Tag: LGBTQIA Science Fiction

An Alisa Audiobook Review: Opposites (Opposites #1) by T. M. Smith and Greg Boudreaux (Narrator)

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

opposites-audioIn the year 2081 our planet survived global warming of an apocalyptic scale. When the dust settled and the water receded Dr. Anthony Smith, one of only a few hundred survivors of GWI, started society anew. Having come to the conclusion that injudicious breeding played a huge role in the destruction of Earth as we knew it in the twenty first century, he worked closely with other survivors to isolate the Dionysus gene. This gene has the ability to manipulate human DNA to ensure that all male children be born gay, and all female children be born lesbians. A new society is born.

 

In the year 2300 Dr. Smith’s descendants are ushering in the twenty fourth century having maintained control of the government that still rules society. Twins Aiya and Aiyan are preparing to meet their matches and take control of House Gaeland, the current ruling House. But not everything is as it seems.

 

Love is Love, it knows no gender and doesn’t conform to restrictions and boundaries. Aiyan has found his soul mate in Kaden, the prince of House Devi that he is matched with and eventually marries. But when the person Aiya falls in love with tests the boundaries put in place after GWI, all hell breaks loose. And in the midst of one secret unraveling, another will emerge. There is a growing anomaly that threatens to destroy over two hundred years of progression. This anomaly is known as Opposites.

 

This was an interesting book and a bit different from what I usually read.  There is a lot going on with along with a large number of characters to keep track of.  Each person has a set of both mothers and fathers since they are primarily homosexual in this world.  Most of the focus is on Aiya and Aiyan’s relationships and those directly connected to them, soon to be spouses and their families.

 

This story is told from all points of view at some point which can make it hard to keep track of what’s going on or who we are listening to at the moment, it probably took me until about a third of the way in the story to be able to keep better track of everything once I learned the characters.  The author did a great job of building the story and the world around these characters, there was never something missing in the world, sometimes there was a bit more explaining than I thought was necessary.  I was left wanting to know what will happen in the next story due to the ending, but am not going to spoil it for anyone.

 

Greg Boudreaux did a nice job narrating this story.  The different voices for the characters made it a bit easier to keep track of what was going on.  He did a good job of separating the numerous characters that we see which helped.  While he separated the voices I got most of the characters emotions from the writing than from his speaking.

 

Cover art is nice and catches your eye.

 

Sales Links: Audible | Amazon

 

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, 6 hrs 16 min
Published: September 22, 2016 (ebook first published June 1, 2013)
Edition Language: English

Series: Opposites #1

Audiobook HIghlight with ‘Writing the Dystopian edge’ by T.M. Smith and his Opposites audiobook release! (guest post and giveaway)

Opposites is now available on Audiobook 
Written by T.M. Smith
Narrated by Greg Boudreaux

Writing the Dystopian edge by T.M. Smith

Hello everyone, and thanks for stopping by Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for their stop on the Opposites Audiobook tour. I thought I’d talk about the Dystopian edge to the world that I created for Opposites. I’m a huge fan of books like Dune, The Lord of the Rings and the Matched series by Allie Condie. I pulled elements from these three series when I started writing Opposites.

In Dune, people don’t have last names, they have Houses. Since Opposites took on this elemental saga with a huge cast of characters, I decided not to give the characters last names, but to give them Houses that they’d be tied to. So you have Aiyan of House Gaeland, Kaden of House Devi and so on. There’s also the intricate storyline in Dune with the worms and the drought, there are similar elements in Opposites with ‘Global Warming Ignition’ or GWI as I refer to it within the story. Opposites is set some 200 plus years in the future after Global Warming basically ignited and annihilated our planet. Society was reborn from the ashes and the Houses were created and the smartest people still alive are put in charge of these Houses.

Tolkien’s epic saga is one of my favorite books, series and movies. While this is an older series, it’s still wildly popular and, dare I say, almost a cult classic in its own right. I love the costumes, the era, the weapons and sword play. I included this ancient but recent style of clothing and weapons in the Opposites series. I also tried to keep the clothing and weapons somewhat liken to the area or region that the specific characters were from. I think I had the most fun with House Devi when describing culture and clothing, especially the Mehndi.

