Not Ghosted

I don’t know how so much time got away from me. I’m writing, I swear. Editing Tau Scorpii right now, I’ll be looking to send it to Beta Readers shortly. I’m really excited about how this is progressing.

In retrospect, one book every few years isn’t a great way to collect a fan base. My goal is 2 a year now, and if there are more, outstanding. After Tau Scorpii, Outliers: Texas is next. I’m really going to try to get both published this year. My next project for the blog is to get some character bios done. My fingers are crossed!

This is brief and a promo bit. The Wildblood is 5 books now. Catch them on sale while you can.

Before Team Three, there was The Blackout.
Backlash: Prequel to The Wildblood

In the space of ten hours, civilization was gone . . .
Their parents were survivors, and now children of The Vista have become the guardians of their seclude valley. Curiosity will take them out into a world they know nothing about, where the line between enemy and ally is blurred.
Welcome to the world of The Wildblood.
Trust is dangerous; ignorance is deadly.
Find the entire series in ebook, paperback, and hardcover – www.topaz08.com

Tau Scorpii Snippet

This is an unedited first draft – yes, I know about the typos, ect.

Asher, telling his potential allies/enemies a little bit about his background. He needs their cooperation and none of them are particularly cooperative. There will be chaos.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Summary

When Taryn rescues another human from a marauding band of Caeruleum, she is reunited with clansmen from her past. It puts her at odds with their new chieftan, as well as her own partner, a powerful privateer. They discover, there are more imminent problems, ones they cannot control, and must unite to survive. Easier said than done, when each of them have their own plans to set in motion.

Sedna is home to hundreds predatory alien species. Humans are one of them. They’ve been there long enough to adapt, but not so long that all of them have forgotten, it’s not their world. The weather is changing. Humans are no longer at the top of the food chain.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I was seven when we were taken. Planetfall, the adults called it, but no one remembered what actually happened. There was a flash of light. It felt like I was floating, then I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, couldn’t see.” Asher stood away from them, glancing back to see where Aiden was. “Then I woke up on another world, with twin stars, the sky almost orange, and alien beings we couldn’t understand and were terrified of.”

“How long is this story going to be?” Ianto finally had something to say.

“I could tell you about everything I’ve seen and everything I’ve done, and you’d still chose to not believe it,” Asher said. “I spent nearly twenty years in the Terran complex before I ventured out.”

“Why?” Garrett asked.

“Because I could.”

Taryn had a sick feeling, understanding some of the cryptic things he’d said over the years. “Why haven’t you gone back?”

“Because I can’t,” he told her.

“Who did you kill?” Skye asked, voice dripping sarcasm.

Asher let it go. “The expeditions I sent north were fully aware of the consequences. It’s possible to view the cities safely from a distance, but there’s a barrier around them. It doesn’t harm living things. You can only cross it once. That’s why you can’t let expeditions head south of Pike’s Pass. If they cross, they are there forever.”

The warlords fell silent.

“Suppose we wanted to see this for ourselves?” Aiden asked first.

“You are free to go. The humans in the various cities set up borders and warnings. You can communicate, if you happen to speak the same dialect. Some are friendly, others will simply ignore you. That’s up to you.” he indicated all of them. “After you get the pass blockaded.“

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Autumn, 2021

06/28/2020 WeWriWa

 

Check out the WeWriWa blog for a list of amazing authors sharing their words!

So, I’m back, in the process of writing two books in a series at the same time.  Well, writing one, plotting the other.  It’s interesting.  Unlike The Wildblood series, the books of Tau Scorpii will contain new characters in each.  So far, so good.  Here’s a snippet from the first one, since I don’t have enough of the second to make sense yet.  Draft, subject to revision.  Forgive the creative punctuation.

~~~~~

Blurb

Sedna is home to hundreds of predatory alien species. Humans are one of them. The weather is changing. It’s about to get more difficult to survive.

Their clan was scattered in a war, years ago. By accident or fate, Taryn and Skye have found each other. What they face now, they have no control over. The weather is changing. Their clans must find a way to adapt, and to make peace with each other. The alternative is extinction.

