PJ SKINNER

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Preorder Mortal Mission at a discount

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My hard sci-fi mystery, Mortal Mission is on on pre-order. I hope you like the cover. You may notice that I have used Elon Musk’s Starship as the vehicle for the adventure. I have done a ton of research on the technology in this book, which I enjoyed very much, and I welcome comments to improve any glitches.

Mortal Mission is out on Preorder – so what’s it about?

Astronauts are dying on the first crewed mission to Mars. Is it bad luck, or something far more sinister?
An international mission to search for life on Mars meets heated opposition from the religious right in the USA. Astronaut Hattie Fredericks’ dream is realised when she is selected for the voyage, but her presence on the Starship coincides with a series of incidents which threaten to derail the mission. After a near-miss while landing on Mars, the world watches as Hattie and the crew struggle to survive. But worse than the harsh elements are her suspicions that someone is trying to destroy the mission. After several crew members die, Hattie doesn’t know who to trust. And her only allies are 35 million miles away. As the tension ratchets up, violence and suspicion invade both worlds.
Will Hattie discover life on Mars, or die trying?  

Background

The idea for this story emerged out of my fascination with space travel. While watching the landing of the Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars. I couldn’t help wondering ‘what if’ all the time; the author’s curse. It has been quite an adventure writing two new genres at once but I really enjoyed the challenge. I think of it as a cross between an Agatha Christie mystery in an isolated place and the Da Vinci Code in space. Let me know what you think…

My Beta readers loved Mortal Mission, and I am ready to publish. So I would like to offer it to you at a discount on preorder. I would love you to support me by ordering this book. It costs about the same as a cheap coffee and I hope you trust me to write something you love by now. 😊 Please feel free to share the discount and tell your friends, if they would like this book.  

Please review my books if you have enjoyed them

If you could recommend my books on Amazon or on Goodreads, I would be so grateful. The life of a relatively unsuccessful indie author is pretty tough if no one recommends the author’s books.

Thank you and Best wishes

Get Africa Green for 99c/99p

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Limited time offer
Are you looking for an exciting read? Why don’t you grab yourself a copy of Africa Green for 99c and have an adventure on your sofa?

A female journalist finally gets her big break and is sent to Sierra Leone to write an article about a chimp sanctuary. She soon finds herself up to her neck in trouble and adding a white chimp to the mix only makes things more perilous. Adventure, culture and romance.

This is what readers think:
‘5* very compulsive reading, the characters are very believable and the exciting situations are also compelling.’
‘5* Original and compelling story’
‘5* Superb realistic read about Africa and an Irish female journalist.’

I’d love a review if you have time. Reviews help me sell more books.
Thank you
PJ
99c/99p Offer

The Secrets Behind Africa Green

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Truth is stranger than fiction

Bruno with Bala Amarasekaran

Bruno and Bala

Lucius, the alpha male chimp in Africa Greene is based on Bruno, the first chimp rescued by the Tacugama Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. In 1989. Accountant Bala Amarasekaran and his wife Sharmila were in a small village 150 kilometres north of the capital Freetown when they saw a young male chimpanzee for sale. They paid US$30 to rescue the animal and raised it in their home. After they rescued a second chimpanzee, Jane Goodall, a world reknowned expert, advised them to set up a sanctuary for abandoned and rescued chimps. With the help of land from the government, the Amarasekarans soon had 24 chimpanzees at the sanctuary.

Somehow, the santuary escaped the worst of the civil war and thrived. Bruno grew to be an imposing and unusual size for his species. He became the leader of the abandoned chimps. I saw Bruno when I visited the sanctuary in 2003 and we had to duck because he threw stones at us. In April 2006, 31 chimpanzees escaped from the sanctuary led by Bruno. Unfortunately they came in contact with four men who were in a taxi on their way to visit the sanctuary. In the ensuing chaos, one man was killed and the others injured as the chimps attacked them. Of the chimpanzees that escaped, 27 soon returned, but Bruno was among the four that did not. He has never been seen again, but images of him living with wild chimpanzees have been captured on wildlife cameras.
Bruno surrounded by orphan chimps

Prospects look gloomy for the wild chimps of Sierra Leone. In the early 1970s an estimated 20,000 of them lived there. Today there are only around 5,000. More than 100 are in the sanctuary at Tacugama. If you are interested, you can support the Tacugama centre’s work. This now includes visits to local schools and rural communities to raise awareness of the need to protect chimpanzees and their habitat

