Cover Reveal: STRAT (military science fiction)

STRAT is a military science fiction novel that I’ve had on the back burner for a while. I confess: It’s a bit of an odd fish. The hero lives through five wars, which form almost complete stories in and of themselves. For a while, I thought it might work better as individual novellas. Eventually, however, I realized that even though the stories almost stand alone, they add up to a whole greater than its parts. The theme of the novel emerges from the gestalt.

I wrote the draft of STRAT while I was living overseas in a war zone, albeit as a peace-keeper, not a soldier. At the time, I was reading a ton of military science fiction–classics like Asimov, Heinlein, Haldeman, Card, Dickson, Drake, Weber, Turtledove and a host of others, whatever I could scrounge from other ex-pats and second-hand English-language bookstores. I was living in an area of the world formally colonized by a European power, which was now dealing with an rebellion of those who in turn wanted their own independence. The book started out a simple homage to the military science fiction genre, mostly for the fun of it, and, probably because of where I was and the conflict around me,   included a meditation on the legacies of colonialism and the strange twists and paradoxes of history. Which are never quite as we expect…

It was, ahem, a while ago. It’s strange to revisit the story now. I was tempted to revise it heavily–originally, I had planned on TEN wars–yes, I know, *eyeroll at self*–and restrained myself. I wouldn’t do it justice; it would become a whole new story. Of course, I started the Unfinished Song a while ago too, but I’ve worked on it continuously since then. And, as a result, I have ended up changing large swaths of the Unfinished Song, which is why it’s not as complete as I first, too rashly, promised.

I didn’t think it would be a great idea to become embroiled in a huge new project while I am still in the middle of the Unfinished Song, but it bothered me to see STRAT sitting there on my hard-drive, lonely and neglected.

Therefore, I finally decided to publish STRAT, letting it stand as I wrote it. I won’t second guess my earlier self, even if there are many things I would do differently today. I couldn’t anyway. I did a huge amount of research into the hard science regarding the planetary environments and mirror matter tech used in the story, and it’s no longer fresh in my mind. If it turns out to have rabid fans, despite itself, I might do the other five wars in a sequel. After I finish the Unfinished Song.

STRAT is complete and in the editing stages. If you’re curious and want to either Beta Read it, or Review it in exchange for a free copy, contact me or my assistant Katie at my publisher, Misque Press. (katie@misquepress.com) Be aware that it’s quite different from Dindi, and it’s not Young Adult. (Includes strong language.)

I’ll be post blurbs and excerpts from the book on this blog, so keep an eye out….

New Release: Easter Bunny (Here Comes Peter Cottontail)


Easter Bunny (Here Comes Peter Cottontail) is ready for downloading! This short story for young readers is only $0.99!

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Have you ever wondered where the Easter Bunny comes from? How old he is? And how he happened to become a talking rabbit with a fondness for chocolate eggs? Gather around, children, and I shall tell you the legend of Peter Cottontail…

 Peek inside the first chapter:

Long ago, before light bulbs or sliced bread, people lived in houses made of wattle and daub—which is just a fancy way of saying sticks and mud. They cooked their food over a hearth—which is just a fancy way of saying, an open fire. Dragons and goblins roamed the earth in those days, sowing terror and destroying whole villages. At one point, indeed, the goblins, who usually stayed in their cavern kingdoms below the earth, decided to conquer the upper world too. Armies of pointy-teethed, green skinned monsters poured across the land, burning houses, stealing everything from spoons to horses, and even eating babies.

So it happened that one spring day, a mother and father with a new baby worried how to protect their child. Goblins attacked their village, taking every child they could. The mother and father hid their baby in a basket and ran to the river. They gave him the only gift they had, which was a single egg. They wrote his name upon the egg: PETER.

They placed the basket in the river, and let it float away. They cried and hugged each other. Then goblins arrived with swords and crossbows, and captured them. But their little baby was safe.

Kind river fairies guided the floating basket swiftly past the burning villages of that ravaged land. The basket floated all the way to a magic forest, which was ruled by elves. Even goblins on their bravest days did not dare enter the forest of the elves….

Blood Review from Rebekah B.

Blood has been out for a little over a week and I’m loving your feedback! While my blog tour was coming together, I heard from a fan who wanted to join and share a review, but hadn’t got sucked into blogging (yet!). I offered to share her review here. So here are Rebekah B.’s thoughts on The Unfinished Song

(Book 6): Blood:
I have just finished reading ‘Blood’ Tara Maya’s 6th book in The Unfinished Song series.

