If Marvel and Hallmark had a baby, it would be A Superhero For Christmas.

A Superhero for Christmas, a holiday superhero romantic comedy by H. L. Burke, arrives to save the day November 5th, 2022.

Pre-order now so it hits your ereaders in plenty of time for Christmas.

This cozy Christmas romance takes place in the same world as Burke’s Supervillain Rehabilitation Project, but can be read independently.

A SUPERHERO FOR CHRISTMAS

When superhero, Glint’s, aka Henry Nichols’s, powers go on the fritz after a supervillain attack, he finds himself rethinking his priorities. Years of devotion to public service have left him with little for himself, and with forty swiftly approaching, he finds himself longing for his youth on his grandfather’s farm. An incognito vacation is just what he needs.

Former reporter Lara Landis lost her career and her only long-term relationship all in one humiliating blow. Broke and rudderless, she retreats to her parents’ small town grocery store to try and make one last career rally, but how is she going to get a big scoop living in the middle of nowhere? When a poorly disguised superhero lands in her neighborhood, insisting that he’s just a normal guy, she can’t help but smell a story.

As their chance encounters turn into a begrudging friendship, Lara is surprised to find a caring, sincere human beneath Henry’s press-conference-ready exterior. When the truth comes out, though, her big story could turn into his worst nightmare.

Pre-Order your copy on Amazon today! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFK45G8K

Visit the author’s website: https://www.hlburkeauthor.com/supervillain-rehabilitation-project

About the Author:

H. L. Burke has written more books than she can count—because she’s written a lot of books, not just because she can’t count very high.

Easily distracted by shinies, she has published in many subgenres including fantasy romance, Steampunk, and superhero, and always creates story worlds with snark, feels, and wonder.

Married to her high school crush, she spends her time writing, spoiling her cat, and supervising her two supervillains in training (aka her precocious daughters).

An Oregon native, she wilts without trees and doesn’t mind the rain. She is a fan of delicious flavor, a follower of the Light, and a believer in happily ever after.

Redeemed, the second book in the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project ,releases August of 2020! Check out the awesome cover below!

To celebrate the release of Book 2, Book 1 is 99 cents on Amazon this week only!

CLICK HERE!

Redeemed: Supervillain Rehabilitation Project #2

An idealistic heroine. A reformed villain. A troubled teen.

Can the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project form a family out of this mess?

Still working out her team’s dynamic as well as her own fledgling romance with former villain Fade, Prism is blindsided when her superiors order her to take on another rehabilitation subject or risk having her team broken apart. Then her best friend and fellow superhero, Tanvi, foils a robbery but injures a super-powered teen in the process. Guilt stricken, she begs Prism to let the young girl, Alma, AKA Soulbird, be their next project.

Alma fills a gap in the team and works her way into the group’s hearts. However, her past stalks her, as the villain who forced her into a life of crime in the first place doesn’t want to let her escape into hero life without a fight.

Can Prism and her team redeem Alma from her past, or will the villain life drag the girl out of the SVR and out of their reach forever?

Check out book one on Amazon now!

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AUTHOR BIO:

Born in a small town in north-central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.

Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.

She is the author of a four-part fantasy/romance series entitled “The Dragon and the Scholar,” the Award Winning (2016 Realm Award for Young Adult Fiction) Nyssa Glass Steampunk series, and MG/Fantasy “Cora and the Nurse Dragon,” among others.

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Blurb:
Nyssa Glass is a reformed cat burglar turned electrician’s apprentice, settled into a life repairing videophones and radio-sets. However, when her past comes calling, she finds herself forced into one last job. No one has entered Professor Dalhart’s secluded mansion in almost a decade, at least not and returned to tell the tale. If Nyssa wants to ensure her freedom, she’ll brave the booby trapped halls and mechanized maids. Nyssa has skills, but this house has more than its share of secrets. As she steps into the cobwebbed halls lined with dusty mirrors, she has to wonder. Is the House of Mirrors really abandoned?


