Saturday night blogging- a hopeless cause

I just got back from playing shuffleboard at the volunteer organization that I play in weekly. Weakly is how I play, I have one decent game then I suck the next game. Oh well, so much is life. Now, I am home working on the computer. I should be working on one of my books but I am not in the mood. Instead I searched Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Stumbleupon looking for something to hold my attention but nothing did meaning I am now blogging. I could read one of the books on my list to review but that requires concentration, something I don't have while enjoying a cocktail or two or more.  I don't want to start something because I intend to take a few days off from the computer to do a little fishing. My wife while I was playing shuffleboard prepared meals for us for three days since she doesn't have time to cook on those days, she loves fishing more than cooking.  I have been rewriting "Lightning Rages" making changes the editor suggested to improve the story. That is why you haven't seen many posts by me in the past week or so, mainly guest posts promoting someone else's work. I am okay with that. The reader might find a good book by someone else and recall where they seen it. They then might come back and look at one of my books. That is why I support so many diverse authors and promote their work. Some I have read and I will make a recommendation that the readers check it out. Readers have such diverse tastes that once in a while they will venture out in a new genre and discover a new rising author they come to love. The hardest part is getting that reader to take the step out of their favorite genre and make sure you recommend a good book for them to enjoy. How has it been for you? Do you stick to your favorite genre or are you adventurous?

Talk back, I'm listening as always and enjoy the rest of your weekend reading a book.  

Nacreous by Sarah Elle Emm -release day blitz-guest post

~ Release Day Blitz ~

About the Book:

After two members of The Freedom Front are arrested and interrogated by the UZTA’s tyrannical President Nicks, Rain Hawkins and her friends face the alarming reality that their plans to liberate the mixed zones across the United Zones of The Authority might not come to fruition. While the resistance movement is growing outside the walls of the zones, the president’s forces are strengthening and putting citizens everywhere in more peril than ever. When Rain receives warnings that her cousin, Calista, has agreed to support plans to kill the mixed zones, and that her life could be on the line at the upcoming pure zone initiation ceremony, she must decide where her loyalties lie and if all of her allies can be trusted. As The Freedom Front use their abilities to unravel the mystery of the ceremony, The Authority captures some of their friends, forcing TFF to either go into hiding, or plan a rescue mission that could jeopardize everything they’ve been fighting for.

Buy NOW from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle

Hooray, it is finally release day for Nacreous! Thanks for stopping by the fabulous Release Day Blitz, organized by b00k r3vi3w Tours. To kick off the blitz, here are a couple of “Fun Facts” about my writing process… I hope you enjoy!

Writing Playlist:

So…Music. Some authors swear by it. They have their playlist set in the background while they pen their latest manuscript. Me? Not exactly. Music is very important to me. I believe in dance parties, and by dance parties I mean cranking up my I-pod to the music fitting my mood, be this salsa, classic rock, blues, country, classical, whatever, and dancing alone in my room or kitchen. (Yes, I said classical and country in the same list). My kids may or may not be in attendance. They like to watch and laugh. Sometimes, they join in. But as far as my writing process goes, the music is sort of my warm up. So I might turn on some music that fits my mood for parts of the story and listen to it in my car or at my desk before I write, but not while I am actually writing. I need it to be quiet in the room, so I can tell the story…(Ahem, hear what my characters are trying to tell me). ;) While I wrote Nacreous, and the other books in the Harmony Run Series, my favorite music warm-up to set the mood was Lorde. Specifically, the songs Team and A World Alone. In fact, if any of the books from my series could be made for film, I would beg producers to include one of those songs in the movies.

My Writing Process:

I can’t sit down and force myself to write everyday because it begins to feel too mechanical, but I am definitely one of those people who thinks about writing, story ideas, characters, scenarios all of the time, awake or asleep. I love using my dreams in my writing and have written a few of them into scenes in the Harmony Run Series. Back in college, the good ol’ stone ages, I had one of the most terrifying dreams of my life about a man with a triangular-shaped eye chasing me down a corridor, one door after the other, with this woman’s voice echoing all around us, telling him to kill me. When I got to the end of the corridor, I opened the last door, and he was standing there facing me. I woke up sobbing…About a year later, a psychology professor at my university asked some of us to share dreams with him so he could demonstrate dream analysis. I bravely raised my hand, (this was huge for me, since I am very shy in person), and shared my dream in vivid detail. After I finished talking, the entire class got eerily quiet and the professor told me I was dealing with issues beyond his realm of help, and went on to the next student’s dream. That student shared a dream about not being able to make a goal in a soccer match, and the professor dissected his dream in depth for fifteen minutes. Years later, I incorporated that dream, adding on some twists and turns of course, into book one from the Harmony Run Series, Prismatic. 

