You can find all my current books as well as many other great Science Fiction Romance reads on the SFR Station by clicking the bold "Juggernaut" link below.
(No more searching on Amazon or other book sellers for hours. The SFR Station has the lion's share of SFR books available just one click away.)
The Juggernaut introductory price is ending very soon!
Grab your copy for .99 cents NOW before it goes to the regular price of $2.99.
Click here to see the book on Amazon.
(The price change is at the whim of Amazon KDP, but the sale price will probably end in the next 24-48 hours.)
This comes with a quick reminder the Amazon Kindle book will only be on sale at .99 cents for a few more days. If you're reading this on February 6th, this is a great time -- and possibly the last time -- to grab it at a bargain price. (Click this link to visit Amazon.)
Scene Set-Up
Lieutenant Commander Dekessa "Dek" Garr is having man problems. No, not the romantic kind. (At least, not yet.) As second in command, she's been left in charge of the ultra-secure Site D, located in an underground lava tube. But her fellow security team members aren't quite sure how to deal with her as their new boss, and the mysterious stranger -- and his StarDog partner -- who has suddenly been dumped in her lap isn't being very cooperative either.
Excerpt from Juggernaut:
Satisfied Telon’s creature posed no threat to her personnel,
Dek left Major Remm in charge of getting the man and his pet settled in
quarters.
She directed the major to have the quartermaster assign a
vacant berth in Block A. Having the mystery guest and his pointy-eared partner
quartered on her level would help her keep a closer watch on their activities.
As she made her way to the mess to grab a morning meal, she
met Sergeant Garr on the path.
“Congrats…Boss,” he grumbled, clearly not happy with
her in-charge status.
Dek ignored his jibe. “Those kids on the beach. They okay?”
“Yeah. Staggered away from the perimeter shortly after you
left, shaken, but under their own power. But since when have you been
sentimental about interlopers?”
“It could become a security issue,” she clarified. “They
might be back. Possibly with friends.”
“Maybe we should just blast them next time.”
Again, she let his insolent response slide off. “We need to
consider placing a secondary deterrent at some distance beyond the barrier.”
“What would you suggest?” Garr gave her a scathing look.
“Why don’t you come up with a plan. Put some thought into it
and report back.”
“Yes, sir.” Garr performed an exaggerated salute.
“Carry on.” She passed him, continuing her trek to the mess
hall, but the cold burn of Garr’s gaze drilled into her back.
Countering his challenge with a tasking was a subtle form of
discipline she hoped might temper the junior officer’s streak of insolence.
Pulling rank on him on her first day as acting commander would only heighten
his belligerence. Better to give him the time to work through his issues on his
own. Patience could win wars before they even started.
When she reached her destination, the boisterous din of the
breakfast crowd fell to a sudden hush. Ignoring their scrutiny, she grabbed a
tray. Conversations picked back up as she went down the line, selecting im-eggs
and pancs from the offerings, before turning to make her way to a table with a
couple of other members of the task force. Their conversation stopped as she
drew near, and they exchanged glances.
“Acting Commander,” they muttered in stereo.
“Sergeant Caffron. Officer Bell.”
She settled and thumbed quickly through the StatCon messages
scrolling on her wristcom. While her companions focused on wolfing down their
meals, she switched on the surv-cam video to zero in on the site’s visitor. She
locked on the feed of Telon milling beneath the ceiling breach, smiling as his
little beastie scampered along the fallen jumble of basalt, her fluffy,
cream-colored tail a stark contrast to the mottled black rocks. The little
critter’s enthusiasm made Dek crack a tiny smile, too.
At the abrupt sound of scraping chair legs, she glanced up.
Her two companions gave her stiff nods and walked single file to deposit their
trays in the receptacle. She now had an eight-topper to herself in spite of the
growing crowd. Obviously, command was going to be a lonely job.
Dek took a couple of bites of her meal and washed it down
with a long swig of weak kinna before checking the surv-cam footage again.
Telon—and his little prototype—had vanished.
Dek straightened in her chair, scowled, and flipped through
the various surveillance feeds. Quarters block. Zip. Command offices. Nothing.
Secure lift entrance—she held her breath—nope. Her guest and his pet had
seemingly disappeared into thin air.
