Dark Matter by Alyssa Huckleberry

 

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“Survival is light years away.”

Earth is dying. The only salvation for humanity is colonizing space, yet so far that has failed. The last hope for survival exists on a planet light years away…and the mission is fraught with danger. Teenager Selina Alois leads a group of six high achievers who pass the exam of a lifetime to earn a position on the precarious expedition. As the mission launch approaches, dark secrets are exposed about the planet. Further digging reveals a sinister plot that not only risks humanity’s fate but also puts Selina and her team to the ultimate test.

Read an Excerpt

I always knew it would be me.

Don’t ask me to explain how I knew—I won’t be able to.

As far back as I can remember, there was talk of colonizing outer space. I didn’t grow up freaked out by the idea. Maybe I should have—my parents were.

The year I was born, the United States celebrated its one hundredth anniversary of the successful establishment of a colony on the moon. Venturing into outer space was never foreign to me; it never carried fear the way it did for the adults around me. I learned about the solar system in school like every kid through the generations…but I also facetimed with the scientists stationed at headquarters and had a third-grade pen pal who lived on the moon.

But that was when Earth was only thought to be dying…before scientists put an expiration date on Earth’s existence. That news changed everything: disbelief melted into panic, which boiled to cold-blooded terror when the drafts were instated.

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I forget that not everyone is fluent in space-talk; that my everyday reality is startling to some. My mom in particular reminds me of this all the time. She accuses me of being intentionally abrupt just so I can elicit shocked reactions from people around me.

It isn’t true. I just don’t see the point in sugarcoating situations.

About the Author:

Alyssa Huckleberry grew up in San Diego as the oldest of four children. After earning a business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Alyssa spent a short time working in finance before transitioning to work in education. Today Alyssa works as a fifth grade teacher and she LOVES her job!

When she isn't teaching or writing, you can find Alyssa running, reading, practicing yoga, traveling the world, or spending time with those dearest to her. She loves spending time outdoors, growing in her faith, and learning new things (hence, the great amount of time spent reading, traveling, and going on adventures!). A true lover of whimsy, she also believes everything is better with a latte in hand.

Alyssa's first novel, Rescuing Racei, was published in 2004 (while Alyssa was still a high school student) and later won the San Diego Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel. Since then, Alyssa published three other books to complete the series: Stealing Splendiferous, Magicus, and The Maleku Map.

The Struggle is Real was an inspired piece written for an adult audience as a stand-alone work. Her latest novel, Dark Matter, is written for a young adult audience. It is the first book in what will be a science-fiction series imagining a future of space exploration!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssa.huckleberry/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3162224.Alyssa_Huckleberry
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Alyssa-Huckleberry/e/B00J8X3RSM/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

Dark Matter purchase links:

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matter-Alyssa-Huckleberry/dp/1734419865/ref=sr_1_2
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matter-Dystopian-Science-Fiction-ebook/dp/B08CS2HPDN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0

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TWO INK MINIMUM by Michel Prince

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michel Prince will be awarding a $10 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.

In book one of Permanent Hangover, all Finn Gardner wanted was a breath of fresh air when he stepped into the alley behind the Permanent Hangover Bar and Tattoo Parlor. At first sight, he’d thought it was just another homeless person to shoo away from the building. Instead, he found someone who needed help - his help. Having been given a second chance himself, Finn believes in paying it forward. The Hangover has taken more than one lost soul in over the years.

Bailey Parson needed to get away. She left her life in Chicago behind and escaped to St. Paul, but she never once thought far enough ahead to what her next step would be when she arrived there. To her, what she was running from was much more to worry about than some half-baked plan. After a month stuck on the streets, a new need arose, as the temperature started to drop - survival.

Given a chance by a stranger, Bailey works to find her way. Not only winning over customers and the staff with her smart wit and empathy, she wins over the standoffish tattoo artist. Keeping their relationship forward focused, Finn hoped to avoid both of their baggage. However, when Bailey’s past threatens to destroy everything they built together, Finn’s left with decisions to make.

Does he give up the beautiful curvy woman, the only one whose touch calms him? How much of his dark past would he need to unlock to save her? A past with the potential to destroy what they have together. More importantly, can the lovers turn the scars of the past into a design strong enough to see them through any challenge? Or, will the permanent ink leave them with open wounds and no chance of healing?

Read an Excerpt

“How you know her?” Cain asked.

“Didn’t you hear, he plucked her from the trash and begged Alice to hire her,” Mick said as he continued to change ‘sweet Tina’ to ‘sweet titties.’ Along with the body of a woman to match.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“You know why he knows what she’s wearing?” Mick goaded.

“Not again?” Cain moaned. “Seriously, dude, are you a fan of buying flat screens?”

“I didn’t let her stay with me,” Finn growled in reference to his last female roommate who cleaned him out before taking off.

“No, this jackass is letting her stay, rent-free in the upper apartment.”

