Release Announcement: Far Orbit

“FAR ORBIT”
SPECULATIVE SPACE ADVENTURES

Alpena, MI (April 29, 2014) – World Weaver Press (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures, a new anthology of modern space adventures edited by Bascomb James, is available in trade paperback and ebook today, Tuesday, April 29, 2014.

Praise for Far Orbit:

“Successfully captures the kinds of stories that were the gateway drugs for many of us who have been reading science fiction for a long time. Well done!”
— Tangent

“Daring adventure, protagonists who think on their feet, and out of this world excitement! Welcome to Far Orbit, a fine collection of stories in the best SF tradition. Strap in and enjoy!”
— Julie E. Czerneda, author of Species Imperative


Wiedbrauk commented, “I'm proud to present this anthology, filled with jewels of space adventure, that reinforces how science fiction can shine when it doesn't take itself too seriously.”

Modern space adventures crafted by a new generation of Grand Tradition science fiction writers. Smart, readable, and engaging stories that take us back to a time when science fiction was fun and informative, pithy and piquant—when speculative fiction transported us from the everyday grind and left us wondrously satisfied. Showcasing the breadth of Grand Tradition stories, from 1940s-style pulp to realistic hard SF, from noir and horror SF to spaceships, alien uplift, and action-adventure motifs, Far Orbit’s diversity of Grand Tradition stories makes it easy for every SF fan to find a favorite.

Featuring an open letter to SF by Elizabeth Bear and stories from Gregory Benford, Tracy Canfield, Eric Choi, Barbara Davies, Jakob Drud, Julie Frost, David Wesley Hill, K. G. Jewell, Sam Kepfield, Kat Otis, Jonathan Shipley, Wendy Sparrow, and Peter Wood.
Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures will be available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com  Barnesandnoble.com  Kobo.com and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. You can also find Far Orbit on Goodreads.

Join us on Friday, May 2, for our open Twitter chat #SFFlunch from 12:00-2:00 PM EST @WorldWeaver_wwp where we discuss speculative fiction in general and the Grand Tradition of science adventure fiction specifically. Follow along, join in, or Tweet questions with #SFFlunch.

World Weaver Press is a publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction, dedicated to producing quality works. As a small press, World Weaver seeks to publish books that engage the mind and ensnare the story-loving soul.


Publication Date: April 29, 2014 • Science Fiction / Space Opera Anthology

$14.95 trade paperback, 280 pages  • $7.99 ebook

ISBN: 978-0615959245

Publicity/Reviews: publicity@worldweaverpress.com 

Information:
www.worldweaverpress.com/books/far-orbit

Spotlight: Belinda Boring

~*~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~*~

A homesick Aussie living amongst the cactus and mountains of Arizona, Belinda Boring is a self proclaimed addict of romance and all things swoon worthy. When she's not devouring her latest read, you can find her celebrating her passion for books on her blog The Bookish Snob.

With all that excitement, it wasn’t long before she began writing, pouring her imagination and creativity into the stories she dreams. Whether urban fantasy, paranormal romance or romance in general, Belinda strives to share great plots with heart and characters that you can’t help but connect with. Of course, she wouldn’t be Belinda without adding heroes she hopes will curl your toes.

Surrounded by a supportive cast of family, friends and the man she gives her heart and soul to, Belinda is living the good life. Happy reading



~*~BOOK LIST~*~

The Mystic Wolves (series)
Loving Liberty
Cherished
Blood Oath
Broken Promises
Enchanted Hearts
Jagged Edges

Trapped by Ella James

Book Description:
Contains mild spoilers if you haven’t read Here, the first book in the trilogy.

When Milo Mitchell falls for the beautiful, tuxedo-clad guy she found wandering her family’s rural Colorado property, she never dreamed he was a scout from another galaxy, or that their relationship would leave him with an impossible choice: eradicating humankind, or initiating the end of his own people.

Nick’s job is finding the elements his people need to power their elaborate interweb of minds. Being a scout means he is capable of traveling to other planets on his own. It also means that, unlike The Rest, he has access to primitive feelings and individual desires. For eons, he was part of the whole, but when he encountered Milo, his obsession with her changed everything.

