Extract – Page 7 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Extract Post: ‘Retriever Of Souls’, by Lorraine Mace

Retriever of Souls

Brought up believing that sex is the devil’s work, a killer only finds release once he has saved his victim’s souls. Abiding by his vision, he marks them as his. A gift to guide his chosen ones on the rightful path to redemption.

Detective Inspector Paolo Sterling is out to stop him, but Paolo has problems of his own. Hunting down the killer as the death toll rises, the lines soon blur between Paolo’s personal and professional lives.

Extract: ‘Sea Babies’, by Tracey Scott-Townsend

Today I’m taking part in the blog tour for Sea Babies. I’ll be sharing an extract from the novel below, and then a little about the author. Enjoy!

Published By: Wild Pressed Books
Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2S4gydb

Blurb
Lauren Wilson is travelling by ferry to the Outer Hebrides, about to begin a new job as a social worker. When somebody sits opposite her at the cafeteria table, she refuses to look up, annoyed at having her privacy disturbed. But a hand is pushing a mug of tea towards her, and a livid scar on the back of the hand releases a flood of memories.
Some people believe in the existence of a parallel universe. Does Lauren have a retrospective choice about the outcome of a terrible recent accident, or is it the bearer of that much older scar who has the power to decide what happens to her now?

Extract: ‘Gap Years’, by Dave Holwill

Gap Years

19 year old Sean hasn’t seen his father since he was twelve. His mother has never really explained why. An argument with her leads to his moving to the other side of the country.

Martin, his father, has his life thrown into turmoil when the son he hasn’t seen in nearly eight years strolls back into his life immediately killing his dog and hospitalising his step-daughter.

The one thing they have in common is the friendship of a girl called Rhiannon.

Over the course of one summer Sean experiences sexual awakenings from all angles, discovers the fleeting nature of friendship and learns to cope with rejection.

Martin, meanwhile, struggles to reconnect with Sean while trying to delicately turn down the increasingly inappropriate advances of a girl he sees as a surrogate daughter and keep a struggling marriage alive.

Gap Years is an exploration of what it means to be a man in the 21st Century seen from two very different perspectives – neatly hidden inside a funny story about bicycles, guitars and unrequited love.

Extract: ‘Spiral Into Darkness’, by Joseph Lewis

*Published By: Black Rose Writing*
*Publication Date: 19th January 2019*
*Format: Kindle*
*Price: Free on Kindle Unlimited/£6.23*

Blurb
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent and methodical. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement.

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiral-Into-Darkness-Joseph-Lewis-ebook/dp/B07L15328K

US – https://www.amazon.com/Spiral-Into-Darkness-Joseph-Lewis-ebook/dp/B07L15328K

Extract: ‘The Planetsider’, by G J Ogden

To follow Alex’s review we have an extract from the novel.

Eventually, he summoned up the courage to push off from the railings and began to wander around the balcony, not really paying any attention to the doors, corridors and rooms that he passed. This circular, central area was huge, he observed, perhaps two-hundred metres across, and each level seemed to have its own network of adjoining areas, like a huge three-dimensional spider web. Strangely, while he could see people walking around on the levels above and below him, there was almost nobody on the same level as he was. He’d seen perhaps only two or three others, far on the opposite side of the balcony.

This thought was rudely interrupted by a loud gurgle from his stomach, and he realised that he was actually quite hungry. He fiddled with the square slab in his trouser pocket, remembering what Diana had told him about it also allowing him to get food, and decided to make his way down to the plaza. He looked around for an elevator, or at least something that resembled one, surmising that they must look pretty much the same here as they did on the moon base. He spotted a likely candidate about twenty metres away and started walking towards it, but then something caught his eye. It was a huge door, set back from the balcony edge. It reminded him of the doors in the city space port back on the planet, where he had first met Maria, and where he’d later made the fateful decision to have himself blasted into space with her. Ethan approached it more closely and noticed a sign, surrounded in a red and white striped border that read, ‘Restricted Area – Level C9. DO NOT ENTER’. To the side of the large door was a smaller door, and next to this was a square, silver pad. Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out the square card that Diana had given him. Written on it was, ‘Diana Neviah – C9’ and a picture of Diana’s face, framed by her red hair. He looked at the picture. The green eyes stared back. The thin, red lips were pressed together, not smiling. She looked younger in the photo and, despite not smiling, somehow happier. He read the name again, ‘Diana Neviah – C9’, then looked again at the sign on the door: ‘Restricted Area – Level C9’.

He stood for a time with the square card in his hand, looking at the door. Diana had made it clear that nowhere was off limits; she had made of point of it more than once. But she hadn’t mentioned any restricted areas. Did she secretly want him to go in here? Or was she just trying to show that she trusted him, by giving him access to all areas, but trusting also that he wasn’t stupid enough to enter a restricted area? He flipped the pass over and over in his hand, tossing the different possibilities around in his mind. Maybe behind this door there was something to help confirm Diana’s story, or throw it into question. The temptation proved overwhelming. Ethan walked up to the door and pressed the pass against the silver square to its side. Moments later, a green border lit up around the square and he heard a solid, mechanical thud from within the door. He pulled the handle, and it opened.