“It was empty,” Finn said. “All she has is a shitty mattress left by the last tenant.”

“Tell the truth,” Joey said as he joined the conversation. “You gonna get her on welfare, then section eight your duplex. That would make sense. She gives you like eight dollars, but you get two grand.”

“My whole plan is to manipulate the system,” his droll response had all the enthusiasm of a drunk regretting decisions the morning after.

“Work it, or it’ll work you,” Mick said. “Seen it a million times before.”

“If you hear thumping on your ceiling tonight know I took her home,” Cain said with a broad smile. The mahogany skinned man crossed his arms. Covered in black ink from all the artists currently renting space as well as a few others.

“What will you be doing?” Joey laughed. “Stomping on roaches in Finn’s rat trap of a slum? Seriously, dude, in what world has that place not been condemned?”

“It’s historic,” Finn replied as he waved over his next client.

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling author, Michel Prince, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and political science. Michel writes new adult and adult paranormal romance as well as contemporary romance.

With characters yelling “It’s my turn damn it!!!” She tries to explain to them that alas, she can only type a hundred and twenty words a minute and they will have to wait their turn. She knows they’ll eventually find their way out of her head and to her fingertips and she looks forward to sharing them with you.

When Michel suppresses the voices in her head, she can be found cheering for her son in a variety of sports. She owes a huge thanks to her family for always being in her corner and especially her husband for supporting her every dream and never letting her give up. Michel was awarded Elite Status with Rebel Ink Press in 2013, the service award for her local RWA chapter Midwest Fiction Writers in 2013 and 2014, and Sweetest Romance at IRAE 2015.

She resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, and dogs, Bolt and Sawyer.

http://www.MichelPrinceBooks.com
http://www.facebook.com/MichelPrinceBooks
http://www.Twitter.com/MichelPrince1
http://www.instagram.com/michelprincebooks

Buy Links:

Amazon US https://tinyurl.com/rb6spvm
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Amazon AU https://tinyurl.com/r8rrqr8
Amazon CA https://tinyurl.com/u2272pz
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Kobo https://tinyurl.com/skt5ak6
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Audible https://tinyurl.com/ybhokp9m

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A Funny Thing Happened to me on the Way to 333 BC

A funny thing happened on the way to 333 BC - I got stuck there.

I was supposed to go in, interview Alexander the Great, grab my story, and leave. But Fate, that joker, intervened, and here I am - stranded in the past with Alexander the Great. Well, not really - my character got stuck. I was going to write a short story about a time-traveling journalist going into the past, and I ended up with a series of seven books.

When I started writing the Time for Alexander series, it became obvious I was going to have to do a lot of research in order to make the history believable. I'm not a historian. It would be ridiculous to pretend otherwise. This book is a work of fiction; did the time-travel element give it away? I started this saga never intending to take it so far. When I realized that the short story I'd planned to send to the sci-fi magazine was turning into a novel, I stopped writing and spent a year researching ancient Greece and Alexander the Great. A year is not enough. I could have spent ten years and not had enough information. I haunted my local library, I ordered books, I emailed ancient history professors and doctors and asked questions. I looked up toothpaste, measurements, and medical procedures. In the end, I had to walk a tightrope between what I'd learned and how I wanted the story to go.

I spent a year researching Alexander the Great, and then there was the time travel. Can you travel through time? Time travel flies in the face of physics because of the expanding universe theory. However, imagine time and space as a huge, elastic balloon that is slowly expanding- with the inside of the balloon consisting of exactly the same amount of matter as it started with - and imagine that all that matter is somehow connected and is vibrating in perfect synchronisation - and that the one thing on earth that vibrates along with it is quartz...and vibrations are waves, like radio waves or light waves - and those waves can reach back millions and millions of years without being altered in the slightest.

So back to the research - I thought (smugly) that I knew a lot about him, because I'd read some biographies, a few of Aristotle's quotes, skimmed over The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian, and read several fiction books about him including the fantastic Mary Renault series. Plutarch wrote the most fascinating biography nearly four hundred years after the conqueror’s death, and his research seems to have been meticulous. But Plutarch was Greek, and for the Greeks, Alexander would forever be an upstart barbarian.

The biggest problem, for me, was that most accounts were written centuries after Alexander's death! I put aside my short story and started researching in earnest. Who was this person? Why did he go so far into India when he'd already captured the crown of Persia? And so I researched, and as I sifted through fact, myth, and fiction, it occured the me that the most concrete facts we have about Alexander are from the places he'd been - the actual route he travelled, which is, even now, scattered with his relics. A city here, a road there, an outpost, a fortress, a battleground, a temple built to honor his beloved horse... But why? Why go against his generals' wishes and drag (well, lead) his army across half the known world? It was as if he never really wanted to go back and rule, but go back to Babylon he did, where he died soon after.

