(Claimed 3)

Date Published: May 8, 2026

Publisher: Changeling Press

Framed for a crime she’d never even contemplated, Lexa Mercer’s
doing thirty days or death on the Intergalactic Broadcasting Channel’s
hit reality show Nariasma. She owes her life to one of the show’s
hottest contestants — and a ghost of a man no one is supposed to know exists.

Roan of the Northlands is a man made famous by enduring his sentence on the
space station Nariasma. Lexa has seen the rugged hunk on television, but she
never imagined he’d be rescuing her from hunters who’ve paid to
kill criminals.

Roan’s strange companion Jenner is convinced Lexa is the key to their
freedom. Surviving and keeping her alive is just part of the challenge. Now
Roan has more to lose than his future. He’s made the mistake of falling
in love with Lexa, and that makes him the one thing he’s never been on
Nariasma — vulnerable.

Roan and Jenner will give all they’ve got to protect Lexa.
Jenner’s convinced she’s the only one who can save them. But does
she have the strength to change their reality?

Lexa’s mouth felt dry. She tasted a bitter metallic tang on her tongue. For a
few seconds she lay, hurting, with her eyes closed. Her head ached as she sat
up. She didn’t remember much at first, but then the horror of Dom’s death and
her sham of a trial came rushing back in a torrent.

She groaned and opened her eyes. The room was small. Bright light shone down
from a single fixture in the ceiling. She was dressed in a dark brown leather
corset and matching — too tight — leather pants. She ran her hands over her
backside. The horrible pants weren’t ass-less, and she was glad of that, at
least. There was a black nylon utility vest over her shoulders. A row of
silver and gold sequins sparkled on the hem of the vest. The combination of
style and material was strange. Glam survivalist?

She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose in an attempt to clear
her foggy mind. Her stomach rolled. Someone had seen her naked when she’d been
at her most vulnerable. Shivering, she forced herself to stop thinking about
how dirty having been stripped made her feel. Pushing herself up, using the
wall, she managed to get to her feet.

The door slid open with a whoosh. Whoever designed the room had hidden the
door so well she’d never even noticed it until it opened. A tall woman watched
her mutely.

Lexa flinched under the scrutiny. “Why are you here? What’s happening to me?”
Lexa screamed the questions at the woman as her hysteria rose.

“You’ll have a ten second head start. Go right to avoid the desert. Get to the
trees, and you’ll have a better chance. Here is your pack. It’s all any of the
contestants start out with. Inside you’ll find a utility knife, canteen and
matches. Millions of fans will be watching you. Take solace in knowing you
won’t die alone.” The woman spoke without any hint of emotion or remorse.

“I don’t plan to die at all,” Lexa said. She hated how this woman had written
her off. She wasn’t doomed. She wasn’t going to give up. Just because wealthy
men had paid for a license to hunt her didn’t mean she was automatically
condemned. “I’m going to serve my time and return home.”

Sympathy flickered across the woman’s features, but she quickly covered the
expression with a scowl. “Few have lived long enough to serve their time. No
woman has left this place alive. Many find it easier just to walk out and wait
for the end.”

“I’ve never been good at taking the easy way out. I’ll take my chances with
the woods. Why are you giving me advice?”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a woman as young as you on the show.
I’d like to make the most of your time.” The tall stranger’s words held the
ring of truth.

Lexa shrugged. “I’ll do my best to outlast my sentence. I’d hate it if
Interplanetary Broadcasting lost ratings due to my untimely demise. How bad
can a month be?” Lexa spoke as sarcastically as possible. She didn’t know if
the cameras were already watching her, but she had a feeling they might be.
Hatred for the mindless people watching her injustice boiled in her core.
Until now, she’d been just like them.

The reality of how meaningless human life was hit her with shocking force.

The woman’s eyes darkened. “May the enlightenment of justice guide your path.”

Her sentence had begun. The cameras were watching. The woman’s use of words
made that clear. “Um, thanks, I’ll make my own light. I’ve had a taste of
justice, and it wasn’t for me.” Her new reality was a terrifying example of
how deep a lie could burrow to masquerade as truth. She glared at the woman.
No matter how afraid she felt she refused to let her fear show.

