Twelve Worlds Anthology Cover

Here is the cover for the upcoming anthology, Twelve Worlds. It was generously designed by Les Petersen. Les has a lot of experience with designing book covers. If you are looking for an artist, I would definitely recommend him.

Twelve Worlds is over 80, 000 words of short stories—science fiction, cyberpunk, fantasy, paranormal, mystery, romantic fantasy, and more. Author profits from this anthology go to a charity which will be announced before the release. It will be available for $2.99 on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

My contribution to the story is “The Star-Eater:”

Karin wakes up one day on her starship, realizing her sister has been killed—but not before her sister cursed the murderer. Now she's got a man to kill, and her boss is starting to suspect that she's a little more than human...

This anthology will be the only place you can find this story. I'm already working on a sequel, although both stories can be read as stand-alone stories.

Anyway, this anthology is a great deal for its price. And for a good cause. It will be available in early April, so stay tuned!

The structure of this post was taken from Derek's blog at http://derekjcanyon.blogspot.com/. You should check it out. He has a lot of great information on ePublishing.

Twelve Worlds Anthology Cover

The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.

(Taken from the Amazon product description.)

This book made me late for class. It kept up most of the night, too, but a lot of books do that. It takes a good book to make me miss my bus.

I first read Lindsay Buroker's writing in her short story, Ice Cracker II (Free! Check it out!). It takes place after the events in The Emperor's Edge, but does nothing to spoil the story. I was hooked. It was like getting a really good cookie, and then wanting the rest of the package. At only $2.99, The Emporer's Edge was well within my starving-student budget.

I'm one of those writers who believes it is the characters, more than the plot, setting, and action, that drive a story. Buroker has developed her characters to the point all authors should strive for: they are real, unique, and develop well through their interactions. They drive the story like they stole it. In addition, Buroker's description is laced with humour and clever witticisms, and the plot is well-researched and developed. She has paid much attention (but not too much!) to the political motivations within the story. As a major fan of history, I really appreciated the details.

tl;dr? Thumbs up.

In addition to Amazon, the book is also available on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.

*

Lindsay Buroker is a wonder-woman who runs two blogs, a facebook, a twitter, a newsletter, and still finds time to write good books. You can find her at E-book Endeavors, Kindle Geeks, and her Twitter.

And, for good measure:
Lindsay Buroker's Amazon Author Page
Lindsay Buroker's Smashwords Author Page

The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker

Where did all that time go?

Whew, all five of you loyal followers must be wondering where the hell I've been. Right? Well. Let's just say school's picking up its feet and booting my backside.

Anyway, here's what you can expect in the next couple weeks:
-A book review of Lindsay Buroker's The Emperor's Edge.
-A blog on the mobile workspace.

But for now, here's a sneak peak of the web serial I'm writing starring Kitty:

She was running and, so far, she hadn’t been caught. She knew she couldn’t win—she’d already seen how much faster he was. But he was toying with her. Keeping her just close enough that she could hear his breathless laughter. Once, he’d jumped forward and brushed her shoulder with his hand. Twice, he’d thrown her down and let her scramble back up.

So she knew he was just playing with her. But, she thought, that might work to her advantage.

Which was, probably, exactly what he wanted her to think. And now she’d hit a dead end.

The street ended with a low wall, and behind that wall was a three story drop. But, across the gap there was a two story building, and the street below was a narrow alley. She was already eyeing the distance when she heard his laughter turn the corner. She didn’t look back.

Maybe she’d make it.

She didn’t think too hard about it. There wasn’t much of a choice for her. She hadn’t been running from him for fun. The malice in his laughter promised things much worse than a three story fall.

Besides, maybe she’d make it.

He began to speak, his shoes softly scuffing the ground as he approached. She repressed a shiver, held her breath, and jumped. She didn’t make it.

He watched her fall. On the way down she scraped her arms on the brick wall across the way, and struck the fire escape with her head. Blood pooled on the concrete from where she landed. In an instant, he was beside her.

She died. Too quickly for his liking.

A seagull watched him.

“Why do they always run?” it said.

He looked up. It was on the fire escape she’d hit. He hadn’t noticed it arrive.

“Because they’re smarter than you, Gull.” He bent down and drew a finger through her blood. It was already starting to cool. If he waited too long, the fear would fade. Her hope was already gone. He suspected it had left when she’d hit the wall.

“Do they ever make it?” asked the bird. The man sighed. Seagulls were never quiet around mealtime. Ravens, he thought, were much better. But the ones in this city weren’t like the ones back home. They avoided him.

“One did,” he said, “but I got her in the end.”

She still lived. And, he thought, she seemed to have forgotten about him. She never replied to his messages. Perhaps it was time to change that.

“Gull,” he said, although he winced at his messanger-du-jour, “why don’t you go find her?” He licked another finger of blood.

“Me, sir?”

“Yes. You. Her name is Kitty. Find out where she is.”

“Yes, sir!” the bird’s voice broke into its natural cry, and it took off. But not, he noticed, before leaving a calling card where it had been perched.

Ravens, he thought, at least had class. Crows even aimed. He had neglected to tell Gull about Kitty’s unique electrical abilities, but perhaps she’d do him a favour. Maybe the bird would die in a misplaced storm. He didn’t think too deeply. Gull was gone and he could enjoy his meal.

*

There was a whoosh of wings nearby. Unfortunately, Gull had returned.

“The crow said she’s in Teremain.”

He never had understood the crows of this country—why they chose the trickster over darkness. They still had a hand in death, didn’t they? He looked over, took in the bird, and almost raised an eyebrow. There was blood outlining the bird’s front. He could see it had congealed around the edges of the bird’s mouth and dried in a nice muddy-rouge shade.

“What happened?”

The seagull puffed up proudly.

“I ate its heart.”

The god of darkness smiled wickedly. Finally, a bit of luck. From what he did understand about crows, he wouldn’t have to deal with Gull for much longer.

Where did all that time go?