His character came to me by reading between the lines. A warrior, yes, but a dreamer as well. An eternal student and tourist at heart, charismatic but short tempered. A brilliant tactician and energetic, but prone to ill health. His friends loved him, his enemies hated him, but no one was indifferent. He was superstitious and religious, yet he defied the gods. He was a conundrum, and he made a wonderful fictional character.

The character I needed was larger than life, (even Alexander's enemies admitted he was amazing). It wasn't hard, therefor, to create a sort of demigod. But Alexander's faults were important too. He was, according to Plutarch, 'choleric' and would drink excessively. The more I studied him, the more the idea occurred to me that my first idea of a male journalist would not work. For one thing, a man would not fall under Alexander's spell as easily as a woman would. Men, I discovered as I researched, were, well, a tiny bit jealous. It crept into Plutarch's work, it seeped out of Arrian's book - the only one who wasn't in awe of Alexander was Aristotle. Even modern historians and bloggers make the mistakes the ancients did - they either glorify him beyond reason, or they maligne him.

However, according to all the writings I found, Alexander respected women. He would be open to meeting and speaking to a woman who posed as an onirocrite, (someone who interpreted dreams) - therefore, I needed a woman time traveler. And I needed someone who wouldn't be cowed by him, and someone who would fascinate him. It wasn't hard to create the woman - what surprised me was how fast she fell into his arms. Well, it would be a romance book, then. But love isn't easy to write about, so they fell in lust first (that's more understandable). Love came slowly to this mismatched pair; the man from the past  and the woman from the future had a lot to overcome before their relationship could be based on mutual trust and understanding. And for that, she has to tell him who she truly is - not Persephone, goddess of the dead, but a woman from another time. He's impressed - of course, and all the more so because he realizes that what he's doing will be in songs through the ages. Heady stuff, for a young man!

The book advanced, and as I wrote, I researched. The army, their route, their food, their weapons, his friends, his enemies, the weather, the horses...and toothpaste. "The devil is in the details", as they say. I spent an entire day researching toothpaste. Did you know that people brushed their teeth very carefully back then? Clean teeth and sweetness of breath was considered essential. They used soft twigs, chewed until they frayed, or little brushes, and they had homemade toothpaste. So, herewith for your tooth brushing pleasure is the recipe for toothpaste circa 500 BC (it didn't change much for a thousand years...): heat snail shells in the fire until they are white and grind them very fine. Add gypsum and honey, and grind into a paste. Add essential oils of mint or other herbs for taste. Other recipes included chalk mixed with wood ash and fresh urine (a virgin's urine or the urine of a young person is best), and one simple recipe is sea salt mixed with spices such as powdered cloves rubbed energetically over the teeth and gums – guaranteed white teeth, fresh breath, and sore gums!

This story had to be plotted out using existing people, historical events, the army’s movements, and take into account the seasons and weather, so it was vital to have a strong outline. Within that framework I took many liberties. One of the tricks of writing historical fiction is to keep real events pinned to their place and time. I had to move some of the characters around – I had one of Alexander’s generals interacting directly with Alexander when most historians agree he was back in Macedonia – but I needed him there, so thanks to the wonders of fiction, there he was!

Research was important to me because I wanted the reader to feel as if they were immersed in another time and culture. Ashley feels disconnected from reality, but it's the small details of everyday life: how bread was baked, how prayers were said, how the soldiers bathed (her favorite part of the day), that anchor her to her new surroundings.  Hopefully, the reader will feel the same, not looking back across a chasm made of thousands of years but actually living, walking, and riding at Alexander's side.

Calculating travel time in ancient times

When I wrote my book, The Road to Alexander, I knew I was going to be travelling a lot.  He’d dragged his army (like a gaggle of geese, as Ashley dryly remarks*) from one end of the known world to the other – over mountains, swamps, and deserts. Luckily, I had an incredible ressource to help me plot the journey – Michael Wood’s “In the Footsteps of Alexander”, a book literally written while following Alexander’s army. Invaluable and fascinating! But from book IV to book VII, the couple voyage to Africa, Gaul, Scandinavia, and then down the coast of France and Portugal, through the ‘Pillars of Hercules’ and on to Carthage, Rome, Pompeii and finally home again in Alexandria.  But how to calculate the time it took to travel that route?

Overland routes were the easiest – although roads were often just tracks, they existed, and in those days, there was brisk trade from north to south, and east to west. Walking time is fairly easy to calculate, and the larger towns and cities were logical stopping points. But what about sea voyages? How fast did the boats go, how long did it take to get from Alexandria in Egypt to the port of Massalia (Marseilles)? Luckily the library steered me to a fascinating book on ancient travel by boat, and wonder of wonders – it was in public domain and online! So off I went to research, and this book became my new favorite as I happily plotted and planned Alexander and Ashley’s trip.

A few years later, I stumbled across this wonderful site – and now writers of history can click on a map and get travel times in Ancient Rome, and I spent a lot more time than I’d care to admit clicking on routes.

