E.C. Ambrose's Blog

Today’s the day our first Rikki Talens book is available everywhere books are sold! If you pre-ordered, it may already be on your favorite e-reader–and thank you very much!

Long-time readers will know that I have a launch day tradition of sharing some of the research and background that led to the book. Crossbones is a little different because it started with a side character who has appeared in two volumes of Douglas Pratt’s Chase Gordon Tropical Thriller series. (If you haven’t read Chase Gordon, you’re missing out! Especially if you’re a fan of my own Grant Casey, I think you’ll really like them.)

Rikki first shows up looking for a Nazi treasure in Deep Gold. When Rikki made her second appearance, in Gulf Dreams, she has actually disappeared, and Chase is on the hunt to find her. Rikki’s been searching for the lost grave of Yuseppa, the stolen bride of the pirate Gasparilla.

If you live in Florida, or you’re a pirate fan, you may have heard of the Gasparilla Festival, complete with a pirate themed parade and other festivities. According to legend, Jose Gaspar had served in the Spanish royal navy before he stole the crown jewels, the young princess, and the ship on which he served, turning pirate and racing away to the Florida coast.

In 1821, confronted by the USS Enterprise, Gaspar tied himself to the anchor and leapt overboard rather than be taken. What became of his young bride? That’s what historian and treasure hunter Rikki Talens is keen to discover! Unfortunately, Gasparilla’s cash-strapped descendant has deadly plans of his own.

Click here to find the book at your favorite retailer!

Or go straight to Amazon!

AIK WILL NEVER BE THE SAME… AND NEITHER WILL HIS WORLD

War is coming. Aik has become the Progenitor, and the Seed Mother has released him to
transform the world for her alien brood. Silya and Raven, Aik’s former friends, are the only ones who can save him and the world. But what if the cure is worse than the invasion?

As Silya rushes to prepare Gullton for the battle to come, she’s determined to save as many
people as she can. But new crises emerge that demand her attention.

Raven has his own hands full, keeping the dragon-like verent in line, while helping Silya to save the world. But what if the only way to do so is to sacrifice Aik, the man that he loves?

It’s the end of the world … or could it be the start of something new?

Read on for an excerpt, or click over here to get your copy!

The Tharassas Cycle is a four book sci-fantasy series set on the recently colonized world of
Tharassas. When humans first arrived on planet, they thought they were alone until the hencha
mind made itself known. But now a new threat has arisen to challenge both humankind and their
new allies on this alien world.

Chapter One
Regroup

He floated, weightless and naked, surrounded by a reddish light and suspended in fluid.
Something connected to his mouth and wrapped around his head, like a lover’s embrace.
He used to have a name. He searched his mind for some clue to his identity. I exist, so I
must be someone. Or something.

That made sense, but got him no closer to an answer. He blinked. Who am I?
There was no immediate reply.

He lifted his hand. It was encased in metal. The gauntlet. That much he remembered,
though it meant nothing to him. Except… it seemed different, somehow. Thinner.
He moved his arms in the liquid, and it sparkled around him where his shifting disturbed
it. The metal extended down his wrist and along his forearm, like before, but now it went farther,
around his elbow and up his bicep. He touched it with his free hand.

I can feel it. It was as if the metal had become a part of him, his nerves growing through
it. He held out his metallic hand and flexed his fingers. What is it?

We call it uurcaa. It’s a sacred metal—it will protect you, and if your host dies, it will
collect and save your soul. He could feel the emotions she held back from him. It is the last of its
kind from our homeworld. Like us.

He blinked. Then what am I?

You are my son, Iihil. The progenitor, the one who has come before and the first of many
more like you. The voice was deep and comforting.

Mother. Warmth infused him at her voice, and an eagerness to please her.
Still, something wasn’t right. He was more than that. He searched his mind, running up
against that stubborn blankness. Somewhere beyond it were the answers he needed.
He’d been someone else. Before.

Who was I? Memories of a face—dark hair, intense eyes that nevertheless twinkled at
him. Raven.

It came flooding back to him. His mother. His life in Gullton. Training to be a guard and
meeting Raven for the first time. My name is Aik.

He reached for the mask that covered his face. It was suffocating. Something was stuck in
his throat, and he coughed hard, trying to force it out, whipping around and causing the liquid
around him to flash red in alarm.

