Flame (The Bionics #5) by Alicia Michaels (Book Blitz)

Title:  Flame

Series: The Bionics #5

Author:  Alicia Michaels

Published:  June 27th, 2014 by Crimson Tree Publishing

Word Count:  39,000

Genre:  NA Sci-Fi Romance

Content Warning:  Minor violence, coarse language, and mild sexual content

Recommended Age:  16+

Synopsis:

War has come to the United States. It’s been brewing for years as the government and Military Police wage war on the outcasts known as the Bionics. It’s spilling out into the streets as the militant Rejects continue to wage war against the ‘inferior’ humans, the M.P.s are raiding neighborhoods and putting Bionics to death, and I am fighting alongside the Resistance to save our kind from extinction. To top it all off, the president has now declared martial law, and the rights of American citizens are being stripped away one by one.

Together, with the vigilante known as The Patriot, and my Resistance family, I am prepared to fight the impossible fight, to stand up for what’s right. From a single spark, our little rebellion has grown into a revolution, a roaring fire that will envelop the nation. At the same time, things in my personal life are finally turning around. I’m in love with a beautiful girl who loves me back, and we might have a shot at a real future … unless the enemy manages to snatch away from me everything that I hold dear.

Goodreads

Excerpt:

A weapon’s muzzle suddenly comes up to the back of my head and I freeze, lifting my hands and the CBX with it. An M.P. in white, fiberglass armor circles around me, the gun now focused on my forehead. I can see just by looking that he has it on the kill setting.

“Look, man,” I say calmly. “I’m not one of them. I’m on your side here.”

He raises the face shield of his helmet, and I’m face to face with a fresh recruit. He can’t be any older than eighteen and skinny as a rail, shaking like a leaf. “Don’t come any closer,” he says, his high-pitched voice trembling with the force of his fear. Around us, the fight rages on. “You’re all the same, just a bunch of freaks.”

I shrug. “Come on, dude. We both know I could have killed you by now. But I’m not here to fight you. We just want justice. Look around you and you’ll see the real killers, the real freaks. Turn your gun on them, and I’ll do the same.”

He frowns. “Fight with you?”

“With me, next to me, behind me, whatever. What’s your name, kid?”

He swallows noisily, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Ethan.”

I nod. “Okay, Ethan, I’m Dax. You got a girl, Ethan?”

Ethan lowers the gun. “Yeah… I mean, kind of. She doesn’t really know I like her.”

I smile. “Been there, man, done that. I got a girl too, back home. I kind of told her I loved her a few days ago.”

Ethan’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, that’s huge.”

“Right? Big stuff. Plus, I promised her I’d try to make it back alive. The way I see it, I stand a better chance of that if we can try to fight together, even if it’s just for today. What do you think? Let’s end this shit so we can get home. You have a girl to win over, and I’d rather not piss mine off by coming home in a body bag.”

Ethan nods. “Yeah. Yeah, okay, sure.”

My hand grasps his shoulder just as a flying metal disc comes whizzing at his head. He cries out as I take him to the ground, just barely saving him from being decapitated. I’m not quite as lucky. The metal disc slices into my cheek as it flies by, laying it open. Pain explodes along the left side of my face, leaving a trail of fire that goes from my jaw to just beneath my eye. Another inch and I’d be sporting a falsie like Blythe. Behind Ethan, one of the Rejects has some sort of makeshift gun mounted on his shoulder. It’s the size of a small cannon, and it is shooting another disc at me. Dropping for cover and avoiding another gash, I grab Ethan’s shoulder again.

“You good?”

He stares at me with wide eyes and nods. “Yeah.”

“Cool. Stay down while I kill this dickhead.”

This time when he fires at me, I’m ready. The pistons in my leg joints fire rapidly and I jump, my boot connecting with the disc and kicking it back the way it came. I give Ethan a hand up as the Reject’s head slides from his shoulders, taken off by his own disc.

“Can dish it out but can’t take it,” I grumble as I help Ethan to his feet.

He smiles at me appreciatively. “You saved my life, man. Thanks.”

“No need to thank me. Now, let’s go save some others.”

Be sure to grab your copy of book one, The Bionics, on Amazon for FREE!!

