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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 27 March 2019

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
Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space adventure, Crossline, the zany SF/F backpacking comedy series Finders Keepers: The Definitive EditionGenius 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

Wednesday 13 March 2019

"Try that again and I'll blow your head off..."#Book Hook' from Beloved Enemy - #MFRWHooks


Apologies for not posting last week, I was up to my ears in stardust (or something similar). It was Beloved Enemy's  Birthday yesterday, so I thought I'd post another 'hook' from that. (It carries on the confrontation between the two main protagonists from last time.) I'm still eagerly awaiting the audio files which hopefully should be completed soon. Each book in the trilogy has a hero and heroine with there own 'happy ever after' but each story features some of the same characters and a link to the starship Destiny
(I may not be able to comment much tomorrow but I promise I'll try to visit all the 'BookHook blogs and comment on as many as I can in the next few days.)

EXCERPT 

Cat froze, trying to catch her breath, and clenching her fists in frustration. Damn, how could I have been so careless?

Kerry removed both her gun and his own from her belt, together with her knife, before releasing his stranglehold.

“Did you really think I would stand by and let you  take my gun without trying to get it back?” He gave her a none-too-gentle shove between the shoulder blades, with what felt like the muzzle of one of the guns.

“Don’t let me stop you from carrying on with what you were doing.”

“Go to hell. Shoot me in the back if you must. I’ll be damned if I’ll be your slave.” As she spoke, she kicked back with all her force. Her heel connected with his shin, knocking him off balance. Whirling round, she made use of her momentary advantage to snatch back her gun and level it at his chest. “Try that again and I’ll blow your head off. Now give me back your firearm.”

His eyes glimmered and the blue ice turned to steel. “When hell freezes over. Do you think I’m just going to hand over my blaster and let you shoot me when I’m not looking?”

“We’ve had this conversation before. If I’d wanted to shoot you, I’d have done it straight away and saved myself the trouble of getting you back here.” She gave him a jab in the ribs with the barrel of her pistol by way of emphasis.

“Then why are you still pointing a gun at me?”

For a long moment, he held her with his gaze. She felt her skin tingle, and quivers of awareness chased themselves up and down her spine. Without speaking, and watching him like a predator watches its prey, she lowered her weapon as he laid his on the table between them.

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?


Available from:
Amazon US: 
http://www.amazon.com/Beloved-Enemy-Destiny-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01BBCBYCS

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01BBCBYCS

All three books in the Destiny Trilogy can be found on my Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B002BMBXH4

Please don't forget to visit the blogs below for more 'book hooks'.





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

Friday 1 March 2019

Happy St David's Day

March the 1st is St David's Day in my homeland of Wales, where concerts or 'eisteddffods'  are held and people party with lamb stew or 'cawl' and wear a daffodil or a leek.

The day marks the death of of St David in 589 AD.
He was born in Caerfai in Pembrokeshire, Wales .

A St David’s Day parade is held in Cardiff from midday and a concert is also held there, with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales performing traditional songs.

Happy St David's Day Everyone!


Today I will be proudly wearing a daffodil, and putting up the Welsh Flag outside my house.



Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus

To all my Welsh friends 





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

Wednesday 27 February 2019

"Yes, I know who you are." #Book Hook' from Beloved Enemy - #MFRWHooks


I'm posting another excerpt from the third book in the Destiny Trilogy, the award winning 'Beloved Enemy',  which will soon be joining the first two books Starquest and Children of the Mist as an audio book, as well as in eBook and paperback. Each book has a hero and heroine with there own 'happy ever after' but each story features some of the same characters and a link to 
the starship Destiny




EXCERPT (carries on a little further from my first excerpt too weeks ago.)

“The name suits you.” It did not sound like a compliment. “I am Kerry Marchant.”

“Yes, I know who you are.” She ignored his quizzical look. “As I said earlier, don’t get any ideas. This ‘cat’ has claws.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She activated the small cleansing unit housed in an alcove set into the bulkhead and ran her hands through the antiseptic mist. “How’s the shoulder? D’you want
me to look at it?”

“No need. The regenerator seems to have done its job.” He unclipped his pack and withdrew a compressed black garment. “Is there somewhere I can clean up and change my tunic?”

