#WeWriWar, Snippet Sunday - Children Of The Mist: Vidarh Arrives at Gladsheim

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warrior and 8 Sentence Sunday, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to read and write! We've got a variety of genres and talented writers just waiting for you to come sample their work.

Writers share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet on Sunday each week. Be sure to visit the other writers - they're listed below:

Weekend Writing Warriors for Eight Sentence Sunday

Snippet Sunday Facebook Group

If you'd to share your own 8-10 sentence snippet, whether published or not, follow the link and sign up. It's a great community to be a part of! 

I'm currently sharing excerpts from Children Of The Mist the second book in
The Destiny Trilogy. This is set on Niflheim, a planet close to the heart of Jess, who features in the first book. The heroine is one of her closest friends, Tamarith.

 Thanks so much to everyone who has been following this series, and left comments xx

This snippet carries on a bit further from last week's snippet which you can read 
HERE As usual I have used some creative punctuation, not in the published version, in order to comply with the sentence count.

The sure-footed ponies picked their way along the narrow mountain path and Vidarh shivered against the sharp wind, his sodden clothes clinging to him, heavy and uncomfortable, chilling him even further. On reaching the foot of the mountain they urged the ponies into a mile-eating gallop, the exhilarating pace lifting his spirits and making him less aware of his discomfort. 

He knew there were questions Tamarith wanted to ask, every now and then, he caught fragments of her curiosity, and that of the others. However, he merely projected back to her that he would explain once they reached Gladsheim and he'd changed into dry clothes. 

At last, Gladsheim came into view. Vidarh drew in his breath, the city was even more beautiful than the stories had led him to believe. The mist, which still swirled over the mountains, had not yet reached the settlement. The setting suns cast a golden glow, suffused with touches of pink and crimson. Elegant houses, ranged around a long, narrow lake beneath snow-capped peaks, stood bathed in the ethereal light. Mosaic paths wound between tinkling fountains, and shrubs and flowers grew in profusion, despite the fine sprinkling of snow on the ground. 

BLURB

Two minds united against a common foe. Two hearts afraid to show their love:
Long ago Tamarith fell in love with a man she can never have, and is convinced she will never love another. However, she cannot help but be intrigued by a handsome stranger whose psychic powers exceed even her own.

Vidarh seeks only to find his true purpose in life and to win the regard of his father, who eschews his son’s psychic abilities. Thrown together by a common threat to their planet, then torn apart by an evil greater than any they could have imagined, can Vidarh save the lovely Nifl woman who has captivated him, before it is too late?

Will Tamarith and Vidarh overcome the deadly enemy who threatens to destroy all they know and love? Will they find the happiness they both seek? Or are they fated to live their lives alone?

***

Purchase all three books (or just one, they stand alone, while sharing some of the same characters)  at https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B01MRY3XXT

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Running Out Of Space - Release Day Guest Post by author #S.J.Higbee

This is my stop during the blog tour for Running Out of Space by S.J. Higbee. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 11th till 31st October. You can check see the tour schedule here. 

For a limited time Running Out of Space will be only $0.99 on Amazon

I'm thrilled to feature a fellow 'Brit' author, S J Higbee on the Flight Deck today, and to be able to help celebrate her release day! Congratulations and wishing you many sales, Sarah!
(Replicator -  a celebratory drink is called for, I think!)

Now I think it's time you heard from Sarah Higbee herself. Over to you, Sarah -

Thank you so much Hywela for taking part in the blog tour for Running Out of Space and letting me loose on your blog to answer your question –
"I'd be interested to know if this was always intended to be a trilogy or just developed that way from the first book."

The inspiration for writing Running Out of Space came from listening to Regina Specktor’s song ‘Samson’ which I fell in love with the first time I heard it. I then vividly dreamt the opening sequence of the book, deciding it would make a great short story. That was my excuse for dropping the project I’d been working on and continuing with this one. However, a week and six chapters later I knew it would be a novel. And very quickly after that, I knew it would be a trilogy.

