Book promo
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. A COMMISSION IS EARNED FROM EACH PURCHASE.*Note that I haven’t read most of these books (my reading is eclectic and “craving led”,) and apply the usual cautions to buying. I reserve the right not to run any submission, if cover, blurb or anything else made me decide not to, at my sole discretion.– SAH
FROM JAMES TOTTEN: MICLICs and Big Bears (Breaching Ain’t Easy! Book 1)
When the nukes dropped, the draft happened and America recovers on a total war economy. Opportunities dry up and the factories retool for war. Out of opportunities and money, Lisa Brown looses a full ride at Cornell and enlist as a Sapper in the Army. Now a Company Commander, CPT Brown’s 14 Grizzly assault breachers are leading the way back to Kiev. The Russians covering the obstacle belts have some issues with this. “Sappers Lead the Way”.
https://amzn.to/4bKSzppFROM SEAN FENIAN: Bearing Gifts (The Stardock Series Book 1)
When the over-driven hyperdrive on their mobile shipyard burned out, the Chhrt’ktk’t abandoned it in an inhabited system along their path, hoping it would work as a decoy to buy them more time to escape the Khreetan fleet pursuing them. They didn’t anticipate how far the pre-spacefaring species they turned over their broken-down maintenance facility to would subvert their plan.
Alex Holder, a retired engineer, just happened to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right mindset, to find himself chosen by the Chhrt’ktk’t to hand over control of their shipyard to, simply because he was the first person they found able to interface with it. The Chhrt’ktk’t could not possibly anticipate what he would do with it. And neither would anyone else.
https://amzn.to/3UJxFBaFROM CELIA HAYES: Adelsverein – The Sowing
Adelsverein: The Sowing is Volume 2 of the Adelsverein Trilogy, following the fortunes of German settlers who came to Texas seeking land and political freedom in the 19th century through the auspices of the Mainzer Adelsverein – a consortium of German nobles who formed a corporation and took up a land grant in the Republic of Texas.
In the fifteen years which have passed since “Vati” Steinmetz and his children came from Germany to Texas, they have prospered. His older daughter Magda has married former Texas Ranger Carl Becker, born him children and helped him build a happy life as a cattle rancher in the beautiful valley of the Guadalupe River. Vati’s son-in-law Hansi Richter prospers as a farmer, and his son Johann has returned from years of study in Germany to become a doctor. But his beautiful adopted daughter Rosalie is in love … with a man who intends to serve in the Confederate Army! Texas has voted for secession and to join with the Confederacy. The German settlers in the Texas Hill Country are opposed to slavery, and to secession; what will happen to them now that they will be seen as enemies in their new homeland?
Ideals, friendship and cruel circumstance clash with the coming of civil war to the Hill Country, bringing Carl Becker and Hansi Richter into mortal danger from the ‘hanging band’ – a pro-Confederate lynch mob, while Johann and his twin brother Friedrich are drawn into fighting on opposite sides; Johann with the Union Army, Friedrich with the Frontier Regiment.
Adelsverein: The Sowing continues the epic story of how one family became American, through the brutal tragedy of the Civil War!
FROM SEAN FENIAN: For Love Of Caitlîn: A short tale of mortals and Fae.
When Domnall mac Caiomhin accepted an ill-advised wager to spend a night atop the barrow at Dun Gol, and his fiery bride Caitlîn failed to talk him out of it, he shouldn’t have been surprised that she insisted upon going along with him. But the Sidhe took her spirit underhill, and now her body is wasting away.
It falls to the wits and courage of her father Ceallach mac Seaghda to win her back — if he can. The stakes are high … but Ceallach mac Seaghda is a man who will give everything for his beloved daughter.
For Love of Caitlîn is a short standalone novella set in a medieval Ireland a little different than our own.
FROM MICHAEL A. HOOTEN: Cricket’s Song
Cricket just wanted to learn how to play the harp. Instead he became the only true Bard of Glencairck.
In the green land of Glencairck, Bards are the musical, magical, and responsible for rendering judgment in any dispute. But the bards have grown soft and corrupt, ignoring the basic tenants of the Bardic Code, and abusing their power and authority.
