Taboo Tech is a science fiction adventure; it begins with Lacie Leigh Collier saying good-bye to her parents, who leave her in her Uncle Sterling's care. However, this family has secrets and is fascinated with discovering caches of ancient technology, most of which is forbidden and protected zealously by the Interstellar Guard. So when her uncle gets impatient--he's supposed to be taking care of Lacie until she comes of age--and takes her with him while on an venture of his own and is pursued by the IG, he sends Lacie on her way, and she must make her way back home, with her own AI, the young Embers, and continue her education at the space academy and points beyond while wondering where her parents are...

Here are fourteen of my favorite stories, and since my favorite genre is science fiction, they are mostly SF except for The Princess Quest, a tongue-in-cheek sword and sorcery epic, and Old Rex, a ghost story. They've all been published elsewhere, except for Royal Guardians; this is its first time in print. If you like reading about aliens, time travel, symbiotes, and humans searching for a home, family, their own bodies, etc., I think you'll enjoy this collection of characters and their adventures.

Westward bound on the Oregon Trail, Lorena Emerson is alone after her uncle is killed by a thief trying to steal his money belt. Ignoring the wagon master's advice to go home, she rounds up others needing help, and they join a later wagon train and are soon slogging through dust and mud and steep mountain passes. It's a long way to Oregon, and because another woman needs her help, Lorrie again goes her own way, leaving the wagon train and the Oregon Trail to travel onward--off the beaten path--with her small group of wagons. She's helped by members of her wagon train, people she meets along the way, and the mule, Jake, an integral part of the story. You'll meet them as they join in her travels and encounters with enemies she also meets as she searches for a new home and supplies as winter reaches out its icy hands.... Settling the frontier isn't easy