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Free Fantasy Novel: Shattered Past

Shattered Past is a fantasy adventure/romance novel set in my Dragon Blood world.

It takes place between Books 7 and 8 in the main series, but lots of readers miss it because it doesn’t have a number and features the gruff but lovable (okay, he’s more sarcastic and grumpy than lovable, but he’s still fun!) Colonel Therrik instead of the delightful Ridgewalker Zirkander of the main series.

If you haven’t read Shattered Past and want a free copy, you can download it from Bookfunnel until May 31st, 2021 (no email or anything required — enjoy!):

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/ohyeph8j8c

The post Free Fantasy Novel: Shattered Past first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

New Star Kingdom Bonus Story: Valentine’s Day

It’s true that I’ve been working on fantasy projects these past few months, but I haven’t forgotten about my Star Kingdom friends. I’m working on a new novel set in that world (it will feature new heroes, but we’ll get a few visits from old familiars), and in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a little bonus story.

This story is definitely absolutely for people who have read the whole series and the novella, “The Main Event.” (That’s a newsletter bonus that you can get by signing up here: https://lindsayburoker.com/book-news/fallenempire/.) You can also check the Amazon series page to see if you missed any of the novels.

In other words: big time spoilers. This takes place a few months after Book 8 (Layers of Force).

Oh, and by the way, Book 8 comes out in audiobook this Tuesday, so check that out if you’re an ears-only person (https://www.audible.com/pd/Layers-of-Force-Audiobook/1774248417).

Okay, now that you’ve been warned about the spoilers…

Here’s the story!

 

Valentine’s Day

David Lichtenburg—formerly the infamous mercenary Tenebris Rache and currently the aspiring superhero the Main Event—wasn’t expecting any visitors to his new apartment. He’d recently changed residences from a drab, windowless dwelling under a parking garage to a loft above a textiles factory, and the only person he’d told his new address to was Kim Sato. She never visited him unannounced, even though he’d implied more than once that she was welcome to do so. But she preferred to schedule their dates in advance and always arrived precisely on time, even if that meant standing outside the door for two minutes before activating the chime.

Thus he was surprised when he walked into the wood-floored loft and found someone sitting on his black couch. He drew his stunner before realizing he recognized the back of the man’s head, the brown hair identical in color to his own, if more tousled.

“The master of the domicile has returned,” Amit—the formidable six-and-a-half-foot-tall crusher that Casmir had given Rache months earlier—announced. He stood opposite the couch where he’d apparently been conversing with this intruder.

Casmir stood up and faced Rache, his smile and wave faltering only slightly when he saw the stunner. “This might be a bad time to shoot me. I’ve recently returned from a diplomatic mission in System Stymphalia, and I’m still reacquainting my body, and in particular my stomach, to Odin’s gravity. It’s left me a touch queasy.”

“You can’t throw up on my floor. I just moved in.”

“Then you can’t shoot me. Logic.”

“How did you find this place?” Rache holstered the stunner and pulled off the mask and hood he wore in public. Most of the Twelve Systems thought Tenebris Rache was dead; he preferred to keep it that way. “And why did you presume to let yourself in?”

“I permitted Casmir Dabrowski to enter,” Amit said. “He knocked on the door and is not on the list of people you gave me that are forbidden entrance.”

“That must have been an oversight.”

“Had you kept me with you,” Amit said, his deadpan voice managing to convey impressive admonition, “when you went to turn in the criminals you collected, I would not have been here to misinterpret your door-opening desires.”

“I let you help me capture them. Wasn’t that enough?” Rache had found Amit useful—though he wouldn’t admit that with his maker, Casmir, watching on—but the crusher had a garrulous streak that Rache needed a break from now and then.

“It was satisfying to have thieves bounce off my chest and squeal in alarm when they encountered my sturdy magnificence,” Amit said.

Casmir’s eyebrows rose.

“Yes, another of your crushers is developing a quirky personality,” Rache told him. “I blame you.”

“Huh.” Casmir scratched his jaw. “I’d always assumed Zee developed his interesting quirkiness as a result of being in close proximity to my interesting quirkiness. After all, the crushers were programmed to learn from and adapt to their surroundings. I would have assumed Amit would be influenced by your personality and thus be rather, ah, dry and acerbic.”

“I interact often with Zee,” Amit said. “And, in an attempt to better assist the Main Event, I have been reading foundational material related to his new career.”

“Comic books,” Rache said.

“Oh, really?” Casmir brightened. “That’s an excellent choice for foundational material.”

“I feel fulfilled by stopping crime,” Amit said, “and am proud when I contribute to the Main Event’s success.”

“That’s good. Rache, you should be pleased to see me.” Casmir bowed. He hadn’t picked up the habit of calling Rache by his birth name, but after ten years, Rache still thought of himself by the nom de guerre he’d chosen, so he could hardly blame Casmir. “I’ve come to make sure you’re prepared for tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow?” Rache had a dinner date with Kim—technically, they were having food delivered to her home, so he wouldn’t have to attempt to dine while wearing a mask—but that was a weekly occurrence, so shouldn’t have any significance to Casmir.

“It’s Valentine’s Day, and you are, however much it continues to disturb me, in a romantic relationship with my roommate. Since she is dead set on finding you appealing, I will not stand in the way. In fact, I’m here to help you. I have a hunch that you haven’t purchased a gift for Kim yet, so I came to take you shopping. As her longtime roommate, I know her well, and will be an excellent resource for you to consult. And because I’m considerate, I waited until nightfall, the preferred time of day for those wishing to remain incognito.” Casmir pointed toward the window, though the blinds were drawn so no snooping police drones would see inside as they cruised through the city.

“Your warm approval of our relationship fills me with feelings of gratitude.”

“See, dry and acerbic.” Casmir smiled at Amit.

“Kim and I discussed Valentine’s Day and agreed that it is a foolish holiday. Given all of the historically significant holidays we could have imported from Old Earth, it’s a true waste. We also agreed not to exchange gifts.”

“Yet you’re going to have a dinner date?”

“There’s nothing she doesn’t tell you, is there?”

“I’ve asked that she keep details of your relationship to a minimum, but since she requested that I visit Oku in the castle tomorrow night, I assumed it was because she planned to entertain.”

“We always have dinner on Sunday nights. I’ll be purchasing delivery from Schnitzel Schloss.”

“You’re buying? I suppose that’s a gift of sorts.”

“It’s my turn.”

“Meaning she buys half the time and you buy half the time?” Casmir asked.

“I would be happy to financially support her, but she insists on an equitable relationship.”

“Then your purchase of dinner can’t count as a Valentine’s Day gift.”

“I hadn’t intended it to. I already told you: we’re not exchanging gifts.” Rache squinted at him. “Unless she got me something after we agreed we would not partake in this foolish holiday. She didn’t, did she? Kim is straightforward and honest. She doesn’t play games.”

“While I believe that to be true, it is possible she was moved by a spontaneous impulse. Perhaps I shouldn’t share this private intelligence, but there is a large flat gift wrapped and stashed away in the kitchen cabinet behind her coffee station.”

Rache swore.

“I hope that won’t be your reaction when she gives it to you.”

“Are you sure it’s for me? Was there a name card? How large is large? Is it a book? Or a box? Did you shake it?”

“Really, Rache. I don’t rattle other people’s gifts. How much of a snoop do you think I am?”

“You found her secret stash behind the coffee maker that you don’t use. I know you live completely on fizzop and other teeth-rotting beverages.”

“True—thank goodness for modern dental technology—but I happened to be placing some imported coffee beans from Stymphalia in her cabinet for her to try. I saw them during my visit and thought she would enjoy them. Also, while I was away, she was kind enough to bring in my mail and fill the water reservoir for the plants that Oku gave me. Societal conventions dictated that I bring Kim a thank-you gift. Just as they dictate you give her a gift tomorrow for your Valentine’s Day dinner.”

“It’s not a Valentine’s Day dinner. It’s our regular Sunday night dinner.”

“That happens to be on Valentine’s Day, at which point, as the wrapped package in her cabinet suggests, she’ll be giving you a gift.”

Rache fought down the urge to swear again. He supposed he should be thankful Casmir had come. If his intelligence could be relied upon, and Kim had purchased a gift, Rache would feel awkward not having anything but schnitzel to give her in return.

“Where do you suggest we shop?” Knowing of her coffee passion, Rache usually got Kim gifts related to it, but if Casmir, her mere roommate, had given her a coffee gift, didn’t that mean Rache should get her something more romantic? Or at least more original?

“You’re asking for my opinion on that?”

“The last time I seriously dated—” Rache didn’t mention Thea, even though, thanks to Kim’s bestselling novel based on their adventures, the entire universe now knew the name of his once-fiancée that King Jager had killed, “—the lady enjoyed receiving jewelry and flowers, as many normal women do, but Kim is a scientist.”

“And therefore not normal?” Casmir’s eyes twinkled.

“She’s admitted she’s a challenging woman to have a relationship with and appreciates that I am not swayed by that.”

His eyes twinkled even brighter. “I’m sure she finds you challenging too.”

Rache showed his maturity by not punching him. “That is likely. But she understands me well and knows what I like. The short stories she’s written are my favorite gifts, but I understand those are a lot of effort for her, and she’s very busy right now. She’s catching up on the months of work she missed last year.”

“The large flat gift didn’t look like a short story.”

Rache gripped his chin thoughtfully. If Kim truly had gotten him something, Casmir was right. He needed to reciprocate. “Kim prefers practical gifts to frivolous ones. Unfortunately, she hasn’t mentioned any equipment needs related to her hobbies or work that would be obvious choices for presents.”

“That’s too bad. Nothing says love like a microbiological incubator or a portable externally heated autoclave.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“No. I’m taking you to the night market. There’s a store that specializes in gifts for science lovers.”

