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Welcome to my place in the blogosphere!
feel free to explore the Flight Deck and check out my books and website.
Then fasten your seatbelts, sip a glass of something sparkling and let's chat awhile!
I hope you'll stop by again for guest authors and spotlights from time to time.

Beloved Enemy joined Starquest and Children of the Mist to continue the Destiny Trilogy and I'm thrilled to announce was shortlisted for the R.N.A. RoNA Awards 2017, awarded 2nd Runner up in the RONE Awards 2017 and was the winner in the SF/Fantasy category of the 'Best Banter Contest'.

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Space cowboys and Indians



 Space Cowboys & Indians

Space Cowboys & Indians by Lisa Medley
Science Fiction Adventure Romance
Words: 37K * 175 pages
Series: Cosmic Cowboys Series, Episode 1
Amazon: $2.99 http://amzn.to/1QFLrOV
Kindle Unlimited: FREE http://amzn.to/1QFLrOV
Space Cowboys & Indians blurb
 
How can the chance of a lifetime go so horribly wrong?
Mining Engineer Cole Hudson signed up for NASA astronaut training, but after washing out short of getting his gold wings, he retreats to Alaska where he stakes out a gold claim. When billionaire entrepreneur Duncan Janson offers him an opportunity to join a mining team on an asteroid, Cole jumps at the chance.

But nothing is as it seems. Former NASA reject and rival classmate, Tessa Hernandez, is also a member of the team, and from the beginning of the mission test flight, things go wrong. They soon discover they’re not the only ones on the asteroid. As they try to escape, they are pulled through a wormhole and back to the early 1800s New Mexico desert where aliens and Apaches may be the least of their problems.
BUY SPACE COWBOYS & INDIANS
Excerpt:
Chapter One

Alaskan gold mine, the Hudson Claim - the near future.

"Goddamn it, Hudson. The washplant is down again.”

Cole ground his molars together before he could unleash the torrent of swears coursing through his brain in reply. Of course the washplant was down. Again.

This claim would be the end of him.

“Show me,” Cole said.

His foreman, Todd Cargill, held up four shredded washplant screens with holes the size of bowling balls, useless now for the first step in screening for gold.

Cole squeezed his eyes shut and wondered for the eleven-millionth time this summer why the hell he’d come to Alaska.

Redemption, he reminded himself.

Wasn’t worth it.

“That was my last replacement screen. Be a week before the supply plane can bring us more,” Todd said. “No use running dirt until it’s fixed. This way, we’re only making mud.”

Most expensive mud he’d ever not made. A week in the bush with no work? He’d have to pay the crew, regardless, or he’d lose the whole lot of them. Hell, he still owed them from last month. They were running out of summer to mine, and they’d barely collected any gold so far.

“Shut it down. I’ll call in the order.”

“What do you want me to tell the guys?” Todd asked.

“Tell them—”

The chop, chop, chop of helicopter blades slowly pounded across the sky until the beast came into sight on the horizon. What the hell was a chopper doing out this far?

The copter landed on the flat several hundred feet from their dredge, stirring the dust up from the broken ground and tailings. Covering his face with his arm, Cole coughed into his elbow and waited for the cloud to settle. The copter blades whirled to a stop, and his small crew left their work detail to gather around him and see what was going on.

A white-haired man, maybe fifty, maybe older, emerged from the helicopter cabin, quickly followed by two men wearing sleek black suits, wrinkled from the tactical firearm harnesses strapped snugly across their chests. They were loaded for bear.

That wasn’t what concerned Cole. He knew he was in for trouble the second the guy’s thousand dollar cowboy boots hit the turf. The man swatted at the swirling dust on his white shirt and designer jeans then brushed his hands through his shoulder-length hair three or four times, shaking it out like the mane of a horse. He cranked up a smile as he made a beeline for Cole.

“Mr. Hudson?” the man asked.

“I’m Hudson.”

“You look exactly like your NASA application photo, Mr. Hudson. Haven’t changed a bit in the past five months. It was five months you were detained. Yes?”

Todd coughed loudly beside him. “Okay, I think we have things to do. Let’s go, boys.” Todd urged the crew back toward their office trailer.

Cole was going to have to give his foreman a raise. Right after he beat the dandy in front of him into a bloody pulp.

