Announcing Terror at the Observatory

Terror at the Observatory by Jo Carey

The biggest threat found at the Earth Array Station, a privately-owned astronomical radio observatory, may not come from the cosmos.

There was supposed to be a press conference at the EARS observatory. Speculation was that it had something to do with a signal from space. When reporter Erin Mason arrived at the gate, she was turned away by a heavily-armed security team. Erin is convinced that there is more to the story than just a rumor of a message from space. With the help of a fellow reporter, she sets out to find what real terror awaits at the observatory.

Announcing Caretakers (The Prehistory of the League of Planetary Systems Book 1)

Caretakers (The Prehistory of the League of Planetary Systems Book 1)

In the early part of the 21st century, Area 51 had an alien problem. Over the years, numerous alien animals were left on Earth’s doorstep when they were lost or abandoned by their alien owners. Area 26 was created to give these creatures a home where they could live quietly out of sight of the planet’s human population.

After being exposed to an experimental substance during a lab accident, maintenance worker Lee Carstares and his partner, a gray alien from the Zeta Reticuli star system named Clare, are transferred from Area 51 to Area 26 where they find themselves caught between a Storen freighter and a Goranthi warship bent on the freighter’s destruction. Lee and Clare must now help the Storens get off the planet before the Goranthi find them.

Announcing 12 Dates of Christmas

12 Dates of Christmas by Jo Carey

A Christmas tree farm can be a madhouse during the holidays. When Merry Green travels home from her job in the city to help out in the family business, she expects to lend a hand and enjoy a small-town holiday celebration. What she doesn't expect is her family's plan to convince her that her future lies in Emerald Valley. Will 12 dates lead her to her happily-ever-after or just leave her exhausted and confused?

Announcing Christmas Terror

Christmas Terror by Jo Carey

Lighting the yule log is a new holiday tradition for the staff of Mel Hooper's company Treasure Hunting and Retrieval. Will this new tradition enhance their enjoyment of spending the holidays on Galleon Key, or will an unknown terror threaten not only their holiday celebration but their lives?

Announcing Crystal Wrangler

Crystal Wrangler (The Journey of Sigmund Alderthal Book 2) by Frank Carey

Six months after finding the Century Ship Nova and the survivors of the disaster that befell his people, Sig finds himself happily working the Crystal Caves of Tralagor when a call comes in about a woman living at the edge of League space who needs his help. What follows is an encounter with the impossible which taxes both the Crystal Wrangler's skills and his patience.

Price Drop

Balancing the Scales by Jo Carey and Frank Carey

Price reduced for Balancing the Scales by Jo Carey and Frank Carey.

A flight delayed by a snow storm leads Bob Brenan to question whether reptoid creatures could be living and working at a secret base in Northern New Mexico. If it was just a conspiracy theory, why was the government trying to stop him from investigating?

Was he crazy to continue or would he be crazy to stop?

Would he ever be able to look at a woman in a maxi skirt again without wondering?

Length: 8400 words.

Announcing Thanksgiving Terror

Thanksgiving Terror by Jo Carey

Holidays and family go together like… she wasn’t sure what, but it wasn’t something good. This year was going to be different. Lily Grady wasn’t looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with her family in a cabin in the woods, but the week started off so well…

Announcing Spell Slinger (The Journey of Sigmund Alderthal Book 1)

Spell Slinger (The Journey of Sigmund Alderthal Book 1)

Announcing Spell Slinger (The Journey of Sigmund Alderthal Book 1)! Sig Alderthal is Tracker who lives on Earth in a parallel universe, a universe where there are no aliens and no League of Planetary Systems. Suddenly, he finds himself thrown into the League as he searches for a rogue witch with a stolen crate that must be returned to his universe before it's too late.

Announcing Park Terror

Park Terror by Jo Carey

Announcing the release of Park Terror by Jo Carey. A park ranger, a sheriff, and an owl expert walk into a bar.  It sounds like the start of a joke, but no one’s laughing when they find out the government is willing to sacrifice a small town to keep a secret project under wraps. Read Park Terror by Jo Carey to find out what happens

Announcing the Release of Desert Terror!

Desert Terror by Jo Carey

Bartender and sometimes treasure hunter, Mandy Hernandez, finds some interesting things in New Mexico's boot heel area, some of them are deadly. As the bodies start to pile up, will the trail lead to more danger or will Mandy find her treasure? 

Announcing the Release of Mechanoid Terror!

