Veterans Day Blowout!

Greets Bloggorites! Forgive the schmaltzy blog post title; I couldn't help myself, but how many businesses are advertising a Veterans Day sale this week? I have to say, though, this announcement-slash-sale is way more thrilling and blow-y out-y than all those others. What better way to celebrate the holiday than to read something by those for whom the holiday was created?

Announcing:

Three New Releases from Three (old) Vets!

(Plus another awesome author!)

That's right. I (former army paratrooper) have a new one out in military science fiction, CONVICTION: A Spectras Arise Novella, as does the fantastic science fiction/steampunk author Scott Whitmore (former naval officer), GREEN ZULU FIVE ONE: and other stories from the Vyptellian War. I have read this novella and promise you, it's amazing.CONVICTIONTRUSTING OTHERS IS YOUR FIRST MISTAKE.If Corps Tech Sergeant Aly Erikson wants to survive another day, she will have to give up everything: her identity, her rank, her attachment to her brothers-in-arms, and most of all, her guilt.After doing her duty as a member of a ground infantry squad tasked with “neutralizing” an insurrection by non-citizens on a mining planet, Erikson realizes that everything she thought the Corps stood for, thought she stood for, is crumbling away. Where is the honor, the justice, the spirit of law? When the enemies are nothing more than outclassed and outgunned dregs of the Algol System’s forgotten people, being part of their execution squad has put her as far from the ideals of justice as Erikson can imagine. Haunted by their ghosts, she struggles to maintain her military bearing until even that is suddenly ripped away in an act of terrorism that sends her, her brother, Tech Sergeant David Erikson, and another Corpsmember, Rebecca Soltznin, on the run on a hostile planet. Forced for the first time in ten years to blend in with a civilian population, the three are faced with a single choice: regroup with their brothers-in-arms or become deserters. For Aly, it’s easy; why go back to being a cog in the death machine the Corps is becoming? But for the other two, the price for making the wrong decision may be higher than they’re willing to pay.On the run, under attack from the scavengers who plague the system, and out of options, the three face conflict from every direction. If they can’t find a way to fight together, their chances for survival are less than zero. And for one of them, the best solution may come down to one simple act: betrayal. In this prequel to the popular Spectras Arise Trilogy, readers get an intimate look into the events that led Aly and David Erikson on their path from decorated and dedicated soldiers to black-market arms smugglers, and ultimately, to rebels against the Political and Capital Administration of the Advanced Worlds.

Get it at AMAZON, B&N, APPLE, or KOBO, or join my newsletter tribe for a free review copy.

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GREEN ZULU FIVE ONE

A war of millions is fought by individuals. For sixteen years humanity and the alien Vyptellians have battled in space and on hundreds of planets in a distant corner of the galaxy.

Tyko is a teenage space fighter pilot who has never known peace; insulated from the horrors of the battlefield, he’ll learn war isn’t a game. Sergeant Siengha is one of a handful to survive the war’s first battle; surrounded and vastly outnumbered by a merciless enemy, it takes everything she knows to keep those around her alive and fighting.

These are just two of the countless stories from the human side of the Vyptellian War. To those on the frontlines and their families at home, why the war began is unimportant, forgotten when the first shot was fired. What matters is the survival of the species.But after years of bloody conflict, the war’s end is closer than anyone realizes.

Get it at AMAZON and visit Scott at his blog for more of his marvelous missives.

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And in science fiction/fantasy, check out these two new releases from David Bruns (another former naval officer):The science fantasy series, The Dream Guild Chronicles, tells a different kind of first contact story—one from the alien’s point of view.IRRADIANCE, Book One, imagines the kind of dystopian world you might get if you paired Big Brother from 1984 with A Wrinkle in Time. Maribel, a scientist, uncovers an ecological disaster that makes her reexamine everything she thought she knew about her Community. In desperation, Maribel flees her home world with her family and a few friendsIn SIGHT, Book Two, the storyline focuses on Sariah, Maribel’s daughter. Her parents are frantic to find her a new home safe from the long arm of the Community. But new worlds are fraught with new dangers, and SIGHT will keep you on the edge of your seat as you follow Sariah trying to navigate the superstitions of hunter-gatherer tribal culture.Imagine Lost in Space crash landing into an ancient Incan civilization and you have SACRIFICE, Book Three of The Dream Guild Chronicles.If crash landing isn’t bad enough, a crew member is taken captive by the natives. A rescue attempt, a firefight and one crewman is left for dead.But he’s very much alive.Alone, light-years from everyone who cares about him, Gideon navigates royal politics, tribal rituals, and ancient prophecies as he struggles to take back the artifact that will let him reconnect with his family.

