Dr. Bob Rich
Modern History PressISBN-10:1-61599-556-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-61599-556-1
ASIN: B08VQ8V411February 2021
Science Fiction

After the Cataclysm that ended life as most people knew it, a new world emerged without waste or hydrocarbons. A world using only natural energies and one with a much lower population. Only one million people are allowed on Earth at any time, and this is controlled by reproductive regulations. Women select the fathers of their children, and men must earn credits to earn status as possible fathers. Much of this was set about by a man named Tony who is revered as a prophet today. Twelve hundred years ago he invented a universal computer, Artif, that serves all of humanity and is overseen by the Control, a group of humans. Artif gives everyone help and guiding advice. The Control also manages who can have children. Tony also invented the implant that is placed in every human. It allows them universal communications. A person can talk to another person thousands of miles away without leaving the home or literally appear in a very realistic image.

Flora Fielding awoke from cryogenic storage hoping a cure for her cancer had developed in the time she was asleep. Instead, she found she was 1433 years in the future. It is now 1312 years after Tony. In her cryogenic space, a ball floats. It announces itself as Artif with the feminine voice that woke her up. Flora learns the world is drastically changed, but after so long in cryogenic sleep, why did the Control finally decide to awaken her?

SLEEPER, AWAKE is a very imaginative, creative, and believable story loaded with ideas on how the world of humans might change to save not only the Earth but also everything living on it. The characters are well portrayed, but even in this utopian future remain very human. It also serves as a strong warning of why we need to promote life-style and environmental change.

The Promised Queen -- by Jeffe Kennedy

 

By Jeffe Kennedy
Forgotten Empires – Book 3
St. Martin’s Paperbacks
ASIN: B08FZ78666
ISBN-10: 1-25019-435-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-25019-435-0
May 25, 2021
Fantasy Romance

The Island of Calanthe

In the last book, THE FIERY CROWN, Conri retrieved his wife and queen Euthalia’s dead body from Emperor Anure’s Yekpehr palace. The Emperor’s powerful wizards killed her. On the ship escaping back to Luthalia’s Island of Calanthe, the wizard Ambrose brought her back to life.

On the way back to her home, Euthalia (Lia) doesn’t remember what happened and is very weak. Her connection to Calanthe’s island magic, as tied to the creature below the island, is gone. Conri tells her he loves her, but Lia tells him with her death their marriage bond broke. She also knows she and Conri will eventually be forced to separate. If he ends Anure’s reign, he will become the king of his father’s realm of Oriel. She must reconnect to Calanthe.

Conri will do whatever it takes to protect his Lia and work to gain her love and trust. It will be an ongoing battle. The second battle he must make is to return to Yekpehr, the seat of Anure, and free his sister Rhéiane and the other realms’ ruling families that Anure captured and kill Anuer. Before he can leave he must make sure Lia will be safe. Calanthe has problems. The creature below the island is wreaking havoc on the island with storms and erosion. Not only is the island in peril but also the island’s inhabitants.

This is the last book in this series, and it is as enchanting as the previous volumes. The relationship between Conri and Lia has changed just as things have changed between Lia and Calanthe. Moreover, both characters change dramatically in outlook both internally and externally becoming more accepting of themselves. Author Jeffe Kennedy has created another intriguing, imaginative, and alluring story fantasy-romance enthusiasts will want to read.

Tension in My Stories

 How do I develop tension in my stories?

Everyone understands how emotions can cause tension. How a character feels is often how the reader begins to relate to the story. Certainly, relationships between characters can cause stress. Other circumstances factor in, too, like finances, toxic work or family environments, abuse, loss of a friend or loved one, failure at an assigned or desired achievement, all of which can lead to feelings of unworthiness, worthlessness, anger, frustration, hopelessness, and more. Plus these feelings can develop unhealthy ways of coping with them. All these situations can create tension for the reader, so starting with characters with problems is one way I try to create tension.

A character's self-concept also plays into emotions. That character's self-image can include their mental image that affects their self-image, their status, strengths, and beliefs. If a character's self-image is confronted in a story, it will affect them mentally and emotionally, and situational or emotional tension will also be involved. 

Situational tension is a huge aspect of how the plot leads the character into the story's purpose. People react differently to each other which often leads to opposition, dislike, hostility, and even personal danger.

Environmental factors that give tension to a story include locational dangers and hazards both nature and human-made. The world has many locations that are dangerous such as trying to climb Mount Everest (or any other mountain) to even an avalanche while skiing in a resort, or being stranded far from any help. People have developed their own dangerous situations from work sites like buildings under construction, chemical plants, or even events like Texans suffered in February--unusually bad, freezing weather leading to no electricity, no heat, and broken water pipes all during an epidemic. 

So, developing tension isn't difficult but not repeating similar situations in other books sometimes becomes a problem.

Marci Baun 

Dr. Bob Rich 

Skye Taylor 

VictoriaChatham 

Connie Vines 

Diane Bator