Welcome back to Author Ren Garcia with his Trilogy today!
The Dead Held Hands - In the ruins of a distant castle, a light comes on signaling the end of everything...
Kabyl, son of the famed Captain Davage, discovers the world around him is not as it seems. His beloved is a haunted woman full of secrets. She looks over shoulder at things that are not there and dread's the dark. What is she so afraid of? The Dead hold hands, they say, and lend the living their power. Will they hold hands for Lord Kabyl as he ventures into the unknown?
The Machine - The Temple of the Exploding Head Saga continues...
Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort, his cousins Sarah and Phillip and their friend Lord Lon of Probert quest to recover the three pieces of a fabled machine lost for centuries: The Oberphilliax. Their quest will take them beyond the safety of the League to the Xaphan city of Waam where an ancient Black Hat and her vile army of Spectre henchmen await their arrival with great anticipation
The Temple of the Exploding Head - A God In His Temple Is Invincible. An outlaw and evil spirit, the Horned God confronts the gods themselves. From his Temple deep in the ground he is finally ready to act.
Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort returns to his home with the pieces of The Machine in hand. He expects his love, Lady Sammidoran, will return to begin their life together as man and woman at last. However, the Horned God has other ideas and he pursues Lady Sammidoran without pause. As Lord Kabyl seeks to save his love from an insane god, all roads lead to the dreaded Temple of the Exploding Head, where none emerge alive. Elsewhere, Captain Davage and his Countess, Sygillis, find themselves lost deep in enemy territory where the Horned God's horrific servants hold sway. Even if the Captain and Countess manage to return home to Kana, what will they find when they arrive? The Temple of the Exploding Head saga concludes in this action-filled adventure of love and loss. In a place where even the gods fear to tread, how can naught but a tragedy be the outcome?
Ren Garcia is a Science Fiction/Fantasy author and Texas native who grew up in western Ohio. He has been writing since before he could write, often scribbling alien lingo on any available wall or floor with assorted crayons. He attended The Ohio State University and majored in English Literature. Ren has been an avid lover of anything surreal since childhood, he also has a passion for caving, urban archeology and architecture. His highly imaginative "League of Elder" book series is published by Loconeal Publishing
Last semester of senior year can be tough. Enemies forced to work together with graduation on the line is tougher.
Harmony
When I prepared for the first day of my final semester senior year, I never thought that day my life would change forever, but when I collided with him in the campus cafe so began a tale as old as time. Love at first sight? No, I meant the other one. Guy spills girl's beloved coffee and they become arch enemies. Little did I know this was only the beginning of my rivalry with Jason Black.
Jason
She was going to be the death of me. This mystery girl crashes into me, but somehow I'm the bad guy. Not only does she cause a scene in front of the entire cafe, screaming accusations like a banshee, but then she bites me! Granted, I shouldn't have tried to kiss her mid-argument, but hindsight is 20/20. Nothing to do now but try to avoid her until school was over, which shouldn't be too hard considering there's only one semester left until graduation.
Two college seniors. Two dark pasts. One chance to change their hearts forever.
Here's An Excerpt From Avery...
"You’re really that full of yourself? You would've seen me navigating the tables with my breakfast," she pointed to the mess on the floor, "if your head was in its place instead of being ridiculously far up your ass, you arrogant jerk!"
Okay, now that was taking things way too far. You didn’t just crash into a guy and then accuse him of having his head up his ass. I had never met her, I was sure. I could never have forgotten that hair and those eyes but her words made me wonder if she was some jilted past lover. I don't know why but I hoped not. "
Meet The Author...
About Avery…
Avery Price calls North Carolina home, but she spends most of her time traveling. She plans to go on safari in Africa, and experience the magic of Ireland. She is the dreamer of impossible dreams, refusing to give up hope fairies and dragons are out there.
When she isn't exploring this beautiful world, she like to snuggle in at home with a cup of coffee and a good book while convincing herself she doesn't need a pet.
He’s charming, funny, and incredibly hot. The only problem is, he’s a ghost. When the chaos of school, her over-reactive mother, and her abusive boyfriend gets to be too much, sixteen-year-old Colleen turns to astral projection to escape it all. In the sanctuary of the astral plane, she mingles with the lost souls of the departed. They all need help to move on to the Summerland, and Colleen never turns down a spirit in need. Until she meets Daemon. With just a glance, Daemon makes her forget all the turmoil back home. The calm is welcome and addictive, but Colleen knows the peace he offers will leave with him once he crosses over, forcing her to make a desperate decision: sever her ties to her physical body, or sabotage his salvation.