About the Author:

Ever since she first read books like Chronicles of Narnia or Goosebumps, Alicia has been a lover of mind-bending fiction. Wherever imagination takes her, she is more than happy to call that place her home. The mother of two and wife to an Army sergeant loves chocolate, coffee, and of course good books. When not writing, you can usually find her with her nose in a book, shopping for shoes and fabulous jewelry, or spending time with her loving family.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Website

 

Crimson Tree Publishing Links:

(An adult division of Clean Teen)

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Giveaway Details:

There is an international tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:

• Reader's choice of Clean Teen Publishing eBook and bookmark swag pack. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Butterflies Wake by Arlene Lagos (Book Blast)

Title:  Butterflies Wake

Author:   Arlene Lagos  
Published:  June 24th, 2014
Word Count:  51,000  
Genre:  Women’s Fiction
Recommended Age:  13+

Synopsis:

An underground female mafia rights the wrongs of an unjust society in this gripping story of everyday women taking matters into their own hands where the justice system has failed. For many years they have worked quietly and gone unnoticed by the world in which they live, until one of them goes missing. The wrong people start asking questions and before they know it, they are in danger of being exposed. How will they save one of their own without putting their organization in danger? Will they be able to remain a secret?

Smashwords | GoodReads

 Excerpt:

“Fairytales always start with once upon a time and end with happily ever after. Somewhere in the middle there's a prince, an evil queen and a distressed maiden, a victim of her own beauty. Gallantly, the prince rides in, saving his true love, proving his manhood and once again restoring balance to the universe. My fairytale was not like that at all. Let’s take for example my ex-husband Ron. In my fairy tale, Ron was no prince. Don’t get me wrong; I truly believe he started off with good intentions. But, then he lost his job and started drinking, and I became his personal punching bag. After the third miscarriage I was told I could never have children. At that point, I really didn't care if I died. But, on one particular evening back in 1977, something happened that would change my life forever. I came home from the grocery store to find Ron sitting on the front steps of our house with his usual can of beer suctioned to his left hand as if it were an extension of his fingers. I could tell he had been drinking all day and was itching for a fight, so I didn’t even bother asking for help with the groceries. I still had to walk up the steps and past him to get to the front door. I prayed he didn’t attack me until I had at least put the food away. I walked at a slow pace, avoiding eye contact and carefully slinked passed him hoping not to hit the back of him with the screen door as I squeezed through. I made it into the kitchen and managed to at least put away the frozen food, eggs and milk before he threw the first punch. When it was finally over, I was lying on my back on the front lawn, covered in blood. I thought for sure I would be dead any minute, judging from the amount of blood pouring out of my nose and the severity of the pain coursing through my body. But then something happened. I saw out of the corner of my eye a little boy, Patrick, standing in the street staring at Ron as he sat on the front steps drinking his beer and watching me die. Patrick lived in our neighborhood. He stood there holding his baseball glove and ball and just stared at Ron for almost two whole minutes. I wanted to scream for him to run away but no sound would come out of my mouth. Then, as if he heard my thoughts, he turned and ran as fast as he could towards his house. I was happy he was safe, I didn’t want Ron to hurt him and I didn’t want that poor boy to be the witness to my death. I blacked out again for a while and waited for death to take me. But it never came. Instead, two women from the neighborhood came running towards me and picked me up off the front lawn. I don’t recall much at the time but I do remember some words being exchanged between Priscilla and Ron. I didn’t know Priscilla that well, other than that she was a nurse at the local hospital and that she was Patrick’s mother. He must have run to her for help. I feared Ron might hurt them too, but I couldn’t speak or move. I was a ragdoll, lifeless in their arms as they carried me back to their house. That was the last time I ever saw Ron. I don’t know what happened and I didn’t ask questions. I was just grateful that they found me when they did because not only did they save my life, but they changed the course of it forever. My name is Camille Waters and a lot has changed since 1977. On the surface I appear as an ordinary southern woman in her 50's, sitting on a porch swing sipping sweet tea or reading trashy romance novels down by the pier. But much like a fairytale, nothing is ever what it seems. The year is 2014 and I’m not that same woman anymore. Now I work for an underground society of women with one purpose- to right the wrongs of society where the justice system has failed. If someone in the neighborhood was having a problem, we'd find a way to introduce ourselves, let her know that she wasn’t alone. Some folks think we ought to just mind our own business and let the authorities do their job. Well guess what? We did that already. Women have been sitting in silence for centuries, and it sure as hell didn’t get us anywhere. Men beat their wives, girls get date raped, family members molest their young and the burden of proof lies on the shoulders of the victims, every time. Statistics show that women are more likely to leave a bad situation if they have a strong support group to turn too and that’s exactly what we strive to provide. Life is hard enough without having to constantly watch good people get hurt. Some call us modern day Iron Jawed Angels, others call us extremists, but we like to call ourselves, The Butterflies. It’s time for a change, time to wake-up and smell the revolution; time for us to close the door on the old way of doing things; time to find a system that works for everyone involved. It’s time for the Butterflies Wake.”- Camille Waters

