OWS CyCon 2019

 I'm really looking forward to taking part in this on-line Convention next week. There are several genres, not just science fiction and it looks like a brilliant event, with something for everyone
I'm taking part in several events, including 'cover wars' and character battles (I do hope I can count on your vote, I will be posting reminders😉) and the 'World building Showcase'.  I'll be posting more info on this blog over the next week.




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The Circle of conspiracy by Cas Peace - Spotlight and #Giveaway

I'm thrilled to be part of fellow Brit, Cas Peace's book tour. I love fantasy, adventure and horses and really enjoyed the Artesans of Albia Trilogy. Sullyan is a brilliant heroine, I've rarely been able to empathise with a female lead character in the way I did with her. She is such a strong, courageous, charismatic person, and yet very vulnerable and sensitive beneath the tough exterior. The other characters are all excellently written too, including the horses. I'm sure I will enjoy The Circle of Conspiracy just as much as I did Artesans. Congratulations on the release of this new boxset Cas. Now let's find out more about the book:

Nine months have passed since Brynne Sullyan helped forge an alliance between the realms of Albia and Andaryon. A fragile peace reigns as both sides recover from the events of the previous year. Then mysterious raiders strike Andaryon villages. 

Attempts are made on the life of Albia’s High King. As Sullyan scrambles to find those responsible, unseen enemies threaten to pull apart everything she has worked for, including her marriage.

The alliance begins to crumble, and Sullyan finds herself caught between two monarchs: the king she’s sworn allegiance to, and the man she loves as a father. To betray either one would break her heart, but if conflict is inevitable, she must make a choice…

~ Universal Amazon Link ~ 

~ Goodreads ~

~ Universal Amazon Link Artisans of Albia ~

Book Buy Links

Amazon: https://geni.us/wMnaO

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44078471-circle-of-conspiracy

Cas lives in the lovely county of Hampshire, southern UK, where she was born. On leaving school she trained for two years before qualifying as horse-riding instructor. During this time she also learned to carriage-drive. She spent thirteen years in the British Civil Service before moving to Rome, Italy, where she and her husband, Dave, lived for three years. They enjoy returning whenever they can. 
Cas supports many animal charities and owns two rescue dogs. She has a large collection of cacti and loves gardening. She is also a folk singer/songwriter and is currently writing and recording nine folk-style songs to accompany each of her fantasy books. You can listen to and download all the songs from her website: www.caspeace.com 

See the video of her performing live at the King’s Envoy book launch here: http://www.caspeace.com/cas-peace/the-wheel-will-turn

~ Author Facebook ~


~ Facebook ~ Website ~



 ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Reverbnation ~

Author Social Media Links:

Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/caspeacewithntn?profile_view_source=header_icon_nav

Facebook: (Cas Peace): https://www.facebook.com/cas.peace  (Artesans of Albia):https://www.facebook.com/artesansofalbia/?ref=hl

Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/artesansofalbia/?ref=hl

Blog: http://peacewrites.blogspot.co.uk/

Website: http://www.caspeace.com/

Excerpt #3 - from Book 3 Full Circle:

Sullyan turned at last to the one who waited patiently beside her, watching her quietly. Jessy’s warm blue eyes, lighter in shade than her brother’s, sparkled with the life she’d lost too soon, and they smiled her love into the golden eyes that gazed back in wonder. She stood happy and proud, as she’d never been in life, radiating thankfulness, approval and … something else. Anticipation?

Jessy?

We greet you, Brynne Sullyan. We’re very pleased you’ve come back.

Jessy’s gentle voice, a treasured memory for so long, broke another barrier within Sullyan. She accepted back her name, and all that went with it. She felt whole again, although until now she hadn’t been aware of her fragmentation. She raised tear-filled eyes.

Oh, Jessy!

