AD Starrling - An Author Interview at the HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author AD Starrling. She is the award-winning author of the action thriller series Seventeen.

Author Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Fiction

Website: A. D. Starrling
Twitter: @ADStarrling
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Amazon Author Profile



Author Description:
AD Starrling’s multi-award winning thriller series Seventeen combines action, adventure, science, and a dose of the supernatural to make each book an explosive, adrenaline-fueled read.

When she’s not busy writing and reading, AD can be found looking up exciting international locations and cool science and technology to put in her books, eating Thai food, being tortured by her back therapists, drooling over gadgets, working part-time as a doctor on a Neonatal Intensive Care unit somewhere in the UK, reading manga, and watching action and sci-fi flicks. She has occasionally been accused of committing art with a charcoal stick and some drawing paper.


SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author

Congratulations on your book: Mission: Black. What do you have on the drawing board next? Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?

Thank you! I am currently waiting to get Origins (A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 5) back from my editor, Sara Litchfield of Right Ink on the Wall. I am super excited about this penultimate novel in the Seventeen series and I hope it will grab my fans and take them on an epic thrill ride that will leave them breathless. The provisional release date is Tuesday 21 February 2017 and here’s the rough tagline:

The Gifts bestowed by the One not of this world, to the Man who has lived longer than most.

The Empire ruled by a King who would swallow the world in his madness.

The Warrior who chooses to rise against her own kind in order to defeat him.

Discover the extraordinary beginnings of the Immortals and the unforgettable story of the Princess who would become a Legend. Next up is Mission: Armor, the second novella in the Division Eight series, followed by Destiny (A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 6).

You have a good following on twitter. How important have your social media relationships been? How did you build your following in your niche? Do you see a carry over to your writing success?

In this day and age, I believe the three important tools an author needs to establish an internet presence is a website, a mailing list, and one or more social media profiles. Social media is a fantastic place to connect with other authors, influencers, and fans but it needs to be handled in a strategic and fun way so as not to become an unproductive, frustrating time sink.

Facebook remains my favourite place to date for talking with my readers and author friends. I still have to make a conscious effort with Twitter, where most of the influencers hang out. I built my following on all my platforms slowly and organically over 4 years, and I have to admit more people come to me than I go to them! Instagram is my next challenge. I think it’s a great platform for reaching new fans.

As for your last question, yes, as more connections bring more networking opportunities from the business point of view and increased exposure to potential readers and fans.

Do you do any book signings, interviews, speaking and personal appearances? If so, when and where is the next place where your readers can see you? Where can they keep up with your personal contacts online?

I have done a range of those in the past, the most notable being invited to speak on a panel chaired by Draft2Digital at Book Expo America 2015, which was an amazing experience. I would love to do more speaking engagements in the future, both in person, and on podcasts. I will be updating my website and LinkedIn profile shortly to advertise this.

You have great covers. They carry a theme and your brand with them. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?

Thanks! I just redid all my covers this summer and relaunched the Seventeen series with an edgier look. This was a result of seeing what Indie pros like JF Penn and Mark Dawson had done with their own rebranding and realizing that my first covers were not really saying “action thrillers”.

I have had the same designer since 2012, Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics. I normally give him a brief of what the story is about, what I would like, give him links to covers that reflect the style I want to achieve, and let him get on with it. Glendon “gets” me and always manages to surprise me. No cover is ever what I expect it to be, yet is always better than my original brief.

I can get very hands on in the final stages and we finalize the more challenging projects by Skype, with me viewing Glendon’s screen as he works on the last touches. That never gets boring!

As for input, I often survey author friends in some of the private Facebook groups I belong to. They make a great sounding board for when I have doubts. I have not surveyed my readers thus far with regards to cover options but have done Pickfu surveys.

A couple of your novels and several of your short stories have been converted into audio books. What has been the impact on your regular sales? Has the audio books gained a new audience for you?

Funny you should say that. I did some ad stacking around the relaunch of the Seventeen series this autumn, with the biggest ad being a Bookbub feature on October 10 for Hunted (A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 1), my permafree first in series. My sales and the book’s rankings on Amazon, iTunes, and Nook were truly amazing following that ad, with Hunted reaching number 4 on the Amazon US Kindle Store and number 1 on the Amazon UK Kindle Store and iBooks. The longest tail remains on Amazon, with the book still featuring well in the top 10-50 of multiple categories.

