Jo Linsdell

Today I'm sharing an excerpt from Gunpowder (KOSMOS Episode 2). Enjoy! :)

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Excerpt:

Matt lifted the lid from one of the barrels and looked inside to find it full of black powder. It appeared to be charcoal, but with a strange smell to it. Matt sniffed the air. It had an sharp, sour aroma to it that made him gag a little. Wow, this dream sure is realistic, he thought as he swallowed down the bile in his throat.

Footsteps sounded from outside. They were coming this way. Matt jumped behind the barrels to block himself from view. Wow I'm a coward in my dreams too, he thought, as he tried to make himself as small as possible.

"I'll bring in more barrels later on tonight. It's safer to do it with the cover of the night", said a short man. He was wearing some kind of strange tights, with puffy looking shorts over the top. Matt's gaze worked its way up. A large cape hung around his shoulders, and a large collar fanned out around his neck. On top of his long dark hair sat a brimmed hat with a fancy looking feather sticking out of it. He had a long moustache and beard.

I must be in some kind of theatre, thought Matt. He used to love going to the theatre. His dad would take them every year around Christmas time. It had been one of their family traditions.

"We should have enough gunpowder to do the job now. Twenty barrels, plus the sixteen we brought in over during July", said the other man. This one was tall, with a more powerful build. He had thick reddish brown hair, a flowing moustache, and a bushy reddish brown beard. "Just make sure you bring some firewood and coal to conceal it."

"Will do John" said the short man.

"I'll be back myself tomorrow to check on everything. We can't have the gunpowder decaying like it did before. We need to stand station. The moment is almost upon us, and we must be ready". There was no doubt that the taller of the two men was the one in charge. "Wintour will drop by to check on things over the next few days too", he added. He took a step closer to the barrels and Matt froze.

"Right you are" said the short man. Then the two of them, satisfied with the conditions of the room, left shutting the door behind them.

Matt let out the breath he'd be holding. Gunpowder? He was sat behind barrels of gunpowder? Great hiding place idiot he told himself. It's a good job this is all a dream or this would all be highly dangerous.

Grab your copy of Gunpowder (KOSMOS Episode 2) at http://amzn.to/2qOBeUW

Today I thought it would be fun to share 10 random facts about the KOSMOS series with you. A bit of 'behind the scenes' fun ;)

So here we go...

1) I'm writing the KOSMOS series for my 9 year old son, who wanted "something with time travel, but not too long". He gets put off by big books, but loved the idea of a serial fiction with new episodes each month.

2) I'm meant to have finished writing the whole series by now but I'm way behind schedule (I will finish it soon though promise ;)).

3) One of my favourite characters from the series is Alexia from Gladiator (Episode 3). She's girl power in person.

4) I loved writing Gunpower (Episode 2) as Bonfire Night is one of my favourite festivities from the when I was in the UK.

5) In The Soldier (Episode 5) the shadow (Atom) makes his first appearance, even if Matt doesn't realise the danger until All That Jazz (Episode 6).

6) Matt ended up in Egypt in Pyramids (Episode 4) because my son was studying it in history at school.

7) I'm building a board on Pinterest with pics of what I see the characters looking like: https://it.pinterest.com/jolinsdell/dream-cast-for-kosmos/

8) I started writing the series as part of this years A Story A Week challenge.

9) I designed and made all the book covers myself :)

10) When I was trying to work out how Matt would travel through time I did some research into the possible means of time traveling via theoretic cosmic phenomena. Specifically the idea of cosmic string introduced by physicist J. Richard Gott, back in 1991.

These are string like objects that some scientists believe were formed in the early universe. These strings may weave throughout the entire universe, thinner than an atom and under immense pressure. Naturally, this means they'd pack quite a gravitational pull on anything that passes near them, enabling objects attached to a cosmic string to travel at incredible speeds and benefit from time dilation. By pulling two cosmic strings close together or stretching one string close to a black hole, it might be possible to warp space-time enough to create what's called a closed timelike curve.

So.... in theory, it became possible for an object e.g. a special necklace type object with advanced technology allowing it to contain somehow a cosmic string, to be a time machine. e.g. a person wearing the necklace could travel through time ;)

Out now

The Pendant http://amzn.to/2j4lL3e

Gunpowder http://amzn.to/2kOhRfc

Gladiator http://amzn.to/2pWyRDT

Pyramids http://amzn.to/2rDseD4

The Soldier http://amzn.to/2rDtMwM

Book Review: PsychoAnalysis by VR Stone

Today I'm sharing with you my review of PsychoAnalysis by VR Stone.

About the book:

A serial killer who wants to quit. A detective struggling to keep his personal life out of a murder hunt. And a celebrity psychiatrist facing an incredible challenge. Three damaged individuals, linked by their traumatic histories. They’ve chosen very different paths. Now those paths are about to cross.

Sarah Silver is a hedge fund manager – from Monday to Friday she makes a killing in the markets. At weekends, though, she hunts men, not profits. Martin White used to be a brilliant detective. But his family, judgement and self-control are deserting him. And Karl Gross has sold millions of books on serial killers. However he’s a controversial figure in the medical community.

Can Martin keep it together and catch a killer who commits almost perfect crimes? Is Karl capable of unravelling Sarah’s psyche and putting an end to the killing? Or will she disappear when she realises that the hunter has become the hunted?

PsychoAnalysis is a psychological crime thriller that explores the grey area between good and evil. Why would a woman kill for fun? Can she be understood? Can she be stopped?

“The mind is like an iceberg. Most of it lies beneath the surface, a subconscious universe of thoughts we can’t observe. It contains memories too painful to remember, elicits emotions we don’t want to feel, and makes us do things we don’t understand.”

My review: