Great Art!

I Love This Cover!

 

This is a great, fun series too!

Caught My Attention! Reading Soon!

 

This is one of those books I want to open in the morning and indulge myself, reading till I reach the final pages.  It just looks like fun, and I love a story that takes me into another world(s)!

 

My new Rogue Angel book is out now!

 

I had a lot of fun with this one!

 

Enjoy!

 

With one small chess piece, the game begins…

For archaeologist and TV host Annja Creed, a late-night phone call from the NYPD means one thing: there's been a murder and the police need her expertise. The only link between a dead body and the killer is a small elephant of white jade. An artifact that's gone missing.

Once belonging to Catherine the Great of Russia, the elephant was key in a risky political gambit all those years ago. But there is another story attached to the artifact—a rumor of an ancient hidden treasure. And for a cruelly ambitious media mogul with a penchant for tomb-raiding, the elephant is nothing short of priceless.

Annja must make her move quickly, traveling across several continents with only the assistance of her extraordinary sword—purportedly the same sword wielded by Joan of Arc—and a mysterious temple monk. It's a deadly battle of wits, and one wrong move could mean game over.

I'm trying the www.Wattpad.com venue for a teen paranormal novel I've been working on.  If you'd like to see it, go there for the first chapter.  I'm having fun with it.  It's called APPARITION and it's got some real twists and turns.

Out Now!

 

 

Full of magic, mystery, and romance, an enchanting steampunk fantasy debut in the bestselling vein of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger.

Orphaned as a child, Octavia Leander was doomed to grow up on the streets until Miss Percival saved her and taught her to become a medician. Gifted with incredible powers, the young healer is about to embark on her first mission, visiting suffering cities in the far reaches of the war-scarred realm. But the airship on which she is traveling is plagued by a series of strange and disturbing occurrences, including murder, and Octavia herself is threatened.

Suddenly, she is caught up in a flurry of intrigue: the dashingly attractive steward may be one of the infamous Clockwork Daggers—the Queen’s spies and assassins—and her cabin-mate harbors disturbing secrets. But the danger is only beginning, for Octavia discovers that the deadly conspiracy aboard the airship may reach the crown itself.

The Coming War!

 

Coming in January 2015!

 

They call it The Green Hell. A maze of tangled jungle, the planet Makaum is one of the most dangerous places in the universe. And for Terran Military Master Sergeant Frank Sage, it is now home.

The war between the Terrans and the Phrenorians rages, and both sides have their sights set on Makaum. If the planet’s rich resources fall into enemy hands it could mean devastation for the Terran Army. To ensure that doesn’t happen, Sage is sent to assess the Makaum troops and bring them in line with Terran Military standards. But soon after arriving at his post, he realizes the Phrenorians are not the only threat. Heading up a small but fearless unit, Sage must stop a brewing civil war with the power to unleash a galactic cataclysm unlike anything ever seen.

BLACK PULP!

People are grabbing up BLACK PULP!  It's out in paper and ebook, and chockfull of stories that span worlds and time.  I wrote "Drums of the Ogbanje," the first Ngola Kilunaji story for the anthology and it was featured on CRIMINAL ELEMENT.  It's got zombies and pirates!

For $2.99 for an e-read and over 300 pages, you can't go wrong.

From Today's Best Authors and up and coming writers comes BLACK PULP from Pro Se Productions! BLACK PULP is a collection of stories featuring characters of African origin, or descent, in stories that run the gamut of genre fiction!

A concept developed by noted crime novelist Gary Phillips, BLACK PULP brings bestselling authors Walter Mosley and Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Phillips, Charles R. Saunders, Derrick Ferguson, D. Alan Lewis, Christopher Chambers, Mel Odom, Kimberly Richardson, Ron Fortier, Michael A. Gonzales, Gar Anthony Haywood, and Tommy Hancock together to craft adventure tales, mysteries, and more, all with black characters at the forefront!

"Literature for the masses kindled the imagination and used our reading skills so that we could regale ourselves in the cold chambers of alienation and poverty. We could become Doc Savage or The Shadow, Conan the Barbarian or the brooding King Kull and make a difference in a world definitely gone wrong."--Walter Mosley from his introduction.