There were two main strands I wanted to explore. The first is Elizabeth’s personal journey where she is consumed by her longing to serve as an officer on her father’s ship, Shooting Star. Living at home and helping her alcoholic mother with her five younger brothers until she gets married and has a large family of her own fills her with horror. So when she is offered the opportunity to serve on her father’s ship, she is thrilled. However, it’s not turning out the way she’d hoped.

Throughout the first book, Elizabeth is constantly reacting to the changing circumstances around her – often with resourcefulness and courage, but she isn’t able to determine her own future. Right at the end of the book, however, she makes a life-changing choice that will hopefully lead her onto being able to take charge of her life.

The next part of her adventures happen in Dying For Space. This book had been thumping around in the back of my head for a while and more or less wrote itself. Breathing Space was the logical conclusion where all the main storylines that occur throughout the trilogy are tied up satisfactorily – apart from a couple of dangling plotlines I intend to pick up again in the spin-off series.

The second major strand is Elizabeth’s personal relationships. She falls in love with Wynn very fast – it is debatable whether she is running towards her chosen lover, or running away from her dysfunctional past. As she matures throughout the next couple of books, there is some resolution about the people in her life as she finally takes control and gets to lead the life she wants, rather than being constantly reactive.

There is also the spinoff series I have planned, where Elizabeth ends up being a P.I. in at least four murder mysteries which will also continue following her personal journey, as well as – hopefully – provide some entertaining whodunits. I’ve wanted to write a crime series set in space for a long time and sat down to plan out my protagonist when Himself looked up and said, ‘Why don’t you use Elizabeth?’ And the moment he said it – I realised it would work really well. As luck would have it, I hadn’t then completed Breathing Space so was able to just tweak some of the plotpoints in the second half of the book to set that up. I’m hoping to publish the sequel to Dying For Space, which is the sequel to Running Out of Space in December.

Thank you, Sarah, that was a fascinating insight into how the series developed. It seems the series grew naturally from events in the first book (unlike my own trilogy, which grew from a short story because I couldn't bear to say goodbye to my characters! 😉) I love the idea of a 'sequel to a sequel' too, and a  crime series set in space will, I'm sure, tick a lot of boxes for a lot of readers, including myself. It sounds like you have a wonderful series going here, and I wish you much success with it!

Now let's find out more about the first book!

Running Out of Space (The Sunblinded Trilogy#1)

By S.J. Higbee
Genre: Science Fiction
Age category: New Adult
Release Date: 11 October, 2017

Elizabeth Wright has yearned to serve on the space merchant ship Shooting Star for as long as she can remember – until one rash act changes everything…

I can’t recall whose idea it was. Just that me and my shipmates were sick of wading through yet another unjust punishment detail. So we decide to take ourselves off on a short jaunt to the lower reaches of Space Station Hawking to prove that fertile English girls can also deal with danger.

The consequences of that single expedition change the lives of all four of us, as well as that of the stranger who steps in to save us down in lawless Basement Level. Now I have more excitement and danger than I can handle, while confronting lethal shipboard politics, kidnapping, betrayal. And murder. 

You can find Running Out of Space on Goodreads

You can buy Running Out of Space for only $0.99 on Amazon!

About the Author:

Born the same year as the Russians launched Sputnik, I confidently expected that by the time I reached adulthood, the human race would have a pioneer colony on the Moon and be heading off towards Mars. So I was at a loss to know what to do once I realised the Final Frontier wasn’t an option and rather lost my head - I tried a lot of jobs I didn’t like and married a totally unsuitable man.

Now I've finally come to terms with the fact that I’ll never leave Earth, I have a lovely time writing science fiction and fantasy novels while teaching Creative Writing at Northbrook College in Worthing. I’ve had a number of short stories, articles and poems published – the most recent being my story ‘Miranda’s Tempest’ which appeared last year in Fox Spirit’s anthology Eve of War. I recently signed a publishing contract with Grimbold Publishing for my science fiction novel Netted, which is due to be released in 2019.

