Nature Close-Up

 

Random Fantastic Fan Art

 

Now Available in Print! N8, the 8th Species, Book 1

Now Available in Print!

N8
The 8th Species, Book 1
Sci-Fi/Paranormal Romance
Word Count: 42.3K
$3.99 e / $9.99 p

Born with special abilities, N8 and the rest of “the children” have lived underground their entire lives, where they’ve been led to believe there was a nuclear war that left the Earth’s surface uninhabitable. The scientists chose what information they were given, what TV shows and movies they could watch, as well as what they were allowed to eat. It was only a matter of time before he and the others started questioning their very existence.

They've endured brutal experiments and testing since birth, but to what end? When will it stop? They realize it won’t, unless they do something about it.

Cydney Huddleston works for corporation, but she can’t stand how the company is treating “the children.” N8 and the others know nothing of real life outside of the underground labs they’re forced to live in, or the lies they’ve been fed. When she’s ordered to seduce N8, she makes a decision that will ruin her career, and possibly cost her her life, but it’s worth it to free the innocent ones who have never breathed fresh air, seen the stars, or even felt love.

Out of thousands of attempts to create an 8^th Species, only six survived, and they must stick together. The question is, who can they trust with their secrets?

Because the truth has the power to set them free. Literally.

Warning: Contains choco-vanilla swirl ice cream, a long-abandoned campground, tracking devices, a sexual demand, genetic manipulation, and a chance to pursue a life of freedom, happiness, and love.

Excerpt and Buy Links

Jewel bugs by Sasha Vinogradova

 

A King's Feast From Poldark

 

Additional Scene from VEILS, a Completed Sci-Fi/Time Travel Romance Trilogy by Linda Mooney

This month, I'm offering up this additional scene from VEILS, a completed sci-fi/time travel trilogy.
~ ~ ~
Forty years after the last veil swept over the planet, Griffin and Natalia have managed to live a prosperous and happy life. Their only true regret is never knowing the fate of all the people they’d met and come to care about during that horrific time.

Taking a spontaneous vacation to a site they’d once dropped in, they never expected to find the final answer to their prayers.

Link

Now Available as an Audiobook! DEEP, a Sensuous Sci-Fi Romance

 

Now Available as an Audiobook!

DEEP
Sensuous Sci-Fi Romance
Word Count: 38.9K
$2.99 e / $9.99 p / $14.95 a

Narrated by
Ri Paige
Length: 4 hrs, 30 min
Hear a Sample

As one of Earth’s Galactic Enforcers, Lawn Bascomb is assigned to Area R6Y6 for the duration of one year. Her only companion in this desolate section of space is Deep, her sentient Vogt ship.

The Vogt line is an experimental breed of unique vessels, each with its own artificially enhanced intelligence, created specifically for use at the deep space guard posts. Able to project himself in holographic form, Deep is not only Lawn’s sole fellow crew member, but he is also her confidant and friend. It isn't long before he becomes her lover.

But their tenuous arrangement is suddenly and fatally shattered when their post is threatened by an unknown and perhaps alien force. Lawn and Deep soon face the realization that, in order to save Earth, one—or both of them—must die.

Warning:  Contains ship sex, governmental cover-ups, an orgasmic indoctrination, temperamental buoys, self-sacrifice, alien invasion, and doing the 9-to-5 in the buff.

Excerpt and Buy Links

Six on Sunday - N8 - The 8th Species, Book 1, a SciFi/Paranormal Romance

Six paragraphs from N8, The 8th Species, Book 1.

1.  Now she understood the gossip she’d overheard about the high turnover rate in this place. The thought of what else they’d demand of her if she went ahead with their plans made her sick to her stomach. And yet, the idea of having carte blanche with N8, getting to know him better, getting permission to maybe form a relationship with him…

2.  Cydney stared at him. Already she could tell the skin underneath the peeling layer was darker. After she’d been hired, she’d been required to do an extensive study about each Chimera’s unique and individual ability. And even though she’d only witnessed a couple of them do their thing, this would be the first time she got to see G8’s transformation that occurred like clockwork every twenty-eight days. She managed a timid smile. “I’m looking forward to seeing it, too.”