About the Author:

Within the past year, Lagos has published a Young Adult Science-Fiction Fantasy series called Beyond Earth Series made up of three books, “Beyond Earth”, “Beyond Planets” and “Beyond Time”. She also has had 12 of her short stories published this past year in three separate anthologies called “Giant Tales Beyond The Mystic Doors”, “Giant Tales From The Misty Swamp” and “Giant Tales: Down in the World of Pirates”. Her latest novel is, “Butterflies Wake”. Lagos resides in Massachusetts with her husband and her daughter.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Blog

Giveaway Details:

There is an International tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:

• $10 Amazon Gift Card
• 5 eBook copies of Butterflies Wake
• 10 Flashlight Butterflies Wake Keychains
• 10 Butterflies Wake Keychains

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Magic Within by Sara V. Zook (Book Blitz)

Title:  A Magic Within

Author:  Sara V. Zook

Published:  June 18^th, 2014

Genre:  YA Paranormal

Synopsis:

Normalcy. I need to get back to a state of normalcy. What’s happened to me? Why am I here in this orphanage, and why am I forbidden to leave? Everyone is so very cruel here. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. It’s the paranoia getting to me. It’s like someone’s always watching, always listening. There’s a general fear around here, and for some reason, it seems fueled by my arrival, but why are they afraid of me? I didn’t ask for this. I don’t even know how I got here. I need to go home. My parents must be worried sick. There has to be someone here who can help me, who can give me answers and lead me in the right direction so I can get out of here. There is this one boy, Lydic. Could he be my key to getting out? I can see it in his eyes he feels sorry for me. He seems to know more than he’s letting on. These people aren’t like anyone I’ve ever met before.

| Goodreads |

Excerpt from A Magic Within:

“What is that sound?” I asked in a whisper.  It was still far away but growing louder and closer by the minute.

            Lydic put his arm behind his back and opened his hand for me to take it.  I slid my fingers into his and waited for him to let me know what to do next.  My heart was pounding out of my chest.  Another second passed and then Lydic turned, his eyes locked on mine as he nodded his head.  We took off to try to outrun whatever it was that was coming for us.  We had only gotten two steps in before I felt Lydic’s grasp on my hand slip away.  I turned around to see what was happening.  I screamed out in horror as Lydic was frozen in place.  He was still on his feet, but his head was drawn back and his eyes rolling into his head as if in extreme pain.

            “Lydic!” I cried out.

            The old woman was behind him.  She had that stick, the same one I had tripped over, held up in the air and aimed at Lydic’s head.  There were bright colors, green and yellow, pouring out from the end of the stick and going directly into his skull.  The woman’s expression was one of determination.  Her eyes were closed and her lips pressed together as she mumbled something I couldn’t understand.

            What are you going to do?  Panic seized me.  Lydic was supposed to help me, not the other way around.  I didn’t know what to do.  I had to stop this, but how?

            The high-pitched whistling grew louder and more intense.  It was starting to hurt my ears.  My gut told me that if I didn’t make a move now, it was going to be too late.

            I took a step toward the stick and reached out and grabbed it with my hand.  I used all the strength I had to yank it from the grasp of the old woman.  Lydic fell to his knees.  The woman glared at me, a low growl escaping from her throat.  She lunged toward me.  Without having time to think, I instinctively swung the large stick at her, using it as a bat and she was the ball.  It collided with her head making a grotesque sound.  She collapsed to the ground.  Lydic looked up at me.  I was breathing hard, trying to understand what had just happened. 

            “What do we do?” I asked.  The whistling noise was almost to us, but I still couldn’t see anything.

            Lydic glanced over his shoulder at the woman.  “Run!” 

About the Author:

Sara V. Zook is a paranormal/fantasy writer. She is the author of the Strange in Skin Trilogy, Clipped and Evanescent, Book 1 in The Sempiternal Series. She lives in Pennsylvania with her 3 small children and husband.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Website | Blog

  

Book Trailer | Facebook Event Page 

Giveaway Details:

There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:

Two Custom Bookmarks, an eBook copy of A Magic Within, and a print copy of A Magic Within

Giveaway is US only, except for eBook. a Rafflecopter giveaway  

 

An end to a very good month

First I wanted to thank the awesome bloggers who participated in the Soaps Blog Hop. I loved all of the posts, and we spiked some conversation about some of our favorite shows, past and present.

And...even though I already shared this on my social networks, just wanted everyone to know that two days ago I finished the first draft of the fifth installment in The New Pioneers, tentatively titled The Golden Boy Returns. When I wrote the first four manuscripts of the series, I did it over an intense three month period, something only possible because all four of my children were in school. Since then, I made the decision to homeschool. While I don't regret that, I was worried about being able to get another book done when I had my children underfoot.

