The whole HORIZON CROSSOVER series–ready for your shelf at last!

I’ve had a pretty crazy month, what with getting divorced and moving from my house of 20 years into a two-bedroom apartment with my daughter, ready (?) for single motherhood again. But somehow in the middle of all the excitement, HORIZON DYNASTY was completed, edited and released, making the series complete! I know a lot of readers want to be able to plow through a series they enjoy, so I hope space opera fans will give a look to the Horizon Crossover series. The books have a wide cast of characters, as most of mine do. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when all the big comedies and drams had big casts–Barney Miller, St. Elsewhere, Cheers, ER, etc.–so that’s what I’m comfortable with. Besides, you can never tell when someone’s character quirk might just be what you need to save the day!  🙂

For those of you who’ve missed the series so far, let me catch you up to date:

HORIZON SHIFT    Horizon Crossover (Book 1): When Captain Temms Rogers of the Confederation spaceship Doubtful disobeys orders to attack innocent civilians, he and his crew become hunted rebels. In the midst of a desperate space battle, they risk using an experimental alien device that opens a wormhole which hurls them into a new universe. Once they arrive, the ship is in sad shape, most of the crew is dead, and he’s got to rebuild both before his former commander catches up with him.

HORIZON STRIFE    In Book II of the Horizon Crossover series, Captain Temms Rogers and the crew of the spaceship Doubtful are caught between a powerful interplanetary group called the Agency and mystical beings known as the Ancients in a struggle to discover the secrets of a mysterious derelict space station.

HORIZON DYNASTY — The Agency has had enough of Captain Temms Rogers’ urging for democracy in their region of space. Rogers soon realizes the Agency intends to use him and the crew of the Doubtful for their purposes or else. Can he gather the other captains of the sector in rebellion against the Agency and bring down their repressive regime? Or will Rogers lead them into a fight they cannot win?

 

 

All three are available from Dragonfly Publishing in ebook, paperback at Amazon.com, Smashwords, at the istore, Barnes and Noble.com and more. hardbacks can be purchased at lulu.com. See the complete listing of available purchase sites at http://www.dragonflypubs.com/dfp/horizondynasty.html  USE this code at CREATESPACE for a special 15% discount for my special readers:  B3PY6HNE

If you’ll be in the Erie area on October 18, 2014, I’ll be teaching a workshop on writing fantasy and science fiction characters through the Area One Pennwriters mini-conference at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, and I’ll have books for sale there. (Stay tuned for more details).  Questions? Email me at lyndialexander at gmail dot com. 🙂

 

Great news–book discounts for my special readers!

Dragonfly Publishing has negotiated a great promotion over at Smashwords on the science fiction novels TRIAD, HORIZON SHIFT and HORIZON STRIFE–50 percent off!! That’s less than three bucks or the price of a cup of coffee! Here’s your special codes for those ebooks, and they should be good for the near future.

TRIAD:
After five years of silence, the Arkosian space pirates are back to terrorize the sector where Trezanna Len fights to save her Solarii colony, a small group of Terran descendants settled on the planet Induna. To survive, the Solarii need assistance. And soon. Trezanna could ask for help from the neighboring group called Dragonfleet, but its cruel leader Estrella Drake has been on a rampage to annex Solarii space. Estrella would never agree to an alliance with the Solarii. Or would she?

CODE: Get 50% off at Smashwords with the code: ER34U

 

 

HORIZON SHIFT:
When Captain Temms Rogers of the Confederation spaceship Doubtful disobeys orders to attack innocent civilians, he and his crew become hunted rebels. In the midst of a desperate space battle, they risk using an experimental alien device that opens a wormhole which hurls them into a new universe.
CODE:Get 50% off at Smashwords with the code: DY37V

 

 

HORIZON STRIFE:

In FIVE-STAR REVIEWED  Book II of the Horizon Crossover Series, Captain Temms Rogers and the crew of the spaceship Doubtful are caught between a powerful interplanetary group called the Agency and mystical beings known as the Ancients. With the voices of the Ancients haunting his dreams and a mysterious illness plaguing his crew, Rogers must find a derelict space station and discover its secrets before the Agency destroys them all.
CODE:Get 50% off at Smashwords with the code: NK38Y

Don’t miss your chance to read these exciting space operas! Get caught up on the Horizon Crossover series before the final book, HORIZON DYNASTY, is released later this year.

