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

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, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. By clicking through and buying (anything book-related, 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. Remember though all of these submissions are from people willing to be associated with this blog. So if you’re trying to buy from people who don’t hate you, this is a good place to start.– SAH

FROM PAM UPHOFF: De Cyborg Kid (Chronicles of the Fall)

A Novella in the Three Part Alliance

PFUG, Inc. Project Find Uncle Gustav.

A kidnapping . . . the daughter recovered, the son apparently lost forever. Illegally cyborged and sold.

The Vogel Family might regret his very existence, but with a supreme indifference to mere legalities, a determined teenage boy is determined to find his long-lost uncle. No matter how many Cyborgs he has to rescue . . .

FROM HOLLY CHISM: A Sunny Day on Ganymede

Imagine growing up in a colony. No, not one on Earth–one in space. On one of Jupiter’s moons, or maybe on a station…or an asteroid! What would it be like to be a kid in a research station on Io, or Ganymede? What would it be like to grow up inside tunnels dug into an asteroid? Or on a station floating in fixed orbit somewhere? Join Jack, Sean, Raffie, Jake, and Chris in this collection of stories…where one of the biggest differences a kid can make is by asking the right questions.

FROM DALE COZORT: Nazi Treasure Hunt Book One: Marsh War

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Marsh War is an alternate history novel set in the aftermath of an alternate World War II where Hitler went for Moscow rather than the Caucasus in spring 1942. As a result, World War II in the east stalemated deep inside Soviet prewar territory. The Soviets were too weak to push the Germans out, even when the western allies pushed into Germany. Diehard Nazis fled to the German-held Soviet Union and held out there for years until the western Allies crossed into Soviet territory and destroyed them.

With the Soviet Union battered and partially occupied, the United States emerges from World War II as the World’s only real Great Power. Great, right? Not really. In 1949, two years after they destroyed the last conventional Nazi resistance, the US still occupies large parts of the western Soviet Union and has been sucked into the treacherous politics of the Polish/Soviet border regions, with nominal allies close to war with each other over economically valuable and ethnically mixed areas.
Stalin pursues his intrigues in this dangerous region, while Nazi remnants scheme to regain power.

While the US settles in for a postwar boom, US occupation forces in the Soviet Union search for missing German scientists, Nazi advanced technology and looted Nazi treasures. They also search for missing loved ones and brace for a coming war they are woefully unprepared for.

FROM SHANE HALLAWA: The Stylite

Teresa Amadei is a depressed young woman dealing with the sudden death of her mother, Juliana, with whom she has long been at odds since the murder of her father, Peter, when she was little. Her aunt and uncle, Bridget, and Jesse Abbate, send her to be helped by a Byzantine stylite in the Nevada desert, Father Simon. Father Simon trains her in the Way of Fire, a form of meditation that translates into a martial art, into a wandering, ascetic demon hunter and Lamp Bearer.

Teresa is sent on a journey to the city of Alexantine in the midwestern US, where many have started to move to as a refuge against the growing turmoil in the US and the West as a whole. Along the way, she fights the Daemoklos, demons who have escaped from their eponymous grimoire, led by their god-king Varazhah. Joining her on the road is her older cousin and fellow stylite, Matthew Abbate, and the Saracen, a mysterious knight with a mass following, whose identity and purpose remain unknown.

To defend the world, one must let go of and surpass the world. To survive against the outer demons, Teresa must face her inner demons, and at last make peace with Juliana, who continues to speak to her daughter beyond the grave.

FROM EDWARD HERING: Hypnagogia

Where does your mind wander in the quiet moments before sleep?

Hypnagogia is a collection of seven speculative tales conceived in the hazy, unfiltered threshold between waking thought and deep slumber. Spanning hard science fiction, quiet suspense, and dark cosmic dread, these stories trace the unpredictable paths of a mind untethered from daytime logic.

Inside this collection:

• Deadman Vector: A high-risk prospecting voyage goes catastrophic, forcing a crew to endure five brutal minutes at 75 gravities—where survival is measured in sheer physical endurance.
• Chandelier: Stranded on an undeveloped world after a hyperdrive failure, a freight captain must survive in an aggressive alien ecosystem, accompanied by his sole passenger: a taciturn, enigmatic alien entity.
• Methuselah: A chance meeting at a party catapults an ordinary guy ten thousand years into a bizarre, distant future.
• Desecration: Ken’s life changes for the better when the girl of his dreams moves in next door—until he discovers that ancient, unseen forces have a far darker purpose for him.