ME Rhines a southwest Florida native currently living in North Port with her two beautiful children and a third, much larger child whom she affectionately calls husband. She writes young adult paranormal romance to feed her belief that fairy tales are real and nonsense is necessary. She also writes adult romances under her edgier alter-ego, Mary Bernsen.
When a Sun God makes a prophecy, it’s best to heed the warning. Katherine stands on the edge of ruin. With Ragnarok in full swing and her friends off finding their own lives she can’t find a purpose in her existence. When Baldir, their missing Sun God, kidnaps Katherine and entreats her to care for his friend, a wounded hellhound, Katherine makes a selfish choice for the first time in her life. Arwan never expected to meet a God, let alone fight a group of them to begin the Apocalypse. After the battle between Bianca, the Horseman of Conquest, and Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld, Arwan, escapes home to the Welsh coast intent to die on his own land. With Hel dead, the Horseman believe they’ve stalled Ragnarok. But Baldir has a dream that ignites the Horseman to take out the remaining hounds loyal to Hel, which includes the incapacitated Arwan. Can Katherine go against her friends to save a man she promised to protect? Even if Arwan could end the Horseman for good?
Here are a few excerpts from the author...
“I know, but she was willing to take care of you. Even knowing what you are.”
Guilt began a slow slide into his belly. “She knew?”
Baldir leveled him with a look. “Yes, I told her and she decided to help anyway. How did you think I convinced her to stay?”
“Which one is she? I know she’s not Conquest as I met her face to face. I wasn’t there for the first fight so I didn’t see them all then. I know Cloris’s face too. Is she War or is she Famine?”
Baldir bit his lip. “She is famine.”
***
Katherine shut her eyes and tried to calm the quake in her stomach. Victor was changed by the machinations of a Fairy King. Somehow she doubted Arwan and Victor's situations were similar. “So what, my choice is to help him… even if he probably helped bring down Tyr, or if he would have killed Bianca? Oh, my God." The pieces clicked together in her mind. "That’s why he’s hurt isn’t it, from Bianca and Hel's fight in the underworld.”
Baldir hung his head. “Yes, but he wouldn’t kill anyone unless they harmed him first. Apart from you, he is one of the gentlest souls alive.”
Katherine scowled at him and crossed her arms under her chest trying to hug herself into calm. This wasn’t fair. She agreed to help before knowing the details. Baldir should have divulged Arwan's identity from the start. If she saved him, in the future he might be pitted against her. Or, worse, her friends.
***
Baldir nodded and marched to the door. A man on a mission. With a hand on the knob he stopped and whispered. “Don’t kill my friend.”
She rolled her eyes. “I won’t hurt him. Go. And hurry back. The faster this is done, the faster I can leave.”
Stuck in random cabin on the coast, of what she assumed was Wales, with an injured hellhound Katherine figured her life was at a tipping point. She sank in the chair and stared at the dancing flames. There were worse situations. Death came to mind... or marriage.
Meet The Author...
Monica Corwin is an outspoken writer who attempts to make romance accessible to everyone no matter their preferences. As a new Northern Ohioian Monica enjoys snow drifts, three seasons of weather, and disliking Michigan. When not writing Monica spends time with her daughter and her ever growing collection of tomes about King Arthur.
It’s a helluva job, but someone has to do it, and for Rhune, it’s a small price to pay for his past sins. He’s taken a new name and a somewhat normal life. Except at night, when he transforms into a hellhound to take souls to Gehenna, the City of the Dead, for purgatories legions to deliver them to Hell where they belong. For fifteen centuries he’s lived in happy solitude, until a paralegal, with the most amazing eyes, rear ends him in the small town of Rio Morden. He’s seen those eyes before, but it’s been years since the last time. Now she’s all grown up and involved in a murder trial that has its sights set on her becoming its next victim. What’s a hellhound to do? Surely not fall in love—and certainly not with a Dreamwalker.
Mix in a diabolical lawyer and his lover, some Voodoo magic, and it’s a recipe for mayhem and murder. Can Rhune keep Hanna safe, or is she destined to be Hellhound Bound?
She found herself on her hands and knees in the middle of a cobblestoned road. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear she’d been transported to merry ol’ England, circa early 1800’s. Everything was tinged dull sepia, except for the fog. It glowed like copper and clung to her with invisible fingers. Mist puffed out from between her lips, though the air felt thick and sauna-like. The silence sat on her shoulders like a heavy, breathing thing.
At first, it sounded like tree branches rubbing against one another in the wind, but not a hair moved on her head. Then it got louder, drawing closer. The ground beneath her began to thump.
