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Please Don’t Piss on the Petunias by Sandra Knauf has 11 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.7 stars.

Please Don’t Piss on the Petunias: Stories About Raising Kids, Crops & Critters in the City by Sandra Knauf

Please Don’t Piss on the Petunias is a collection of essays and stories by a Colorado gardener with a dream: to give her two daughters the nature-centered childhood she had always longed for. When her husband finds an old house in a quirky part of town, she begins to make her dream a reality.

Engaging, edgy, and often hilarious, Please Don’t Piss on the Petunias follows Sandra Knauf as she turns a weed-filled yard into an urban paradise.

Over the course of several chaotic years, she:

• Muddles through “mistress gardener” training, learning the ABCs of horticulture.
• Raises, with her young daughters, exotic breed bantam chickens named after Greek goddesses
• Goes on her first bee-swarm capture.
• Discovers that a hen in their small flock has undergone a sex change.
• Copes with a series of family dogs: a rambunctious rescue Dalmatian, a destructive black Lab puppy, and a counterfeit teacup Chihuahua with a bad attitude.
• Adds to the animal menagerie: Netherlands dwarf rabbits, fancy backyard goldfish, triops from the age of the dinosaurs, and more.

Through creating a life filled with plants and animals (and plenty of love) Sandra Knauf makes a discovery that will resonate with any rebel: Going off the beaten path may be the best way to find out who you really are.

About the author, Sandra Knauf:

Sandra Knauf was born in California and spent most of her childhood in Missouri. She moved to Colorado when she was a teenager and has lived there ever since. She is the publisher and editor of Greenwoman Magazine, a garden writing magazine, which she started in 2010. Her work has appeared in The Denver Post, GreenPrints, Colorado Gardener, and other publications, and she has been a guest commentator on KRCC’s “Western Skies” radio show. (KRCC is NPR’s southern Colorado affiliate station.) Zera and the Green Man is her first novel. Sandra Knauf lives in Colorado Springs with her family, pets, and a big garden.

Download Misjump by Mark Long while it’s free today on Amazon.

Misjump by Mark Long

It was a cargo run, a jump between systems that they had done a dozen times. It was supposed to be routine. Instead, the crew of the Sarafina find themselves in a universe of ravaged worlds and danger, equipped only with an unarmed trader, the contents of their hold and their wits.

Join the crew for this story of ordinary people forced into adventure as they try to discover why once populous worlds have been wiped clean of humanity, why the first ship they encountered attacked them on sight and how to start the fight back.

With space battles, strange aliens virtual reality, and the fate of humanity on the line, this is a high tension hard SF novel with an ensemble cast.

About the author, Mark Long:

Mark Long is an English author living in the south of England. He is a long time fan of SF and fantasy and loves reading as much as writing.
He freely admits to being influenced by authors from the golden age of SF as well as more modern writers such as Jasper Fforde, Terry Prattchet, Neil Gaiman and Douglas Adams, an author that he has been compared to by some reviewers. However, he maintains that this rampant flattery.

While relatively new to full length novels, Mark has long experience writing poetry (but now feels much better) and short stories, some of which were included in anthologies.

When not writing, Mark has a day job, teaches adults to play the Ukulele, does sound engineering, videography and editing and he is learning to play the saxophone despite the requests of those with ears. He also looks after four indolent and self important dogs. He has heard that sleep is pleasant and will try it if the coffee ever runs out.

In the Image of Man and Misjump are published by Orchid Imprint.

Book 1 of the Tiamis series has 18 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.7 stars.

The Free Prisoner (Tiamis Book 1) by A.L. Rugova

You may call him Kevin, but Kevin is not his name.

One hundred and forty-nine years have passed since Earth fell apart. The new human settlements, though resources scarce, are thriving in peace. Or that’s what Kevin has thought. Until red flames engorge town after town on one ordinary night—a longtime foe has invaded his empire.

Download book 1 of the Tiamis series while it’s free today on Amazon.

Kevin’s escape pod crashes into a hostile kingdom on Earth. Trapped and alone, he must plan to reclaim his empire. He needs to act—fast. But he is being watched. Closely.

Kevin must fake his identity, or he might as well kiss his only asylum goodbye. Wary of trusting anyone, Kevin still searches for allies to help him on his mission. With the Empire of Tiamis and his family’s lives at stake, one wrong move may be too much to risk.

About the author of Tiamis Book 1, A.L. Rugova:

A.L. Rugova is an ordinary stay-at-home mom with three crazy kids and a doting husband. Her favorite leisure is daydreaming on the couch and singing in the kitchen. She is drawn to anything related to moon and autumn. Her family doesn’t stay in one place long, so she’s always looking forward to their next destination.

Book 1 of the Tiamis series is free today on Amazon.

“I am an ordinary woman. I chat with my noisy brain. Okay, I daydream too much. When I think of myself, I think of my bucket list. I’m a goal setter, so my bucket list only gets longer. I’m hoping I can actually cross everything off before I die.

I also keep a dream journal, meaning I DO write my dreams down almost as soon as I wake up. Most of my dreams are magical, eerie, grim, thrilling, and action-packed. And I’m not ashamed to admit, they are the muse of my creative brain. Am I doing a good job utilizing my dreams? I’ll let you decide (wink).”

With the Empire of Tiamis and his family’s lives at stake, one wrong move by Kevin and he might as well kiss his only asylum goodbye.