Thursday, January 31, 2013

Destination Earth Is Available!






I happy to announce that Destination Earth is now available at Amazon and Smashwords. To get your copy at Amazon, click HERE. If you prefer Smashwords, click HERE. Enjoy your reading experience!




Destination Earth
Civil war, intrigue and murder are all part of the Raider-113 space shuttle’s destiny, when its crew and passengers are accidentally transported far into the future.
Sharon Daly found crew-member Amelia Lockhart murdered, with very little clues to point to her assailant. While Captain McKittrick is off trying to settle a dispute between Paladrome’s governing body and its citizens, Sharon must solve this murder before more people are caught in a web of mutiny and unrest. If the captain doesn’t get back in time, his ship will be lost to the one man who caused it all and would see the captain and crew left stranded on this bizarre planet.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Announcing A New Title!




 I am pleased to announce the upcoming release of my new book Destination Earth. It will be available on Smashwords and Amazon soon. I will be giving more information in February. Make sure you check back for your copy of this title.

Destination Earth


Civil war, intrigue and murder are all part of the Raider-113 space shuttle’s destiny, when its crew and passengers are accidentally transported far into the future.
Sharon Daly found crew-member Amelia Lockhart murdered, with very little clues to point to her assailant. While Captain McKittrick is off trying to settle a dispute between Paladrome’s governing body and its citizens, Sharon must solve this murder before more people are caught in a web of mutiny and unrest. If the captain doesn’t get back in time, his ship will be lost to the one man who possibly caused it all and would see the captain and crew left stranded on this bizarre planet.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Doodling Around...

I recently visited Loretta Stephenson's blog Art By Retta, and she inspired me with her Doodles. What was so refreshing was she did her right on her wall! The picture started on one bathroom wall and wrapped around to the other side of the room. You can see the doodles by going to her blog.

Why am I raving on about doodles and what has it got to do with writing? It's the imagination at work in a free flow thinking process. I tried doodling with my writing by letting a story be what it wanted to be as I wrote. I found it went in a direction I never expected and a whole new portion of the story erupted before me. Now I can add this section to my already existing story and continue from there.

Does doodle writing work for everything? I doubt it. I think it's a way to loosen the cobwebs and start the engines when you need refreshing. It helped me focus on a problem I was having with my story and separate it out from the rest. When I worked specifically on that portion, it became clear and easy to define.

Try doodling as a source of relaxation for your writing. It goes as deep as your imagination will let you. Plus, it will give you a new perspective of your current work in progress. Is it a waste of time? Any time you are working on your creative process you are strengthening your writing abilities. Give it a try... or have you already?


Friday, January 11, 2013

January's Tidings

January is birthday month for my family, so I'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to my brother Les and my sister Loretta Stephenson (Art By Retta). Also, I'm the straggler in the bunch with a birthday on the 23rd. So, I'll raise a toast for all of us and any others that may have a January birthday.



This has been a busy month for me. I'm working hard like most of you, editing a new story and in the middle of starting one in a new genre. I decided to write a murder mystery that's filled with twists and turns, that contains a surprise ending. I had to outline the whole story, chapter by chapter, so I could get in all the goodies that make for a sensational read. I don't have a title yet, but that will come as the story develops. I'll keep you posted.


Going back to the story being edited, Destination Earth, I'm excited to announce that it will soon be ready for release as an e-book. This is a sci-fi story of a young woman who must save Earth of the future. She is forced to conquer her own fears while she stops the war between man and machine. As soon as I have a release date I'll be posting about it again.


Five questions for today:

1. Plain or peanut?

2. Coffee or tea?

3. Barefoot or shoes?

4. Tattoo or not?

5. Black & White or color?

My answers: peanut, coffee, barefoot, tattoo, both.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Excerpt: The Chameleon Effect #14

Chavez works for The Agency and has been assigned to rescue Kira Rostropovich and return her to Vega Minor, where she resides with her parents. After being in prison and being 'bought' by Chavez in an auction, Kira is not happy about being searched by Chavez. But he finds a tracking device on her right before a mercenary, Captain Maddeson, finds them and demands that Kira be turned over to him. Chavez immediately makes a sudden jump across the galaxy, much to Kira's surprise! Kira continues to have nightmares and is haunted by the fact that her life is in danger. She demands to go back to Prison Planet 452, but Chavez has someone to add to his crew complement first.
Kira's dream keeps coming back. Is it a warning? All she knows is that her destiny lies intertwined with the prison planet. Will Chavez understand? It is six hours away from rendezvousing with Dr. Winters, who will attempt to help Kira with her problems. But Captain Maddeson is on an intercept course to capture them and return them to the warden. Will they escape? Dr. Winters has diagnosed Kira with the Chameleon Effect and in an attempt to halt its progress, he will use Chavez's DNA. But Kira has other plans and escapes off Chavez's ship, without a word to anyone. Chavez decides to go after her. Kira remembers that her sister is being held hostage and she must return to the prison planet in order to barter for her freedom.