Get it at AMAZON and visit David at his blog for more on his wordly adventures.

BONUS STORYErik Wecks, author of the sweeping Pax Imperium series, has also released a new serial story in the last couple of weeks that you all will enjoy, and it's free! Gravlander, Episode 1.

For the Ones We Lean On

We all have that one friend. You know the one I'm talking about. The one that's known us almost forever, the one we've been through the thickest and the thinnest of all things with. That OLD friend who laughed at us when we knocked ourself unconscious in jump school and will NEVER let us live it down (I was merely dazed, dammit!). The friend who knows our most embarrassing secrets, but who will never out us, no matter how much it pains them not to. That friend who, when they wrecked our truck (step one: engage parking brake, step two: put vehicle in neutral, step three: only THEN should you exit), not only paid to have it fixed, but bought us an expensive bottle of single-malt to help drown the disappointment. That friend that knows the perfect gift for an airborne soldier is a flask with our jump wings and nickname engraved on it (Tigger? Really? Just because I sing a lot of Winnie the Pooh songs...). That friend that sends us an amazing "just married" package full of soju and other sundries all the way from Korea in celebration of our wedding (not sure if soju should be considered a gift, actually). The one who never forgets our birthday, mostly to make us feel guilty for always forgetting theirs. The one who readily trusts us and tosses us their car keys when we volunteer to be the designated driver during yet another raucously debauched evening at Ft. Benning--despite the fact that driving a sedan full of drunken grunts around all night is no one's idea of a good time--and who we know wouldn't hesitate to do the same for us. The one we feel utterly comfortable cavorting around the woods with in nothing but our skivvies during a backpacking trip after an Oregon deluge has soaked everything we own into sodden piles of muck. The one who has no problem running headlong into the black ocean in the middle of the night with us to escape the sadistic and deranged North Carolinian sand fleas. The one who "gets" our fetish for Aussie accents and swears he'd get the numbers of all the Aussie SF gents his company links up with in Afghanistan for us if we were still single, and we know he really would. The one who, while visiting his three girlfriends in Moscow, still manages to find the time to pick us up a bottle of the best Russian Standard we'll ever drink. That one who could win awards for the way he swings to the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. That friend who taught us that the quickest and most effective remedy for a hangover is five mile tempo run. The one who has already served a tour in Iraq and whose whole family is no stranger to service and combat; who's brother worked at the Pentagon; whose father was a Special Forces soldier in Laos during the Vietnam War; whose mother experienced first hand the trials and deprivations of Vietnam's occupation by first the French then by Communist forces; yet he still volunteers to make the hard choice and step up for yet another combat tour in the name of his values and country. The friend that insists on helping us clean up the destruction of our house after a full night of partying despite the fact that we both have quadruple vision and have to lean on each other just to stay upright.And that's the friend I'm talking about today, peeps. The one I've leaned on for over fifteen years, and who, during the last eleven years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, this whole country has. This post is in honor of my friend Al Dupre, his unit, Alpha Company, 1st of the 285th ARB, Arizona National Guard, who shipped out today for a nine month tour of Afghanistan, and all those who have served and are currently serving in one of the five US military branches. We all have loved ones and friends who've served in the two wars of Iraq and Afghanistan and, no matter what our opinions of these wars, we owe it to these courageous people for being willing to literally put themselves in front of bullets to keep us safe. In celebration of this year's Fourth of July holiday, I encourage everyone to send kind and supportive messages to your loved ones and friends serving our country, and remember that it is in no small manner thanks to their bravery, courage, and integrity that we are the nation we are.PS: Apologies for the somberness of this post. Next time, I promise to write something funny. Funny in the way 40 Year Old Virgin would be if David Fincher or Christopher Nolan had directed it. You've been warned.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

What Do You Want to Know?

As mentioned in my last post, I'll be interviewing a handful of soldiers and civilian contractors who've been working in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know there are a ton of things I'm interested in learning about, but what about you all? If you have any questions you'd like to ask our men in women in uniform (military or not), send them in. I can't guarantee they'll be answered, but I'll certainly send them to my "sources" (wow, I'm like a war reporter or something). I'm leaving it up to them to answer what they wish, but it doesn't hurt to ask.