Two arms came around her and held her tight as she wept out all her despair, all the self-blame, all the regret, the longing, the fear, and the shame. In a cleansing rush it came out, and when it was gone, it left her spent and helpless. She was held all the while, although it was the sense of presence in her heart, now beating again with warm lifeblood, that gave her the most comfort. And she realized, with a start of shock, that they had always been there, those comforting influences, the source of her strength and control.

Then the pressure of the arms eased and the spirit of Robin’s sister stepped back.

Come, Sullyan. Time grows short and there is someone yet you must speak with.

The words sounded in her mind—Jessy’s smiling lips didn’t move. Sullyan felt her hand clasped and she didn’t resist the gentle tug. She followed Jessy and, although her surroundings didn’t change, they left the others behind, their eyes watchful. She felt no sense of loss as their figures faded. They were always with her.

Then another presence appeared before her. A thrill of recognition and shock ran the full length of her soul. A woman, delicate and slim, like herself. A fine mane of tawny hair, although not as long as her own. A fine-featured, oval face. Beautiful, warm brown eyes. A welcoming smile that said more than words could ever express. The woman stepped two paces forward, her arms held wide.

Sullyan stopped dead. It just couldn’t be.

Song List:  

Circle of Conspiracy Songlist.

From The Challenge: Meadowsweet. https://www.reverbnation.com/caspeacewithntn/song/21511143-meadowsweet

From The Circle: Larksong. https://www.reverbnation.com/caspeacewithntn/song/22333132-larksong

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

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Hunt of the Gods Areios Brothers #2 by Amy Braun Spotlight and #Giveaway

Hunt of the Gods

Areios Brothers #2

by Amy Braun

Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Publication date: June 4th 2019

Two months have passed since Derek Areios—war-scion and heir of Ares—and the band of rogue scions he’s aligned with recovered

both the Thunderbolt of Zeus and the Heart of the Devourer and returned them to the Gods. During the battle, Derek discovered he

could control not only the element of fire, as all war-scions can, but also the dark element “aether,” making him the only scion alive to wield two types of elemental magic.

Commanded by Zeus to retrieve the Trinity Weapons and the Shards of Cronus, Derek and the rogue scions are thwarted in their goal by a gang of water-scions with a grudge against one of the rogues—Thea, heir of Poseidon. Both groups travel to an uninhabited island to recover one of the Shards––the Eye that belonged to Cronus, King of the Titans. But what they encounter will lead them down a path of brutal betrayals, hard truths, painful memories, and desperate actions.

With angry and impatient gods breathing down his neck, a curse that allows Ares to control him, a prophecy he’s desperate to avoid, a magic spear corrupting his thoughts, and two forms of elemental magic, Derek has a lot of baggage—and a lot of power. Will the price of using that power to satisfy the Gods be too much for him to pay?

Mythological monsters, explosive magic, and devastating truths take center stage in the second novel of the action-packed AREIOS BROTHERS series from Amy Braun.

Add to Goodreads

You can find book 1, Storm of the Gods here!

Add to Goodreads

Amazon
* B&N
* Kobo

Amy is a Canadian urban fantasy and horror author. Her work revolves

around monsters, magic, mythology, and mayhem. She started writing in

her early teens, and never stopped. She loves building unique worlds

filled with fun characters and intense action. She is an active

member of the Weekend Writing Warrior community.

When she isn't writing, she's reading, watching movies, taking photos,

gaming, struggling with chocoholism and ice cream addiction, and diving headfirst into danger in Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.

Website
* Newsletter * Facebook
* Twitter *
Instagram *
Amazon *
Goodreads

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Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--

I'm thrilled to be featured here today!

Thank you Anastasia Pollack, I enjoyed visiting your lovely blog.

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--WHERE UK SCI-FI AND FANTASY AUTH...:

Trailblazer - Spotlight and #Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michelle Diener will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

He's on a mission . . .

She's running for her life . . .

And if they get off-planet alive, she'll have to trust he won't reveal her darkest secret.

