Vera's published books

After centuries of armed conflict, the three most powerful nations have at last formed an alliance that has the capability to conquer space. A thousand years from now, a rejuvenated Earth is expanding its interstellar empire. It has two off-world colonies and established trade with a far-away alien race. While the home planet is not without its ongoing challanges: political tension, popular unrest and a chronic shortage of energy, a solution suddenly appears in the form of a newly discovered planet.

Ozimord, rich in resources, accessible,habitable, sparsly populated. The Federation spaceship Vanguard has taken up geosynchronous orbit and landed a survey team on the surface. Their early findings promise an unlimited wealth fuel-grade ore. And then, troubling news is broadcast back to Earth: they've gone missing. That's only the beginning of the troubles...

“This was both an excellent read from a sci-fi lover’s perspective and also for its clever construction with overarching themes.
Highly recommended!”

- Kat Kinney, author of Blood Moon, Texas Shifters series.

“a thrilling story of adventure, political intrigue, character relationships and space travel. One of the most interesting things I found about this book was the seamless combination of space science fiction and a sort of pre-modern technology fantasy.”

- T.C. Michael, author of Short Story Pro Market 2017 & 2019

•  Visiting aliens with an unusual agenda

•  A Guardian Angel with a peculiar bent

•  A high-tech trap catches the wrong prey

•  Obsessing with jealousy can backfire

•  A time travel villain’s unexpected fate

•  An old man tending his garden

•  A driver fretting over safety rules

•  Mind before the creation

•  An unusual TV set averts disaster

•  A town locked down by robots

•  A meeting of star-crossed lovers

•  An urban terrorist’s unusual targets

•  A young woman with a troubled past

•  A mid-life crisis

•  A search for extraterrestrial intelligence

- Wendy Hendrick, author of Your Higher self Made Easy and The Making of a Miracle Mind

This was the tidiest murder Simms has ever seen.

The body lay on the pristine floor of a clean laboratory;
a spilled flask of frothy green substance muck,
the only signs of anything out of order.

During his investigation, Simms encounters scientists
 with spotless records,
a wildlife photographer fond of dogs;
a damaged young woman with perfect memory;
and, finally a cold-blooded killer with
an unshakable alibi.

He finds not only the answers to all his questions
but also a satisfying friendship with an
attractive and highly intelligent woman.

- Johnny Moscato, author of Being John Smith and The Project series. 

Mary, a humble servant girl, is whisked out of drudgery to the stately rooms of an aristocratic mansion, Twillingnmarche, and thrown into the middle of a conspiracy. If she cannot learn to pass as a young lady, she will go back to scrubbing floors...or worse. In this demanding new role, she finds friends, allies, enemies, rivals; danger and love.

Beyond the story, the book is a glimpse into the mores and contradictions of the Edwardian period, as the young heroine uncovers the secrets of both the complicated aristocratic family and her own history.

A collaborative story of kings, witches, dragons and a prince and a princess that stretches the imagination and requires serious suspension of disbelief.

It is based on a story that was written by four people who never met, did not know one another and never discussed the plot. Each added characters and events until it all came together at the end.

One day, back in June, 2013, ALF was bored looking at the new posts on his favourite website: Secular Café.

He had been posting his poems and other writings on the “Creative Writing” thread for over a year and did have a lot of fun reading posts from other poets and writers, but recently nothing interesting showed up.

So he decided to stir things up a bit and posted the following query, addressed to his favourite writer on the board: Shadowfox:

ALF: So, where are the other creative writers willing and ready to rejuvenate this thread? A while ago, Fox posted a challenge ("The Last Man on Earth") that I found very enjoyable and so did several of us. Fox, any more of those challenges? It could be fun!

To which he received an immediate reply:

SF: Well, here's one to begin a tale, each person to contribute a few lines. Could get to be quite funny! “He was a dark and stormy knight”. Any style, prose or poetry, any genre.

 That is how it started.

“What I liked about this story was the diverse cast of characters. They all tie together beautifully towards the end. Karma does what it does and while this has the good triumphs over evil in the typical knight stories, this is anything but. I loved the addition of female fighters and the strong female characters in the book who weren't the slightest bit apologetic about who they were.
All in all, a fun read.”

J.B. Trepagnier, author of My Beautiful Monsters and Fortuna Academy series

Mark and Julie are exceptional children who want to solve the troubles of their magical friend, Toab.
They experiment, invent, improvise, until they find a solution with a happy ending for all. Their loyal protector, brave Champ, helps with happy wagging of the tail and frightening growls at the Whatchamacallits