Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

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 DANIEL ZEIDLER: The Last Day of the War

When a fleet of human colonists, lost and growing desperate, found an Earth-like world to settle, they named it Aurora in honor of what they were certain was the dawn of a new Age for humanity, an era of peace and prosperity. For a time, it seemed as if their dreams had come true, but then came Jarma Kaarl and General Adain, and with them came war and the cult that worshipped it above all else. A century after the war began, art thief Aleris Tynet was arrested and sentenced to serve a term in the Army. There, she saw things others did not, and realized that her world and her civilization were dying. She had no way of knowing the war would soon come to an abrupt end and a countdown had begun to its last day; a day that would forever change both Aurora and her people…

FROM ROBERT HANLON AND SCOTT MCCREA: Timber: U.S. Marshal: Savage Flint: A Western Adventure

Western adventure goes to new levels when Marshal Timber teams up with Marshal Ezra Flint to investigate the murder of penniless prospectors. The men had no money and no future … why would killers target them? The two legendary lawmen follow the trail of dead bodies until they face-off with Edmund Arthur Carew, a crazed killer conceived in a grave and with a taste for carnage!

Master storyteller Robert Hanlon and Western Writers of America Spur Finalist Scott McCrea bring you a pulse-pounding tale of the Wild West at its very Wildest!

BY PETER RABE, REVIVED BY D. JASON FLEMING: A House in Naples (Annotated): The classic pulp crime thriller

After World War 2, Charley and Joe made a good living on the black market in Italy. They didn’t like each other. Didn’t even trust each other. But they worked well together.

Now it’s been ten years, though, and after Martha shows up, things are starting to come apart.

  • This iktaPOP Media edition includes a new introduction by indie author D. Jason Fleming giving genre and historical context to the book.

FROM HOLLY CHISM: Bite Sized (Liquid Diet Chronicles Book 1)

Meg Turner has been a vampire for twenty years. Her favorite food is rapists. Which is how she met Andi Donahue, her new best friend/ girl Friday.

And then the nightmares start. And the bodies start showing up–bled out and raped. Just like Meg was. They don’t have a whole lot of time to stop the killer before he strikes again, and only one way to stop the killer.

But how can Andi help Meg stop a killer she can’t even see?

FROM ALMA T. C. BOYKIN: Wheels of Empire: Merchant and Empire Book Nine

Water driving wheels driving danger.

Without bread, hunger stalks the people of Jerwood. The old grist mill burned and a new one must be built. Count Ealdred of Jerwood hires Harald Tolson, called Halfpaw, to construct a larger, modern mill. A mill that the count will own.

Harald and his journeyman walk into trouble when they enter Jerwood’s gates. Why did the mill burn? Who doesn’t want a better, larger mill built? And what lengths will those people go to in order to get what they desire?

Harald finds himself battling the elements, suspicion, and danger in order to complete his contract. But his opponents underestimate how stubborn and determined a millwright can be. The Wheel always turns, something Harald knows full well.

FROM MARY CATELLI: Spells in Secret

Magical doors and other mischief mix badly with tales about murder, as young scholars return to Graytowers.

Kenneth, as prefect, thought he had his hands filled with the beginning of the new session, but when one magical door takes him and another scholar far past the bounds of a prank, they barely escape with their lives, and their escape means only that they are in graver danger. They must hide, leaving the school, and casting all their spells in secret.

FROM PAM UPHOFF: Wild West Bar and Grill

Horst Aslanov is a seventeen-year-old criminal. Or at least he aspires to be one. But his mentor is missing, the number two boss is a dictatorial idiot, and it’s hard to say if the possibility of a police raid is better or worse than the violent criminal gang moving into their area.

The Wild West Bar and Grill is a restaurant in a cross-dimensional future Moscow. Serving authentic barbeque, and tiny shows of wild west shootouts. It’s also a cover for an unlicensed brothel . . . which is an extra layer of cover for an ID hacking and brainchip forging operation. But the old forger is missing, and now Horst has to decide if he’s going to try to keep the business running . . . or go straight.

FROM LEIGH KIMMEL: One Last Homecoming

Sherry had planned a quick trip to her home town for her forty-year class reunion, to see the current classes’ Homecoming game. Instead, she arrives to find the high school just as she remembers it, complete with long-demolished buildings and long-retired teachers. It’s Homecoming, all right — her senior year.

For someone with happy memories, revisiting one’s younger days might be pleasant nostalgia. Sherry dreads the thought of being stranded in the past, forced to reassume the old roles after decades of independence.

How can she return to her own time when she has no idea how she got here? Worse, a hostile entity is making its presence known — and it may not want to let her go back. And the Homecoming game isn’t the one she remembers from four decades ago.

