Friday, September 29, 2017

Cassandra Chandler shares Duel Citizenship.


Two years ago, I sat down with the idea of writing a story about a nerdgirl with a secret crush on her best friend—who turns out to be an alien. I knew I wanted Gray Card to be short, I knew I wanted it to be funny, and I knew I wanted it to be steamy (really steamy). I didn’t know that it would turn out to be my most popular title, or that it would be the start of a whole new series!
In each story, we get to meet a strong heroine and the man who’s awesome enough to be her match. The action shows them growing closer, working together to overcome the obstacles I throw in their path. And along the way, they bring out the best in each other.
It’s important to me to write heroines who can take care of themselves. My favorite heroine moment in the entire series to date is when Khel is fighting the Tau Ceti cyborg sent to kill Paige, and she leaps onto her attacker’s back to help Khel fight him off—totally naked, since she was in the shower—and then she blinds him with her shampoo. These heroines are not content to sit around waiting to be rescued. I love seeing what they come up with to get themselves (and their partners) out of the situations I put them in.
The “fish out of water” elements among the aliens are also a blast to write. The aliens realize that there are gaps in their cultural training, and try to fake being normal even in ridiculous circumstances. I still think of Sorca’s brunch with Eric—where she doesn’t know the difference between toast and a fork—whenever I eat bacon and eggs. And I’m really grateful that we don’t have to subsist on nutrient bricks *shudder*.
My favorite of these cultural confusion moments is when Kira comes out of Brendan’s bathroom holding a roll of paper towels in one hand and toilet paper in the other. Coming from a culture that has radically different bathrooms (she’s been living on space stations for pretty much her entire life), can you imagine what she must have been thinking when she saw those together, only knowing what toilet paper was?
Aside from the main characters, the world itself is fascinating to explore as a writer. I’m having a great time coming up with my own take on flying saucers and aliens, working in classic Scifi elements and my own strange imaginings. The Tau Ceti look human, but are vampire space frogs (seriously). And the four-armed Lyrians—better known on Earth as Bigfoot—have the most bizarre physiology of any creature I’ve come up with.
These novellas are so much fun to write—almost addictive. From what I’ve heard, reading them is the same way. Plus, they’re short enough to read in a single sitting! I love giving my readers a super-fun reading experience and a sense of accomplishment at the same time.
If there’s one over-arching theme I’m trying to convey with the series, it’s that being human is pretty darn great and that it’s okay to enjoy being corporeal. We have coffee, we have video games, we have delicious food, and we have people we can share our lives with. I want to write about people who are coming to accept and love themselves for who they are, even if they didn’t turn out quite the way they think they were supposed to.
The Department of Homeworld Security novellas have one main purpose for me: to give my readers a whimsical, fun break from reality. I want them to feel lighter when they reach the end of each story and return to their lives.
To that end, here’s an excerpt from
Duel Citizenship
Please enjoy!
 