My Review:
Five stars. I really enjoyed this book! I haven’t read much steampunk before, and Nyssa Glass was a great introduction to the genre. I enjoyed the main character and her creativity in solving problems, as well as her technical and mechanical abilities. The author made it sound quite realistic, obviously having done her homework on some of those devices and their uses. This is a fairly quick read and a hard-to-put-down adventure story. I recommend it!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Click here to preorder the book on Amazon.

What Inspired Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors?

H. L. Burke is the author of several works of fantasy … many of which involve dragons. Her latest is a YA Steampunk Novella, which she describes as Jules Verne meets Mary Shelley meets H. G. Wells … Here she discusses the inspiration for Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors, a seed that planted itself and wouldn’t let go until it sprouted out of her brain and onto the page. 

One of my favorite pastimes is adventure games. I love flexing my totally-useless-in-real-life puzzle solving muscles. Sure, I can’t fix a computer, change a car’s oil, or drive a stick shift, but dang it! I can mess with gadgets and find clues inside a simulated world until I have solved the mystery, found the treasure, escaped from Alcatraz … whatever.

The common theme for these games is playing as someone dropped into an environment, often a strange or creepy one, who has to explore to find their way out again. My favorites include the Myst series (especially the visually stunning Riven) and Drawn: The Painted Tower (which my eight-year-old also enjoys) … oh, and the Nancy Drew series. 

So with Nyssa Glass I started from a similar concept and just asked myself questions about how it would work within my story … is my character trying to escape this maze of puzzles and traps? Or is she trying to get in? If she’s trying to get in, why? Is she a thief? Is she a bad person or does she have a reason for jimmying locks and cracking safes? What would drive her? Would she be alone the entire book? Who would she have to talk to? What sort of challenges would she have to face? Ooh, and what if there were robots … killer robots?

Once that was decided, I approached each scene as if it were either a puzzle to solve or a clue to find. In the story Nyssa has to navigate a series of challenges, ranging from brain teasing riddles to knock-down-drag-out fights with mechanized maids swinging brooms at her head. I hope to take the reader on a ride. 

So if you think you might want to come along on an adventure of killer robotic proportions, check out Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors, releasing on Amazon March 20th, 2016. It is available for pre-order for the special price of $0.99 until March 14th, so grab your copy early!

Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors

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Welcome to Realm Explorers!  In this weekly series, we visit a variety of unique worlds created by talented science fiction and fantasy authors.  Enjoy your travels!  And don’t forget to read to the bottom of the post to find out more about each author and see how to purchase the featured book. 

Author’s name:

H. L. Burke

Title of book:

Cora and the Nurse Dragon

Brief summary of the story:

Cora’s a young girl who dreams of being a dragon jockey but whose father disapproves of dragons being kept in captivity. She struggles to balance her father’s beliefs with her own passions. When she gets a hold of a dragon egg that hatches into the nurse dragon, Cricket, though, she learns a lot about dragons, her father, and sacrifice.

Brief description of the world or location you created for this story:

The world is an alternate version of ours, and Farrington would be a typical American town, except with a technology level of about 1920 … and dragons. The kids use 20’s slang. The people wear 20’s fashion. They have automobiles and the wealthier families have electric lights and telephones … but instead of horses or greyhounds, people race dragons, kids keep small dragons instead of goldfish and slightly larger ones instead of cats. 

If we were to visit Farrington as tourists, what would you recommend that we see or do there?

I’d definitely take in a dragon race. They’re exciting, and the popcorn at the stadium is decent. A dozen snake-like dragons with wings moving faster than the eye can see, racing around the track, snapping at each other’s tails, leapfrogging over each others heads … nothing like a dragon race. 

What dangers should we avoid in Farrington?

While the races are exciting, the gambling feeds a criminal element. Seedier neighborhoods host gangsters, off-track betting, and even dragon smuggling. 

What types of plants, animals, or sentient races might we encounter in Farrington that we don’t see on Earth?

