They also chose Alexandre Rito to produce a gorgeous new cover, which will also become the new cover for the ebook and print versions:
The audiobook is currently on pre-order and will be released September 14! In more good news, Book 2, SPIRIT, will launch on November 30! And Book 3, WRAITH, will be released in late April. It's been a bit of a long haul for behind the curtain delays due to Covid. But we're on track now :-) August finds me in Nashville (first away from home in a public group outing in 18 months!) for the Killer Nashville International Writer's Conference. I'm excited to get to hear great writers talk (Lisa Black, JT Ellison, and Walter Moseley to name a few) and also get to share my hard learned experience on a couple of panels myself. I like being a writer who helps writers :-) Stay safe!!
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I'll get back to updating a little more regularly now. My husband and I put our home up for sale in Florida in late 2017 and in April of 2018, we sold it with a closing at the end of May. Of course, we had to have a tropical storm the day of our closing, damaging one of our cars. But we finally got moved and have since made our home in Knoxville, TN. We bought a fixer-upper in a great neighborhood, but after little maintenance for a decade and three years empty, it's a big project. Its saving grace was that the previous owners put in all new windows and sliders, which we have thoroughly enjoyed! The photo is of my office after new floors and paint. Still not fully unboxed, but I love the space. I finished novel Blind Mice Bite and it's off to my agent, Paul, and a handful of beta readers before a final rewrite. Billie Mae went into meetings for purchase, but has yet to find a traditional home. The news was encouraging, buyers like the book, the teams just don't know how to market a paranormal that's neither horror nor cozy mystery. It's a bit gritty and real. With ghosts. Blind Mice Bite is much the same, but, of course, totally different in its own way. Maybe with two unrelated books out there of the same type-solid speculative fiction mystery-I'll invent my own genre like Dan Brown did! Facebook being Facebook, I had an issue that a bot couldn't solve, so now I have a new page! If you're on Facebook, please visit me @elleandrewspattfiction and like my page :-) And if you like Twitter, I'm @LAndrewsPatt. My Instagram is elleandrewspatt - I need to post there more often, but I'm around. If you like CBD oil and edibles or think you might, hit me up on Facebook @highfreehemp or follow my public posts at my Laura Andrews profile. After experiencing poorly-made CBD oil following cancer and during my daughter's illness, I feel passionate about making sure that others know that high-quality CBD oil makes a huge difference in effectiveness, legality, and some people's and pets' health. No buying CBD at gas stations, peeps! I also have a new policy about transparency. Not hiding behind my pen at this point :-) So come say hello from wherever you hang your social media hat! Long time since I posted! Let's see, got youngest off to college, hurricane Irma put a dint in the schedule, parent's weekend, readying our house to sell, Thanksgiving, oldest's college graduation, Christmas, house hunting, seeing oldest off to out-of-state job... crazy fall season has carried over into the new year. The day job picked up, too, of course! Someday Loyal won a Second Place Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association in Published Short Fiction in October! I truly enjoyed meeting new author friends and greeting old ones at the Deland Library Book Fair, also in October, and presenting my new workshop, The Writing Life, to the Jacksonville, FL chapter of the Romance Writers of America in January. Agent Paul is working on placing paranormal mystery Billie Mae. I feel like the peacock I saw (above) at the Philadelphia Zoo a couple of days ago. It was rainy and cold and he wandered in off the sidewalk to gaze at the butterflies flitting around in their summer-like habitat. We've had some great feedback and even went into two editorial meetings at big publishing houses, but we're still working on a sale. Paranormal mystery Blind Mice Bite went from concept/couple of chapters to active writing stage mid-August. Thoroughly critiqued in stages by my awesome writing group, it should be off to Paul in March and ready to market to publishers by May or June. The 2018 project with the Alvarium Experiment has begun. We are writing a sequel to The Prometheus Saga, which should be great fun. Publication date will be in June. I'm throwing the alien probe, Prom, into the drama of a cattle drive, century to be determined. I've continued to blog monthly on the writing life at the Florida Writers Association website and to polish and submit my existing short stories for publication, though I haven't managed anything new while working on Blind Mice. Check out my Facebook Author Page for interesting reads and author interviews and things that inspire my writing