Seeing beyond the now

A poisonous wave is spreading disease and discord across the eleven known universes. Seven special people, known as Keys, must strike the Lost Chord in order to restore the balance.

Among those Keys is Bee Warrick, an autistic teenager from Earth who has traveled between the realms for years without realizing it. Can Bee help the Conductor find the other Keys before a bitter enemy strikes the wrong chord and shatters the universes?

As my own daughter with autism was the model for Bee, I am formly convinced that she sees beyond the edges of my reality. She often demonstrates extrasensory perception, and thinks outside the box much of the time. It’s quite a gift for my child, and also for Bee.

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PAPERBACK [EAN 978-1-941278-81-9 | ISBN 1-941278-81-7] 6×9 library trim (200 pages) | Average Retail Price: $11.99 or less || Paperback at Amazon | Paperback at Amazon UK | Paperback at Barnes & Noble | Paperback at Barnes & Noble | Discount Paperback at Lulu |

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EBOOK [EAN 978-1-941278-82-6 | ISBN 1-941278-82-5] Available in EPUB and Amazon Kindle (70,000 words) | Average Retail Price: $4.99 or less || Amazon Kindle | Amazon Kindle UK | EPUB at Apple iBooks | EPUB at Barnes & Noble | EPUB at Kobo Books | EPUB and MOBI at Smashwords ||

EXCERPT:

Bee rubbed her fingers together in the sand, her eyes closed, feeling the sensation of the fine crystals against her skin, a ritual performed several times a day, especially before math.

After a few minutes, she felt calm again. With a deep breath, she tucked away the sand and took out her geometry book. She started the first problem, working with a yellow pencil. That was what she always used for math. Yellow was math. Science was blue.

Halfway through, her brother Reese barged into the room. The tall, broad-built boy plopped down on her bright pink bedspread and dropped his football helmet on the floor, where it rolled in a circle before coming to a stop.

Bee jumped and covered her ears to protect herself from the sound.

“Hey there little sped girl. I see Mom isn’t riding you about homework.” He glared at her. “Must be nice to be autistic.”

“I’m not stupid like you.” Bee knew Reese wasn’t supposed to call her names. Mom had told him often enough, but he never stopped so now she tossed names back at him.
She wasn’t sure what “autistic” was supposed to be. She had read about it in books. She was just what she was, not some word that started with A. Her favorite book was Songs of the Gorilla Nation, about a woman with autism who had learned to communicate with gorillas. “Stupid is as stupid does,” she said.

Reese twisted up his face at her. He had the same auburn hair as Bee, a color received from their father’s genes. She hardly remembered their father. He took Reese away every other weekend, but never took her. She no longer went to the window to look at him.

“Bzzzzzzz,” she said, annoyed and wishing Reese would leave.

“You know that’s so damn lame. Knock it off. People talk about you at school, sped.”

Bee knew that term was derogatory by the tone of Reese’s voice, but couldn’t understand why it was bad. ‘Special’ was something extra good, so ‘special education’ should be something really great, right?

See the book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRTzaB5rUKo

https://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=297779

Life Mirrors the Cosmos

Welcome to Lyndi’s Adventurous Friends author Addison Brae!

Do you know people who always get the short end? The poor souls who are as careful and as nice as humanly possible but bad luck finds them anyway? Why does this happen?

My theory is based on one of the great mysteries of the cosmos. Dark matter, scientists believe, brings planets and stars together while dark energy pushes them apart and destroys things to create massive voids. Astronomers speculate 96 percent of our universe is composed of dark matter and dark energy. But no one has ever seen these dark substances, and they only have theories as to what are.

To take the theory further, I see a parallel between karma and dark matter and dark energy. Some astronomers believe dark energy will eventually destroy our universe. This is similar to how karma can destroy lives—deserved or undeserved; explainable or not. The dark energy theory—or bad karma—is what continues to happen to Gillian, the smart, badass heroine of Dark Energy, Return to Becker Circle who never breaks her word. And she believes her boss/mentor serves as her dark matter.

Do you have people in your life who connect people to create bonds and shape things for the better like dark matter? And alternatively, people who always seem to be victims of back luck—or dark energy? It takes many dark matter people to resist dark energy—the empty space that slips into our lives’ voids to disrupt. Like dark energy, karma is random. If there is logic to karma, why do bad things happen to good people?