Obviously, dragons. The dragons come in multiple sizes and colors. The most common are the mayflies, short-lived dragons that kids hatch from eggs and raise in glass tanks until they die of old age, usually within two months. Luckier kids get cat-sized dragons, the most common of which are steamers (blue dragons who breathe water vapor), strikers (red dragons who breathe fire), and sparkers (yellow/gold dragons who breathe electric sparks). Then of course you have the racers, about the same size as horses, long, elegant, and fast. 

Is there a particular religion practiced in Farrington?  Please describe what it involves.

Since it is an alternate Earth with basically the same history, my characters do practice Christianity. Cora’s best friend is a preacher’s daughter and that has some influence on her as she makes decisions about whether or not to follow laws she believes to be unjust. 

Has anything in your actual life inspired the locations, cultures, etc. in your book?

When I was a kid, pizza parlors had vending machines where you’d get plastic eggs with prizes inside for a quarter. The displays on these machines promised all sorts of shiny goodies, but I’d never get what I wanted, always something disposable instead. I used that as an influence, in the idea of kids buying dragon eggs in hope of getting a pet, but instead only getting short-lived dragons that would die just as they were becoming fond of them. 

What, if any, “hot-button” or controversial topics do you touch on in your book?

To some extent, Cora’s dad has a controversial parenting style. Cora is basically allowed to do what she wants, and while he sets some boundaries—not allowing her to drop out of school—he refuses to force his moral compass on his daughter. She makes choices he doesn’t approve of, in choosing to raise dragon eggs and in idolizing the dragon jockeys, but he lets her make them and only provides guidance. It’s not a parenting style that would work for all families or situations, but Mr. Harrison is a character I very much respect. One beta reader compared the relationship between him and Cora to Atticus and Scout, and while I don’t think it is quite at that level, I love that I got compared to a story as timeless as To Kill a Mockingbird, at least in a small way.

Also, there are some thoughts about disobeying unjust laws and defying societal expectations to do what’s right, though they are approached in terms of fantasy situations.

Author Autobiography:

An avid reader and self-proclaimed “geek princess,” H. L. Burke has been obsessed with the fantastic all her life. Now a mom of two girls and the wife of a handsome US Marine, she seeks out wonder wherever she can find it. 

Where, and in what formats, can we purchase your book?

The book is available through Amazon.com and kindle unlimited as an ebook (pre-order until January 31st) and available soon as a paperback through all major book sellers mybook.to/nursedragon

Where can readers connect with you online?  

Website: www.hlburkeauthor.com

Blog: www.hlburkeblog.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hlburkewriter

Twitter: www.twitter.com/typativemamacat

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7230868.H_L_Burke

Instagram: www.instagram.com/burkesdragons

I hope you all enjoyed the trip to Farrington.  Questions about the world or the book?  Ask them in the comments and the author will get back to you!  

Click here to read other posts in the Realm Explorers series.

Please join us again next Monday for a trip to another world, in Realm Explorers Part LXXXIII!

-Annie Douglass Lima

Author’s name:

H. L. Burke

Title of book and/or series:

Lands of Ash: Elemental Realms Book One

Brief summary of the story:

After decades of Elemental Invasions, the once flourishing Kingdom of Forra has been reduced to ruins. A band of survivors pulls together in one last attempt to defend their homes and families as the Elementals make a push to wipe them out completely.

Brief description of the world or location you created for this story:

At the beginning of the book, the majority of the continent is a scorched wasteland with the humans clinging at the edges in scattered settlements. These include the forested Mountain’s Feet and a swath of land near the sea called the Green Band. Few cities remain, most humans dwelling in small hidden encampments. The Fire Realm is a parallel version of the human land, but with fiery molten seas and hot acrid atmosphere, perfect for the Fire Elementals who live there but inhospitable to humans. Of course, the rains and seas of the human lands are just as deadly to the Elementals.

If we were to visit Forra as tourists, what would you recommend that we see or do there?

Stay near the sea. Much less chance of getting toasted there. The mountains and forests that remain are beautiful, old growth pines, pristine air, but every year more land is devoured by the fires.

What dangers should we avoid in Forra?

If you see a swirling blue whirlpool of light forming on the ground, that’s a portal. Elementals come through portals. Elementals burn things. Run!

