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Blog hop posts. Hops are joint efforts by multiple bloggers to share.

The galaxy will never be safe for humans #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks

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The galaxy will never be safe for humans #SciFi #SpaceOpera

His people permit him no choice. He must attend insipid peace talks on Enderium Six and what's worse, be polite. To humans.

In this scene, Pietas has been betrayed and trapped, and now they're coercing him to enter a lifepod.

Humans!

The leaders of his people gathered in sleep around Pietas, sealed inside their curved, steel stasis tubes.

He folded his arms. "Feast your eyes, vultures." He lifted his chin. "You think to imprison me? You think to bring me down like a hunted animal?" He indicated the other life-pods. "I will not cower before you. I will not bow. I will not kneel. I will not serve. I will never submit. Humans were made to be ruled, not by my people, but by me."

The silhouettes above him contrasted with the bright light behind them. One by one, they slipped away, until one remained.

"Fighting us accomplishes nothing." The disembodied voice echoed in the chamber. "Enter the pod, Pietas, or we'll siphon the air. You'll die."

"I'll revive. I've died countless times. I do not fear death. Death fears me."

"So be it. Since you're so set on dying, have it your way. I told you if you didn't cooperate, I would detonate the bombs within the hostages you took aboard your ship. See for yourself."

On the opposite wall, an image of his ship sparkled into life, and a bloom of light filled the screen. A mass of debris shot in all directions.

"Your crew has ceased to exist."

"That image is a farce. You would not dare to destroy the council's flagship, and you will not destroy the council. You are cowards. You lock us away in a barren room and threaten our people. This is why humans do not deserve freedom. You are worthless, miserable liars."

"Believe me, your crew is quite dead. The universe is a safer place for it."

"Untrue. It will never be safe for humans. Especially for you."

Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas by Kayelle Allen

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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It's a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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Fighting the Dark and Dreaded King #SpaceOpera #Pietas #MFRWhooks

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Fighting the Dark and Dreaded King #SpaceOpera #Pietas #MFRWhooksFound in almost all my other scifi stories, Pietas has always been portrayed as the dark and dreaded king no one dares to cross. How did he become such a fearsome creature? Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas reveals the origin of his journey into the bleak shadows of his soul.

In the fight scene that follows, Pietas had been given two options. Surrender or die a horrible final death by fire. Defiant even in defeat, he created a third option of his own, and that is what sets the scene.

Writing a fight means writing fast movement. The dark and dreaded king is decisive. He doesn’t hesitate to do whatever it takes to win. This section shows his incredible speed. Pietas is on the ground and the soldiers who enter are hoping he’s unconscious due to lack of air. But this immortal can hold his breath ten to fifteen times longer than a human.

Fighting the Dark and Dreaded King

Crowded as the space was between his pod and the wall, two ghosts crept into it. Six spots of light showed on the other side. Eight ghosts then. That would be a much better fight. One nudged him with a foot.

Suppressing a smile, Pietas continued to play dead.

Ghost One bent down, turned him onto his back.

Pietas let his body flop.

The guy came in closer, checked for a pulse.

He opened his eyes.

The ghost’s alarm fed Pietas energy.

He yanked him down, hard, while jamming the heel of his hand up. The ghost’s head snapped back, and Pietas felt his bones crack. He shoved him aside and went after Ghost Two.

Pietas gripped his leg and tripped him. He jammed an elbow down onto the man’s neck. Bones broke. The ghost’s stab of dying fear spiked the energy from the first, and Pietas mixed it with his gift of chaos. He flung the vortex of emotions outward, broadcasting confusion and terror.

He activated his ability called zip. The pseudo speed meant he could move at a regular pace, but humans perceived him as a blur. They could not focus on him long enough to get close. To him, everyone moved in slow motion.

He flipped onto his feet, braced both hands on his pod, and kicked Three and Four square in the chest.

He pushed off the pod, and the momentum carried him straight into the arms of Five and Six. They stumbled backward, tumbling Seven and Eight onto the floor.

Pietas rolled, grabbing Seven. One quick twist of the neck, and another down. Five to go.

Six and Eight flipped themselves to their feet. Three and Four struggled to rise.

Pietas took a running leap and crushed Three’s neck. Four raised his hands to shield his face. A swift kick to the head–gone.

Pietas dropped, rolled, came up behind Eight. Broke his neck.

The burning need for air hurt, but there were two to go.

He turned, and a fist caught him in the mouth. Thrown off balance, he danced sideways. Pietas touched his lip, and frowned at the spot of blood. He met the gaze of Ghost Six, who’d punched him.

No human had ever hit him before. Pietas gave a nod.

Five and Six rushed him.

Turning into Five’s momentum, Pietas hurled him into the wall, jamming the ghost’s head down onto his spine.

