Science Fiction thriller Dissent is now on sale

Dissent:  Book I in the Nexus series

Witness a galactic empire of women

Witness a cosmic supercomputer with designs of creating a new human race

Witness a race of world-builders who can manipulate time and space across billions of years

Visit genetically engineered worlds where people can fly and live underwater, where combat to the death brings forth new life.


In the galactic empire of Kalthaar, a race of women battle for control of entire star systems.  A rigid caste system based on irreconcilable values divide a galaxy.

In the midst of interstellar war and political intrigue, an impossible love between two courageous women from two castes forbidden to interact leads to a daring alliance and a desperate effort to save a dying world.

Phase 5's Website Link

http://www.phase5publishing.com/dissent

 

Amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=dissent%2Bolbert

 

Barnes & Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dissent-thomas-olbert/1123585538?ean=9781942342892

 

Lulu

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-olbert/dissent-book-i-of-the-nexus/ebook/product-22599006.html

 

Kobo

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/dissent-book-i-of-the-nexus

 

Goodreads page

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29489513-dissent

 

Free samples

Kindle

http://www.phase5publishing.com/Dissent%2BSample.mobi

EPUB

http://www.phase5publishing.com/Dissent%20Sample.epub

PDF

http://www.phase5publishing.com/Dissent%20Sample.pdf

Review: Dissent - Book I in the Nexus series

Read an in-depth review of my new science fiction thriller Dissent:  Book I of the Nexus series:


http://www.rabidreaders.com/2016/04/01/dissent-book-i-of-the-nexus-by-thomas-olbert/?utm_content=buffer7df40&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

"The Island" by Clarissa Johal

Demonic horror on a mysterious island -- Supernatural thriller from Clarissa Johal...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Details:

 

Title: THE ISLAND 

Genre: Paranormal Horror 

Author: Clarissa Johal 

Editor: Marisa Chenery
Booktrope, Forsaken Imprint (2015)

ISBN-13: 978-1-5137-0161-5   

ASIN: B010TE7W1G

Number of Pages: 210

 

 

About THE ISLAND:

 

Exploring a remote island can sometimes get you into trouble.

Especially when you stumble upon a cave and awaken two demons.

 

Rumors and superstition.

That’s what Emma thinks about local gossip concerning her grandmother’s “cursed” private island. Emma journeys to the island to ready it for sale. While out exploring, she unearths a hidden cave–a cave which holds answers to the island’s dark past.

There may be more to the rumors than she thought.

 

Excerpt from THE ISLAND:

 

She was jarred awake by a cry. The vestiges of her nightmare dissipated as she orientated herself. Nightmare. Emma let out a sigh of relief. The cry sounded again. A distant sound, high and wailing. A baby’s cry. Her heart quickened. Good god, surely that can’t be a baby?

The fire in the stove had burned down, its embers lending a glow to the living room. Emma looked out the front window. The yard was still. She unlocked the door and opened it a crack. The cry drifted in with the breeze, faint but unmistakable. She ran through her mind what possible bird or animal could make the sound and came up with nothing. Characteristically, the island was blanketed with silence, almost like a vacuum. She stood, uncertain. After several minutes, the sound started again—the unmistakable high wail of a baby. She slipped on her boots and parka.

Fog trailed like cobwebs in her wake. The mournful cry threaded through the trees and came from the direction of the house ruins. In spite of a growing anxiety at what she’d find, she quickened her pace. If that is a baby, it’s still alive, and I need to get to it. If it’s not a baby… She blocked out the possibilities of what else it could be.

She approached the ruins and the sound stopped. Her heart raced. I know it was coming from here. The area held an unnatural heaviness. A branch cracked behind her and she turned with a start. Something dark darted through the trees.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded muffled in the fog. Emma’s attention snapped to the left. The dark figure ducked out of sight. She took one step backward, and fled.

Heavy footsteps echoed from behind as she plunged through the trees. They were catching up with her. Emma pushed herself to run faster, terrified she’d lose her footing on the uneven ground. The cabin loomed large, a haven in the thick fog. Stumbling across the cabin’s porch, she hurdled through the door and slammed it shut, locking it.

Emma rooted her feet to keep from running around in circles. Straining to hear, she was greeted with eerie silence. Several moments passed before the baby’s cry started again. And this time, it sounded from right outside the door.

