Inanna Phantom
by Hawk MacKinney
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GENRE: Science Fiction
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BLURB:
The threat of rift invasions seem long passed. Plentiful harvests abound. The Murian first-contact Terato Outpost has grown into the sprawling Terato-Murian Terminus Terato with a hub of relay portals reaching across the vast uncharted galactic expanses and connecting with its eon-extinct Lantaraan prehistory.
An exploratory Terato-Murian Jupiterr outpost is established on the gas giant seventh planet, and its quantum and gravitational energies are used to power outpost portals for an archeological survey of the fourth planet, Eorthe.
The Lantaraan database aboard Terato’s ancient Downday moon shows that one or more planets of the Solaris planets have apparently been lost. Expanded archeological records on other Lantaraan orbital bodies in the Solaris system show the fourth planet from the star—Eorthe—to be a sterile wasteland. Except it is not. Eorthe’s civilization is not to the level of the Murian Empire, but it is far advanced to those of a pastoral Terato. Terato and Eorthe form the confederated United Terran League under the nominal figurehead leader of League High Judikarr Eklam a’Qoc.
Jupiterr outpost expands into a major League stronghold, Jupiterr Base, when civil unrest erupts in the League, the unexpected return of rift intrusions threatens, and the Murian Emperor Klarvko Celo is assassinated.
As they prepare for confrontations with an unknown ancient enemy, the internal tensions on Myr and Eorthe push Murians and Teratoans to dangerous discords.
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EXCERPT:
The first anomalies were logged by remote nanoparticle quantum-field sensor arrays positioned on uninhabited dwarf planets, moons and long-orbit asteroids of the star systems of the League. The inconsistencies were short sub-fracture durations and were seismically unremarkable. Across the League’s far-flung frontier systems, seasoned operators monitored the encoded decryption of the scan-logs. Through decades of use, the linknet had become indispensable; supplanting the slower interstellar particle entanglement-based trans-light travel. Linknet protocols established allowances for such random background fluctuations with standard deviations measured against system parameters. The diverse configurations of the link systems were accepted as fail-safe.
Senior specialists assigned to Terminus Terra II protocol-consoles maintained continuous scans for minor time-sync misaligns. Scan records were stored in Murian-designed crystals in tiered sublevels of mantle crust beneath Terminus and in Myraa City. Link schedules of freight shipments, personnel, and communications remained on tight schedules.
The erratic anomalous spacetime oscillations data was logged. The ruse was almost perfect. Except star-core substrate logs registered converter power for the unsanctioned personnel requisition of translinks coordinates for specific network portals. It was a simple oversight but one that had sa s'Blikova'at consequences. Besides, waiting one more day wouldn’t matter.
The following morning Marleen and her three sons would be alone.
Chatting With the Author
1.Did you always want to be an author? Absolutely – from day-1 & the first serial mystery written for my 6th grade class paper (a weekly one-page biggy). I luved writing it. I was hooked.
2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.
Moccasin Trace - historical romance, prequel to the Moccasin Hollow mysteries, and my first book published by a traditional, royalty-paying publisher.
The construct of Moccasin Trace involved many aspects of the tale told. The historical had to be well-referenced, then re-referenced several more times after the so-called expert at a major university edited out colonial parishes except for Louisiana - which wasn’t a colony! Parishes stayed in the manuscript – censoring history is ethically brain-dead-dumb & NOT permitted. The political had to be considered BUT only as a background for setting & supporting characters. The emotional aspects of it being a romance – a love story that changed lives in the conflicts& upheaval of the American Civil War and gave strength to bloodlines that reached across generations into the lives of other characters. All the genres – all in bundle. The writing was the fun – multiple editing was a great learning experience – publication was a business arrangement. Marketing was the work – but that’s another tale.
3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in? I don’t write in genres – it limits the expections of the tale being spun.
4.What's the best part of being an author? Using words from countries beyond the river/mountain culture I grew up in to breathe life into make-believe worlds on this planet & others that NASA is discovering. This applies both to my science fiction series and my mystery series.
The worst? Not enough time to create the worlds & characters & fantasies being explored.
5.What are you working on now?
Sci-fi - The Cairns of Sainctuarie
Vol I – The Bleikovat Event - published
Vol II – The Missing Planets - published
Vol III – Inanna Phantom - published
Vol IV - [galley edit]
Mystery thrillers - The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series
Bk I – Hidden Chamber of Death - published
Bk II – Westobou Gold - published
Bk III – Curse of the Ancients - published
Bk IV – Dead Gold - published
Bk V – [galley edit]
Bk VI – [3rd edit]
Bk VII – [draft edit]
Historical Romance - Moccasin Trace - published
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Hawk has authored several works of fiction including a historical romance Moccasin Trace which was nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. His Cairns of Sainctuarie Science Fiction Series and his Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series have received national and international attention.
With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. His professional writing includes articles on chordate neuroembryology, and aerospace research on muscle metabolic behavior in multi-orbital environments.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ HawkMacKinney
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Hawk MacKinney will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Cole Weston’s biggest holiday wish is about to come true. The deal of a lifetime is within reach--and once he closes the sale of one small town elementary school, he’ll have a nice fat bonus check to take with him when he finally moves up to the real estate big leagues in New York. He’s not about to let anyone stand in his way--especially not the feisty and all-kinds-of-adorable teacher who does everything she can to convince the school board not to sell. 
