Fifteen years have passed since a Fire Scale scorched Cayda’s village.
Fifteen years of beatings, of bare kitchen cupboards and sloppy
swordplay. Fifteen years of biting her lip for her father’s cane
while her younger sisters did the same for the grimy patrons of the
village brothels. Fifteen years of staring steadfastly after beauty
in an increasingly ugly world.
Now, with hair shorn and breast bound, Cayda marches into the Summer
Alps as Cody, a hopeful Champion seeking a dragon-slayer’s reward,
with the full weight of her family’s survival on her shoulders.
But the road between poverty and prosperity is rife with beasts,
betrayals, and baser temptations. Sensible Cayda soon discovers that
she is not the only Champion with her eye on the prize, or the only
one wearing a disguise.
With monsters, gods, and royalty hot on her heels, Cayda must ask
herself if victory is worth sacrificing her identity for – or her life.
A Wild and Unremarkable Thing pits girl against dragon in a stunning
blend of Greek mythology and medieval lore. Readers will not quickly
forget the diverse cast or the thrilling, sexy ride!
Jen Castleberry resides in Virginia Beach with her husband and pets. Her
background is in Communications and Animal Welfare. All of her pets
are named after superheroes!
The Earth is in a state of collapse, with wars breaking out over resources and an environment pushed to the edge by human greed.
Three living generation ships have been built with a combination of genetic mastery, artificial intelligence, technology, and raw materials harvested from the asteroid belt. This is the story of one of them—43 Ariadne, or Forever, as her inhabitants call her—a living world that carries the remaining hopes of humanity, and the three generations of scientists, engineers, and explorers working to colonize her.
From her humble beginnings as a seedling saved from disaster to the start of her journey across the void of space toward a new home for the human race, The Stark Divide tells the tales of the world, the people who made her, and the few who will become something altogether beyond human.
Humankind has just taken its first step toward the stars.
Book One of Liminal Sky
About the Author
Scott spends his time between the here and now and the what could be. Enticed into fantasy and sci fi by his mom at the tender age of nine, he devoured her Science Fiction Book Club library. But as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were in the books he was reading.
He decided that it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at his local bookstore. If there weren’t gay characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.
His friends say Scott’s mind works a little differently – he sees relationships between things that others miss, and gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. He loves to transform traditional sci fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something unexpected.
Starting in 2014, Scott has published more than 15 works, including two novels and a number of novellas and short stories.
He runs both Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark, sites that bring queer people together to promote and celebrate fiction that reflects their own lives.
After an argument with her grandmother at her Maryland home, sixteen-year-old Ginny Marshall – “born rotten,” according to Gram – gets high and runs away. She turns up on the doorstep of Maggie Ryan and Nick O’Connor’s Brooklyn brownstone. Her presence in Brooklyn is unsettling, but, more urgently, Ginny is a suspect in a murder investigation back home. Maggie travels undercover to Maryland, where she searches for a killer as threads from the past threaten to unravel both families.
This Mystery Company edition is the first paperback publication of the eighth and final novel in the Maggie Ryan series.
Don’t Miss These Great Reviews:
“P.M. Carlson’s energetic and insightful novels are back in print — hallelujah!” — Sara Paretsky
“BAD BLOOD is a fascinating and illuminating story”–– C. Bartorillo, Murder By the Book
BAD BLOOD “has vivid, interesting characters, great dialogue and psychological insight”–– Amazon Reviewer
“Bad Blood” by P.M. Carlson, the Maggie Ryan Mystery #8
After an argument with her grandmother at her Maryland home, sixteen-year-old Ginny Marshall – “born rotten,” according to Gram – gets high and runs away. She turns up on the doorstep of Maggie Ryan and Nick O’Connor’s Brooklyn brownstone. Her presence in Brooklyn is unsettling, but, more urgently, Ginny is a suspect in a murder investigation back home. Maggie travels undercover to Maryland, where she searches for a killer as threads from the past threaten to unravel both families.
Read an excerpt:
Rina had waited a day and faced her daughter. “Honey, I don’t want to make a big thing out of an experiment. But drugs are off-limits in this family.”
