tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47307900803369362392024-02-01T20:27:16.133-08:00Pencil + WordUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-4282870399567003632016-02-05T20:59:00.000-08:002016-02-05T20:59:16.911-08:00SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY BOX SET SALE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMOQeBWoRytt54PWvkjGQVmaxx6NNQekyNJYMEBNMnpDdu1yYcjH-gKX1ctzzOmIDa067f5PCojT2gELNjVG2tM7w53eM_nlmHPafLRC9SsxX_2S9gEESA3KW-E5a1ySeMGEN18HhLkQ/s1600/patty%2527s+box+set+sale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMOQeBWoRytt54PWvkjGQVmaxx6NNQekyNJYMEBNMnpDdu1yYcjH-gKX1ctzzOmIDa067f5PCojT2gELNjVG2tM7w53eM_nlmHPafLRC9SsxX_2S9gEESA3KW-E5a1ySeMGEN18HhLkQ/s400/patty%2527s+box+set+sale.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">I'm participating in a huge box set sale with many other authors this weekend! it's Patty Jansen's Promo! Check it out and pick up a bunch of great science fiction and fantasy books for your device for $0.99 or for free! My </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Red World</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> trilogy box set is only $.99 for this weekend. To search for and get these books for such great prices follow the link below! Don't sleep on this, folks! It lasts until this Sunday night!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #090a1b; font-family: Gentium Basic;"><a href="http://pattyjansen.com/promo/">http://pattyjansen.com/promo/</a></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-5295928683523220922016-01-31T20:02:00.000-08:002016-01-31T20:02:18.185-08:00my new Mission book is finally out! Mission: Blackguard Conspiracy is on sale right now for $0.99. Get it now before it goes up to the regular price of $2.99!<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The Dark Energy Project, started by a group of far thinking engineers, scientists and programmers many years ago has come roaring back like a storm! </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Meant to catapult human exploration and civilization out to the farthest reaches of space, it centered around the groundbreaking information on how to build working stargates. Except, the information was stolen and its founders and all other humans attached to the project killed by alien loyalists. Thereafter, it was renamed The Blackguard Project, the linchpin of the entire drama between humans, alien rebels and the alien loyalists. It's a shortcut for the aliens in the approaching Black Fleet who abandoned their dying planet and are heading to the solar system to invade Earth and wipe out humanity.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Bob receives a copy of the Blackguard files by The Boss with a new mission: stop the inaugural activation of the new stargate at the annual Sci-Tech Convention. To most people, this is a momentous year in the history of science and space exploration. However, Bob and his U-net band know that this gate is a Trojan Horse! It must be stopped and the aliens behind this sinister plan exposed, no matter the cost.</span></i><br />
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<i>Mission: Blackguard Conspiracy</i></div>
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Finished.</div>
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Look for the release later this month.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-5668463935354406662016-01-06T11:51:00.000-08:002016-01-06T11:51:13.657-08:00Cover Reveal!New book cover! Check it out! By <a href="https://www.streetlightgraphics.com/" target="_blank">Streetlight Graphics</a>!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGoY5j9LzvLs57CdcH7GsiUsfRKQ6sHMNq2XAibVHyxZIW1jy1oS72jzSZBl-Y-UkWBslXLCW-w_wI0vBU8x-iCbTPvA8yJgJ0mR6hWXwFyYeGKWpGbVFseAgG5_54SgENlwkEH6xDeU/s1600/Mission-Blackguard-Conspiracy-800+Cover+reveal+and+Promotional.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGoY5j9LzvLs57CdcH7GsiUsfRKQ6sHMNq2XAibVHyxZIW1jy1oS72jzSZBl-Y-UkWBslXLCW-w_wI0vBU8x-iCbTPvA8yJgJ0mR6hWXwFyYeGKWpGbVFseAgG5_54SgENlwkEH6xDeU/s640/Mission-Blackguard-Conspiracy-800+Cover+reveal+and+Promotional.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-89713375040457801772015-12-19T12:14:00.003-08:002015-12-19T12:14:54.715-08:00Sample Chapters! (Mission: Blackguard Conspiracy)<div style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
Okay here's the sample chapter from my latest book I'm writing, Mission: Blackguard Conspiracy! it starts with a huge bang! Hope you like it! If you want more sample chapters<a href="http://epistlepublishing.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f13b81a81b6e63e29161bee30&id=72e6701d52" style="color: #2537bb; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">, join the mailing list! </a>This is chapter one, by the way. Also, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Schisms-Red-World-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00AVA9442/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank"><i>Schisms</i> is now perma-free! </a>if you've already read it tell someone who might be interested!</div>
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Enjoy!</div>
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<strong>1</strong></h2>
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The momentum I'd gained from my jetpack caused me to careen into the wall and I began sliding toward the open airlock but I myself caught upon one of the ship's rear support columns and frantically swung myself around and with a thump I hit the floor snatching up the broken pipe as he bore down on me again. He grabbed my arm and swung me up towards the ceiling. I hit the ceiling with a hard crack as he grabbed my legs to slam me down against the floor or the wall. I swung the pipe and bashed him on the shoulder but his strength in his rage was fantastic! It seemed to have no effect on him but I hit him again, this time across his helmet. I felt myself slammed against the ground and saw stars on the edges of my vision. Adrenaline now was the only thing that kept me going – that, and growing rage. And I too had gotten more fit and stronger in my labors as a U-net agent.</div>
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I rolled across the ground and was up again but had dropped my weapon and couldn't get to my pistol. He laughed, his mouth full of bloody phlegm and saliva from his glands but besides that he was unharmed and coming at me like a hawk after prey.</div>
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“You've been a pain in my ass for too long, Astor! It ends here!” He screamed, bloody spittle flying form his mouth and bubbling on his faceplate. He pulled out a blade and I kicked his arm sending it clattering to the floor behind him.</div>