~~~~~

“Tell me about Freeport,” Skye said, studying the bottle she’d brought to the table; it was water, by far the most expensive drink in the place. The bar was questionable in upkeep, and company, so they’d taken a table in the back.

“Farms, mostly, we trade with other cities along the territory,” Taryn sat next to him, relaxed.

“You’re a farmer, now?” he teased, but there were so many serious things he wanted to say.

She smiled, “In addition to doing ranger duties now and then, I’m a Captain of the Dawn Watch.”

Once upon a time, he’d been her father’s warlord, a Captain of the Watch. “You’re not joking.”

“No, I’m not; I couldn’t do anything about it when we found ourselves homeless and in hiding, but I didn’t grow up being that defenseless.”

“You tried talking your brothers into teaching you the bow, all the time.”

“I’m not great with a bow,” she confessed, “I can handle a sword pretty well.”

~~~~~

Both will be out in the world Autumn 2020!

In the meantime, The Wildblood: Trilogy One is available now in one volume or  as separate books!

WeWriWa 02/23/2020

New snippets every weekend – pop on over to find them!  Snippet Sunday has another group of amazing authors as well.  Enjoy!

You know what happened in The Wildblood: Trilogy One, but what are the stories you don’t know? Outliers explores parts of The Wildblood world kept hidden, the stories yet to be told.

A generation after World War 3, children of the survivors struggle to overcome the all-too-human penchant to fight with each other. The only thing more dangerous than the people you don’t know, are the people you do know.

The first book follows former members of Teams Two and Three as they attempt to protect the secrets of The Vista and its Altered, the genetically engineer humans, while remaining loyal to the oaths they swore to protect their home. The Vista is no longer alone in the world, and the world is a complicated place.

This novel is a segue between The Wildblood: Trilogy One and the upcoming stand-alone novels.

For this week, we listen in on a conversation between Capt. Shannon Allen (the Altered one), and Maj. Mick Ballentyne (not his real name!)  They are about to attempt to break into a sealed Security cache that hides an old military facility.  No, they don’t have permission from anyone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“You’ll think I’m making it up, if I tell you,” Shan answered, “because I can hear it.”

The idea of synesthesia was nothing new to him, and it was apparently prevalent among the Altered.

“You’ve seen me out at night, watching meteor showers when they have star-gazing parties in the park – I hear them as well as I see them and I can hear Rock Creek as clearly as any of us can see it, especially once we get clear of the ridge.”

“Can you hear other places?”

“Not all, or even most, but when we were staying in Estes Park, we flew in closer to Rocky Flats, and that was a whole new experience.”

“Why would you want to be close to that particular place?” he wondered.

“The point is, a few places have a particular sound and that one is null, like all the sound waves got absorbed by the blast.”

“Not to mention dangerous and possibly radioactive.”

“It was neither.”

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Because you’re this far, a sneak peek at a possible cover for Outliers.  Now I need a tagline, an ending, an editing (or 4), minor stuff like that.  The graphic is a link to my website, where you can find all my books currently available.

WeWriWa 02/16/2020

How this works – authors sign up to share a peek at one of their books (or book-in-progress) . You sneak over to the blog and window shop as much as you’d like.  It’s fun, I mean, you can never have too many books!  Check it out.  While you doing internet things, check out Snippet Sunday as well!

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You know what happened in The Wildblood: Trilogy One, but what are the stories you don’t know? Outliers explores parts of The Wildblood world kept hidden, the stories yet to be told.

A generation after World War 3, children of the survivors struggle to overcome the all-too-human penchant to fight with each other. The only thing more dangerous than the people you don’t know, are the people you do know.

The first book explores Capt. Shannon Allen and Capt. Damon Green’s efforts to protect the secrets of The Vista and its Altered, the genetically engineer humans, while remaining loyal to the oaths they swore to protect their home. The Vista is no longer alone in the world, and the world is a complicated place.