Links

Read more about Addison Brae on her website, Tirgearr Publishing, Amazon, and BookBub.

Connect with Addison Brae on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

You can find Dark Energy (Return to Becker Circle) on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Smashwords (50% off through July), Apple Books, Kobo, and B&N Nook. A portion of the author proceeds will go to Staff Meal to help provide meals and other aid to restaurant workers in need during the pandemic.

Title/genre:  Dark Energy (Return to Becker Circle), contemporary romantic suspense

 

Bio

Addison Brae lives in Dallas, Texas on the edge of downtown. She has been writing since childhood and continues today with articles, video scripts and other content as an independent marketing consultant. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary young adult fiction. When she’s not writing, Addison spends her time traveling the world, collecting interesting cocktail recipes and hosting parties. She’s still addicted to reading and enjoys jogging in her neighborhood park, sipping red wine, binge-watching TV series, vintage clothing and hanging out with her artistic other half and their neurotic cat Lucy.

 

Blurb: Cybercrime doesn’t talk. It creeps in and destroys lives right under Gillian’s nose when a cryptojacking scheme lands her boss, Pinkie, in jail. Gillian had just started over with a new career, boyfriend, and confidence after escaping a vicious murder investigation that shattered her ability to trust. Then Pinkie’s arrest leaves her struggling to run his two bars while also unraveling the conspiracy.

Gillian will not let her mentor and friend go down for something he didn’t do. Neither will Jon, the most talented musician on the bar’s stage and the perfect boyfriend…until his good fortune sends her reeling. Gillian forces herself to trust the cops, people who hurt her, and known criminals. Will it be enough to free Pinkie and save her life?

Excerpt – Chapter Two

Car traffic and jets stir me awake. I stretch and don’t open my eyes since I haven’t slept enough after such a long, incredible day. Then I remember restaurant reviews may be out. Slivers of the May morning sunlight make stripes across my soft grey and yellow comforter. I grab my phone and open the news feed, page through the day’s headlines. Do I want to know?

A headline jumps out at me—New Uptown Bar Opens to Sell-out Lunch Crowd. It must be us, and most definitely not PinHead Preston’s review.

Uptown’s newest place to be seen is Pinkie’s Too, the satellite site to its sister bar in Becker Circle.

Yes! It’s a good one!

The trendy but chill invitation-only crowd lunched on a full menu with Creole cuisine and pizza as the bar’s specialties. The cocktail menu is creative but non-pretentious with options including the Creole Cosmo and Pinkie’s Old Fashioned.

As a Dallas cultural history buff, the most unique Pinkie’s Too feature is the tables—each custom designed to commemorate a musician with Dallas roots who carved notches in music history. Some of the tables I could inspect without interrupting patrons’ meals were dedicated to Lisa Loeb, Erykah Badu, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Demi Lovato, Edie Brickell, Michael Nesmith, Boz Scaggs, LeAnn Rimes, Steve Miller, and even Meat Loaf—the musician, not the food.

 It’s a great reminder of Dallas’ diverse, deep music culture.

Today’s soft opening only covered lunch. Friday is the true grand overture with the doors unlocking in time for happy hour with an appetizer menu from open until last call. The highlight will be one of Dallas’ up-and-coming bands, ShowStoppers. Come back to the website this weekend for my review of the nighttime experience.

I point and flex both feet, doing my under-cover happy dance and continue flipping through other news. No sign of a Dallas Daily News review from Don Preston yet until I choke on my own breath. Doctors Clear Accused Murderer for Trial. My happy feet halt.

Two photos appear underneath the headline—one shows a dark-haired man with a deep tan teeing off at a charity golf tournament. A chill runs through as it all floods back. The other is a mug shot, the usual sparkling dark eyes now chilling and full of hatred. The same hate I saw in Kyle’s eyes that night when he held the sharp, cold blade to my neck. The photos capture two of Kyle’s opposing sides.

I pull the covers tighter and squeeze my eyes closed to erase the vision.

Shattering glass.

The ear-splintering ring of the 9mm round going off outside my bathroom.

Kyle folding on the floor. Blood oozing from his shoulder.

My arms extended in front of me with my fingers frozen around the gun.

My resolve for no one to control me again. Ever.

The news brief says the judge threw out the venue change request. It also says the Dallas district attorney is withholding charging him for the attempted murder of his ex-wife and aggravated assault of another Dallas woman pending the trial outcome.

