Second Above Pay GradeX2 excerpt and coupon code

With everything else going on--including new Above Pay files and working on my WotF story--I had forgotten I was going to post another excerpt. So finally here it is. In this one NA is fighting supernatural creatures who act like ghosts. 

 This time there is a half price code for Smashwords.com after it.   Remember this code is for smashwords only.   

------I managed to get far enough ahead to turn back toward them for a moment. I formed a wall out of ice; moved to a corner of whatever room I was in and panted thinking the wall might keep them out for a few seconds. I tasted salt when sweat dripped into my mouth, my hair felt soaked, my heart pounded like a bass drum played by someone on speed.

     As to the wall stopping them, nope. The large one hit the ice full on----and burst through it. I forgot they could be corporeal. The crash was amazingly loud. I crouched and covered my head with my hands as ice splinters flew everywhere. Tiny pricks peppered my exposed skin as small splinters rained on me. I looked up and saw ice sticking out of the floor-I make very hard ice-the ceiling and a chair near me. 

     That didn’t work very well I thought as I did the only

thing I could think of. I formed a doppelgänger. More than one image goes by that name; in this case it was like 3D image of me. Like the one I used on the guy with the witch hazel suit but you could touch this one. It takes a lot of energy but it’s usually only needs to last for a few seconds and I was desperate. I could control it like a computer image. I made it sputtered with V-nergy which should attract the ghost as long as it lasted which would be no more then thirty-seconds in this case.

     I ran out the door as the creatures flew to where my doppelgänger stood giving them the finger. They wouldn’t know what that meant but it was emotionally satisfying, even if it

was just my image doing it.  

     When I looked over my shoulder, I thought Oops maybe they did know. They seemed to have become even angrier. All three hit the image hard. As I ran down the hallway I felt them come after me. That copy of myself didn’t last any thirty-seconds-I would have to demand my money back. If I survived to sue myself that is. 

     I’m not sure why but I found myself near the library. Just going around in a circle-sort of-I guess. I noticed a door in one wall and guessed it to be the way downstairs. I had no other choice but to head down there and see if I could get lost in all V noise the other ghosts were making. Or just start blasting them, that sometimes works also.

     Half way down the stairs it hit me. Damn, they produce cold, put out lights especially the type that produced heat, they won’t go near Brittany who was running a high fever, they felt cold, the ice had no affect on them. 

     I nodded in the dark of the stairs, now I had a weapon-I hoped. I was close enough to the bottom so I could sense them moving around-and there were young ones here. Good god, this was a breeding ground for them. No wonder the ones chasing me acted more aggressive than what was reported as normal. 

     As I moved toward them I could taste something in the air. It tasted cold and vibrant with V-nergy. I ducked as I felt something coming up fast. A ghost flew by me and joined the others. I thought I felt something similar to the scream but quieter. Another step--it felt much colder and the step gave in a bit like it was half rotten, I raised my foot for another step when I stopped. Everything went quiet-I knew they attention was now on me.

     I hoped my idea would work, if it didn’t I would be frozen and slimed to death...yuck.

     With my power levels low and since I hadn’t done something like this on this level before I needed all the help I could get. 

        “To make a pyre

        I need some fire

        So to help me

        Let flame be.”

     Yes, I know it was a rotten rhyme. I’ve known mages who could come up with a rave rhyme in a heartbeat-Patricia could-but I’m not one of them. Fortunately it doesn’t have to be good it doesn’t always have to rhyme even though that gets best results. Christopher tried to explain why that was so, but I’m still not sure about it. It had something to do with rhythm and our inner-self.  

     I raised my hands, palm out, sent V-nergy to my hands and concentrated on flame. It answered my call immediately. Just the type of fire I needed; hot and wide spread. It burst forth from my hands like water out of a fire hose, which was probably appropriate.

     Heat came back at me but I knew I could stand it. I felt and heard a very level sound I took to be screams. The large one came through the hole in the ceiling I had made earlier but he was caught in the flame, another one tried to zoom past me but it fell to the floor, skidded across it before it shriveled up. I saw a third one fly upward but it didn’t make it; the ghost crashed back to the floor. I stepped to one side and turned to get one, it turned into three, that came from behind. I don’t know how long I stood there hosing down the basement with fire but it seemed a very long time. My V-nergy levels were going down and I hadn’t seen one for a few seconds so I called the fire to quit---it kept spewing forth. I concentrated harder and sent a burst of V-nergy into my hands but it still flamed. I must have been in too much of a hurry when I called up the flame. Now my hands were starting to feel hot. I had automatically placed a shield around them to protect them and me from the backlash but it seemed to be slipping. With my levels down it would.

