Girl Stalks The Ruins Preview: Ch 3 Morituri Te Salutant

CHAPTER THREE

MORITURI TE SALUTANT

“What are you doing?”

Emily called out to Li Li and Stone in a hushed tone. She’d just caught up with them, in a sub-basement of the Roman amphitheater in Trier. They’d been scratching graffiti into the stone wall of a cell probably used in a previous millennium to hold gladiators before they found a death in the arena. A nearby sign in German seemed to announce some sort of prohibition.

“Don’t do that.”

Stone shrugged, but Li Li merely pointed to the many symbols and initials that had already been cut into the rock. “What about those? It’s not like lots of other people haven’t done it, too.”

Perry leaned forward to examine some of the etchings. “This one looks like Latin… morituri… something, I can’t quite make out this last bit.”

“Do you know what it means?”

“What am I, a Latin scholar?”

Emily punched his shoulder. “Don’t tell me you didn’t study it at whatever pompous private school you went to.”

Perry rubbed his chin and tilted his head. “It might mean something like we… or maybe they who are about to die…”

“You mean like the gladiator salute – we, the already dead, salute you?” Emily grinned at him, pleased with her epiphany.

“I imagine the gladiators were fatalists, but I don’t think they had anything on you.

Girl Stalks The Ruins Preview" Ch 2 Sake Town In Sasebo

CHAPTER TWO

SAKE TOWN IN SASEBO

“Are you sure about this address, Sir?” Gunnery Sgt Hector Colón turned the paper over, as if the directions might make more sense that way. “It’s in Sake Town.”

“Is there a problem, gunny?”

General Lukasziewicz, the Marine Commandant, had plucked his sergeant out of a hospital ward a few months back, pinned a Purple Heart on him, and processed his promotion to Gunnery Sergeant. The injuries Colón had received in the action on Itbayat provided a convenient excuse to interrupt his progress through the infantry ranks, at least for a little while, and seemed like a good way to keep him from being debriefed about certain events by CIA operatives. Colón hadn’t been assigned to any unit that included Capt Tenno, but he’d flown in her bird a few times, and took part in the final firefight precipitated by her rescue of Princess Akane of Japan. When Admiral James Crichton, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, put a bug in his ear about deflecting any intrusive inquiries into the Jarheads who’d been there, Lukasziewicz obliged without asking too many questions of his own. So, for now, Hector Colón drove him wherever he needed to go in and around Sasebo, Japan.

“No sir… it’s just, most of the places on that end of the ginza don’t… how shall I say?... I don’t know…”

“Spit it out, Marine.”

“We may not be welcome there, sir.”

Lukasziewicz grumbled at this information, and watched as the Albuquerque Bridge, which connected Nimitz Square, at the west end of the base, to the ginza, slipped past the side window. “What exactly is an izakaya?”

Girl Stalks The Ruins Preview: Ch 1 Ramstein AFB

CHAPTER ONE

RAMSTEIN AFB

“Zwei Biere, bitte.”

This statement nearly exhausted Lieutenant Commander Perry Hankinson’s knowledge of the German language, and, in the ordinary course of events, he wouldn’t need much else for the duration of their stay. For this evening, however, he’d sought out the sort of establishment unlikely to be frequented by English speakers, or base personnel, or any foreign tourists. It had meant taking a taxi to Kaiserslautern, the next town over, but the driver seemed to understand more or less intuitively where he wanted to go. Emily had offered “Bierstübe,” or something to that effect – as if she spoke any better German than he did – and here they were, a dimly lit pub with no big-screen TVs, no ‘high-and-tight’ haircuts, and no uniforms in sight.

“This is a relief.” Emily Kane, Captain USMC, glanced around a room full of civilians from their table in a far corner. Of course, she’d be indifferent to the question of whether they were locals, but she might like the feeling of anonymity. No one here would know them. Perry listened to the long, slow breath she let out.  He used to think she was sighing, or exasperated, when she did that, but he’d gotten used to her ways over the years. No, the breathing wasn’t the sign of a mood, bad or good. It was something more… existential.

“After this morning… no kidding. Was it a melée before you got there, or…”

“Or what?” She turned her dark eyes upon him, and he began to regret having let his words run. “Do you really think I go looking for these things?”

“No, of course not. But…”

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You can read more about the collection and the project it supports at Kissmecowboy.com, or connect with the authors on Facebook.

Cover Reveal for Book 8, GIRL STALKS THE RUINS

My cover artist, Torrie Cooney, has done it again. Here's the cover for Book 8, which should be available in August. This one is set in France, and follows Emily and Perry in a terrorism thriller.

I'm also preparing Book 9, due out in December. That one is set in Japan, and follows the intersecting stories of Ryonosuke Shinjo, and Okamoto Haru, characters you may remember from earlier books in the series.

I think this is going to be a very good year for Emily Kane, and her fans. Thanks for following along with me, and I hope you enjoy these installments as much as I'm enjoying writing them!

As always, I'd love to hear from you, and you can send me emails care of Emily.

Best wishes!

Emily Kane Adventures #8

I've had a slight change of plans. Instead of writing Shinjo's story, as announced earlier, in Girl Pays A Debt, I've decided to focus on a different story. My wife and I spent last summer in France and England, and we sketched out a couple of possible stories at that time, and she has been urging me to write one of those first. So, here goes!

A team of terrorists invades the Louvre, expecting little resistance from a flock of tourists. Little do they realize they've roused a sleeping dragon. She wasn't lying in wait for them, but when they seize someone she cares about to cover their escape, she'll pursue them across France to get her own back again. No one is what they appear to be in Girl Stalks The Ruins.

If all goes well,  I'll have Book 8 finished by the end of the summer, and then will turn to Girl Pays A Debt, which I hope to complete before Christmas. Wish me luck, everyone!

Book 8 Underway!

Work has begun on Book 8 of the Emily Kane Adventures. This one takes up Shinjo's story from Book 3 -- the Yakuza who agrees to help Emily in Seoul -- as well as the story of Haru Okamoto, who may be the last living member of the once powerful Heiji daimyo. The working title for this book is Girl Pays A Debt.

For the Connie Savaransky fans among you, I've also begun sketching a book to follow her adventures, and it looks like the first one will also include Ip Mao Bao, the girl Connie and Danko met in Myanmar in Book 7, Girl Goes To Wudang. If all goes well, both books should be complete by the end of the summer -- take that promise for what it's worth.

I'll keep you updated on the progress, and if you're on my mailing list, I'll probably send out a few sample chapters in a few weeks. And look for a sample cover here soon!