It’s a great time to share the news with your friends who love action-oriented science fiction, with diverse and interesting characters, and a host of strong women, too.

Please pass it on, and I hope you’re enjoying these soon!

I’ve got a bad feeling about this… Sci-Fi Fantasy Saturday for 1-25

Greetings from the frozen Northland! I used to live in Montana, where THE ELF MAGE is set, and I decided to leave there because it just got too cold in the winter. So today I woke up to -3 (-16 with the wind chill) here in Pennsylvania, and in Missoula, it’s 22 degrees. What’s up with that?

Anyway, as I sit here bundled up in my chair and just my fingers sticking out so I can type, I wanted to share a snippet of THE ELF MAGE, part of the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series. This piece is near the beginning of the third book, just after the elf prince has been abducted by persons or elves unknown and the clan nearly destroyed. Daven Talvi, whose pride helped bring things to this point, has come to after being knocked out in a fight, in the queen’s enchanted home, finding himself alone and everything in shambles:

Astan had many times expressed his concern since the queen came to live in the forest with the clan, worried that Grigor had not perished alone in the forests, and that he would return to avenge his dead master Bartolomey. But Daven had counseled his son not to take action, to wait and watch. Astan disagreed, but obeyed his father, as duty required.

            And look where that has brought you.

            Truly Daven had underestimated the evil Grigor held within him, the sense of blackness that still pervaded the atmosphere inside the queen’s home. As a fullblood elf, well-trained in the ways of divination, Daven perceived several mental voices, several personas who had left the barest impression of themselves behind, an impression of menace and ill-will.

            Something about one in particular felt familiar to Daven. Something he had not felt for many years. Something so vague he couldn’t put a name to it yet. But he would.

***

And thus begins a transformation that will lead to the biggest battle this clan has ever endured…that may be the end of them all.

For more on the series, visit the Clan Elves page or my tab above, or check it out at Amazon.com .

For other amazing snippets from sci-fi fantasy authors around the world, check out this week’s edition of SFFS here!

Consequences of a helping hand–SFFS for 11-2

Okay, I’m going to try again.

Last week, I thought I’d signed up for SFFS, but apparently I hadn’t quite made it. You could check it out here, if you missed it.

Today’s snippet is also from HORIZON STRIFE, the second book in the Horizon Crossover series.  As the book opens, a mysterious illness is beginning to affect members of the Doubtful‘s crew. Dani Jamar, who runs engineering, is one of those first laid up in the infirmary. This leaves xenophobe Benzi Quinn in charge of the department.

On his way back to his quarters after a very long shift, Benzi finds one of the aliens who works in engineering unconscious in a hallway:

***

Benzi stared at the wall, trying to ignore the graying skin and labored breathing of the alien, then that despised pity crept in again, and he relented. “Damn me, I can’t leave him like that.”

            This time, he leaned his back against the wall and put his feet square against Halian’s thick arm. Digging his toes under Halian’s shoulder, he slowly straightened his knees, pushing with all his might, till the big alien flopped over on his side. The pressure released, Benzi crashed to the floor, ass first, sending a wave of pain up his jolted spine right to the top of his head.

            His groan echoed down the hall, and he fell sideways, holding his aching noggin. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at Halian’s wide hind end. His stunned, tingling nerves wouldn’t even let him move away. He was stuck.

            “Bleeding fried chicken gums!” he growled through clenched teeth.

