Giveaway – SHRED Gorgon Rising by Stu Jones @StuJonesFiction @XpressoTours

Posted on May 14, 2022 by fundinmental

S.H.R.E.D: Gorgon Rising
Stu Jones
(Espionage and Defense, Super Humanoids for Reconnaissance)
Publication date: May 10th 2022
Genres: Action, Adventure, New Adult

THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON KNOWN TO MANKIND ISN’T A MAN.

High above earth in a low orbit facility, an experimental clean energy project known as Erebos—which taps into the vacuum structure of space—destabilizes and is jettisoned into the planet’s atmosphere.

Far below, unaware of the danger rocketing toward her, nineteen-year-old Sasha Kino goes night surfing to clear her head after a fight with her father. When Erebos crashes into the ocean the device fuses her DNA with that of an orca and Sasha is altered beyond recognition. She is stronger, can hold her breath longer, and can swim deeper and faster than any creature on the planet—but her newfound abilities may come at the cost of her humanity.

Captain Alric Jager, head of the U.S. Navy’s Special Projects Division, is sent to clean up the Erebos situation. But when Jager learns of what the device did to Sasha he decides to steal them both. Driven by a dark and twisted legacy, Jager is determined to create the ultimate super soldier – no matter the cost.

Torn between the land and the sea, and ruthlessly hunted by Jager, Sasha must rediscover who she is and for what she is willing to fight.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

—

EXCERPT:

With one last yank, Sasha tore the restraint collar, popping and fizzing in a shower of sparks from around her neck. In a single stride, she vaulted forward. Her body crashed through the dark glass of the observation room, slamming one of the two men inside against the far wall. In a bumbling fit of terror, the other fell to the floor, scrambled to all fours, then ran screaming for the hallway. As he did, he slapped a large red button on the wall labeled containment breach.

The screaming high-pitched wail of an emergency beacon filled the air, the walls around Sasha flickering with intermittent flashes of red. Instinct, strong and powerful, told her to run, but her higher brain held her fast: what they’d done here was illegal, and she needed evidence. She scanned the various consoles. There, a flash drive. No time to waste. Jager’s men must be on their way. Any data she could grab was no good if she couldn’t get it off the ship.

Snatching the data stick from the console and looping the lanyard around her neck, Sasha gave one last look to the unconscious man slumped against the floor and turned for the door. She stepped into the strobe-lit flash of the corridor and hovered there, her heart beating fierce in her breast.

On either side of the corridor, two pairs of Strykers squared up, the dark brown tones of their flesh offset by midnight black BDUs. They tensed, the banded muscles of their arms taut. No one moved.

“I don’t want to fight,” Sasha said over the wail of the alarm, her heart still thrumming. “But I’m not staying locked up here anymore.”

“You don’t have a choice.” The one named Alvarez said through clenched teeth. “Get back in, or we’ll put you back in.”

Sasha knew she should be afraid of these men, but then she remembered about how easily, accidentally even, she’d killed the whalers. How moments ago, she’d torn a titanium collar from her neck and crashed through a seemingly impenetrable two-inch-thick layered sheet of armored glass.

Sasha steeled herself as the four Strykers advanced on her from either side, their fists raised. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said.

The Strykers stopped, exchanging amused glances. One of them closest to her, a man with a cropped mohawk, let out a chuckle. “We’re not the ones who are about to get hurt, darlin’.”

Sasha’s skin flushed hot. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she flexed her clawed fingers. “That’s what you think.”

Author Bio:

SWAT Sniper. Adventurer. Multi-Award-Winning Author of Epic Genre-Bending Thrillers.

A veteran law enforcement officer, Stu has served in patrol, narcotics, criminal investigations, as an instructor of firearms and police defensive tactics and as a team leader of a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team. He is trained and qualified as a law enforcement SWAT sniper, as well as in hostage rescue and high-risk entry tactics. Recently, Stu served for three years with a U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force – hunting the worst of the worst.

He is the author of multiple sci-fi/action/thriller novels, including the multi-award-winning It Takes Death To Reach A Star duology, written with co-author Gareth Worthington(Children of the Fifth Sun).

Known for his character-driven stories and blistering action sequences, Stu strives to create thought-provoking reading experiences that challenge the status quo. When he’s not chasing bad guys or writing epic stories, he can be found planning his next adventure to some remote or exotic place.

Stu is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo-Helin-Fountain literary.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube

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Giveaway – Friends To The End by C L Colyer @CherieColyer @GoddessFish

Posted on May 2, 2022 by fundinmental

Friends to the End by Cherie Colyer

GENRE: Middle Grade Action Adventure

Hi, and thanks for having me on your blog!

I’m not sure if it’s common knowledge, but traditionally published authors have limited control over the cover of their books. The Wild Rose Press has a Cover Sheet with basic questions like genre, tone, elements an author would like to see on the cover, and hero/heroine descriptions. Once the form is submitted, their talented cover artists take over.

