Once again, here’s the Marketing for Romance Writers blog hop. For  week 41, the writing prompt is:

My Blogging Inspiration

This topic leaves me scratching my head, uncertain what is meant. But hey, it’s not a school essay assignment, so I’m just going to write about any darned thing that happens to inspire me to blog. I can think of three things off the top of my head.

#1 – My books

As in, ‘wanting to sell them.’ Social media are de rigueur for writers these days, which is the only reason I started a blog. Rather to my surprise, though, I enjoy the writing and especially the people I’ve met online.

#2 – My virtual cat

One of the main reasons I enjoy blogging is that every Sunday I turn the blog over to Effing Feline. His full name is Fart-Fueled Flying Feline, and he hosts my Weekend Writing Warrior bog hop posts.

Effing is my irascible, misanthropic alter ego — and he’s more popular than I am. Does that mean I should stop trying to be a nice guy? Anyway, here’s a sample of his work.

If you want to put your name out to a different audience and get to know more writers of all genres, here’s an open invitation to join the Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop. All it takes is 8 to 10 sentences from a WIP or finished work.

#3 – My weekend

My Escapee is a finalist for the RONE contest, awarded this Saturday.

I’m currently in Burbank, California at the InD’Scribe conference for readers and writers. So far, it’s fun. There was a ‘medieval ball’ this evening, which basically meant wear any costume you like. I was disguised as an author of science fiction romance; I put a lot of thought into that costume.

This blog hop’s Alina Fields will be at the conference as well, selling books on Saturday. I’ll see if I can get a picture of the two of us together.

What about you?

What’s your inspiration for blogging? Check out the things that inspire other writers taking part in this blog hop.

Shameless self-promotion

Edward Hoornaert’s romantic space opera, Escapee, continues the saga of the Dukelsky family (begun in The Guardian Angel of Farflung Station). If you like The African Queen and the thrill of underdogs finding love while battling a hostile world, you’ll love Escapee.

• Amazon US  |  Canada  |  UK  |  Australia
• MuseItUp Publishing
• Apple iBooks
• Barnes and Noble

Catt’s meager stores of energy ran dry. She sank back into a drugged sleep and dreamed of Hank. Of Lance, dear Lance, and then Hank some more. The stupid, lovable skoot shuffled through dreams, too. But mostly she dreamed of Hank.

Feeling better after resting, she opened her eyes . . .but kept dreaming. Must be dreaming, because she heard the unmistakable click of the skoot’s nails on the floor — and it had to be her skoot, because it limped in a five-legged rhythm. Catt tried to sit up. Moved a good ten centimeters up this time. That was progress.

“Whoa, there,” a voice said, “take it easy.”

“Hank!”

Effing Feline here again, but just for a minute. Gotta go find a shoe to barf in so I can eat more food.

Be sure to visit the other Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday authors.

Edward Hoornaert’s romantic space opera, Escapee, continues the saga of the Dukelsky family (begun in The Guardian Angel of Farflung Station). If you like The African Queen and the thrill of underdogs finding love while battling a hostile world, you’ll love Escapee.

• Amazon US  |  Canada  |  UK  |  Australia
• MuseItUp Publishing
• Apple iBooks
• Barnes and Noble
• Kobo Books

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Once again, here’s the Marketing for Romance Writers blog hop. For  week 41, the writing prompt is:

My First Love

Scientists have found that some prairie voles are genetically programmed to be monogamous. They’ve even located the gene that controls this.

Lovey dovey voles

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have found that natural selection drives some male prairie voles to be fully monogamous and others to seek more partners. The surprising contrasts in the animals’ brains result from differences in their DNA.

If (and I stress the iffiness) there’s a ‘fidelity gene’ in humans, that would explain a lot, wouldn’t it? In fact, it could make a good science fiction romance.

Hmm (wheels turning).

Anyway, if there’s such a gene in human, I have it. And it seems to affect not just relations with my beloved wife, but my loyalty to other things, as well. Cases in point:

While home sick with pertussis at age 8, I watched baseball games because nothing else was on TV. I became a fan of the Chicago White Sox merely because I saw them play. Eons later, I’m still a Sox fan, even though they’re horrible.

When Vancouver, where I lived at the time, was awarded an expansion team, hockey fever struck the city. I caught the fever (not pertussis this time). Although we moved from Vancouver before the Canucks played a single game, I’m still a Vancouver Canucks fan nearly fifty years later, even though they’re horrible.