“Did you buy a gift for Oku there?”

“No.” Casmir beamed a smile at him. “I made her an ambulatory solar-powered robotic collector that gathers the castle’s kitchen scraps and lawn clippings and turns them into rich fertile compost for her greenhouse, all within twenty-four hours.”

“Romantic.”

“She thought so.”

“She truly prefers your… craft projects to store-bought presents?”

“Women like it when you put thought and elbow grease into a gift.” Casmir looked curiously at him and then around the apartment, perhaps noting the lack of tools and projects denoting elbow grease. “Do you know how to make anything?”

“I’ve made many things. I’m a talented man.”

Casmir’s eyebrows rose.

“Last year, I welded metal scrap into a new bolt for a Starstrider 487 rifle while taking cover from enemy fire in a vehicle garage. And I’ve repaired my own combat armor dozens of times. Tell me that isn’t talented.”

“I don’t think firearms and armor are appropriate for Valentine’s Day. Perhaps something that inspires feelings of love and adoration instead of fear?”

“Like what?”

“A boy in my colleague’s daughter’s class made her a heart by gluing dried macaroni pasta onto construction paper.”

“I don’t think that would move Kim to ardor.”

“Ew.” The distressed twist of Casmir’s mouth suggested he didn’t want to hear about his roommate’s ardor. “Let’s just go to the science store.”

“As you wish,” Rache said. “It’s too bad that physical newspapers aren’t printed anymore. There have been a few write-ups of the escapades of the Main Event. They’re usually loathsome and get the facts all wrong—half the time, they insinuate that I’m colluding with villains—but someone got a decent photo and did a halfway decent story last month. Naturally I was wearing my mask and combat armor, so it didn’t identify me, but it was a good action shot. If it hadn’t only been on the network, I could have cut it out and had it framed and signed it for her.”

“A signed photograph of yourself? You don’t think that’s a touch vain?”

Rache shrugged. “She likes the Main Event ruse. Even if you came up with it, and I’m not convinced that it’s not ridiculous. She likes the idea of me helping innocent people and thwarting villains.”

“We all think it’s a nice turnaround from your previous career where you did the opposite.”

“I did occasionally help people as Rache, you know.”

“It’s not really helping if you’re being paid a hundred thousand Union dollars to do it.”

“You’re an idealist, Casmir.”

“But I’m still going to take you shopping.” Casmir thrust his arm toward the door to lead the way.

Rache shook his head but followed him.

“Will Zee be joining us?” Amit asked.

“I had to leave him at the castle,” Casmir said.

Rache frowned. “You’re a public figure now. You shouldn’t wander about without a bodyguard.”

“Why would I need a bodyguard when I’ll be walking side-by-side with a burgeoning superhero?”

“Because your bodyguard likes you more than I do.”

“Is that true? I thought I was growing on you.”

“I don’t fantasize about strangling you as much anymore, but Zee is completely devoted to you.”

“He is a good crusher. That’s why he couldn’t come. Oku’s dog Chasca missed him while we were gone in another system, and since Zee is determined to help me successfully woo Oku, he is spending time with the dog now.”

“A dog missed a crusher?” Amit asked. “Canines usually bark at me when I go by. They are oddly hostile toward our kind. I believe it is because we are shaped like humans but neither smell nor look like humans.”

“Chasca also did not adore Zee at first sight,” Casmir said. “But he turns himself into furnishings and modulates his surface tension so he’s comfortable enough to sleep on.”

Rache stared at Casmir. “Are you saying that your dedicated bodyguard and supersoldier robot couldn’t come shopping with you because he’s being a bed for the queen’s dog?”

“A couch actually.”

“He really is completely devoted to you,” Rache muttered.

***

Kim was at home catching up on a few articles of interest in the latest Frontier of Bacteriology and Virology when the door chime rang. Since Casmir and Zee weren’t around, she went to answer it herself, though not until checking the newly installed cameras to make sure it wasn’t another reporter or paparazzi wanting to harass them. Casmir was a hot commodity now—less, Kim gathered, because he’d saved the world from hostile astroshamans and AI and more because he was dating Queen Oku. Unfortunately, she’d garnered some fame of her own by publishing what had become an extremely popular novel. In retrospect, she should have created another pen name for the project.

Their friend Qin stood on the threshold. With relief, Kim opened the door and waved her inside. A couple of drones hovering by the zindi tree snapped photographs, their flashes brightening the yard, before she could close it again.

“Good evening, Qin.”

“Hi, Kim.” Qin grinned and waved. Her young face and bright eyes were always a startling contrast to her six-foot-plus muscular build, genetically enhanced by feline attributes that included fangs, pointed ears, and the ability to spring twenty yards to destroy enemies with her retractable claws. “Sorry to drop by unexpectedly, but Asger’s made plans for us to go on a three-day star cruise down to the Southern Hemisphere to see waterfalls and jungles and lots of neat geological sites for Valentine’s Day. I need to pick up his gift.”

“Of course. I hid it behind my espresso maker so Casmir wouldn’t stumble across it and blab about it to Asger.”

“Oh, good. Casmir is a blabber.”

“Tell me about it.” Kim retrieved the gift from the kitchen.

“I appreciate you keeping it for me. We’ve done a lot of remodeling to our new tree-house home, but it’s relatively small, and there aren’t a lot of secret nooks or cabinets to tuck things into.”

“I understand. Here you are. I hope your gift exchange goes well.”

“I’m sure it will.” Qin winked. “I got him a calendar.”

That seemed an odd choice. Kim was not an expert when it came to gift giving, knowing only that her preference for functional and practical presents tended to puzzle the people she gave them to. She was relieved that she and Rache had agreed that holidays such as the looming Valentine’s Day were silly societal constructs and that one should not feel compelled to expend time acquiring gifts for them. It was much better if they occasionally purchased gifts—or wrote stories—for each other out of a genuine desire to please each other, and only as the whim struck them.

“A calendar will be suitably romantic?” Kim wouldn’t have asked, but Qin was looking expectantly at her, as if she wanted Kim to inquire about it.

“I think so. And it’ll be funny, because he once gave me a calendar. It starred himself when he was a few years younger, posing nearly nude in scenic places all around your capital.”

“I have some memory of this event.” Mostly, Kim remembered Casmir sharing Asger’s choice with her while smacking a palm to his forehead.

“It was a strange gift. At the time, we weren’t romantically involved, and I didn’t know what to think of it. Bonita was far more intrigued by it, though now that she and Bjarke are romantically involved, she doesn’t come into my cabin to admire it on the wall as often.”

“You kept it? And, ah, hung it in your cabin?”

“It seemed like the right thing to do for a gift. And Asger is an attractive man. Though I was a little alarmed when I saw the calendar in a laundromat here in the capital. It was one of several featuring naked men. I’d known, of course, that the calendar had been mass-produced, but until that moment, I didn’t quite grasp the ramifications.”

“Naked Asger is hanging in a laundromat?”

“Nearly naked Asger, yes. There are strategically placed mailboxes and fern fronds and the like in each scene.”

Kim was relieved she’d never seen this calendar. And that their rental cottage included its own laundry appliances, so she needn’t risk stumbling into that establishment.

“Asger was embarrassed when I told him about the spotting,” Qin said. “He’s matured since he was doing the modeling work. That was mostly to irk his father, and because he wanted attention.”

“I see. And this is…” Kim extended a hand toward Qin’s wrapped gift. She hadn’t purchased the version from the laundromat to ensure it was taken down, had she?

“Bonita helped me take some photographs of myself in scenic places behind strategically placed things. At first, the idea horrified me, and my cheeks were pink through the whole experience, but she promised me Asger would find it extremely pleasing. I mostly agreed because I thought it would be funny, but Bonita said…” Qin bit her lip and lowered her voice. “She said he would be aroused, and we’d have a really good night.”

Kim found this whole story perplexing, as it sounded like an only slightly more sophisticated way to send nude photos to each other across the network, but she supposed some couples did do that. Fortunately, Rache, if he had ever been moved to send her a photo of himself behind a fern frond, had resisted the urge. Even though his physique was attractive, she found the espresso machine he’d given her quite romantic and infinitely more practical than nude photos.

“I hope it has the desired effect,” Kim said, keeping any judgment out of her tone. Qin looked embarrassed, making Kim wonder why she had struck up the conversation on the topic.

“Thanks. Me too.” Qin hugged the gift to her chest and stepped toward the door. “I hope you and the person nobody is supposed to know is alive also have a good evening tomorrow.”

“We will enjoy our dinner date.”

“Good. Thanks again for keeping this for me. Say hi to Casmir and Zee for me.” Qin waved and let herself out.

As Kim was shutting the door, a message from Casmir came in via her chip.

Greetings, Kim. How would you feel about a shower curtain with the periodic table of elements on it?

We already have a shower curtain with a robot on it that I have to feign indifference to.

Yes, but I’ll be taking that with me if I one day move out. You’ll need a replacement.

As far as I know, the only place you’re likely to move is into the castle with Oku.

I don’t want to jinx things, but that is a possibility.

You can’t possibly take a goofy cartoon robot shower curtain and hang it in the two-thousand-year-old historically significant castle of the ruler of the entire Star Kingdom.

Why not?

Kim rubbed her forehead as dozens of reasons popped into her mind. Oku must be an even more tolerant woman than she was. She settled on: It doesn’t match anything there.

Oh, don’t worry. I’ll get the tissue box cover and toothbrush holder that goes with it.

Casmir, I don’t want a periodic-table-of-elements shower curtain.

Are you sure?

I’m positive.

How about a nightlight that’s a small aquarium filled with living single-celled plankton that glow with bioluminescent light in the dark?

She grimaced and headed back to the kitchen table, planning to return to reading. Casmir, you’re not shopping for another gift for me, are you? The coffee was quite nice and more than enough. It wasn’t that much work to water your plants.