Ari’s eyes widened when he looked at her. It made her feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet.
Uh, hi.” He grasped his wrist, covering his watch as he dropped his arms in front of him. It seemed to be a habitual gesture.
Hi.” She smiled, pushing away the nervous thoughts at the edges of her mind. It had been a long time since… Actually, she’d never done something quite like this. “I have us set up around the corner.”
Okay.”
Most of her customers would take their food outside and eat on the picnic tables around the treehouse. Some sat at the counter and chatted. There was also a small round table in the treehouse that could seat four.
And then there was the nook.
Ari followed her to the small table that was nestled into the little alcove in the treehouse. It only sat two. Customers could call ahead if they had a special dinner planned and she would decorate it for the occasion. She’d never decked it out for herself.
White lights illuminated the space and a gauze curtain hung from the ceiling to give a better sense of privacy, even though it was only the two of them with the restaurant closed. The curtains were pulled apart so that she could easily come and go, since she was the server, chef, and diner that evening.
Most of the food was already on the table. She added the last dish and gestured for Ari to sit across from her. He didn’t try to pull out her chair, which was a relief. She always felt awkward when guys did that on dates.
Ari sat and looked around at the lights, then to the food resting on mismatched, colorful plates. His knee jutted out from his chair and he barely seemed to fit in the nook space. She could reach across the table and touch him without even stretching. Then again, that was sort of the idea of the spot.
Are you feeling better?” he said.
Yeah. I’m just a little banged up and stiff. It’s still kind of a miracle. I keep thinking maybe I wasn’t as high as I thought or something.”
You were at the top of the tree.” His brow was furrowed and his expression grim. “I watched you fall, but was too far away to do anything.”
That’s probably for the best. If I’d landed on you, I would have squished you.” She was trying to lighten the mood, but he kept staring at her with that dark expression.
I would have caught you.”
Then I would have fallen into a trope.”
Trope?”
She shook her head and laughed. “Forget it.”
Why weren’t you using a safety harness?”
I’ve never needed one before. I know how to operate in a tree. The only reason I fell is because of Violet.”
Violet?”
She’s one of my lizard friends. Frenemy, more like. I’m pretty sure she’s trying to kill me.”
Ari sat straighter in his chair and glanced around the room, as if looking for threats. Maybe he was a soldier. His gestures and movements reminded her of people she’d known who had served in the military. But still, she was talking about a lizard.
Ari, I was joking.” Sarah laughed. “Violet is a lizard. Lizards don’t try to kill people. Unless they’re a Komodo dragon or something, and planning on eating us. And I seriously doubt Violet wants to eat me. I hope not, anyway.”
What do these lizards look like?”
She shrugged. “Have you ever seen an iguana?”
No.”
How about a green basilisk? They’re the funny-looking lizards who can run across small stretches of water.”
The crease between his eyebrows deepened.
Okay, that makes it harder to describe. They’re bright green and have different colored stripes down their sides, sort of like a tiger.” She paused and smirked at him. “Unless you’ve never seen one of those, either.”
He paused for a few beats before he smiled. It was just as dazzling, but seemed forced.
There was no way he had never seen a tiger. Iguanas and basilisks, she could understand, especially if he was from up North. But a tiger? Who had never seen a tiger?
Shaking away the uneasy feeling that gave her, she went on. “Anyway, their heads are rounder than most lizards, with more of a…forehead, I guess. And they have these little crests on the backs of their skulls, and a short fin that runs down their backs. I think they kind of have a fringe around their faces as well.”
Hold on a second.” He started tapping on his watch. It had a black band and a large, flat face. Definitely high-tech and high-end. After a few moments, he cocked his head to the side, his smile vanishing. “How tall are they?”
Tall? Don’t you mean ‘long’?”
He smiled again, but somehow it seemed like a diversionary tactic.
Yes, of course.”
Of course.



Blurb:

Vegans Welcome.

Living in a treehouse restaurant in Florida, Sarah expects to encounter plenty of wildlife. But the huge lizards who suddenly show up in her tree aren’t the health conscious clientele she was hoping to attract when she expanded her menu to be vegan-friendly. She also didn’t expect one of the lizards to be determined to kill her.



Disguised as a tourist, the Sadirian soldier Ari is investigating strange readings coming from a huge oak tree in Florida—a tree with an Earthling living in it. The Department of Homeworld Security has sent him to find out if something extraterrestrial is going on, and with the Coalition looking to bring Earth into the fold before humanity is ready, he doesn’t have much time to sort things out.


Ari has been warned about the temptations of Earth, but nothing could prepare him for the full sensory overload he experiences with Sarah. From the first encounter with the most sensual meal he’s ever shared, Ari’s mission becomes more complicated. And when she's pulled into an alien duel, he finds that if he can’t help Sarah navigate the mystery of her new reptilian companions, Earth will be in more trouble than he thought.

Approximately 24,500 words.

