Come Up To My Lab And See What's On the Slab

 

Not that lab, although it's certainly fabulous

The Long and Short Reviews question for October 7th asks what profession from a book, movie, or TV show I’d like to try and why?

I don’t want to try it at this point because I’m old and tired and my body is a complete dumpster fire thanks to years of abusing it working at physically demanding jobs that usually didn’t pay enough to justify the kind of punishment being heaped on this old carcass. That being said, I was always interested in the idea of being a medical examiner. 

It would have been fulfilling to learn why people died and to potentially help solve crimes. Of course, it would have been frustrating when I couldn’t achieve that objective. One of the things that held me back from being more aggressive about actually pursuing the training for this career was the thought of doing autopsies on children. It’s easier to have a clinical mindset when the person being examined is an adult.

On TV, female medical examiners often have their hair down, aren’t wearing masks, and have perfect makeup. In real life, required protective measures override glamorous montages. That would have suited me fine. I’m completely unglamorous, and, as far as I know, I’ve never been the subject of a montage. 

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Coming this month, Race the Thunder, the 4th novel of the World Gone Dark series by January Bain!

 

Good Morning to you, and Happy October!

Aw, the witching season is upon us, the leaves are turning, pumpkin spice is everywhere, and the publishing industry is already thinking about Christmas. Meanwhile, my Mackenzie Clan of Kentucky, has considerably bigger problems. 

They're trying to find each other.

The lights have gone out.
The world they knew has disappeared.
The roads are no longer safe.
And somewhere between Kentucky, California, prison cells, abandoned highways, and a world slipping steadily into chaos, a family is desperately trying to make its way home.

So while the rest of us are deciding which Halloween costume to wear and wondering when it's socially acceptable to put up the Christmas tree...

I'm over here worrying about whether my characters are going to survive the next chapter.

Such is the glamorous life of a writer. 😉

And now the Mackenzie family's journey continues in Race the Thunder.

I can't tell you too much without spoiling the fun, but I can tell you this:

The world may have gone dark.
The Mackenzies haven't.

They are still searching.
Still fighting.
Still making impossible choices.
And still discovering that surviving the apocalypse may be easier than deciding what kind of people they want to become afterward.

That's really where the heart of World Gone Dark lives for me.

It's not simply a story about the end of civilization.

It's a story about what remains when civilization is stripped away.

What do we protect?
Who do we become?
Who do we refuse to leave behind?

And perhaps most importantly...

How far would you go to get home?

                                    RACE THE THUNDER
                                   World Gone Dark Book 4

                              The world ended in a single day.

                             Getting home may take a lifetime.

October always feels like an appropriate month to release readers into a little darkness, don't you think?

There's something about this time of year—the shortening days, the cold creeping into the evenings, the leaves disappearing from the trees—that makes us think about what happens when the familiar world changes.

That's probably why I love writing stories about people being tested.

Because the interesting question isn't whether the world will change.

It always does.

The interesting question is what we do when it does.

So, while the publishing world prepares for Christmas, I'll be sitting at my desk with another cup of coffee, trying to keep the Mackenzies alive long enough to get them home.

Wish me luck.

They have a rather unfortunate habit of surprising their author. 😉

Hugs, January Bain

Storyteller

Read Rising Son by Steven A Coulter #MMRomance #SciFi #SpeculativeFiction #Free

  

Rising Son

Chronicles of Spartak Book 1

Key Words: 

SciFi, LGBTQ, Speculative Fiction, Sex Off Page, Fade to Black, Action, Love Story

Synopsis:

The ruling elite see Spartak as a trophy; the people see him as their best hope. By the year 2115, twelve families control all wealth in America, the middle class is a myth, democracy a con game, and the Supreme Court has just legalized a new entertainment option for the bored elite. Spartak Jones is kidnapped and forced to become the first legal slave since the Civil War, a trophy birthday present for the eldest son of the richest family. Handsome, seductive, and athletic, he is not shy about using his talents to survive and protect those he loves.


When war erupts within the ruling class, he proves to be a lethal warrior, fearless, resourceful, and photogenic. His swashbuckling exploits awaken a long-dormant liberal underground hungry to restore democracy.

In a world both familiar and horribly twisted, Spartak becomes a symbol of hope, a flesh and blood icon for an America that used to be and might be again, if he can survive.