No, I’m making these inquiries on behalf of a friend.

What friends do you have that feel I’m in need of a gift? I really don’t— Kim halted in the doorway to the kitchen. You’re not with Rache, are you?

Why would I be with Rache? He’s surly and a grump.

He’s not getting me a Valentine’s Day present, is he? She gripped the doorjamb, imagining Rache awkwardly giving her a gift of a shower curtain. He wouldn’t truly let Casmir help him shop for a gift, would he? And why was he looking for one anyway? They’d agreed not to exchange gifts.

No, no, of course not. Forget I said anything. Have a good night!

You’re a horrible liar, Casmir.

He sent back a winky face.

Kim groaned. Her dinner date with Rache was less than a day away. Now she had to come up with a gift for him, or she would feel like a heel when he presented whatever awful thing Casmir talked him into buying. No, Rache would come up with a good gift. She was certain of it. He had much better taste than Casmir. But that only made things worse. That meant she had to come up with something good for him.

“I hate social conventions,” she growled.

***

Casmir had intended to help Rache find a suitable present and have a successful Valentine’s Day evening with Kim, but as they walked out of the sixth store in the shopping complex empty-handed, he feared he had made the situation worse. Rache was always moody and taciturn, but he’d seemed glummer and glummer with each failure to find something appropriate for a not-normal scientist. Amit had attempted to offer suggestions, but Rache had grown tired of all the nattering, and told him to go visit Zee in the castle and learn how to turn himself into a couch.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the presents-for-science-lovers store?” Casmir asked as they headed into the parking lot.

“No.”

“I think Kim would be enjoy a beaker-inspired coffee mug with the molecule for caffeine on it.”

“She’s a bacteriologist, not a chemist.”

“Trust me. Kim knows what a caffeine molecule looks like.”

Rache gave him a flat look. At least Casmir assumed it was a flat look. He still put on a mask anytime he went out in public, so it was hard to tell. The choice was understandable, but it probably drew more attention and odd looks than if he’d opted for a beard, mustache, and a hat. Or some eyeglasses. Thousands of years of comic literature promised that superheroes could go incognito simply by donning or removing eyeglasses. Oh, well. At least Casmir had talked him out of wearing his combat armor to the market.

“What about the cell-biology board game?” Casmir asked. “You get to collect proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and DNA to build enzymes, hormones, and receptors while competing for points against friends and family. Who wouldn’t adore that?”

“That would be a gift for you, not Kim. She doesn’t play games.”

“Little do you know that I’ve convinced her to play board games no fewer than three times over the years.”

“Were those three times all when the power went out?”

“The power and the public network.” Casmir glanced up as a shuttle flew over them. Coming in to land and shop, he assumed, but all of their running lights were out. That was strange. “We get some epic storms living this close to the coast.”

“You’re not as helpful as you think you are. I don’t know what the senate was thinking when they made you a diplomat and an advisor.”

“I’ve a fabulous diplomat and advisor to people who aren’t surly grumps and can appreciate what I can offer.” The shuttle came down with surprising swiftness and landed ten yards in front of them, blocking their route. “That’s not a permissible parking spo—”

“Move,” Rache barked and shoved him behind ground van as the shuttle door slammed open and four armored men leaped out.

Startled, Casmir let himself be shoved, not that he could have resisted Rache’s cybernetically enhanced manhandling. He caught himself on the van and managed to keep from pitching to the pavement.

“There he is! Dabrowski!”

They were here for him?

Stunned, Casmir barely managed to keep from poking his head out to see who these thugs were. But weapons fire opened up as Rache charged toward the armored men, and crimson DEW-Tek bolts buzzed through the parking lot. One ricocheted off the hull of the van scant inches from Casmir’s head.

“Get his bodyguard first,” someone shouted.

Was that Rache? Casmir had been joking when he’d said Rache would protect them if there was trouble. He hadn’t expected trouble, not in the middle of the capital in a public shopping center fewer than two miles from the castle.

More weapons fired. Casmir swore, touching his hip, but he didn’t have his tool bag or anything that might have been used as a weapon. And he’d talked Rache out of wearing his armor.

A grunt sounded, followed by something crashing into a vehicle. One of the armored thugs, Casmir hoped, and not Rache.

Footsteps pounded off to his side. One of the men had to be running behind the row of parked vehicles to try to avoid Rache and get to him.

Casmir dropped to his stomach and belly crawled under the van. As he scooted between the tires and prepared to roll out on the far side, he spotted boots. Their owner sprang around the back of the van, landing in the spot Casmir had been a second ago.

Cursing under his breath, Casmir crawled out on the far side, then rolled under the next vehicle over, a boxy car with a puddle under it. He grimaced as he squirmed through it, preparing to continue crawling under parked vehicles until he was close enough to the shuttle to do something. He couldn’t fight, but maybe he could identify the enemy craft on the network, hack into its navigation computer, and sabotage it.

He ran out of vehicles to crawl under before he got to the shuttle and had to stop a few yards away. The door was still open, and four more armored men with weapons hopped out. The other four were battling Rache, who had his back to a flyer as he kicked and punched, hurling men who should have had the advantage over him across the parking lot. Even without his armor or a rifle, he was a formidable force.

It occurred to Casmir to send a call to the police, but before he’d formed a message in his mind, another thought came to him. A brilliant thought. He immediately started recording Rache kicking the bad guys’ butts. Casmir had no idea who these people were, but the fact that they’d come to attack him ensured they were bad guys.

As Casmir recorded Rache kicking people, hurling them twenty feet across the pavement, and tearing their weapons out of their grips and bending them in half to destroy them, he also located their shuttle’s navigation computer on the public network. It was a rental craft from an outfit in the capital. Casmir could have gotten into its unsophisticated computer without any hacking tools, but since he’d so often found himself pitted against enemies this past year, he had all manner of tools loaded on his chip.

As two men stomped around the parked vehicles, searching for Casmir as their buddies tried unsuccessfully to deal with his “bodyguard,” Casmir lay belly down in another puddle, recording Rache and gaining control of the shuttle. Ah, yes. He had it now.

Rache ducked a burst of weapons fire that shattered windows on the flyer behind him, then roared and hurled one of his foes into the hull of the shuttle. The two men left facing him backed away, glancing uneasily at each other.

“Retreat!” someone yelled.

As the two men spun away from Rache, the two who’d been searching the aisles for Casmir also gave up and ran toward the shuttle. Casmir ordered it to rise twenty feet into the air. Curses wafted from the driver’s seat inside.

The four men who’d been sprinting toward the shuttle to escape also cursed, but they adjusted quickly, and ran as a pack toward the exit of the parking lot. Normally, Casmir would have been willing to let people attacking him go, but he decided to catch a couple of them so the police could question them when they arrived. This might be part of some larger scheme that also targeted Oku or the crown in general.

Humming softly to himself, Casmir directed the shuttle to fly after the men. If they hadn’t been wearing armor, he wouldn’t have considered this tactic, but since they were well protected, he didn’t feel too bad when he brought the shuttle down abruptly on top of them. He had to lift it up and slam it down a couple of times before he managed to pin all four of them under it.

“Hah,” he whispered in triumph as the parking lot fell silent.

The rest of the men had either escaped or been knocked unconscious. When a new set of boots came into view, they belonged to Rache.

“You’re the only person I know who can fight crime while cowering under a van in a puddle.” Despite the mocking tone, Rache lowered a hand to help him up.

“If that’s true, you don’t know nearly enough computer nerds.” Casmir rolled out and accepted the hand up.

“Few of their kind have ever gravitated toward me.”

“Odd.”

“Yes.”

Casmir ended the recording and smirked at Rache. “I think I know what you’re getting Kim.”

“Not the periodic-table shower curtain,” Rache said warily.

“Nah. Better.”

***

On Valentine’s Day evening, Rache arrived at Kim’s cottage with a small square box wrapped in green paper with a red ribbon tied around it. After waffling that morning, he’d ordered the caffeine-molecule mug from the market. Casmir had promised he would have the perfect present delivered on Rache’s behalf, but Rache didn’t trust that Casmir had a clue what a perfect present was. Knowing him, it would be that dreadful shower curtain, delivered by a crusher wearing a bow tie.

He rang the chime, feeling oddly nervous as he waited. Even though he and Kim had been dating for a few months now, this change to their relationship paradigm left him uncertain. She’d always been honest with him, but for the first time, she’d said something different from what she meant, purchasing him a gift even though she’d claimed they should ignore the holiday conventions. Had she changed her mind after they’d spoken? Or had she deliberately led him astray so she could surprise him? He wasn’t opposed to surprises, but the misdirection was so unlike her that he didn’t know what to think.

Kim opened the door wearing a slinky dress that made thoughts of everything except what might happen after dinner drop out of his mind. His stoic scientist, who’d warned him from the beginning that she wasn’t crazy about physical contact, smiled warmly, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him.

Startled, Rache almost dropped his gift on the stoop. But he recovered before the breakable mug could crack against the cement and returned the embrace and the kiss.

Several delightful moments passed before their lips parted, Kim drawing him inside and shutting the door.

“Thank you for the gift,” she said.

“Er?” Rache held up the box. “You haven’t opened it yet.”

A puzzled crease furrowed her brow. “Oh, you brought something else? That wasn’t necessary.”

“Else? Oh, did Casmir send over… the other thing already?” Rache had no idea what the other thing was and groped for clues. Thanks to his cloned genetic material, he supposedly had a superior intellect, but he had a feeling it was on vacation this weekend.

“The video of you saving his life in a parking lot last night? Yes.” Kim squeezed his hand and led him into the living room. “I would have been distraught to lose my roommate. He still pays half the rent, you know. Despite rarely being here.”