Tally Riva is not what she seems, and even she's not happy about it. Infected, invaded, she's not quite sure how to describe it, but on a disastrous mission to a ghost ship, something burrowed its way into her body. Into her mind.

When her commander decides the best cure for what he thinks is Tally's trauma is to send her on the famous Veltos Trail, Tally goes without revealing what's really behind her mental anguish. Anything to be seen as normal again, anything to ignore what she's afraid is happening to her.

But Veltos isn't the safe place it seems. The chosen military personnel lucky enough to be offered the chance to walk the Trail are supposed to be the only people on Veltos. But Ben Guthrie, a captain in Arkhoran Special Forces, knows they're not. He and his team have been on Veltos for a month already, tracking suspicious enemy activity, and he's gone undercover on the Trail in search of a satellite his superiors are sure has been shot down.

When Ben's worst fears become reality, and they find themselves hunted by a cunning enemy through the thick forests of Veltos, Tally and Ben fight together to survive. And Tally has to decide if accepting the changes inside her will save them both, or be her doom.

TRAILBLAZER is part of the Verdant String series but can easily be read as a standalone novel. Other books in the series include Interference & Insurgency (Two Novellas of the Verdant String), and Breakaway and Breakeven.

Read an Excerpt
It had occurred to her more than once that this ship was very much to her own proportions. That everything she'd found was built for hands like hers.

Could this be a lost Verdant String ship, from before the eight planets of the Verdant String had found each other? From those first centuries of space exploration?

Or even--her mind reeled at the implications--from another Verdant String planet, one they had yet to find?

Whatever it was, it was a major historical find.

She reached the halfway point across the walkway, and looked over the other side. It was more of the same, although there was also tanks that looked as if they'd once held liquid, now long dried up.

She shivered, her sense of isolation and insignificance seemed amplified in this massive space, and she moved a little faster as she headed for the other side of the walkway.

A door blocked her way. She stepped close to it, but it didn't open automatically. She looked around for a button or handle, but there was nothing except a screen attached to one side.

She hesitated, then touched it, and it flickered on, an outline of a hand showing in pale gray.

A hand exactly the shape of her own.

Cautiously, she pressed her palm against it, and with a gasp that startled her, the door slid to one side.

She stepped into the room, and knew immediately it was the bridge, the center of the ship.

She lifted the light, but there was nothing in here, just chairs and machines.

There was one light, throbbing a dull red rather than glowing, and she walked up to it. She couldn't understand the label written above it, but she accepted what she was going to do.

She pressed the button.

About the Author:

Michelle Diener writes historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Having worked in publishing and IT, she’s now very happy crafting new worlds and interesting characters and wondering which part of the world she can travel to next.

Michelle was born in London, grew up in South Africa and currently lives in Australia with her husband and children. When she’s not writing, or driving her kids from activity to activity, you can find her at her website, or online at Twitter and Facebook.

Website: https://www.michellediener.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/michellediener

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michelle.diener.author

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/michelle_diener/

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Trailblazer-Verdant-String-Michelle-Diener-ebook/dp/B07P6PJ51H


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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! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Crossline - spotlight, Guest Post and review

This is my stop during the blog tour for Crossline by Russ Colchamiro. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 18 March till 7 April. See the tour schedule here.

Watch out for my review of this book in May.

Crossline By Russ Colchamiro

Genre: Science Fiction/ Space Opera

Age category: Adult

Blurb:

Perfect for fans of Firefly, Flashcience Gordon, Stargate, and Escape from New York...

Hotdog pilot Marcus Powell has been selected to test Taurus Enterprises' Crossline prototype craft and its newly developed warp thrusters, which, if successful, will revolutionize
space travel as we know it.

But during his jaunt across the stars, Powell is forced into a parallel universe -- including a parallel Earth -- where he finds himself at the center of an epic battle he may have been destined for all along.