Ancient travel is mostly composed of marching, riding, sailing, or plodding along in a cart pulled by oxen.  What brings a book to life are details of everyday life – and what adds even more veracity is (trying at least) to keep travel time as close to reality as possible. I hope these online ressources can help authors as much as they helped me!

Speed Under Sail of Ancient Ships.  Lionel Casson. New York University (article) http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/TAPA/82/Speed_under_Sail_of_Ancient_Ships*.html

Travel times in Ancient Rome: ORBIS. http://orbis.stanford.edu/#

For walking – use the Hiking Time Calculator: https://trailsnh.com/tools/hiking-time-calculator.php

Mile per day riding: On Roads / trails
Level or rolling terrain: 40
Hilly terrain: 30
Mountainous terrain: 20

Off-Road (or unkempt trails etc)
Level/rolling grasslands: 30
Hilly grasslands: 25
Level/rolling forest/thick scrub: 20
Very hilly forest/thick scrub: 15

Un-blazed Mountain passes: 10
Marshland: 10

Assumptions
An average quality horse, of a breed suitable for riding, conditioned for overland travel and in good condition.
Roads and trails are in good condition.
Weather is good to fair, and travelers are riding for around ten hours a day.

Notes
Halve these distances for a horse pulling a cart or for a very heavily laden horse, and essentially, it depends on the horse. Horses are athletes, and well conditioned horses that are used to travelling long distances can travel much further than horses that are not used to such activity. If your horses don’t get out and do this particularly often, then 20-30 miles (30-50 km) per day is probably a good estimate. Wikipedia supports this, with a claim of 30 miles (50km) per day for a small mounted company. This involves the horse walking for most of the duration of the day, with short breaks.

Excerpt from “The Road to Alexander”

*I nodded. ‘Fine, let’s go south. I was worried about spending the winter in the mountains anyway.’
His mouth twitched. ‘Well, that’s another reason we’re going.’
‘Fine. Did you tell your men?’ I asked sarcastically, ‘or did you just say “march south”, as if they were a gaggle of geese?’
‘A gaggle of geese?’ His eyebrows rose. ‘I don’t think my men think of themselves as geese.’
‘Oh? Well, excuse me. It’s a just silly impression I got, that’s all.’
‘Explain.’ It was an order.
‘Did you tell them why you did it?’ I asked, getting angry now. ‘Did you bother to explain? Do you know what they’re saying?’
‘About what?’
‘You know damn well about what. I’ll tell you what they’re saying. They’re saying that Parmenion had no trial. They’re saying you were the judge, the jury, and the executioner, and that you did it out of sheer fury! That’s what they’re saying.’
‘Where did you hear this?’ His eyes were blazing.
‘In the stables, the grooms are talking. Alex, you have to do something. You can’t just expect your men to read your mind and follow you blindly. They deserve your trust.’
‘Oh? They do? What about Philotas?’
‘I think he was an exception,’ I said levelly. ‘But if you go on pretending to be a god, he’ll become the rule.’
‘Pretending to be a god?’ Alexander sat heavily on the bed and stared up at me. ‘You, of all people, telling me that? I see you’re blushing. Good, so you do see the irony of your statement.’
‘I only meant that you could explain. Call your men together and give them one of your speeches, you do that so well. They want to see you; they love you and want to follow you. But if you close yourself off from them, they will be hurt, then angry, and then they will refuse to follow.’ I looked at him pleadingly.
He studied my face for a few minutes, then looked down at his feet. He wiggled his toes. ‘They really love me?’ he asked, looking up again.
‘What do you think?’
‘I wasn’t sure, you know, after last night. It came as such a shock.’
‘I know.’ I sat next to him and touched his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’ve already written a speech, and I was going to give it before we broke camp.’ He grinned.
‘You did?’
‘Yes, I wasn’t going to drag my men around after me like an old sack. Or a gag of geese.’
‘A gaggle.’
‘Yes, nice word. I think you worry too much, Ashley of the Sacred Sandals. You worry and fret like an old mother hen.’ He took my hand and pulled me down on the bed next to him. He started to take off my tunic, not heeding Brazza who was packing the rug, or Axiom who was taking down the lamp.

Excerpt from The Road to Alexander by Jennifer Macaire

Meet Jennifer Macaire

Source: MEET JENNIFER MACAIRE

Edward James, a talented author, world traveller, historian, and adventurer has interviewed me for his blog, BusyWords ! I think Mr James’s life sounds just fascinating, so after reading my interview, why not peruse his blog and read some of his short stories, or get one of his novels (I’m going to get The Frozen Dream as soon as my review stack is finished!)

Edward James My guest today is Jennifer Macaire.  I invited her to join me on this blog after reading her novel The Road to Alexander, a timeslip novel about a journalist in the distant future who travels back in time to interview Alexander the Great.

EJ  I must confess, Jennifer, that I do not usually read time-travel novels.  They make it all seem too easy, with no technical or philosophical problems.  But time travel in The Road to Alexander seems worse than a major operation, complete with pre-op and anaesthetic.  It was so realistic I am convinced you are a time-traveller – but I suppose you can’t admit it or you will be ‘erased’.  Is that so?

