QSFer Marie Brown has a new MM sci fi book out: From the Ashes.
After the destruction of billions of humans and hundreds of colony worlds by an unknown aggressive force, Lieutenant Wallace K. Williams must overcome his personal devastating losses and rise to the challenge of leading the few thousand survivors into a new future.
Along the way, he encounters aliens, hope, despair, and the chance for an unexpected love. But will he lose everything all over again, just when things begin to go right?
Get it On Amazon
Excerpt
The civilian huddled on the floor, long dark hair shielding his face. He wore a robe of crumpled cloth of gold. Whoever he was, he’d been rich back when such things mattered.
“What seems to be the problem, Em?”
“I’m not leaving,” came the muffled response.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
The civilian looked up. Intense green eyes burned out of a face the color of dark clover honey and seared into his soul. “I said, I’m not leaving. Nothing you can do or say will get me to move.”
“Who are you?” Wallace breathed, then resumed his professional aspect.
“Nonsense, Em. There is no reason to remain here on the Fury, unless you wish to join the military.”
“Military? Me? Ha!” The man brushed hair away from his face, revealing more of that burning gaze. Wallace dismissed the flutter in his middle as irrelevant to the situation. “Do you know who I am?”
“No, Em, I do not. Now can you stand up please?”
The man picked himself up off the floor, suddenly swathed in arrogance. It seemed as if all the light in the corridor concentrated on him. “I am Aran-Ra, God-King of Pyphos.” Then he deflated again. “And that is why I must not set foot on this pure new planet. I must not pollute it with my presence.”
Wallace noted the shocked reactions of the others, and hoped his own face concealed his surprise and curiosity. And attraction.
Instantly, the pain threatened again.
“Why not?” Wallace asked, rather than give in to the pain. His wife was unquestionably dead. He refused to let himself hurt and suffer because he was still alive. And most certainly, if anything of her survived and followed what he did with his life, she would never begrudge him feeling attraction towards other human beings, although she’d likely shake her head and grimace at his miserably bad timing. Inappropriate, dear, she’d likely say. Wait until you’re off duty, at least.
“Surely the real God has punished me and all my people,” the God-King said, face crumpling as he slid back down the wall to land with a thump.
“Why else would He destroy the worlds, if not to punish sins? My world, my culture, my entire life has been a mockery of the real God, and for my sins, all have paid. I do not deserve to set foot upon any other world. I should have died in the attack. I should have been left to die, alone on Pyphos. . .”
“Rubbish,” Wallace snapped, irritated by both himself and the pathetic tone of the words. “If you had personally offended a god, any god, rest assured you would be dead. I don’t believe in the beings myself, but all the stories are pretty consistent on that one thing: anger a god, and die. Not anger a god, and everyone else dies. Now get off your self-pitying,rear end and have your crisis of conscience on the planet where it’s safe.”
Author Bio
“Marie Brown has lived in many locations across the United States, but spends most of her time exploring the realms of imagination. Currently located in Colorado, her brief moments of free time are spent in front of her computer, frequently covered in cats.”
Blah.
Yeah, okay, that’s all true. But I’m tired of hiding behind a bland, third-person pseudo-bio, utterly lacking in personality.
Hi! I’m Marie Brown, and I write a lot. I self-publish through Amazon because I got tired of getting “well-written, but not our thing” rejection letters. Because, you see, most of my fiction tends to include characters that are either bi or just plain homosexual, and despite increasing acceptance of human sexuality and its many variations across the world, heroes and heroines are still supposed to be straight.
Well, mine aren’t. So if you’re brave, and you don’t mind that the main character of a story either isn’t interested in sex at all, or is quite likely to hop in bed with someone of the same gender, then give my writings a chance. Come explore my fantasy worlds, or my science fiction worlds, or even spend some time with an occasional random love story set on Earth.
And by the way, just this once, I wrote this entire blurb without a cat on my keyboard.
Website http://evilkittenproject.net/index.html
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Marie-Brown/e/B01F16R1L8/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010121836495