Day: August 17, 2013

Sneak Peek: Dynasty

Today we have a sneak peek from Dynasty, the fifth book in the science fiction To Be Sinclair Series by author Eva Caye.

The struggle of Princes Stefan, Josef, and Evan to learn Empress Felice Sinclair’s dangerous stargate technology comes at a cost to their private lives. Battling jealousy, favoritism, sexual identity crises, manipulation, and the need to maintain utmost secrecy, they suffer notoriety and isolation in turn, hemmed in by their protectors.

The three Imperial Sons must not only evaluate their personal relationships for their own safety and sanity, they rush to aid the Stargate Fleet after a devastating attack! Will they succeed in assimilating their roles as stargate providers before their mother risks her life one last time?

This book is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Amazon UK.

Here is an excerpt from Dynasty…

Continue reading “Sneak Peek: Dynasty”

Writing Recipe #1

Guest post
by Ellen Plotkin Mulholland

Opportunity. Events. Writing a good story involves opportunities and events. It’s how you combine the two that moves the story along. I like to write with an event in mind and bring in opportunities to move my plot.

My nephew reminds me of another recipe for writing. Children see the world two ways, it’s obvious, it’s mysterious. When it rains, carry an umbrella. When you see a puddle, jump in it. It’s obvious. But why does it rain? How do clouds manage to float in the sky and not fall on our heads? Continue reading “Writing Recipe #1”

Flash Fiction Challenge: Bird in the Water

The XD 880 was to be the first stealth passenger airliner. The idea was to make it harder for hostiles to use surface-to-air missiles to bring down civilian flights.

The technology was there. On some level, I suppose it only made sense.

After all, air control would still be able to track the plane locations from the transmitter beacon, right? They would have, as long as the transmitter beacon didn’t malfunction. But of course it did.

The rescue teams set out with only a general idea of the crash site from eyewitness reports. We were three days into the effort when team 12 found the first piece of flotsam. That was when the mystery began to unravel. Nothing was what it seemed.

In 250 words or less, tell us a story incorporating the elements in the picture. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.

Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.

Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until Tuesday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. Continue reading “Flash Fiction Challenge: Bird in the Water”

Rising to the Challenge

Any author who is on the lookout for interesting opportunities has to be prepared for about anything. K.S. “Kat” Brooks is a veteran of the interview circuit. She’s been involved in every kind of interview situation there is and has done it long enough to see just about everything that can go wrong do so. She always manages to handle the situation with style and grace. Kat has been kind enough to share some of her experiences with IU readers before.

To offer a little context here, I think it’s necessary to explain that for Brooks to do an interview is a monumental task. First, she lives in [SECTION REDACTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT] pumas and escaped mental patients. So, she can’t just pick up her princess phone and make a call. Even doing an internet interview [SECTION REDACTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE WILDBLUE ADVOCACY COUNCIL] and the horse they rode in on.

She’s had to deal with lights that glared too brightly in her eyes for her to read her prepared notes, mics that didn’t work, bad signals, dropped calls. Once, while delivering some remarks on the influence of organized crime in mainstream publishing [SECTION REDACTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE FEDERAL WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM] in a hail of bullets. Fascinating story, right? Continue reading “Rising to the Challenge”