New release! Long Haul by Thomas Olbert

Congrats to Tom on his latest release! Help him celebrate by joining in the party.  

Very cool cover, Tom! Wishing you many sales!

 

Long Haul

Science Fiction Action-Adventure novella

Musa Publishing

http://www.musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=801 

This trucker's haul takes him to the end of time and space, and beyond...

Take the wildest ride of your life!

In the near future, physicists have stumbled on a way to open rifts into other universes, making it possible to transport goods and people anywhere in the world in nothing flat.  The unscrupulous corporation that owns the new technology uses it to monopolize shipping worldwide.

Thrill-seeking, death-defying truckers like veteran army driver Garth Jenkins and his gun-toting trucking partner Sally Drake earn hazardous duty pay by hauling rigs through perilous alien universes often infested with deadly alien monsters and many other dangers besides.

Garth and Sally accept a shady corporate contract to deliver some unknown cargo to an alien universe, no questions asked.  It looks like an easy way to score big money.  But, things go south fast when their truck is hijacked by the beautiful and mysterious Keira Takahashi, and they find themselves pursued by hideous alien parasites in undead human bodies.

On the run and in danger, Garth and Sally find themselves on a crooked cosmic road leading to bizarre other worlds and exotic time periods.  They have one chance to unravel the company's twisted plot and save themselves.  Whether they succeed or fail may decide the fate of a universe...

***

Garth Jenkins is the kind of guy who just can’t stay out of trouble, as both his ex-wives will testify.  But, when trouble comes (and, to him, it always does BIG TIME) there’s no one you’d rather have in your corner.  Sally Drake has her hands full trying to keep Garth on the straight and narrow.  They fight over everything (including women.)  But together, they are an unbeatable team.  To hear Garth tell it in his own words:Excerpt:

Three suns burned brightly in the sky, the Earth was breaking apart, and giant moths were attacking us. For most guys, that would describe a bad dream after a bender, but when you’re trucking a load on the long haul, that’s business as usual.

A big mama moth was comin’ straight at me, and she looked pretty damn pissed. Wing spread of about fifteen feet, jaws bigger than my head. Yeah, that’s how big they grow in the crazy gravity in this parallel ’verse.

I squeezed the trigger of my flamethrower. A long, twisting stream of fire snaked out and nailed that sucker right between its foot-wide sparklin’ silver eyes. The shrieking noise those mothers make when they burst into flames cuts to the marrow and curdles the blood. Kinda like my ex-wife when I’m late with a payment.

It was still coming straight for me. I felt the fire on my face as it swooped in. Those things go up like freakin’ gas balloons, y’know. As it passed over, I held onto the rearview side mirror, crouched down on the running board, and nudged that big flaming bug with the muzzle of the flamethrower. It passed on over, stinking, singed pieces of it falling onto my hair and coveralls.

“Damn!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as the truck hit the guard rail, sparks flying, metal screeching. My feet slipped off the running board, and the rearview started coming loose in my hand. I looked down. My feet dangled over a damn long drop into a kind of island floating in mid-air, a jungle landscape splitting apart, volcanoes erupting and lava bubbling up.

There was nothing but sky all around, filled with other floating islands, and swarms of those moth things were taking off from them. Behind that, the moon filled half the sky. It looked close enough to touch. I held on for dear life as the rubber screeched over the tar. My trucking partner, Sally Drake, was spinning that wheel blind, trying to keep the damn rig on the highway. A highway that was built in mid-air, stretching out from one floating island to the next. Don’t ask me how. Our road crews just paved over old highways that were already there. Built by aliens from another ’verse, maybe. Or by humans from our future. I just drive. I don’t ask questions.

Casting Call: Meilin and The Challenger

While Meilin and the Challenger is loosely based on the Grimm tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, it does not, by necessity, have a huge cast. Twelve sisters is too much for one story, though the Grimms may not have thought so. :)  In my modern version, I name less than half, and only three play major roles. Meilin, of course, is the heroine.

The sisters, all adopted, are all the same age, but the others sometimes tease the heroine, Meilin, because she's technically the youngest. (As the youngest of seven, I sympathize with her!)

Their father, who's also mayor of the futuristic City, had them privately tutored, so the girls are well-educated. Their skills go way beyond academics, and they love to put their knowledge to practical use in their private lab.