For Friends to the End, I felt the tone of the cover should be suspenseful, mysterious, and just a little spooky. It’s a ghost adventure, after all. And since Zach and his new friends are looking for a mysterious vanishing house, I suggested that the cover might include a spooky house or a room in a spooky house. And maybe even Zach’s silhouette or the silhouette of four kids. From there, it was a waiting game. I had no idea what the cover artist would do.

I was thrilled when I saw what cover artist Diane Carlile put together. I really couldn’t ask for a better cover for this book, and she included elements I hadn’t thought to ask for. The moon is full on the night Zach and his friends find the house, and their first glimpse of the old Victorian home is through the trees. Before they reach the house, they visited a graveyard. And I like that on the cover we only see the backs of the kids. This allows the reader to use their imaginations. The dark purple and yellows give an ominous feel. The cover is better than anything I had imagined. There isn’t anything I hate. I feel lucky about that, but then The Wild Rose Press does a wonderful job on their covers.

What do you think about the cover? Is it spooky, yet not too spooky to scare you away? I hope so because the adventure is worth braving ghosts.

Thanks for having me on your blog!

BLURB

Twelve-year-old Zach is convinced he’ll never be happy without his best friend Jeremy by his side. But both of their lives changed with a bang five months ago, and as far as Zach’s concerned, it’s his fault Jeremy will never see his twelfth birthday.

When Zach moves with his family to a Chicago suburb, he quickly becomes friends with a group of thrill-seeking kids trying to find a disappearing haunted house. But Zach’s not worried. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he follows them into a wild, dangerous encounter that becomes a battle to decide what’s real and what’s not.

Excerpt

We stopped a few yards from the cemetery, our mouths hanging open and our eyes wide.

“Please tell me you see that,” I whispered.

“If you mean the white lights floating above the ground,” Josh said, “we see it.”

“They’re orbs,” Morgan corrected, as if knowing the proper name for the glowing spheres made it okay to see them.

“Orbs?” Josh asked.

“Spirits of the dead,” I replied, remembering what Morgan had told me.

Dom scooted his bike closer. “Maybe we should ask them if they’ve seen the house.”

“Seriously?” Morgan asked.

“Yeah.”

Morgan shook her head, causing her ponytail to swing from side to side. “Oh, no! I learned my lesson the last time we were here. I’m not stepping one foot off the shoulder of the road.”

“Your right foot is in the grass,” Dom said, shining his flashlight on her sneaker.

Morgan scowled and repositioned herself to have both feet on concrete.

Three iridescent orbs floated over headstones. I thought about the movies that warned people to stay away from the light. Maybe they weren’t warning us about a bright beam of light, but instead small glowing balls. Maybe if one of them touched you, the spirit would take over your body. Maybe they were waiting for someone to be stupid enough to come closer. I suddenly wondered if I’d met anyone who’d been possessed by a spirit and immediately thought of Olivia and her strange habits.

Then I told myself I was being ridiculous.

Or was I? Think about it. How would anyone know if a ghost hitched a ride with the person in front of him or her?

AUTHOR Bio and Links

C.L. Colyer found her love for writing in first grade when her class was sent to the library and asked to find a book for their first book report. While she doesn’t still have this book report, she’s very proud to say she got an A on it. Her favorite thing about the book was that it had no words. That’s right, not one! That gave her the freedom to interpret the pictures in any way she wanted and write her own story.

This sparked her love for writing essays. It wasn’t until she was an adult that she sat down and penned her first novel. This story has a special place in her heart because it’s the story that helped her discover her passion for writing. She has since written several books, many of which may never see the light of day, but all of which helped her learn to combine her passion for writing with her fascination with all things mythical. You’ll find examples of this in her novels.

She lives in Illinois with her family.

Keep in Touch:

Website: https://cheriecolyer.com/children/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cherie-Colyer-author-250631921629169
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CherieColyer
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cherie_colyer/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21748654.C_L_Colyer
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/C-L-Colyer/e/B09C6JPT3X/
Bookbub author page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cherie-colyer

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Giveaway – The Royal Fifth by James Peyton @GoddessFish

Posted on April 15, 2022 by fundinmental

The Royal Fifth by James Peyton

GENRE: Adventure Thriller

NOTE: The book is on sale for $0.99

BLURB

The Royal Fifth: The amount of stolen treasure Conquistadors were supposed to give to the Spanish Crown.

In a world corrupted by its past, what could turn a sensitive artist into a killer?

Young Santa Fe artist, Martín Cortés, is devastated by the deaths of family members and the loss of a huge emerald that once belonged to Hernán Cortés.

Colin Glendaring, a disgraced archeologist with an insatiable passion for pre-Columbian artifacts, is responsible. Martín learns that another family descended from the Spanish Conqueror lives in Oaxaca. Rather than kill Glendaring, he heads south. He discovers an unconventional household that includes Ilhui, a beautiful young woman with a dangerous political agenda.