Mechanoid Terror by Frank Carey

Getaway driver versus 600'-long sapient ship in a grudge match spanning over 200-years and 600 light-years. In this corner is Johnny Wilson, 21st century driver from New York City. And in this corner is Iona, a cruiser-sized sapient spaceship who wants to take over her own world, but Johnny stands in her way. Can Johnny win and stop the Mechanoid Terror?

The tales in this book were previously published as three separate books in a series titled Olly vs. the Mechanoids—Vendetta, Machinations, Endgame.

Announcing the Release of Aurora

Aurora by Frank Carey

A missing ship, a cranky first officer, and an intercom in the shower. What's a girl to do? Its another typical day in the life of Captain Aurora Clandish, commanding officer of the League Merchant Ship Chrysalis. This is the story of Aurora, her crew, and some new-found friends, as they make their way through the haunted space of the Elspeth Expanse.

Coming very soon to all major e-book retailers.

Announcing the Release of River Terror!

River Terror

Just released! River Terror by Jo Carey. The statement desperate times call for desperate measures was never more true than when river guide Liv Morris heads into the Desperation Wilderness to help with a project to establish a colony of nearly extinct salamanders.

RIPPED from the Headlines

Petroglyphs

I can find a story idea almost anywhere, but sometimes a hot topic trending on line or a major news story can provide a jumping off point to create a story. In my case, I doubt any of my readers would recognize the news item that ended up in my story by the time I put my spin on things. Of course, news items tend to be fleeting things that are in the public view for a few days or weeks and then are displaced by some new happening.  By the time my book is published the trigger item has long-since disappeared from the public’s consciousness.

My book, Progression, is set in the League of Planetary Systems, but its origins were definitely earth-based. In 2014 there were a few airplane disappearances that captured the world’s attention. A lot of people found it difficult to believe that with all of our technology today, we could lose a large commercial airliner without a trace.  I coupled that story with a conspiracy theory that’s been around for a while about top scientists mysteriously disappearing.  I added in another conspiracy theory about a large engineering company.  I doubt anyone who reads the book would realize what those foundational elements were.  It’s an entertaining and exciting story the grew out of news stories and conspiracy theories.

These trigger items can also be localized.  Aquapillar, Book 2 in my Bug Hunters in Space series, was based on the Gold King Mine spill that took place in southern Colorado and had a major effect on northern New Mexico.  Although the story was very local to where we lived in New Mexico at the time, the book is set in the League of Planetary Systems. 

One of the most enjoyable parts of writing fiction is that you can find the seed of an idea anywhere and nurture it into something completely new and unique because in the end…

Its all about the tale.

Jo Carey

Share the World We Write In

Tracks in the Sand

My husband, Frank, is a science fiction writer who created the League of Planetary Systems. As I got involved with editing Frank’s books, I found I really enjoyed the species and characters he was creating. The League, as we call it, is a rich, diverse universe with many planets and species. I was hooked.

At the time, I was writing what I guess you could call traditional earth-based stories in a few different genres. I think Frank thought I was crazy when I asked if he would mind if I wrote some stories using his universe and characters. I hoped my books would expand on what he was already doing and not detract from it.

My classic cozy mystery series, Galactic Cruise Lines, is set on a spaceship cruising to various planets in the League carrying staff and passengers from around the League. Some of the character interactions. These are classic cozies with a touch of humor, a bit of romance, and a lot of characters who aren’t from Earth.

We have insectoid species, felenoids species, and elves. It’s great fun to write in the League. I’ve also tried my hand a writing clean, wholesome romance set in the League. I’d like to think of it as “aliens need love to.”

A lot of writers were surprised that we could share the universe so easily. It really isn’t a problem for us. Both of us have added planets and species to the mix. I’ve written books like, Ciara in Warrior Women, in which the primary character is someone created by Frank. But it goes both ways. I found Ciara a mate, Clint Simms, who shows up in several of Frank’s books.

We share our writing hobby, so sharing the universe seemed natural, though it can lead to some strange questions.  Sometimes when we’re out to dinner, I’ll ask, “Can a Degrebian mate with a Canuran?” We get some strange looks from our fellow dinners.

Sharing is the reason I write. I want to share my stories with readers because in the end…

It’s all about the tale.

Jo Carey

Price Drop

Now available for US$0.99

Vendetta (Olly versus the Mechanoids Book1)

A 21st century getaway driver from New York City, finds himself drafted by Area 51 to drive an alien spacecraft. After surviving a space battle with another alien ship, he finds himself waking up 200 years in the future. Now, the real adventure begins.

If you like tech-heavy sci-fi and adventure, you'll love the first book in Frank Carey's Olly versus the Mechaniods series. Don't wait 200 years to enjoy it.

