by Sarah Noffke
This isn’t me on a campaign, but love isn’t tourism. It’s essential. Yes, we will have fun, but that’s never been what it was about. When you realize that someone owns a part of your heart, every day without them is torture. Being reunited isn’t fun. It’s healing.
I guess it felt like I was going to the hospital to have my heart repaired after five months, and well-meaning people are like, “Have fun.” I’m not going to Disney World. I have to take three COVID tests, while having a vaccine, fill out a boat load of forms and take three flights to get there and quarantine the entire time. This isn’t a vacation. So if anything, this is my attempts to educate people who think love is tourism, that it’s not. My friends mean well and I get it. But that’s the tough part that we’ve dealt with. My friends can go to Costco to buy bean dip, but I can’t see the guy who makes me feel whole.
I’ll stop now but not before saying that the Anderles have been more than supportive in this all, knowing how tough this was for us. And because of that, I’ll make no final tease about Bird Killer. Oh, I guess I just did. But that’s it. Promise.
Much peace and love,
Tiny Ninja
Michael’s Author Notes
April 7, 2021
Thank you for reading both this story and our author notes!
Tiny Ninja is my totem at times. There, I’ve said it.
I’ve always had admiration for those who can say stuff with no filter (or little filter), and whatever they said, it’s fun.
Sara is like that. She has a way of metaphoring. It’s a word; I just penciled it into my version of the dictionary. Now, I have to figure out a way to erase that @#@# off my screen.
Anyway, her comment about her relationship with Pilates cracks me up. Let’s connect a healthy effort with a painful relationship situation. Oh, and it works because I know ALL healthy exercise should be connected to a painful relationship.
I hate physical exercise.
I have an unhealthy relationship with Coca-Cola. I love it, regardless of how round it is making my body. Now, if someone would make the dopamine receptors in my mind fire like the 4th of July whenever I exercise, I’d be Mr. Universe.
Well, perhaps not him because that means all clothes would have to be replaced, and I hate shopping.
…Ok, I can’t keep writing like Sarah. My brain hurts, just trying to keep up with her Ping-Pong ball back-and-forth staccato flashes of inspiration and musings.
I admit, the sugar milkshake Judith and I had was a dirty rotten trick to play on Sarah that day. We allowed Lydia to grab whatever sugary delights were on the mug or plate with full knowledge of what it might set off.
Or at least I hoped it would set off.
I admire everything Tiny Ninja™ does for her daughter and the amazing efforts she accomplishes, including finishing a book with torn metacarpal tenda-ligaments. Or whatever it was.
Just for the record, I told her we could adjust some stuff to help her, and she told me to stuff it. She wouldn’t listen to her doctor.
I make that statement so that in the future, I have a written record I can believe. Trust me, I can imagine Sarah giving me a line of…something…that would have me believe I was a ruthless publisher.
I’m a sucker that way.
Here is a snippet of how that conversation would go:
Sarah: Actually, you told me on my second book of Paris Beaufont you didn’t care if I had hurt all of my torn metacarpal tenda-ligaments. I had to get the book finished.
Mike: Really? I don’t think that’s what I would have done.
Sarah: Yes, I was there. It was hurtful, Anderle. You were a real jerk about the whole thing.
Mike: But… That just doesn’t seem like me. I’m really sorry. I can’t believe what an @#@%# I was to you! How could you even keep working with me when I was a jerk like that?
Sarah: Do you feel bad?
Mike: Of course!
Sarah: Good. Because you didn’t say it, and you had better never give Lydia sugar for lunch again, or I’ll make you feel worse. <
Mike: Dammit, Noffke!
Have a fantastic week.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael
Acknowledgments
Sarah Noffke
I have so many people to thank who make this all possible. Firstly, thanks to Mike, who really pushes me to be a better writer, coming up with the best ideas, not just the really good ones. We work together pretty well, I’d say. I wonder what he’d say… Anyway, MA gave me the opportunity to write with LBMPN a few years ago and it’s been life changing. He’s very supportive and really cares. Thanks Bird Killer.
A huge thank you to the LBMPN team who work tirelessly so that I have less stress. Thanks to Steve and Kelly for making my life easier and being on top of everything. Thanks to Tracey and Lynne for fixing all my editing mistakes. A big thank you to the JIT team whose feedback at the 11th hour before publishing is invaluable. Thank you to my alpha readers Juergen and Martin. Thank you to everyone who makes getting the books to the reader possible. I really can’t do this without you. And you make it so much more fun.
