

Lacrosse wasn’t aware of a ship carrying civilians landing on Salamander, not in the recent past anyway. The only ship he knew of was the one that arrived only a couple of weeks before, but that one had landed by the original outpost.

“Where did you find them?” he asked.

“Actually, they found us. They’re not really people, by that I mean they’re not humans.”

Lacrosse looked past Stonewall. “They look human to me. Are they androids?”

“No, sir, not androids.” Stonewall smiled thinly. “They’re Accilla.”

Buy links:

Melange Books
LULU FOR PRINT
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Print
Smashwords
Nook

Let’s meet Herbert:

NA: Herbert, welcome and thank you for being here.
HG: Thank you for having me and giving me the opportunity to tell readers about myself.

NA: How did you come up with the idea for your Codename Salamander?
Codename Salamander is actually the fifth book in a series I originally called ‘The Spider Wars’, which started with ‘Outpost Epsilon’, the precursor of the series. The main character in that book was a man by the name of Derek Stonewall, a young Scout in the Solar Union. The next 3 books in that series were published under ‘Lizard World’. Outpost Savanna takes place 15 years after the events in ‘Lizard World’. To avoid confusion and allow me to write more books in the ‘Lizard World’ series I dropped ‘The Spider Wars’ and changed the series name of the first 4 books to ‘The Stonewall Chronicles’ and created another series which takes place in the same universe. The new series name is ‘Operation Stargate’, of which Codename Salamander is the first volume. I’ve always liked reading stories about outposts, so I created a planet with an outpost. Derek Stonewall, one of the characters, already existed, but he was getting old and that’s why his nephew appeared. The other characters came into existence as they were needed.

NA: What sort of research did you do to write this book?
Not much. The universe in which the planet Salamander exists was already there. The aliens featured in the book also existed already. I brought one of the characters, Scout Derek Stonewall, to the outpost and went from there.

NA: What is the main thing you want readers to take away from your book?
I want them to travel with me to an imaginary world, experience and enjoy the excitement of meeting peoples different from us humans on the outside, but realizing that even if they don’t look like us, inside they are just like us. They have desires and aspirations the same as ours. Even though they may be more advanced technologically, they still have faults and are not perfect. I want my readers to see that it is possible to get along with others, no matter how different we all may seem. That getting along is the only way to a peaceful existence here on our own planet and in the rest of the universe.

NA: Do you have a day job? What was your job before you started writing full time?
I am retired. I used to be an electrical contractor before I retired. Writing isn’t my full-time job. I have many other interests which I pursue, but writing stories is my main hobby.

NA: What started you on the path to writing?
Even as a kid I told stories and to start writing them down was a natural progression. I’ve always had a fertile imagination and I want to share the adventures I dream up in my head with others.

NA: What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?
Without making this a religious thing, I’d like to quote something from the Bible. Mark 6:4. ‘Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.”
I’m a writer not a prophet, but that quote pretty much answers the question. I read one time about Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, besides being a super-movie-star, became the governor of California, but in his hometown he was still the local yokel.

One of my friends once said to me, “I’m not going to pay to read your books.” Most of them don’t read Science Fiction, if they read at all. My wife reads my stories only because I ask her to.

Even though my sons are avid readers, I don’t think they’ve read any of my books. [I share this with you! I write erotic romance. I realize it’s not for everyone, but it’s not for anyone–apparently–in my circle of family or friends. It’s a bit annoying, isn’t it?]

NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
I am more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer. If I get an idea for a story, I jot it down, but then I wait for inspiration, not really knowing where I’m going with what I wrote down. One of my stories started with ‘She had emerald eyes.’ I heard that phrase in a song and it intrigued me. Then I sat there and stared at the page thinking, ‘Okay. I established that. She has emerald eyes. Now what?’ Then I wrote down another sentence and another until I had the first paragraph. I wrote more and more and I had the first chapter, still not really knowing where it would lead, but now my imagination began to work and ideas popped into my head. A story began to develop. I ended up writing two books from that one sentence. Eden’s Gate and Hell’s Gate. I called the series Seeds of Chaos.

Once I’m deeper into the story, I will try to write an outline, but that is only there as a guide. My characters usually don’t follow that outline and take me into a completely different direction. I’m always amazed how things fall into place in the end.