Jennifer Macaire Actually, I’m free to tell anyone. Nobody so far has believed me! As long as I don’t do anything to change the future, there’s no risk.

EJ  I believed you arrived in the present era in the United States but have since lived in many places.  Can you tell me something about this and what you did in all these settings?

JM I arrived in NY, in 1960. I next stopped in California, and after that, Samoa in the Pacific. During that time, I masqueraded as an infant. My parents were teachers and loved to travel. We  lived for a while in the Caribbean, then I flew to NYC where I posed as a model. I travelled to Paris, where I hooked up with a polo player. The polo circuit took us from Florida to England to France to Argentina for a while. When our children were born, we decided to settle in France and that’s where we are now – well, except for a few voyages from time to time – or to some time or another.

EJ   That all seems too glamorous to spend your time writing.  What moved you to become a novelist?

JM It isn’t easy to hold a job down when you’re travelling so much, so I started writing when we were in Argentina. We were hours away from any town, in the middle of the pampa, and the twins were small. I had a lot of free time because my husband was often gone days at a time looking for horses. I wrote my first stories there – on the back porch, watching the twins play in the garden in the shade of the eucalyptus trees. At night we slept in a room room heated by a softly crackling fire and lit with oil lamps. We had no electricity, but we had running water. On the estancia were ponies, sheep, and cattle; and we could see deer, burrowing owls, and wild ostriches in the plains. It was magical, like time travelling to a different century. Nowadays, while working on my writing,  I work part time as an assistant in a dental office here in France and, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, part time as an assistant to a researcher in Australia.

EJ   Did you have difficulty finding a publisher?

JM I did! It surprised me, because I’d been writing and selling magazine articles and short stories, and I’d naively thought that a time travel book would be easy to sell. It might have been, but it wasn’t “romantic” enough, oh, and there is a threesome because Ashley falls in love with Alexander’s lover, Hephaestion. It’s not serious enough for a history book, and it’s kind of funny. So, yes, it was rejected by at least ten publishers and twice as many agents. One agent asked for the full series. I printed it up and sent it in a box the size of a volkswagen. I never heard from her again. I suppose she used the manuscript as a table for a while. It seemed odd that she asked for the whole series and never wrote back until I re-read her letter and saw she just wanted a full manuscript – of book one. Did I mention there are seven books in the series? I sold the series to a terrific outfit in Australia, which published books 1-3 and then folded. Meanwhile I kept writing and sold a few more books. I have a pen name and write erotica. But this series has always been my favorite, so I was thrilled when it was accepted by a publisher in the UK last year.

EJ   Have you always been interested in the Ancient World?  Did you know a  great deal about Alexander before you started work on your trilogy?

JM My mother is a history teacher and I’ve always been interested in history. I didn’t know much about Alexander the Great, but I’m keen on research, so when I decided to write about him, I researched for nearly a year. I had piles of information, most of which I didn’t use or got chopped in editing (note from editor: Jennifer, you’re being pedantic again…)!

EJ    Do you think you would have fallen in love with Alexander had you met him  – indeed did you fall in love with him?

JM When I met him, he was just starting his “great adventure”, as he calls it. He was young and brash, and had an incredible charisma. I think, if I were Ashley, I would have fallen under his spell. It’s undeniable that he was someone special – I often wonder what the world would have been like had he lived to govern Persia, Egypt and Greece. What would have happened with Rome? Would he have gone to Africa, as he’d dreamed of doing? He was quite simply capable of anything. It’s hard to resist someone with such energy and optimism.

EJ   Your books are quite playful in the sense that they play with history rather than re-living it.  Have you ambitions to be a more serious historical novelist?

JM I would love to try my hand at a more serious historical novel, but I’m afraid I’m more of a science fiction writer. I did write a book set in the time of the Crusades, but again, it’s a time slip. I can’t seem to get around that. Putting a modern person back in time is an interesting way to perceive the distance that separates us. One author I admire immensely is Connie Willis. Her “The Doomsday Book” is one of my favorite time slip novels. She’s a science fiction/history/romance writer, which is more in line with what I love to write.

EJ  What are you planning to do after the Alexander trilogy?

It’s not a trilogy. It’s a septology! Book III is due out in September, and book IV will appear in December if all goes according to plan.

EJ   Can you tell my readers where they can find out more about you?

JM My blog is here (https://jennifermacaire.wordpress.com/) and my author showcase is here (https://authorjennifermacaire.wordpress.com/) the Facebook page for my series is here (https://www.facebook.com/TimeforAlexander/) You can write to me at jennifermacaire@gmail.com – at least until my next time slip – although I usually try to come back ahead of time. My twitter handle is @jennifermacaire

EJ    Thank you, Jennifer.  My review of The Road to Alexander should appear in the November issue of Historical Novels Review and on the Historical Novel Society website.

