Showing results by author "Patty Jansen" in All Categories

Cory has made several commitments to members of the Asto inner circles. He needs to spend time with Thayu's son. He has also been asked to give a favour to a boy of the Azimi clan. What better to do with a couple of pre-teens than to visit the theme parks that are historic relics from the 21st century on Earth?

Ceren, the world that's the home of the city of Barresh, has vast swathes of untamed wilderness, most of it tribal land belonging to meta-human tribes like the Pengali. For many years, illegal organizations have seen these tribes as inroad into the lucrative gamra economy, abusing the local population with next to no payment, inflicting damage on their society. Cory's Pengali worker Ynggi has indicated he'd wanted to visit his home tribe, giving Cory the perfect reason to check out Pengali involvement in smuggling activities.

Cory and his association finally return to Asto on the invitation of his father-in-law, for his official induction ceremony into the Domiri clan. They are housed in a magnificent villa overlooking a valley, away from the hustle of cities or the military base. But why can't they stay with their host? Is it for security? Is it because their host fears upsetting his household?

Deadly creatures, hostile climate, and that is just the scenery. For many years, mysterious things have happened on the ice world of Tamer, but when a scientist goes missing from Barresh thought to be on Tamer, Cory is forced to take the issue by the horns. Problem is, he is dealing with unexpected side effects of his fertility treatment, and, like his Coldi companions, he's lost much of his night vision and has trouble tolerating low temperatures. Trouble is, a recent addition to his team has sent shockwaves through his group, and things are still sorting themselves out.

Never has there been more at stake for the people on Earth. The referendum question is simple: does Earth join gamra, the organisation that governs the Exchange, the FTL space travel network? While a “yes” vote would mean big changes, a “no” vote would leave Earth isolated and alone to face those waiting to fill the void, and those dark forces are already on the prowl. Cory is one of the few people who can see the big picture. But he and his team went on a holiday to New Zealand, and communication has been mysteriously cut off.

After having escaped from Kelso Station, Tina and her crew run low on supplies. Both stations they can visit are in pirate hands. They have to make a toss-up decision on which would be the safest. They choose the bigger station. But while they’re in the dock, trying very hard not to be noticed until they can negotiate the ridiculous supply wait times before they leave again, Tina finds out that her daughter, Evelle, is a prisoner at the station.

Two men went on a surfing trip in a remote area. Only one came back, accused of murdering the other. Sounds simple, right? Not quite, because the alleged murder happened on another planet. The accused is a member of the secretive Pretoria Cartel of super-rich business tycoons - with illegal off-Earth ventures - and the only person who can remotely be called a witness is an alien, the elder Abri from the Pengali Thousand Islands tribe.

As Cory takes a well-earned rest and finally submits to proper weapons training, he and a couple of people from his household go on a hunting trip in the marshland between Barresh and the turquoise sea. A bad storm has come through recently and on a deserted beach, Cory finds something Earthly that doesn’t belong there: A message in a bottle, a piece of paper with "HELP" scratched on it with a sharp object. In Isla. Cory has a list of all humans in Barresh: It’s very short and no one is missing.

Verona Rupes, on the ice moon Miranda, is the tallest cliff in the solar system. If you jump off the top, it takes 700 seconds to reach the bottom. What can you do in the most important 700 seconds of your life? Jonathan and Gaby arrive at the ice moon Miranda to work with a local researcher and find that adventurists have snuck into an area infected with alien bacteria and have gotten themselves in trouble. Do these people have to be stopped because they're about to spread a bacterial infection to the human settlements or are there other factors at play?

Far in the future, Bianca is the only planet where people have ever found any form of intelligent life. The planet has two species that look remotely humanoid, but none of the human scientists have been able to make much sense out of them. The creatures have nothing to trade, so human interest has waned, and the care of the planet's human outpost has been left in the hands of a religious order.

Izramith Ezmi is many things: a member of the feared, all-female Hedron guards, a war veteran recently returned from a pointless and bloody mission, and impatient, angry, and above all, lonely. With her contract about to run out, she may be on her way to becoming a ruthless mercenary, since what she really wants - becoming a mother - is out of the question. Her family carries a gene that causes deeply malicious madness. Her nephew was born with it, and her useless sister has left him in the care of an institute. A baby. Two days old.

The tyrant Alexandre is gone from Saardam, but a new menace has come: the eastern traders in a ship of metal that is said to have been forged with dragon magic. They bring a chest of gold to buy an office in the city. The people don't want them in their town. The Church of the Triune, which forbids magic, has increased its hold on the population, despite the Red Baron's efforts to stamp it out.

Delegate Cory Wilson has returned to gamra headquarters from deep space with a rather unwelcome guest: Captain Kando Luczon of the mammoth Aghyrian ship that has returned after mysteriously vanishing 50,000 years ago. On board the ship only 400 years have passed, in which they have visited another galaxy. But the captain isn't willing to share what they found there or why they decided to come back. In fact, the captain does his utmost best to live up to his infamous historical reputation as an utter jerk, having lived through 400 years to cultivate his jerkery.

Queen Johanna's position in Saardam is fragile. The barons and kings of the countries in the hinterland are not happy that she helped the royal family to survive and is now about to ensure the next generation. They vow to teach this little upstart country a lesson for once and for all. Johanna knows that if it came to a fight Saardam could never survive, so she has invited all the heads of state and other important people for talks to invest in the city's shattered infrastructure for the benefit of all.

En route to a job in the asteroid belt, the transport ship that Jonathan and Gaby are travelling on is required to give assistance to a space station in trouble. Astoria Station stopped responding to everything except automated messages. Jonathan and Gaby, familiar with disease and habitat collapse, offer to help. But not even they are prepared for what they find, or the efforts by some to sweep it under the carpet.

Fifty thousand years ago, a meteorite hit the planet Asto, giving its Aghyrian inhabitants mere days of notice. Three ships escaped the Armageddon. Two went to the neighboring planet. The third, a massive generation ship, refused to take on refugees and then vanished without a trace. It’s coming back. Its initial burst of communication caused the outage of the Exchange, the FTL network for transport and communication, but since then, the ship has been silent.

She is lost on an alien planet. He said he'd help her get home. He lied. Jessica's plane develops engine trouble over the dry Australian inland - and crashes in thick, unfamiliar rainforest. A group she thinks is a search party shows up, but it consists of large-eyed not-quite people who kill all survivors except Jessica and a long-haired hippie named Brian. No one is going to come to rescue her. In fact, they're not even on Earth. While the pair wrestle their way through the forest in search for help, Jessica becomes ever more suspicious of Brian.

Mikandra Bisumar is useless to her father: She carries the curse of infertility that plagues the Endri people of Miran. Forced to work in the hospital to pay her duty to her proud nation, she dreams of becoming a Trader, one of the people who bring great prosperity to Miran. To her surprise Iztho Andrahar, from the city's most prestigious Trading family, has agreed to take her on. That is where her troubles begin.

The royal family is in deep trouble: Ever since the crown princess died of illness, the king has attempted to educate his son to become king. However, the prince is "not good in the head" and quite unsuited to the task. In his grief for his daughter, the king has run the coffers dry: He hired dubious magicians for even more dubious tasks. Those magicians circle like vultures waiting for the kingdom to fail. The king must get his son on the throne, preferably supported by a smart and well-off wife.

Self-published authors are coming to realize that a stable career is about a backlist of titles and keeping that backlist selling. But how do you do this? Invariably, advice given by other authors includes holding promotions and lowering the price of the first book in series, or even making it free. However, few people mention one of the most powerful ways to keep your backlist selling: the author mailing list.