Crash Landing

Aurora Conspiracy Episodes #1

by Ginger Gelsheimer, Christina Keats

“I yearn for only one thing in life…adventure!” – Emily Proctor journal entry, dated April 16, 1897

After crashing at Proctor Farm, Aurelius is pronounced dead by Judge Proctor and the town doctor. Hiding him away from harm and spectacle, they open a doorway that will ultimately change Emily’s life and the world forever.

Emily watches over him as he lies in a coma, tortured by the unknown. Nursing him to health, she will do the unthinkable and fall in love with him. However, with a mission of his own, Aurelius must find a way to return home to Erebus, which means he will leave Emily behind. If he’s discovered alive, they’ll have much more to worry about than love.

Crash Landing is the first story from the Aurora Conspiracy Trilogy prequel series. You might also enjoy Quest of the Hybrid (Aurora Conspiracy Trilogy: Book 1).

Genres: Science Fiction

62 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2013

About the author

Ginger Gelsheimer (1973-) became part of the surf & ski writing team in 2009, when the Aurora Conspiracy franchise came to life over a great bottle of vino. What if he lived? And Aurelius was born.

With writing partner Christina Keats, she took a leap of faith and embarked on her own adventure of a lifetime with the Aurora Conspiracy trilogy, kicking her corporate job to the curb. Together, this surf and ski team has explored the outer limits of where life could actually take them. The freedom and boundary-less adventure in Aurora Conspiracy has truly become a reflection of the freedom they have demanded and achieved in their lives.

Ginger lives in Tampa, Florida where the ocean inspires imagination. She lives with her daughter and a house full of black furry animals and four huge fish in the pond.

Reviews

[Christoph Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Crash Landing: Aurora Conspiracy 1)" by Ginger Gelsheimer is a fantastic blend of fantasy, science fiction and even historical romance if you so will.
Aurelius, a special breed from a different planet, crash lands with his cigar shaped UFO on Earth in 1897, off his course in time and space.
Judge Proctor and his lovely daughter take care of the injured man, nurse, protect and educate him.
He is stuck on the planet unless he finds Iridium to repair his space ship. But he falls in love with Emily, Proctor's daughter.
This is a short but very entertaining piece with a great time travelling concept, bringing in aliens and the intriguing background of the distant planet and its races. But none of that matters for our star struck lovers, much more complicated are the rules and laws on earth.
The feelings of the characters for each other are well portrayed and written with great care to make them convincing and engaging.This is a promising start to the series, leaving much open both in terms of plot and possible directions for the series to take. Although the beginning is rather technical and science fiction orientated the romance part then dominates the rest of the short novel, making it possible to expand on either theme.

[Scarlett Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 out of 5 stars Review by Scarlett Jensen of Episode 1 of Crash Landing: Aurora Conspiracy,March 12, 2014By Amazon Customer (Cape Town, South Africa) - This review is from: Crash Landing: Aurora Conspiracy Prequel Series - Episode 1 (Kindle Edition)