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“Only in your ass? I haven't been trying hard enough!” I lunged forward, smashing into him and we both went down toppling over the storage boxes. With superior strength he got the best of me and I soon found myself pinned under him, struggling as he laughed. His face was so badly mangled that I no longer recognized him, the human engineered skin and alien flesh and appendages fused together in a monstrous unity. He straddled me with his powerful legs, grabbed my helmet and began bashing it against the floor trying to crack it open. The powerful sucking sound of the air emptying from the craft was becoming louder and I felt the powerful force of motion as the air pressure chamber doors finally rose open completely and we both slid toward the opened air chute of the craft. I could see the pistol only a few feet away from me again. Tantalizingly close.</div>
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If only I had listened to Magnum!</div>
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Outside was the eternity of black space, my soon graveyard if I didn't turn this around. I yelled and pushed against him trying to lift him off me. If I didn't do something quick I would be dead matter floating in space. And then I saw my chance. I grabbed his jetpack strap and pushed the forward blast button sending him careening into the opposite wall. I held on to the jetpack strip and swung him around again as he screamed in rage. I forwarded his momentum by pushing the lift off and drive buttons again and then as he tried to yank the strip from me. He managed to do that as I swung him further toward the open hatch trying to throw him out. Finally yanking it free he flew back down from the ceiling and charged after me, knife in hand. By then I had dropped to the floor and grabbed the pistol. I fired right before he was able to descend upon me and a stream of violet laser fire crackled from the pistol burning a large hole in his chest. He screamed, more in anguish and defeat than pain and I fired again this time the laser fire severing one of his arms. I watched as both he, his arm and all the effluvia and fluids spewing from his body toppled end over end out the air chamber and then floated out the hatch into cold space.</div>
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“Yeah,” I said, sighing heavily and bending down to one knee. “I guess it does end here.” Finally, my nemesis was defeated.</div>
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I felt myself being pulled along the floor and realized that my own leg was tangled in the long jetpack strip. I tried to anchor myself looking for anything to hold on to but there was nothing in the bay but a few storage boxes which were now just out of my reach. I accidentally dropped the pistol, sending it scuttling toward the open hatch in my struggle to free myself. The force was becoming too strong for me to walk against it. I fell and slid helplessly along the floor as the body floated further out into space. I struggled in vain to untangle myself and shake it off. It was no use. I struggled, crawling back across the floor, each movement becoming ever more difficult as the force of the air and the dead weight of the body was too great. I grappled against the smooth floor desperately, then turned back to see myself sliding near the pistol I grabbed hold of it again and shot at the strip, finally severing the cord. I slid down the floor and managed to hold on to a bar against the wall of the air lock. Sliding my arm toward the emergency controls, the force of the winds forced my head down against the cold metal surface of the wall. I positioned myself awkwardly, sideways against the wall and reached the control panel, pulled the lever and the doors came down and secured the ship. I could finally feel the air around me slowly return to normal pressure as the air lock secured itself completely shut.</div>
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I fell to the ground and simply remained there for a few moments. He was now gone, truly forever, never to hunt me or my family again. All I had to do now was wait for someone to come and respond to my distress signal from the ship. When my energy returned I eventually went the cockpit and sat down, taking off my helmet. I turned the lights off and sat back, staring at the wonders of space. There was a change in me. I was no longer afraid. Tulos had said as much would happen one day. And he's said to celebrate it and savor it. But then may be I was too dumb to be afraid. After all who in their right mind would have followed an alien spy all the way to another planet in the first place but someone who was too dumb to be afraid? I laughed.</div>
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I think we had won. And I felt that I could finally breathe, that whatever trials would come for the human family, and there would be many, that the future was once again bright. . .</div>
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. . .and then I woke up. Again, my dreams were becoming more real, as if I could smell, touch and experience the pain in them. And they were becoming more prescient. Which was making me question my own sanity. This wasn't helping things with my wife who normally took everything in stride. There had been a sudden change in her towards me and she was now calling everything I did into question, even my sleeping patterns! Once again, I was a hero in my dreams, saving the world only for that dream to dissipate and my poor ego to deflate when I woke up to reality.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-57468727710420530102015-12-02T17:18:00.001-08:002015-12-02T17:18:15.658-08:00ProgressI'm in the second editing stage of Blackguard Conspiracy right now and it's been very tough. I've just finished writing a book under a pen name and went straight back into writing Blackguard and I was really feeling the burnout. Things are getting better on that front. I'm enjoying this phase of the editing process but it was rough going for a few months getting that first draft out.<br />