I also come up with ideas when I’m looking out of the kitchen window, when I’m walking, driving, cooking, gardening, taking my kids to martial arts, helping with their homework, basically, every waking moment. I take heaps of notes. I jot notes down for days. And when I’m ready, I sit down and type everything I can. I woke up the other night, and grabbed the notebook and pen beside my bed and wrote down an idea for another story. So my writing process is sort of a twenty-four hour thing. Oh, and probably the most important part of the process…How could I forget? My dog, Shorty, has to harass me to sit in my lap throughout the day. She eventually gives up and sleeps at my feet or nearby. She spares me the occasional glance or sighs every so often when I talk too much. Yes, I like to talk aloud to myself more often than not. If that dog could talk…Well, thankfully that’s not an issue. Here’s a photo of my writing pal…

Isn’t she cute? I hope you stick around to read about Nacreous. I’m going to look up that old psychology professor to see if he wants to read my latest book… ;)

Previous Books in the Series:

  

(Click on the Cover to know more)

About the Author:

Sarah Elle Emm is the author of the HARMONY RUN SERIES, a young-adult fantasy and dystopian series, released in May 2012 by Winter Goose Publishing. (PRISMATIC, May 2012, OPALESCENT, February 2013, CHATOYANT, September 2014, NACREOUS, August 2015) Her debut fiction novel, MARRYING MISSY, was published by Bird Brain Publishing in October 2011. Sarah is a graduate of The University of Evansville, she has lived and worked in Mexico, Germany, England, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and has traveled extensively beyond. Sarah lives in Naples, Florida with her family. When she’s not walking the plank of her daughters’ imaginary pirate ship or snapping photos of Southwest Florida scenery, she is writing.




Stalk the Author:
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Bob Mayer and other random thoughts

I just finished reading this book by Bob Mayer and with all his work it is well written with emphasis on his seven steps of catastrophe that led to the ill fated flight of the Challenger. I would give this a five star rating if I were giving one to the book. He squarely places the blame (fault) on one step of his seven steps-human error where people having the final decision to launch over rode the concerns of the knowledgeable (technical) personnel to go ahead and launch when the temperature was so low that the rubber seals were not longer flexible but brittle. 

We have all seen where those in authority make a decision that puts other people lives at risk in order to meet a schedule or because nothing has went wrong before, why should it now? Those with the technical knowledge are not listened to or their concerns address--hence a catastrophe in the making. I like Bob Mayer's seven steps of a catastrophe, he presents in this book and several others chronicling events that led up to the loss of human life, needlessly. I recalled that tragic day in January when the shuttle exploded. I was at work and one of the office workers came to my office to tell me. I held my breath and then said a little prayer they would find some of them alive especially the teacher. My son was a great fan of hers. He looked forward to her communications back to earth as did thousands of the students back here on Earth. We never spoke about but thinking back, we should have. 

Are there times when something should have been said that never was in your life? Talk back, I'm listening as always. Have a great week end.     

Thirteen by Shannon Peel- my review

Thirteen is a well written book for young adults written by Shannon Peel. I gave it five stars for a teenage book that is not filled with cuss words and kept clean no matter what the circumstances. A good read about a teenager that finds himself living in occupied territory. The story begins with foreign troops invading the section of Canada that the main character Jack lives in. You will feel the sudden changes that this event brings to a thirteen year old that struggles to understand why his mother suddenly goes to extremes on collecting firewood, water and food when except for a few distant explosions, the war had not touched him. The cancellation of school didn't bother him as much as being stuck all day at home with his mother who was estranged from his father. Jack thought it was because of his mother that his father moved out and lived elsewhere with a blonde bimbo. He felt that his mother was the reason he left. She was incapable of doing things on her own. With the appearance of foreign soldiers, Jack soon learns that his mother was made of sterner stuff than he ever imagined. A good clean story as Jack struggles to live without TV, Video games and cellphones. Jack expected that within a week, his Canadian army would kick the foreign invaders out of their country and things would go back the way it was before. That never happened and soon he learned the invaders were using Canadians as human shields to prevent being attacked. 

  About the Author

The Author’s Inspiration 

Shannon Peel is a mother of two living in near the US / Canada border in South Surrey, BC Canada. When her son was 8 years old she met a lost boy of South Sudan who at the age of 8 was fleeing a war torn country alone. The man’s story pulled at her and she felt it was important to tell it. However, it wasn’t her story to tell.   The story was set in a place she’d never been, with a people she didn’t know, and most in the Western world didn’t care about. Her story did not inspire empathy for a place so far removed from life in Canada.   A thought came to her while on a walk in her South Surrey neighborhood. Why not bring the war to Canada? The more she thought about it the more it made sense. An invasion resulting in a totalitarian government in Canada would change everything and make it more relevant to her target audience.   When the idea to bring the war to Canada came to her she was struggling with her son’s desire to be independent from her at the age of 13. Her struggle to come to terms with the drastic change is a universal struggle all mothers have as their children grow.   Thirteen is the first of hopefully many books about Jack and his friends resisting a totalitarian power, finding themselves, and making a difference in this world.   Her son is now 16 years old and although Jack is based on him, he remains unique and different from Jack.  

I will give you a free copy of this ebook for sharing it  to your circles or on Facebook. Make a comment or post your link to facebook and I will send you the code to get it free.  