3.  Those few times he’d asserted his ability, he’d learned how not to make mistakes. Thanks to T8 and P8, they’d allowed him to use them as test subjects, letting him know what to watch out for. What worked and what didn’t. And how best to initiate contact and absorption without the new host catching on. The longest he’d ever remained inside anyone was nearly three hours before he removed himself. This was the first time he’d slipped into an outsider, and a female, and it would be for a much longer time. He hoped that wouldn’t be an issue. More worrisome was the fact that he’d no longer have visible contact with the host.

4.  She recalled the old stories about boys learning women’s anatomies from ancient copies of Reader’s Digest and porn mags. N8 and the others never had that kind of upbringing. “For that matter, what kind of childhood did you have? No wonder you all are so close knit. You’ve only had each other to fall back on when times got bad because you understood what everyone else was going through. Because all of you were being put through the same thing.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Shit. I’ve made the fatal mistake of getting emotionally involved in all this, and that was the company’s number one rule.” She screwed up her face. “Well, forget their number one rule. And forget Dorsey and Bill. Forget them all!” Grabbing the washcloth from the towel bar, she threw it into the shower. The action allowed her to get rid of some of her anger. Plus, it was a safe response. Nothing was broken.

5.  The guy in the jumpsuit said something to the deputy, who seemed to grow increasingly agitated. She looked to be arguing with the man, who appeared to brush her off, and climbed back inside the van. Milton stomped her foot as the two vehicles exited the driveway and took off. As soon as they were out of range, he gunned the engine and raced across the intersection. He hit his lights as he entered the parking area, alerting Milton. In his headlights, he saw the woman was crying, her face splotched and pale. Throwing open his car door, he jumped out and strode up to her. “Who were those men?” he demanded.

6.  Immediately, Biggs rushed back to his car. Standing in the small clearing, he lifted his face to the sky. “Listen! Everyone! I know you’re out there somewhere, probably watching me! Stay where you are! Don’t come out! Several men from the place where you came from have been tipped off and are on their way here. But don’t worry! I have my men coming to help!” He looked around. “If you can hear me, stay where you are! Don’t come out of hiding! But don’t run, either! These woods aren’t a nice place to get lost in. Try to stay concealed until we get this under control!”

Buy Links

Please Welcome Raine Reiter as She Tells Us About Her Dark Fantasy, Takakush, Genus Magica, Book One

Takakush

Genus Magica

Book One

Raine Reiter

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, Dark Fantasy

Publisher: Twanoh Press

Date of Publication: 1/25/2021

ISBN Paperback 978-1-7356850-0-7

ISBN Ebook 978-1-7356850-1-4

Number of pages: 282

Word Count: 62K

Cover Artist: Kim Dingwall

Tagline: Evil stalks the rainforest

Book Description:

When Professor Elena Lukas returns to her cozy Pacific Northwest hometown with a broken heart, she’s plunged back into the fate she tried to escape. Like her mother and grandmother before her, Elena must now dedicate her life to a powerful ancient Lithuanian goddess. Although she is prepared to live as a priestess hiding in a contemporary tourist town, she arrives to find that a series of so-called animal attacks have terrorized her forest.

With the help of a handsome detective from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Elena uses her expertise in invasive and endangered species to identify that these are no normal animal attacks. The woods are stalked by a dark, mystical creature bent on ravaging the area in an attempt to quell its insatiable hunger. When her little sister goes missing, Elena realizes that the beast can only be vanquished if she is brave enough to face it in-person, embrace her identity as a high priestess, and expose her powers to the man she is growing feelings for.

“A fantastic tale that weaves a spell of ancient mysticism and modern charm." --Tim Marquitz, Author of the Demon Squad series, The Enemy of My Enemy series, and more

Amazon     BN     GoogleBooks

Excerpt:

Regana – Home

Regana stood between the two worlds, watching her sleeping body. When did I become so old?

The wrinkled face, spun-sugar mop, and gnarled fingers in Real-Time bore little resemblance to her divine avatar in the Penumbra. Marks of time mean nothing. She chuckled.

Lithe and nimble as a sprite, Regana kicked off from the boundary and floated through the between, sorting threads of possibility as she passed.

“Goddess of the Crossroads, why draw me here?” She waited for an answer.

Thick fibers of probability whirled and pulsed with light around her, while others faded into implausibility and blinked out.

