Friday, August 31, 2018

Scavenger Vanishes by Liza 0'Connor



Scavenger Vanishes
By
Liza O’Connor

I have this fascination with lions, and they seem to be fascinated with me as well…Only not in a good way. When I was in Australia, a male lion left his ladies to come down to the corner of the fence, from where I was admiring him. He started roaring midway there and once he got to the corner and was only a foot away from me, my heart was literally pounding. It wasn’t just the extreme loudness of the roar. I could feel the heat from his breath. Every sense of survival instinct within me screamed “Run Bambi Run”. Instead, I remained frozen to the spot and let him yell at me for nearly a half hour. Then he returned to his females and I moved on, my heart still pounding.

Then when I was in Canada, I came upon another male lion who seemed to want to play with me. He didn’t roar at first. He just stalked me, hiding behind little trees that could not block his giant body from view. Finally, he went into attack mode, rushing towards me. When he neared the fifteen-foot fence, he leapt, hitting it about seven feet up, and to my horror, the fence bowed out as if it wished to fall on me.

He hung there, evidently very proud of himself, then he dropped back to the ground and roared at me over and over.

I hurried off to the main gate and reported the incident to the person at the desk. The lady assured me they were building a new lion exhibit and it would be ready in a month or two. I told her I didn’t think she had that long before the lion escaped his cage. I often wondered which of us was correct.

Lions still fascinate me, but I never wish to encounter one without a sturdy fence between us because something about me sets them off.




Scavenger Vanishes

By Liza O’Connor


Blurb
Stationed on opposite coasts, Alisha and Logan must each face their own demons and challenges. On the West Coast, Alisha loses her rank for butting heads with General Powell and soon discovers the life of a private can be utter hell. On the East Coast, newly promoted General Logan discovers his soldiers do not recognize his authority to command. In an effort to retake control of the East Coast Corps, Logan authorizes unthinkable actions. When Alisha faces a life-threatening crisis, will Logan rise above his own troubles, or will she discover love and rescue with her best friend Jack?


EXCERPT

Alisha was glad to be off the stage. Despite the very brave front she had put on for the general, the rage inside him was palpable and frightening. It reminded her of a time when a massive lion stood just inches in front of her at a zoo and burst into roars of fury. Primal fear had surged through her body as the lion’s hot, deathly breath swept over her. Her chest literally vibrated from its roar.

Powell had not yet roared, but his pent-up anger was even more frightening than a lion’s.

The general called the meeting to order. “Upon reviewing the videos of the battles, I am extremely disappointed with both the planning and execution of the battle.” He then spent fifteen minutes slamming Jack for his substandard efforts. Ignoring Alisha’s participation completely, he moved on to the performance of the men. After he called out the first name and demerits, Alisha spoke up loudly.

“Sir, per reg 6.98, I request transfer of the demerits to myself.”

“Granted,” the general replied, and read off the next name.

Stubbornly, Powell read off every single name on his list, and just as stubbornly, Alisha took on the demerits of every Ryder herself. By the end, she had acquired 15,132 demerits.

The general glared down at her. “Fifteen thousand demerits drops you down to a buck private, Kane.”


SALES LINK
The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 3
Scavenger Vanishes

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.

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THERE’S OVER 45 OF THEM

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Scavenger Falters by Liza O'Connor



How Did Alisha Survive the Cully River Meat-eaters?
During Alisha’s death-defying Broadtown mission she released her catcher at two thousand feet and soared down into a crosswind, somehow managing to stay upright on her slats even as she tossed blasters to take out ten concussion launchers, a tank, and everyone in the Czech field command tent. She even managed to do this without crashing. Still, she had no hope of surviving, for she headed straight to the Cully River, thick with meat-eaters.

As she reached the Cully River at high speed, she dropped the bag of remaining blasters into the water, soared over the surface of the water as she triggered the blasters to explode. The explosion beneath the water tossed her in the air while killing or knocking unconscious all the meat-eaters in the vicinity. By the time she fell back into the water the sharks in the area were dead or stunned. This wasn’t luck, but perfect timing of the explosions coupled with her agility to remain upright and ride the water.
At the time, however, everyone believed she had died by meat-eaters in the Cully River. But miraculously she survived.
And now she discovers that after the Broadtown battle, Jack (Colonel Sparks) sent out men to locate and retrieve Alisha’s wind-catcher. This is fabulous news. She has made so many modifications to her catcher that she is relieved she won’t have to start from scratch and try to re-create the same masterpiece twice.
What Jack doesn’t tell her until later is that it is in need of repairs.  But even if she has to begin with a new windcatcher, having the old one will ensure she modifies it the same.
So she is thrilled that Jack took the time to rescue it.