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Sometimes it's good to take a break. over work is never a good thing. Anyway, I've got another other Worlds podcast episode coming out later this month so stay tuned. I'm hoping to get Blackguard out by the end of this month but I'm not sure how that will work! we'll see!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-14249978202895269612015-11-14T20:15:00.003-08:002015-11-15T10:26:30.377-08:00New Book release!I've been a busy lady! I'm now working on the next <i>Mission</i> book, <i>Blackguard Conspiracy</i> and there's a new science fiction, time travel romance called <i>The Sojourner</i>, that's out now. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017Y5JXC4?*Version*=1&*entries*=0" target="_blank"><i>The Sojourner</i> is now on sale at Amazon.</a> If you enjoy scifi romance and time travel romance, check it out!<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">All her life Sara McGregor has felt adrift, searching for. . . something. Part of her past is shrouded in mystery, thanks to her enigmatic mother, long dead, and she's struggling to figure out what course her life should take. Dropping out of college and a string of failed relationships has trapped her into a holding pattern. There's got to be something more than her dead-end job, her current loser boyfriend and the pointless rat race of life. Something is missing. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">A strange astronomical event coupled with the power of a family heirloom blasts her into the future, far away from her world and from everyone she's ever known and loved. She accidentally lands on the ship of a handsome pirate captain. Viewed as an unwelcome stowaway at the least, a dangerous spy sent to harm the crew at the worst, the captain is convinced that she's been sent to assassinate someone very close to him. Sara's in over her head and must think fast to convince the captain she's innocent. Sara's game for the excitement but does she have what it takes to survive among a den of space pirates who don't trust her? Survival among them depends on the captain accepting her account of how she landed on his ship and discovering her identity. The answer lies in the mystery surrounding her secretive mother, an answer that may save her life and help her chart a new destiny.</span></i><br />
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Look for it on other retailers later this month!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-32280307029979772242015-07-26T11:20:00.002-07:002015-07-26T11:20:18.705-07:00Exciting Stuff, finishing the blueshiftersI'm nearly finished with the blueshifters, season two. That should be out by the beginning of August. there's so much I've got on y plate right now and I've entered exciting times as a writer! two more books n the blueshifter series will be written and then that will be finished. After that comes a scifi detective serial and of course my main series, the Mission series which I plan to release sometime this fall.<br />
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The most exciting? well, I've come up with a new pen name for another series I'll be doing this year. But more on that later.<br />
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<a href="http://blueshiftfiction.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Go ahead and visit the blueshifter blog and read the newest episodes I have out</a>. The next blueshifter book that will be out is the blueshifters: red dawn. That season will be all about the bad guys.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-61568258234399980652015-07-01T11:58:00.000-07:002015-07-01T11:58:23.984-07:00You Drop Stardust - Scifi Romance!I have a new book out, it's the ebook form of my online sci-fi romance serial, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010OENHH4?*Version*=1&*entries*=0" target="_blank"><i>You Drop Stardust</i>!</a> It's on sale now at Amazon for $0.99! if you enjoy the <i>Griffin and Sabine </i>series by Nick Bantock, you might like<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010OENHH4?*Version*=1&*entries*=0" target="_blank"> <i>You Drop Stardust!</i> </a>Look for The Blueshifters, season 2 to be out this month!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-83989220405324684842015-06-19T18:52:00.000-07:002015-06-19T18:52:14.198-07:00New podcast episodes and new blueshift fiction episodes!I have new stuff out! Besides <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z2P1UEI?*Version*=1&*entries*=0" target="_blank"><i>Mission: Harbeasts of Mars</i></a> I have three new episodes put for <a href="http://blueshiftfiction.blogspot.com/2015/06/13.html" target="_blank">the blueshifters, </a>Strange Clues, The Trans-Resurrection machine and The Trans-Resurrection Machine, Part 2, and I also have a new episode out for my <a href="http://theotherworldspodcast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Other Worlds podcast</a>! Check them out!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-22502623488386161712015-06-06T22:54:00.000-07:002015-06-06T23:47:10.538-07:00New Release!<div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-eda299ddcc567b48e127" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; background-color: white; clear: none; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; height: auto; line-height: 24px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px 17px 10px; position: relative; transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out;">
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Mission: Harbeasts of Mars is now live on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z2P1UEI?*Version*=1&*entries*=0" style="color: #2537bb; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon! for $2.99!</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Crash landing! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">After a rowdy victory celebration following the battle of Europa, Bob goes for a stargazing trip in the desert and wrecks his speeder. Stranded, he soon finds he isn't alone. Harbeasts, the savage, fearsome, genetically engineered predators that roam the Martian deserts are hot on his trail! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">With no water or food, limited air supply, no working vehicle, and the nearest way-station days away, Bob finds himself in a dogged fight for survival. Unfortunately, he also finds that the harbeasts aren't the only predators out to get him.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-15449213592314939682015-05-31T15:11:00.000-07:002015-05-31T15:11:07.260-07:00What Happened To Fun In Science Fiction?<header id="yui_3_17_2_1_1433109747001_483" style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><h1 class="entry-title" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1433109747001_482" style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Gentium Basic', Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">
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60's Slingers by Jason Weidel</div>
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This is a question I've been asking myself for a few years now. I'm tired of depressing, nihilistic science fiction stories and I know I'm not the only one. Even for those who may enjoy the current offerings that pass for science fiction they may be looking for a wider variety. Where is that variety? Sadly, it's disappeared.</div>
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It's very much related to another question I've asked about certain styles of music - hip hop and rap. As I grow older I've found that I no longer listen to much of it but the question is asked because it has changed drastically and not for the better: whatever happened to the fun in hip hop and rap? It's become dull, stupid, repetitive trash only concerned with money, cars and hoes.</div>