I wanted to transfer belatedly into high school band class, but the only way the conductor would let me in was if I took up the oboe. I did — and discovered I had a knack for it. I played several other instruments in school, but fifty years later, the only one I’m still playing is the oboe, even though I’m horrible.

I started dating Judi in high school and was instantly smitten. I suppose you could call it love at first sight, but to be totally honest, it felt more like lust at first sight. I married her a week after graduation and I’m still married 48 years later, even though she’s . . .

(Do you really expect me to say “horrible”?)

Wonderful.

Un-retouched photo of the author

What about you?

There are many kinds of love: books, people, food, places, etc. It’ll be interesting to see what kinds of first love other writers taking part in this blog hop chose to write about.

Shameless self-promotion

As some of you know, my science fiction romance, Escapee, was a finalist for the RONE award. At the lavish award ceremony, Escapee didn’t win — but it was the first runner up. Hey, it’s better than a kick in the rear.

I also got a picture of Mr Valentine (my marketing gimmick) with this blog hop’s very own Alina Field. She’s the one on the right.

My romantic space opera, Escapee, continues the saga of the Dukelsky family (begun in The Guardian Angel of Farflung Station). If you like The African Queen and the thrill of underdogs finding love while battling a hostile world, you’ll love Escapee.

• Amazon US  |  Canada  |  UK  |  Australia
• MuseItUp Publishing
• Apple iBooks
• Barnes and Noble

Photos of voles courtesy Science Daily.

I, Effing Feline, haven’t managed to track down any of my sisters yet (click here for the background), but I’ve discovered some cats who surely must be related to me. Today I’ll show you the first of my famous relatives.

Joan of Arcat, aka La Puss Cat d’Orléans.

Joan of Arcat is one of the most famous European cats. She’s considered a heroine of France because she led felines in a heroic defeat of English Bulldogs in the fifteen century. She’s called the Maid of Orleans, which in French is La Pucelle d’Orléans. Clearly the word ‘pucelle’ refers to a puss cat, right? And such a heroic purrsonage is  worthy only of my lineage.

And now the very last snippet from  Ed’s sci fi romance,         Escapee, featuring the most lovable of ugly pets, the skoot. Having survived the battle that liberated her moon, Catt (I still love that name) ends up on a hospital spaceship.

The skoot put its forepaws on the edge of the mattress and licked her wrist.

“We can come back in a little while, though, if you don’t feel up to visitors.” Hank’s forehead wrinkled in worry as he peered down at her.

That expression, aimed at her, brought her the rest of the way back to life, but talking was hard. “Water?”

“Here you go.” He held a cup to her lips as she sipped. “I thought I’d lost you when the tank was hit — I did lose you, actually, until the skoot led me to you, but you’re alive, alive.” He kissed her lips, a butterfly’s touch that told her better than any words she was, indeed, alive. “That’s a promise for later, okay?” he whispered.

Effing Feline here again. I mentioned last week that Ed, my pet human, was at a conference sponsored by InD’tale Magazine. This novel, Escapee, was declared the first runner-up in the science fiction CATegory.

Purrty please, join me in laughing at this picture of Ed dressed as Mr Valentine for the conference’s book signing. Look at those rubber abs (chuckle, snort).

Ridiculous, eh? Be sure to visit the other Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday authors.

Edward Hoornaert’s romantic space opera, Escapee, continues the saga of the Dukelsky family (begun in The Guardian Angel of Farflung Station). If you like The African Queen and the thrill of underdogs finding love while battling a hostile world, you’ll love Escapee.

• Amazon US  |  Canada  |  UK  |  Australia
• MuseItUp Publishing
• Apple iBooks
• Barnes and Noble
• Kobo Books

Once again, here’s the Marketing for Romance Writers yearlong blog hop. For  week 46, the writing prompt is:

Let Me Brag for a Minute

This is a dangerous topic! My ego is, shall we say, well developed, and I’m somewhat prone to tooting my own horn. Of course, that’s only natural for an oboist, right? Whose oboe am I going to toot, if not my own?

But like Miss Bates on Box Hill, who was restricted to only three silly statements, I’m restricted to only one minute.

(Incidentally, one of my sons briefly lived in Tooting. It’s a district in south London, near Wimbledon. This post has absolutely nothing to do with that.)

My unfortunately titled novel, Escapee, was the first runner up in InD’Tale Magazine’s RONE competition this year. I say ‘unfortunately titled’ because while the title fits the story, it doesn’t do anything to indicate that the book is a romance with science fiction elements. The RONE was a bigger deal than I expected, with a fancy ceremony featuring, evening dress, live music, and refreshments. The magazine’s editor TJ McKay, said they want the award to be the Academy Awards of Indie authors — and it shows.

