Sci fi lovers! Grace Bridges is back

BRIDGES OF SPLASHDOWN Yes... yes I have been off the scene for some time! Bear with me while I shake things up just a little bit. Come along for a free story in Mariah's world, AND a spaceship poem...

99c That's right - for this week only, you can still get my latest novel, Mariah's Dream, for just 99c on Kindle. If you need another format, just let me know.

But that's not all... Mariah's Prologue #7, "Foe or Forager", is a tale of Peter and Liam before the events of the novel. You won't want to miss it! Coming soon on Kindle, but for now, click here to view for FREE in Issue 5 of the Common Oddities e-zine; you can also check out my space opera poem, "Let There Be Stars". I'd love to hear what you think!

Irrepressible Grace Bridges and new Splashdown books

News from Down Under---Grace, in Uniform, with Tribbles.
Now--what can get cooler than that?

Kia Ora!

Whew! Where did May go? No matter. June brings new and exciting events to Splashdown waters. Read on!

New Release

Book Three of The Reality Chronicles

The Day shall declare the reality revealed by fire...

Destinies are forged in the dark night of the soul. Kaylee and Nathan pursue a zombified Crystal to rescue her soul if they can. A vision of death propels their mother, Gabrielle, to chase them in order to prevent its fulfillment. Her wizard friend, Josh, accompanies her to keep his promise to protect her. A mysterious religious leader wants to seduce Kaylee to violate her morals. And a demonic being seeks to bury the reality of the ring through temptation and deceit. Through their twisting journeys, each encounters their destiny. Including the ring.

...Reality's Fire is revealed, and no soul can hide from its judgment.

Reality's Fire is currently available for purchase at the usual places. Click over to Splashdown Bookshop for more information and links.

Now Available

She joined the knighthood for the scholarship program.

A thwarted assassination attempt drags Caissa Ocren into a secret war between elemental spirits and dragon worshippers. More accustomed to solving puzzles than wielding swords, she undergoes a crash course in survival from a mercenary minstrel, a shape-shifting druid, and a legendary spirit warrior. An ancient book may hold the answers she seeks, but understanding requires the memories of a wizard. With time against her, Caissa faces the hardest lesson of all—how to serve when the cost is her life.

Available for purchase at Amazon, Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Click over to Splashdown Bookshop for more information and links.

Bragging Rights

Two Splashdown releases took silver medals in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards: the speculative anthology Aquasynthesis and YA fantasy Finding Angel.

Congrats to the authors of Splashdown Books and Kat Heckenbach!

...and speaking of bragging rights...

Two Splashdown authors are engaged in a Brag-Off this very moment. Who will win and who will dance and sing the wonders of the other on YouTube?
You can just bet that link will be posted here. Stay tuned...

unConventional

Splashdown Books publisher Grace Bridges attended the unConventional Speculative Fiction conference in Auckland last weekend and got herself elected Padawan to the President of writers' group Speculative Fiction New Zealand.

We always knew she was going places. Weird, weird places. And her Tribbles are going with her.

Coming Soon

Keep your eyes open. New book releases coming all year, including Splashdown's first non-fiction book (shhh. It's still a secret)! But before that, look for something new from our Darkwater paranormal line, plus another exciting anthology.

That's it for June, folks. Busy, busy, busy down here at the bottom of the world and everywhere a Splashdown author writes, but we plan to keep you on top of it all.

God's blessings.

What's New at Splashdown Books, February 2012

Kia Ora!

Splashdown Books is ready to dive right into the deep end in 2012. This promises to be one of our most exciting swims yet and we are glad you've decided to join us. The water looks fine and the sun is shining bright. Take off your shoes and stay a while.

To start this year's swim we have Diane M Graham readying from the high-dive.

Open your heart and mind to the simplicity and complexity of a name. I know only my name. Beyond that is confusion, a void where fantasy and reality swirl together. Fairies, Giants, Elves, Dwarves, ancient Keepers, and...Dragons?

A dark soul threatens the Five Kingdoms, but I am powerless to stand against him, overwhelmed by phantom memories, broken and lost.

Somehow, I must live. I must find my purpose. There are friends to love and battles to fight.

I know my name. Perhaps that is enough.

I am Ocilla.
This is my story.