 

***

 

 

THE ISLAND Buy Links:

 

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/pxq99em

Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/nwbq3oz

Amazon CA: http://tinyurl.com/q36rel8

Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/zhe7cej

 

About the Author:

 

Clarissa Johal is the author of paranormal novels, THE ISLAND, VOICES, STRUCK, and BETWEEN. When she’s not listening to the ghosts in her head, she’s dancing, taking pictures of gargoyles, or swinging from a trapeze. She shares her life with her husband, two daughters, and every stray animal that darkens their doorstep. 

 

Find Clarissa Online:

 

Author Website: http://www.clarissajohal.com/

Blog: http://clarissajohal.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clarissa.johal.9

Twitter: @ClarissaJohal

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4502113.Clarissa_Johal

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Clarissa-Johal/e/B003KVTMPK/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/clarissajohal/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/101586327494596967316/posts

 

 

 

 

A nation's soul divided

Black Goddess is a science fiction novel that explores the age-old concept of the human soul divided as the battlefield between good and evil.

http://mochamemoirspress.com/black-goddess/

In real life, nations are like that, too.  Ours certainly is, right now.  A populace fed up with the perceived ineptitude of governmental mechanics is currently doing on a national scale something which, a very short time ago, would have been considered science fiction.  There are bursting out of the narrow confines of established two-party U.S. politics and elevating to star status two candidates as unlikely as presidential aspirants as one could imagine:  A self-declared democratic socialist named Bernie Sanders, and a blustering, buffoonish  billionaire real-estate mogul/reality TV host named Donald Trump.

 In these troubled times, in which the gap between rich and poor seems to grow wider daily, the middle class rapidly becoming an endangered species, everyone wants to blame the current system and find leaders that can give us easy answers to our current dilemma.  But, which part of our collective consciousness must an aspiring leader strike to win the day?  Each of these candidates seems to reach a radically different side of the eternal duality of human nature.

Sanders is the good angel on our shoulder.  He appeals to our better nature.  To the capacity of the human soul to give, to share with our neighbors, to feel compassion for the oppressed and downtrodden, to open our doors to those in need. He appeals to the civilized enlightenment in us to believe in a woman's right to control her own life,  in the fundamental right of all citizens to be regarded as equal before the law, in society's ability to stem the tide of senseless violence by following the successful example of other nations in imposing sensible gun control laws, and in the value of science in measuring the very real threat of pollution-fueled climate change and in the need to change course before it's too late.

Trump is the devil on our other shoulder.  He's a primitive.  A schoolyard bully who embodies the dark side of the human soul.  The beast in the jungle that believes not in right and wrong, but only in winning and losing, in the survival of the fittest.  He calls himself a Christian, but advocates building great walls to keep out the hungry, the poor and needy, casting out those in need because they are of a different tribe, following the example of Sodom in refusing to share with wayfarers in need.  He would hinder a woman's right to choose in the name of protecting life while nuking or carpet bombing human populations at will.  He would deny two consenting adults the right to marry.  He shrugs off mass shootings as an inevitable fact of life and reaches for his gun.  Survival of the fittest.  He dismisses climate change as a hoax created by our country's economic rivals to trick us into hobbling our industry.  He's a demagogue for the cyber age.  He tweets the kinds of insults and belittling slights and cheap shots for which parents would take away their teenager's phone privileges.  He's Hyde to our collective Jekyll;  He releases those negative impulses we try to repress in ourselves, encourages us to live in a childish fantasy world where nothing we don't want to believe in exists, feeds our tribal ego by saying our nation is the best, and most of all, he appeals to our fear.  Our fear of the outsider.  Of the foreigner who, he says, is responsible for all our problems.

Both these candidates are products of our times, but they are also products of ourselves; our two distinct halves brought out in their purest forms by the crucible of challenging and frightening circumstances.  Which of them...or, others like them...come out on top will decide our place in history, for better or worse.



Visions II: Moons of Saturn - review

Visions II: Moons of Saturn received an excellent review in Perihelion Science Fiction Online Magazine, published 12/12/15.

 

Please visit the magazine and read the review.

 

http://perihelionsf.com/1512/reviews.htm

My Enemy, Myself...

In fiction, the protagonists are largely defined by their adversaries.  So it is in reality.  Our real-life enemies define us as a people.  In how we react to their trespasses against us, and in how we compare ourselves to them.

