P.B. Cannon's Blog, page 3

Available for preorder

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Choices, Book Three of the Successors available for .99 until release.

The human species is evolving. The first of the successors to the old species have had to make some hard choices, and trouble between the old and the new is coming.

What will the successors choose to do when threats arise from more than one direction?

(Anotrothe and Dichotomy, books 1&2 of the series, are also available for .99 until 12/1/2020)

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Available at:

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Smashwords

Evelyn, Connor, and Valerie, friends bound together by a psychic connection since before they were born, mourn the loss of their friend and soulmate, Shane. They are left with the task of telling his parents that he won’t be coming home. They also have to tell them that Anotrothe, the imaginary friend from their childhood, was not make-believe and is the reason Shane is gone.

It isn’t easy – or believable.

Meanwhile, on a world of pale yellow skies, a lone figure with an empty mind wanders across a featureless plain. Is he a savior – or a monster? Or could he be both?

Book 2 of The Successors

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.99 cents for pre-order at:

Amazon

Apple Books

Kobo

Barnes and Noble

(Price will increase after release. Also, Anotrothe, book 1 of The Successors on sale for .99)

Evelyn, Connor, and Valerie, friends bound together by a psychic connection since before they were born, mourn the loss of their friend and soulmate, Shane. They are left with the task of telling his parents that he won’t be coming home. They also have to tell them that Anotrothe, the imaginary friend from their childhood, was not make-believe and is the reason Shane is gone.

It isn’t easy – or believable.

Meanwhile, on a world of pale yellow skies, a lone figure with an empty mind wanders across a featureless plain. Is he a savior – or a monster? Or could he be both?

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       Savior – or monster? Or could he be both?

50% off sale from July 1, 2020 – July 31, 2020

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Anotrothe                                 A Small Gray Dot

First                                          Bridge

A Short Trilogy of Quiet           Five Book Box Set: Spaceships and Magic (75% off)

Sower                                       Seed

Turner: New Era                       Swallow and Dove: A Tale from the Turmoils

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When I was a kid during the nineteen fifty’s, my family picked cotton for pennies a pound. No, we weren’t sharecroppers, and we didn’t live out in the country. We lived in the city, and a man driving a bus or a truck would pull up to the corner where we waited before daylight, and take us to the fields. It was hot, hard work. It hurt your back and your fingers and hands, and you did it from sunup to sundown with a break for a sit-down lunch in the middle of the cotton field, preferably under a tree, but it was one of the jobs poor, uneducated black people could get, so we did it.

Oh, we did other kinds of work, such as cleaning newly constructed houses, my mother did maid work, so did my sister (and me when I was older), there was babysitting, ironing for people, and running errands. My brothers threw newspapers, did yard work, and picked up balls at the golf course. Name it, and we probably did it, but picking cotton was something that, as a family, we all did.

And, yes, by “we” I mean the kids went, too. The teachers at school, sort of looked the other way when we were out. They knew, and as long as we stayed caught up on schoolwork, nothing was said.

I have to admit that sometimes, others in the neighborhood who wouldn’t deign to do work such as picking cotton, looked down on us, but my mother always said, “Hold you head up high. It’s honest work.” I believed her.

On the farms (we worked on more than one), we were encouraged to buy our lunch at the property store, but my mother was too savvy for that. She would pack apples, a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a can of spam to make sandwiches because you had to be careful not to spend too much, or most of your money would go to pay it back at the end of the day.

Usually, depending on which farm we were working, the farmer would send one of his kids around with a bucket of cold, well water so we could drink during the hot day and not have to keep stopping for water. Mom brought a large jar with a lid from home, so she could save some for those times after the kid came around, and we got thirsty. It also kept her from having to send one of us to get water since it took away from work (for a treat, sometimes she would allow us to get a grape Nehi and a Moon Pie at the store. For another treat, we sometimes found wild muscadines in nearby woods, and a few times, persimmons. Er, be careful with persimmons. Never eat an unripe one. Did that once.).

Mom made me my very own little burlap cotton sack because the ones used by the adults were way too big for me, but I was four years old before she let me actually pick cotton for myself and get paid separately. Before that, my pickings went on her sheet. Afterward, I had my own. And, yes, I remember being four (I throw that in because I’ve been accused of not remembering that far back. Heck, I can remember being two years old. Not everything, but enough, and I even have a few recollections from before two. My mom said it was because I talked early, but she had an excellent long-term memory, too. Probably runs in the family).

The cotton picking money helped with rent and eating. My mother could sew, and she had an old Singer sewing machine she picked up used. It had a treadle, but someone had motorized the thing, so we had clothes. They were sometimes cut down from something else, but hey, she was good at it, and they looked great. However, she couldn’t make shoes, so those had to be bought.

The money also paid our schoolbook fees, and my mom always tried to save enough to put something in layaway for Christmas. That didn’t always work, so sometimes the Christmas toy came from the Salvation Army. We always got one and were happy no matter where it came from. We kids were encouraged to save enough to buy Christmas presents at the five and dime. I still have a few of the trinkets I bought for my mom and my aunt when I was a kid that I saved after they died.

Looking back, at that young age, I didn’t realize we were poor, but then we always had a roof over our heads and enough to eat. And oil lamps for the occasions when the electricity went out in a storm – or got turned off. I guess I’d have to say that we were some of the richest poor kids on the block.

When I was in the fourth grade, Mom didn’t have enough to pay for something I was desperate to have. It cost four dollars and fifty cents, and I was determined to have it, so that fall, I worked extra hard in the cotton fields, and at the end of a week, I had the money. That’s how I got my little blue, fourth grade Miriam Webster dictionary.