You can take part on a giveaway to win a copy of Gareth’s first novel by following the link below:

The Planetsider giveaway

Prize 1: Signed paperback of The Planetsider (UK only)

Prize 2: eBook copy of The Planetsider (International)

The Planetsider – Synopsis

Several generations after ‘The Fall’, the scattered clusters of civilisation that grew in its wake live in ignorance of the past. No-one wants to know what caused such devastation or why. No-one, except Ethan.

Ethan used to believe in the guardians; mysterious lights in the sky that, according to folklore, protect the survivors, so long as you believe in them. But the death of his parents shattered his faith and forged within him a hunger to know more. One night, a light grows brighter in the sky and crashes to the planet’s surface. Ethan then embarks on a heartbreaking journey in which harrowing discoveries unveil the secrets of the past, and place him at the centre of a deadly conflict.

Powerful, thought-provoking and emotionally absorbing, The Planetsider is a gripping, post-apocalyptic thriller that will keep you hooked until the very end.

Book links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38474204-the-planetsider?ac=1&from_search=true

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079Q4JY9M/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_uk-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738

Extract: ‘The Wolves of Winter’ by Tyrell Johnson

Continue reading “Extract: ‘The Wolves of Winter’ by Tyrell Johnson”

Extract: ‘The Misfortunes of Vision’, by Christy Nicholas

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Continue reading “Extract: ‘The Misfortunes of Vision’, by Christy Nicholas”

Extract: ‘Who Killed The Mince Spy?’

As part of the 12 Days of Clink Street Christmas blog tour I’ve agreed to share an extract from Matthew Redford’s Who Killed The Mince Spy?; I’ve just posted a review of the book, so go an have a read of that if you want to know more.

Continue reading “Extract: ‘Who Killed The Mince Spy?’”

Extract: ‘Become The Force’

Become the Force

In this extract again drawing on his own life experience Daniel talks about the power of feelings to shape your life:

Jediism isn’t just about training your mind it is also about following the beat of your heart.

The love in your heart is eternal and the part of you that is one with the Force or living life energy that exists within and all around you. To demonstrate the awesome power of the heart ponder this: When you die nobody remembers what you said or did but they will remember how you made them feel. That is why Obi-Wan tells Darth Vader that when he dies he will rise more powerful because he knows his loving energy will join the Force and be with Luke at all times guiding and inspiring his heart – an invisible loving presence infinitely more powerful than his human form.

If there is no love in your heart you will never be in tune with the Force. It is only when mind and heart are in harmony that you are a magnet for the light. In my own life I have repeatedly found that thoughts alone aren’t enough and it is only when my thoughts and deeds are heartfelt that good things happen, weaknesses are turned into strengths, setbacks into stepping stones.

All heart

If you know anything about Asperger’s you will know that emotional intelligence is not my strong point. I’m a logical person. I can understand and reprogram my thoughts. However, feelings are different. The heart is unpredictable by its very nature and can’t be controlled or even at times understand. You can’t fake feelings, you just feel them and sometimes you feel them for absolutely no reason. Many times in my life I have been at a loss to understand and explain my feelings and the tension and frustration of that triggers irrational meltdowns where I lash out physically.

Given the emphasis I have put here on the importance of the heart in Jediism you can see that the universe handed me my greatest challenge from the moment I was born. My dream is to found a new spiritual movement that hopes to awaken a generation of people’s hearts to the potential within and around them. But don’t psychologists tell us that people with Asperger’s struggle with expressing their feelings?

I truly believe that I have Asperger’s for a reason. If I hadn’t had Asperger’s I might have taken my feelings for granted or not paid enough attention to the theme of love inspiring or guiding others coming up time and time again in every religious and spiritual tradition I studied. My desire to try to understand this thing called love helped me discover the true meaning of life and how love connects us to the Force in a way that thoughts never can. Love, of course, is right up there as a central theme in every Star Wars movie with Han and Leia setting the gold standard.

Just as I found a way to read widely through audio tapes despite my dyslexia, I found a way to connect with and express my heart despite my Asperger’s. The way I found was Jediism. My first love was Star Wars and I expressed my love for the Star Wars universe by founding a spiritual movement that could truly help not just me but others follow their hearts and lead meaningful lives.

Of course, I’m saying all this in hindsight and at the time I wasn’t aware of what I was doing and didn’t even know I had Asperger’s, but I can clearly see now that through creating and founding Jediism I followed my heart. If I hadn’t had Asperger’s I sometimes wonder if I would have had the burning desire to pour my love into creating something that would enable me to express my heart. Of course, it’s impossible to say what I might have done with my life without Asperger’s, as I am who I am, but what I do know is that the heart must find a way to sing whether a person has autism or not. The way I found was through my obsession for a movie franchise. In short, founding Jediism was my act of love.

Early reaction

Another seemingly insurmountable obstacle for me to overcome in the early days of the church was the inevitable opposition and criticism. Early reaction was largely positive and curious but there were also voices telling me to abandon the Force. These voices never came from inside my head but they certainly did from friends, the media, religious groups, educators, comments posted online and so on. Here’s a snap shot.