The Matched trilogy is exactly what the title says. It’s a future society where everyone is matched, sometimes without having even met each other. It’s what can happen when you’re incompatible that really plays into the story. Taking it one step further, what if in this society I have created where as being Gay/Lesbian is the norm, one of the royal houses children is very much straight? She’s matched to a young woman that she very much admires and loves, though not the way it was intended. How will the relationship shape these two women?

I promote the Opposites series as Dystopian SciFi because there are elements of both in the world I’ve created. If you’re a fan of either sub-genre, I’m confident you’ll enjoy this series. But at its heart, Opposites is about romance, passion, figuring out who you are and deciding that the person you want to be is up to you… not some preconceived notion of what a relationship should be. I hope you’ll grab a copy, Greg Boudreaux really outdid himself with all the various accents and characters. Each dialect is accurately portrayed and brought to life with rich accents and nuances.

In the year 2081, our planet survived global
warming on an apocalyptic scale. When the dust settled and the water receded,
Dr. Anthony Smith, one of only a few hundred survivors of GWI, started society
anew. Having come to the conclusion that injudicious breeding played a huge
role in the destruction of Earth as we knew it in the twenty first century, he
worked closely with other survivors to isolate the Dionysus gene: the gene has
the ability to manipulate human DNA to ensure that all male children be born
gay, and all female children be born lesbians. 

A new society was born

In the year 2300 Dr. Smith’s descendants are
ushering in the twenty fourth century having maintained control of the
government that still rules society. Twins, Aiya and Aiyan, are preparing to
meet their matches and take control of House Gaeland, the current ruling House.
But not everything is as it seems. 


Nature vs Nurture 

Love is Love… it knows no gender and doesn’t
conform to restrictions or boundaries. Aiyan has found his soul mate in Kaden,
the prince of House Devi, that he is matched with and eventually marries. But
when the person Aiya falls in love with tests the boundaries put in place after
GWI, all hell breaks loose. And in the midst of one secret unraveling, another
will emerge. There is a growing anomaly that threatens to destroy over two
hundred years of progression. This anomaly is known as Opposites. 

*WARNING* Opposites is an Adult Dystopian
majorly M/M novel that contains explicit sexual content and relationships
between gay, lesbian and straight couples. There are brief scenes of violence. 



Opposites: Audible | Amazon Audio | iTunes

Meet the Narrator of the Opposites series; Greg Boudreaux. 
The spicier side of the oh so amazing narrator, Greg Tremblay, Boudreaux brings the more erotic LGBT titles to life like the Opposites series by TM Smith – the Fitting In series by Silvia Violet and the Assassin/Shifter series by Sandrine Gasq Dion, just to name a few! 

You can find Boudreaux on Facebook, Twitter or Audible.

 
☆  ☆ The Opposites series Audiobooks and links ☆  ☆

Opposites: Audible | Amazon Audio | iTunes
The Library, an Opposites novella: Audible | Amazon Audio | iTunes
The Cellar, an Opposites novella: Audible | Amazon Audio | iTunes


 

Opposites
The Opposites series, book 1 
The Library 
An Opposites novella {book 1.5} 

 

Appearances
The Opposites series, book 2 

 

The Cellar 
An Opposites novella {book 2.5} 
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | iTunes

Coming Soon: Snapped, Opposites series book 3

 

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A military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; TM Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer. A Texas transplant, she now calls DFW her home. Most days she can be found curled up with a good book, or ticking away on her next novel.
 
Smith is a single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic. Besides her writing, she is passionate about Autism advocacy and LGBT rights. Because, seriously people, Love is Love!
 
Author links: Amazon || ARe || Smashwords || Website || Facebook || Twitter 
Goodreads || Pinterest || Youtube

 

 

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A Paul B Review: Flight Anthology by Queer Sci Fi

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

flight-anthologyCan you write a complete story in 300 words?  That was the challenge set forth by the Queer Science Fiction group to over 100 authors.  The topic chosen for the authors was flight.  The subjects were as varied as the authors.  Most of the stories I found entertaining while a couple left me flat. 

The stories themselves are divided into different genres within the field of science fiction.  General science fiction and fantasy dominate the anthology but there are also sections for those interested in horror and the paranormal. 

In this anthology, you will also find a full range of emotions.  While many of the stories feature some type of happy ending (whether for the moment or what appears to be ever after), there are those stories that are tragic or bittersweet.  Probably what one would expect in such a tome.