What types of weaponry or fighting styles are common in Forra?

When fighting Elementals, water is your friend. Large settlements will often have water bucket brigades or even wooden tubes set up to pipe water onto open portals. There is also a special metal called “icestone,” a blue ore, cold to the touch, found in glacial melts. This is poison to Elementals and even a scratch from an icestone blade will cause an Elemental to break apart. However, icestone is rarely found in large deposits so normal steel blades, stone-tipped arrowheads, and other mundane weapons are frequently used.

What types of vehicles, animals, technology, etc. are used to travel in or to Forra?

Horses are rare. They were never common in the northern reaches of the kingdom where packrams and goat carts are the more common means of transport, and so most were lost when the valley burned. Packrams are large, horned sheep, about the size of donkeys. The males are used as beasts of burden and the females for milk.

What types of plants, animals, or sentient races might we encounter in Forra that we don’t see on Earth?

Elementals come in multiple sizes. They are born as tiny “Sparks” out of the heat of their world. As they expand they become “Flares” and finally “Inferno Lords.” They also have the ability to reanimate human corpses into the mindless but still deadly “Charred.” Charred resemble blackened corpses with a flaming core giving them strength. They can fade, becoming smoke, to travel and avoid weapons, but lack the intelligence needed to be truly formidable foes.

What role, if any, does magic or the supernatural play in the lives of people in Forra?  If there is magic, please give some examples of what it involves or how it’s used.

Humans have two varieties of magical healers. The abilities are hereditary, and while both can heal the sick or injured, they are polar opposites in their approach. A syphonic healer draws lifeforce from one individual to bolster another. The absorption of energy becomes addictive to syphonics, and they often steal energy from others when they don’t really need to. A syphonic’s powers are also an effective weapon, as they can weaken or even kill a person (or Elemental) by drawing away their lifeforce.

An empathic, however, heals with shared energy. She/he draws on her own lifeforce and the powers of memory and emotion. Empathics feel the emotions of those they are in contact with and can read their patient’s memories during the healing bond. Also, if you harm an empathic, identical harm will immediately befall you, but the sword cuts both ways. If an empathic healer strikes another, he/she will feel identical pain, and if an empathic kills, they will perish.

Is there a particular religion practiced in Forra?  Please describe what it involves.

With most of the society scattered and living hand to mouth, organized religion is almost non-existent. Few temples remain, but some people still keep faith in an unnamed Creator. The most widespread remaining practice is that of the Late Litany. People awaken after midnight to say prayers, meditate, or make an offering. The traditional offering is three bowls, one with water, one with a live coal, and the other with some form of plant life, often a flower. Water offerings are often given over graves, to cleanse the souls of dead in preparation for the afterlife.

In recent years, a cult has arisen that worships the invading Elementals.

What is the political or government structure in Forra?  Who is in charge there at the moment, and what kind of leader is he/she?

When the Royal City fell in the early days of the invasions, the last King of Forra left no heir. A militia rose up from the various settlements in order to drive back the Elementals and protect the remaining human settlements. Militias are controlled by influential village leaders, usually the oldest man, and certain “hero captains” have sprang up, most notably Draven at Fork Vale Fortress and brothers, Karvir and Ketyl, out of the isolated Haven.

Has anything in your actual life inspired the locations, cultures, etc. in your book?

I grew up in rural Oregon, and wildfires were a yearly occurrence. I remember specifically one night when we were ordered to evacuate our home and the sense of dread knowing that a wall of fire was creeping towards my house, but I could do nothing about it. (Thankfully our home always stayed out of harms way. We kept it pretty clear and irrigated.) There’s something so primal, destructive, and yet alluring about fire. Also, seeing the burned out skeletons of trees and blackened earth was emotionally gutting.

I’m also a military wife, and a major theme in the book is seeing fathers and husbands go off to war. To me there is nothing scarier than that, and so in some ways in this book I was playing with my worst fears. 

