Second excerpt of my novel The Courier

Feb 24 Aaannddd it’s the last weekend of February already.

This is the second excerpt of The Courier even though I split it into three. This whole scene is way too long for SaturdayScenes so I am only showing-off a 2,884 word section from chapter four.

Right now I am aiming for the last week of March for publication. That will depend on different details though. I may be able to say a closer date next week.




Enjoy:


She had been in New Orleans twice before but they had been quick in-and-out runs.
A quick glance out one of the main windows showed her older brick-and-stone buildings that were shorter than the ones in New York. There were some skyscrapers but not in this part of the city. She could see few people as they walked on the sidewalks and the streets here. Many steamcars rolled along. A few buses and trucks too. Of course the city had several districts, and not all were restaurants and night clubs. She did have a list, gotten from other couriers, of what were supposed to be great eating establishments and most were not in the French Quarter. Two would be hard to find but they had great Cajun food while another one had a terrific crayfish, but first she had something to deliver and a response to get. Then she would see how much time she had to go searching for good food. A late-night train ran to New York even though it made one stop where she would have to switch trains.
When one vehicle puffed up to the curb she thought, Good they have cabs here. That would make the trip to the water front easier and faster.
She picked up her gym bag—she already wore her backpack—and headed out the door to fresher air.
Once out, through she coughed. So much for cleaner smelling air. This air contained various types of steam.
More accurately it was what they burned that produced the steam that varied.
Cigar odors joined in with that and, she tilted her head, food smells. There had to be someplace cooking up a storm close by.
Kara decided she could walk a bit to find a driver who might charge her less and who wouldn’t try to take her somewhere else—like a club. So she walked five blocks, and found what appeared to be an empty cab. She looked inside and saw a black man who she assumed was the driver lying on the front seat with his eyes closed. He looked only a little older than herself so he might be a college student, or someone just married who had two jobs. Just like some cabbies in other cities who took naps between fares. Or,… She took a closer look. No blood so probably not a victim of crime or a Mob fight.
She tapped on the driver’s window until the driver’s eyes opened. He looked startled but recovered quickly. He rolled down the window and said,
“You need a cab? And please excuse me I must have fallen asleep while waiting.”
“Yes, I do need a cab; and don’t worry about that, it is early still.”
She got in the back seat and told him the port she needed to get to.
“You taking a small boat out for a run?”
She nodded because he had looked at her in his rearview mirror. The thought came to her that he could be a upcoming jazz musician, who had played late last night but now had to do his day work.
He shifted his eyes to the front, put the car into gear and they lurched forward in a belch of steam she could see out of the back window.
“Sorry about that, but this cab sometimes does that at startup.”
She said, “I understand.”
The cab had looked newer and kept up, but even a steamer in good condition could develop bad reactions.
Over half an hour later he rolled through what could be a small courtyard and pulled up to the parking lot of a certain long one-story building. It looked like it had six storefronts. One other building the same size as the one he parked in front of, graced a side of the courtyard. She paid the driver and gave him an eleven-dollar tip. After she got out he asked if she wanted him to stay around. The day had warmed and she didn’t want to lug her stuff around but she would have to.
Kara said, “You can, but I don’t how long this boat trip will take. Could be three hours or more. So if you get another fare you should take it. But if you’re here I will have you take me back.”
He nodded and she headed for one of the offices in the long building up close to the water. A cool wind like the beginning of a weather front picked up during her walk but it wasn’t bad. The area smelled of the sea and fish as well as the boilers from the cars, trucks and the building itself. It became obvious that some of the fish were rotten even though that odor was faint. She got out some gum with one of the new intense mint flavors. Once she started to chew she almost smiled. Much better. She heard a faint sound that she took to be the ocean, or gulf in this case.
Kara found the correct door and went in.