     Oh god, I was going to burn the house down on top of us, and I would go first. Could Kyle get Brittany out of the house in time? Would it keep going when I died? I didn’t know but I wasn’t going to die by my own fire. Neither would I let myself die by going with a spell of my own making; going wild and using up all of my life energy. 

     With a thought about that last happening I drew back all the V-nergy from my hands. That seemed to help but the fire was still  going. I could smell wood burning so I knew the house was on fire. I tasted ash when I breathed in. I sneezed twice.------

    Coupon discount code for smashwords. 

 KU99A
Expires: October 29, 2014

Interview # two---Richard Flores IV

I said that I was going to be doing some interviews and as the title of this post says this one is number two.


Richard Flores IV writer of "Broken Trust", "Dissolution Of Peace" and others, plus he is an editor-in chief at Plasma Frequency.

Here is his web site with a full list including short stories. Here

His Barnes and Nobel Page

How many book do you have published? 

I currently have three novels. Dissolution of Peace, Volition Agent, and Broken Trust (published in that order for those keeping score at home). 

Where did the idea for the latest tale come from?  If it’s on your blog, could you repeat it?

Ah, Broken Trust came from a short story. I wanted to write a short story about a survivor from a mass extinction event. The story ultimately ended with the survivor finding a settlement of people.  Well, when I finished the short story, I realized that I really liked the story that wasn't told.  The story of what people did when simply surviving a disaster became rebuilding from one.  And that spiraled into the novel Broken Trust.

 Who is your favorite character in this book?

Oh man, that is a tough one.  I think I will have to go with the same choice that my editor and beta readers picked: Talya.  The funny thing is Talya was supposed to be just a minor character in the novel. Perhaps not even a minor one, but more of a background character. Well, she seemed to find herself more and more prominent. And in the first revision, I really wrote her in as one of the three main characters.  And people seem to love her.

 How long did it take you to write-you mentioned deleted scene on your blog. How many and how large where these scene?

Broken Trust took about a year to write from the first words to the final edits.  Which was way longer than it was supposed to take. But I tend to get sidetracked with running Plasma Frequency and of course that darn day job.

I do recall one scene I cut. It was almost an entire chapter that revolved around one of the minor characters and a certain nameless character (spoilers and all) who had a long conversation about various topics.  Including world affairs and such.  I originally put this scene in to give a broader world view, which the world that this book takes place in is very thought out on a global scale. But, I realized that it dragged the story, and was not really important to the story.  So I sprinkled a bit of that scene into another chapter and a bit more into a later chapter. Thus giving a little bit of insight into the global world, and the plot point, without slowing down the story.  I am happy with that cut.

 Any embarrassing scenes in this book or a previous one? 

This book doesn't really have any scenes that were embarrassing to me. Thought there were a few that were to the characters. But, Dissolution of Peace does have one scene I wish I had cut before print.  Well that is not so true, I still like the scene, but my readers seem to wonder what the point of it was.  It is a scene where one of the main characters walks in on two of the other characters in the middle of a sexual act. I cut a ton of sex from that book, especially with the rewrite of one major plot point, but I kept that one because I thought it was important to the characters' relationship. But, apparently I missed the point with the readers and for that reason I am bit embarrassed by it.  It is always a tough moment for a writer when they miss the mark.

Which scene--without too many spoilers--gave you the most fits? 

So back to Broken Trust, there were a few scenes that gave me trouble. But the toughest one was the climax scenes.  There was a lot of set up to many story lines in this book.  There are several main story lines, there are a few subtle story lines, and there are even a few that are almost hidden until the end.  Well, I wanted to bring those all together for a big climax. And that was a pain in the butt.  Without giving anything away, there were characters who finally were discovering who they are, there were conflicts to be resolved, and there was even a romantic storyline that needed tied up. And to combine war, love, and character discovery into one big climax scene took four rewrites and several editing passes.  In the end, I am absolutely in love with it.

