Aurora Springer's Blog, page 82

April Fools for Love - the Grand Master's gift

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My Story: 

Crazy decisions are key events in Grand Master’s Pawn.

The empath Violet becomes a pawn in defiance of the prohibition against psychics. One of the twelve Grand Masters selected the girl with the dubious heritage. The others thought he was crazy since her father had prophesied their doom. 
Love is foreign to a Grand Master because exposure to their unshielded power is deadly to normal people. Violet sees only his griffin avatar. She challenges him to join her on a mission so she can probe his mind. He yields to the temptation, and meets her while disguised as another pawn. They search an uncharted planet for clues to an ancient civilization. Now, the Grand Master cannot use his powers against the hostile inhabitants without risking her life. He makes clumsy attempts to win her affections while believing their love is impossible.

Excerpt:


Taranis caught at her wrist as she reached toward the hole. “No! It’s dangerous. Let me check inside.” He slid his fingers into the cavity and withdrew an object. He opened his hand to show her. On his palm lay a dull red pebble. “A ward stone,” he explained.

He rubbed his thumb across the stone. Power buzzed from his hand and the siren tug ceased in Violet’s mind. Instead of a dull pebble, he held a shiny purple stone shaped like an irregular pentagon. “It is yours, Violet,” he said.
Violet gazed in astonishment as he brushed his thumb across the stone a second time. The stone changed into a shiny jewel like a violet flower. She shook her head, and said in a voice edged with sarcasm, “Very pretty, but completely impossible! Do you expect me to believe that someone from an ancient civilization just happened to hide a violet-shaped stone in this ruined wall?”
Taranis winced at her criticism. He offered the violet jewel to her and insisted, “Take the stone!”
Her brow furrowed as she mused on her suspicions. Power had flared when he inactivated the ward signal and changed the color of the stone. She felt, rather than saw, his intense gaze on her face. Why did he conceal his power as sleight of hand? Did he mean the glittering violet as a gift, despite his clumsy presentation? Violet sighed and asked, “Is it your gift, Taranis?” 
“You may think of it as such.” He held out the stone violet on the palm of his hand. What a dubious reply, she thought, torn between annoyance and a grudging sympathy. How typical of her evasive Grand Master. Yet, she knew he was not omnipotent. He had not sensed the attack of the giant centipede, when its greedy mind was obvious to her. Violet placed a finger on the purple gem. She felt the power trickle from his hand, and a breath of hope feathered from his shielded mind. She curled her fingers around the ornament, relishing the hum of power from his hand. The warmth of his power was a better prize than the pretty jewel. She stashed the violet stone in her pocket, still confused about his intentions and lost for words. 

He is not always so serious. As a boy he got into trouble for teleporting frogs into the kitchen sink. 
[You too can become a Grand Master if you're born with psi potential and survive the training.]
Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TP1N5PM 
I have donated two of my eBooks to the prizewinners: Grand Master's Pawn and Captured by the Hawk. For an easy prize, sign up for my newsletter to receive your choice of the ebook of Captured by the Hawk or the first part of Grand Master's Pawn.


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Tuesday Teaser from A Tale of Two Colonies

  
Here is an excerpt from my story of alien contact and finding love in unexpected places.  This planet is full of predators.



Lily half turned, and began skidding down into a large hole that suddenly opened under her feet. She fell on her back, still sliding helplessly downward. Ming and Conley were trapped in the same capricious landslide.
Ming had spread-eagled his arms and legs to slow his descent. He yelled urgently, “Get the ropes!” Conley caught hold of Lily’s right wrist, while he grasped his bared sword blade in his other hand. He held the sword so it pointed down between his legs. Lily wondered what fearful danger lay at the bottom of the hole. In an instant, she saw it and stifled a scream. They were funneling inexorably into a monstrous mouth ringed with jagged triangles of teeth. She struggled to grab her laser with her free hand. The awful mouth was only a few scant feet away. With a swift motion, Conley threw his sword into the gaping mouth. Simultaneously, Ming and Lily fired their lasers. A high pitched shrieking arose, and the convulsions of the monster scattered sand and rocks about them. 
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MFY8A5Q
 

Snippet for #SFFSat continues with Grand Master's Pawn

Welcome to another Saturday of Science Fiction & Fantasy snippets exchanged by writers.