————————————-

Forty-five minutes later they neared a platform that stuck out of the water on four legs. She made out two cranes, one of which seemed to move. As they neared it she could tell that each leg looked thicker than a steamtaxi. She wondered how they had planted them in the ocean floor. At this point she could now make out structures on the platform. Two tiny fires burned in different parts of the oil derrick. Electric lights lit up other areas.
Mr. Johnson aimed for a metal ladder that looked welded to one leg. A very small platform sat there along with another two up higher. The ladder led to each one and then to the main one. A man on the larger platform saw them and headed down the ladder.
“I wasn’t able to contact them to say we were coming, but they get unexpected visitors almost every day,” Mr. Johnson said.
Kara nodded.
Mr. Johnson tried two ropes to rings set in the leg.
The man coming down the ladder stopped and shouted, “Who are you?”
Kara raised her voice, “A courier with a message for your OIM and a one for a hydraulic mechanic.”
“Good, we were told to expect a courier. Come on up.”
She looked at the ladder, gave herself a little shrug and grabbed a rung. She went up easily even though the rungs were wet from sea water. Mr. Johnson followed. He looked like he had experience climbing these ladders.
Once up on the platform itself she looked around.
WOW!
She could see for miles. It looked like mostly water with a few ships in the distance. But she wanted to stay and look.
Up here she could still smell the sea but an odor of burnt oil invaded her sinuses also. Flashes of light showed where men welded and she could see other men carrying pieces of metal, or wrestling machinery into place. An occasional cuss word could be heard as well as sounds of metal against metal and the unique hiss of welding. And she heard something about boiling a certain part of a certain man in the main boiler. Three men in scuba gear walked by, headed inside, it looked like. The wind ripped over the structure. She felt it through her outfit. Mr. Johnson looked cold too. Most of the men were dressed in warm clothing.
The man that met them led them to one of the higher structures, and up a stairway that clanged with their footsteps. She wanted to spit because oil in the air got in her mouth when she breathed in. But she wasn’t sure how they would take it.
Once inside the man led them down a hallway. Or is that “passageway”? she thought. No wind in here, so it was warmed. Everything was metal even though an attempt had been made to make it look like an office building on land. He continued to what looked like an office: carpet on the floor, cushioned chairs, a clock on a desk, artwork on walls. A man sat behind a desk. It smelled a little of cleaners, cigars and cologne.
“Mr. Dampfgang? A courier has a delivery for you.”
The man in a black turtleneck looked up from a piece of paper. He took them all in at a glance Kara saw.
He said, “Good, I was expecting something today. Thank you for showing them in.”
The man must have taken that as a dismissal for he left. Mr. Dampfgang motioned them in. He greeted Mr. Johnson, looked at Kara and said, “Good, you arrived early. Ms…?”
“Kara. As you probably know, I have something for you to read, and I was told to wait for a response.”
The manager nodded. “In that case let me have what I am to read.”
Kara stepped to the desk. Even through her boots the carpet felt thicker than she expected and it seemed to be warmer than the metal floor. That last had to be just in her mind. She wore her work boots for one reason.
She took off her pouch and placed it on the desk. She found the correct folder and gave it to Mr. Dampfgang.
Kara said, “I have one more delivery here,”—he looked up with surprise on his face, “for a John Kilgood. One of the junior hydraulic mechanics.”
“I know him.” He paused than shouted, “Greg!” A man in coveralls looked in. “Go get John Kilgood. Tell him he has a message.”
The man said, “Yes sir,” and took off.
“I can read this and maybe have a response before he gets here.”
Kara said, “Sounds good.”
She stood there while Mr. Dampfgang read. Mr. Johnson had whispered that he had something to do and would be back in a couple of minutes. After what may have been ten minutes Greg came back with another man. This one wore greasy coveralls. The new guy looked twenty-three and in good shape with short blond hair.
Kara stood and said, “Are you John Kilgood, married to Aurore Kilgood?”
“I am John Kilgood and I am married to Aurore,” he said with a worried frown. He spoke with a Scottish accent which changed the pronunciation of Kilgood.
Kara reached into her pouch and drew out a thick, large brown envelope and handed it to Kilgood.
He took it from her with worry still in his eyes. He opened it and pulled out what looked like a handwritten letter. He read and his expression changed to a different type of worry, and then they lit up and he broke into a large smile.
John looked up and said in an almost shout, “I’m a father! My wife had a baby boy. It was a month early, but she says everyone is fine and healthy.”
He reached into the envelope again and withdraw a bunch of what looked like photographs. John went through them and said, “Here are pictures of my new baby.”
With a proud look, he showed them to Kara. “Here’s the baby, here’s my beautiful wife, the doctor, and others holding my son.”
She thought the wife might be a little embarrassed that he had showed pictures of her breast feeding, but then again maybe not. Kara brought out a form and asked him to sign it, just to say he received the package and that it was in good shape. He did with a thanks to her.
“I only charged your wife the basic price without expenses, since I had another run out here anyway.”
She had thought about giving them a further discount but John made good money even on the lower end of the pay scale here.
He smiled at her in gratitude, but went back to showing the pictures around.
—————————————