BUY LINK
Author Bio:
Cassandra Chandler has been obsessed with stories for as long as she can remember. A prolific writer, she has several Paranormal and Scifi Romance series that feature aliens, psychics, werewolves, and vampires—sometimes all in the same book. When she's not writing super-sexy love stories, you can find her knitting, chatting with readers, or making weird puppets.

If you want to talk to her, head over to Twitter (@CassChandler), Facebook (CassChandlerAuthor), send her email at AuthorAtCassandra-ChandlerDotCom, or, of course, leave a review. Remember to sign up for her newsletter (
cassandra-chandler.com/newsletter) to receive exclusive content!

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Anne Kane shares her upcoming 'Her Cyborg Lover'


Here's Anne Kane!

I am over-the-moon excited about my new Cyborg series with Changeling Press. Terras Five is a planet colonized by humans who became cyborg in order to survive the harsh environment they found themselves in. The children are born human, receiving cyborg implants during their childhood. The planet now has a stable population, but the lifestyle they have developed is considered strange by the humans that inhabit the other planets in that solar system.  So far I have two stories in the series, with a third releasing next month. The romances are all about the interactions of human and cyborg and how they come to realize their differences are not as important as what they feel for each other. Of course, there’s lots of action along the way!  The books in the series are Her Cyborg Lover, Taming the Cyborg, and A Deliciously Bothersome Cyborg.

Here’s the blurb and excerpt for the first book, Her Cyborg Lover




Her Cyborg Lover
(Terras Five – Book One)
By Anne Kane
Genres: Sci –Fi, Cyborgs, romance



Blurb:

Natalie’s loved and lost and she’s not so sure she wants to risk her heart again. She’s willing to settle for a challenging career as a space-pilot instructor and a succession of no-strings attached lovers. But that’s before her boss saddles her with the last thing she wants—a new partner.
Jebediah recognizes his perfect match in Natalie from the moment she seduces him on a dare. Everything that makes her a top-notch pilot, from her fearlessness to her passion, makes a night in her bed both challenging and unforgettable.
A dangerous confrontation with a brutal enemy, an exploding drive engine and a traitor close to home throws everything into perspective. Natalie is going to have to put the past behind her and risk it all, because when your partner is also your lover, failure is not an option.

EXCERPT

“Delta Class Scout ship. I order you to identify yourself, or be prepared to handle the consequences.”

A deep male chuckle rolled through the comm link. Natalie blinked. Laughter? Was the idiot actually laughing at her? He was so going to eat her dust, and that would be before she grounded his sorry ass for the next decade or two.

Thirty years of practice gave her the edge every single time one of the cadets pulled a stupid stunt like this. Engaging the infrared overlay on the cerebral interface, she mentally plotted the other ship’s most likely course. Only an experienced space jockey understood that the shortest route was rarely the quickest, or the easiest.

Sure enough, the idiot darted between the two large asteroids directly in front of him. A seasoned pilot would know that the combined gravitational fields of the rocks created a braking effect on any smaller object caught between the two of them. Real-life one on one versus theory in the classroom. She could almost feel sorry for the pilot as he struggled to wrest control of his ship from the two inanimate objects.

Almost, but not quite.

She circled around the trap, putting herself directly between the rocket jockey and home base. Let him watch her tail for a while before she slapped him into the brig. Waggling her wings in an insulting salute that the unfortunate pilot couldn’t possibly miss, she veered toward home base.

She hadn’t quite finished congratulating herself on such a swift victory when her ship careened sideways, almost colliding with one of the smaller asteroids in the field. What the hell?

She jerked her head up, hardly able to believe the display in front of her eyes. The smaller ship had freed itself of the gravity well and moved to parallel her before turning so that his thrusters aimed directly at her side. When he fired them, the shock hit the pilot ship with all the force of a herd of thundering moon-cats.

Crap! This kid had balls. Balls and the makings of a star-class fighter pilot—if she didn’t kill him first.