The Joy of Being a Tortoise

Well, I did, and the key to doing so was a really unromantic requirement to write a minimum of one thousand words per day, first thing in the morning. Once I buckled down to that, it took me about three months.

I still have some editing to finalize for Let's Move On and I need a little reading break, so it's probably going to be another three weeks before I get into the reeds with TGBR, but considering that it took six years to get to that point with the first two books I wrote, I think I can handle that.

Onward to June!

What I Learned From...The Ones That Didn't Make It (Soaps Blog Hop)

I'm not one of those writers that suffers from Writer's Block. My philosophy is that it's better to write something that you have to change later than to stare at a blank page. But here's the catch: you have to change it. Your first draft might have the beginnings of a fascinating story, but you have to develop it. If not, well...read on.

Passions

While many soaps included supernatural elements in their stories on occasion, Passions went all the way from the beginning, including a witch who brought a doll to life and a family with magical powers. It also included an obsessive teenager who mooned over a local celebrity and a number of deep, dark secrets.

Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald and Ethan Crane, just one of the early reasons to tune in to the show

For a while, this worked, in no small part due to the chemistry between rich girl Sheridan Crane and hard working Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald (similarities to Eden and Cruz of Santa Barbara are not coincidental) and Luis' sister Theresa and Sherida's nephew Ethan. The campiness and humor also kept a number of fans glued to the screen. But Passions was that rare daytime show that went too far: mocking the elderly and disabled, making a joke of the murderous and, bizarrely, a father who unwittingly impregnated his hermaphroditic child (that is not a typo). Mean-spirited racist characters were just one more element that could have used some relief. By the time it was canceled, many were wondering what had taken the networks so long.

The lesson: don't push the envelope so far it falls off the table.

Loving

The pilot of this show started off with great promise: Lloyd Bridges played patriarch Johnny Forbes who shared a dark past with a madam played by Geraldine Page. By the end of the show, both characters were dead, but married Roger Forbes had just fallen in love with journalist Merrill Vochek. The tension between the two carried over when the show began in earnest the next day, and as we got to know his wife Ann Alden and their children Jack and Lorna, plus Merrill's fiance Doug Donovan, we knew it was only a matter of time before they would begin an affair that would ruin many lives.

Before Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston was the nice guy who took years to finally find the right woman

It was all great drama- but within two years Roger Forbes had died in a plane crash and Merrill had moved onto greener pastures. The show shifted focus to other members of the Alden family and added new characters, none of which were as well-fleshed out or tethered to existing characters as well as they could have been.

The show changed storylines so quickly that it, with a few exceptions, it was difficult to get a hold of who was a character worth investing in and who wasn't. The skill of the actors became essential in drawing that distinction, but the talent of the cast was wildly uneven.

The show morphed from Loving to The City after the majority of the cast was killed off by a character who had a psychotic break. However, The City had the same trouble maintaining a consistent narrative and the show was canceled within three years.

The lesson: every story needs to be about something.

What I Learned From Days of Our Lives and Santa Barbara (Soaps Blog Hop)

I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and by the mid-Eighties these were the only two soaps on our NBC affiliate. (When the CBS and NBCs stations swapped in the Nineties I finally got to see what Another World was all about, but that's another story). In the Eighties, the good money was on Santa Barbara even if their ratings were worse than Days of Our Lives'. And yet...

Days of Our Lives

When I started watching this in the Eighties, this was a tough show to get into. The writing was very quick paced and while the show focused on the dramatic love lives of certain couples, the direction seemed to be changing constantly. Most of the time I couldn't tell who to root for and I only watched sporadically.

That all changed in the Nineties when longtime Executive Producer hired writer James E. Reilly. He's remembered by many for his controversial possession story, but he also invigorated existing families by fleshing out new generations (particularly the conniving and tormented Sami Brady) and brought in new
families by establishing ties to others in the show. He also doubled down on his villains, particularly the ruthless DiMera clan.

Alison Sweeney as Samantha "Sami" Brady, one of the most complicated characters on daytime television

While they've had their share of super couples (Bo and Hope, Jack and Jennifer and Marlena and John) and sell romance like no other show on television, they are arguably just as well known for their rivalries, whether it's families or romantic adversaries. The prize, however, should probably go to Sami Brady and the grandmother of her children, Kate Roberts.

The lesson: strong family ties and intense relationships will keep an audience glued even when they have to suspend disbelief.

