Book Promo And Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike
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. ;)*
*Sorry this is bizarrely late. The very fast house shopping trip was fine while doing, but today I don’t want to. What don’t I want to? Well….. anything. I just don’t want to. So, everything is slow, weird, and then slower and weirder. I’ll be honest with you, Havey-cat waking me up at 5 am because he NEEDED pets did NOT help. So thank you for your patience and away we go!- SAH*
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 ALENE R. LOWREY: Einarr and the Isle of the Forgotten: A young adult action-adventure viking fantasy.
An Unexpected Detour
Einarr and his companions have made it out of the Tower of Ravens intact, but on their way out they touched something they shouldn’t have. Now they’re becalmed in an unfamiliar sea. While fish are plentiful, water is becoming an issue.
When a storm blows up, Einarr decides to take a chance and ride the squall. Their little fishing boat takes them to unknown shores and wrecks on the beach. Now they have to contend with a rag-tag group of souls doomed to oblivion – all trapped, as they are, on the Isle of the Forgotten. Can they break free of the cursed isle’s clutches in time, or will they return to find the crew of the Vidofnir has succumbed to their own curse?
FROM J. M. ANJEWIERDEN: Running Black.
An explosion is only the beginning of her problems…
Morgan is finally back to work, having returned from her disastrous attempt at a vacation just in time to watch an accident cause a massive explosion on one of the other freighters.
With the damaged ship out of commission it is up to the crew of STEVE – Morgan included – to frantically get the cargo transferred and depart more than a month ahead of schedule. But what Morgan doesn’t know is that the assassination attempts were only the beginning.
Missed maintenance isn’t the only, or worst, danger lurking out in the black.
FROM JASON FUESTING: By Dawn’s Early Light.
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 CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER VIA D. JASON FLEMING: Riddle Gawne.
Jefferson Gawne has a low opinion of people, and an even lower one of women. After his brother was murdered by Watt Hyat, in complicity with his brother’s wife, Gawne followed Hyat’s trail across the west.
But the trail went cold, and Gawne, nicknamed Riddle behind his back, found himself the guardian of an orphaned girl, and the only man in the territory who dared stand up to Hame Bozzam, founder of the dirty and lawless Bozzam City. Bozzam was too smart to challenge Gawne directly, and Gawne was too honorable to act against Bozzam without cause.
So an uneasy truce has held between the two men. A truce that is about to be broken, with the arrival of the beautiful Miss Kathleen Harkless. Every man wants her, and the men of Bozzam City don’t particularly care if she wants any of them, or not.
This iktaPOP Media edition of Riddle Gawne has an afterword by indie author and editor D. Jason Fleming, in which he talks about its place in the western genre, as well as its impact on film history.
FROM SABRINA CHASE: The Long Way Home.
Moire Cameron ran to protect her secrets — ran to the heart of an interstellar alien war. Her fellow mercenaries care only about her fighting skills, not where — or when — she got them. You’d think that would be good enough…
But a false name and fake ID can’t conceal her dangerous lack of contemporary knowledge, and they won’t help fulfill her last order, given by a dying man eighty years ago. To do that she must find a reason to live again. A cause worth fighting for, comrades to trust, and a ship to sail the stars.
A tale of adventure, survival, and loyalty in the tradition of Firefly and Louis McMaster Bujold.
Book I of the Sequoyah trilogy.
FROM PAM UPHOFF: Warrior At Large.
Ice is back, and back in trouble! Fired from the Directorate, he’s working three part time jobs, and tripping over problems that a Warrior of the One can’t ignore. Spies from other Worlds and corrupt politicians is just the start
And with no one ordering him around, he’s free to deal with problems his way.
FROM ALMA BOYKIN: Elizabeth of Starland.
Stubborn as a mule? No, stubborn AND her mule.
Colonial Plantation LTD. abandoned ColPlat XI, writing the planet off as a tax loss after a series of severe Carrington-type events. Now, four hundred years later, Laurence V of Frankonia wants to write Elizabeth von Sarmas out of his kingdom, but like her Lander ancestors, Elizabeth refuses to roll over and die.
To survive, she needs to cross the continent, thread her way through a holy war, and find friends in the Eastern Empire—an impossible task for a sheltered gentlewoman. Or is it? Never underestimate a woman with a mission and a mule.
FROM A WHOLE BUNCH OF MY FRIENDS: Tales Around the Supper Table: -An Anthology of Texas Writers.
This collection is from ten different Texas authors. There was no ‘world’ or set up for the stories. It was up to the individual authors to write their stories, so you get a wide variety! Vampires, dragons, werewolves, enchanted swords, runaways, SciFi, and cowboys… Stories for everyone in this collection of Texas authors!