Martín is stunned when he learns how the family manages to live so well…then alarmed when he discovers that Glendaring is on his way to Oaxaca. Martín and Ilhui are soon accused of murder. On the run, they are betrayed, and Ilhui is kidnapped by a guerilla leader known for recreating grisly Aztec rituals.

With time running out, Martín makes a pact with a ruthless army officer and a crooked federal policeman. Will it be a deal with the devil, or can he do what has to be done to save his new family and love?

EXCERPT

EL PASO, PRESENT TIME

Martín Cortés stood on the pedestrian approach to the international bridge that would take him into Mexico. Through the pollution that daily turned the high-desert air of Ciudad Juárez into a toxic haze, he focused on the nearby vehicle traffic. The U.S.-bound lanes were choked with line after line of barely moving cars and trucks. Turning to the southbound lanes, he watched the sparse traffic moving fast and free.

He looked back at the new-old skyline of downtown El Paso and dwelled for a moment on the tragic events of the last few months. He knew what had happened. Why they’d happened still eluded him. The inner voice that brought him to this place told him all would soon be revealed. And then he wondered: Is that destiny or some karmic trickster? He shook his head. Only time would tell.

Turning again, he raised his eyes to the smog-shrouded sprawl beyond the border where his trip would begin. He had no idea where it would end. He took a deep breath, fished in his pocket for the bridge toll, and resumed his southbound journey.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Award-winning Author James Peyton infuses his novels with stranger-than-fiction encounters and true-to-life characters based on his extensive travel and research. Realism in his plots and action comes from that background and his experience in martial arts and tactical firearms.

The Royal Fifth is based loosely on historical events surrounding the Conqueror, Hernán Cortés, brought into the present time. It will be followed by a mystery-thriller series featuring federal policeman, Artemas Salcido. Artemas is the illegitimate son of a Mexican governor and his Yaqui servant. Following his mother’s suspicious death, he was sent to be raised by the village priest. He attended Harvard on a scholarship and returned to Mexico vowing to fight corruption—only to receive his real education, where the grade is often life or death.

Website: jameswpeyton.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/216986.James_W_Peyton
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/James-W.-Peyton/e/B001K7XKJA

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Giveaway – People of the Sun by Ben Gartner @BGartnerWriting @GoddessFish

Posted on December 28, 2021 by fundinmental

Amazon

PEOPLE OF THE SUN by Ben Gartner

GENRE: Middle Grade, Action Adventure, Time Travel, Historical Fiction

BLURB

The explosive reveal about who John and Sarah really are and why they’re traveling through time, with their most gut-wrenching challenge yet.

In the time of the Aztec, a scoundrel named Cortés arrives and the kids are forced to make an extremely difficult decision: If you could change history, should you? For more twists, more danger, and more fun, read the third book in The Eye of Ra series, People of the Sun!

EXCERPT

JOHN

The ground shook like the end of the world.

At least, that was how it felt to John, who had never experienced an earthquake while growing up in Colorado. And they’d only lived in Maryland for a month before taking this trip to California to visit their aunt. On their second day in the steep mountains of Santa Cruz, while hiking through an old-growth redwood forest that reminded John of a fairy tale, he suddenly felt woozy. But he wasn’t sick. His legs swayed like he was dancing the hula, as if the ground beneath his feet were the roiling sea. Birds took to the sky. Their aunt’s dog, Nickel, barked and snapped at the air, her ears tucked back and tail between her legs.

“Sarah?” John looked over to his sister and held out a hand to steady himself.

She wore the same expression of bewilderment for a moment, then realization dawned across her face. “Is this an earthquake? Cool!”

Her voice rose and fell with the waves just like her knees riding the shifting earth as if it were a skateboard or a pair of skis. Dander like fireflies floated down from the trees and sparkled in the sun’s rays.

“Earthquake,” Aunt Lorraine confirmed. “Just a little one. Hold on, it’ll end in—”

The earth eased to a halt.

“There ya go, all done.” Aunt Lorraine heaved a breath. “For now.”

“For now?!” John hunched over, ready to fall flat on the ground if it got any worse.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Ben Gartner is the award-winning author of The Eye of Ra time travel adventure series for middle graders. His books take readers for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something in the meantime. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys. https://BenGartner.com

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

Amazon / Apple / B&N / Kobo / Local Bookstore / Everywhere Else

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Review – Beyond Atlantis by Lucius Beauchamp @RoxanneRhoads

Posted on December 15, 2021 by fundinmental

Beyond Atlantis: An Epic of The Ancient Americas

Lucius Beauchamp

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure

ISBN: Paperback 978-0-6488929-0-8

ISBN: E-book 978-0-6488929-1-5

ASIN: 0648892905

ASIN: B01I4OMBVY

Number of pages: 448

Word Count: 158,240

Cover Artist: Flametree Creative

Tagline: Greater Atlantis, where The Guardian Tribe roam

MY REVIEW

First off, Beyond Atlantis by Lucius Beauchamp has an amazing cover and I love anything to do with Atlantis. Add in some magic and angels, what more can I ask for?

