Origami Love Notes

I hadn’t seen Darragh for a few days, other than through the Med Center window when he was too busy to bother. The station had received a ship full of refugees who were battling some illness I didn’t hear named, but his obsessive problem-solving skills no doubt would come in handy.

I left dinner on his doorstep every night, and every morning I found the dish clean and set beside my door. The second day he left me a note on a tiny square piece of colored paper that simply said “Thank you.” The third and every day since, he left me a note that said “Thank you” and a meticulously folded paper animal or flower. (From Rift Watcher, by C R Simper) http://tinyurl.com/q7vytu9

I Flunked. On Purpose.

I had just purposefully flunked my academy entrance exam so I could stay another year in traditional high school living with my grandparents. Those peers of mine might have thought it was irresponsible and unorthodox.

But my grandparents had understood.

That thought prompted me to look out the window again, at the vast expanse of space. Which of the stars out there was Earth’s sun? I would have to ask my dad later, so I could wave at Grandma and Grandpa now and then.

Movement drew my glance upward. A large ship – a freighter by the blockish look of it – approached one of the docking towers reaching far above the station.

“Is that ship going to hit the tower?” Jay asked.

“No, of course not,” I replied. Distances in space could be deceiving – that probably wasn’t spaceship pilot rule number-one, but it had to be rule number somewhere-between-two-and-five. “It just looks like it from this –”

I stopped myself there.

Right at impact(From Rift Watcher, by C R Simper) Read More

Better Late Than Never

I see that my last "weekly" update was about a month ago. Maybe I ought to call them monthly updates.
December was a busy time, both personally and professionally.
On the personal side, my daughter celebrated her birthday, there were multiple trips to the theater to see Star Wars, and all the bustle of Christmas, even though we tried to keep things low-key this year. Also I designed and built a water bed pedestal and got the bed up and working, so I'll be sleeping better now and hopefully get caught up.
It was all good.
On the professional side, we published C R Simper's debut novel, Rift Watcher. It's a YA Science Fiction book that's part coming-of-age and part aliens-are-plotting-to-murder-me. Yeah, it's that good.
We're editing Misty, by Marie Evergreen, which is the second book in the Travelers series. It should be out in April. You might want to get ready for Misty by reading the first book in the series, Quinn.
We're also editing The Blogger, by a new author who hasn't decided yet whether to publish under his own name or a pen name. The Blogger is due out in June, and promises to be a real scream. After all, what would you do if the fiction you wrote on your blog started happening in real life?
You can read more about all our books - and buy them - at www.electric-scroll.com.

Weekly Update - 11/30/15

This week I spent two days in the kitchen with my daughter, baking pies and a turkey, whipping cream, and mashing potatoes. Time well spent, we had a lot of fun and also washed a mountain of dishes.


We published Natalie Peck's Sirens in her Heart on November 27th. Sirens isn't the first book Natalie's had published, but it is the first she wrote, and the only one of her works that her author mother got to read before her passing. The book was published on Natalie's mother's birthday. Sirens is available here, or at the usual retail outlets.


The office renovations continue: I sewed the panels for my screen, and also the curtain that will hang above it to block the rest of my closet from view of my office. The curtain still needs to be hung up. I promise there will be before and after photos when we're finished.


My daughter's birthday present this year is fabric to sew her own set of Jedi robes. I got it for her early, since her birthday is rather close to the movie's release date, and she wouldn't have time to finish it beforehand. We've been doing a lot of sewing. I use a rolling computer desk for my sewing table, and both of our machines will fit on the table back-to-back so we can both sew at the same time. I told her the other sewing that's been sitting around forever has to be done before the Jedi robes, because otherwise it will never get done. I've hemmed ten "wedding" tablecloths (don't ask, not an imminent event, but needed to be done), discovered that my sewing machine is violently allergic to the magenta thread that matches the curtain, sewed the aforementioned screen panels and curtain, and discovered that a long-awaited blouse that's been cut out for two years was cut wrong...I had two left halves of the back, and no right half...and I cut it out two years ago from old fabric that was lying around, so I can't just re-cut another back panel. I nearly cried. I really wanted that blouse. My daughter's been working on a Christmas present for my Dad and doing an excellent job of it. All that's left is to finish the Christmas present, assemble two nightgowns that have been cut out for a couple of years, and then we can start on the Jedi robes.


I've also done a bunch of editing:

• Misty was sent from one of my editors back to the author for more work. It's just finishing the first round of editing and we expect to publish by April's end. It's the second book in Marie Evergreen's Travelers series. The first book, Quinn, is available here, or at all the usual retail outlets.
• I did initial rewrites on Encounter at Kiral - it's the second book in Scott Ashby's Cavaliers series. It should be out in October. The first book, Assignment to Earth, is available here or at your favorite retail outlet.
• C R Simper's Rift Watcher has been sent to the final copyeditor. It's the first in the Rift Watcher series, and should be out by the end of December.
• I started edits on The Blogger, a novella that should be out in June. I'm not mentioning the author's name here yet, because I haven't asked him if he wants to use his own or a pen name.
• We're also deep in edits on Bolts from the Blue (A M Jenner), An Independent Love Affair (Natalie Peck), and an as-yet unnamed thriller by A M Jenner.
• Also, A M Jenner is in the midst of two more novels; Corpse on the Porch, which is this year's NaNoWriMo winner and Pushing up Roses.

No, I haven't done much sleeping.

Exciting things happening!

Scott Ashby's book Crown of Tears was published October 31st. It's another great fantasy. What's it about? Only the magical coronation band can name the true heir - and next ruler - of Notia. However, the band has been stolen. King Kaddick is dying, and his three daughters, Calla Lily, Gladiola, and Marigold, must find the coronation band before it's too late.


Natalie Peck wrote her first romance novel over a quarter century ago. It was the only one of Natalie's novels her author/mother got to read before her death, and although she rarely read fiction, she told Natalie it was an excellent book. Last year, Natalie was cleaning out her storage room, rediscovered the original manuscript, dusted it off, updated the technology, and submitted it.
The Electric Scroll editors agreed with Natalie's mother - it's an excellent book. Sirens in her Heart will be published on November 27th, Natalie's mother's birthday.


We're pleased to welcome C R Simper as an Electric Scroll author. She has two short steampunk stories published in anthologies, and her first novel, Rift Watcher, will be coming out in December.