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Tag Archives: Craig Martelle

science fiction author

What is Stress: Not being allowed to throttle an idiot #Humor #MFRWhooks #SciFi

What is Stress? Working with idiots...

WordWeb says you can define stress as difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension. Such as having a boss who's a jerk, or a coworker who's lazy or... well, you get the idea.

In today's post, a snippet from Lights Out, the hero is having a bit of stress...

In this scene, Tornahdo has been chewed out for something that in the regular army would have gotten him a commendation. Even a medal. But Ghost Corps is not regular. Not one bit. He sits down to have a drink and calm himself down, but one thought leads to another.


Tornahdo's family believed him missing in action. He couldn't go out in public. Ghosts got call signs, not new identities. He'd earned his by the way he fought, which, according to those who'd been resurrected with him, was a tornado.

"No, he's Hispanic-Terran," one had said. "He'd pronounce it different. We'll call him Tornahdo."

To which he'd offered a sweeping bow. "SΓ­. Gracias."

If taken prisoner, the enemy wouldn't find out who his family was, or who other ghosts were. Like any cover story, the more you lived it, accepted and believed it, the more solid it became. He was Tornahdo. Every minute. Every day. Right now, he fought the urge to kick into full tornahdo rage and slam through a certain officer's quarters.Β On his desk, his former commander had a framed quote, hand-stitched by his wife.

"Stress: the body's reaction to not being allowed to throttle an idiot."

How many times had the man shouted that Tornahdo was stressing him out? More than he cared to admit.

But today, he knew exactly what that quote meant.

Lights Out by Kayelle Allen

Writing a fight scene with multiple fighters #Pietas #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks He can save mankind. After he does one important thing. Die.
Join the Ghost Corps, they said. You'll live forever, they said. You'll save mankind, they said. They didn't say that to do it, first he had to die.
When Tornahdo signs on the dotted line, he puts his life into the steady hands of the mighty Ghost Corps. Three grisly deaths and three agonizing resurrections later, he's assigned duty on the space station Enderium Six.
He's facing his most dangerous mission yet, the very reason the corps exists.
Do they expect him to win? Fat chance. Tornahdo and his team are already dead and this mission is codenamed "Lights Out." No, there's more to this than he can see.
To discover the truth, he must face an unbeatable, unkillable enemy, and this time--somehow--find a way to keep himself alive...
Lights Out is in the Science Fiction/Space Opera anthology The Expanding Universe Vol 4, edited by Craig Martelle out Sept 17, 2018
https://kayelleallen.com/lights-out-save-mankind/


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.

Define Stress: Not being allowed to throttle an idiot #Humor #MFRWhooks #SciFi

Define Stress? Working with idiots...

WordWeb says you can define stress as difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension. Such as having a boss who's a jerk, or a coworker who's lazy or... well, you get the idea.

In today's post, a snippet from Lights Out, the hero is having a bit of stress...

In this scene, Tornahdo has been chewed out for something that in the regular army would have gotten him a commendation. Even a medal. But Ghost Corps is not regular. Not one bit. He sits down to have a drink and calm himself down, but one thought leads to another.


Tornahdo's family believed him missing in action. He couldn't go out in public. Ghosts got call signs, not new identities. He'd earned his by the way he fought, which, according to those who'd been resurrected with him, was a tornado.

"No, he's Hispanic-Terran," one had said. "He'd pronounce it different. We'll call him Tornahdo."

To which he'd offered a sweeping bow. "SΓ­. Gracias."

If taken prisoner, the enemy wouldn't find out who his family was, or who other ghosts were. Like any cover story, the more you lived it, accepted and believed it, the more solid it became. He was Tornahdo. Every minute. Every day. Right now, he fought the urge to kick into full tornahdo rage and slam through a certain officer's quarters.Β On his desk, his former commander had a framed quote, hand-stitched by his wife.

"Stress: the body's reaction to not being allowed to throttle an idiot."

How many times had the man shouted that Tornahdo was stressing him out? More than he cared to admit.

But today, he knew exactly what that quote meant.