The biggest shock however was the impact on audiobook sales. These doubled fairly quickly and have now nearly tripled from before October 10. I have a lot of fans who are into audiobooks and I established an official Audiobook Club for them a few months ago, in addition to the advance reviewer/launch team which I have had for nearly two years.

I am definitely seeing more fans finding me through audiobooks and I am amazed at how well they are selling. I am hoping to have the entire series out on ACX and iTunes by 2018.

The biggest selling audiobook remains Hunted and I always notice a jump in sales following a promotion of the ebook.

You have written several short stories and novellas. Can you tell us if they had an impact on the sales of your novels? Are shorty’s one of your styles of writing or are they created to give readers a sample of your work?

Hunted started life as a short story and I have found the format quite easy to handle. I wrote the Seventeen series short stories for three reasons.

One, they were fun to do and a great way to tell the background stories that are alluded to in the novels but could never make their way in those.

Second, they make my product page look busy, which tells readers I publish often and consistently, and also offers them more items to consume.

Third, they make a great an incentive to join my mailing list. I used to offer Void, then First Death, before the current boxset of three shorts and the four confidential data files on the characters of each novel.

I would say marketing short stories is rather difficult and I have seen more sales the other way around, i.e. people buying my novels will go on to buy my short stories.

What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?

Making Hunted permafree was one of the best business decisions I ever made and I waited until my third novel Empire was published before I did this. It is definitely the most consistent way new readers discover me.

I regular host giveaways for my fans on my website and also participate in many others on bloggers’ sites, with author friends who ask me to contribute a book to their giveaways, and on specific marketing platforms. I did a recent giveaway with Booksweeps, which was terrific, and I am about to participate in my first Instafreebie cross promotion giveaway, which I am very excited about.

There are three reasons to do giveaways. One, to thank readers and fans. Two, to increase exposure to potential new readers through the share functions of your giveaways. No one does the latter better than Kingsumo. Three, to increase your mailing list subscription.

I have yet to run in any obstacles with participating in giveaways!

Do you maintain a reader list? What are the methods you use to find your readers and create the list and the relationship? Do you use social media, forums, newsletters and/or support groups to build your list?

As mentioned above, I have a mailing list, although I was late setting this up. Within this list is my VIP group, which consists of Team Immortal (my super fans and advance reviewers) and my Audiobook Club. I have been following Nick Stephenson since 2013, when he was still doing his Noorisha blog, and I downloaded his Reader Magnets book when he first launched it in 2014. I am also a student of Tim Grahl’s first Outthink Online Bestseller course, which was also aimed at how to set up a mailing list and what to do with it.

I started placing links to my mailing list at the front and back of all my books and short stories in 2014 and upgraded these to a full-blown graphic this year, when I reformatted my books with their new covers. I also created a landing page on my website for my mailing list in 2014 and am constantly reviewing this to make it more effective, as well as a pop-up box in my footer and an invitation to join the list at the end of every blog post and on every page.

I think making your mailing list invite visible is key. There is no point being shy about it but you also need to balance invitation with irritation. That’s why the only pop-up I have is in my footer. I get the most subscriptions through my permafree, followed by giveaways and cross promotions.

Living in England creates a unique selling and marketing situation. Where is your biggest audience? Does marketing online help in this situation?

My biggest audience is hands down the US and Canada. I am building a following in the UK and I now have fans pretty much all over the world. I think physical marketing is hard unless you have a lot of speaking engagements and hit influential platforms regularly. Online marketing is definitely the place where most authors concentrate their business strategies and efforts on.

What is your method of getting reviews for your novels? Do you seek professional reviews, use social media or do you rely on your reading audience to supply them?

I did virtual book tours for my first three novels and also tried a PR firm for the third one. I definitely garnered my first reviews through the virtual tours and made national press in the UK and Ireland with the PR firm.

My other deliberate strategy for getting reviews was to enter my books in competitions. Bestselling author used to be a special term but stopped being so several years ago. I decided until the day came when I could genuinely call myself bestselling, and for me that means making the currently still well-regarded NYT and USA Today bestseller lists, being nominated for or winning awards was another way to stand out as a relatively new author.

From surveying my readers, I know that, in addition to a great cover, calling my series award-winning made a good first impression and convinced them to give my writing a try.

But my mailing list, my permafree, constantly reviewing my brand to see how I can improve it, connecting with readers on a personal level, having a 6-12 month business strategy that includes regular marketing activities to expose my books to even more new readers, are what have garnered me the most reviews in the last two years.