A blast of light and sound showed that lighting had struck too close. She hoped that Mr. Johnson knew the way to his dock, as she couldn’t tell where they were. But she decided it would be better to not distract him to by asking.
She spat out more water and breathed in more. Ozone had built enough to smell and taste it, even as the rain washed it away. Her clothes were very uncomfortable since they were soaked and now clammy. At least they were not getting wetter. Kara looked out of the front and saw a light. Not large enough to be a lighthouse—at least she assumed there would be some near here on the Gulf. She looked around. There seemed to be a light over to her right—far to her right. Around Mobile? Kara shook her head she didn’t know enough about this coast to even guess.
One would be very good at this point though. It could show the way into the bay. But Mr. Johnson seemed to know where he headed for so maybe the light was coming from a building or something.
Kara wondered if her new goggles would help her to see through this weather, but more than likely they would be wet and hard to see through in no time. Water splashed up into the front of the boat. She tried to move even closer to the windshield. It offered at least a tiny bit of protection. And she hoped the boat had some form of pumps to make sure they didn’t fill up with water.
A sudden cough made her jerk. It had come from an engine. She spun around and looked at it. Not much she could do if it failed but maybe if it was only the boiler. She slipped and slid to the boiler near that engine and found that its fire had gone out. Too much water in it from the storm?
How to cover the boiler to keep the fire going?
Not too many ways out here.
A new thought and she ran to the compartment with the slickers. She grabbed one and slipped and slid back to the boiler. She tied one arm to a pole that stuck up near the boiler and the other to the other boiler. The back of the slicker top hung down over the burner. She might have to hold it away from it, but first…
Kara brought out a cheap lighter and got a flame going. This older contraption did not have the same burner that Danny used but still they were all similar. She looked up at where they were headed. The boat had slowed but the rain had sped up. From the way the boat bounced, so had the waves. She could smell the oil Mr. Johnson burned. It should easier to light than other materials used. The wind and waves made too much noise for Mr. Johnson to yell any advice or encouragement. But he might be trying anyway, she thought.
She licked her lips and discovered that not all of the moisture on her face had come from the clouds. How could she be sweating in this weather? With a frown she bent back down and tried to light the starter. It wouldn’t. She stood again and looked around. A gust of wind pulled the slicker out of her hand and almost knocked her down.
She tried again but the starter refused to catch fire. Kara bit her lip. She wasn’t going to drown in this storm. There had to be an answer.
More wind. This time she had to retie one of the arms. She made sure the other one stayed tight. A sudden bounce. One foot slipped on the wet deck. Kara moved her feet fast in what could have been a dance under other circumstances. A break dance, she thought.
I hope I don’t land on my head.
Her face twisted into a frown then a snarl. Her head went up to stare at the sky, but she aborted that move. All that would happen once her face was out from under the hat, is that she would get water in her eyes and probably mouth.
One corner of the slicker top pulled out of her hand and slapped her face even as she tried to duck.
Aww, it got my eye.
Not bad enough to injury it but she still had to rub it—gently of course. Once her eye would open again she bent over the starter again. She needed to get it going now.
She looked at the where the fire would start.
What?
Kara reached out and touched it.
Damn, wet.
There was only thing to do about that, so she pulled out one of her knives, trimmed the wick and tried again. This time it started. She pulled back when the burner flared. This time when it died down, the fires kept going.
Good.
Kara thought of something she should have checked already. She looked in the water tank to make sure of the water situation and found it still at a good level.
Better, something worked out.
I am not drowning. That would allow my dad to say he knew I couldn’t do it. He said I would need every bit of training he could give me but that I would still fail myself.


End excerpt

Short story serial: Science Fiction tale part three

March 19   

This week I am doing part three of Roller Coaster Ride. A Science Fiction  thriller as in will they escape or not. As I mentioned in earlier post I am revising this old story as I go, I believe this week's segment is the best so far in regards to the writing. I got myself to spend some extra time on it plus it didn't need quite as much work as the previous segments. 

For those who may not have seen the first two parts two friends in a small runabout are on the run from a gang of pirates. Jonathan was delivering two very important cargos when the two sets of pirates came up them. Mantiee who was along for the ride happened to be piloting. He ran for a huge debris field from a space battle only a few days before this. So far he hasn't been able to lose the chasers. And they found out that some of the weapons in the debris field are still hot.

