Marcus let his eyes drop to the vast array of sensors for the colonization ship. He had gone through these checks numerous times before, and they were always the same when the ship was coming to a new planet. When the great ship entered the system, the long-range sensors had registered five planets in this system. Of those five planets, one was too close to the sun to support life, while three were gas giants. But the second sphere from the sun was the only suitable planet for colonization, so the ship automatically set a course for the world. When they got close enough the ship’s sensors indicated that the surface wouldn’t need to be terraformed, which was a pleasant change from the last three planets.

Now that the ship was entering planetary orbit, the loneliness of the bridge was being erased with a vengeance. The ship’s automation was only designed to operate during the long stretches of space between planets...

Rylan looked at everyone around him, they were preparing for the launch of the ship. They had been training vigorously for the last three weeks since no one had any idea what to expect, so those who had been volunteered for the mission were being readied for anything. Those in charge had even decided to alter the purpose of the mission, slightly. Their primary goal was still to discover what had happened on Laria but it was decided that to help prepare those on the mission that they should investigate two planets that were on the way to the Larian system.

So two worlds were chosen, Latria and Medicia. Thanks to the comprehensive Larian library they were able to plot to each planet. Also thanks to the library they knew where each platform was located just in case the lack of communication was more than just an inherent system failure. Which was a thought that Rylan was being forced to abandon with each passing day...

After reading the first issue of Jonathin Quackup of the Planet Weralt, I was eager to pick up the next book in the series. But I wanted to wait and savor these books like an excellent steak. So I waited to read the second book and instead thumbed through the first book multiple times to extract all the beauty and depth of that book. Yet it was time to move onto the second book in the series. So I opened the book on my Surface Book and found a comfortable place to consume the story and artwork.

Just like the first book, the second one was intriguing, and it captured my attention. Letting my eyes soak up the cover my mind was ready for action and my mind was prepared for the promise of knightly action...

Pausing backstage, Ryan pulled the bagged letter out of his coat. Forensics had examined the thing already, but he never wanted to contaminate the evidence. He quickly reread the mismatched letters, yearning for some new insight. Unfortunately, it revealed nothing new. Ryan considered the morning’s private courier delivery to the station. However, a fellow detective had identified it as another dead end.

Despite coming up empty, a bomb threat kept his investigation alive. The top brass considered this to be a top priority, given the percentage of the precinct pulled into the frantic search. By the time he arrived on the scene, the initial search had already been performed, revealing nothing. However, the note specified where they searched and when the bomb was to detonate. The letter additionally forbade the police from evacuating the site or nearby structures. Failure to comply would cause a premature detonation...

Once upon a time, a young girl woke on Christmas morning, a broad grin stretching across her face as she bolted from her bed. She flew down the stairs, stopping before the glittering Christmas tree. The little girl ignored the presents under the tree, locking her gaze on the hanging stockings packed with goodies. She picked up her stocking and found a thread trailing from its edge into a nearby closet.

She eased the door open and followed the thread inside. Her intuition told her she’d reach the opposite wall, but the space stretched on, as if no end existed. Her mind was befuddled when her foot stepped into a puddle. She kneeled and confirmed the water was real...

Crucible of Gold begins its tale with William Laurence and Temeraire having fully embraced their lives in Austrailia and are in the midst of constructing a pavilion when their lives are once more altered. This time Arthur Hammond, last seen in Throne of Jade arrives in Austrailia with an urgent message for the once loyal servant of His Majesty’s Royal Arial Corp. The crown is once again in need of Laurence’s dragon, Temeraire, so the diplomat arrived offering the once captain his rank back...

Ever since I came upon Raymond Mullikin’s Kickstarter for Jonathin Quackup: Issue #3, I have been eagerly awaiting the campaign’s conclusion and the arrival of the digital comics that my pledge promised. I received them earlier this week, and I immediately downloaded each and every issue available. Once I had the three books on my computer I opened the first issue and began looking through the book, for my first pass I was not reading the book, rather I was taking in all the images bound within the comic book.

As I took in the images I was confused by the initial panels, based upon the campaign, and ignoring the cover, I was not expecting to see the main character dressed as the wanderer he would eventually become...

Walking down the corridors of the Gemini, Samantha held her mother’s hand with her right and clutched her most precious possession, the doll she had gotten for her birthday, to her chest with the other. As the two journeyed towards the ship’s hospice ward, Samantha spotted a lot of the people wearing a black armband with a series of red dots running along the center of it. The child shifted her gaze from the metallic corridors of her home to her mother’s left arm and found the identical band on it. “Mommy, why’s everyone wearing the same armband?”