I also have a note at the back of every book, novella, and short story, right after “The End”, where I kindly request a review. Although a lot of writers think readers will automatically review their books and they should not ask for one, that is not the case and I know this for a fact from surveying my mailing list. That short note has definitely seen my reviews grow.



Author's Book List
Mission: Black - A Division Eight Thriller Book 1
A broken agent. A once in a lifetime chance. A new mission that threatens to destroy her again.

Rachel Carter has it all. A brilliant career in the DEA, a man she loves at her side, a future filled with possibilities. Until the night she loses everything.

Considered damaged beyond salvation by the people who once trusted her, Rachel enlists into the secretive Division Eight and becomes part of a new breed of special operatives working in the shadows.

When a critical mission goes wrong in North Africa, Rachel finds herself face to face with ghosts from her past. Embroiled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game against a brutal adversary determined to win at any cost, she must face her darkest fears in order to defeat the enemy who once tore her life apart.

Mission: Black is the first novella in the new action thriller series Division Eight, from award-winning author AD Starrling. If you like action-packed, sexy adventures with strong-willed heroes and heroines, then you'll love this riveting new series.


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The Seventeen Series Ultimate Short Story Collection - Seventeen Series Short Stories #1-6
All six short stories in the explosive, action-packed, award-winning thriller series Seventeen in one ultimate collection!

FIRST DEATH #1 Discover where it all started...

DANCING BLADES #2 Join Lucas Soul on his quest to become a warrior.

THE MEETING #3 Discover the origins of the incredible friendship that defines Hunted (A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 1)...

THE WARRIOR MONK #4 Experience Warrior (A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 2) from the eyes of one of the most loved characters in Seventeen...

THE HUNGER #5 Discover the origin of the love story behind Empire (A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 3).

THE BANK JOB #6 Join two of the protagonists of Legacy (A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 4) on their very first adventure.


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Legacy - A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 4
The Hunter who should have been king. The Elemental who fears love. The Seer who is yet to embrace her powers.

Three immortals whose fates are entwined with that of the oldest and most formidable enemy the world has ever faced.

1599. While hunting a deadly adversary who has eluded him for two hundred years, Asgard Godard falls into an icy tomb that leaves him frozen in time.

1969. After more than a century on the run, Ethan Storm finds himself at the mercy of the man who ripped his family apart and sent him into exile.

2013. Following a hundred years of solitary existence, Olivia Ash wakes from a nightmare to find the home where she has lived her entire life under attack by a deadly foe.

Linked by an incredible destiny and with time very much against them, Asgard, Ethan, and Olivia must keep ahead of their common enemy and the rogue branch of the US army at his command. But when an unlikely ally crosses their path, they come into possession of a set of clues that help them unearth their opponents' devastating plans.

With the future of the entire world at risk, the three immortals must form new alliances and draw on all their unique skills and abilities to defeat the man who has inflicted so much loss and misery upon their lives.


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Empire - A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 3
An immortal healer. An ancient empire reborn. A chain of cataclysmic events that threatens to change the fate of the world.

Retired Bastian covert operative Conrad Greene has but one wish left. To live out the rest of eternity away from immortals and humans alike. But when a plane crashes into the Amazonian swamp where he has been hiding for half a century, the jaded immortal healer who was once the greatest asset of the Bastian First Council stumbles across a conspiracy involving the newly elected President of the United States.

Caught in the middle of the intrigue is Bastian intelligence operative Laura Hartwell, the one immortal on Earth most likely to put a bullet through Conrad's skull.

Coerced into returning to the life he had left behind, Conrad reluctantly agrees to assist the American government with their investigation. But as disturbing events start to unfold around the globe, Conrad and his team of elite human and immortal agents find themselves facing an elusive organization hellbent on shifting the power balance of the world.

As chaos descends on Western societies and an old empire rises once more, can Conrad stop the deadly countdown that threatens to alter the course of human history and regain the trust of the woman he loves?


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Warrior - A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 2
The perfect Immortal warrior. A set of stolen, priceless artifacts. An ancient sect determined to bring about the downfall of human civilization.

When a team of scientists unearth scriptures older than the Dead Sea Scrolls in a cave in Egypt, a mystery lost to the tides of time is uncovered. Heading the expedition is Dimitri Reznak, the Head of the Crovir Immortal Culture & History Section. But the monumental discovery is spoiled by evidence of looting and half the priceless artifacts Reznak has sought for centuries have disappeared.