Was that what Casmir had sent as Rache’s Valentine’s Day gift? Footage he’d recorded while flat on his belly under a vehicle? Of Rache punching and kicking ill-trained enemies across a parking lot?

“I’m sure that you, bestselling novelist and esteemed bacteriologist working at a successful commercial biotech lab, would be destitute without his contribution.”

“Perhaps not, but I would miss him and would hate to have to tell his parents that he’d survived countless people trying to kill him all across this system and in several others last year only to die at home while on a shopping trip. I don’t even know why he was at the market so late. He’d already made his gift for Queen Oku.” Kim sat on the couch and patted the seat beside her.

“I trust the ambulatory composting robot was a hit,” Rache said, not wanting to admit that Casmir had only been wandering the city at night because he’d wanted to help him. It wasn’t as if Rache had asked for that help. Casmir was a compulsive do-gooder, whether people wanted his good or not.

“I believe so. Oku seems to find all of his robots cute. Even the crushers. It helps that Zee turns himself into a sofa for her dog.”

“That was, I understand, the reason Casmir was without a bodyguard last night.” Rache sat down next to her and clasped her hand. “Has he learned why those men attacked him?”

“Royal Intelligence is questioning them. The last I heard, it’s likely a kidnapping slash blackmail situation. Casmir is bemused that he now warrants the attention of Royal Intelligence, but that’s what happens when you accept a position in the nobility and take a job working for the crown. And when you’re dating the queen.”

“Kidnapping usually involves stunners and bags to throw over people’s heads. Those men had DEW-Tek rifles.”

“Maybe they assumed they would have to deal with crushers or bodyguards before getting to Casmir.” Kim’s eyes gleamed. “Imagine their surprise when they got the Main Event.”

Even though that goofy name, not to mention the superhero gig, had been Casmir’s idea, it warmed Rache’s heart that Kim actually approved of it. She wasn’t quite the do-gooder that Casmir was, but she believed in being a law-abiding Kingdom subject and making ethically sound choices. His previous employment—and his determination to take revenge on King Jager—had disturbed her. Rache had regretted that, but he’d set himself along that path long before he’d ever met her, and he hadn’t been willing to deviate. And he didn’t regret killing Jager or that ass Jorg. Kim might not admit it, but the Kingdom was in a much better place now without either of them in charge. Still, with his primary motivation for revenge gone, Rache had no qualms about assisting law enforcement to gather criminals. And if, as Casmir had suggested, a long list of heroics might possibly pave the way to a pardon for Rache one day, that was an appealing notion.

“Perhaps,” he said, handing her the mug to unwrap, “the Main Event will do some snooping later and see if he can use his unorthodox methods to learn more than Royal Intelligence about the event.”

“If you’re going to solve any crimes or capture any villains, you might want to notify a new citizen reporter who’s started covering your exploits. I believe she acquired footage of the parking lot event and is working on a new story.” Kim messaged him a link to this citizen reporter’s site on the public network.

Rache quirked an eyebrow as he scanned a story that had been posted the night before. It detailed an adventure he’d had the previous week, one where he’d captured smugglers who’d been raiding ships lined up and waiting for their turns on the launch loop. The general press hadn’t realized the Main Event had been responsible for that, only publishing a tiny story saying that some stolen cargos had been recovered. This new story thoroughly covered his exploits and gave him full credit.

“Interesting,” he said. “This citizen reporter’s name—Eva Clancularius—doesn’t match the name of any Kingdom subjects in the public database.”

“It must be a nom de plume.” Kim untied the ribbon and unwrapped the box.

“A nom de plume that means concealed or secret in Latin.”

“Fascinating.”

“Eva declares the criminals plaguing the capital as being as pernicious as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, taking advantage of the less than ideal police coverage in the city as it struggles to recover from two bombings and an abrupt transition of power.”

“What an excellent analogy.”

“Kim, do you, by chance, know anything about Pseudomonas aeruginosa?”

“Certainly. They are a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, often called superbugs by the lay person, thanks to their resistance to typical antibiotics and ability to take down humans with weakened immune systems. Diagnosis is often determined by the vivid green mucus emanating from the nasal passages. This is a cute mug, thank you. A caffeine molecule. I like it.” She smiled at him, but it wasn’t as beaming a smile as he’d gotten at the door. Huh, Casmir truly had picked a good gift.

“I’m glad. I must say I’m fond of your gift as well. Eva.”

The smile turned into a smirk. “Excellent. I don’t have a lot of time, but I’ll do my best to make sure the facts, such as Eva can determine them, are shared on the network. You’ve mentioned in the past that the news reports on the Main Event have been egregious.”

“I believe half-assed is what I called it.”

“As a wordsmith, I feel compelled to translate coarse language into more literary terms.”

“Understandable. I do wonder…” Rache looked toward the kitchen. “Casmir mentioned that he’d accidentally—or through snooping—discovered a gift stashed away in your coffee cabinet.”

“That was Qin’s gift for Asger. She asked me to keep it here so he wouldn’t stumble across it early. Apparently, there isn’t a lot of storage space yet in their tree-house abode.”

“So… you didn’t actually get me a gift after saying we should ignore convention for this holiday and simply enjoy dinner together?”

“Not until Casmir said that you and he were shopping for a gift for me. Actually, he didn’t say that blatantly, but I could read between the lines. At that point, I didn’t have anything for you, since we did have the no-gift agreement. But when he sent over the footage of your heroic exploits in the parking lot, I had the urge to share the Main Event’s ongoing saga. And since I would prefer we not be linked in the public’s mind in any way—” Kim touched her chest and pointed to his “—I determined that a pen name would be the safest way. So Eva was born.”

“I adore Eva already, but let me get this clear. I only went shopping for a gift for you because Casmir said you’d already purchased a gift for me, and you only felt compelled to create a gift for me because Casmir dragged me shopping for a gift for you.”

“I believe that’s what happened, yes.”

“I must say I’m relieved that you’re exactly the woman I thought you were.” Rache stroked his chin. “Should we thank him for meddling or lecture him soundly?”

“We should probably tell him to make sure he snoops more thoroughly in the future and reads the name cards on gifts.” Kim smiled and kissed him. “Then we should thank him.”

“I suppose that’s acceptable.” Especially if following her suggestion would lead to more amorous activity after dinner. “Shall we dine, Ms. Clancularius?”

“That name doesn’t roll off the tongue, does it?”

“My Latin pronunciation could be at fault,” Rache said.

Kim considered that only briefly before nodding. “Yes.”

“Is that a yes to dinner or a yes to my Latin being execrable?”

She grinned. “Both.”

 

THE END

 

The post New Star Kingdom Bonus Story: Valentine’s Day first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

Death Before Dragons Books 8 and 9 (Secrets of the Sword II / III) Are Available!

The adventures of Val and Zav are wrapping up, at least for now. I’ve published the ninth novel (AKA Secrets of the Sword 3 AKA My Big Fat Dragon Wedding) in my Death Before Dragons series. This should bring the story to a satisfying conclusion.

I’ll be moving on to other projects this spring, but I really appreciate everyone who’s jumped into this series and followed these characters through nine books. Val has gotten to say all the things I wish I could but wouldn’t dare, and Zav, who started out as a bit of a villain, has turned into a loveably pompous dragon that any author would be honored to write about. (And any heroine would love to marry.)

For those following along via audiobook, the seventh novel (Secrets of the Sword 1) just came out, and the last two should follow this spring.

Here are the links:

Secrets of the Sword 2 (Death Before Dragons, Book 8)

https://books2read.com/DBD8

Secrets of the Sword 3 (Death Before Dragons, Book 9)

https://books2read.com/DBD9

Secrets of the Sword 1 Audiobook (Death Before Dragons, Book 7)

AudibleGoogle PlayChirp BooksAppleKobo

Thanks for reading. I’ve had a lot of fun writing Val and Zav and the gang, and I may return for a spin-off series or a new adventure one day.

 

The post Death Before Dragons Books 8 and 9 (Secrets of the Sword II / III) Are Available! first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

Interview with My Narrator Vivienne Leheny (Death Before Dragons, Emperor’s Edge, Agents of the Crown)

I’ve had a number of different narrators for my audiobooks (Podium Publishing usually picks someone new for each series), but for the ones I’ve paid to produce myself, almost all of them have been narrated by Vivienne Leheny. I’ve gotten to know her over the years, and she’s super fun. I decided to record an interview with her that you might enjoy. It’s up on YouTube if you want to take a listen (and even see what Vivienne’s dragon lair, er, recording booth looks like):

What we discussed:

1:00​ Vivienne’s home recording booth and how she set it up. 4:58​ How she got started in audiobook narration and what her favorite part of the work is. 8:10​ Can you get gigs as a new narrator by auditioning on ACX/Audible? 11:58​ Advice for people getting started in audiobook narration. 13:19​ What it takes to become a full-time audiobook narrator. 16:38​ What kind of recording equipment/software she uses and if it’s good enough to eliminate outside noises. 20:05​ How she prepares to narrate a book — reading the manuscript first or just jumping in? 24:55​ If she makes notes in the manuscript to help when she goes to record. 27:13​ Her favorite characters of Lindsay’s from the Death Before Dragons, Agents of the Crown, and Emperor’s Edge books (all of which she recorded!). 29:18​ How much preparation/editing/etc. time it takes to get one finished hour of an audiobook. 34:13​ What she does with her voice/body to get the deeper male voices or sounds.40:20​ How she comes up with the voices for each character. 42:08​ How many times she had to practice saying Lindsay’s dragon names. 44:38​ How she avoids laughing in the middle of narrating some of the funny scenes. 47:00​ Some of her other projects and where people can find Vivienne online.

Bonus:

Vivienne has saved some of our email exchanges (so she can blackmail me I ever run for office), and we thought it might be amusing to share some of our back-and-forths on how to pronounce names:

Pronunciation questions and responses from our first gig together:

 VL:    meselkua:  Let me know if you’ve got a pronunciation preference – I’m thinking either MESS-IL-qua or misELLEqua? Or something else?