From the unforgiving physics of deep space to the strange encounters waiting just around the corner, Hypnagogia captures the vivid, restless imagination that takes over when the lights go out.

Close your eyes. Step into the drift.

FROM JAMES MAYNARD: Flying on the Wings of Change: A story from Americas Divorce

What happens when a wounded veteran, a computer genius, and a handful of fiercely independent misfits decide that the best way to change the world is to stop waiting for someone else to do it?

G has spent years flying from a wheelchair, learning to make the sky obey him even when his body won’t. T is a computer wizard with a mysterious past, an enormous extended family, and a talent for turning impossible ideas into working machines.

Together, they build things that shouldn’t exist.

Aircraft that push the limits of what remote flight can do. Technology born in garages and workshops instead of corporate boardrooms. And a community of people who have decided that family isn’t necessarily something you’re born into.

But building extraordinary machines attracts attention.

Soon G, T, and their growing family find themselves caught between government agencies, competing agendas, and people who would very much like to know exactly what they’re capable of. What began as tinkering and experimentation is becoming something far more consequential.

Because when you build something powerful enough to change the rules, eventually somebody comes looking for the keys.”   

FROM JAMIESON WARD: Unlocked: The Man with the Dragon-Head Cane

Mara Wolfe is the best investigator the Utah State Bureau of Investigation has.

She’s also on the verge of being fired.

Ten partners in four years. A file full of complaints. “Insubordinate.” “Reckless.” A closure rate no one can touch and a stillness around danger that makes people deeply uncomfortable. When her lieutenant finally runs out of patience, he doesn’t fire her — he reassigns her. To the weird cases. The ones nobody can explain and that no one wants. And to a civilian consultant she didn’t ask for, doesn’t trust, and can’t stop thinking about.

Tobias Crane walks with a cane and has eyes that speak of things better left unsaid. The detailed dragon head on his cane is neither decoration — nor just a carving.

The case that brings them together: six people found wandering the Parowan Gap at dawn. No injuries. No memory. No longer wholly human. It should have been a dead end.

It isn’t.

What finds Mara at the end of it will take her somewhere her Marine training, her badge, and her instincts never prepared her for. The old world — the one that existed before this one had a name — was always more than myth.

It’s been waiting to come back.

And something there just kicked open the door.

Unlocked is Book One of The Man with the Dragon-Head Cane — a six-book urban fantasy series rooted in Welsh mythology, set against the ancient landscape of southern Utah.

FROM LEE ECKHARD: YOU CAN’T SEE US: A SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Seventeen-year-old Katherine Matheson, in the hospital recovering from an automobile accident, is astounded to discover she can now hear what people are thinking – the accident somehow liberated a telepathic ability she never knew she had before. Almost immediately she is contacted by the Wheel, a group of telepathic nomads on the run from the mysterious Janus, a powerful mentality whom is determined to capture them and use them for his own nefarious purposes. Kathy joins them as they flee from California to New Mexico and then to Illinois, knowing her life is in danger but finding, in the Wheel, a kind of family she never had before. But all families have their secrets, and the Wheel is no exception: Kathy is eventually forced to confront just why the Wheel was created and what it really is… NOTE: Kathy Matheson previously appeared in ‘The Empty Place’.

FROM NATHAN C. BRINDLE: The Clerics in the Kitchen (Timelines Universe Book 10)

When your meth lab is built on a factory scale…

The planet Sanddoom. Desert exile world for most of Earth’s Radical Islamic Fundamentalists. Run by Mad Mullahs, who repay the favor of American leniency by creating a world of slavery, insurgency, and export of dangerous drugs via their own outmigrating people, headed for other colony planets.

The first two are covered by a hands-off agreement with the Americans.