Getting the ship back under control, she reined in her temper and concentrated on chasing the smaller ship. It had been a long time since anyone had actually given her a run for her money. She wasn’t sure she liked it. “Pilot, you just bought yourself a serious amount of time dirt-side. Again, I say, identify yourself.” 

No answer.

“Who the hell are you?” Her voice harsh with suppressed rage, she gave the pilot one last chance to reply.

“Obviously a better pilot than you.” His voice was smooth and low, with a trace of male humor showing through. Arrogant, definitely arrogant.

She felt a grudging respect for his lack of deference. He had her on the run and he knew it.
 “I doubt that. I got careless and you got lucky.”

A disbelieving snort echoed through the com link. “I’m an excellent pilot. I don’t need luck.”

“And your name?” She didn’t recall the last time she’d spent this much time trying to extract information from a cadet. Who the hell was this guy? A few seconds passed, and Natalie realized the cadet was going to ignore her yet again.

Turning the mode to private, she called up the avatar. “Can you get anything on that ship? A registration number? Something to trace the pilot?”

“Negative.” If an avatar could shake its head, she was sure it would be. “There seems to be some type of blocking involved.”

Natalie’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Blocking identification protocols was strictly forbidden, and would require way more tech savvy than most of the cadets were capable of. “Can you identify the blocking procedures?”

Maybe she could get the man’s identity in a round-about way. She snorted ruefully. When had she started thinking of the pilot as a man, not a boy? When he’d outmaneuvered her back there, or when he’d had the backbone to not answer her demands, not give her his name?

With that attitude, he’d go far in the military. Again, if she didn’t kill him first.

Who the hell was he?
  
Available February 17th


 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 Anne Kane lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley with a bouncy little rescue dog who’s breed defies description, a cantankerous Himalayan cat, and too many fish to count. She spent many years trying to fit in and act normal, but finally gave up the effort. She started writing romance in 2008, and her fate was sealed when she won a publishing contract with Red Sage Publishing and just a month later Changeling Press accepted her first submission. Since then she had published more than thirty stories in a variety of sub-genres, all with a happily ever after.

Her hobbies, when she’s not playing with the characters in her head, include kayaking, hiking, swimming, playing guitar, singing and of course, reading.

You can find Anne around the web at:
Blog: http://annekane.wordpress.com


Saturday, September 23, 2017

RANA: TEENAGE QUEEN


FROM 9/23 -25  RANA IS 99 CENTS

New Facts from Liza:
When I wrote this novel, I considered it Sci-Fi. That's because Rana lives on a planet that is not earth. Her people evolved there and thrived for many centuries. As their number grew, most of her people remained kind and loving. However some were mean and with their innate powers, they were dangerous. So they were cast out the village and never thought of again.

However, the evil ones did not go quietly. Instead, they cast a spell that prevented the males' seed from providing children. Over the years, the good people realized children were becoming rare, but they could not find the cause nor a cure. 

When humans escaped their planet Earth after it became non-viable, they moved to a new planet that they named Hope. Over time, the new planet acquired too many worthless rich who had no skills whatsoever, so a group of craftsmen, scientist, miners and other useful occupations left Hope, now called Hopeless by all who lived there, and landed on Rana's planet, which the name Hope, determined this time they would get it right. However, due to a preference to have only male children, there were few women on their ship. 

Thus, the fairies...yes, Rana and her kind are a species called fairies, decided to take advantage of the humans need for females. The taller female fairies tucked away their wings, presented themselves as humans, and took human males as their mates.

Rana is one of the many children born from such a mating. The joining of her mother, a fairy and her father, a human, only strengthened her powers. And now, at 16, she must take control The joining of her mother, a fairy and her father, a human, only strengthened her powers. Now she must take control of two strongholds, acquire a general she can trust, and become stronger than her ministers who plot against her.