Inspiration with author Val McBeath

As an author, I never had to think about "finding inspiration" - it was always about using what occured to me. My imagination runs wild most days - hardly a day goes by that I'm not inspired by something. But sifting through all my ideas and choosing what to write about is often difficult for me.  I asked author Val McBeath to tell me about what inspires her to write her historical novels. 
“Where do you get your ideas from when writing a book?”

Author VL McBeath

Val:  It’s a common enough question for authors but one with a wide range of answers. In my case, the ideas came long before the writing when I started researching my family history back in 2008. Initially, the intention was to find out whether my ancestors had once been very wealthy. Based on knowledge of my own childhood and that of my parents and grandparents, it seemed highly improbable, but that led to another question. If my ancestors had been wealthy, where did the money go? Did it pass out of the family as a result of a death and re-marriage as we had been lead to believe?

As I picked my way through an assortment of historical records, it appeared that, yes, the family had once been very wealthy, but no, the money did not leave the family as a result of a re-marriage. It was much more complicated than that. As I delved deeper, the story I uncovered astounded me. The more I learned, the more I needed to know, and within a couple of years the idea of turning the story into a book started to build.

Fortunately, I can find no evidence that this was her fate and instead it seems more likely that she was cared for by the family. Eventually, however, she did remarry and it was this second marriage that was the cause of all the success and heartbreak that the family subsequently endured. It was also what led me to write The Ambition & Destiny Series.

All the drama took place in and around Birmingham (UK) between 1840 and 1890, although the aftermath stayed with the descendants for many years after that. It is set against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, which was a time a great opportunity for those who were able to take it. Following Mary’s second marriage, it seems my family did make the most of their chances and rose from very humble, working-class origins to become part of the influential middle classes.

The Ambition & Destiny Series is written as a novel, where fiction is used to bring the characters to life and to fill in the gaps in the story. Parts 1 and 2 (Hooks & Eyes and Less Than Equals) tell of the family’s rise in wealth and power.

Part 3, When Time Runs Out, is the turning point in the story and covers the years when tensions within the family start to rise until eventually, they come to a head.

Parts 4 and 5 are still to come, but deal with the aftermath of Part 3 and bring the story into the 20th-century.

To mark the launch of When Time Runs Out, the ebooks of Parts 1-3 and a short story prequel (Condemned by Fate) are available for 99p / 99c from 14th - 19th November. 

Parts 1-3 are also FREE on Kindle Unlimited. To get your copies, click here.

Please Note: The books in The Ambition & Destiny Series form one story. Each ends with a cliffhanger and it is recommended that the Parts be read in sequential order. The book is written in UK English.
Links: Ambition & Destiny: http://bit.ly/VLMcBAuth1 Hooks & Eyes: http://bit.ly/HooksEyesAM Less Than Equals: http://bit.ly/AMZLTE When Time Runs Out: http://bit.ly/AMZWTRO Condemned by Fate: http://bit.ly/D2DUniversa 

Where to buy my books (for a modest sum)

Since I'm in the mood to read, I'm hoping you are too. Here are some links to online bookstores where, for a modest sum, you can pick up (and read) one (or two...or more, sky's the limit!) books to tide you over for the holiday season. They make lovely gifts too - stocking stuffers, the gift for the discerning reader!

Amazon

ibooks

Kobo

B & N 

Simon & Schuster

Lady of Thorns by Nicola Cameron

Welcome, Nicola Cameron!

Hello, and thanks so much for having me on today! Lady of Thorns is the third book in a series that was never supposed to be a series. I’ve been describing it as “Lady Mary from Downton Abbey goes head to head with Alan Shore from Boston Legal—and hijinks ensue!” While I’ve resigned Danaë and Matthias to the background for now, fear not, Mattaë fans—book four will run in parallel to the events of Lady of Thorns and covers what happens when Matthias arrives in Hellas for his first official visit after the wedding.
In the meantime I do hope you enjoy the story of Amelie and Alain, and I can promise that they’ll make another appearance down the line as I now know where I’m going with this series. All I will say about that is: buckle up, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Mwahahahaha…

Blurb

Love was never supposed to be part of the deal…
Lady Amelie de Clerq’s prickly demeanor and earth mage abilities have earned her the nickname “Lady of Thorns,” keeping potential suitors at bay and making her the butt of the nobility’s jokes. Determined to attract a husband who will love her for herself rather than her fortune, she decides to embark on a journey of sensual self-discovery.
Alain LaPorte, wily lawyer and toast of the capital’s social set, has been summoned to Lierdhe to oversee business negotiations with a neighboring earl. When Amelie asks Alain to tutor her in the bedroom arts, he agrees to introduce the virgin mage to pleasure. But lessons in lovemaking soon turn into a matter of the heart, forcing both Amelie and Alain to confront their fears about intimacy, loyalty, and love.

