K.C. Sprayberry's Blog, page 140

Project 9

Science fiction stories have drawn interest from the time the first one, Somnium, was published by Johannes Kepler in 1608. Humans have always been drawn to the stars, and what lies beyond them. We are driven by a need to explore and imagine what is in space and beyond.





A collection of short stories for readers who love Science Fiction.

Get Project 9 on Amazon! 

Abby receives mysterious messages with information about recent fuel station explosions. Then her home is one of those destroyed in an explosion. Left without a place to live and care for her young child, she’s forced to decide between reporting the situation as ordered or telling the truth.

Project 9

Science fiction stories have drawn interest from the time the first one,  Somnium, was published by Johannes Kepler in 1608. Humans have always been drawn to the stars, and what lies beyond them. We are driven by a need to explore and imagine what is in space and beyond.







A collection of short stories for readers who love Science Fiction.

Get Project 9 on Amazon! 

Abby receives mysterious messages with information about recent fuel station explosions. Then her home is one of those destroyed in an explosion. Left without a place to live and care for her young child, she’s forced to decide between reporting the situation as ordered or telling the truth.

Problem Novels

One thing young adult authors who focus on real life must consider is the problem novel. That is to say that they need to examine books that are centered around identity, sexuality, racism, depression, and suicide.
These types of books appeal to teens in similar situations. Oh, we as parents and grandparents like to think our teen isn’t involved in such things, but that’s only us thinking they’re the perfect little angel gifted to us many years before. In truth, teens often struggle with all of these things.
Identity is more than a teen  saying they can’t possibly be part of your family because everyone is so messed up. It’s about who they are inside, what they expect out of life, and if they’re moving along a path where they believe their parents might eventually hate them. This can cause them to move away from the normal family dynamic and seek out others in the same position, only to discover that group doesn’t have the answers they need either.
Sexuality is more than what gender your child is. I’ve always maintained that teens are comprised of raging hormones. They’re experimenting with things they’ve been told all their lives are forbidden, but their bodies are saying go for it. The confusion there can cause all sorts of animosity between parent and child. Some have likened it to having a perfectly adorable child, until they hit puberty and became a monster. No, your teen isn’t a monster; they’re dealing with raging hormones that have them off balance.
Racism has raised its ugly head after many years of people working in concert. Even if your teen seems to have a good grasp on the problem, they are seeing claims of this and that is wrong. Or that they’re a horrible person because of their ancestry. Since all teens strive toward acceptance from their peers, this can cause them to withdraw and turn to other people to figure out why they’re no longer an accepted part of their peer group.
Depression isn’t just being sad. It’s a chemical imbalance. No matter how much the parent wants to help their teen deal with this, they are facing a two-fold problem. First, the teen more than likely doesn’t want to talk at all. Secondly, our society has hammered into everyone’s heads that taking drugs is wrong, but the cure for depression is a drug. Enter the conflicted teen who can’t deal with the sadness driving through them being told they have to take a drug. Now, they’re more conflicted than ever. A simple “this will help you feel better” won’t work. This teen needs to join with others like him or herself and discover they can control their problem, as long as they don’t quit.
Suicide among teens has become front page news. It’s shocking. It’s a problem everyone wants to deny, but it is a fact. Taking your own life is a drastic step, a scream that no one listened. To hide teens from books about this problem is akin to telling them the emotional and/or physical problems they’re facing aren’t important.
One of the biggest lesson twenty-first century parents can learn is that their teens are savvy and in touch. Many of them go to non-traditional places for assistance. Some have found comfort in books, and learned that the more drastic measures they were thinking about aren’t right, but if the books that address those problems are banned, forbidden, where else can they go when they fell cut out of the world?
Sometimes the best cure is a bite of fiction, done in a way that your teen feels like they have a person who understands.

Eight Simple Rules

All teens want those around them to take them seriously. Sometimes, though, their means of getting this to happen brings them unwanted or unpleasant attention.