Escapee is a retelling of the movie The African Queen, but set on an inhospitable moon that’s been invaded because of its mineral wealth. Instead of a small boat traveling down a river, the Escapee is an airship (i.e., dirigible) run by crusty Catt Sayer, who is herself an escapee from minor crimes on her home planet. She rescues uptight army captain Hector Dukelsky after the invasion, only to find that he wants her to undertake a suicidal voyage across the moon to attack the enemy’s headquarters.

I think (hope) that anyone who like The African Queen could enjoy Escapee.

By the way, I learned my lesson about a title that sells the story. Rescuing Prince Charming, available now for pre-order, has a much more romancy title, don’t you think? My wife says it’s her favorite of all my books. And that, frankly, means more to me than the RONE award.

What about you?

You have one minute to brag in a comment. Then check out the other writers taking part in this blog hop.

Effing Feline here again. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a guy in a cat costume? However, knowing that most of my readers are female, I persevered and found a man dressed as the Lion King. My apologies for the fact that he’s wearing a shirt.

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

Escapee: The African Queen in Outer Space will be available for pre-sale soon. In the meantime, did you know that the first edition of Escapee was InD’Tale magazine’s first runner up for best science fiction book of 2016?

“As soon as the Proxies have destroyed all resistance, they’ll send garrisons to secure all important outposts. Including Castle Mountain. We need to get out of here while we can, then hole up somewhere while we figure out what to do. I know a canyon that might be safe for a little while.”

Instead of answering, he continued typing.

Unable to contain her fury, Catt shot to her feet, stomped over to him and seized his shoulder to force him to face her. It was like trying to move a mountain, but he did lower his hands to his side.

“Proxies don’t take prisoners,so everybody must be dead,” she said in a voice that trembled with the effort of not clawing at his face. “Where are their bodies — or don’t you care? You just sit there all prettied up in your fanciest uniform and fill out reports.”

Effing Feline here again. Want to know what my one little word is? Then lean close to your computer. That’s right, like that. Here it is, then.

Boo!

I, Effing Feline, and Twiggles the Dog, the little devil, wish you a Happy Halloween!

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

A Disillusioned Soldier
Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon torn by volcanoes. That dream seems dead when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s on leave. He returns to smoldering rubble, with no chance to survive let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder
Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meager income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won career vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon
Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can, yet she agrees to Hector’s mad scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face 10,000 enemy warriors.

Escapee will go live November 23 — the birthday of my oldest son, to whom the book is dedicated. Until then, it’s on presale at a few outlets, with more to come.

• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

We’re switching today to the sequel to The Guardian Angel of Farflung Station. The series is called Repelling the Invasion, and it follows members of the Dukelsky family as they get caught up in an  interstellar conflict with the humans from the Proxima star system, aka Proxies. Guardian Angel saw Priam “Duke” Dukelsky find the love of his life while repelling an invasion of Farflung Space Station.

Book two, Escapee, sees Duke’s twin brother, Hector, finding the love of his life while fighting a Proxie invasion of Banff. Because of the harsh moon’s unbreathable atmosphere, it’s inhabited only by a few miners and soldiers. I like to think of Escapee as The African Queen in Outer Space, because I patterned it after the classic movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn . . . but if I didn’t tell you that, you probably wouldn’t notice. It’s very much a brand-new story.

In this snippet from chapter one. Catt Sayer talks to Lance, the android co-plot of her small supply ship, which is named Escapee. At right is a ‘travel poster’ I created for the book.

“One of these days,” she muttered, “I’ll be able to afford a human copilot who knows what I mean, not what I say.”

“One of these days? Taking into account Escapee’s age and your habit of sending half our profits to your family, such a day will occur in two-hundred-thirty-seven years, eighteen-point-four-three days.” Lance paused to emphasize a punch line; he was working on his comic timing. “In the meantime, I shall consider my job safe.”

A blip appeared on the fadar screen, and then the screen went dark. “Hold on, I saw something.”

Lance responded by holding on to the edge of the command console with both hands—another of his jokes.

With her index finger, Catt tapped the screen. Although the proximity meters worked fine, she needed the far-radar for things such as the blip—but the persnickety fadar screen was unreliable. When she tapped it again, it stayed lit.