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It's become painfully dark and nihilistic. No thanks. personally, I find nihilism to be a poisonous way of thinking.</div>
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Science fiction has gone down the same sad path and while I've heard the various arguments for why science fiction has forsaken its pulpy roots, bold adventures and heroes and positive look at science and humanity's future (some of them make very good sense), I find that often times those of us who write stories for others to read have a deep influence on people's attitudes and thinking and on the larger culture, whether we want to admit it or not. It's the same with any artistic endeavor. You do influence others with your work and it can be profound. So, the kind of work you create and put out there becomes important.</div>
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I'm not saying that people should censor themselves. If one wants to write only dystopian, nihilistic sci-fi, go ahead. I have no interest in stopping them. But where are the writers who are tired of reading stuff like that? Where are those who have become tired of the mundane? Science fiction has forgotten its bold roots and those of us who want to see more positive science fiction are being under-served. I myself am a science fiction writer and I write fiction that has a more positive view of humanity and the future. I suppose it has to do with my own philosophical beliefs. I believe that things will certainly become much darker, but then they will eventually get much better for humanity. This is reflected in my work. Some people believe that humanity will eventually find its way out of the morass, others, like me, believe God will eventually solve the issues. Regardless of the belief system, there's a positive end as the result.</div>
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Perhaps some of this is nostalgia ( I see nothing wrong with that) but entertainment doesn't just reflect society and its ills, it also reinforces them when it simply follows the downward path seen in society. If you want to change something, you can't simply reflect what you see. That's a lazy form of creative endeavor. You have to reach out for something better. You have to take action to create a vision of your own. Just like old school fantasy where there are clear delineations between good and evil, a vision that usually leads to a positive end, which is the sort of fantasy I usually prefer, writers who aren't interested in the mundane or the nihilistic need to put our own brighter visions out there. We need to impact and influence the genre with a new chorus of positive voices. There's no real vision anymore, no wonder. Reality has let us know that Mars and Venus and other planets are hostile. but there is nothing more magnificent than the human mind when it needs to solve problems. The hostile conditions on these planets shouldn't stop science fiction. After all, it's FICTION, not reality. Fiction often times influences the real world. Why has this stopped? It's become the other way around and I find this has deadened writers' imaginations. That should never be!</div>
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Right now there is only one chorus and it is sounding the death knell of the human race. If the agents and publishers are the problem, if they won't publish old school sci-fi then self -publish it, so readers who want these kinds of stories can be served well.</div>
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I have readers who tell me they enjoy my Mission series because it reminds them of the old school stuff they read as kids. That old school stuff is still good reading, in my opinion. It's one of the reasons so many people, like me, love Star Wars! It doesn't have to be completely retrofitted sci-fi that doesn't take into account the issues people face today. Of course, it will take on the modern times we live in. I'm not calling for hunky-dory stories (The <em>Dune</em> series by Frank Herbert is a prime example of serious science fiction that is anything but happy-go-lucky. It's cynical, but the wonder in the storytelling is still there) but must everything be dismal and dark? Where's the vision? Where's the wonder and imagination? Where are the movers and shakers to shake us up out of our nihilistic stupor? Those readers are out there. Let's stop ignoring them.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-91135848130614772672015-05-30T08:14:00.000-07:002015-05-30T08:14:07.269-07:00New book cover - Mission: Harbeasts of Mars!My new book cover for the fourth book in the <i>Mission </i>series: <i>Harbeasts of Mars.</i> scary looking, aren't they? I love it. This was created by the Glendon of <a href="http://www.streetlightgraphics.com/" target="_blank">Streetlight Graphics</a>!<br />
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<i>Harbeasts of Mars</i> comes out next weekend!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-28687856855675443452015-03-07T23:19:00.001-08:002015-03-07T23:19:16.855-08:00Other Worlds Podcast: Episode 2 - Dust and Bones<a href="http://theotherworldspodcast.blogspot.com/2015/03/episode-2-dust-and-bones.html?spref=bl">Other Worlds Podcast: Episode 2 - Dust and Bones</a>: Here is episode 2 of the Other Worlds podcast. Talkshoe, my regular host, has decided to act screwy today and the feed won't stream ...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-16674134873886883562015-03-06T10:38:00.001-08:002015-03-06T10:38:16.978-08:00New Episodes!<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1425666518390_2561" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
I have the latest episode of <em>You Drop Stardust </em>out, <a href="http://blueshiftfiction.blogspot.com/2015/02/between-aurora-and-antaeus.html" style="color: #2537bb; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Between Aurora and Antaeus</a>. I'll be wrapping up this story by the end of the month because I'll be participating in a scifi romance blog-hop where this story will be featured as a giveaway in audio book form so stay tuned for that and also because in April I'll be in Europe on vacation!</div>
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Next week I'll have the second episode of <a href="http://theotherworldspodcast.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2537bb; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Other Worlds</a> podcast out, called Dust and Bones, after my titular short story. Also the march Madness giveaway starts next week too!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-55362238255103761382015-02-10T21:03:00.001-08:002015-02-10T21:03:33.004-08:00Star Wars: The Force Awakens TrailerYeah I know, I know, it's been out since forever. I feel like posting it anyway, so there!<br />
