Susan Helene Gottfried’s third novel, KING TREVOR, released TODAY! Catch Susan talking about her Rockin’ Heroes on Monday, April 16th. In the mean time, pick up your copy of KING TREVOR!!
SOVRAN’S PAWN ~ Chapter One
Now posted, get your first look at the April 20 release, SOVRAN’S PAWN. The entire first chapter is live on my blog.
https://jccassels.wordpress.com/the-black-wing-chronicles/sovrans-pawn/
#SFFSat – Arcana Double Cross 4/7/2012
It’s Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday time again!
To keep with the theme I’m following on my blog, “Celebrating Big Damn Heroes,” this week’s snippet is another departure from the upcoming release, SOVRAN’S PAWN (April 20). This week’s snippet comes to you from one of the lost novels of THE MERCENARY ADVENTURES OF BLADE DEVON. Set approximately five years after SOVRAN’S PAWN, this snippet from ARCANA DOUBLE CROSS (Fall 2012), Blade’s contract negotiations with a new client were interrupted by a group of heavily armed men opening fire on them. While his associates cover their escape, Blade and the girl slip out the back.
***
They came out in the dim glow of the street lamp. Something scratched against the pavement to his left. Blade turned, shoving the girl behind him. His every sense screamed, warning him of danger, without conscious thought, he raised his weapon and fired. A humanoid form melted out of the inky shadows and collapsed in the orange pool of light. Beside him, landed his sidearm, still unfired. Blade stared at the apparition for only a second or two, then he turned and pulled Caitlin with him along the alley. Reaching the street, he slowed and pressed deeper into the shadows. His sharp gaze flicked up and down the street, peering into shadows.
While marching into a club in force and opening fire on the mark was typical of syndicate tactics, it also flushed the quarry out of a more defensible position into the open where they would be more exposed and vulnerable. Rather than racing out into the open street, Blade patiently held position in the shadows at the mouth of the alley scanning the buildings and surrounding rooftops for any signs of a sniper waiting to pick them off.
***
Well, that’s the Saturday Snippet for this week! Please don’t forget to comment by clicking on either the blog title or the little quotation balloon in the upper right hand corner. Tell your friends. Stop back here next week for another!
If you want a little more of SOVRAN’S PAWN, BARRON’S LAST STAND, or to learn more about THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES, just click on the links.
Sovran’s Pawn Blog Tour Dates Announced
SOVRAN’S PAWN, Book One of The Black Wing Chronicles…
…is on schedule to be released on April 20 in e-book format. Look for it on Amazon and Smashwords.
JC Cassels – Big Damn Hero Blog Tour Dates
Apr 16 TK Toppin pt 1
http://www.tktoppin.blogspot.com/
Apr 18 Pauline Baird
http://www.paulinebjones.com/
Apr 20 Publication and launch with SFFSat (with a snippet from SOVRAN’S PAWN)
https://jccassels.wordpress.com/
http://misa-buckley.blogspot.co.uk
Apr 23 TK Toppin pt 2
http://www.tktoppin.blogspot.com/
Apr 24 Space Freighters Lounge
http://spacefreighters.blogspot.com/
Apr 25 Pippa Jay
http://www.pippajay.blogspot.com/
May 2 Imogene Nix
http://www.imogenenix.blogspot.com/
Dates TBA:
http://westofmars.com/blog/
HEIDI’S PICK SIX:
http://heidirubymiller.blogspot.com/
Participants who comment will be chosen at random for a FREE e-copy of SOVRAN’S PAWN.
Check back here for more information as it develops.
#SFFSat 3/31/2012 – Arcana Double Cross
It’s Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday time again!
To keep with the theme I’m following on my blog, “Celebrating Big Damn Heroes,” this week’s snippet is a departure from the upcoming release, SOVRAN’S PAWN (April 20). This week’s snippet comes to you from one of the lost novels of THE MERCENARY ADVENTURES OF BLADE DEVON. Set approximately five years after SOVRAN’S PAWN, this snippet from ARCANA DOUBLE CROSS (Fall 2012), finds Blade and his band of merry mercenaries in a firefight in a multilevel promenade filled with restaurants and upscale shops.
***
Blade looked desperately around for the fastest way to the lower level where Nina and Adin were pinned down. He studied the banners with a speculative eye. With a mad flash of inspiration, he raced for the balcony railing, shouldering the rifle as he ran.
“Phinny! Cover me!”
With Phinny laying down a spray of covering fire, Blade slipped the knife from its sheath and swung his legs over the rail. Giving a mighty effort, he leaped for the nearest banner. Catching a handful of it, he slashed the ties with one quick swipe of the knife. As gravity took over, rending the banner free of its mooring, he slid the knife blade between his teeth and swung the rifle around.
Blade’s stomach lurched as the floor raced towards him.
***
Well, that’s the Saturday Snippet for this week! Please don’t forget to comment by clicking on either the blog title or the little quotation balloon in the upper right hand corner. Tell your friends. Stop back here next week for another!
If you want a little more of SOVRAN’S PAWN, BARRON’S LAST STAND, or to learn more about THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES, just click on the links.
In case you missed them, here are links to an interview with Blade Devon and the blog post kicking off the Celebration of Big Damn Heroes, complete with a heroes gallery slideshow. Can you spot the inspiration for Blade Devon in the gallery?
#SFFSat – 3/24/2012 – Sovran’s Pawn
It’s Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday time again! As you may recall, SFFS is a ring of authors who share some of their work each Saturday. Anyone is welcome. The idea is to feature a snippet of your work for others to enjoy.
This week, Bo has met up with her uncle and gone into the VIP lounge to find and contact Tennova.