My contribution this week is from my new release Grand Master’s Pawn.
On her fourth mission to an uncharted planet, Violet and Taranis, the companion promised by her Grand Master, meet several challenges.This excerpt continues from last week.

Snippet

“Clip the laser on your belt,” he ordered. She put the laser away. He grasped her around the waist and tossed her up. She yelled in shock as she flew up, flinging out her arms to grasp onto the rock shelf. Scrambling for a hold on the level surface, she lifted her legs over and crawled onto the ledge. She crouched against the cliff face, and fired her laser at the nearest predators to keep them away from Taranis. Taranis took several paces back and raced toward the cliff, leaping up to grapple onto the rock shelf. He pulled himself up and sat next to Violet, scarcely panting. It happened too fast for her to tell if his power had assisted his great leap onto the ledge. On the ground below, the ravening beasts screeched in frustration at the escape of their prey. The red shelled predators jumped in rage, but could not reach the ledge. Violet leaned back against the cliff, and said, “What can we do now, Taranis? Those awful creatures have penned us on this ledge.” “We climb higher,” he replied, gazing upwards with his eyes narrowed in calculation. “That crack in the cliff leads right to the top.”
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TP1N5PM
Last week's snippet can be read here: Snippet from 21 March
Soon, I plan to reveal snippets from Book 2, Grand Master's Game. 

For another glimpse into the Grand Masters' Universe, my short story is free 27-28th at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R0AIG36

Please return to SFFSat and read the other snippets. Your comments are welcome.

Teaser Tuesday - A Tale of Two Colonies

Today I'll give you a short excerpt from A Tale of Two Colonies.
Sultry Lily White, nicknamed Tiger Lily, searches for the lost colony from 400 years earlier. Her scout team meets Conley, a taciturn and attractive warrior. He is a valuable guide on the planet with many alien predators. Here, they are relaxing after one narrow escape.

Excerpt   

Lily leaned against Conley and relaxed with the boulder supporting her back. She closed her eyes sleepily under the warmth of the afternoon sun.
Conley shifted slightly. “Lily?” he said softly.
“Yes,” she opened her eyes. He was gazing into her face.
“Thank you,” he said, and kissed her warmly.
She slid her arms around his neck and leaned into his embrace. It was peaceful lying in the sun with a faint humming sound in the distance. As they kissed, the sound grew louder.
Suddenly, Conley broke away and leaped to his feet with a warning yell, “Stripers!”
Looking up, Lily discovered the source of the sound was orange striped insects flying above. She struggled erect and pulled out her laser. Conley was jumping high to slash with his long sword at the zooming insects, which were attacking in formation. Rows of insects advanced toward their camp. They had two pairs of vibrating wings and bore a stinger on their tails.
Tiger Lily swung into action, firing her laser beam and severing the insect bodies. They kept attacking; swooping down and quickly soaring out of reach. Lily and Conley moved together, standing back to back for protection, while swiping at the heads of the flying insects.   Yes, it's a teaser!Buy Link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MFY8A5Q
Description:

Four hundred years earlier the great spaceships had departed from Terra to colonize distant planets. Few ships reached their destinations; their sporadic signals waned and disappeared. No one knew whether the colonists survived. Now, construction of a new generation of hyperdrive ships was scheduled at one every five years. Planet Delta was selected as the next target for survey because the arrival of a brief signal suggested the descendants of the colonists were alive. Tiger Lily longs for freedom. In her fight to escape the subterranean slums of Terra, Lily competes to join the scout team selected for the next spaceship along with a new set of prospective colonists. Their mission to discover the lost colony faces the challenges posed by the voracious predators of the planet. In the mountains, they encounter Conley, a grim warrior who longs to escape the confines of his isolated valley. Has Tiger Lily met her match in this tortured warrior? But, where is he leading them? Danger lies ahead, and conflicts between humans and aliens. Can they ensure the safety of the new human colonists, or must they retreat to Terra?  