Dark, twisted, dystopian, uplifting, and romantic—The Chronicles of Spartak delivers a 22nd-century LGBT action hero who will make you cheer.

A riveting tale with a powerful political undercurrent.

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Excerpt:

June 27, 2115

Ronald Reagan Arena

San Diego, California

Being shot out of a cannon is not how I expected to spend my sixteenth birthday. “The audience will love it,” gushed adults who didn’t have to climb inside. This seemed like something ancient Romans might have wished to use on Christians when the lions weren’t hungry. The vertical black cylinder, forty feet at the muzzle, nine feet in diameter, has a tiny door on the side, just above the breech, giving access through the chamber and into the round projectile inside.

This is supposed to be a showy and theatrical arrival for the awards ceremony. I grin and rush toward the door, looking thrilled for this new experience. Drama is one of my best high school classes. Downer boys like me know how to survive in this America.

To get into the giant sphere—giant being a relative term for a cannonball—I squat and waddle, not very dignified, four of us in a space that shouldn’t hold one. I plop my gluteus maximus on the designated indent on a shelf that circles the inside.

“Keep arms at your sides,” a mechanical female voice orders. A dozen wooly steel fingers thrust out from each side and wrap around my biceps, chest and thighs, python tight. A furry helmet, attached to the end of a metal column and wriggling like it’s alive, drops from the ceiling and swallows the top of my head before it stretches to my ears, pushing scratchy fingers inside. The seat begins to heat and vibrate before contouring intimately into my butt. A metal arm unfolds from the wall and swings a horseshoe-shaped, undulating, disgusting white pad to my lips. “Open your mouth wide,” the voice demands.

It pushes against my lips with increasing intensity before I surrender and it invades, enveloping my teeth. The arm detaches and folds back into its hiding place. I feel like meat in an enchilada. I close my eyes, waiting for liftoff, the least of my worries.

Being “the hope of my people” and “a hero” isn’t easy—more like a joke. Neither is acting dignified when I’m strapped to a bench that’s feeling up my tail end or in public when teenagers are screaming for me to take off my clothes. Not that it happens all the time, but Coach Johanson says people in my social strata believe in me, that I’m a symbol and need to make them proud, not act like a kid. A strange thing to say; acting like a kid isn’t a luxury most kids have anymore but I still have my breakout moments.

“Att-en-tion boys!” the pilot bellows, inches from my face, “lean into your harness, bite your bit and enjoy the ride!” Our luminous silver aero-pod begins to vibrate and twirl inside the launch chamber. Everything goes black except a floating control panel. We stare straight ahead, not that there’s an alternative, as the centrifugal force pins us back and whips our cheeks sideways.

An explosion below and we are airborne, my guts in my butt, eardrums squealing, a thousand feet over Reagan Arena, the pod glittering to those below like a mirrored dance ball. Before we lose our lunch, the spinning slows and we descend, circling the field twice, our faces red and slobbery but otherwise normal as we hover over the winner’s platform. An odd hyena shriek from the pilot as his restraints withdraw; the man never offered his name, his brown head shaved except for a massive kinked topknot and a zigzag gelled beard.

We all yawn until our ears pop and stare into individual floating Z-ether screens to see what’s happening below. It’s a circus, twenty thousand teenagers, frenzied, howling and jumping up and down. The San Diego Youth Orchestra looks near exhaustion blasting out our welcome, pounding drums, endless violin tremolos, a female chorus reaching celestial peaks. It’s both ridiculous and a total snort. In the lower stands I see hundreds of hand-lettered signs with my name and assorted suggestions on what I should do, mostly about displaying my anatomy, some more graphic than others.

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-----

More in the Series

Rebel. Athlete. Lover. Slave.
A young man finds love in the midst of a revolution.
Fighting to restore the America of legend, Spartak Jones becomes one. By 2116, the war between the ruling elites is now full frontal and the seventeen-year-old has become its celebrity warrior and icon for an America that used to be.
Kidnapped and taken as a trophy slave just a year ago, he remains his own man, willing to use his looks and other talents to survive and triumph. The liberal underground promotes his wholesome yet swashbuckling image to build support for democracy even while others plot for his destruction. Love may be his greatest weapon.
Is he a pawn or hero? How much evil is acceptable if you believe your cause is just?
From the Space Elevator, 22,000 miles above the earth, Spartak and Zinc McClain, scion of the nation’s richest family, launch an audacious scheme to thwart a religious war and a military coup.