Lights Out by Kayelle Allen

Writing a fight scene with multiple fighters #Pietas #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks He can save mankind. After he does one important thing. Die.
Join the Ghost Corps, they said. You'll live forever, they said. You'll save mankind, they said. They didn't say that to do it, first he had to die.
When Tornahdo signs on the dotted line, he puts his life into the steady hands of the mighty Ghost Corps. Three grisly deaths and three agonizing resurrections later, he's assigned duty on the space station Enderium Six.
He's facing his most dangerous mission yet, the very reason the corps exists.
Do they expect him to win? Fat chance. Tornahdo and his team are already dead and this mission is codenamed "Lights Out." No, there's more to this than he can see.
To discover the truth, he must face an unbeatable, unkillable enemy, and this time--somehow--find a way to keep himself alive...
Lights Out is in the Science Fiction/Space Opera anthology The Expanding Universe Vol 4, edited by Craig Martelle out Sept 17, 2018
https://kayelleallen.com/lights-out-save-mankind/



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.

 
 

Read Lights Out in The Expanding Universe #SpaceOpera by @KayelleAllen

Three Things About Nathan Mutch

Please tell us three things you'd like us to know.

One.

It seems like forever ago that I decided I was going to write a novel. It also seems like it was only yesterday.Β That's how life works sometimes.

I was willing to give it a shot. I'd write on Tuesdays and Thursdays to begin with. I didn't know what I was doingβ€”I'd written short pieces before, but never a full-length novel. The project gathered steam with every writing session, and before I knew it, I had a book.Β The Unity was published, and I immediately began work on the second book. I built the universe for my characters while I was also building a family.

Two.

It wasn't until I wrote The Spike that I truly appreciated universe building in fiction.

A character is born.

The universe is born.

The universe is broken down and reordered to suit the character.

Few things survive the reordering of the universe, so the character is reborn.

Repeat as needed.

It seems like only yesterday that I decided to write books and, in doing so, reordered my own universe.

I'm glad I survived.

Three.

The Spike is a story about the human mind. It's about the lengths a person will go to uncover the truth, but more so, it's about the addictive quality of that search.

Ultimately, we can never know why we decide against one thing in favor of another.

Is it desire or attraction?

Is it a chemically predetermined path in our synapses?

The truth beckons to us. It invigorates like the thrill of mortal danger.

The truth is a drug.

The Spike by Nathan Mutch

Here's an excerpt from The Spike:

"This part of the country seems to have all hell for a basement, and the only trap door appears to be Medicine Hat."

–Rudyard Kipling

"We were born to die."

John McCormack knew a thing or two about death. He also knew a thing or two about when to keep his mouth shut. We were born to dieβ€”those were the words he spoke aloud just after closing the door to his last session with the military-appointed psychologist.

John recalled what the psychologist had said during their first sessionβ€”that survivor's guilt was a natural consequence, especially since he alone had survived. No one could have foreseen that their brief exposure to the crashed alien ship would be fatalβ€”that their hazmat suits would offer no protection.

"We were born to live our lives," the shrink had said. "The other Marines lived to serve. They died performing their duty."

John shambled away from the stuffy, claustrophobic office and stayed close to the corridor wall as if he might suddenly need it to steady himself. The faces of the fallen haunted him.

John spoke the words again. He spoke as if talking to his ghosts would somehow make them sympathetic.

"We were all born to die."

A strange but familiar voice rose up from his chaotic thoughts. It was so clear that it drowned out the memories, yet the voice itself was like a memory. As odd as it seemed to have a voice in his head that John felt didn't belong to him, what happened next was stranger still. His mind made the words his own.

"You are wrong, John. You were born for a specific purpose."

John nearly turned around and marched back into the psychologist's office. He was sure he had cracked, but the thought of dealing with a headshrinker again was a great weight pressing on his chest. He kept walking and took his ghosts with him.

***

Soon after John was granted separation from the Marine Corps, he found work at an off-world mining operation with the same company that had shot down the alien spaceshipβ€”an irony few of his fellow miners failed to point out. But John didn't require reminders. He remembered perfectly.

