Well the worst has happened. They basically gutted my university into a community college (except retaining like 6 4 year degrees) and let go the entire math and science department except for those needed to teach nursing (i.e. me) So needless to say I was distracted but I did just catch up on reading everyone’s snippets from last week.

I’m going back to my paranormal WIP These Haunted Hills set here where I live (which ironically could end up published after I no longer do because I don’t believe these cuts will save the school like the board does so I’m looking for a new job). Since it’s been weeks let me refresh your memory. Brendan is a famous author who has lost his son to cancer and is in the Hocking Hills researching for his next novel, this time about ghost hunters. Josh is a geeky biology professor who hunts ghosts on the side.

Brendan’s butt felt numb. How did the people do here do this all the time? They seemed to be forty minutes or more from everything. He found the wine bar without a problem. It was a nice looking space, long with lots of brick and glass. Two seater tables lined the outside wall. He thought it was adorably overprotective of Josh to worry about the fact he couldn’t promise someone wouldn’t recognize Brendan and make a big deal about it. It was part of the whole you’re sort of famous thing.

He almost said no to coming because he should be writing but he wanted to get that local flavor. He wouldn’t have thought to add in all the driving his characters would have to do if he set them out in a place like this. It had to get annoying after a while or maybe it faded into the background of life, just something that was taken for granted.

(True fact, I live like 40 miles from every damn thing)

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

I did get the reading done, barely thanks to the depression getting even worse after a coworker did his level best to destroy the biology program and of course all the loss of women’s rights this week. Sigh.

But onward or I will mire. I have one last snippet from Modified and Sacred. This comes right after an unknown ship has waylaid Addison and Deveral’s shuttle as they’re on their way to the conference.

“We’re hit, Turing! I’ve lost the engines. We’re spinning in. I’m trying to get the stabilizers back online,” Addison reported, his voice tense as his fingers flew over the controls. If the Turing replied, Deveral didn’t hear it. Nausea engulfed him as the ship spun and sank fast.

Deveral did, to no avail. They hit the water hard. The harness half crushed his chest when Deveral slammed forward as far as the safety gear would allow, and then it slammed him back in his seat, bouncing his head off the side of the wall. Everything went black.

Blurb

Lieutenant Addison Hunt is proud to serve the Confederation even if he still feels like he’s on the outside looking in. Addison was illegally genetically modified as a child, leaving him burdened with a sense of shame. Emotionally isolated from his fellow crewmen and recovering from injuries from his last job, Addison is happy to have light duty transporting an esteemed diplomat to a peace conference.

Deveral is one of the Sacred Kin, possessing a psychic ability that his people consider a spark of the divine. Like all the Sacred Kin, he’s led a sheltered life as a temple priest, but his heightened empathic ability makes him the perfect diplomat. Nervous to leave his home, he’s curious about his new companion, Lieutenant Hunt.

Not everyone wants the diplomatic mission to succeed, and a rebel faction poses a real threat to Addison and Deveral. Finding themselves cast adrift on a “lost” colony, they’ll have to fight to stay alive.

Buy link Here at Ninestar Press

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

I almost didn’t post this week as I was terribly behind on reading others. It’s a manifestation of the depression from all the crap going on at work. they pushed back telling us if our programs were to be deleted so it’s ongoing. Sigh.

But I opted for giving another snippet from Modified and Sacred and trying to catch up with yinz. I know it’s more than six lines. I don’t have the brain cells left to count at the moment.

“Not at all. It’s…fun. You appear to be enjoying the music with your whole body. It’s not just primary blues and purples either. There are so many little colors hiding in there. Humans must seem so boring in comparison.”

And this idea came after running across this video years ago where someone set the chromatophores in cephalopods to music.

Blurb

Lieutenant Addison Hunt is proud to serve the Confederation even if he still feels like he’s on the outside looking in. Addison was illegally genetically modified as a child, leaving him burdened with a sense of shame. Emotionally isolated from his fellow crewmen and recovering from injuries from his last job, Addison is happy to have light duty transporting an esteemed diplomat to a peace conference.

Deveral is one of the Sacred Kin, possessing a psychic ability that his people consider a spark of the divine. Like all the Sacred Kin, he’s led a sheltered life as a temple priest, but his heightened empathic ability makes him the perfect diplomat. Nervous to leave his home, he’s curious about his new companion, Lieutenant Hunt.

