Praise for JAYDIUM

Jaydium, my debut science fiction novel from back in 1993, was included in a recent StoryBundle. I was pleased to have my book selected but then thought no more about it. Then I saw this review from 2020 by Jemima Pett:

Jaydium starts off on a deadbeat planet with miners slouched around causing havoc in a bar. It sounded terribly familiar. The girl is different, but the arrival of her ex-partner, and his new partner, and his friend, seems to send it off on a trite space romance. This gets worse when the friend insists on helping the girl out by flying duo with her to help her cut some jaydium. Jaydium is much like orichalcum is in my universe, but it enable faster-than-light travel, rather than instantaneous communications. It’s still highly prized and only found in a few places.

At that point I was thinking… meh.

Then it all changed. And then it changed again! I wondered how many changes we were in for, but the development of the later change and the attention to possibilities both sociological and temporal had me completely hooked.

Ms Wheeler writes a mean story, with great action sequences, and she keeps the action going. The relationships develop at a sensible and realistic pace, especially when dealing with four beings out of time with each other. The need for a double helping of translation tech was a nice touch. I would quibble over a few things that needed editing, and I sometimes felt the switched of point of view were confusing. like the author couldn’t quite decide who she’d rather have tell this part of the tale.

There is potential for further adventures of the pair we are left with departing together on a spaceship at the end, but really, I think it would be hard to develop their characters from there. But more convoluted space adventures from Ms Wheeler, please!

JAYDIUM 'Ms Wheeler writes a mean spacetime story, with great action sequences' #jaydium #scifi #spacetimereads @storybundleCLICK TO TWEET

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Jaydium Chapter 7 FREE on Curious Fictions

 Chapter 7 of Jaydium is up on Curious Fictions. How many of you are reading along?

https://curiousfictions.com/stories/3674-deborah-j-ross-jaydium-chapter-8

Jaydium: Chapter 5 Free on Curious Fictions

Between the wildfires and evacuation, I've fallen behind in posting free chapters of Jaydium on Curious Fictions. With apologies, here's the next one!

Jaydium, Chapter 5

By Deborah J. Ross
Nov 6, 2020 · 1,761 words · 7 minutes

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Art by Vincent Di Fate.  Edit Art · Remove Art

From the author: Far in the future, an interplanetary civil conflict has ground to an uneasy halt. Kithri, abandoned on a desolate mining planet, meets Eril, shell-shocked pilot. A freak accident sends them back to a time when their desert world was lush and green, when an alien civilization stands on the brink of a war of total destruction. They must choose to remain outside the conflict or to stand up for what they believe

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 An audio version is available for this chapter. Listen online →

JAYDIUM

Chapter 5

For a moment Eril considered telling her the truth, that he had as much chance of getting into the Corps without her as she had getting off Stayman without him. In the mood she was in, she'd probably tell him to stuff a comet up his pitouchee. The only thing to do was to keep his mouth shut and wait for another opening. He hoped he'd get one.

Kithri picked up the water bottle, took a long swallow and then dropped it, sputtering. She pointed down the tunnel.

As he followed her gesture, Eril's mouth went electrically dry. The last time he'd looked, the tunnel had been empty except for the two of them and the scrubjet. Now a man-shaped mist hovered in the middle of the 'hole, one moment diaphanous, then condensing into near solidity. In stark contrast to the rosy glow of the partly-sealed jaydium, it was a clear, untinted gray. Eril made out a bulbous head, two arms, and two splayed-out legs. He thought he saw markings on the head section, but they faded so quickly he could not be sure.

"What the hell is that?" Kithri whispered. "I've been running these tunnels for years, and I've never seen anything like it."

"Space ghost," he said, dredging his memory. "They're sighted along the old interstellar routes. There are only about six or seven documented cases known, never this close to a planet. By our best guess, they're relics of early attempts to exceed the speed of light. Residues of energy that just happen to be shaped like humans. They probably don't actually exist in three-space."

As he spoke, the figure descended until its feet seemed to touch the tunnel floor. For a moment it stood there, motionless. Then it began to move. First one leg and then the other stretched out and swung back as it drifted along in a mechanical parody of walking. 