Meilin puts her technical expertise to work on several systems to eliminate the zombie colony beyond City. Its boundaries sometimes feel like a prison and she wants to break free, and help other cities reopen by using her knowledge where needed.

Lucy Liu was always Meilin in my head.

Four years of military service left Will disillusioned. Returning home to the awful conditions in City, he realizes life will never be worthwhile until the zombies are destroyed. He doesn't have much left to lose, and everything to gain - especially Meilin. Had she not been privately schooled, he'd have made a play for her a long time ago.

Once he discovers she has the same goal in mind - eradicating the zombies - he's ready to take them on.

Ryan Gosling's quiet intensity makes him perfect as Will.

Zoe's technically the oldest of the sisters, and takes the role, and life, seriously. She's bossy and tough, aggressive and abrasive.

Uma Thurman would make a wonderful Zoe.

Lakshme's very close to Meilin, but also tries to be Switzerland during battles between the two. Like her sisters, she's a genius at technical systems, and is pretty handy with a gun, too.

Wonderful accent and all, Reshma Shetty is Lakshme.

Mr. King adopted his twelve daughters as infants, but unfortunately his wife died a few years later. He did his best to parent them, but after the rise of the zombies, had to leave his position as a scientist to become Mayor of City.

Harrison Ford's lopsided smile always reminded me of my own Dad, so he's Mr. King.

Reconstructed from a zombie attack, Dory was saved before the pathogen fully turned her. Mr. King paid for surgery to amputate and replace her arms and legs, so she jokes there’s not much left of her still human except her heart. Half her face is reconstructed because the zombie went for her brains. She’s fiercely dedicated to the girls, and in love with Mr. King.

I always imagined Jeri Ryan as Dory.

Nevin Duquesne came to a tragic end - so everyone thought. Until he reappeared as a zombie. Once Mr. King's trusted advisor and friend, now Nevin has no conscience, and his only motivations are greed and revenge.

Gary Oldman would be wonderful as Nevin. 

So other than the requisite extras, that's the cast of Meilin and The Challenger. Hope you've enjoyed this Casting Call.  

Available from Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/528095
 

Release day for Meilin and the Challenger!

What makes a Friday extra happy? When it's release day!

Today, Musa Publishing released Meilin and the Challenger, my futuristic urban fantasy/fairy tale with zombies and a hot guy on a motorcycle!

*tosses cyber confetti*

I love love love this cover. *bows to the cover artist goddess, Kelly Shorten*

I hope you'll check it out. :)

Meilin and The Challenger, Futuristic urban fantasy/fairy tale

Meilin and The Challenger

Futuristic urban fantasy/fairy tale

73 pages

Meilin won’t let a little thing like zombies stand in the way of love or freedom.



Available from:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/528095


Barnes and Noble: 


Meilin and The Challenger is a fast, fun read that's a futuristic take on one of my favorite Grimm fairy tales, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. If you're not familiar with this particular Grimm story, you can check it out here. But while the original version contained no zombies, I wanted to give it a modern twist.

Blurb

Meilin King has never believed in fairy tales. Happy ever afters might have happened in the old days—before zombies. But this is 2089. When her father promises riches to the one who can rid their city of zombies, Meilin and her sisters rush to develop a solution that won’t bankrupt Dad.

The war overseas left Will MacGregor disillusioned, but fighting zombies at home is a cause he can embrace. Meilin’s another. Tough but sweet, she might make him believe in life again, and maybe even love, if she doesn’t kick his ass first.

When zombies kidnap her family, Meilin must rescue them. But can she and Will save them from the worst fate of all?

Reviews (for previous version)

I love fairy tales and zombies, usually not together, but when I saw The 12 Dancing Zombie Killing Princesses I couldn’t help myself.

I’m so glad I didn’t.

The 12 Dancing Zombie Killing Princesses is a short story and I finished it in just a few hours, but boy is there a lot going on. Lots of action, and romance. The zombies in this book aren’t your run of the mill undead, which Will and Meilin figure out quite fast. The plot sucked me in, moving fast and keeping me entertained as well as on the edge of my seat. Each new development pulled me deeper into the story wanting to know what was going to happen and if they would save Meilin’s family.

Dark Divas Reviews - 5 Divas and a Recommended Read!

This is a short book about Will, who returns to City from war wants to become a zombie fighter, on his way home he encounters the 12 adopted daughters of the city's mayor who appear to have some plans of their own ...