FROM BLAKE SMITH: A Kingdom of Glass: A Novel of The Garia Cycle.
Zara hasn’t seen her family in eleven years, but she doesn’t mind. They sent her to live in a neighboring kingdom when she was small, and she’s adopted her foster parents in their place. She lives the life of an aristocratic Garian girl- riding her horse, shooting her bow, exploring the castle with her friends- and she has nothing to wish for.
Until she’s summoned home, to a prospective marriage she doesn’t want, family she doesn’t remember, and a poisonous royal court that threatens everything she’s ever known. The East Morlans are nothing like Garia, and Zara struggles to find her place among the scheming Morlander aristocrats. Along the way, she makes new friends, meets enemies, and falls in love. But secrets abound in the glittering palace, and Zara must discover who she can trust as she fights for her life and freedom in a fragile, beautiful, kingdom of glass.
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: HANDY
According To Hoyt 
“We have to get rid of that guy,” Sarah noted in the dressing room as she re-applied her makeup.
“Which one?” Yvvone asked, switching her earrings out for her next set.
“Guy in the tracksuit at stage four with the bottle service,” she sighed, and started to apply eyeliner. “Handy little asshole, and cheap, too. Tosses ones like they were twenties and expects to cop a feel for that. And always when the bouncers aren’t looking.”
Since I haven’t seen this linked here or on Sarah’s other pages, here’s a recent interview with her about her upcoming Barbarella gig: https://previewsworld.com/Article/251866
Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Mind the music and the step
and with the girls be handy.
Julian’s eyes narrowed, and his shoulders bunched, but he bit his lip. There was no point in saying anything. He was there to be scolded, they would scold him. Innocence was no defense, they would lie to blame him, and then scold him.
“Have you nothing to say for yourself?”
“What are you doing?!!! You should know better than to add octopus DNA to anything with opposable thumbs. You shouldn’t need anything with that many arms.”
“I just thought might be handy…”
*Thwang!* Carp away!
“Papa! Nanny is in the vegetable pod again!” Leah ran to the garage, where she found Papa just wiping his hands after getting the Hand-E-Lift working again.
“All right Leah, jump on and we’ll go get her.” Leah stepped up and clung to a handgrab as the Lift rose from the floor as Papa said over his shoulder “there’s a liquefied hydrocarbons freighter coming in from Jupiter orbit this week, and they’ll want their produce. Good work keeping an eye on that greedy old goat.”
Brian had mentioned escaping fires so solemnly. He had not mentioned stealing away before a ball, so that Otto and Walter would not have her head for her excitement. Merely going to her first ball should not have her running about the house.
So she would run about the streets.
These HANDY posts detailing new ways to spend money I don’t have for obviously outstanding books I’ll never have time to read are just dandy.
However, I’ll try to pick up at least three…
On that happy note, I looked back at the approaching man. Handy to have a guide who could tell me, well, anything.
Even if the people knew that I was new.
“Take a deep breath,” said the man. “It’s always a nasty shock. Then we can go to the hall.”
Why did it have to be kitchen work? Halsey Cayle understood why everyone had to work on the various things that kept Shepardsport running, but why did he have to get stuck stripping the meat off Cornish game hens? All those tiny little bones, and he was always either missing bits of meat or letting bones slip through.
“Who was it who said that if you couldn’t be handsome, at least be handy?”
Tristan Lowell looked up from the next bucket over. “Probably Pete Conrad. It sounds like a quip he’d make.”
Hal tried not to glare. Why did Chaffees always have to be such know-it-alls?
An older woman paused on her way to the division chief’s office. “Actually it was Red Green, in his Handyman’s Corner segment. But that was before your time.”
Hal hoped he wasn’t flushing too bad. Why did Alice Murcheson have to come through right now and see them talking when they were supposed to be working? Sure, she was probably just touching base about how Agriculture was coordinating with Food and Nutrition, but she might just decide to tell Jen Redmond that she’d caught some kids slacking.
“Stew, bread, honey,” said Karl. “The water’s fine, if you don’t want ale.”
At this hour, with the companions she had, “Water will be fine. Who works for the inn?”
A robust man showed up with the tray in hand. “There are other dishes for dinner, if you order ahead.”
Some the homes of nobles, others for officials to work in. Handy to the castle, and looming about them.
They walked on. If they had been summoned to some official’s office, the guards would not have said that the summons came from the governor. Carolus would not stand false claims.
“And with the girls be han-”
*SLAP*
“You won’t be ‘handy’ with me!”
“Aw, but you’re so much fun to-”
*SLAP*
“You want me to switch to a knee?”
“Kinky. Hrmm…”
“Argh! You’re impossible!”
“No, I’m pretty easy.”
“You might be easy. I’m not.