Scavenger Falters
By
Liza O’Connor
BLURB
Alisha Kane, the Corps’ best flyer, is promoted to colonel, in charge of teaching the Corp’s SkyRyders her extraordinary flying maneuvers. The man she loves, Logan, continues to place the Corps first and insists they both remain focused on their work. For Alisha, this means ferreting out the best flyers in a Corps that has systematically forced great flyers into mediocrity. Logan focuses on learning Alisha’s flying techniques so that he can become the hero the East Coast desperately needs. The result includes fractured ribs and broken hearts, but through it all they never relinquish their love of the Corps.


EXCERPT

Jack sighed and stood up. “Regrettably, I have to leave now and take Wonder Woman away with me. General Powell wants a full accounting within the hour.”
Alisha sighed, handing the jacket back to him. “I’ll go get my flight suit…ah shit! My catcher!” She had disconnected her catcher at a thousand feet before taking her suicide-bombing run behind the concussion launchers. She’d never find it this late. It had probably blown across three states by now.
“It’s in my jeep outside. As soon as the battle was contained, I sent a squad out to recover it.”
“Even though you didn’t think I survived?” she asked, pleased by the gesture.
Evidently, Colonel Logan had reached his breaking point and for the first time in the last hour, he spoke. “Of course he retrieved your catcher. Even if you were gone, we could still learn and improve our flying techniques by studying your alterations. He wasn’t being kind, Alisha. He was doing his job.”


SALES LINKS
The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 2
Scavenger Falters


The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 1
Scavenger’s Mission


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.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Scavenger's Mission @Liza0Connor






How to get along in the SkyRyders. Be male and don’t fly better than your captain. Have your family send their best sweets in your monthly care package so you can give them to your captain. Accept your position as Dog for the first year of training. 

If you are female, expect to be abused, tormented, and diminished, because as far as the captain is concerned, females are only good for one thing. And if you refuse to play, prepare to die.

So what’s going to happen to Alisha when she flies with skills far beyond her captain’s and knows him to be the one who murdered her friend?




Scavenger’s Mission

By Liza O’Connor



Blurb
Meet Alisha: A young woman who refuses to live the life her parents want.
In a single month, Alisha Kane has gone from a wealthy debutante to street girl to scavenger.  While testing her new flying skills in the Cully Canyon, Alisha incurs a near-death crash landing. She’s “rescued” by a colonel of the SkyRyders and her life changes forever.
Meet Logan: A SkyRyder colonel in charge of a sleepy fort with little to do other than arrest the occasional scavenger.
For the first time in his life, Logan’s attracted to a young woman, only she’s probably a scavenger and he’ll have to arrest her.  But first he offers her a shower and food while he checks on his crew. His videographer has captured her extraordinary flight through the Cully and her flying is astounding!
He forgoes arresting her and puts his career at risk by asking MAC to assess her skills and integrity as a potential SkyRyder. If he can get Alisha into the SkyRyders, it will be his greatest contribution to the Corps.
Meet MAC: The Artifical Intelligence that runs the SkyRyders Corps.
Upon seeing her arrival, MAC upgrades Alisha’s test. Her flying skills are not just excellent; they exceed what was previously thought possible. MAC classifies her as its top asset and soon she proves her value. 
But…the SkyRyders remain a male dominated Corps where Alisha’s sense of right and wrong often clashes with her superiors. How long can a rebellious young woman survive in a regimented Corps?