Alexa King is a covert agent for the Crovir First Council. Cold, deadly, unrivaled on the battlefield, she is the perfect warrior. When her godfather Dimitri approaches her for a mission that could elucidate the enigma of her lost past, Alexa is drawn into the dangerous and shadowy world of secret religious societies along with Zachary Jackson, a gifted human and Harvard archaeology professor assigned to help her.

In their hunt for the missing artifacts, Alexa and Zachary cross path with a sinister sect whose origins are as mystifying as the relics they are searching for, and unveil a centuries-old plan that aims to shatter the very structure of civilized society.

From North Africa to the doors of Vatican City and beyond, Alexa and Zachary must outwit the enemy and uncover the astonishing truth behind the missing artifacts and Alexa's own unearthly origins before all is lost.


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Hunted - A Seventeen Series Thriller Book 1
'My name is Lucas Soul. Today, I died again. This is my fifteenth death in the last four hundred and fifty years.'

Soul is an outcast of the Immortal Societies. Born of a Bastian mother and a Crovir father, a half-breed who is abhorred by the two races, he spends the first three hundred and fifty years of his existence being chased and killed by the Hunters.

One fall night in Boston, the Hunt starts again, resulting in Soul's fifteenth death and triggering a chain of events that sends him on the run with Reid Hasley, a former US Marine and his human business partner. From Paris to Prague, their search for answers leads them deep into the Immortal societies and brings them face to face with someone from Soul's past. Shocking secrets are revealed and fresh allies come to the fore as they uncover a new and terrifying threat to both immortals and humans.

To defeat his enemies, Soul must embrace his tortured fate and become the Hunter. But time is running out. Can he protect the ones he loves and prevent another Immortal War before his seventeenth and final death?


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M. R. Cornelius - A Tale of Moral Corruption is featured in the HBS Author's Spotlight Showcase

The Showcase is a special feature of the Author's Spotlight. It is designed to highlight Spotlight author's NEW releases and their soon to be released novels.

The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES M. R. Cornelius New Book: A Tale of Moral Corruption.

Today our blog showcases Best Selling Author M. R. Cornelius. She writes speculative fiction.

A Tale of Moral Corruption

Author: M. R. Cornelius


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How does a successful man plummet into a world of male escorts, kinky sex, and barbaric death matches?

In this female-dominated world, 28-year-old Mason is comfortable with his job as a tax clerk. His real ambition is to be a loving father and supportive husband. He’s especially looking forward to wearing the new artificial womb that so many men have strapped on their bellies. But first, Mason must be chosen as a husband.

He’s listed on the Approved Partner Registry, a website that profiles men and their qualifications. It’s used by successful businesswomen who don’t have the time or inclination to date. Now it’s a waiting game.

In the meantime, he volunteers at the company’s co-op daycare. He keeps his body in good physical condition. He even took a remedial course with a sex surrogate when the registry listed him as a premature ejaculator. His diligence will pay off when he is selected as a mate.

But when he is dropped from the registry because of an indiscretion at work, his life begins to unravel and it doesn’t look like anything can stop his fall from grace.

Background and Excerpt from A Tale of Moral Corruption Several years ago I read 'A Handmaid’s Tale', a futuristic story of women who were so subjugated they were nothing more than breeding stock. I decided I wanted to turn this story completely around and make women in charge of everything—politics, government, even choosing a husband.

One of the first obstacles I faced was the fact that no matter how powerful women got, they were still the child-bearers. But after researching artificial wombs, I found that ectogenesis—raising a fetus outside the human body—will be a reality soon. I just didn’t want to create a world in which sterile laboratories house rows and rows of pods. So I decided that in my story, these warm, flexible pods could be worn by men on their bellies with straps similar to backpacks.

Once I had childbearing figured out, it was quite a bit of fun to put men in subservient roles as secretaries and assistants. Dating services in the future are for men only. Women are too busy to bother with dating but they want to make sure men are worthy so they make them register on an approved site.

And wait until you find out how I’ve handled all of the violent men who used to terrorize women through rape and abuse.

Chapter 1

"It's a boy." Merriam's mouth sagged at the corners when she made her announcement yesterday, like she was reporting a cockroach sighting in the break room. She reminded us that Navin's paternity leave starts today; we'll all need to pick up the slack while he's out.