______________________________________________
Enjoy this excerpt and want to read another snippet? Check out last week's excerpt from Juggernaut here.
Thanks for visiting The Firebird today!
There's no punchline to that. It's actually the premise for Juggernaut.
Meet Dek, Sno and Cassie in my latest release with snippets from the book.
An Acting Commander...
Lieutenant Commander Dekessa “Dek” Garr is second-in-command of a security force that protects a discovery buried deep inside an ancient lava tube. The implications of the find are staggering, and the stakes are high if their enemy—the Alliance—ever learns the truth about Site D. When her commander suddenly departs with zero warning and a mysterious visitor arrives, her job becomes a whole new level of complicated.
A Network Agent...
Sno Telon has an exercise to perform, and he isn’t about to let anyone stop him--including the dedicated acting commander known as Dek.
And a StarDog
But when his partner, CaSandra, a bioengineered dog-cat-weasel-mongoose, takes an immediate liking to the team leader, Sno realizes there’s much more to the woman than harsh words and hard scowls.
___________________________________
Graveyard shift. Four members of
Dek’s security team were in their assigned sectors, manning the night watch.
The science crew were all tucked in for the night. None of LaGuardia’s three
moons yet cast its light through the break in the cave high above, and a deep
inky blackness filled the great hole in the ground that she called home.
Dek crouched on the roof of her
quarters, listening, eyes closed, senses keen. Her intuition told her something
was amiss, and she’d learned never to ignore the feelings of gut-deep tension
and restless unease. They were her wired-in early warning system. She slipped
on her night vision goggles, checked the settings, and did a slow pan around
the immense cavern. There! By the lifts. Movement.
Someone attempting to access Lower
Cave?
Gigadam!
If she sounded the alarm, it would
alert the prowler before she’d had a chance to ID him. Best keep this on the
down low. Dek debated alerting the security detail via her wristcom and nixed
it. This was one guy. She’d handle it.
_________________________________________
Juggernaut is on sale for the introductory price of .99 cents.
The special price will be ending in the next week.
Click here to view it on Amazon
or use your cell phone camera to scan the QR code below
It's always entertaining to use specialized mock-ups to highlight available books. Here's a few recent ones I created for use on social media. Whatcha think?
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| Whoop! There it is! |
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| Mmm. Mmm. Good! |
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| Juggernaut: MISSING...from your Kindle |
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| A subtle reminder :) |
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| Upcoming Release |
Or I should say, another date.
Each of the Inherited Stars Series books featuring StarDogs (StarDog, SpyDog and Juggernaut) were revised and expanded from the original works, but Courting Disaster definitely takes the cake as the most evolved book of the bunch.
I've done major revisions to various scenes and backstory elements, and re-worked portions of the plot for its upcoming release as the sixth book in the series.
The release date? I'm working hard to make that happen this summer.
Plans within Plans within Plans
(Does that sound a little Dune-esque? LOL)
As I mentioned in my Reader's Group, StarDog Tales (thanks for the title idea, Donna!) is an upcoming project, and the exciting news is that, in addition to containing all the StarDog stories (I am all the Jedi), it will also have a brand new, never before released StarDog story with the working title StarDog Reunion.
That's right. A brand new story that incorporates all four StarDogs and their related characters. Together, these five books will make one ginormous volume. There will also be a prompt when to read Inherit the Stars, which dovetails into each and every one of these books.
Because the books were written years apart, some of the series ties might not have been clear at the time of reading, but trust me, this group is entangled. (But in a good way...um, mostly.) I will guarantee a couple of huge surprises in the new book.
(But not the return of the dreaded Juggernauts. Or I should say...not yet. Hold that thought.)
This is going to be such a fun project!
For reference, here's a timeline image I created on the Inherited Stars books:
Chronologically, the order is:
The hero and heroine of Courting Disaster are not only the central figures in StarDog Reunion, they're also front and center in the opening of the next novel in this timeline, so my projected summer release date for Courting Disaster is key to getting the asteroid rolling on StarDog Reunion/StarDog Tales and the future of the series. (No pressure, right?)
I'll be posting more on Courting Disaster over the next few weeks to reacquaint readers with this pivotal story.