LB:   Whatever you can get your lips around works for me.

VL:    YESATHRA : yeSAH-THRA?  YESaTHRUH? something else?

LB:   Looks like it pops up a few times in the story. So, do whatever you can remember? Maybe something like Yeh SAH thra

VL:    Meselkshomaleshialae:    LOL!  Uhmmm . . . any suggestions, or should I just go for it?

LB:   Oh, that was evil of the author. My buddy said to tell you to make it, “Steve” but since Delia makes a joke about it in the next line, we better make an attempt at it. (By we, I mean you.) How about: Meh selk sho mal es he ah lay

F​or Blood Ties / Agents of the Crown:

I sent a list of 44 mystifying words and names. Lindsay’s reply?

LB:   I was totally on drugs when I wrote this. Or wine. Or puppy treats. Something like that. There was influence!

​(Then she basically said, whatever you can make work is fine by me.)

Some other gems from Agents of the Crown:

78  Tildar Braksnoth82  Kolinsnor Stellash96  Bondokk Makrus

 

 

The post Interview with My Narrator Vivienne Leheny (Death Before Dragons, Emperor’s Edge, Agents of the Crown) first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

Christmas Bonus Story! (Death Before Dragons)

I just finished this today, and it hasn’t been edited yet, but I thought you might enjoy this Christmas bonus story from my Death Before Dragons series. It takes place between Books 7 and 8, so if you’re not caught up with the series and don’t like spoilers, you might want to wait to read it. That said, it’s not super spoiler heavy, and you could probably read it even if you haven’t read these books. You just won’t know who all these crazy characters are!

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Christmas!

Gifts

“Who goes skiing for Christmas?” I paced around the living room, eyeing the photo Amber had sent of herself and a friend on a gleaming white mountain slope. “Christmas means spending obligatory time with your loved ones, opening sweaters knitted by grandma, and cringing over how lame your family is.”

Dimitri paused in hanging Star Wars ornaments on the tree to peer at the photo. “I thought she was up there with your ex and that they went every year.”

“She is. But that’s only half of her family.” I placed a hand on my chest, then spread it toward the room. “Look how cool our decorations are. And normal, not weird.”

When I’d suggested that Amber and Thad come by for Christmas Eve and wait to start their ski trip until later in the week, Amber had rolled her eyes and said my place was too weird for Christmas. Not true. Star Wars ornaments aside, the robust eight-foot noble fir, the star threatening to scrape the textured paint off the ceiling, was completely normal. And so were the five stockings dangling from the fireplace mantle. Never mind that one of the stockings was for a dragon, one was for a vampire, and if my mother had her way, we would soon add one for her dog.

“If anyone had invited me skiing,” Dimitri said, “I would have gone.”

“You hate skiing. Didn’t you say that’s why you left Bend?”

“I left because Seattle has more work and a better club scene, but we’re enjoying a wet Christmas instead of a white one, so I can see the appeal of going up to Whistler.” Dimitri thumped me on the arm. “You should be happy she sent you a photo. That means she’s thinking of you.”

“It’s in a group message to twenty people. I think she’s just bragging to everyone that she got to go someplace fun.”

“Are you going to be grumpy all night?”

“No.” I sent Amber a photo of our tree and stuffed the phone in my pocket. “I’m just voicing some disgruntlement.”

Maybe it had been selfish to want Amber to come over for Christmas when I’d avoided having any contact with her or Thad for ten years, during which I’d missed all of their Christmases. Just because I’d reached out to Amber and managed to establish a relationship with her this year didn’t mean I should expect them to change their tradition.

“That’s what being grumpy is.” Dimitri hung another X-wing between a Roswell alien and a Jupiter ornament. Other people got pretty sparkling balls. We got the blown-glass solar-system set.

“These decorations are even geekier than the ones Thad usually puts up,” I said. “Where did you get them all?”

“The internet is a shopping sanctuary for those with eclectic tastes.”

“I kind of miss the good old days when all you could get was what Hallmark offered.”

Dimitri held up a finger, opened a box, and pulled out a chunky metal four-legged robot.

“Is that an AT-AT?” I asked.

“From Hallmark.” He showed me the emblem on the back of the box.

“Huh. The meek are inheriting the Earth.”

“The geek maybe.”

Magic flared above the house, pinging at my senses. Someone had opened a portal.

I was expecting Zav—he’d gone home to help his mother with a few dragon concerns at their Justice Court but had promised to return for our holiday—but took a couple of steps toward my weapons. After all, our house was a popular target for vengeful members of the magical community.

Zav flew out of the portal and boomed, Greetings, my mate! into my mind. I smell meat.

I smiled, relieved that he’d made it. If I couldn’t see my daughter for Christmas, my fiancé would do.

I knew you’d be back so I put some hams in the smoker. I would have cooked a Christmas ham, regardless of whether he was coming, but since dragons could down slabs of meat faster than a tiger shark, I’d crammed the smoker full.

You are a most excellent mate. Dealing with the politics of the court, as well as the quibbling of my own kin, was stressful. I wasn’t even permitted to duel with anyone. I look forward to relaxing with you. We will dine and then mate vigorously.

I’m open to that but not until later. My mom and Nin are coming over, and Dimitri and Zoltan are going to hang out with us too. It’s customary to spend time with one’s family and friends on Christmas Eve. I wasn’t sure I considered the vampire alchemist who lived in the basement a friend exactly, but it had seemed appropriate to invite him.

They would object to us mating?

While they’re here, yeah. Our bedroom is above the living room, you know. Though I’d heard from my half-sister and occasional roommate Freysha that certain activities were audible even in other parts of the house, at least to her keen elven ears. I’d given up on feeling embarrassed about that. Mostly. Too bad she wasn’t here for Christmas, but the elves were having the Grooming of the Trees Festival on their own world, something that sounded more like odious volunteer work than a time of fun and relaxation. I’d declined her invitation to join in.

They will not object to us eating, will they? Zav beamed disapproval into my mind.

No. They’ll want to eat too.

I will allow them to share some of our meat.

The ham with a brown-sugar glaze is for the humans. I know how you feel about sweets.

They’re loathsome. Why would you poison your meat so?

Humans have vices. It’s what gives us character.

My phone buzzed as Zav landed in the front yard, shifting into his human form.

“Hey, Willard,” I answered it. “Is everything okay?” I was glad she’d called. Earlier, she’d texted to say her plans had changed and she wouldn’t need me to cat sit. “Oh, and Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas? You do know I’ve been stuck in the office all day, managing six agents and gathering the intel necessary for the police to apprehend the Teriyaki Torcher, right?”

“Did you finally find your arsonist?”

“Yeah, it was an orc stealing food, then lighting the restaurants on fire, so people would be thrown off his trail. I should have put you on the case. Then maybe I would have made my flight back home this morning.”

Ah, that was why she no longer needed cat sitting.

“Why didn’t you?” I asked.

“It’s the end of the year, and we’re out of funding. I have to use agents already on the staff.”

“I would have helped for free.” Thanks to the ridiculously lucrative gig Nin’s grandfather had given me, I was no longer scraping to make rent each month. Or to buy shopping carts full of hams to keep Zav fed.

“You would have asked for a favor,” Willard growled. “I’m still working on your last favor.”

“Planning the wedding of a dragon is an honor, not an obligation.”

She grunted. “You sound like him.”

“I might have been quoting him.” I pulled back the curtains to see what was holding up Zav. It had been a few minutes since he’d arrived. He was out front with his fists on his hips as he considered the dragon topiaries he’d magically grown and shaped—and given powers to—at the corners of our property. Maybe I shouldn’t have let Dimitri string Christmas lights around them.

“I just called to let you know I got quotes from the caterer and the harpist. I’ll go over them with you after the holiday.”

“Thanks, Willard. Hey, if you’re stuck here, why don’t you join us this evening? We’re having a small family-and-friends Christmas Eve dinner.”

“I have plans.”

“Staying at home, petting your cat, and reading a book doesn’t count as plans.”

“You only feel that way because you’re not an introvert.”

“Why don’t you come over? You can sit in the corner and read if we get too rowdy for you.”

“Too rowdy? This isn’t a party, is it?” She said it as if that would be the most distasteful way to spend an evening. An introvert, indeed. “Who all is coming?”

“My mom and possibly Rocket. Zav, Dimitri, and Zoltan. Oh, and Nin may come by for a few. That’s it. Just a small family gathering.”

“You’re only related to one of those people.”

“Family isn’t just about blood. Sometimes it’s about staying rent-free in the basement and overcharging your roommates for your services.”

“I hope you put coal in Zoltan’s stocking.”

“As an alchemist, he might find a use for that. Are you coming? We have plenty of ham.” I was positive Zav wouldn’t touch the glazed one. I peeked out the window again—what was taking so long. Uh oh. The Christmas lights were out. No… I squinted. They weren’t out. He’d incinerated them and was now nodding with satisfaction.

“Can I bring Maggie?”

“You want to bring your cat to my house?”

“You don’t leave family home alone at Christmas.”

“Is she a big celebrator of the holiday?”

“She likes ornaments and wrapping paper.”

I eyed Dimitri’s ornament collection and imagined Maggie batting the X-wings off the tree. At least they looked pretty indestructible. The gifts under the tree would be of more danger from Rocket, especially since I’d wrapped some expensive filet mignon beef jerky for Zav.

“I guess it’ll be fine.” I’d thought about summoning Sindari to hang out with us for a bit, but I could keep that to a minimum since Maggie didn’t get along with him. “She won’t do that meow-screech the whole time, right?”

“Not as long as she’s fed and happy.”

“Okay.” Maybe I would wait until they left to summon Sindari. “Uhm, how does Maggie feel about dragons? Has she met Zav?”