Something approached.
Something big.
Something heavy.
With her heart pounding, and her body shaking, Hanna searched for a place to hide, but when she tried to get up and run, her body wouldn’t move. It was as if she’d been glued to the center of the road.
The vibrations in the ground drew nearer.
Pebbles bounced around her hands.
Hanna closed her eyes. “Wake up! Wake up, you idiot! WAKE UP.”
When heavy breathing sounded directly behind her, there was no way in hell she was opening her eyes and looking. No freaking way at all. If she was going to get eaten, she’d rather not see it.
Gravel crunched underfoot. Then it stopped. She heard sniffing. It took a few steps closer.
She tried to swallow, but every drop of spit had dried up. The boulder lodged in her throat wouldn’t move. Her lungs cried for oxygen.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
Hanna almost had an aneurysm. It spoke! That same sulfuric smell was back, harsher and stronger than in the alley. The dead air around her became several degrees hotter. Sweat dripped down her forehead and into her eyes, making them sting and water. Her nose burned. The color of the fog changed to a reddish-brown. Suddenly, the awful smell disappeared. Her eyes stopped watering. Whatever power had been holding her to the flagstones then let go. She bolted to her feet. Even though she wanted to run as fast as her legs could take her, something compelled her to turn and look up.
Way up.
There stood the demon-dog in all its gory glory, but this time, he looked—curious? Not the usual insane, hell-bent monster about to devour somebody. Eyes of flickering flames held intelligence instead of the gruesome madness she’d seen in the alley. There was something proverbial about them. They were the same eyes from her nightmares, yes, but...?
“You shouldn’t be here. Leave Gehenna. Rouse yourself.”
The voice reverberated inside her head like a trumpet blasting close to her ear. Without realizing, she lifted her hand to touch him, but the beast moved back. Shock shone in his eyes—eyes she’d seen before. But from where?
Without a word, it continued on its way down the center of the road to disappear into the eerie mist.
She stood there, her mouth hanging open, and an annoying sound ricocheting in her ears. It grew louder, more irritating, like a thousand bumblebees had made a nest inside her skull.
She blinked.
Pins and needles burned up and down the arm she’d fallen asleep on. Every blanket and pillow looked as if she’d done battle with them—and lost. Her glass of water on the nightstand had tipped over, leaving a small puddle on the carpet.
She then realized that the buzzing in her head was her alarm clock. She slammed her hand down on the ‘off’ button and stumbled out of bed. Her heart beat so fast, she almost swooned. Movement caught her eye. Standing in the hallway by the bathroom door was Rhune. She gasped.
“Thank goodness, you’re safe.”
Stunned, she whirled in the direction of her front door, which she could see from her bedroom. The desk and deadbolt were exactly as she’d left them. Her heart began pounding way too fast. “How did you...?” The rest of the words failed to pass her lips as she fainted away.
D. Thomas Jerlo’s novels inexplicably draws readers deep into mystical worlds where magic rules and battles between good and evil are forever constant. Blending reality and illusion that leave indelible impacts, readers are riveted to the spellbinding plots and unforgettable characters.
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” -Albert Einstein
In the far future, alien technology captured by the Union Earth Privateers has fueled Earth’s tenuous expansion from a single planet to a handful of systems across the Orion Spur. Victoria Marin, captain of the U.E. Condor, and her crew of Vultures have been running dry for months. In danger of losing her command and her credibility if she can’t locate fresh salvage, she locks onto the distress signal of an alien ship in hopes of valuable cargo. What she finds instead is First Prince Tavram, the heir apparent to one of the largest empires in known space. Tavram’s ship has been crippled after narrowly escaping an ambush and his would-be assassin is coming to finish the job. The Vultures launch a high risk mission to rescue the prince and recover every last scrap of xenotech they can before the hunter catches up to his prey. But there are more dangers than notorious interstellar assassins when it comes to ferrying an alien prince across the stars, and Victoria must contend with dangerous alliances, old grudges, and even her own government if she means to bring her crew home alive. Whether she succeeds or fails, the consequences of her choices will affect the path of all humanity.
Scott Warren got his start in writing while living in Washington during the summer of 2014 when he entered the world of speculative fiction by writing Sorcerous Crimes Division, followed shortly by Vick’s Vultures.
Scott blends aspects of classic military fantasy and science fiction with a modern, streamlined writing style to twist tired tropes into fresh ideas. He believes in injecting a healthy dose of adventure into the true-to-life grit and grime that marks the past decade of science fiction, while still embracing the ideas that made science fiction appeal to so many readers.