Between these covers are 12 tales of action, adventure, and thrills featuring heroes and heroines of darker hues that will appeal to audiences everywhere! BLACK PULP! From Pro Se Productions!

Caught My Eye

 

I'll be picking this one up!  Dietz is awesome at SF and action.  This should be a fun ride!

 

In the year 2038, an act of bioengineered terrorism decimated humanity. Those who survived were either completely unaffected or developed horrible mutations. Across the globe, nations are now divided between areas populated by “norms” and lands run by “mutants”…
Detective Cassandra Lee of Los Angeles’s Special Investigative Section has built a fierce reputation taking down some of the city’s most notorious criminals. But the serial cop killer known as Bonebreaker—who murdered Lee’s father—is still at large. Officially, she’s too personally involved to work on the Bonebreaker case. Unofficially, she’s going to hunt him to the ends of the earth.

 In the meantime, duty calls when the daughter of Bishop Screed, head of the Church of Human Purity, is kidnapped by mutants and taken into the red zone to be used for breeding. Assigned to rescue her, Lee must trust her new partner—mutant lawman Deputy Ras Omo—to guide her not only through the unfamiliar territory but through the prejudicial divisions between mutants and norms…

Out Today!

 

From my good buddy, James Reasoner!

 

Sir Gault the Red was once the fiercest knight in all Malachar, but that was before age and a life of peace reduced him to a shadow of the warrior he once was. Now his epic battles against the fyredrakes, the race of reptilian monsters that terrorized the countryside in times past, are just a memory...until an unexpected encounter prods him into a desperate attempt to recapture past glories.

Keldrick is the last of his kind, a giant fyredrake whose flaming breath once blazed a path of destruction across the land. He wants only to reach the legendary northland where others like him may still be found...but his journey will also be one last rampage of fire, death, and devastation across the domain of the hated humans.

These two natural adversaries are fated to meet, but before they do both will be drawn into a web of deceit, ambition, and lust that will leave them questioning who are the real monsters, humans or fyredrakes! THE FYREDRAKE'S PREY is a gritty fantasy saga packed with bloody action and unexpected heroism from New York Times bestselling author and legendary storyteller James Reasoner, a never before published 70,000 word novel available only from Rough Edges Press.

 

 

 

Free Sat & Sun!

 

 

When I moved from Texas to New York to take my chances as a yarnspinner for the pulps, I knew I was entering into a whole new world. As the author of the LINCOLN LANDRY, SPACE RANGER tales for the science fiction pulps, I know a thing or two about new worlds.

But what I wanted most of all was to get a story in BLACK MASK magazine, the same pulp that launched the careers of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, to name a few.

In order to do that, I pulled in a few favors. Who knew the chief of police was a Lincoln Landry fan? Once I found out, though, I had him hook me up with his best homicide detective: Jim McLane, a tough no-nonsense cop that Hammett and Chandler might have admired.

Together, McLane and I sort through murders in the Big Apple in 1935. I didn't know I was going to learn so much, or that the price would be so high. But between McLane and me, we generally get to the bottom of murder, blackmail, and kidnappings.

 

 

New Western series out now!

 

In the spring of 1848, the Culbertson-Barkley company, so named for the Illinois and Missouri counties from which most of its members came, heads out for the promise of new beginnings and new lives in the Oregon Territory. 52 wagons, 233 men, women, and children who have been battered by a seemingly endless string of devastating winters and destructive spring floods. Battered maybe, but not defeated. Instead, toughened and filled with a collective iron resolve to change their fate and their future.

But the Oregon Trail is a challenge, even for the toughest and most strong-willed. It starts out hard and gets progressively harder, every inch of the way. It is a foregone conclusion that not everyone who is there at the beginning will make it to the end. It will take men like Wagon Master Eugene Healy, trail scout Basil St. Irons, and former mountain man Elwood Blake to get as many through as possible. And it will take determined women like Ingrid Healy and Evelyn Harmony to nurture and encourage their men in order to help them find the strength and courage to endure. 

From within and without, they will be tested. By the elements, by the threat of Indians, by betrayal … and by secrets from the past. 

 

 

WARSTRIDER 2: REBELLION Out Now!

 

In the wake of a breakthrough in the struggle against the Xenos on its frontier worlds, the Hegemony turns its attention to the planet Eridu, where newly-encountered Xenos as well as brewing unrest among the colonists threaten the Hegemony's rule. The ensuing struggle will test loyalties and have a far-reaching impact on the future of human and alien alike.