“I don’t think so, but as long as he’s not scent-marking the furniture and calling her an inferior predator, he can’t be as bad as your pet tiger.”

“We try to keep the scent-marking to a minimum around here.”

Dimitri’s eyebrows rose. He was still in the room hanging ornaments.

“It’s my boss,” I told him.

“That’s the kind of work you discuss?” he asked.

“Our work requires conversations on wide and varied topics.”

“I’m on my way,” Willard said. “Do you want me to bring anything?”

“We’ve got all the dinner fixings. If you want something to drink besides beer, hard cider, or sparkling water, you might want to bring it.”

Zav opened the door, the wind gusting and stirring the hem of his black elven robe, which drew my eye to his yellow hole-filled Crocs. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t gotten tired of those yet. I missed the elven slippers that matched the robe.

“Someone attempted to strangle the topiaries with cords,” he announced, “but I rescued them from this vandalism.”

“Cords?” Dimitri peered out the window. “What happened to the Christmas lights?”

“Don’t ask.” I patted him on the shoulder and guided him back to the tree. “I’ll get you a couple more sets for next year.”

Zav’s nose was in the air as he appreciated the aromas of ham wafting out of the kitchen, but he noticed the new addition to the living room and tilted his head in puzzlement.

“Why is there a dead tree in our abode?” Zav asked.

“It’s a Christmas tradition,” I said.

“That is the holiday you are celebrating this week? Is its purpose to venerate dead trees?”

“No, it’s to celebrate the birth of Jesus. He was kind of a big deal on Earth.”

“When we celebrated your birthday, we did not erect trees.”

“That’s true.”

“We exchanged gifts and mated vigorously.” Zav came forward and hugged and kissed me.

“Ew.” Dimitri hid himself behind the Christmas tree. Or hid us from his view, was perhaps more accurate. “I’m still in the room.”

Later, I told Zav telepathically, patting him on the chest and breaking the kiss. I sensed Nin driving up, and judging by the barking out front, Mom had also arrived with Rocket.

So far, I do not like this holiday as much as your birthday.

We’ll exchange gifts later. You’ll like that part.

Zav stepped back, a frown creasing his brow. “Does celebrating the birth of your dead religious leader mean that I should have gotten you a gift?”

“That’s not necessary.” I hadn’t told him about holiday gift giving, because I hadn’t wanted him to feel compelled to go on another quest to get me something. The engagement and wedding ring were great, but challenging other dragons to battle to take items from their hoard was a touch more involved and dangerous than ordering meat sticks from the sausage catalog.

“But it is the custom.” He watched my face.

“You brought the gift of yourself. That’s all I require.” I hugged him again.

“I’m still here,” Dimitri said.

“We’re not kissing,” I said.

“Yeah, but you’re being mushy.”

“You’re as bad as Amber.”

“Is your offspring giving you a gift?” Zav asked, still hung up on presents.

“She’s not here. She’s skiing in Whistler, Canada.” I thought I managed to say that without sounding chagrined or resentful, but Zav squinted thoughtfully at me.

“You wish she were here.”

“It would have been nice, but I get why she’d rather be skiing. And having eggnog in some rented condo instead of our fabulous house.”

“Eggnog is disgusting,” Dimitri said. “It’s wrong to drink eggs.”

“You hang out with someone who drinks blood.”

“That’s because he’s a vampire. We’re not egg-pires. We shouldn’t drink eggs.”

“More for me then.” Sensing Nin’s approach, I opened the door.

Rocket was the first one to bound in the house, then around the living room, onto the couch, and finally to the tree for enthusiastic sniffing.

“Make sure your dog doesn’t scent-mark our tree, please,” I said as Mom walked in next, handing me a present wrapped in paper with golden retrievers all over it.

“He knows not to do that indoors,” she said.

“You don’t think having some of the outdoors indoors might confuse him?”

“No. He’s smart.”

Rocket finished sniffing the tree and presents and flung himself onto Dimitri’s overstuffed beanbag chair, then rolled on his back with all four paws in the air.

“A veritable genius,” I said.

“Hey,” Dimitri protested. “That’s my favorite chair.”

“It looks like an extra large dog bed,” Mom said.

“It puts you in the ergonomically correct position for gaming,” Dimitri said.

“Which also happens to be the ergonomically correct position for a dog to scratch his back.” I waved Mom to a seat.

Nin stepped in, handing me a present in a tasteful gift bag. It emanated familiar magic, and I had a feeling she’d made me a fresh batch of grenades.

“Many people have arrived,” Zav said. “Will there be enough meat for our meal?”

“I got five hams,” I said.

He gave me a blank look.

“Four are for you.”

“I will check on them. If they are insufficient, I may have to go acquire more meat.” Zav strode toward the kitchen.

“They’re sufficient,” I called after him, but he disappeared into the kitchen. “Dragons,” I muttered.

“How many pounds are the hams?” Nin asked curiously. “Perhaps I should have brought extra suea rong-hai.”

“They’re fifteen pounds each. He’ll be fine. Have a seat.” I waved to the couch. “Do you want anything to drink or eat?”

Rocket sat up, woofed, and wagged his tail.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” I told him.

“He likes ham,” Mom said.

“I bet.”

Zav strode back out. “The meat supply is insufficient.”

“It’s fine,” I told him. “If your stomach has emergency gauntness, I can unthaw some hamburgers from the extra freezer.”

“Insufficient. I will obtain more meat.” He strode out, ignoring my protests, and sprang off the porch, shifting into a dragon and flapping off before he hit the ground.

“That was weird,” I said.

“You sound puzzled,” Mom said. “Isn’t he always weird?”

I almost said not for a dragon, but he wasn’t much like other dragons, either, from what I’d seen. Which was why I loved him. Most dragons were dicks.

Before I could go to fetch drinks, Willard arrived—with her cat carrier. I didn’t need my sense for magic to know she was coming up the walkway. Maggie’s half-Siamese meow-wails announced their approach.

I opened the door for them, and Rocket woofed again. He looked at the cat carrier and wagged his tail hard enough to endanger a nearby lamp. Mom leaned over and rested a hand on the base so it wouldn’t go flying.

“Welcome, Willard,” I said. “And Maggie.”

The cat meowed uncertainly.

“Your tiger isn’t here, is he?” Willard handed me a canister of something. It wasn’t wrapped. Was it a gift?

“No.” I read the label: Golden Mellow Turmeric Drink Powder. Reduce stress, anxiety, and inflammation naturally. Well, I had told her to bring whatever she liked to drink… “Sindari is only interested in coming here to do battle. When I summon him to hang out, he’s less than enthusiastic. He also doesn’t appreciate Rocket’s exuberance.”

Rocket demonstrated his exuberance by jumping off the beanbag chair, running around the living room, and dropping down to his forelegs in front of Willard’s cat carrier.

“What is he doing?” Willard asked.

“That’s a play bow,” Mom said. “Rocket has met Maggie before. They’re buddies.”

Maggie hissed through the grate in the cat carrier.

“Close buddies,” I said. “Didn’t Maggie once throw books out of your loft and try to hit Rocket as he ran around below?”

“Yes. Rocket enjoyed having someone to play with him.”

“Play,” I mouthed to Willard.

Mom patted her thigh. “Over here, buddy. I’m sure Maggie will throw something at you later.”

Rocket bounded to her side, and they sat on the couch together.

“Why do I get the feeling that Rocket would enjoy being targeted by paintballers on a range so long as he was getting attention?” I asked.

Willard walked around the room, eyed our Christmas decorations, and prodded Dimitri’s Gamersac. “I see you’ve purchased new upscale furnishings since you came into all that gnome money.”

“It was gnome gold, and I don’t think someone who uses a weight bench for an ottoman should talk.”

“It’s an upscale adjustable weight bench by Precor.”

“Colonels do make the big money.”

“Not as big as freelance assassins.”

“Hey, don’t envy me my glamorous job. It’s not my fault you didn’t get proper career counseling in your youth.”

“Uh huh. Can I let Maggie out?” Willard pointed at the cat carrier. “She’ll be happier if she can find a nice high bookcase to watch the goings on from.”

“And so will Rocket.”

“Apparently.”

I waved for her to open the cat carrier and headed to the door to make sure it was firmly closed, but I sensed someone else coming up the walkway. Gondo.

“I’m positive I didn’t invite him,” I murmured. “Willard, did you ask your shortest agent to bring you information tonight?”

“My shortest agent is Corporal Nash.”

“Think shorter. And greener.”

“Gondo is an informant, not an agent,” she said.

“What’s the difference?”

“I pay him in sodas from the vending machine instead of direct deposits to the bank.”

“It’s a wonder goblins always have money to spend at our coffee shop.”

The doorbell rang. Rocket woofed. Maggie meow-screeched from atop a bookcase. She’d beelined up there quickly.

“I’m surprised they don’t try to pay you in recycled cans,” Willard said.

“They need those for their projects.” I opened the door and smiled down at our green-skinned, white-haired, overalls-and-tool-belt-wearing visitor. “Hey, Gondo.”

“Greetings, Ruin Bringer. I have brought a gift on behalf of my caffeine-enjoying people.” He held up what looked like a miniature goblin holding a wrench aloft. It appeared to be made from… yes, those were recycled soda cans. How had Willard known?

“That’s thoughtful of you. What is it?”

“A Christmas tree ornament. It gyrates.”

“It what?”

Gondo spun the goblin’s head around several times. The ornament clicked like a wind-up toy. He released the head, holding it by a thin chain loop attached to the top, and the goblin lifted the wrench up and down and wiggled its hips. Actually, those were more like hip thrusts.

“Gondo, is that goblin dancing or… something more suggestive?”

He grinned wickedly, answering the question.

“I see. Ah, Dimitri, is there a place left on the tree for this?”