I live in Littlehampton on the English south coast with a wonderful husband and a ridiculous number of books. I can be
found online chatting about books at my book review blog https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/ and you’re very welcome to pop
onto my website www.sjhigbee.com and my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sjhigbeeauthor/

You can find and contact S.J. Higbee here:

- Website
- Blog
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads

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SFR BRIGADE SHOWCASE - Cat and Kerry are celebrating!

Once a month the Science Fiction Romance Brigade authors showcase snippets  Excerpts from WIPs, cover reveals or other fun things. 

This is the link to the other  participants.

(If you're looking for Snippet Sunday, you can find it HERE)+
or First Page Review - HERE

I'm thrilled to say that the excerpt from Beloved Enemy that I submitted to 'The Best Banter Contest won the Paranormal, Published Section I have a nice shiny new badge which you can see on the top left hand side of the this blog. I'm really thrilled to win this, it makes me feel I must be doing something right! :)  

You can see 'teaser' below, and here is part of the excerpt I sudbmitted for the Best Banter Contest (You can read the whole excerpt in the link beneath the blue Best Banter badge if you really want to! 😉

EXCERPT

BACKGROUND

Cat Kincaid has sworn to avenge her sister’s death by killing the man she believes to be responsible. After her ship is attacked, her escape vessel crash-lands on an unchartered planet and when she sets foot on the planet, with her companion animal—an alien creature called ‘Shifter’—she finds herself caught up in a power-weapon fight. When the firing ceases, she feels compelled to go to the aid of a man wounded in the fight, who seems to have become separated from his companions. When she reaches him she is stunned to recognise him as the man for whom she has searched for five years—Kerry Marchant, second-in-command of the starship Destiny. Although they have never met before she knows him from her extensive search of various hologram-libraries. Reluctantly she attends to his wounds, using his own bio- regenerator, after telling herself she will make him tell her the truth about what happened to her sister, before carrying out her revenge. She also realises that if she keeps him alive, she can use him as a bargaining chip when the other members of his crew return to rescue him.

EXCERPT 

He made as if to stand, and in an instant, she drew her pistol.

“Like I said before, no sudden moves. Get up—slowly.”

“So you are making me prisoner?”

“Not exactly, but I’m not stupid enough to take any risks.”

He rose to his feet, his gaze not leaving her gun-hand. Several inches taller than her, broad shouldered and slim, he presented a commanding figure. His expression froze as his gaze homed in on the insignia on her breast pocket, his eyes like chips of blue ice. “You work for the Union.”

“I work for myself.”

“Then why are you wearing the insignia of the Global Union of Earth and Allied Planets?”

“I have a license to requisition any enemy ship trespassing in the sectors of space over which they hold dominion.”

“A licensed pirate in the pay of the Global Union,” Kerry’s eyes showed outright contempt. She almost preferred the icy coolness.

“I prefer to think of myself as a freelancer—doing a service.”

His expression did not change, although he did change tack. “You could have left me to die—or just shot me. Why didn’t you?”

“Call it a personality flaw. I don’t like abandoning someone who’s wounded even to save my own skin. And I don’t kill in cold blood. If I have to shoot someone, I’d rather they were facing me, with their eyes open.” Even if I did swear to leave their dead body for the Union to use in their hideous experiments. Keep it casual. Don’t let him guess what’s really in your mind.

To her amazement, he smiled, the most devastating smile she’d ever seen, and made even more remarkable because he didn’t look as if he did it very often.

“My own philosophy as it happens. It seems almost a pity we are on opposite sides.”

“Opposite sides?”

“I have no love for the Union. That puts us on opposite sides, even if you are just a pirate, doing their dirty work for them.”

She gave him her best withering look. “Fine. And just because I decided to save your hide, don’t get any ideas. We don’t have to like each other.”

“I was merely alluding to the fact we seem to have a similar moral code.”

“I doubt it.”

BELOVED ENEMY BLURB

Cat Kincaid is obsessed with killing the man she believes is responsible for the torture and death of her sister, but when she eventually catches up with him, survival becomes a greater priority than revenge.

Kerry Marchant, haunted by memories, regret, and self-blame, shields himself from the pain of the past by committing himself totally to the starship, Destiny, of which he is part owner. However, the beautiful, red-haired woman who reminds him of his lost love, and who he suspects is working for a corrupt regime, represents a possible threat not only to the ship, but to his heart.