Nick’s partner, Vera, is capable of independent thought, but not compelled by it. She is satisfied with her existence as one of The Rest, and she won’t agree that humans are worth sparing; not when their planet has a precious cache of the gold her people need so badly.

While Vera tries to force Nick into endorsing an Earth invasion, working behind the scenes to tie his hands, and the Department of Defense lays a trap for them with Milo’s mom as bait, Nick and Milo are waging their own war – against a primal desire that can only lead to one thing: heartbreak.

Check Trapped (Here Trilogy) out on Amazon

Guest Post: Elise Forier Edie

UM, WHAT’S PARANORMAL ABOUT APPLE ORCHARDS?

My new paranormal romance, “The Devil in Midwinter,” is set in a fly splat of a town called Mattawa, just off Highway 243, in between the mighty Columbia River and the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife refuge in Central Washington.  

There’ are reasons you’ve never heard of Mattawa.  First of all, who goes to Central Washington?  People who visit Washington State go to Seattle, where there are Seahawks, ferries and a Space Needle. Plus, there’s not much to Mattawa, anyway. Blink and you’ll miss it. You can count the traffic lights on one hand.  Not a single bar livens up the city limits.  The place is encroached by apple orchards, rattlesnakes and coyotes.  Who needs it?

But Central Washington is a hotbed of paranormal activity, oddly enough.  It’s also fantastically beautiful, which makes it a lovely setting for a romance.

 

First, the paranormal report:

The earliest Native American settlers of Central Washington have an oral history which includes legends of tiny people and beings made of light.  These stories have been around for hundreds of years.

Yakima Washington, just a few miles from Mattawa, is one of the top UFO hotspots in the country.  It has one of the highest UFO reporting rates per capita.  And a lot of what gets reported are … mysterious balls of light.

Long standing stories of resident ghosts and hauntings are reported all over Central Washington from Ellensburg to Granger.  My favorite is the haunted park where the ghosts of children supposedly run around screaming, sometimes for as long as half an hour.

Central Washington has an actual paranormal investigation outfit.  If you have any unexplained activity in one of the area’s small towns, you have someone to call.  Never mind that only one tenth of the state population actually lives in that region.  There’s evidently enough weird stuff going on to warrant a professional ghost hunting team.

Now for the romance:

Seriously, you should visit an apple orchard.  It’s not only spectacularly beautiful, with the perfect rows of fragrant trees, but it’s also very nice place to kiss and be kissed.

The Columbia River, a fabulous ribbon of silver, surrounded by red cliffs, is swimmable, fishable, boatable, skinny dippable and gorgeous. The highway that leads to Mattawa from Seattle twists and winds right by this extraordinary natural resource.

Lights are few and far between in the rural areas of Eastern and Central Washington.  If you like to get naked under a meteor shower, here’s a place to do it.

Washington State is second only to California in US wine production.  If a bottle of local wine and a picnic by the river rank high in your romantic fantasies, guess what?  There are infinite bottles of wine you can try until you get the moment right.

Scads of cowboys.  Real ones. Central Washington hosts a top notch rodeo every year and grows world famous hay and horses.  If tight Wranglers are your thing, there’s a lot of ‘em.

Needless to say, “The Devil in Midwinter” is only the first of my paranormal romances set in Central Washington.  While you’re waiting for the next installment of sexy, small town weirdness, stop by Mattawa yourself, get some good Mexican food at La Popular, tour an apple orchard (you will not be sorry, I promise) and raise a glass of local wine to the river views.

Synopsis of The Devil in Midwinter:

A handsome stranger, a terrifying monster, a boy who burns and burns... Mattawa, Washington, is usually a sleepy orchard town come December, until a murder, sightings of a fantastic beast, and the arrival of a handsome new vintner in town kindle twenty-year- old reporter Esme Ulloa’s curiosity—and maybe her passion as well. But the more she untangles the mystery, the more the world Esme knows unspools, until she finds herself navigating a place she thought existed only in storybooks, where dreams come alive, monsters walk the earth and magic is real. When tragedy strikes close to home, Esme finds she must strike back, matching wits with an ancient demon in a deadly game, where everything she values stands to be lost, including the love of her life. 