The world I entered holds many things that our world does…love, desire, betrayal, greed, power, lust, good and evil, light and dark.

Priests are people too, with all the foibles the rest of us have.

Galen and Zithia are soulmates, but there is much to be risked for them to be together. I’m not so sure about Galen, but have no doubts about Zithia.

She struggles to build a life for herself. She is bright, determined, giving, an asset to any community. Her struggles and are richly detailed, brought to life through Lucius Beauchamp’s words. I had no idea what was coming, I was just along for the ride.

Sometimes things are so simple…right or wrong. It’s the people that make it complicated.

Will Galen learn in this lifetime, or, will he be doomed to return and try again?

Epic love story…Lucius Beauchmap pulled my heartstrings, drawing me in on this wild adventure.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Beyond Atlantis by Lucius Beauchamp.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 4 Stars

Book Description:

10,000 years ago, ancient Atlantian Tribes of magicians flourished in the lower Americas and along the Mississippi.

Galen, an Atlantian magician priest is locked in a relentless power struggle with an envious sorceress who blackmails, lies, and manipulates. A prince of the blood, Galen is determined that nothing will stop his becoming an Archpriest.

Eten, blackest witch and high priestess sees angels and seeks a forbidden treasure. She finds Galen’s curse of having a soulmate particularly helpful.

Half a millennia ago the Island of Atlantis sank off the Biminis, the 13th Tribe was held responsible for the demise of Atlantis. The surviving Atlantians stripped the 13th of all technology and exiled them.

Vengeful, the 13th Tribe wishes to return but the 13th’s warlocks fear crossing into Greater Older Atlantis. They do not dare set foot on the Guardian-protected land. The great Guardian Tribe possess a formidable circle of psychics who roam North America keeping constant vigil to keep Greater Older Atlantis safe for all Atlantians.

Amazon

Excerpt:

With lightning rushing to greet the barbarians, not only sulphur made their guts wrench. That most feared God, the God of lightning, was among them. Sheets of power forked across the ground, felling dozens of the pure race. Repeatedly, the riverbed exploded and sprayed molten sand. Dripping glass sculptures remained and pressure waves threw barbarians into the glowing glass pools. Where some lay stuck, in death or dying.
The false day reached the refugees, the sky pulsing green. From the Safety of the hillside they saw it all, with deafening thunder rocking them. Dodging lightning bolts, the barbarians ran when they could to slid into super-hot streams of glass where their flesh seared so completely that bare-bones were exposed among living tissue. There was screaming at newly blackened limbs and sizzling holes within a shoulder or thigh, created by actual lightning strikes. And then more astral screams as the black shadows of the underworld chased and fell upon the freshly dead. Only a handful survived. It was another mist-night.

*

Tancah. Ten ships comprising another fleet had landed. Gold. Mounds of gold was being turned into ingots for shipment to the Far World.
The gangplanks were sunk into the pink sand by the tread of disembarking
warriors.
The scarred pyramids were towers with large stone tablets standing
on top. Not very wide, with ladder-like stairs, each had an almost sheer
drop at the back. Saplings burst forth in unexpected places among the ruins.
The seventh ship to dock was grander than the others. Its occupants always liked to be seventh, from superstition. Rhaim, the commander-in-chief hurried to meet these new arrivals. They were the main reason he’d come back to Tancah. After all, he didn’t want their leader to take offense. In black clothing with wide purple edging, the thirteen glided down the gangplank. Weary soldiers made hasty signs in the group’s direction while dropping their eyes. Even with a close trimmed mustache, the outlines of the first face were a death mask. Udo, the leader. Tall, white-haired and eyes robin’s-egg blue. The whole group was from similar molds.
Not on land yet, Udo glanced at Tancah. A connoisseur, he breathed
deeply of the destruction. Then he put a foot hard on the sand and dogs began to howl. A flock of monarch butterflies, resting on their way to their wintering ground, filled the air. Raising his hand to the sky, Udo cut a swath through the gossamer wings. The lovelies rained down among the pyramids, while the coven roared with laughter.
Invisible to everyone, a watcher hovered over the beach within sight of the ships. As one, the black-garbed group turned to look at him, eyes burning. Languidly, Udo said, ‘Kill.’
Two men vacated their flesh so utterly that their bodies fell to the ground. Their spirits were shadow hounds. Instantly the temple flyer telepathed the sight to his temple, then spirit claws were on him. Dying, screams filled the heads of other flyers.
The murdered watcher’s body, seated in the temple chamber, spasmed and went limp. A high priest wiped the corpse’s brow, ‘Where is the other?’
Simultaneously, Udo’s face was in the room, hanging in mid-space.
Gloating, he disappeared. Then he was back at the beachfront. ‘Find the other watched.’
The two dark hounds pounced forward, but Udo’s snarl sent them scurrying into their bodies. He believed in sharing and signaled a fresh pair.