Hot and Cold (Love on Ice Book 1)

Aliens need love too even those with enough money to buy their own moon. He’s the tall, dark, handsome, mega-rich industrialist from Rhanna, and she’s the beautiful, translucent-skinned, fair-haired, ice climber. Can he convince her that he’s the man for her or will Ice chill the heat between them?

Welcome to Ice, the flash-frozen third moon of the planet Zavaroff. Ice has been developed as a resort focused on Ice related activities—ice climbing, ice skiing, ice sled racing. The resort and village are completely enclosed for the comfort of Ice’s citizens and visitors. Step through the Erdexi Transport Sphere and meet the people who live, work, and fall in love on Ice.

Hot and Cold is the first book in a series of short sweet science fiction romance novels--Love on Ice. If you like romance stories set in a future world populated by humans and quirky alien species, you’ll enjoy Love on Ice.

Searching for Love (Ice Search ad Rescue Book 1)

Sometimes what you’re searching for finds you.

Rashani has a problem—too many terrific guys and too little time. She’s trying to figure out if she has a real love connection with any of her teammates on the Ice Search and Rescue Team. Just when she started to narrow down the field, there’s a new entry to consider.

Dr. Drake Stoker loves Trixie, the genetically-engineered polmund who was literally made for search and rescue situations in extreme cold weather. The Venlanten scientist never has trouble finding a date, but he may have found his true love on Ice. Now, he has to convince her that he’s sticking around.

When Dr. Drake joins the Ice Search and Rescue team to find one of their own, he may have found just what he didn’t know he needed.

Welcome to Ice, the flash-frozen third moon of the planet Zavaroff. Ice has been developed as a resort focused on Ice related activities—ice climbing, ice skiing, ice sled racing. The resort and village are completely enclosed for the comfort of Ice’s citizens and visitors. Step through the Erdexi transport sphere and meet the people who live, work, and fall in love on Ice.

Searching for Love is the first book in Jo Carey's Ice Search and Rescue series.

Two of My Favorite Books

Pens in a Cup

Two of my favorite books on writing are Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline by Dean Wesley Smith and Relaunch your Novel: Breathe Life into Your Backlist by Chris Fox.

Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline helped me break free of the guilt I felt for not using an outline when I wrote. Trust me, I’ve tried to write a novel by first outlining it, but in the end, I abandoned the outline at the first step and never looked back. After reading this book, I felt it was OK not to outline, but to fly by the seat of my pants. Now, I pants all my stories and I’m OK with that.

Relaunch Your Novel is another of my favorite books. It outlines how one can relaunch one’s backlist and possibly increase sales. This book is what led to my breaking up of several ponderous collections into more manageable works. It also led to my rediscovering my love for shorter works such as novellas and novelettes.

Another aspect of writing that was revealed to me by reading these books is that going back and fixing a title is OK as long as you let readers know the book is relaunch of a previously published work. When Jo and I were going through our catalog, we not only fixed grammatical errors, we also changed plot points in certain cases and gave the works new titles and cover art, again alerting the reader that these were previously published works. Now, you may disagree. You may think that once written, a story should never change. That is your prerogative as it’s my prerogative to think otherwise. We can agree to disagree and that’s OK with me.

Frank Carey

Newly Rereleased

The "Olly versus the Mechanoids" 3-book series has been rereleased with new covers and product descriptions:

Vendetta (Olly versus the Mechanoids Book 1)

A 21st century getaway driver from New York City, finds himself drafted by Area 51 to drive an alien spacecraft. After surviving a space battle with another alien ship, he finds himself waking up 200 years in the future. Now, the real adventure begins.

If you like tech-heavy sci-fi and adventure, you'll love the first book in Frank Carey's Olly versus the Mechaniods series. Don't wait 200 years to enjoy it.

Machinations (Olly versus the Mechanoids Book 2)

The Mechanoid Iona is back, but this time she has the evil mad scientist Dr. Zoe Muntz with her. Now Olly must face the ultimate danger from his past while stopping their nefarious plans.

If you like tech-heavy sci-fi and adventure, you'll love the second book in Frank Carey's Olly versus the Mechaniods series. Don't wait 200 years to enjoy it.

Endgame (Olly versus the Mechanoids Book 3)

Caught in the middle of the family squabble to end all family squables, our hero, Olly, must travel to the Omega Nebula and the home of the Mechanoids to face his greatest challenge while stopping Doctor Zoe Muntz before it's too late.

If you like tech-heavy sci-fi and adventure, you'll love the third and final book in Frank Carey's Olly versus the Mechaniods series. Don't wait 200 years to enjoy it.