Besides the award winning stories selected by the editors (as I think they should be), my personal favorites include some favorite authors and some new ones to me.  I thought Alexis Woods’ Zero-G was especially unique in adapting current sports to futuristic technology.  Andrea Speed has a unique take on the rapture in Flight of the Buttheads.  Tam Ames has a warm family story in When the Fur Flies.  Kirby Quinlan has a unique take on superheroes in Wings.  Paul Stevens has a friends-to-lovers story on a space ship in Resupply.  Other stories I particularly loved were by Jo Tannah, Jennifer Lavoie, Christina Mary Franics, Ginger Struesel, M.D. Grimm, Nicole Dennis, and Alicia Nordwell.  Overall, if you would like some quick reads with a nice variety in the stories, I would highly recommend picking up this anthology.

The cover art and illustrations throughout the book by Mila May are simply breathtaking.  The illustrations depicting the winning stories are perfect.

Sales Links

Mischief Corner Books

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Book Details

ebook, First, 262 pages
Published September 21st 2016 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC
Original TitleFlight: Queer Sci Fi’s Third Annual Flash Fiction Contest (QSF Flash Fiction, #2)
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesQSF Flash Fiction #2

A BJ Review: Junk Mage by Elliot Cooper

Rating:    4 stars out of 5

Junk MageWhen technomancer Quillian Defote crash-lands on remote planet Marutuk, he has limited time to repair his ship and get off world. If he fails, he’ll forfeit his position as professor of mechanical transmutation at the prestigious Ivy Arcanarium and ruin his employment prospects in yet another sector.

Hunter, a cyborg guarding a junkyard that holds what Quill needs, is charmed by the wayward mage and wants to help him. But Hunter is bound by honor to dutifully guard his mistress and her possessions, no matter how cruelly she treats him.

Together Quill and Hunter stand a chance of starting a new life together if carnivorous wildlife, a violent necromancer, and stubborn pride don’t keep them apart.

For the first bit, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this story. It took me a while to get into it and begin to care about the characters and fully understand all that was going on. However, that changed for me at the thirty percent or so mark.

Really excellent world-building especially for such a short novella. It’s actually science fiction, but for some reason it almost reads like outer space steampunk sorta. This world is intricate and has a TON of potential, and I wish this story had been longer in order to explore more and really do it justice.

However, even in this short length, we get lots of interesting creatures, magic, computer tech, cyborgs, just all sorts of fun stuff. There was a ton of potential, but I couldn’t quite give it five stars because I felt it ended too soon and could have been filled out a lot more. There are so many ideas, so much going on in this, it could easily have been twice as long I think. As it was, it felt rather rushed due to the length. I found myself longing for more sensuousness, more feels, more UST maybe. But that is just me, a personal taste thing maybe.

Quill is a great character. I enjoyed the type of mage he is… junk mage is a great title. I enjoyed Quill’s rather laid-back attitude. He is nothing like your typical hero. In fact, it seems he’s been rather a screw up in the past due to his attitude. I like how he cared about everyone else even when he was in danger of losing his job and maybe even his life on that strange planet. Despite his predicament, he cared about the dangerous little narl… and the dangerous cyborg with the gun… and even the evil mage who tried to kill them.

Hunter the cyborg was also a great character, and I wanted to know more about him than we were given. Adored how touched he was by the gift of the ereader, his love for books resonated with me. And then when he immediately found the m/m erotica, that was great!

Although there could easily have been a lot of angst in this, there was very little. This didn’t come across as a sweet, flowery romance, neither was it a smoking hot erotic read–there was actually no sex. It was more an imaginative, action-packed story of two men with good hearts finding each other… and then your imagination has to take it from there. Unless there ends up being sequel.  Which would be good, because I could totally see this taking off as a series. Plenty of potential.

And I must mention the hideous narls (bone sucking creatures!). Junior was great. I rather wondered what was going on with him though, like why was he different that the others? Why did he need Quill’s help at one point from a gang of other narls and then turn and face a gang of them to save another smaller narl later on? What had changed? Regardless, the narls were cool. And the thing with the eyes and the goggles, oh my. Loved that.

The cover is nice but I think it may be part of why this read as steampunk to me even though it’s sci-fi. The cover rather screams steampunk for me.

