✍The First Page: Ten Gold Coins by Joni Parker

 

 TEN GOLD COINS: BOOK TWO OF THE GOLDEN HARVEST SERIES

By Joni Parker

Publication Date: March 3, 2024

Fantasy/Scifi

Lady Alexin (Alex), the Keeper of the Keys for the Elfin Council of Elders, returns home to Eledon to help her grandmother clean out the warehouse, but she’s kidnapped and forced to use the magical Keys of Eledon in a series of life-or-death missions with consequences that span across the realms. Her captor, Lord Fissure of the Rock Elves, demands her magical help, but once he’s done with her, he turns her over to the Marsh Elf Sawgrass, a criminal, who sends her into the treacherous depths of Hades’ kingdom in the Underworld for his own benefit. To save herself, Alex calls upon the powers of Poseidon, but he enlists her help with the Golden Harvest for Olympus before the Mentors arrive. His brothers, Zeus and Hades, are the only ones who know where the gold is stored, so Alex follows their trail into the mortal world, only to find they aren’t ready to return. What must she do to get them back to Olympus so she can return home to Eledon?

You can pick up your copy at Amazon at https://amazon.com/dp/B0CW1GJDPH .

 

 

                     

Cleaning out the warehouse wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my vacation, but my grandmother thought it was a great idea. Several years ago, my grandparent’s house in the Elf city of Meridian had burned down, but the contents in the basement had been spared and moved to a local warehouse. No one knew how the fire started, but I suspected arson, especially after someone reported seeing a group of Rock Elves nearby.
The Rock Elves had this vendetta against me—I guess because I had one against them. They had yet to provide one knot of actual gold for the Golden Harvest, even though they were supposed to be the Elfin experts on mining. Go figure. They claimed they couldn’t provide any gold because they were too busy moving from Tulon on the southern continent of Sudin to Nexus Island. Come on. It wasn’t that far, and they had nearly 4,000 years to prepare for this Golden Harvest, just like the rest of us. So, I didn’t buy their excuses.
And the Mentors arrived early to collect our gold because of them and the Star Elves, after they tried to steal our stored gold. We already told the Mentors we didn’t have the full amount, but they came to stop anyone from trying something else.

 

Joni Parker was born in Chicago, Illinois, but moved the Japan when she was 8, so her father could become a professional golfer. Once he achieved his dream, Joni and her family returned to the U.S. and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. After high school, Joni served her country for 22 years in the Navy and another 7 years in federal civil service. She retired and lives in Tucson, Arizona, devoting her time to writing, reading, and watching the sunrise.

Author Links  

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✍The First Page: The Edison Enigma by Thomas White

 

 THE EDISON ENIGMA

By Thomas White

Publication Date: February 29, 2024

Scifi/Mystery

Edison, a Chicago physicist, manages to successfully transport an object through time. Almost immediately following this success Dr. Edison is shut out of the facility and told by benefactor Raphael Barrington, to take a vacation. He is contacted by Don Rivendell, a grizzled old man with a secret. Rivendell explains to Tom that he is not the first person to discover time travel. Someone else went back and changed history by saving a young girl from dying in an internal combustion engine explosion.

Dr. Edison is tasked with going back and fixing history. He travels back to 1904 to find the younger version of Rivendell and stop him from saving the girl. 

You can purchase your copy of The Edison Enigma at Amazon at https://t.ly/_NOoo.

 

 

                     