The last, not so much. And Captain Delaney Wolff Fox’s special assignments fire team, FTSA1, aren’t going to stand for it. Their job is to hunt down and eliminate

The Clerics in the Kitchen

FROM MEL DUNAY: Ancestors of Jaiya Series Collection

Four Books in One! Welcome to the land of Jaiya, where humans share their lands with strange creatures, and where darker powers lurk in the shadows! Slaying a Tyrant: the dancer Vanti dreams only of perfecting her art, until her family names her their gladiator in a deadly tournament that will decide her country’s fate. Her reluctant mentor, the brooding warrior Gurion, may hold the knowledge she needs to survive. But as the tournament approaches, Vanti discovers that she will need more than speed or strength to defeat the magical powers of King Obiar the Conqueror. Saving a Queen: Prasa escapes her city as it falls to imperial forces, with only a few allies and a desperate desire to save her fleeing people. Her only hope of escape lies with Nirav, a dashing smuggler who pilots a balloon through dangerous mountain passes. As they soar over breathtaking landscapes, Prasa finds herself caught between her royal duty and her growing attraction to the mysterious pilot. In a world where humans share their lands with strange creatures, and where darker powers lurk in the shadows, Prasa faces her most difficult decision. She must choose her own path: a new war against her enemies, or a new start for her people, with new allies at her side. But Nirav carries a secret cargo that makes their balloon a target for a monstrous creature out of the old legends. Scapegoating a Hero: Anora hides her rare and unsettling power: the ability to steal other people’s memories with a single touch. By day, she plays the respectable wife to Naval officer Rijal in their arranged marriage. By night, she reluctantly uses her abilities as a spy to protect her nation’s hard-won freedom. When Rijal kills the sleazy businessman who was blackmailing Anora, he’s immediately arrested. Their marriage of convenience becomes anything but convenient, as Anora discovers feelings she never expected to have for her husband. Seeking the Quantum Tree: secret agent Sena must warn the neighboring land of Avugah about a planned invasion by the ruthless General Drozniya. When Drozniya attacks ahead of schedule, Sena finds herself trapped behind enemy lines. Aided by handsome businessman Taavid, she must try to save the other Jaiyans trapped in the occupied zone. In a world where humans share their lands with strange creatures, and where darker powers lurk in the shadows, Sena uncovers General Drozniya’s true obsession: the Quantum Tree, a legendary source of mystical power that could rewrite reality.

FROM JOHN BAILEY: The Stars Beyond the Reach of Kings (The Aurigan Conflict)

Far from the capitals of two rival interstellar powers, the fate of free worlds rests not with admirals or emperors—but with ordinary people.

The Hesperus Reach lies on the distant frontier of human civilization, where neighboring colonies have been drawn into opposite spheres of influence. New Albion remains aligned with the commercial traditions of the Anglo Commonwealth. Vesper has prospered under the careful guidance of the Aurigan Dominion.

Neither empire seeks conquest in the old sense.
One offers opportunity through commerce.
The other offers security through dependence.

Caught between them are Daniel Wren, an Anglo survey pilot determined to do the right thing; Marcus Venn, whose ambition slowly becomes betrayal; Elise Harrow and Julia Serrin, two remarkable women who discover that truth matters more than ideology; and Elias Varr, a forgotten scientist whose secluded world holds a secret capable of changing the balance of power across known space.

As hidden agendas collide and long-buried technology resurfaces, old friendships are tested, governments reveal uncomfortable truths, and two colonies must decide whether freedom means choosing the better empire—or refusing to belong to either.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Stars Beyond the Reach of Kings combines thoughtful political science fiction, compelling characters, and high-stakes adventure into a story about forgiveness, responsibility, and the enduring struggle to remain free.

Perfect for readers who enjoy the political depth of classic space opera, realistic interstellar diplomacy, and intelligent science fiction where ideas matter as much as battles.

FROM SARAH A. HOYT: Darkship Thieves

Athena Hera Sinistra never wanted to go to space. Never wanted see the eerie glow of the Powerpods. Never wanted to visit Circum Terra. She never had any interest in finding out the truth about the Darkships. You always get what you don’t ask for.
When an intruder in her bedroom forces Athena to flee her father’s luxury cruiser in a tiny lifeboat, her escape leads her straight to the legendary Darkships—mysterious vessels that steal Earth’s power supply. And into the life of the pilot of the Darkship.

Thrust into a hidden asteroid colony and hunted by powerful enemies, Athena discovers shocking truths about her father’s empire and her own identity. As she navigates this dangerous new reality, what began as a fight for survival becomes a battle for freedom that could transform humanity’s future.

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 to ask.

Your writing prompt this week is: rude