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079NQWPN9

-----

Who am I?

Steve writes speculative fiction. He explores issues of consequence embedded in fast-paced adventure, exotic settings, nasty bad guys, reluctant heroes, and the audacity of love. His work is enriched by his varied careers – soldier, teacher, journalist, state legislator, corporate executive, and library commissioner. He has a BA and MA in Journalism and was a Lambda Literary Fellow in 2008 and 2013, later spending two years on the Board. He lives in San Francisco with his husband, Greg. They favor bittersweet chocolate.

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WATCHING THE EARL by Lexi Post has Released!

  

Watching the Earl 

(Courting a Curious Lady: Book 6) 

by Lexi Post 

has released!

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA | Amazon DE

Lady Georgina is devastated. The lord who said he loved her, ruined her, then married another. Now her parents are desperate to keep her situation private by marrying her off to the first willing man no matter who he is. But even then, everything depends on her keeping her shame a secret…and she’s never kept a secret in her life.

Lord Philip Durham has lost it all on a sure bet. Desperate to save his father’s legacy and keep his situation hidden, he agrees to marry a woman with a large dowry. Discovering she’s also ruined only makes him more determined since it’s fitting penance for his past failings. Being forced to make a life with her, and thereby raising his family’s reputation, will satisfy both of his goals.

However, Lady Georgina appears to have goals of her own, including digging into his awkward family dynamics and returning to London for the remainder of the Season. As she becomes more confident, she seems to rise from the ashes of her old life like the mythical Phoenix. But can he avoid being burned or will her transformation bring him down in flames?

Need more Curious Ladies? There are five others who have found their happily ever after 😊

About Lexi:

Lexi Post is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of romance inspired by the classics. She spent years in higher education taking and teaching courses about the classical literature she loved. From Edgar Allan Poe's short story “The Masque of the Red Death” to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, she's read, studied, and taught wonderful classics.

But Lexi's first love is romance novels so she married her two first loves, romance and the classics. Whether it’s sizzling cowboys, dashing dukes, hot immortals, or hunks from out of this world, Lexi provides a sensuous experience with a “whole lotta story.”

Lexi is living her own happily ever after with her husband and her two cats in Florida. She makes her own ice cream every weekend, loves bright colors, and you’ll never see her without a hat.

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Read The Great Shatter by Kim Alexander #Fantasy #Romance #Romantasy #Dark #Steamy

  

The Great Shatter

(New World Magic Book 3)

Synopsis

A unicorn walks into a bar...except there are no unicorns or bars in the court of the Unseelie fae, which sucks because Marly could really use a drink.

Honestly, going from human to vampire, to something not quite mortal would drive anyone to drink. Being hounded by a grudge-holding kitsune didn't help, either. But when the king of the Unseelie fae declared Marly his queen and the hope of his people, it seemed her troubles were over, and off they went to his magical kingdom in a reality-tv-worthy happily ever after.

Except it's more hard landing than happy ending. Marly is thrown into the crosshairs of ancient hatreds where war masquerades as etiquette, shadows must beg for light, and things with tentacles are just waiting for something to go wrong. And something is going wrong...very wrong.

With every mis-step, she stumbles closer to the edge of a darkness waiting to consume her, and the king's love is like a poison that can cure or kill. Her only hope is to unveil the truth dancing in the great mirrors in the sky, even if that sky comes crashing down.

Get It Now: https://books2read.com/thegreatshatter

What are the other books in the series?

Pure

‘A unicorn walks into a bar….’ That is not a joke. 

Look, I’m a bartender, I have nothing to do with the xenos. 

I don’t care if it’s an elf or a vampire--as long as they don’t bother me, I steer clear. 

I have my reasons--you can see them in the scars on my neck. I never wanted to get involved. But my life changed for the second time when I saved the life of a unicorn. I made an enemy of something old--old and evil, and whatever it was, it’ll be back for another try. 

I also made a friend when I decided to help March. He’s only been a human man for a day. I’m responsible for him now. He’s my friend…and maybe something more. 

Maybe a lot more. It doesn’t matter to me that he isn’t magical anymore. I don’t care if he’s not PURE. But he does.

