Saturday, October 3, 2015

An Interrupted Wedding 5 - Snippet for #WeWriWa from Grand Master's Mate



Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Here, writers showcase their stories with 8-10 sentences. Join the fun and read our snippets.

Today, I’ll continue the horrid wedding scene from my WIP, Grand Master’s Mate, Book 3 in the trilogy. Violet and her Grand Master, Athanor, are at the wedding of her friends when the Red Queen, Morrigu, drops in, explosively.

You can read last Sunday’s snippet here: 
. 
Steeling for combat, Violet called to Athanor, “Fetch my sword. I’ll divert her attention.
Sensing him teleport the Sword of Tyr, she opened her hand to clasp the hilt. Purple fire swept from the pommel to the tip of the blade. Jumping out of Athanor’s protective envelope, Violet aimed the sword at the Red Queen.
Insane hatred beat into her mind and Violet staggered under the impact of Morrigu’s fury. Firming her mental shield, she took a step forward and thrust the blade at the Red Queen. Psi blasted her backwards, a chair slammed against her leg and she fell. Holding the sword steady, Violet twisted aside and landed on her outstretched palm. Bouncing back onto her feet and swiveling to face the Red Queen, Violet was blocked by the horrendous psi pressure.


Books 1 & 2 of the Trilogy are published.
Book 1 is 99c until Oct 5th
Grand Master’s Pawn: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TP1N5PM
Grand Master’s Game: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0104OFJJ8

Please return to www.wewriwa.com to sample the works of the other writers. 


Permafree Short Story in the Universe of the Grand Masters

Thursday, October 1, 2015

SFRB Showcase - the Grand Master's Trilogy



Welcome to the October Showcase. Remember to stop by the other posts and leave your comments.
Today, I’ll showcase a longer excerpt from my Trilogy and I have a free short story about Mars for the early birds visiting my post. 


FREE mini eBook Oct 2-3 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T0TOZYO

Excerpt from Book 2, Grand Master’s Game:
They popped into the central ring of Moon Station by the row of portal cylinders, finding an eerie silence and none of the usual bustle of travelers entering and exiting the portals. No lights or buzz of machinery from the inner hub, housing the air handler and climate controller for the station. Sunlight filtered through the transparent dome overhead, and the sensors on Violet’s suit indicated the air was breathable without leaks in their segment of the Station.  
 “Hades, we’re stuck here!” Athanor swore in a flare of rage. To Violet’s astonishment, his eyes were dull and his disguised face had reverted to the grim hawkish features. “I’ve lost power.” His explanation was unnecessary.
Closing her eyes, Violet assessed her senses. Nothing! She gasped, “So have I.”
Athanor said, “We are fortunate the atmosphere was retained in this section.”
Kondric pulled off the headpiece of his suit, wrinkled his nose and nodded. Following his example, Violet rolled off the headpiece and sniffed cautiously. She identified the stale smell of recycled air.
The workmen placed their toolboxes by the nearest portal cylinder and swung the door open. Kondric watched them with interest. Shaking back his long hair, Athanor wandered over to the transparent barrier separating the inner ring from the outer terminal. Violet gazed beyond the outer ring of the station to the crater pocked surface of the moon. Nearby, she spotted the blue-tinted dome of the low gravity sanatorium, and in the distance, the cranes and towers of the mining operations.
The hiss of air alerted her. Rotating towards the sound, Violet saw the air-locked door to the next section of the ring slide aside. Massive creatures bounded through the door. Twice the size of a man, they were a nightmare cross of spider and wasp with eight legs, stubby wings, yellow and black stripes, and huge mandibles like a pair of scythes. They were inhumanly fast.
One hurtled straight at Violet, jaws open like giant scissors.
The giant striped spider leaped at Violet and she dodged aside. Too late! Her attacker jammed her neck in its pincers and dragged her off her feet. She swung from its mandibles, her hands and feet struggling for purchase on its hard carapace. One small part of her mind wondered how she could still breathe. The rest of her brain searched for an escape. In the background, the yells, screams, thudding blows, and the muffled boom of an explosion told of her companions’ battles. An acid odor filled the air and the enormous head loomed over her face, eight giant eyes next to hers.
Energized by terror, Violet grabbed hold of one pincer and scraped her fingernails across the nearest eyes. She’d hit a sensitive spot. The spider-wasp jerked violently, flinging Violet’s body from side to side. Her legs thumped on the floor. Biting back the pain, she clawed at another eye and twisted her legs, bracing her knees against the base of its fore limbs. The jaws held firm on her neck. She was stuck.
Something grabbed her arm. A large hand thrust a dagger into the monster’s eye, twisting deep into the head. A blood stained hand in a familiar black leather sleeve. Green blood spouted around the blade. The monster jerked and stilled, its jaws still clamped on her neck. Athanor had stabbed into its brain. His grim face hovered over her startled eyes, his teeth bared in a fierce grimace. He grasped the ends of the horrid mandibles, gritted his teeth and exerted his full strength to open the jaws. 
Violet toppled onto Athanor’s knees. In the background, the stump of heavy footsteps preceded a shout of command and the zap of heavy weapons.
The cavalry had arrived, belatedly.

