The Fifth Force Pre-order!

As you might have noticed from the first page banner, The Fifth Force is up for pre-order! I’ve set the release date tentatively as June 1st, but it’s very likely to be out before that. I have to wrap it up for my Patreon followers first, of course! They’ve been enjoying (I hope!) early access to the serialized version since last year. You can find all the pre-order links as they come online at my Books2Read page for the book. The pre-order price is only $2.99.

And of course, just today I thought of a fun pre-order bonus idea, which I’m about to try to put together if life and my brain cooperate. Stay tuned!

“The next nearest inhabited planet had just been blown into its constituent particles…In response, the thaumic force of that world—colloquially known as magic—had mere seconds ago fled the planet like the proverbial rat from a sinking ship, and was in search of a likely place to relocate.”

Sometimes magic manifests early in a planet’s life, sometimes late. Sometimes it never appears at all.

Sometimes it appears at exactly the wrong time, and in exactly the wrong way.

Now Ulric has a head full of words he doesn’t understand, and the results can be explosive. Heline has discovered a talking hat that’s helping her write songs. Nerlim thinks his staunch belief in the existence of a mysterious fifth force will finally be vindicated, if he can escape from the nursing home and track it down. Gammy just wants to see her moon launch succeed…and Wint would rather go home and lie down, if it’s all the same to everyone.

And in this ultimate power struggle between magic and technology, the trans-dimensional beings of the Convocation also want a piece of the action.

There’s no way this could go badly…

If you love quirky fantasy with lots of humour and fun characters, this book is for you! Pre-order it at the discounted price today!

Olympia Investigations: The Shifter Plague (sale!)

Now that my website is (finally!) working again, I really should post about my latest novel, shouldn’t I? Even if it’s not exactly shiny-new any more. :)

When a legally blind woman asks Olympia Investigations to investigate the murder of an apparent shapeshifter, Acacia pays attention, even if the local police won’t. Following the scent of the murderer, Acacia becomes deeply involved with the shifter community of Turnabout Landing–which is nothing like what she expects. The trail of accusations and networks leads to vampires, a missing lighthouse keeper, a deadly shifter virus, and the echoes of a past case.

With her assistant Oliver keeping secrets, her relationship with Detective Ellis Ames turning rocky, and Acacia finding herself a target of an unknown foe, she’s barely keeping ahead of a pack of troubles in The Shifter Plague, the first full-length novel in the Olympia Investigations series.

This novel actually started life as a novella, but the more I wrote, the longer it got. ;) Funny how that happens sometimes, isn’t it?

Anyway, The Shifter Plague is on sale right now until March 16th across platforms, for just $2.99. And the Olympia Investigations novella, Toil and Trouble, is just 1.99 during the same period. It’s a great time to get to know Acacia and Oliver!

Miis in Nearspace – Part Three

Although we did meet the alien Dr. Ndasa in the first book, Vilisians are not terribly different from humans in appearance (at least I didn’t have to try to recreate their scent-language for Miis). In Dark Beneath the Moon, we meet some new characters both human and alien.

Jahelia Sord

Jahelia Sord is a thorn in Luta’s side for much of this book, but she was such a fun character to write. It was also fun to turn her into a Mii, with her distinctive black-and-white hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cerevare Brindlepaw

You want aliens? Here you go. Cerevare is a Lobor, a species with a lot of similarities to dogs or wolves. Cerevare was my first really big Mii challenge, but look at how gorgeous she turned out!

 

 

 

 

 

Fha

From dogs to crows— Fha belongs to a crow-like species the crew dubs “Corvids.” You can be sure it took me some time to figure out this one, but with this wig for her feathers and that pale “beak,” Fha’s Mii is exactly right.

Up next, characters from Beyond the Sentinel Stars, including our first look at the mysterious Chron.

Miis in Nearspace – Part Two

See the first post in this series here.

Along with the original crew of the Tane Ikai, there are a few other notable characters in One’s Aspect to the Sun. There are a few who turn up briefly in this book but make larger appearances in a later volume (Luta’s brother Lanar, for instance), so I’ll save them for now. Today you’ll meet Maja, Dr. Ndasa, and Luta’s mother, Emmage.

Maja Tacan
Although Maja and Luta are struggling with a lot of old resentments and are mostly estranged at the beginning of One’s Aspect to the Sun, Maja has a considerable presence across the series. Her Mii looks a lot more cheerful than her character does when we first meet her.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Yalin Ndasa
The Vilisian doctor was my first “alien challenge” in making Nearspace Miis. I love how he turned out! You can’t see it in this picture, but he does have the single long braid that his character has in the book. Note the classic violet eyes so common in Vilisians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emmage Mahane
Well, yes, Emmage does look a lot like Luta. Which is in keeping with their character descriptions in the book, not a sign that I was getting lazy with my Miis. ;)

Next post we’re on to Dark Beneath the Moon and some pretty challenging aliens. (But you won’t believe how well they turned out!)