The alien ship had entered Earth's orbit undetected by every space observation network on the planet. GISEC, the Goryeo Inter-Korean Space Exploration Conglomerate, detected the ship with an automated orbital salvage and reclamation platform and mistook it for space junk. The AI on the platform decided the ship was a danger to nearby satellites and attempted to disintegrate it. If it wasn't for GISEC, the ship might have come and gone unnoticed.

Of all the places in the world, the falling ship's trajectory sent it hurtling toward downtown Medicine Hat. In the blink of an eye, the city was leveled. The city that was built on a giant gas fieldβ€”the city with hell for a basementβ€”was destroyed by a fireball from the heavens.

Science Fiction by Nathan Mutch

When John McCormack emerges from the alien wreckage, only he knows what he leaves behindβ€”and what he has brought with him.

The Spike
part of the Science Fiction/Space Opera anthology
The Expanding Universe Vol 4

Edited by Craig Martelle
Exclusively on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

Nathan Mutch Social Media

Nathan Mutch's first novel, The Unity, is the first book of a planned three-part Science Fiction series. The second book in The Unity Empire Series, A Song for the Dead, was released June 2017.
His current projects include: A prequel to the Unity series about the origins of the Ash Stone character; two co-authored books; a stand-alone fantasy novel tentatively titled, Between Realms; and of course, the third installment of The Unity Empire Series.
The first of the two co-authored books is an experimental science fiction mind-bender written (so far) entirely by correspondence. The second co-authored book delves into the Fantasy genre.
Nathan Mutch currently lives in Northern Canada with his family.
Website https://nathanmutch.com
Blog https://nathanmutch.com/blog
Newsletter https://nathanmutch.com/signup/
Twitter https://twitter.com/Nathan_Mutch
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nathanmutchbooks
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/author/nathanmutch

 
 

Read Lights Out in The Expanding Universe #SpaceOpera by @KayelleAllen

Three Things About David R Bernstein

Please tell us three things you'd like us to know.

Originally this story was supposed to be a side story for a larger universe I’ve written, but it developed into its own concept. Now, I plan to build on this idea and turn it into a full series.

The hero in this story is a snarky science officer that is forced to command an irradiated ship with no crew. He gets a bit sarcastic due to his current lot in life!

Daughters of Ayor is actually a spin on the Daughters of Air from the Peter Pan books.

Science Fiction by David R Bernstein

The SalvationOne’s mission was to find a new home for a dying civilization, but a massive solar flare slowly kills all but one crew member.

Daughters of Ayor
part of the Science Fiction/Space Opera anthology
The Expanding Universe Vol 4

Edited by Craig Martelle
Exclusively on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

David R Bernstein Social Media

David R Bernstein is an author of sci-fi and young adult fiction. After several years in the Pacific Northwest, he recently returned to his native southern California to focus on writing.Β David has three wonderful children and has been happily married to his beautiful wife for over ten years. When he's not writing or researching his next story, you'll most likely find him
Website http://www.davidrbernstein.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/drbauthor
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/david.bernstein.author/
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/David-R.-Bernstein/e/B01JRO8HKO/
Newsletter http://www.subscribepage.com/VIPlist-DRB
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/david-r-bernstein

 

 
 

Read Lights Out in The Expanding Universe #SpaceOpera by @KayelleAllen

Three Things About Drew Avera

Please tell us three things you'd like us to know.

Drew Avera joined the Navy at seventeen and has deployed four times in the last eighteen years. He is an Aviation Electricians Mate and has worked on F/A-18s for most of his career. His knowledge in naval aviation has found its way into several of his books.

He began his writing journey in 2012 and wrote his first book on his iPhone as he competed in National Novel Writing Month. That book was later published and was the first of many works by Drew.

Drew is also a musician and producer. He is currently writing and recording an album with his metal band, Obsolium. The first album, Empire of Dust, is a concept record about an alien invasion and potential destruction of mankind.

Thrust into a life or death situation, the next decision Tawny makes could cost her everything.