This edition is a short story representing the prequel to the series. The authors blend sci-fi, fantasy and romance, without losing real life relevance which helps the reader to place himself on this universe without being thrust into a too unfamiliar setting. In 1897, the crash landing on earth at Aurora into a windmill, of an alien large space ship from the planet Erebus forms the centre of the plot.The front cover of the book portrays the debri spot showing heat from the blazing fire of the wreckage. Visual images, beautifully described in words of the storytellers, form a vivid, entertaining and original descriptive basis of the story.Who is the pilot, where does he come from and why? The reader is informed that Aurelius is the spaceman. He is a hybrid breed of the inhabitants of the planet Erebus. His mission is to close the Gateway to Earth for a commander of an another planet, planet Celphi,wanted to extinguish the life source of a hybrid breed and also the human race if needed, to maintain sole command of the Universe. The trump card is the control of the expansion of a tribrid, the most powerful form of life in space. To breed a tribrid, an union between a full-blooded Celphian or Erebusians with a hybrid, were needed.The romantic scenes unfold with the sensitivity of that of a superhuman nature, now a blend between Emily, the heroine andthe mysterious Aurelius, the alien. The reader experiences characteristics of a foreign kind, different from mankind in a spontaneous and entertaining way. Emily does the nursing to recovery, of the injured spaceman, an his subsequent education of earthly laws. His protection becomes of major importance to her. He is her first mature love which transcends a pure bodily connection and reaches the depth of Aurelius' soul. Aurelius decides to stay on earth in spite of the fact that his mission is not yet completed. The military discovers the spaceman and the forces take him into custody.The plot moves fast, we have time and space travel in extra-terestial terms, we have historical time events in real time on earth, we have beautiful dialogue, love, soul and mind connectivity, real life experiences, description of the environment where we live, as a heaven to escape to. The surrounding beauty, water, fire, earth debri, powerful and magic crystals, the aura around Aurelius and his foreign powers and his feeling of human emotions and more, is experienced in the story.Will Aurelius complete his mission and return to Erebus? Will he marry Emily and have offspring? What extra-human powers of an alien will enhance the total story? Who are going to be the victorious? Which hybrid will be extinquished or reign? Read the fascinating and enchanting euphoria in this love story. Episode 2:Conflict Rising. An exerpt is provided in the book to indicate the direction the story takes.

[Geoff Nelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This charming novella, first of a series, is a what if? Suppose the mysterious crash on a windmill in Aurora, Texas in 1897 really was a spaceship. Perhaps the pilot survived – a kind of precursor to the Roswell Incident and Area 51. In this fictional interpretation humans are in danger from ancient higher beings that are genetically part human. I love the idea of tribrids, a genetically-engineered superior race created from the ‘best’ bits of three species. However, there’s a dispute and one of them is to eliminate the hybrids. To prevent this happening Aurelius is sent in his iridium-powered space / time ship first to England then the sunken Atlantis. There his lavender eyes become lasers to close the Atlantis Gateway and prevent a genocide. Intriguing, complex, but the main part of this novella comes in the following chapters.

Aurelius’s spaceship hurtles through the Texas sky and crash lands on a farm windmill in the year 1897. The many-talented though unconscious pilot is rescued by the farmer and his delectable blond daughter, Emily. Instinctively, they know to hide Aurelius from the authorities even though Emily’s father is the local judge and a friend of the President so should have been able to protect him from curious rubber-neckers. I’m not convinced about this rationale. In 1897, the population wouldn’t assume that all aliens are evil as happens in the early SF films and books and even if they did why didn’t Emily think to be more cautious and expose him to the Sheriff and army instead of hiding him? Ah, but she is woman, besotted by this exceedingly handsome stranger with skin sheened with luminescence and an unconscious yet surely good heart. Love is blind? The story continues with his recovery, him helping the family, trying to work out how to contact his ‘people’ so this ET can go home, yet with Emily not wanting him to leave. Romance, mystery, conflict – it’s all here.

I love ‘first contact’ stories and this is one to recommend, especially as for once it isn’t Area 51 – at least not yet.

[Demelza Carlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this because the concept looked cool - long-lived aliens undercover, influencing human history. For 99c, it's definitely better than the in-flight magazine for some light reading. It's also very short - too short, I'd say.

I believe it's intentional - this book provides a tantalising taste of the rest of the series.

Now, while the story is certainly tempting, there are two things in this story that make it only four and not five stars.

First is the fact that it's light on detail - you get very little description of the characters' thoughts before acting and there's very little description of anything bar the characters' appearance. I guess that's more my personal preference - I don't care if she has beautiful, long blonde hair or if she's bald, but I would like to know more of what she's thinking beneath that scalp. It'd help me relate to Emily better.