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| Available on Amazon |
My brand new release, Juggernaut, is on sale for .99 for a limited time before it goes to regular price. This is a special opportunity for my blog, newsletter and Facebook fans to get a great deal on a new book in the Inherited Stars series. This is an expanded story from the original release in the Pets in Space 5 collection.
A little more about it...
Juggernaut is the 4th in the Inherited Stars series (or 8th if you count the serialized books of the Inherit the Stars anchor novel and Farewell Andromeda set in the same universe.)
It's also the third book that chronicles of influence of the bio-engineered dog-cat-weasel-mongoose critters called StarDogs, joining StarDog and SpyDog in the series in a very cloak-and-dagger flavored space adventure romance that takes place in a mysterious lava tube on planet LaGuardia. (There's another planned release with a StarDog that should arrive later this year.)
What does "Juggernaut" refer to?
It actually has three distinct meanings in the story. The first is a reference to the growing aggression of the Ithian Alliance--generally just called the Alliance--in the known galaxy.
This story takes place five calendars (years) before Inherit the Stars and SpyDog. In this excerpt, Lieutenant Commander Dek Garr has an exchange with mysterious visitor, Telon, when he informs her about the rising menace of the Alliance:
______________________________________________
“Three days ago,” Telon began, “the capitol of Purmia was
invaded by the Alliance—eight battalions of Rathskian forces.”
Eight battalions!
Dek forgot her wristcom feed, and her hand dropped to
flatten on the table. “Why? For what purpose?”
“Unknown. Worst case scenario: to gain control of the planet
and its resources.”
Dek bit hard into her lower lip and stared a hole in the
table’s surface. The implications of such an affront could be catastrophic.
For one, it alarmed her that the Alliance would dare carry
out such a bold invasion. Though they were the indisputable heavyweights in the
galaxy, they’d always used blockades and economic manipulation to control other
governments before—never military might. This signaled a paradigm shift in the
level of power they wielded over the rest of the known galaxy. The Alliance was
evolving into a juggernaut—an unstoppable force that crushed everyone and
everything in its path.
_______________________________________________
But 'juggernaut' also has two other meanings, both significant to the story. If I described those references it would mean ***spoilers*** and ruin the story dynamics, so I'll just let you discover those for yourself as the reader.
Juggernaut
Lieutenant Commander Dekessa “Dek”
Garr is second-in-command of a security force that protects a discovery buried
deep inside an ancient lava tube. The implications of the find are staggering,
and the stakes are high if their enemy—the Alliance—ever learns the truth about
Site D. When her commander suddenly departs with zero warning and a mysterious
visitor arrives, her job becomes a whole new level of complicated.
Sno Telon has an exercise to
perform, and he isn’t about to let anyone stop him--including the dedicated
acting commander known as Dek. But when his partner, CaSandra, a bioengineered
dog-cat-weasel-mongoose, takes an immediate liking to the team leader, Sno
realizes there’s much more to the woman than harsh words and hard scowls.
When Dek is attacked by an invisible
foe who infiltrates the off-limits excavation, she immediately suspects Telon
as the obvious culprit. But her interrogations of the man don’t go as planned
and an unlikely bond forms between them as they reach a startling conclusion.
Could the invisible perpetrator actually be an Alliance spy who’s about to blow
open the secrets of Site D?
Can Dek trust Telon and his StarDog partner to
help root out a possible Alliance operative, even if it means breaking every
security protocol in the process? If her instincts about Telon are wrong, Site
D’s secret could be lost forever…and her life along with it.
Here's a scene from the story. (Edited for length and context.)
Scene Set-Up
Lieutenant Commander Dekessa "Dek" Garr is dropped into the hot seat by her commanding officer when he announces he is making a mysterious departure and leaving her in command of a security team at a top secret dig site tagged as Site D.
Even more unsettling, a stranger has just arrived at the highly secure site and she has been provided with no intel about him or his purpose at Site D.
She intends to turn their first introduction into an opportunity to learn more about the man and his reason for being there.
Snippet
Dek waited until the graying major finished giving his
safety and protocol rundown to the visitor, before stating crisply, “Thank you,
Major. I’ll take it from here.”
