The Die Is Cast (Paperback or Softback)

*** From the Archives ***

Stories by Mike McPhail and Danielle Ackley-McPhail based on the 1986-96 military science fiction role-playing game The Alliance Archives.

By the late 21st century, humanity has final reached for the stars and established an off-world colony in the system of Tau Ceti, only to discover that man's greatest enemy is still man.

On the colony world of Demeter, ADF power-armored troopers and their Parr scouts fight a desperate, covert war against invading corporate mercenaries.

Even in the vastness of space, there is no room for lasting peace.

Author and graphic artist Mike McPhail is member of the Military Writers Society of America; he is dedicated to helping his fellow service members (and those deserving civilians) in their efforts to become authors/editors/artist, as well as supporting related organization in their efforts to help those "who have given their all for us." www.milscifi.com His love of science, technology, and developing an understanding of the human condition play an important role in his writing, art, and game design, all of which are built upon his training as an aeronautical engineer and dreams of becoming a NASA mission specialist, balanced by his enlistment in the service. www.mikemcphail.com In the late 80s he was involved in game design, namely the Martial Role-Playing Game (All'Arc MRPG), a manual-based, hardcore military science fiction adventure, set in his Alliance Archives universe; sections of which are being reissued under the title of From The Archives (FT'Arc) by AGM Publications, a division of eSpec Books, LLC. He is best known as the editor and illustrator of the award-winning Defending The Future series of military science fiction anthologies, which just celebrated its tenth anniversary with its Best Of... collection, and the continuation of the series. www.defendingthefuture.com In 2014 he added the title of publisher, as the co-founder of eSpec Books LLC, Electronic Speculative Fiction Publishing. www.especbooks.com

Award-winning author and editor Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with husband Mike McPhail and friend Greg Schauer to form her own publishing house, eSpec Books (www.especbooks.com). Her published works include six novels, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today's Promise, The Halfling's Court, The Redcaps' Queen, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, and Transcendence, the non-fiction writers' guide, The Literary Handyman, and is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Dragon's Lure, and In an Iron Cage. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections. She is a member of Broad Universe, a writer's organization focusing on promoting the works of women authors in the speculative genres. In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady, at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale. Danielle lives in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and three extremely spoiled cats. She can be found on Facebook (Danielle Ackley-McPhail) and Twitter (DMcPhail, BadAssFaeries, eSpecBooks, and TheHornieLady). To learn more about her work, visit www.sidhenadaire.com, www.especbooks.com or www.badassfaeries.com.

Greg Schauer has been a bookseller for over 33 years as the owner of Between Books in Claymont Delaware. He has also helped produce concerts by local and national bands at the Arden Gild Hall in Arden Delaware, one of the country's oldest continuously run secular utopian art colonies, for the past 10 years. He has previously worked on Stories in Between: the Between Books 30th anniversary anthology with W.H. Horner and Jeanne Benzel, Steampowered Tales of Awesomeness Vol 1 by Brian Thomas and Ray Witte, With Great Power with John L. French, and The Society for the Preservation of CJ Henderson with Danielle Ackley-McPhail. He can be contacted at gschauer@betweenbooks.com.