As a UAV Pilot and former submariner, Scott draws on his military and aviation experiences to bring authenticity to his writing while keeping it accessible to all readers. Scott is also an artist, contributing his skills to board games, role playing games, and his own personal aerial photography galleries.
Scott currently lives in Huntsville, Alabama. Visit Scott on the web: http://scottwarrenscd.blogspot.com/ and follow him on Twitter: @ScottWarrenSCD
Hi Readers, I am so excited to team up some awesome bloggers to give a reader an awesome Thanksgiving Day Surprise! Readers have the chance to win an 8 GB Kindle Fire of their color choice. This giveaway is restricted to the United States only.
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A dead German in a whorehouse bed. A pair of bloated corpses floating in a Mississippi bayou. A mysterious notebook filled with unknown codes and hand drawn maps. Brave young Marines and Navajo code talkers landing in the Pacific. A Mafia Don helping the Allies for revenge on the Fascists. A secret meeting of U.S. marshals with a New Orleans crime boss. A series of anagrams challenging the code-breaking talents of the brilliant minds at Bletchley Park. A gathering of international intelligence officers onboard a ship in the western Mediterranean. A Nazi plot to sabotage the production of Higgins landing craft without which Americans would never be able to land safely on a foreign beach.
SYNOPSIS — NAZI SABOTEURS ON THE BAYOU — Steven Burgauer
As the book opens, an old German (Heinrich Brock) is found dead by a prostitute (Kentucky Rose) in Mahogany Hall, a New Orleans whorehouse. Sewn into the lining of the dead man’s vest is a notebook filled with hand-drawn maps and what appear to be notes about the comings and goings at military and other installations. The prostitute and an associate (Hector) remove these articles with a view to later disposing of the body.
The next scene finds a pair of German conspirators fretting that their local contact (the dead German) is overdue. We next meet the Mafia crime boss (Nico Carolla) who owns a string of whorehouses and who is soon drawn into the disposition of the corpse from the opening scene. Here we learn some of the history of the Carolla crime family in New Orleans.
Next, we move to the Pacific and meet the grandson of the dead German from the opening scene. PFC Russell Brock is a U.S. Marine currently being trained for the amphibious landings at Guadalcanal.
Then we meet Andrew Jackson Higgins at the helm of the single most important landing craft ever built, the Higgins Boat, the steel-ramped landing craft that brought American troops to Pacific islands and to Normandy. In his colorful manner, Higgins is instructing a class of Coast Guard newbies on how to properly drive and operate his nearly indestructible boat.
Now we meet officials from the Navy’s Bureau of Ships who need Higgins to markedly increase the production of his boats. Higgins faces shortages of materials, manpower, and factory space that present almost insurmountable challenges. The Mafia bosses control much of the labor supply, and thus, accommodations must be made to placate the Carolla family. The Carolla family also has Old World connections in Palermo and Algiers which are proving critical to the North African landings in sixty days.
We next witness the arrival of the Waffen-SS officers charged with sabotaging the Higgins Boat plant essential to the Allies’ success. The loss of the intelligence gathered by the dead German at the start of the story is a setback to the commando team’s plans. The operation is under the direct control of Heinrich Himmler, who the team now communicates with as to how next to proceed. Now enter the code breakers at Bletchley Park who intercept the commando team’s messages. We meet some of the talented code breakers at Bletchley, including one female mathematician through whose eyes we see inside Bletchley Park.
America has a fledging intelligence operation and is almost entirely dependent on British intelligence for intelligence gathering. We now meet Martina Amerada, a Cuban woman with a high-level banking responsibility, including ties to British intelligence, and who is Nico Carolla’s mistress. Martina moves money for the Carolla crime family and also provides diplomatic cover between the Palermo branch of the family and the planners of Operation Torch, the imminent invasion of North Africa. We gain insight into those plans through the eyes of Ian Fleming whose 30 Assault Unit is responsible for dirty tricks all throughout the western Mediterranean. We are also introduced to the Navajo code-talker program essential to securing Marine Corps messages in the Pacific theater.
In rapid succession, the German commando team searches for the lost notebook by visiting the whorehouses Brock has been known to frequent. This search leads to the murder of Hector and later to retaliation by the Mafia against the German conspirators. The battle results in the loss of half of the German commando team. United States marshals are drawn into the story as bodies are discovered in the nearby bayous. The Mafia is suspected in these crimes. When the marshals confront Nico Carolla, the marshals are put on the trail of the commandos which leads to the death of the marshals.