New Releases

Newly released on Amazon.com. Available soon on Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Scribd, and other retailers:

Island Terror by Jo Carey

In this classic creature story, Dr. Gina Talbot is a Komodo dragon expert who is desperate for a chance to observe a population of the giant lizards in the wild. When she gets wind of an undiscovered population of the lizards on an atoll off Hawaii, she has to see it for herself. Will she and her team survive the Island Terror?

Phantom Star Cruiser (Alliance Chronicles Book 7) by Frank Carey

A missing ship, a cranky first officer, and an intercom in the shower. What's a girl to do? Its another typical day in the life of Captain Aurora Clandish until her past catches up with her. With help from Lord Gregory Alabaster and his Alliance, Captain Clandish must face a 200-year-old enemy from her past and stop its reign of terror.

Setting

Desert Snow

Someone asked me how I choose the settings for my books. They weren’t impressed with my answer. Although setting is key element in many of my stories, I don’t really have a process for choosing where a story is set. The setting comes to me as part of the story idea, and I run with it. I don’t start with a story idea and think about different settings where it could take place.

Cryptid Ops was the first series I wrote and each of those books is set in a very specific and unique environment that contributes to the story in the same way a supporting character would.  The first book in that series, Thunderbird, is set in the desert outside Las Cruces, New Mexico. Frank and I lived there for a few years and spent a lot of time exploring the Chihuahuan desert. Book 2, Black Fly, is set in the Connecticut Lakes area of extreme northern New Hampshire. It’s another environment I had a personal relationship with.

I have two series that are set on the frozen moon of a planet in our League of Planetary systems. The unique setting could be seen as a limiting factor or constraint, but I find it interesting to come up with ways for people to lead pretty normal lives in such an alien environment. Of course, maybe it helps that the “people” are aliens.

Some of my settings are completely fictional with no basis in reality like ICE or the setting for Progression which is inside an asteroid. Some are fictional but are composites of places we’ve lived or visited. Hairy’s Cryptid Café is set in a very small town in Montana. I’ve lived in a very small town at two different points in my life. That experience helps me shape my version of life in the fictional Wilkins’ Gap, Idaho.

In my adult life, I’ve lived in a lot of different places. My mom used to say that I didn’t vacation I just moved. I think my gypsy spirit has given me a good foundation to create settings for my books that readers will enjoy visiting.

Whether you like stores set in the mountains or cities or on other planets, in the end…
It’s all about the tale.

Jo Carey

Coffee

Coffee

I'm a coffee addict. There, I said it and I meant it. I love coffee. I’ve loved good coffee since I was first introduced to French roast in Seattle in the late 90s. My God, they handed that stuff out for free in the hotel lobby and I nearly drank it from the urn once I got a taste of it. It’s been twenty years and I’m still searching for that taste, that aroma I miss so much.

Coffee is made from roasting the seeds of the coffee plant. They’re removed from the plant’s berries, dried, roasted, then ground into a powder. The drink we know as coffee is created by passing water through the ground coffee, extracting the flavor oils. This is, of course, the short form of what happens. The full version is an art that takes skill and practice to achieve perfection.

Once, years ago, I tried my hand at roasting and grinding green coffee beans. I remember placing the beans into a fluidized-bed air roaster and flipping the power on. Once the beans were the right color, I shut it off, ground the beans, and made coffee. It wasn’t bad. Heck, I may even try it again.

One final thing I found. Vacuum-insulated container storage of coffee is a heck of a lot better than keeping it on a heater. Heater coffee gets bitter as the oils break down over time. Really, the best bet is to make enough coffee to drink while it’s still hot, but if one must store, use a vacuum-insulated container. It works better. Of course, mileage may vary, so use wisely.

Frank Carey

New Releases

Two new releases:

Volcano Terror by Jo Carey

Monitoring an active volcano on a deserted South Pacific island is stressful. Dr. Lewis wonders if things can get worse, when his ex-fiancé shows up to lead a biology study on the island. Those dangers pale in comparison to that posed by a unique creature fleeing the impending eruption.

Dark of Space (Alliance Chronicles Book 6) by Frank Carey

Captain Jacob Morley already had his hands full running his freighter, mentoring Urania, muse daughter of the immortal Zeus, and keeping an eye on the flow of illicit artifacts through the sector. Now, with the help of Lord Gregory Alabaster and his Alliance, Jacob must stop the genocide of a race of xenophobes before it's too late.

I Love Creature Stories

Black Vulture

I love a good creature story or even just an OK creature story. If I’m being honest, I can enjoy even a really terrible creature story more than an award-winning drama.  If I want drama, I watch the news. For entertainment, you can’t be a good creature. I love watching them, reading them, and writing them.