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I can't wait!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-72330927303464218182015-01-29T11:35:00.000-08:002015-01-29T11:35:17.201-08:00New Book Cover!<span style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Here the new book cover for </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Mission: Attack On Europa</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">! It's by </span><a href="http://www.streetlightgraphics.com/" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1422559958359_613" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Streetlight Graphics!</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-25226276614576555462015-01-18T19:43:00.002-08:002015-01-18T19:43:59.457-08:00The Rangers - official trailer! The Forge studios has released their official trailer for their indie fantasy film <i>The Rangers</i>! It looks fantastic and I'm excited about getting my DVD. It's from a Kickstarter I supported that was fully funded back in April of 2014. Take a look and if you wan to keep up with what this indie film studio is doing subscribe to their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Forge-Studios/647935258638614" target="_blank">Facebook Page!</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/89hDVYnsuxs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-21565187991244632982015-01-09T11:31:00.004-08:002015-01-09T11:31:34.944-08:00Progress Report<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1420831403146_2488" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; line-height: 24px;">
<em id="yui_3_17_2_5_1420831403146_2487">Mission: Attack on Europa:</em></div>
<div class="text-align-center" id="yui_3_17_2_5_1420831403146_2500" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">
<strong>Finished.</strong></div>
<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1420831403146_2502" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; line-height: 24px;">
I'm finishing the last editing pass and I'm just waiting on the book cover art work. Look for the release of<em> Mission: Attack on Europa</em> January 31st!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-24544686282295882122014-12-14T13:54:00.000-08:002014-12-14T13:54:00.866-08:00Sample Chapters - Mission: Attack on Europa<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2478" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
<strong id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2477">Here is a sample of chapter three of <em>Attack on Europa</em>. It's only a second draft so there will be grammar and spelling issues. Anyway. I've got something new from here on out. I will only post one chapter on my blogs now. If you want extra sample chapters sign up to the <a href="http://epistlepublishing.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f13b81a81b6e63e29161bee30&id=72e6701d52" style="color: #2537bb; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">mailing list.</a></strong></div>
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<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2497" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
<strong>(A Portion of Chapter 3)</strong></div>
<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2497" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
<strong><br /></strong></div>
<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2498" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
As we made our way up a moving walkway I watched other ships mounting up or settling upon landing pads above and below us. Some were old classic solar sail ships, others with vast mounted mirrors to collect sunlight for fuel and heat, besides the usual plasma fuel based ships like ours.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“All kinds.” I muttered. Some looked like fantastic things straight out of dreams or stories.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Those kinds of ships usually remain in areas very close to the sun.” Said Diamond. “Most of the time they're usually around the stations or hideouts near Venus and Mercury.”</div>
<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2500" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Seems like you'd save an incredible amount in energy costs flying those ships.” I said. Diamond grunted.</div>
<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2502" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“You could save a lot of money. The problem is that when you need to travel for extended periods of time away from the inner planets, the power source becomes to weak. You can lose energy and fuel and be in danger of getting stranded. I'd thought of buying one of those sail ships when I started building my own team but it wasn't worth the long term costs or the danger in the end. Those ships don't have much in the way of speed. And with the situations I was dealing with, I needed speed.” I didn't press further on that.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
As inside the complex, fat plexi-glass doors lifted up as our walkway ended and a series of long wide corridors inside opened up to us. We were greeted by an elaborate fountain, a copy of the Trevi Fountain. That was the signal that we were inside the sealed part of the complex and we took our helmets off. It looked like a much older built station with an amalgam of different parts of complexes patched together. There was a riot of activity going on in here and it was filled with vendors selling all kinds of stuff. Stationed at one hundred foot intervals were huge port screens being fed weather reports of various planets and solar activity reports. I was betting the truly dark and dirty stuff was hidden away in secret alcoves somewhere around here. It had a thrumming, chaotic energy that I found thrilling and scary. What I didn't see were aliens, or if there were, they were well disguised. Gunner's Run was still the province of humans. <em>But they have to know what's going on out here.</em> We passed by a vendor stalls where strong currents of tobacco and other substances wafted out, a fueling station where right outside the viewport I saw a long line of ships waiting to be fueled, traveler's huts, motels, bars and other businesses.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“The hideouts are in the inner ring. You won't find them on the outer ring out here,” said Diamond quietly. I saw ships bearing the company names of powerful privateer companies and other wealthy denizens who docked their ships in private hangars. Very expensive. <em>I'm sure that affords them certain advantages.</em></div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