“Who exactly are you, and what the hell are you doing here? Surely you didn’t fly that deathtrap all the way out here just to insult me in front of my crew. Or did you? You with Montoya?”

The man appeared bewildered for a moment. “Oh my. Let me start over. I…this wasn’t the impression I intended to make. I’m afraid I started off badly. I’m simply so excited to find you. Out here.” He motioned toward the distant tundra. “It’s a very, very long way out here.” He flashed another smile at Cole and offered his hand. “Duncan Janson. You might know me from the airline ads?”

Cole stared at the man’s smooth, tanned hand. The guy had never worked a day of hard labor in his life if those hands told the right story—that much was obvious. He knew exactly who he was, now. Billionaire airline owner and profiteer. What he didn’t know was what he was doing on his little piece of Alaska.

“You answered the first question. Now answer the second,” Cole said, purposely not taking the offered hand.

Janson pulled his hand back then clapped them together, clearly proud of himself. “I’m here to offer you a job.”

“I have a job.”

“This would be quite a different job. Well, maybe not all that different. You’d still be mining, but you would also have a chance to partake in some of your other passions.”

Clouds slid past the sun, and a gust of wind stirred up a dirt devil near the copter, cooling the air noticeably.

“What is it you think you know about my passions, exactly?” Cole asked.

Janson twisted his expensive Rolex around his wrist nervously. “Was it not your passion for space that led to your gambling problem? Trying to raise enough money to continue in the program? Which led to your legal issues, which led to your detainment and now self-exile here in this godforsaken place? Isn’t your work here an effort to earn enough money to finance your first two passions? It’s a bit of a vicious circle, it seems.”

Cole could feel his blood pressure rising. This asshole was on his last nerve five minutes after meeting him and about one more sentence away from a shallow Alaskan grave.

“What if all of your skills could be utilized to fulfill each of those…passions? You’d be paid well. Very well.”

“Is this prospect legal?”

“Yes, but it’s not without risks. I want to hire you to do some mining for me.”

“Where? You have a claim in Alaska?”

“I’m afraid my claim is quite a bit farther away from here. Your gambling problem and detention might have gotten you booted out of NASA’s space program, but your personal problems are not a deterrent to me. Your other skills and expertise are exactly what are needed for my project.”

Skepticism scratched at the back of his mind, but Cole couldn’t deny he was intrigued. He hated Janson’s manner, but he could take his money. No problem. Hell, this job might be the financial boost he needed to finally make this claim profitable.

“How long is the job, and where is it?” Cole asked.

Janson smiled again, clearly certain he’d already sealed the deal. “I expect the job to take around six months. All expenses paid, of course. With an option to renew for a second mission after that, if you are so inclined. Your season here is winding down? Am I correct?”

Considering the ruined washplant screens? Yeah, winding down would be a kindness.

“You didn’t tell me where the job is,” Cole pressed.
“Ah, that’s the best part, Mr. Hudson. The job is on Amun. It’s an asteroid. I want you to mine it for me.”
Lisa has always enjoyed reading about monsters in love and now she writes about them, because
monsters need love too. She adores beasties of all sorts, fictional as well as real, and has a farm full of them in her Southwest Missouri home, including: one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees, and a guinea pig.

She may or may not keep a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times, including a machete. Just. In. Case.



Thursday 9 July 2015

The Rest Of My Life, Sheryl Brown's new release and Giveaway



THE REST OF MY LIFE
 BY SHERYL BROWNE
Genre: Contemporary Romance : Release Date: 1st July 2015
Publisher:  Choc Lit @ChocLituk
http://www.choc-lit.com/?post_type=dd-product&s=Sheryl+Browne

It's always a pleasure to welcome a fellow Brit to the Flight Deck - even more so when it's someone I've had the pleasure of meeting personally and who not only shares my passion for romance, but also my love of our four-legged friends, in particular, dogs.  Please welcome the lovely Sheryl Brown an her latest release...(and don't forget to enter her contest at the end.)

