Virtual Tourist 12/29/23

News/Musings	Story Origin Swap 1
Virtual Tourist – Starfield	Story Origin Swap 2
Escape the Holidays with Free Sci-Fi Books Group Promo	Let it Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow! Group Promo
	Reviewer’s Corner

Greetings!

How was your Christmas? I hope you got everything you were hoping for! 😁

I got a colonoscopy for mine! 😝 Not on the day of, mind you, but the week before. It came out clean (pun intended), though it won’t be official till the virtual visit next week. So it was a good present, indeed. 🎁

News/Musings

We were supposed to go to the in-laws last Saturday to celebrate Christmas, but whether from a delayed reaction to the colonoscopy or something I ate that didn’t agree with me, I had to bail from going at the last minute. My daughter delivered the gifts for the nephews and nieces under 18, and I gather they were well received. Yay!

On the day of, we did the annual stockings, which hubby loves to do. He upped the game this year and bought bags to hold the gifts and candy. He was quite happy to have found “coal” candy as those had disappeared a couple of years ago.

Writing News

The Music of Death Blues and the prequel short The Prince and Dai are still pending at the editor’s, so no new news there.

I did finally finish working on the book trailer, though! Woot! I won’t upload it till the edits come back and the pre-order is set up. But I included a screen grab to give you a taste. 😄

The Secret Aftermath – Book 2 of the Discoveries of Julia Xero is now at 30,000 words! I’d been submitting chapters to the crit group, but with the holidays that has ground to a halt, but I am still putting words down. Oh yeah!
Alien Redemption (Wide Distribution) – my stand-alone science fiction novel is on tour. Some lovely new reviews have been trickling in.

Here’s an excerpt from one of the new reviews:

“Alien Redemption by Gloria Oliver is a great, twisty, sci-fi adventure story with plenty of suspense, tension, drama, action, secrets, mystery, agendas/plots, high stakes, blackmail, betrayal, intrigue, emotion, discovery, challenges, space travel, new beginnings, and aliens.
I was pulled into the story right from the beginning- reading the book in one sitting as I really needed to know how things would play out.”

Extra content today:

1) StoryOrigin Swap 1 (Freebie)

2) StoryOrigin Swap 2 (Review Copy)

3) Escape the Holidays with Free Sci-Fi Books Group Promo

4) Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! We’re Cozy Inside! Group Promo

Scroll on down to get all the deets. 😉

Without A World

StoryOrigin Swap 1 (Freebie)

When Miranda learns her mother was right, Earth will fall into a black hole of their own making; she must find the strength to save her family.

A black hole is coming for Earth, but that is only the beginning of Miranda’s problems.

She thought life in the Trash Lands was bad, scraping for food and water, wishing she could blend into the sea of ash. But when she learns her mother was right, Earth will get sucked into a black hole, Miranda must trust in skills she never knew she had to get to a place she refused to believe existed. When she finds an idyllic new world, to Miranda’s surprise, she cannot turn her back on the suffering on Earth, but will she risk it all to save a doomed world?

Without A World, the first book in the Kirasu Rising series, delivers non-stop, action-packed adventure as we race alongside a strong female protagonist through space and alternate dimensions. If you like young adult, metaphysical, action-adventure you will love this series.

Click to jump into Miranda’s adventure today!

Starfield

The love/hate relationship continues. But I must like it more than not, or I would not keep playing it! LOL

You can see all the currently uploaded pics here.

With regards to the non-character-related details, they do a fabulous job. It makes me want to go eat there. How about you? 😁

The Whetstone entrance in New Atlantis – I love the mirror image made with tiles.

New Atlantis at night.

The UC and Vanguard have a history museum at New Atlantis. Here’s one of the mechs used during the war.

A stuffed terrormorph – they once tried to control these to use in warfare. They are somehow spreading across the galaxy—one of the mysteries you will be solving in the game.

Inside a posh restaurant in New Atlantis.

Inside the church of one of the religions in New Atlantis.

A monument to honor all those lost during the war.

Darkhaven

StoryOrigin Swap 2 (Review cOPY)

What would you sacrifice for magic?

Gabby Whitehall is in her final year of high school and facing the Question: what does she want to do with her life? A shame ‘wizarding’ isn’t on the list of university courses.

Just as Gabby despairs that she’ll never find the answer, lightning strikes. She uncovers a conspiracy, meets a mysterious boy, and finds out that maybe, magic might just be real. But it comes at a cost, and now Gabby’s faced with a decision that makes choosing a university as easy as choosing a favourite kind of cake… and how is anyone meant to do that?

A coming-of-age, contemporary fantasy, Darkhaven is the first book in the Lightless Prophecy, a galaxy-spanning adventure of magic and gods, love and betrayal, and a quest to find out what holds the stars together in the dark.

Escape the Holidays with Free Sci-Fi Books Group Promo – last chance to grab these science fiction goodies.

Puzzling Mysteries Await You – Group Promo – only a few more days before they’re gone!

🌟 Shout out to Reviewers Corner! 🌟

Thanks this month go to:

Alien Redemption – bishopjenniferd, kbkeerybaker, skittell51, Angela Hayes, elishajohnson0528, Melissa Saxton, ttreadway1, Angela, Jennab, Tausha Treadway, Shelly Kittell, and tytanmom24

A great big THANK YOU to all the reviewers!

(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!)