Thank you to my daughter, Lydia, who inspires my stories over and over again. She’s my muse and we are always discussing story. She’s an avid reader and listens to the Liv Beaufont series at night and reads the Sophia Beaufont books with me before bed. She also reads other authors, which I guess is okay. But my point is that she’s supportive of me in so many ways. I need to stay immersed in this universe and remember all the details. There are 12 book in each series so there’s a lot to remember. And Lydia loves my stories and then also supports me by listening and reading them so I can keep crafting. But also, she puts up with me when I go all psycho pants during a big crunch of a deadline. I will be the first to admit that I’m pretty intense a day or two before a book is due. And she always just smiles and says, “Mommy, you can do it.”
Thank you to my family, the Scotsman and all my friends. You all are always so supportive of me and for that, I’m infinitely grateful. I really couldn’t do this without the encouragement of those I love. On the really tough writing days, the Scotsman points out all the things that I don’t see, like my dedication to the craft or how much readers are enjoying the books. I don’t know what I did to have the most loving and thoughtful people in the world in my corner, but I’m going to do everything to keep them and hopefully keep making them proud.
And finally, thank you to you the reader. Without you I wouldn’t be able to do what I love. Your support means so much to me and my family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Love,
Tiny Ninja
Books By Sarah Noffke
Sarah Noffke writes YA and NA science fiction, fantasy, paranormal and urban fantasy. In addition to being an author, she is a mother, podcaster and professor. Noffke holds a Masters of Management and teaches college business/writing courses. Most of her students have no idea that she toils away her hours crafting fictional characters. www.sarahnoffke.com
Check out other work by Sarah author here.
Ghost Squadron:
Formation #1:
Kill the bad guys. Save the Galaxy. All in a hard day’s work.
After ten years of wandering the outer rim of the galaxy, Eddie Teach is a man without a purpose. He was one of the toughest pilots in the Federation, but now he’s just a regular guy, getting into bar fights and making a difference wherever he can. It’s not the same as flying a ship and saving colonies, but it’ll have to do.
That is, until General Lance Reynolds tracks Eddie down and offers him a job. There are bad people out there, plotting terrible things, killing innocent people, and destroying entire colonies. Someone has to stop them.
Eddie, along with the genetically-enhanced combat pilot Julianna Fregin and her trusty E.I. named Pip, must recruit a diverse team of specialists, both human and alien. They’ll need to master their new Q-Ship, one of the most powerful st
rike ships ever constructed. And finally, they’ll have to stop a faceless enemy so powerful, it threatens to destroy the entire Federation.
All in a day’s work, right?
Experience this exciting military sci-fi saga and the latest addition to the expanded Kurtherian Gambit Universe. If you’re a fan of Mass Effect, Firefly, or Star Wars, you’ll love this riveting new space opera.
*NOTE: If cursing is a problem, then this might not be for you.
Check out the entire series here.
The Precious Galaxy Series:
Corruption #1
A new evil lurks in the darkness.
After an explosion, the crew of a battlecruiser mysteriously disappears.
Bailey and Lewis, complete strangers, find themselves suddenly onboard the damaged ship. Lewis hasn’t worked a case in years, not since the final one broke his spirit and his bank account. The last thing Bailey remembers is preparing to take down a fugitive on Onyx Station.
Mysteries are harder to solve when there’s no evidence left behind.
Bailey and Lewis don’t know how they got onboard Ricky Bobby or why. However, they quickly learn that whatever was responsible for the explosion and disappearance of the crew is still on the ship.
Monsters are real and what this one can do changes everything.
The new team bands together to discover what happened and how to fight the monster lurking in the bottom of the battlecruiser.
Will they find the missing crew? Or will the monster end them all?
The Soul Stone Mage Series:
House of Enchanted #1:
The Kingdom of Virgo has lived in peace for thousands of years…until now.
The humans from Terran have always been real assholes to the witches of Virgo. Now a silent war is brewing, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Princess Azure will soon be crowned queen of the Kingdom of Virgo.
In the Dark Forest a powerful potion-maker has been murdered.
Charmsgood was the only wizard who could stop a deadly virus plaguing Virgo. He also knew about the devastation the people from Terran had done to the forest.
Azure must protect her people. Mend the Dark Forest. Create alliances with savage beasts. No biggie, right?
But on coronation day everything changes. Princess Azure isn’t who she thought she was and that’s a big freaking problem.
Welcome to The Revelations of Oriceran. Check out the entire series here.
The Lucidites Series:
Awoken, #1:
Around the world humans are hallucinating after sleepless nights.
In a sterile, underground institute the forecasters keep reporting the same events.
And in the backwoods of Texas, a sixteen-year-old girl is about to be caught up in a fierce, ethereal battle.