• Fantasy, Erotic Romance, MF
• Word Count: 80,000
• Heat Level 4
• Published By: Belaurient Press

Books in the Two Thrones series:

• Empress of Storms
• Palace of Scoundrels
• Lady of Thorns

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Excerpt

LaPorte returned with two goblets of wine and handed her one, the deep garnet of the liquid lit with reflected fire from the candlelight. “I’m glad you came. I must admit, I was afraid you’d changed your mind.”
Amelie took a deep sip, hoping the cool, tart wine would help soothe her nerves. “I had to persuade my maid that I didn’t require help getting ready for bed.” As it was, she wasn’t sure that she’d convinced Jeanette with her excuse that she planning on going back down to her office. “I apologize if I kept you waiting.”
“No apologies necessary.” He showed her to a pair of chairs set on either side of the fireplace and sat down. “You look lovely.”
She plucked at the light blue wool of her gown, wishing she had worn something more alluring, or at least with a lower neckline. Her mother’s closet was full of silky, clingy dresses with daring necklines, and she would have given a great deal to rummage through them. Instead, I come to him dressed like some awkward girl.
Which I suppose I am. “Thank you. You look very handsome.”
He smiled at that. “Thank you, my lady.”
A silence fell after that. She fidgeted with the goblet, wishing she didn’t feel like such a fool. The weight of his attention was tangible, causing her stomach to flutter. “I don’t know what to say now,” she confessed.
“You don’t have to say anything. Drink your wine and let me look at you.”
Her mouth dried again at that and she took a quick sip from her goblet. “I’m sorry about the plainness of my gown. I’m afraid I don’t have anything appropriate to wear to—” A seduction. “—something like this.”
His lips quirked at that. “I asked you to leave what you had on because I liked it. Pretty gowns make for lovely gift wrapping, true, but it all comes off in the end anyway. Besides, there’s a certain appeal to a gown such as yours.”
“I don’t see what that could be,” she muttered into her goblet.
“It’s what it represents. Youth, innocence, an unknown territory ripe to be explored. I suspect it’s the reason why so many men have a fondness for deflowering virgins—they relish being the first man a woman has known intimately.”
She tried to lock the question behind her jaws, but it popped out. “Do you like that?”
“Deflowering virgins?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
She slouched lower in her chair. “Oh.”
He held up a hand. “Not to say that I have anything against it, mind you. Everyone has to start somewhere, after all. But I don’t fetishize it to the degree that other men do. I see it more as a starting point on a very pleasant journey.”
She hadn’t thought of it that way. “And you don’t think less of me for my request?”
“Not at all, my lady. You know what you want, and you wish an experienced tutor to help you achieve it. It’s all quite reasonable to me.” He settled in his chair, sipping his wine. “As I’m playing tutor to you in this area, are there any questions you wish to ask me?”
There were, actually. “Will it hurt much?”
“It shouldn’t. If I make sure you’re aroused and open first, you should be able to take me without discomfort.”
Take him. Those simple words set warmth surging through her lower belly. “So, no gushing blood or rending pain, then.”
He rolled his eyes. “That might be the case if a maid beds a huge brute of a man who’s only interested in his own pleasure. But that won’t be the case with you, I can assure you. I’m confident enough in my ability to couch a lance without causing you harm.”
Even if there would be pain, she was prepared to bear it for the promise of pleasure afterwards. She wondered how many women he’d taken to bed, but found she didn’t want to know the answer. “How do we do this? Go from sitting here to naked and in bed?”
Alain studied her, then drained his goblet. “Like this, my lady.”

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Where to Buy

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play | iTunes | Print

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About the Author

Nicola Cameron is an expatriate Chicagoan who has lived in England, Canada, Holland, and Sweden, and keeps a confusing amalgamation of languages in her head as a result. Currently located in the clavicle of Texas, she has finally mastered the proper use of "y'all," much to her Chicago family's dismay.
Despite a healthy interest in sex since puberty, it wasn't until 2012 that Nicola decided to try writing about it. As it turned out, the skills she picked up during her SF writing career transferred rather nicely to erotic romance. When not writing, she wrangles cats, smooches her husband, makes dolls of dubious and questionable identity, and thanks almighty Cthulhu that she doesn’t have to work for a major telecommunications company any more (because there’s BDSM, and then there’s just plain torture...).

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

The Shells of Mersing by Sharon Himsl

Today I'd like to welcome Sharon Himsl, whose debut novel, "The Shells of Mersing" will interest young adult readers. 

Me: You begin with a sailing journey from Seattle. Was there a reason for this?

Sharon: Yes. I wanted Callie to know there are people in the world she can trust. Her father is dead, her mother is missing, and she has just witnessed a grisly murder. She has her little brother to take care of, but she has never felt more alone. The captain (Eric) becomes a father figure who proves valuable in locating her lost mother. In Hawaii, Callie faces the gray areas of trust with Uncle Azman and his questionable forgiveness.

