*Yes, I know this is ridiculously late. Nothing catastrophic happened, just after a week of snow we had a ton of stuff we needed to do outside the house. Let’s say I’ve done a full day’s work already. BUT better late than never. – SAH*
Book Promo
*Note these are books sent to us by readers/frequenters of this blog. Our bringing them to your attention does not imply that we’ve read them and/or endorse them, unless we specifically say so. As with all such purchases, we recommend you download a sample and make sure it’s to your taste. If you wish to send us books for next week’s promo, please email to bookpimping at outlook dot com. If you feel a need to re-promo the same book do so no more than once every six months (unless you’re me or my relative. Deal.) One book per author per week. Amazon links only. Oh, yeah, by clicking through and buying (anything, actually) through one of the links below, you will at no cost to you be giving a portion of your purchase to support ATH through our associates number. I ALSO WISH TO REMIND OUR READERS THAT IF THEY WANT TO TIP THE BLOGGER WITHOUT SPENDING EXTRA MONEY, CLICKING TO AMAZON THROUGH ONE OF THE BOOK LINKS ON THE RIGHT, WILL GIVE US SOME AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR PURCHASES MADE IN THE NEXT 24HOURS, OR UNTIL YOU CLICK ANOTHER ASSOCIATE’S LINK. PLEASE CONSIDER CLICKING THROUGH ONE OF THOSE LINKS BEFORE SEARCHING FOR THAT SHED, BIG SCREEN TV, GAMING COMPUTER OR CONSERVATORY YOU WISH TO BUY. That helps defray my time cost of about 2 hours a day on the blog, time probably better spent on fiction. ;)*
FROM JOSH GRIFFING: Drawing Out the Bestiary. ON SALE FOR 99C
Do you want to draw dragons? Gryffins? Centaurs? Then draw them out with care! Let Leonard tell you how.
FROM JULIE PASCAL: Blue.
Dulcie and Fischer, starry eyed young lovers, jumped at the opportunity to become crew on one of Merchant Shipline’s fleet of starships. To a couple of kids from the sticks “all expenses paid” training was too good to pass up.
But there’s always a catch.
FROM JASON FUESTING: By Dawn’s Early Light (Echoes of Liberty Book 1).
Eric Friedrich was supervising the last ice harvesting shift for his ship’s shot-up environmental systems when they detected an anomalous ice comet drifting by. Investigating the icy tomb, Eric finds a ship that couldn’t exist–a relic from a nation the Protectorate killed billions to erase from history… And will kill even more to keep secret.
When his world explodes, Eric must make allies in the unlikeliest places, and seize even the slimmest chance of survival while unraveling a conspiracy that shattered planets and set off interstellar war!
FROM KAL SPRIGGS: Valor’s Calling.
The past calls you back.
Jiden made the decision to join the Century Military Academy after her attempt at a normal school ended in disaster. She’s embraced this new chapter in her life and she’s ready to do her best.
But this new start isn’t all that she expected. Her relationships with her friends have changed since she’s been away, her classes are harder than she expected, and things aren’t quite what they seem. Jiden learns that she made enemies when she chose to return to the Academy, and those enemies will settle for nothing less than her death.
Jiden is going to have to dig deep, she’s going to have to fight with everything she has, not just to succeed, but to stay alive. Jiden isn’t afraid of the challenge, because the military life isn’t just a simple decision, it’s her calling in life.
FROM DOROTHY GRANT: Going Ballistic.
When her plane tries to come apart at apogee during a hijack, ballistic airline pilot Michelle Lauden handles the worst day she could imagine. After getting down without losing any passengers or crew, though, she finds her troubles have just begun!
The country she’s landed in has just declared independence from the Federation. The Feds intended her passengers to be the first casualties in the impending war – and they’re not happy she’s survived to contradict their official narrative in the news.
The local government wants to find her to give her a medal. The Feds are hunting her to give her an unmarked grave. As they both close in, Michelle’s running out of options and time. The only people able to protect her are an accident investigation team on loan from the Federation’s enemies… the same enemies who sent her hijackers in the first place.
And they have their own plans for her, and the country she’s in!
FROM MARGARET BALL: A Pocketful of Stars.
Thalia Kostis will be the first to tell you it’s not magic, it’s theoretical math when she walks a Möbius strip through walls to her office at the Institute for Applied Topology. CIA Case Officer Bradislav Lensky doesn’t care what it is, as long as she can help track down a smuggling ring and the terrorists in their safe house in Austin. The other magicians nearby don’t agree, and don’t care for new rivals either!
Now Thalia and the rest of her misfit crew are in a race against time, terrorists, common sense, grackles, and their graduate advisor to save the day!
FROM ALMA BOYKIN: Hopling and Pouchling.