Nin’s mouth formed an O as she caught a glimpse of it. Maybe it was just as well that Amber hadn’t come. Thad wouldn’t approve of our daughter seeing pornographic Christmas ornaments.

“In the back, I think.” Dimitri picked it up gingerly by the chain.

Make it the way back, I told him telepathically.

Oh, I will. It might accidentally fall under the heat register.

Gondo’s nostrils twitched as he inhaled ham scents. “Do you have room for more at your dinner table?”

How could I say no to someone who’d brought a gift?

“Yeah. Come on in.” I waved, intending to shut the door behind him, but Gondo leaned back outside and pumped his arm vigorously.

“She said we could join them.”

Whoops came from the sidewalk. I hadn’t noticed the auras of seven more goblins out there, maybe because they were standing near one of the dragon topiaries, its magic overshadowing them. One of the goblins was slapping a smoking hat on the side of his pants. The nearby topiary’s eyes glowed as smoke wafted from its verdant nostrils.

“Will you deactivate your security system, Ruin Bringer?” Gondo asked politely.

Should we let them in? I asked Dimitri telepathically, worried that so many goblins were bound to make improvements to the house if they were inside for more than an hour.

I think we have to, he replied. It’s Christmas. Also, they’re paying customers at the coffee shop.

All right. I touched one of the magical remotes on the built-in shelves near the door. Outside, the orange glow to the topiaries’ eyes dulled. “They can come in.”

“I thought this wasn’t going to be a party,” Willard said as the goblins trotted inside, eliciting protesting noises from Maggie. Rocket, who adored all people, no matter what their height, skin color, or engineering persuasion, ran up and knocked over a few goblins with his love—and powerful tail whacks.

“I didn’t plan for it to be one.” I closed the door firmly and headed toward the fireplace to light some festive cheer. “They’ll probably scatter when Zav comes back,” I whispered to Willard on the way past.

“Where did he go?”

“To get more meat, he said. I’m not sure if that involves hunting or mugging people in the Costco parking lot.”

“He mugs people?” Willard’s eyebrows rose. “Am I going to have to hire you to hunt down your own fiancé?”

“Technically, he doesn’t touch them. He just lands in front of shoppers as they’re pushing their carts full of food out to their cars. He doesn’t use his magic to camouflage himself; if anything, he enhances his dragonness. They have a tendency to flee and abandon their carts. He doesn’t take everything, just a frozen turkey or box of hamburgers or five.”

Willard rubbed her face. “Thorvald, that’s not acceptable.”

“As I told him. He hasn’t done it recently.”

Whistling came from the backdoor, and I sensed Zoltan coming into the house. I’d wondered if he would join us this evening. Parties, which this had undoubtedly become, weren’t his thing. It was quite possible he was coming up to complain about the noise.

When Zoltan entered the living room, wearing red-tinted goggles to protect his sensitive eyes from our blazing table lamps, he carried several small metal canisters.

“Merry Christmas, dear robber and associates. I have brought—” Zoltan lurched back as Rocket ran past with a goblin riding his back, “—gifts.” Zoltan curled a lip and plucked a golden strand of fur off his black lab coat. “Gifts for the ladies. I have already given Dimitri his gift.”

“Yes, my chin is still tingling.” Dimitri rubbed his jaw—was it redder than usual?

“Some kind of alchemical beard-removal potion?” I guessed.

“Potion?” Zoltan’s eyes flared with indignation behind his lenses. “As I have informed you on numerous occasions, I am not a witch stirring a cauldron. I am an alchemist, and I create formulas, tinctures, lotions, and occasionally essences.”

“It was an essence that exfoliated my face,” Dimitri informed me. “With the gentleness of sandpaper.”

“Real men do not want gentle skin-care products,” Zoltan said. “They want effective ones. Your pores are radiant now.”

“Thanks.”

I eyed Zoltan’s canisters, having no wish to be exfoliated by sandpaper. Nobody would. Or so I thought.

Gondo stepped up to Zoltan. “How much for the radiant skin-pore essence?”

“Twenty dollars,” Zoltan said without missing a beat and pulled out a small vial. Nothing was written on the label yet. Maybe it had been meant as a sample for people to try.

Gondo dug into six different pockets, withdrawing rumpled dollars and coins from each. He placed it all on the floor, counted carefully, then dumped the appropriate amount into Zoltan’s hands and took the vial. He skipped over to my side.

“Are pores problematic for goblins?” I asked him.

He smiled and pulled a pen out of his pocket. “One of the goblins out at the elven sanctuary has been teasing me mercilessly lately for becoming a city goblin, even though he’s the one who’s adopted strange human habits. Such as rubbing deodorant under his armpits.”

“That is strange.”

“Very.” Gondo wrote deodorant on the label and slipped it into his pocket. “I look forward to visiting him on his upcoming birthday and delivering this gift.”

Zoltan walked around the room, giving his small canisters to all of the women present. Nin and Willard accepted theirs with murmurs of thank you but with skeptical expressions. Zoltan also handed them pencils and little squares of paper.

“This is an anti-wrinkle cream,” he said, “which I know that all ladies appreciate, at least those who are not undead and therefore freed from the unpleasant rigors of aging. Please write down any experiences you have while using this product and return your notes to me.”

“What kind of experiences are we likely to have?” I asked. “Besides the smoothing of wrinkles?”

“That’s the ideal outcome, but if there are any side effects, I would like to know.”

“This isn’t, by chance, your first batch ever, is it?”

“The first that’s turned out well enough to share,” Zoltan said. “It’s a challenging formula.”

“It’s a formula, not an essence?”

“Correct.”

“Is your alchemist turning us into test subjects?” Willard asked me.

“It’s probably hard to find lab rats and monkeys in Seattle,” I said.

“Actually, it’s not,” Zoltan said. “But their fur makes it difficult to test skin products on them without extensive shaving. I am not interested in keeping bald rats in my lab.”

“But furry rats would be okay?” Dimitri asked.

“Neither are ideal. Animals must be fed and their cages cleaned. It’s all rather tedious. Besides, I have test subjects.” He smiled and spread his hand toward us. “Oh, and be careful about where you store my product. It should be kept at room temperature, not next to candles or other heating elements, such as dragons.”

“Zoltan…” I frowned at him. “Is your formula explosive?”

“One of the ingredients is flammable, but it only makes up a tiny percentage of the formula. Spontaneous combustion is unlikely.”

Unlikely but not impossible. Great.

“I’d chuck this gift into the fireplace,” Willard murmured, “but I wouldn’t want to blow up your house on Christmas Eve.”

“My house appreciates that.” I set the canister down well away from the fireplace as I knelt to put kindling in.

Meanwhile, Dimitri turned on the TV and fired up one of his video games. Let the festivities begin.

Nin came over to help me with the fire. “I am not certain that Zoltan understands the concept of gifts.”

“You know scientists.” I stuffed rumpled newspaper into my stack of kindling and grabbed the fire starter. “We’re all just test subjects to them.”

“At first, I felt bad that I had not thought to bring him a gift.”

“But you’re over that now?”

“Yes.”

I looked over at Nin. “How come you didn’t go up to Whistler with Thad?” I assumed he had invited her now that they were dating and spending nights together regularly. “Did he ask you to? And were you too much of a workaholic to take four days off from your food truck?”

“He did, and I am, but I also did not wish to interfere with their family tradition.”

“You were worried Amber would be grouchy the whole time if you came?” I hoped Amber hadn’t said anything surly to Nin. They’d been getting along fairly well since our adventure in the fae realm.

“A little, but I also do not know how to ski. I did not want to intrude on their time together. Thad did give me a gift before they left.” She smiled shyly over at me.

“Another rice maker?”

“No, I did not need a second one. The RiceMaster 57155 fulfills my needs.”

“That’s good. What’d he get you then? Not jewelry, I trust.”

“No.” She lowered her voice and leaned close. “Sexy lingerie.”

“Oh, good. Er, it doesn’t have dragons or castles or anything geeky on it, does it?”

“No, it is lacy and purple like my hair.” Nin lifted her eyebrows. “Did he once get you castle underwear?”

“No, not Thad. But recently, Zav got me dragon underwear. He found boxers with a black dragon on it, and he altered it to have violet eyes.”

Nin looked far more concerned than intrigued. My initial reaction to the gift had been similar.

“Are they… sexy?”

“He thinks they are, but they’re not even women’s underwear. He doesn’t know the difference. Why would he? He doesn’t wear any himself.”

“Maybe you should get him sexy underwear.”

“I’m afraid it’s a gift that would never be used.” I made my voice deeper and haughtier in an imitation of his. “One does not wear underwear with an elven mage robe.”

Nin giggled.

As we finished with the fire, I sensed Zav flying back to the house.

I stood, about to ask him how the meat acquisition had gone, when my phone buzzed. Surprised someone was texting on Christmas Eve—especially when almost everyone I knew was here—I pulled it out.

I’d call the police if I thought they could arrest a dragon, Thad messaged.

Uh, what?

I want Amber back by eleven. Midnight at the latest. Teenagers need their beauty rest.

It was only when Zav landed in the front yard and I sensed a second familiar aura next to his that the meaning of Thad’s words clicked.

He picked her up? I texted, heading to the curtains to peer out.

He kidnapped her. I did not give my permission, and I would have kicked his ass if he hadn’t said it was because he needed a dead-religious-leader present for you.

You’ve never kicked anyone’s ass in your life, Thad. A dragon would be a bad person to start with.

So he told me. Merry Christmas, Val.

Thanks.

Zav and Amber were the yard, and he’d returned to his human form. She shot indecipherable looks over her shoulder at him as she headed up the steps to the door.

