Virtual Tourist 01/27/23

Table of Contents

News/Musings DTN Swap 1
Virtual Tourist – No Man’s Sky StoryOrigin Swap 2
New Year’s Fiction Group Promo StoryOrigin Swap 3
Putting the Science in Science Fiction GP Strong Women Strange Worlds QuickReads
Reviewers Corner!

Greetings!

It’s been almost a full month into the new year. Has it been treating you well? I sure hope so!

News/Musings

Last time I mentioned how there had been some unexpected financial expenditures. Since things typically come in threes for us cash-wise, I was dreading what the third one would be. Well, it finally showed up. Hubby’s truck got two red lights and wouldn’t go past first gear. Found out yesterday he has to have new valves. Goodbye money! (But at least the waiting is over!) 😁

 

Trivia/Research bit – Dogs – funny and happy and crazy! To show they are being friendly and want to play, dogs may bare their teeth and look threatening! Minerva, our chaos machine, would bark and snap when playing with other adult dogs or with humans, but when she played with a puppy the other day, you’d have thought Cujo had come to visit! She makes the scariest faces when she plays with puppies! But it’s perfectly normal!
Weird, right? Does your dog do that?

The refreshed interior and new cover ebook editions for Willing Sacrifice are live! The publisher said it might be several months for the paperback version to get updated, but at least there’s been progress! Woot!

I also finished a brand-new book trailer for it! Check it and the new blurb for Willing Sacrifice below.

Willing Sacrifice by Gloria Oliver

Her destiny is clear. But when outsiders claim a shocking falsehood, will the truth save her realm or send it to its doom?

La’tiera is fully at peace with her purpose. Living in isolation and marked at birth by the gods to defend the land from darkness, the honorable young woman dutifully waits to sacrifice herself to demons when the time comes. But her intended fate hangs in the balance when she’s kidnapped by strangers who insist they offer protection.

Unable to accept that her beloved guardian lied, the curious girl is still glad for the opportunity to see and explore more of the world. And when her people come hunting, La’tiera faces a terrible decision on whom to believe – the man she grew up with, or the kindhearted abductors desperately trying to keep her alive.

With the future resting in her hands, will this uncertain hero choose correctly?

Willing Sacrifice is a compelling YA fantasy novel. If you like strong female characters, page-turning suspense, and tough moral questions, then you’ll love Gloria Oliver’s breathtaking conundrum.

Buy Willing Sacrifice to test the bonds of faith today! 

What did you think of the NEW blurb? Does it strike a chord? Let me know! I’d love to hear from you!

Extra content today:

1) DTN Swap 1 (Amazon)

2) StoryOrigin Swap 2 (UBL)

3) New Year’s Fiction Group Promo

4) StoryOrigin Swap 3 (Freebie)

5) Putting the Science in Science Fiction Group Promo 

6) Strong Women Strange Worlds QuickReads

Scroll on down to get all the deets. 😉

The Courier's Wife

The Courier's Wife

DTN Swap 1 (Amazon)

A heartrending novel of courage and resilience inspired by the true story of a female Civil War spy.

September 1862. Hattie Logan is a restless young woman with a strong will and an effervescent spirit. When war ignites, she escapes her privileged family and prim finishing school to join Allen Pinkerton’s spy agency, burning to make a difference for the Union. As one of Pinkerton’s mailroom girls, she uncovers secrets that could change the course of the war.

Still, she longs to do more. Dispatched as the courier’s wife, she ventures behind enemy lines, where her passion for the man posing as her husband deepens. But from the shadows of Hattie’s past, a secret threatens their plans and their lives.
A sweeping story of courage and resilience, with rich historical detail and unforgettable characters who will tug at your heart.

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is a survival and exploration game. One unique feature is that though it is a shared game, each individual person can tweak the options to suit them best! So if you are more interested in exploration than survival, you can downgrade the damage you receive, or how whether you need to eat, etc.

I’ve never heard of that before! But it works great for hubby and me! Yay! (Though we did pick the wrong mode when we first started, which gives you all the blueprints and anything you need. Once we realized our error, we switched to the actual game with side quests, etc.)

You can see all the currently uploaded pics here.

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Initial screen once you start. The star fields keep passing you by. Thousands of worlds are generated and named.

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The graphics are lovely. Look at those rings! That’s me in the suit. You are a traveler, but you have no memory of before.

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Wreckage close to our base. There are usually things to be found, but be careful, hazards abound.

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Ships come into the system or do fly-bys in the atmosphere on almost every planet. Some cool-looking ships out there.

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Each system will have an orbiting station. Some have funky exteriors. Inside, they are standardized.

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There are three main races. This is a Vy’keen. They are war-like and follow a holy mission. While you can still deal with them, you have to learn words to translate the different languages. You can do this by talking to them an asking for language help or visiting obelisks.

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An example of alien plants. A lot of variation. Though the actively hazardous plants tend to look the same. You can scan flora, fauna, and minerals to catalog them for each planet.

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Mystery structures abound. You slowly start piecing together bits about the three races and the odd war being fought in multiple planes of existence.

Ranger of Kings

Ranger of Kings

StoryOrigin Swap 2 (Amazon)

There are secrets more deadly than blades… and they are coming for him.

Living as a lowly village boy, Will finds himself thrown into a world he could only dream of when he meets the mischievous son of an influential Lord and a calculating last heir of a powerful Count. Brought to Alamore castle, he can not believe his luck when he is invited to join his two new friends in training to become knights of the realm.
But training isn’t all the grandeur and chivalry he imagined.

There are dangers, secrets, and traitors lurking within the walls of Alamore and Will realizes more than fate brought him to the castle.
Now he must find answers – to save the Kingdom and to save himself.

But the person who might be able to help him is the one he fears most; the aloof cloaked figure known only as the Ranger of Kings…

Putting the Science In Science Fiction Group Promo Banner

Looking for SF reads that are all about Putting the Science in Science Fiction? Look no further than our group promo for January 2023! 

Sentinals Stirring

Sentinals Stirring

StoryOrigin Swap 3 (Freebie!)

Time is passing, and the goddess is getting impatient.

When you hold the fate of the world in your hands, but you don’t know it yet, don’t be surprised when the goddess intervenes.
Three thousand years ago the goddess Leyandrii banished all magic from the world of Remargaren to protect her people from the wild magic of the Ascendants.

But, unnoticed, the world is changing. Her veil of protection is weakening and magic is seeping back in. Leyandrii is watching, she is determined her sacrifice will not have been in vain, and she has found just the person to help her.

The world is much larger than the Watch Jerrol grew up in, and he has choices and opportunities he never dreamed of. His simple life is about to be overturned because Lady Leyandrii needs him and she is about to place his feet on her path, even if he is late.

The Sentinals are stirring, but it will take Jerrol to wake them. Only he doesn’t know that yet.

New Years Fiction Group Promo Banner

A New Year is here, and what better way to celebrate than reading! This mixed genre group promo of free reads is right up your alley! New Year’s Fiction Group Promo.

Strong Women Strange Worlds 02.03.23 Banner

The next Strong Women Strange Worlds QuickReads will be on 2/3/23. Preregister for the free event!

🌟 Shout out to Reviewers Corner! 🌟

Thanks this month go to:

Black Jade Audiobook – HeyHelloHowdy, Sabrina Nelson, Shannon

Black Jade – D. Hostettler

A great big thanks to all the reviewers this month!

(Do you want your name in here, too? All you need is to post a one or two-sentence review at Bookbub, Goodreads, Amazon, or send me a link if it’s posted elsewhere and I will add you here next round!)

Hope you are having an awesome weekend!

 

Gloria