Here's the link to the rest...

https://curiousfictions.com/stories/3051-deborah-j-ross-jaydium-chapter-5

Now (and Free) on Curious Fictions: Jaydium Chapter 3

The next chapter of Jaydium is up on Curious Fictions, and it's free (all the previous chapters are, too). If you love the story, the entire ebook is only $0.99 right now from all the usual vendors. (And subscribing to my Curious Fictions page for a small amount per month would be lovely, too.)

https://curiousfictions.com/stories/3049-deborah-j-ross-jaydium-chapter-3

Curious Fictions: Jaydium, Chapter 1 (Free)

Far in the future, an interplanetary civil conflict has ground to an uneasy halt. Kithri, abandoned on a desolate mining planet, meets Eril, shell-shocked pilot. A freak accident sends them back to a time when their desert world was lush and green, when an alien civilization stands on the brink of a war of total destruction. They must choose to remain outside the conflict or to stand up for what they believe.

Read the first chapter free on:

Curious Fictions: Jaydium, Chapter 1

I'm in the "A Matter of Time" StoryBundle!

THE SFWA TIME TRAVEL BUNDLE

A Matter of Time Bundle - Curated by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

What better way to forget about the present than by exploring the past and future? Ever since Jules Verne turned the dials on his famous machine, time travel has been a staple of science fiction, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's A Matter of Time StoryBundle continues this rich tradition by presenting fourteen temporally vibrant novels by both bestselling authors and rising stars.

SFWA is an organization dedicated to promoting and supporting science fiction and fantasy writers in the United States and elsewhere. The A Matter of Time bundle was curated by SFWA members to showcase the incredible range of thought-provoking stories that can be explored through the conceit of time travel, from adventures in the distant past to the far future.

And the bundle also includes Blue Apocalypse, the first book in a new series by New York Times bestselling author Craig Martelle, Time Trap by USA Today Bestselling author Jill Cooper, and Nairobi Jack by Monique Martin, among many others. The A Matter of Time bundle will run for three weeks only. This is a terrific way to sample a wide variety of stories and discover great new writers!

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of five books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

            Jurassic Jail - Time Wars Book 1 by William Alan Webb

            Einstein's Secret by Irving Belateche

            Jaydium by Deborah J. Ross

            Blue Apocalypse - End Days Book 1 by E.E. Isherwood and Craig Martelle

            Marking Time - Immortal Descendants Book 1 by April White

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all five of the regular books, plus NINE more!

            The Continuum by Wendy Nikel

            The Syndicate - Timewaves Series Book 1 by Sophie Davis

            The Redemption of Michael Hollister by Shawn Inmon

            The Lights of Time by Paul Ian Cross

            Nairobi Jack by Monique Martin

            Imposter Messiah by M.W. Davis

            Time Trap by Jill Cooper

            Supernova - The Commons Book 1 by Jessica Marting

            Millennium Crash by James Litherland

A Special Sale Price on JAYDIUM

This month's specials at Book View Cafe include Jaydium for just $0.95. DRM-free, multiple formats (there's an audiobook, too, but it's not on special.)
Here's the newsletter for more offerings.

Hungry for “a wild and woolly journey through time and space,” some really cool aliens, and a touch of romance?

Far in the future, an interplanetary civil conflict has ground to an uneasy halt, leaving its human victims bitter and desperate: Kithri, the daughter of a scientist, abandoned on a desolate mining planet with no hope to use her talents, and Eril, shell-shocked pilot, finding adapting to peace more difficult than he dreamed. A freak accident sends them back to a time when their desert world was lush and green, when an alien civilization stands on the brink of a war of total destruction. Unexpectedly linked with Lennart, a spaceman from an earlier era in galactic history, and Brianna, an anthropologist from an alternate universe, they must choose to remain outside the conflict or to stand up for what they believe, even at the cost of never getting home again?

REVIEWS

“A wild and woolly journey through time and space that contains enough imagination and plotting for an entire shelf of books.”

— Don D’Ammassa in SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE

“Beautifully executed . . . marks Wheeler as a stellar new talent.”