Excerpt

After her third stall-out and dunking on the ridge, Alisha attempted to out-climb him, but Washington and Ollie were behind her, diverting a major portion of her wind. All she did was increase the distance of her fall when she stalled. Thank God the suit she wore was three sizes too large, for it helped her to slow the descent and direct her fall into an overhanging tree so the wind-catcher caught in its limbs, preventing her from smashing down onto pointy granite rocks at high speed.
When the tree limbs broke from the force of impact, she still fell and hurt her knee in the tumble, but at least she lived.
She had hoped DC would be satisfied with the results of the day. She’d been thoroughly beaten, humiliated, and humbled. While severe, her injury would not cause him censure. His punishment had been perfectly planned and executed.
To her shock, he commanded her to get up and take another run. Alisha realized something had broken in his twisted mind. It wasn’t his intent to punish her. He planned to kill her.
Thus, Alisha saw no alternative but to fly into the wind farm. Using a standard catcher, death was a probability, but if she didn’t escape DC and his obedient squad, she now realized death was a certainty. If his intent had been anything but murder, he would have stopped after the last crash.
How she managed to turn and steer her clumsy catcher into the farm, she didn’t know. Feigning left, she pulled the catcher hard right, aiming between two rows of invisible blades. The greatest danger was that the wind would blow her catcher into a blade. There would be no recovery. Within seconds of first contact, the blades would reel her in and chop her body into a thousand pieces.
Without question she’d be safer if she just collapsed her catcher and hit the ground, but if she landed too close to the border of the farm, DC could hunt her down on foot. With her leg busted up, she’d be the slowest rabbit he’d ever bagged.
Alisha held the catcher steady against the west wind until she estimated she was a mile into the farm. She released her harness at the exact same time she collapsed her catcher. She hoped it would fall safely to the ground and not wrap up in a wind generator, but if it did, she sure as hell didn’t want to follow it up.
She hit the ground favoring her strong leg, but it didn’t matter. The pain was so intense that she rolled into a ball, trying desperately not to black out.
“Get up,” she warned herself. “Hide the catcher and get away from here.”
Somehow Alisha forced herself to move farther into the farm. She didn’t worry about leaving prints in the sand. The wind blew so hard any footprints disappeared in seconds.
After walking over half a mile east into the farm, she noticed blood dripping from her knee. She unzipped her suit and pulled off her shirt, wrapping it tightly around the open wound. The pressure hurt like hell, but she had to stop the bleeding. While the sand covered the drops of blood in seconds, the tracking gear DC had could still follow it.
Realizing they had to be close behind, she altered her direction and headed south.
A sense of danger made her turn around. When she did, she saw the laser bead on her shoulder. She weaved through the windmill posts, hoping the metal would confuse the bullet as it attempted to follow the path to its target. When she heard the bullet ricochet on metal, she stopped for a moment and re-assessed the situation.

SALES LINK

The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 1

Scavenger’s Mission


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.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Ghost Lover by Liza O'Connor

Ghost Lover has returned,
 and he’s sexier than ever.



Ghost Lover
By Liza O’Connor

Contemporary Romance with a touch of paranormal



Blurb

Two sexy English brothers. One irresistible ghost. Who would you choose as your lover?

Completely broke and with a criminal record to boot, Senna Smith is one day from eviction from her apartment when Brendon, her promiscuous roommate from London, suggests she go to England, marry him, and manage his fortune. With few other options, she agrees to an open marriage. But she’ll never, ever, have sex with him, knowing if she falls in love with him, he’ll break her heart.

As trustee of Brendon’s family fortune, there is no way Brendon’s older brother, Garrison Durran, is going to let him marry a self-professed American gold-digger. As Senna tries to embrace castle life and English society for Brendon’s sake, Gar discovers Senna is the perfect woman for him--beautiful and intelligent, kind and caring. Now, if she wasn’t already engaged to his brother…

The ancestral ghost of Durran Castle has to intervene if the Durran brothers have any chance of an heir. He can’t leave them to fix matters on their own. They are useless buggers when it comes to love. As counselor to Gar, matchmaker for Brendon, and lover to Senna, a ghost’s work is never done.

CONTENT WARNING: 
Allergy warning: Ghost cat in book.  

BUY LINK

Excerpt

Brendon moved to the window and stared out. “I don’t think you realized how bad things became for me when Nan died. I’d lost the only person who cared for me. I had no one left. The million dollars I lost on a roulette wheel wasn’t done just to get rid of the cook. I did it to get your attention. While you didn’t give a shit about me, you’ve always loved money. And it worked. You finally noticed me.”

“And sent you away,” Gar said with remorse.

“Yeah.” Brendon turned and gave him a faint smile. “Not exactly the response I’d hoped for, but it turned out all right. I met Senna and since then life keeps getting easier with each day. Now I find I even like you most of the time.”