This is the longest segment at 2,500 and a few words. And obviously there will be four parts to this story after all.

So:

Jonathan pressed a button projected in front of him. Raised a hand and made a motion as if he twisted a dial. 
      He said, “Got it with the tractor beam.”
      Mantiee said a little loud, “Tractor beam? It’s already coming our way on its own.”
      “Just head toward those others and when I say dive fast.”
      Mantiee steered the little craft toward the group of bubbles and as he did the bubbles moved closer to them. 
     He started to say something but Jonathan beat him to it, “I know. Its what I expected, just keep going.”
     Mantiee looked at his friend like he was mad but kept going. 
     Seconds later Jonathan said, “Dive!”
     Mantiee immediately pressed a double switch and a second one nearby. The ship’s nose dipped down suddenly. As it did Jonathan manipulated the controls for the tractor beam. As the ship dived the bubble kept going controlled by the tractor beam. It ran smack into a piece of debris drifting nearby. The piece happened to by in front of the group headed their way. As the bubble popped it released the explosive force inside it. The explosion broke up the piece of debris and sent pieces of it flying in three directions. One of those directions was toward the oncoming bubbles. Some of those popped when hit by slivers. Those not hit were sent flying every way. Most ended up hitting something and popping.
     Mantiee said, “So you did know what you were doing. Man, if just one of those things had hit us, at the very least, it would have taken out our shields leaving us naked and it probably would have damaged other systems.”
     He leveled off then dived under a small something or another floating right in front of them. As they came from underneath it he steered the ship up. Up further then the point he had started the dive from. Next he leveled off for a count of ten then sank for a few seconds. He steered in between two huge ship fragments that Jonathan pointed to. As they came out from in-between the two pieces they almost ran into a spinner coming to investigate the explosions. Mantiee let Jonathan fire three asteroid clearers and one set from both of the small double grasser turrets. These produced a beam only 6 cm wide. There was a turret located under each wing very close to where the wing met the fuselage.
     The crew of the other ship most have been just as surprise as they were since it took them a couple of seconds to react. When they did the first weapon they fired was the gamma plasma cannons. On this modal of this spinner there were eight sets. The barrels stuck out of slight bulges in the base. 
    A part of Mantiee’s mid insisted on telling him that instead of being full turrets these were slots that allowed the barrels to go up and down only. They could fire almost straight up, straight down and any where in between. 
      Three sets were in the right position to fire at him and his friend. Six streams of plasma shot out from the bottom of the spinner toward the little craft. Just the fact that they were streams of plasma straight from the drives would have been bad enough but these had been charged with gamma radiation. That made them stronger without increasing their power needs much. Two sets hit the ship as Mantiee frantically tried to turn the runabout faster than it should. His fingers punched at the control images hard enough for him to feel the power of the projection field. That was not a good thing.
     Even though Mantiee and Jonathan wore safety straps both were almost shaken out of their seats when the beams hit them. As the runabout finished the turn another stream impacted their shields. Something sparked in the back. Mantiee hoped it was nothing important, but he smelled burnt fiber optics. 
     The spinner had been turning in the opposite direction the runabout had taken but it took them only seconds to reverse the direction. Too soon they were ready to fire again. His sensor showed him that it had been hit by at least two of the grasser shots as well as two of the rockets Jonathan had fired. No damage. They can’t get lucky all the time. 
     Jonathan told Mantiee to pivot the ship when he said now.
     Mantiee just nodded since he was trying to run from the spinner and at the same time keep from bumping into the side of the very large fragment they were zipping by. It was a long piece and had protrusions sticking out every now and then. Jonathan was continually firing the grassers managing to hit the spinner a number of times. It still caught up with them and pulled along side. 
     Jonathan said, “Now!”
     Mantiee pivoted the runabout toward the attacking ship right where a depression appeared. It must be for docking or repairs Mantiee thought. The suddenness of the move surprised the other ship. Jonathan hit it with two rounds from the blasters. All eight energy balls hit. He next fired the grassers once more and as he did their foe shot back with its GP cannons and two of the mini-missiles they liked to carry. This time two streams hit quickly followed by one mini-missile. The impact of the combined strike sent the runabout spinning away. The view window spun around, Mantiee had to close his eyes or his last meal would come up. Bile had already. 
     The shields fluctuated just as Mantiee managed to get the runabout’s course straighten out. A sudden grinding metal against metal sound made him “yip”. Jonathan cursed which made Mantiee want to stare at him for a half second. Before he could decide what they had run into a kind of crunching noise happened. The forward movement of the ship stopped abruptly. Mantiee was jerked into the seat belts, then back into his seat. His head felt like it hit something hard dissipate the seat padding. 
     A buzz sounded loud. Oh oh that was the structural integrity alarm. A readout warned, “starboard wing was in danger of separating from the main hull” 
     Mantiee shut the drives down even as Jonathan said to, just as another readout showed that the drives were overheating. He waved his hand in front of him to bring the sensor images closer. 
      The spinner drifted away. From the damage the sensors showed The first set of ion bolstered blaster shots accompanied by four grasser beams had brought down its shields. The next set had hit the bare metal of the ship. One of those punched though a patch. Air came out. Another one must have landed on one of their turrets. It did not damaged it much but the ion charge had  disrupted its electronics so it could not fire. One grasser turret had been aimed just right so its two beams dug into the base of the attacking ship. One of those found a drive unit burning a pencil thin hole though it. That might be why the ship was now drifting. Its helmsman had had to shut down the other two drives, Mantiee thought, because they had started to push the ship out of control.