Author Autobiography:

I’m a life long fangirl who always had plenty of free time on my hands to spend with books and exploring the woods. I married my high school crush who had grown up to be a handsome US Marine, and we have two daughters together. My long term goal is to be a cat, but if that doesn’t work out, I’m content with “writer/mom” on my resume. I am the author of multiple fantasy novels, including the four part series “The Dragon and the Scholar Saga”, the series is a full length fairy tale centered on the friendship between young scholar, Shannon, and a dragon with a mysterious past.

Where, and in what formats, can we purchase your book(s)? 

My books are available in paperback and ebook through Amazon.com. You can view my author page at this link.

Where can readers connect with you online? 

My website is www.hlburkeauthor.com

you can find me on Facebook.

and Twitter. 

You can preorder Lands of Ashnow on Amazon.

Author’s name:

H. L. Burke

Title of book and/or series:

Beggar Magic

Brief summary of the story:

In Gelia City people are divided into two classes based on their ability to access the magic of the Strains. Leilani Weaver, a young Common girl, befriends a Highmost girl, Zebedy Brightly and the girls develop an unbreakable bond despite Zebedy’s greater social status. When Zeb pulls Leilani into her world, Leilani discovers a hidden threat to the Strains, but no one will listen to her. Defending her beloved Strains may cost her not only her friendship with Zeb but also her life. 

Brief description of the world or location you created for this story:

Gelia City is built in concentric rings separated by canals. The area around the city is a mix between woodlands, country estates, and farms, but doesn’t really come into the story much. The  first ring of Gelia is the Trade District where skilled laborers have shops. This is Leilani’s world. Her father is a weaver, and she anticipates a life in a trade. Next is the Merchant District, with banks, money changers, and markets, then Civics Circle where the Guard (the peace keeping/military force of Gelia) are garrisoned and also where public courts are held. The Leisure District consists of parks, monuments, and the Cathedral, and then the Manor District where the Highmost live and work. The Highmost divide up into Manors the same way the Common group in guilds, devoted to specific studies and uses of the Strains. 

If we were to visit Gelia City as tourists, what would you recommend that we see or do there?

Definitely the Leisure District. Most of Gelia City can be experienced in a quick walking tour, but if you want a nice rest and relaxation trip, the parks, fountains, hedge mazes, and green houses that make up the Leisure District allow for a perfect day of de-stressing. However, each Manor has its own aesthetic, including massive libraries, statues, and telescopes. You could easily spend a day exploring each Manor in turn. . .except for Civics Manor. Civics Manor is dreadfully dull. 

What dangers should we avoid in Gelia City?

Gelian society is generally peaceful, but as Captain Goodly, a member of the Guard, says, it is a different place after dark, so I wouldn’t go traipsing about the city at midnight. You might get mugged. Most Gelians are peaceful because taking another life will alienate the Strains. They refuse to speak to anyone who has done such a deed, rendering that person Wordless. In a society where your worth is judged by how well you can wield the Strains, most people won’t risk killing . . . however, you can still rob or beat up a man without killing him. 

What types of weaponry or fighting styles are common in Gelia City?

Weapons are not commonly wielded in Gelia City (for the reasons given in the last question) but the Guard is an exception. Each Guard is issued a saber and a dueling pistol with a single shot, and while most Guards retire never having discharged their weapon other than in practice, they are adept in the use of them. Guards also wear bracers of imbued silver that can repel attacks from the Strains. 

A slightly less savory character actually finds a way to weaponize the Strains, creating grenades of pure sonic power, but these things are not generally found in Gelia City. 

What types of vehicles, animals, technology, etc. are used to travel in or to Gelia City?

Gelians tend to keep to their own classes and neighborhoods, and the city itself is not that large. Other than horse drawn wagons used to transport goods, most people stick to their feet. They have been playing with the idea of a Steam Barge system that would run in the canals, but the first barge launched ran into a bridge, and they haven’t been able to find the funding to continue the project.

What role, if any, does magic or the supernatural play in the lives of people in Gelia City?  If there is magic, please give some examples of what it involves or how it’s used.