Alliances by S. Usher Evans

About the Book Lyssa Peate has found a tenuous balance between her double lives - the planet-discovering scientist and space pirate bounty hunter named Razia. No longer on probation, Razia still struggles to be thought of as more than a chocolate-fetching joke, and Lyssa can't be truthful to those closest to her. But both lives are turned upside-down when feisty government investigator Lizbeth Carter shows up to capture the same pirate Razia is after.

Lizbeth's not interested in taking Razia's thunder; rather, she convinces the caustic bounty hunter to help solve a mystery. Somebody's hiring pirates to target government ships, and there's a money trail that doesn't make any sense. From the desert planet of D-882 to the capital city on S-864, the investigation leads them deeper and deeper into a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of the Universal Government - and to one of the most painful chapters in Lyssa's past. Purchase on Amazon
  Preview from Chapter One:The room was dark, with a single, dingy lamp hanging over a table where three men sat, each holding a hand of cards. They said little, except for the occasional grunt or movement to tap their grungy mini-computers to up their ante. The first sighed and rubbed the scruff around his chin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter.

"You hear that Llendo is running for re-election?" he said, cigarette dangling from his mouth.
"What else is new?" The short, squatty man and whose toes barely brushed the floor, threw a few chips into the virtual pile using his mini-computer. "The guy's a puppet. There ain't nothin' that comes out of his mouth that ain't been sent through the ringer about a million times."

The other two men chuckled and shuffled around their cards. The third man, with a long face and sallow complexion, pulled two more cards for his own hand and shuffled them together and apart again.

"But who else is there to vote for?" he asked, counting his cards and stacking them together again.

"That general? You know that buffoon Peate works for him. He ain't getting my vote until I know he's gonna play along."

The second shrugged and said, "Nobody'd vote for him in a million years."
"You and your millions." The third rolled his eyes. "Everything you say has been done a million times."

"Bah, can it," the first barked. "And hurry up and make your move."
"I'm taking my time. Don't want to get fleeced again," the third said. "You're all a bunch of crooks."

"Takes one to know one." The second man peered at his cards through a pair of thick glasses, hunched over.

"I am retired," the first man said, sitting back and taking a long drag of his cigarette. "None of that piracy crap for me anymore. Getting too dangerous for me."

"Gonna break a nail?" the second snorted. "Bad enough you got that girl. Whatsherface."

"I hear she's doing all right," the third said. "Kidnapped Jukin Peate's brother and held him for ransom last year."

"And what's she done since then?" the second said.

"More than you've done."

"I'm just saying, it's unnatural to have a woman out with the men," the first said. He paused for a moment and began to smile. "Although I can't say I hate seeing her scamper around '882."

"Shame she doesn't wear tighter pants," the second said. "I seen pictures. She wears these baggy things. I bet if she wore something that made her look like a girl, she wouldn't even have to fight nobody."

"She could come capture me any day of the week. I don't care what she looks like," the third said. "I'd lay down and let her do whatever she wanted to me."

"Care to test that theory?"

The three glanced up sharply at the sound of a distinctly female voice in the doorway.

"Hey, hey," the first man said, standing up. "We don't want no trouble. We're retired here, lady."