Yes, the army’s automated shuttle had taken off from Castle Mountain. If her spies were correct—and they’d better be, or she’d get even—that shuttle would carry Captain A-Hole up to this moon’s orbiting space station and hence to the home system for a three-week leave.

“Victory.” Catt thrust her fist in the air and gave a whoop of triumph. She twirled an imaginary mustache like a villain in one of those stupid melodramas Dad used to watch. “Mitt Cabbytain A-Hole gone, de wallets of Castle Mountain lie defenseless at my feet.”

“Your feet? Neither helpless nor near your feet. Although understaffed and under-armed, Castle Mountain is quite capable of destroying something so large and fragile as a blimp.”

“Puh-lease. Advanced technology airship with buoyancy aids. Not blimp.”

Be sure to check out the hooks by other great writers in the Book Hooks blog hop.

Escapee

A Disillusioned Soldier
Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon. That dream dies when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s away, leaving him alone in smouldering rubble with no chance to survive, let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder
Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meagre income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won life vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless journey to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon
Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can … yet she agrees to Hector’s scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and slowly his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face ten thousand enemy warriors.

Escapee is a re-release of the science fiction romance that was the Rone Award’s First Runner Up as the best science fiction novel of 2016.  The second edition, with new material, iwill go live November 23 — the birthday of my oldest son, to whom the book is dedicated. Until then, it’s available for pre-sale.

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

And yet he sat there, typing a report, probably describing events in such a way as to exonerate himself.

“The Proxies landed an invasion station at Norquay, on the other side of Banff,” she said. If news of the largest assault ship in the galaxy didn’t wake him up, nothing would.

Nothing did — Dukelsky ignored her and kept typing.

“Rundle City is half-flattened,” she continued, determined to puncture his calm. “Proxies have taken over.”

“How many?”

“Survivors, you mean?” She tried to make her tone of voice proclaim he should care about his own people, though she suspected he didn’t.

“No, Proximanian soldiers,” he answered, still typing.

Effing Feline here again. I’ve noticed that Twiggles the dog is to blame for a lot of things that go wrong around here. I knock over the antique beer stein that belonged to Ed’s grandmother? Twiggles fault for moving it. My fur makes Ed sneeze? Twiggles fault for making me shed from nervousness because she lives in the same house.Those ^#@@ dogs!

Oh, I almost forgot, which would’ve been Twiggles’ fault. Ed wants me to apologize in advance in case he’s late getting around to your snippets (Twiggle’s fault!). He’s in Toronto visiting sons #2 and #3, which throws off his routine.

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

A Disillusioned Soldiers
Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon torn by volcanoes. That dream seems dead when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s on leave. He returns to smoldering rubble, with no chance to survive let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder
Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meager income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won career vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon
Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can, yet she agrees to Hector’s mad scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face 10,000 enemy warriors.

Escapee is a brand-new edition of the science fiction romance that was the Rone Award’s First Runner Up as the best science fiction novel of 2016.  The re-release, with new material throughout, will go live November 23 — the birthday of my oldest son, to whom the book is dedicated. Until then, it’s available for pre-sale. Don’y let it escape you!

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

The entire moon had fallen into enemy hands and this man wrote reports? Her opinion must’ve shown on her face, because his flinty expression slipped, revealing exhaustion, despair, and a plea for understanding.

“I know I’ll never be able to send them, but…” He ran a hand over his eyes, and the unfeeling martinet was back. “The reports are letters to my men’s families, explaining how they died at their posts, defending New Ontario’s interests.”

Catt opened her mouth; closed it; felt her face flame. Facing Dukelsky was like staring into a furnace, so she lowered her gaze and said, “I didn’t know…”

“Yet you supposed the worst of me.”

Without thinking, she had assumed the submissive, hunched posture of a peasant being scolded by a patroon, but now she straightened. Embarrassment warred with anger, yet she wouldn’t let him or any other patroon humble her, ever again.

Effing Feline here again. Thinking I was free to indulge my every whim, I leaped with grace and supurrb athleticism onto the laundry room counter and started clawing open the bag of catfood, BUT —

I forgot that Mrs V was still here. Busted, yet again!

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

A Disillusioned Soldiers
Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon torn by volcanoes. That dream seems dead when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s on leave. He returns to smoldering rubble, with no chance to survive let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder
Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meager income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won career vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon
Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can, yet she agrees to Hector’s mad scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face 10,000 enemy warriors.