Link to download any e-reader file: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/321581

Talk back, I'm listening

Jason Zandri blog tour- 4wills publishing

I am pleased to host Jason Zandri in his blog tour today. His book  I, Hero: Nathan Returns – Excerpt I – PROLOGUE, I am excited to offer up the next “first look / never seen before” release of I, Hero: Nathan Returns – Excerpt II

    

I, Hero: Nathan Returns – Excerpt II

Adia closed the apartment door behind her and sighed. She stepped into the kitchen and pulled her phone out of her pocket. It was nearly eight o’clock and there was a new message from her roommate, Melinda, “out with the boyfriend, don’t wait up.”

She smiled, dropped her purse on the table, and walked over to the couch. She flicked the television on, set the remote down, and took her shoes off. She tossed them aside and lay down on the couch.

“…World News with Mark Daniels; thank you for joining us for this special edition of America’s Roundtable. With us tonight…” Adia stopped paying attention, sat up, and grabbed the remote. She was just about to change the station when the topic grabbed her attention.

“…hero or menace? With me to discuss the implications of Nathan, his powers, and his impact, good and bad, on the people is tonight’s distinguished panel of guests.”

Adia set the remote down and fixated her attention on the television.

“To my far left we have U.S. Senator Mackenzie Kelly from New York, who is now serving his third term. To my near left we have General Kevin Westmartin, the most senior member of the US Air Command. On my far right we have Congressman Patrick Johnson from Texas who is now serving his sixth term in that office. To my near right, noted scholar, Professor Rebecca Farnsmith who is the head tutor of the Folklore and Mythology department at Washbury University. Welcome everyone,” he said looking around to the four people sitting around him, “and welcome to everyone at home, tuning in this evening for this special, live broadcast.”

Adia continued to watch as the view on screen changed to smaller news feeds along the right edge and the lower portion of the display. The overall video feed shrank to the upper left two thirds of the screen to accommodate the data streams from the network.

“To remind everyone here and the viewers at home of our format,” Mark said as the camera view focused on him, “this is an open, roundtable discussion. Technically, it can be on any topic; obviously the major topic this evening is Nathan and his extraordinary powers, but the conversation is free to go anywhere. We will only interrupt the discussion if we cannot maintain some semblance of order, which I am sure we all can agree, is needed to have a discussion.”

Mark smiled slightly and looked over to Professor Rebecca Farnsmith. “Let me open the discussion with you Professor Farnsmith. There has been a lot of speculation regarding Nathan’s powers. While they seem to equal, or in some other manner, mimic the fictional characters from EarthWorld comics, there has been a smaller discussion, mainly from your current and prior students, as well as followers of your work, that they are rooted in the characters from Greek Mythology.”

The camera panned past Congressman Johnson, who had a look of disbelief on his face over the comment, and stopped at Professor Farnsmith.

“Thank you for the opening, Mark. First let me say the beings from Greek Mythology were not ‘characters’,” she said turning casually, propping her seated position. She wanted to have presence, but she did not want to insult or dominate. “We believe through our studies of the writings and records, that these beings existed here on Earth for an extended period of time.”

“Oh please,” Congressman Johnson said in a burst of contempt. “I thought we were going to discuss this man Nathan and his threat to our society; not sorcery, or some such, from two thousand years ago.”

“What’s harder to believe Congressman?” Professor Farnsmith responded quickly, defending her position and turning towards him. “That there are very powerful beings that once visited us from another realm; where they once lived among us, and the people of that time thought of them as gods. Or is it easier to believe there is a man flying around, with the powers of the fictional character of Mister Atomic, helping dissipate wild fires by breaking down the molecular bonds of oxygen and thereby removing one of the required fuel sources that feed it?”

“Is that how he helped with the southern brush fires in your home state of Texas, Congressman?” Senator Kelly asked with a smug look on his face.

“Look,” Congressman Johnson responded with his hands open in front of him, with his southern accent becoming more pronounced, “I do not deny that this Nathan has done a great many things that has helped a great many people. There are so many issues and concerns with his powers. Where is his allegiance? What is he working on for the President? Or other nations for that matter?”

“I can tell you, unequivocally, Congressman Johnson,” Senator Kelly responded, “and you good people at home, the young man we all know as Nathan is extraordinary not only in the powers he wields, but the level of discretion under which he uses them. Or doesn’t, as is sometimes the case.”  Senator Kelly moved in his seat slightly and continued quickly, concerned that he might get cut off. “We, the United States government, have asked him for help on occasion on matters that I cannot discuss here. When it was applicable and he was able, he helped. When he felt it was too high a level of interference, in a gray area, where a sovereign nation was concerned, and we would not contact them to explain our incursion, he would decline to help us.”

“And who is he to question the Commander in Chief?” General Westmartin barked loudly.

“He’s an everyday citizen,” Senator Kelly countered. “He does not serve as an enlisted American, and as such, he has every right to decline something. At best, he working with us like a consultant might for the FBI or the CIA. And just like them, if he feels there is something off, he simply declines.”