He whirled back to find Six standing beside Helia’s pod, working the code on a control panel. The ghost held up a warning hand, and poised his other over a bar with flashing red letters: Immolate.

He could kill the ghost without killing his mother. Pietas darted toward him.

Six shook his head. “Don’t make me,” he mouthed. He patted a set of wristlocks at his waist, and then pointed to the floor.

For no reason would he grovel. Not even for his mother.

Pietas considered creating an illusion, and then killing him, but they had cameras on him and would know. Illusions could not be photographed. They took energy to hold, and the dark and dreaded king was running out. Fast.

JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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Charon’s Blade and Watch Your Six #SpaceOpera #SciFi #MFRWhooks

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Charon's Blade and Watch Your Six #SpaceOpera #SciFi #MFRWhooksThere were surprises as I started putting together Bringer of Chaos: Watch Your Six. This is the final book of the Bringer of Chaos trilogy, so tying up loose ends is important. I went to great lengths to ensure everything was covered, right down to creating weapons like Charon’s Blade (shown here).

As I wrote, I got to thinking, what would humans need ghosts for with all the Ultras in exile? How many ghosts had there been? Would the Ultras who’d been captured be released? How many Ultras were there? What were the powers they imparted to the various ghosts? Why didn’t Six get much of those powers?

The biggest surprise to me was discovering Pietas’s real agenda for humans. I’d always known he wanted to destroy them, but why would he after coming to respect and love Six? And if he wanted to kill them, why hadn’t he already done it? After all, he holds the title Destroyer of Worlds. He could do it. What’s stopping him?

I wrote a spinoff short story about Ghost Corps. Lights Out will release in mid September inside The Expanding Universe Vol 4, edited by Craig Martelle. The anthology will feature multiple authors, all with stories in the sci fi and space opera genres. It’s going to be a real treat for fans of the genre.

Charon’s Blade

I hired an artist to create images of the Ghost Corps weapons. They were designed to kill Ultras, so they’re formidable (and nasty). Livius designs scifi weapons as art. I found him on DeviantArt.com. Having the images and the technical aspects of these helps me create the people who wield them.

What kind of person would carry a weapon called Charon’s Blade designed to stab and then inject the victim with poison? Why such an extreme weapon?

Considering it was designed to wound creatures who come back from the dead, it’s at least a little bit understandable. Even so, Charon was the mythical guide to the underworld in ancient mythology. This knife has quite a legacy just in its name.

I know the answers to all these questions and have the basics of the journey plotted. But as I write, this story reveals more and more. I plan many more books featuring Pietas, his family and fellow immortals.

To see all the art, join one of my reader groups. You’ll get four free books and news about books coming soon. I’ll be sharing a member-only first peek at the art, plus other inside secrets about the Ghost Corps.
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JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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Heroes Using Weapons: writing a story with guns #Pietas #SciFi #MFRWhooks

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Heroes Using Weapons: writing a story with guns #Pietas #SciFi #MFRWhooks In today’s society with arguments for and against gun control, is it smart to write a story in which weapons play a large part? What if heroes using weapons is the wrong thing to write about?

I’m working on a short story that might never see the light of day. The hero keeps hiding his motives from me, which makes it difficult to write about him. But if it does manage to burst into being, Lights Out will have a lot to do with weapons, guns, soldiers, and war. It’s the tale of a soldier who dies and is brought back to fight again.

Heroes Using Weapons

In the Bringer of Chaos series, the sidekick of the immortal hero is a human warrior who’d been killed in action and then revived.

To accomplish the rebirth, all the blood in the soldier’s body is replaced with the blood of an immortal. When he or she comes back to life, the training and natural abilities are all still present, but so are abilities of the immortal. If they were telepathic, so is the soldier. If they possessed enhanced speed, so does the soldier. There are dozens of “gifts” and each has both a benefit and a drawback. If you can hear the thoughts of others but can’t forget them, life could get uncomfortable fast.

With my heroes using weapons it meant I needed to understand what they do. As I prepared to write this new short story as well as book three in the Chaos trilogy, I had to understand how these weapons were used. To do that, I researched weapons of today and weapon concepts of the future.

I have a military background and enlisted in the Navy during the Viet Nam era. When I write a military sci fi or romance, I’m speaking from experience. My heroes using weapons is a result of that experience.

I’m going to take shooting lessons and learn how to use weapons myself. I want to write from experience with this as well.

Rather than shy away from the topic, I thought I’d see what my readers think about stories concerning guns. Do you read them? What do you think about stories concerning them? Do you look for stories that have a moral implication or do you prefer a rock-em-sock-em robot sort of tale?

