A Journey Into A New
World
I love
watching sci-fi movies that draw me in.
When I go to the movies and the lights are turned down and film flickers
to life and that space ship blasts across the screen I am in a different world. Lately I've been totally into JJ Abrams
interpretation of the Star Trek Universe.
It's like
when I watch it, I'm enthralled because he immerses us in that world. From the clothes, the technology, the sounds
and the people. They are just as vested
in what they do in their extraordinary lives as we are in our normal ones. And that's the best part. JJ draws us into the amazing and makes it
appear mundane enough for us to believe that it is plausible.
The same
thing goes for an amazing book, the first few pages are key for creating an
atmosphere of reality to where we as the reader are right there from the
beginning to the very end. And that's
what I try to do in every book that I write.
For instance,
when I was writing Cold Warriors, I would often have long periods between
writing (mostly because life got in the way).
But when I wanted to regain the feel of the book, I never had to dig
deep in the middle to find it, I just clicked on the first page:
Excerpt from Cold Warriors-
Lieutenant
Zale Melbyrne, of the U.S. Marines First Platoon Combat Search And Rescue
Squadron (CSAR), climbed wearily out of his yellow Harsh Terrain Snow Tractor
(HTST). It was his squadron’s fourth check in an eighty-kilometer zone, and
there was no sign of the missing Expeditionary Team. He had a sinking feeling
that their luck was running out. He stepped forward. His foot crunched against
the steadily hardening snow. Greeted by an icy wind, he shuddered. He zipped up
his black parka and pulled his hood tight over his cap-covered head to protect
himself from the subzero temperatures. Tau Ceti III’s bitter cold was
legendary, along with its ability to give cold injuries so deep, muscles and
even bones were permanently ruined.
He squinted
and gazed at the snow-covered landscape. Over two miles thick, and in some
locations, crusted with long stretches of ice, Tau Ceti III was Satan’s frozen
equivalent of Antarctica back on Earth except not as pretty and with no animals
or life to speak of whatsoever. Essentially a white desert, the piercingly dry
air could rip the moisture right out of a person’s body in a matter of minutes.
Freezing and
thirsty, it was a miserable way to die.
If I wanted easy then I should have picked a
desk job.
To me, that
scene with Zale Melbyrne framed the type of life that the Hero and Heroine have
to overcome in order to obtain happiness.
By the way, even though Zale is a minor character, he has developed a
little following of his own!
In the second
book in The Cold Warriors Universe, 'Ice and Peace,' the hero and heroine are
faced with new challenges to overcome.
A quick blurb-
A New Threat? After a long and vicious war, peace is on the
horizon for Earth and its allies. However, a series of mysterious attacks on
several secret military installations causes hostilities to rise once again.
Redemption. Having left under a cloud of disgrace, retired
Marine Colonel Medoro Keegan is called back to duty.
Bound. His wife Caitlin, the only surviving member of her
team, chooses to embrace life, albeit grudgingly, as a cryo soldier. Seen as
sub-human, she is forced to serve a planet that denies her rights as a person.
Driven. Guided by their sense of duty and belief that some things
are bigger than them, they are determined to risk it all.
Hope. The cost of war is high. Can their love and marriage
survive? Or will it be killed off by the very same mission that brought them
together?
~Excerpt~
Caitlin was a sight for sore eyes. She was beautiful. Her
petite frame was perfectly accented by the curves of her figure. And her brown
eyes and coffee-brown skin was smooth, creamy.
Standing at attention, she did not meet his gaze. Though it
was customary not to do as a sign of military courtesy, he could tell she was
not doing it for that reason. Her gaze was different. Circling her, he tried to
see if he could catch her watching him out of the corner of her eye. In fact,
she appeared to be staring blankly ahead.
Peering directly at her, he spoke in a soft tone. “At ease.”
She relaxed.
“Cate. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” she responded mechanically.
Pain pierced his insides. She was definitely not there. Keegan
placed his hands on his hips and hung his head in defeat. The one thing that
was supposed to go right did not. For whatever reason, they had placed her in a
deeper state of mental control than she’d ever been in. He controlled the
hostile emotions brewing with him. Touching her face gently, he felt her icy
skin.
This is unacceptable! Not here. I will not let this happen
here. Not under my command.
“Chief, listen up,” he said in an authoritative tone. He knew
in this state, it was the only way he could speak to her and still have her
respond.
“Yes, sir.” Her gaze became even more distant.
Her response fueled his anger. “You are going to hightail it
down to the doc and receive a full examination. Tell him it is based on my
orders. He will know what to do. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Knowing that she was under the influence of cryo
neurotransmitters, Keegan figured the only way to combat it was to get someone
to reverse it. They usually wore off once she was away from the stimulus
triggers for a long period of time. But considering her stimulus triggers were
high-ranking officers in uniform and combat situations, being around here meant
she was going to be in a drone zone for a very long time. The last thing he
needed was a zombie on board, especially one in charge of the lives others.
Only the jerks in psyche warfare thought doing this to someone
would be a good idea. As long as he was running the ship, none of that would be
allowed. There weren’t going to be any super zombies soldiers on board his
ship. And he’d rollover in his grave before he let them do it to his wife.
“After you come back from the doc, you will report to me,
understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are there any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
She did an about face before leaving the room. Keegan clasped
his hands behind his back. In the blink of an eye, his joy had turned to
sorrow. Now faced with the responsibility of looking after his wife, he
wondered how could he handle the burden of command and still protect the woman
he loved.
Cold Warriors and Ice Peace is not your typical military
read. Futuristic Romances with a science
fiction twist, they will draw you in and keep you there, and no doubt you'll
love the ride!
Both Cold Warriors and
Ice and Peace are available at all
e-book retailers including Amazon--
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