I kept that thing until I was grown, married, and divorced with three kids of my own. I’d still have it, but in nineteen-seventy-six, after I bought my first house, there was a fire, and I lost everything, including my books. And my little blue Miriam Webster.

I still miss it.

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Pre-order for .99 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Google play.

Shane, Evelyn, Connor, and Valerie. Non-siblings bound together since conception by a connection only they have. They also share an invisible friend. But not all invisible friends are necessarily imaginary.

Consider Anotrothe. Friend and gentle guardian with powerful psychic abilities, he is invisible to everyone except them until they are twelve, when he appears and becomes a teacher at their school.

One day, he tells them that the connection they share gives them the capacity to learn things no other humans can, and promises to teach them when they are old enough to learn.

When they are eighteen and bound for college, he informs them that it’s crucial they begin their lessons soon because malignant forces are on the way to destroy their world and they must use their abilities to help him save Earth.

He becomes their teacher, using a method that is unusual. One could even call it unorthodox. It is one that dictates he become much more than simply an instructor.

Then, he informs them that they are the result of a biological experiment and their world becomes filled with mounting tensions intermingled with rising doubts.

Are they what he says they are, and is he the benevolent benefactor he appears to be?

(See excerpt here)

He sat within his vessel and brooded on his longstanding dilemma.

A vibration, a mere hint of a disturbance, imposed its way into his consciousness, interrupting his inner gloom. Startled, he raised his head.

In all his time of searching, this was the first instance in which he had perceived any trace of that which was required. Hopeful, he concentrated.

A link.

His mind pursued the thin, almost imperceptible thread, and met with an obstruction. Frustration creased his brow. Perhaps he was mistaken. He quietened his mind and focused. There was no mistake. It was indeed the long sought after assistance he would need. He had but to reach it.

He pulled his mind back and mulled over his next move, which was to determine how to overcome the obstruction, and then isolate the exact location and identity of the link. It was crucial to make this discovery as soon as possible. After several trials that accomplished nothing, he thought to ask the ship.

“Zua, assess. Why am I not achieving success with this?”

“Your efforts are hindered by a lack of power, Master.”

He waited for a moment then said patiently, “I am waiting, Zua. Are you then going to explain how I may rectify this?”

“The link itself is the answer, Master. Through it, you can access a strength that, while not great, may be combined with yours. It can be used to cancel the distance and thus overcome the obstruction. Then, you may isolate the position of the link.”

He stared at the ship’s console, thinking that it had seemed reluctant to answer him, but that thought was lost in his annoyance that he had not considered that angle himself. His irritation faded as he set about analyzing the parameters of the approach. His heart lightened with the discovery that the task would be complex but not insurmountable. As long as he was careful, such a tactic would work quite well.

So as not to sap the fragile power, through the link, he used a subtle touch to pull upon the delicate strength. He intermingled it with his own and negated the distance to gain egress. Then, he sent his perception through.

Reaching the source, he made a further survey and smiled with satisfaction. It was more than expected. Before him lay the pathway that would lead to his defeat of the enemy.

He made his plans, gave directives to his vessel, and wended his way toward his destination.

Four kids from four different sets of parents born the same year on the same day.

This was not an uncommon occurrence, but it was a fact not known to the parents as, at the time, they lived in four different states and didn’t know one another.

It was perhaps less common that the kids were born within the same hour within the same minute, but that was a detail not discovered for years.

Mere seconds separated their ages. Evelyn Bryce made it into the world first, a second after midnight and a second before Connor Helmuth. Connor beat Shane Anders by a half-second, and Valerie Worthy was the youngest at one second behind Shane. Three and a half seconds after midnight, they were all out and squalling.

They met when they were eight weeks old. Or rather, their parents did. One could say that the babies already knew each other.

Two weeks after the births of the newest addition to their families, the fathers transferred from their respective jobs to a town in Massachusetts. On a sunny day in mid-spring, the mothers met while in the park with their new babies and found they lived within a few blocks of each other. Upon discovering the babies were all born on February twenty-fifth, they marveled at the coincidence. They became good friends.

One mother noticed her baby sometimes appeared to be listening to something, something she couldn’t hear, or the baby would coo or giggle when alone in the nursery. In comparing notes with the other mothers, she discovered their babies behaved the same way. They chalked it up as normal and got on with enjoying their little bundles of joy.

From the beginning, some connection the babies seemed to share called to mind the one shared by multiples from the same womb. When the kids were older, and the mothers brought them together, they would crawl to each other and babble as though they understood. It was as though they had their own language and were communicating on a level no one else had.

Like puppies, they would fall asleep in a huddle. Shane was always next to Evelyn, and Connor next to Valerie. Everyone thought it was cute.

Their families jokingly called them the quad squad.

Smashwords is having a special sale, which will run from today (3/20) thru 4/20. Books will range from free to 60% off. All mine are free (click on the image below and scroll down. Coupon is on the page for the book).

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Shane, Evelyn, Connor, and Valerie.

Non-siblings bound together since conception by a connection only they have, they also share an invisible friend.

Not all invisible friends are necessarily imaginary.

Consider Anotrothe.

Friend and gentle guardian with powerful psychic abilities, he is invisible to everyone except them until they are twelve, and no one else knows he has been there all along.

One day, he tells them that the connection they share gives them the capacity to learn things no other humans can, and promises to teach them when they are old enough to learn.

When they are eighteen and bound for college, he informs them that it’s crucial they begin their lessons soon because malignant forces are on the way to destroy their world and they must use their abilities to help him save Earth.

He becomes their teacher, using a method that is unusual, one could even call it… unorthodox. It is one that dictates he become much more than simply an instructor.

Then, he reveals to that they are the result of a biological experiment and their world becomes filled with mounting tensions intermingled with rising doubts.

Are they what he says they are and is he the benevolent benefactor he appears to be?