“So what is he working on?” General Westmartin asked smugly. “I haven’t been in the loop on much of anything and yet I should be, more so than not.”

“Obviously General, I am unable to comment on that,” Senator Kelly responded plainly.

“And yet,” General Westmartin countered quickly, “it’s only you and the President with those special little phones to call him. Now why is that?”

“Well the choice of the President having one is pretty self-explanatory; if anyone is going to need to pull a major rip cord and need the help of a superhero, it would be the President of the United States.”

“Fair enough,” the General responded, shifting in his seat and leaning forward. “Then why do you have the other one?”

“Because he trusted me with it,” Senator Kelly responded calmly.

There was a brief lull and the Senator took advantage of that and turned back to Professor Farnsmith. “Professor,” he said plainly, “You commented before on your beliefs and studies of the Greek gods, Zeus, Hera, and so forth. Can you lend more of your knowledge? I am very interested in your theories.”

“Well,” Professor Farnsmith said unassumingly, “we believe these beings existed on another plane of existence, where the laws of time, nature, physics, and perhaps some others, like magic, apply very differently than in ours. For instance, it’s been hypothesized that those beings were few in number. There were not millions or billions like the number of us as we exist here on Earth. They may number in the hundreds, or even less. That is a theory as to why they are able to tap into the powers they have. They are connected to their version of nature and their universe at such a level that they can tap into the very energies around them and channel those for directed use.”

 “Zeus and his thunderbolts,” General Westmartin responded sarcastically.

    “We harness electricity with machines and technology; why couldn’t a highly evolved being channel it through his body with nothing more than his will?” Professor Farnsmith countered quickly. “We have Earth; we hypothesize that their Mount Olympus is where they reside. Because they were around for many centuries it is assumed they either live a very long time or that time moves differently on their plane of existence. Or perhaps it is both.”

“So those beings could be alive today?” Senator Kelly asked in a serious tone.

“They could,” Professor Farnsmith responded simply.

“WOO!” Congressman Johnson said loudly, “that blasphemy is going to cost you some nice votes come next year.”

“First off I never called them gods. Having said that, who said aliens have to be green and arrive on spaceships?” Senator Kelly responded coolly. “Why couldn’t they be “alien” beings, but rather than coming from another world far away, they instead live on another plane of existence?” Senator Kelly asked making finger quote marks in the air.

“Exactly,” Professor Farnsmith responded quickly. “In the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, the Book of Joshua, the Book of Job, and the two Books of Chronicles, to name just a few ancient writings, each mention a number of people that lived well beyond 400 years of age. They were the few; the exceptions. If we are to assume those as correct ages of beings on this world, it supports that the same could also be true for beings in other planes of existence. Additionally, if time moved differently there, where years here were days or hours there, they would seem to be immortal and seemingly live forever.”

“That’s an interesting theory Professor,” General Westmartin mused, “you wouldn’t happen to have any concrete proof to back any of it up?”

“I have as much proof to my beliefs as you might for whichever ones you hold,” she responded holding her ground. “As with all ancient texts, there are possible mistranslations from text to document, document to parchment, and so on. It doesn’t have to be egregious; even a minor one can throw something off. A decimal in the wrong place… that sort of thing.”

“So even your own hypotheses and theories are suspect?” General Westmartin countered.

“Of course,” she said plainly. “I believe in the work I do and the topics I study, but I am limited to the data and information I am given to review and work with.” She paused for a moment, and then continued. “I do believe in it whole-heartedly. And if Nathan has been given this gift by them,” Professor Farnsmith paused and quickly turned to see Senator Kelly nod slightly, “then it stands to reason that he is tapping the same energies that other heroes have in the course of history.”

“Helen of Troy? Hercules? Perseus? I think that if any are going to be somewhat household names, those would be it,” Congressman Johnson said loudly. “I might have to consult my grandson for some of the new age fiction ones.”

“Sarcasm is the tool of a weak mind,” Professor Farnsmith panned.

“I would like to know what the issue is, that certain factions of the government and the military, have with Nathan,” Senator Kelly said as be repositioned himself in the chair. “If the fact alone that the President of the Unites States has zero issue with him isn’t enough, what is it that bothers people? He’s not acting as law enforcement. He’s never performed any function as a citizen. He’s assisted when called upon but it’s not like he made citizen arrests. He’s been on the scene of the occasional crime, like when helping with flooding and holding looters while the police arrived, but he’s effectively never acted independently.”

“You tell them, Senator” Adia said to the television as she got up from the couch to get something to drink. She made her way into the kitchen and continued to look back at the television as Senator Kelly continued.

“The fact of the matter is, with all the powers he has, I think he’s shown great restraint. I wonder how many other people could do the same. Perhaps it’s why they chose him.”