The Rest of My Life 
"You can’t run away from commitment forever …"Adam Hamilton-Shaw has more reason than most to avoid commitment. Living on a houseboat in the Severn Valley, his dream is to sail into the sunset – preferably with a woman waiting in every port. But lately, his life looks more like a road to destruction than an idyllic boat ride… 

Would-be screenplay writer Sienna Meadows realises that everything about Adam spells trouble – but she can’t ignore the feeling that there is more to him than just his bad reputation. Nor can she ignore the intense physical attraction that exists between them.
And it just so happens that Adam sees Sienna as the kind of woman he could commit to. But can he change his damaging behaviour – or is the road to destruction a one-way street?


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ABOUT SHERYL BROWNE

Heartache, humour, love, loss & betrayal, Sheryl Browne brings you edgy, sexy, poignant fiction. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and shortlisted for Innovation in Romantic Fiction, Sheryl has seven books published with Safkhet Publishing.
Sheryl’s new contemporary romance novel was recommended to the publisher by the WH Smith Travel fiction buyer. THE REST OF MY Life comes to you from award winning Choc Lit.












Loveahappyending Lifestyle
Safkhet Publishing | Choc Lit | Romantic Novelists’ Association





Giveaway
Amazon Gift Card £5



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Dark Horse Book Blast and Review

DARK HORSE
by Michelle Diener


Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.

She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.


Excerpt 

Her jump surprised them as much as their jump surprised her, she guessed, from the way they reacted to the sight of her suddenly crouched on the roof of her little spaceship.

With a hand signal and a barked command, the big guy whoʼd been standing in the middle, the one sheʼd exchanged a look with earlier, had them all letting the cords on their fancy automatic grappling hooks winch them back to the top again, weapons trained on the gryak. He stayed behind, though, eyes never leaving the gryak, and walked carefully to her ship.

He was going to climb up to her.

The gryak had stopped when sheʼd jumped, and gone very watchful when the soldiers had dropped into its cave, but now it prowled up and down in front of her craft, confused and distressed.

The black helmet and then the enormous shoulders of the Grih whoʼd stayed below with her rose up, her rescuer easily pulling himself onto the roof with her.

They stared at each other again, not that Rose could see much of his face through the helmet, and she mentally called up the Grih sheʼd learned over the last eight weeks.

“Iʼm Rose McKenzie. Pleased to meet you.” Grih informal greetings required her to touch her nose to his left cheek, and he to hers, but they were on more of a formal footing, she was guessing, and his helmet was in the way anyway, so she extended her hands palms facing each other, waiting for him to either cover hers or let her cover his. She couldnʼt remember who should do what, right at that minute.

There was a moment of silence, and then the thin, gray-tinted glass on his helmet retracted, and she looked directly into startled pale blue eyes with a dark outer-rim of navy blue. “You speak Grih.”

“Iʼve been studying it.” She looked at him, and tears pricked her eyes.

Sazo had said the Grih were as close to being like her as it got in this part of the universe. But sheʼd thought heʼd been talking in general terms. Bi-pedal, with two eyes, a nose and a mouth. That was the most sheʼd hoped for.

She even thought it didnʼt matter. She would be happy to be alive, and wouldnʼt care if she looked completely different to the people who would hopefully take her in.


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 two children.

When she’s not writing, or driving her kids from activity to activity, you can find her blogging at Magical Musings, or online at Twitter, at Google+ and Facebook.


 BUY Links:

I was intrigued by the Blurb and it drew me in and want to read the story - and I'm so glad I did.  This was one of those books that had me hooked from the start and turning the pages, not wanting to put it down. 

It has a freshness and originality not easy to achieve in Science Fiction these days, and the romance was lightly handled and added to the enjoyment of the story. Although there was enough intrigue and adventure, as well as SF elements to carry the story without it, the romance was a definite bonus. It was also interesting to read the cultural differences between Earth and the Grih.

I liked the main characters very much and found them easy to identify with.  Rose is feisty and sweet at the same time.  The story hints that she has endured what appears to be very invasive investigative procedures at the hands of the Tecran and has the scars to prove it, but her resilience and strength have enabled her to survive, and, with the help of an 'artificial intelligence', the enigmatic and sentient 'Sazo', engineers his and her own  escape from the Class 5 battleship that has been their prison.