 Eight Simple Rules
Brian Lachlan, at thirteen, knows what his future will be. He will be a ship commander, like the skipper of Lucretia’s Dream. On the day when he must prove his skills, in order to be placed in the right training program, he uses the Eight Simple Rules one must know for such a position to compare to his progress.
Will Brian reach his goal?





There are all kinds of rules if you’re going to be the commander of a space liner, exploring the galaxy. Not many of the men and women on Lucretia’s Dreambelieved in this theory, but they weren’t determined to become the youngest starship commander in history.
According to galactic records, the person currently holding the record was an ancient forty-five when he was awarded command of a garbage scow. But it wasn’t a floating trashcan that interested Brian Lachlan. Oh, no, his master scheme was to take control of the very ship upon which he had been born and raised—Lucretia’s Dream.
I will get the grand prize in this contest. I just have to. That’s the first step to reaching my goal.

Teen Romance

Is there anything sweeter than plotting a romance between your characters in a teen novel? Sure, you have the usual trials and tribulations that will sell the book, but an underlying romance can add moments that leave memories for everyone.
One thing the teen writer must be aware of is that teen romance isn’t about meeting someone at a bar and ending up happily ever after. Meetings between teens are rife with anxiety, doubt, and questions if this is the “one,” the person they can be with forever.
In reality, very few teen romances last for more than a few months. There’s always another person waiting in the wings who will make the heart beat a little faster, give your protagonist that sensation of perhaps this person is better for them. More power to this story line. It’s real, a situation teens deal with day in and day out.
In truth, teens are going through so many changes that promises to be together forever are short lived. They move on without a second thought, creating drama in a life that is already filled with this. Yet, this is part of their maturation process from child to adult. This is a side effect of the hormonal changes teens are going through, as much as greasy hair and acne. Still, there is a reason to explore the teen romance, and that is because teens want to see how their favorite characters deal with the first meeting, first date, even the first awkward kiss.
One thing that shouldn’t be in the teen romance is the sexual hookup. Leave that for a new adult or adult book. Keep the young adult romance sweet so that you aren’t pressuring your teen readers into thinking all relationships end up in a bedroom, the back seat of a car, or on a blanket in the woods or a beach. Instead, lead your reader on a discovery of likes and dislikes, of happiness and sadness. In other words, show them real life but without some of the issues they’re already struggling with so that they feel as if they have to equate sex with love.

A Winter Holiday Anthology

Between November and early January, there are twenty-seven major celebrations worldwide, and many much smaller ones honoring the winter holidays. Here are just a few, presented by a group of talented authors.

 
Get A Winter Holiday Anthology on Amazon!


Enjoy these ten stories from a group of very talented authors. We celebrate the Winter Holidays around the world, brought to you by a multinational group of authors, with various traditions and one theme—joy and happiness.
M.H. Newhouse, Malay A. Upadhyay, K.C. Sprayberry, A.A. Schenna, S Cu’Anam Policar, Vanayssa Somers, Margaret Egrot, April Erwin, Mya O’Malley, E.B. Sullivan.



Our tiny menorah is barely visible behind a large, Mickey Mouse statuette and several water globes in our wall unit. My son, Keith, loves the cartoony figurines, but nobody ever takes notice of the Hanukkah candleholder, a relic from my husband’s family. It really doesn’t look like much, I think, as I close the glass door on it. Without Rob here, there seems little point in taking it out.
A photograph of Rob and me, through the glass door, catches my eye. It is from the summer we first were going out. I never suspected we would end up together or, maybe, I might have paid more attention to our religious differences. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about a future, only about whether I liked him enough to keep seeing him. Believe me, I wasn’t sure. He had a lot going against him. For starters, he was recently divorced after five years of marriage. Neither of us was looking for a relationship, and I was really turned off when he told me that he was augmenting his teaching salary by serving in the Army reserve. That really threw me. Religion didn’t seem to matter much when you weighed all the other issues. Once we did get married, two years later, we decided to celebrate both of our holidays together. But this year, we are not together, so the menorah is being left in the wall unit. I guess I’m just not motivated enough to take it out. 