“Help yourself. There’s a washroom back there,” she said, indicating a small door behind him. While he was occupied, she went to the storage unit and removed a metal container. Taking another vessel, she poured water from it into the first, and tipped the resulting reconstituted raw meat on a large plate she placed on the floor. Shifter stuck his nose in it and gulped it down in several mouthfuls, without pausing for breath, before drinking from the bowl of water she placed before him.

After a few minutes, Kerry reappeared, having replaced his ruined shirt. He regarded the chameleopard with an expression of curiosity on his face.

“Interesting animal. Where did you get him?”

“I found him on a small planet in the Andromeda system. He’d been bred for fighting. I don’t agree with keeping animals to kill each other, so I fought his owner for him. Fed properly and treated well he’s actually quite docile—unless he feels he has to protect me.”

Those cold eyes betrayed nothing, but he looked at her as if not sure whether to believe her.

“I suppose you’re hungry too. It’s only normal ship’s survival rations, but they’ll keep us going for a while.”

“Then that will have to do.”

Of all the ungrateful…She turned to the dispenser unit and, for a split second, dropped her guard. In the same instant, she felt an arm whip around her throat.

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?


Available from:
Amazon US: 
http://www.amazon.com/Beloved-Enemy-Destiny-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01BBCBYCS

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01BBCBYCS

All three books in the Destiny Trilogy can be found on my Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B002BMBXH4

Please don't forget to visit the blogs below for more 'book hooks'.


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

Wednesday 20 February 2019

Delightful pets you have.....#Book Hook' from Beloved Enemy - #MFRWHooks



I'm posting another excerpt from the third book in the Destiny Trilogy, the award winning 'Beloved Enemy',  which will soon be joining the first two books Starquest and Children of the Mist as an audio book, as well as in eBook and paperback. Each book has a hero and heroine with there own 'happy ever after' but each story features some of the same characters and a link to 
the starship Destiny



EXCERPT (carries on a little further from last week's excerpt)

She waved her weapon in the direction of the rocks, where the firing had come from earlier, while bending to retrieve her supply pack and thermal blanket, still keeping her gaze fixed on him. “We need to make sure whoever was shooting at you and“We need to make sure whoever was shooting at you and your friends is really dead. Move, and remember I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

They reached the rock their adversaries had used as a shield. With her finger on the trigger button Cat swung round it, prepared to fire if anyone moved. Then she froze. The area was clear. Not the bodies she expected to find, no sign anyone had ever been there at all.

She looked at Kerry. “They were here. They can’t have just vanished.”


He shook his head. “Unless they can teleport—which has been proven to be impossible by mechanical means. It is just possible they may have psionic capabilities.”

“No point in worrying about them now. Seems they’ve gone, however they did it.” Cat gave a long low whistle and one of the nearby boulders morphed into the tawny form of Shifter.

“What the hell is that?” As if acting on instinct, Kerry reached for his gun and then swore softly when his fingers failed to close upon it. His gaze flicked toward her. He cursed again and stared pointedly at his
blaster thrust through her belt.

She ignored his stare and nodded toward the animal. “His name’s Shifter. He’s…well, I call him a chameleopard, and I’d kill anyone who tried to shoot him.”

Kerry favoured her with a cold look. “Delightful pets you have.”

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?


Available from:
Amazon US: 
http://www.amazon.com/Beloved-Enemy-Destiny-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01BBCBYCS

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01BBCBYCS

All three books in the Destiny Trilogy can be found on my Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B002BMBXH4

Please don't forget to visit the blogs below for more 'book hooks'.










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

Pheonix Rising Series by Alexandra Christian - Spotlight and #Giveaway




Naked
Phoenix Rising Book 1
by Alexandra Christian

Genre: SF Romance
OUT OF THE STACKS

Librarian Phoebe Addison has lived her entire life within a seventy-five mile
radius of her small Louisiana town, but when she receives a strange medallion from her adventurous, off-world sister, reality tilts toward the bizarre. Everything Phoe thought she knew is…well, wrong. Dead wrong. But bone-numbing fear has no place in this brave new world—nor by the side of the dangerous, exquisite man who saves her life.