Miis in Nearspace – Part One

For my birthday last year, my daughters gifted me the game Miitopia for my Switch. Of course, one of the first fun things to do with this game is create characters, and I had the idea that it would be fun to try and re-create the people from my Nearspace universe as Miis.

I was right. :) It was fun, but I hadn’t really considered the challenge of faithfully reproducing some of the aliens the crew encounters. However, as I proceeded along, (and being inspired by some of the creative ways my daughters had created non-human characters for their own games) I realized how very versatile the creation system can be, with a little imaginative use of the tools offered.

So, to celebrate the release of the newest Nearspace title, A Veiled and Distant Sky, I’ll be sharing the results of this endeavour over the next few blog posts. It’s been really fun to do, and I especially love the way the various aliens turned out. But let’s start today with the original crew of the Tane Ikai.

Luta & Hirin Paixon
Although Luta and Hirin are about the same age, of course Luta has stayed very youthful because of (spoiler alert!) nanotechnology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rei dam-Rowan

Like all Erian women, Rei wears pridattii, swirling facial tattoos around her eyes and over her cheeks. These were definitely a challenge to re-create, but I was happy with the way they turned out. Rei’s signature long, chestnut-coloured hair and golden eyes were a lot easier to incorporate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baden Methyr
As the resident “tech-dog” on the Tane Ikai, I thought it only fitting to give Baden’s Mii an eye-implant gadget. He doesn’t actually have one in the books…at least, not one that we know about. Yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yuskeya Blue

If you’ve read any of the Nearspace books, you’ll recognize Yuskeya immediately. I loved that one of the wig options in the character creation interface let me recreate her gorgeous hair so beautifully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viss Feron
The Mii-version of Viss (the Tane Ikai’s engineer) looks just as affably cranky as I always imagine him. Buzz-cut and all!

Come back tomorrow to see some other characters from One’s Aspect to the Sun, including our first alien, the Vilisian Dr. Ndasa. Then stay tuned to see who else pops up!

A Veiled and Distant Sky Releases Today!

It’s a book birthday! The ebook of A Veiled and Distant Sky comes out today from Tyche Books, so if you’ve pre-ordered it, you should see it in your library. If you didn’t pre-order, what are you waiting for? Go get your copy! ;)

When Luta Paixon and the crew of the Tane Ikai discover a dying wormhole explorer who’s been missing for decades, it’s a mystery; but the bigger mystery lies in her only words: “Save Lillifleur.” Because the colony ship Lillifleur disappeared without a trace almost a century ago.

Meanwhile, a different mystery lies closer to home; Luta’s son Karro and his wife want no part of the life-extending nanobioscavengers that have kept Luta safe from harm and aging for over fifty years. Confused, worried for their future, and even a little angry, Luta struggles to understand why anyone would reject the gift of near-immortality, even as the debate over nanobioscavenger technology rages throughout Nearspace.

Stranded in an unknown system with Karro and Aliande aboard, Luta faces potentially dangerous drones, a mysterious virus, and a looming alien threat to a forgotten colony. She’ll have to contend with all of this and more before she can unravel secrets from her family’s past, and hope for a little luck to get everyone home to Nearspace safe and sound.

I’ll be posting more about the book and some fun things about it in the coming days, so stay tuned!

The “Starting Hurricanes” StoryBundle

This month, I’m excited to be part of the Starting Hurricanes StoryBundle, curated by Athena Andreadis of Candlemark & Gleam. This bundle offers eleven wonderful speculative works exploring the concept of great changes brought about by ordinary people. No Chosen Ones  or demi-gods here–in this bundle it is the small things (and ordinary people), that, like the flutter of butterfly wings, might roil the winds of change into a hurricane.

In this bundle you will find, among other things, devastated Earths, humanity in complex interplanetary conflicts, disquieting alien biologies, and exiles in search of a home. The subgenres include space opera, near-future dystopia, far futures with magic-like technology, first contacts, and planetfalls. Some names you might recognize; others you might not…but there are worlds and wonder to discover behind each one.

If you’re not familiar with StoryBundle, you pay what you want for the first few books, and unlock the entire bundle for $15 or more. The basic bundle includes (in any ebook format):
Dreams of Earth by Bud Sparhawk
The Janus Legacy by Lisa von Biela
Jumpship Hope by Adria Laycraft
One’s Aspect to the Sun by Sherry D. Ramsey

For the bonus price of just $15 (or more), you get all four initial books, plus seven more for a total of eleven!
Fault Lines by Kelly Jennings
The Wan by Bo Balder
River of Dust by Alexander Jablokov
Finders by Melissa Scott
Collaborators by Deborah J. Ross
White Wing by Shariann Lewitt and Susan Shwartz
Edge of Heaven by RB Kelly

Read more about all the books right here!