I followed him down until we came to a large pair of polished wooden and copper doors around the corner to the right. Diamond pushed them open and we found ourselves inside a clubby, convivial- looking establishment. A courtesy mech built like a glamour model greeted us.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Hello gentleman. It's happy hour. Please seat yourself,” she said pleasantly.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
It was huge and it had three bars and at least seventy tables. Everything was leather seats, burnished brass lamps and highly polished wooden tables. I could feel my boots sink down into the plush, deep red carpet.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Smells good already! You can get anything here if you ask the right person.” He grinned wolfishly. I rolled my eyes.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Well what I want right now a big steak and some potatoes.” I said.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“No problem. Sounds good to me too.” Everyone here I noticed was armed and strapped out with weapons. All sorts of weapons that were banned back home. I wasn't in much position to talk seeing that I kept and still used my atomic rifle. I'd brought my laser dragon and Diamond had two small lasguns strapped on either side of his space suit.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Want anything else?”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Steak and taters and beer.” I said resolutely and sat down at a table while Diamond used his ear piece to make a call and then he loped off toward the main bar to order. It gave me a chance to look around. I saw all kinds of people, most busy talking and laughing, commiserating with each other. No one seemed to be paying much attention to me. At first. I saw a group of female smugglers walk in and go to the bar to the left. Covered in tribal tattoos and wearing tight-fitting black space suits that flattered every inch of their forms, they carried not only large blasters on their left hips but sported slender katana swords in sheaths at their right hips as well. They looked a whole lot tougher than me. The leader, with a long sleek black ponytail that came down her back and her entire face covered in glowing tattoos looked directly at me, her black eyes raking over me and then she turned and lead her team to the bar at the opposite end. A few guys walking past my booth gave me a hostile rundown as well and I was wondering if there was going to be a problem when finally, after about a half hour Diamond starting back toward our booth. The women glanced over at him too and eventually went back to their drinks. Diamond didn't seem fazed at all by them. I remembered that Diamond said he'd made some dangerous enemies among some of these folks a while back. And now I was seen with him. <em>I really don't want to have a bad feeling about this.</em> Diamond sat down with a huge tray of food.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Got our order. T-bone steaks, medium rare, <em>haricot verts</em> in butter, duchess potatoes and porters.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“What? No filet mignon?” I asked, kidding with a grin. He shrugged and laughed, setting the plates on the table from the tray. A mech came by and took the tray away.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
'The beers are half off because of happy hour. Out here they ain't much into service. You get what's available. For the week.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“It looks delicious either way.” And my mouth was watering.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“So what kind of stuff can you find on this station?” I said quietly, tucking into my meal. He raised a brow.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“All kinds. This is one of the more upstanding places. There are worse places. I was thinking of picking up a few things before we leave besides the plasma coil. I know some people here. Got a few friends here still.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Things such as?”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Some miniature nuclear detonators. A few moisture pills since we're going to Mars. May be a new, more powerful lasgun. Trackers.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Ah! Moisture pills. Great idea. And what are the detonators for?”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Considering where we're going, you never know what you might need. They'll come in handy.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“You have the money or the credit line for all that? Doesn't sound cheap.” I said. He snorted.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“I ain't broke if that's what you're thinking, Mr. Astor. Far from it. Also. . .well, I have a few favors I can call in.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Mighty big favors by the sound of it.” I inhaled my steak meal and after having done that, I savored my beer, sitting back to relax a bit. I threw a surreptitious glance over to the female team of smugglers to the left side bar at the far end of the room. They didn't seem to be paying anymore attention to us.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“So, any enemies here you might have run into?” I asked, trying to be nonchalant. He chuckled.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“You mean the women in black over there? Sure. But this is a “no beef” zone. The whole station is. And it's strictly enforced.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“So what's their problem?” I asked sliding my eyes over to the left bar and then back to Diamond.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“They're pirates. They robbed a small smuggler's vessel of its most prized goods. I was contracted to get those goods back. I was good at my job. I stole the goods back. I won't say what they were. But she and her crew have had it in for me ever since. Her name's Livilla. Livilla the Black. She's also known as Livilla the Killa in certain circles. It wasn't personal but she made it personal. Something she took from that company meant a lot to her, I think. A whole lot. But it's just business.” He sighed and took a sip of beer. “She, of all people should know that. She first taught the concept to me.” He lowered his voice. I leaned in to hear better.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“The guy that owns this place is head of one of the wealthiest rings in the solar system. They're known as The Legion. This place is also the most powerful and best run stations out here. You can get everything you need. No one in their right mind who isn't running their own major station or isn't a privateering vessel is going to cross them. Some have tried but if they do, they know what'll happen.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“What's that?”