Smashwords Sale!

In honor of Read an Ebook Week, all of my fiction at Smashwords is either half price or free!

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

Be sure to click on the 'view more' when you get down to the bottom of the list.  I have a lot of publications.  Smashwords provides formats for every major ebook reader, including Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc., plus PDF versions so that even if you don't have a dedicated ebook reader, you can still read the books.

You can add as many books as you like to your cart and use a single code to get half off on all the fiction.  (This does not include the how to write books -- but they are only $0.99 each anyway!)  The code is:  RAE50

I have a wide variety of fiction from young adult mysteries to science fiction space opera.  This is the sort of thing that happens when you've been writing for a long time and you are prolific -- and also willing to try out different genres when an idea takes hold.


You might want to try my Silky fantasy trilogy, now on sale at a $1.50 each!  https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/4689

"Exciting, complex and richly textured, with a world you'll believe and a protagonist you have to cheer for -- Silky is wonderful."  Holly Lisle (Quote from original 1998 Embiid Publishing release.)

Captured as a child and sold into heartless slavery, life has robbed Silky of his magical abilities and left him with no expectations of a better life -- until his own act of bravery delivers him into the hands of a powerful Lord of the Land.

His troubles are far from over since Lord Reed is out of favor with the King and danger threatens at any mischance. Working with Lord Reed starts him along a path that will lead to power, danger and heartbreak -- and a future the young slave boy could never have imagined.


Or maybe you'd be interested in a science fiction novel?  Xenation: Draw the Line -- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/328037

When humans found the abandoned -- and ancient -- space station, they moved in to study the place they called Xeno-Station, and then shortened to Xenation. Following them came three other races, all intent on learning secrets. Only now one of the humans has a dangerous link to the heart and controls of this alien place, and he's learning there are secrets and dangers no one imagined.


Or how about some steampunk fantasy?  Raventower and Merriweather 1: Secrets -- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/673823

Lord Micalus Raventower is a genius at creating clockwork creatures and tinkering with steampunk engines, but that doesn’t explain why Atiran assassins are suddenly intent on killing him. Lt. Merriweather is assigned to protect Lord Raventower, a role she initially resents since it takes her away from the castle and any chance of advancement to the King's Guard.

Trouble is brewing for the city of Kamere. Atrian warships stand off the coast, and there are enemies even within the ranks of the nobility itself. Merriweather and the eccentric young lord will have quite a job keeping him alive as well as hiding his more unusual secrets. She soon learns there may be very good reasons for the Atrians to want Lord Raventower dead.  (Book 2 is due to be out in June!)


I love seeing this sale pop up because it falls over my birthday!  I always feel like this is a fun way to celebrate by having a nice price for fans and new readers and by getting a few sales as a present to me.

Please spread the word.  The sale runs from March 5-11.

I hope you enjoy the books.

Flash Fiction # 240 -- Saving Everywhere. Part 24: Trucker

(Previous)

Edmond finished off the scarecrow.  I wondered what the owner would think, but at least Edmond seemed less twitchy now.  The woman had heard him talk and she glanced his way, probably noting the wings.  She didn't seem upset, and I wondered if I should trust her at all.

Something said that I could.  Maybe I was fooling myself,  but I was so worn and tired that I almost wanted to confront trouble just to be done with it.

I had not expected her to take us to a nice, shiny, and bright red big rig.  I climbed in, and Edmond followed to sit in my arms.  She hauled herself in on the opposite side, looked around, and then pulled out.

"I'm Lucy," she said.  "Been driving trucks for about fifteen years now."

"Mark," I said.  "And this is Edmond.  "And it only feels like we've been on the road for fifteen years."

She laughed.  I sat back and relaxed for the first time in days.  I had a feel for her and that she was a good, kind person.  That didn't mean I understood her, though.

"Why did you come to get us?" I asked.  "How did you even know where to find us?"

"At a cafe down aways," she said with a general wave behind us.  "Heard some locals talking about you and the cat.  Heard that the police are waiting for you along the line since they figured that part out.  They were worried.  Me, though ... I've traveled more than those local boys.  I know magic isn't new and I've seen both good and bad.  The idea that it's all bad is only making it harder for the good side to win."

"Nice to find a reasonable human again," Edmond said.

She glanced his way.  "They talk about the wings, but I don't think they know he can talk."

"Came as a surprise to me the first time," I said. 