Sales Links

      NineStar Press  

Book Details: 

ebook, 49 pages
Published July 4th 2016 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781911153580
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttp://ninestarpress.com/product/junk-mage/

Love Sci Fy? Check out The Silvers by J.A. Rock (giveaway tour)

The Silvers

The Silvers by J.A. Rock
Riptide Publishing
Cover art by Simoné

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have J.A Rock here today talking about her latest release, The Silvers. Welcome, J.A.

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Hi! I’m J.A. Rock, and right now I’m touring the internet talking about my latest release, The Silvers. Thanks so much to the blogs that are hosting me on this tour, and be sure to leave comments on the tour posts for a chance to win a $15 Riptide Publishing gift card!

About The Silvers

What humans want from the Silver Planet is water. What they find is a race of humanoids who are sentient, but as emotionless and serene as the plants and placid lakes they tend.

B, captain of the mission, doesn’t believe that the “Silvers” are intelligent, and lets his crew experiment on them. But then he bonds with Imms, who seems different from the others—interested in learning, intrigued by human feelings. And B realizes that capturing, studying, and killing this planet’s natives has done incalculable damage.

When a fire aboard B’s ship kills most of the crew and endangers Imms, B decides to take him back to Earth. But the simplicity of the Silver Planet doesn’t follow them. Imms learns the full spectrum of human emotions, including a love B is frightened to return, and a mistrust of the bureaucracy that wants to treat Imms like a test subject, even if they have to eliminate B to do it.

About the Author

J.A. Rock is the author of queer romance and suspense novels, including By His Rules, Take the Long Way Home, and, with Lisa Henry, The Good Boy and When All The World Sleeps. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama and a BA in theater from Case Western Reserve University. J.A. also writes queer fiction and essays under the name Jill Smith. Raised in Ohio and West Virginia, she now lives in Chicago with her dog, Professor Anne Studebaker.

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of The Silvers, J.A. Rock is giving away $15 in Riptide Publishing credit. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 16, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A BJ Review: The Silvers by J. A. Rock

Rating:   3.75 out of 5 stars

The SilversWhat humans want from the Silver Planet is water. What they find is a race of humanoids who are sentient, but as emotionless and serene as the plants and placid lakes they tend. B, captain of the mission, doesn’t believe that the “Silvers” are intelligent, and lets his crew experiment on them. But then he bonds with Imms, who seems different from the others-interested in learning, intrigued by human feelings. And B realizes that capturing, studying, and killing this planet’s natives has done incalculable damage.

When a fire aboard B’s ship kills most of the crew and endangers Imms, B decides to take him back to Earth. But the simplicity of the Silver Planet doesn’t follow them. Imms learns the full spectrum of human emotions, including a love B is frightened to return, and a mistrust of the bureaucracy that wants to treat Imms like a test subject, even if they have to eliminate B to do it.

The version I read is a revised second edition. I owned the original version by Jill Smith but had not gotten around to reading it, so when I noticed a new edition was coming out and that it was actually by an author that I’d read and enjoyed other stories by, I had to read it.

Outstanding world building in this sci-fi story. It takes place partially on an the Silver planet and partially on Earth. The description of the Silver planet and the culture of its people is vividly drawn, detailed, and fascinating. I adore reading sci-fi stories where the aliens are truly unique and different from humans, not just merely humans of a different skin color or something. This was totally that. I loved the description of the silver anatomy with its bruise like skin, floating heart, and some of the special abilities they have such as staying under water for a long, long time and going into the ground. Excellent sci-fi elements! The Silvers were original, and the first part of the story written while they were on their planet, while the darkest and most disturbing part, was also my favorite. Unfortunately, once the story moved to Earth, it began to slow down and really drag for me in parts.

This is not a light or happy story, in fact, it read as rather depressing a lot of the time. It deals with issues that made me think and feel and ponder. There are some parts that shimmer with tension, and some other parts that seemed flat, unemotional and slow. The first part, set on Planet Silver, was heartbreakingly sad as we see the way the humans thought of and treated the peaceful Silvers. The cast of characters on that ship was quite interesting, as was the outcome of their time there. To be honest, I didn’t like B at all at the beginning, but as the story went on, I at least began to understand him if not ever fully liking him.