“Well, the feeling is mutual. You’re still eccentric, but you’ve a good heart and good intent, and I’m proud you’re my brother.”

Suddenly the door opened and Senna walked in looking at both men with concern. “Are you two having a fight?”

“Not at all.” Brendon smiled. “In fact, Gar told me he’s proud I’m his brother.”

Senna’s eyes filled with appreciation as she grinned at Gar.
Her smile almost broke Gar’s heart. God help him, but Brendon had nailed the truth. He did love Senna, and more than anything, he wanted her to be his wife.


AUTHOR INFO
About Liza O'Connor

Liza 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. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT 
LIZA O'CONNOR

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Sunday, August 19, 2018

Ancient Love by Liza O'Connor


A Dark Suspenseful Ghost Thriller
With a Romantic Ending


Seven hundred years ago, Rainier was forced to marry an ungainly tall creature named Alise. Thus, the beginning of their marriage left them both angry and resentful, for neither liked the mate they were forced, by the King, to marry.

Soon Rainier discovered his unwanted wife to be intelligent, helpful, and much stronger than her tall, thin frame would suggest. He regretted having ever called her hideous because he now thought her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Alise, likewise, had softened her view of Rainier. He was not arrogant, as she first assumed. In fact, he was kind, generous to his people, and had no trouble helping out when an extra hand was needed. He was, in fact, the finest Duke she had ever known.

That was not what King Edward had intended to happen! He had wanted the two to fight like cats and dogs, so when Rainier finally killed the shrew, Edward could have him hung and take his land.

Since his first plan wasn’t going to work, he concocted various schemes to get rid of Rainier, but they never worked. Upon seeing Alise in an enchanting red gown, he decided to make her his mistress. Only the female would not cooperate, resulting in her death the night before her 39th birthday.  Rainer attacked within hours, but Edward’s soldier lay in waiting and Rainier died…or should have done so. Instead, he became a ghost who tormented Edward through the remainder of his life.

The bond between Alise and Rainer refuses to break. He lives as a ghost waiting for her return. She lives one miserable human life after another. Her only chance for happiness is when she nears the ghost of Rainier. Only then will she remember her true love and experience true joy.

However, she always dies the night before her 39th birthday in a brutal fashion and there is nothing that Rainier can do to stop it!



BLURB
Alice has no idea that a deadly danger follows her through every life she lives. All she knows is for the first time in this life, she is happy and with purpose in a quaint museum located in an ancient castle. Only Rainier, a ghost from the past, knows the complete truth, and a curse prevents him from warning her of the dangers that will end her life, as it has ended all her lives before. But this time, a man of his bloodline has entered the battle, so Rainier is not alone in his fight to keep Alice alive and well from the demon of their past.
An intriguing tale that pits everlasting love against a deadly curse that has followed the heroine through all her lives. A ghost from her past and a good man in her current life risk everything to keep her alive.

EXCERPT

She only wanted to see if the wheel still had that flawless spin to it. With a surreptitious glance about the room, Alice moved closer to the wheel but stopped due to a guard staring directly at her with a scowl as if he thought her trouble.
Maybe later, if he stepped away, she’d give it a try.
Further down was a citrine. She didn’t have to wonder if the citrine’s handle still worked, since the most gorgeous, virile man she had ever laid eyes on was testing it out for himself. She looked over at the guard to see if he noticed, but he was watching the door, completely unaware of what was occurring on the right side of the courtyard/ballroom.
The man’s arms rippled with muscles through the coarse linen shirt. The front of his shirt was opened halfway down his chest, and his bronze skin glistened beneath. His pants were skin tight ending below his knees, where off-white stockings took over. Her eyes moved upward. Either he’d stuffed his codpiece or God had generously endowed him. She suspected the latter.
He looked up and stared straight into her eyes. She blushed and turned away, embarrassed he had caught her admiring his magnificent physique. If she were just the least bit attractive, he probably wouldn’t mind the attention, but she wasn’t pretty, and a man like him would only be appalled by her appreciation.
She hurried to the next exhibit, hoping to escape her embarrassment. Yet as she stared at the anvil and farm tools, all she could think of was the glorious man. She would have dared another look except she could feel his eyes burning into her back; touching the very core of her soul even now.
She continued around the room, only daring another look at him when the burning touch of his stare ceased. He had returned to working the cistern. God, he was so beautiful! If only she could capture that magnificence on paper.
She sat down on a bench across the room from him and took out her drawing pad. She sketched with rapid strokes, hoping to finish before he noticed.
She was almost finished when she felt a chill, as if the sun had gone behind a cloud. She looked up and realized the glorious man was gone. Her heart felt as if it might break.