Cricket is born on a small farm in the hinterlands, and knows nothing of the wide world. But he learns music and harping from an old man known simply as Harper, who also teaches him the basics of the Bardic Code. When Harper disappears, Cricket enters the world he knows only through stories and finds that not everyone knows the old rules, or follows them, and he has to decide for himself what is right—and how far he is willing to go to defend his beliefs.
This edition contains the ebooks The Cricket Learns to Sing, A Cricket at Court, and The Cricket That Roared.
https://amzn.to/3wokjjGFROM PAM UPHOFF: Twist of Fate (Chronicles of the Fall Book 4
Yuri Egorov is a Intel agent on a distant World. His main problem? He inherited the family home–a serious wreck–from the uncle who disliked him. The solution? In the Troystvennyy Soyuz–the Three Part Alliance–a brutal form of slavery, enforced through mandatory brain chips. So, however unsavory to Yuri, buying a worker should be no problem.
But this worker is . . . not standard.
Then a cross dimensional invasion puts his own problems in perspective . . .
FROM DALE COZORT: New Galveston Book 1: Operation Croatoan
In February 1939, with World War II looming, the US Navy held a massive naval exercise in the Caribbean, involving almost fifty thousand sailors and marines. President Franklin Roosevelt personally attended.
In this alternate history novel, the US of 1939 disappears at the peak of the exercise, along with the rest of the New World. In its place is a New World still inhabited only by Indians.
While the US remnants try to make a new home for themselves, Nazis, Fascists and Japanese Imperialists scheme with Aztecs and other Indian powers to take over the resource-rich and now nearly defenseless New World.
Nazi Germany pours resources into it’s navy and into an advanced new generation of cargo planes. By summer 1941, the Nazis are ready to move. A mysterious “Operation Croatoan” is at the core of their schemes. Milo Gentry and a handful of other Americans race to figure out what the Axis powers are up to and stop them.
FROM HOLLY CHISM: The Schrödinger Paradox: Heisenberg’s Point of Observation
To save the future, sometimes you have to reach to the past.
Thomas Sutton was not your average fourteen year old, not even in an Ark City. Born in one of the three refuges of the last remnants of life on earth, deep underground, he knows his history. A century after an asteroid shattered and struck the earth, they have been trapped below by volcanic eruptions, toxic gasses, and radioactive dust. But what if he could…change things? What if he could reach the past, to prevent the asteroid’s impact?
FROM LEIGH KIMMEL: The Shadow of a Dead God
What secrets lie beneath an alien world?
A routine archeological dig on a world once ruled by the mysterious Star Tyrants. For Moon-born Liu Shang, working on a planetary surface might be unsettling, but she could manage — until the dreams started.
Unwilling to drag others into a harebrained search, she headed out alone, contrary to mission rules. Just as she was about to give up, she found an unlikely artifact.
Handling it connects her to the mind of a long-ago rebel against the Star Tyrants’ rule. Nothing will ever be the same.
A short story.
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: CHALLENGE
According To Hoyt 
Thank you for the push! Being a “independent”author is very challenging and rewarding at the same time. I wouldn’t be here where I am without help from a cast of professionals that are advising me behind the scenes. I am humbled and grateful for the support I’m getting on my hobby that entertains my tens of fans. Thank you again!!
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Jim – please email me: writingobserver at cox dot net – I would like to offer you a (one time) copy edit.
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A young Titan shouted “I challenge you Sarge!”.
Sarge sighed and put down his beer. After walked to the door of the Ultra Bar in Atlanta Georgia he said “Meet me at Skadi Mons at noon local time.”
“Where’s Skadi Mons?”
“On Venus, it’s the highest mountain on Venus. You can’t miss it.”
“I’ve never tried to fly there”.
“Boy, you know the rules, or should. No Challenge Fights between Class Alpha Titans can be held on Earth. We can do too much damages on our surroundings to fight here.”
After the boy left, Sarge contacted Control to ensure that the idiot boy didn’t get lost on his way to Venus or on Venus.
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Forgot to click the button.
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“Mr. Fixx.”
The detective turned at the sound of Fogg’s voice. “Yes, sir. You asked to meet with me?”
“Please, come this way,” Fogg replied as he gestured to the club’s dining room. The waiter conducted the two men to a table at a little remove from the other occupants and took Fogg’s order as Fixx wondered, What’s in store here?
“Passepartout has been reviewing each day’s developments with me, and I have been reading your reports. I have been favorably impressed.”