"Now keep down low, both of you, when we go through town.  This is part of my regular route, so people are used to seeing me here.  As long as things appear normal, we shouldn't have a problem."

I slid down to the floor and held my breath.    Edmond stayed on the seat, but he laid down.  If he thought I was going to let him stay there and sleep --

I didn't know what town we passed through, but it was larger than most of the others I'd seen lately.  We stopped at a couple lights.  Cars sped past us, and Lucy cursed at a couple of them.  Eventually, the sounds died away.  She kept her eyes open for a bit longer and then nodded.

"Back up with you.  No use hiding down there when you can be comfortable."

"This is the most comfortable I've been in a long time," I admitted, but I nudged Edmond out of the way and got back into the seat.  You could see a long ways from up here -- but there wasn't much to see.  Fields and fields.  It wasn't much more interesting than it had been on the ground.

Lucy asked me about how we happened to be in this mess.  I told her some of the highlights of my trip, from my first few days in Elsewhere to arriving back here again.  I didn't tell her about the others and how they had made a train to get back to the battle.  I wanted to trust her, but I wouldn't put others in danger.

And then I fell asleep.  I woke up twice but slipped back away again as soon as I realized we were will safe. The day was gone when I woke again.  Edmond was not on my lap, and I panicked, trying to find him.

"The cat is back on the bed," Lucy said.  She was slowing down, which was what had awakened me.  She waved a hand toward the back.  "You get back there, too, and keep out of sight."

I am embarrassed to say that I hadn't noticed the little sleeping quarters behind the chairs.  As she pulled into a big lot at a truck stop.  I pushed Edmond out of the way and laid down in the shadows.  Edmond growled, but he went right back to sleep.

I was awake now, though.  Lucy had filled the tank with diesel and headed into the building.  I had nothing to do but listen to the sounds outside.  They seemed normal. Even quiet.  How long had it been since I'd thought those words?

Lucy came back a little later and threw a bag at me.  "Clothes," she said.  "Go in, take a shower, and change.  You'll feel better."

"I --"

"You're going to help save the world, kid. The least some of us can do is give you some clothes."

I'd pay her back, later.  I slipped out of the truck, and Edmond went off to take care of nature.  I assumed he'd be careful and he'd watch things.  I moved as quickly as I could and felt a lot better when I came back out.  Edmond came out from under the truck, and we bounded in.

"Didn't see anything out of the ordinary," Edmond reported.  "Except that everyone is really, really nervous."

"News says the National Guard and even some troops have been called into areas in the East," Lucy reported.  We were already moving again.  I felt better for it.  I kept out of sight as best I could, but I didn't hide this time as we went through town.  Something told me I wanted to keep an eye on things.

We found a roadblock at the end of town.  Men in uniform surrounded us with guns ready, and I knew if I tried to hide, we'd be in worse shape.  Lucy looked annoyed more than worried.

"We are not here," I whispered, holding Edmond closer.  "We are not here."

I hoped the magic worked or we might all be dead.

 

To Be continued....

1000 Words

How an ancient Egyptian letter could have changed the world

First, I'll admit that I have often found Egyptian history kind of boring.  The same with Greek.  The truth was that I simply hadn't found the right teacher.  I'm watching a 48 part course on Egypt from The Great Courses with Bob Brier as the instructor, and it is fascinating.  The classes are about a half an hour each, and I am half way through them, which means I've already watched 12 hours worth of material.  I'm not even through it, and I already want to watch it again.  Instead, I'm going to watch is 32 (or maybe it is 24) part class on reading hieroglyphs.

Last night I had a raging headache, and it kept me awake.  So as I curled up under the blankets, I thought about Tutankhamun's young widow and how she came very close to completely changing history as we know it -- at least in the way my imagination worked.

First, it's important to know how someone became King of Egypt -- Pharaoh -- if you wanted the strongest hold on the throne.  You might have been named the heir, but it was important that you marry the woman with the most royal blood and she became your Great Wife.  This is why there were so many marriages to sisters and half-sisters.  It was not always the case -- Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's father, was married to Nefertiti, a beautiful commoner, though of high rank.  Tutankhamen might not have been her son, but was the child of a second wife.  He does not show up in any of the material about his father and Nefertiti, though all the daughters and the son who died young are mentioned.  The most famous Pharaoh of all time, though, is never referred to in the historical records before he was Pharaoh -- and long after his death, a successor (Horenheb) erased his name from practically everything.  Not just his name, though -- his heretic father's history and the history of the man who followed Tutankhamun also disappeared.