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub, .mobi) for all books!

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides:
• Get quality reads: works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
• Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that’s fine! You’ll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.
• Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there’s nothing wrong with ditching DRM.
• Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to Mighty Writers and Girls Write Now!
• Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you’ll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com. For more information, visit their website at storybundle.com, tweet them @storybundle and like them on Facebook.

New Release Catch-Up

My plan to release a new title every month continues, although I’ve fallen behind in posting them here. So let’s have a little catch-up post so you can see if you’ve missed any!

February: “Machine Language”

On the damaged colony ship Strelka, limping toward the sanctuary of a nearby planet, Yuka and the other surviving colonists–even the children–struggle to keep the ship moving. They pilot remote rovers on the planet’s inhospitable surface, searching for a region where they might have a chance at survival. But tensions on the ship are high, and the few left uninjured in the disaster–the Fulls–hold themselves separate from the many who survived, but not intact. When Yuka’s remote rover encounters a robotic explorer that didn’t come from the Strelka, she’s not sure what it means…or who to trust with the information. If she can communicate with it, she might gain valuable planetary data. But what if it poses a threat to the colony even more dangerous than the ones they already face?

Get it for just .99 on your favourite retail platform


March: “ePrayer”

Larry is a call center employee at ePrayer, a service that offers computer-generated prayers recited on the customer’s behalf. He harbours a secret affection for his supervisor and simmering doubts about the efficacy of digital devotions. Then one day he takes a call that changes his life…and his understanding of death. He’ll have to risk everything to set things right for one of ePrayer’s clients…or rather, former clients.

Find it for just .99 across platforms


April: “Station Run”

Vonni’s life on Unity Station seems normal enough–school, gaming, watching the traders and starships come and go. No-one suspects she’s hacked into the Virtual Reality learning program, Station Run, outpacing the game’s slow, measured advancement to unlock and explore higher levels of virtual immersion on the space station. Then, in the virtual Unity Station, Vonni meets Dart, a scruffy boy who claims to live in a sector of the station that doesn’t exist. As she struggles to stay in the “game,” Vonni comes to realize that her programming skills have unearthed a closely-guarded secret–one that will rock the world of Unity Station and those who live there. As long as Vonni can get the word out before the administration tracks her down.

Just .99 at your preferred e-retailer


May: “Captain Sable and the Canid Complication: A tale of pirate cats and sundry other scoundrels”

Captain Sable and the crew of the pirate ship Able Mouser might be the scourge of the seas, but Sable has a soft spot when it comes to underdogs–of any species. When a birdfolk stowaway is discovered on her ship, Sable contemplates making him walk the plank; that is, until she hears his tale of the Canid Empire’s plan to take over his people’s island home and enslave them. But with the Empire dogs ensconced on the island and in the waters around it, how can one pirate ship hope to drive them off? Captain Sable will have to be at her canniest–and cattiest–to pull it off…and hope she has at least one of her nine lives left.

Join the pirate fun for just .99


June: “B.R.A.N.E. Inc.”

When Nicole called for a photocopier repairman, she wasn’t prepared for him to tell her there was something living inside the machine. She also hadn’t gotten up that morning expecting to be recruited to help save the world. But a flashpoint portal on the roof of her office building isn’t something she can ignore–not when she sees what’s waiting on the other side.

At least it’s not another boring Monday morning at the office.

Catch it now for just .99


Whew! It’s been fun keeping up these monthly releases. Stay tuned for what the coming months have in store!

Come-From-Aways

My January release is live! It’s a standalone short story about small towns, strangers, and friends, and you can find it at your favourite retailer by following this link.

Mac Laidlaw returned to his small hometown after a decade away, with big plans to build a theme park and put the place “on the map.”

​​​​​​​For Louise Coldbrook, the town’s mayor (and Mac’s one-that-got-away), Mac’s plans are nothing but bad news. The town has a good thing going–a very, very secret good thing–and the last thing they want is attention from the rest of the world. But Mac’s not a man to take no for an answer…not this time, anyway. And certainly not without a really good explanation, which is the last thing Louise can offer him.

​​​​​​​Not if she wants to keep the town’s secret safe.

It’s just .99 across all platforms, so what are you waiting for? :)

Subordinate Clauses

Earlier this month, I released “Subordinate Clauses,” an Olympia Investigations holiday short story, across all platforms.

When a clutch of elves hire Acacia to investigate a plot against Santa Claus and an elf kidnapping, she has only her supernatural detection abilities to guide her in the right direction. As the days count down and the presents pile up, will Acacia and Oliver be able to find the perpetrator, rescue the elves, and save Christmas?

If you’re in the mood for some fun holiday urban fantasy, you should check it out! Just .99 at your favourite retailer.