Calm yourself. The voice was as thick and heavy as an ix hide, and just as soft and warm.

Aik pushed back. What are you doing to me? I don’t want this! Let me out! He thrashed
about, trying to force his way through the suffocating liquid. The metal crept up his shoulder. If it
covered all of him, he would be lost.

Calm yourself! It was more insistent this time.

Aik stiffened as an enforced lethargy settled over him. He lost control of his limbs, falling
still in his floating prison. The voice pressed against his mind. You’re safe. Be calm, my little one.
He closed his eyes and thought of Raven, trying to stay fixed on that face. I can’t let
myself forget again.

Then the world around him dissolved, and he was swept up in a torrent of memories that
weren’t his own.

Universal Buy Link:
https://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/death-bringer/

Author Bio:

Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated
into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he
grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.
He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to
his own ends.
A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, Liminal Fiction,
and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and was the
committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of
America (SFWA) for almost three years.

Author Website: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com
Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth/
Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworthauthor
Author Mastodon: https://mastodon.otherworldsink.com/@jscottcoatsworth
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jscottcoatsworth/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8392709.J_Scott_Coatsworth
Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-
coatsworth/
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-
coatsworth/
Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Scott-Coatsworth/e/B011AFO4OQ

My Bone Guard short thriller collection is in two special promotions for the month of September–and if you’re a mystery/thriller person, you’re sure to find something to love! Check out all the titles available by clicking on the images below! Books to keep you up at night? Let’s go!

Or maybe this one…

Hope you find something you’ll adore!

Someone is taking the Seeded.
Can a psychic hacker crack the digital world and unearth the conspiracy before it’s too late?

Read on to learn more about Vanessa MacLellan’s new novel, Reluctant Hero!

Reluctant Hero is peppered with character from roleplaying games I’ve played for decades. Yes, I’m a gamer geek and nowadays it almost seems a badge of honor versus something you hid from normal people. And, being a girlgeek at the time, was even more unusual.

Nekoka, Sepia, Berlin, and Trior are all characters I’ve played at some point. Jenni, Palbo, Chandler, and Zack are friends’ characters. Nekoka was a superhero character that was so powerful in the game that I had to clip her tail, so to speak. She’s much more tame now, even if still one of the more powerful Seeded in the world.

So, the inception for this entire book adventure was those characters. There are three things that spark a story: Character, plot, or world. And this was totally the character. I just needed to give them a world to play in.

Once I decided where, in my world, the powers came from, the plot just unfolded.

I needed to do a lot of computer technology research, because Nekoka is a technomancer/cyberkinetic. She has psychic power over computers. So, in one point of the story she is searching for someone using her electronic powers, and I had to keep updating the story. The original version was written in 2009, and tech is SO different now. Everyone has cameras on everything, for one. And speakers. Finding someone would be easy now if you had access to all that. So, I had to keep updating and trying to add the new stuff to the novel. This book will be outdated in two months.

She also had this great tech that was inspired by an anime, where you use your phone/invisispecs/whatever to look at an item and it knows everything about it, or a person, or a place… I thought, this is cool, I’m going to totally include that. And… I think that exists now. So, not so near future anymore. It’s just contemporary!

Also, I had to think… how would the world accept people with superpowers. Well, there would be a definite split. Look at how we address AI right now. And it’s done A Lot in superhero fiction. It’s what the X-men are all about, but it is definitely something I had to address. So, I split up cities. Some loved the Seeded and others didn’t like them an really limited their rights. And this aspect is a big part of the world background.

One historic aspect I included was sparked by a road trip I did in 2006 where I visited Minidoka in Idaho. It’s a Japanese internment camp. It was very little known at the time, and so I included it in my book as a way to remind people of problems in our past without being preachy about it.

Read on for an excerpt from Reluctant Hero! You can find more about Vanessa and her work at her website, or on Facebook. Add the book to your shelves on Goodreads.

And if you’re curious about that engineering marvel I mentioned, Vanessa says, “So, this has nothing to do with superheros or writing. I just visited Scotland and saw the Falkirk Wheel As an engineer, I found this utterly interesting, though it’s not really used for anything other than tourists. Instead of a long series of river locks to get a boat up a hill, they built this wheel that swirls the boat from the bottom up to the top. It’s amazing and takes very little energy to use. Check it out.”

I had a chance to visit the Falkirk Wheel last year–and it’s truly astonishing!