FROM CELIA HAYES: That Fateful Lightning: A Novel of the Civil War

There wasn’t much of an outlet for an ordinary American woman with ambitions in the 184os; marriage and family was as good as it got back then, for most women … But Minnie Vining wasn’t an ordinary woman. A spinster in her forties, of a respected old Boston family, possessing an independent income and an education worthy of any man among her peers. Minnie took up a noble cause – campaigning for the abolition of slavery. The matter of slavery roiled political and social life in the United States for more than thirty years, splitting apart families, friends, comrades … and eventually the nation. And when the war began in earnest, Minnie followed her heart and her calling … as a nurse, tending to sick and wounded soldiers … but at what personal cost?

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: BETRAYAL

36 thoughts on “Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike”

  1. “That would be dangerous,” said Diggory. He rubbed his eyes and walked into the kitchen. “The other knight could scry you while you feinted about. Your being his opposite would betray you.”

    “You could scry him as well,” said Jasper. “Trying to feint around in ignorance wouldn’t work very well.”

    “So,” said Marcus, “the best approach would be for the opposite to scry, and the others to attack.”

    “That would require several knights,” said Diggory.

    “So it would,” said Marcus, “and perilous, because the foe could also have allies, and perhaps more than you have. Nevertheless, it would be best.”

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  2. OK, waitstaff! We have to get the food out to the banquet, and just your arms won’t carry enough.

    You! Bob! You’re supervising the be-tray-al of the plates. Once filled, the rest of you carry them out into the hall and serve.

    Liked by 1 person

        1. Rapidly gaining in volume from inaudible to pretty loud. :-D

          flappa-flappa-flappa-FLAPPA-SPLAT!!

          If only I could use increasing font sizes for effect, starting at about 4 point and ending at 24 point UPPERCASE BOLD.

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  3. The essay contest had seemed to be a fun diversion when David had found the flyer. Now that Basil was looking at the topic, he wasn’t so sure — but how could he back out without raising all kinds of awkward questions?

    Basil was pretty sure Aunt Ruby knew who his dad was, but how much had she told Uncle Cory or the cousins? Even if she had, she probably had elided over a lot of stuff — like the fact that “Kartvelishvili” wasn’t the original form of his family’s name.

    But how could he write an essay on the Red Resurgence and its significance for the present situation in America without committing an act of betrayal? Write it as if Leonid Gruzinsky were indeed a traitor to the Tsar rather than a Soviet patriot, and betray the father-son bond. Write it defending his actions, and risk betraying Sparta Point. Bow out and risk betraying everything he held dear when everyone demanded to know why he was refusing to participate.

    How could he thread his way through this thicket of tangled loyalties? Was there a way to discuss the issues in the abstract without taking sides on the matter, given that Reagan had recognized Tsar Joseph’s new government immediately after the Miracle of the Lightning Bolt?

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  5. “You Betrayed Me!”

    “My Dear Lord Johnson, I didn’t betray you because we never had a bond of loyalty. Now Young Lord, Lord Gregory thinks that you are dead and if we hurry, we can bring him down permanently.”

    “What you’re betraying Lord Gregory?”

    “Of course not, as there was never a bond of loyalty between myself and Lord Gregory.”

    “Ah Reynard, can I trust you now?”

    “Yes, Lord Johnson. You are good company and enjoy jokes even when they are played on you. Lord Gregory has offended the Lords Of Justice and it amuses me to act as their agent in this matter. May the Lords Of Justice cut off my tail and fur if I don’t assist you in this matter.”

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  6. Sadly, a lot of my time at Unicorn was built around the simple fact that I was very good at getting people to do what I wanted, then betraying them to whatever needs was required to keep America safe and Stricklen from getting sarcastic with me.

    Mostly avoiding Stricklen’s sarcasm. That was the big thing for me.

    Three years of that eats at anyone’s soul, and the fact that most of my jobs required me to seduce and destroy genuinely bad people didn’t help that much. Most of the time, they were general or specific assholes and seeing them die was just Darwin cleaning out the gene pool. But you occasionally got some…semi-decent people that shouldn’t have been there and you have to take them apart. Usually metaphorically, but sometimes physically.

    Betrayal, chaos, confusion, and surviving the wilderness of mirrors. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

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  7. Leandro did his best to do the same, not to see Felisa until she appeared to appeared beside him, not to betray that he waited for that moment.

    He could not count out the moments. The princesses would not hasten, any more than the princes had scurried to the altar.

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  8. I didn’t walk away.

    Instead, I joined the Farewell Committee. And as those who walked away left, I slipped them notes.

    Historically, most castles were taken not by siege, but by betrayal from within.

    When those who walked away marched back to raze Omelas, I opened the gate for them.

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    1. Have you read Moe Lane’s Fermi Resolution series? There’s a story in the latest collection that might interest you.

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    2. That’s the 50-word version I eventually edited down to. The 100-word version that I originally wrote is below. I’d be interested to know if editing it down to 50 made it punchier, or whether it lost too much and the 100-word version is better.

      I didn’t walk away.