Remm looked up. “He’s all yours, Acting Commander.”
She strode to the table directly across from the stranger
but didn’t take a seat. The visitor gave her a frowning once-over and also got
to his feet before glancing back at Major Remm.
“This is Lieutenant Commander Garr,” the major said.
“Currently our acting commander in charge of security operations.”
The visitor gave her a stony nod. “Acting Commander.”
Dek took considerable time with her assessment of the
interloper. Keen black eyes, and not shy about holding eye contact. His
features were angular and a shade darker even than her bronze skin, but his
hair was black. It was also a bit on the short side for her tastes, but
completely professional, nevertheless. The light shadow on his chin told her he
hadn’t shaved for a day or so, but even so, he didn’t look scruffy.
On second thought, maybe he wasn’t Rathskian. At least not
entirely. He had that intense look about him, yes, but his face was more
refined—almost as pretty as a gigadam Tectolian—and lacked the scarring
kensmarcs the Rathskian subspecies wore as badges of honor. He had their
stature, though, maybe a mark or two taller than her…and he wore sand-camo
field gear.
Didn’t anybody tell this guy that Site D is subsurface?
He had a hard set to his jaw and looked about as pleased to
be on site as she was to have him here.
“This is Telon,” Renn explained. “His partner goes by a code
name. CaSandra.”
“Partner?” Dek angled her head. “I wasn’t briefed about
this.”
“She’s classified,” Telon answered. “As is her presence
here.”
Dek narrowed her eyes. “And where is your partner?”
Telon exchanged glances with the major. “She’s here.”
He reached down beside his chair and lifted an object onto
the table by a handle set into the top. The rectangular box appeared to be made
of punched polymer with wire mesh on the side facing her.
“Say hello to the commander, CaSandra.”
Two little golden paws pressed against the mesh from the
inside. The creature attached to them gave a high-pitched bark, followed by
quiet chattering.
Startled, Dek backed off a step. The animal’s soft amber
eyes studied her from behind the mesh with its shiny nose molded tight to the
thin bars.
“What in Empora’s Hades is this?” she demanded.
“There isn’t a name for what she is,” Telon answered
quietly. “She’s a bio-construct, a first-generation prototype with canine,
feline, weasel, and mongoose DNA.”
Dek raised her gaze to the stranger. “Bio-constructed for
what purpose?”
His eyes went dark and deep, like the ocean just before a storm. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that, Acting Commander.”
He reached for the wire mesh screen—
“What are you—”
—and flipped it open.
Dek backed off another step and gripped the stunpulse
secreted in a pocket of her field uniform. The golden creature exited its
crate, eyeing her cautiously, and sniffed the air. Its pointed ears twitched
before it bolted up Telon’s sleeve and perched on his shoulder, chattering
quietly in his ear.
The man nodded and met Dek’s eyes. “Cassie says she’s on
your side. And she’d like you to release the weapon you have hidden in your
uniform.”
The little beastie squeaked again.
“Please,” he added.
Dek dropped her chin, squinting. “Is this creature
telepathic?”
“Not exactly,” he replied.
The bio-construct leaned toward Telon, nuzzling the side of
his face…and purred. Huh. Just like the kitten she’d had as a kid. The man
reached up to stroke the animal’s head. Cassie craned her neck and closed her
eyes, emitting a happy gruff-gruff.
Dek’s heart warmed a degree or two.
Gigadam thing’s adorable.
She displayed her empty hand. “Tell her if she behaves, she
has nothing to fear from me.”
Telon grinned. “You just told her yourself, Acting
Commander. She understands you perfectly.”
BLURB:
Lieutenant Commander Dekessa “Dek”
Garr is second-in-command of a security force that protects a discovery buried
deep inside an ancient lava tube. The implications of the find are staggering,
and the stakes are high if their enemy—the Alliance—ever learns the truth about
Site D. When her commander suddenly departs with zero warning and a mysterious
visitor arrives, her job becomes a whole new level of complicated.
Sno Telon has an exercise to
perform, and he isn’t about to let anyone stop him--including the dedicated
acting commander known as Dek. But when his partner, CaSandra, a bioengineered
dog-cat-weasel-mongoose, takes an immediate liking to the team leader, Sno
realizes there’s much more to the woman than harsh words and hard scowls.
