Saturday Snippet: I’m Blade Devon

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, SFFS28 Comments

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ HERO’S END.

This is a difficult scene to take out of context. By this point, in the book, Blade’s back is against the wall. There have been several attempts on his life, one nearly successful, and he’s been ordered to give up his holofeature career and the woman he loves to take a safe desk job, complete with high security and body guards to protect him ~ a situation akin to life in prison with no chance of parole. He’s only just barely shaken the men assigned to protect him. His window for disappearing is rapidly dwindling. This scene is one last big gamble where he’s throwing all his chips into the pot and hoping he can pull out a winning hand.

***

Blade studied the ongoing firefight, moving steadily towards a better vantage point. As near as he could tell, three gunmen faced at least eight with a half-dozen innocent bystanders trapped in the crossfire. The civilians were his first priority. He moved towards the nearest of the gunmen.

Surprisingly young, he crouched down behind a partition and fired over the civilians’ heads at the eight men who had taken positions along the stage and wings. He didn’t sense Blade’s approach until Blade was nearly on top of him. He turned quickly and leveled his blaster at him. Blade stopped and held out his hands to his sides.

“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to startle you… I’m Blade Devon.”

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Book Review: To Catch A Marlin

On By jccasselsIn Book Review11 Comments

What a fun ride!

From the start, the cat-and-mouse game between copper Pedroni and vigilante Jax had me hooked! I was in the boat from the get-go!

Pedroni is a burned-out police detective who would rather keep his feet on good old terra firma than go chasing a slippery vigilante to a space-based wonderland of debauchery. But because it’s Jacinda Fish, a.k.a Jax Marlin, he goes.

In the tradition of Leslie Charteris classic series “The Saint,” Jax is a cross of Catwoman, Xena, and Simon Templar, with ninja skills and catlike reflexes. Pedroni reminds me of both Columbo, with his sometimes deceptive and intentional bumbling, and Nick Charles with his delightful biting wit and self-effacing view of the world. In TK Toppin’s deft hands, the mix is pure GOLD!!

As the story progresses we get a sense of both characters’ internal conflict as they fight their attraction to each other. Pedroni, jaded enough to wonder if Jax way isn’t better, and Jax idealistic enough to want to do the right thing, come together in a perfect blend of moral ambiguity that leaves the reader questioning where the line should be drawn.

I laughed out loud at some scenes and held my breath in heart-pounding excitement at others. Toppin creates a full and rich world with amazing wonders and believable details and paints a brilliant picture of them in crystal clear detail. She does it with a light hand and a master’s touch. Her action scenes only lack the heart-thumping bass rhythms of a musical score.

Just when you think the story couldn’t get any better, there are space pirates! Not just any space pirates, either. Captain Taris is a memorable rapscallion who deserves a book or two of his own!

I didn’t want this book to end. My one consolation is that this is one of many stories starring Jax and Pedroni.

Please Ms. Toppin… keep them coming!

Saturday Snippet: Shrinking Starlets

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, SFFS29 Comments

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ HERO’S END.

***

He sidled up to the doorframe and peered inside.

Two young humanoid females huddled behind a row of dank and musty seats, sobbing in terror. They reeked of that strange combination of sweet fragility and blind ambition that marked aspiring starlets. Ordinarily he didn’t see their type this frightened outside of fending off lecherous producers.

Energy blasts split the air around them.

Poor kids.

Fear paralyzed them making them stay put when good sense should be pushing them out the door to safety. They weren’t really in the line of fire, but they way they huddled there, one would think they were pinned down.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Coming Soon~ Hero’s End, The Cover

On By jccasselsIn Update2 Comments

When things start coming together, they really start coming together! Hot on the heels of a final title, the cover ideas started flooding in. Within a day or two, we had the cover art finalized.

Sometime within the next couple of weeks, I’ll unveil the cover for HERO’S END, Book Two of  THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES.

All I can say is WOW! Early comments have called it: striking, angry, desolate, energetic, gorgeous! It’s another Tomomi Ink masterpiece. I can’t wait to show it to you!