“You’re crazy.”

“Who do you think you are?”

“Why can’t you just grow up?”

“It’s a movie Daniel. It’s fiction, not a way of life.”

After my road to Damascus moment on the beach when I just knew that the universe was calling out to me to found Jediism there were many harsh critics who told me I needed to put away my lightsaber and grow up. Indeed, giving up on my dream of Jediism becoming a global force of love and kindness was by far the easiest thing to do. I don’t enjoy being called ‘odd’ or ‘deluded’ because of my love for Star Wars and belief in the power of Force but perhaps again Asperger’s was my salvation as criticism doesn’t typically get to me. I’m naturally thick-skinned. For me criticism is just data that I can either use or discard. I realise now that is quite an unusual quality. I see how others doubt themselves when faced with criticism but any criticism I got just made me want to spread the word about Jediism even more.

During this time my family had by now accepted that unusual was always going to be the norm for me and Jediism was here to stay. My biggest ally was always my brother Barney who worked closely with me to found the church in 2007. Barney and I worked long hours setting up a basic website, answering emails, creating and distributing leaflets and information online and promoting Jediism in person as much as we could. Visits to the website went from the hundreds to the thousands rapidly. I advertised the church on My Space and it was fairly easy to spread the word there.

When handing out church leaflets in my local area the reactions ranged from delight and interest to shock and surprise to anger and disbelief, but more often than not our leaflets were always greeted with a smile. For me just a smile was response enough as I truly believe religion and spirituality should place a stronger emphasis on the importance of joy. Humour can be the greatest teacher sometimes and a life without laughter is a life not lived. That’s why I am always absolutely fine to have my photograph taken complete with lightsaber and cloak or even a Stormtrooper or two lurking in the background. These images make people smile! ……………..

Extract: ‘Sun, Sea and Sex’, by Greta Horwood

As part of the Sun. Sea and Sex blog tour, Greta has kindly provided me with a few short extracts from her novel to whet your appetite, if contemporary women’s fiction is your thing.

For Zeeta this was an experience she would never forget, her home life was rigid, full of rules. Her brother came first in all things. There was no laughter in her life. Being part of a loving family that had fun, was wonderful.

What a wonderful afternoon. I got to know Ben well that day, he was not the dry stuck up boy I had taken him for. We laughed a lot and collected many baskets full of blackberries. We were packing up to go home when I twisted my ankle and fell in a huge puddle of muddy water. Ben laughed, with him getting told off for doing so. There was I, sitting in a puddle splashing mud at him. His mother joined in and soon we were all plastered in mud, laughing our heads off. Andrea’s mother was nothing like mine. My mother would have told me off for falling and I would have been severely admonished for getting muddy and then throwing mud at Ben, well I hate to think what she would have said! His mother joining in, well my mother would have never done that! It was a fun day. One I will always remember.

Zeeta was given no sex education, so hearing how her best friend Sheila got pregnant filled the gaps which the older girls had told them. Life is all about learning about life. For Zeeta it was a shame her friend had become pregnant, but she had warned her to run away should a man change shape. Sheila did not listen and paid the price.

Hearing how she got pregnant was the greatest shock of all. I knew she was interested in boys, but she did not seem to be that silly that she would allow them to go all the way. This was one of the things we talked about, in our girly chats. Something to be avoided in friendships with boys. Mind you neither of us had a sex education. I did not know what ‘all the way was’ and I did not know if Sheila did either. My parents had told me nothing. Some of the older girls at school had said things and I suppose we learnt from them. In my house my parents walked around naked, so I knew what a man looked like. I had told Sheila, in case she did not know. I remember my father showing me, one Sunday, how by stroking it, it changed in shape. I was told if I saw a man like that I was to run away. I told Sheila and she was fascinated and wanted to try that on one of her dates. I said best not, my father said run away, because if it became like that it would be almost too late for a girl. A man had needs. What this meant, I had no idea.

With Armaan, Zeeta realised she had feelings she could not explain. She wondered if they were love. Armaan going away hurt, but she got renewed feelings when he came back. She was happy that he had married, he was happy. Life for him changed as well, his wife was expecting his child. His father would be pleased. Zeeta hoped it would be a son. Their friendly chats increased her feelings for him, these were not to change throughout her life, she will always love him.

Armaan was back. I can’t explain my feelings in seeing him. I was overwhelmed by them. Yes I missed him, but what I was feeling was more than that. We continued with our easy friendship and he said he was delighted to be back. He was now married and his wife was expecting their first child. He was a different person now, I think the worry of not having a wife was bothering him, but now he was married, life had suddenly became enjoyable. He said he enjoyed my company and although he was 14 years older than me, I was not empty headed like the gigglers. We continued our friendship and I often felt he was preparing me for the life I would eventually lead. He said my blue eyes and personality would attract many man, but I would know who was right for me. He said beware of false promises, men will say they love, but often it is a way to easy sex, so beware of false promises.