A note from Di: A writer’s life is often said to be a lonely life. But any Christian writer knows this isn’t so. God walks with us from the time He plants the seed of inspiration, through the countless hours of writing, rewriting,editing and then sometimes rewriting again. He sends helpers. We tend to never feel our work is fully complete. Another sweep, just one more time to make sure all the T’s are crossed and all the I’s are dotted. But there comes a time when He tells us it is time to show our work to the world. He holds our hand while we walk to the edgeof the gaping chasm known as publication and He tells us to jump.

Gulp!

You turn right and left and see all the many Saints He sentto help you and you are emboldened and filled with hope. On faith, and faith alone,you jump.

 

So today, I stand at that chasm and look at all those thathave been sent to help me lined for miles in each direction. I may soar. I mayfloat to the bottom. But no matter what, He is with me.

 

I jump.

--

I Am Ocilla is available for purchase at Amazon, Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble, Nook (coming soon), Book Depository (coming soon), and Smashwords. You can just click over to Splashdown Bookshop for more information. We have a wonderful sale going on we will tell you about below.

Also, if you would like to hear the prologue read by Diane, you may do so HERE on youtube.

 

The wonderful music for Diane's audio recording was provided by friend of Splashdown Books Eleon. For more of his excellent music, you can find his page on youtube right HERE.

Ryan Grabow gives us a double-backflip with a wonderful book trailer for CAFFEINE here: http://youtu.be/meixJW_8UJE

"Supernatural: above, beyond, in excess of nature. If the meaning of life cannot be found in nature, then I must determine if the answer lies beyond it."

Caffeine will also take part in our special sale we will tell you about below, but not just yet.

***************************************************************************

Next we have a the long awaited Sparrow-dive, similiar to a swan-dive but more awesome, from Caprice Hokstad. The e-book will be available on March 1st, with the print copy coming two short weeks later.

What should be a season of rejoicing over Duke Vahn’s newly-recovered son is overshadowed by fear of an uncertain future. Vahn’s brother, King Arx, expands the war with neighboring Ganluc, while enemies at home seek to shatter the Rebono dynasty forever. Strained relations between royal twins harden into cold suspicion and treasonous accusations while a deadly plague sweeps across the land.

As the royal bloodline is torn asunder, two races, the Elva and Itzi, discover that only together can they stop the plague and restore their unraveling kingdom.

Blood and Brine: the exciting conclusion to the Ascendancy Trilogy.

"Caprice is truly a master world builder. This was the first book in her series that I read, but within a few chapters I felt like I’d been reading in that universe my whole life. Now that I finished I’m going back toget the first two in the series!" ~ Tim Ambrose , Managing Editor, Digital Dragon Magazine

--

Avenir Eclectia has its own music. Yes, you read right and the world you have grown to love can now be swirled with the wonderful musical talent of Eleon.

 

 

Michael L. Rogers has created a soundtrack to accompany the online multi-author shared world microfiction site Avenir Eclectia. Hear the songs, read the stories. Published in association with Splashdown Books.
Available now at Amazon in cd and mp3

And please remember you can have Avenir Eclectia delivered to you kindle for just $.99 cents each month.

Also, something very exciting is in the works which we can't tell you anything about yet, but watch this space!

Now, what you have all been waiting for: To celebrate I Am Ocilla's launch, her ebook is on sale at 4.99 for one week only. That is HERE so you may take advantage of this super cool deal.

But wait! There is so much more. In addition, the Splashdown team has rallied and several more are adding to the party by selling their e-books at a discounted price.

 

The Kindle store with all of them is here: http://astore.amazon.com/splasbooks-20

Also for $4.99.
-Alpha Redemption by P.A. Baines
-Finding Angel by Kat Heckenbach
-Faith Awakened and Legendary Space Pilgrims by Grace Bridges

For just $2.99/ You read right...$2.99.

-CAFFEINE by Ryan Grabow

-The Duke's Handmaid and Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Caprice Hokstad. These are the first two in the trilogy and a great chance to get ready for her third.
- The Crystal Portal by Travis Perry & Mike Lynch.
- Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam & Andrea Graham

- Odd Little Miracles by Fred Warren.
- Aquasynthesis by the Splashdown Team.

Please note: if you want a format other than Kindle for any of the titles on sale, just let us know and we'll send you a voucher for Smashwords where all types of files are available, including PDF for computer reading, Epub for Nook, and many more.