This novel is a segue between The Wildblood: Trilogy One and the upcoming stand-alone novels.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This snippet is an informal meeting between Shannon and various people in charge.  There are a lot of missing pieces to their history, and members of Team Three have always had a way of knowing things they shouldn’t.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Did the Altered cause the war?” Haines put out a question that had been nagging at him for decades.

“I suppose it was natural for people to place the blame, we need to have a solid reason. The truth is, there were hundreds of factors that led to the war, and there were many wars, that day. The Altered were a symptom, not the cause,” Shannon frowned, remembering hearing the gory details the first time. “As it became evident to the various entities participating in Altered experiments that war was imminent, they came to a mutual decision to dispose of the potential threat.”

“What threat?” Dallas asked, having a good idea about it.

“The threat being, some Altered were immune to the flu and they were afraid they might lose control of us. That was one of the first issues that started the downward spiral.”

“What do you mean by dispose?” Haines didn’t want to ask; he did anyway.

“Exactly what you think I mean.”

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Exactly.  It looks like I’m getting close to wrapping this one up, or at least, this draft.  Much rewriting, as usual, but that never takes too much time.

While you’re waiting . . .

You can find the entire series in eBooks and paperbacks here – www.topaz08.com

WeWriWa 02/09/2020

I made it back this week!  Got some words written, I hate them as usual, but the rewrite will (mostly) fix that.  If you enjoy these snippets and would like to read more, follow the like to the WeWriWa blog.

You know what happened in The Wildblood: Trilogy One, but what are the stories you don’t know? Outliers explores parts of The Wildblood world kept hidden, the stories yet to be told.

A generation after World War 3, children of the survivors struggle to overcome the all-too-human penchant to fight with each other. The only thing more dangerous than the people you don’t know, are the people you do know.

The first book explores Capt. Shannon Allen and Capt. Damon Green’s efforts to protect the secrets of The Vista and its Altered, the genetically engineer humans, while remaining loyal to the oaths they swore to protect their home. The Vista is no longer alone in the world, and the world is a complicated place.

This novel is a segue between The Wildblood: Trilogy One and the upcoming stand-alone novels.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In this interlude, Mac and Shannon are discussing how their lives have been changed by going out in the world.  One problem fades – the rift between Vista Security and Council has begun to heal; another develops – an offshoot of Security has been digging into past events best left alone, and attempting to keep the two branches of government at odds with each other.  They have a few ideas on how to contain the damage, none of them will be easily accomplished.

Note – Neither are in The Vista.  Mac is in charge of the Cody base, Shan is in hiding.  Rock Creek was a biomedical research facility before the war, and the computer files, which might be inaccessible, also might hold information about the true nature of the Altered, and what caused the war.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Rumors are rumors until they figure out what Rock Creek was, and then World War Last will be right at our front door,” Mac said cautiously.

“Who are these officers I need to be wary of?”

“I’d tell you to guess, but you already know.”

“Sonofabitch,” Shan exhaled, not wanting to think what she was already thinking. “My brother started this?”

“Because he has no clue where it will end.”

“Maybe you should tell him.”

“I thought about it, then I thought about it again, because if he’s getting all his information from whatever Warlords are occupying Platte River Center, we’ve lost his objective opinion.”

“I plan to clean out Rock Creek the minute the weather lets me, if I can’t get in; I seriously can’t imagine anyone else would be able to.”

“You know who else can,” Mac warned.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As always, Backlash is free.  Follow the link to my website.  Books are available in ebook  formats and individually as paperbacks.

WeWriWa 02/02/2020

First – check out the blog!  Writers hang out here, and show off snippets to some wonderful books.

I’ve been out quite a few weeks, trying to get some writing done.  I plan to have 2 and maybe 3 new releases in the 2nd half of the year.  This is from Outliers, which is a working title for the segue into another Wildblood series.  While the first trilogy books aren’t stand-alones, I plan on making future ones exactly that.  It’s a plan, we’ll see how it works out.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You know what happened in The Wildblood: Trilogy One, but what are the stories you don’t know? Outliers explores parts of The Wildblood world kept hidden, the stories yet to be told.