"You are," Razia said, stepping into the light with a smirk on her face. She turned her eyes on the third man in the room. "He isn't."
About the Author S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in a small, suburban town in northwest Florida, she was seventeen before she realized that not all beach sand is white. From a young age, she has always been a long-winded individual, first verbally (to the chagrin of her ever-loving parents) and then eventually channeled into the many novels that dotted her Windows 98 computer in the early 2000's. After high school, she got the hell outta dodge and went to school near the nation's capital, where she somehow landed jobs at National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and the British Broadcasting Corporation, capping off her educational career with delivering the commencement address to 20,000 of her closest friends. She determined she'd goofed off long enough with that television nonsense and got a "real job" as an IT consultant. Yet she continued to write, developing 20 page standard operating procedures and then coming home to write novels about bounty hunters, teenage magic users, and other nonsense. After a severe quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided to finally get a move on and share those novels with the world in hopes that she will never have to write another SOP again.

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Snippet for SFFSat from Grand Master's Pawn

Welcome to another Saturday of Science Fiction & Fantasy snippets exchanged by writers.

My contribution this week is from my new release Grand Master’s Pawn.
On her fourth mission to an uncharted planet, Violet and Taranis, the companion promised by her Grand Master, meet several challenges.

Snippet
       They had not escaped. Clicks and angry hisses signaled the approach of their pursuers. Looking back, Violet saw the eight-legged beasts racing toward them. Their scythe-like mandibles clicked in threat. Horrified by the blast of their enmity, she backed against the cliff and cried, “Give me the laser!” Taranis said calmly, “No, there are too many of them. Your laser will be useless.” “What else can we do?” She shook her head, wondering why he didn’t use his psi powers in their defense. He gestured at the cliff. “We’ll climb the mountain.” Violet glanced up and gasped in dismay. The smooth rock face rose vertically to a narrow shelf and continued steeply towards the top. The nearest ledge was more than twice her height above the ground. “How can we climb here? I can’t reach the ledge.”
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TP1N5PM
Soon, I plan to reveal snippets from Book 2, Grand Master's Game. 

Please return to SFFSat and read the other snippets. Your comments are welcome.