Anyway, Akhenaten and Nefertiti's daughter Ankhesenamun married Tutankhamun.  The two had no children who came to term.  When her husband died, Ankhesenamun was the only person with truly royal blood still alive.  That meant she was the key to the throne for someone.  Whoever married her was going to become the next Pharaoh.

She wrote a letter to the king of the Hittites.  This was a very powerful nation in the area of modern Turkey and a long time enemy of Egypt. She asked that he send one of his numerous sons to marry her and she would make him Pharaoh.  She said she would not marry a servant and that she was afraid.

Suppiluliuma I, the king of the Hittites, didn't believe the letter, so he sent someone to investigate.  Word finally reached him that it was true.  He sent off a son and his retinue to Egypt, but they were met at the border, and the son was killed.

The former Vizier of Egypt, a man, named Aye, becomes Pharaoh.  He is shown as such even in Tutankhamun's hastily created tomb.  Tutankhamun died at about the age of 18, and they had only seventy days to prepare the burial place, which is the official time that the preparation of the mummy takes place.  Shortly after she wrote the letter, Ankhesenamun disappears from history.  Aye's own tomb lists a different wife.  No tomb to Ankhesenamun has ever been found, but it is evident that Aye had married the most royal woman to become Pharaoh ... that she was forced to marry the servant.

(If her name sounds somewhat familiar, you've probably seen the Brendan Fraiser Mummy movies.)

So what would have happened if the Hittite king had sent his son right away? What if Ankhesenamun had succeeded in her plan?

Maybe everything would have changed. 

Let's pretend....

Through the marriage, the Hittites made a permanent link with Egypt and the fabled Egyptian wealth. With it, there were able to fight back the peoples of Mesopotamia (Assyrians, Kassites, Hurrians -- I can't remember what nations were actually powerful at this point) and conquered all that part of the ancient world.  They gain more from Egypt than just her wealth, though.  Nearly every conqueror of Egypt became seduced by the culture.  A Hittite became Pharaoh, and he and his successors helped to spread the glory and the gods of Egypt from the Nile valley all the way up to Troy and down to Babylon.

Now, this Egyptian-Hittite empire might have pressed west as well, but I'm going to pretend that they had their hands full with everything eastward and along the southern Mediterranean shore.  The Greeks might not have had their Troy, or they might have had some battle against this new empire.  The Greeks might have developed in much the same way as they did in our reality, but there would not have been a Persian Empire that had tried to invade.  Maybe the Egypt-Hittite empire would have done so, but let's say that this melding of the empire was already a thousand years old when the Persians would have invaded and maybe had its hands full with rebel provinces and trouble to the east and south. Though our real Egypt had some tumultuous times, they still held on remarkably well all the way down to the Romans.  Even the Greeks played at the Egypt game.

So....

Maybe there would still be an Alexander if the Greek lands had been left to their little wars between the multiple kingdoms.  Phillip might have united them. Alexander might have taken his father's throne.

But the Persians had not attacked Greece.  Alexander didn't have the mandate to invade and burn Persepolis in revenge for their attack on Delphi.  If the Egyptian-Hittite power still reigned strong and kept its attention eastward, someone as wise as Alexander would not want to draw that giant's attention.

However, Alexander would have done something.

What if he looked West instead?  Those upstart Romans might have become a bit of a problem.  If he moved against that area of the world, he would have saved his cousin from that disastrous Pyhrric Victory later.  So instead of paving the way for the Romans into the east, he subjugates them and keeps heading west.  What if he reached the end of the world in Ireland in the company of Druids?

This is an entirely different world.  In this one, Caesar is part of the Greek World and Romans might well be slaves.  Or maybe he is part of the army recruited from the Roman peninsula.  I don't believe a person is created just by his genes so the circumstances would have had to work just right for Caesar to be anything like what he was in the real world, whether he was successful or not.  The same with Alexander and anyone else.

What if the Egyptians take over everything and Alexander is, in essence, Egyptian?  Phillip (his father) had made the Macedonian capital a haven of Greek Culture -- but even so, the Greeks of places like Athens never considered them to be more than northern barbarians.  What if Phillip brought in Egyptian culture instead?  How odd would that be to see the Gods of the sunny south standing in the winter lands of Macedonia?