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Any number of things. Usually they'll get banned. Might not sound like much but when you're out there and in desperate need of supplies or you come in contact with enemy gangs and you're by yourself that could spell disaster if you've burned a major bridge like this one. Having ties here can mean protection against other gangs. I know them pretty well and I've never been in their cross hairs. It might be illegal what folks do out here, but there are unspoken rules. This place is well established. They control a large share of the fuel and energy distribution out here in space and on the moon. If you want your ship and your business to reach beyond the orbit of Remus Station, if you don't want to find yourself caught and turned over to a privateering vessel, you follow the rules. If you break the rules, you do so at your own peril. In some cases, some people who cross them end up ejected out into space like so much trash, their ships and goods confiscated.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Do these guys know about what's happening on-”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Mars? They know something's going on out there. Most as far as I know haven't been out that far but people do bring back information. There are a few that have been to Mars and do business there. They bring back all kinds of interesting things that folks on Earth never seen or heard before. Individual explorers, prospectors and privateers working for some government or other. There are a couple of privateering ships that play both sides of the fence. Wouldn't trust the bastards but they do bring back important information and these days information is more important than fuel, hard money, credit, gold or any other resource. Most don't go farther than the asteroid belt though. There's not much profit in going farther, yet, unless you're fabulously wealthy already and have the infrastructure and resources in place to go out here and set up an operation.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“So people out here have heard about these things.” I said thoughtfully. He nodded and finished his beer. The tattooed-faced woman and her friends cast us another round of dark looks.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“I don't like the looks of them, man.” I said, straightening up in my seat. He shrugged.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Whatever you do, don't show fear. Folks around here feed off of that. They'll eat you for breakfast.” I pushed my plate away and decided to keep them within my peripheral vision, kind of hard to do as the place was beginning to fill up. I wasn't particularly excited about meeting her and her friends in some dark corner out here and I couldn't figure out if Diamond was for real or only pretending not to be nervous. I changed the subject. At least I had my laser dragon at my side and I know how to use it.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“You have any idea what kinds of contraband that's made it past the belt out there?”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Well, when I carried cargo for a guy who worked as a contractor for a large corporation. Won't name any names. On the side he bought and sold alien technology. A lot of people didn't believe it was alien, just brand new stolen military technology. It was hot and very desirable stuff. Even more so now. I carried a load of cargo for him out to Gan Ning.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Where?” Diamond gave me a level gaze before wolfing down the last bite of his steak and speaking again.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“It's a station beyond Atticus. Near the moon.” Things were clicking into place in my mind.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“The one most people don't know about?” He snorted.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Well, the <em>right </em>people know about it. There's a lot of interesting stuff that slips through that station. If you pay the right people the right price to keep quiet.” A thought suddenly occurred to me.</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“And no random surprise inspections are ever conducted there?”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Like I said, pay the right people the right amount of money and you can move anything through there. They don't call Gan Ning Smuggler's Paradise for nothin'.”</div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“Well, well, well. How very interesting. Tell me, if you're not smuggling anymore Diamond how did you still know how to get in here? You seem to still know the pulse of this place.”</div>
<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2510" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
“I have one smuggler friend left whose still in the business. I talk to him every now and then too keep myself up on any news. Information is currency. It might be useful to U-net.” At first I was getting suspicious about him again, bringing me here but this turned out to be very helpful indeed. I was lucky to have Diamond Dog as a new ally.</div>
<div id="yui_3_17_2_5_1418593806876_2508" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); color: #090a1b; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
So <em>that </em>was the station with no name. <em>Gan Ning.</em> I never would have found that out by myself. I made a mental note to write this information down once I got back t the Phoenix. A spy could use important information like that. I wondered if Diamond's old smuggling contacts might come in handy one day. I was thinking that they just might.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-51359503937895725082014-12-08T11:26:00.003-08:002014-12-08T11:26:36.964-08:00Lego Return of the JediLego Star Wars - The Emperor, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, <i>The Return of the Jedi</i>. I love this scene with the actual actors - one of the best group of scenes in the film. This was ultra cool!<br />
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In preparation for the upcoming star Wars films!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-27405249961801728882014-11-19T21:21:00.004-08:002014-11-19T21:21:56.106-08:00Posting About Life and StuffI've been so busy the past few years that I have rarely gotten a chance to simply just post for pleasure. I'm working on book three of the Mission series and I'm busy trying to build my publishing company. A lot of work!<br />
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What have I been doing lately besides work? Well, I've been enjoying Peter Jackson's Hobbit films, especially the extended Editions. I'm a massive fan of those being a lover of Tolkien. I know some fans hate the films. Don't count me among the haters. i love the LOTR films and I like the Hobbit films. To be honest, besides Sherlock, The Hollow Crown, the new Star Wars films and the Captain America and Thor films I haven't been that interested in film or TV.<br />