Grand Master's Pawn is still only 99c. 
 
Blurb for Book 1
Young empath, Violet Hunter, travels the galaxy on missions for her mysterious Grand Master using the vast web of teleportals. Life-threatening cracks appear in the portals and Violet agrees to investigate the disruptions. When she discovers the perpetrator comes from within the ranks of the Twelve Grand Masters, Violet penetrates their curtain of secrecy to fulfill her task. Armed with only her erratic powers and a mishmash of allies, she must challenge the most powerful beings in the galaxy.

Blurb for Book 2
Violet and Athanor Griffin spin across the galaxy, seeking solutions to the worsening portal crisis. Failures of the interplanetary portals sever transport and communications and people will starve without vital shipments of food. Athanor devises a risky plan to flush out the perpetrators, the vicious Red Queen and her unknown allies among the powerful Grand Masters. In the inevitable battle with their enemies, Violet and Athanor must recruit allies and overcome their worst nightmares.



Buy Links:
Grand Master’s Pawn: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TP1N5PM
Grand Master’s Game: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0104OFJJ8


Please return to read the posts of the other authors in SFRB Showcase


Media links:

Monday, September 28, 2015

New Release - Stranded with the Cyborg by Cara Bristol



Released September 22 - Stranded with the Cyborg (Book 1 of the Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance series)

Blurb:
Penelope Aaron, the former Terran president’s daughter, regrets how she got Agent Brock Mann booted from the security force. But now that she’s an interplanetary ambassador about to embark on her first diplomatic mission, she still doesn’t want him tagging along. Especially since he seems to be stronger, faster, more muscled, and sexier than she remembers. And pretending to be her husband? This mission couldn’t get more impossible! 

Ten years ago Penelope Isabella Aaron had been a pain in Brock Mann’s you-know-what. Much has changed in a decade: “PIA” as he code-named her, has grown up and is about to attend her first Alliance of Planets summit conference, and Brock has been transformed into a cyborg after a near-fatal attack. Now a secret agent with Cyber Operations, a covert paramilitary organization, Brock gets called in, not when the going gets tough, but when the going gets impossible. So when he’s unexpectedly assigned to escort Penelope to the summit meeting, he balks at babysitting a prissy ambassador. But after a terrorist bombing, a crash landing on a hostile planet, and a growing attraction to his protectee, Operation: PIA may become his most impossible assignment yet.

Excerpt
“Ten years have passed. Penelope is different now,” Carter said.
Brock doubted that. “Does she know about me?”
“That you’re a cyborg? Of course not. She hasn’t been told anything about the program or even that you’re the one who’s been assigned to her.”
“Yeah, spring it on her. That will go over well.” He could envision the tantrum, and, after she calmed down, the scheme she would devise to circumvent the decision. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been emerging from his quarters half-dressed, a triumphant smile tilting her lips. Shortly thereafter, two fellow agents had come to arrest him.
President Aaron had exonerated him, the transcripts from the investigation had been sealed, and he’d been offered reassignment. Instead, he’d taken a position with an anti-terrorist investigative organization. His unit got attacked; his fellow operatives had died. Carter, who’d been working with Cy-Ops all along, had swooped in and saved his ass.
“I’m not saying I’ll do it, but, hypothetically, if I had a computer meltdown and agreed, what would be my cover story? I couldn’t tag along as her bodyguard because that would unsettle the Xenians.”
Carter poured another shot of Cerinian brandy and downed it. He met Brock’s gaze dead-on. “You’d accompany Ambassador Aaron as her husband.”
“Oh, hell no!”

 Buy Links: 






B&N - 
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stranded-with-the-cyborg-cara-bristol/1122676806

Author bio
Multi-published, Cara Bristol is the author of more than 20 erotic romance titles. She writes science fiction, contemporary, and paranormal erotic romance. No matter what the subgenre, one thing remains constant: her emphasis on character-driven seriously hot erotic stories with sizzling chemistry between the hero and heroine. Cara has lived many places in the United States, but currently lives in Missouri with her husband. She has two grown stepkids. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading and traveling. 

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