***

No good deed goes unpunished, isn’t that how the saying goes? Poor Benzi. Poor Halian, too.

The novel, in final edits, is expected out next spring. I’m working on volume three, HORIZON DYNASTY, as a NaNoWriMo project, hoping to get a first draft down quick and dirty. Any of the rest of you use NaNo for that purpose? Or doing it in general?  What do you like about it? Or dislike?

For more great snippets from a variety of Sci-fi and fantasy authors from around the world, check out Science Fiction and Fantasy Saturday, this week and every week!

(P.S., if you haven’t had a chance to read the first series book HORIZON SHIFT yet, you can still pick it up here. Enjoy!)

Is reputation everything? SFFS Oct. 26

Hello, sci-fi fans and friends! I’m finally getting things back on track after a whirlwind summer from hell that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. (Well, maybe on my WORST enemy. Just sayin’.)

I’ve been nose-deep in the second novel in the Horizon Crossover series, and just now am coming up for air, about to submit it for editing. Those of you who are writers may sympathize with the issue, in series writing, of trying to get back into the flow of a cast of characters and a setting after you’ve worked on other things in between. *raises hand* Learned my lesson here. So I’ll go right into book three, HORIZON DYNASTY as a NaNoWriMo project so I can kick out the first draft while I’m still immersed in these people’s lives.

Today’s snippet is set in a repair and parts shop in the city of Roandock, on planet Marriel. Under-the-table dealer Jowalt Edwards has been approached by Temms Rogers and his mercenary captain friend C.T. Dutton for information about some mysterious alien artifacts associated with the Ancients. Rogers has previously learned that the Ancients seeded the universes with their progeny and are actively trying to re-engage with those left behind.  Jowalt, however, is less than excited about that:

***
Jowalt rolled his dark eyes. “Yeah, you want to harvest the artifacts and build yourself a superweapon.”

            Temms couldn’t have been more surprised if Jowalt had punched him in the face. “I—what?”

Jowalt’s gaze darted from one of them to the other like a vole hyped up on speed. “That’s what the scuttlebutt says–you hunted down a gob of those artifacts already, and you used them to destroy an empire where you came from. You’re looking for these so you can challenge the Agency and you’re going to destroy the worlds.”

            A shocked silence settled over the room at his pronouncement, then C.T. started laughing.

            “All this time I’ve been associating with a destroyer of worlds, and I didn’t even know it? Hey, Temms, why haven’t you just singlehandedly blown up Agency headquarters by now?”

***

It sure would have saved a lot of time, I suppose, but that’s obviously not what happened. 🙂

Hope to be here more regularly, with new material. You’re all still plugging away–I’m proud of you!

Never trust a pirate–SFFS for July 27

Whew.

After a summer that’s been plagued with some serious personal issues, I think I’m finally back on track. Life goes on, as they say, and it’s time to get back to my book babies, making sure they’re all warm and loved.

I’m so proud to have had my books featured on this blog over the last few months–thank you, my friends! Now it feels like coming home. 🙂

Today’s snippet is from TRIAD. The Solarii have launched a daring, two-pronged rescue attempt of their man Monty Winston, who’s been captured by the space pirates. While the intrepid team goes through the sewer to break into the dungeon and get him, Stefan and Catava, posing as a slaver and his merchandise, try to distract the pirate leader and his men on the main level of the stolen Dragonfleet base. But somehow things just don’t go as they expect…

***

Weapon in hand, Stefan spun to face Marcand. He couldn’t figure out why the pirate hadn’t summoned his guards, but he suspected it was a matter of pride—he wouldn’t let a woman and a skinny trader beat him. “Let her go, Marcand.”

“She’s mine.” Marcand caught Catava’s neck again and turned her back to him, wrapping his sinewy arm across her throat, holding her between him and Stefan. “Back off, Philean, or she’s meat.”