Escapee is a brand-new edition of the science fiction romance that was the Rone Award’s First Runner Up as the best science fiction novel of 2016.  The re-release, with new material throughout, will go live November 23 — the birthday of my oldest son, to whom the book is dedicated. Until then, it’s available for pre-sale. Don’y let it escape you!

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

I, Effing Feline, would like to be serious for once, so no laughing or sniggering. Today, November 11, is the anniversary of the end of World War One. That war had a huge impact on the family of my pet human, Ed Hoornaert.

The battle of Passchendaele

A hundred years ago, the family lived outside of Roeselaere, near Ypres and Passchendaele Ridge. Not one battle . . . not two battles . . . but five battles were fought in the family’s backyard. Grandpa Hoornaert was born amidst a battlefield. Family members suffered horribly. Constant bombardment turned Flanders’ peaceful fields into a muddy, bloody hell.

Perhaps because of the snippets of stories he heard growing up, Ed’s fiction often focuses on the true victims of war. Not the downed soldiers, who at least were armed, at least had a choice to follow orders and march into someone else’s country and shoot it to hell and back.

No. The civilians.

Escapee is one such work.

Enemies from the Proxima star system have invaded the isolated mining moon where Catt Sayer, a civilian pilot, makes her living flying supplies on a decrepit airship. She picks up a lone survivor, Captain Dukelsky. He wants her to fly her airship to the far side of the moon to attack the enemy’s base. She agrees . . . but only because she’s sure he’ll give up because of the moon’s cataclysmic volcanoes. Here’s the test she figures will convince him — flying over a mountain pass flanked by eruptions on both sides.

She had time now to answer Dukelsky’s question. “Riding the flow means I’m trying to catch a hot updraft caused by that volcano.” She nodded in the mountain’s direction, though she doubted he could see much from the couch. “You know the ancient myth of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?”

“What does that have to do with—?”

“Too close to the lava, and a big, old papa bear updraft will grab so fast we lose all control. We have to keep enough forward motion to maintain steerage, you know. Too far away, and a momma bear updraft won’t take us over the pass but smack into a mountainside, instead. We need a baby bear updraft that’ll lift us just . . . the right . . . amount.”

The cabin shook as though hammered. Some baby bear.

Effing Feline here again. Know what I think? Somebody should’ve sprayed a hose on those soldiers in Flanders. That, my friends, is the way to break up a cat fight . . . as I know from soggy experience.

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The header image of this blog has proved to be a a maintenance nightmare. You see, it shows the covers of all my books.

Actually, that’s not true. It doesn’t show my computer programming books, nor the contemporary romances I wrote for Silhouette Books. But it does show my science fiction and sci fi romance books, so new books or covers means a new header image.

I’ve been tardy about adding my September and October releases (Alien Contact for Runaway Moms and The Guardian Angel of Farflung Station), and that it’s been weighing on my mind — especially since I have another release coming up on the 23rd of this month (Escapee) and another soon after in December or January (Constellation XXI).

Last weekend I bit the bullet, as soldiers would do when undergoing battlefield surgery without anesthetic, and redid the header to include Runaway Moms at the left and the new covers for my Repelling the Invasion series. I also made my life a tad easier by including a placeholder for Constellation XXI with a splashy ‘coming soon’ sign. The book’s exact release date is yet to be decided, as I’m working with a new editor at the end of this month and don’t know quite what to expect.

Finally, I had an ‘Aha!’ moment . . . though in truth it was more like ‘Why didn’t you think of this before, you idiot?’ The books were already grouped by series, so I added the name of the series.

If I didn’t point all this out to you, you’d probably never notice the header, but I spent an hour or two on this so I darned well want somebody out there to pay attention!

After missing a couple weeks, I’m back with a hook from Escapee, a re-release of an award-winning science fiction romance. Catt Sayer and Hector Dukelsky are fleeing an enemy invasion, in an airship. They have company — an ugly creature called a skoot, which was described earlier like this:

“Except for sparse fur, its head was crocodilian, as was its rough hide, but its short tail was plumed and its legs were doglike, even if there were six of them. The lolling tongue was sort of doglike, too, except it was longer than an anteater’s. All in all, a hideous combination of features. She would never understand why people kept them as pets.”

The skoot hopped off the couch and trailed her toward one of the doors at the back of the room. Sayer skittered away as though afraid. “Keep away from me. Go.”

“Sorry,” Hector said. “He doesn’t know any better. Skoots love people and follow them around. That’s how they get their name. People are always telling them to scoot out of the way.”

“Why’d you bring your pets, anyway? Don’t you know there’s a war going on?”