Reluctant Hero, excerpt

“What are those papers?” Nekoka demanded. The world had suddenly gotten hot, and with a ripple, her fur thinned out over her body. The blood was pounding in her ears as her gaze homed in on the papers.
They couldn’t do this. They wouldn’t do this.

They were her friends.

Her family.

“It’s just a trial,” Zack said, finally facing her, his silver eyes barely meeting hers. “Temporary. So, you can see how it won’t be that big a deal.”

Nekoka charged forward and snatched the papers off the tiled countertop.

Application for Hero Certification – New Orleans

“I told you,” Minnie said, crossing her arms over her ample chest. “We can’t do this without everyone’s say so. Nekoka and I aren’t certain this is the best path for us. It takes away our autonomy.”

She’d told him. Told Zack she didn’t want this. They’d talked about this.

“I know you think this is going to be some big Supervillain versus Superhero all-out war. That’s ridiculous.” Zack shook his head, then returned to staring at Nekoka, his silver eyes red around the edges, a sign of sleepless nights. A sign that this had been planned, and he had been worried.

“We have power,” he continued, pleaded. “We’ve a duty to help people.”

“No!” Then she took in a breath. The air felt stiff. “We do not.” Her voice sounded hard, alien. Then words kept coming, flowing from her mouth. “We have a duty to ourselves. That’s it. Bottom line. All else is simple choice.” Everything went numb inside. “Listen, you go ahead.”

Would her mouth stop talking? Would her friends not do this?

Her sour gut churned. Everything was hot. So hot.

“You go ahead,” she said. “Go Certified. Do what you want.”

She walked away.

Want to know what happens? Check out Reluctant Hero!

This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.

Here’s your chance to grab The Mongol’s Coffin, first in my Bone Guard Adventures, and forty more thriller novels for free! Click on the image above, or click here to find a searchable list of all the titles.

Kobo readers will find their own custom page over here, complete with all the links and cover!

I’m excited to be in the company of so many great thriller authors, and I hope you find your next favorite read! If you’re curious to check out some work by my CrossBones co-author, Douglas Pratt, he’s got a free read in there as well!

ha ha ha! E. C. Ambrose, COZY?? In honor of April Fool’s Day, I thought I’d shift my mindset and reimagine my newsletter, Tomb Reader, as it might be if wrote something a little nicer…maybe the kind of books my mother always pictured me writing. Cozy authors often incorporate join-the-fun elements like recipes and craft projects related to the themes of the books. So, the cozy version of The Mongol’s Coffin (first in my Bone Guard series) might look something like this…

Hi, Everyone!

Welcome to my little adventure nook. Today we’ll be exploring Mongolian culture, so you can really get a “taste” of what the Bone Guard team might experience while they’re out racing the Chinese army to locate the legendary lost tomb of Genghis Khan. Oh, hey, and did I mention that the book is free right now? Yes, indeed! This would be a great time to grab it for yourself, and share it with a friend.

So, get your marmot and camel, and follow along! Thanks so much for reading,

E. C.

Recipe: Mongolian-style Marmot Ingredients:1 Marmot, cleaned, but not skinned

Start a nice, warming fire. Place a few appropriately sized stones in it to warm up.

When you’ve got it down to a good bed of coals, remove a couple of the warm stones. Don’t touch them with your bare hands, please, the ambulance in Mongolia is hours away!

Place the hot stone(s) inside of the marmot.

Shift the hot coals. In the fire pit, dig a hole large enough to contain the marmot.

Replace the coals on top. Wait until the hair falls off–that’s how you’ll know it’s roasted to crispy perfection!

Oh, dear… that recipe doesn’t sound entirely like something one could bake at home. Besides, marmots are awfully cute, aren’t they? I mean, they were likely responsible for the Black Death spreading from this region to much of Asia and Europe, but still!

You know what, maybe I should’ve let Nigel Rowe handle this newsletter! Sadly, he’s not available. Nigel’s still recovering from his recent adventures in Bloody Baja.

Mongolian Culture Craft: Make Your Own Ger!

The Mongolian Ger, similar to the Turkish Yurt (the term commonly applied to these structures) is a felted wool tent with a collapsible lattice structure inside to support the walls. A pair of highly decorated long poles hold the spoked round smoke opening at the top of the traditional version. When a new couple get married, the ger they’ll live in often incorporates a section of “mother felt” taken from the ger of the woman’s family.