Once again, Tara had me hooked from the first page and it took tremendous effort to be able to put the book down! I found myself transported into a magical land where the fight of great beauty and colour is raged against fear and darkness. I love Tara’s writing style, it flows beautifully and draws you right into the very heart of the tale.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole way through, desperate to see what happens next. The twists and turns in the story were far from predictable to say the least!

An absolute must for all you readers out there!

 
 
If you’ve read and enjoyed Blood (or even if you haven’t enjoyed it), please consider logging on to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Goodreads, Shelfari, wherever and leaving a review. Also, if you would like a review copy of any of my books, they’re always free!
Blood is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.

Blood Is Here!

The Unfinished Song (Book 6): Blood is ready to download its way to your e-readers TODAY!

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Enjoying Blood and want to talk about it? Tweet your thoughts with the hashtag #TUSBlood.
Dindi and Umbral have an uneasy truce, forced to work together to defeat a greater enemy: the Bone Whistler. The Bone Whistler’s scheme to sacrifice humanity and resurrect the Aelfae will culminate during an eclipse on the spring equinox…in three days.
Their fragile alliance may not withstand the terrors they face. Dindi hides as a clown, but even disguised, her dancing draws the eye of the Bone Whistler himself. She will have to defy him alone, for Umbral has  his own troubles.
Finnadro, who has hunted Umbral for a year, finally catches up with him… determined to punish Umbral for all his black deeds.
Life and death, spring and autumn, human and faery, are all reeling out of balance, and these three days will determine the fate of all Faearth.

3 Days of 99c Fantasy — Part 3

It’s the last day to stock up on some great reads with the 3-day 99-cent fantasy e-book promotion, featuring The Unfinished Song (Book 2): Taboo. Through the end of today we’ll have a total of 10 books discounted to 99 cents. Today I’ll be featuring the final 3 books in the promotion.

Encrypted

Professor Tikaya Komitopis isn’t a great beauty, a fearless warrior, or even someone who can walk and chew chicle at the same time, but her cryptography skills earn her wartime notoriety. When enemy marines show up at her family’s plantation, she expects the worst.

But they’re not there to kill her. They need her to decode mysterious runes, and they ask for help in the manner typical of a conquering empire: they kidnap her, threaten her family, and throw her in the brig of their fastest steamship.

Her only ally is a fellow prisoner who charms her with a passion for academics as great as her own. Together, they must decipher mind-altering alchemical artifacts, deadly poison rockets, and malevolent technological constructs, all while dodging assassination attempts from a rival power determined the expedition should fail. As if the situation weren’t treacherous enough, this new “ally” may turn out to be the last person Tikaya should trust. Those runes cloak more than mysteries, however, and he’s the only one who can help her unravel them before their secrets destroy the world.

The Rose of Shanhasson

As Our Blessed Lady’s last daughter, Shannari must rule as High Queen or the Green Lands will fall into eternal darkness. Her destiny is to shine against the Shadow, protect the land and people with her magic, and keep the Blackest Heart of Darkness imprisoned. Her blood is the key, powered by the love in her heart. However, Shannari’s heart is broken, her magic is crippled, and the nobles must have forgotten the dire prophesies, because everyone wants her dead.

Only love can restore her magic, but her scars testify how love can be corrupted. So when a barbarian warlord conquers her army and professes a love like no other, Shannari’s first instinct is to kill the mighty Khul. Even worse, one of the Khul’s guards used to be an assassin–a very skilled assassin, if the darkness in the Blood’s eyes is any indication. The same darkness festers deep in her heart and draws her to the wickedly dangerous man as inexorably as his Khul’s unshakable honor. Her weakening heart is not only torn between love and duty, but also between two magnificent warriors.

Yet neither warrior will be able to help her when Shadow calls her name.

The Goddess Queen

Queen Onja has called for Shan’s head and her Kezanada agents stalk him with enchanted weapons. For Dreibrand Veta, his growing list of victories has increased his influence in circles of power, but his fame has not endeared him to everybody. The rebellion proceeds slowly for Miranda who cannot rescue her children until Shan defeats Onja. Shan has learned much since beginning the rebellion. His powers are growing. He has used his magic to kill, and, when the spring comes, his armies will fight the armies loyal to Onja. Despite Shan’s mounting confidence in his battle magic, Onja will tenaciously defend her throne, and Shan will discover that he does not know the powerful secrets of the Goddess Queen.

The Goddess Queen is the second book of The Rys Chronicles by Tracy Falbe. Normally priced at $4.95, it’s on sale for a limited time at $0.99. Enjoy!

To check out all the books available, and some ongoing freebies, click here.
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