Well Kept Secrets by Liza O'Connor

As readers of The Adventures of Xavier & Vic know, my sleuths acquire the most interesting employees. Today, I’m sharing more of L’il Pete’s history. This section from book 2.5 (A Right to Love) where charming Pete discovers the scary Mr. Tubs might like him.
 Jacko returned to Xavier’s room and found L’il Pete sitting on the bed beside Xavier telling him of his scary escape from Tubs. Jacko didn’t want the boy getting too confident about his ability to escape dangerous thugs. Xavier evidently had the same concern. “I can see you have courage, but a great man needs to use his brains, as well. You should have never taken that job, and the reason you got away from Tubs is not because you were smarter or faster than the giant. I happen to know he is deadly fast.”Pete tilted his head in confusion. “Then why’d I get away?”“Because Tubs hates killing little boys. So he moved fast enough that anyone watching would think he was trying, but not so fast that you couldn’t escape.”L’il Pete shook his head in disagreement.Jacko spoke up. “It’s true, Pete. I was just talking to Tubs. I had a favor I wanted him to do for me, and in return, he asked me to get you a better job. He said he’d been ordered twice to kill you. He was worried the next man sent wouldn’t have a problem killing little boys.”Pete looked up with a grin. “Does that mean Sonny Tubs likes me?”Jacko nodded. “I have no idea how a person couldn’t like you.”Xavier studied Jacko. “Why don’t you hire the boy to take your messages?”The boy sighed heavily. “He did, but me mum don’t trust the job and says I have to quit.”“Evidently, I paid him too much, although to be fair, twenty pounds of his money was for the information about you.”“Bloody Hell! First, you charge Victor ten pounds for a map I drew and then give this boy a mere twenty pounds to lurk in Ransom’s alley?”Pete waved his hands frantically in an attempt to calm Xavier. “He didn’t pay me to be there. I was there watching vendors when I saw you. I’d heard about the reward and sought him out. While he said it didn’t warrant the grand prize, it got me a great job and twenty pounds.”Xavier frowned. “I wish to speak to your mother. She is being entirely foolish in this matter.”
The great Victorian sleuth Xavier Thorn and his partner Vic Hamilton take a case close to home. Their youngest staff member, L’il Pete, discovers his mother murdered in the alley. Jacko is called up from the country to assist in solving the crime. The good woman’s murder proves to be tangled up with a much larger and shocking list of crimes perpetrated by a powerful man who may truly be above the law. Making matters more complex: Vic discovers her recent weight gain may be the result of a condition that could destroy her life and everything she loves. Jacko didn’t expect a giant, a grumpy driver, and a former pirate to receive an overly warm welcome when they arrived at Vic’s house. However, Gregory surprised him with what looked to be a genuine smile. “Please come in. Peter will be so pleased to see you.”Jacko grimaced at the gentrification of L’il Pete’s name. Poor boy was no doubt in desperate need of rescue from this place.Gregory led them to the parlor where Vic’s sister, Claire, was reading aloud about colored moths. Pete sat in quiet misery on the sofa next to some poor dope clearly bewitched by the petite beauty. While Jacko had never met Vic’s sister before, he was prone to dislike her from the stories his wife had shared.Claire looked up from her reading and frowned at their arrival. “Vic isn’t here. How can you not know that?” She showered her scold upon Tubs. “I was under the impression it was your job to watch over him.”“Vic’s with Xavier, so we came to visit Pete,” Jacko replied, resenting that this hothouse flower dare scold Tubs about anything. She clearly didn’t appreciate the difficulty of the fellow’s task. Pete jumped from the sofa, his smile stretching from ear to ear. “You came for me?”“We missed you,” Tubs stated.The boy ran to Tubs and wrapped his arms about the giant’s leg.“Peter, stop that. One does not go about hugging…people.”Without a doubt, the lady had intended to say ‘servants’. Jacko was no longer on the fence regarding his opinion of her. His wife was right. Vic and Claire were exact opposites, with Vic having a genuinely good heart while Claire possessed only a false veneer of the same.The besotted fellow stood and approached Jacko. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m David Brown, Claire’s husband.”Gads! Someone married her? He shook the fellow’s hand. “Jacon Bienora.”“He’s the pirate Alice married,” Claire said.Jacko eyed her, then returned his focus to David. He seemed like a nice fellow, shame he’d married so poorly. “Former pirate. I’m reformed now.”
Book 4Well Kept Secrets AMAZON Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited
Need to catch up?Book 1 The Troublesome Apprentice
Book 2 The Missing Partner
Book 2.5 A Right to Love
Book 3 The Mesmerist All Xavier books Free with Amazon Unlimited Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved normally. But all those bad behaviors have given have lots of fodder for her humorous romances. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.You have been warned.Mostly humorous books by Liza: Ghost Lover —Two British brothers fall in love with the same young woman. Ancestral ghost is called in to fix the situation. And there’s a ghost cat that roams about the book as well. (Humorous Contemporary Romance) Untamed & Unabashed —The youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia, tells her story. A faithful spinoff from Pride & Prejudice.A Long Road to Love Series: (Humorous Contemporary odd Romance) Worst Week Ever — Laugh out loud week of disasters of Epic proportions. Oh Stupid Heart — The heart wants what it wants, even if it’s impossible. Coming to Reason — There is a breaking point when even a saint comes to reason. Climbing out of Hell — The reconstruction of a terrible man into a great one.The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Sleuth series: (Late Victorian/Mystery/Romance) The Troublesome Apprentice — The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man who turns out to be a young woman. The Missing Partner — Opps! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing, leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants. Not to mention an eviscerating cat. Yes, let’s not mention the cat. A Right to Love — A romantic detour for Jacko. Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic save an old woman from Bedlam? The Mesmerist — The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell. Well Kept Secrets — L’il Pete’s mum is murdered, and discovering who & why reveals a great many secrets.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUTLIZA O'CONNORInvestigate these sites:Liza's Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter

Teaser Tuesday - Irish in Space - $0.99

St Patrick’s Day Special $0.99 Kat steals codes from the Emperor’s RevengeBlack Hawk hides his face under a maskKatrina’s ship is the ShamrockCaptain Hawk runs the Rogue StarCan they join forces against their enemy?Or will their secrets tear them apart? 