About the Author:

Like Plato, Lucius believed Atlantis existed. Interpreting Plato’s description of location, backed up by Edgar Cayce’s readings, the Island of Atlantis was off the Biminis. Therefore, for him, the Continent of Atlantis (Greater Older Atlantis) was North America.

https://www.amazon.com/LUCIUS-BEAUCHAMP/e/B01J54XHHO/

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Tis The Season – Toymaker by Tony Bertauski @tonybertauski

Posted on November 2, 2021 by fundinmental

HAPPY HOLIDAZE AND A NEW RELEASE

Toymaker: Return of the Lost Toys (A Science Fiction Adventure) (Claus Universe Book 9)

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Is there a Santa Claus? Elves? Reindeer? Do they live at the North Pole? Why haven’t humans ever found them? If you have been following the series, you may have some of the answers already.

Avery Neva (Snow) Tannenbaum was born on her Nana Rai’s birthday and they celebrated it together every year. This year is different. Her Nana has passed away and left a last request.

Toymaker is all about him, and the Hunt for him. But there is so much more going on the just a game and there is more to the Hunt than win or lose.

I love the unique characters and the world they live in. Dangerous and magical, good and bad…and TOYS. Thank you Santa.

Tony Bertauski has a way with words and has written of a fantastical, magical fantasy world, filled with imagination and creativity, weaving the real world, the future, the past, and the present into a present (?).

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Toymaker by Tony Bertauski.

AMAZON SYNOPSIS

The 9th standalone novel in the Claus Universe.

One Christmas morning, a mystery gift appeared under trees around the world. It was the exact same gift, inscribed with the maker’s initials in tiny letters: BT and Company. It was months before anyone knew exactly what the gift did.

Avery Tannenbaum’s brother was one of the lucky few to receive one. It was on her birthday when the mysterious gifts came to life. A contest was announced. It was also on that very same day Avery’s grandmother passed away.

An eccentric, wealthy woman, Nana Rai left detailed instructions on how to commemorate her passing, a celebration to be held on Christmas morning, which just so happened to be the same day the contest was set to end. Avery’s family travels to a cold and snowy land to honor her grandmother’s wishes. And it’s here she uncovers the true purpose of the mystery gift, and why the makers launched a global contest.

As Nana Rai’s celebration nears, Avery follows clues her grandmother left behind. BT and Company are searching for the Toymaker. And Avery knows what they’ll do when they find him. She becomes part of her grandmother’s plan to stop them. The real mystery isn’t where the Toymaker is hiding.

It’s why he’s hiding in the first place.

REVIEWS FOR THE CLAUS UNIVERSE

“Amazing rewrites that will astound you!” –Ruth Jackson, Amazon Reviewer
“Best Santa Story Ever!” – Bob, Amazon Reviewer
“Simply lovely.” –jl, Amazon Reviewer
“MY HEART GREW THREE SIZES…” – Amazon Reviewer
“Couldn’t Put It Down.” – Amazon Reviewer
“Fantasy at it’s [sic] finest.” –Carol, Amazon Reviewer
“Absolutely phenomenal!” –JayFly, Amazon Reviewer
“A++” –TKJ 131, Amazon Reviewer
“Absolutely Awesome.” –Dee greusel, Amazon Reviewer
“I absolutely love this series…” –Kara McCabe, Amazon Reviewer
“Tony is an excellent story teller!” jjjlake, Amazon Reviewer
“I want MORE!” –J. Bunch, Amazon Reviewer
“Awesomely engaging!” –Janice Everett, Amazon Reviewer

ABOUT TONY BERTAUSKI

Get my books FREE. Tell me where to send them at http://bertauski.com

My grandpa never graduated high school. He retired from a steel mill in the mid-70s. He was uneducated, but he was a voracious reader. I remember going through his bookshelves of paperback sci-fi novels, smelling musty old paper, pulling Piers Anthony and Isaac Asimov off shelf and promising to bring them back. I was fascinated by robots that could think and act like people. What happened when they died?

I’ve written textbooks on landscape design, but that was straightforward, informational writing; the kind of stuff that helps most people get to sleep. I’ve also been writing a gardening column with a humorous slant. That takes a little more finesse, but still informational for the most part.

I’m a cynical reader. I demand the writer sweep me into his/her story and carry me to the end. I’d rather sail a boat than climb a mountain. That’s the sort of stuff I wanted to write, not the assigned reading we used to get in high school. I wanted to create stories that kept you up late.

Fiction, GOOD fiction, is hard to write. Having a story unfold inside your head is an experience different than reading. You connect with characters in a deeper, more meaningful way. You feel them, empathize with them, cheer for them and even mourn. The challenge is to get the reader to experience the same thing, even if it’s only a fraction of what the writer feels. Not so easy.