While Bletchley Park is busy trying to crack the code imbedded in the Himmler messages, we move back to the Pacific where grandson PFC Russell Brock is involved in the bloody landings at Gavutu ahead of Guadalcanal. The grandson is wounded and nearly dies at nearly the same moment that the single remaining commando attempts to demolish the largest Higgins Boat manufacturing facility in New Orleans, as well as the surrounding infrastructure.
By now, British intelligence has cracked Himmler’s code and Martina Amerada, our Cuban contact, has alerted both the Mafia and the Navy of the impending assault. Nico Carolla prevents the plant from being destroyed and thus becomes the hero of the story.
In the closing chapters, Fleming’s 30AU infiltrates Italian naval headquarters at Sidi Ferruch the very night that Operation Torch gets underway and the Higgins boats prove their indispensability to the war effort. PFC Brock recovers from his wounds in a naval hospital, soon to attend Higgins Boat Operators School to learn how to handle a landing craft. Martina takes possession of all intelligence related to the German commandos so that the threat never becomes public knowledge.
Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou intertwines historic persons, actual events and distant locales of World War II with a fast-moving fictional Nazi plot to disrupt the manufacture of Higgins boats, the remarkable landing craft that won the war for the Allies. Spanning the globe from amphibious landings at Gavutu and Guadalcanal, to the Navajo code talker school near San Diego, to the exotic environs of New Orleans, to the secret world of Bletchley Park, England, to the Allied invasion of North Africa, this tautly written thriller, covering two weeks during the summer of 1942, combines a fully imagined cast of characters with the historically important figures of Andrew Jackson Higgins, Admiral John Godfrey of British Intelligence, Navajo code talker Chester Nez, Colonel “Wild Bill” Donovan of the OSS (later the CIA), Commander Ian Fleming of MI6, along with a Polish intelligence officer code-named “Rygor,” and Sylvestro “Silver Dollar Sam” Carolla, the crime boss of New Orleans.
Avid hiker, Eagle Scout, and founder of a mutual fund, Steven Burgauer resides in Florida. A graduate of Illinois State University and the New York Institute of Finance, Steve writes science fiction and historic fiction.
Burgauer’s The Road to War: Duty & Drill, Courage & Capture is based on the journals of an American WWII infantryman who landed at Normandy, was wounded and taken prisoner by the Nazis. http://www.facebook.com/TheRoadToWarDutyandDrill/
A member of the Society of Midland Authors, Steven is included in The Dictionary of Midwestern Literature, Volume 2: Dimensions of the Midwestern Literary Imagination.
Some of his SF titles include The Grandfather Paradox, The Railguns of Luna, The Fornax Drive, and SKULLCAP. Other books of his include The Night of the Eleventh Sun, a Neanderthal’s first encounter with man, and The Wealth Builder’s Guide: An Investment Primer. Steven contributed to the zany, serial mystery, Naked Came the Farmer, headlined by Philip Jose Farmer.
His work has been reviewed in many places, including LOCUS, SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE, the PEORIA JOURNAL STAR, the EUREKA LITERARY MAGAZINE, and PROMETHEUS, the journal of the Libertarian Futurist Society.
A review of The Railguns of Luna from the prestigious SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE (June 2001):
Steven Burgauer writes old style science fiction in which heroes and villains are easily identified, the action is fast and furious, and the plot twists and turns uncontrollably. His newest is the story of a crack team of military specialists who discover that the brilliant but warped Cassandra Mubarak is planning to use advanced scientific devices to seize control of the world. To stop her, they must infiltrate her heavily guarded headquarters and rescue the fair maiden in distress. This is action adventure written straightforwardly and not meant to be heavily literary or provide pithy commentary on the state of humanity.
Don D’Ammassa
When Steven lived in Illinois, the State of Illinois Library included him in a select group of authors invited to the state’s Authors’ Day. He has often been a speaker and panel member at public library events and science-fiction conventions all across the country.
The Machine - The Temple of the Exploding Head Saga continues...
Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort returns to his home with the pieces of The Machine in hand. He expects his love, Lady Sammidoran, will return to begin their life together as man and woman at last. However, the Horned God has other ideas and he pursues Lady Sammidoran without pause. As Lord Kabyl seeks to save his love from an insane god, all roads lead to the dreaded Temple of the Exploding Head, where none emerge alive. Elsewhere, Captain Davage and his Countess, Sygillis, find themselves lost deep in enemy territory where the Horned God's horrific servants hold sway. Even if the Captain and Countess manage to return home to Kana, what will they find when they arrive? The Temple of the Exploding Head saga concludes in this action-filled adventure of love and loss. In a place where even the gods fear to tread, how can naught but a tragedy be the outcome?