To make your ger, you’ll need the fleeces of about sixty to a hundred and ninety sheep, depending on the size of the sheep and the ger you’re trying to make. The wool should be clean and free of twigs, grass, etc. Lay it out to pattern about 50% larger than the finished ger wall and roof panels need to be to account for shrinkage. You’ll make thin layers of wool first in one direction, then the other until you’ve reached the desired thickness.

Wet down the whole thing and rub it all over to set the fibers, then roll it up in a tarp and tow it behind your camel to the next grazing site. (A motorcycle will do, in a pinch!) By the time you arrive, the rough, uneven ground should have agitated the wet wool enough to felt it into a thick, warm layer to insulate your home for the winter! If you’d like complete instructions, here’s one resource!

Don’t have a camel? You can make this charming paper version, courtesy of the University of Indiana, which hosts the Mongolia Society, for the study of Mongolian culture, past and present.

In our next issue, we’ll cover how to make a tourniquet!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little experiment in cozy! If you want to know what the newsletter’s usually like, and get a free short story collection, click on through to subscribe!

That’s right, the fabulous J. Scott Coatsworth is back with the latest volume in his Tharassas Sci-Fantasy series! Keep reading for an excerpt from The Hencha Queen! To celebrate, he’s putting the first two volumes on sale for just 99¢ and his short story collection is free.

Silya finally has everything she always wanted. She’s the Hencha Queen, head of the Temple, and is working to master her newfound talents. So why does the world pick now to fall apart?

Her once-nemesis Raven is off riding dragons, and their mutual friend (and her ex) Aik is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, a new threat menaces the Heartland from the East, and if she can’t convince a reluctant Gullton city council to prepare for the worst, she may lose everyone and everything she’s ever cared about.

As she uses her magic-like abilities, wit and sheer determination to try to save the city, she’s joined by Raven and his new friends. Will their help tip the scales? And will they finally find out what happened to Aik as a dark storm threatens to sweep them all away?

Forget messy. Things just got apocalyptic.

A sharp crack filled the wine cellar. Kerrick swung the heavy mallet back and then assailed the flopwood boards that blocked the tunnel entrance again. The ancient wood splintered under the blow, sending shards clattering across the stone-paved floor.

It felt good to work out his frustrations. Still, the stubborn wood held out against his assault.

He rested the mallet on the black-tiled stone floor, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Even after a hundred years, the barrier was strong. He’d tried to pry the boards out of the solid stone, but they’d been fastened in too tightly. Brute force it is.

“You’re doing great!” Cor’Lea’s voice was artificially bright, and she was as tall as he was, maybe a little taller, peering over his shoulder at the sealed tunnel entrance.

Silya had tasked her with bringing him down here to check out these hidden caverns under the Temple, in preparation for the coming war. Important, sure, but also clearly an excuse to get him out from underfoot while she prepared for her official Raising.

He grunted. “Thanks. These boards are hard as iron.” And hard as Silya’s will.

One day things would be different between them, once this crisis was over. I just have to be patient.

Coral laughed. “I’m sure a big, strong man like you can break through them easily.” She squeezed his bicep appreciatively.

He shrugged her off. He wasn’t sure if the gawky initiate was flirting with him or just trying to encourage him to get on with it, but either way, he wasn’t interested. “Stand back.” He hefted the hammer again, and she scurried out of his way.

He suppressed a smile, swinging the mallet around for another heavy blow.

Craack.

This time the board buckled inward visibly. Another few hits should do it.

He pulled back the heavy iron hammer again and hit the same spot with blow after blow. Craack. Craack. Craack.

The mallet broke through and a board fell away into splinters, clattering across the stone floor. One down, three more to go. “Why did they seal this cavern up?”

Cor’Lea gestured at the natural chamber. “There was a winery here before the Temple. Sister Dor said they used to use it for extra wine storage.” She looked around the natural chamber, which was now filled with wooden shelving holding a variety of bottled food stores. “When Jas ordered the Temple to be constructed, they kept this wide cavern and blocked off the rest of the tunnels.”

“Just in case the gully rats got in?” That thief Raven had apparently made his home in one of the underground tunnels. Who knew who else—or what else—lived down there?

Cor’Lea snorted. “Maybe.”

