Twice the Man is OUT!

My Bete novels are among my best received. Not because they're sort of but not entirely YA while still appealing to adults (and I've had almost no one but adults read them). Not because they have adventure. And romance. And science. And magic. And a broken spaceship. And some of the best snarky banter in town, especially my bad-ass venomous snarky shipcats. Okay, maybe it is the shipcats.

And now, finally, I have finished the original intended trilogy with each of the original three best friends taking center stage in turn. Of course, none of the books were a one-man show, but the ensemble cast aspect, where half a dozen and more players have big parts, has become more pronounced with each successive book.  And I love it.

I may come back to my little world of castaways. We still have flooding there and a sentient arthropod out in the depths of the ocean not to mention that unexplained wormhole. But I tied up the most current stories, just like I promised. For a series that inspired by a manga/anime and written with my now adult daughter in mind (who never read it, ironically), I have  had a world of fun with the Bete series, and I hope you do, too. If you want to find them all, you can find them on my website. http://stephanieebarr.us 

Here's an excerpt:

As if breathing in her essence woke her, Rem felt someone stir against his chest. How she always ended up curled on his chest, he didn't know. But he loved it. "How are you feeling?" he managed to ask, hoping he hadn't blasted her with death breath.

"Could you just kill me?"

"No can do, beautiful. And that was something I thought I'd never say."

"I am not beautiful, but, given what happened to me when I opened my eyes, I don't suggest you find out for yourself."

"I don't need my eyes to know you're beautiful," Rem said, chancing a little squeeze.

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I don't feel up to flirting. Or fending off flirting. Or, in fact, breathing."

"Flirting is the best reason I've come up with since I woke up for breathing, though I have morning breath that could kill a badger-boar at ten paces."

"Not true," she said, stirring in a more determined way and levering herself into a sitting position. "You'd have to get, I don't know, within arm's length."

Rem chuckled and then used his freed arm to grab at his head. The pain had not abated one iota.

"Rem," Sinda said, lowering her voice to an intent whisper. "Try to teleport out of here. Now while no one's watching."

Rem, who had still not opened his eyes, used all of his consciousness to visualize Cil and will himself there. The pain neither abated nor increased. But he went nowhere. He willed himself to grow, to become his other form, but, if there was even the slightest change, he could not detect it.

"No joy, eh?"

"None at all," he whispered. "What now? I'd ask my talent, but I don't have one anymore."

He felt a slap on his arm, hard enough he opened his eyes without thinking, then reeled a couple of moments.

"Don't you ever," she hissed, "talk like that again. If you start moaning that you're worthless, I will totally lose my temper. I can't shift into anything and I haven't exhibited even one tiny talent, but you think I'm worthwhile. And you're right! Because I'm smart and capable and don't just curl up and die when challenged. And neither do you. Last time you had an impossible problem, you developed a new talent instantly. Not that I'd turn it away today but say that doesn't happen."

"You don't understand," he said.

"Yeah, boo-hoo. Grieve later, we got stuff to do. Gonna give up, let the bad guys win, fall all to pieces just because you're down to the same set of tools the rest of us humans have? If you do, I'll know your tolerance of humans was a lie from the beginning as well as every word of admiration you've ever given me."

"That's not fair!"

"I've heard you and Xander say that no one is superior to anyone else, that there isn't Prime and sub-Prime and, I presume, humans a step below that. If you truly believe that, you need to snap out of it. I get that losing a super-cool set of tools to play with is a bummer, but we don't have time for that. You have all the gifts of the smartest humans I know. Use 'em and let's figure out a way out of this mess, and, yes that may mean never getting your powers back. I promise, if you help find a way free, I'll let you wallow in your disappointment for two whole weeks, but only when we have the time to spare."

Rem had put his hand over his abused eyes, but he lifted it to regard Sinda through one eye. She really was wrong. She was still beautiful. "If I come up with a way out of this and it works, will you take my interest in you seriously? Treat me enough like a grownup that I have a chance to woo you?"

"Woo?" she went into a peal of laughter. "We're surrounded by hostiles who have purged the magic out of everyone, we are facing death, torment, or enslavement, and you want to woo me?"

"What better time will I ever have?"

"I'll tell you what, loverboy. You figure a way out of this and make it work, and I'll totally date, or go out, or whatever you kids call it these days. I'd seal it with a kiss right now, but I think the state of our mouths would kill us both."

Since they were both sitting, she was within delightful reach. "I'm willing to risk it."

He slid his hands up her arms, and, to his intense satisfaction, she blushed. But then she pushed his hands away. "C'mon, c'mon, woo later, solve problems now."

"Aww," Danai said, obviously enjoying the romance. Silly kid. Rem chuckled and given how protective Kert was of her, Rem figured she'd find out about romance first hand soon enough.