Santa Barbara

This show lasted less than fifteen years, but it had a loyal fan following. It started out focusing on four families, but by the end of the second year the action was firmly focused on the patrician Capwells, with some attention on the fallen Lockridges. The show opened with the question "who killed Channing Capwell?" years before, but the resolution of that mystery gave birth to more characters and more story lines, most famously the continuing romantic adventures of Eden Capwell and Cruz Castillo.

Almost every character was compelling (and casting Dame Judith Anderson as matriarch Minx Lockridge didn't hurt), but the story revolved around the Capwells: controlling patriarch CC, ne'er do well Mason, adventurous Eden, sweet and vulnerable Kelly and trusting Ted. The large family and the challenging dynamics were rich enough to ground the show, but even from the beginning it had trouble reining in all of its ideas. At times it seemed to suffer from an embarrassment of riches, both in cast and storylines.

Lionel and Augusta Lockridge: best dysfunctional couple ever

What kept them from achieving the ratings they deserved was a constant change at the helm, which finally affected some of the characterizations. Still, the way many fans mourn the loss of this show, that might not have been fatal if the choice had been left to them.

The lesson: taking chances on storylines can work- but only if it's seen all the way through.

What I Learned From The Bell Soaps (Soap Opera Blog Hop)

The late Bill Bell and his wife  Lee Phillip Bell created two of the most successful soaps in the world (literally), The Young and The Restless and The Bold and The Beautiful. They wrote and produced both shows, which today is almost unheard of. By 1995 their son Bradley Bell had taken over those duties for The Bold and The Beautiful.

Those soaps may be known for their glamour and, at times, camp, but Bill Bell cut his teeth on decidedly more realistic fare such as The Guiding Light, As The World Turns, Days of Our Lives and Another World.

But...let's get this out of the way now: this show used to be derided by industry insiders as, er, something that rhymes with "young" and The Useless. One of the requirements for any actor or actress on the show seems to be "gorgeous" (David Hasselhoff, Eva Longoria, Shemar Moore, Tom Selleck and Paul Walker are just some of the stars that got their start on Y&R)- but Emmy-worthy acting doesn't. None of that, though, has stopped The Young and The Restless from being the top-rated soap for over two decades. Why do people tune in? Because of the consistency of the writing. Bell's vision of where each story needed to go was unyielding, and he knew that a story was better when all of its aspects were played, not when it was simplified. Audiences were mesmerized by suspense and slow builds, knowing that the longer a story waited, the better the payoff was going to be.

Eric Braeden as Y&R's ruthless Victor Newman, a character you root for in spite of yourself

If the ratings have slipped (they are still the number one show), it's due in large part to the death of Bill Bell and the constant changing of the writers' guard. However, the legacy established by Bell earned the show enough good will that the audience has faith the show will improve.

The lesson: sticking to your guns is usually a good idea.

The Bold and The Beautiful is The Young and The Restless on steroids: everyone really is beautiful, and the build can be even slower than on The Young and The Restless. However, this show is half the length of The Young and The Restless.

Shorter episodes, or shows that run on a compressed schedule, have almost universally found that they eat not less story but more, and many find themselves running at breakneck speed and verging into storylines that can quickly run out of steam. B&B, as the show is known to its fans, has bucked that trend for the most part. They put themselves on the map by focusing on the (questionable and dysfunctional) romance between Ridge Forrester, the scion of a well-to-do fashion dynasty and Brooke Logan, the ambitious and brilliant woman from "the valley" who had to fight for every advantage since her father walked out when she was a little girl. But that one story has included plenty of material, including Brooke's marriage to Ridge's father Eric (!) who had had a college romance with her mother Beth (!!), her longtime rivalry with Ridge's powerhouse mother Stephanie and Ridge's vacillation between Brooke and the cool but needy Taylor Hayes. All characters have their fans and detractors, but the commitment to the story is what kept fans coming back for more.

Brooke/Ridge/Taylor: the little love triangle that could

The loss of two of the original actors forced Brad Bell to shift focus away from the Forresters and onto the Logans and to expand the Spencers, a family that had fallen off the canvas after the show's first decade. It also increased the need to shift more of the drama to the next generation, particularly the rivalry between Brooke's daughter Hope and Ridge and Taylor's daughter Steffy for the love of well-meaning but callow Liam Spencer. Bell's biggest risk? Giving Brooke another love interest in the form of Bill Spencer, her sister Katie's husband. Can Bill be a genuine rival for Ridge the way Taylor was for Brooke? And how long can Ridge sustain a romance with Katie before Brooke works her magic on him again? And…

The lesson: repetition can work if history is used and not ignored.