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

https://amzn.to/3AimcR0FROM PAM UPHOFF: The Bad Cop

“There was a shield piercing Impression on the bullet. Karl had a shield up, too, and it wouldn’t have stopped that bullet.” A faint snort. “I think he’s a little indignant that the ‘Bad Cop’ saved him.”
Police Captain Lord Daniil Ambrose Vinogradov grinned. “As opposed to the Good Cop? I’m afraid that when it comes to double teaming on a suspect, the role of Bad Cop does come rather easily to me. And Nix is a damn good cop.”
“Ah. I thought you two disliked each other?”
“We’re rivals for the next promotion, and, well, I am more aggressively ambitious and less well mannered. Or to be less polite, a ladder-climbing asshole.”

As the attack on the 300, the Government Council, leaves the Three part Alliance without leadership, a runaway teenager leads a police detective deep into trouble, and romance.

https://amzn.to/3YumrlfFROM JERRY BOYD: Mei’s Quest

Mark and Denise just want a little time off for a honeymoon. Wouldn’t you know that’s too much to ask? Denise’s mother has a little project she needs their help with.

FROM ALMA T. C. BOYKIN: Healer, Hunters, and Hearts: Familiar Generations Book Seven

Birds of mischief flock together …

Healer and Hunter, Deborah Chan Lestrang makes her way in the world as an herbalist and Healer who also hunts fell creatures when needed. Tensions inside her extended family call for a healer of hearts as well—a task far trickier, perhaps, than easing physical pain.

Weaker magic workers report being harassed by birds, birds inside a shield. Foul creatures appear, brought by a gate-spell cast by a coven. Or was it?

An old ill resurfaces …

Word comes from the north of a new drug, one that seems to grant magical abilities to those who take it. And that does not kill them as quickly as heart’s fire did. Could the birds of ill omen and the new pharmaceutical be related?


Deborah must find a path between duties and desires, the past and the present. But she does not travel alone. And she is her parents’ daughter. If she can survive Master Lestrang’s chili and his curries, she can banish abyssal evil. Maybe.

FROM HOLLY CHISM: Meals on Wheels

Not by the (nonexistent) hair on her chinny-chin-chin…

Meg Turner, vampire, accountant, ruler of her own small territory. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Not if you ask her, it doesn’t. Because the world’s going mad, the idiot mortals in charge are forcibly shutting down the economy without the understanding that it won’t start up again as easy as it’s going down, nor that it’s creating a nasty blood shortage for hospitals, much less vampires.

Even better, the head of her line is invading her dreams again, and teaching her history of all things. And teaching her about the laws, and why they’re there. It’s not just to avoid being noticed by humans capable of staking, beheading, and burning vampires during daylight hours—a vampire that breaks fundamental laws turns into something worse than a vampire.

And she’s got a bunch of those knocking at her border, wanting to come in. Worse yet, they’re sending their day-help into her territory to kidnap their meals, and they keep mistaking her for prey. And leaving their discarded empties in her territory to make it look like she’s draining humans without concern for the laws.

This really isn’t looking good, and it’s really not safe for her still-living friends and family.

FROM NATHAN BRINDLE: On Account of a Dame

Welcome to the New Jazz Age!

It’s the Roaring Twenties all over again — well — the 2120’s, that is. Where New York City has reverted to its Jazz Age roots of two centuries before. What’s missing? Prohibition, and gun control. What’s not missing? Tough guys, and the dames who (sometimes) love them. Gin joints. Speakeasies. Dance halls. The Social Register is still a thing, and the Beautiful People litter the society pages of the local hypernews sites.

Enter a typical gumshoe private detective — a member of that high society himself, yet a man who left society long ago for other pursuits. And his latest client, a rich young woman of leisure, who needs her new husband followed.

Throw in the recently-crowned queen of one of Chinatown’s tongs, a beautiful investment wizard from upstate, and a hundred million dollars in assets, and suddenly it’s all

On Account of a Dame.

FROM MARY CATELLI: Curses And Wonders

A collection of tales of wonder and magic.

A prince sets out to win his way to the dragon’s lair.