Of course, we knew it was a boy months ago when Navin started parading around the office with that artificial womb strapped to his belly. His wife Lanelle is president of Jarvis Corporation, so naturally, they paid for the deluxe womb with the clear walls where everyone can see the little darling.

Like the pompous show-off he is, Navin didn't drape the womb with a coverlet. Oh, no, he wanted to draw attention to his miniscule contribution to the process. At the beginning of the pregnancy, he kept insisting that the genital tubercle on the fetus was a glans clitoridis. He caught me in the break room one morning, and actually juggled the womb until the little fetus rolled over. Then using a stylus, Navin proudly poked at a tiny nub. "See? It's a girl!"

But once the tubercle continued to extend, Navin could no longer carry his false hope around with the unborn child. The appendage was definitely phallic. After that, Navin adopted the privacy coverlet that most expectant parents wear.

Andrew says there was a time, long ago, when those three words-'It's a boy'-meant more than even the words 'I love you.'

He says the birth of a boy was heralded as a major event, bringing untold pride and joy to parents and the community. Evidently, a boy held the mystical guarantee of the continuation of a family's lineage.

When I was young, I imagined my mother crying tears of disappointment when she heard the news that her first-born was going to be a boy. Back then, the artificial womb was still experimental, and too expensive for my mother's salary as a young orthopedic surgeon. She didn't get the disheartening news until I was nearly 20 weeks along. I visualized my father hanging his head in shame at not being able to carry out the simple task of creating a girl child.

My mother said they tried all the usual tricks to produce a girl, but it just didn't work out that way. Always the martyr, she lamented my father's cursed Y chromosome that screwed everything up, and shamed us both in the process. But my dad has never acted like he was disappointed. In fact, he and I are a lot closer than he is with my sister Jillian.

According to Andrew, all children were given the father's surname, and that is how families were recorded generation after generation.

I don't know how Andrew remembers all this trivia. He and I went to the same schools but I don't recall seeing all this stuff about how revered male children were. All I've ever read was how men screwed up the world so bad that women took away their ability to make any kind of business or political decisions.

My grandmother says that if a woman is responsible enough to nurture a child from birth to adulthood, she can certainly nurture a business. She says all men ever did was cheat and steal from each other.

When I ask my father about this role reversal, he seems reticent to discuss the matter. Notice how I used 'reticent'? Andrew says I need to improve my vocabulary, to raise my score on the Approved Partner Registry.

I've been on the APR for over a year now. The board won't consider men until they're twenty-five years old, and then the open enrollment is only once a year. The first two times I applied, I was rejected. It's that questionnaire! They ask the same thing twice, only they put a little twist in the second time to see if you slip up. Like on one question, I strongly agreed that I preferred work that is routine, which was the right answer. But then on the question where it asked if I considered myself creative, someone who comes up with new ideas, I disagreed and got penalized.

But aren't those kind of the same question?

Andrew says I was just trying to answer the way I thought they wanted me to. But what does he know? He's never taken those stupid tests. He's never had to sweat it out, waiting for the results. I know, I shouldn't be so hard on him. He's not on the APR and his chances of getting on are slim. He has Erb's Palsy.

The brachial plexus muscle in Andrew's shoulder was damaged during childbirth. That kind of accident rarely happens these days, but his mother and father were in some third-world country as part of a humanitarian effort to help people recovering from an earthquake. His mother had assured everyone she'd be back in plenty of time for delivery, but then the country was hit with a second quake and they were stranded.

She went into premature labor at some godforsaken outpost. A midwife was sent for, but Andrew's father panicked. The baby was coming. Some hidden instinct to take charge overwhelmed him. He pulled Andrew's head to the side as he tugged to free him from the birth canal and the muscle in his shoulder tore.

Now his left arm hangs useless at his side, and it's definitely smaller than his right. He always wears long-sleeved shirts, even in the summer, to hide the deformity. Funny how just a moment's panic during those few seconds of childbirth can determine your whole life.

Back in the U.S., his mother's insurance paid to try and correct the damage, but the surgeon did a crappy job. Too bad Andrew wasn't born a girl. His mother would have insisted on a top surgeon, for sure.

So of course, he'll never be a candidate for the APR. Only attractive men with above average Iqs, and strong compatibility traits are accepted. I mean, I'm pretty good looking, but I still had a hard time getting in.

My supervisor, Merriam, once told me I was a knock-out. She said if she weren't already married, she'd take some of that Mason magic. That's sexual harassment, but I'm not going to report her. I appreciate the compliment.