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I used to watch Game of Thrones. I gave that up after the third season. It's too brutal and violent and grim for me. In fact the show goes beyond the books in gore, rape and violence and I'm sorry but I don't have the time or patience for stuff I don't find entertaining. I have been revisiting Farscape and I'm thinking of revisiting Babylon 5. Stuff I find fun and emotionally fulfilling to watch. besides that I've been working on my pie making skills - yes I do have a life outside of books - and I'm planning a trip to Vienna, Austria. It will be my first trip to Europe. I went to the Seattle jazz festival last month with my mom which was great. I'm looking forward to traveling extensively in the future. Vienna will be my first stop, the beginning.<br />
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One of these days I need to get to a fantasy/scifi convention. really. Just to see what it's like. I haven't been before. Meanwhile I'm looking forward to the last Hobbit film, The Battle of Five Armies ( I hate that Jackson isn't calling the battle by it's true name!). And I am going to enjoy watching the extended editions of The Desolation of Smaug this weekend when I have some time. I am currently watching this reunion of most of the Babylon 5 cast. it was fabulous and hilarious! I loved seeing these guys again and they were having so much fun with this! I hope you enjoy it too. meanwhile I have to get back to the grindstone. . .<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-4566751827542040962014-11-05T09:27:00.000-08:002014-11-05T10:04:49.635-08:00Schisms Now Free On NoiseTrade!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTmDX5JRs0AkhQD4qo1OD8jfQfO7xfRnRp-qw7yJJ9dJd2Jhcg8e6uYpoKMViVu50tuFc7WP9HPMeDzlqCcCWq8VijDC4aZMm9WquLVu0Uy1SKzUVqzu5R3eaIT9py-vL8rCafeOt0ml0/s1600/Schisms-book-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTmDX5JRs0AkhQD4qo1OD8jfQfO7xfRnRp-qw7yJJ9dJd2Jhcg8e6uYpoKMViVu50tuFc7WP9HPMeDzlqCcCWq8VijDC4aZMm9WquLVu0Uy1SKzUVqzu5R3eaIT9py-vL8rCafeOt0ml0/s1600/Schisms-book-cover.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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I uploaded <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">Schisms</em> to NoiseTrade, a website dedicated to getting the word or out for indie musicians and bands and now also indie authors. For about a year schisms was free on Amazon but now I've set it back to it's regular price. However, if you're curious about my red world trilogy and you wan to sample a book for free, you can download schisms on Noise Trade for free. There is also an option to add a little something to the tip jar on the page if yo like - it would be greatly appreciated but there it is. Now go and pick p a copy!</div>
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<a href="http://books.noisetrade.com/vajeffrey/schisms" target="_blank">NoiseTrade Page for <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">Schisms</em>!</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-39883397513411891982014-10-21T21:16:00.001-07:002014-10-21T21:16:31.312-07:00The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Editions!I was just listening to tORN Live! on theonering.net and it was so exciting! The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition was just released digitally today and the guys were discussing all the grand things that Peter Jackson put back into the extended editions.<br />
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I love the extended editions for all the Middle Earth films. Anyway, There was so much that was missing from the theatrical film that I liked it least of all the films (with the exception of the dragon and the mountain keep scenes.) I loved how they talked about how Thrain was actually in the film! The character we all saw in the trailers for the first film that never showed up! Anyway I'll post the link to their show here and you can watch the show for yourself.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/54305403">http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/54305403</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4730790080336936239.post-89191434158018791652014-10-17T10:12:00.003-07:002014-10-17T10:12:57.615-07:00Mission: Lights of Langrenus For Sale!<div id="yui_3_17_2_1_1413564686696_40649" style="background-color: white; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">
<a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OLL6ZBW" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OLL6ZBW" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1413564686696_40648" style="color: #2777ae; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Mission: Lights of Langrenus</a> is finally available for sale on Amazon. Look for it on other retailers later this winter!</div>
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<em id="yui_3_17_2_1_1413564686696_41992"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Something is rotten in Langrenus. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or technically, north of the city. </span><br /><span id="yui_3_17_2_1_1413564686696_41991" style="font-size: x-small;">Bob has settled down into work and family life but beneath the surface things have changed. He's a secret agent now, building a budding network of people searching for the alien shadow groups on Earth and working to stop the coming alien invasion from beyond the solar system. But for now, all of that is far away. </span></em></div>
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<br /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Boss, the mysterious head of Vartan, Inc. sends Bob to the moon city of Langrenus to investigate the Transient Lunar Phenomenon, which has changed pattern and intensity over recent years. No one knows why. At first, Bob suspects he's been sent on a fluff mission. But the more he investigates, the more questions are raised in his mind as to what is really going on. The heart of the problem lies within the lunar mining communities and the increased frequency of the beautiful lunar lights are the result of something far more sinister than Bob ever imagined.</span></em></div>
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4UqkbOOysVbHaGcKuAlk1HJM3SRh-1W7tzQZO9cBasxyRgDsXIh6v0uIBJ_itRzSb1J9QQsmrAISDDOkxWXiUXhUNWykLsQWOKnfj5ttDY9FqXpbUuo2v-agP_XodmegCbSCQm-A_lNk/s1600/Lights-of-Langrenus-800+Cover+reveal+and+Promotional.jpg" height="320" width="200" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OLL6ZBW" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OLL6ZBW</a></div>
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