Why is the second half of The Shells of Mersing set in Malaysia and Thailand?

It’s hard to say which had more impact. My stay in Malaysia in 1995-1996 or the novel that resulted. I only know that when my husband accepted a teaching position at a Malaysian polytechnic in 1995, nothing would ever be the same again. I joined him three months later, following a job lay-off at the telephone company where I had worked for fifteen years.

What was it like becoming an expat?

Huge learning curve. I received travel specifics and instructions for expats from my husband’s stateside employer about what to wear and what not to do in a Muslim run country. For instance, knee length skirts and tops with capped sleeves (no bare shoulders, please) were recommended.

Your main characters Callie and Lucas travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia alone. Are their impressions yours as well?

Some of the sights, sounds and smells they experience are straight from my diary. Malaysia was over 50% native Malay (Muslim), 35% Chinese (Buddhist), and 15% Indian (Hindu) in 1995. Each ethnic group has their own language and dialect, but they use English to communicate publicly. Callie and Lucas are relieved to hear English spoken at the market in Kuala Lumpur when they lose their way. The Muslim girl Hayati is based on a teen girl I met on the bus in Kuala Lumpur.

Callie and Lucas meet their Muslim family in Mersing, Malaysia. Do they experience any religious conflicts?

Yes. Malaysians are a religious people. In 1995, expats were warned not to share their Christian faith or pass out bibles if so inclined. It was likewise illegal for Chinese and Indian Christians to do so. I couldn’t resist putting Callie in a situation where she accidentally gives a cousin a Christian flyer handed to her at the market. She has a brief falling out with her Muslim family. As Muslims do not celebrate Christmas, Callie and Lucas then find a way to give gifts to their aunt and uncle, and cousins.

Where did the idea for The Shells of Mersing come from?

I was volunteering at a local orphanage in Kluang, Malaysia. I learned that one of the boys (aged 7) had been rescued from domestic slavery. I was aware of human slavery, of girls mostly, but my shock level jumped to a new level. This was the little boy I had made yarn dolls with at Christmastime. My heart was melting. I then learned that human trafficking and slavery did indeed exist in Malaysia and more so in Thailand to the north. From this experience a story grew.

In Thailand, Callie and Sam kiss for the first time and learn to trust each other. Did you find inspiration anywhere?

Yes. I imagined Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens when I wrote about Callie and Sam. The innocence of first love portrayed in Highschool Musical 1 was my go-to source. I must confess also, that my husband and I very much relate to their romance. We were high school sweethearts♥♥.

Excerpt: Floating Market scene in Bangkok:    

“…The air buzzes with the din of boat engines winding down and taking off.

Sam takes my hand when it’s time to board. Eric beams at us from across two rows, noticing. That obvious, huh. Earlier he was worried about the prison arrangements tomorrow, but I’d rather think about this cool guy holding my hand. I can’t think about Mom right now, because every time I do my thoughts go dark and I’m instantly depressed. Not today, not now.

Sam squeezes my hand. “You okay?” he shouts over the engine.

He always seems to know. “I’m fine.” And I am, just gazing into his light brown eyes.”

Who is your ideal reader?

Teen girls primarily (13 up), and anyone who identifies with a teen’s point of view in an otherwise out of control adult world. The choices made at the brink of adulthood can have a powerful effect on one’s future, even when the odds are against success. Callie’s experience ranges from losing a father and mother and being placed in a disreputable foster home, to fending off smugglers and human traffickers, and then finding favor with the King of Thailand. On the other hand, a seventy-plus year old male relative of mine said he identified with the characters and cried at the ending.    

(Print & E-Book) (Suspense, Mystery & Romance)

Amazon

Evernight Teen

Barnes & Noble

Short synopsis: When notorious Uncle Azman disobeys orders, and secretly sends Callie and her younger brother Lucas to meet their mother's sisters in Mersing, Malaysia, 14-year-old Callie hopes their troubles are over. After all they have endured, what more could go wrong? Their American dad is dead, Mom is missing, and their foster dad in Seattle was murdered, with Callie falsely accused. Pawns in a crime operation gone awry, Callie and Lucas barely escaped being targeted by their uncle's sinister boss for sale in Thailand’s human trafficking market. Although Uncle Azman's turnaround was a miracle, Callie knows that real safety lies with family in Mersing, where they can begin searching for Mom, but a shell box, a ruby, and a boy named Sam from Chicago are about to change everything.

Short Bio:

Sharon spent more than ten years developing The Shells of Mersing, a story first outlined in Malaysia in 1996. With a B.A. in American Studies, she has a soft spot for history and other cultures. Malaysia is a rich storehouse of culture, with its Malay, Chinese and Indian populations. Today she is working on a second novel (a sequel to Shells…) at her home in Eastern Washington, where she lives with her husband on the edge of a desert runway . . . but that’s another story! 

Blogs:

https://shells-tales-sails.blogspot.com/

http://sharonmhimsl.blogspot.com/