Second is that some of the language seems a little too modern, which makes the narrative a bit jarring, particularly when modern language is interspersed with some of what I imagine to be more like the time period it's set in.

Once I managed to suspend my disbelief on those two matters, the story definitely hooked me. I believe the rest of the series might go on my Christmas list...

[Chameleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Personally, I like the way the author only gives enough details and information to paint the scenes and characters without going on and on. I don't like getting bogged down in details when it's not necessary. For me, the author does a perfect job of giving you just enough.
I also think she did an outstanding job of weaving fact with fiction. Keeping a fairly fast pace, the characters were very likeable, and I was caught up in their plight right away. I was already very familiar with the real incident that happened in Aurora, Texas, but she made it come completely alive with the characters and their interactions with the real life event.
I simply love the way she wove her characters around it. The book is short, and it ends on a nail biting cliffhangar. Ahhhhh!! Was my response, lol, I HAVE to get the next book! I can only imagine what Emily is going to have to go through to- well, I'm not telling you, lol, but I just know it's going to be good!
If you're a sci-fi fan, this series- in fact, all of the the author's books, will please you immensely. If you have never considered yourself a sci-fi reader, she'll change your mind! Her books changed mine!
I'm also reading the Dark Days series from this author. A series I also have to highly recommend.

[Abby Vandiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story love transcends all. A love story for the beginning (of the series) and for all times.

Aurora Conspiracy the Series: Crash Landing is a short, but sweet, beginning to the Aurora Conspiracy series. It's light and fun and gets you geared up and ready to read the next books. Emily is high-spirited, stubborn with a mind of her own, but with loving parents, she's able to think and act for herself. Enter Aurelius, mysterious, strong, and out of this world (literally) handsome, and it's love at first sight. You find yourself smiling through the entire story. And I like that it's different from the formulistic romance stories -- girl meets boy, they fall in love, something horrific makes them break up, then they realize (after much angst) that they can't live without one another and presto, happy ending! This was realistic and endearing from start to finish.

I enjoyed the book. I did find the language by the characters and narrator contained anachronisms at times which would throw me out of the story and was disturbed by the sinful act that the character then publically thanked God for, but that won't stop me from reading all of the other Aurora Conspiracy books.

I recommend starting with this book and reading straight through to the end of the series.

[Lex Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoy reading stories that are based, even a tiny bit, on a real life event. Although the Aurora crash was most likely a hoax to attract attention to an economically dying town, the newspaper article and description of the accident was real enough to make it an historical account.

With “Crash Landing” the authors take us back to the accident, in 1897, that sparks the Aurora Conspiracy series, and they’ve done an excellent job of setting the stage. The historical background allows for the almost immediate suspension of disbelief that is essential to enjoying a work of fiction, especially in the science fiction genre. The writing is tight with few grammatical errors indicating that the authors take comments and reviews seriously. I was unable to find most of the ‘cons’ listed in previous 3 star reviews.

Characterization, a great premise and a solid ability to “show” not “tell”, make this short entree into the series entertaining and engaging. I’m looking forward to the rest of the story.

[Jada Ryker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A “Reli” Excellent Story

In Aurora Conspiracy the Series: Crash Landing - Episode 1, by Ginger Gelsheimer and Christina Keats, an alien named Aurelius accidentally plummets to Earth in 1897. When Judge Proctor and his beautiful daughter Emily take Aurelius into their home and hearts, the alien finds himself working toward an objective outside his mission.

The plot is well-developed and moves along at a brisk clip, galloping at least as quickly as Emily riding Sir Henry bareback. Under the looming shadow of the fate of the human race, Aurelius, Reli for short, discovers human feelings and Emily learns more about life outside her family and community. The nosy sheriff weaves in misgivings through the story.

After you read this great story, be sure to check out Episode 2 of the series.