He sat back against the corner of the wagon, pleased that the horrific after-effects of the dart were starting to recede. Or maybe it was Sinda. Either way… "Well, we don't have the upper hand." Rem looked through the wagon sides, counting wagons and what people he could see of the natives and the exiles. "Looks like there are more of us. Everyone from the upper camp and most of the crew and teachers from the lower camp as well as the Bete that were there and the older teenagers.  Maybe two hundred of us versus a hundred or so of them, if there aren't more in hiding. Probably, half are sleeping while the rest keep watch, I don't think any are missing. Or not many."

"Looks like most of the exiles are here so they're about half native and half the guys we kicked out. But then there are the wolves and I think that's their biggest advantage. That makes escape challenging as well as being a physical threat.  Also, we have been drugged and are still disoriented from having our skills ripped away. They are armed and know the area, which we don't, so the advantage is still on their side. And, they can communicate whereas we can't."

"Plus, they're ruthless while we still have our humanity," Sinda added, a little grimly. It surprised Rem. She was usually pretty tolerant with different cultures, but she looked positively murderous. Perhaps the double dose of dart had seriously impaired her good nature. Most likely, her antagonism wouldn't last, but she had it now.

"That's not always an advantage," Rem said. "People who think like a sword tend to (a) think of things in terms of black and white and (b) think everyone else thinks the same. No nuance. Nuance can be useful."

Sinda took in a breath and released it carefully. "Sounds like something I would have said myself. You're too smart by half, loverboy."

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Cover Artist Genius

In the past three years, one aspect of my writing endeavor has gleaned nothing but compliments and that has been my covers. I haven't gushed about them often but that's a bad on my part because I've had wonderful cover artists I've worked with. I've worked with several, though I may not have used their covers yet, and I have a couple of amazing covers from Brendan Smith, who I might talk about in another blog post.

Covers were a real problem for me. I tried to work with one group but the cover they sent me was far away from the tone of what I needed for my book and I had no options to change key elements like the font of all things. Then I tried to work with a freelancer but she was far out of my price range.

And then, after I had given up and drawn a bunch of my own covers:

Why yes, I am fond of purple. Anyway, I was working on a cover for Curse of the Jenri when I stumbled across a premade that was perfect, color-wise and content, for Curse of the Jenri.

 

Loraine became my go-to artist for covers and I found several other premades that spoke to me that I've used, though several are customs as well including reworking my existing covers.

 And, in fact, I have a bought and used a number of covers and there are more books coming with her work on them.

Not to mention this little lovely as my new logo:

Bottom line, Loraine does incredible work and I can't recommend her enough. You can find her on facebook (Ryn Katryn Digital Arts). Or check out her webpage

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SMASHWORDS Sale!

****End of year sale****

I'm not going to pound all of you with end of this, but there's no sense in having a sale if I don't tell people.

If you didn't get something good for Christmas, you can get all of my books either free or discounted from Smashwords - which can provide it in a format to fit every ereader need from Kindle to Nook to Kobo. Oh, and it's not just me so browse the site if you're in the mood for ebooks (and who isn't?)!

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stephanieebarr

 

And they are good, fun, exciting, full of characters you can spend time with like

A four hundred year old shut in who reads fortunes and a care-for-nobody demon with a scruffy cat [Tarot Queen] or

A happy go lucky prince cum mercenary swordsman cum sorcerer and a rule-abiding self-assured sorceress/warrior who never asks for help, and, of course, six snarky telepathic kittens. [Curse of the Jenri] or

A clever thoughtful young man who thinks he's weak who can turn into a dragon and a sweet generous young healer who knows her own worth and wields a dangerous wooden spoon [Beast Within - Bete Book 1] or

A pugnacious firebrand who can think well in a crisis but feels in the shadow of his foster brother and a sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued engineer with a lightning temper and even quicker mind with even more snarky telepathic kittens. [Nine Lives - Bete Book 2] or

A teenage technological genius, short on social skills but long on dedication to those he loves and a scrappy girl who punches first and asks question later [Saving Tessa] or

A dragon-raised hermity mage who's given up on the world and a former slave who doesn't know the meaning of the word impossible [Taming of Dracul Morsus] or

Literally dozens of other characters in her anthologies [Legacy and Conjuring Dreams: Learning to Write by Writing] and her book of poetry [Musings of a Nascent Poet]

Everything's on sale OR FREE. Check it out. You can find them ALL here on smashwords. Including all my free mini-anthologies the go with the various novels. 

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stephanieebarr

If you're not sure how to get the smashword files uploaded into your ereader, check here: 

https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq/#kindle

(Scroll up and down for other options)

And the cat? It's just cute.

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Rite to Reign is Released! #ritetoreign

I've talked a great deal about Rite to Reign, the book set, over the past several months, marketed hard so much you'd actually notice. More than I ever have for my own books (and likely ever will). Today, I'll tell you why.