— Catherine Asaro in MINDSPARKS

“There is an emphasis on the quest for peace that is unusual when so many novels focus on the quest for dominance and victory.”

— Tom Easton in ANALOG

“JAYDIUM sweeps the reader into a well-designed world populated with realistic people . . . a fast-paced and fun read.”

— Mary Rosenblum

“Excellent hard science-fiction!”

— Marion Zimmer Bradley

I Can Haz Bragtiime Now?

Over on The Book Smugglers, Andrea K. Host offers a grand and rich list of women writers of science fiction and fantasy. And she included me!


Here's what she says about my work:

Under the name Deborah Wheeler there are two science fiction novels: Jaydium (combining time travel and possibility) and the planetary adventure Northlight (where aranger in exile tries to track down a lost friend and discovers layers of conspiracy).

As Deborah J Ross, along with a number of books in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover world, the author has recently embarked on a grandly epic fantasy series revolving around a broken shield that is the key to keeping the whole world in one piece.

I am majorly stoked.

Audiobooks!

Jaydium is now available as an unabridged audiobook, narrated by Molly Elston.

Amazon.com

Audible.com




The audiobook version of Northlight will be released November 4, 2013.

Azkhantian Tales is in the works.

Next chapter of Jaydium coming up!

Check back tomorrow for Chapter 3 of Jaydium, my romantic science fiction adventure. You can find scroll back or find links to all the previous chapters under "Read A Story." Here's a teaser:

She held him tightly, fiercely, as if she could press her flesh through the layers of clothing and into his. His mouth on hers felt like velvet and then like steel. He cupped her head with his hands, his fingers stroking the smooth skin behind her ears. She slid her lips over his cheek, down the line of his jaw to the soft hollow of his throat, tasting him, inhaling his scent like perfume.

It's like making love to myself, she thought in amazement. The male self that is my perfect complement.

Kithri drew away, eyes closed as she drew his hands over her breasts. She swayed, almost overcome with the intensity of her feelings, and sank to her knees.

She put one hand to the barren ground for balance. A sharp-edged stone cut deep into her palm, drawing blood. The pain shocked her halfway back to rationality. The pounding in her ears faltered as she stared at the red droplets staining the grit on her hand.

That's my life draining away into the dust. Her stomach twisted into a knot of ice.

Jim Hines Hosts Deborah on "First Book Friday"

Today's treat is my guest appearance on "First Book Friday," a new series hosted by Jim C. Hines. He's gathered tales of how authors wrote and sold their first novels (well, in my case it wasn't the first I wrote, it was something like the 6th, but it still makes a good story!) So scoot on over and enjoy the tale!

About the time I finished the first draft, I joined a writer’s workshop. They tore it to shreds. I went home and cried, and then set about learning everything they could teach me. Four revisions later, I sent off Jaydium to Sheila Gilbert at DAW. And waited. And wrote the next book. And researched agents. And sold a bunch of short stories to increasingly prestigious markets. And waited some more.

(You can download Jaydium in multi-ebook formats, including those compatible with Kindle and Nook, from Book View Cafe here.

Ebook giveaway reminder...

Jaydium and Northlight in one omnibus edition, multi-format DRM free, my birthday gift to you!* Click on over to Book View Cafe here and grab yours TODAY ONLY!

A gorgeous and extravagant bouquet of flowers arrived yesterday from a dear friend in Venice (Italy, not California!) so I've had a running start on local celebration. I'm jellyfishing through the morning, getting ready for a nice slow yoga practice and then Mozart and Marion (aka work on The Children of Kings).



*And if you enjoy them, the best way to say thank you is to post a review. Just be sure it's for the ebook edition and not the old print one.

Deborah's "When I'm 64" Birthday Present -- to YOU!

Will you still need me

Will you still read me

When I'm 64?

I'm turning 64 on Friday! Yes, it's tax day, so you have no excuse for not celebrating with me.

My novels, Jaydium and Northlight, will be available as multi-format ebooks FREE at Book View Cafe on April 15th. Please pass the word and enjoy the stories!