On the other hand, Imms (who B started out calling Roach…shudder) was fascinating and heartbreaking right from the beginning to the end. He reminded me a little of Pinocchio wanting to be a real boy.

The prose is sometimes very simple and other times flowery and lyrical almost poetic. The writing style of it didn’t draw me in as closely as it could, which in this case was actually a good thing as it was plenty heart wrenching as it was. A touching, thought provoking romance with mention of sex, but it is all off-page. I enjoyed the ending and yet it did leave me with questions and wanting more.

The new cover on this version is lovely, a subtle, different take on sci-fi that makes me curious. Unique

Pre sales link: Riptide Publishing


Book Details:  

ebook, 2nd edition, 323 pages
Expected publication: July 9th 2016 by Riptide Publishing (first published February 16th 2014)
ISBN 1626493863 (ISBN13: 9781626493865)
Edition LanguageEnglish

Its Love Times Three with ‘No Remedy (Bounty, #2)’ by Christine d’Abo (author guest post and giveaway)

No Remedy

No Remedy (Bounty, #2)  by Christine d’Abo
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist Lou Harper

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Christine d’Abo here today to talk  about the second novel in her Bounty series, No Remedy.  Welcome, Christine.

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Hello, my name is Christine d’Abo! Thank you so much for having me here on the blog today.

There’s something really enticing about a ménage story. Am I right?? Lots of hot, sweaty bodies all crammed together doing all sorts of things to one another. In the case of No Remedy, that crammed space is both in the cockpit and under the bedsheets.

Mace is on a mission to save her friend and captain, Faolan Wolf. She’s been working closely with Alec, a brilliant scientist who seems to be on the verge of a cure for the disease that’s killing Faolan. But when his ex-lover Byron shows up, Mace realizes that there’s more to Alec than meets the eye.

Byron is dominant in the bedroom and just as pushy outside. While she might put up with it for a few rounds of great sex, there’s no way she’ll let him put Faolan’s life in jeopardy. Too bad the lines get blurred and she starts to fall for both Alec and Byron. But she’s not sure if there’s room enough in their relationship for three.

If you would like to learn more about me, please pay a visit to my website www.christinedabo.com. I’m also very active on Twitter as @Christine_dAbo and have a monthly newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, simply click here to fill out the form.

About No Remedy

For months, Mace Simms has been seeking an antidote for the poison killing her mentor. Her only hope is Alec Roiten, a brilliant scientist hiding on a backwater planet. Posing as a research assistant, Mace offers the elusive genius all the help she can, ignoring the explosive chemistry between them. Soon they’re close to a cure.

But then Alec’s former love Byron shows up, attempting to claim a bounty on Alec’s head, and all that careful research gets left behind when they’re forced to flee. And when Byron realizes the tip-off about Alec was a ruse by his rivals to lure him out into the open to kill him, the bounty hunt turns into a three-person scramble for survival.

Byron wants his old lover back, Alec is consumed by a haunting secret about the poison he’s desperate to defeat, and Mace is caught between them. But she’s beginning to think that’s exactly where she belongs as the three are drawn together in their race against death.

Publisher’s note: This title is an edited second edition, previously published in 2011.

About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

Connect with Christine:

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of the Bounty series, one lucky person will receive a $50 gift certificate to Riptide. Winner will be selected from across all three book tours (No Quarter, No Remedy, No Master) and as such, the contest is open until midnight, Eastern time, on July 2, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Comment to enter, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Bounty

Bounty hunters and pirates may contend for dominance in the vast reaches of interstellar space, but the heart of the conflict always comes down to who you know. Who you hate. Who you love.

Whether the prize is a priceless gem, political gain, the antidote to a rare poison, or a bounty big enough to secure any hunter’s future, the only way for a pirate or a hunter to come out ahead is by building alliances. One system, one planet, one person, one heart at a time. The distance between the stars may be infinite, but love doesn’t care about boundaries.

Publisher’s Note: While books #1 and #2 should be read in order, #3 stands alone and can be read without the first two.

No Quarter (Bounty, #1)  by Christine d’Abo

No Remedy (Bounty, #2) by Christine d’Abo

No Master (Bounty, #3) byChristine d’Abo

Sunny Moraine On Writing Pain, Characters and ‘Sword and Star’ (guest blog and giveaway)

Sword and Star

Sword and Star (Root Code #3) by Sunny Moraine
Riptide Publishing
Cover art by Kanaxa

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Sunny Moraine here today to talk about writing, characterization and her latest novel in her Root Code series, Sword and Star.  Welcome, Sunny!.