Cassandra halted and then took a knee so she could look into her daughter’s eyes. “Our matriarch is sick, Samantha...

Tarian was standing upon the mostly constructed walls, staring out into the slowly building mass of creatures. There were a few types of monsters swirling about each other in that swarm, but the bulk was what the population had taken to calling Ogres. In fact, it was the constant harrying of the colonists by those Ogres that had prompted the building of the walls as rapidly as possible.

“Tarian, is it me or is that mass still growing?” Keldon asked once he was standing next to Tarian...

As Gregory leaned against the wall of the clock tower, the tears flowed from his eyes as he kept protesting his innocence. But his words fell upon the deaf ears of Rebecca and her partner, Frank. As they were standing next to their car, Frank asked, “Rebecca, are you sure about this?”

“Frank, you saw the same thing I did,” Rebecca answered with the same emotions of a stone.

“Rebecca, this…”

She spun to face her partner shoving a finger into his face as she continued on without a hint of emotion. “Frank, we found him drenched in blood kneeling over the victim...

Rylan was becoming very familiar with all of his counselor’s staff as often as he had been visiting Desmond. So when Rylan caught sight of Desmond’s secretary, he waived at the slight and sociable woman, “Hello Ciara, is Desmond free?”

“He is Rylan, and I’ll check to see if he’s ready for you.”

“Thank you,” Rylan said as he took one of the open chairs in front of the secretary’s desk.

Ciara shifted her gaze to the small device next to her main display, and typed something on it and waited. After waiting patiently for another few moments, she must have gotten a response because she looked back over at Rylan saying, “He’s ready to see you now Rylan...

Ezekiel was standing among his guards, hands zip-tied behind his back, as he thought about how this had happened. He had stumbled upon this conspiracy, and with that discovery, the pool of those he could trust had shrunk drastically. The only reason he was alive, despite being in captivity, was due to his training. His days spent with special forces had transformed him into the living weapon he actually was. Unfortunately, even with that training, he couldn’t handle the sheer number of minions in this conspiracy that had swarmed him in the Rotunda.

As he examined his surroundings, one of his guards said irately, “Stop eyeballing me.”

“Calvin, calm down and relax.” The steely-eyed leader said as he shifted his gaze away from the man and towards Ezekiel. “Our friend here will answer all our questions.”

Ezekiel mentally chuckled at the lofty words, he had ducked into the Rotunda because a senator was being honored in death...

I was feeling a little under the weather for the latter half of last week, so I wasn’t able to write the piece of flash fiction that I wanted to. As poor as I felt I didn’t completely ignore the site, I was pursuing my insights for the posts that I link to on my facebook page. The gold standard for an author, or any creative individual, is unsolicited feedback, be it reviews for my books or comments on my posts. Now my blog is currently not configured for comments, thankfully when I publish a post, I also publish a link to it on my Facebook page. This way I can see any conversations that might be had there. And ever since I posted the first link to that page, I’ve been eagerly awaiting for my first Facebook comment.

I know that I’m still building my presence on Facebook, so I knew going into this that getting an honest opinion would take some time...

Whenever I’m finished with my initial work on one of my stories, be it a short story or a full-length novel, I can’t wait to get feedback on my work. This was true for Dead Man’s Hand, the flash fiction I post on my blog to the other tales that I’ve been busy crafting. So once I finished the initial work on Drawing Thin, I immediately started reaching out to people that I trust to give me their honest thoughts on what I had. In fact, I implored them to tell me where I messed up. Those particular notes mean more to me than the ones that highlight what they think I did right...

“Good morning Lewis.” One of the numerous rodeo clowns said with a smile

“Morning,” Lewis replied as he hurried toward his private locker room. The technicians had certainly taken their time examining all of his cybernetics. He sighed as he transitioned into a run, while he admitted that with this particular bull, Lewis would never have been allowed to skip the examination. He just wished that the technicians had been swifter in their examination.

The bull that Lewis was going to ride was named Metalus. It was the only cybernetically enhanced bull in any rodeo, which was the reason he had to have his own cybernetics certified. He was approaching his locker room when he caught sight of his manager waving him down. Lewis slowed to a brisk walk and once he was within arms distance asked, “Everything okay?”

“Where have you been?”

“Getting my exam,” Lewis replied as he waved his metallic arm in front of his manager’s face...