by Rick Lakin
tal’ven Formal greeting to a male
Te’cha My love
te’mil Greeting to a child
Te’pa Honorific for father
Te’ma Honorific for mother
thi’kahs A successful strike when serving Tal’qid
Thi’mach – A strike that occurs with one or both in contact with the ground or the wall.
No points awarded.
Toxem’al Psychic spirit animal, able to communicate telepathically
Xaphnore Hoclarth Home planet orbiting the star Hoclar.
Acknowledgments
Singularity is my second novel. As a publisher, I have delivered thirty-five books by eleven authors but writing a novel is a new world. I would like to thank those who helped to make my book as good as it can be despite my efforts to the contrary.
I learned much from experienced authors, first and foremost my mentor, marketing guru, and editor, Penn Wallace, who writes exciting thrillers as Pendleton C. Wallace. Caroline McCullagh, author of The Ivory Caribou, provided much encouraging criticism. Jim Bennett suggested an incredibly descriptive title. Ron Hidinger provided some surprisingly good copy-editing. Retired principal Lee Romero, an avid surfer, provided valuable advice. My Ohio contingent included Sheila Moore, who is writing Letters to Sallie, the Civil War Letters of A.C. McClure, my great-grandfather, and Kathy Rider, my diligent copy editor on Book One. A special thanks to Chief Petty Officer Chad Pritt, a member of the Blue Angels, who provided me with insight about the Navy’s Premier Flight Demonstration Team.
One can only hope to have a wonderful cover like the one that Renata Lechner produced for this book.
Thanks to my beta readers including Dennis Mauricio, Eloisa Quijada, Lynn Reiter-Woodhead, and others.
Special thanks to author Laurence Dahners, whose character Ell Donsaii inspired Jennifer and who contributed valuable time and expertise at a critical moment. And to Sarah Char who provided her Hollywood insight.
My USS Drum sea buddy, Kent Gunn got me into the publishing business with The Apes of Eden and inspired Jennifer. Kent is the answer to the question, “How can anyone have an IQ of 206?”
Finally, my greatest inspiration comes from my former students in Southwest High Video Productions and iCrew Digital Productions including John, Joel, Dante, Chris, Stacee, James, Brian, Brittni, Ayiiia, Rod, Katie, Meaghan, Anamaria, Marina, Lee, Jessica, Charlie, Tori, Ricky, Chris D., Robin, Liza, Brion, Darlene, and Francisco.
And my thanks and apologies to anyone I might have left out because of you know…CRS.
About Rick Lakin
Rick Lakin is the the bestselling author of Brilliant and publisher at iCrewDigitalPublishing.com, Bringing New Authors to a Digital World. iCrew has published 35 books by 11 authors.
Rick has been an Optimist for almost two years and is the district webmaster as calso41.us.
He is the founder of iCrew Digital Productions, A Community of Young Media Professionals and a member of the 1000 Club of the National Association of Sports Public Address Announcers. Rick is an Advanced Communicator Silver in Toastmasters International and is a member of American Mensa. Rick works as a Sports Statistician for broadcast television and is a retired math teacher.
He is a retired math teacher who lives in Southern California but his roots are in Columbus, Ohio, home of The Ohio State University Buckeyes.