The pirate sucked in deep draughts of air, still trying to catch his breath from her assault. “I knew something reeked of duplicity in this. Who is she, an assassin? Out to kill me for her DragonFleet revenge?”

***

Love it when a plan comes together, right? Ooops.

Find out more about TRIAD at the tab above–or buy it now at Amazon.com in Kindle or paperback.

Ready to read more thrilling snippets? Check out Science Fiction and Fantasy Saturday!

Is a woman right for a man’s job? If a man can’t do it — SFFS for April 27!

It’s Saturday again! That must mean it’s time for delicious bits of science fiction and fantasy–how yummy. This week’s snippet from HORIZON SHIFT is calorie-free, and deals with a mysterious mission.

The Doubtful is offered the opportunity to retrieve some artifacts they need to rebuild the alien device that sent them into a universe, then exploded. All they have to do to get them is help the Lenci get their priestess back from her journey inside a set of caves. She’s been missing several days, and they’re afraid she might be dead. Oh, yes, and they can only send women on the mission.

Sounds easy enough, right?

***

The Lenci communication had been very sketchy about the rescue mission, perhaps with intention. Even when the team arrived, the Lenci representatives seemed nervous and uncomfortable.

“As I said, Captain, since we don’t engage in trade with outsiders, we trust the artifacts will adequately recompense your team for the dangerous undertaking.” Rez spoke hurriedly, glancing over his shoulder as Malka passed around them with the stinking incense again.

Rogers straightened his shoulders. “You’re sure you need women?”

Liang bristled at the implication in the captain’s voice that women were somehow insufficient. A quick look at Riviera showed a similar reaction.

Rez sighed, and the others twitched and nodded as one.

“The males never come back.”

***

Well, maybe not so easy, then.

HORIZON SHIFT is available at Amazon.com, at Dragonfly Publishing’s new ebook page  and at other online distributors, or order it in paperback from your local indie bookstore.  🙂

For more information, click the tab above to learn about HORIZON SHIFT, and its sequels coming soon.

For more wonderful snippets, visit Science Fiction and Fantasy Saturday and see what’s new!

No sense in working without an angle…SFFS for April 13!

This week’s snippet goes back to one of the elf queen’s human friends, Lane Donatelli. For those who’ve read the YA Clan Elves series, you’ll remember Lane is a former foster-care child who compensates for his anxiety with food, especially cupcakes, and he’s a master computer whiz.

But he also needs to pay his bills:

Lane retreated to the Cave, his carefully-constructed getaway inside the apartment, four computers ensconced in a space enclosed by walls built from an assortment of cardboard boxes, crates and storage bins.  Once upon a time, his whole life had been centered within these artificial walls, very much like Crispy had constructed his own “safe” place, his agoraphobia keeping him inside the apartment until his therapist—and a generous helping of elven magic—had invited him back into the world.

            Lane’s egress into the greater world had taken a different form. Plopping down in his well-padded manager’s chair, he noted the blinking icon that indicated he had email waiting for him. Clicking on it, he revealed seven notes from fans new to his recently-published digital book, The Elf Princess.

            He’d taken the adventure he’d shared with Jelani, Astan and the others, and written a thinly-disguised version of the story, careful to set it near Butte instead of Missoula, to protect the clan’s existence in the Montana woods.  The manuscript had been rejected by a dozen agents as “too outlandish,” proving to Lane that truth was indeed stranger than fiction. Finally, he’d tapped one of his gamer buddies online, they’d whipped the manuscript into shape for e-publishing, and he’d published it himself.

            His gamer friends spread the word, and as they were a widely-diverse group, Lane had sold a good number of copies already, a fan base developing almost without his effort.

“Now if I can only figure out how to leverage this into a fully-paid appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con…”

***

THE ELF GUARDIAN is the fourth book in the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series, available at Dragonfly Publishing and at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, at Apple ITunes and most other online outlets. Find out more about the series at the tab above or at the home of the Clan Elves online.

Find more delicious low-calorie snippets at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday today!