 About Elise:

Elise Forier Edie is an author and playwright based in southern California. Recent works include the play “The Pink Unicorn,” which performed at the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York, a short story, “Leonora,” published in Penumbra magazine and several plays, included in the anthology “Original Middle School Scenes and Monologues,” edited by Kent R. Brown. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She is married to actor Keith Edie. When she is not writing, she likes to make quilts and soup, but rarely at the same time. Visit Elise Forier Edie on these sites to follow her or list her as one of your favorite authors: Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter @EliseForierEdie, and www.eliseforieredie.com. 

Spotlight: My Wolf's Bane

TTTW Synopsis:
A young werewolf must fight for her life to gain freedom, but her triumph could mean losing her only chance at happiness.

Hannah, a seventeen-year-old werewolf, would rather be a peasant and free than dripping in jewels and wife to the tyrant werewolf king. Running from him will get her hunted, and most likely killed, yet she formulates a plan.
Sneaking around the castle, she encounters Eli, a handsome blond shape-shifter and slave to the king. Drawn to Eli as a fellow captive, she admires his courage and honor — qualities rarely seen amongst her own kind. With him, Hannah finds rare moments of joy in the place she's desperate to escape. Though she dreams of being with Eli forever, she knows he will never abandon his sister, another prisoner of the evil king.
Meeting in secret, Eli and Hannah's bond deepens as he trains her to protect herself. When she discovers the king’s scheme to murder her after their wedding, Hannah must choose between a short life and brief happiness with Eli or freedom and a future without him.

Author Bio:
Veronica Blade lives in Southern California with her husband and children. By day she runs the family business, but each night she slips away to spin her tales. She writes stories about young adults to relive her own childhood and to live vicariously through her characters. Except her heroes and heroines lead far more interesting lives — and they are always way hotter.

Author/Buy links:
Author Website
My Wolf's Bane book trailer
FaceBook, GoodReads, Twitter, Amazon

Excerpt:
I needed to make this excursion to the forest count.
After a check to make sure no guards lurked nearby, I jumped from the smithy
window and raced toward the trees, moving faster than I ever had in my life. Once under
the cover of the forest, I stood absolutely still and listened for any werewolves who might
have followed me. There were none.
But something else was out there. I could sense its energy.
I spun, my heart pounding against my ribs, my stomach fluttering at the sight of the beautiful blond blacksmith standing a yard away.

His eyes narrowed as his gaze swept over me. “The bow, quiver and arrows... I believe they belong to me.”
My mouth dropped open. Why had I not been aware he was following me? A scent drifted to me, but I could not place it. Sweet with a hint of earth.
“I saw you leave the smithy.” He nodded toward the quiver slung over my shoulder. “My father made those for me when I was twelve and the arrows were carved by my hand. I would be most grateful if you would return them, milady.”
I glanced at the bow and quiver, unwilling to give them up. I needed them. “I regret I am unable to relinquish them, sir, but I shall be happy to compensate you for your trouble.”
His stance remained respectful with his head bowed, but his words were clipped. “My father’s gifts are not for sale.”
Letting the weapons go was not an option, though. As a werewolf, especially a born one, I had the advantage of strength against shape-shifters. Still, I did not want to take any chances. I raised my chin and angled my shoulder so he could not easily snatch the bow. “I shall do everything in my power to return your belongings once I have no use for them. I am afraid, sir, that is my only offer.”

Add'l Info
Book title – Thrown to the Wolves Author name - Veronica Blade Publisher - Crush Publishing, Inc Publication date – March 31st, 2014 Format - print and ebook
Price – $0.99 ebook, $8.49 print Page count - (appx 165)
13 digit ISBN - 978-0-9910756-3-8 Genre - YA Paranormal Romance


Giveaway

(print) 978-0-9910756-2-1 (e-book)

1 paperback copy mailed within the U.S. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Someone Else's Fairytale

Title: Someone Else's Fairytale (Someone Else's Fairytale #1)

Author: E. M. Tippetts
Page Count: 340
My Rating: 4 TURTLES: A great read, I definitely recommend.

Description:
Jason Vanderholt, Hollywood's hottest actor, falls head over heels for everygirl, Chloe Winters, who hasn't gotten around to watching most of his movies. It's the ideal fairytale... for most people. The last thing Chloe needs is public attention. It brings back dangers from the past that she's worked her whole life to escape.