Buy Links: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYHSC52https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id973177042https://www.scribd.com/book/257550700/Captured-by-the-Hawkhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/sample/read/2940151679107https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/captured-by-the-hawk

Sing a Song of the Stars - Pre-order Science Fiction Romance bundle

Buy Link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UNPG27M

Description
A collection of eight sci-fi romance novels and novellas.

Spanning the universe, from futuristic Earth to unique alien worlds, these stories combine the realms of science fiction with heartfelt romance and tantalizing sizzle. Adventure, mystery, space exploration, technology, betrayal, and love, these eight stories sing the songs of the stars-igniting the imagination, arousing the spirit, and uplifting the heart.

Farewell Andromeda by Laurie A. Green
The last thing deep space pilot Tiharra Bell needs is another romantic entanglement, and certainly not with the galaxy's most famous astronomer. But she's about to be fooled.

Reckless Rescue by Rinelle Grey
He crash-landed on her planet. Can they survive the winter together without falling in love?

The Seeker by Sandy James
The Vymains have conquered Earth but Kara Michaels refuses to surrender. When Aiodhan Riel is sent to assassinate the Vymain leader, he crash lands. Will he carry out his mission or fall for the rebellious Kara?

Unbound Instinct by C.E. Kilgore
Vex is unique among his kind. Cris is the last of hers. Freed from slavery, they seek an acceptance of themselves and an understanding of each other.

Alien Encounter: Janaya by Shelley Munro
Janaya is stuck on Earth, and because she neglected to have her travel inoculations in her hurry to protect her aunt from Torgons, she has bonded with an Earthman.

A Matter Of Trust by Greta van der Rol
Surrounded by enemies, it seems the only man prepared to help Princess Amira is the Demon Admiral. But can she trust him?

My Name Is A'yen by Rachel Leigh Smith
A'yen Mesu, a Loks Mé slave, doesn't believe his homeworld exists. Dr. Farran Hart does. When she finds it, he'll do anything to protect her. Even if it costs him his heart.

Captured By The Hawk by Aurora Springer
A Space Operetta: Kat steals codes from the Emperor's Revenge. Captain Black Hawk hides his face under a mask. Will he win her heart before she uncovers his tragic secret?

Snippet for SFFSat - Captured by the Hawk

Welcome to another Saturday of Science Fiction & Fantasy snippets exchanged by writers.

My contribution this week is from my space operetta with romance and mystery “Captured by the Hawk”. Katrina Sligo has Irish heritage, and a spaceship called the Shamrock. In this scene they were trapped when attempting to steal a spaceship. Excerpt 
Kat rolled awkwardly across the cold floor, trying to gauge the size of her prison, despite the bonds restraining her arms and legs. Suddenly, she bumped against something yielding. It felt like another body. A groan told her the person was alive. “Who are you?” she asked, biting her lip in anxiety. Who had they imprisoned in the room with her? “Trina?” he whispered hoarsely with another groan, and she knew his voice. It was the Black Hawk. “Are you tied up too?” “They left us tied in here together. They may have made a mistake.” His deep voice sounded amused. She wriggled around, placing her head near his and whispered in his ear, or as close as she could guess in the dark. “Rumors say you have a hand that cuts metal.” 


Buy Links: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYHSC52https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id973177042https://www.scribd.com/book/257550700/Captured-by-the-Hawkhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/sample/read/2940151679107https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/captured-by-the-hawk
Please return to SFFSat and read the other snippets.
Your comments are welcome.