The Forgotten Sky Book Blitz and Giveaway
August 29, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as R.M. Schultz, RABTBookTours, science fiction, The Forgotten Sky
Science Fiction, Fantasy
Published: June 2021
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!!!
Unrest smolders in a galaxy where most citizens endure the oppressive society of the Northrite corporation.
Run by six masked council members, the Northrite exploit the powers of Elemiscists—those with magical abilities—and keep them as indentured servants. When a nearby sun turns blood red and begins pulsing, people flee their homes, and the millennia-old government is plunged into chaos. Six diverse individuals from across the galaxy become entwined in a struggle for survival and to overthrow the Northrite corporation.
These six share a strange dream: a figure composed only of shadow, holding the pulsing red sun in its palm. Jaycken is an audacious and sarcastic young military recruit who dreams of harnessing Elemiscist powers, and Rynn is a sheltered but perceptive young woman who flees her home planet in search of her missing mother. Nyranna is a cunning Elemiscist slave, seeking to free her people from oppression, and Seeva, an operative and activist, tracks down a branch of the Northrite corporation that funds poachers and decimates endangered creatures for profit. Elion is a morbid bounty hunter, and Cirx is a medieval knight who seeks revenge for the death of his people.
Praise for The Forgotten Sky
“Like nothing you’ve read this year. Layered in story and intrigue and brimming with character.”—J.L. Lux, Team Seeva, author of The Fall of Dalmorall
“… compares favorably to … Dune, and Schultz’s impressive worldbuilding skills are apparent …”—Kirkus Reviews
“R.M. Schultz is a master storyteller, and his effects are spectacular … The Forgotten Sky … is a gorgeous treat not only for fans of science fiction but for any reader who adores superior storytelling.”—Readers’ Favorite
About The Author
R.M. Schultz lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, daughter, and many pets. He enjoys the outdoors, playing the guitar, and reading and writing across genres but always includes fantasy or science fiction elements in his work. He founded and heads the North Seattle Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Group.
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Timewise Book Blitz
August 27, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as RABTBookTours, Robert Leet, science fiction, Timewise
Speculative Science Fiction, Sci-fi Thriller
Publisher: Porter Field Publishing
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!!
Two unlikely partners explore the frontiers of time and physics with experiments they consider too dangerous to reveal, while fending off an FBI agent who agrees, and thinks they must be stopped.
About The Author
Robert Leet is a structural engineer who believes everyone should be introduced to the magic of mathematics and modern physics, as well as the beauty of our planet.
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Third Time’s the Harm Release Blitz and Giveaway
August 24, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as #ThirdTimestheHarm, Acorn Publishing, Deco Desk Mystery, Loran Holt, mystery, RABTBookTours
Deco Desk Mystery, Book 1
Paranormal Mystery
Date Published: August 24, 2021
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Jamie Whitehall Olivian has received a mysterious letter from her Uncle James. She is named after him, but she has never seen, met, or heard him mentioned in any way.
Until now.
And he has died and left her his entire estate. But it seems Uncle James wants her to investigate a murder.
His, that is.
It also seems the estate is contingent upon her acceptance of this commission. Jamie wants no part of the investigation or of the estate. She gets along perfectly well, thank you very much, a fact she emphasizes to his lawyer, who just happens to be gorgeous, making it a little harder to say no.
Things take a strange turn when the victim himself asks her to reconsider. For reasons unknown, Uncle James has been unable to depart for the afterlife and is stuck in his Art Deco desk.
Jamie decides to take on the job of niece and sleuth, with no experience at either, and she and Uncle James set out to find the killer. They are aided by the lawyer and a not-as-gorgeous and slightly rumpled homicide detective whose interest seems to be more than just finding a murderer.
About The Author
If you live in Southern California, you’re either a writer or an actor, right? As Professor Emerita from California State University, Long Beach, Loran Holt chose the writing path. Third Times the Harm is one of the results of her efforts, the first book of a series featuring reluctant sleuth, Jamie Whitehall Olivian. Holt is also the author of Nightmasters: Doubles Talk, a sword-and-sorcery epic, published by Acorn, as well. You will find her non-fiction, film-and-fashion books under the name Lora Ann Sigler.
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Using Small Conflicts To Move a Story Along
August 18, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class, Mary Marvella, pantsers, plotters, Sagging Middles
Presented by: Mary Marvella
Date: September 1 – 30, 2021
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30
About the Workshop:
“Using Small Conflicts To Move a Story Along” will involve ways to cure sagging middles in any story.
Writers who don’t plot can find themselves painted into a corner or wondering what to do next. Even plotters sometimes find a story seems to be going nowhere. Sometimes the problems are solved, but the book needs to be longer. OOPS!
So what can we do about that? Students and I will share ways to make scenes more meaningful and give characters problems that fit the situation and make those characters stronger for the new problems.
I will give lessons/lectures about why stories need conflicts, small and large, internal and external, to keep excitement going and readers reading.
Students will select slow scenes from their projects or create them so we can pump life into them with small or large rocks. I will give examples of problems based on the stories. We will brainstorm and share scenes on the loop each week.
About the Presenter:
Mary Marvella has been a storyteller for as long as she can remember. The arrival of the book mobile was as exciting as hearing the music of the ice cream truck. As a child of the South, she inherited the storytelling gene from her parents and her grandmamas.
Retired from teaching classic works of the masters, Mary plays let’s pretend with her characters. She has published 10 novels, 1 book on editing, and a collection of Christmas stories.
Mary tutors, and coaches writers when she isn’t working on projects as a freelance editor. She has always been a grammar geek who loved soaking up new knowledge and reading everything, including labels on cereal boxes.
1 0 Read moreYankee Thunder: The Legendary Life of Davy Crockett
August 17, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley tagged as Davy Crockett, Legends, lessons
Today is Davy Crockett’s birthday.
Almost everyone over a certain age will now start singing the Disney Theme song and imagining Fess Parker in a coonskin cap, but not me. Oh, I pass the age test, but I have a book that belonged to my mother, titled YANKEE THUNDER: The Legendary Life of Davy Crockett. That depiction of Davy Crockett wins out over the TV show for me, but not without a bit of sadness.
Written by Irwin Shapiro with pictures by James Daugherty, it was a fixture of my childhood. In the book Davy is born man-sized, weighing in at two hundred pounds and fourteen ounces. To feed him, his parents plant him in the ground and water him with wild buffalo’s milk mixed with boiled corn cobs and tobacco leaves.
He grows so big that by chapter four his family must whittle him down to man-size. Out on adventures, Davy finds two unusual pets, a bear named Death Hug, and a buffalo called Mississip.
As much fun as all this is, unfortunately, I would never recommend the book today, especially not for children. While the book shows Davy Crockett as sympathetic towards native people, native people themselves are characterized in the most bigoted and stereotypical way.
I hope we have learned in the 78 years since Yankee Thunder was published not to use negative and hurtful stereotypes in our writing. I’d like to think our stories can be recommended without reservation.
Whittling down to man-size 
Be sure you’re right, then go ahead. 
Title page
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