A generation after World War 3, children of the survivors struggle to overcome the all-too-human penchant to fight with each other. The only thing more dangerous than the people you don’t know, are the people you do know.

The first book explores Capt. Shannon Allen and Capt. Damon Green’s efforts to protect the secrets of The Vista and its Altered, the genetically engineer humans, while remaining loyal to the oaths they swore to protect their home. The Vista is no longer alone in the world, and the world is a complicated place.

This novel is a segue between The Wildblood: Trilogy One and the upcoming stand-alone novels.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I met someone, both of his parents were Altered – he might be an ally and despite that, he scares me.  It’s a fairly simple thing for me to sense other Altered, the ability has changed too, but that isn’t the part of this that’s bad. When I ‘see’ him like that, it’s different,” Shan remembered the encounters.

Green knew who she meant, even if he wasn’t supposed to; he also knew very few things scared her. “You can’t sense him.”

“It’s almost the opposite, like staring at the sun – he blots out everything else, and when I look away, the afterimage is still there, for a long time. It hurts.”

“You?” he said, alarmed.

“I get a blazing migraine, it fades, with the afterimage and I’ve only tread that ground twice. Honestly, Damon,” she dropped her voice to a whisper, “I’m afraid, if I tried any extended contact with him, it would kill me, or fry my brain – something painful, and permanent.”

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Excuse the creative punctuation.  First draft also, but at least it’s progress.  The graphic leads to my website, FYI.  You can find the trilogy there, in single books and a box set; the prequel novella, and sneak peeks at other upcoming projects.  Thanks for stopping by.

WeWriWa 10/20/19

Check out the amazing authors sharing their snippets.

Also drop by Snippet Sunday.

This snippet is from Outliers, the new Wildblood novel.  I’ve already changed it up a bit, telling the story of Shannon and Green, and a lot of history about The Vista not seen in the first trilogy.   Here, Green and Dallas are discussing their options, in light of recent events.  No one ever said life was fair.  While there are Security officers aware Council has its own agenda, they are also aware the situation is beyond their control.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “In the meantime, we’re going to pretend nothing out-of-the ordinary is happening, that we’re not watching for stragglers wandering in from Estes Park, that Council hasn’t been hiding the fact they’ve had contact there for over a decade, and that the Altered are an urban myth.”  Green was as angry about how Council had deceived Security as he had been when he figured it out, a year and a half ago.

“So, nothing new,” Dallas added with biting sarcasm. “Are you really willing to let it go, everything Council has done, and what its caused?”

“Truthfully, yes. There’s nothing we can do. Even if we could, remember the oath you took when you joined Security?”

Dallas looked pissed for a few moments, knowing full-well his anger at Green was displaced. “Protect all citizens of The Vista and external allied communities first,” he recited.

“Council members are citizens, last time I checked.”

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I wish I had a time frame for release, but those never work for me.  I need someone standing behind me with a whip and a cup of coffee, apparently.  There are also 3 other novels in various stages of progress, a time travel thing, a dimensional travel thing, and a colonization thing.  So many things.  In my fantasy world, I’d like to release these next year, one every couple months.  Wouldn’t that be cool?  I’m so jealous of people that can keep to their writing schedule.

And now, for a promo.

“As a huge fan of the Fallout franchise and post-apocalyptic fiction and media in general, the Vista series feels like it has fallen from the sky into my grasp!”
– Amazon Review-

No one remembers what started the war, the big one. Civilization stopped, and what came next was fueled by rage and fear.

Twenty years on, a tiny refuge, a place called The Vista, may be one of the last vestiges of humanity. Isolated, guarded, and hiding a dark secret, the people have survived World War Last, and they are content with that. Their children, however, are not. The search for others will send them out into a world they know nothing about, where the line between enemy and ally is blurred.  The Vista: Book 1 of The Wildblood – Available in paperback and eBooks at www.topaz08.com .

