THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOLS POST. THERE IS NO APRIL FOOLS. APRIL FOOLS IS A LIE. GIVEN THE CURRENT STATE OF THE CLOWN WORLD, I'D LIKE A SENSIBLE PEOPLE DAY - SAH
Book Promo
If you wish to send us books for next week's promo, please email to bookpimping at outlook dot com. If you feel a need to re-promo the same book do so no more than once every six months (unless you're me or my relative. Deal.) One book per author per week. Amazon links only. Oh, yeah, by clicking through and buying (anything, actually) through one of the links below, you will at no cost to you be giving a portion of your purchase to support ATH through our associates number. A COMMISSION IS EARNED FROM EACH PURCHASE.*Note that I haven't read most of these books (my reading is eclectic and "craving led",) and apply the usual cautions to buying. I reserve the right not to run any submission, if cover, blurb or anything else made me decide not to, at my sole discretion.– SAH
From Graham Bradley: Rebel Heart (Engines of Liberty Book 1.)
For centuries the British Empire has ruled territories the world over, maintaining its grasp on its far-flung colonies by way of magic and brute force. Any successful attempt at rebellion is short-lived, as the rebels do not have the benefit of wizardy on their side.
The most recent attempt at secession happened in the New World in 1776, some two hundred years ago. General George Washington nearly succeeded at rallying his countrymen in a military revolt against the Crown. But disunity and infighting ultimately brought them down, and Washington was executed in a public spectacle.
Most people gave up. But not all.
The cleverest and most driven survivors went to ground. They learned from their mistakes. They planned, they plotted, they tinkered and they toiled. They began to develop new weapons and machines that would level the playing field. With technology at their fingertips, anyone could stand toe-to-toe with a British mage and come off conqueror.
The uprising has been a long time coming. The arsenal is as large as it's going to get. Now all the "technomancer" army needs is soldiers, young patriots like Calvin Adler, who has had enough of the mages pushing him around.
Freedom beckons, if he will but pay the price in blood, sweat, and tears.
This is the New Revolution.
FROM JAMES TOTTEN: Mustangs and Thunderbolts (Breaching Ain't Easy! Book 7)
What happens when new communication technologies allow the drone driver to leave the drone's zip code? Who develops the target deck for massive strikes against Russian targets? What does it take to counter a new Russian trick? Follow the drone drivers of the 427th Combined Effects Battalion as they answer all of these questions and more in this fast-paced novella of World War Three.
FROM LINDSAY PETERSEN: Shadow Chasers: Steampunk Excursions to View the 1878 Eclipse.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience! Adventure you'll never forget! Irresistible – to some.
In 1878 a solar eclipse was predicted, the shadow's path to sweep from Alaska across the Rocky Mountains, promising an enthralling event guaranteed to strike envy into the hearts of others for the rest of your life. But how to get to the edge of the frontier safely?
Victoria Bearskin of the Wyandotte tribe and a student in Vassar's astronomy program is forbidden to go. Nofina Nolana, an oyster pirate scoundrel from San Francisco orders his crew to hijack a ship to Juneau – which turns out to be Captain Nemo's long-lost Nautilus submarine. From New Orleans Lurie and Clark ride paddle steamers up the mighty rivers of America's heart to preserve images of the event.
While all eyes are on their sweet moments in moonshadow they overlook chance encounters with bad men, big animals and birthin' babies. After all that, who would emerge from the mad gambles?
All learn there are no promises in this life, but there are second chances and new beginnings are born from once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
A stand-alone novelette of 14,000 words by Lindsay Petersen.
BY CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER, REVIVED BY D. JASON FLEMING: The Raider (Annotated): The classic pulp western!
When Ellen Ballinger got abducted, she managed to turn it into a complicated scheme to end up married to Jeff Hale. Jeff didn't much like liars, nor stubborn, wrong-headed women like Ellen... and yet, there was something about his new wife, something a good deal less complicated than the land-grabbing scheme that he was facing from skunks like Dallman and Kellis. And seeing justice done, while staying on the right side of the law, and the right side of his new wife, would be more complicated still...
- This iktaPOP Media edition includes a new introduction giving the book historical and genre context.
FROM MARY CATELLI: Madeleine and the Mists
Enchanted pools, shadowy dragons, wolves that spring from the mists and vanish into them again, paths that are longer, or shorter, than they should be, given where they went. . . the Misty Hills were filled with marvels.
Madeleine still left the hills, years ago, to marry against her father's will. If her husband's family is less than welcoming, she still is glad she married him, and they have a son, two years old.