and get my creativity flowing. Drop me a note at elleandrewspatt at gmail dot com! "Regarding Mr. Bulkington" is my contribution to the latest project by The Alvarium Experiment, The Masters Reimagined. Ten fantasy, science fiction, or supernatural short fiction twists on classic stories. They are all standalone from each other and from their source material. Only .99 here! Mr. Bulkington is a character from Herman Melville's great American classic, Moby Dick, which is in the public domain. This allowed me to weave my tale into Moby Dick's canon and convey a pivotal scene directly from Mr. Bulkington's point of view. For a writer, this kind of challenge is so much fun! In Moby Dick, Bulkington is introduced by Ishmael very early in the novel. Ishmael is fascinated by the physical appearance and demeanor of Bulkington, just landed from a four year voyage. Although a brief passage, Ishmael makes Bulkington memorable. Then, to Ishmael's surprise, who should he see at the helm of the whaler Pequod as Captain Ahab and crew put to sea on the hunt for Moby Dick? Bulkington. It seems Bulkington will be a character onboard the Pequod, one readers will get to know. But then we turn the page and read "this six-inch chapter is the stoneless grave of Bulkington". What? Wait. What happened to Bulkington? Nothing. Bulkington is alive and well, at least until Moby Dick takes his revenge. Ishmael has just decided that instead of sharing him, Bulkington will represent the "unknown" sailor, always passionately choosing the risks of the sea over those of the land and then lost to the watery depths at some unknown time, in some unknown way. If you're like me, you still want to know Bulkington's story, though! While I did honor Melville's intentions for Bulkington, Ishmael does finally tell us the real reason he decided to keep Bulkington's story to himself, in his own inimitable style. Now that was a treat for me, to write in Ishmael's narrative voice. Which brings me to my own fiction. In final edits on my paranormal mystery, currently titled Billie Mae, my agent (who spent fifteen years at Tor as an editor) was all "could you maybe break this really, really long complex sentence up?" Yes. Yes. I could. I broke it into four shorter sentences and explained that I had been reading Moby Dick and writing in Ishmael's point of view, which made him laugh. Billie Mae features archivist Andrea Kelley as an amateur sleuth. Along with synopses for books two and three and first chapters of each, Billie Mae will begin the submission to publishers phase this coming week. Cross your fingers! I can't wait to share Andrea Kelley and her best friend, William Taka, with you! The other stories and authors of The Masters Reimagined: The Masters Reimagined is the third project of the Alvarium Experiment, a consortium of accomplished and award-winning authors. The stories do not need to be read in any particular order; each story is an entry point into the overall story. “The Count of the Alician Apocalypse” by Bria Burton. On a visit to Stonehenge, a handsome stranger offers Alice an escape from the man who has been following her by way of a magical portal in one of the monoliths. Visit Bria at http://www.briaburton.com/. “The Lottery” by Kristin Durfee. As Earth is dying, Eve Line may have found a way to leave the doomed planet. The world’s best and brightest have fled to Mars, but as the last ship is ready to depart, a lottery will be held for the remaining residents to have a chance at a new life. Eve thinks her plan can succeed, but at what cost to her family, and herself? This modern retelling of James Joyce’s “Eveline” asks an age-old question: where should your loyalties lie? Visit Kristin at http://www.kristindurfee.com/. “Annie Karenina” by Veronica H. Hart. Elizabeth Killington, recently widowed at age twenty-seven, flies to England to claim her late husband, Lord Horace Killington’s estate. She finds she not only owns a grand manor house in the country, but also the “crowds of people” who made Lord Killington avoid home for many years. As she meets and recognizes characters from her favorites books, and some she never heard of, she learns a wonderful secret from her lady’s maid, Bridget. Is it possible that all stories can have a happy-ever-after ending? Visit Veronica at http://www.veronicahhart.com/. “Pupak and the Great Fish” by John Hope. Forcefully taken from his Amazon rainforest home, Pupak is faced with helping the very Brazilian white men who slaughtered his village people. But the gods are angry that he’s running from his destiny and after superstitious sailors toss him to the sea in order to calm a ranging storm, he is swallowed by a great, metal beast the white men call a submarine. Visit John at http://www.johnhopewriting.com/. “Shere Khan” by Jade Kerrion. Uncover the truth Rudyard Kipling conceals in his unforgettable masterpiece, The Jungle Book. One-hundred rupees for the skin of Lungri…A mysterious Chinese girl arrives in India, determined to claim the bounty on the man-eating tiger. Intrigued by