“For sure, Mom. No problem.”
The ironic flash in the blue eyes hurt Rina. She had exclaimed, “Ginny, think of your future! You’re bright and talented. You can do anything you want!”
Ginny had smiled tauntingly. “Like you, Mom?”
But at least she hadn’t come home high again. Till now.
Rina couldn’t trust herself to mention it directly today. She said, “Honey, if you have problems, please tell me about them. Don’t run from things. You have to face them.”
“Oh? You tell me to face them? You? Funny old Mom!”
“Yes, damn it! I’ve faced problems!” And a hell of a lot bigger than whatever you think yours are, she almost added. But she swallowed her rage; Ginny was high, so arguing wouldn’t help now. She said more calmly, “It’s just that you could be hurt. I don’t want that.”
“Yeah, for sure. I could be hurt.” That shining, cruel smile again. “Or I could be an addict. Or I could be a movie star. In America I could be anything!” Ginny pushed herself to her feet, scooping up Kakiy. She carried him steadily enough into her bedroom. Rina followed as far as the door. Ginny had made an insert for her backpack, a sturdy cardboard cat carrier with a round porthole window. She put Kakiy into it, took her waterproof poncho from the closet, clapped the fedora onto her head, then frowned at her cluttered table for a moment. Finally she picked up a box of cat treats.
“Where are you going, honey?” asked Rina.
“Library.”
Rina sighed. Better to talk to her later. “Okay. See you at dinner.”
“Yeah. Save the whales.” She kissed Rina almost contemptuously, then pushed by and swung down the hall. Kakiy, unapologetic, gazed back serenely through his porthole as she marched out the door.
She wasn’t back for dinner. Rina fought down her worry. But when her mother finally excused herself and went downstairs to her room, she said to Clint, “Maybe Ginny thought we’d be eating late, because of Mamma’s bridge game.”
“Maybe.” Clint, silvery-haired and blue-eyed, paused with a last forkful of cherry pie halfway to his mouth. “You’re worried, though.”
“Yes.”
He tried to be comforting. “She’s probably just throwing her weight around.”
“Maybe.”
“Rina, I hate to see you worrying like this! It’s time to get her back in line. It’s no favor to go easy on a kid these days. But it’s up to you, Rina. I’ll back you up, but I’m not here much of the time, damn it.”
“She had reason to be mad today.”
“Half her fault,” he pointed out. He was too much the lawyer, she thought, always ready to see both sides of a question and argue whichever suited him. Rina busied herself cleaning off the table.
But when the doorbell rang at eight-fifteen Rina ran to it, her anxious heart a staccato counterpoint to her footsteps. Two men stood there: stolid faces, intelligent eyes. The older one held out a shield. Police.
“Ginny?” she blurted before they could say anything. “Has something happened to Ginny?”
“No, ma’am,” said the older policeman. His voice was flat-pitched, unexcitable. “We’re here to ask about a John Spencer.”
“Spencer?”
Behind her, Mamma laid a firm hand on her arm. “John Spencer was here this afternoon. Is there a problem?”
“Yes, ma’am. Are you Mrs. Marshall?”
“I’m Mrs. Rossi. Leonora Rossi,” Mamma corrected him. “My daughter here is Mrs. Marshall. But I’m the one who knows John Spencer. Not well–– we just met this afternoon.”
“I see. Well, ma’am, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
Clint had come up behind them. “We’d be glad to help,” he said. “What’s the problem?”
In answer the policeman held up his identification again. “Just a few questions, sir,” he repeated. “I’m Sergeant Trainer. Homicide.”
P.M. Carlson taught psychology and statistics at Cornell University before deciding that mystery writing was more fun. She has published twelve mystery novels and over a dozen short stories. Her novels have been nominated for an Edgar Award, a Macavity Award, and twice for Anthony Awards. Two short stories were finalists for Agatha Awards. She edited the Mystery Writers Annual for Mystery Writers of America for several years, and served as president of Sisters in Crime.
This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for P.M. Carlson. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on November 7 and runs through November 14, 2017.
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