Okay, I promise, we are going to get back onto a monthly posting schedule lol. This new year feels like a fresh start. A new book. And we are back in the saddle!
Currently on my plate: WIP Before the Dawn (Roz & Xaphan's story) Askara Book 4, When Fae Collide: Breaking the Veil *extended edition* final edits, WIP A MidAutumn Night's Dream, Veil Book 2, Spanning Worlds (Mina & Jadar's story) print and audiobook. Oh! And Before the Dawn's cover.
I think I also mentioned in a previous post a little side project I've been working on that I'm excited to share with you--cover reveal below✨ This cute couple's story, between a space cadet and a human-ape hybrid, will be released as a 99c novella, but you can actually read the first half right now on Patreon (all patrons will receive the e-book and a signed print for free upon request, and a limited number of free e-copies will also be given away to Mailing List subscribers). I'll be sure to post a little snippet below, along with our next installment from Before the Dawn (Roz & Xaphan's story)😉
I hope you enjoy!
Now it's back to the keyboard for me. Have a wonderful weekend, everybody💕
Before the Dawn: An Askari Series Novel (Roz & Xaphan's story, Askara Book 4)
Foomph!
Roz couldn’t help but smile as Sanchez rolled to his side on the floor in front of her again, wincing after she’d flipped him flat onto his back. Twice.
“Jeezus,” he complained. “What the hell did I do now?”
“Sorry,” she replied, feeling only mild remorse. Her friend always had at least a partial ass whooping coming to him at all times. “I should probably thank you. I really just needed to hit something.”
“Glad I could be of assistance.” He smiled crookedly, rolling his shoulders. “Now, where were we?” He dropped back down into a defensive position. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with our charming new teammates, would it?”
Roz glared at him. She swung, and he jumped back, barely missing her fist. “Whoa! Hey, okay, I get it. I’m not psyched to go all Interview with a Vampire with them either.”
“Yeah? Well, at least you don’t have that big sucker with the scar after you.”
Sanchez straightened. “Wait, what do you mean?”
Roz dropped her hands. “What I said. He put the ambassador on me to try to get me to agree to take his blood, but I think he just wants to fight me, and almost did in the hallway. I mean, why?? It’s damn sus.”
Her friend went still. “Fight you…like how?”
Roz looked at him like he’d lost it. “What??”
“Fighting can be foreplay for those bastards. And it’s not like we don't have a couple precedents now, right?”
“What are you even—” Roz cut off as it dawned on her what he was saying. “No,” she said emphatically, shaking her head when he proceeded to grin.
*Further excerpts/chapters available on Patreon*
Before the Dawn, by J.M. Link
Copyright 2025, J.M. Link
All rights reserved.
3002: A Scifi Romance Novella
Sara happily
chose a spot in the mess hall to eat her lunch. It was Day One, she’d only just
arrived, and the thrill of spaceflight still hummed in her veins.
It made no difference that Beta Prime was little more than an
old mining colony turned research outpost with several life habs on a small
arid planet. The point was, cadets were rarely given such an opportunity and
she was psyched…okay, so, the food generators might be a little dated and
Prime’s crew definitely left something to be desired, she concluded
thoughtfully while she chewed. Still, she wasn’t complaining. Because if she
did well here, then maybe, just maybe, her application for the Inceptivus would
be accepted. Or dare she dream…SpaceFleet.
“Hey,” the group’s beefy mechanic she’d
only just met earlier suddenly set his tray down next to hers. “Remember me?”
he prompted with a grin.
“Hi, yeah…” she forced a smile and
scooched down the bench. One of Beta’s finest. Not that Sara wasn’t used to
interest from the opposite sex. She was young and healthy with dirty blonde
hair and dark blue eyes. Thankfully, something else drew her attention in that
moment as a figure moved past the mess. His head was down, copious brown hair
hiding his face.
“Hey, um. Who’s that?”
“Who’s what?” The mechanic answered, his
gaze now on his tray while he smacked his food loudly. Sara frowned. She
thought she'd been introduced to everyone since arriving here.
Her unwanted companion’s gaze finally
flicked toward the figure. He stopped chewing. “Oh,” he grunted. “Yeah, ah,
listen… it’d prolly be best to warn you. Some of the stuff here on Beta might
be, ya know, a little old school. Er, are you done with that?” he said
suddenly, pointing to her tray. Sara nodded.
“Hey! Mod!!”
On cue, the messy-haired guy came back
into view. Immediately, Sara’s back straightened. There was something different
about him, as he approached with a shuffle, his head still firmly down. He wore
a standard white uniform, but it fit him oddly.
“What are you standing there for? Take
her tray to the washer. I swear,” the mechanic shook his head with a look of
disgust. “And they’re supposed to be smarter than droids.”
Sara watched “Mod” walk away, carrying
her tray. She’d never heard a name like that for a droid before.
“What do you mean it’s not working?” The
mechanic, Eron, if she remembered right, touched his ear. “Alright, I’ll be
right there.” He swore. “Hey, I’ll catch ya later. Remember what I said
though.”
Sara glanced up. “Mm-hm,” she replied,
happy to see him go.
As soon as Eron left, “Mod” came back
for the tray. Sara’s gaze fixed on his hand when he took it and turned. Then
her eyes slowly widened. It couldn’t be… If she’d been walking, she probably
would have tripped and fell flat on her face. Mod wasn’t a droid at all, she
finally realized with no small amount of shock. He was a hybrid! A genetically
modified humanoid.
Sara quickly took in his shaggy hair
again, tufts of which stuck out from the bottom of his sleeves, and then his
long fingers with dark nail beds. He was spliced with primate DNA—chimp, if she
had to guess, and based on what she had always heard. The thing was, she’d
never seen one up close and it struck her hard that she’d mistaken him for
human.
“Um, excuse me… Mod?” she tried,
wondering if that was the reason behind his odd name, and not thinking
it very funny.
At her voice, he stopped with the tray
on his way to the washer. His shaggy head perked, as if listening for an order.
Sara tried and failed to think of something that would make him turn to face
her, and at her silence he continued with his task then turned to leave the
mess hall. Sara debated for all of five seconds before she bolted up to follow
him.
*Read the rest of Part I of this novella here*
3002, by J.M. Link
Copyright 2025, J.M. Link
All rights reserved.
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