The Witness

I JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU COULD SEE HIM.

Maren Voss takes things out of rooms for a living. From a spare bedroom in Van Nuys she lassoes laundry baskets and single running shoes out of real-estate photos, until each house looks like nobody was ever sad there. In a rental in Glendale, in the middle of June, she takes out a long wool coat hanging on the back of a door.

Her sister Nat sat in their mother's hospital room for five weeks. Maren came twice, and the second time she left at four in the afternoon for a delivery. She still hasn't called Nat back.

On the drive home she stops at an empty red light. Across the road, in a bank drive-through, a man is standing with his arms at his sides. The clearance bar crosses him at the chest. It reads 8 FT 6 IN.

He is looking at her.

"Looking's free," a stranger tells her through the glass.

His face is the one Nat wore in that room, sorry and settled in to stay until it's over.

Book one of a trilogy.

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Deep Core Industries

Deep Core Industries is a science-fiction tabletop role-playing game, set in the 24th century and extending into the 38th century. By the 24th century, humanity had expanded throughout the Solar System by terraforming worlds, establishing orbital habitats, and engaging in extensive mining. To endure extreme environments and isolated deep-space conditions, humanity developed advanced cybernetics, robotics, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence. These advancements led to the creation of various specialized populations: engineered Canids and Felari, broad populations of Geneborn descendants, autonomous Androids, heavily augmented Cyborgs, and Holograms whose personalities are sustained via expensive Holographic Cores.  

Centuries of relentless expansion eventually drained the Solar System's viable natural resources, sparking a critical energy and material crisis. In response, major governments and private corporations united under Deep Core Industries (DCI) to construct the Dark Nebula—a massive, five-mile-long mining and exploration vessel housing over 1,700 crew members. Operating in opposition to DCI's monopoly, corporate rivals like the Atlas Resource Consortium (ARC) engaged in espionage, tech theft, and sabotage against DCI operations. Built in the Kuiper Belt, the Dark Nebula launched in the year 3779 on an FTL journey to the Large Magellanic Cloud. 

Arriving in 3784, the diverse crew of biological, cybernetic, and digital specialists is awakened from stasis to secure humanity's survival by establishing mining operations, recovering resources, and scanning for terraformable planets. The core mechanics of the game rely on a roll-under 2d6 system. Characters calculate a Target Number by combining a specific Attribute score with a Skill score. 

To succeed, players must roll equal to or lower than their Target Number on 2d6. The dice rolled are categorized as a Boon die and a Bane die. Rolling low leads to success, while generating Boon tokens for the players or Bane tokens for the Game Master (referred to as the AI) depending on which die shows the higher result. 

Players can spend Boon tokens to adjust Target Numbers or advance their stats between game sessions. The AI uses accumulated Bane tokens to introduce sudden environmental hazards, plot complications, and narrative obstacles.

 Click here to get Deep Core Industries - PDF

 

**Scanned and Denied - By Trudy G. Masters**

 

Scanned and Denied - By Trudy G. Masters

What happens when technology influences how consumers are evaluated, monitored, or treated—often without their knowledge? Scanned and Denied explores surveillance technology, digital profiling, retail bias, and the growing questions surrounding consumer privacy. Through an educational and thought-provoking approach, author Trudy G. Masters encourages readers to look beyond everyday transactions and consider how data-driven systems may affect consumer experiences, transparency, and individual rights. What consumers don't see can still affect them.

Discover the book:

https://synergy4994.gumroad.com/l/uypgab

Published by Trudy G. Masters Publishing — Knowledge That Inspires Action.

The Great Alliance: Terminus Book 1: (Terminus, A Young Adult Science-Fiction Series)

  

The Great Alliance: Terminus Book 1:

(Terminus, A Young Adult Science-Fiction Series)

Praise for the Fantasy Prequel Series Dynasty: “A wild romp in the best traditions of fantasy fiction. Action, adventure, and plenty of exciting surprises - I’ve read it twice before it was even published! Derek is a welcome new voice in fantasy fiction, and I genuinely look forward to seeing more of his output in the future.” -- Randal Graham, Author of the "Beforelife" Trilogy "A fun and often humorous adventure with a likeable hero. Moral dilemmas, twists and turns, and a fast, exciting read!" -- Michael A. Ventrella, Author of "Big Stick" and "Terin Ostler and the Axes of Evil" "The start of a wondrous story about trust, sacrifice and the eternal and universal thirst for power." -- Editor's Review for Terminus: The Great Alliance Majestrix Sarah Cayale never wanted to be a politician. As the most powerful superhuman alive, she'd rather be in the field breaking bones than stuck in endless senate sessions – much to her Protective Detail's horror.

But a deathbed promise bound her to the Great Alliance, a democratic union of seventy vulnerable worlds on the verge of cosmic chaos, as its leader. Her daughter Sonyia, fresh into her career as a Justice Officer, wears her badge with pride, determined to prove that she's more than just the Majestrix's daughter – if only she didn't have to keep worrying about being a political liability.

But when she and her partner, Alex Jennings, are faced with a nuclear bomb on their first patrol, Sonyia might get her chance after all. The two young Royals awaken a new power that might make them the galaxy's most unpredictable variables, while putting them squarely in the crosshairs of forces Sarah never saw coming.

Now, as one fights in the halls of power and the other in the chaos those halls create, both mother and daughter hold the fate of the galaxy in their hands. Unfortunately, things are about to get apocalyptic.

