Okay, I promise, we are going to get back onto a monthly posting schedule. Hm...why does that sound familiar?
All joking aside, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Year❣😊 I obviously underestimated how much it would affect my productivity having our little one home this past summer—sincere apologies for the neglect. September was just as crazy with back-to-school and birthdays (yes, plural), and then the holidays hit. Phew! I also have to be honest, and I don't know if anyone else can relate, but 2025 really wasn't that fun for us: major family shifts, car troubles, job challenges, medical scares. Hubbs, the little one, and I are here, however, healthy and doing well, and we can't ask for any more than that.
Now on to book news and what I'm most excited to share, which is Before the Dawn's Cover Teaser and Excerpt❣🎉💖
Maria honestly worked so hard on this one, you guys, and I cannot wait to reveal the whole thing, hehe. I've included our next excerpt below for anyone wanting another little teaser. This week, I'll be focusing on catching up here (responding to comments) and on Facebook. And of course, writing.
Oh, and for anyone wondering, yes, 3002 was briefly published this past summer. It's still available on my Patreon Page, which you can read more about here.
I also wanted to end with a quick ask: even if you're just reading and never comment (which is totally fine!), if you could please leave a heart or other little emoji in the comment section below, it will help me to know that you're here!
Let's rock 2026🤘 Hugs.
💗JM
She felt strong, too-long fingers grasp her upper arms like bands of steel and her feet left the floor, the wall slamming hard against her back. She made herself suck in a breath, shocked that he had made contact this time and that it wasn’t just another fake.
Shit, but she’d wasted precious seconds of reaction time. Roz growled. Thinking fast, she braced her hands and feet on his body, snapped her head back, and headbutted him. Pain exploded across her skull, blinding her for a moment and making her stomach clench. She blinked…realizing just how much she'd misjudged. Their faces felt like they were made of titanium, and Roz had to blink again, trying to see clearly while two yellow orbs appeared to peer back at her now. She’d felt his head jerk back with the blow, but he didn’t seem to be affected at all. She was also vaguely aware of a low clicking sound, and then what felt like a claw digging into her chin, lifting her gaze to hold his.
Another low click, and Roz shook her head to try to clear it.
In the next instant the steel bands that held her up against the wall suddenly let go and she dropped to the ground, stumbling to stay upright under the weight of Xaphan’s gaze. The weird dreads atop his head fell back into place, and he stepped away with a snort. Roz almost felt herself sag with relief when he growled something, eyed her one last time and turned to leave, his large form pulling away as if it had its own gravity.
It took some seconds more, but she recovered, straightening where she stood.
She watched a pulse of light ripple down the back of his black alien body suit as he walked away. A suit that molded perfectly to his tall, thickly muscled shape. It was also a suit hers should have matched, but didn’t, because of a blood exchange he had tried to force on her with Wells earlier in the hallway, but now, what…he wasn’t interested?? Roz scrambled to put it together, her head still spinning.
She assumed he’d been looking for an excuse to fight before. Now she didn’t know what he was about.
Had she not been enough of a challenge for him? Roz huffed, the idea taking hold where she stood, watching him walk away. Then she heard the infamous snap of sharp shark teeth, and she couldn’t explain it, but the sound was different than when he’d first seen her on the bridge. Like an afterthought. A footnote, and it suddenly made her feel…pathetic.
Roz’s nostrils flared.
Ohh-ho, no. Just, N to the fucking O.
First, this psycho had stalked her like an animal from the moment he’d laid eyes upon her. Then he’d terrorized her in full view of her superior who had done fuck-all to stop him. He had the literal audacity to attack her just now when they were supposed to be teammates, but if she was really being honest? All that wasn't what actually set her off, she thought, her anger reigniting like an inferno where she stood.
Roz knew his kind didn’t think much of Earth fighters or their military unless they were wielding Askari tech. In fact, it'd been the reason she volunteered to wear their black body suits called havats in the first place—because Roz hated feeling weak, she hated failure, and for a fighter of her caliber, that stung. But by Xaphan dismissing her so easily just now, Roz didn't only feel like she'd lost the fight. She somehow felt like she'd failed her entire team, her planet. Hell, the list went on...and there was really only one way she knew how to fix it, she thought, drawing herself up.
So, he wanted a fight, did he? Roz sniffed. Well, she sure as shit was gonna give him one.
“Hey!” she barked, more like snarled. “We’re not fucking finished yet.”
More available on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/JMLink
Before the Dawn, by J.M. Link
Copyright 2026, J.M. Link
All rights reserved