Marooned on an inhospitable planet, they need to work together to stay alive, fighting not only unknown assailants, but their growing attraction. But how can they learn to trust each other when he has vowed never to get close to a woman again, and she made a solemn pledge to destroy him?

Purchase the Destiny Trilogy individually (Each book is a 'standalone' or as a set from:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0711J641G

(Sorry about all the shameless self-promotion, I'll try to be a little more restrained next month!)

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Robert J Sawyers Science Fiction Collection - Spotlight and #Giveaway

Golden
Fleece

by
Robert J. Sawyer

Genre:
SF Mystery

Winner of the Aurora Award for best novel of the year. Named best novel of
the year by The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

MURDER
IN SPACE

Starcology Argo. A superstarship on a mission to a distant world. Controlled by
a monumental computer named JASON, the Argo proceeds flawlessly . . .
until death strikes its sleek decks with sudden and mysterious
precision.

Astrophysicist Diana Chandler is dead of radiation. Her body lies in the Argo's
ramfield — where hydrogen ions are funneled into the engines.
Chandler's death has been deemed suicide. But her ex-husband, Aaron
Rossman, isn't so sure. As he probes further, he becomes certain that
Diana's death is a matter of murder — and that the murderer is JASON!

Now Rossman must face the unthinkable: why would an artificial
intelligence conceive and execute that most heinous of human crimes?
And if so, can a mortal mind take on a cunning computer . . . and survive?

Add
to Goodreads

Amazon
* B&N
* Kobo

**Read
an excerpt HERE!**

End
of an Era

by
Robert J. Sawyer

Genre:
SF Fantasy

Paleontologist Brandon Thackeray is eager to find out what killed the dinosaurs.
With a newly developed, still-experimental timeship, he will be able
to do what no human being has ever done: stand face-to-face with a
living, breathing dinosaur. But he and his partner (and rival) Miles
"Klicks" Jordan discover that they are not the only
intelligent creatures on Earth at the end of the Cretaceous. There's

a war going on and the dinosaurs are right in the middle of it.

Please note that this book is not part of The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy.

It is a stand-alone novel set on Earth.

Add
to Goodreads

Amazon
* B&N
* Kobo

**Read
an excerpt HERE!**

Starplex

by
Robert J. Sawyer

Genre:
SF Adventure

The only novel of its year to be nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula
Awards. Starplex won Canada's Aurora Award for best novel of the year.

For nearly twenty years Earth's space exploration had exploded outward,
thanks to a series of mysterious, artificial wormholes. No one knows
who created these interstellar passages, yet they have brought the
far reaches of space immediately close. For Starplex Director Keith Lansing,
 too close.

Discovery is superseding understanding. And when an unknown vessel — with no windows, no seams, and no visible means of propulsion — arrives
through a new wormhole, an already battle-scarred Starplex could be
the starting point of a new interstellar war . . .

Add
to Goodreads

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**Read
an excerpt HERE!**

Frameshift

by
Robert J. Sawyer

Genre:
SciFi Thriller

Frameshift won Japan's Seiun Award and was a finalist for the Hugo Award.

Pierre Tardivel is a scientist working on the Human Genome Project with the
Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Burian Klimus. A driven man, Pierre works
with the awareness that he may not have long to live: he has a
fifty-fifty chance of dying from Huntington's disease, an incurable
hereditary disorder of the central nervous system. While he still has
his health, Pierre and his wife decide to have a child, and they
search for a sperm donor. When Pierre informs Dr. Klimus of their
plan, Klimus makes an odd but generous offer: to be the sperm donor
as well as to pay for the expensive in vitro fertilization. Shortly
thereafter it transpires that Klimus might be hiding a grim past: he
may be Ivan Marchenko, the notorious Treblinka death-camp guard known
as Ivan the Terrible.