My best friend Ben took the APR test the day he turned 25 and aced it. Within a week, he was getting all kinds of requests from women, and last year he got married. I try not to be jealous but come on, he had three different women interested in him. He's going to call me any day now to say he and his new wife are launching a pregnancy, and I'll have to be all positive and supportive. …

Author Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Science Fiction

Website: M. R. Cornelius
Author's Blog: M. R. Cornelius
Twitter: @marshacornelius 
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Author Description: After working for fifteen years as a cafeteria manager in an elementary school, I turned in my non-skid shoes for a bathrobe and slippers. Now I work at home, writing novels, ranting on Facebook and Twitter, and occasionally whisking a Swiffer across dusty surfaces. Like thousands of others, I thought I could write romance, but soon discovered I was a dismal failure. I did increase my repertoire of adjectives such as throbbing, pulsing, thrumming, vibrating, hammering, pumping . . .

I live in the country north of Atlanta with my husband, and two molly-coddled cats. My two grown sons occasionally visit for clean laundry and a hot cooked meal.





Author's Book List
Habits Kick Back
Prescription drugs are so common in the future they’re called supplements, and dispensed at meals like side dishes. Just like everyone else, Luna takes pills to curb her appetite, increase her memory, focus her concentration, improve her mood, even suppress her sex drive.

By her sophomore year in college, however, she’s beginning to wonder what life is like outside this drug-induced state. The perfect opportunity to break out of the mire comes when she sees a picture of a medallion from the 5th century. She’s not sure where she’s seen it, but she hopes once her mind is clear, she will find the artifact.

When she stops taking supplements, she discovers food tastes delicious, her friend Sal is suddenly sexy, and the search for the lost medallion turns into a real adventure.

Hopefully, all her new habits don’t get her killed.


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Losing It All


Frank Barnes is content living on the streets of Atlanta. A soup kitchen and a makeshift shanty sure beat his days as a POW in Vietnam. But Chloe Roberts can’t handle the eviction that sends her into the hell of homelessness. With no family or friends to turn to, Chloe and her children are sucked into the traumatic world of night shelters, and dangerous predators.

When they bump into each other at a soup kitchen, Frank offers Chloe a glimmer of hope that she can pull her life back together. She rekindles his lost sense of self-worth. But they will not meet again until Frank is riding high in his new life as a working stiff, and Chloe has hit rock bottom. By helping Chloe rebuild her broken life, Frank banishes the demons from his own past. Unfortunately, the past comes strolling back into their lives, threatening to destroy the happiness they have finally found.


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The Ups and Downs of Being Dead
Fifty-seven year old Robert Malone is the CEO of a successful clothing store chain and married to a former model. When his doctor tells him he is dying of cancer, he refuses to go quietly. Instead of death, Robert chooses cryonics. He knows it's a long shot. His frozen body will be stored in liquid nitrogen for the next seventy-five years, and then he'll wake up in the future. That is, if technology develops a way to bring him back. He's willing to take that gamble.

What he doesn't realize is that he won't lie in some dreamless state all that time. His soul is very much awake, just like the others who were frozen before him. And like these souls in limbo, Robert begins a new kind of life outside his physical body.

He discovers that he can ride in the cockpit with the pilots, but he can't turn the page of a magazine. He can sit in the oval office with the president, but he can't prevent a child from dashing in front of a car. He doesn't work, or eat, or sleep. He can't smell, or taste, or touch. These obstacles make it difficult to experience love, and virtually impossible to reconcile with the living.

Over the next several decades, Robert Malone will have plenty of time to figure out The Ups and Downs of Being Dead.


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H10N1
A deadly influenza virus rages out of control. There is no easy-fix vaccine. No eleventh-hour containment. Only death.

With no workforce, power plants are unmanned so there’s no means of communication; police and fire departments have collapsed so no one is safe; looters are scavenging everything from big-screen TVs to canned peas. When Dr. Taeya Sanchez finds herself unceremoniously dismissed from an emergency medical facility in New York, she decides to steal the hospital’s armored van for a midnight escape.

Unfortunately, Rick DeAngelo, a driver for the hospital, has already stocked the van for his own getaway.

Thrown into an unfriendly alliance, these two must pick their way across the dangerous wasteland of America in search of a safe haven. And as the miles roll by, they discover that the living should be feared much more than the festering corpses out there.


Book Trailer: H10N1



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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
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Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.