her unrelenting purpose, Rudyard Kipling follows her into the jungle on a mystical adventure that will transform Lungri—The Lame One--into Shere Khan—Tiger Lord. Visit Jade at http://www.jadekerrion.com/. “Regarding Mr. Bulkington” by Elle Andrews Patt. As the Pequod plunges into the hunt for Moby Dick, Ishmael discovers the power behind Captain Ahab’s mastery of the sea lies within the mysterious skills possessed by Mr. Bulkington. Are some secrets worth keeping to the grave? Visit Elle at http://www.elleandrewspatt.com/. “When the Hurly-Burly's Done” by Ken Pelham. A Depression-era theater troupe performs for Brigands Key, and the witches of Macbeth once again twist the futures of hungering souls. Sam Hawke, impatient with life, finds himself in a position to seize the moment and achieve more than he could ever have hoped. But what is the price of unbridled lust and ambition? Visit Ken at http://www.kenpelham.com/. “The Brazilian Millionaire's Butler” by Scott Michael Powers. Young, beautiful, and mysterious, Olívia arrives in Rio de Janeiro in 1944 too interested in keeping the party going to worry about the past she fled in America, the foreign world she entered, the true nature of the Brazilian millionaire she married, or the world war. When they drive her into depths of deception and treachery, Olívia is all but isolated. But she is not totally alone, for Brazil is a magical place. And because of that magic, the millionaire’s butler knows he must become Olívia’s champion, even at the risk of destroying himself. Visit Scott at https://www.facebook.com/ScottMichaelPowers. “Thornfield’s Ashes” by E.J. Wenstrom. Jane finally found her happily ever after. But can she remain content as the ghost of Mr. Rochester's first wife haunts her? In this reimagining of Jane Eyre, Bertha has a dark secret she must share, leaving Jane to choose between her independent mind and her soul's yearning for love. Visit E.J. at http://www.ejwenstrom.com/. “Treasure In My Pocket” by T.L. Woolsley. When Jaquie discovers the space coordinates to “treasure,” she becomes the target of a mysterious one-armed stranger who is also seeking the prize. Forced to leave her father and everything familiar to her, Jaquie becomes an apprentice on a starship dispatched on a covert mission to discover what lies hidden at those coordinates. Visit T.L. Woolsley at http://www.tlwoolsley.com/. For additional info about the stories and authors, visit the Facebook Fan Page: The Alvarium Experiment If you are anywhere near Boca Raton on Sunday May 21, please come meet me at the I Heart Books Multi-Genre Book Signing at Lakeside Terrace from noon-4pm. FREE entry, family friendly, SWAG, GREAT BOOKS of all genres, FIFTY Florida authors to meet, contests and giveaways :-) I'll have print copies of The Prometheus Saga, Return To Earth, and Solarcidal Tendencies anthologies with me for certain and one other anthology maybe, but really, just come say hello! Lots going on in my writing life! First and foremost, my paranormal murder mystery, currently titled Billie Mae, is in revision from the notes my agent sent me. Hopefully, I'll have publishing news on that front by mid/late-summer. My mainstream Beech Mountain fic featuring a female veteran with mild PTSD who has been drafted to run The Bear up Grandfather Mountain, is working its way through my critique group. My 8,000 word speculative take on Mr. Bulkington during the events of Moby Dick has been completed for the Alvarium Experiment. AE's third project short stories are currently in first edits and we are shooting for a July publication date. This project is focused on speculative twists of classic tales- Moby Dick, The Jungle Book, Anna Karenina, Alice In Wonderland/The Count of Monte Cristo, MacBeth, Jonah And The Great Fish (Bible), Jane Eyre, Eveline, Breakfast At Tiffany's, and Treasure Island. Ken Pelham and I should have In Shadows Written, a modern horror anthology amazon e-book of twelve original or reprinted stories from thirteen different authors, available in a print edition by late next week. And, for writers, I've completed two new blog posts for the Florida Writers Association, The Writing Life: Making Time To Write Part I, and Part II. A new blog post is added to The Writing Life series on the first Friday of every month. Comment below with any topics you liked to see discussed or questions you may have :-) My unpublished paranormal mystery, Billie Mae, has found an advocate! I'm happy to report that Paul Stevens of Donald Maass Literary Agency is now representing my book-length fiction. Speaking of, I'm working on wrapping up The Bear, my mainstream novel set on Beech Mountain, and pushing back the work left on Daytona mystery novel, Blind Mice Bite, to work on the sequel to Billie Mae. The schedule is ever changing, but having an agent on my team now has given me fresh energy and focus. Up next for short fiction is my Alvarium Experiment Project Three story due to edit on May 1, with a projected publication launch date of July 15. Not ready to spill yet, except