What outfit would you wear, if you were the Main Female Character? 

There are two main female characters in this one. If I was Talya, I would be a tank top and jeans (or running shorts) type of woman. I would prefer comfort over appearance, especially uniforms.  But, I would also understand the practicality of what I am wearing in terms of the job I need to do. So when working, I'd substitute those jeans for cargo pants.

Now Rachel on the other hand, she would be more of T-shirt and pants, or even more girly with like a sundress or something like that. She hasn't really had to adapt her tastes to a collapsed world, and so she still thinks it is important to be well dresses when the occasion calls for it.

Is this book in any way modeled after another published book? 

No, not intentionally anyway.  I haven't read one just like it. And so I think it makes its own mark on the post-apocalyptic realm.  I don't even know that is falls under that category.  Nor is it really a dystopian novel.  So I think it is more along the lines of a story about rebirth.  And for that I think it takes a new spin on the genre.

What other book would you take your Main Character to for a day on the town?

I've talked about Talya, and even a bit about Rachel.  But we've missed Liam.  I think I will take him out on the town for the day.  I think we'd visit a fantasy novel.  For some reason I think Liam would prefer it over a novel of his own genre. And I think I'd take him to one of the books in Emma Newman's The Split Worlds series. Liam and Newman's main character, Cathy, have a lot in common.  They both want to see change and a better life for the people of their world, but they also both don't want to be the one in charge of doing it.  Not that either of them has much choice. 

Who is your favorite writing teacher? A pro writer who also shares how to write or a college teacher? 

Oh, definitely not a college teacher.  I never studied writing formally. I took the path of self study and for that I have to thank Jeffrey A. Carver and Orson Scott Card.  Carver has an excellent website on how to write SF that I spend a long time reading, and rereading.   And Card put out two books that have helped me immensely in how I look at writing.  I think it is fair to say that I got started because of what I read from them.

Up at Smashwords

Okay, the new file is up at smashwords.com

It may take a few days to get up at the other sites but it will.


So take a look


A story: a real fire fight, a man bent on revenge and he drugs her drink, a pocket universe trap and other adventures.

Oops, missed deadline on my novel "Above My Pay GradeX2"

Just in case anyone is thinking of buying my my book, which was suppose to go live today, you might wait a few days. The book is "Above My Pay GradeX2"  in electric format. 

I thought I uploaded a new file at smashwords.com a few days ago. I found a few things after proofing it and fixed what I saw. But I realized last night that it didn't get sent, or didn't get received. I may have been ready to upload but interrupted so I just thought I sent it, or their system hiccuped, or I somehow interrupted the process. Whatever the case it would be a good idea to wait until the new file is really up. They have it for sure this time. 

Novel excerpt and update on e-publishing it--BOOKMARKS

This update starts with a short excerpt of my novel--the first chapter. I will post another one from the last chapter later. 

It reared up again, and again let out that roar. I think Patty screamed again, but I wasn’t paying that much attention. 

     I said to myself hurry. Find it. Too many heartbeats later there it was: a connection from the bear back to her brother. I thought that since it was his pet he would have kept a lock on it to be able to call it back to him once it finished its job. I was right. Now, if the bear would only give us enough time to let me do the second part of my plan.

     I tried to read the link-the grizzly moved closer. Another step-it went “uff” and stopped. I tried to see why it stopped while at the same time I worked on that connection. That’s almost like trying to figure out the combination to a safe while a guard dog ten times the normal size was chasing after you.

     I saw a spike of energy trying to shove its way around the huge animal. I realized it was the second zombie. It still wanted to obey its orders even without an arm. 

     The bear turned slightly and tried to bat at the zombie. The alley was too narrow for that, but it backed up and grabbed the zombie. The zombie struggled to get away. The bear took a bite out of it, but that had no effect. The bear spat out what it had in its mouth and shook its head. The zombie managed to club the bear hard and break loose, but as it turned to go after us again, the bear moved back and took a swipe at it. The zombie’s head went flying, a second claw ripped open the zombie’s chest. It finally collapsed even though it still tried to move our way for a few seconds. The bear roared its victory and turned back to us.

     Patty said, “You better do something.”

