Wednesday, September 10, 2014

The Rifters & The Turnagain Arm

I'm excited to be helping to spread the word today about the launch of The Rifters, the start of the new series by the super talented M. Pax. But first I wanted to share a bit of news of my own. I decided on a publication date for my Polar Night prequel The Turnagain Arm and will be releasing the novella on Kindle on October 6. My first foray into self-publishing!

Like Polar Night, the prequel takes place in Alaska and the title refers to a waterway near Anchorage called, appropriately enough, the Turnagain Arm. The story takes place in 1917 during the building of the Alaskan railroad.

The Turnagain Arm (source: Wikimedia Commons)

I am anxious to share more about the story as I get closer to the release and particularly excited to show off another amazing cover by the wonderful Michael Di Gesu. But for now I'm shining the spotlight on The Rifters!


Blurb:


The Gold Rush trickles to a fool’s quest and a string of stagecoach heists. In 1888, Earl Blacke decides to make a new start and become a better man. He escapes into the mountains, heading north. In the wilds of Oregon, a rift inside an ancient volcano opens and sends him into the future, into the present day. It also shaves forty years off his age, forty years to live over again and atone for what he’s done.

Starting over is hard to do. In current day New York, Daelin Long’s dream job at a publishing house goes the way of the dinosaurs her sister chases. With no money and nowhere else to go, Daelin accepts the librarian position in her sister’s dinky town in the middle of Oregon. Nestled inside ancient volcanic peaks, the town of Settler holds onto many secrets. Residents roam the streets with weirdly fashioned devices, and odd lights pulse in the night skies. People whisper of a phantom outlaw and start dying, murdered and missing their heads. On top of it all, Daelin’s sister is missing, and Daelin doesn’t know who to trust.

Earl knows more than he’s saying. He shares a notorious history with the phantom, one he’ll see remains buried. Keeping Daelin’s sister’s secrets is his only chance at redemption, and the only way to keep this world safe.


The Rifters is available at an introductory price. The second book in the series, The Initiate, will be available October 20, 2014. It’s up for preorder for a special price at iTunes, Amazon, and B&N. Check HERE for links. Giveaways and events are ongoing through October 31, 2014. Check HERE for details.




Excerpt:
A woman in a long flowered dress hurried forward carrying a paintbrush. “Hello, hello.” She waved. “Excuse the mess. I’m renovating… again.” She laughed with little snorts, stumbling in a little circle, defying her years. She couldn’t be younger than forty. “Inside joke, man, sorry. What groovieness can I help you find? I know where everything is.” She gestured at the piles of castoff merchandise strewn about.
If not for the goose bumps on her goose bumps, Daelin would have left. “A winter coat? Earl Blacke mentioned you might have some.”
“Oh man! What a tragedy about him, huh?” She wore her amber hair in two braids, tied with twine and decorated with plastic flowers.
Tragedy? What had happened to Earl? Daelin clutched at her knotting stomach. “What do you mean?”
“There was a murder last night. Umm, wow. Didn’t you hear?” She set the paintbrush down on a plate that had been used for the purpose before. Bracelets covered her arms, clinking with her simple movements.
“In Settler?” Violent crime wasn’t what Daelin expected to hear. She didn’t know what she had expected, but not murder.
The thrift store woman leaned in closer, whispering in a conspiratorial tone. “Yeah, they’re saying Earl Blacke killed Susan Leeds. Took her head plum off, man. Only thing is…,” she glanced at the shadows then wet her lips, “her head is missing.” The soft scent of melon accompanied her words.
Earl had murdered somebody? Daelin gulped, getting a lungful of paint fumes. Right, the paint. The fumes had to be messing with her mind. “Are you serious?”

BIO:


M. Pax is author of the space adventure series The Backworlds, plus other novels and short stories. Fantasy, science fiction, and the weird beckons  to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless inspiration. She docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers as a star guide, has a cat with a crush on Mr. Spock, and is slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. Learn more at mpaxauthor.com.

28 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Mary!
    October Sixth - marking it down now.

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  2. Hi Julie - love the setting for your next publication - and a do it yourself one .. good for you - congratulations!!

    Love the idea of Mary's 1888 gold rush .. we learn so much from the historical elements in stories .. from Mary's and from your 1917 Alaskan railroad ..

    Cheers Hilary

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  3. You'll have no problem with the self-publishing part, Julie - if I can do it, anyone can do it. :)

    Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption

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  4. Congrats on setting the pub date and tackling self pubbing. I'm sure you'll do fine.

    Hooray for The Rifters. I've got my copy on my Kindle just waiting for me. Thanks for the excerpt.

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  5. Congrats to Mary!

    And congrats to you too, Julie! I'll be sure to put your book in October's Bookworm News.

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  6. Congratulations to both of you!! Julie, that's so exciting that you're getting ready to self-publish the prequel. And Mary, that's a creepy and enticing excerpt!

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  7. Congrats to you, Julie, and to Mary! Mary's story sounds very interesting. A beheading always seems to have something sinister behind the act.

    Good luck to you too, with your release on Oct 6!

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  8. Best of luck to both of you guys on your new stories!

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  9. Ooo! Look forward to reading it. Send me the details. Will help you get word out. Thanks for the shout out :D It's awesome of you.

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  10. Thanks, all! And it's my pleasure, Mary.

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  11. I've got my copy of Mary's new book! (But it's just gonna have to wait its turn in line...) It sounds terrific, though. I'm looking forward to reading it.

    (Looking forward to YOUR new one, too!)

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  12. Grats Mary, and Grats to you on choosing a publication day. I hope you enjoy dipping your toe into the self-pubbing waters. :) I'm sure you're going to make a splash!

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  13. Love that picture of the turnagain arm.

    Congrats to Mary on the release, and congrats to you on your release date!

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  14. Beautiful Mary is everywhere today! I love it :)

    And congrats to you, Julie, on the prequel!

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  15. Congrats on your prequel..I know you will do great! The books sounds quite good

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  16. Thanks Susan, Loni, MJ, Carol, & Birgit!

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  17. Congrats to Mary on her new release. And congrats to you on your venture into Indie publishing. Yay you!

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  18. Congrats to both of you. That excerpt was attention grabbing.

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  19. I've been seeing this book all over the Internet lately. Sounds interesting.

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  20. I can't wait to read The Rifters!

    And congratulations to you, Julie, on setting a release date for The Turnagain Arm! :)

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  21. I love the cover of The Rifters! And that's exciting news for you, heading into the self publishing world. I look forward to hearing more about it :)

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  22. I'm excited about your prequel, and can't wait to see Michael's cover! Congrats also to Mary! Both the premise and the cover look great!

    Julie

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  23. Congrats on setting a release for your prequel. It's great to have experience of both main types of publishing!

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  24. Major congrats on your new release!! You are doing so well with all your publishing :)

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  25. Congratulations to M. Pax. And good luck to you in your upcoming release. How exciting!

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  26. Congrats on your novella, Julie! October is right around the corner. Prequels are always cool.

    Congrats to Mary! She's on my blog today.

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  27. Congrats to Mary!!
    And congrats on setting the date for the prequel for Polar Night!

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