to say that my story is tied to Moby Dick and a demi-god of an assumed Southern character to whom land seemed scorching to his feet. My latest Florida Writers Association blog post on writing is up. Losing Yourself Part II discusses practical ways in which deal with the various fears of losing yourself within your character as you write. Of all the books I've read over the past year, the stories of two writers and their characters in particular keep returning to me when I'm driving or showering and my mind wanders from my own story musing. Jo Nesbo's Detective Harry Hole is an endlessly fascinating, deeply flawed, reluctant hero, whom Nesbo carefully unpeels for the reader's inspection novel after novel. And Michael Lawrence's unflinching habitation of Jorg in his Broken Empire post-apocalyptic fantasy series is the epitome of the writer's creed 'be your character'. Start here with Harry Hole, The Bat, or here with Jorg in Prince of Thorns. Let me know what you think! DarkFuse has published Prelude To A Murder Conviction, which earned a Writers of the Future Honorable Mention. It's a love story, a dark love story, but definitely about a man in love with his wife. If you're looking for dark fiction online, DarkFuse is the place to find fresh content every few days as well as interactive contests in which readers get to vote. Subscribe HERE. I also qualified a story into the first round of the Tiny Terrors contest. Some great writers there and I need to hone my micro-fiction skills! Vote on the winners in eight micro-fiction pairings. No subscription needed! My entry is 'Food'. I'm now writing a blog on writing at the Florida Writers Association website on the first Friday of every month. Read the first one on the fear writers face when needing to get inside a character's head. Still writing, writing, writing on the Year of the Bear, set on Beech Mountain, my Daytona set detective novel, and Alvarium Experiment project 3, which involves a speculative setting and an appearance of a classic fictional character. Mine includes the ocean and a minor character from Moby Dick. Anunnaki, my sci-fi space/Earth novel is on the back burner until May. Billie Mae, my paranormal murder mystery set in Charleston, West Virginia won SECOND place at the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Awards in October. I'm *still* thrilled. Two different agents are now holding full manuscripts :-) I'd love everyone to be able to meet Andrea and Taka, all their friends, and Billie Mae, too! Several of the Alvarium Experiment authors won awards at RPLA for various works. Pictured below, L to R, Vic DiGenti/Parker Francis, Bria Burton, Antonio Simon, Jr, myself, Charles Cornell, and Jade Kerrion. Welcome to author Bria Burton! Bria writes in multiple genres including science fiction, fantasy, women’s fiction, and inspirational. She is a member of the Alvarium Experiment, a consortium of award-winning writers reinventing the way readers experience short fiction. “AOB” is her contribution to Return to Earth and it is available for FREE today through tomorrow on Kindle. Follow link or click on image to download while supplies last! EAP: What was behind the Alvarium Experiment, and how did the group arrive at this second project, Return To Earth? BB: When Charles Cornell and Ken Pelham approached me about an idea they had for a unique science fiction anthology, I was ready to sign up immediately. The premise intrigued me—alien probe observes mankind—and the one-of-a-kind launch process sounded fascinating. Each author wrote a short story based on the premise and launched in the Kindle Store individually. Only later did we collect the stories into a single anthology. Once the group had been established, the Alvarium Experiment was created and the “hive” was ready to work toward our common goal together. The first project, The Prometheus Saga, became an incredible gateway for me as an indie author with exposure to the fans of the other authors. As a group, we worked together from editing, formatting, and marketing aspects. This led to a collaboration unlike anything I’ve ever been involved with as an author. It was a no-brainer to jump on board when Project 2--Return to Earth—was decided on. Q: What was the inspiration for your Return To Earth story, “AOB”? BB: What if someone married an artificial intelligence? I loved the idea of opening a story in a marriage counselor’s office and then leading into an immediate twist. The question I had to answer was this: does the person know their spouse is an AI? I thought the story would be much more intriguing if the human partner was unaware. Writing the story was a lot of fun because it meant discovering the reasons why the AI kept the secret, where they came from (in this case another planet), and how the reveal would come about to the spouse. And I even had room at the end for one last surprise twist. EAP: Could you tell us about a difficulty you overcame as you wrote this particular story? BB: I submitted this story to science fiction and fantasy magazines and