“All this issue aside with the Greek gods, Senator, granting powers and all,” General Westmartin countered, “I have never seen, in man or nature, an imbalance to any one side, maintain. With man, when one side moved away from clubs to fire sticks, so did the other side. Right now, we stave each other off with tons of nukes pointed at one another. Oh, sure, they are dormant now, and the escalation is way down from where it was in the 60s and 70s, but they are all available to use when and if needed. As far as nature goes, I am far less the expert, but when too much ground water is tapped, we have sinkholes. When too much over fishing is done, other species suffer or die off. If there is so much of a counterbalance in a force of good, my concern is when the opposite of Nathan shows up.”

There was a quiet pause over the panel for a moment.

Adia walked from the kitchen with her glass of water and set it down on the coffee table.

“Would you care to elaborate further on that, General?” Mark asked to try to re-engage the conversation that stopped.

“There are two major issues on this point; let me start with the first one, Nathan himself. What if the power goes to his head? What if he suddenly does decide he is bigger than all of us and decides protecting isn’t enough and that he should rule? How can we possibly defeat someone so powerful?”

“His powers are not absolute,” Senator Kelly chimed in. “He confided in me that fact, and I hope he’ll forgive me if it was something he wanted kept more confidential. He never explicitly identified as such but… he indicated that his powers are… regulated, to a degree. He basically said, they were granted by the Greek gods. He knows this although he never explained how, and freely admitted he’s never seen or met any of them. Since he’s indicated that much, I believe that if these beings decided to intervene in such a way, to try to affect without directly getting involved, that they would also have a way to intervene should he become a direct threat.”

“What makes you so sure?” the General asked.

“Faith,” Senator Kelly responded. “It would seem to me that if they desired, these beings could directly involve themselves as they did millennia ago. For whatever reason, they left and decided to stay gone, as far as we’re all aware. Who knows if they indirectly influenced things along the way? We’ll never know for sure unless we could communicate with one of them. At the end of the day and for whatever reasons, they have decided to act in this manner through Nathan. From what I seen, in such an ordinary man, they have found someone extraordinary.”

Adia smiled. Her thoughts drifted to the last time she saw Nathan and the day he said goodbye. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Excuse me,” Mark said, moving his hand up to his ear piece. “We are getting word now that there is an emergency at the Hanford Nuclear Power Plant. We are going to interrupt our broadcast… Stacy Martins for the local affiliate is on the scene. Stacy… we are live to you.”

“Yes, good evening Mark. Details are sketchy at the moment but apparently there was an issue earlier with one of the reactors and its cooling system. About an hour ago, the criticality level changed from Site Area Emergency, which is an issue that is contained within the site boundary, where no action is needed by the general public, to General Emergency. With that enacted, the evacuation order was initially given for the two inner zones around the plant, but that now has been escalated and emergency sirens have gone off. I have unconfirmed reports that containment loss may occur if they cannot get the situation remedied in short order.”

“Come on Nathan…” Aida said aloud. “Show them what you’re made of.”

***

Persephone stood in the garden by the reflecting pool on Mount Olympus. She smiled upon the chaos that was occurring on the scene. With the crisis at the Hanford Nuclear Power Plant escalating, Zeus and Hera also arrived.

“Fancy seeing you here daughter,” Hera disparaged while walking around the far side of the reflecting pool.

“My hand is not in this, as it is, of course, forbidden,” Persephone said feigning a smile to her and then turning to her father. “I am, of course, as equally surprised to see you here, both of you. It’s unusual to see either of you at the reflecting pool at all, let alone together.”

Zeus said nothing but only looked down into the pool at the scene.

“We all feel it too; I do expect you to realize that,” Persephone said looking at her father. “The hero Nathan is pulling power from this realm, and through all of us, as you commanded, father. We know when something is amiss. You may feel it first, but we know it too.”

***

Adia continued to watch the scene unfold on the television when suddenly Nathan appeared on the screen, landing in the background of the shot with the reporter. She clasped her hands together and prayed.

“Yes Mark, it does appear that Nathan has arrived.”

“We have confirmation here as well,” Mark responded. “We are getting the automated telemetry feed information from Nathan’s Computer Central network. As viewers might be aware, since enabling the Computer Central network a few months ago, Nathan makes available to all news reporting networks, via the AP feeds, all and any pertinent information for any major emergencies. You will see this information on the right side and bottom of your television screens at home. From time to time as well, the view on the screen may break away from our network control to live feeds that Computer Central provides. Nathan has maintained that he does this in an effort to provide clarity and transparency to anything that he is doing in the public interest.”

The camera in the studio zoomed out to show the entire panel and then the shot went back out to the reporter on the scene. Almost immediately, the shot then cut away to a raw feed from Computer Central.

***

Nathan entered the facility and raced toward the reactor core.

“Computer Central?”

“Enabled.”

“What’s the status of the core?” Nathan asked as he reinforced his personal shielding as Captain Delta.

“It will go critical. It will need to be evacuated.”

Nathan moved quickly to the area of the core. “Looks like I am going to have to pull the same move I did with the shuttle; I’m going to need to extend my own shielding and then move this whole unit.”

“Affirmative; you will not be able to contain the reactor once the critical level is reached.”  

“I might have been better served today to be Mister Atomic; he could have simply absorbed all this radioactive energy until it became inert.”