A woman fights a curse on her lands.

A man returns to his castle, bringing a magical sword, and worse things.

And more tales.

Includes “Dragon Slayer”, “The Book of Bone”, “Mermaids’ Song”, “Witch-Prince Ways”, “Sword and Shadow”, “Eyes of the Sorceress”, “Fever and Snow” — and “The Emperor’s Clothes”, which is not sold separately.

FROM ANNA FERREIRA: The Root of All Evil

When murder comes to Stockton, it brings long-buried secrets in its wake…

Kate Bereton leads a busy but unexciting life as the clergyman’s only daughter in a small Dorsetshire village. She’s grateful for the break in routine heralded by the arrival of her stepmother’s latest guests, but when Kate discovers a dead body in the parsonage one morning, she finds herself in much more danger than she could have ever anticipated. Terrified and desperate, she turns to the local magistrate for help. Mr. Reddington is eager to aid his dear friend Miss Bereton, but can they discover the murderer before it’s too late, and the secrets of the past are forgotten forever?

With a dash of romance and a generous helping of mystery, The Root of All Evil is a charming whodunit that will delight fans of Jane Austen and Agatha Christie alike.

https://amzn.to/3UevEvuFROM LEIGH KIMMEL: City of Blinding Light

The Columbian Exposition has transformed Chicago into a vision of the bright shining future. However, the electric lights that turn night to day bring no joy to Kitty Hawthorne, and not just because they are the work of her employer’s chief rival. Now Edison wants her to abandon her investigation of Tesla’s alternating current system and look into a mysterious newcomer. Who is Samuel Gillian, who devises calculating machinery as easily as he builds flying machines?

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: EXAMPLE

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

  1. “Well boy, you really screwed up” Sarge proclaimed. “We attempted to train you to be the best possible Ultra you could be and you failed us.”

    “But Sarge! I just followed my orders”.

    “You were given stupid orders that your training should have told you were stupid orders. We’re making an example of that idiot and sadly we have to make an example of you.”

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  2. “Butter?”

    “Plenty.”

    “Milk?”

    “Need more.”

    “Eggs?”

    “Ample”

    “Example?”

    “No, we don’t need an egg sample.”

    “Henway?”

    “What’s a henway?”

    “Oh, about three pounds.”

    “I’ll make an example of you.”

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Seen in a headline in the financial pages of the Babylon Bee – “Is Musk in the Market for Another Social Media Platform – Or is X Ample?” Rumor has it that BGE is the editor…

    Liked by 1 person

  4. A crow called ahead. And a laugh followed.

    “Do you think I will sacrifice you to make an example for the crows? Don’t be silly. They are wiser and more prudent than you. If I wanted to scare one, I would turn it white for an hour or two, instead.”

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  5. Having once been a Person of Size, she was enjoying the results of her hard work to lose ten stone. She was ex-ample.

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  6. Well, just as an example of what can happen, my denomination’s mountain retreat has hit the Exodus 36:5 wall—they don’t have room for any more donations until they acquire more storage.

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  7. His first morning on campus near a place called Blacksburg, Virginia, young Nigel Slim-Howland observed a passel of camouflaged cadets running past him, chanting and puffing. “Is this an example of a typical American university?” he asked.

    “Not quite representative,” said Nigel’s sister Agnes. “Would you like to join them?”

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  8. As Nigel Slim-Howland showed him out, Gwendolyn, the android maid, flashed the prospective client a coquettish smile. The client blushed all the way to his car. Nigel asked, “Is that really the example of what Howland Technologies stands for?”

    Jenkins, Nigel’s butler, replied, “That would depend on the client, sir.”

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  9. He stood. He could still feel the necromancy seething. That meant he had not expended everything.

    Ravens turned to look at him. Their eyes glittered in what light there was. He let his breath out. Large birds, they were. He would make an example of the first one to attack.

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  10. Of course this one would draw a lot of competition for what little creativity I’m managing at the moment and of course the scariest of them all would win!

    “How painfully dull.” the woman sighed, as she got up from her desk and walked to the windows of her office. Not that there was much of a view to enjoy even for executives of the Society of Amon. They had a reputation to uphold, after all, as the hidden claws of Nimbus.

