Barbara Custer
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Night to Dawn Magazine & Books LLC
Date of Publication: 11/30/2015 (tentative)
ISBN: 978-1-937769-42-0 (print)
Number of pages: 112 pages
Word Count: 25,225
Cover Artist: Marge Simon
Book Description:
Devastated by an error which caused an infant’s death, Lilly becomes deathly ill and collapses from loss of blood. She wakes up from emergency surgery with mental telepathic powers.
When an extraterrestrial ship crash-lands near her home, she investigates and happens upon a survivor who needs her help. Motivated by guilt-ridden feelings over the baby, she rescues him, catapulting herself into a war between two alien armies.
Now the renegade soldiers are on her trail and have marked her for death.
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Excerpt
In the woods, she coughed her way through a maze of twisted oaks. She hacked and gagged on the stink of sulfur; the smell was worse around the ship, which lay between shattered aisles of trees it had destroyed in its descent. Flames flickered from its open hatchway. The ship itself lay canted to one side with air bubbles bursting all around it. On its left side, pieces of metal scattered in the grass. Shining her light on the ship, Lilly happened upon warped metal strips protruding over one side. Underneath the ship, glowing embers leaped and twirled in a blue fiery dance. Face dripping with sweat, she shot glances right and left. Where are the firemen? The police? My neighbors? Enormous Christmas ornaments like this don’t crash and burn every day. Surely either radar or other scanner devices had detected this.
Leaves crunched to her right, followed by a scraping of branches. Lilly charged into the brush, panting gasps escaping her lips. Her flashlight played over the grass and bushes, for without her light, she couldn’t see to navigate in the dark. Her foot tapped against something—a shiny metal helmet rolled under a shrub. The branches separated. Lilly looked in and screamed.
A gloved hand reached for the helmet. The owner of that hand stepped from its hiding place, put its helmet on, and stared at Lilly with glowing red eyes. Dressed in a lime green spacesuit, it stood about her height. Its bald head, thin lips, and masculine features made it look like a male human, but the pointed ears and flattened nose with nostrils like tiny slits defined him as extraterrestrial. His jagged teeth chattered. He trembled like an electrified wire.
Lilly screamed again. “Get out of here,” she shouted. “Go home!”
Barbara lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she works full time as a respiratory therapist. When she’s not working with her patients, she’s enjoying a fright flick or working on horror and science fiction tales. Her short stories have appeared in numerous small press magazines. She’s published Night to Dawn magazine since 2004.
Other books by Barbara include City of Brotherly Death and Steel Rose, plus novellas Close Liaisons and Life Raft: Earth. She’s also coauthored Alien Worlds and Starship Invasions (both now out of print) with Tom Johnson. She anticipates release of When Blood Reigns, the sequel to Steel Rose. She enjoys bringing her medical background to the printed page, and then blending it with supernatural horror. She maintains a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and The Writers Coffeehouse forum. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons and you’ll find her.
Other books by Barbara include City of Brotherly Death and Steel Rose, plus novellas Close Liaisons and Life Raft: Earth. She’s also coauthored Alien Worlds and Starship Invasions (both now out of print) with Tom Johnson. She anticipates release of When Blood Reigns, the sequel to Steel Rose. She enjoys bringing her medical background to the printed page, and then blending it with supernatural horror. She maintains a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and The Writers Coffeehouse forum. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons and you’ll find her.
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***GIVEAWAY***
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Thank you for the giveaway. I enjoy science fiction, which is not always so easy to find in the large amounts of fantasy and paranormal novels on the market. Your book looks like a good read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giveaway. I enjoy science fiction, which is not always so easy to find in the large amounts of fantasy and paranormal novels on the market. Your book looks like a good read.
ReplyDeleteAwesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine it is hard to find the time to write while working full time as a respiratory therapist. Let the passion flow. I wish the author much success.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed excerpt, thank you! I love your picture with all the balloons!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chance.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your releases. It's impressive you have time for writing while working as a respiratory therapist. I love the picture of you with the balloons. Looks like you have quite the reason to celebrate. Your book sounds really interesting. Thank you for the giveaway chance and much continuing luck .
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an exciting read. I already like the character of Lilly just from reading the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read, cant wait.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like and exciting book! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for everyone's comment. I was really pleased with the showcasing of my book. :)
ReplyDeleteQuestion to the author: Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house?
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a really good book to read, I always enjoy sci-fi books!
ReplyDelete