Cover art for “Ascension: The Ymir Trinity” by A.M. Leishman
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Last night I finished A.M. Leishman’s short novel Ascension, The Ymir Trinity (2023). It’s supposed to be book one in a series, but so far, no other books have been published.
I first encountered Leishman on twitter/X but he’s also on bluesky. We indie authors have to stick together.
I won’t lie. For me, it was a hard book to get into. I felt like I was walking into the middle of a movie. Cute, teenage psychopath Dawn encounters older and more reserved Alma walking into her local public library and fairly swoons over her. The two have been in contact with an entity named Ymir who has been giving them instructions about an impending interstellar war and pushing them to ally themselves specifically with the U.S. Military.
The two of them plus General David Trauger form an alliance that takes them to the highest levels of power, both on Earth and beyond.
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
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Elizabeth left the dorm room letting her eyes adjust to the daylight past the bicycle and gate. At thirty, it was a stretch for her to play the role of a co-ed at the university, but that’s what it took this time.
She’d been a professional for ten years. This was the first job where she felt anxious. She took a few steps forward and forced down her emotions. She had to treat it like any other contract.
Except it wasn’t just another hit. Somewhere on campus was the man who had killed her sister. She would make him pay.
PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
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“What’s a tchotchke?” Jessica was the youngest of the cousins exploring Bubbe’s house. The grownups were either in the kitchen or watching the game on TV.
“Just a bunch of junk I think,” answered Michael. He was the oldest and annoyed because his Mom told him to watch the rest of the kids.
“You mean like knick-knacks? Bubbe sure has a lot seashells for someone living in Missouri.” Joel knew just enough Yiddish to “get it,” but his older sister Rachel knew more.
“It’s also a pretty girl,” she said. “Like the one reading the Torah for her bat mitzvah.”
© James Pyles
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Yesterday, I finished Jim Butcher’s novel Blood Rites, the sixth book in The Dresden Files series.
Harry Dresden is the world’s only publicly advertised investigative wizard. He operates out of Chicago and is on contract with the Special Investigations unit of the Chicago P.D. to help solve the really weird crimes that sometimes happen thanks to ghosts, demons, fairies, and vampires.
“Blood Rites” continues the war between Harry (and by inference the White Council) and a group of vampires called the Black Court (vampires that most resemble “Dracula”). However, Harry’s life is always complicated. He is encouraged by his “White Court” vampire associate Thomas to take a job protecting the owner of a porn film company from what amounts to “the evil eye.” Two women associated with the production have already died.
Cover image for the anthology, “Shoot the Devil 3: Militia of Martyrs.”
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It’s out. It’s here. It’s available for your Kindle device. Shoot the Devil 3: Militia of Martyrs is now on sale at Amazon.
As I previously mentioned, I have stories featured in the first two volumes of this anthology and am proud to have made it into the pages of this one as well.
“Militia” hosts a collection of newcomers as well as veterans to “Shoot the Devil” which is good to hear. This series is dedicated to a concept that seems to have fallen by the wayside in most modern entertainment: the victory of good over evil.
Promotional image for my short story “The Book of Names” which will appear in the anthology “Shoot the Devil 3.”
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I have stories published in the anthologies Shoot the Devil and Shoot the Devil 2: Dark Matter.
Coming soon (I’m not sure exactly when, but ideally right around Thanksgiving which is tomorrow), my short story “The Book of Names” will appear in volume three: “Martyr’s Militia.”
Here’s a sample:
PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
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Elisa Sebourne watched a boy she knew sail past her riding a motorized scooter on his way to school. He didn’t notice her for which she was grateful.
So much had changed since she used to think of herself as a student. She used to think of herself as a lot of things, including human.
Something in her program made her reveal herself prematurely. Mother had been captured and taken offline, but father, or rather her designer, found her again. Together, they would find a way to save her and the other robots Landric Arkwright created to save the world.
© James Pyles
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Jim Butcher’s Death Masks, the fifth in his “The Dresden Files” series is the darkest and most intense story yet.
The Shroud of Turin is missing and a Catholic Priest from Rome hires wizard/investigator Harry Dresden to find it, believing the Shroud is now somewhere in Chicago. At the same time, the feud between the wizard’s White Council and the vampire’s Red Court has taken a strange turn. To resolve the “cold war” between them, a vampire lord and expert duelist Ortega challenges Harry to a duel to the death. Harry can’t refuse because if he does, vampire and mortal assassins will target and kill everyone Harry cares about.
While mortal thieves originally took the Shroud, supernatural forces known as “The Fallen,” mortals possessed by demons, are after it for their own purposes. This brings in the Knights of the Cross, lead by Michael Carpenter who we saw in a previous novel. He is accompanied by Shiro and Sanya who are more adept at fighting the Fallen than Harry ever could be.
PHOTO PROMPT © Ronda Del Boccio
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Gary said, “Grandpa, why did you have to be such a mess? Why did I have to inherit it?”
The eighteen-year-old looked back at his longing to escape the rigidity of his Dad’s rule over their house. Now it didn’t seem so bad, especially when compared to the chores involved in emancipation.
“You’re not in this alone, Gary.” He and Sandoval had been best friends forever. “We’ll donate the beer and pizza and have a dozen people helping us get rid of all this junk.”
“Only some of the junk,” Gary murmured. “I want to keep all of the memories.”
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