    Another day, another round of bloody examples to be made of the fools that populated their continent. Tomorrow would be the same, and likely the day after that as well. The Council hadn’t seen a need to send anyone beyond the Thunderwall to raid the outside in a while either, though to be fair Elena could hardly blame them. After all, they had almost lost that horrid Luria girl in Aquitaine – nothing of value would have been lost in the Matriarch’s estimation if she hadn’t returned – but her Liam almost hadn’t returned from Fachtna. That would not do at all.

    He was the best and brightest enforcer Elena had mentored in all her years in the Society. He not only disposed of the standard targets she assigned him but he even proved adept at taking down renegade enforcers. The Matriarch’s features – those of a woman who was, at most, in her early 40s rather than one in her 60s – twisted into a cruel smile as she remembered the first time he succeeded in such a mission. After that he had become known as King Cobra, the one who hunts serpents who have gone astray.

    Still, even he could only do so much. Nimbus – no, all of Vertumnus was a wretched cesspit in need of order. Of course Elena had heard the stories of the Priesthood of the Pillars even growing up within these very walls but she knew them for the naive foolishness that they were even as a child. Indeed, she could hardly blame the Crimson Dragon for finding Vertumnus wanting. Where he went wrong, however, was his plans for absolute annihilation. All Vertumnus needed was a firm hand to set things in order..

    The Matriarch’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock. She silently admonished herself for getting lost in thought while her enforcers were still reporting in. Elena strode away from the window and sat back down at her desk before calling “Come in.”

    A young man with shoulder-length silver hair pulled into a ponytail entered the room. He was carrying a tome with a crinkled light brown cover in the crook of his left arm, a color that stood out against the striped black, green, and brown camouflage pattern on his long coat. Elena gave the young man a warm smile. Not that she had any doubt that he would have succeeded, of course.

    “The book you requested, Matriarch Elena,” he said, placing it on her desk and stepping backwards. “Everything else we recovered from the mission is in storage.”

    “Thank you, Liam,” she replied, glancing over the book’s front cover. “You returned far earlier than I expected..”

    “Dacian Ardelean didn’t have much of a sense of security,” he stated calmly. “I’m not sure he even thought of that as anything other than a curious old tome passed down through the family.”

    “His loss,” the Matriarch remarked with a chilling chuckle. “Chairman Ferenczy’s as well. Did Mr. Ardelean survive the encounter, perchance?”

    “He did not.” Liam replied. “He wasn’t the sorcerer he thought he was either.”

    “Of course he wasn’t,” Elena concurred. “Ah well. If not you another enforcer would have taken his head sooner or later. Better that it be you, Liam, than whichever wretch the Chairman could get to do his bidding. Or perhaps even this mysterious Sadira I keep hearing so much about these days.”

    “She was not present at any point during my assignment, Matriarch Elena.” the young man said.

    “That you know of,” she corrected him. “But I’ll consider it another win that we do not have to put an end to her vigilante career today. Regardless, Liam, you are dismissed. You are free to do as you like the rest of the evening.”

    “Understood. Thank you, Matriarch Elena.”

    Liam saluted her before departing and closing the door behind him. Once he departed Elena walked over to her door and muttered a spell. The glow through the door frame confirmed that the front of her door was covered in a barrier resembling black flames – her personal “do not disturb” sign. Only a select few knew how to get through it in case of emergencies. With everything in place Elena returned to her desk and opened the grimoire she recovered from the Ardelean estate. That family had been involved in worship of the Crimson Dragon for generations if the rumors were to be believed. Dacian was doing his best to turn his family’s reputation around but instead he brought about its end.

    “Such a pity,” Elena remarked aloud, allowing herself a malicious giggle at the man’s misfortune. Now she would see just what his family’s occult knowledge was worth.

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  11. Despite how ugh the blurb was, the PBS mini-documentary on Judy-Lynn Del Rey is really well done.

    They have excerpts from older articles about her, and they interview various authors and academics. The real shock is that they interview Steven R. Donaldson, who is appropriately grateful for Del Rey’s marketing push to his first trilogy. I’ve never seen him interviewed for ANYTHING.