In creature stories, at least for me, size doesn’t matter. These stories can feature big creatures, like Bigfoot or tiny creatures like the Feenix Bug from book 3 in my Bug Hunters in Space series.  Creatures can be man-made like the Black Flies from Cryptid Ops Book 2 or the results of manipulation by scientists as with the flying spiders from Cave Terror.  Sometimes the creatures are just doing what they naturally do but with unexpected results—what happens when you mix spiders and energy drinks.

Sometimes the scariest creatures are the small ones that can easily be overlooked. I think this is why so many people have a fear of spiders. It’s pretty easy to avoid a lion. You can see them. But a spider can sneak into cracks and crevices to startle you when you least expect it.
Science gone wrong often plays a strong part in my creature stories. Man is always trying to improve on nature—usually with disastrous results.

I love the writing creature stories, because I love reading them.  There’s usually an element of “what were they thinking” or “they should have known better” to these stories. There’s a lot of terror and death in most of my creature stories but someone always survives. Of course, in true creature story fashion, so do the creatures.

Remember no matter what kind of stories you like to read…it’s all about the tale.

Jo Carey

New Releases

Search for Rotaton

Once the director of OffSec's time travel program, Samantha Hardy finds herself facing the League's greatest threat on a world at the edge of known space. Can she thwart its evil plan before it's too late? Read Search for Rotaton and find out. Search for Rotaton is the fifth book in the Alliance Chronicles which follows Lord Gregory Alabaster and his Alliance as they protect the League of Planetary Systems from threats from the past, present and future.

Library Terror

The village of Endicott is ground zero in the war between physical books and ebooks. Bookworms have launched an attack on the Endicott Public Library and librarian Agnes Peabody is trying to mediate a peaceful solution as the bodies start piling up. With their food source decimated by the shift to electronic books the worms are fighting for survival. Can Agnes mediate a peaceful resolution that allows the town and the worms to survive?

It's All About the Tale

Still Life with Clock and Chalice

Frank and I love writing. We enjoy the process and hope our joy of writing comes through in our books. Recently we realized we will be publishing our 100^th book sometime soon. Wow! That thought made me step back and take a look at our body of work. What do all of our books have in common?

We’ve written a lot of series and a few stand-alone novels.

We’ve written several short novels and some that are longer.

Together our books span the genres of cozy mystery, space opera, romance, medical thrillers, and creature stories.

Many of our books feature strong female characters.

All of our books have a bit of humor.

When we started writing, we quickly realized it was easy to get caught up in all the “helpful” advice out there for new authors.  While its true that as an author you have to think about your cover, and description, and editing, and formatting and a million other details, we decided the most important thing is the story itself. That was the birth of our tag line.

Now, if we find ourselves getting stuck in the morass of book marketing advice, or internet posts that claim to have the formula to create the perfect description, we just remind ourselves…

It’s all about the tale.

Jo Carey

New Release

Prisoner of Time (Alliance Chronicles Book 4)

Lord Gregory Alabaster and his team have earned a vacation, but their time away from work is short-lived when they find themselves having to save the universe from a temporal disaster. Once more they must travel into the breech to protect the League of Planetary Systems.

Prisoner of Time is the fourth book of the Alliance Chronicles series which follows Lord Gregory Alabaster and his Alliance as they protect the League of Planetary Systems from threats from the past, present, and future.

New Release

Announcing the release of the fifth book of the Hairy's Cryptid Cafe series

In the past few months, Everly Mason has gone from southern belle to café owner to cryptid hunter. Can she survive her latest ordeal without adding killer to her resume? Tracking the Mystery is the fifth book in this exciting new women’s adventure. Stop by Hairy’s Cryptid Café and check out the new menu.

Public Service Announcement

A Public Service Announcement

Recently Published

New releases for June

Cave Terror by Jo Carey

Enemy from the Past (Alliance Chronicles Book 1) by Frank Carey

Nefarious Beginnings (Alliance Chronicles Book 2) by Frank Carey

Return of the Alliance (Alliance Chronicles Book 3) by Frank Carey

New Blog Page

If you look to the right column, you will see a box labeled Pages.  It contains links to the static pages of this blog. In addition to the page containing links to Out Author Pages, there is a  new page, Our Catalog which contains a list of all our series and standalone books. Check them all out and leave a review if you want.

Now Available on Scribd

We have just published the Ice Search and Rescue 3-book series, the Engine of Creation 6-book series, and Progression on Scribd. We are in the process of adding all of books so stay tuned for further announcements.