I'm not even seriously considering anything like shifts made by Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.  I am not looking at the lands of India and beyond and what they might have done when faced by these giants to their west.  I am only looking at historical people and pretending that they would be much the same regarding drive if not position.

In this pretend world, the Egyptian-Hittites hold the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean shore (and inland from there).  The Greeks hold the northern shore and the western islands.  Or the Egyptians take all and rule from their river-fed lands. Egyptians never liked to travel far, partly because you had to be buried in the land of the pharaohs in order to partake in their resurrection and eternity.  Perhaps they could expand the idea of being buried on the west bank to include anything west of the Nile, but the Northern, European edges of the Mediterranean would have been far harder to include in that world (and death) view.

Egypt as an empire lasted for thousands of years.  Yes, they fell sometimes, but they always rose again in the same mold.  They had an unyielding sense of self -- so strong, that even the Greeks after Alexander fell under their spell.  Alexander succumbed to the glory of Egypt to some degree as well, though in a different way. Did the Oracle at Siwa set Alexander on his way to the east by proclaiming he would be supreme ruler of all those lands?  That might be a handy way to get rid of a troublesome Greek, wouldn't you think?  At least until it turned out to be true.

Oh, but that's more real-world stuff.  I am infatuated with my 'Let's Pretend' world where the Egyptians have the south, the Greeks have the north -- the Romans are troublesome slaves (but maybe great at designing and building things), and the Druids were the beloved of Alexander.

I want to write in this pretend world.  I want to see the Romans rebel against their Greek masters.  I want to see pyramids on the Straits of Gibraltar, and the 35th Tutankhamun proclaimed Pharaoh amidst rumors of another band from the Chinese hinterlands heading into the eastern edges of the empire.  Are the Mongols coming?  How far into Europe will they get?  If the Romans revolt, will Egypt help the Greeks get it settled?  They would be wise to unless some fool of a Pharaoh thinks it's time to take over all the known world.

There could be a lot of stories in this world, but it would also take considerable work to get the foundations built.  I am going to play with it, but I honestly don't do well with historical fiction despite the amount of history I read.  This is the kind of project that would take years just to set up, though.  And what if I added a sprinkling of magic to take it into the world of true fantasy stories.  Egypt certainly had its tales of magic, after all.

So if everything changed with a letter, where would it lead?

I think this one is going to stay with me for some time.

Flash Fiction # 239 -- Saving Everywhere. Part 23: Town

(Previous)

I didn't think we were going to get past the people with the torches.  They'd spread out, and others came racing along the road and leapt out of their cars.  Edmond and I both crawled for a long ways, sometimes huddling close together.  You do not see us ... you do not see us.  I couldn't be certain if the magic worked or if we just got lucky.  They moved on.

A ditch, half-filled with mud, provided the best cover.  People walked everywhere around us for a while, but the madness seemed to die down almost as quickly as it had started.

"Damn fool thing to do," one of the men grumbled as he and a companion went by far too close.  "Could have set fire to half the county."

"We never jumped at ghosts and goblins before," another replied.  "We need to stop running around in circles."

"The war is in the east, whatever is real about it.  Let them keep it there."

"Yeah," the other man agreed.  "And I'm gonna tell that to the next government man who comes and riles things up."

And they walked on.  I was glad to have heard some human reasonableness, but that didn't mean I felt safe.  We stayed in the mud, though until all the sounds were gone and the night had settled in around us.  Edmond slept for a while again.  I think I did for a little while, too -- and awoke again, afraid that I'd not been on guard, that something could have found us.

There weren't many cars on the road the other side of the ditch.  I would have liked to walk that easier path, but I clawed my way up and into the field again instead.  Edmond moved cautiously with me.  We got lucky, and I found a path through the wheat that was easy enough to follow.

Less an hour later I heard a train whistle and found the location of the tracks.  Across the road, of course, and now a few miles away.  We were near a stand of trees, though.

"Let's sit down and eat," I suggested.  I hadn't talked much and neither had Edmond.  "I have tuna sandwiches."

I saw his tail come straight up, the sign of a happy cat.  At least I'd done something right today.  I still wasn't sure how they'd spotted me, though.  I said so to Edmond, too.

"Humans are always ready to panic," Edmond said.  We sat down behind the trees. The moon was going down, and I wished we could rest here for a long time, but it wasn't going to happen.  "They are not the most stable species in the world.  Or any world, as far as I can tell."

