Sample Sunday: "Dead Links"

This week's sample is from my thriller, Dead Links.

The two of them headed for one of the exits leading out to the parking lot. Through the glass doors, she could see that the sun had fallen until only a very dim light reflected off the cars parked outside. As Bishop reached the doors, lights flickered on to cast a yellow sphere of light onto the sidewalk out front. The doors chimed softly and mumbled as they slid open from Bishop's approach. The clamor of the outside rushed in, along with the sound of a truck's engine growing louder.

Bishop reached the open doors, but stumbled as he came to a sudden halt in the doorway. He whirled around towards Amanda again. His sunglasses had come off at some point in the chase, and his swollen eyes turned on her as he yelled, "Run!"

A black truck hurtled out of the darkness of the parking lot towards the mall, roaring like a lion. It headed away from them, but then its tires shrieked as it spun to face the entrance. The truck's headlights burned like the eyes of a cat, and blinded Amanda as they aimed straight for her.

Amanda couldn't see through the red haze left in her eyes by the light, but felt Bishop's hands clutch hers and pull her away from the exit. Her sight cleared to see the doors slide open, but not quickly enough for the truck that plowed into them. The impact made the entire wall explode. Showers of glass burst out of the frames, dangled from the truck's front bumper, then tore loose to be crushed into mangled strips beneath the wheels.

Amanda's shoes skidded on the polished tile before friction caught and threw her forward. She chased after Bishop with the truck howling behind them.

As Amanda and Bishop ran into the more populated area of the mall, screams replaced laughter as people scrambled to avoid the vehicle thundering down the halls.

Starting today, this novel is on sale!

Download It

Related Posts:
Sample Sunday: "Dead Links"
Sample Sunday: "Dead Links"

To hear about my new releases first and get a free short story, sign up for my newsletter

Sample Sunday: "Six Guns of Madness"

This week, I'll be featuring an excerpt from my scifi/Western/horror novella, Six Guns of Madness.

A cloud of dust came down the main street. Three horses burst out of the cloud, driven by men in black gear. As the three men came out of the cloud, Blaine could make out plates of metal wrapped around their chests, arms, and legs.

As they drew closer, Blaine saw the creatures the men rode only looked like horses in general appearance with their four legs and elongated heads. These creatures had dark green skin like frogs, and no hair on their necks or tails. The biggest change came from the heads, which had long snouts ending in clusters of tentacles instead of mouths. Blaine stepped off the sidewalk into the center of the street as the three horse-things pulled up in front of the saloon. He could see all the men wore backpacks connected by pipes around their bodies, and ending in guns on their holsters.

One of the men on the horse-things glared down at Blaine. "Where's Barnaby?"

Blaine hooked his thumbs on his belt. "Who's asking?"

"Vincent Darke, that's who. Darke gave Barnaby until noon today to give up the scroll. So either he brings us the scroll or we send him six feet under. Now where is he?"

Blaine glanced over his shoulder. He didn't have to check to know Tombstone and the Kid had taken their places by his side. "Can't rightly say. But if he's willin' to die instead of givin' up this scroll, I'm guessin' it must be pretty important for him to hang onto."

The men on the horse-things exchanged a look before reaching for the guns on their holsters.

To hear about my new releases first and get a free short story, sign up for my newsletter.

Sample Sunday: "Couch Potato Returns"

Today's Sample Sunday is from my WIP, Couch Potato Returns. It's going to be a while before it's released, considering I haven't even released the original The Adventures of Couch Potato, but what the heck. I think it's self-explanatory, except to say that Couch Potato is a fat, balding, lazy TV addict who gets transformed into a fat, balding, lazy TV addict with superpowers who calls himself Couch Potato.

---

"What is this," Couch Potato whispered. "What'd you do to me? Who is that?"

Doctor Turvy stalked towards him. "That is exactly what it looks like - an exact duplicate of you, produced by my Identity Inversion Molecular Projector. It created a copy of you with all your powers, memories, and abilities with one important difference. The clone is the exact opposite of you. Whereas you will always fight for the side of good, your duplicate fights for evil."

Couch Potato's brow furrowed. "Wait, that's it? He's my exact opposite, so he's evil?"

Turvy raised an eyebrow. "Yes. What's your point?"

"Well, that just seems kind of limited. If he's my opposite, then shouldn't he be thin? And tall?"

"I say," Flop said. "Fellow makes a very good point. If he was truly his opposite, shouldn't Evil Carl actually be a woman?"

"And black," Flip added.

Couch Potato added, "And breathe carbon dioxide."

"Good one," Flop said. "And you're balding, so your clone should have a lot of hair. I say, this is jolly good fun..."

"Silence," Doctor Turvy roared. "Don't labor the point. All right, some things about the clone are the exact opposite of you. But we need him to pass as you. So it's just a personality change."

Carl raised his eyebrows. "Does Evil Carl sleep during the day?"

"Shut up."

"Is Evil Carl gay?"

"Just let it go."

To hear about my new releases first and get a free short story, sign up for my newsletter

Sample Sunday: "Friendly Forest"

This week's excerpt is from my work-in-progress, Friendly Forest, book 3 of my TOONS series.

Terrestria nodded to the small dragon standing next to her. "Bring me the sacred scrolls of the prophecy."

The dragon flapped its tiny wings and fluttered up to the castle tower. It came back down carrying a thick leather-bound book.

When the dragon set the book in front of Terrestria, she used her mouth to pry open the cover.

