Issue 4 October 2026
Breaking News: The Price of Peace Is Here!
I’m delighted to announce that The Price of Peace, the long-awaited sequel to NanoMorphosis: First Contact, is now available for Kindle pre-order on Amazon!
Official release date: November 17, 2026 Order Price of Peace
Astrophysicist Daniel Walker is returning to the stars, this time on a mission to establish peace with the Garuda, the alien civilization responsible for his parents’ deaths. But peace won’t come easily.
On a world where humans are the aliens, Daniel must navigate an unfamiliar civilization, confront the ghosts of his past, and discover whether two species with every reason to distrust one another can find common ground.
Meanwhile, a growing catastrophe on Earth threatens everything humanity has achieved. Daniel and Aurora face an impossible choice, one that could cost them their future together and change the course of human civilization forever.
If you haven’t read NanoMorphosis, there’s still time to discover where their extraordinary journey began.
A Topic of Interest: Why Do We Love Being Scared?
With Halloween approaching, I’ve been wondering why people enjoy scary stories?
Part of the appeal is knowing we’re safe, that we can experience the danger without being in danger. We can cover our eyes, close the book or turn off the television. Of course, that doesn’t always prevent the occasional nightmare. Maybe we like thinking about the worst things that could possibly ever happen to mentally arm ourselves in case they ever do happen. I compare it to buying accident insurance, hoping you’ll never need it. Thanks to Night of the Living Dead, we’re ready to escape the zombies if they ever show up… because we bought the insurance, just in case.
I’ve also wondered why some stories stay with us longer than others. For me, the most disturbing aren’t necessarily those filled with monsters or violence. They’re the ones that made me question something I thought I understood or left just enough unexplained to let my imagination take over. Lines like, “I see dead people,” tend to stick in my mind.
So what frightens you in a story? Something supernatural, a dangerous human adversary, or the unsettling possibility that what you’re seeing or reading could actually happen?
On Writing: Returning to the Garuda
One of the challenges in creating an alien world is making it believable but not so strange that readers can’t relate to it. I wanted the Garuda to have recognizable motivations and emotions, but to express them through customs, traditions, and beliefs very different from our own.
If you’ve ever found yourself surrounded by unfamiliar faces in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar customs, you may relate to his discomfort. Of course, in Daniel’s case, the faces aren’t human.
I would hope if a representative of an alien species arrived on Earth that we would be more welcoming. But I worry that our suspicions and prejudices could make cooperation impossible. Maybe some day we will find out.
Those were some of the questions I enjoyed exploring in The Price of Peace. I hope you’ll enjoy discovering how Daniel handles them.
**********Keep reading. It’s the best brain food there is.***********
Thank you for sticking with me this far.
Sincerely,
Marla L. Anderson
https://www.mlandersonauthor.com