The rising sun reflected off Lake Michigan, projecting a silvery flicker on the buildings along
the shoreline. As usual, the morning southbound traffic on Lakeshore Drive was bumper-tobumper, moving along at a torrid speed of three miles per hour. As a serene Spring breeze drifted
in from the lake, Dr. Tom Edison checked the dashboard clock, banged his palm against the
steering wheel, and hit the phone button under his left thumb.
“Call the lab.” He barked with growing frustration. As the number dialed, he heard the chimes
through the car’s speaker.
A dark gray sedan sat off to the side of the road about a hundred yards ahead. Smoke billowed
out from under the popped hood. This fire was one of the reasons for the traffic jam, but if it hadn’t
been this car fire, it would have been something else. Chicago’s modern population far outweighed
the capabilities of its ancient infrastructure. Up ahead, Tom could see the fire department
approaching on the Northbound side, lights flashing.
“Barrington Scientific Research Center. How may I direct your call?” The operator asked with
professional precision.
“Dr. Bruce Reeves, please.” Bruce had been with him from the beginning, and with his
invaluable help, they had hammered out the first feasible theories for their project.
“I’m sorry. Dr. Reeves is unavailable. Can I take a message?”
Tom gritted his teeth and reminded himself that this fellow was just doing his job.
“Is this Cliff? It’s Dr. Edison. I need to speak with Dr. Reeves.”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t recognize your voice. One minute, Dr. Edison.”
The fire engine stopped on the far side of the concrete barrier opposite the fire. Eager
firefighters jumped out and began to set up on that side of the highway. Tom could only hope to
move past the car fire before the fire department shut down the drive in both directions.
The on-hold sound was the local radio station WBBM-Chicago. Lizzo was belting out the final
lyrics of “It’s About Damn Time,” and the station shifted to a news report.
“According to a United Nations Climate Change report, it has been found that the US climate
action plans remain well below acceptable limits to affect global temperature rise. Under the
Paris Agreement, there are parameters that have not yet been attained. Globally, even with
increased efforts by some countries, more definitive actions are needed.

Thomas White began his career as an actor. Several years later he found himself as an Artistic Director for a theatre in Los Angeles and the winner of several Drama-Logue and Critics awards for directing. As Tom’s career grew, he directed and co-produced the world tour of “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coming Out Of Their Shells”. The show toured for over two years, was translated into seven different languages and seen by close to a million children. Tom served as President and Creative Director for Maiden Lane Entertainment for 24 years and worked on many large-scale corporate event productions that included Harley Davidson, Microsoft, Medtronic Diabetes, and dozens of others. The Edison Enigma is Tom’s third novel following up Justice Rules which was nominated as a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association 2010 Literary contest, and The Siren’s Scream.

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✍The First Page: The Epsilon Account: The Golden Harvest Series Book 1 by Joni Parker

 

THE EPSILON ACCOUNT: THE GOLDEN HARVEST SERIES BOOK 1

By Joni Parker

Publication Date: September 16, 2023

Fantasy/Science Fiction Hybrid

Thousands of years ago, Eledon was created for the Elves by their Mentors when they were forced to leave Earth. At least, that’s how the legend goes. In return, the Elves must pay them a tribute in gold, known as the Golden Harvest, every four thousand years. The Elfin Council of Elders appoints Lady Alexin (Alex) Dumwalt, the Keeper of the Keys, to manage the next payment, due 244 years from now. That is, until the Mentors show up unexpectedly and demand immediate payment of the Epsilon Account. Since the Harvest has never been called that, Alex suspects foul play and uncovers a sinister plot by the Star Elves, a rival clan from the Constellations, who want to steal the gold. To make matters worse, they’re willing to do anything to succeed to include murder. Can Alex stop them and save the Elfin gold before it’s too late?

Buy Link:

Amazon

 

 

 

                     

It worked! The emergency contact system I had set up with the help of my Elf grandfather really worked. With this system, I could leave the magical keys of Eledon with my grandfather, just in case something disastrousv happened, like a flood or a quake. My grandfather had been the Keeper of the Keys before me, so he could fill in as needed, but if there was something he couldn't handle, he'd sent Lord Hillen for me.

Lord Hillen had been in London recently to investigate the presence of Elf slaves in the mortal world and had posed as my Uncle James. If he needed to contact me, his lordship would use the portal and call on a pay phone on the street corner outside of Hyde Park. We rehearsed it several times to make sure it worked. Unfortunately, when he called for real, I was the middle of a fashion show in Paris.

A few months ago, I signed a five-year contract to work as a fashion model for the Echelon ModelingAgency owned and operated by Andrew Miller. The next day, my exile to the mortal world ended, and I was allowed to return to Eledon.

 

Joni Parker was born in Chicago, Illinois, but moved to Japan when she was 8 so her father could become a professional golfer. Once he achieved his dream, Joni and her family returned to the U.S. and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. After high school, Joni served her country for 22 years in the Navy and another 7 years in federal civil service. She retired in Tucson, Arizona, devoting her time to writing, reading, and watching the sunrise.

Author Links  

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