received seven rejections. On the eighth submission, the story went into the final round. I even received a personalized letter explaining that they liked the story, but that it didn’t make the cut. So I let the story simmer for a while, and then the Alvarium Experiment came up with the Return to Earth premise. I knew with a few minor tweaks and adjustments, the story would fit perfectly, and I was really excited to have it out there because it was a story that I enjoyed. EAP: What does your next year as a writer look like? BB: I’ll be at the Florida Writers Association Conference Oct. 20-23rd where I’m teaching a session called “A Writer’s Love/Hate Relationship with Social Media.” The Alvarium Experiment also has a panel that we’ll be hosting on Author Collaboration. On Saturday, Oct. 22nd, I’ll be hosting the Conference Facebook Event until noon where attendees can come in and learn how to host their own Facebook parties (such as book launches) while simultaneously hosting the actual FWA Conference FB launch event. I’m currently waiting on a response from an agent who is reviewing a full manuscript (and trying not to bite my nails in the process). The novel, Sprinter, won First Place in the Royal Palm Literary Awards in the Women’s Fiction category in 2015. I’ve just released a novelette called The Running Girls that will serve as a companion piece to Sprinter. I’m also editing an epic fantasy trilogy called Livinity (another RPLA winner). Book One is nearly ready for agent submissions. I’ll continue to write and submit short stories, and I’m very excited for whatever the Alvarium Experiment comes up with as Project 3. At St. Pete Running Company, I also write the blog and web content. EAP: How can readers find out more about your work? BB: My website is the best place to start: www.briaburton.com. My Amazon Author and Goodreads pages are places where you can find my published works and leave reviews. You can also LIKE me on Facebook, FOLLOW me on Twitter, and connect with me on my blogs: Writing For the Love and The Anti-Running Runner. About the Author Award-winning author Bria Burton lives in St. Petersburg with her wonderful husband and two wild pets. At St. Pete Running Company, she's employed as a blogger and customer service manager. As a member of the Florida Writers Association, she leads the St. Pete chapter and serves on the statewide FWA Board. Her short fiction has appeared in over a dozen anthologies and magazines. She has earned two First Place Royal Palm Literary Awards (RPLA) for unpublished manuscripts. Her novella, Little Angel Helper, is a 2016 RPLA Finalist. Visit Bria at www.briaburton.com About Return to Earth Return to Earth is the second project of the Alvarium Experiment, a consortium of accomplished and award-winning authors. The stories do not need to be read in any particular order; each story is an entry point into the overall story. Return to Earth stories & authors are: "AOB" by Bria Burton. Aona, an Alien-Operated Bot (AOB), suffers a malfunction that could jeopardize her mission on Earth and could lead to the extinction of an entire species from another planet. Visit Bria at www.briaburton.com "The Paradoxical Man" by Bard Constantine. Albert Rosen is one of five explorers who vanished on a deep-sea expedition into the Bermuda Triangle. He returns to Earth centuries later, transported across space and time through a mysterious wormhole. However, Earth is not the home he remembers. Humankind has been evacuated, and the survivors lie in hibernation aboard the Locus, an orbiting space station. Rosen is forced to match wits with Deis, an artificial intelligence determined to keep humanity in stasis until he is convinced they are fit to return. Visit Bard at www.bardwritesbooks.com "Children Of The Stars" by Charles A. Cornell. In Japan, an American medical researcher discovers the deadly secret behind an eighty-year-old woman's ageless appearance and incredible fertility, and her connection to the bizarre disappearance of the freighter the Ourang Medan in 1948. Visit Charles at www.charlesacornell.com "Project Bright Star" by Kristin Durfee. A once thought failed secret mission to colonize a distant planet, named 0X3B1, is discovered to have been successful when descendants of that mission return to Earth fifty-one years after their grandparents left, much to the surprise, and fear, of the world. Visit Kristin at www.kristindurfee.com "Recovery" by Veronica Helen Hart. When a virus threatens the lives of everyone on board a transfer station for intergalactic travel, it's up to Dr. Candace Bertram to retrieve the only known vaccine from Earth. The risky, untested method of transport could mean catastrophic mission failure, and grave danger for Dr. Bertram. Visit Veronica at www.veronicahhart.com "Coming Home" by John Hope. Finally achieving his dream of being an astronaut on the Jupiter missions, Jasper's mind is elsewhere, on the recent loss of his stepfather, Bud. But Jasper's space mission is interrupted when he is sucked into a wormhole that transports