All about M Pax's New Rifters series!

M. Pax has a spankin' new paranormal series just out! Book One is called The Rifters, and guess what? It's free on selected sites for a limited time! Here's the lowdown:

The Gold Rush trickles to a fool’s quest and a string of stagecoach heists. In 1888, Earl Blacke decides to make a new start and become a better man. He escapes into the mountains, heading north. In the wilds of Oregon, a rift inside an ancient volcano opens and sends him into the future, into the present day. It also shaves forty years off his age, forty years to live over again and atone for what he’s done.

Starting over is hard to do. In current day New York, Daelin Long’s dream job at a publishing house goes the way of the dinosaurs her sister chases. With no money and nowhere else to go, Daelin accepts the librarian position in her sister’s dinky town in the middle of Oregon. Nestled inside ancient volcanic peaks, the town of Settler holds onto many secrets. Residents roam the streets with weirdly fashioned devices, and odd lights pulse in the night skies. People whisper of a phantom outlaw and start dying, murdered and missing their heads. On top of it all, Daelin’s sister is missing, and Daelin doesn’t know who to trust.

Earl knows more than he’s saying. He shares a notorious history with the phantom, one he’ll see remains buried. Keeping Daelin’s sister’s secrets is his only chance at redemption, and the only way to keep this world safe.

And now for a short excerpt:
A woman in a long flowered dress hurried forward carrying a paintbrush. “Hello, hello.” She waved. “Excuse the mess. I’m renovating… again.” She laughed with little snorts, stumbling in a little circle, defying her years. She couldn’t be younger than forty. “Inside joke, man, sorry. What grooviness can I help you find? I know where everything is.” She gestured at the piles of castoff merchandise strewn about.

If not for the goose bumps on her goose bumps, Daelin would have left. “A winter coat? Earl Blacke mentioned you might have some.”

“Oh man! What a tragedy about him, huh?” She wore her amber hair in two braids, tied with twine and decorated with plastic flowers.

Tragedy? What had happened to Earl? Daelin clutched at her knotting stomach. “What do you mean?”

“There was a murder last night. Umm, wow. Didn’t you hear?” She set the paintbrush down on a plate that had been used for the purpose before. Bracelets covered her arms, clinking with her simple movements.

“In Settler?” Violent crime wasn’t what Daelin expected to hear. She didn’t know what she had expected, but not murder.

The thrift store woman leaned in closer, whispering in a conspiratorial tone. “Yeah, they’re saying Earl Blacke killed Susan Leeds. Took her head plum off, man. Only thing is…,” she glanced at the shadows then wet her lips, “her head is missing.” The soft scent of melon accompanied her words.
Earl had murdered somebody? Daelin gulped, getting a lungful of paint fumes. Right, the paint. The fumes had to be messing with her mind. “Are you serious?”

The Rifters is free at selected sites! The second book in the series, The Initiate, will be available October 20, & for preorder at a special price via iTunes, Amazon, and B&N. Check HERE for links. Giveaways & events ongoing through October 31. Check HERE for details.

Links: Amazon / AmazonUK / B&N / Smashwords /Googleplay / iTunes

M. Pax is author of the space adventure series The Backworlds, plus other novels and short stories. Fantasy, science fiction, and the weird beckons to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless inspiration. She docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers as a star guide, has a cat with a crush on Mr. Spock, and is slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. Learn more at mpaxauthor.com.

Two awesome excerpts from M Pax's new sequel, Beyond the Edge!

I can't say enough great things about M Pax's space opera series, The Backworlds. Having read two in the series, I can say that her characters, especially Craze, are vivid and amusing. Her plotting is creative and the voices are original. M Pax's mind just keeps cooking up wilder and wilder sagas. I'm a total fan! With the release of book 4, Beyond the Edge, she's sharing a rare treat: two mini-excerpts! But first, a book 4 blurb:
Some truths are better left unfound.
For two years Craze’s dear friend, Lepsi, has been missing. The murmurings of a haunted spaceship might be a message and may mean his old pal isn’t dead. The possibility spurs Craze and Captain Talos to travel to uncharted worlds, searching. Out there, in an unfamiliar region of the galaxy beyond the Backworlds, they stumble upon a terrible truth.
Meanwhile, Rainly remains on Pardeep Station as acting planetlord, dealing with the discovery of her lover’s dark and brutal past. Alone and questioning her judgment, her introspection unlocks more than heartache. Latent protocols in her cybernetics activate, forcing her to face a sinister secret of her own.
In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe. This is the fourth book in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.