     “Thanks to the zombie distracting it, I can.”

     I called up all my reserves and sent most of what I had left at the bear, at the link between it and her brother. Two long heartbeats later, the bear vanished. I collapsed to the pavement. Translocations were always hard for me to do and this one was a lot harder than usual. 

     She said, “Are you okay?”

     After I nodded, she said, “What did you do?”    

     In-between breaths I said, “I-sent it-back-to-your brother.” 

     After few more deep breaths I could feel the course cement under my hands and what I hoped was gum. I tasted what I thought might be blood. I spat it out but couldn’t see anything in the dark. I felt physically cold but emotionally warm. I had won. An angry bear should keep the guy busy for a while, hopefully even take him out if I had sent it right next to him. He had been putting out a lot of energy. Even with his talismans and rituals moving the bear, controlling the zombies, and tracking his sister must have used up a ton of his energy. That meant less to fight the bear off with. Of course, he must have some V controls on the beast, but hopefully he wouldn’t have the time to activate them.

     I finally got up and started back down the alleyway. I told Patty she should be safe now, but to not go back to her place. 

     “Never. He forced me to move in with him and so I have no place to go.”

     “Do you have any money?”

     “Some in my purse and bank account.”

     “First buy some new clothes and get rid-no-give me those clothes and if you don’t mind, let me get your money out of your account.”

     She looked puzzled.

     “I don’t think he would be able to track your clothes or activity on your account, but we shouldn’t take any chances. Don’t worry I will give it all to you.”

     “I should pay you something.”

     “I don’t do this for pay.” I didn’t add. There was no amount of money that would make this worth it.

     She just nodded. 

     I took her back to my car. Its an older VW Thing-I call it Buggy-with an older Porsche engine. Someone had painted it yellow with brown trim. Because of its age it has few electronics. Vibration energy tends to not mix well with any thing electrical. Of course there was some electronics even in a car that old, but newer cars have a lot more. Its age somehow gave it some protection. I’ve been told age makes devices more settled and more resistant to change. Most mid level mages drive older cars. Higher level mages know how to protect sensitive electronics. Some even have computers and cell phones. 

     On the way I kept my eyes, ears and V vision open-I finally had to shut that down since it was giving me a headache-but there was nothing. I drove Patty to a convenience store that I knew carried some T-shirts and shorts. We found a dark place and she quickly changed. I told her to take off everything even underwear and shoes. I had a pair of flip flops for her feet. After that, I burned her clothes-just to make sure there was nothing he marked them with-and drove her to a friend’s place. Darlene knew what I did and helped women escape their abusers, so she wasn’t very surprised. She promised to take care of Patty until she could leave the city. I went home and collapsed in bed without changing. 

     

       ###################

       Two days later, after three significant trips, I went to BCH, one of the major hospitals, in Boulder. I had spent the days scurrying news articles looking for one specific report. That takes time without a computer. I can use one if I’m very careful and it has all types of surge protectors, or if my energy levels were way down, but I wasn’t feeling like being careful.

     After I found what I wanted I headed out. I snuck around the front desk and used my ability to sense V energy to find the right room. 

     A man lay on the bed sort of awake. He had been badly clawed by some mysterious bear. The authorities thought one had escaped from the city zoo, but none were missing. It looked like there may have been a couple of small bits taken out of him also. I walked in and made sure he could see me.
     I dropped four sets of necklaces-minus the stones-on him then stepped back and crossed my arms. Two of the necklaces were from the zombies; one was from the guy I blinded.

         

  A couple of commas might be missing, but I know I put them in, which means some disappeared again---

         

And this is the only place in the novel with zombies. 

Now to the update.  Thought I would do an update on my E-novel Above My Pay GradeX2. As reported last time it’s done and I have uploaded it to both smashwords.com and CreateSpace.com. I set it for pre-order so it’s not up at every site yet. Not until the 18th. But it is up at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. E-book version that is. Hard copy will be coming.

       Speaking of that. CreateSpace has some great ways to proof the book before making a final go decision. I bought a hard copy of the book “Eleven something including taxes and shipping”. They got it to me a few days before the predicted date. It’s a complete copy of the book, which means I can see what it looks like “live”. I think it looks good. 