The Power of ‘Return’
While Rana has a plethora of spells to make her strong, one of her favorite spells is one that requires no potions nor sprinkling of substances. It is simply stating the word ‘Return’. It is so powerful, that she need only whisper it and whatever was being sent her way would reverse and go back to the sender, only a hundred times more potent.

Thus, when General Hack declared the tower had been overrun by the enemy and ordered his men to fire upon it, sending a massive quantity of arrows into the tower, killing her father, she orders the arrows to ‘return’, then realizing her soldiers had only followed the general’s order, she amended her order, “All to General Hack.” And soon after, the general became a pin-cushion ball of arrows.

BLURB

Rana is only sixteen when she becomes queen. Her first challenge is to quell an internal coup while a massive army storms the gates of her castle. Her enemies believe her to be a child, but she has powers they’ve never suspected. She also has great dreams for her people, and she will do whatever is necessary to make them happen, even marrying a prince she does not want.

EXCERPT
Rana finally got a chance to meet the general’s daughter on the journey back to Stronghold. She, Cara, and Lilth shared the iron carriage.
Cara soon fell asleep, her head in Rana’s lap. Rana’s hand absentmindedly stroked the girl’s hair.
“Is she your pet?” Lilth asked.
“What? No! She’s my maid.”
“You treat her like a spoiled pet.”
“She is very young. Too young for her job, but she has been a great comfort to me during this last month. Thus, I treat her with love and kindness.”
Lilth stared out a window slate. “You treat her better than her mother did, I imagine. With such a soft heart, I wonder how you’ve accomplished so much.” She then faced Rana. “Nor do I understand how Mother failed to defeat you.”
“God protects me.”
She snorted. “There is no God. You know that as well as I. Your power comes from fairy magic. We both know that.”
“Your mother was a fairy?” Rana asked.
“As am I. As are you. Only you seem far more powerful than me, even though I am three years older. I don’t understand why.”
“What sort of things did your mother teach you?”
“Thousands of ways to kill a person.”
Rana felt sorry for the girl. “My mother taught me to be one with God. To help Him heal sickness, grow plants, and protect oneself from harm. My strength comes from God.”
“Yet, you murdered my brothers.”
“No. I simply returned their gift. Had they sent me gold coins, they would be rich now.”

SALES LINK
RANA: TEENAGE QUEEN
AMAZON
ONLY 99C FROM 9/23-25


About the Author
Liza O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels.

.
FANTASY


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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Lea Kirk shares MADE FOR HER


Thank you, Liza, for having me on your blog today. I am bouncing in my chair about the release of my first ever paranormal romance, Made for Her!

Writing a PNR is a bit of a shift from my normal SFR. I first got the idea for this story from a particularly vivid dream. I woke up from it with my heart racing because things didn’t look good for the couple who’d eventually become my protagonists. I ran to my computer and typed up everything I could remember then saved it in a file. Admittedly, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with a PNR at that time. Then, Susan Smith invited me write for her Magic, New Mexico Kindle World.

Write a story set in a town full of paranormal beings? (And a few aliens.) Sure! I could that.

But, my post-apocalyptic SFR Prophecy series world just didn’t fit the Magic landscape. So, I pulled up my file marked “Vampire Dream” and got to work. When people would ask me what was next up, I’d tell them I was writing a story about a snake shifter, a vampire, and a barista. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? I get that a lot.

Now, some people shudder at the “snake-shifter” idea, but the story is mostly about the hero and heroine, and it is a romance. It has to have a happily ever after, right? I think you’ll like how things turn out in the end, trust me on this.

In the meantime, if you all could help me out with a punch line here, please: A vampire, a snake shifter, and a barista walk into a bar….




MADE FOR HER
By Lea Kirk

Vampires and faeries and snake-shifters. Oh, my!

Donnie McAllister’s dream job turns into a nightmare when she discovers her boss isn’t as human as he seems. Racing against time to return a legendary dagger to the land of the Fae, she must rely on a dangerously sexy vampire to navigate a world she never knew existed. Because if she doesn’t deliver, it’ll cost Donnie her life and leave the ancient weapon of untold power in the hands of her corrupt, venomous boss.