Darkened Skies: Chancerian 3
part of the Science Fiction/Space Opera anthology
The Expanding Universe Vol 4

Edited by Craig Martelle
Exclusively on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

Drew Avera Social Media

Drew Avera has been a lot of things in life; a band geek, a comic book nerd, a pseudo rock star, an amateur artist, a Navy veteran, husband, and father. But beyond being a family man, his favorite is his role as the bestselling author of the space opera series, The Alorian Wars.
Getting his start with National Novel Writing Month 2012, the writing bug consumed him. Since publishing in 2013, Drew has written more than twenty books. His most notable works include The Dead Planet Series and The Alorian Wars. But there is plenty more on the way as he delves into new universes, always trying to find what ticks in his characters to bring them to life. Check out the worlds he's created by visiting his website.
Website www.drewavera.com
Twitter www.twitter.com/drewavera
Facebook www.facebook.com/authordrewavera
Amazon Author Page www.amazon.com/author/drewavera
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/drew-avera

 

 
 

Read Lights Out in The Expanding Universe #SpaceOpera by @KayelleAllen

 

What if today was "lights out?"

If you knew this was your last day to live, what would you do?Β Would you face the end with a clear conscience?Β Would you fight for one more day?
Look for that person you wronged and make it right? Run away? Turn and fight? What would you do?

In Lights Out by Kayelle Allen, the hero knows his end is near. Instead of running, Tornahdo makes a choice. He will face death with a clear conscience and the knowledge that his death will serve mankind.Β He will join...

GHOST CORPS

He can save mankind. After he does one important thing. Die.

Join the Ghost Corps, they said. You'll live forever, they said. You'll save mankind, they said. They didn't say that to do it, first he had to die.

When Tornahdo signs on the dotted line, he puts his life into the steady hands of the mighty Ghost Corps. Three grisly deaths and three agonizing resurrections later, he's assigned duty on Enderium Six.

He's facing his most dangerous mission yet, the very reason the corps exists.

Do they expect him to win? Fat chance. Tornahdo and his team are already dead and this mission is codenamed "Lights Out." No, there's more to this than he can see.

To discover the truth, he must face an unbeatable, unkillable enemy, and this time--somehow--find a way to keep himself alive...

Excerpt, Lights Out by Kayelle Allen

The air reeked of antiseptic and starch stiffened the pillowcase. If only the mind-numbing jabbering would stop.

Tornahdo pried open his eyes. The flattened blood bag above him, stenciled equipment and gray walls screamed military hospital.

He'd died. Again.

Spanish curses slipped out. His abuela would've taken a switch to him. He made the sign of the cross and kissed his fingertips.

After yanking the tube out of his arm, he pressed a thumb over the entry point. Thankfully, this time, he wasn't writhing on the floor in agony. Well, not yet.

A faceless android in a Ghost Corps uniform loomed over a bank of equipment displaying Tornahdo's name and vitals. First impression was right. Military hospital.

The weapons-grade yapping continued.

"Did you hear?" a youthful voice bragged. "He killed six of 'em last night."

"Yeah, but they don't stay dead. They never do."

"If Ultras didn't come back to life, their plasma wouldn't bring our own people back."

The transfusion of enemy blood healed the hole in Tornahdo's arm in seconds. He thumbed off the red smear and rolled over on the gurney.

An open door led to a sink and toilet built to let gravity do its work. Which meant this was a planet. You hadn't lived until you were in space, floating in zero gravity while your body's final twitches sent your corpse spinning.

Notices on the wall confirmed this was San Xavier in the Colonies of Man. Same place he'd bought it the first time.

This was getting old.


Lights Out
part of the Science Fiction/Space Opera anthology
The Expanding Universe Vol 4

edited by Craig Martelle
Available Sept 17, 2018
Exclusively on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited
https://kayelleallen.com/lights-out-save-mankind/

Read Lights Out in The Expanding Universe #SpaceOpera #NewRelease by @KayelleAllen

Peek Inside Lights Out

Go behind the scenes with the world and characters of Lights Out with an exclusive illustrated PDF book. Nothing to sign for or opt in to get. Just click and read:
http://bit.ly/peek-lights-out