[Sonya Dodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read a later book from this series I was very interested to go back to the beginning to discover how the tale began. I was not disappointed.
This is a wonderful story of a man, Aurelius, from the future, crash landing his space craft in 1897 America. There is a good mix of trepidation and interest from the inhabitants who discover him. The love story which unfolds between Aurelius and Emily is beautifully written and develops sensitively.
I would recommend this book to those who have read any of this series or anyone who loves a sci-fi read. I look forward to discovering more gems from this writer.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT. This book just ended too soon and I wanted to read more.

[D.E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Aurora Conspiracy: Crash Landing" begins the tale of an alien, Aurelius, who has crashed landed on Earth, and the relationship that forms with his caretaker: the late-blooming Emily.

The story is short and moves along quickly, sometimes at the expense of plot and character development. Even so, the story's heart - a romance between human and alien - manages to succeed despite the length.

Emily is a sheltered young woman who finds herself when she single-mindedly nurses the comatose Aurelius back to health after his space ship crashes on her family’s farm.

Aurelius is imbued with powers that far exceed any human abilities, yet he must learn to adjust to his new life amongst seemingly primitive humans, and come to terms with his growing affection for Emily even though he know he won’t be able to stay.
The first chapter opens on Aurelius' home planet and introduces the world he comes from, but in the end it left me with many open-ended questions. Why are these aliens so powerful? It seems to be because of genetic blending but are they gods? God-like? Or does the blending enhance inherent abilities? When we first meet Aurelius, he is charged with closing a gate to prevent the extinction of humans on Earth. Very little of this is explained and he succeeds in closing this gate so the apparent threat is over, leaving me wondering why we were told about it in the first place. If the story had begun with Aurelius crashing on Earth and revealed bits of the details in chapter one through-out, it would have added mystery to who Aurelius actually was and why he was here.

It’s possible many of the questions will be answered in the following books, so other than being a minor distraction it didn’t detract from the story as a whole.

I only noticed a couple of small typos, which I applaud but the prose, as a whole, was inconsistent. There were moments of skilled writing, but a lot of the sentence structure was rough and relied too heavily on cliché. The story would have been better served if an experienced editor had reviewed it and helped to smooth out and strengthen the writing overall.

There was a lot of good potential here, and some strong moments. With a bit more work in the following books, a solid story could emerge.

[Peter Vialls · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to start this review by saying that I haven't read the main Aurora Conspiracy trilogy of which this is the first prequel. Which may be why the first chapter of this book left me cold – it seemed rushed and incoherent, and I cringed at the character who is described as the “Master of the Universe”.
By the end of the first chapter, however, Aurelius, the male lead character, has crashed his space/timecraft in 1897, and after that the book calms down and becomes a reasonable read. Aurelius is rescued by a local girl, Emily, and her parents, and takes some time to recuperate. In the meantime the remains of his ship are collected by the US military. As the plot progresses, Emily becomes increasingly smitten with the handsome alien, much to her father's horror, and her feelings are reciprocated. No, this isn't a spoiler – it's clear from the earliest stage that we have a burgeoning romance here. By the time the plot is developing, though, the novel reaches its end. It is not a lengthy read by any stretch of the imagination, and leaves a cliffhanger over the future of the two young lovers.
The characterisation of the central figures is pretty good – Emily's father, particularly, is well-drawn and far more interesting than I expected. Emily, on the other hand, is something of the 'perfect girl' – she's smart and beautiful and headstrong, and she can ride well. Aurelius is superhuman, moral and good-looking, and also a little too good to be true. Despite both caveats, the growing romance is nicely portrayed.
The biggest flaw is that the shortness of the book gives no time for any real plot development – it is only in the last few pages that the story starts to take off. And at that stage you have to get the next book. According to Amazon the next two volumes are now available but are each equally short.
Verdict? Once past the first chapter, it isn't a bad little book – but it ends just as it is getting interesting.