“Confirmed,” Computer Central responded. “The known quantities of nuclear and radioactive material onsite Hanford Nuclear Power Plant are within Mister Atomic’s capabilities to neutralize.”

“I’ve learned not to second guess the compulsion to don one shirt over another,” Nathan responded while he focused and extended his personal force field around the failing reactor core. The action sheered electrical circuits and crushed much of the supports and the surrounding super structure. Once fully enveloped, he strained to raise the enveloped material while he gravitated alongside. “How far,” Nathan asked, straining under duress, “do I have to get this into the edge of space to jettison it completely out of orbit and Earth’s gravity well?”

“Scanning the mass of the matter you are now raising based on density. Scanning… Sending the information to your wrist monitor. It is based on the readings I have. I have added twenty five percent to the weight calculation and the speed requirement based on the read out. You will need to reach that altitude and speed away from Earth to send the matter away successfully. I have also plotted a course to allow it the best trajectory towards the sun.”

Nathan looked quickly at the display. He continued to strain as he raised the material. “That exceeds the highest altitude I’ve ever attempted as Captain Delta.”

“Affirmative; by 313 percent. It is within the parameters of the character’s abilities based on the fictional accounts of his powers.”

“Yes,” Nathan responded, continuing to lift the mass, under pressure, “nothing like the words ‘fictional accounts of his abilities’ to instill my personal confidence.”

The emergency crews on the ground watched the major portion of the reactor complex lift and leave the site within Nathan’s protective shielding.

“Segmented portions of Captain Delta’s powers are derived from willpower,” Computer Central responded as Nathan continued to lift the radioactive materials and the remnants of the reactor tower and core skyward. “Your supply of willpower, to date, does not have an upper measure.”

Nathan continued upwards for several minutes in silent concentration at his best speed to reach escape velocity.

“Distance from ground?” Nathan called out, interrupting the silence, with his voice beginning to break.

“Twelve, point three miles.” Computer Central responded.

“Is the radiation leaking outside the shielding?” Nathan asked looking around.

“Negative.”

“Storm clouds are forming out of thin air up here.” Nathan said as his tone shifted to concern.

“Analyzing… analyzing… conditions are not permissible for the formation of storm clouds at your location.” Computer Central responded.

“What?” Nathan asked slightly dazed as he began to slow his acceleration and move slightly lateral and away from his original position directly under the core materials.

Lightning strikes began to leap from cloud to cloud and then exchange down to Earth.

“The clouds should not exist given present conditions.” Computer Central responded.

Suddenly, Nathan grabbed his throat, gasping for air, with his personal shielding gone.

With the total loss of his powers, he began to plummet back to Earth with the reactor materials falling with him.

About I, Hero: Nathan Returns 

Nathan is back in New York City; the place where it all started, nearly one year later. While he has been away, he has been establishing a base of operations and trying to follow the direction his life has taken – making a difference and answering the call for help where and when he is needed.

He has returned to this birthplace of his powers with more questions of why he is on the path he is on and what is expected of him.

During a dangerous rescue, his powers dissipate, and leave him critically vulnerable.

He connects back with old friends who help him rediscover the man he used to be to in order to help him be the man he has become and the man who he must be.

Magical forces come into play, pulling on nature itself, which introduces an unexpected challenge to Nathan while he is at this perilous juncture.

The pendulum swings even farther out of alignment; it is up to Nathan to respond before forces are set into motion that cannot be countered.

I, Hero: The Beginning – Links to Excerpts

“I, Hero – The Beginning” – Excerpt I http://bit.ly/1MKrwsF
“I, Hero – The Beginning” – Excerpt II http://bit.ly/1CCp4Sl
“I, Hero – The Beginning” – Excerpt III http://bit.ly/1HlZEYo
“I, Hero – The Beginning” – Excerpt IV http://bit.ly/1CwNg3l

I, Hero: Nathan Returns – Links to Excerpts

COMING ON DAYS FIVE AND SIX ON THE TOUR!

Books and links

Before Another Sunset (The Sunset Series Book 1)
http://www.amazon.com/Before-Another-Sunset-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B00T11GKYE

Another Sunset (The Sunset Series Book 2)
http://www.amazon.com/Another-Sunset-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00QD2FQU8/

I Hero: The Beginning
http://www.amazon.com/I-Hero-Beginning-Jason-Zandri-ebook/dp/B00Y3LA41M/

I Hero: Nathan Returns
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011AOPE64

As Life Goes: Elementary
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Goes-Elementary-Jason-Zandri-ebook/dp/B00ZXVB7SK/ 

As Life Goes: The End of the Innocence – (expected November 2015)
As Life Goes: The Reunion – (expected April 2016)
As Life Goes: The Wedding (expected July 2016)
As Life Goes: The Funeral (expected October 2016)

I Hero: Untitled Book 3 (Expected first half 2016)
I Hero: Untitled Book 4 (Expected second half 2016)
I Hero: Untitled Book 5 (Expected first half 2017)

Social Media links

Twitter – @GUNDERSTONE https://twitter.com/gunderstone/
Facebook Author page – https://www.facebook.com/jzandri
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonzandri
Google+ – https://plus.google.com/+JasonZandri/ 
Author blog – The GUNDERSTONE Review https://gunderstone.wordpress.com/

ABOUT JASON ZANDRI

Jason has been working in the information technology field in one form or the other since 1996. He is currently employed full time at Bloomberg LP as a Systems Engineer in the R&D group. Jason lives in Wallingford Connecticut, with his wife Renata. He is the father to four children, three boys and 1 girl - 11 years (Andrew), 9 years (Angela), 7 years (Adam) and 6 years old (Alex).