But her husband's overlord has fallen afoul of the king. And all his men fall with him, including her husband.
She sets out, to seek the queen and try to bypass the king -- and the Misty Hills.
Some things are not so easily evaded.
FROM CAROLINE FURLONG: The Guardian Cycle, Vol. 2: American Mage and Other Stories
It is said that war is hell. But what of the Prisoners of War, or the war orphans who grow up amidst the chaos, and what of those who escape their enemy's prisons?
In Halcyon, meet a man who has been abused in a prison camp for so long that he has forgotten his own name – but not the desire to survive. Follow the adult orphans Warlock Ruthers produced in his campaign for power as they protect two children whom he seeks to murder to defeat a prophecy of his downfall in American Mage.
Meanwhile, Allan Kearney and Michio Oshika work on removing the demon tattoos from the former's back at the same time they seek the means to end the persecution of Allan's fellow prisoners. But demons do not release their prey without a fight, as the young Torránese soldier knows all too well. If he is to survive, let alone help rescue his comrades, first he will have to face the monsters clawing for his soul. It will be a battle that will require all his strength – and more…
FROM KAREN MYERS: The Visitor, And More: A Science Fiction Short Story Bundle from There's a Sword for That.
A Science Fiction Story Bundle from the collection There's a Sword for That
THE VISITOR - Felockati is anchored to his permanent location underwater and misses the days of roaming his ocean world freely.
But something new drops out of the sky and widens his horizons -- all the way to the stars.
YOUR EVERY WISH - Stealing the alien ambassador's dagger is a sure thing for Pete -- just what he needs to pay off his debts.
Until he starts talking to it. There has to be a way to get something for himself out of the deal. Has to be.
FROM LEIGH KIMMEL: City of Blinding Light
The Columbian Exposition has transformed Chicago into a vision of the bright shining future. However, the electric lights that turn night to day bring no joy to Kitty Hawthorne, and not just because they are the work of her employer's chief rival. Now Edison wants her to abandon her investigation of Tesla's alternating current system and look into a mysterious newcomer. Who is Samuel Gillian, who devises calculating machinery as easily as he builds flying machines?
https://amzn.to/4cCd9sCFROM ILENE KAYE: The Keeper, the Cat, and the Gate: A novella (The Fae Gate Chronicles Book 1)
A Letter from out of the Blue,
a Puzzle with a Missing Piece,
a Cat that's not really a Cat.
Do they mean more trouble than Nan can handle?
When Nan receives a box of wooden blocks and an enigmatic letter from a long-lost relative, she's not certain what it means. There's definitely something strange - one might even say magical - about the blocks, but what are they really for? And why is her newly acquired cat, Patch, so interested in them?
Patch has been tracking the blocks for over two hundred years. They're the key to him becoming a man again and returning to his own time and place. If Nan can figure out how to use them.
But others are interested in the blocks, too. How are an inexperienced Keeper and a cat supposed to protect them?
FROM DAN MELSON: Measure Of Adulthood (The Politics of Empire Book 4)
Kusaan del. It means 'divine finger'
The Empire of Humanity is locked in a war for survival with the Fractal Demons. Years on, the dice are still tumbling. Billions have died and planets have been destroyed. Meanwhile, an old loose end has resurfaced and forced Grace to confront a mistake from her teenage years - her son by a long-dead lover has lost his adulthood, and only Grace can save him from exile.
But the Fractal Demons initiate a new strategy, and are starting to turn the tide in their favor. Grace is unlucky enough to be assigned to deal with one of their first strikes under the new strategy, and she's unable to prevent several million deaths.
But she's learned enough to master her problems, both as the new mother of a two hundred year old son, and as one of those defending the masses of the Empire from assault by the demons. She has grown from her origins, and just because she seems to have a knack for attracting trouble doesn't mean she can't handle it. When the divine finger points at her, she steps up to deal with it.
Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and 'Nother Mike.
So what's a vignette? You might know them as flash fiction, or even just sketches. We will provide a prompt each Sunday that you can use directly (including it in your work) or just as an inspiration. You, in turn, will write about 50 words (yes, we are going for short shorts! Not even a Drabble 100 words, just half that!). Then post it! For an additional challenge, you can aim to make it exactly 50 words, if you like.
We recommend that if you have an original vignette, you post that as a new reply. If you are commenting on someone's vignette, then post that as a reply to the vignette. Comments — this is writing practice, so comments should be aimed at helping someone be a better writer, not at crushing them. And since these are likely to be drafts, don't jump up and down too hard on typos and grammar.
If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Your writing prompt this week is: EXPANSION