Image credit: Nano-Core (commission for KayelleAllen.com)

JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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Color the Characters Read the Books #Coloring #Creative #MFRWhooks

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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. This week, I’m sharing giveaways that I developed with my son Jamin, who’s a graphic designer. Do you like to color? You are in luck.

Together, Jamin and I created coloring books for my various books and characters. You can download seven of them for free right on this website.

The first, Unstoppable Heroes and Heroines, features characters found in almost every one of my books. The Antonello Brothers has characters found in At the Mercy of Her Pleasure and For Women Only.

Peril — the Immortal’s Game is a unique coloring book. It has characters but also a maze and multi-sided dice to color.

Pietas — the Bringer of Chaos has over a dozen dragons. Pietas dreams about dragons and their symbolism appears in his stories. In a future book, he will bond with one. Do you like flowers and butterflies? There are two coloring books that showcase those.

You can download them, print them, color to your heart’s content, and then click the link inside the book and come back to the page where you got it to download again. You are also welcome to share them with friends.

What do you color with?

You can pick up inexpensive boxes of crayons and take yourself back to your childhood. When I color, I use several sets of colored pencils and pens. My favorite type is gel because the colors are so rich and bright. The Eparon gel pen set has 40 unique colors and they’re only $6.99. If you have Amazon Prime you can get them without shipping fees. There are 4 standard coloring pens, 6 neon, 5 mixed pastel, 5 solid pastel, 10 glitter, and 10 metallic. They are acid-free, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly. My advice is to get this set in addition to another. You’ll see suggestions for other types on my coloring book download page. I’m working on a new book to color and will have it ready by the time my next book is out.

Want to know when more free coloring books are added to the site? Join my Romance Lives Forever Reader Group now and you’ll have first dibs on new ones. You’ll be first to know when my next book is released, plus you’ll get access to exclusive content limited to members.

Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments. Do you like coloring? What is your favorite thing to color? What do you use?

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What Humans Say — What Humans Mean about Immortals #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks

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I’m writing Watch Your Six, book three in the Bringer of Chaos series. The others are the Origin of Pietas and Forged in Fire. When you have a huge story that unfolds in sections, it’s helpful to give readers a place to start. That’s usually the job of a prologue. Sometimes, it’s a foreword or another intro of some kind.

I’m considering a bit of the story’s history by listing what humans say about the immortals they created, and compare it to what humans mean.

What Humans Say

  • We fashion creatures genetically designed for toil.
  • We make them strong, vital, robust, able to work hard.What Humans Say -- What Humans Mean @KayelleAllen #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks
  • We ingrain them with abilities to make mundane jobs easier.
  • We create soldiers who recover from every injury.
  • Genslave scientists design more genslaves to enhance our way of life.
  • Renegade scientists design genslaves without proper safeguards.
  • Soulless rebels refuse to accept human authority.
  • These ingrates reject their proper name.
  • The so-called Ultras usurp mankind’s authority.
  • Surprisingly, genetic enhancements result in failure.
  • We purge ourselves of the taint of genetic enhancements.
  • We take back our birthright: Human Pure is our battle cry.
  • We discover ways to kill immortals and keep them from rising.
  • We wish we could turn back time and correct our folly.
  • We regret our lack of wisdom in creating such beings.

What Humans Mean

  • We create genslaves.
  • We permit them no rest.
  • We make sure they can never rise above their station.
  • We create savage warriors.
  • We hand over to slaves the means of creating more slaves.
  • Rebels overthrow the genetic shackles keeping them enslaved.
  • Renegades lead other genslaves to freedom.
  • The rebels call themselves Ultras: ultra smart, ultra strong, ultra powerful.
  • Ultras dominate every part of the galaxy.
  • Obviously, we can no longer control what we created.
  • We destroy anyone with non-human traits and enhanced sensory perceptions.
  • Anyone enhanced or genetically altered or “different” is the enemy.
  • We burn anything and anyone “unnatural.”
  • We don’t know how to undo what we’ve done.
  • We made a mistake…

Pietas

Immortal. King. Exile. All are what humans say about Pietas. None show the depth of the man known by his peers as the Bringer of Chaos. This series is military science fiction with elements of humor, a small touch of romance, a ginormous black panther “kitty”, a telepathic weapons designer, one used-to-be-human, and the most dysfunctional family since forever.

The Bringer of Chaos series focuses on Pietas and his friendship with the human, Six. In books set in different series in the far future, Pietas is king, and he terrifies everyone. I wanted to understand why his people were so steadfastly loyal to him despite that, so I started this series to find out.

If you want a good read, check out the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group. You get four free books right away and you’ll be first to know when the new book about Pietas is released.

What humans say is not what humans mean #SciFi #SpaceOpera Click To Tweet

JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

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