him to a different time, 30 years in the past. And now, doctors don't believe where he's from. Fortunately, his loving nurse at his side comforts him and a love builds. That is, until he realizes that his nurse's son is Jasper as a young boy. Visit John at www.johnhopewriting.com "Someday Loyal" by Elle Andrews Patt. Alien invaders are lobbing fireballs at Peoria, but Grandmama is holding tea. When the military arrives in search of Mrs. Suniol, Alice is drawn into the mystery of Lake Snow, a missing husband, and securing the key to an entire civilization's survival. Visit Elle at www.elleandrewspatt.com "Under The Whelming Tide" by Ken Pelham. The Aethir, space-born descendants of the mythical planet Earth, are returning home at last to fulfill their destiny. But not all believe the great homecoming will be the heaven they have been promised. Visit Ken at www.kenpelham.com "Social Experiment" by Tracie Roberts. For the past two years Dr. Olivia Tate had led a satisfying life with her alien spouse, Kya Dumont. As a scientist and cancer survivor, Liv is on a mission to discover a cure for the deadly disease. But something equally deadly has put Kya’s people, the Oo’mahn, in danger of extinction. With an order to evacuate Earth, Kya struggles between helping her people and remaining with the woman she loves, especially now that Liv has also fallen ill. Now Kya’s ship is approaching and the couple must not only find a cure for Liv and the Oo’mahn, but also devise a plan to remain together despite the objection of the aliens. Visit Tracie at www.tracieroberts.com "Gaia Returning" by C.L. Roman. Pirates steal things. It's what they do... When Captain Irina Demyanov’s first mate disobeys orders and steals the crown jewels of a vengeful alien race, she knows she’s out of options. Desperate to escape, Irina takes her chances on a dangerous vortex leap and lands near an unnamed, yet strangely familiar planet. The gamble may have paid off, but between hostile inhabitants and inevitable discovery by their pursuers, the pirates’ chances of survival appear slim. Can the human remnant find refuge, or will their enemies put a permanent end to the human race? Visit C.L. at www.brassragpress.com For additional info about the stories and authors, visit the website: www.alvariumexperiment.wixsite.com/returntoearth Facebook Fan Page: The Alvarium Experiment Veronica Helen Hart, like many of the Alvarium Experiment authors, writes in multiple fiction genres: women’s, historical and science fiction with a little murder and adventure on the side. You can get her Return To Earth story 'Recovery' for FREE today at Amazon. Welcome, Veronica! EAP: How did you come up with your story, ‘Recovery’, for Return to Earth? VHH: My first idea fell apart, shattered by being too big for even a novella, much less a short story. I thought I’d do an interim sequel to Silent Autumn, my science fiction novel which is a finalist for a Royal Palm Literary Award (Florida Writers Association) this year. By adding the extra element of humans returning to Earth a hundred and fifty years after The Devastation, I created an entirely different story than anticipated. Taylor, Max and the kids will have to have something else to contend with when I get back to them. In the meantime, I’d been watching the news about how Big Pharma can price-gauge the public and even withhold development or release of a drug until they can guarantee themselves the biggest profits regardless of the needs of the population, so I put a group of people on an intergalactic transfer station and created a disease. The premise of the story is to send one of their scientists to Earth to secure the formula. Once I had the premise, it suddenly turned humorous. EAP: What is happening in your writing world now? VHH: While I await the results of entries into competitions, Silent Autumn in the RPLA, and The Reluctant Daughters in the Writers’ Digest Self-published competition, I am working on my first paranormal murder mystery/romance, Knife! I’m also spending time making the rounds of book fairs, libraries and other events to promote my books. EAP: What is the most difficult thing about writing for you? VHH: The most frustrating is seeing my books associated with an author with a very similar name to mine. I constantly have to remind publicists for events that they must include my middle name or at the very least my middle initial when they post my books for sale at an event. For example, I will be presenting at a state university in October, and the press release has my name without the middle initial. If students type in my name to see what I’ve written, they will wind up on a porn site. It is unfortunate that that other writer’s name is a fictitious name – the woman is too embarrassed and ashamed of the trash she writes to use her real name. When I notified the people in charge, they of course immediately corrected the oversight. About the Author Veronica H. Hart is a multiple award-winning author of novels, Plays, and short stories. Her plays have been produced on