Of the 12 girls you only properly get to know Zoe and Meilin who are both wonderfully strong characters, very bright and capable and not at all fond of been treated as mere girls much to Will and their fathers discomfort.  Will is quite sweet but is also a hardened soldier and his main motivation is to help his mother. I found it easy to slip into the authors world and also liked the way she humanised the zombies even if they are the bad guys!

Julie's Book Reviews - 4 stars

Casting Call - Who did Cate envision in these roles? Find out here.

Excerpt

A click sounded beside him. Meilin propped a rifle to her shoulder and sighted her aim toward the advancing zombies. “Let’s annihilate the party crashers, sisters.”

A lopsided smile quirked his lips. “Not all the party crashers, I hope.”

Her stance steady, she glanced over. “I might spare you.”

Oh hell, I’m in love. Gunfire erupted on either side, but he couldn’t tear his focus from her. Amazing, how she braced against the kick of the rifle—her slight frame absorbed it and she fired away. Like you should be doing.

As trained, he lifted the Uzi. Stunned, he could only watch as the girls split the zombies’ heads with one shot apiece, the most efficient kill he’d ever witnessed. The zombies at the front of the charge fell first. Those in the center scattered to either side. Hell, these women didn’t need his help. If only the soldiers in his platoon had been so deadly accurate.

Better at least try to be helpful. He let the bullets fly. Too bad the walking dead couldn’t run; soon they dropped to the forest floor with the others.

The tallest blonde held a strange set of binoculars to her face. “There, two more getting away.”

Hard to sight them in the dark. He swiveled one of the dance floor spotlights in their direction. Momentarily blinded, the walking dead stopped walking. Meilin and the tall blonde aimed, and their shots cracked the zombies’ heads in two.

Meilin tapped his shoulder. “Aim the light to three o’clock. I think I see a few more.”

She stood so close, he grew woozy. Cherry blossoms. He struggled to fight off her intoxicating scent. He did as she asked, but his acute awareness centered on her. Built the way he liked, petite but powerful. She moved with purpose and grace, surety and intense focus in every action. Like the others, she felled the three zombies with one shot each, in exactly the spot needed for the final kill: their heads. Oh yeah, a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it, a force to be reckoned with.

She rested the rifle butt against her hip. “What do you think, Lakshme? More hiding out there?”

The girl with almond eyes shrugged. “Probably.”

Yeah, most likely. Better make sure. “I’ll do a sweep and check.”

The tallest blonde winced. “By yourself?”

Lakshme smirked. “Aren’t we lucky? Superman’s here.”

Meilin’s gaze swept over him. “Oh, I thought he was the Green Hornet.”

The blonde’s lip curled. “Horn dog, more like.”

What the hell was their problem? “Hey, I’m only trying to help.”

“Good thing.” Lakshme’s voice turned breathy. “We’re helpless girls, after all.”

Oh, man. Great first impression. “No, I didn’t—”

Meilin raised her rifle and shot three times in quick succession. “Three more down. Now we need to find out how many we missed.”

A no-nonsense babe. Excellent.

The tall blonde jumped to the ground. “Pull up the truck so we can dump the bodies. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for any latecomers.” She flashed a sardonic smile and headed for the nearest carcass.

One sister disappeared into the brush. An engine roared, and a delivery truck backed into the site, halted, and the doors flew open.

Once they’d loaded the last of the zombie bodies, Will blew out a breath. The tall blonde latched the door closed. How did they all still appear ready freshly showered and ready for a night of dancing? They had this routine down, to the last detail.

“What now?” he asked.

The tall blonde poked a finger into his chest. “Now you forget everything you saw here, and we won’t have to incinerate you with the rest of them.”

Forget? He glanced at Meilin. Not happening. “You might find me useful. And I want to learn more about your operation. It’s impressive. Mr. King’s looking to hire—”

The blonde grabbed his shirt, her grimace eye level with him. “Don’t ever mention him again.”

Not speak of their father? He studied Meilin for a clue.

She wrenched the blonde’s arm. “Back off, Zoe. He’s harmless.”

Zoe shoved Meilin, who stumbled backward and lost her balance.

Landing on her butt, she looked up at Will with sadness. “Sorry.”

His heart lurched. Hopefully, not sorry she met him. “For what?”

A hard thud to the back of his head came in answer. His knees hit the dance floor, and he toppled over.