I grimaced, worried she would be irked at having been kidnapped and dragged—flown—here. What if they’d been playing games or something fun and she thought coming here would be the opposite of fun? I opened the door, intending to apologize. As much as I appreciated Zav wanting to get me a gift—and I couldn’t think of one I’d rather have—he had the diplomatic skills of an axe murderer.

Rocket woofed as Amber walked in, then ran over, tail wagging. There was still a goblin riding on his back. Ugh, Amber was right. Our Christmas was weird.

“Hey, Mom. Your flying Uber is lit.”

“I… Is that Zav?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “You’re not at your swiftest tonight. Have you been drinking?”

“Unfortunately not. Though I do have an anti-inflammatory turmeric-powder tea to try.”

“Weird.” Amber handed me a box. “This is from me and Dad.”

I blinked, more startled that she didn’t seem annoyed to have been brought down than that she’d brought me a gift.

“It’s a cheesy snow globe from the gift shop at Whistler. We were going to give it to you next week, but I guess this works.” Amber shrugged and eyed the goblin riding Rocket around the living room, then my eclectic assortment of guests, including Zoltan in his tinted goggles, and Maggie meowing from atop the bookcase. “So weird.” Amber pointed at the TV. “Is that the new Legend of Zelda?”

“I think so. You’ll have to wrest the controller away from your grandmother if you want to play.”

“I’m a sword fighter now. I can take on Grandma.”

“Is that so?” Mom asked.

“You know she packs heat, right?” I asked.

“At Christmas dinner?”

“It’s a dangerous neighborhood.”

“Especially the part that’s in your house.”

I looked over at the anti-wrinkle formula. “That’s possibly true.”

Amber shooed a goblin out of the way and plopped down on the couch with Mom.

Zav strode in and slung an arm around my shoulder. Your gift, my mate. I endured the words of your mouthy, sarcastic offspring to fly her here to be with you. Also, your inferior former mate threatened to prong me with a long narrow stick.

A ski pole, I’m guessing. I leaned into Zav, touched that he’d flown all the way up to Whistler and back. I’m surprised Amber was willing to come with you. You didn’t have to magically compel her, did you?

Certainly not. I am a dragon lord and the son of a queen. I am skilled in diplomacy.

Your idea of diplomacy is challenging people who disagree with you to duels.

That is not the only tool in my tool cave. He considered me. Did I get that human saying correct?

More or less. How did you convince her to come?

She expects you to give her a gift of two hundred dollars.

You bribed my daughter to come spend Christmas Eve with me?

I did. I have seen you employ this tactic on her.

That’s… technically true. Teenagers require a special kind of diplomacy.

One that demands human currency.

Yeah. Thank you. You’re an excellent mate.

I know this.

I smiled and kissed him.

“Ew,” Amber said. “That’s going to cost you an extra hundred.”

“Hundred?” Willard had coaxed her cat off the bookcase and was sitting and stroking her.

“Amber objects to displays of passion,” I said, deciding not to explain the bribe.

“Wait until she sees the goblin sex ornament,” Dimitri muttered.

“I thought you hid that under the heat register,” I muttered back.

“It wouldn’t fit.”

“Ornament?” Amber asked.

“Never mind,” all the adults in the room said together.

The post Christmas Bonus Story! (Death Before Dragons) first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

Death Before Dragons: Behind the Scenes

Secrets of the Sword II (Death Before Dragons, Book 8) will be coming out on Amazon in a little more than a week, and I’ve just sent the 9th book off to my beta readers. You can expect that in February, so more is on the way with Val, Zav, and the gang!

In the meantime, I recorded a 20-minute “Behind the Scenes” video on the series on YouTube. If you’re curious about how Zav, Val, Sindari, and Willard came to be, why I jumped into urban fantasy, and all about the cover art, please check that out:

 

I’ll post another update when Book 8 is out.

Just a reminder that you can get that and all of my books 1-2 weeks before they’re out in the stores if you’re a Patreon subscriber (you only get charged when I release a new book, and you don’t need to buy them in the store if you get them there — I get to keep 90%+ of the price that way, instead of the 65-70%-ish I get from the bookstores). Here’s the link if you’re interested:

https://www.patreon.com/lindsayburoker

 

The post Death Before Dragons: Behind the Scenes first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

Now Answering Questions and Sharing Audiobooks on YouTube

I’ve become a fan of YouTube these last few months (ever since I ponied up for the Premium version and can watch without ads or interruptions), and that’s inspired me to start my own YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX50ChqY7ScEieFL9J2YEGQ

If you would like to be notified when I add more videos, please subscribe to the channel!

As of now, I’ve posted a couple of Q&A videos with questions solicited from my Facebook author page. If you’d like to hear me talk about my journey to becoming a full-time author, how I come up with character names, how I stay motivated to write, and what’s coming from me in 2021 (after I complete the Death Before Dragons series), you can find that and more in these two videos:

I’m also modeling a super sexy dragon hat in the second one!

 

As an experiment, I’ve put a couple of my audiobooks on the YouTube channel. I figure people might stumble across them, try them out, and want to go on to pick up the rest from Audible, Apple, Chirp, or wherever. Hey, you never know!

If you’d like something to listen to in the background, here’s what I have up so far:

Robots & Roommates, the prequel story of how Kim and Casmir from my Star Kingdom series first met:

After an epic battle over several days with my rural satellite internet, I managed to get the nine and a half hour Sinister Magic (Death Before Dragons, Book 1) up on YouTube. I thought about doing it in parts, but when I looked at other audiobooks on YouTube, they were all up as one video. Finally, I prevailed!

And here’s the first audiobook I uploaded there, The Forbidden Ground. This is a stand-alone novelette, also from my Death Before Dragons series:

Thanks for taking a look! I’m planning to do more Author Life videos over the coming weeks. In between writing, editing, and publishing more books of course! Please subscribe and give the videos a like if you check them out. Thanks so much!

 

 

 

 

The post Now Answering Questions and Sharing Audiobooks on YouTube first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

Sixth Death Before Dragons Audiobook (Storm Forged) Is Now Live!

For my audiobook fans, I’ve got an update! Book 6 in my Death Before Dragons series is now available on Audible, Apple, Kobo, Google Play, and several other platforms. I also sent Book 7 (coming in ebook form in a few days) to my narrator to start working on as soon as there’s time. There will be a total of nine books in this series, and we’ll get them all out as audiobooks too.

Here are the buy links for the Storm Forged audiobook:

Audible
Kobo
Apple
Google Play
Chirp

Also, if you want to listen to the audio version of the newsletter bonus, The Forbidden Ground, I’ve just uploaded it to Findaway Voices (my distributor), and it should start popping up free in a number of the stores.

Unfortunately, Audible doesn’t allow us to make audiobooks free, so they won’t have it, but you can grab it in one of the other spots. Or, if you just want to listen to it while you’re puttering around the house, I’ve also put it up on YouTube:

 

 

The post Sixth Death Before Dragons Audiobook (Storm Forged) Is Now Live! first appeared on Lindsay Buroker.

Star Kingdom Complete and New Death Before Dragons Book up for Pre-Order!

Star Kingdom Update:

A little late with the blog update (what’s new?), but I published the eighth installment in my Star Kingdom series last month. The ebook and paperback are out, and the audiobook is in the works via Podium Publishing. It’s a long one!

Many thanks to all of you who have already read and reviewed Layers of Force. I had fun wrapping up the series and letting the characters finally get some wins.

Star Kingdom and Death Before Dragons News!

Crazy times, guys! As I write this, most of the West Coast is on fire. At least it sure seems like it. Apocalyptic pictures coming out of SW Oregon. I’m over on the other side of the mountains in Bend and crossing my fingers that nothing major starts up over here. We’ve had a few fires this summer and hardly any rain since May. Super dry!

Anyway, on to the book news.

Star Kingdom Updates

I’m finished with Book 8 (Layers of Force), the final novel in the Star Kingdom series, and my trusty typo hunters are combing through it now. The ebook comes out on Amazon on the 24th, with the paperback to follow in October.

I had tons of fun with the adventure and really enjoy the characters, so I may write more stories in this universe, but Book 8 wraps up the big story arc that started with Shockwave.

Book 8 edges out Book 6 for status as the longest installment in the series. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth!

If you’re reading this before the 24th, you can pre-order it from Amazon:

https://amzn.to/2R8iZJB

Star Kingdom Audiobooks (Book 7 now available!)

Podium Publishing with narrator Fred Berman have been working on the audiobooks for this series, and Book 7 (Home Front) is now available on Amazon/Audible.

If you enjoy audiobooks, these are a great deal. Books 1-3 are all together in one big omnibus, and Books 4-5 are also combined. Books 6, 7, and 8 got significantly longer, so they are individual titles, but there are still plenty of hours of listening in each one!

Here’s the series on Audible if you want to check them out:

Star Kingdom Books 1-3 Ominbus
Star Kingdom Books 4-5 Omnibus
Star Kingdom Book 6
Star Kingdom Book 7

I’ll be sending the manuscript for the final book over to Podium as soon as my typo hunters are done with it. The audiobooks take a couple of months to produce. I’ll let you know when it’s available!

Death Before Dragons Update

If you read Book 6, you may know that I asked you guys whether you wanted to see more in the series. Lots of people said YES, so I’m working on a new book. I have tentative plans to write three more before retiring Val and Zav and switching to a new project in 2021.

There’s no pre-order or anything yet, so make sure to sign up for my fantasy newsletter if you want an email when it goes up. There are also some free books and bonus stories if you sign up:

Newsletter

Death Before Dragons Audiobooks

I’ve just uploaded the files for the fifth audiobook in the Death Before Dragons series (False Security). It should pop up in all the stores in a couple of weeks.

If you love audiobooks and haven’t started the series yet, you can find them at Audible and in other stores:

https://www.audible.com/series/Death-Before-Dragons-Audiobooks/B087LZ5GT8

Thanks for reading and listening! Stay safe in this crazy world!