Are tunnels all connected, somehow? That was one of Silya’s most urgent projects, to map out the network of caverns beneath the city. Another reason she sent me down here—to get me out from under her robes.

A few more whacks at the next board served to both break it and let out his frustrations at the situation preventing him from doing his sworn job and keeping them apart. And at what she said was coming.

Craack. Craack. Craack.

The board snapped in half, and he judged that he’d cleared enough space to step through into the blocked-off tunnel. “Hand me that lantern?

Cor’Lea complied, taking the opportunity to brush his hand.

He rolled his eyes. I should be flattered. But his heart was already taken.

It was times like these he wished his brother Enrick were still alive. He’d know what to do. He’d been absurdly confident about everything, even though he’d been younger than Kerrick.

Kerrick wasn’t great with women.

He took the lantern and stepped over the bottom board, holding it in front of him. The bright light temporarily blinded him as he sought to get his bearings.

“What do you see?” Cor’Lea peered through the hole behind him.

His sight adjusted, and the tunnel’s walls came into focus.

He whistled. Stacked along the side of the tunnel were hundreds of crates, all strapped together in groups and sealed. “It’s… I don’t know what it is. But I’ll bet Silya will be surprised.” They’d have to find a place to put all this stuff—whatever it was, it was likely rotten after all this time. Silya needed somewhere to store people, not ancient goods.

Cor’Lea stepped carefully over the splintered boards to join him. “What do you think’s inside them?”

The long row of crates disappeared into the darkness. Who knew what the ancients had considered valuable enough to stash down here. Coin? Lost treasure? “One way to find out. Does the Temple have a crowbar?”

Intrigued? Check out The Hencha Queen!

That’s right! I’ll have stories in all four issues of Thrill Ride this year–but only with your help. Want to know why Nigel’s so attached to his teeth? Or what’s the deal with the world’s largest pistachio?

Oh, wait–that doesn’t sound thrilling–maybe if I tell you that Grant Casey’s out in the desert, shepherding his newly reconciled family on a visit to an archaeoastronomy site when the first shots are fired…

Or that Nigel’s best friend from Oxford’s been found beaten half to death, and Nigel’s the last person anyone would call when they need help! Or is he?

As for the last story, from Drakemaster, well, that’ll be in the final Thrill Ride issue this year–and it’s worth the wait!

So click on through to support me and 30 more authors of short adventure tales! You won’t be disappointed.

Not everybody’s down with the darkness…

So, if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that my author motto is “you do NOT want to be my hero.” I’m not saying you’d want to step into the shoes of my new protagonist, Nigel Rowe, but they’ll be a little more comfortable than Grant Casey’s are, that’s for sure!

Well…mostly. Aside from the bit where he drowns in the swimming pool…and there was the shooting, of course, but at least Nigel’s far too civilized to cuss about it. His new bodyguard might, though.

But I think Nigel’s sardonic tone and taste for the exotic might appeal! The Blighted Mission launches just after Christmas, with more adventures hot on its proverbial heels!

Here’s five reasons I love writing for Nigel–and I hope you’ll love reading him!

5. These books are “clean”
(no cursing, no sex, violence is mostly off-screen). It’s a different tone for me–kind of a palate cleanser!

4. Nigel is a different kind of hero.
Grant Casey, from the Bone Guard books, is ex-military, omni-competent–more of a strong, silent type. Nigel is none of those things. He’s an academic and an extrovert–but he’s unafraid to stand up for what’s right. Well, okay, he’s definitely afraid, but he’ll do it anyway, in spite of what his bodyguard suggests!

3. About that bodyguard…
Close readers of the Bone Guard series might recognize the code name “Jessica”, ex-Marine, ex-member of the Unit, the Special Forces Intelligence group that formed Grant and his friends. She’s as opposite from Nigel as you could be. Think: odd couple frenemies. Maybe it’s best if Grant doesn’t find out what she’s been up to.

2. Getting to say things like “Gormless Wally”
Nigel’s British heritage shows through, without taking over the story.

1. Nigel will eat absolutely anything!
Somewhat to Jessica’s dismay.

Tap the button below to pre-order the first book, wherever books are sold! Or here, for Amazon. Or here, if you want a taste of  Rogue Adventure before you jump in! The Manky Head, a short story, is available in ebook or audio–and you can get it free!

Thanks so much for reading!

Chris