Trouble moves on Shikhari…
Auriga “Rigi” Bernardi-Prananda and her husband have their hands full of children, his military career, and their duties to the native Staré. The last thing they need are predators (four footed) in the back yard, and old enemies opening old wounds. When Dr. De Groet invites them to participate in an archaeological dig far from the woes of civilization, the Pranandas accept.
Instead of a quiet dig, they observe the wombeast migration, insanity among the local Staré, and something decidedly alien that should not be. The Great Game swirls closer and closer, forcing Rigi to make a choice she never, ever wanted to face.
Shikhari’s enemies are about to discover that females of all species are more deadly than the males!
FROM BRAD TORGERSEN: Lights in the Deep.
Ten astounding tales by triple award nominee Brad R. Torgersen. Go on fantastic new adventures at the bottom of Earth’s oceans and at the edge of the solar system. Meet humans who are utterly alien and aliens who are all too human. Originally featured in the pages of Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine as well as Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, these stories are gathered here for the first time, along with anecdotes and other commentary from the author.
Features the stories Ray of Light (2012 Hugo & Nebula nominee), Outbound (2011 Analog Readers Choice Award winner), and Exanastasis (2010 Writers of the Future Award winner).
Introductions by Stanley Schmidt, Mike Resnick and Allan Cole.
FROM C.V.WALTER: Bound to the Alien Engineer.
Mindy’s best friend Molly was a maintenance technician on the Bradbury 12. When Molly went missing, Mindy started looking for answers but all she found were more questions. They were supposed to meet up at Geniuscon, a science fiction convention that attracts people from every walk of life, and she knows Molly’s son Aidan is going to be there. Determined to get in touch with her friend, Mindy tracks down Aidan and meets some of his new friends, the guys cosplaying as big, blue aliens.
The first time he heard her voice, Alvola knew Mindy was the one. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t understand the language or touch her skin, the sound of her voice made his body sing. Determined to meet his mate, Alvola volunteers for the mission to Earth to pick up Aidan and meet with the scientists and engineers that will be their first official contacts with humanity. When Alvola actually meets Mindy in person, his mission becomes to keep her by his side, no matter the cost.
FROM ANNA FERREIRA: A Summer in Scarborough: A Pride & Prejudice Sequel.
Miss Anne de Bourgh was delighted to receive a letter from her cousin Georgiana, explaining that she would be spending the summer by the sea, and requesting the pleasure of her company. A glorious few months of balls, shopping, and walking by the sea awaits- a wonderfully diverting holiday for Anne, who has rarely left Rosings before.
But Anne is a de Bourgh, and life is never simple. Before long, she finds herself caught between the attentions of two very different men, and must choose if she will follow her heart or disoblige her family. One must be disappointed, and Anne has never been very practiced in the art of disobedience. Must she give up everything she has ever known, will she find the strength to search for happiness elsewhere?
Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.
So what’s a vignette? You might know them as flash fiction, or even just sketches. We will provide a prompt each Sunday that you can use directly (including it in your work) or just as an inspiration. You, in turn, will write about 50 words (yes, we are going for short shorts! Not even a Drabble 100 words, just half that!). Then post it! For an additional challenge, you can aim to make it exactly 50 words, if you like.
We recommend that if you have an original vignette, you post that as a new reply. If you are commenting on someone’s vignette, then post that as a reply to the vignette. Comments — this is writing practice, so comments should be aimed at helping someone be a better writer, not at crushing them. And since these are likely to be drafts, don’t jump up and down too hard on typos and grammar.
If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Your writing prompt this week is: CRABBY
According To Hoyt 
Leah dipped her net once more into the tank, and brought it back up with a load of crustaceans. One of them, attracted by the shiny aluminum, was clinging to the handle rather than caught in the net. “Crabby, crabby, you’re so grabby”, Leah chanted almost absent-mindedly, recalling the Aquaculture lessons from her kindergarten. “It will be much nicer when Papa finishes the new hydrocarbon reactor, and we can have plastics for things like this.”
“Oh, not again!”
I reached over and hit the switch to silence the prox alarm. It had been going off every hour or so ever since I’d steadied up after the last mid course correction burn, and ever time there’d been nothing anywhere wound the ship. I never did really well on these solo runs, but sleep deprivation was one thing, being woken up every hour on the hour… well, I was getting crabby.
I almost rolled back and tried to go back to sleep, but the voice of my first flight instructor sounded in my head – “the one time you don’t make absolutely certain will be the time it’s really on fire” – so I pushed off over to the front window…and froze. There, floating out off my nose, was naked woman. Well, naked in her transparent spacesuit, which in itself was notable, but there she was, floating there, jiggling in interesting ways in microgravity as she waved and smiled and gestured over toward my airlock.
“Oh, not again!”
Well, THAT got my attention.
[Harking back to my first half-drabble on this site, to celebrate having broken double digits; for those who arrived late or have forgotten, see the 10 January promo post for context.]