This is the first volume in an epic series novelizing the greatest television series that never was! It’s like binge-watching a galactic space opera, but on paper, with zero buffering! Fans of Star Wars and John Scalzi will love this sci-fi epic!

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The Great Alliance: Terminus Book 1

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited 

The Beautiful One

In 1912, Asim and Chione, a young Egyptian couple, are enthralled by the discovery of the Queen Nefertiti sculpture bust. Asim becomes the official photographer of the excavation, while Chione assists archaeologist Herr Borchardt as a translator. They all embark on a journey to Berlin, a city brimming with possibilities.

Chione embraces newfound social freedoms; becomes an active women’s suffrage advocate; and secures a job with a leading importer of ancient artifacts. Asim joins an emerging Expressionist art group as an assistant photographer at the prestigious Berlin Museum. In the vibrant atmosphere of Berlin, they unknowingly become entangled in an illicit trade of smuggled Egyptian artifacts and mystical amulets.

Their lives take a dramatic turn when Asim is unexpectedly arrested for murder, setting off a chain of events that leads to the kidnapping of Chione. Their friends join forces to uncover the secrets of the gang and reveal the true killer.

This captivating tale blends historical facts with a touch of the fantastical. Against the backdrop of a transforming century, Asim and Chione navigate Berlin's vibrant society while pursuing their desires, dreams, and the enduring quest for truth.

With a blend of authenticity and imagination, this narrative immerses readers in a world of romance, mystery, and adventure. It invites exploration of the power of human connection and the eternal pursuit of immortality at the turn of a new century.

An era filled with fantastic discoveries made in science, medicine, engineering, and the arts. It is an engaging amateur sleuth, romantic mystery.

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Operational Integrity in Action: A Plant Turnaround Story Using the 3P Diagnostic System (Operational Integrity Series Book 2)

 

Operational Integrity in Action:

A Plant Turnaround Story Using the 3P Diagnostic System (Operational Integrity Series Book 2)

Operational Integrity in Action: A Plant Turnaround Story Using the 3P Diagnostic System takes readers inside a struggling manufacturing plant where safety concerns, recurring defects, rework, missed schedules, downtime, weak handoffs, and low morale have become part of daily operations. When Plant Manager Daniel Mercer steps into Ridgeway Trailer Manufacturing, he quickly sees that the problems are not isolated. They are connected symptoms of a deeper operating-system failure. Using the principles of the 3P Diagnostic System — People, Process, and Product — Daniel begins looking beyond blame, workarounds, and familiar explanations to uncover the structural conditions allowing problems to repeat. Through realistic shop-floor situations, leadership challenges, and a developing plant turnaround, readers see how concepts from Operational Integrity Code can be applied to: - Identify Hidden Failure Nodes - Challenge the Reality Filter - Reduce recurring defects, rework, and operational firefighting - Improve process stability and accountability - Strengthen safety and quality at the source - Restore productive flow without relying on constant pressure or heroics - Build lasting operational discipline through Structural Recode - Lead with Safety First, Quality Second, Productivity Last Written for plant managers, operations managers, production leaders, supervisors, quality professionals, maintenance leaders, safety professionals, Lean practitioners, and continuous improvement professionals, Operational Integrity in Action combines manufacturing leadership with a practical plant-turnaround story. If you work in manufacturing and have ever asked why the same problems keep returning even after corrective actions, meetings, retraining, and increased oversight, this book offers a different way to look at the operation. Stop chasing symptoms. Start understanding the system behind them. Operational Integrity in Action shows how manufacturing leaders can move from reaction to diagnosis, from workarounds to structure, and from temporary improvement to sustainable operational integrity.

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Cheap Houses: A Memoir of Poverty and Reinvention in Rural America

Some children grow up believing the world is fair. Others learn to survive before they are old enough to understand why they have to.

Stevie G. Davis was born to a teenage mother and abandoned by his father before birth. His childhood unfolded in the coal camps and small communities of rural northern Alabama, where his family moved from one cheap house to another in search of work and a place they could afford. The houses had cracked walls, little insulation, and few comforts. Hunger was never far away, and every dollar mattered.

As a boy, he picked cotton, hauled pulpwood, baled hay, cut fence posts, and accepted whatever work he could find. He wore hand-me-down clothes, carried paper-sack lunches, and stuffed cardboard inside worn-out shoes because new ones were a luxury his family could not afford. Poverty was not something he recognized at first—it was simply life.

Everything began to change when he discovered a set of "Future Cards" describing the emerging world of computers. To a boy who had never seen one, they represented more than technology. They represented possibility.

At seventeen, Davis enlisted in the United States Air Force as a medic. Through persistence, self-education, and a willingness to embrace every opportunity, he built a career that eventually led him into medical information systems. In 1992, he was recognized as the United States Air Force Medical Information Systems Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year before continuing his journey into corporate information technology.

Yet success never erased the memories of the cheap houses that shaped him.

Written with honesty, humility, and the eye of someone who remembers every detail, Cheap Houses is more than a memoir of poverty. It is a story of resilience, family, sacrifice, fear, reinvention, and the quiet determination to build a different future without forgetting where you came from.

For readers who appreciated the emotional honesty of The Glass Castle or the perseverance found in Hillbilly Elegy, Cheap Houses offers an unforgettable journey from hardship to hope—proving that while our beginnings shape us, they do not have to define the rest of our lives.

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Cheap Houses:

A Memoir of Poverty and Reinvention in Rural America

on Amazon / Kindle / Kindle Unlimited