Not everyone wants the diplomatic mission to succeed, and a rebel faction poses a real threat to Addison and Deveral. Finding themselves cast adrift on a “lost” colony, they’ll have to fight to stay alive.

Buy link Here at Ninestar Press

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

Making this quick as I need to get some rest before graduation tomorrow which will be rained all over. Sigh. At least the speaker could be interesting, an astronaut (yeah when you have go sit through graduation every year, the shiny wears off. I mean you’re happy for the students but man it can be a grind if the speaker isn’t good)

Have some more of Modified and Sacred which released on Monday. Last time we saw Addison through Deveral’s eyes. Let’s reverse that this time and get a glimpse of Deveral through Addy’s.

Addison wondered about his passenger as Deveral watched Fyria fall away in the view screen. The dossier said the Sacred Kin had not been off-planet except for a few trips to the moon. Deveral’s odd, goat-like eyes with their spooky horizontal-bar pupils grew bigger and bigger the smaller Fyria became. His opalescent skin started turning light gray, blending him into the shuttle seat. Even his hair faded from the same fiery opal his skin had been to the hue of smoke. He realized this change might mean his companion was nervous, but it also fascinated Addison. Was his hair alive? Could it be cut? Did his hair not grow any longer than it was, like a dog’s fur?

Blurb

Lieutenant Addison Hunt is proud to serve the Confederation even if he still feels like he’s on the outside looking in. Addison was illegally genetically modified as a child, leaving him burdened with a sense of shame. Emotionally isolated from his fellow crewmen and recovering from injuries from his last job, Addison is happy to have light duty transporting an esteemed diplomat to a peace conference.

Deveral is one of the Sacred Kin, possessing a psychic ability that his people consider a spark of the divine. Like all the Sacred Kin, he’s led a sheltered life as a temple priest, but his heightened empathic ability makes him the perfect diplomat. Nervous to leave his home, he’s curious about his new companion, Lieutenant Hunt.

Not everyone wants the diplomatic mission to succeed, and a rebel faction poses a real threat to Addison and Deveral. Finding themselves cast adrift on a “lost” colony, they’ll have to fight to stay alive.

Buy link Here at Ninestar Press

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

Making this quick as I’m off with my steampunk Airship to represent at Rathacon today. It should be fun.

Have a little more of Modified and Sacred which releases on Monday! Addison and Deveral meet:

Deveral slowed his steps as he neared the cavern’s mouth. Weyba, the head priestess, waited with a human. Judging by the deep blue Coalition uniform, Deveral took him to be his escort arriving early. He studied the Coalition officer who waited in the flood of modern lighting and blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his vision to the sun-bright light so he could take in all the details. His escort stood less than average human height but was muscular. His short black hair, cut almost razor sharp, glistened in the sun. Deveral’s vision wasn’t cleared enough to pick out any more details other than a bland expression on his handsome face. He’d known his escort would be human. He hadn’t met many of them, being isolated as he was by his duties. Deveral wondered if he could read their emotions as well as he could his own kind. Humans had a reputation for being rough and tumble, sort of the opposite of his own peaceful people. Someone more prone to violence would be a good thing in case something went wrong with the mission.

Blurb

Lieutenant Addison Hunt is proud to serve the Confederation even if he still feels like he’s on the outside looking in. Addison was illegally genetically modified as a child, leaving him burdened with a sense of shame. Emotionally isolated from his fellow crewmen and recovering from injuries from his last job, Addison is happy to have light duty transporting an esteemed diplomat to a peace conference.

Deveral is one of the Sacred Kin, possessing a psychic ability that his people consider a spark of the divine. Like all the Sacred Kin, he’s led a sheltered life as a temple priest, but his heightened empathic ability makes him the perfect diplomat. Nervous to leave his home, he’s curious about his new companion, Lieutenant Hunt.

Not everyone wants the diplomatic mission to succeed, and a rebel faction poses a real threat to Addison and Deveral. Finding themselves cast adrift on a “lost” colony, they’ll have to fight to stay alive.

Pre-order link Here at Ninestar Press

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!