Dav is kind and gentle, a little too kind and gentle for a starship captain, perhaps, but he does have an inner strength and I liked the way his romance with Rose developed.  
Her relationship with Sazo adds another dimension to the story.  At times he can seem quite sinister, and at others almost innocent. He has seemingly unlimited power but, having only recently achieved awareness and freedom, is like a wayward adolescent, who needs someone like Rose to guide him and teach him a respect for life. I liked the way she compares her relationship with him to that of Watson and Holmes, with herself taking the role of Watson.  

The plot and characters are well developed and there is some excellent world building.  I think this book would appeal to general Science Fiction readers as well as romance readers, and there is enough action and intrigue to satisfy anyone who enjoys a good adventure which is as thought provoking as it is entertaining.
I was given an ARC if this book in return for an honest and unbiased review. No compensation has been paid or accepted for any reviews on this site, favorable or otherwise

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Wednesday 8 July 2015

Destiny Rising - Cover Reveal and Giveaway

Today is the cover reveal for Destiny Rising by Siobhan Davis. This cover reveal is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. I really enjoyed Siobhan's other books in this series and can't wait to read this one!

Destiny Rising

Destiny Rising (True Calling #3)
By Siobhan Davis
Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction/Romance
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: August 30, 2015

Blurb:
Every choice has a consequence.

Once again, the world is on the brink of momentous change. As revolutionary organization Saoirse prepares to battle the government for control of Earth and Novo, Ariana and those she loves must join humanity’s fight for justice and freedom.
As haunted memories resurface, old discoveries and new realities conspire to shatter her world forever.

Torn in one direction by her unique connection to childhood sweetheart Zane, and pulled in the other by a relentless passion for her fiery fiancé Cal, she must make the hardest decision of all. While embarking on a road to self-discovery, her psychic gift evolves and the full extent of her powerful ability is revealed.
Then fate lands another savage blow and she faces the most horrific choice of all. Forced into striking a deal with the enemy, she must make the ultimate personal sacrifice or risk everything she holds dear.

When destiny finally rears its head, what will the future hold?


You can find Destiny Rising on Goodreads

You can pre-order Destiny Rising here:
- Amazon
- Amazon.co.uk
- Amazon.ca
- Amazon.au
- Barnes&Noble
- Apple/iBooks
- Kobo


Start the series for free!
True CallingTrue Calling (True Calling #1)
By Siobhan Davis
Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction/Romance
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: August 1, 2014

Blurb:
Planet Novo, nestled in space twelve hundred miles above the surface of the Earth, is the new home of 17-year-old Cadet Ariana Skyee. Confused by the government-sanctioned memory erase and distressed at her impending forced marriage and motherhood, Ariana’s plans for the future are thrown into complete disarray.

As the traumatic events within her family life enfold, Ariana grows increasingly alarmed at the authorities apparent pre-occupation with her and feels progressively more isolated and alone.

Her growing feelings for fellow Cadet Cal Remus intensify as the recently announced pageant, ‘The Calling’, gets underway. Struggling to comprehend the continuous, inexplicable dreams of the mysterious Zane, discovering the past helps shape her future, with devastating personal consequences.


You can find True Calling on Goodreads

Start the series for free! Grab your copy of True Calling for free here:
- Amazon
- Amazon UK
- Barnes & Noble
- iTunes/iBooks
- Kobo

About the Author:
Siobhan Davis is the author of YA science fiction romance series True Calling.
SiobhanA self-diagnosed ‘teenager forever’—at least when it comes to books, music and movies; Siobhan is totally addicted to teen fiction and superhero/blockbuster movies. Siobhan loves baking, crime novels, shoes, bags, make-up, anti-wrinkle cream, anything pink, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, and Robert Pattinson (definitely Team Edward). Siobhan has forged a successful corporate career, in Human Resources, over the last twenty years.
A member of the IWI writers group, Siobhan resides in the Garden County of Ireland with her husband and two sons.
Contact Siobhan at: www.siobhandavis.com

You can find and contact Siobhan here:
- Website
- Author blog
- Book website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google +
- Goodreads

Sample chapters, quotes, reviews and book excerpts are all available to download from the authors website

There is a cover reveal wide giveaway for the cover reveal of Destiny Rising. These are the prizes you can win:
- e-copies of the whole True calling series by Siobhan Davis. Which is the following books: True Calling, Lovestruck, Beyond Reach, Light of a Thousand Stars and Destiny Rising.
- one 10$ amazon gift card

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
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