Four hundred years ago one man destroyed everyone vampire Mikhail Cherneski held dear. Now his nemesis is after Donnie, the human woman whose blood calls to Mikhail like no other. For she means more to him than a simple snack to satisfy his despicable eternal thirst. When Mikhail comes face-to-face with his enemy, he must risk his immortal life or watch Donnie suffer the same fate as his family.

Another enchanting story from Magic, New Mexico

~*~


~*~

Excerpt:

Donnie reached for the other stack of cups, pulled one off the top, and managed to hold onto it this time without causing a minor avalanche.

“M-i-k-h-a-i-l.” GQ spelled out his name, his deep voice blending the harsh-spoken consonants with the softer vowels.

All she could do was nod, wide-eyed like an enthralled child at Disneyland for the first time. By some miracle, the permanent marker was in her hand, but Mikhail still held her gaze. Good thing he was the only customer in the shop because there was no way Rhonda would be able to read the letters she was scratching across the cup’s surface.

What was the next step down from pathetic?

She gave her head a shake and managed to paste a half-smile on her face for Mikhail. At least, she hoped it was a smile. With the way things were going she was probably drooling out of one side of her mouth. “Would you like anything else to go with that?”

Mikhail’s tongue wet his lips. If he kept this up, she’d fall to her knees right here in front of everyone and beg him to take her upstairs. “Not right now, thank you, Donnie.”

No man had ever made her nick name sound so sexy. It was the accent, no doubt about it. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Numb, that’s what she was. Numb all over. Her legs, hands, lips…entire face.

He pressed a fifty in her hand. “Keep the change.”

She moved her mouth, but no sound came out. A tip this big would more than cover the cups lost, and then some. He winked and stepped down toward the end of the counter. She gripped the sides of the register and inhaled a deep breath.

What had just happened? 


BUY LINK 
for
Made For Her

AMAZON



Bio:
Lea Kirk loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her science fiction and paranormal romances. She is the author of the sci-fi romance Prophecy series.

Her fascination with science fiction began at six years old when her dad introduced her to the original Star Trek TV series. She fell in love with the show, and may have run through her parents’ house wearing the tunic top of her red-knit pantsuit and white go-go boots pretending to be Lieutenant Uhura. By nine years old she knew she wanted to be a writer, and in her teens she read her first romance and was hooked.

She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her wonderful hubby of twenty-seven years and their five kids (aka, the nerd herd).



Social links

Website: www.leakirk.com
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/leakirk

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Embrace the Romance: Pet's In Space featuring Star Cruise: Song Bird by Veronica Scott

Note by Liza O'Connor
I've had the honor to read all the stories in this boxset. Veronica Scott's was one of my favorites. A solid 5 star!

And here's Veronica Scott!
Thanks for having me as your guest today to talk about Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2! I wrote my first rock star romance novella for this anthology, although of course being me I had to put a science fiction twist on it. Here’s the story summary for “Star Cruise: Songbird” and then I’ll talk a bit more about Valkyr, the pet my hero owns. Although Valkyr is more of a partner than a pet!



Blurb for Star Cruise: Songbird:
Grant Barton, a Security Officer on the Nebula Zephyr, is less than thrilled with his current assignment to guard an Interstellar singing sensation while she’s on board the ship. It doesn’t help that he and his military war bird Valkyr are dealing with their recent separation from the Sectors Special Forces and uncertainty over their future, with their own planet in ruins.

Karissa Dawnstar is on top of the charts and seemingly has it all – talent, fame, fortune and devoted fans, but behind her brave smile and upbeat lyrics she hides an aching heart. When a publicity stunt goes wrong, Karissa finds herself in the arms of the security officer assigned to protect her – and discovers a mutual attraction she can’t ignore.