The warden sat behind his mahogany desk and wiped his forehead with his silk handkerchief. He had to get Kira back and he grumbled again at the idiocy of the scientists who had let her be put in the line for the auctions. He wanted to punish them heavily, but he needed them to finish what they had started with Kira. If she survived being out in space with his nemesis, Chavez, then she would eventually have her memory returning to her. But he shuddered at the thought of having to go up against Chavez again. He was an angry rival who would stop at nothing for revenge. As he sat musing, his door rang and a familiar voice interrupted him.

“Sir, you called for me?” It was Dr. Henri, the head of the team assigned to treating Kira.

“Yes, come in!” The warden pressed a secret button that allowed the doors to release and automatically slide open.

Dr. Henri limped in, a result of having one artificial leg. It had a positronic system that allowed it to work in conjunction with his real leg, but was slightly heavier and caused a swaying when he walked, thus his limp developed.

“How can I help you, warden?”

“I happen to be in contact with a mercenary who is bringing Kira in. I want you to download all the information she has gathered while she was out.”

“Sir, she’s not a computer. It doesn’t work the same way.”

“What are you talking about? You told me that subjects in this experiment were able to download their information with the use of the brain stimulation cap. You told me you just put it on them and import their images.”

“Those subjects have died, warden. It isn’t a safe and efficient way to continue utilizing the subjects.”

“We need the information inside her head. Get it anyway you have to. And do it as soon as she is here.”

“What about her sister? Are we going to release her? You did make a promise to Kira.”

“I don’t care. She’s of no use to me. Use her to get what you can from Kira. And don’t tell Kira what she’s been carrying around inside her head. I need her in one piece so she will be useful to me again.”

Dr. Henri gritted his teeth and nodded his head. “If that’s what you wish. I also wanted to talk to you about my own stay here. You said that after Kira was downloaded, my family would be released and I could re-locate wherever I chose.”

The warden steepled his fingers together and blew his fetid breath across them. “Unfortunately, Dr. Henri, your work with me is unfinished. Kira may be downloaded, but she is just now changing into a valuable commodity. If she works out, I’ll want you to begin putting the download of this Chameleon thing into the men we have chosen for my next mission.”

Dr. Henri’s hands became fists, but he quietly turned and left the warden’s office. The warden grimaced. Imagine him thinking I would let him go now! Just as things are starting to pay off.

The warden’s computer alerted him of a call from Captain Luthius Maddeson. He punched the receive button and leaned back in his chair.

“Yes, Captain, what is it now?”

“It’s about credits, warden, and how many I’ll be receiving for returning the female, Kira to you.”

The warden sighed. All these mercenaries think about is money!
 
 
To be continued...


Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!


The Insecure Writer's Support Group is hosted by Alex J Cavanaugh and you can find the sign up list HERE. His co-hosts for January are Tyrean Martison and Jamie Gibbs (click on their names to get to their blogs).

So. It's a new year and we are all starting with high hopes and refreshed ideas. Right? Well, for some that may be true, but for others, they might be struggling with old passions that weren't realized in the past year. Know what I'm talking about? If you do, then I have a short story for you.

There once was a girl named Fanny, who started writing much too many stories all at once. They all seemed like good ideas, but she could never get past the first hurdle. Where could she make them go? Finally, she took all the stories and put them together into one big jumble and sent them off to the publisher. The publisher sent it back with more than just a form letter. He wrote her a note that went something like this:

Dear Fanny:
These characters are all interesting, but don't make any sense together. Divide them up and find their own stories.

Fanny was distraught. She couldn't think of what to do, so she took the main character from her story and began to write, again. This time, when she got to the inevitable first hurdle, she didn't stop and start a new character, but forced herself to write on. The story wasn't fantastic, but it was finished. So, she began again with the next character and wrote an entire story. This one was even better.

She began to see that with experience, her stories improved and would someday be ready to send back to the publisher. All she needed to do was keep writing! So she did. And someday, she'll have an exciting novel to share with the reading community.

Whatever you do... don't stop writing. The miles of experience you get will hone the axe and sharpen the blade. Happy New Year!