[N. Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was certainly not what I expected. When I picked up this series, it was Sci-Fi, aliens, blah blah blah. It was free, so I thought to myself, why not delve outside of the normal genres I read and try this one out. I am happy to say that I really enjoyed it. I devoured this whole series in 2 days. Yes, it's very sci-fi, alien conspiracy and what not. But, there's a love story in there. Aurelius is willing to cause the universe to go to war and Earth to be destroyed, for love!

I've tried reading Sci-Fi before. The things I don't like are names you can't pronounce or crazy things that just make me roll my eyes. There's nothing like that in this series. I was held captive page by page as the characters bounced around in time, trying to save Earth. There's time travel, space travel and even some people from History that you will recognize. I think that these books are very well written and really make it easy for someone like me to bridge the gap between my typical genre of reading and into something different. I'm so happy I picked these all up and can't wait to read more!

[cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

by Ginger Gelsheimer/Christina Keats

Note: I am reviewing my own Kindle copy that I bought.

Summary: A young half alien man crashes a space ship in a small town in the 19th century. Found by a judge’s family, Aurelius is hidden away and protected. No one expects him and the judge’s daughter to fall in love.

Positive: The concept is spot on. The characters are well fleshed out. The editing is good. Overall readability is good. Despite the issues below, I can tell that this prequel is leading to something that could be greater.

Negative: I did not feel that Aurelius crashed in the late 19th century. The mannerisms, beliefs, and actions of the Proctor family did not match the time period. Too open minded, too forward thinking and trusting (especially for a small town judge!) Unfortunately, for all that the characters were well fleshed out, I was quickly annoyed at the insta-love and immature behavior of the daughter Emily.



Rating: 4.0 stars of 5

[The Color of Ink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aurelius crash lands on the Proctor farm in 1897. Judge Proctor and the town doctor decide to hide him keeping him safe and out of eyes view. However, things don’t stay that way. The Judge’s daughter Emily is smitten and her life and the world as they all know it may forever be changed.

Emily watched over Aurelius as he heals. While Aurelius is in the comma they begin a connection and she falls in love with him. Ultimately, Aurelius will need to return home to Erebus. He will have to leave her behind, but will he be able to?

With the incorporation of a bit of history in the midst of the otherworldly story, it is the making of a great story. The first few pages threw me with an abundant of information that was a little much as first, but the story flowed smoothly and quickly from there.

Double your pleasure by adding a little history and science fiction with your next read and one-click your copy today. I’m off to read book two now.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an appealing introduction with just enough information to draw the reader in and make you want to find out what happens next. The concept of an alien crashing to Earth back in 1897 is intriguing and sets up all sorts of potential leads.
The main characters are well drawn with room to grow and the plot has potential to go off in all sorts of tangents and directions. In other words, this is a very well written and structured beginning by a writer who knows how to control their ideas and implement them. Impressive. Romantic sci-fi is a new concept for me. I will be reading more of the series.

[Sandra Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for a blog tour coming up. It was a very short book, but it caught my attention, and I found this book very interesting. It is Sci-fi genre with a twist of romance.

Aurelius is from another planet an alien, he crash lands in Texas. There he meets Emily. Emily helps nurse him back to health so very sweet! I don’t want to give anymore away. But I typically don’t read Sci-fi books but wow I really love the way this author writes and explains things. And she left a little cliff hanger, which is good because now I can’t wait for Episode 2.

If you want a short Sci-fi book to read check out this book, I highly recommend this. Thank you Ginger for writing a great book.

[Scott Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced sci-fi romance that wil keep you wanting more. This book slows for nothing. That's part of the reason for the four, and not five star, review. I felt there were scenes that should have been expanded to give greater insight into the motivations and actions of the characters. At times, those seemed to be glossed over to get to the next sequence. There were a few phrases that popped out at me as not something I'd expect to hear in the late 1800's as well. Those pulled me out of the story just enough to be a distraction. I must admit, I read this out of order. Having already read book two of the series, I can tell you that the dialogue is not an issue for me in the sequel.