The “another Dallas woman” reference is me. It still seems like it was a different Gillian.

Tangled Fae Series

FROM THE AUTHOR:

A story works if it makes us want something other than for the story to be over. If it makes us want the hero to win, or darkness to be defeated,  if it makes us want the heroine to find that one thing she’s searching for or finally kiss that person she’s been longing for, if it makes us want something even deeper – justice or courage or love in our real lives – then that’s a real story.

Stories let us feel the thrill of riding a dragon without the terror of falling off. They let us find the courage to risk everything for love without the danger of losing that love. They give us the chance to fight a battle with bravery and honor without the fear of torture and failure. And if they do their work, we walk away with a deeper love , a stronger courage, an ability to choose honor that we didn’t have before we started reading.

I try to tell stories like that for readers like you – people who want more from a story.

 

Fae Hunter

Tangled Fae Book 1

by Sarah K.L. Wilson

Genre: YA Fantasy Romance

“You’re the most wicked thing I’ve ever met.”

From USA Today bestselling author Sarah K. L. Wilson comes a deliciously trope-filled young adult romantic fantasy about a viciously funny mortal girl and her quest to hunt, trap, and conquer powerful fae.

I was born to hunt. I was born to protect.
But this is the one creature I wasn’t trained to kill.
The fae are sneaking into our little town. They stole my sister. They stole my sight. And now they’re going to steal everything else … unless I stop them. Isn’t that so charming?
I don’t care that they’re pretty. I don’t care that to them lies are truth, power is sustenance, and every action ripples into violence. I’m not going to let their glamor fool me. I’m going to use it to fuel me as I bring them down.
But the town is turning against me, and I’m losing allies one by one. I need a secret weapon to use against them and I need to be brave enough to use it … whatever the cost.
Can one mortal girl stop all of the Faewald?
I’m going to have to try.

For lovers of The Cruel Prince and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a world of violent fae, trickery, and magic. Grab the first book of the Tangled Fae series today!

**Get it FREE July 15th – 20th!!**

**then only .99 cents!**

Goodreads * Amazon

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49337409-fae-hunter

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XLPZTFR

 

Fae Hunter Excerpt:

“Bargain with me,” Scouvrel cooed. My heart melted to soft taffy at the sound. I fought against that warmth, with little success.

With a grunt, I sat down heavily beside his cage and tried to compose my thoughts. There were no other options now. This was a problem that only I could solve, and I needed both arms to solve it.

I would have to phrase my bargain carefully.

“I will give you,” I began, watching him stand up excitedly on the tips of his toes, his eyes brightening at my words, his smoke-wings springing to life behind him. “The sewing kit and a cloth. The pin and a kiss – as promised.” I tried not to shudder at the thought of kissing him, knowing what he was – or to be too eager knowing how he looked in all his glamor. “If you –”

I hesitated.

“Go on,” he whispered rapturously. He looked at me like he had looked at the mandolin when Olen played it.

“If you,” I cleared my throat. “Heal my arm and do not harm me or try to kill me in any other way, make no attempt to escape, or call someone else to help you escape while you are out of the cage, or force me to help you escape, no attempt to kill yourself or any other thing while you are out of the cage, or attempt to destroy the cage, flee through the portal or otherwise keep yourself from returning to the cage and that you will immediately return to the cage and your captivity as soon as my arm is healed without looking for a loophole or other way to avoid your fate.”

He laughed. “I think I will like playing with you, Alastra. You are good at devising games.”

I felt a chill run down my spine.

“I accept your bargain,” he said with a wide grin. “You have to say, ‘We are agreed.’”

“We are agreed.”

I could feel the cold sweat forming on my brow and between my shoulder blades as I swallowed and steeled myself to open the cage.

“A bargain is a bargain,” he reminded me, smiling wickedly as if he had a secret. Maybe he did.

I carefully unwound the wire as his lips parted and his mouth opened with anticipation.

I swung open the door of the cage and let him out.

He burst through the door like a whirlwind, moving from tiny and spiritual to suddenly full-sized and as tangible as I was. His black smoke wings swirled around him and the wicked glint in his grass-green eyes made my heart race.

He was wickedness made flesh, temptation in physical form, destruction embodied. My heart fluttered traitorously. Like the foolish moth it wanted to draw so close to the flame that its wings would conflagrate.