     A sigh, then he sat back, Mantiee said, “I think we are stuck.”
     Jonathan said, “Yes, I figured that.”
     Mantiee said, “What is the chance of that happening though? Its got to be huge.”
     “Whatever it is, we did it. We can celebrate later. Try reverse.”
     “I have already, but I can try again as I wiggle the runabout.”
     He did, then tried again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his partner startle. He bent forward and adjusted controls.
     Without turning Jonathan said, “Stop the drives now! Turn them off.” 
     His warning had such a urgent tone that Mantiee immediately obeyed.
     He asked, “You see something?”
     Jonathan said, “Take a look out the side view window.”
     Mantiee did and as he saw, what his partner had seen on his sensors, he paled. Three of the energy globes they had had trouble with were floating by. They were quite a distance from them but evidently could still come their way. 
     Jonathan explained that he had notice them on his sensor screen. They had come around the corner of the piece they were stuck to. It seemed like something was pulling them. There was more then just the three Mantiee had seen. 
      They sat there for a two and a half minutes.
      Mantiee spoke up, “They still there?”
     “Yes. One might be out of reach but the others are still drifting by as slow as bubbles in a slow breeze.”
     “If they stay around for much longer I am going to have to use the head.”
     “Well, it looks like we will be here a while and the head is working so go ahead.”
      Mantiee unstrapped himself and was just standing when Jonathan spoke.
      He said, “Turn everything off now,” he started flipping every power switch in reach. He had used that urgent tone again so Mantiee dropped back down in his seat and started turning off every power control.
     Jonathan said, “I mean every thing. The lights and environmental controls also.”
     Mantiee looked at him funny but he touched the power controls images, one by one. When he was done he turned to Jonathan.
      He asked, “What more bubbles?”
      Jonathan just pointed out the view window again. This time Mantiee saw a more deadly sight then the energy globes. It was the shark coasting on by. It was small looking because of the distance but he knew it was deadly. They would not be able to bring down its shields as easy as they had the spinners. Its design was typical for sharks: two narrow triangles set base to base. The second one was much shorter and slanted downward a little. Two nacelles rested near the sides underneath the rear triangle. These were where the drives were located and if it was the same as the other sharks Mantiee had seen the forward end of each tube like nacelle had four blaster barrels sticking out of it. Two were the largest size for that style of blaster and two were the size under that. He shook his head, they probably won’t be ion charged but there were big enough to cause big problems for the little runabout even so. 
    Along each side of the front triangle were three larger double laser turrets. They would be at 25 cms. It also would have two turrets with more of the full size blasters. The aft had four gamma plasma cannon emplacements and two more lasers. These would be twice the size as the ones the spinners used. The side lasers and the GPCs were in slots so the barrels could elevate up and down but not sideways. 
      Mantiee spoke, “Oh oh. But they will be able to detect us. Our life signs will show up easily around here.”
     “I am betting that they will be looking for drives and other energy signatures not life signs. If they detect our batteries they will hopefully think they are back up batteries still functioning in this wreckage. There probably are some still providing power to busted systems.” Jonathan answered.
     “Sooner or later they will figure we are running silent and 
check for life signs.”
     “True but by then we will have to think of something and I think I know what.”
     Mantiee looked where Jonathan was looking and said, “Uh huh, we are not going to surround ourselves with those energy bubbles. Way too dangerous.”
     “I have another idea but that one has merit maybe we should do it instead.”
     “No, no. Forget I thought of it. Your idea is better.”
     “You don’t even know what it is.”
     “Its got to be better then that because it would be safer.”
     Jonathan smiled and said, “It is actually but you should have seen the look on your face when you thought the only reason we were going to do it was because you thought it up. Now we are going to have to time this right. We need to pre start the power source and aim the grasser turrets.”
     “Aim the turrets? One can only shot at the piece we are stuck on.”
     “I know but we may be able to use that one to weaken where our wing is stuck.”
      They busied themselves for a while. The searching ship had moved on but it would be back. The spinner still seemed to be drifting. If they had completely blown that drive it might drift until someone came to help or the helmsman decided to control the spinner’s thrust with only two drives. He might be able to do it with both at half power. That would get them out of here and to one of their partners. The crew of the shark must not care if they survive or not or so Mantiee hoped.
     Jonathan not only aimed the turrets were he wanted them but he used the tractor beam to move some of the free floating globes. Powered only by batteries the tractor beam was on low power but the globes were easy to move. He managed to arrange five of them before the shark came back. This time it was closer.
     Mantiee said, “Why do I have a certain base line popping into my head at the moment?”
     He watched Jonathan glance at him before he said, “Ok power up. Time for us to leave.”
     Mantiee touched the controls for the power supply and seconds later started the drives. The shark turned suddenly and made a bee line for them. Jonathan used the tractor beam to give the cluster of deadly bubbles a push. He had moved five but five more had joined them which meant ten moved toward the shark. 
    He said, “Its drives were more powerful then the runabout’s so I think they would zero in on it instead of us especially with the push I just gave them.”
     As he spoke  Mantiee noticed that he adjusted the firing controls with a wave of his fingers. Finally he fired the grasser on the side of the fragment they were stuck to. He reached to the image and slowly rotated his hand which moved the turret as the two pencil thin beams cut though the armor of the ship fragment way too slow for Mantiee. Suddenly the computer chirped, Mantiee looked then squeaked out his friend’s name loudly. Sweat formed on his forehead and under his arms again. They were clammy enough already. He could smell his own sweat, Jonathan’s and burnt components with the environmental controls still off.  
    