“But you’re a lotta fun anyway!”
Thanks for boosting the signal on our anthology! And some good ones in the promo!!!
Did you know that Han Solo’s middle initial was D? Yep! HanD solo… Ok, ok, I’m leaving now. SHEESH! Whata grouch!
So long time lurker, first time commenter here. I figured it’d be better to post my vignettes here than on our hostess’ MeWe linking these posts so here’s my first contribution here. Same setting as the one om MeWe for our hostess, Ms. Catelli, and others who saw it there (and if none of you mind I’d prefer my real name be kept off here for now). Anyway, excuse the rust, I haven’t done any real writing in ages…
—
Maximilian Amsel stumbled out of a shadow in the alleyway, keeping low as he approached an imposing man staring intently at a large bullet. The man let out a satisfied grunt as the bullet began to glow a soft white before loading it into the large rifle in front of him and glancing over at the new arrival with his good eye.
“’Bout time you got here, Chief,” the man grumbled, tossing Max another bullet. “Still got plenty more of these things to enchant if we want to bring down that monster.”
Max didn’t have much experience with that particular gun, which his companion referred to as a T-Gewehr (completely mangling the Säbelian pronunciation in the process), but he knew enough to handle ammo duty for this particular mission. He enchanted the bullet the ex-mercenary tossed to him and quickly picked up another.
“Where the Hell did that dipshit get his hands on a dead elephant, anyway?” the man wondered aloud, taking position with his good eye in the scope.
“The circus, apparently,” Max replied, not missing a beat as he continued working. “The ringmaster wasn’t happy about a necromancer stealing and killing one of the main attractions for this.”
“Then he’d better be ready to show his appreciation with cash or by introducing me to some of those acrobat girls.” the large man groused.
“I’m pretty sure he thinks you and the bearded lady would make a better couple, Harry.” the cloaked man responded with a slight smirk.
Harry’s only response was a rude gesture before he took aim, firing a round at the now-undead and heavily armored elephant. The blessed anti-tank round struck true, the holy light incinerating its accursed flesh before it could fly everywhere. Max kept up the enchanting and ammo handling without a word until the monster began to slow down and Harry had cleared away much of its armor.
Now it was time for the coup de grace. Max send up a column of light, his signal to two other squad members stationed nearby. The constellation Sagittarius flashed a few seconds later before the archer it represented manifested and fired countless arrows of sacred flame onto the unholy creature. A storm of fiery meteors descended seconds later, reducing the unfortunate elephant to ash and ruined metal.
“Damn! The girls outdid themselves!” Harry whistled, grinning in admiration of their handiwork.
“I’ll admit, that gun came in handy too.” Max remarked, allowing himself another smile.
“I’ll get you to leave that outdated old sword behind one of these days, Chief.” Harry replied, a grin splitting his bearded face.
“There’s still a certain elegance to them,” Max said, walking towards the shadow he stumbled out of earlier. “Especially when your own bag of tricks includes this.”
Harry watched his team lead disappear into the shadows, shaking his head before getting ready to join the rest.
One small issue.
A ‘bullet’ is a solid metal projectile intended to be shot from a gun.
A ‘cartridge’ or ’round’ consists of a rigid container, or case, containing a propellant charge and a primer with a bullet tightly fitted into the front end.
A projectile containing an explosive or incendiary charge is generally referred to as a ‘shell’.
Although a shotgun shell is functionally identical to a cartridge. Large projectiles might be called shells even if they’re just inert chunks of metal.
Confused yet? 😛
Anyway, unless their antitank gun used separate projectile and propellant charge, they were casting spells on cartridges, or on bullets attached to cartridges.
Little inconsistencies like that jump right out at people familiar with guns.
I have a massive issue with gun vocabulary. Which is weird. I’m not an hoplaphobe and I’ve shot the things (not enough, but you know, ammo and time.) Still the vocabulary confuses me.
You’re missing the big arrow: “This end toward enemy”
(if you need terminology help feel free to pm or email me)
Meh. Right now not needed.
👍
Just putting the option out there if you need it.
Oops, sorry, especially considering I should know better as a fan of ILOH’s work. Still pretty much a complete noob on gun things as well. The whole thing got mangled between seeing the concept in the morning and actually getting it out on the computer, too. Thanks, though, these things help!
Hey, we all start out knowing nothing at all. We have to pick it up somehow. Everybody learns everything for the first time sometime. There’s no shame to being early in the process.
All true, and admittedly I was worried about other things in the writing process too. “How does that thing impact anyway? Well, the magic will cover it…right?” and “Damn, I should have had zombies in there to back up the enemy.” among others. It doesn’t help that I’ve very rarely written guns, too. Still, we’ll see if I can actually get something worthwhile out from under the rust at some point.