MY TONY BERTAUSKI REVIEWS

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Giveaway – Critical Hit by W M Akers @ouijum @GoddessFish

Posted on June 25, 2021 by fundinmental

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. W.M. Akers will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Check out the Kickstarter Campaign for this project.

How do you win a game that’s trying to kill you?

A twenty-nine year-old clerk at a games store in the Appalachian hamlet of Jett Creek, Tennessee, Callie Myles lives for the weekly RPG sessions run by her beloved brother and gamesmaster, LB. Under his watchful eye, she and her friends wage war, harness magic, and battle evil. When the dice are rolling, they are heroes, and all of Callie’s anxieties slip away. The fun stops the night LB burns to death in a bizarre fire.

Asked by her friends to keep the weekly game alive, Callie does her best to set her grief aside. She puts on the monocle LB wore during sessions and finds herself sucked into a life-sized recreation of her brother’s game. Inhabiting the body of her beloved character, the legendary Arabeth, she thinks she has found the ultimate escape. Her paradise is spoiled when she discovers that something inside the game killed LB—and one of her fellow players was in on it.

To save herself, to avenge her brother, Callie Myles must pull on her armor and beat LB’s game from the inside out. If she gets killed along the way, well, at least she’s having a great time.

A fast-paced hybrid of mystery and adventure, CRITICAL HIT captures the breakneck joy of tabletop gaming, where life and death depend on the whims of a plastic die. It will be on Kickstarter from May 25 to June 25, and available on DriveThruFiction and Amazon after that.

Read an Excerpt

A Depression-era mechanic’s shop, LB’s studio was at the back of a sloping lot covered with garbage and twisted iron. It was just two rooms: an old forge on the first floor and a rat’s nest of papers and art supplies on the second. It was where he went, he said, when he needed to make art that was too personal to make at the college, or when he just wanted the world to leave him be.

All of it was on fire.

It was hard to see where the building had been. It was curling in on itself, like a paper bag in a campfire. The fire truck was halfway up the hill, spraying water on the house next door. The studio, they’d quit trying to save.

Doc’s car sat at the bottom of the hill, front doors open, engine running. I saw her, gray ponytail silhouetted by the flame, manning one of the jets. With what little strength I had left, I ran up the driveway. Matty leapt out of the truck’s cab, fireman’s coat still unbuttoned, and grabbed me by the shoulder.

“Is he inside?” I said.

“Get out of here.”

“God damn it, if he’s in there, we have to get him out!”

“It’s too hot. Nobody’s going near it.”

Matty rested his hand on my shoulder, and I tried to keep still. I wanted to push him, to charge inside, to look for LB, but that would have been against the rules.

We were watching together when my brother’s massive body exploded out of the window, wrapped in a cloak of flame.

LB screamed something. Maybe it was words, maybe it was just pain.

It stopped quick.

I didn’t flinch. I didn’t run to him. Even from behind the barricade, it was obvious he was dead.

About the Author:

W.M. Akers is a novelist, playwright, and game designer. He is the author of the mystery novels Westside and Westside Lights; the creator of the bestselling games Deadball: Baseball With Dice and Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG; and the curator of the history newsletter Strange Times. Born in Nashville, he spent a lucky thirteen years in New York before moving to Philadelphia in 2019. Learn more about his work at his website.

Website: http://www.wmakers.net
Newsletter: http://strangetimes.substack.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ouijum
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wmakers
FB: http://facebook.com/ouijum

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Review – Extinction 2038 by P R Garcia #PRGarcia

Posted on June 16, 2021 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

P R Garcia writes some fabulous tales, so I am always eager to get my hands on another one of her books. Extinction 2038 was exactly what I expected and I enjoyed every minute of it.

A find that would change paleontology forever…and also…the world. I do wonder if something like this is possible, considering global warming is melting the glaciers and who knows what is hidden under all that ice.

As I read of the characters who were putting their life on the line, it made me thing of the Covid essential workers. When you read it, I think you may feel the same way.

Twinkles…I love Twinkles. Just like a child, annoying yet so lovable. Even in bad times, a human needs a laugh.

P R Garcia’s books stick with me long after reading. She adds those moments of ecological enlightenment…if we weren’t so into ourselves, maybe we would think of the world we live in and remember Mother Nature has her limits.

As the Antarctic ice thaws, what secrets hidden in its frozen tundra will be exposed? Definitely something to think about. Most of P R Garcia’s work that I have read, like Extinction 2038, hints at the destruction of climate change and I like that. Adds a realistic element.

Extinction 2038 is 242 pages of action and adventure. There were some surprises that I loved and I enjoyed my time spent reading Extinction 2038. My only complaint, I didn’t get lost in it. I would have loved for it to be longer, more intense. I didn’t feel the sense of urgency I wanted.