 Take a look at Jason, I think you will find his book enjoyable and thanks for dropping by. Talk Back, I'm Listening.Have a great day.

My review of "I will Breathe" by Regina Puckett

 I gave it five stars on Amazon today. Even though it is meant for a younger audience, I found I really enjoyed it. Regina has a way of presenting a story that is well written and a delight to read. The main character, Liberty finds herself all alone after the man she called father died in an airship that travels here and there in a world destroyed in a great war. Love is not part of her vocabulary, she doesn't have time for it until a robot called "boy" is forced into her life after the man that created the robot has died. Boy thinks Liberty is his sister and sets out to teach her what love is. Regina introduces a fine cast of characters in the story as she shows that no one can live life alone forever, humans crave contact and interactions with other humans even when they won't admit it.  The boy, keeper of knowledge teaches Liberty love is all that is missing. Good short story winning several awards.
Regina Puckett is a 2014 Readers' Favorite Award winning author for her sweet romance, Concealed in My Heart. Her steampunk book, I Will Breathe, and her children's picture book, Borrowed Wings, both received the Children's Literary Classic Seal of Approval. "I Will Breathe" was selected as a Science Fiction Finalist in the 2015 IAN Book of the Year Awards. 

Memories, won first place in the 1st WSBR International Poetry Contest, and her collection of poetry, Fireflies, won the 2013 Turning Pages Poetry Book of the Year.

Regina Puckett has been writing for over forty-eight years, and lives in Tennessee with her husband of over forty years. She has two grown daughters and four grandchildren.

She writes sweet romances, horror, inspirational, steampunk, picture books and poetry. There are always several projects in various stages of completion and characters and stories waiting in the wings for their chance to finally get out of her head and onto paper.

Please come and visit me at facebook.com/regina.puckett1
http://reginapuckettsbooks.weebly.com/index.html
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/154116.Regina_Puckett
https://twitter.com/ReginaPucket

Enjoy the book, I did. Talk back, I'm listening and have a great day.

Florence Nightingale effect starts the whole thing.

I have had several readers of my Lightning in the Tunnel series become astonished that Brad (the main character) has so many wives especially readers that pick up the series late in the series. I had one reader on give it a five star review and in the review mention the only thing she didn't like about the story was Brad's having so many wives. For those that have not read the first book, I will explain. During their long confinement when Los Angeles was nuked, Michele fell in love with Brad (the Florence Nightingale effect since he saved her life). She had met Brad's wife Vicki the night before. She was a tall blonde haired good looking woman as Michele knew she was, having played bit parts in movies and commercials. During a weak moment in Brad, she was able to get him to have sex with her. Once they left their confinement, she kept coming up with different scenarios that would enable her to still be with him. As it turned out, Vicki was not in the shelter they built as expected. Michele breathed a sigh of relief knowing she might be dead allowing her to keep Brad forever to herself. The only time he ever told her that he loved her was when they left the basement they survived in. She didn't know he saw Vicki's face instead of hers when he uttered those words. But he was too chicken to withdraw them. Anyway, she thought she had it made until they left the shelter called the "Tomb" with a group of females. The only one she had to worry about in her mind was Barbara, Jenny's mother.

Little did Michele know that Jenny had a crush on Brad, so strong that Vicki had to warn her to stay away from Brad. She did, pretending to have other boyfriends so Vicki wouldn't suspect she still had Brad on her mind. The first male to make love to Jenny was Brad in her mind not the actual person. When she saw Michele, not Vicki she knew she would do whatever it took to make him see she was a woman and in love with him.

Michele soon saw the girls would do things to make Brad noticed their bodies, even kissing him or pressing their bodies against him. She saw he didn't seem to notice all their actions trying to take him away from Michele. Brad thought of Jenny as a daughter not a future lover.

Everything came to a head when Jenny came up behind Brad while he was observing some crazies. He let her kiss his neck, he thought it was Michele so he reached up touching her breasts. She was mesmerized feeling his hands on her body. Brad thought they felt small to him but when she kissed him, he had his eyes closed enjoying touching her body and the feel of his lips. As you suspected, in came Michele. She saw the two of them kissing and his hand up her blouse. She started to kill her using the crossbow that Brad provided for her but couldn't kill someone she knew. She finally decided she would share him with Jenny and lowered the crossbow. Then set the ground rules for sharing him. Not allowing Brad to put in his two cents or even refuse the sharing.