WeWriWa 09/22/19

Aaaaaaaand, go check out the WeWriWa site & Snippet Sunday for authors sharing snippets.  It’s fun!

You know what happened in The Wildblood: Trilogy One, but what are the stories you don’t know? Outliers explores parts of The Wildblood world kept hidden, the stories yet to be told.

A generation after World War 3, children of the survivors struggle to overcome the all-too-human penchant to fight with each other. The only thing more dangerous than the people you don’t know, are the people you do know.

The first book explores Capt. Shannon Allen and Capt. Damon Green’s efforts to uncover the truth about The Vista and its Altered, the genetically engineer humans, while remaining loyal to the oaths they swore to protect their home. The Vista is no longer alone, and the world is a complicated place.

This novel is a segue between The Wildblood: Trilogy One and the new stand-alone Outliers novels.

 * * * * *

As we skip forward a bit, we find Hunter and Shannon discussing his family ties, and growing concerns about things the Council has been hiding for years.

 * * * * *

“It doesn’t hurt to have powerful allies,” Hunter smiled.

“Or any allies, as long as you can trust them,” Shan agreed.

“I think you can trust him.”

“You do, so I do; my concern now, is the people I’ve known all my life that have been lying to me, all my life.  Half the Council members from when this thing with Vance started are dead, two of them are over seventy, two of them are in Command,and one is still on the Council. That leaves me in a precarious position.”

“Are any of them Altered?” Hunter understood her concern, and he’d be damned if he let them hurt her.

“I used to think I’d know, now I’m not so certain.”

“Shit,” he exhaled

“I’m not on my own here, so don’t go out of your way to worry, because they’re more concerned about establishing relations with Estes Park and other cities, than what I might be up to on my own.”

 * * * * *

More mystery, more intrigue.  More explosions?  Could be.  For now, the one that started this journey, The Vista, is on sale for some promos I had this month.  Good news for you, if you’d like to crack open this series – it’s 99c for the rest of September!  You know what to do.  If you don’t do Amazon, go to my website for all the other retailers.

Thank you all for visiting!!

WeWriWa 09/15/19

Do you enjoy sneak peeks of books in progress?  Looking for something new & exciting to read?  Check out the WeWriWa page and Snippet Sunday, too!

You know what happened in The Wildblood: Trilogy One, but what are the stories you don’t know? Outliers explores parts of The Wildblood world kept hidden, the stories yet to be told.

A generation after World War 3, children of the survivors struggle to overcome the all-too-human penchant to fight with each other. The only thing more dangerous than the people you don’t know, are the people you do know.

The first book explores Capt. Shannon Allen and Capt. Damon Green’s efforts to uncover the truth about The Vista and its Altered, the genetically engineer humans, while remaining loyal to the oaths they swore to protect their home. The Vista is no longer alone, and the world is a complicated place.

This novel is a segue between The Wildblood: Trilogy One and the new stand-alone Outliers novels.

* * * * *

A continuation of the chapter from last week.  Shannon and Green have had a complicated  relationship since they met while working in Security.     While many things have changed, they are still complicated.

 * * * * *

“How’d it go in there?”

“Like you’d expect; I told Richard Cameron all about Wade.”

Green made a noise, disgruntled, knowing he didn’t really have the right to tell her she couldn’t.

“I looked around at all the men staring at me, and Perro said ‘He’s the only one that doesn’t know’ – he was right. When did we get so afraid of our families that we had to lie about most of our lives to them?” she held his hand, relishing the human contact.

“You’re not afraid of them, you’re afraid for them. Have dinner with me, and I’ll drive you out to the airport,” Green changed the subject. “Otherwise, you can hitchhike on an empty stomach and I’ll come see you at the hospital tomorrow,” he smiled at her, daring her to argue. 

“Fair enough, Capt. Blackmail, buy me dinner.”

Green broke out in a real smile, “I love it when you’re reasonable.”

 * * * * *

This will be a book sometime.  I’ve heard December is a bad month to release a book, so there’s that.  I’ll let you know, when I know.  Please forgive my creative punctuation.

The Vista is 99c for the month of September, FYI!  If you don’t use Kindle, there are other retailers here.