Africa Green

PJ in Sierra Leone

In 2003, I visited Sierra Leone to work in the diamond fields, just after the peace treaty had been signed ending the civil war. The country was still devastated, and the roads were lined with burned-out cars and villages. People were traumatised, and the evidence of rebel brutality could be seen every where, especially in the amputated limbs of the beggars in Freetown. I used material from my visits there to write The Star of Simbako and Africa Green While I was staying in Freetown, I drove out to the Tacugama Sanctuary to visit the chimps. On our way back from the sanctuary, we had a puncture. Some Nigerian peacekeepers helped us to change the tire. They insisted on taking a photograph with me. Sierra Leone is a lovely country and I still hope to go back some day.    

I am researching a third book for the Green Family Saga, which will follow Liz Green as she escapes her troubles in London and moves back to Ireland to rescue a large country house. I am also writing a murder mystery set in space, of which more later.

Enjoy Africa Green. I think it’s my best yet.

Enjoy the lovely Autumnal weather.

Best wishes

PJ    

Background to Africa Green

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In 2003, I went to Sierra Leone to work on a diamond project, and I visited many times over the next five years. The civil war had finished and the UN had collected the weapons, but the population was still traumatised. I visited the Tacugama Chimp Sanctuary outside Freetown several times. During one of the visits, I bought a DVD about the sanctuary and it mentioned the white chimp, Pinkie. She had lived at the sanctuary for a short while before dying of unknown causes. This has inspired me to use the sanctuary and Pinkie as characters in my latest novel, Africa Green, which follows on from Rebel Green It tells the story of Isabella, the youngest Green Daughter, who has become a journalist. I hope you will enjoy this tale of adventure, love and hope.


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Africa Green

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Good Morning! I’m writing a new book which has as its protagonist, Isabella Green, the youngest daughter of the Green Family from Rebel Green. She travels to Sierra Leone, a country emerging from civil war, to write an article about a chimp sanctuary. Animals are her obsession, and she can’t resist getting involved with the project, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. She forms a bond with local boy, Ten, and army veteran, Pete, to try and save it.

When they rescue a rare white chimp from a village frequented by a dangerous rebel splinter group, the resulting media interest could save the sanctuary. But the rebel group have not signed the cease fire. They believe the voodoo power of the white chimp protects them from bullets, and they are determined to take it back so they can storm the capital.

When Pete and Ten go missing, only Isabella stands in the rebels’ way. Her desperation to rescue them unlocks the fighting spirit within her. Can she succeed, or will she die trying?

Tacugama Chimp Santuary

I got the idea for the book as I was trawling through some work photos from my first trip to Sierra Leone in 2015. I made a visit to the Tacugama Chimp Sanctuary, which is still going, and was impressed by their dedication and drive to save the chimps.

The story of the sanctuary began back in 1989. Accountant Bala Amarasekaran and his wife Sharmila were in a small village 150 kilometres north of the capital Freetown when they saw a young male chimpanzee for sale. It looked sick so they paid US$30 to rescue the animal and raised it in their home. They named it Bruno and he became the founder member of their rescue mission. In a strange twist, Bruno and several other adult chimps escaped from the sanctuary several years ago and have never been seen again. Unfortunately, they killed a local taxi driver when he tried to stop them.

I hope to finish the book in late summer and I will post a pre-order link here later. Meanwhile here are some of the chimps at the sanctuary. The little ones are new arrivals in quarantine to prevent them infecting the group with human viruses

Freetown
Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
Bruno the alpha male
Feeding time
Safe in the tree
Climbing
Playing
Quarantine
Orphans
Can I come out yet?
I'm bored
Come on, let me out

Getting to know me podcast

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Every week the Self Publishing Formula podcast focuses on a different indie author, and every week they ask them the same five questions about their writing process.
– Why do you write?
– How do you write – are you a micro plotter or do you just go where the story takes you?
– Are you a full time author?
– What mistakes do you think you’ve made, and what have you got right?
– What’s your piece of advice for authors starting out in indie publishing?

This is the interview I did for the podcast. Click on the link below to listen.
I hope you enjoy it.   
Listen to podcast here
  My books are now available at all retail outlets. If you prefer to use KOBO or Barnes and Noble or Apple or any of the other online bookstores, you can now get my books on all of them. Just click on the link below and chose your preferred option.  
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