Soon, her temper frayed. Braiding destinies and untangling misfortunes amused Regana, but her fatigued human body in Real-Time called for rest. “Show me the blasted job and let me get out,” Regana said. “Lady of thresholds, doors, and portals, your priestess readies to serve you.” Her cry echoed through the Penumbra. “What must I do?”

A scarlet rope, thick as an anaconda, whipped out of the tangle and garroted her waist. Hot, near burning, it reeked of dark magic and death.

“See.” The voice hit her like a hammer, and a kaleidoscope of images overwhelmed her mind’s eye. “Be present,” ordered her goddess.

Galahad - McCleary, WA

Across the field, wind stirred the chimes, bells, and bamboo noisemakers hanging from the eaves of the main house.

Galahad dozed in the pasture with an ancient horse blanket covering him.

Frost on the grass and pasture fence resembled snowfall. A freezing fog surged along the paddock, encircling his legs.

He woke. Something was different, unfamiliar. It wasn’t fear, it was curiosity.

With drowsy eyes, he surveyed the tree line. His nostrils flared, sampling the air. There. Hiding beneath the aroma of evergreens, a sickly-sweet stench. A predator.

The old warrior’s heart sped as he readied for a fight. At sixteen hands, he was massive and courageous. Last spring, he ran off a pack of coyotes come to snatch a newborn kid.

Galahad snorted and shook his mane. The frigid air transformed his breath into plumes of steam. He pawed the earth, kicking up divots of soil.

The wind ceased. The chimes quieted.

It struck Galahad, mounting him from behind and wrapping its limbs around Galahad’s belly. The horse arched his back as incisors sank into his neck.

Claws raked his abdomen and up his flanks, scoring slashes through the blanket into his hide. The metallic tang of his blood joined the beast’s stench.

Galahad’s hind legs kicked into his attacker’s midsection, but it only embedded its fangs deeper. Blood spurted from the wound.

The embrace tightened. He bucked, rearing and struggling for footing. The attacker threw Galahad to the ground and remounted.

The stallion screamed.

Teeth ripped flesh from Galahad’s throat, severing his jugular. His sight darkened, and his blood melted the frosted grass. Passing through and away, the horse saw the blackness clinging to his murderer.

The malignant thread released, and Regana’s vision ended. In the mundane world, her eyelids flew open, her heart hammering in her chest.

“Blood-red magic rings the waxing moon.” Her voice croaked with the remains of sleep. “Medžioklė begins.”

What make this book special?

Celtic and Norse mythology are common themes in fantasy fiction. The dark contemporary novel, Takakush explores a different mythology, the gods and goddess of ancient Lithuania. 

The Lukas family live ordinary lives in Olympia, Washington. They run a business, pay bills, and go to school.

These powerful women also are avatars for four Lithuanian Goddesses. The women channel the deity and they are gifted with powers, but at a cost. 

Lithuania has a long history and fascinating customs which inspired this story. The Duchy of Lithuania was the last country in Europe to give up their pagan religion. The nobility embraced this new religion, and the power gained from association with Rome, but the peasantry clung to their beliefs and remained pagan through the 17th century.

in the 19th century, Lithuanian’s resurrected, a neo-pagan faith they called Romuva, a polytheistic faith honoring the sanctity of nature and worship of ancestors.

Today, neo-paganism is the fastest growing religion in Lithuania with congregations in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

Takakush celebrates the Lithuanian people’s resistance and perseverance. It also explores other non-traditional mythological creature from all over the world.

The fast-paced tale weaves together an empowered, female-centered narrative with rich descriptions of nature and an ever-present sense of mystery.

About the Author:

Raine Reiter weaves together an empowered, female-centered narrative with rich descriptions of nature and an ever-present sense of mystery. Her vivid, flowing prose takes readers of dark fantasy into a world that looks and feels real, while still evoking the enticing paranormal creativity shared by authors such as Richelle Mead and Kat Richardson.

A fifth-generation Washingtonian, Raine lives in the gloomy Pacific Northwest and prowls the rainforest with her silly spaniel, Luke.

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/3rNizK1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rainereiter

Website: http://www.twanohpress.com/takakush

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRainReiter/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/121901444-raine-reiter

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/RaineReiterAuthor/

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Miniatures by Fanni Sandor

 

Fabulous Fruitie Foods