    Jonathan turned and looked out the side view port. He must have seen what Mantiee and the computer had seen: a bubble coming straight at them. Mantiee was glad he had used the head after all for that one was close and moving in fast for a slow bubble. Mantiee took a second to think that some gum would be good for his last taste.

End segment

Writing updateFeb '16-coming books, what I have been up to

           Haven’t done one of these in months but I need to catch up here with any readers I have.

Still writing. I have four books that need revising I am not sure when. I started two, the other two will have to sit even longer. I want to do one called the “The Courier” about a young woman who lives in a steampunk world set in our time. No internet so they have couriers who carry anything from contracts, love letters, gold, new inventions-small enough to fit in a pouch-books, to anything else people may want to send and not want to use the Post Office for one reason or another. Some of the cases are dangerous-this one is her most threatening and she will have to use all of her brains, contacts, friends, and sneakiness to come out of this one alive. Then there is The Mystery Quest or Unknown Quest or ??? I have revised this Fantasy-steampunk novel once but it could use a bit more work and I need to add some characters sooner. I came up with them half way through the book. 

I am pretty much finished revising “Learning CurveX2” Where NA the hero of “Above My Pay Grade” learns some lessons on being a friend and having more power. She also gets to fight an insane Adept who thinks he is a demigod plus solve a mystery of why are there so many mythos in Boulder all of a sudden. Some are very dangerous. What fun for her and any reader. I just need to rearrange some scenes and a chapter or three. Plus find an editor. I asked the person who did Above but don’t know yet if she can. Many of you may not know who NA is and what she is but you can find out—hint hint,

I am in the middle of doing a story-actually redoing a story-for Writers of the Future. I wrote it a couple of years ago and still like it very much. The setting is unique even though the plot isn’t so much but hopefully I can put my own twist to it. 