When Dek is attacked by an invisible
foe who infiltrates the off-limits excavation, she immediately suspects Telon
as the obvious culprit. But her interrogations of the man don’t go as planned
and an unlikely bond forms between them as they reach a startling conclusion.
Could the invisible perpetrator actually be an Alliance spy who’s about to blow
open the secrets of Site D?
Can Dek trust Telon and his StarDog partner to
help root out a possible Alliance operative, even if it means breaking every
security protocol in the process? If her instincts about Telon are wrong, Site
D’s secret could be lost forever…and her life along with it.
_______________________________
Juggernaut is available on Amazon as an e-book.
QR Code
(If using a cell phone, use your camera to scan this code to go to Amazon)
I don't want to panic anyone, but it's almost THAT TIME!
It's been another fantastic run with Pets in Space, this year with volume number 5.
This year's collection earned several #1 spots on Amazon as well as other vendors, and garnered over 380 reviews, the vast majority 5 STARS!
But after today, February 28th, it's gone forever...
and will never be offered again!
So here's a huge thanks to all the wonderful Pets in Space readers and fans who keep coming back year-after-year to support Hero Dogs with their purchases while enjoying a ton of great reading!
So one last time...
12 great Science Fiction Romance stories
12 different award-winning and bestselling authors
12 different SFR series
ONE DAY to grab it before it goes * POOF * into the shadow universe forevah!
Grab a bit of SFR history for the price of a cup of coffee before it's gone!
Available at most vendors here: Pets in Space Antho
(P.S. CaSandra the StarDog of Juggernaut bids you all a fond farewell!)
NASA is planning to build the first 4G mobile cellular network on the Moon, and they've selected Nokia to help them do it. In fact, they have fourteen other partners involved to work on technologies that will sustain development on the Moon, according to NASA officials.
The future is here!
Though Nokia is probably best known for their early cell phone designs, the company also has the capacity to build vital infrastructure from cell towers and satellites. The Finland corporation will work with Bell Labs to build a lunar cellular network, planned for a late 2022 launch.
"Reliable, resilient and high-capacity communications networks will be key to supporting sustainable human presence on the lunar surface," said Nokia Chief Technology Officer Marcus Weldon in a recent press release. He also remarked that Bell Labs is once again "planting the flag" for unconventional pioneering and innovation as we make our first steps onto another world.
The contract is said to be in the amount of $14.1 million and will "provide a speedy connection to any device within range of a base station."
NASA's Artemis program is planning to send astronauts on a lunar mission by 2024. Can you imagine being one of the first to get a selfie from another world? Or a tweet that the lunar landing vehicle has just touched down?
It's another amazing stride forward as our technology continues to advance by leaps and bounds. Be sure to catch Donna's Friday blog about several other exciting new advances (plot bunnies!) by following this link:
Room for Optimism in Today's Science News by Donna S. Frelick
Reference information for this blog can be found here:
Chron: NASA is Launching a 4G Mobile Network on the Moon
Popular Science: The Moon will soon have Cell Service
Is Pets in Space 5 the Best Collection Yet?
If you read some of the reviews, the "best collection yet" has certainly been a repeated theme and it's saying quite a lot considering the first four volumes were pretty amazing themselves.
It's an especially proud achievement considering the authors were dealing with varying level of stress in their personal lives due to the pandemic crises while in the process of penning these stories.
Yet, reading the reviews immediately invoked shades of Oprah: "You get 5 stars! And you get 5 stars! And you get 5 stars!"
Let me recap just a few of the many comments made by readers:
FABULOUS COLLECTION FOR SCI-FI ROMANCE FANS!!! -Five star Amazon review
Another perfect anthology! -Five star Amazon review
THE BEST OF THE BEST -Five star Amazon review
Terriffic -Five star Amazon review
Great anthology! - Five star Amazon review
And what a yummy smorgasbord of delicious SFR delights it is. Reading Reality Reviews - Five Stars
Absolutely fantastic collection of stories from so many outstanding authors. Loved each and everyone. Ready for more. -Five Star Goodreads review
Also, don't miss co-blogger Greta van der Rol's reviews on three of the Pets in Space 5 books at the links below:
Greta van der Rol: Juggernaut - A Pets in Space 5 Story
Greta van der Rol: The General's Holiday is a Great Read
Greta van der Rol: Another Winner from Pets in Space
While the authors are all extremely happy to have delivered such a well-received collection of works, we're also a little concerned that time is running out for our charity, Hero-Dogs.