May The Mouse Be With You

On By jccasselsIn Uncategorized2 Comments

I’ve never made any secret of the fact that I was heavily influenced by Star Wars as a child. What geek wasn’t? I also can’t say I was surprised by George Lucas’ move last week to sell his film empire to Disney for a whopping $4.05 Billion. Anyone who watched Star Tours and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular go in at Disney MGM Studios back in the 1990’s could see the writing on the wall even then.

I was mildly surprised at Lucas’ announcement that he was donating the entire kit and kaboodle to an educational charity. Once the initial shock wore off, even that made sense. Lucas has always been a big advocate of education.

With the promise of episodes VII, VIII, and IX to come with a new release every two years until… well, even die hard fans like myself are willing to keep a wait and see attitude.

But I have to ask myself when was the last time that a Disney production captured the heart and soul of generations of rabid fans like Star Wars? Sure, we’re all fond of certain Disney memories, but as someone who remembers the days when Walt Disney’s vision still guided the company, I have to say the current incarnation is a soulless machine in comparison.

Lucas himself has been on a dark path for a long time, starting with changing the original film to have Greedo shoot first. (shudder) A part of me can’t help but feel that Lucas has taken his final steps to the dark side by making this deal with the Empire.

I’m going to have to take good care of my VHS copies of the original trilogy. Some day, they may be the only record of the films as they first were shown.

MTFBWY

***

What are your thoughts on the Disney/Lucas buyout?

Saturday Snippet: The Last Firefight?

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, SFFS18 Comments

Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday. Snippets of ten sentences or less are yours for the reading!

Today’s snippet comes from Book Two of The Black Wing Chronicles ~ HERO’S END.

Blade heads into a firefight in a theater, and his life is about to change forever.

***

He glanced at the darkness that filled the open door of the theater. Colorful flashes lit the shadows. The unmistakable whine and hiss of blaster fire punctuated the shrieks and howls of civilians unaccustomed to live fire.

Maker help him. If he didn’t find a way around Marin’s orders, this could well be his last firefight, too, and that simply wouldn’t do. They were too damn much fun.

Blade strode up the walk to the open door, unfastening his jacket as he went. If he needed the blaster nestled in the shoulder holster under his arm, he wanted to be able to reach it. If he played his role right, he wouldn’t need it. Nothing short of a squad of IC-trained Predators would provide much of a challenge.

***

That’s the snippet for the week. Thank you for stopping by. Please take the time to visit the other wonderful authors taking part in Science Fiction/Fantasy Saturday!

Halloween Wrap-Up

On By jccasselsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
My kids for Halloween. Two Clone Troopers and a Pink Power Ranger Samurai Ninja Princess.
Back away from the candy and nobody gets hurt!

You’re not going to see many pictures of my kids on this blog. But last night, they were all so absolutely perfect for Halloween, I just had to share their costumes. They seemed so apropos.

While all the little girls at my daughter’s school spilled out of their moms’ minivans wearing flouncy princess and fairy costumes, my daughter balled up her fists and struck a martial arts pose – pretty in pink, but she wasn’t going to take any guff off anyone.

My boys worked the Clone Warrior costumes. Between houses, they dove into ditches and scanned the roadway for bad guys. They advanced on houses like the Allies taking the beaches at Normandy, complete with hand signals and shouted battle commands.

In short, my kids’ costumes are exactly what I would have expected of them. They are all adventurers at heart.

Who Let The Dogs Out?

On By jccasselsIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Raw Dog Screaming Press recently introduced their new science fiction line, called Dog Star Books. This is relevant to me because friend and author extraordinaire Heidi Ruby Miller has been tapped for their managing editor. You may remember me gushing over Heidi’s brilliant AMBASADORA series of books. With Heidi at the helm, I look forward to great things from Dog Star Books, whose mission statement promises oodles of sf adventure in their catalog.

Heidi asked me to take part in unveiling the first cover from DSB’s 2013 cyberpunk release COG by K. Ceres Wright. This edgy cover is by artist Bradley Sharp. Pretty cool, huh?

In a futuristic world
where personalities can be downloaded at will,
who’s a girl to trust?

Coming Summer 2013

***

Dog Star Books – http://dogstarbooks.blogspot.com
K. Ceres Wright – http://www.kcereswright.com
Bradley Sharp – http://brade-s.deviantart.com