    They interview some old Del Rey Books people who are still alive.

    They also interview Toni Weisskopf about her, which is a shrewd hit as we all know.

    I’m really sad that all this material was edited down to 12 minutes, but frankly this thing pounds so much stuff into three minutes that it is mindblowing.

    If you pause the video and read the articles and interviews pictured as background material, they will also blow your mind. She has some very, very strong words about how it’s not desirable for all sf/f to read the same way, and how an obsession with “fine sentence structure,” or making an author sound different than he is, is a terrible thing in an editor.

    She also says that editors/publishers have a responsibility to attract all kinds of new readers all the time, so that there will continue to be eager readers of the company’s books for ten or twenty years to come. And there you go. That’s what the mainstream publishers have neglected to do.

    So yes, I recommend this thing, and I’m kinda sorry I looked at the blurb at all.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. OMG. She was a prophet. She said that she was worried about teachers starting to teach science fiction books, because they would want them to read the following chapters and answer twenty questions. “But the kids don’t want to read Chapters One to Three. On their own, they would maybe read Chapter Fifteen before they went to bed. But if the teacher says One through Three, that’s the assignment. Why do more?”

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      1. Okay, there’s about seven minutes of Del Rey and five minutes of talking to activists and pointing out that sf conventions are inclusive. And boy, Norwescon looks pretty poorly attended these days, so I hope they were just filming early in the weekend.

        At the end they circle back and show her signature on a letter, so wait for that. Astrid Bear gets thanked in the end credits, too.

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  12. I have a relative who is justifiably in a bipolar support group.

    “Ah,” I said, “penguins and polar bears!”

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  13. ”Turn over the form. You’ll see how to fill it out correctly.”

    ”I can’t look at the example and fill it out at the same time,” I said to the beehive coiffed harpy behind the glass. “Can I have a second form to look at?”

    ”This is the DMV, not Kinko’s.”

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  14. “C’mon. Give me just *one* example of when that actually worked!”

    “That’s not my problem. I’ve never failed and I have no plans to now. You want to stop my experiments, YOU find the examples of when it *didn’t work.”

    “So, I’m guessing you know it won’t work. And in fact, it’ll likely blow up this lab, half the town, and you. How can you be so ragingly short-sighted and egotistical?? Fine. I’ll tell you the examples of when it DIDN’T work: Earth 2347, Hestia 2562, Arcturus 2422, Alpha Centauri 2394… shall I go on? So, unless you’ve radically changed something, which I seriously doubt, I’m outta here, and you’re gonna be dead. By-eee.”

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    1. Within the last week I listen to a reading of an old SF/horror story about a Very Special research lab… “One where we do stuff that even scares most humans.”

      One memorable bit was:

      “Do you know what happens when you put a miniature black hole in a hadron collider?”

      “Uh… no… what?”

      “Nobody does. We were about to try that when Gary [Death] appeared, wearing sunglasses, sitting in a beach chair, and eating popcorn. We cancelled that experiment.”

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  15. “It’s just another example of your invincible stupidity. First you accuse us of exploiting the people we invite to build a new world. Now you condemn us for discriminating against the ones we don’t invite.”

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  16. The assignment was deceptively simple: describe the quantum hologram and provide a concrete example of its operation. It’s the standard format for tests of basic scientific knowledge, and all of us knew how to write answers on stuff like gravity and electromagnetism.

    Except there’s one big problem with this question — there’s no agreement on what the quantum hologram is, beyond “theory set forth by astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell to explain psychic phenomena.” Even a superficial look at the literature shows there’s not even an agreement on whether it’s a real phenomenon or a useful metaphor for something that’s still as far beyond our comprehension as semiconductor theory was for the inventor of the crystal radio back at the turn of the last century.

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  17. Hi Sara. You might want to tell the Chicago Boyz that their website is coming up in MalwareBytes as being infected by v2.6.27 | Trojan: 2.0.202410300905. I don’t know what those numbers mean, myself, but it don’t sound good.

    Keep up the good work!

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