"Probably true," I agreed.  I handed sat down half a sandwich for him, and he started eating it, bread and all.  He purred, too.  That put me in a better mood like I had done something right.

"We are still too far from where we need to be," I said, staring out at the land as the sun started to come up.  "We're going to have to catch another train, but it's going to be dangerous crossing the road --"

And right then I saw that we didn't have to.  Another train was going by, heading west and I realized the tracks must have curved because it was now almost straight ahead of us.  I took that as a good sign.  I needed one.

Another good sign was the line of clouds and the drizzle that started not long after we started out again.  Neither of us liked being wet, but even Edmond admitted that the rain would help keep people from seeing us.

"I wish humans weren't so stubborn in what they believe," Edmond admitted.  He nestled in my jacket and with just a touch of magic, he wasn't so difficult to carry this way.  "They want to believe that magic is evil without ever looking at what might be happening -- like there are two sides fighting and they might want to join with one of them."

"True," I agreed.  We'd been moving along the tracks for most of the long, wet day.  The only train heading in our direction had been going far too fast for me to dare magic to grab hold.  I hoped we wouldn't have to go too far before we found some place where they slowed.

Our journey was taking too long, though.  I worried about our friends, and though I didn't say anything aloud, I knew that Edmond worried, too.  I had never felt so useless before.  I had never felt so cut off from everything I understood.

I wished I could call my mom.  That probably came from being back in this reality.  I pushed the thought away.

Sometime in the afternoon, we skirted around a house and out into a field.  A scarecrow stood over a stand of corn, his arms flapping in the damp wind.

"I don't like scarecrows," Edmond admitted.  "And if this one starts talking --"

"I wouldn't keep going the way you are if I were you," a voice said.

Edmond leapt out of my jacket and attacked the scarecrow, tearing it apart.  I stepped back and watched, glancing at the woman who stepped away from the tree nearby and watched.

"Just let him get it out of his system," I suggested.

She nodded, graying hair damp, glasses pushed down on her nose.  She wore a big, heavy leather jacket and watched Edmond with what looked like a nod of appreciation at what a good job he was doing.  The head was gone, the arms were following.

"I only meant to tell you that they're waiting for you at the next train stop," she said  "You might not want to go that way.  I'll give you a ride."

"Why?" I asked.  Even Edmond had stopped and taken notice.

"Why? Because someone has to be smart."



To Be Continued....

1000 Words

The Book Goes On

The book I thought might make it to 70k is over 90k now and still going strong.  I have reached the dragons.  They've been a fun addition.

But I think things have been too easy for my MC.  I'll have to change that up in the edit/rewrite.  It's more important right now to get the basics down and know where the story will go at each step and where it will end.  I love the saying that all first drafts are perfect because their only goal is to exist.

At some point in the last few days I topped 100k in my writing for the year so far.  The word count has been a bit lower than I like for each day lately, but that was because I am feeling my way through a change point in the story.  The dragons are more than fun to write -- they are a key that my MC needs to lead him to the next revelations and show him what he needs to do if he hopes to defeat the enemy.

So here is a little snippet from the start of the latest chapter:

I was on a dragon and flying off over the snow-covered mountains.

On a dragon.

Flying.

Of all the nightmares about dragons that I had hoarded since my childhood, this was not one that had ever come up.

I write far better first drafts now than I did ten years ago. I am pleased when I read something I wrote a few years ago and it stands up far better than I had expected.  Right now I'm reading a much older book, but I have rewritten it once from the original and it's better than I had hoped.  It's even been fun.

Fun. There is the word that a lot of writers, especially new ones, think they need to avoid.  Writing has to be work.  If it isn't work, then it can't be worth anything, right?  And if it's fun, then it obviously isn't work.

I see people trying to reconcile themselves with the idea that they enjoy writing when so many others are out there growling at every word they write.

Some people are just that way.  It doesn't mean you have to be, too.  It's all right to enjoy writing.  I know that's hard to believe.  I know that some of you have been taught that you need to suffer and share your angst to show you are a true artist, but it's just not true.

Writing, for many people, can be fun.  It's not homework.  The story doesn't have to be perfect on the first try.  We are lucky because we have the wonderful tool called a first draft.

Oh, and don't tell me that you edit your story as you go because you can't stand to read it after you are done.  If you hate it that much, why bother?  And if you hate it that much, why should anyone else want to read it?

Write what you love.  Enjoy the process.

Have fun.