Anger and helplessness made his voice go flat. “These two are the only survivors of the attack. I owe it to the troopers who owned them to ensure they survive.”

“Oh. Well.” She paused with the ’fresher door open. The facilities behind her were as tiny as on a shuttle, with toilet and sink that folded down from the walls into combination shower/dryer. A person could use just one function at a time. “I’d appreciate it, Dukelsky, if you’d try to keep that thing” — she waved in the skoot’s direction — “away from me.”

Be sure to check out the hooks by other great writers in the Book Hooks blog hop. Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list.

Escapee

A Disillusioned Soldier
Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon. That dream dies when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s away, leaving him alone in smouldering rubble with no chance to survive, let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder
Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meagre income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won life vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless journey to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon
Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can … yet she agrees to Hector’s scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and slowly his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face ten thousand enemy warriors.

Escapee will be released on November 23 — the birthday of my oldest son, to whom the book is dedicated. Until then, it’s available for pre-sale.

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The forklift responded with a sluggish whimper, but it gained speed as the slope increased. At the steep stretch, she slammed on the brakes while releasing the catch holding the crate in place. It slammed to the ground and tipped slowly. For a moment, she feared it would land flat, but it tipped over, then over again, until it was rolling down the canyon like a cube-shaped boulder. The canyon jogged to the left, but the crate went straight, smashing into the canyon wall and bursting apart. Plasti-foam shattered and filled the air like hailstones. The artillery piece rolled intact for another fifty feet until it encountered another wall of rock, and there it shattered into a dozen chunks, with some flying into the air as high as had the crate.

Catt watched her destructive handiwork and dismounted. The tired old forklift would never climb back up this slope; after saying goodbye to it—just a stupid old piece of machinery, so why did her eyes start to sting?—she turned to trudge uphill.

That was when she saw Dukelsky, watching her every move.

Effing Feline here again. You’ll notice — I sure did! — that all of these cats are nude. It is past time that we put a stop to this shameless use of cats to make money. Some of your are probably feminists. I call on all of you to join me in a new and overdue movement.

Felinism!

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

Catt Sayer just wants to survive.  The working-class fugitive delivers military supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won livelihood vanishes when invaders overrun her harsh moon. Even worse, an idealistic, upper-class officer wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack enemy headquarters – manned by 10,000 soldiers.

Escapee is a new edition of the science fiction romance that was the Rone Award’s First Runner Up as the best science fiction novel of 2016.  The re-release, with new material throughout, will go live November 23 — the birthday of my oldest son, to whom the book is dedicated. Until then, it’s available for pre-sale. Don’y let it escape you!

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As Catt walked toward Dukelsky, she avoided looking at his face, afraid of what she would see around the edges of his respirator. He did or said nothing, just stood there motionless, which keyed her anticipation to the breaking point. She made a wide detour around him, hoping to get inside without facing up to what she’d done.

Guilt weighed down her spirits. Sabotage during wartime…was that treason?

At a personal level, she’d destroyed not just his militaristic bravado, but also his hopes of emerging a hero; she hadn’t touched him, yet she’d hurt him. What would he do to her? Nothing she didn’t deserve, perhaps—but she didn’t want what she deserved. No person honest enough to acknowledge their own faults wanted that.

She wanted him to acknowledge the unfairness of his plan—it was suicide, and it would kill her, as well as him. Above all, she wanted him to recognize her act of sabotage sprang from years of oppression by patroons and was admirably restrained, considering who she was.

Effing Feline here again. Now for the big reveal — how to pronounce that difficult word. It’s pronounced . . . horn-art, with only a slight accent on the first syllable.

Wait, wait — wrong word! My new ism is pronounced fell-in-ism, to rhyme with feminism. NOT to be confused with felonism, you smart alexas!

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

Catt Sayer just wants to survive.  The working-class fugitive delivers military supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won livelihood vanishes when invaders overrun her harsh moon. Even worse, an idealistic, upper-class officer wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack enemy headquarters – manned by 10,000 soldiers.

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

Here’s a selection from Escapee, my recently released science fiction romance. Enemies from the Proxima star system have invaded the isolated mining moon where Catt Sayer is a civilian pilot. She picks up a lone survivor, Captain Dukelsky, who wants her to fly her airship to the far side of the moon to attack the enemy’s base.

Not wanting any part of such a suicide mission, Catt destroys the canon he’d hoped to use to attack the enemy’s base. Here’s part of his reaction. I apologize for the length, but there’s nowhere to break it.

