Hello out there, humanoid creatures of above-average intelligence and taste. I’m Reesa Herberth, and this fine establishment has seen fit to let me mingle with you on my release day! I brought a party hat, a trivia contest, a silly interview, and a special, exclusive excerpt, just to thank you all. I’m on tour all week, and you can check out my schedule here.
I’m running a trivia contest throughout the tour, with a winner to be drawn from the entries on Friday, January 10, 2014. I’ll be giving away the winner’s choice of any e-book in my backlist, plus a reading gift pack featuring books and treats! The contest is open to U.S. and International entrants. In the event that a winner outside the U.S. is chosen, a gift certificate to Riptide Publishing or Amazon will be substituted for the physical prize. To enter, email me the answers to the following trivia questions (answers to all questions can be found in In Discretion):
- What is the name of Thanson Nez’s father?
- Who is Tynna?
- What item did Thanson steal from Kazra the last time they saw one another?
All you need to do email me the answers to be entered to win. I can’t promise I’ll be wearing the party hat when I reply, but if it makes you feel special, I can be talked into it.
Tell us about your latest release.
My new release, In Discretion, is a novella set in the Ylendrian Empire, a universe I share with my partner, Michelle Moore. It’s got a touch of everything you could want in a space opera: action, angst, conspiracy, a long-lost love affair, and of course, a space station full of zombies.
Would your readers be surprised to meet you in person? Why?
I don’t really think so. I’m a pretty straightforward person. Who I am as an author, and by extension who I am online, is pretty much who I am. That doesn’t mean readers should confuse my life with what I write, but if I say something in a forum where I’m speaking as an author, I mean it. I certainly value my boundaries (and despite appearances, I do have them), but I’m reasonably friendly and hardly ever bite anymore. Not since the shock collar, anyway.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Everywhere, and I don’t mean that as a flip answer. I’m really interested in the ways humanity retells stories, but most of all in how characters are made part of these expansive archetype as soon as they’re created. It’s a bit like baking- almost every cake starts with flour, sugar, and eggs. The stuff that lets you know as soon as you see it, “Oh, that’s a cake.” Then it’s up to the baker to decide what flavor it’s going to be, and you don’t really get that until you take a bite. I want readers to be able to take a huge bite of my stories, and hopefully find a pleasant surprise somewhere. Tapping into those archetypes is my main source of inspiration, probably the thing that puts pen to paper first, but finding new ways to twist them and making a few trope-kabobs along the way is what keeps me writing.
What do you love about being an author?
When I think about what I’d do if I could do anything I wanted without worrying about money or insurance or rice in the pot, it’s always been writing. I love that I can put my whole heart and soul into a character and their story, but still wind up with something that bears little to no resemblance to my own experience. I love hearing that someone stayed up past their bedtime to finish a book I wrote, or that they’d never imagined a three-person relationship of equals before they read The Slipstream Con. I love that I rarely have a day that doesn’t seem new and inspiring to me in some way. (Even the bad ones.)
What do you hate about being an author?
You guys. Seriously. There is So. Much. To. Write. I hate that there are a dozen stories I want to tell right now, and I can only write one at a time!
My other really bad habit is my quirky hearing and observation skills- I don’t mean to eavesdrop in public places, but my hearing does better with sounds that are less “immediate” to me. I can ask a person I’m talking to directly to repeat something two or three times and honestly not process it (I’ve had an auditory processing problem since I was a kid), but I can pick up every word of a conversation happening three tables away. I’m also really good at reading body language, and frequently get caught up in dramas of the sort that unfold in my neighborhood Starbucks.
I’m so glad I get to spend my release day with you all! I’ll be around now and then to answer questions and comments throughout the day, and don’t forget to enter the trivia contest!
Because it’s a special day, and you all seem like a lovely bunch of people, I’m giving you a special, exclusive excerpt. You can also read an expanded excerpt and purchase the book here.
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They continued in silence through the empty administrative hall, Kazra leading the way toward the door to the next sector. Once the emergency systems kicked on, the sealed quadrant doors required an override code to keep them from opening unintentionally. Conveniently, the code was posted right on the access panel, saving him from having to memorize it. Saying the numbers out loud as he punched them in went a little ways toward centering him, at least for a second. He stumbled as his foot came up higher than he’d intended, and Thanson grabbed his arm with a quiet snort that might have been laughter.
Kazra had never been fond of looking stupid in front of people, particularly Thanson. The kind of angry self-loathing he hadn’t felt in years hit him hard as he jerked his arm away. “Some of us don’t get to travel ’round the ’verse at somebody else’s expense. We get used to the environment where we are.”
“Well, I have spent the last ten years looking down on the masses.” Kazra didn’t have to see it to know that Thanson was smiling, a familiar twist of lips that went so well with the cultivated Triumvir accent. “Once we’re all safe and sound, I’ll share my souvenir vids with you.”
“I thought there were rules about sharing those kinds of vids. Aren’t you sworn to secrecy and all?” Kazra took the moment to dock his notebook in the emergency cradle next to the access panel, waiting for the door to slide shut behind them. With the station network down, the only way to get any kind of information on the damage was through the hardwired systems. While this section would be stable and clean for several more hours, current status reports showed that the outer sections to either side of the hull breach had already lost all life support.
Thanson’s harsh sigh broke the silence, and it pushed Kazra over the line from anger to fury. Thanson showing up just in time for a catastrophic station failure could have been the wildest coincidence. Maybe not even that wild, given his luck. There was something about the urgency of Thanson’s message to his guild, though. Something about the man who’d come searching in the dark. Whatever dirt Thanson was trading in, Kazra’s instincts screamed that it had everything to do with their current problems. “Your secret. Is it worth 347 more lives, not including your own? Not including mine?”
“My secrets are as heavy as any ever borne.” Thanson’s voice was flat, repeating the words that Kazra’d overheard earlier. “But if it comes down to it, no, I’d rather it didn’t cost anyone their life. Especially y— me.”
“That’s a huge comfort to the rest of us.”
—
Thanson Nez thought his career as a Discretionary would take him to the stars, not strand him on a space station at the ass-end of the Empire. Thanks to his last client, he’s carrying a secret he can’t get rid of fast enough, but his oath to the guild means a swift, painful death if he shares it. Already desperate for help, he runs into yet more trouble: his ex, and an explosion that paralyzes the station moments after their uncomfortable reunion.
Kazra Ferdow, Station 43’s communications officer, is almost as blindsided by the return of his first love as he is by the sudden loss of power and life support. The station is a floating graveyard in the making, and something is turning its inhabitants into savage killers. Fighting human monsters and damaged tech, Kazra and Thanson must put aside their past long enough to try to save everyone.
The more light they shine into dark corners, the more Thanson realizes how many people might die for the secrets locked in his head—and what he’s willing to sacrifice to make sure Kazra isn’t one of them.
—
Reesa Herberth is the co-author (with Michelle Moore) of the Ylendrian Empire series. She can often be found tweeting, blogging, and messing around on Facebook when she should be writing. Likewise, she is easily distracted by the sound of new email, and encourages you to contact her at ylendrianempire@gmail.com