******

Welcome to the SWORD AND STAR blog tour! 

 

SWORD AND STAR is the conclusion of a trilogy I started (with my co-author for LINE AND ORBIT Lisa Soem) over a decade ago. It’s been a long, strange journey and now it’s over. It’s not the first book trilogy I’ve finished, but it’s certainly the closest to my heart.

 

It’s been amazing getting to know this world and these characters over the course of three books, and it’s been even more amazing getting to share it all with readers. Adam Yuga and Lochlan d’Bideshi’s story is done, Eva Reyes and Kyle Waverly have found their own conclusion, Kae and Leila’s part in this tale is over (though you’ll see those two again in the forthcoming LINEAGE), and I’ve bid a fond farewell to the Bideshi seer Nkiruka. Goodbyes are never easy, but when you arrive at a good one, it’s immensely satisfying.

 

I’m so grateful to everyone who’s traveled with me, and just as grateful to the people coming to the story now. Whatever category you fall into, I hope you’ll find this final volume a fitting end.

 

Thank you for being here!

 

 

Character Pain

 

One of the things that ends up being most necessary in a story, I think, is the willingness to make your characters suffer.

 

Which can be hard, because – ideally – you love these people. They’ve come to mean an enormous amount to you. You also identify with them; writing them is going to mean getting into their heads, their thoughts, feeling what they feel. If you’re going to put them through pain, writing it means experiencing that pain, at least to some degree. At least if you’re going to write it well.

 

So it’s natural to be inclined to not do so. But that’s a mistake.

 

It’s a mistake in part in terms of the amount of story. An easily resolved problem doesn’t give you much scope for plot. But even more it’s a mistake because it means there’s nothing at stake, and in order for a story to be engaging, the stakes have to be high. Usually the higher the better. Which means danger, severe consequences if things go wrong – and things pretty much have to go wrong, or the danger won’t seem real.

 

Though the entire Root Code trilogy, I’ve been trying to raise the stakes. LINE AND ORBIT ends with a climactic battle; SWORD AND STAR begins in the midst of a buildup to war, and the story as a whole is the story of that war. You don’t get stakes much higher than that – the war itself has the potential to be a war wherein the human race destroys itself. But that’s only a backdrop for the fear and suffering I put my characters through. I tried to put them through as much as I reasonably could, pushing them to their limit – which is important, because when you push a character as far as you can, you get to know them in a way nothing else allows for.

 

Throughout the course of the book, my characters have to decide what they’re willing to fight for, what they’re willing to die for – and even more, whether they’re willing to sacrifice their chance to be with the people they love. Because wondering if you’ll have to choose between saving what you have with those people and saving the lives of millions… I can think of worse things than that, but it’s pretty bad.

 

Especially when the story is ultimately about love, about what love costs, and in the end about how love can heal.

 

So I put my characters through hell. It wasn’t necessarily fun, but it was necessary, and at the end of the book I believed I had given them something meaningful to fight through, to fight for, and that whatever victory they managed to attain was truly worth something as a result. And that the love they all had for each other was worth something as well, because these people are all family more than anything else. I believed the destination justified the journey, but also the other way around.

 

I hope, if you take that journey with them, that you’ll feel the same.

 

 

Sword and Star

About Sword and Star

 

Three months after a brutal battle at Peris, Adam Yuga, Lochlan D’Bideshi, and their rebel fleet are embroiled in a new conflict. But things aren’t going well. Even with Lock’s homeship, Ashwina, at the head of the fleet, the Protectorate forces are adapting to their tactics. Before long, two devastating blows send the ragtag rebels on the run. But the greatest threat may come from within.

 

Since the battle at Peris, Protectorate loyalist Isaac Sinder’s determination to eliminate the rebel fleet has only intensified—along with his ambition. The Protectorate is decaying, and it’s clear to Isaac that only he can save it, by any means necessary.

 

As the situation worsens for the rebels, the strain begins to tell on everyone. But more than exhaustion grows within Adam. Something alien has started to change him. Lochlan fights to hold on, but even he may not be able to follow Adam down the dark road ahead.