NA: Which kind of scenes are the hardest for you to write? Action, dialogue, sex?
I have to say action. I have no problem writing dialogue. The easiest scenes for me to write are sex-scenes, but since I try to keep those scenes out of my stories now, I have to work a little harder with the other two.

NA: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I listen to music. I work in my garden in the summer. I have a couple of aquariums with fish, which I take care of. I enjoy fishing and hunting. I belong to a hunting and fishing club where I am the membership chairman and I enjoy that. I write articles for our newsletter. I make my own fishing jigs and I built bird houses and other projects. I fix things around the house. I make soups. I like to blog and read other blogs. I read news articles on line. I go shopping with my wife. I spend my evenings with my wife watching TV. We like movies, comedies, and many of the action shows. We never miss the news. The list is endless. Let’s put it this way: I’m never bored. In fact, there isn’t enough time in a day for all the things I like to do.

You may notice that reading books isn’t on the list. That’s because I rarely read books anymore. I used to be a bookworm and spent much of my time reading. Now I can’t find the time to invest in a long story. I’d rather write my own. I have an extensive library and I have read all the books. I wish I had the time to read many of them again, but now I look at them fondly, remembering the pleasure they brought me when I read them. My hope is now that I can bring the same joy to readers with my stories.

NA: What are your top three favorite books of all time?
That is a tough question for me to answer. There are so many. Perhaps I should tell you who my top three favorite authors are. Let’s see: A. E. van Vogt. Philip José Farmer. Leigh Bracket. I could go on. The list is long. All of them influenced my writing.

NA: A pet peeve.
Women wearing ripped jeans. Honestly. I wouldn’t even wear those when I work in the garden. When I grew up, people, especially girls, dressed in nice clothes. Even poor people that couldn’t afford new clothes didn’t walk around in rags. My wife tells me to get over it. [LOL!]

NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the morning?
I wonder what the weather will be like today.

NA: What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
God. I would ask him why the Hell He created this insane, violent, and destructive race and let it loose on a beautiful planet like Earth.

NA: What are you working on now? Book 3 in my series Operation Stargate. The working title is The Aregon Files.

NA: What is any question we didn’t ask that you would like to answer?
How do you keep track of time-lines, your characters, and the places and locations your characters visit?

I create charts and I make maps. Drawing maps is part of the enjoyment I get while writing a story. Sometimes, just looking at the map gets my creative juices flowing. I also make lists of the characters. At first, they are just names, but as the story develops, I flesh out the characters and write backgrounds for them, like their age, appearance, place of birth, parents, brothers and sister, and any other relevant information I may need or not.
To make sure I don’t screw up the time it takes between one scene and another, I make a list of dates and events.

Here’s Herbert:

Herbert Grosshans was born in Germany. Even as a young boy he was already a voracious reader. He read every book in the small School library at least three times. His teacher gave him even a few books from his own private collection. His favorite books were stories about heroes and gods. He loved the old legends. At age fourteen, a friend gave him a Science Fiction book and he fell in love with that genre, saving his allowance to buy every SF book he could find, but he also loved Westerns and Mysteries. Later he became a member of the Science Fiction Club Deutschland (Germany) and began writing his own stories. One of his short stories was made into a play and broadcast via radio to schools in Germany.

In his early twenties, he emigrated to Canada. He began reading books written in English and studied to become proficient in this new language. And there was no better way to learn than to also write. Writing became his passion and he enjoyed making his fertile imagination come alive in his stories. During his lunch hour, he wrote into a scribbler and at home he pounded away on his manual typewriter whenever time allowed. The majority of his stories were science fiction.

With the arrival of computers and the internet it suddenly became a lot easier to write, and, most importantly, to get published. His first full length novel Daughter of the Dark, Book 1 of his ‘The Xandra’ series was published in 2006 by Midnight Showcase. Then followed Book 2, Mother of Light, and Book 3, Goddess of Life. The series has since grown to eight volumes. So far, Herbert has published more than 30 books in different genres. Most of Herbert’s stories contain erotica and are for adult readers. His books are available from his publisher Melange Books, LLC, but also from Amazon and other outlets. To find out more about Herbert’s books, please, visit his website and his blog.

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