In a bygone era, our identity as a nation was largely defined by the struggle between western democracy and communism.  Today, our defining enemy is militant extremist Islamic fundamentalism.  (Not as easy to say as communism, so we've come up with a few catch phrases over the years, like Islamofascism, but you get the idea.)  In the devastating attacks of this  foreign ideology upon western civilization and western values, we are forced, and perhaps welcome the opportunity to define ourselves in stark contrast to this current enemy.  They are fundamentalist while we are pluralist.  They are ruled by clerics while we are ruled by elected leaders.  They do not value life.  We do.  (Up to a point.  We've been killing thousands for over a decade now with predator drones, but we do our best to miss hospitals.  Fortunes of war.)  Above all, we are free and they are not.

Of course, how we define freedom is largely determined by our enemies, as well.  Whether the government taps our phones or monitors or emails is something we decide based on the enemy clawing at our gates.  Or, is it?  When Al Quaeda hits us on 9/11 or when ISIS hits France, our leaders (in particular, our right-wing leaders) immediately consider cracking down harder on civil liberties, giving the national security agencies more authority to watch every move we make, compile our messages and perhaps even profile us based on our religion or ideologies.  Republican national candidates start toying with the idea of registering American Muslims.  (How far is that from internment camps, one wonders.)  Not surprising, on the face of it.  Someone attacks you, and it's instinctive, and only human to react accordingly.

But, strangely enough, such reactions appear rather selective.  When Timothy McVeigh blew up a government office building in Oklahoma City, conservatives automatically assumed at the outset it was foreign Muslim elements who'd done the job.  We were longing to strike back, to kill as many of them as we could; it was war.  When we found out it was home-grown right-wing militia types who'd done the deed, then it was just a matter of criminal prosecution.  A bit of national soul-searching over capital punishment, then the lethal injection, and life goes on.  No one started profiling white racist good ol' boys with confederate flags on their pick-ups.  No one started advocating all-out national internment or relocation for conservative white Christians critical of big government, race-mixing or over-taxation.  When some white supremacist punk shoots up a church, everybody blames his parents for not being strict enough, but nobody sounds the war cry against white supremacism as the "true enemy."  Goons can cry out "white power" or tell an Hispanic reporter to "get out of my country" at a political event, and no one seems to care.  Least of all the candidate.  And, random mass shootings may well become a monthly event, but no one seriously or passionately reacts by advocating tougher gun control laws.  "Stuff happens," is the strongest reaction our conservative leaders can or will muster.  (So much for our love of life.)

Senseless death is senseless death, yet our society is indeed very selective in its reactions to it, as in its choice of enemies.  Yes, our enemies define us.  We want them to.  We want them to reinforce that which we value most in ourselves.   We're a gun-toting nation, and we love it.  If increasingly familiar tragic death and mayhem in schools and churches is the price we pay, so be it.  We hate big government, though we're not opposed in the least to big government spying on our next-door neighbor if he looks or prays differently than the rest of us.  When the attack comes from outside, from someone different, our knee-jerk reaction is war against all the attacker's kind.  That's easy.  When the attack comes from inside, from one of us, we don't consider it a wake-up call for self-improvement.  That's too hard.  Rather, it's just an excuse to gather outside a death house with placards, waiting for that hearse to roll out.

If we ever happen to run out of external enemies, I imagine we'll find a way to make more, or focus on convenient minorities within our borders.  After all, without external enemies to occupy our attention, we might actually have to take a long hard look at ourselves.  And, at the enemy inside our own skins.

http://www.amazon.com/An-Improbable-Truth-Paranormal-Adventures-ebook/dp/B016XGVTS6

http://www.lillicatpublishers.com/?page_id=291

http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615726349

http://mochamemoirspress.com/black-goddess/

Sloane Taylor's novel of intrigue, international danger, and steamy romance...

 

"French Twist"
By Sloane Taylor

 

As American as Apple Pie is the hero of my erotic short story French Twist. Don Hobbs knows exactly what he likes in the bedroom as well as the kitchen. This Chicago born and bred man is a true lover of fried chicken. The lady in his life, Claudette D’Laquois, has no clue how to turn on a stove, let alone fry this scrumptious dish. But what can you expect from an Interpol agent? To make Claudette's life easier, I gave her the recipe so she can keep her man happy while he oversees an orchard in Nice, France.

 

Sloane’s Down-home Fried Chicken

1 tbsp. salt

Tap water

6 chicken legs, or thighs or 4 breasts, skinless and boneless

1 cup flour

1tsp. thyme

½ tsp. marjoram

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 large egg

1½ tbsp. milk

½ cup solid shortening or lard, plus more as needed

 

Dissolve salt in a small amount of water. Add chicken pieces then cover with more water. Set this in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.

 

Remove chicken from fridge 2 hours before you plan to cook. Drain and pat dry.