     So I went over it, decided the table of contents sample they suggested looked funny so I redid it. I also found a few things per chapter that needed fixing or changing. A couple misspelled words, but also funny looking sentences and an extra word or three. I probably didn’t catch everything, but it’s in a lot better shape along those lines than it was. Not that it was terrible--unless I missed a whole lot of what they call nitpicks. I also changed a few sentences to make them sound stronger or clearer. So hopefully the writing will be a touch better too. 

      All of the changes meant that I needed to redo the file for Smashwords too. The table of contents for that format was already okay, so I skipped that part. I uploaded it yesterday and so far it looks like it’s okay. It should be since it’s basically the same file with the same format as I uploaded already, but things happen. 

     So far 9 people have download the free 16% at smashwords. They would have gotten the version of that 16% with a couple of nitpicks, but hopefully it won’t matter. 

   The final hardcopy price is a bit much, but to sell it at Barnes and Noble, and other such sites, I had to make it a higher price. CreateSpace has a minimum price they calculate. If I cut out those sites I could make it four to five dollars cheaper. But it is 500 and some pages in a Tradeback size. I know those do tend to be a bit expensive. Evidently Amazon has a habit of discounting many of their books--even those by long time pros. So it’s possible-probable-they will end up selling this one for two to three dollars cheaper than any where else. That is what convinced me to go with the higher price. 

So smashwords is doing a final check and so is CreateSpace. So everything looks good for it going live next Monday Aug 18 ’14. It will be up at at least 8 different sites, some of which I have never heard of but a couple are from other countries so that would make sense. That includes Europe and I believe India. I don’t know how well American Urban Fantasy goes over in India, but I do know another India writer who has sold some of his books in other counties so it’s possible that I could sell a few books through those markets. 

So now we wait. I wait to see how well it goes and you wait to read it.  :)  Hopefully that last anyway.

E-novel  at smashwords.com

Above Pay Grade at Barnes and Noble

Oh, I made some bookmarks if anyone is interested. They have a one half discount code at smashwords--which makes it three something. If anyone is interested I can send some; 1 to 12 bookmarks if you want to hand them out for me. However I will need your snail mail address to send them.  

About my Pages, with a couple of changes.

        I partially redid my blog. Rearranged where the page buttons are and added two pages. One is for my books--two story sets and “Above My Pay GradeX2” a full 98,000 word-or so-Urban Fantasy novel, at the moment. I will be adding links to that page, but right now the links are in my still visible blog post talking about the books. 

I also added a page titled “Rod’s tales”. I have mentioned them before in some of my updates. I have 14 to 18 stories about a young mage named Rod. My idea was to do a bunch of twitter stories, but that lasted only about three or four stories. Some of them turned out to be over four thousand words. Some, though, are around 500 words. A couple 200 to 400 words. I hope to do a couple more of those. Anyway, I plan to post the stories on my blog and when I get enough--22 to 25--to publish them in an E-book. And what I really want to do is to send them out to people via E-mail. Only problem with that is I need E-mail addresses. If anyone is interested they can send me theirs. No, not twitter, because most are way too long for that and I would have to split them up in many, many pieces.  I plan to split some of the longer ones into halves and thirds, but not into twenty + pieces.  :)   I will be putting up a new story, or section of one, twice a month and send them out on E-mail. 

I said Rod is a young mage. He has things to learn, but he is tough and knows how to fight already. So some adventures will be dangerous and deadly, while others will be light hearted and he uses smarts to get rid of gnomes and other types of creatures. 

The first three really short ones will be going up in a day or so.

And even though I haven’t added a new story to my story page I will be. Right now it will be one new story and soon a second. How often I add some is up in the air right now, but it will be more than I have in the past year. 

Finally I have a my worlds page too. I have already added some stuff about the Vibration world of NA and plan to add my steampunk Special Ops world very soon. 

I noticed that some people have already looked at the worlds page which surprised me. Only a couple of looked over the books one though. And over the last year or so almost a hundred people have looked over my story page. Could be the same few hoping I will add a new story. Well, I will.  :) 

That’s it for now so enjoy yourself and come back once a month or so. And don’t forget--if you desire the Rod tales--to send me your e-mail addresses. LDWriter2@comcast.net.  Please put Rod tales in the header.