 

 

Ant-Man!

 

It's a "small" movie, but I'm really looking forward to this one!

Ian Douglas WARSTRIDER in ebook!

 

 

Now out from War Planet Press!

 

In the 26th century, humanity is at war with the Xenophobes, and the planet Loki is the next battleground. Dev Cameron joined the military to fly a starship, but is rated unsuitable and grudgingly accepts an assignment with the ground forces piloting a massive walking tank- a warstrider. But Cameron may yet get a chance at glory when he makes a discovery about their alien foes that could change the course of the war.

The first book in Ian Douglas's classic Warstrider military sci-fi series, originally published in 1993 under the name William Keith. The six-book Warstrider series is being re-issued by War Planet Press.

SOONERCON 23!

I've been going to this convention for years.  I know many of the people there and always have a good time.  But June is also when I have a lot going on writing-wise.  *sigh*

Still, I managed a few hours of panels and seeing friends.

This year is BIGGER than ever!!  Soonercon is growing again, and it couldn't happen to a nicer con!

I couldn't resist talking to the Silence from Dr. Who.

CONSTANTINE television show

 

I'm really enjoying the early views of this one as well.

 

GOTHAM Television show

 

I gotta say, the trailer looks fantastic.  This is gonna be one of the biggest shows of the season.  I'm looking forward to it.

 

Garden Redux

 

The tomato plants have been loving the cool weather and rain we've had.  They're putting on tomatoes like crazy.

 

 

We've been having to stake them up nearly every day.

 

 

I'm not too happy with my grape tomatoes, though.  They're not as heavy as I thought they would be.  Last year the grape tomato plants put out more fruit than we could eat.

 

 

The cucumber plants on the other hand are doing really well.  We've already gotten a few off.

 

 

I'm growing the cantaloupe plants vertically this year too, so making hammocks for them will be challenging soon.  I put the trellis in the ground with concrete, so it should support the weight.  They're almost spread out enough to start tying up.

 

 

Here's a side view of all three trellises.  We're trying to grow a couple watermelon plants in the old wheelbarrow, so we'll see how that works out.

 

 

We're waiting on the BIG tomatoes to ripen.

 

 

But the thing I'm most excited about at the moment are the Indigo Rose tomatoes.  They're deep purple/black on the outside and red on the inside.  This is the first year they've been out there, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they taste.

 

 

We've got lots of bell peppers coming on!  BTW, the two liter bottle in the ground is for deep watering.  Perforate a plastic bottle, bury it in the ground, and you can put water to the roots instead of just soaking the top of the garden.

 

 

The squash plants are doing great!  I've never been lucky with them in the garden, but this year they're prolific.

 

 

These are the first two we've taken out.

 

 

They, and the first bell pepper, made a terrific stir-fry.  There's nothing like homegrown vegetables!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Gate

 

In the very back, you can see the old wire mesh gate we had that led into the back yard.  It was falling apart and I wanted something to go with the new garden bed I put in.

 

So I came up with this from a DIY link.

 

 

The whole thing is made from 5/4 decking and each piece was cut.  The pales (the "pickets") also had to be ripped by circular saw, so I ended up learning some stuff.  Pretty much everything had to be painted before it was put together, so I spent time waiting on stuff to dry.

 

It didn't turn out as easy as I thought.  The first mistake I made was in making the fence the exact size to fit between the gate posts.  I had to go back and rip a half-inch off each side, which was nerve-wracking.  Otherwise I would have had to take it completely apart because of the way it's made.

 

Finally put the final coat of paint on it today.  The DIY site said it was a "weekend" project.  Took me six days and fifty percent more budget.

 

But I LOVE the new gate!!

 

 

 

Recommended

 

I've enjoyed this series so far, but I'm a few books behind, and this new released today makes me one more behind.  *sigh*  Never enough time for everything.

THE FLASH -- coming this fall!

 

Watch the trailer.  Looks like they're gonna do this one right!

 

 

Caught My Eye

 

Love the cover design and the plot premise sounds promising.

 

 

In 1981, three fourteen-year-old boys witness a horrific murder in the Oregon woods near their homes. Sucked into becoming accomplices to the subsequent cover-up, they swear never to talk about what happened.