“Thank you, sir.” Fixx leaned back as tea and a plate of sandwiches were placed before him.
Once the server had left, Fogg’s demeanour changed. He lifted his eyes from his plate and directed a sharp glance at the detective. “Mr. Fixx,” he said with a hint of challenge in his tone, “what are your future plans?”
Fixx gave a short laugh. “Future plans, Mr. Fogg? I haven’t any. I did speak to a friend at Scotland Yard who might be able to pull strings and get me a berth – in the Bethnal Green district.” His lips twisted in disgust. “I do appreciate your generosity in distributing the reward to Monsieur Passepartout and myself, but much of it went to paying my brother-in-law’s household expenses and I will need to find another job soon.”
Fogg winced at the name of one of the most notorious slums in London. “Suppose I were to offer you another option? One which would surely be more pleasant, though I will add that I cannot guarantee steady employment. One of my associates here at the club has an issue that is concerning him, and I have mentioned to him that I might be able to recommend someone who could help. I believe you would be well-suited for this job.”
Fixx narrowed his eyes as he pondered. At least it would buy me some time, he thought. And I owe the man, after all he’s done to help Gerald.
“I am very interested, Mr. Fogg. And I thank you for the recommendation.”
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She sighed. “It will be a challenge, figuring out who their king is.” Liam looked very grave, and she reflected on her history for a moment.
“In fact, his great-grandfather had a daughter, but I don’t think there is any other kin. And I don’t know what happened to her.”
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Roger turned the golden disk over and over in his hand. It didn’t look like any of the game money he’d seen in any of the various Digital Dreams games. Puzzled, he looked to Toni.
“It’s a challenge coin.” Toni pulled several others out of her pocket. “These are from a few years ago, but because I’m a developer, I’m able to keep them from being deleted at the end of the event. The typical play mechanics involves collecting the entire set, then turning them in for a reward. However, this game doesn’t have any events going on right now, so I’m wondering if it’s a test article someone lost track of.”
After having done a decent amount of freelance programming for Digital Dreams, Roger had a reasonable idea of how such things worked. Although they were supposed to be kept in the “sandbox” areas of an active game, sloppy coding could make it possible to carry them out into the general storyscape.
Which raised the question of what risks an incompletely tested game item might pose outside of dev-only areas.
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The currently active idea of challenge coins for military units may have been invented by aerial gunners as far back as WW1, depending on who is telling the tale.
B-52 gunners, active 1955-1991, used a dated Mack Truck coin based on their Gunnery School class or a “bean” from a now-closed bar on Guam. These tokens were—and still are—used for identification and “drinking games”.
They represent a lot more to some of us than a token in a video game…
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Given that Phoenix in Cyberspace and the surrounding short works are taking place in the 2060’s, its quite probable that the devs had only a glancing familiarity with the concept, perhaps via the challenge coins that I’ve seen as swag in some Kickstarter campaigns in the here and now, and had no idea that it had much deeper significance to military subcultures.
Which raises the question of whether this scene comes shortly after the one in which some pesky Moral Guardians are complaining about “cultural appropriation” in the sword and sorcery game — in which case Roger could then point out how, by that standard, the use of challenge coins in the game could also be considered cultural appropriation of his culture.
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Stardock has an amazing cover image, but the fonts don’t work. Still, easy enough to fix.
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“Remember,” said Teacher Thwaite, “tonight is Challenge Night. Your scores are recorded at midnight.”
Young Kevin didn’t need reminding, nor did his classmates. A full exam, math, grammar, and ethics, all presented via a game on a VR headset. Teacher Thwaite made it sound more fun than it really was.
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Another nice set of promos! Thanks!
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“It will be a challenge to make breakfast out of what we found,” said Ciara.
“Challenge accepted!” Felix rolled out of the wagon and went to look at what they had found with her robes and mask. Autumn shed them.
Felix looked up. “Is it safe to make a fire?”
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Meet me at sunset on Hafhilly Point next seventh-day
Ven leaned obnoxiously on Mik’s shoulder to read the note in Mik’s hands.
“Somebody wants to duel?” Ven asked.
“If it weren’t at the most popular lovers-meeting spot in the colony, I’d say yes.” Mik replied.