Multiple Viewpoints

It’s not unusual to see multiple viewpoints in most adult books. In fact, it’s unusual not to see them. But in children’s books, even young adult, multiple viewpoints seem to be decried as too old for the reader. That may be true, or it may be that adults are selling teens short.
Teens are much smarter and aware of their world than most adults give them. No, they are not adults in training, but they are exposed to more things than most of us were when we were the same age. Case in point are the phones most teens carry. They are connected to friends all over the world on a twenty-four basis. They can keep up text conversations with multiple people without messing up. Their social media accounts never once give them any issue with what they’re doing on there… or do they?
Yes, teens are accomplished with the latest technology and probably far more mature than their parents and grandparents were a few decades ago. A lot of them, the ones who read, aren’t looking for a mild mannered book, where the hero or heroine follows a set pattern that has been in place forever. Nor do they want a book with teeth, a novel they can follow along on the story line and not get lost or wonder why this person shows up so much but they aren’t getting their own place.Why not write a multiple viewpoint story? Sometimes we do need to see how others perceive the situation. What could be a middling, quiet story, suddenly becomes a tense, suspenseful back and forth look at a situation from two or three sides. The characters, be they protagonist or antagonist, are striving toward their goals and also having to compete with each other for space on the page.
Your teen reader will enjoy this give and take between the characters. They are seeing the people in the book as real, engaged with each other, much as his or her friends are. Don’t sell teens short. They enjoy complicated stories as much as adults.

Venus Rising

Mick hates his life, a completely normal emotion for most teens, except his life isn’t football, girls, and having fun at the local high school. This teen lives on an undersea research station and Venus, the station, has developed a major problem.







 Get Venus Rising on Amazon!

Venus—a research habitat in the North Atlantic—learned to communicate with a very special young man long before humans inhabited her decks. Eleven years later, sixteen-year-old Mick Beaumont has long given up on his friend inside the computer. He’s determined to leave what he sees as a loser lifestyle and return to terra firma.
On the day of the scheduled rising, nothing happens as it should. Mick’s at a loss to explain the breakdowns, despite being the prime suspect. Determined to figure out the mystery, he enlists the aid of his girlfriend and best bud, only to have one betray him at a crucial moment.
The fate of the world is in this young man’s hands. Can he stop the eco-terrorists and bring Venus to the surface before planetary annihilation happens?



Pain. Excruciating, unbearable pain drove through her joints and caused her to groan. For a very long time, Venus lay still. She tried to absorb why the miniscule humans who inhabited her wanted to hurt her. What had she done wrong? Why did they want her to remain on the bottom of the ocean? When would this pain end?She had to do something. Now. Before the other humans suffered. But the men called Julian Marcus and Chief Swenson wouldn’t allow her to notify the right people. Some way—there must be a method she could use to let the scientists know of the problem. How could she contact Dr. Michael and Dr. Katrina?Blocked. Those men wanted this information kept from them! Why? No sense. Didn’t show good judgment for humans to remain below when they needed to do repairs. Dr. Michael. Dr. Katrina. Must know. Can’t get to them.

Blue Vision by Marie Lavender

Today, Out of Control Characters welcomes Marie Lavender, a great friend and prolific author, to our blog. Marie’s latest book, a science fiction romance novel, Blue Vision, released this week and we are giving her a chance to tell you all about it.



Get Blue Vision!

 Blurb

Brooke Sanders just wants to get away from her life for a while. A remote cabin in Montana fits the bill. She doesn’t expect to encounter a mysterious stranger with unusual blue eyes, or events that cannot be explained…Colin Fielding is on a mission – scout a planet and return home to Endhivar. Simple really. What he doesn’t anticipate is that fate has a pretty twisted sense of humor. Suddenly, this human calls to him, every part of him, like the call of a true mate, and he can’t deny the connection as he gets closer to her. Little do they know, someone is out to do them harm, as well as the world Brooke holds so dear. Can they stop what’s coming before it’s too late? Or will the universe lose a perfect gem?