 Thirty years later, Tommy Devereaux has become a bestselling author, using writing as his therapy. Finally, he is ready to tell the world what happened, even if he disguises the killing as fiction. But his life is set to unravel when he is approached by a woman who asks for his autograph, leaving behind a note which reads: 'You didn't even change my name.' Tommy's worst nightmare has come true. A figure from his past has returned, threatening to divulge his darkest secret unless he agrees to do everything she asks of him. Thus begins a deadly cat-and-mouse game that can only end with one or both of their destructions.

C. Dean Andersson's Bloodsong Trilogy!

 

For the first time, C. Dean Andersson’s three epic fantasy Bloodsong novels are gathered together in a digital omnibus!

BLOODSONG! — HEL X 3 (Omnibus Edition)
Warrior Witch of Hel
Death Riders of Hel
Werebeasts of Hel


RIDE INTO ADVENTURE!

Join in the Bloodsong saga, a grand tale set faithfully in the mystical world of Scandinavian mythology—a world of gods light and dark, of monsters and heroes, of flashing blades and a mortal warrior’s desperate determination set against the uncanny forces wielded by her immortal enemies.

Bloodsong and Freedom!

"Bow not your head!" Odin ordered.
Bloodsong quickly raised her head.
His expression softened. "You are free, Bloodsong, you and all your people, free by your own deeds. I have heard the war cry they scream in their thoughts. ‘Bloodsong and freedom,’ is it not? And so it should be, for if not for your leadership and your rebellion, you would this day still be Hel’s slaves, fighting against me and my allies instead of by my side to break Hel’s power and banish Her beneath the Earth.
"The Orlog of your bloodline will be a hard one, Bloodsong, and often your warrior descendants shall curse my name for the pain and suffering I shall set in their paths. But without battles and challenges, warriors grow soft and weak, and those who follow me must ever be strong, and free, as are you and your people."
Odin raised his spear toward Bloodsong and her assembled army of Corpse Beasts. "Bloodsong and freedom!" Odin shouted in his thoughts.
Bloodsong raised her chin high and held Odin’s gaze. "Odin and Asgard!" she shouted back with her thoughts.
"Odin and Asgard!" thought first one Corpse Beast, and then another, following Bloodsong’s lead, until soon her people were all repeating the battle cry over and over again.
“Freya and Folkvang!” screamed the Valkyries as Freya raised Her spear. Other battle cries arose from within the ranks of Odin’s forces, cries to Thor and Sif, to Frey, to Skadi, to Heimdall, to Frigga, on and on, while from behind Hel’s lines came only the silence of the grave.
And then the battle began.

Caught My Eye

 

In prohibition-era Southern California, real life detectives Charles D. Siringo and Dashiell Hammett must solve a mystery involving a ruthless politician—Joseph P. Kennedy. With sharp dialogue and rich historical background, Ragtime Cowboys is an exciting, suspenseful tale in which the Old West and Hollywood collide.

 

Los Angeles, 1921: Ex-Pinkerton Charlie Siringo is living in quiet retirement when Wyatt Earp knocks on his door and asks him to track down his missing horse. What begins as horse thievery turns into a deeper mystery as Siringo and another ex-Pinkerton, the young Dashiell Hammett, follow clues that take them from the streets of Los Angeles to Jack London's farm, until they discover a conspiracy masterminded by the notorious and powerful Joseph P. Kennedy.

From the first page to the closing chapter, these ragtime cowboys chase the truth in Loren D. Estleman's compelling tale of the Old West and early Hollywood.

The Amazing Wind-Rifle

 

I just finished reading THE ROAD TO RECKONING by Robert Lautner, a Western/historical (I don't know what else to call it because it takes place east of the Mississippi but in frontier areas).  The book was great, chockfull of historical details and a coming-of-age story to boot.

 

One of the characters in the book carries a Girandoni "Wind" rifle, a weapon I'd never heard of, and after I dug into the history of the rifle, I'm surprised I hadn't.  One of them made the trip across the Louisiana Purchase with Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery, and was very probably what saved their lives.