Meanwhile, back home, reclusive oil tycoon and Taurus CEO Buddy Rheams Jr. -- who sent Powell on that very mission -- has a mysterious past and a secret agenda, one that could prevent Powell from ever making it back to his wife and little girl.

From author Russ Colchamiro, Crossline is a psychedelic, action-packed romp across time, space, and dimension that asks the question: once you cross the line, can you ever really go back?

You can find Crossline on Goodreads

You can buy Crossline here on Amazon

Excerpt

The warp engines were ready for the first of six return blasts it would take to get him back to Earth, when a blip came across the screen. Powell shifted toward the incoming message, but his short-range sensor interrupted him. Something in the Saturn rings. Video amplification revealed that among a cluster of particles was an odd-shaped fragment, with sharper, more reflective edges than he would expect. But he supposed that after debris crashed around over millions if not billions of years, who knew what was really out there? He looked again. Probably nothing of consequence. Just some lagging hallucination from the multiple warps.

As suspected. Just ice particles swirling around the planet. Billions of frozen blue ice particles floating in space that—

Powell focused his monitor on the third ring layer. Studying it more carefully, his sensors revealed that the particle cluster wasn’t in the Saturn ring, but among it. The fragment wasn’t ran- dom, a collection of dust, or some anomalous asteroid fragment.

It was another ship. Looking just like Crossline. And headed his way. 

GUEST POST
I love alternate worlds and was intrigued to know how Russ came up with his 'parallel worlds' idea for this book. This is his reply:

When I first envisioned CROSSLINE in the late 1990s, it was going to be a comic book mini-series, although I eventually turned it into the novel.

My initial idea was a simple space adventure where a pilot is testing out new warp thrusters and, for reasons I won’t explain here, winds up getting forced through a wormhole. So the next natural question became… what’s on the other side?

From there the narrative quickly came together, where our hero Marcus Powell ends up on a parallel Earth, one that looks a lot like the one he’s from, but with significant differences. While there he ultimately finds himself caught between two distinct and contradicting ideas.

The more time he spends with these ‘other Earthers’ the more he sympathizes with their plight—they’re in a civil war of sorts—and feels compelled to help them, even though it puts his life in danger. Aiding their cause also physically takes him farther and farther from what he also wants—to get back home to his Earth, immediately, where he can be reunited with his wife and daughter.

What I found most compelling was a man caught between worlds, unsure in which one he truly belongs. Several other characters find themselves in similar situations, which made CROSSLINE all the more exciting to write.

Marcus Powell is the ‘hero’ of the story, but this Universe is rich in characters, most of whom get their own arcs, all challenged to decide what they believe in most, and what they’re willing to do in order preserve those beliefs, or, in some case, change their minds in radical ways.

I didn’t intentionally start out to write a parallel Universe novel, but that’s where the story wanted to go. I’m glad it took me there.

About the Author:

Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space adventure, Crossline, the zany SF/F backpacking comedy series Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, and is editor of the new SF anthology Love, Murder & Mayhem, all with Crazy 8 Press.

Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two ninjas, and crazy dog Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself. Russ has also contributed to several other anthologies, including Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, Altered States of the Union, Camelot 13, TV Gods 2, They Keep Killing Glenn, Camelot 13,
and Brave New Girls.

He is now working on the first novel in a new series featuring his hardboiled private eye Angela Hardwicke, and the first of three collaborative novella projects.

Russ is repped by The Zack Compnay.

For more on and Russ’s books, you can visit www.russcolchamiro.com, follow him on Twitter @AuthorDudeRuss, and ‘like’ his Facebook author page www.facebook.com/RussColchamiroAuthor.

You can find and contact Russ Colchamiro here:

- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads
- Amazon

Giveaway

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Crossline. These are the prizes you can win:

- one physical copy of Crossline by Russ Colchamiro (US Only)

- three e-copies of Crossline by Russ Colchamiro (INT)

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:

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! I also promise that I never have and never will share your information or email address with anyone or any organisation.  http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join