Our donation window ends on Veterans Day, November 11th! That's just a little over two weeks away.
If you haven't yet purchased a copy of this exciting new Pets in Space® offering, please consider doing so today so a portion of your purchase can go to help Hero Dogs. But also, so you can grab this wonderful volume of science fiction romance stories--in spaaaaaaaace--before it's gone forever!
These volumes only run for a limited time before they are permanently removed from sale. You may still be able to track down a story or two if they're republished in the future, but certainly not at a price of less than 42 cents per book! And I do mean 'per book'! Most of these stories are novella to full novel length!
That's a whole lot of great reading that will give you an escape from the here-and-now, and help a fabulous charity like Hero-Dogs while you're at it.
Click here to see all the available vendors:
Have a great week. A very Happy Halloween...and Happy Reading!
“Dek,” Major Remm’s voice intruded
into her thoughts. “Commander needs you to see you in SecCom. Now.”
She replied subvocally, her com
equipment translating the muscle movement in her throat and mouth. “Give me
five. Targets penetrated barrier and have retreated. Need to ensure they exit
the area.”
“Sergeant Garr is en route to
relieve you.”
Dek’s attention remained on the
teens until the slight reverberation of the steel circ-stairs below clued her
in to the man’s arrival. The kids out on the beach wouldn’t hear him, but it
peeved her that Garr was often so lax in the stealth department.
“Hey, cuz,” he subvoced.
Dek grimaced. Cuz. Ancient
tradition behind the LaGuardian four-letter surnames meant she and Sergeant
Garr had shared ancestors at some point on the planet’s timeline. But if they
were cousins, it was probably something like sixty times removed. And it sure
hadn’t deterred her junior team member from hitting on her. Which, in her
assessment, made him not only bungling, but completely unprofessional.
“Coming up behind you.”
Like I could miss you.
Dekessa waited until the sergeant
settled into his watch beside her then pushed away from the rock to descend the
stairs. “Be sure those kids are okay.”
“Right. Hey, loan me your vid, cuz.
I left mine in my quarters.”
Bumbling, unprofessional, and
forgetful.
Dek gave an impatient sigh and
tossed him her vid unit.
“What, no kiss before you go?” he
taunted as she started down the steps.
“Put a hatch on it.”
His subvocal laughter echoed inside
her head. If the ComCenter picked up his pointless chatter, they didn’t
verbally reprimand him.
When Dek reached the bottom step,
she turned left and headed into the maw of darkness.
The commander’s office occupied an
alcove of the great cave her team called home—in reality a massive lava tube.
In ancient times, glowing magma had carved stark horizontal grooves into the
curved walls and left lavacicles hanging from areas of the ceiling where molten
rock had once dripped. Eons later, wind and huge waves had brought in megatons
of sand from the beach outside, covering much of the jumbled basalt floor and
providing easily navigable paths through the cavity. The floor sloped downward
from the entrance point, but mid-cave, the incline leveled off into an area
free of large rocky outcroppings.
This was where most of the
infrastructure huddled: the quarters, mess, detention cells, and security
command office—or SecCom—where their commander had transformed a couple of temp
structures into his makeshift office complex. Dekessa passed the modular staff
barracks and mess hall and made her way across the smooth sand path to his
location.
A breach in the rock ceiling high
above the complex illuminated the underground lair in daylight hours. The
opening had been sealed by a plasma barrier, allowing light to pass, but not
weather or the prying eyes of air- or spaceborne spy craft.
Their overlord enemies, the Ithian
Alliance, were always watching. Especially this planet.
Things are moving forward nicely in my Book Mom life, so this seems like an excellent time to stop and talk about where I am and where you are on the series timeline.
So first the big news...