To Michele, she opened a can of worms. The horny Angel over heard the conversation between Jenny and Michele so she went about joining the sharing of Brad and succeeded in doing so. Bitch (Patty) on the other hand didn't bother to ask, She just took Brad forcing herself on him. No one stopped her, knowing she was crazy, maybe kill them all if anyone did. She wanted to prove she was just like the other girls but most didn't think so.

So now you know how the multi-wife situation came about. As a added note: With the fact that Vicki might show up at any time, they decided to join with Brad thinking they would have a claim on him if she ever came back into his life.  

Talk back, I'm Listening.

  

Why you will never see any if my books on paid sites

I am constantly being solicited to add my book (s) to this site or another for a fee. They claim to bring a thousands of readers to your book (s). I tried several out last year and finding that you might be lucky if someone discovers your work. Yes, I said someone because one might find you on those sites only if they are looking for this type of book at the time. Sales generated from these sites if you are lucky is one. Most of the time, I spent the money for no reason. I joined several sites like I said but finally came to the conclusion that until my platform and following is large enough that I would not pay ever again. I joined various groups and will not renew my membership in them. When renewal time comes, I will leave that group and only staying as members of the groups that do not charge for membership. Maybe, some day when I accidentally write a best seller or one of my many books become one, then I might reconsider this subject.  No one can guarantee you book sales. Since I write because I love to write. I have so many stories rolling around in my head that I hope I live long enough to get all of them written and published. If only one person buys and reads each one, I will be even happier. I would love for them to review it but what the heck, I don't care knowing at least one person read it. 

The cover shown is the rewritten first published book of mine. Talk back, I'm listening. Have a great weekend.      

Getting older-different pain

As the body ages, I found new places that can hurt on me. It doesn't take many activities for me to wake up the next morning with aches and pain. For the last few weeks, neck pain has been the biggest culprit but I have always had pain from my knees and my ankles pop constantly when I first walk in the morning. That is why I head to my computer right away to focus my mind on other things than those hurting. A couple of days ago, I cut up a tree in the yard, now I know for a few days I will have lower back pain. I am not one of those that like to take pills so I avoid even taking aspirin to help. The worst thing for me in the morning is having the air conditioning on right away. My body seems to ache even more. My only pain medication I do consume is a few cocktails to ease the discomfort so I can sleep. Too much and I am sleeping ten hours or more which means I don't go for my morning walk, it is just too hot out to do so that late.

I purchased the rights back to the book  in this picture (Terror Reigns) and I am rewriting it into two books. The first part is now called "Bitch's Blade" and I will explain why. The first five chapters are about the actions taken by Bitch (Patty) when her sister is killed. For those that never read any of the Lightning in the Tunnel series, Patty kills those responsible for beheading her mother and the one that actually killed her mother, she slowly killed him. All the while he kept calling her "Bitch" and from that day she told everyone her name was Bitch. Refusing to respond to any other name. I thought you might wonder why she was named Bitch because she became the deadliest female with a knife. I will talk more about this in the coming months.

Have a great day. Talk back, I'm listening. 

Hard Love, something most parents avoid.

Note: this picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post. It was our granddaughter Izzy wanting a picture of her with grandma's hat.

Hard love, the subject most parents avoid at a cost. We love our children and will help them by picking up the pieces when they screw up or head down the wrong path.  BUT! We do them a disservice by doing this over and over again. Sometimes it is necessary to finally remove the tit and let them stand in the shit they created. My wife had to do this to our youngest daughter. Our daughter didn't talk to us for almost three years after she did but that event was a wake up call for our daughter. She got her life together, went to college and graduated all the while she married, worked a full time job. Now her life is on the right track and she has never thanked my wife for doing this, but we know she is grateful and leads a good life with two children and a loving husband. This was a hard love success story.

Now for a hard love unsuccessful story. my son lived with me and my second wife for seven years and seemed like a good child headed on the right path in life until his later teen years when he like all teenagers started to go down their own path but led by peers, he changed. Soon, friends became more important than family, sound familiar? Anyway, he stole from his sister, he had never stole or lied before, now he told everyone that he didn't know what happened to it. His sister later found his friend with it as they were running around town, ditching school. When he was caught in the act and I confronted him, he said 'friends are more important than family' I got pissed and sent him back to my ex-wife to live. Even though we had been very close, he was angry with me but I thought sending him back would teach him the importance of family, boy was I wrong. He ran away, stole more things and ended back up at my doorstep after the police dropped him off. His mother came and got him, but how was I to know she lived in a world filled with drugs that he would soon become involved in. He has spent many years in prison, been shot, and never spoke to me for almost fifteen years.  I hope that he has learned his lesson and will join society again with goals in mind that will take him down the road to a healthy, happy life. He has two children by two different women, hopefully this will help him to change since he became a father himself.

In each of these cases, hard love was used not because we didn't love them any less than before but to try to wake them up to the life they need to have and should have. Hard love works sometimes and can be a wake up call to those drifting through life just taking what they can depending on others to carry them along. 

Talk back, I'm listening as always! Have a great day.