stage. She owns Uppity Women Press and edits and writes for Champagne Books. You can visit her at veronicahhart.com for links to her books. About Return to Earth Return to Earth is the second project of the Alvarium Experiment, a consortium of accomplished and award-winning authors. The stories do not need to be read in any particular order; each story is an entry point into the overall story. Return to Earth stories & authors are: "AOB" by Bria Burton. Aona, an Alien-Operated Bot (AOB), suffers a malfunction that could jeopardize her mission on Earth and could lead to the extinction of an entire species from another planet. Visit Bria at www.briaburton.com "The Paradoxical Man" by Bard Constantine. Albert Rosen is one of five explorers who vanished on a deep-sea expedition into the Bermuda Triangle. He returns to Earth centuries later, transported across space and time through a mysterious wormhole. However, Earth is not the home he remembers. Humankind has been evacuated, and the survivors lie in hibernation aboard the Locus, an orbiting space station. Rosen is forced to match wits with Deis, an artificial intelligence determined to keep humanity in stasis until he is convinced they are fit to return. Visit Bard at www.bardwritesbooks.com "Children Of The Stars" by Charles A. Cornell. In Japan, an American medical researcher discovers the deadly secret behind an eighty-year-old woman's ageless appearance and incredible fertility, and her connection to the bizarre disappearance of the freighter the Ourang Medan in 1948. Visit Charles at www.charlesacornell.com "Project Bright Star" by Kristin Durfee. A once thought failed secret mission to colonize a distant planet, named 0X3B1, is discovered to have been successful when descendants of that mission return to Earth fifty-one years after their grandparents left, much to the surprise, and fear, of the world. Visit Kristin at www.kristindurfee.com "Recovery" by Veronica Helen Hart. When a virus threatens the lives of everyone on board a transfer station for intergalactic travel, it's up to Dr. Candace Bertram to retrieve the only known vaccine from Earth. The risky, untested method of transport could mean catastrophic mission failure, and grave danger for Dr. Bertram. Visit Veronica at www.veronicahhart.com "Coming Home" by John Hope. Finally achieving his dream of being an astronaut on the Jupiter missions, Jasper's mind is elsewhere, on the recent loss of his stepfather, Bud. But Jasper's space mission is interrupted when he is sucked into a wormhole that transports him to a different time, 30 years in the past. And now, doctors don't believe where he's from. Fortunately, his loving nurse at his side comforts him and a love builds. That is, until he realizes that his nurse's son is Jasper as a young boy. Visit John at www.johnhopewriting.com "Someday Loyal" by Elle Andrews Patt. Alien invaders are lobbing fireballs at Peoria, but Grandmama is holding tea. When the military arrives in search of Mrs. Suniol, Alice is drawn into the mystery of Lake Snow, a missing husband, and securing the key to an entire civilization's survival. Visit Elle at www.elleandrewspatt.com "Under The Whelming Tide" by Ken Pelham. The Aethir, space-born descendants of the mythical planet Earth, are returning home at last to fulfill their destiny. But not all believe the great homecoming will be the heaven they have been promised. Visit Ken at www.kenpelham.com "Social Experiment" by Tracie Roberts. For the past two years Dr. Olivia Tate had led a satisfying life with her alien spouse, Kya Dumont. As a scientist and cancer survivor, Liv is on a mission to discover a cure for the deadly disease. But something equally deadly has put Kya’s people, the Oo’mahn, in danger of extinction. With an order to evacuate Earth, Kya struggles between helping her people and remaining with the woman she loves, especially now that Liv has also fallen ill. Now Kya’s ship is approaching and the couple must not only find a cure for Liv and the Oo’mahn, but also devise a plan to remain together despite the objection of the aliens. Visit Tracie at www.tracieroberts.com "Gaia Returning" by C.L. Roman. Pirates steal things. It's what they do... When Captain Irina Demyanov’s first mate disobeys orders and steals the crown jewels of a vengeful alien race, she knows she’s out of options. Desperate to escape, Irina takes her chances on a dangerous vortex leap and lands near an unnamed, yet strangely familiar planet. The gamble may have paid off, but between hostile inhabitants and inevitable discovery by their pursuers, the pirates’ chances of survival appear slim. Can the human remnant find refuge, or will their enemies put a permanent end to the human race? Visit C.L. at www.brassragpress.com For additional info about the stories and authors, visit the website: www.alvariumexperiment.wixsite.com/returntoearth Facebook Fan Page: The Alvarium Experiment |
AuthorElle Andrews Patt writes speculative and literary fiction. Archives
August 2021
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