AND INTO THE FIRE

Following the tragic slaughter of his family, operative Macijah “Cage” St.John understands evil in a way no man ever should. He traded happiness for a magnificent and terrible power, and fate isn’t done with him yet. He wasn’t looking for comfort. He didn’t need tenderness. But today he’ll play hero to a damsel in distress, and his quest will deliver him to the uncanny Martian colony of New London—and his heart to the demure Phoebe Addison. The bookish
beauty’s hidden talents and deep abiding love just might save Cage from himself.



NeoGeisha 
Phoenix Rising Book 2


BACK...
Macijah "Cage" St. John' didn't want the spy life anymore. He would
have been thrilled to spend every morning lying in the field behind
Phoe's home in smalltown Louisiana watching the clouds roll by. But
his Miss Addison wanted to spread her wings, literally. So Cage accepted a mission that teamed him up with his lady love. If only he had trusted her.


TO THE FUTURE

Everything about being a spy was a million times more exciting, and scarier,
than the books she'd read in her former life as a librarian. When her  first mission with Cage turned into a colossal clusterf*ck because he withheld information and kept secrets, Phoebe's world narrowed into a long tunnel of betrayal. Captured by space pirates and delivered to a horrible fate, she wished the last words between them had been of love, because she was certain she would never see Cage St. John again.

In NeoGeisha, Alexandra Christian returns to the intriguing, post-apocalyptic world she created in Naked. Cage and Phoe continue to build their relationship, but not without complications. Romantic conflict and fast-paced action keep the pages turning, right down to the satisfying ending. ~ Nancy Northcott, Author of the Light Mage Wars series

NeoGeisha hit all my personal high points: wild adventure, sheet-scorching sex,
killer machines, thousands-to-two odds and a vampire shape-shitfting
James Bond in space. ~Vivien Jackson, Author of Wanted and Wired series



In Absinthia
Phoenix
Rising Book 3

ALL INCLUSIVE VICTORIANA & STEAMPUNK

Interplanetary master spies, Macijah "Cage" St. John and Phoebe Addison
are forced to take vacation time, and she wants to go to Absinthia,
an off-world all inclusive interactive vacay planet set up as
Victorian London, but with all the future comforts. Cage doesn't do
down time, but their boss has other ideas, so begrudgingly, Cage
agrees to go to Absinthia. Within a day of their arrival, they get
embroiled in a Ripper copy cat series of murders complete with
séances, "altered" humans, kidnapping, and affairs of the
heart - their hearts, which will always belong to each other.


Out of Ashes
Phoenix
Rising Book 4

THE LOVE YOU TAKE IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MAKE



Phoebe Addison and Macijah "Cage" St. John have so much going on
they can barely take a breath. Interplanetary master spies who generally drive their boss crazy, they are now trying to track down the person - is a skin walker a person? - who tried to kill him at their engagement party. Yeah, they were talked into returning to Louisiana so the whole town could show up and gawk at Cage. But they have bigger problems than usual when tracking an assassin. Secrets
that have been buried for too many years are about to be uncovered if Cage and Phoe can survive the people, vampires and "things" that are trying to kill them. And to top if off, Phoe has a secret she's sure will send Cage into a tailspin. But, as with everything they have lived through to be together, their love is the constant that is its own reward.





Alexandra Christian is an author of mostly romance with a speculative slant. Her love of Stephen King and sweet tea has flavored her fiction with
a Southern Gothic sensibility that  reeks of Spanish moss and deep
fried eccentricity. As one-half of the writing team at Little Red Hen

Romance, she’s committed to bringing exciting stories and sapiosexual love monkeys to intelligent readers everywhere. Lexx also likes to keep her fingers in lots of different pies having written everything from sci fi and horror to Sherlock Holmes adventures. 

Her alter-ego, A.C. Thompson, is also the editor of the highly successful Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series of anthologies from Mocha Memoirs Press. A.C. will also pen several Shadow Council Archives novellas starring everyone’s favorite sidekick, Dr. John Watson, coming soon from Falstaff Books.



A self-proclaimed “Southern Belle from Hell,” Lexx is a native
South Carolinian who lives with an epileptic wiener dog and her
husband, author Tally Johnson. Her long-term aspirations are to one
day be a best-selling authoress and part-time pinup girl. She’s a
member of Romance Writers of America and Broad Universe—an
organization that supports female authors of speculative fiction.
 

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