The emotionless expression taking over the woman’s face made her shiver. “What
happens now?” Lexa asked.

“Now you survive, or not. Either way, it’ll be good TV.”

Lexa’s eyes widened as the woman shoved her out the door.

She ended up on an elevator and not in a hallway as she’d expected. As her
brain kicked in, she realized it was now or never. With shaking hands, she
took the items from the pack and shoved them in the few pockets her thin vest
offered. She’d seen this show a few times — enough to know the bright orange
backpack was a good way to die.

Now she wished she’d watched more often. Her mother hated the show and always
said it was low class and not what her daughter should watch.

Just as she put the last item into a secure place and dropped the bright bag,
the elevator stopped. Her heart raced. Her heavy breathing was the only sound
she could hear.

The doors opened and bright sunlight flooded the dark space to blind her. She
took a shaky step and saw trees in the distance. She took the woman’s advice
and ran toward them.

In her mind, she started to count. One… two… three… The ten seconds
would be over long before she reached the trees. She didn’t look back, afraid
of what she’d see. They’d be waiting. Men had paid for the privilege of
killing her for the entertainment of bored television viewers back home.

A breeze ruffled her hair. Everything felt so real here, but it wasn’t a
planet. It was a space station. Terror hit her in the stomach so hard she
stumbled. Horrified, she watched the ground coming at her fac...]]> Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:27 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/b_NPwv2xBJ6Er8S-cZYaVRf8vwH-iTCL?utm_source=follow.it https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/b_NPwv2xBJ4kY4IxSnxFBVNwVs77ab9r?utm_source=follow.it

Mystery, Suspense

Date Published: 06-17-2024

Publisher: Adventure & Quest, LLC

Pap is a hard and difficult man, and the Llano Estacado—the Texas Staked
Plains—is every bit as hostile. Charley would turn right around and go
home except for the mysterious horse that shows up on the ranch. Things
quickly spiral out of control when Pap vows to shoot the blind animal she
believes came to the ranch to be hers. Now she can’t
leave—who’s going to stand in the way of Pap’s bullet?

Against his orders, Charley turns to local veterinarian Dr. Ben for
information about the horse, but his harmless reminiscing over her mom
dismantles everything Charley thought she knew of her family when he portrays
a mother she doesn’t even recognize, and innocently exposes the secret
that split her family apart. Charley is the only clueless party:
“Everybody in this little town of Quitaque knows your mother’s
business,” affirms veterinarian summer assistant, cowboy-crush Brett
Littleton. Except for Brett, the summer would be lost.

When Pap’s savage anger turns violent, Charley and her horse bolt for
the open plains and flee for the very place she’s been warned not to go.

Nightflower of Comanche Mound is a contemporary action-adventure thriller
steeped in conflict, tension, and family dysfunction between three
generations.

2025 Western Writers of America Spur Finalist – Young Adult Novel

2022 Writers League of Texas Manuscript Finalist – Young Adult
Action-Adventure Thriller

Excerpt

The plane touched down in Lubbock a little after three in the afternoon.
Jet engines shut down immediately so I felt the scorching afternoon heat
before I ever stepped onto the Staked Plains. The passengers had all filed
off, but I sat rigid in the upright seat, a cynical thought sweeping over me,
not for the first time: I’d made a colossal mistake.

The flight attendant was eye-balling me. I checked my hair in a mirror, dotted
on faint-pink lipstick Mom had warned me against bringing. Drawing a deep
breath, I held it in, thinking it would help settle my jitters. Time to get
this show on the road. Pap will be waiting. Or he won’t. Either way, I
had nobody to blame but myself.

I spotted him through the glass barrier, hands clasped casually over an ample
belly. We locked eyes as I rolled through the revolving door. Did he have a
picture of me? My grip tightened on the cheap ten-dollar flute Mom had given
me to practice; she was proud I took an interest in music, and wanted me to
keep my lips stuck to a version of flute that was less to lose. It suddenly
felt more a lifeline than a companion.