 

 

 

The rifle shot a huge .46 caliber ball that was accurate up to 150 yards away, and it could be fired several times on one tank of air.  Refilling the rifle's air tank (in the weapon's butt) took 1500 strokes of what was essentially a bicycle pump to build to 800 psi, so it took about an hour to reload.  The weapon could be fired up to 70 times, but only the first forty or fifty rounds were lethal.  The rate of fire was around 30 rounds a minute.

 

 

 

Originally built back in 1779 by Italian inventor Bartholomaus Girandoni, the weapon was used by the Austrian army and spread to several different countries, including the United States.  Napoleon was said to have made owning one of the rifles a crime punishable by death.

 

There is no powder residue on these weapons, nothing a man needed to carry with him other than shot, and care was simple.  It was also relatively silent, came with an accurate, rifled barrel, and didn't give away a shooter's position with expelled gunsmoke.  The drawback were that the weapon was fragile and the compressed air tanks exploded like bombs when damaged.

 

Replicas are evidently made today, and refilling the air reservoir is simple with pumps.  I'm extremely curious about these weapons and would love to see one in action.

 

Here's a video for those of you who would like to know a little more.

 

My, How My Garden Grows!

 

With all the trees in my back yard, it's been years since I've been able to grow a garden.  In fact, the last really good garden I had was in 1997, the year Chandler was born.

 

I'd tried a few times over the years since, but between heat, work, and all the tree shade in my back yard, they just didn't produce.

 

Two years ago, the power line people cut all the trees in the back yard along the fence, so last year I put in one 4x4 raised bed to see what would happen.  That was in May, the same month both tornadoes hit Moore.  Needless to say, not much gardening got done with all the repairs that were necessary to the house and yard.

 

The new fence at the side of the house is one of those additions.

 

But that little 4x4 raised bed produced a lot of tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.  I overloaded it and it still put out a crop of veggies.

 

So this year, I put in another five raised beds and they're all doing well.  The grass, however, leaves much to be desired, but since it was all torn up last year to put in the new gas line, I'm not surprised.

 

 

 

Sherry also wanted a grape arbor put in.  Our gate is wider than anything I could find a kit for, so I had to design one for us.  I looked at a lot of them, showed them to Sherry, and figured out what we liked best (it had to have places to hang lanterns for me!).  Then I put my ninth grade drafting skills to work and laid out a blueprint, figured out the necessary board feet, and we went to Lowe's.

 

While Sherry cut the boards (I don't necessarily cut the same length twice, but she does), I dug in the garden and put in the trellises above.  They're anchored with six inches of concrete with six inches of soil on top of that so plants can grow more easily and the trellises won't just blow over -- or away.

 

We put the arbor together and Sherry painted it (another skillset she has that is much better than mine), and I found lanterns I liked.  I think the end result turned out pretty spectacular.

 

 

 

Since we've added the arbor, I now see I've gotta replace that back yard fence.  I've got plans and I hope to get it done this summer.  It'll be a white picket fence that should look pretty nifty.

 

The arbor is buried a foot deep and also has six inches of concrete to anchor it.  The lanterns look great at night, but I haven't gotten any good pictures of them yet.

 

Those pictures were taken in April and it's now the end of May.  Here are some more current pictures of the plants so you can see how much they've grown.

 

 

These are cucumbers that I'll train to climb the trellis for easy harvesting.  I'm also growing three varieties of grape tomatoes and cantaloupes on the other trellises.  The cantaloupes are trickier because you have to train them AND make hammocks or use mesh bags for the fruit when growing them vertically.

 

 

Ah, gardening AND engineering!  I love a challenge.  And I've done this before with some success.

 

The peppers are already putting on as well, and I know I should probably pinch them off to let the plant grow bigger, but I'm hopeful.

 

 

The grape tomatoes are producing as well.

 

 

And the other tomatoes (a half-dozen kinds because that's the way I roll) are growing a lot too.

 

 

Usually Sherry ends up having to take care of everything after I finish digging in the dirt, but I find that going to the back yard and watering the plants, then doing some weeding (got the weed-eater out last night and straightened the lines around the raised beds) actually relaxes me.

 

I used to go to the used book shop to poke around to relax during the day, then come back to the writing.  These days I just hate the traffic everywhere, so I make the most out of the back yard.  As you can see, a bench was also put in the back yard.

 

Now if the summer heat doesn't kill everything, I'll be happy!