I have written as story I hope they like at Urban Fantasy magazine but I still need to revise it. I have Rod story to finish and to add to my list.  Look for Rod’s tales on the top list of buttons. They are an exciting series of short stories-including flash and micro-about a certain young mage named Rod. 

I have written something like 11 or 12 600 word stories for a weekly writing lesson on a community on Google+. They show a picture that you are suppose to use for a premise for your story. I plan to do somewhere around 22 of them and place them in a book. However some hopefully won’t be there because they are in other markets. Oh they were all 600 when I submitted them. But I revised a few and all of those are over now. Sometimes by a couple of thousand words.  

Sold a few of my two books but could use more sells—hint hint again. Both are quality tales and fun for readers. 

I am working on a new author's page on Amazon but because of a mistake I made I have two so am working on that. 

Here are links to my two books  on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The E-versions are also on iTunes and Kobo. Plus a one or three other sites. 

Link to author's page on Barnes and Noble

Me

Link to Above My Pay GradeX2 on Amazon

Link to "Tommy Tuckernocker: Shadow Warrior on Amazon here

My E-books on a New Years sale: Great adventure and fun for readers.

 

Tommy Tuckernocker: Shadow Warrior 56,000 words.
A steampunk special ops fusion set on a slightly different Earth. Much fun for readers.

Remember books make great gifts even paper ones even though mine are at the usual prices. But still this one's paper version price isn't bad, at $11.99

But the E-version is $3.50 until Jan 5 '16. It's a great action packed tale of Tommy Tuckernocker  who has decided to protect his country from those who want to take it over by force. He sneaks into factories, is chased in an airship, and on the ground, deals with a bank robbery back home and has to find a traitor, while he learns how to command men and women who may die because he makes a mistake.

A different twist on an old tale-ish.
By CFreed on March 18, 2015
Format: Paperback
I have to start off by saying I am normally not a big fan of reading first person books. There have been plenty of times when I simply put the book down and walked away. I didn't have that problem with LE Doggett's Above my Pay Grade. The very concept that mages- in uniform no less- could exist within the everyday, modern world right under our noses is interesting enough to have made me continue through to the end. The author's familiarity with the location added depth and characterization that can be seen in Robert Ludlum's novels, further enhancing the old adage of write what you know. This book was fast paced and laced with enough action to keep me wanting to read. I eagerly await the next novel (which he promised in the beginning) in this series. Good read.

------------------------------
Christian Freed

"While I don't profess to any knowledge of the steam punk genre I immediately felt comfortable after only a few pages of jumping into Louis Doggett's Tommy Tuckerknocker. Being a former soldier myself, I easily followed the flow and pacing of the story as Tommy took his team through a series of life and death situations that were not only action packed, but realistic in terms of how they play out. This book was not only enjoyable, but easily read. I found myself at the end much faster than I was prepared for. Kudos to Mr. Doggett for writing an enjoyable tale."

At amazon:


At Barnes and Noble:



Also at iTunes and Kobo. 

Also 

Another Great sale on an exciting e-book adventure.

In an earlier post I said my two story sets were on sale well so is this full novel. 96,000 or so words.

Two dollars off the e-book price from $5.99 down to $3.99 from now until Jan 3, '16

Above My Pay Grade X2

Urban Fantasy along the lines of Jim Butcher, Laura Anne Gilman and C. E. Murphy, Benedict Jacka

Hi, my name is NA, I found myself in the middle of a situation worse than anything I have been involved in before. I am one of those born with a special ability to change matter and energy, but in this case will it be enough save my friends---and me?

Action packed with a hero with emotional issues and determination. mythical creatures and a mystery. Great fun for readers. 

At Barnes and Noble:

At Amazon:



Also at iTunes and Kobo 

New version of "Above My Pay GradeX2", better spelling-slight revision and update on next novel

First two updates. I am working on the book that follows "Above" It is titled "Learning CurveX2". I believe I am around 70% done even though I took about two months off from it while working on other writing stuff. It is back on track and I think I can get it published before January '15.


I have another book I want to Indie Publish but am having problems with the cover artist. I wanted it up the beginning of April but now I am not sure when.



Now to "Above My Pay GradeX2". As the title of this post says I worked on the spelling and found  misspellings that got by me the first time and fixed a few commas too. I also redid over fifteen sentences and a couple of smaller paragraphs so it should read easier too.


So in celebration of that I am showing it off again with hopes some readers will find it worth buying.