Never fear, I know we have another book coming from P R Garcia and I will not hesitate to pick it up and read it. I highly recommend her work and, even though, Extinction 2038 is not one of my favorites, I enjoyed my time spent in the Antarctic.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Extinction 2038 by P R Garcia.

GOODREADS BLURB

Imagine a world with no electricity, no internet, no communications, no transportation. This is what three scientists face when they are trapped in Antarctica, their rescuers killed by an ancient virus their colleague unleashed. Despite the best attempts, the virus has spread across the globe, killing animal life indiscriminately. Within weeks, more than half of humanity is gone. The streets are littered with the rotting corpses of animals and people. Not even rats or flies are left to help clean up the mess.
If they can make it to the Australian Research Station, they might survive the forthcoming winter. If not, they will freeze to death within days. But even if they can reach the Station, it can only keep them alive until spring. Somehow they have to find a way off Antarctica, but how? And a more compelling question – why hasn’t the virus affected them? Why are they still alive?

ABOUT P R GARCIA

P.R. Garcia grew up in rural Michigan and is the youngest of three. She became a lover of Science Fiction at an early age when her parents took her to the movies. She was hooked the moment she heard Patricia Neal tell the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still “Klaatu barada nikto”. Inspired by what was possible, she and her dog spent many days in the fields behind her home fighting aliens and investigating unexplored planets. Her love continued to grow, and while in high school, the series Star Trek hit television, boosting her fascination with what might be out there. Her friends still comment on how she skipped the football games to stay home and watch each episode. When in her thirties, she became an award-winning basket weaver and continued in this craft for three decades. Upon retiring from her job of thirty years, she moved to San Diego, California. She volunteered for five years as a guide on the Whale Watching Boats, teaching people from around the world about the Pacific Ocean’s aquatic life.

At sixty-two, Ms. Garcia began to write her Europa Saga, a tantalizing, ten-part sci-fi series of intrigue, suspense, and mystery. Her saga is a fresh retelling of the story of Atlantis and its inhabitants. The books span six thousand years and four generations. Her story launched her into the world of a best-selling author.

Global warming, deforestation, pollution of our air and water, species loss, and the devastation of Earth itself are all subjects dear to Ms. Garcia’s heart. She has incorporated those themes into her later books, including books seven through nine of the Europa Saga and Extinction 2038. Her upcoming book Guardians of Earth and the sequel Guardians of Earth II, which should be released in early 2021, also deals with these subjects. If you’d like information on ways you can help stop global warming and other green topics, sign up for her newsletter.

Ms. Garcia also writes children’s books. A Cat for William is based on an authentic story about how a stray cat helps a man cope with a disabling disease. She is working on two more children’s books: The Story of Sudan: The Last Northern White Male Rhino and The Christmas Crayons, a story about a homeless boy who finds happiness in a box of crayons on Christmas Day. For more information, go to her web page: http://www.prgarcia1.com.

For a free copy of book 1 EUROPA Awakenings, go to: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view…

MY P R GARCIA REVIEWS

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Giveaway – I Can Still Hear You by Nicole Black @nicolebwriter @GoddessFish

Posted on May 25, 2021 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

I Can Still Hear You by Nicole Black

GENRE: action/adventure, women’s fiction with romantic elements

BLURB:

I Can Still Hear You is a powerful and deeply moving story which grapples with the universal pain of grief and the loss of a loved one. When Scarlett O’Connor loses her father at the age of 30, she’s forced to face the shambles that her life has become. With no money and no savings, the only thing that waits for her is a cryptic map and a mysterious letter. With nothing left to lose, she embarks on a trip to Maui for her father’s final adventure, to begin a treasure hunt which will force her to look deep inside herself and come to terms with her pain and grief.

Accompanied by her less-than-supportive fiancé, a close childhood friend, and an enigmatic man who was her father’s old acquaintance, Scarlett must decode the mystery and find the hidden treasure. But she knows she must face her fears alone, and calling upon the spirit of her father for guidance, she struggles to reconcile her emotions and uncover the treasure before her time in Maui comes to an end.

Perfect for fans of contemporary and women’s fiction, I Can Still Hear You is a gripping tale which will resonate with anybody who has struggled with the death of someone close. This book is a testament to the fact that even though we may have lost them, our loved ones stay with us no matter what challenges we face.

Excerpt One: Chapter 1

The hospital room may have been silent, but it was far from peaceful.

The mechanical sounds of the machines melded with the all-too-human sounds of my father’s ailing body slowly giving up its fight. The resulting cacophony was anything but comforting. Though his heartbeat was steady, his breathing was a tortured, sawing rasp, a constant reminder that each intake of air could be his last.

The sound of the clock ticking on the wall reminded me of my grandfather’s old stopwatch. I made a mental note to ask my Dad about the whereabouts of the watch.

He had very little time left.

