The Last Goodbye ~
Thank you for joining us today for the final installment of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. More than a web ring of tasty snippets of the latest work of indie SF/Fantasy authors, Sci-fi Fan Sat has been a home for me, a sounding board, and the place where I met colleagues who became my best friends. Without the authors and writers featured here over the years, THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES wouldn’t be the same and might never have seen the light of day. A heartfelt thanks to Laurel Kriegler, our illustrious leader and editor extraordinaire for bringing us together in a positive, supportive environment. This Saturday tradition has been the launch pad for my books, and the books of many gifted and talented authors like Cary Caffrey, TK Toppin, Pippa Jay, Patrick Stutzman, Heidi Ruby Miller, TM Hunter, Peter Vialls, SA Check, Gayle Ramage, Misa Buckley, Aurora Springer, and so many more.
It seems only fitting to leave you with a snippet from the same scene, from the same book that brought me to SFFSat to begin with five years ago. BARRON’S LAST STAND was always THE book I was writing. SOVRAN’S PAWN and HERO’S END just happened to be the backstory. Thanks to Laurel’s encouragement and that of the SFFSat crew, I wrote those first and am just now getting back to the book that started it all. So for my last trick, here is a snippet from BARRON’S LAST STAND in which Bo Barron finds that her estranged husband, Blade Devon has stowed away aboard her ship. In five years, the scene has undergone some revisions from it’s first appearance, but here it is as it will appear in the upcoming release.
“Hello, my love.”
The smooth, familiar, baritone voice hit her like a plasma storm, taking all her defensive systems offline. Her lungs felt as if the hull had been breached and all the atmo had blasted out into the vacuum of space, leaving her helpless to do more than stare into eyes the same shade as the bluestone of the Gallis Highlands where she’d grown up.
A slow, rakish smile softened his stern features.
Hell no!
Her heart pounded in time with the cycling engines. She wasn’t some twitter-pated fangirl who would melt under his megawatt, crooked little, bad-boy smile. That ship broke grav five years ago. He did not get to swagger back into her life as if nothing had happened.
She squeezed the trigger.
Blue energy flashed from the muzzle and struck him in the thigh.
He grunted in pain and reached for his wound.
Bo tightened her grip on her blaster and set her jaw. “Keep your hands where I can see them!”
Gotta Name My Blog 
Hi JC! A very good snippet – I love the description of Bo’s reaction to hearing Blade’s voice. Very effective. SFFS may be ending, but Bo and Blade will go on – assuming Bo doesn’t shoot Blade more lethally, that is… 😉
Love the snippet…sad that SFFS is ending, but as you mentioned, we’ve made friendships that will last a long time. 🙂
Gosh, I remember this snippet! It’s been one heck of a ride, hasn’t it? All the best.
I’ve always loved your work, and this snippet is certainly no exception. I am definitely looking forward to Last Stand’s release.
I have enjoyed participating in SFFS with you over the years, and hope we can do it again sometime. Thanks for everything.
The smooth, familiar, baritone voice hit her like a plasma storm….- that’s SFFSat right there! Great snippet, as always. Thanks for sharing your work all these years, and hoping to see much more. Take Care! See you at the reunion!
Rather a drastic response to her husband! Fun!
Love this. Looking forward to seeing it right in it’s complete setting 🙂
It’s been a special ride.