 

Combine flour and seasonings in a paper or plastic bag. Shake gently to combine ingredients. Mix egg and milk in a bowl. Set a clean plate or platter on the counter to hold the breaded chicken.

 

Place one chicken piece at a time in the bag, shake gently to thoroughly coat, then dip in egg mixture, then return the piece to the bag and gently shake again. Set chicken on the plate. Repeat the process until all pieces are coated. Set the uncovered plate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

 

Heat the shortening in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Test to be sure shortening is hot enough by adding a small piece of bread. It should sizzle and toast quickly.

 

Carefully add the chicken pieces. Maintain the temperature, but adjust it so chicken doesn’t burn and grease doesn’t splatter everywhere.

 

Turning frequently, brown the chicken on all sides. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes or until juices run clear when pierced with a sharp knife.

 

Lay pieces on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any oil. Transfer them to a clean platter and serve.

 

Here's a brief intro to Book Three of the Naughty Ladies of Nice series with Don and Claudette.

 

Spies and lies bring a deadly twist to the City of Lights.

 

Interpol agent Claudette D’Laquois is trapped in the hellhole of life and unable to trust anyone. Desperate to regain control, she flees to the safety of her uncle’s rundown chateau on the French Riviera. But Claudette soon learns the countryside has its own dangers when she finds herself alone with a sexy foreigner.

 

Uptight accountant Donald Hobbs ditches numbers for dirt to oversee his friend’s orchard for three weeks. His well deserved vacation is perfect until a seductive mademoiselle drags him into a dangerous world of intrigue and erotic fantasy.

 

Illegal drugs and Russian mobsters take a back seat to a lethal night of sinful pleasure for Claudette and Don.

 

EXCERPT

 

Nothing like an afternoon of hot sex to keep this guy happy.

 

Don followed Claudette down the hallway. He scanned her shoulders and down to her narrow waist and clenched his fists until the knuckles almost popped. His gaze dropped to her shapely hips that flared over her long legs. Legs that went on forever. He worked his way back up to her firm ass, mesmerized by the little swing it did as she nonchalantly strolled ahead of him. The rose dangled over her shoulder, luring him like a horse to the carrot, and he was eager to chase after it. 

Walking right then wasn’t the easiest thing, but he managed. Her tapered legs in those sexy heels strapped around her slender ankles were the added bonus to keep him moving.

She stopped at her open bedroom door and glanced over her shoulder. Her long auburn hair shimmered with the movement.

 

Jesus, she was beautiful.

 

“Mon cher, do not be shy.” Her voice dropped a couple of octaves. “I am not.”

 

Obviously, and he loved it.

 

He followed her to the bed while fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. She bent and laid the rose on the nightstand, exposing her wet pussy. His cock jackknifed. He swallowed hard and prayed he didn’t come before he finally got to touch her.

 

“You look as if you need help.” Her soft voice came out low, like a woman who’d been making love for hours.

 

She turned and reached for his belt. Her large breasts jiggled with the movement and erased his control.

 

He stretched out a hand for her, but she eluded him and dropped to her knees before he could touch her rosy nipples. An herbal aroma drifted up to him as her hair flowed across her breasts. He scooped it out of the way. The need to watch her every movement overwhelmed him.

 

His zipper rasped open. Don forced himself to breathe. His swollen cock leapt out of his shorts, grazing her moist mouth. 

 

“I like a man who is eager.”

 

Her warm breath tingled against his swollen head.

 

He closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer she followed through on what he hoped she had in mind.

 

 

He held out his hand, wrapped it around hers, and pulled her into his arms. She was warm and yielding and sexy as hell. He cupped her chin and raised it toward his mouth...

 

BUY LINKS

 

Amazon

ARe

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

 

Award-Winning author Sloane Taylor is a sensual woman who believes humor and sex are healthy aspects of our everyday lives and carries that philosophy into her books. She writes sexually explicit romances that takes you right into the bedroom. Being a true romantic, all her stories have a happy ever after.

 

Her books are set in Europe where the men are all male and the North American women they encounter are both feminine and strong. They also bring more than lust to their men’s lives.

 

Taylor was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. Studly, her mate for life, and Taylor now live in a small home in Indiana and enjoy the change from city life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday.  The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.  

 

Taylor currently has seven erotic romance books and one box set released by Toque & Dagger Publishing. Excerpts from these books can be found on her website, blog, and all popular vendors.

 

Subscribe to her short newsletter. Connect with Taylor on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.