Check It Out: https://BookHip.com/NGXJCVR

-----

The March Effect

A unicorn walks into a bar…and leaves with my heart. He’s gone, and now I have a unicorn-named-March-shaped hole in my life. 

But, I get it. Unicorns aren't meant to live in a world where they have to deal with putting gas in the car, getting groceries, and paying cell phone bills. I'm trying to get past this. Really, I am. It's just that everyone constantly talks about him, from his immortal ex-girlfriend, to reality TV-obsessed Fae, to even my own fully-human friends. 

Even his enemies are still obsessed with him. I learned that the hard way. 

Did I mention the part where I end up on the run—again—from an old, powerful enemy of his? Yeah. Fun times. I just want to be left to get over my broken heart while watching home improvement shows and eating ice cream. But mysterious disappearances, murder, and a quest for affordable real estate in Washington D.C. keep getting in the way. Maybe that's just life. 

Sometimes we get what we want. 

Sometimes, we get what we need. 

And sometimes, we get what we deserve. I guess you could call it…The March Effect.

Check It Out: https://books2read.com/TheMarchEffect

-----

The Great Shatter

A unicorn walks into a bar...except there are no unicorns or bars in the court of the Unseelie fae, which sucks because Marly could really use a drink.

Honestly, going from human to vampire, to something not quite mortal would drive anyone to drink. Being hounded by a grudge-holding kitsune didn't help, either. But when the king of the Unseelie fae declared Marly his queen and the hope of his people, it seemed her troubles were over, and off they went to his magical kingdom in a reality-tv-worthy happily ever after.

Except it's more hard landing than happy ending. Marly is thrown into the crosshairs of ancient hatreds where war masquerades as etiquette, shadows must beg for light, and things with tentacles are just waiting for something to go wrong. And something is going wrong...very wrong.

With every mis-step, she stumbles closer to the edge of a darkness waiting to consume her, and the king's love is like a poison that can cure or kill. Her only hope is to unveil the truth dancing in the great mirrors in the sky, even if that sky comes crashing down.

Check It Out: https://books2read.com/thegreatshatter

-----

A Poisoned Garden

A unicorn walks into a bar and…wait, what was I saying?

Look, between what I’m pretty sure is premature senility and wanting to barf all the time, I’m barely hanging in there. At this point, I need a break after solving xeno murders, fighting murderous fox shifters, and my best friend nearly murdering me for…reasons.

But do I get a break? No, I get an invitation to the court of the Unseelie fae, and it’s the kind of invitation you can’t refuse because it’s from the king who flip-flops between wanting to share a pizza with me and stabbing me.

The upside is that I can see my best friend Marly, the newly minted and slightly murderous Unseelie fae queen. The downside? Apparently, I have to prevent a civil war between powerful magical beings, and I don’t even get a can opener for self-defense.

Just like clockwork, I’m back to running from supernatural squids, double-dealing with triple-dealing fae who probably all want me dead, and getting tangled up with a beautiful, broken-hearted unicorn who makes me feel guilty, and I don't know why.
After all, we've never met before...have we?

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-----

The Glass Sword

A unicorn walks into a bar…it's cheaper than therapy.

Therapy, you say? 

Sign up Marly, the angry ex-Unseelie-fae-queen. 

Or how about Sasha, the bitter exiled-Unseelie-fae-king? 

And definitely Ruby, the mortal bartender who lost her heart when she found her memories of March, the unicorn shifter she loved.

A good therapist would say learn to live with the consequences of choices, but Ruby isn't ready to accept that a choice she didn't even know she made landed March as the prisoner of the Seelie fae court. And Marly and Sasha have some feelings about reclaiming the throne of the Unseelie court.

But consequences beget consequences. Amid dying kingdoms and the dying embers of old loves and older hatreds, friends become betrayers, lovers keep secrets, and someone or something is out for blood-red revenge.

Grab It Now: https://books2read.com/TheGlassSword

-----

Who am I?

Kim Alexander grew up in the wilds of Long Island, NY and slowly drifted south until she reached Key West. After spending ten rum-soaked years as a DJ in the Keys, she moved to Washington DC, where she lives with two cats, an angry fish, and her extremely patient husband who tells her she needs to write at least ten more books if she intends to retire in Thailand, so thank you for your patronage. 

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