Meet Roya Stark. She drowns every night in her dreams, spends her hours reading classic literature to avoid her family’s ridicule, and is prone to premonitions—which are becoming more frequent. And now her dreams are filled with strangers offering to reveal what she has always wanted to know: Who is she? That’s the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out. But will Roya live to regret learning the truth?
Stunned, #2
Revived, #3
The Reverians Series:
Defects, #1:
In the happy, clean community of Austin Valley, everything appears to be perfect. Seventeen-year-old Em Fuller, however, fears something is askew. Em is one of the new generation of Dream Travelers. For some reason, the gods have not seen fit to gift all of them with their expected special abilities. Em is a Defect—one of the unfortunate Dream Travelers not gifted with a psychic power. Desperate to do whatever it takes to earn her gift, she endures painful daily injections along with commands from her overbearing, loveless father. One of the few bright spots in her life is the return of a friend she had thought dead—but with his return comes the knowledge of a shocking, unforgivable truth. The society Em thought was protecting her has actually been betraying her, but she has no idea how to break away from its authority without hurting everyone she loves.
Rebels, #2
Warriors, #3
Vagabond Circus Series:
Suspended, #1:
When a stranger joins the cast of Vagabond Circus—a circus that is run by Dream Travelers and features real magic—mysterious events start happening. The once orderly grounds of the circus become riddled with hidden threats. And the ringmaster realizes not only are his circus and its magic at risk, but also his very life.
Vagabond Circus caters to the skeptics. Without skeptics, it would close its doors. This is because Vagabond Circus runs for two reasons and only two reasons: first and foremost to provide the lost and lonely Dream Travelers a place to be illustrious. And secondly, to show the nonbelievers that there’s still magic in the world. If they believe, then they care, and if they care, then they don’t destroy. They stop the small abuse that day-by-day breaks down humanity’s spirit. If Vagabond Circus makes one skeptic believe in magic, then they halt the cycle, just a little bit. They allow a little more love into this world. That’s Dr. Dave Raydon’s mission. And that’s why this ringmaster recruits. That’s why he directs. That’s why he puts on a show that makes people question their beliefs. He wants the world to believe in magic once again.
Paralyzed, #2
Released, #3
Ren Series:
Ren: The Man Behind the Monster, #1:
Born with the power to control minds, hypnotize others, and read thoughts, Ren Lewis, is certain of one thing: God made a mistake. No one should be born with so much power. A monster awoke in him the same year he received his gifts. At ten years old. A prepubescent boy with the ability to control others might merely abuse his powers, but Ren allowed it to corrupt him. And since he can have and do anything he wants, Ren should be happy. However, his journey teaches him that harboring so much power doesn’t bring happiness, it steals it. Once this realization sets in, Ren makes up his mind to do the one thing that can bring his tortured soul some peace. He must kill the monster.
*Note* This book is NA and has strong language, violence and sexual references.
Ren: God’s Little Monster, #2
Ren: The Monster Inside the Monster, #3
Ren: The Monster’s Adventure, #3.5
Ren: The Monster’s Death
Olento Research Series:
Alpha Wolf, #1:
Twelve men went missing.
Six months later they awake from drug-induced stupors to find themselves locked in a lab.
And on the night of a new moon, eleven of those men, possessed by new—and inhuman—powers, break out of their prison and race through the streets of Los Angeles until they disappear one by one into the night.
Olento Research wants its experiments back. Its CEO, Mika Lenna, will tear every city apart until he has his werewolves imprisoned once again. He didn’t undertake a huge risk just to lose his would-be assassins.
However, the Lucidite Institute’s main mission is to save the world from injustices. Now, it’s Adelaide’s job to find these mutated men and protect them and society, and fast. Already around the nation, wolflike men are being spotted. Attacks on innocent women are happening. And then, Adelaide realizes what her next step must be: She has to find the alpha wolf first. Only once she’s located him can she stop whoever is behind this experiment to create wild beasts out of human beings.
Lone Wolf, #2
Rabid Wolf, #3
Bad Wolf, #4
Check out Sarah Noffke’s YA Sci-fi Fantasy Series
Around the world humans are hallucinating after sleepless nights.
In a sterile, underground institute the forecasters keep reporting the same events.
And in the backwoods of Texas, a sixteen-year-old girl is about to be caught up in a fierce, ethereal battle.
Meet Roya Stark.
She drowns every night in her dreams, spends her hours reading classic literature to avoid her family’s rid
icule, and is prone to premonitions—which are becoming more frequent.
Now her dreams are filled with strangers offering to reveal what she has always wanted to know: Who is she? That’s the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. But will Roya live to regret learning the truth?
Get it here.
Books By Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
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