SALES LINK
ANCIENT LOVE
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.

(There’s over 45 now)
Social Networks 





Thursday, August 16, 2018

Arrival: Titan by Liza O'Connor


Escaping imminent death
There were a great many people who didn’t want the colony of scientists to succeed. In fact, they concocted fifteen sabotages to prevent the team from reaching Titan. And due to some extraordinary efforts by the soldiers, the scientists, and the students, and their AI, all fifteen attempts to stop them failed.

The ship quantum leaped into the nearby space of Titan, only the captain of the ship intended to dump all the brilliant teens into space, and torture Colonel Lancaster to death. The remaining scientists and soldiers would have become slaves.  While the captain believed all the students and scientists were safely locked in their tiny rooms, the little bots quickly released them and lead them to the hold, where their animals were being kept. The scientists sent their little bots into ceiling ducts to locate the wiring for the main controls of the ship, so they could take control of the ship from the hold.

Then a bot was sent into the ceiling ducts searching for the scent of Colonel Lancaster. It quickly located the room Lancaster was lock in and unlocked his door. Then the bot moved ahead, checking for dangers, as it led him to the hold.

When Lancaster arrives in the hold, he discovers Scarlett, their fabulous AI, has taken control the ship and everyone not in the hold is taking a nap.


Arrival: Titan
By
Liza O’Connor
 Blurb
Dangers continue even as the crew of soldiers, scientists, and brilliant teens quantum leap to space near Titan.
Captain Drake has his own agenda, and it doesn’t include Colonel Lancaster, or the students being alive for much longer. Fortunately, the scientists and students are a formidable group to go against. The attempted takeover is stopped with only one death.
When Scarlett lands the ship on the north pole near the methane lake, they discover several sentient life forms. They also learn that the moon, Pan, is actually a ship called the Death Star, mining minerals in the outer rings of Saturn. Even more shocking—Jupiter is not a planet, but a disguised ‘eye in the sky’ watching over the mining interests of a superior sentient planet.

Excerpt
Captain Caesar Drake pointed to a chair. “Strap in and avoid movement.” He then took his captain’s chair and spoke in his com unit. “Prepare for transport, at mark of ten.”

As the numbers counted down on the monitor, Drake glared at Lancaster. “Sorry, but you’re going to have to miss your court-marshal, because destiny awaits me.”

At the count of one, a bright light flashed before Lancaster. He held his breath waiting for reality to return. For a very long moment, he seemed to be in the same instant of time. Then with another flash of light, all seemed normal, except for the image before him.

On the monitor was Titan, a little over seven-hundred and fifty-nine thousand miles away from its massive, ringed planet, Saturn.

Titan, a moon most like early Earth, and now the future of mankind—if they could do what nature had done on its own to Earth. Otherwise, they would simply die here. But they had a chance, albeit slim, to succeed, and that was better odds than those left on Earth.

Given the brilliance of the scientists and kids that were in this ship, Colonel Lancaster believed it possible.

The captain wasted no time admiring their orange fuzzy home or the beauty of Saturn and her lovely rings. Instead, he engaged the engines and headed straight towards Titan. After three seconds, he disengaged the engines and let the ship continue on its own momentum.

“Will that be sufficient?” Colonel Lancaster asked.

His former friend and presently annoyed captain responded. “Are you capable of flying this ship?”

“No, I’m not. However, I do outrank you, so let’s not start a pissing war. Survival will require all of our brilliance. I just wanted you to share your thoughts with me, because you are now a part of this team…unless you had orders to return to Earth.”

Drake sighed. “No. This is a one-way journey. No do-overs. We, hopefully, will have sufficient fuel to search for an optimal landing spot. Otherwise, we’ll land where we can until your scientist can create some form of fuel that this ship can use. Fortunately, the gravity pull is quite mild here. So, we won’t need to waste fuel on landing if we land somewhere that allows for a long runway drift-down.


Sales Links
Destination: Titan
Arrival: Titan
All books are free for KU subscribers


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.

Social Networks
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