 

As Isaac’s obsession turns to insanity, it becomes evident that more sinister plans than his are at work. Bound together by threads of fate and chance, Adam and Lochlan turn their eyes toward a future that may tear them apart—if they’re lucky enough to survive it at all.

 

 

About Sunny Moraine

 

Sunny Moraine’s short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Nightmare, Lightspeed, Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, and multiple Year’s Best collections, among other places. They are also responsible for the novels Line and Orbit (cowritten with Lisa Soem), Labyrinthian, and the Casting the Bones trilogy, as well as A Brief History of the Future: collected essays. In addition to authoring, Sunny is a doctoral candidate in sociology and a sometimes college instructor; that last may or may not have been a good move on the part of their department. They unfortunately live just outside Washington DC in a creepy house with two cats and a very long-suffering husband.

Connect with Sunny: 

 

 

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Giveaway

 

To celebrate the release of Sword and Star, Sunny is giving away a signed copy of the book and a handmade necklace. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 28, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

 

This title is #3 of the Root Code series.

This title is part of the Songs of Slipstream universe.

Its Space Operas and Love for Christine d’Abo with No Quarter (Bounty #1) (guest post,excerpt and giveaway)

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No Quarter (Bounty #1) by Christine d’Abo
Riptide Publishing
Cover Art by Lou Harper

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Christine d’Abo here today to share her thoughts about her latest release, No Quarter and her love of science fiction.  Welcome, Christine!

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Hello, my name is Christine d’Abo! Thank you so much for having me here on the blog today. I have been a big fan of all things science fiction since I was six. I started by watching reruns of the original Star Trek, moved on to watching (and re watching) Star Wars, and finally I was introduced to the world of Doctor Who.

My world exploded, expanded and I loved it all. The idea of space operas, and how they focus on the people and their developments, rather than the science was what appealed even at that young an age. The adventure, the romance, good versus evil, showed me that there could be more to live that what existed in my tiny world.

As I got older and my life experiences grew, I never lost that love of space opera. One thing that I wanted to do was to put my own mark on it, to show a different side to the worlds that had been portrayed. The Bounty series was my way of doing that. Not everyone in the universe is straight, and it’s important to show diversity out amongst the stars as well as here on Earth.

The men and women you’ll meet – both space pirates and bounty hunters alike – are full of life, love and are most definitely up to no good. I hope you enjoy reading their tales as much as I loved writing them.

If you would like to learn more about me, please pay a visit to my website http://www.christinedabo.com. I’m also very active on Twitter as @Christine_dAbo and have a monthly newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, simply click here to fill out the form.

About No Quarter

When bounty hunter Gar Stitt is given a simple locate-and-retrieve mission, he’s convinced it’s a waste of his skills. His success rate is legendary, after all, and Captain Faolan Wolf isn’t hard to find. He’s the most notorious pirate in the galaxy, and when he shows up planetside to take his pleasures, he’s far from subtle.

Faolan never expected a hot but tightly wound hunter to walk into his private party and try to apprehend him single-handedly. And when an unexpected betrayal forces them to work together, Faolan’s even more surprised to find himself drawn to Gar personally—especially since neither of them do personal.

Gar had intended to put Faolan in prison. Instead he finds his solitary existence shaken by his desire for the pirate. And when the bounty hunter becomes the hunted, he must put his faith in Faolan and his pirate crew, or run the risk of ending up dead.

Publisher’s note: This title is an edited second edition, previously published in 2010.

About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

Connect with Christine:

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of the Bounty series, one lucky person will receive a $50 gift certificate to Riptide. Winner will be selected from across all three book tours (No Quarter, No Remedy, No Master) and as such, the contest is open until midnight, Eastern time, on July 2, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Comment to enter, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Bounty Series

Bounty hunters and pirates may contend for dominance in the vast reaches of interstellar space, but the heart of the conflict always comes down to who you know. Who you hate. Who you love.

Whether the prize is a priceless gem, political gain, the antidote to a rare poison, or a bounty big enough to secure any hunter’s future, the only way for a pirate or a hunter to come out ahead is by building alliances. One system, one planet, one person, one heart at a time. The distance between the stars may be infinite, but love doesn’t care about boundaries.

– See more at: http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/series/bounty#sthash.gZbNHJI3.dpuf