Excerpt


Ganardebragh pressed a button on the screen and suddenly the visor opened. The vessel hovered on the outer edges of the Fulnax Galaxy. Numerous glowing stars dotted the space he traveled in. A shooting red star went past him and a smile hovered over his lips. Up here, he thought, it was perfect. The world felt infinite, full of possibilities.
Turning, he typed his destination into the computer.
A voice announced in the cockpit, “Earth…population 7 billion, 271 million, 282 thousand, 194. Estimated arrival—”
Then there was only silence.
He tapped the screen. “Repeat.”
A hush came through the inner compartment of the ship.
Ganardebragh hit a button. “Estimated arrival, computer?”
“Arrival…unknown.”
He sighed. Already, a glitch with the navigation system? This wasn’t good news. Still, he took a deep breath, knowing he would arrive, eventually. The computer knew the way, as there had been previous reconnaissance missions. He settled back in the pilot’s seat, unable to shake the instinct that some great change was coming for him. The sensation dogged at him, prickled along the back of his neck, as he clicked a pale green button. The warp drive activated, allowing the ship to jump through hyperspace once more. He wasn’t certain what the problem was, or when it would happen. Journeys could be uncertain. Even with all the preparation Endhivarians could manage for a scouting mission, the one factor which could never be entirely accounted for was a planet’s inhabitants. Blending in was paramount to the cause, though, and he’d learned to do it well.
He tried to brush off the odd sensation that something was wrong, but to no avail.

Blue Vision on Goodreads


About Marie Lavender
Bestselling multi-genre author of Upon Your Returnand 21 other books. March 2016 Empress of the Universe title - winner of the Broken Heart themed contest and the I Love You themed contest on Poetry Universe. Second Chance Heart and A Little Magick placed in the TOP 10 on the 2015 P&E Readers' Poll. Nominated in the TRR Readers' Choice Awards for Winter 2015. Poetry winner of the 2015 PnPAuthors Contest. The Versatile Blogger Award for 2015. Honorable Mention in the 2014 BTS Red Carpet Book Awards. Finalist and Runner-up in the 2014 MARSocial's Author of the Year Competition. Honorable mention in the January 2014 Reader's Choice Award. Liebster Blogger Award for 2013 and 2014. Top 10 Authors on AuthorsDB.com. Winner of the Great One Liners Contest on the Directory of Published Authors.

Marie Lavender lives in the Midwest with her family and three cats. She has been writing for over twenty years. She has more works in progress than she can count on two hands. Since 2010, Marie has published 22 books in the genres of historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, fantasy, mystery/thriller, literary fiction and poetry. She has also contributed to several anthologies. Her current series are The Heiresses in Love Series, The Magick Series, The Code of Endhivar Series and The Blood at First Sight Series. 


Website I Love Romance Blog Marie Lavender Books Blog Marie Lavender Blog Ambrosia Innovations Graphic Designs Facebook Facebook Twitter Google + LinkedIn Amazon Author Page Goodreads AUTHORSdB Poets & Writers Manic Readers YouTube 

A Winter Holiday 2016

The end of year holidays are filled with joy as decorations go up worldwide. Parades give everyone a chance to join with others in happiness. Families make plans to gather for meals and celebrations.









A season for joy…
A season for celebration…
A season for family…
Solstice Publishing presents eleven talented authors with a dozen stories that portray the winter holiday season in many ways. Each tale will fill you with wonder, joy, and a sense of earned togetherness.







Celebrate with K.C. Sprayberry, Donna Alice Patton, Johnny Gunn, Susan Lynn Solomon, Debbie De Louise, Elle Marlow, Leah Hamrick, Eden S. Clark, E.B. Sullivan, M.A. Cortez, and Rebecca L. Frencl this winter holiday season.

A Winter Holiday 2016 on Amazon