I and twenty-odd authors are pooling our fan base, our readers, our marketing savvy (of which I have effectively none), and our skills as authors to try to convince enough people to buy our books to make the USA Today bestseller list. That may sound frivolous, even mercenary, a bunch of indie authors trying to make a splash in a world still dominated by traditional publishers. But, for many of these authors, this is huge, enough that they're willing to gamble time, effort, and money to try to make it happen.

I'll be honest ('cause it's what I do), it doesn't mean that much to me. I have a day job I like just fine. I never have to make it big as an author, though, of course, who doesn't want to be successful. But these other authors are pulling out every stop, devoting time and energy to marketing and writing and trying to make someone notice them because they really want this, need this, to be full-time authors. It's huge.

And that's why, I've pushed this as hard as I have, have contributed and posted and tweeted (tweeted!), because this is bigger than me. In fact, it's not about me. It's about validating the hard work and talents of nearly two dozen individuals who poured their all into this.

You know what else it is? It's an opportunity to sample the talents of twenty-odd authors you've never heard of for an incredibly low price. 99 cents. I can tell you, without blushing, that there is going to be at least one book that's worth your time. Certainly worth more than 99 cents. My guess is that it will be several books. You get an inexpensive introduction not just to these authors but to the dozens upon dozens of books they represent. Most of us have back catalogs with at least half a dozen books in it. You could find your next favorite author.

And, hey, it might even be Mirren Hogan and I who built Incantation together (and have a second book under construction). Here's a sample:

"Mr. Heath?"

Ugh, is it the next decade again? Ten years is far too short for a siesta, a voice rumbled inside his mind.

David peered through the gloom but could see nothing but a bit of weak light from a curtained window. He had a sense of some sort of table to the right but the presence was ahead of him. "Mr. Heath? May I turn on a light? I can't see."

If you must.

"Illuminate," David said, one of his favorite incantations as it turned on electrical lights or lit candles, whatever was handy.

The room was flooded with light from an electrical floodlight in the domed ceiling as well as dozens of lit candles.

MODERATION! the mental voice shouted, and the flood light went out with a pop. The dragon, glistening silver from a bed of precious tomes, lifted his head, his red eyes glowing. He was five meters long from tail tip to the end of his snout and as lithe and delicate-looking as Henry's pet. Has no one taught you control?

"Er, no?"

Mr. Heath sighed, which largely consisted of blowing circles of smoke out of two large nostrils.

You're expecting me to teach it to you? He sounded pained.

"Yes?"

Are you implying, by your uncertainty, that I may be unable to do so?

"Well, I've been told I'm hopeless almost all my life. I've tried to teach myself but I fail more often than I succeed. My few successes seem almost accidental." Despite his fear, David took a step forward. "But I love how it makes me feel. I love when magic flows through me and answers my needs. It feels—it feels like it belongs even though they say a man like me has no business with witchcraft." He paused and then added. "Also, you know, you're not human."

I believe the appropriate response is, no shit, Heath said, dryly. Has anyone tried to teach you?

All thoughts of his teacher's inhumanity fled. "Do you think you can? Really?"

That remains to be seen. Perhaps first you should answer my question.

"Your question? Which one? Oh, has anyone tried to teach me? No. They've stopped me from getting someone to teach me. They tried to stop me from trying to teach myself." He shuddered at the memory of the cane intended to bring that lesson home. "They didn't succeed in teaching me to stop and I didn't succeed in teaching myself."

A simple no would have sufficed. Heath swiveled his head toward a table. In the center was a thick book, bound in leather, with gold lettering across the front. Open that book to page seventeen.

Without comment, David did so. The book was titled Quintessential Incantations of the Enchanter. He opened the book to page seventeen as directed and noted the spell referenced was for turning hair black. "This one? Really?"

No, I chose the page at random. From Heath's tone, he may or may not have been joking. Try the incantation. You can read Latin, can you not?

David snorted. "Of course!"

"A tenebris ad lucem

De nocti conseruisse diem

Ut te quod est albus

Conversus ita nigrum niger est enim"

A tingle moved from his hands, up his arms to his face and scalp. He slapped his head and realized he had a beard of a sort grown in seconds. "Did it work?"

Not precisely. Check the mirror on the opposite wall. The dragon placed his head on his forelimbs and watched.

That didn't sound like it was successful. With a bit of trepidation, David moved to a black spotted mirror of ancient visage. "Oh?" His fingers slipped through the blue streak that remained in otherwise black hair. "I like that even better. And check out the slim beard.  Somehow, it makes me look older instead of barely into my twenties. Why didn't I do this before?" The dragon cleared his throat with a wisp of ominous smoke. "I suppose it's not exactly correct. It should be all black I know. But it could have been much worse."

Want to read more? It'll cost you just a dollar, a dollar that can mean a lot more than that to us, and hey, to you as well. That's a lot of magic for a dollar.

And, hey, it's out (or will be in a matter of minutes). You don't even have to wait.

 Rite to Reign

 #ritetoreign

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