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I was going to draw an equivalence between dueling and making out, but I decided not to.
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Probably just as well XD
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After supper, young Kevin retreated to his bedroom. After stretching a little, he put on his VR headset and entered the Challenge environment. He could see avatars representing his classmates milling around nearby – animals, superheroes, and the like. Kevin’s was a scarecrow. He sighed, anticipating a long night of “gaming.”
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Presently, two dozen avatars representing Kevin’s classmates lined up, each at a separate “door.” Kevin’s was third from right. An electronic voice announced “Let the Challenge begin!” followed by manic laughter. The doors opened, and each avatar, Kevin’s included, passed through. Alone now, Kevin searched for the first exam question.
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NOW LISTEN HERE!
I appreciate a good challenge as much as the next guy; but I need to actually study to learn my new job, take a class, and pass the CISSP exam.
You simply can’t keep offering so many wonderful distractions. There are three I “need” to buy this time and three more I only “want” to buy. And the other three look interesting.
I admit to reading fast; but as near as I can tell, time-travel is still impossible for folks in 2024.
Let’s try again in September or October, okay?
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We have tomorrow off, but I promised myself I’d spend tomorrow morning studying for a class I’ll be expected to teach sometime soon. Whether I manage or not is another matter.
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The first Challenge question, diagramming a sentence, Kevin regarded as fairly straightforward. The next two questions, story problems, were not. Periodically, Kevin was harassed by flying aliens or creeping monsters, which he was expected to dispatch with his laser gun. What that was meant to evaluate was not terribly clear.
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Random observations on the state of video games right now –
The four best-selling new games launched on the PC within the last month or so are all indie games –
Palworld
Enshrouded
Helldivers 2
Granblue Fantasy: Relink
All four have wildly outperformed expectations, to the point where Helldivers is actually turning into a victim of its own success due to too many players trying to connect to the game servers at the same time.
One of the most talked about upcoming video games right now is a game from a a small Korean company called Shift Up. Stellar Blade will be released shortly for the PS5… and is best known because of the “controversy” over the fact that the game has a very sexy looking female lead… whose dimensions and appearance are based on the real-world woman who provided the mo-cap for the character. As is common in action games these days, the game will be played in third-person over the shoulder view, which will provide a very nice look at her butt in the tight-fitting outfits that she wears.
scandalous!
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She inched in. Snowfall was a brightness in the gloom, but it was a challenge to watch her footing. A splash of light gleamed ahead. She walked toward it. A vast tree had fallen, and none of the eager saplings had grown enough to fill the gap it had opened.
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“This account does not look like an illness,” said Lenore, her voice ringing. None of them challenged her, and she lowered the letter. “For all that no one sharing their meals suffers, it still seems to be poison.”
“Perhaps magical,” said Florangela, coming up behind her. “Perhaps administered with care.”
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I met my source late at night in a shadowy corner of a nearly empty parking garage, somewhere in the DC metro area. He emerged, partially, from the shadows and I collected a hefty bet from myself. He was indeed wearing a fedora, a trench coat and aviator sunglasses. I had figured he would; it’s part of their DNA. He was chain-smoking unfiltered cigarettes; that impressed me. Only the hardest of the hard guys do that anymore.
I did a double take. He was sucking smoke in, but his exhaust smoke was emerging from the inside of his trench coat collar rather than from his mouth or his nose. He noticed me notice that. He spoke. His voice was as graveled as the thousand tons of Meadowlands’ rock fill what got poured over Hoffa’s corpse.
“It’s a hazard of the profession, civilian. I got kidnapped by aliens a decade back. Those flying saucer dudes probed more than my mind, if you get my drift. They even gave me a couple extra holes before I escaped. I rubbed some dirt on the holes, slapped a hot iron to them and I learned to cope. The spy game’s not for wimps, civilian. Hey, watch me do this, it’s pretty cool.”
He lit another cigarette; then smoked it down to a nub in one long inhalation. Simultaneously, massive clouds of smoke bloomed from the back of his neck. Heck, he could have supplied enough fake steam to film an entire high school cheerleaders’ shower scene in a D-list slasher movie.
He tossed the nub, used his heel to grind it into the concrete floor and said, “You sure you got the nerve to publish what I’m about to give you? It needs to get out. This is the one time in my life I feel the stupid public has to know.”
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