Don't go anywhere yet. Tucked over in the corner, behind the seaweed, Keven Newsome, Diane M Graham and Caprice Hokstad have been up to no good. Seems they have been betting in the most ridiculous ways imaginable. All in good spirit, though. Keven and Diane have a plot bet going in which the loser will have to post a video on youtube, dancing, singing and being silly. You can see the details HERE. And Caprice stuck her foot in her mouth...Diane happily helped her cram it down a little more by holding her to it. You can read about how Caprice will channel her inner Disney right HERE. No one can ever say Splashdown Books is a boring place to work. Stay tuned for updates and a chance for all of you to join in on the fun.

As all of you have read, we are busy, busy splashing around these parts. There is never a dull moment. Can't wait until next month when we can tell you more about skirted men and Turtles.

~The Splashdown Team

**This issue was written by a Crazy-Hair Vaulter**

Kia ora! New From Splashdown...

From Grace Bridges:

Kia ora everyone! Boy, have we got a lot going on at Splashdown this month! Want one of our paperbacks for less than $3.00? Read on...

But first, our latest release, this time from the strange realms of science fiction:

Caffeine, by Ryan Grabow

"Supernatural: above, beyond, in excess of nature. If the meaning of life cannot be found in nature, then I must determine if the answer lies beyond it."

In an authoritarian and overstimulated 22nd-century America, all Brandon can do to relieve his pain is indulge in the computer-simulated fantasies of a network called Dynamic Reality...until a virus takes control of the simulation. A philosophical thrill ride like no other - don't miss this one.

Ebook Sale: As of right now through Sunday night, all our ebooks are priced at $2.99 - including our November new releases. That's a saving of at least 50% - Come on in and grab your choice! Kindle books are discounted direct at Amazon and all are collected HERE in our Amazon store; if you'd like a different format, just say the word and we'll send you a voucher.

Fred Warren's Feast

Not only did we release Fred's second novel, The Seer, just a few weeks ago. Now, Amazon is discounting his short story collection in paperback, Odd Little Miracles! At the time of writing the price had fallen to $2.78, and it's even eligible for their 4-for-3 special - which means you can get four real paper copies for under $9.00. The perfect odd little gift for, well, just about anyone! But don't dally - Amazon is notorious for changing prices around at their whim. This discount is not under our control, so get it while the gettin's good!

By the way, the same 4-for-3 promotion also applies to Aquasynthesis, our collection of stories from all Splashdown authors to date. Something for all reading tastes, with companion stories to many of our novels.

~Grace and the team at Splashdown

Alpha Redemption

I admit it - I'm really a fantasy junkie. Not truly hardcore, but enough to qualify as pleasant escapism. Since I began reviewing books a few years ago, I'm asked what I really like to read. I'll go for the sci fi/fantasy new books shelf first in the library. Then I check out the latest thrillers, and I have read exceptionally gory ones, but have lately come to adore Steven James. Still like Ludlum, though. Learning to like Irene Hannon. Since joining a couple book clubs I've been forced out of my element to reading some non-fiction. Still "eh" for me; I like escapism, I repeat.

I received a copy in a contest from the publisher of Alpha Redemption by PA Baines through Splashdown Books, an down-under publisher with Grace Bridges. It's also the selection of the month for the ACFW book club going on right now - hop on over to join the fun. I saw the first question come through the loop yesterday and thought I'd read a couple chapters to keep up. Yeah, three hours later, and change, the story was over. I love moments like that.

Part Best of Robert Heinlein, maybe a smattering of Clarke, with the good old days of Ray Bradbury--I love stories like this. Take a regular guy with nothing to lose, experiment on him and see what happens. Stick in an AI with the capabilities of expanding beyong its original parameters, and let it choose what to be, and let them hash it out.

We were talking about the importance of setting at a writer's workshop last Saturday, and someone mentioned what if the book was set in one house? Another person mentioned reading a book set entirely in a stuck elevator car. Alpha Remption is stuck in a space ship. Author Baines uses incredibly sophisticated stroy-telling technique of telling present time backward through the eyes of Brett, our astro-not hero, interwoven with the real time forward on a several-year journey to Alpha Centauri. The ship, Comet, is run completely on automatic by AI. Brett spends time in a liquid-goo tub for protective periods of faster-than-light speed, and a month's down time to recover. During these month-long intervals, Brett begins to encourage the AI to develop a personality. It's not as silly as one might think, as Brett's back story is crucial.

I kept coming up with "Oh, I know what'll happen" several times while reading. I did not choose to skip to the end this time (Bad habit, but it's Mine), and was thoroughly pleased with the author's conclusion. I look forward to the book club discussion!