"Above" is a Urban Fantasy book, along the same lines as Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Laura Anne Gilman's Cosa Nostradamus three series, especially The Retriever's one, and C. E. Murphy's Walker Paper's. Not that I expect my writing to be as good as theirs.

My Novel is about a young woman names NA who has a special ability, which she uses to help people who have problems with mythical creatures or who want to get out of an abusive relationship. Without warning though she finds herself with a case above her experiences. If she does not find someone who is making people like her sick, they will do a ritual that will end up with hundreds of people dead, that includes her best friends. Along the way she fights: a mother grizzly, ghosts, a griffin, her own emotional baggage and an attacker who knows how to block her ability.

The story has adventure, deadly encounters and situations, mythical creatures, and a mystery.


It can be found in paper and Nook versions at  Barnes and Noble

and the paper and Kindle versions at Amazon.

Both sites have a slight discount on the paper version.

And you can find the E-book with your choice of formats at smashwords

Also at iTunes store and Kobe.com

New Rod's Tale, another mini writing update and Paper Above My Pay GradeX2 discount.

I just put up the second half of my last Rod's tale and a new one. Plus a redone intro for the series.

The stories are exciting: the new one is short, but deals with an unconscious woman, a dark mage and an Orc.

The Rod's Tales are on a page Right Here but also up above this post in a line of other pages. One is My Stories and Worlds I Am Working On, My Novels, Stories I Have Published 

  Another mini update on my writing even though a bit longer than the previous mini a few weeks ago.

I have a story written for Writers of the Future contest. Just needs a couple of crits and I may send it in early. It’s a well used plot but I hope what I did is an interesting twist. We shall see.

The last story that they rejected will be going to Fantasy and Science Fiction soon. F&SF have a new editor who takes internet submissions. As a side item that leaves only one market I send stories to that take only paper submissions. That is if they are still in business; my last submission was sent back by the Post Office. I may have put the wrong address on it though I need to double check that.

I have picked up on a novel I started six months or so ago, it went from 300 words to over a thousand. I need a fight scene-well I have a short one in a flashback but I think I will add a current time battle, for the first chapter. 

I also worked on another novel I started months ago. I got further along in that-almost finished the third chapter. Now I have finished that chapter and am into the fourth. 

I need to revise two other novels I have but I’m not sure when. One is Space Opera and the other is more Paranormal with a special well known elf as the Main Character.  I thought about doing a story set about life on Star Freighters but I don't have enough tales for that. Well, there are two more I could use but I want to send them a few more times. So I will probably work on a space opera story set next and maybe a Urban Fantasy or just plain fantasy. 

I finished two stories at work on my new laptop. One is the second adventure of a short story I wrote a year or so ago. I didn’t plan it but it seemed to fit. I also did I don’t usually do while writing my stories. I started with absolutely no idea where the story was going. I’ve done that few times before but half the time I don’t finish the story. 

Also I worked on my NaNo novel- Learning CurveX2 . I finished the revision of the second chapter. At this rate it might take me a year to get it done so I need to go back to working on it on regular bases. It’s the second one in my Vibration series. Again I’m not sure when but I need a web site just for them. Right now that would be at least four books in this series, a bunch of stories probably enough for a full anthology-at least half have been written already-and I hope at least two in another series with a different Main Character and city. I have a third or so of the first one written already. 

Speaking of that My first Indie Novel Above My Pay GradeX2 is back to the normal prices except for the paper version at createspace.com. Here is a coupon code there for $4 off. Barnes & Noble and Amazon still have a discount on it.  B&N’s price is          I would ask for people to buy it. If you like death defying adventure, good action scenes, the hero of the story running into problems as they try to figure out what is happening, try it out. I think it would be neat to have a bunch of paper sells through B&N if you would be kind enough to buy it at all.  By a bunch I was thinking of 8 to 20. It would cool to sell a number between those two.

The E-versions are all still up: Kobe, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iTunes, smashwords.com and a couple of other online locations, but it is the normal price at those places. 

Here is a coupon code to get it at createspace.com for four dollars off. Not a lot but still cheaper than Amazon and B&N.  Code:   #XB5XCH2     

It is here at B&N There upped the price some on me   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/above-my-pay-gradex2-l-e-doggett/1120006911?ean=9781500618599

And at Amazon Their price is what it usually is Here 

CreateSpace:  Paper version 

And for those who want the E-version  At Smashwords