It’s not true that all people shrink when they get old. Pap stood
straight and tall under a light-colored, broad-brimmed hat that rested low on
his forehead just above white, bushy brows. Deep grooves ran around his mouth
and down a chin he hadn’t bothered to shave.

I didn’t exactly expect a warm snuggle from him—Mom had prepared
me for that. Still, deep down I couldn’t help thinking she might be
wrong. I had imagined I would run and throw my arms around him and all my
doubts would fly away when he pulled me into a tight squeeze.

Instead, we squared off and studied one another, eyes never wavering.

I stuck out my hand. “I’m Charley.”

Weight lifted from my shoulder as he took hold of my backpack. “Heck of
a name for a girl.” With a quick nod to the long cement aisle, he said,
“Go that way.”

I’d like to think he held out hope that he’d passed inspection, as
did I.

About the Author

Drawn to action and adventure that is grounded in real life, Katlyn finds
inspiration in the wildness of the world around us. “Nature
doesn’t care what we think. It’s wild and ferocious and
unpredictable—a good reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. The
downright ridiculous seems to call for a twist of humor. What I can’t
see, I can imagine.”

Juggling family, work, and life, over the years Katlyn grasped whatever time
she had available for a writing class when she could—poetry, creative, a
bit of journalism. What she discovered was that stories come from deep within
us…a moment. A memory. An experience or impression or dream. Only when
they surface, can you add texture and color.

A late-bloomer by her own description, Katlyn’s writing kicked off when
she joined Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators
(SCBWI), a community of like-minded people who selflessly share, uplift, and
guide, one meeting at a time. “There’s so much to learn, just for
the listening. Other writers energize me, challenge me to ‘say it
better’. Everyone has a natural style, and it always amazes me how many
ways there are to tell a story. From SCBWI to the Writers’ League of
Texas (WLT)—where Nightflower of Comanche Mound was a 2022
Thriller/Action-Adventure Finalist in the Manuscript Contest—on to
Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West (WWW), Katlyn has found
that it’s networks of writers that encourage her “No matter what
stage of writing skill, anyone, at any age, with a yearning to write should
seek out others who love what you love. Don’t wait.”

A native Texan, Katlyn Bates lives near Dallas, TX, outside a small town
that—like so many inter-connected communities, is quickly becoming
absorbed by the sprawl. “As for me, it’s open skies and nature and
landscape that frame a plot, and lend power to a story.”

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/b_NPwv2xBJ4kY4IxSnxFBVNwVs77ab9r?utm_source=follow.it https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/b_NPwv2xBJ7VX1-GjNHbq8I8BbUZkPNA?utm_source=follow.it

Children’s Historical

Date Published: 10-21-2024

Publisher: Solander Press

The mountain stood tall, daring anyone to conquer its peak.

Julia Archibald Holmes was not one to back down from a challenge, especially
when it meant fighting for justice. Her journey to the top of Pikes Peak was
just the beginning of her many adventures. In the mid-1800s, amidst the rugged
terrain of the Rocky Mountains, Julia Archibald Holmes set out to make a name
for herself. Her life was a series of daring escapades, all in the name of
justice. Her involvement in the Underground Railroad, a perilous journey
fraught with risk, was a testament to her unwavering commitment. Her later
advocacy for Women’s voting rights was a continuation of this fearless
spirit.

However, as Julia’s diary reveals, her journey was not without its challenges.
From facing dangerous obstacles to overcoming personal setbacks, her
unwavering commitment to justice would be tested. Julia’s story provides
a powerful message of determination, courage, and resilience that will leave a
lasting impact on readers.

Bloomers on Pikes Peak won a Will Rogers Medallion Award and was the finalist
for the Women Writing the West Willa Award.

About the Author

Clarissa Willis is an award-winning author, consultant, and professional
developmental specialist. She provides workshops, keynote addresses, and
customized professional development both nationally and internationally. She
writes early childhood curricula, teacher resource books, and books for
children.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

The post Bloomers on Pikes Peak Blitz first appeared on Book Junkiez.]]> Sat, 02 May 2026 12:00:12 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/b_NPwv2xBJ7VX1-GjNHbq8I8BbUZkPNA?utm_source=follow.it