Trouble continues to plague the pair, driving a wedge between them and leaving Grant certain that Karissa is in more danger than she realizes, from overzealous fans and her own management. Grant is determined to protect Karissa whether she wants his help or not. Can he discover the truth behind what’s going on before he loses Karissa or is there someone else plotting to keep them apart – permanently?

I’ve always been fascinated by the practice of falconry, and the bond between humans and magnificent raptors, so when we decided to continue our Pets in Space theme with volume 2 this year, I immediately gravitated to the idea of a man and an eagle. (I wrote a cat and an alien tribble/red panda/sort of pet for last year’s collection.). 

In this excerpt my hero explains some of the background that led to his acquiring Valkyr.

The excerpt:

“Qaazamir eagles bond at birth with their handler. That’s how we have our mental link. Actually, Valkyr bonded with my great grandfather.”

Mouth open in shock, she asked, “How old is he?”

“Two hundred or so. It was common for the birds to be passed down in the same family line. As long as the DNA of the descendants contained certain dominant markers, the bird treated each the same as his original partner. He only bonds to one human at a time, so the new handler must be present at the death of the previous owner, or very close. Of course sometimes birds were stolen by upstarts the elders hadn’t selected. Clan wars were fought over good nesting areas. An egg was the most desired dowry.” Grant smiled. “There was an entire indigenous culture on Qaazamir, rich traditions.”

“What happened?”

“The Sectors happened. Qaazamir was colonized early on, before many of the laws and protections were developed. If the planet was discovered for the first time now, there’d be no colonization because the planet had inhabitants and the birds would still exist. My people would still exist.” He stared at the horizon. These were matters of which he normally never spoke. “But the colonists pushed the rightful owners of the planet aside, mined the rich ores, polluted the water and the ground…it’s a toxic hellhole now. In fact, what happened on Qaazamir was the primary reason the Sectors established safeguards. But by then it was too late for us. We had a dying planet. My ancestors refused to accept reality for a long time. They thought having won their case at the Sectors Supreme Court meant everything would be fine. But the corporate colonists left and the poisons remained.”

“You—you were the upstart who took the bird? Took Valkyr?”

He nodded. “I could see the way the extinction trend was going. Valkyr had passed to my great aunt and then my father. I was already in the Special Forces when he was dying of amphbagan fever, a wasting disease caused by the poisons leaching from the ground, but I got compassionate leave and made it home in time. I took Valkyr with my father’s blessing, if not that of the elders. I tried to find a female so he could mate, but by then there were no more females. The last few clutches of eggs were deformed and never hatched.  I was banished in absentia for stealing Valkyr from my cousin.”

He turned his gaze on Karissa, who was leaning forward, chin resting on her hand, apparently mesmerized by his story. “My father and I felt that as long as one Qaazamir eagle flew free somewhere in the galaxy, our people, our traditions would not have perished. There are no birds and hardly any people left on Qaazamir. It’s a wasteland. The military was happy to accept Valkyr and me into the Z Command, to carry out unique missions behind enemy lines.”



Blurb for Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2:

The pets are back! Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, featuring twelve of today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors brings you a dozen original stories written just for you! Join in the fun, from the Dragon Lords of Valdier to a trip aboard award-winning author, Veronica Scott’s Nebula Zephyr to journeying back to Luda where Grim is King, for stories that will take you out of this world! Join New York Times, USA TODAY, and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, M.K. Eidem, Susan Grant, Michelle Howard, Cara Bristol, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Sabine Priestley, Jessica E. Subject, Carol Van Natta, and Alexis Glynn Latner as they share stories and help out Hero-Dogs.org, a charity that supports our veterans!

10% of the first months profits go to Hero-Dogs.org. Hero Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence.

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Author Bio:
Best Selling Science Fiction, Fantasy & Paranormal Romance author, as well as the “SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happy Ever After blog, Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.
Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances! She recently was honored to read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”