And now for the excerpts:
1.    His father stiffened, the knot on his brow tightening. “You talk so damn much, I don’t follow the half of it. Nobody does, which is why you’ll always be slime on the bottom of my shoe.”
    Craze didn’t blink, circling his pa. “You not wearin’ shoes.”
    Snarling, Bast huffed out a fierce growl. “The point is I’m pretty sure I heard an insult, ‘n I’ll chance a stay in jail to knock my brand of justice into your head..” Backing up, he wiped his feet in the dust, then started forward like an all-terrainer tricked out with a ship’s engine, howling, waving the club so that it whistled.

2.    “We’ll be with him lickety-split. This being a tree makes everything easier.” Pauder grinned, adjusting his guns and bandoliers.
    Inching his way out the door and onto the ramp, Craze tested the ground with a toe, tapping under the clouds for solidity. He found firm footing and joined the insane expedition, staring at Pauder’s unwavering arrogant expression for reassurance. He cleared his throat, unable to resist asking, “How does it make anythin’ easier?”
    “Trees is less dangerous ta climb than cliffs. Bark forgives, rock doesn’t.” Pauder floated through the thick fog, his legs hidden. His movements appeared effortless and poetic, not the motions of one on a hunting excursion with every intent of killing whatever stood in his way.
    “That makes no sense. Both land you on your ass, ‘n I’ve yet to see forgivin’ ground. Which is a worry since we still can’t see shit.” One wrong step and there was no telling how far Craze would fall.

Buy her books! Amazon, Amazon UK, Smashwords, Nook, Kobo

Inspiring the words she writes, M Pax spends her summers as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory in stunning Central Oregon where she lives with the Husband Unit and two demanding cats. She writes science fiction and fantasy mostly. Visit her at:
Website / FB / Twitter / Goodreads / Pinterest / Wattpad

M Pax's Third in the series, Boomtown Craze!

Today I'm featuring speculative fiction wrier M Pax and the third in her space opera, Boomtown Craze!

A Grand New Age of Boom or Dust?
In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendants to survive in a harsh universe.

To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted by a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.

Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from his and Craze’s budding prospects. The mind-control weapon Talos uses against them is wearing thin, and his next move may be his last.

Will Craze and Talos’s efforts bring about a grand new age of boom or damn them to forever struggle in the dust?

ebooks at:  AmazonUS / AmazonUK / B&N / Smashwords
From March 4 to March 22, folks can enter to win the following:
1 set of signed Backworlds paperbacks, including The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, and Boomtown Craze. Will only ship to US residents. Rafflecopter to enter found at http://mpaxauthor.com/

Hugging her telescope!

M. Pax is a Browncoat and SG fan, she’s also slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. In the summers she docents as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory where the other astronomers now believe she has the most extensive collection of moon photos in existence. No fear, there will be more next summer. She lives in stunning Central Oregon with the Husband Unit and two lovely, spoiled cats.

Find M Pax on Twitter,  Facebook, You Tube

Huge Giveaway & Chocolate Blogfest, Two Treats in One!

Idea City has two exciting events: a giveaway and a blogfest! First, we invite you to help celebrate fellow blogger and author Sheri Larsen’s signing with Literary Agent Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary! As you know, Sheri has an awesome blog called Writers’ Ally. And because she thinks that our literary community is so freaking fabulous, she has decided to have a Bigger-Than-A-Shopping-Mall GIVEAWAY!! You only need to enter one Rafflecopter for a prize. Enter all three and you have a shot at the grand prize. The giveaway’s open until September 27. Winners will be chosen on September 28.

And now for the What’s Your Chocolate Blogfest that M Pax, Laura Eno, Brinda Berry and Ciara Knight are running. Chocolate, ahhhh, the essential treat that we writers need by our side, along with a hot cuppa joe, for long writing stints. They want us to relay a chocolate memory, or reveal what our fave chocolate is. The memory that sticks in my mind, (literally), was when I was around ten, and my dad took me to the Philadelphia Orchestra. I had on a fancy dress and brand new pink wool coat. He bought me a Swiss chocolate bar, which I half unwrapped, in order to start munching along to the violins and horns. Well, I guess the Beethoven, or whatever it was got pretty distracting, because the next thing I knew, I couldn’t find the chocolate bar anywhere! 
After the concert, as we stood up to walk out, my dad gasped. I spun around, and he pointed to my back. The chocolate bar had melted onto the right seat of my pink coat! Talk about embarrassed! To read other chocolate tales jump over to M Pax’s list of participants here.
But first, don’t forget to enter Sheri’s three giveaways and leave a chocolate-inspired comment on your way out. Everyone who does gets a virtual Hershey’s Kiss. Thanks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click to open the last-a grand prize entry

a Rafflecopter giveaway