      Instead, I got myself onto the Farewell Committee. And as those who walked away left, I shook their hands. Later, outside the city walls, they would unfold the note I slipped them and read a date, a time, and a place (the least-guarded gate).

      Historically, most castles weren’t taken by siege. Most castles fell when someone opened the gate for the invading army.

      And when those who walked away marched back with an army to raze Omelas, I opened the gate for them.

      We rescued all the children, especially THAT child. We left nobody else alive.

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  9. “Report please,” said Captain Appius calmly.

    “Bounty hunter led our patrol to a couple In-Between fugitives,” answered the Centurion. “They was hidden good. We wouldn’t have found ‘em if one hadn’t sneezed.”

    Captain Appius looked at the prisoners. The younger In-Between appeared ashamed, as if his allergies had betrayed them.

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  10. The two young prisoners eyed Captain Appius warily, though they weren’t scared to eat the food he offered them.

    The Centurion called the captain aside. “Ain’t we supposed to turn all In-Betweens over to the Prefect?”

    Captain Appius nodded solemnly. “Damned if I’ll do that, though. They’ve been betrayed enough.”

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  11. “Captain Appius,” the Centurion called, “here’s the fellow who tipped us off about them In-Between Elves. He’s asking if he can get a ree-ward,”

    Disgusted, Captain Appius glanced at his young prisoners, then back at the bounty hunter. “Alright,” he snarled, “how about I let you see the next sunrise?”

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  12. I hope everyone is stocked up with essentials. Biden is not going to delay the Longshormen’s strike with a Taft-Hartly 80 day “cooling off”. On the contrary, I expect him to make it very much worse than needed.

    It’s an easy skeezy way for him to put an extra 4Q2 on the DonkPartei betrayal of his reelection ambitions.

    Harris and the ParteiFurhers will spazz. Bigly.

    And his refusal just might finally trigger a 25A action. Because a sustained ILS strike is gonna do some real damage, to the USA and to various anti-Trump efforts.

    But then, of course, Her Mediocraty owns it, and she is out of her depth in a parking lot puddle, bless her heart, if you can find it.

    The other Biden 4Q2 may be a blivet of pardons, right before 5 November.

    Both options, all the while smiling and sharing credit with Harris.

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    1. They threatened him with the 25th to keep him from running, which is illegitimate. Either he’s fit, and it’s wrong to use it, or he’s not, and the only legitimate one would be “step down with some dignity or we invoke it.”

      So why didn’t they actually invoke it?

      Hmmm — alas, it occurs to me that they could probably spin it as a rapid decline.

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      1. Can Kamala be simultaneously VP and president-elect? What happens if Biden’s Rapid Decline happens after she “wins” but before she’s inaugurated? Do they just inaugurate her early?

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          1. VP’s have been elected, of course–Bush succeeded Reagan, frex–but never has one had to assume the presidency while still president-elect. No president has ever left office for any reason between Election Day and Inauguration Day.
            There would be no question about it if the lame-duck veep weren’t also the president-elect, but if the one head were wearing both hats, it seems something that lawyers could and would obstructively squabble about.

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            1. The VP always could have invoked the 25th at need. The legal issues are simple because those are different hats.

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      1. Of course.

        If he does so before 5 November, he will impact a significant number of shaky-left voters. It would be a middle finger to the folks that drove him aside.

        vindictive is our FICUS. Heh.

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  13. (From WIP, which is not fanfiction but may have fallen off a truck in a galaxy far, far away.)

    Illandri stood on a battlefield of the mind, fighting an invasion more intimate than any clash of weapons. Fighting for primacy in her own body. “I believed in you.” The shake in her voice betrayed her.

    “You should have,” her once-teacher agreed. “I tried to find a way to make the transfer and keep you intact. Or at least to make it painless for you. You were a good student – but in the end, this body is wearing out and yours is young and healthy. And I’m afraid I don’t like you enough to die for you.”

    “I will not,” she snarled, “roll over and die for anyone.”

    “Child,” he said gently. “Do you think this is the first face I’ve worn?”

    Power gathered. Illandri braced herself. You were a good teacher. Let’s see if you were good enough.

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  14. Front and center, apprentice!  I need you to get me some hardware for this project.  It will be in the orange cabinet just inside the storage room door to the right.  From the A tray, I need the stuff out of slots 1, 3, and 9.  From B tray, all . . .

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      1. “CARP armed and loaded in tube one.”

        “Tube one flooded and ready in all respects.”

        “Outer door one open “

        “Match generated bearings and…. shoot one!”

        “Fish one away!”

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  15. I’m just going to drop this here, sort of like a soft open. Thanks to readers here and elsewhere, my story, The Waystation Incident, was the winner of September’s contest at Frontier Tales. I’ll be in the print anthology, but I don’t know when it comes out. I’ve sent an e-mail to the editor and I’m waiting for a reply.

    Other than that, does anyone have a recommendation of a good, free provider for me to create an author website?

    Like

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