***
“I haven’t seen the man I’m supposed to meet with, yet,” he said quietly, sliding his data reader across the table.
Glancing down, Bo studied the angular face of the man they were looking for. She quickly hid her relief – not her dark-haired champion.
“He’s young,” she commented.
“Yeah, he’s about your age, but don’t let that fool you. He’s some kind of boy genius. He’s got schematics for a phase weapon that he says can rip a hole in space.”
It took all of Bo’s self-control not to react to that information. Instead, she forced a smile and switched off the data reader.
“Tell me about him.”
***
Well, that’s the Saturday Snippet for this week! Please don’t forget to comment by clicking on either the blog title or the little quotation balloon in the upper right hand corner. Tell your friends. Stop back here next week for another!
If you want a little more of SOVRAN’S PAWN, BARRON’S LAST STAND, or to learn more about THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES, just click on the links.
Book Review – Cairo Nights by Sandra Sookoo
With a list of books to read as long as my arm, and an editor squawking for me to write, the last thing I needed to do was start reading a new release. Naturally, that’s exactly what I did when I needed a quiet distraction from a weekend fraught with illness and high emotion. Fortunately for me, Sandra Sookoo just released an Historical Erotic Romance titled Cairo Nights. (By just, I mean it released TODAY!!)
I enjoyed striding through the gritty, dusty back alleys of nineteenth century Cairo with Joy Debinham, a headstrong, completely unconventional heroine with attitudes firmly rooted in the twenty-first century. I bought into Joy’s mission to save the children of Cairo from disease, especially once I learned what motivated her to do so. She is a driven, determined heroine to whom men are an afterthought – until she meets brash American, Quinn Handry.
Quinn is an opportunist looking for an opportunity to exploit, but he hasn’t been having much luck at it. I liked that Quinn is an imperfect hero, complete with spectacles and broken nose. He came to Cairo looking for antiquities to broker, which automatically sets him at odds with Joy who believes that Egypt’s treasures belong in Egypt. The two quickly succumb to their mutual attraction and are willing to flout convention to be together.
This book made for a quick read and a fun escape to the sultry heat of nineteenth century Egypt, complete with some pretty sizzling scenes during those Cairo Nights. Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down.
For more information on Sandra Sookoo or Cairo Nights, check out these links:
Cairo Nights
http://www.sandrasookoo.com/
http://sandrasookoo.wordpress.com
#SFFSat – 3/17/2012 – Sovran’s Pawn
Drumroll please… I present for your consideration, the final (really and truly) cover art for SOVRAN’S PAWN. Ta-DAAAAA!!!
It’s Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday time again! As you may recall, SFFS is a ring of authors who share some of their work each Saturday. Anyone is welcome. The idea is to feature a snippet of your work for others to enjoy.
As you may recall, Bo is onboard a luxury star liner at a Five-Point tournament, charged with obtaining schematics for an experimental phase weapon from Tennova, the young genius who claims to have invented the weapon. Her father has been kidnapped and the ransom demand is for the schematics for this weapon. Still adjusting to her new life as an outlaw, and distracted by her attraction to the charming rascal from the embarkation lounge, her goal of getting close to Tennova isn’t as easily attained as she’d hoped.
***
Pounding bass notes, like thunderous artillery, from the nearby dance club thumped against her chest in time with her heart, calling her away from the revelers in the lounge. Bo squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. Sentiment was a luxury she could ill afford. If she wanted her father back, she would do well to keep her head in the game. Unconsciously, she fell into step in time with the beat of the music.
Explosions of light flashed over the crowded dance floor, illuminating the writhing knot of life forms undulating in whatever passed for dancing in their culture. The deeper shadows of the club suited her mood. As the searchlights swung around, playing across the other side of the club, she spotted Tennova, leaning on a high table, drink in hand, charming a small group of passengers.
Her mind cleared as the last of her personal feelings ebbed away. She had a job to do.
***
Well, that’s the Saturday Snippet for this week! Please don’t forget to comment by clicking on either the blog title or the little quotation balloon in the upper right hand corner. Tell your friends. Stop back here next week for another!
If you want a little more of SOVRAN’S PAWN, BARRON’S LAST STAND, or to learn more about THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES, just click on the links.
For past snippets click here:
#SFFSat 2012/03/10 SOVRAN’S PAWN
#SFFSat 2012/03/03 SOVRAN’S PAWN
#SFFSat 2012/02/25 THE TENNOVA JOB
#SFFSat 2012/02/18 THE TENNOVA JOB
#SFFSat 2012/02/11 THE TENNOVA JOB
#SFFSat 2012/02/04 THE TENNOVA JOB
#SFFSat 2012/01/28 THE TENNOVA JOB
#SFFSat 2012/01/21 THE TENNOVA JOB
#SFFSat 2012/01/14 BARRON’S LAST STAND
#SFFSat 2012/01/07 BARRON’S LAST STAND
#SFFSat 2011/12/17 BARRON’S LAST STAND
Meme: The Lucky 7 Meme for Writers
I just got tagged in The Lucky7 Meme by Heidi Ruby Miller
. Perfect, since it’s about writing, and St. Paddy’s Day is coming up!
THE RULES:
1. Go to page 77 of your current ms.
2. Go to sentence 7.
3. Copy and post the next 7 sentences as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other victims, er, authors.
Here is an excerpt from SOVRAN’S PAWN… No escaping it!
She loved space travel. She was born and bred for it. Altair made an adequate base of operations, but she hated being groundside. By the time this job was over, the ship Edge had promised her should be ready.
Her own ship.
Freedom.
Perhaps then she could start making progress on her quest to clear her name.
***
Gotta Name My Blog 