Star Mage Exile
I hope your week has been better than mine. All my writing plans were foiled when my laptop died, and my Carrie Hatchett series cover designer seems to have disappeared from the face of the planet.
But I must not complain. I’m truly grateful for all that I have. On the bright side, I received the final cover for the prequel to my Star Mage Saga (you can see a sneak preview in the header to this newsletter), and The Guardian was published.
This anthology of contains a story of mine that’s close to my heart. I wrote it years ago when I first began being serious about my writing. It’s set in an alternate Victorian London, and it features an old woman. It’s so rare that we read about old people in fiction. Though I’m only middle-aged, I saw a lot of myself in this character, especially her sense of wistful nostalgia.
If you received an ARC copy of The Guardian, a review would be most welcome. If you applied but didn’t receive one, I apologise. I may still be waiting for you to send a link to a review, or my email system may have failed to deliver. It’s crotchety like that. I’m going to check for bounced emails and resend if need be.
Another thing to be thankful for was a great interview I had with fellow author JD Byrne. However, I read a comment that I was too free with the plot of Shadows of the Void, so if you haven’t read the series yet, maybe give the interview a miss for now!
Come to think of it, I had another good experience this week. I saw the film Europa Report for the first time. I really like it, especially because – unlike many science fiction films – it didn’t rely on astronauts behaving stupidly to move the plot along.
I love it when I find a good quality, less well known film. Do you have any recommendations? Post them here for other readers to see or let me know by email.
So, the 99-cent books this week are The Guardian and Lyssa’s Dream by M.D. Cooper and James S. Aaron. I met both of these writers at the writers’ conference in Las Vegas. Great guys.
The Guardian
Guardians are defenders, carers and guides. Some look after individual people, others whole planets or universes, but all share a strong belief in their responsibility to protect their charges.
The Guardian is an anthology of eleven science fiction short stories by writers from across the globe. It is part of the Newcomer series of scifi anthologies.
The stories are:-
Awakening – Alasdair Shaw
The Lattice – Jeff Tanyard
Biting Shadow – C Gold
Gate of Dreams – Rick Partlow
The Following Star – Elizabeth Baxter
The Renewal – Zen DiPietro
Stowaway – Benjamin Douglas
Baptism of Fire – Cora Buhlert
Sleeping Giant – Andrew Vaillencourt
We Have the Stars – JJ Green
Warning Signs – Edward M Grant
Snag your copy here.
Lyssa’s Dream
It has been one-hundred and seventy-five years since the birth of the first truly sentient AI. It has been just two short years since Lyssa’s birth…
Captain Andy Sykes just wants to keep his family in one piece.
Once a combat pilot for the TSF, he gave it all up for love and a family. But two years ago, his wife disappeared, leaving him with two mouths to feed: eight year-old Tim, ten year-old Cara.
Since then, he’s managed to scrape a living hauling cargo between the Jovian Combine and InnerSol. It’s not glamorous, his ship’s falling apart, and it’s boring as hell, but it keeps them in fuel and calories.
When a cargo run to Cruithne Station meets with more than one catastrophe, Andy finds himself accepting an offer a less desperate man would refuse: delivering an illegal AI named Lyssa.
The AI is the property of Heartbridge, a powerful, interplanetary corporation, and they want their latest weapon back. With a private army, gangs, and pirates all vying for the precious cargo Andy carries, it’s going to take everything Andy has to keep his ship flying, his kids safe, and get Lyssa to her destination.
Even if he succeeds, Lyssa’s very existence may spark a war like no other humanity has ever seen.
Download a copy here.
What’s Coming Up?
I wish I could tell you that A Very Carrie Christmas and the final Carrie Hatchett book are to be published soon, but disappearing cover designers and dying laptops are conspiring against me!
However, my Space Colony One prequel, Night of Flames, is coming out in December and Star Mage Exile is appearing in January. What’s more, because I’m going to offer both books in return for signing up for a passage aboard Starship JJ Green, you’ll be able to download them for nothing.
Wishing you a good week and both of us clear voyaging ahead.
Happy reading!