Excerpt Day

We are one week out from the release of Heart's Bounty. We're on the front page, second row of the Coming Soon page at Ellora's Cave,

So, how about an inauspicious first meeting?



A few blocks away, he came to a three-walled building. He suspected the entire fourth wall pulled down and locked against urban predators. Or maybe it was open all the time. He saw several people playing cards around a table and one man at a makeshift desk, typing into a desk comp.

“Welcome. Hunters are always welcome,” the man said without looking up. The card players sized him up, and went back to whatever they were playing with the round cards. One man's gold mustache beads twitched against his dark face when the human-sized red rabbitoid laid out his cards and raked in the pot. After this afternoon, Miho was staying well away from that table.

The Tag Board was on the wall opposite the desk. He didn't like the look of the guy there, either. Big guy, about half a head taller than Miho, his brown hair starting to go a shaggy gray and matched by the stubble on his face, he stood with his hands thrust into the pockets of his coverall, staring at the Board. After a moment, he pulled out  a comp that was several years old and tapped at it.

Miho plucked up his courage and stepped up beside him. “You're blocking the Tag Board, old timer.”

“Not blocking, kid. I’m reading.” The man looked at him, his brown eyes tired and his face a leathery tan from the suns on hundreds of worlds. “Why don’t you go clean up your fingerpaints? I think I hear your mama calling.” He finished tapping and walked out.