I knew that from the way the medical staff had left me alone with him. They’d been a constant presence these past few weeks, buzzing about the room, telling me in hushed whispers that this time was near, but I hadn’t really believed it. Those doctors had said, after his lung transplant six years ago, that we could expect him to live two to five years more.

But things were different now. He sounded different. He looked different, smaller, frailer. He even smelled a little different, as if something inside his body was going very wrong. And this was the first time all the doctors and nurses had stopped hovering nearby with a new drip or medication to administer. A nurse usually came in to open the curtains in the morning, but no one had been in for hours.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Nicole Black is an author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur with a passion for sharing unique stories and helping people grow. For over 20 years, she’s worked in the business world as a corporate trainer in employee productivity and effective growth, where she’s helped some of the biggest brands in hospitality and entertainment grow sustainably through inspiring their employees. She’s been featured on platforms including TEDxWilmington, Jack Canfield Show, Santa Barbara News Press, The George DiGianni show and the Tom Barnard Show.

Through her writing, Nicole hopes to empower her readers and impart valuable lessons about grief, loss, and emotional growth. In her free time, Nicole enjoys traveling, yoga, and spending time with her wonderful daughter in their home of Santa Barbara, California.

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/nicoleblack25

Instagram: @WriterNicoleB and @nicoleblackauthor

Twitter: @nicolebwriter

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Superheroes – Jesus of the North by Stephen Henning #stephenhenning

Posted on March 31, 2021 by fundinmental

Stephen Henning has been writing his Class Heroes novels since 2011 and I have been with him all the way. I have come to love these characters and am always eager to meet a new superhero and learn of his powers.

Jesus of the North (Class Heroes Book 6)

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Stephen Henning has created some wonderful characters and scenarios in his Class Heroes series and I think that many teens and young adults, especially, would love meeting them….and I have too.

From life experiences, Deenpal Mander believes that life is governed by chance.

Deenpal hears of Sir Michael Rosebud, who is offering anyone with superpowers a $100,000 check and a home on Liberation Island, a safe haven from those who would want to exploit them. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I feel, if something is too good to be true, BEWARE. You’ll have to read the book to find out, but…

I feel so bad for Deepal. He is a young man, naive, homeless, no family left, with a superpower that puts him in danger…and, of course, he is going to run into someone that has that exact agenda and uses every wile he has to possess Deenpal, as if he is merchandise to be bought and sold.

He meets Richard Ratchett in Manchester and…I don’t feel real good about this.

I feel a sense of danger throughout the story, and, like Deenpal, am having a hard time figuring out who to trust. I worry for him and am eager to see what Stephen Henning has in store for him. Chantelle was a wonderful surprise. Sometimes we can all be too quick to judge.

I love the moments of paying it forward.

As I got closer to the end, I kept checking how many pages were left. I wondered how he was going to bring this story to a close. Would there be a cliffhanger? NO.

Each book has given me a wonderful glimpse into the fabulous characters and their superhero world, all the while drawing me in further. He does wrap each of his stories up,so I feel they could stand alone, but isn’t it always best to start a series from the beginning?

Stephen Henning ended Jesus of the North in a good place, leaving me eagerly anticipating the next story, How To Start You Own Country. Hmmmm…..

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Jesus of the North by Stephen Henning.

AMAZON SYNOPSIS

Deenpal Mander arrives in Manchester (UK), to attend some very special X-Factor-style auditions, which have been organised by Sir Michael Rosewood to try and find people with super powers. His special ability brings him to the attention of crooked construction boss Richard Ratchett, and puts him in danger from the world of organized crime. Can Deen find a way to escape an evil people-trafficking network? And if he does, is accepting Sir Michael’s friendship really the salvation that he thinks it is?

ABOUT STEPHEN HENNING

I began writing the first Class Heroes book on my laptop in February 2011, but these stories have probably been continually playing in my head since I was aged five or six, when I would act them out with toys and with my friends. I then branched out into using pencils, colouring pens and paper, moving on to writing pads and then my first computer.

So, as you’ve probably gathered, I have always enjoyed making up stories and the super-hero genre has been one of my favourites.

The CV-type stuff is that I went to Sheffield Hallam University to study English. I then trained and briefly worked as a journalist in Salford. After that, I moved into publishing – which was great. An interesting and fun industry to be in and fascinating to see how books are put together and sold.

After that I started doing technical writing, which led me to start my own business with my friend and colleague Andrew Butters. My love of writing, generally, led me back to writing fiction. Our company, Elucidox Ltd, publishes the Class Heroes books.

If you want to know a bit more about me, what kind of super powers I have and the kind of super villains I have to tangle with on a daily basis, then feel free to watch Rage. This is a short film, that took a long time to make. It’s a simple day in my life :-). Actually it’s just a fun movie that I made with the very kind help of some of my best mates. We had a laugh doing it, hope you like it too. And if you do, then why not explore the super world of the Class Heroes books?

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Youtube

MY STEPHEN HENNING REVIEWS