Twins Cassidy and Torr must save Earth from a
ruthless enemy at a time when the only force more powerful than alien
technology is magic…
By Palmer Pickering
Publisher: Mythology Press
Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1732568808; 598 pages; $21.99; E-Book, $.99; Audiobook, FREE.
“This is a marvelous book. The characters are compelling, complex, and emotional. The future described is neither all evil nor all good, and it’s described so realistically that I can still feel the moon dust in my nose and expect to see large packing containers around every corner. The text is delightfully written with none of the bad grammar that makes picky people like me wince even in an otherwise great story. Alas, this is just the first book of the series, and it appears I’ll have to wait a whole year for the next one. I really need to know *now* what happens next!” – Garden Reader
1. The Moon Deeds story starts on Earth in the year 2090.
2. The two protagonists are 20-year-old twins, Cassidy and Torr. Cassidy is studying plant-spirit medicine, and Torr is a soldier (and a lucid dreamer).
3. Their mother is a shaman. Currently, she practices plant-spirit medicine. Their father is a trader and merchant and has a special connection to animals.
4. Cassidy and Torr inherited deeds to land parcels on the moon that they inherited from their Great-Aunt Sophie. There is a strange connection between Great-Aunt Sophie and the President of the World Government (Global Alliance), but it is not clear what that connection is.
5. Prior to the start of the Moon Deeds adventure, on January 2, 2038, a strange-looking craft showed up on the landing field of Rothera Station spaceport in Antarctica. The landing party were humanoid, not so different from Earthlanders. They had a working knowledge of the Globalish language, and it had taken them some effort to prove they were from another planet—Thunder Walker, which orbits Errai in the Cepheus constellation. At that time, Antarctica was a neutral zone. Representatives from each country were sent there to meet with the aliens, who turned out to be diplomats and scientists. Several more Cephean craft arrived in Antarctica over the course of two years.
6. By 2090, the Cephs are backing a world army on Earth and are supplying it with advanced weaponry.
7. The only thing able to defend against the alien technology is magic.
8. At this point in time, the moon has been colonized. There are two interstellar spaceports, and the colonies have the ability to supply their own oxygen and water by mining moon soil and lunar ice. The colonies are still dependent on Earth for food and other critical goods such as medicines.
9. The third POV character, Ridge, is an inventor and runs one of the interstellar spaceports and the largest mine on the moon.
10. Palmer Pickering’s inspiration for Moon Deeds was a gag gift from her brother of a deed to a land parcel on the moon. It professes to be legit, and therefore Palmer may indeed own land on the moon.
Chapter 2 - Miramar
San Diego California,
Western Free States, planet Earth
July 9, 2090
Something was not right with the air. There was a crackling
that Torr could only sense when he stopped breathing. An intermittent wave of
whispering, skin-tingling static. He lay on the platform inside the shadows of
the cement bunker and stared through his rifle scope at the Shaman’s Shield.
For three years the cloud barrier had stood between the Western Free States and
the Tegs. Torr had joined the Gaia United rebels at the southern border two
years ago, facing the massive wall every day. It soared up into the sky as
though it were a towering marble cliff or a plunging waterfall, five miles
high, stretching east to west far as the eye could see, shimmering like water
but solid as stone. As far as anyone could tell, it was a cumulonimbus cloud
made of ash from the volcanic mountains, held together by an unknown shamanic
magic. The scientists called it an electromagnetic force field, of a sort no
one had ever seen before. At its peak, the wall curved overhead, sealing them
in from above in a thick cloud cover. But today the southern wall had receded
from its normal position, exposing flat desert scrubland and skeletal bushes
coated in ash. Since dawn, dark, vertical shadows had appeared at the base of
the wall, as though some giant creature had attacked it overnight with long, jagged
claws.
Torr crawled forward and poked his head out through the open
front of the bunker half-buried in the hillside, and peered up at the sky. The
cloud barrier overhead still appeared intact; the sky was gray and gloomy as
ever, though it smelled like a storm was brewing. He pulled himself back inside
and settled down behind his gun, tightening its bipod and adjusting the sand
bag under the butt of the rifle. He inhaled deeply, held in his breath for
three seconds, then exhaled and held it out for three seconds, hoping the
breathing exercise would stop his cheek from twitching. It hadn’t bothered him
in months—now his left cheek was spasming non-stop. He could not shoot with it
jittering like that.
Inhale one two three.
Exhale one two three.
He glanced over his right shoulder at Reina, propped up on her elbows on the plywood platform between him and the cement wall. She was staring through her spotting scope. Her TAFT stood on its bipod next to her, loaded and ready to mow down Tegs should they come streaming across the plain. Torr wanted to die before she did; he didn’t think he could bear to watch her suffer, or see her dead eyes staring up at him. It was a selfish thing to wish, but he wished it anyway. Bobby, on the other hand, lying on the platform to his left—two hundred pounds of solid muscle—he wouldn’t mind dying before Bobby. Torr would lean into him as he died, and Bobby would tell him everything was going to be all right, even though they both knew it wasn’t.
She currently works in Silicon Valley in the gaming industry and high tech. In addition, Palmer holds a certificate in Chinese Acupressure, is a certified solar panel installer, and studied Tibetan Buddhism with the 14th Dalai Lama.
She lives and writes in the magical redwood forest of the Santa Cruz Mountains, California.
Her latest book is the scifi fantasy for adults, Moon Deeds: Star Children Saga Book One.
You can visit her website at www.MythologyPress.com or connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Palmer Pickering is giving away one autographed copy of Moon Deeds and one autographed copy of her sequel, Light Fighters!
Terms & Conditions:
- By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
- Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one autographed copy of Moon Deeds and one autographed copy of the sequel, Light Fighters.
- This giveaway ends midnight October 28.
- Winner will be contacted via email on October 29.
- Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!
About the Author