Cardboard shapes unfolded from the inside of the book. A mountainside sprang up, along with a cardboard sun.

Terrestria looked down at it with reverence. "This is our most ancient of texts, passed down for generations among our people, the Cuddlinomicron."

Crafty frowned. "A pop-up book?"

Princess Terrestria pulled on a tab. It made the sun slide back and forth. "The prophecy speaks of the three newcomers who will free Friendly Forest from evil. They will come from outside the forest, they will be strong and brave, and they will be very ugly."

Bizzy grinned at Crafty. "Ugly, huh? Hate to see those--"

Terrestria turned the page. Three cardboard cutouts of three people popped up, all holding hands. They looked exactly like Bizzy Beaver, Crafty Wolf, and Lucky Elf.

Crafty nodded. "Yeah, kinda saw that one coming."

You can catch up with the first book, Living in Looneyville.

Sample Sunday: "Really Wild Things"

Welcome to Sample Sunday, where we authors give you a taste of our work. Here's another excerpt from my free Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel, Really Wild Things.

When it comes to the subject of clams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has this to say: they don't get any better than the Five-Tailed Whirlwind Ultra-Clam on the third moon of Llullul in the Inner Northern arm of the Galaxy. Of course, this is a disputed claim, partly because tastes vary from one being to another, but mainly because only one man has ever actually tasted the Five-Tailed Whirlwind Ultra-Clam and so we only have his word to go on. But that man is Noslenda Bivenda, undisputed as the Galaxy's Greatest Clam Opener, so his vote carries tremendous weight.

Sample Sunday: "Dead Links"

Welcome to Sample Sunday, where we authors give you a taste of our work. Here's another excerpt from my technothriller, Dead Links.

For the moment, Araknee's secrets took a back seat in Amanda's mind to an even greater mystery. "Are those Crane supercomputers?"

Isabelle squinted through the glass. "Yeah, I think that's what someone said."

Amanda continued to stare in awe through the window at the computers tangled within a web of green and red wiring. What she saw seemed as out of place as a nuclear bomb in a child's toy box.

Amanda whispered, "What're they doing running a website?"

The muted roar of the fans inside the computer room seemed louder than all the chatter and movement in the main floor as Isabelle shrugged. "Nothing special, really. They're hooked up to the servers. You know what servers are, right?"

"Sure. That's a computer that don't do nothing else but sit around and send people files, like waiters of the Internet." She turned her gaze back onto the supercomputers humming in the next room. "But any computer could run a server, even my desktop at home. Supercomputers do billions of complex mathematical calculations every second. The government uses 'em to design new weapons or for decrypting classified information. And Crane supercomputers are top o' the line, the best of the best, most powerful computers on Earth. And you got ten of 'em. No way a server's workload could be strong enough to need that kinda power."

If you'd like to read the rest of it, you can get the full novel at the Amazon US Kindle Store or Amazon UK Kindle Store.

Related Posts

Sample Sunday: "Toons"
Sample Sunday: "Dead Links"

Sample Sunday: "Toons"

 Welcome to Sample Sunday, where we authors give you a taste of our work. Here's an excerpt from my comedy/adventure series, TOONS. 

The gorilla pointed a crooked finger. "The Apex Blimp from the Apex Corporation themselves. Flies that route every day at this time, just like clockwork."

"Oh, yes, it's very nice." Crafty Wolf tried to look interested.

"Ah, good ol' Apex. Why, I remember the days before Apex. In my day, you wanted a stick o' dynamite, you had to send away for it the old-fashioned way. By regular mail. And it cost you a pretty penny. Overnight shipping was the fastest we could get, too, and you were darned glad to have it. Nowadays, you kids with your free orders and instantaneous delivery don't know what you've got."

Sample Sunday: "Really Wild Things"

Welcome to Sample Sunday, where we authors give you a taste of our work. Here's an excerpt from my original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel, Really Wild Things.

Sample Sunday: "Toons"

Welcome to Sample Sunday, where we authors give you a taste of our work. Here's another excerpt from my comedy series, TOONS. This section discusses how "anthros" (animal cartoon characters) handle sugar.

Anthros respond to glucose in the same way that humans respond to alcohol. In other words, they get drunk on sugar. This explains a wide variety of abnormal behaviors, including the almost obsessive loyalty some anthros have to certain breakfast cereals and snack cakes. These products are banned in Looneyville, but as in most societies, illegal substances still manage to slip through the cracks. Complex criminal organizations have formed to exploit the weaknesses of anthros.

In response, a full-scale sugar prevention program has been mounted under the slogan, "Just Say No To A Complete Breakfast." Cereal enforcement teams work twenty-four hours a day with billions of bucks at their disposal, equipped with highly-trained officers and the latest technology in order to cripple the sugar industry in no way whatsoever.

If you'd like to read the rest of it, you can get the first part at the Amazon Kindle Store.

Sample Sunday: "Dead Links"

Welcome to Sample Sunday, where we authors give you a taste of our work. Here's another excerpt from my technothriller, Dead Links.

Amanda swung her arms up to clutch the front of the man's shirt. Her attacker's eyes widened over the blood trickling down from his nose. Amanda braced him on her back as she lowered her stance to flip him over her. The throw sent him hurtling over her shoulder, down onto her coffee table. It collapsed beneath him with a thunder that made books topple off their shelves.

If you'd like to read the rest of it, you can get the full novel at the Amazon Kindle Store.