“Always with the feelings, you women,” Hector said. “Helen. Sandrina. Now you. You just destroyed military weapons during wartime, a capital offense, and yet you want to talk about my emotions? Well I don’t have any, godsdamn it.”

“Don’t hit me!”

“Hit you?” Realizing he’d advanced most of the way to where she cowered, Hector stopped and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“If you kill me, you’re –”

“Kill you?”

“– stranded on this mountainside until you die.”

“I would never –”

“Yes, you would. Capital offense, you said, and you’re so furious at me—”

“I am not furious.”

“– that your face is all red.”

“I’m disappointed, that’s all.”

“Stop right there!”

Oh, damn, she was right — he’d raised his hand and stepped toward her. She was almost in grabbing distance, except the pilot’s seat was between them and she would just dash to the other side and he’d reach to his left and she’d dash to the right and the chase would degenerate into undignified slapstick.

“If you take one more step,” she said, “I’m going to scream.”

“You already did.” Hector came close to laughing, but this didn’t seem like an appropriate time. He kept his hands in his pocket and forced them to unclench. “If your female irrationality demands it, go ahead and scream. I’m curious, though. Who’s going to charge to your rescue?”

Catt stared into his eyes. The phrase she bored deep into his soul came to mind, but that was meaningless twaddle. His usual mask was down, perhaps. That was all. And yet something she saw made her stand a little straighter, a little less frightened. He had no idea why.

“You,” she said. Her voice sounded puzzled and surprised.

“Me? I’m going to charge to your rescue? But I’m the bad guy, according to you.”

“Yeah, you are.” She spoke so matter-of-factly he almost believed her. “But you have a soul in there, I think.” She relaxed her defensive posture. “Screaming might bring out the gentleman in you and you’d rescue me from yourself . . . I think.”

Maybe another female could understand her tangled logic. He couldn’t. And yet . . .

Her naive trust vibrated through all the reaches of his body. He was used to dealing with people at a superficial level. He was so used to being misunderstood he’d stopped resenting it. And yet at some cockeyed level, this hot-tempered woman understood him better than almost anyone, just from looking into his eyes.

Be sure to check out the hooks by other great writers in the Book Hooks blog hop. Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

Catt Sayer just wants to survive.  The working-class fugitive delivers military supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won livelihood vanishes when invaders overrun her harsh moon. Even worse, an idealistic, upper-class officer wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack enemy headquarters – manned by 10,000 soldiers.

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• Smashwords

After two hours of oppressive silence, she’d made the tea as a peace offering, but Dukelsky hadn’t even looked up when she gave it to him. An hour later, the tea was cold.

Dukelsky scares me, Catt typed into the instant message app built into the cockpit’s controls, and sent the message to Lance’s console. He hasn’t budged or said anything for three hours.

“But he isn’t—”

“Type, Lance,” she whispered fiercely, “type.”

Lancelot had been programmed to simulate human expressions, and now his eyebrows rose in simulated amusement. He typed a response without looking at his keyboard: You like him, don’t you, Catt?

“What!”

“Type, Catt, type.”

Effing Feline here again. I urge you become a card-carrying member of the Felinism movement. Just send your membership fee of $27,539.97 to me. It’s that easy!

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

Catt Sayer just wants to survive.  The working-class fugitive delivers military supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won livelihood vanishes when invaders overrun her harsh moon. Even worse, an idealistic, upper-class officer wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack enemy headquarters – manned by 10,000 soldiers.

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

Here’s a selection from Escapee, my recently released science fiction romance. Enemies from the Proxima star system have invaded the isolated mining moon where Catt Sayer is a civilian pilot. She picks up a lone survivor, Captain Dukelsky, who wants her to fly her airship to the far side of the moon to attack the enemy’s base.

Not wanting any part of a suicide mission, Catt destroys the canon he’d hoped to use to attack the enemy’s base. But that’s sabotage, and she realizes she’s also destroyed his reason for living. After a long, restless night filled with guilt and the kind of heart-to-heart discussion possible only in the dark from opposite sides of the cabin, she realizes that his dream of fighting a Just War is noble. She comes to a decision first thing the next morning.

She debated getting dressed, the more layers the better. But to do that properly and comfortably meant stripping off the skintights, and there was no time for that; Dukelsky might return at any moment. She clothed herself in dignity instead. She sat in her captain’s chair, swiveled it toward the cabin, and composed herself to await his return. She crossed her legs, but then decided on a more formal seated pose. Keeping a confident expression on her face, she waited.