*****************
Derek stared sympathetically down at his cousin’s drooping pigtails. Sure, if things had been like her mother said lately, he could understand her being a little sullen and crabby. He could understand everything… except…
“The vampire is *Jewish*?” he said.
“Benjamin Isaac Nathanson,” said Charity dully. “What do *you* think?”
“Airman, where did you learn the English language?”
“Tennessee, Sarge” he replied.
I shook my head. Deciphering Form 1800 entries was hard enough for regular cars and trucks.
But the entry, “Stuck on crabby”, made sense after watching Smith drive the aircraft tow tractor in at a 45 degree angle.
Cousin Snuffy, izzat you?
Michael D. Houst, Master Sergeant, USAF (Ret.)
I appreciated their help. I really did. They were indispensable for helping with the crustacean surveys on the beach, counting the number that were scuttling around at low tide. But, what with the heat and humidity, dehydration, and the exhaustion from the long trip there, my kids were going to be extra grouchy and snapping at each other at the slightest provocation. As my wife told me, the beach wasn’t the only thing there that was going to be crabby.
The giant crabs moved inland.
Black Titian said to his friend Storm-Master, “Jacob, this is not the time to make jokes about being crabby”.
Storm-Master replied “Henry, too many have already been killed to make jokes”.
Over 6,500 light years from earth, having hyperjumped toward the constellation Taurus.
“Nova,” he asked, “why are you so crabby?”
She adjusted the astronomical projector on the bridge to present a ‘You Are Here’ holographic display.
She sighed, pointed, “Of course I’m crappy, you do know which nebula we’re in?”
He strode across the garden. Who would think that an interruption to the tedium of the visit would be this annoying? But to be ordered like this —
He saw the room, where his father, gravely, listening to Nigel as he talked earnestly.
Julian felt cold. His father thought it important.
“Bad morning?”
“You have no idea. The “hold,” calls were stacked three high, people were lined up to e-sign and every time I got the acknowledgments filed Sarah would being in another arm load. Plus two clients with, “All my friends got refunds, why don’t I have my refund?” calls. And just to cap it off, I got a, “I’m doing my taxes on TurboTax, can you tell me what my AGI was last year?” call.”
“They called to ask you to help with their taxes so they wouldn’t have to pay you?”
I sighed. “Yep. Right now, so far as my mood goes, “crabby,” would be an improvement.”
(All these things happened this tax season. Plus the other stuff.)
Autumn blinked. Walter would have shouted at him to tell what he meant by now, and she, for the first time, understood the impulse.
Brian grinned. “There are many ways in and out of castles. There are those who mastered them. And some of us have learned to use them.”
I had to bite on my tongue to avoid saying something stupid, then paused for a moment. “So, why am I getting all of this grief? What’s your particular problem?”
“Don’t snap back at me,” she remarked, a crabby expression her face. Like most non-happy expressions, it fit her as well as a hippo in a tutu.
If anyone had a right to be a grumpy old man, Colonel Hearne certainly did. He’d been commanding American Eagle, overseeing the repair of a spy satellite, while the NASA Massacre was raging down on Earth. Two years later, he’d commanded the last flight of the Falcon, which went from a three-day military mission to a two-week ordeal awaiting rescue in a damaged orbiter. Everybody thought he’d call it quits, but no, he’d gone right back onto the flight roster as soon as Medical cleared him.
Now that he’d reached mandatory retirement age for pilot-astronauts, he’d taken over Flight Ops so Samantha Carlisle could get back onto the flight roster. Small wonder that he should be constantly riding all our asses about everything.
CRABBY? Sorry. All I get is crab cioppino. And it makes me crabby ‘cuz I don’t know where to find it in Texas. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/judiths-dungeness-crab-cioppino
From my WIP, *The Everything Machine.* Nobody ever gets as crabby as the Institute, when they don’t get their way:
The Bitspace Institute Director raised his right hand. The town shushed. Bitspace people were cold-eyed and willful, most especially the Directors, and always acted as though they owned the world. He wore the steel-gray cloak that only Directors wore, which flowed around him like a slow liquid as he moved. Rumor held that it was a drumlin and would stop a bullet. As best I know, nobody had ever been drunk enough or crazy enough to put that rumor to the test.
“Why so crabby?”
“Why? Because you’re off to sunny Sicily while I’m stuck here on fatigue detail, washing graffiti off the Parthenon.”
The last I heard from my friend was a postcard showing a view of Syracuse harbor. On the back was written “Wish you were here. Nikias says hello.”
“Thought you said this made you crabby. So why are we watching it?”
“Doesn’t make me crabby. Just been a long time since I saw it. Oh, I guess it does star a Crabbe.”
“Alright, what is it?”
“Old serial. Flash Gordon.”
“With a crab?”
“Just watch the opening credits.”
I’m not cwabby, I’m wobstery!