Review:
 I won this book from a giveaway a long time ago and read the bulk of it on a recent plane ride. This clean, fluffy romance turned out to be a perfect travel read, and I can definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, cute love story.

As a couple, I thought that Jason and Chloe were adorable and totally worked. they both have baggage that they bring with them an that complicates things, but the process of them working throughout it to create a relationship together adds additional tension to the story and makes the ending even sweeter. another thing I liked about the story was the cast of characters. They were well sleeted out and added more depth to the story.

This book was a perfect romance to bring as light vacation reading I am very glad I finally got to it. I will definitely be checking out more of Ms. Tippetts' work, including the sequel to this one. I can't wait to see what happens next.


Buy Someone Else's Fairytale on Amazon

Review: Recklessly Royal

Title: Recklessly Royal (Suddenly #2)
Author: Nichole Chase
Page Count: 384
My Rating: 3 TURTLES: An enjoyable read, but I suggest check out if you like the topic before adding it to your to-read list.

Synopsis:
Catherine has spent her life being the perfect princess. She’s kept her hands clean, her head down, and most importantly—men at arm’s length. After all, most men are after only one thing, and for Cathy there’s a lot more at stake than her bed; she has to worry about the fate of an entire nation. But at the rate she’s going, Cathy is afraid she’ll give the Virgin Queen a run for her money. She is tired of waiting for someone good enough to come along. She has a plan, and it all hinges on seducing the one man who seems utterly unimpressed by all things royal. The one man she is tempted by more than any other . . . 

When David arrives at the royal wedding of his friend, the newly ordained Duchess Samantha Rousseau, he expected to feel uncomfortable and out of his element, but he wasn’t prepared to be targeted by Prince Alex’s gorgeous younger sister. With Cathy’s giant blue eyes, killer figure, and sense of humor, it won’t take long before he gives in. But when he finds out just how innocent the crown princess really is, will he play the part of knight in shining armor or the dashing rogue?

Review:
I have been following Nichole Chase since she first started publishing her books, so needless to say I have been looking forward to Recklessly Royal since I finished The previous book in the series. Recklessly Royal is a fun, fluffy romance, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Despite this, I would still recommend it to those who enjoyed Suddenly Royal or are looking for a sweet romance.

One thing I've always loved about Chase's stories are her secondary characters. She gives them such personality that I wish they had more screen time because they add a lot to the story from what they already do and say, and I was no different in Recklessly Royal (I really hope Chadwick gets his own story). I also loved the parts is the book where Cathy and David were together, they had reply good chemistry and I thought they were adorable.

Unfortunately, when the two were apart, I found the plot to be a bit boring. I shouldn't have since there was a lot going on, but it felt to me like it was just an in between time before David was written back into the picture. I think part of the problem that I had while reading didn't have so much to do with the story, but with a thing of personal preference. Personally, I am not a big fan of this new trend I'd writing a romance series where each book is another character's love story. I get used to the first one and have trouble adjusting. I loved Sam and Alex and missed the narration of their lives as much as I enjoyed hearing about David and Catherine. Those are the two major things that held me back from completely enjoying the book, but the we also a smaller annoyance that I kept noticing throughout he story as well: we're facial expressions. Okay, so maybe winking isn't a "weird" facial expression, but there's was sure a lot of it going on. In my life, I don't see many winks. And hey, maybe it's a thing in Lilaria. In reality though, it felt a bit overused. Now another expression used a lot that I have no idea what it is is eyebrow wiggling. Every time a character we trying to be suggestive or insinuate something they'd wiggle their eyebrows, and, I'm sorry, but I've never heard of or seen eyebrow wiggling before and to have it happen so frequently here seemed a bit odd and contrived. 

Overall though, I was very glad to be let back into Lilaria and I cannot wait for Reluctantly Royal. If you are a fan if New Adult romance, I definitely hop that you will check this series out. Chase creates adorable couples, and sweet, sexy love stories. I hope max and Meredith in book 3 will be as ship-worthy as Alex and Sam and Cathy and David.

Buy Recklessly Royal on Amazon