She was considering changing her pose again when the ’fresher door squeaked open. “I’ll do it,” she said in a firm, prim voice.

Dukelsky stopped just outside the door. Sleep dulled his expression and shadowed his eyes. Claws scrambling, the skoot and the kitten raced each other to reach him first. The skoot won and danced around him on its four hind legs, tongue slathering the air. When he lowered his hand, the kitten leapt into it.

“I said, I’ll do it,” she repeated.

He ran a hand through his hair. “Does this mean you were having the same dream I was?”

“Pardon?” After glancing at the front of his shorts, her neck and face flamed. “Not that,” she said with as much frazzled dignity as she could muster.

Dukelsky had dreamed about her?

Be sure to check out the hooks by other great writers in the Book Hooks blog hop. Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

Catt Sayer just wants to survive.  The working-class fugitive delivers military supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won livelihood vanishes when invaders overrun her harsh moon. Even worse, an idealistic, upper-class officer wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack enemy headquarters – manned by 10,000 soldiers.

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

That day stretched into one of the longest and most uncomfortable in Catt’s life. Out of pure stubbornness — and to show Dukelsky who was boss — she made no plans to fly. He finally awoke, but he paid little attention to her. Instead, he studied the cargo manifests, petted the skoot, played with the kitten, slept, or stared off into space.

She made him lunch. Not only did he not thank her, his morose, swampy expression warned off all pleasantries. Her first reaction was to feel insulted, and a lot of the time first reactions told her what another person intended, what they were trying to manipulate her into feeling — but not this time. She was pretty sure he wasn’t being rude. He just didn’t care. He had withdrawn into a space where politeness didn’t exist . . . where she didn’t exist.

Effing Feline here again. Last week, some of you complained that the membership fee to join the Felinism Movement ™ was too high. I listen to my audience, so for this weekend only, I’m reducing the fee from $27,539.97 to $27,539.96.

How’s that for a bargain? Don’t wait — join now!!!!

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday . . . even though none of their posts are written by cats.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

A Disillusioned Soldier
Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon torn by volcanoes. That dream seems dead when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s on leave. He returns to smoldering rubble, with no chance to survive let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder
Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meager income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won career vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon
Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can, yet she agrees to Hector’s mad scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face 10,000 enemy warriors.

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Apple iBooks
• Kobo Books
• Smashwords

Here’s a selection from Escapee, my recently released science fiction romance. Catt Sayer, a civilian pilot. has picked up a lone survivor of an enemy invasion. Captain Hector Dukelsky wants her to fly her airship to the far side of the moon to attack the enemy’s base. After a long, restless night filled with guilt and the kind of heart-to-heart discussion possible only in the dark from opposite sides of the cabin, she realizes that Hector’s dream of fighting a Just War is noble — and she will help him.

Dukelsky had dreamed about her?

She tingled with anticipation all the way down to her core. Yesterday she had stared into his eyes and found, to her shock, a man she trusted. Staring at them now, she distrusted that trust. He was a patroon, or close enough, and she didn’t think she could forgive him for that.

If she swam with him, she would have no idea where the shore lay.

She took a deep breath, the kind she took before jumping into a lagoon, and spoke in a brusque voice. “I’ll take you to Norquay, or die trying. Uh, I guess I shouldn’t have tacked on those last few words. What I’m trying to say is, I’ve always responded to injustice by running away from it, but maybe I should take a stand. You know, fight a righteous war. Good against evil.”

“Or die trying?”

“Mere existence is overrated.”

Still holding the cat, he stumbled to the couch and sat. He cocked his head to one side and studied her.

Her nipples were hard for some reason. Blushing again, she hid her chest by crossing her arms. She didn’t know why she felt the need to explain herself for agreeing with him, but she did. Something about this man made her dig deep inside herself.

“A person has to have something to live for,” she said. “For me, it’s been keeping this tub flying and supporting my mother and sister. With no one to carry supplies to or buy fuel from, I won’t be able to do either. I need a new goal in life.”

Be sure to check out the hooks by other great writers in the Book Hooks blog hop. Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list.

Escapee

Book 2 in the Repelling the Invasion series

A Disillusioned Soldier
Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon torn by volcanoes. That dream seems dead when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s on leave. He returns to smoldering rubble, with no chance to survive let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder
Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meager income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won career vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless trek to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon
Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can, yet she agrees to Hector’s mad scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face 10,000 enemy warriors.