Alone in the dark –SFFS for April 6

For this week’s snippet, I traveled back to my first published science fiction novel, TRIAD. (Okay, it’s only last year, but it’s about 10 published books in-between, so it feels like the Way Back Machine!!)

TRIAD tells the story of three women commanding different factions of an area of disputed space: the Solarii, run by Trezanna Len, Dragonfleet, led by Estrella Drake, and the Khimeyr, a group that splintered away from Dragonfleet, commanded by Catava Rolon. When the Arkosian space pirates come to attack, hoping to annex all the territory belonging to these factions, they find they have to work together to defeat the enemy. But one of the leaders has her very own agenda that could bring them all to ruin.

When one of Trezanna’s lieutenants is captured by the pirates, he’s locked in a dungeon and left alone. The experience kicks him into flashbacks of his time as a prisoner of war:

***
Winston shuddered again and started over with the multiplication tables.

One times one is one—one times two is two—one times three is three….

Years before, in his days with the Western Alliance, captured soldiers learned ways to focus, to redirect thoughts, to offset brainwashing or other assaults on one’s sanity. Structure, logic, progression. One fact followed another, which followed another, to a known point. Don’t let the mind stray after that creature, the one that sounded small at first but might be larger, might have teeth, might have—

Stop.

Stop.

He took a deep breath, felt it shudder out of him. The tricks only worked so long.

***

TRIAD, a Dragonfly Publishing release, is available at Amazon.com and most other major online retailers, and can be ordered in print at your local indie bookstore! For more information, click the tab above that says “TRIAD”!

BLURB:

After five years of silence, the Arkosian space pirates are back to terrorize the sector where Trezanna Len fights to save her Solarii colony, a small group of Terran descendants settled on the planet Induna. To survive, the Solarii need assistance. And soon. Trezanna could ask for help from the neighboring group called Dragonfleet, but its cruel leader Estrella Drake has been on a rampage to annex Solarii space. Estrella would never agree to an alliance with the Solarii. Or would she?

For more science fiction and fantasy snippets, check out the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday page this week and every Saturday!

SFFS for 3-30 : We have met the enemy, and he means to kill us

No matter how much you psych yourself up, it’s always hard to hold it together when you come face to face with your enemy. For many of us, it might be an in-law or a boss, or from time to time, a teenaged son. You go over all the things you plan to say in your head, rehearse them until you think it’s perfect, and then the confrontation comes.

Do you remember all those great phrases you’d polished and honed, the ones that would prove your point beyond the shadow of a doubt?

I have to confess, since I’m a lawyer in my day job, I do practice delivering arguments, even when I’m half-asleep sometimes. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that I’d better write the darned things down before they shimmer away into thin air, as they tend to do.

But today’s snippet, from new release HORIZON SHIFT, shows how Captain Temms Rogers handles his personal confrontation with his demon, the fleet commander whose orders he disobeyed. The decision was the right one, morally, but came at a huge cost to both men and their crews. This man doesn’t merely mean to disagree–he’s out for revenge:

***

And suddenly Jal Burko was there.

Sharp blue eyes under close-cut hair of striking black appraised Rogers, unsmiling. He looked much like he had since Rogers’ first days at the Confederation school when Burko had been a part-time flight instructor. He’d actually taken Rogers under his wing for about a year, until the differences in their political thoughts had quietly pushed them apart. He waited for Rogers to open, his stare icy-hot.

Where were all those damned words?

“Commander,” Rogers finally said.

“Captain.” Clipped tone, not giving an inch. Damn him.

***

For more delightful snippets from a cornucopia of talented science fiction and fantasy writers, check out Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday, which every week features free snippets from published works and WIPs, giving you, the reader, a chance to see what’s new on the horizon. Or the Horizon, if you like this book. 🙂  You can pick it up here.

How do you handle those moments when you know that what you’re going to say may affect the whole rest of your life?