The timing is great, because this story has some ties to my October release, Juggernaut (Pets in Space® 5), though it takes place five calendars (years) after Juggernaut.
Set on planet Banna, aboard a Network ship, and ultimately on MONA Loa station, Spy Dog fleshes out a behind-the-scenes mission that ends up being paramount to the pivotal event, Operation Reset.
SpyDog literally takes place at the same time as the anchor novel, Inherit the Stars, shedding new light on the building insurrection in the anchor novel as Sair and Drea (aboard Specter) have their own confrontations with the Alliance.
There are a few scenes that intersect with the novel, though from very different perspectives. The two books together flesh out the story in the same way that Rogue One gave new insights into the plans to blow up the Death Star in Star Wars: A New Hope.
For those that read Inherit the Stars, there are some big surprises in store in SpyDog! (And vice versa!)
As I mentioned, Juggernaut goes back five calendars in the timeline, and reveals something major in a big twist. (Thank you StarDog Cassie for your service. wink wink ) This "wrinkle in the universe" was one I had first planned to introduce in a later book, and then I had an epiphany--this discovery needed to be made earlier in the timeline.
And that's how Juggernaut transformed from an important story to a major event in the series timeline.
By the way, you can read an early review on Juggernaut by clicking here.
So what's next?
Courting Disaster
I'm aiming for a release date in late October or November. Courting Disaster has just been listed on Goodreads, where readers can see regular updates, countdowns, excerpts and teasers and you can now add it to your Goodreads bookshelves as a Want to Read along with your book tags.
If you're interested in following my updates, feel free to friend or follow me on Goodreads, too. (Please and thank you! I always love more friends so I can keep track of books you read/add to your shelves/or release.)
Courting Disaster is the latest book on the timeline to date, taking place three calendars after Operation Reset. It becomes clear the struggle with the Alliance has not necessarily ended in an HEA for everyone. There's more to the story, and Captain Jagger and Ketsia Tayah (from Inherit the Stars) find themselves thrust right into the midst of a sinister new threat.
____________________
Captain Navene Jagger’s certainty he will be promoted to command a new battleship is doused when the admiral instead assigns him to what appears to be a suicide mission. If that isn’t bad enough, he finds his self-imposed status as a military monk in jeopardy when he is ordered to escort Ketsia Tayah and her StarDog through the treacherous, rogue-infested Bradley’s Rift in a battered derelict of a vessel – a task that also forces him to confront his painful past.
Ketsia’s experiences have made her stronger. She knows the universe is still a dangerous place, but it also turns out to be a lot smaller than she would have liked. Ketsia is rattled when she discovers that she and her StarDog are to be escorted by a man she once secretly adored. Can life get any more complicated when they are captured by dangerous rogues and must pretend they are married?
After Jagger learns the ship, the mission, and the StarDog are all much more than they seem, will he be able to protect Ketsia and salvage his career? Or will self-sacrifice be the only way to save those under his protection?
What are the Plans for the Series?
Let me add a figurative place marker arrow here to tell readers where they are in the series.
All of these books are standalone, but as you read them, familiar characters (human and otherwise) may get involved and add more layers to their part in Operation Reset, the struggle against the Alliance, and their contributions to the over-arching story.
Though these books can be read in any order -- and they certainly weren't published in order -- each new story adds more detail and insight into an epic conflict. Along with a romance, of course!
If you'd like to see the chronology this is where each book falls on the current timeline:
Juggernaut (Pets in Space® 5) - five calendars before Operation Reset
StarDog - six moons (months) before Operation Reset
Inherit the Stars - just prior to and during Operation Reset
SpyDog - just prior to and during Operation Reset
Courting Disaster - three calendars after Operation Reset
Farewell Andromeda - approximately 200 years after Operative Reset.
Why is Farewell Andromeda set so far in the future? Because there are more books coming, including a sequel to Farewell Andromeda that will make it clear how crucial this story is to the series timeline.
There's also a trilogy and many more books that will take place before the current times in the series.
After all, there's a reason this series is called The Inherited Stars. Others must have come before who discovered these many Goldilocks worlds in a distant part of our own galaxy, and they in turn had to add their part to history before passing them down to future generations.
Have a great week!