While digging into Klimus's past with the help of Nazi hunter Avi Meyer,
Pierre and his wife discover that Pierre's insurance company has been
illegally screening clients for genetic defects. The two lines of
investigation begin to coverage in a sinister manner, while they
worry about the possibility of bearing the child of an evil, sadistic killer . . .

Add
to Goodreads

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**Read
an excerpt HERE!**

Factoring
Humanity

by
Robert J. Sawyer

Genre:
Science Fiction

In  2007, a signal is detected coming from the Alpha Centauri system.
Mysterious, unintelligible data streams in for ten years. Heather
Davis a professor in the University of Toronto psychology department,
has devoted her career to deciphering the message. Her estranged
husband, Kyle, is working on the development of artificial
intelligence systems and new computer technology utilizing quantum
effects to produce a near-infinite number of calculations simultaneously.

When Heather achieves a breakthrough, the message reveals a startling new
technology that rips the barriers of space and time, holding the
promise of a new stage of human evolution. In concert with Kyle's
discoveries of the nature of consciousness, the key to limitless
exploration — or the end of the human race — appears close at hand.

This edition includes a reading group guide.

Add
to Goodreads

Amazon
* B&N
* Kobo

**Read
an excerpt HERE!**

Robert
J. Sawyer — called "the dean of Canadian science
fiction" by The Ottawa Citizen and "just
about the best science-fiction writer out there these days"
by The Denver Rocky Mountain News — is one
of only eight writers in history (and the only Canadian) to win all
three of the science-fiction field's top honors for best novel of the
year:the
World Science Fiction Society's Hugo
Award,
which he won in 2003 for his novel Hominids;the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula
Award,
which he won in 1996 for his novel The
Terminal Experiment;and
the John
W. Campbell Memorial Award,
which he won in 2006 for his novel Mindscan.

According
to the US trade journal Locus,
Rob is the #1 all-time worldwide leader in number of award wins as a
science fiction or fantasy novelist. Recent honors include the
first-ever Humanism
in the Arts Award from
Humanist Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
from the Governor General of Canada, the Hal
Clement Award for
Best Young Adult Novel of the Year (for Watch),
and a Lifetime
Achievement Aurora Award from
the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association — the first
such award given to an author in thirty years, and only the fourth
such ever bestowed.

The
2009-2010 ABC TV series FlashForward was
based on his novel of the same name, and Rob was a scriptwriter for
that series.

Maclean's:
Canada's Weekly Newsmagazine says, "By any
reckoning, Sawyer is among the most successful Canadian authors
ever," and The New York Times calls him
"a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific
extrapolation." The Canadian publishing trade journal Quill &
Quire named Rob one of "the thirty most
influential, innovative, and just plain powerful people in Canadian
publishing" (the only other authors making the list were
Margaret Atwood and Douglas Coupland).

Rob's
novels are top-ten national mainstream bestsellers in Canada,
appearing on the Globe
and Mail and Maclean'sbestsellers'
lists, and they've hit #1 on the science-fiction bestsellers' lists
published by Locus, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk,
and Audible.com.
His twenty-three novels include Red
Planet Blues, Triggers, Calculating
God,
and the "WWW" trilogy of Wake, Watch,
and Wonder,
each volume of which separately won the Aurora
Award —
Canada's top honor in science fiction — for Best Novel of the Year.

Rob
— who holds honorary doctorates from the University
of Winnipeg and Laurentian
University —
has taught writing at the University
of Toronto, Ryerson
University, Humber
College,
and The
Banff Centre.
He has been Writer-in-Residence at the Richmond Hill (Ontario) Public
Library, the Kitchener (Ontario) Public Library, the Toronto Public
Library's Merril
Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, Berton
House in
Dawson City, the Canadian
Light Sourcesynchrotron,
and the Odyssey
Workshop.

Rob
has given talks at hundreds of venues including the Library
of Congress and
the National
Library of Canada,
and beenkeynote
speaker at
dozens of events in places as diverse as Los Angeles, Boston, Tokyo,
Beijing, and Barcelona. He was born in Ottawa in 1960, and now lives
just west of Toronto.

Website
* Blog * Facebook
* Twitter * Amazon
* Goodreads

Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join