Everything in Gelia focuses around the Strains. The Strains are unique to Gelia, which is a small, isolated nation. They are everywhere, manifesting as sounds. You can’t see them or feel them, but they speak to folks. The Common hear them as various sounds – music, birdsong, even natural sounds like falling rain – but the Highmost can hear their voices, and the Strains speak directly to them and obey their commands. The Strains are sentient and unique to each individual, like guardian angels. Common folk learn to use them in small ways, to help them in their work or maybe get a box off a high shelf, but it is more difficult for them to access and control them, which is why Common magic is called “Beggar Magic”. 

Since the Strains are purely audible, those who are deaf are unable to use them at all and are often given jobs that both Common and Highmost do not want. Many deaf men enter the Guard because of this, since the Guard may sometimes be required to take a human life in service, which would deprive them of the Strains. 

Is there any advanced or unusual technology in Gelia City?  If you haven’t described it already, please give some examples.

The technology level in Gelia City is roughly Victorian, but they are far more dependent on magic than on technology. They have telescopes, steam engines, gas lamps, and pocket watches.  

Is there a particular religion practiced in Gelia City?  Please describe what it involves.

Gelians worship and omniscient, omnipotent Creator, often called simply  “the Maker”, who created the world then gifted them with the Strains to guide and aide them. Most Gelians tend to focus so heavily on the Strains that they do not pursue communion with the Maker other than prayers left on holy days, which are written on strips of paper and burned at the Cathedral altar. The Cathedral is run by the Sanctified Brothers who see to the poor and distribute texts describing the creation of the world and praising the Maker for his gift of the Strains. 

What is the political or government structure in Gelia City?  Who is in charge there at the moment, and what kind of leader is he/she?

Gelia City is run by an academic oligarchy. Each Highmost Manor is ruled by a senior scholar who oversees various fellows. Every five years they elect one of these senior fellows to serve in the Highmost Seat, overseeing disputes between different manors. The Guard and courts are overseen by Civics Manor with approval from the Highmost Seat and judges are appointed by a council of senior fellows from all Manors. 

Similarly, the Common folk have a guild system with different trades joined into multiple guilds which meet to settle disputes and set guidelines for business practices. 

Has anything in your actual life inspired the locations, cultures, etc. in your book?

While the majority of my characters are Gelian, Leilani, my main character, is the child of immigrants, her grandparents having come to Gelia from Rynar fleeing a famine. I chose to make Rynar resemble Japan in a lot of aspects due to the three years I spent there. My husband is military so we were stationed in that country for some time, though living on an American base did allow me to function without learning more than a handful of Japanese phrases.

What, if any, “hot-button” or controversial topics do you touch on in your book?

One of my characters is deaf which I don’t mean to be controversial, but in researching for his character, I found out that it really can be. There are a lot of opinions in that community about how to handle things like lip reading and sign language and I realized my character would not please everyone. I just did my best to make him real. Also, Gelia City is not our modern world. It is a world where people are judged by their ability to use magic that is audible, so the deaf would be even more marginalized than they are in our world. It was important to me to show that my deaf character was capable and content, not seeing himself as disabled, but I also needed to show how he would be realistically treated by people in this society. 

Author Autobiography:

I grew up in Oregon in a rural area and always had plenty of free time on my hands to spend with books and exploring the woods. I married my high school crush who had grown up to be a handsome US Marine, and we have two daughters together. My long term goal is to be a cat, but if that doesn’t work out, I’m content with “writer/mom” on my resume.  I am the author of multiple fantasy novels, including the four part series “The Dragon and the Scholar Saga”, the first book of which, Dragon’s Curse, will be free 12/31/14-1/4/15 on Amazon Kindle – click here to download your copy!  The series is a full length fairy tale centered on the friendship between young scholar, Shannon, and a dragon with a mysterious past.

Where, and in what formats, can we purchase your book(s)?  

My books are available through Amazon in both paperback and ebook form. They are listed together nicely on my Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/H.-L.-Burke/e/B00EYQ1HLW

Where can readers connect with you online?  

My website is www.hlburkeauthor.com. You can sign up for monthly email alerts there. I also am active on facebook at www.facebook.com/hlburkewriter and twitter at https://twitter.com/typativemamacat