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Angela’s Epistles Series
π Please join me in welcoming author Rita Kruger to Stories That Make You Smile. Rita is here today sharing information on her amazing SciFi adventure series, Angela’s Epistles, and celebrating the recent release of Close Cuts, the sixth book in the series. She’s generously brought along a few excerpts, a giveaway, and took the time to sit down with us and answer a few questions. Read on to discover more about this fabulous series and the author behind it! π
Angela’s Epistles Series by Rita Kruger
Angela might be late, but at least she’s blooming…
Publisher: Listless Lizard Publishing
Cover Artist: Covers by Lisa
Pairing / Genre: F/F Romance, LGBT, SciFi
The Gap Year
Book #1
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Angela Wright might have everything her father’s money can buy, but that meant nothing to her on the night of her twenty-eight birthday. She is angry and a little bit drunk as she flees the scene of a fight with her mother.
All her life she has done the right thing. But she is tired of living under her motherβs shadow. How can she ever compete with Margaret Wright, the first Human judge on the Intergalactic High Court?
Within the space of a few days, Angela drops out in the last semester at Intergalactic Bureau of Investigation Academy, signs a bounty hunting contract to find the top ten criminals in the galaxy, and kisses Brenda, her best friend since childhood.
She might be late, but at last she is blooming.
Angela opened the door to her apartment for Bren, who arrived with pizza and wine and enough chocolate to feed a small townβs children. She also chewed with her mouth open, gasping at the hot cheese on the pizza slice. Angela picked with her fingers at her own food. Her stomach was all tied up in a small fist, and there was no place for anything.
βYou need to eat, girl,β Bren said.
βIf Thomas was here, he would have told you that isnβt cheese,β Angela said, nodding at the pizza.
βItβs not cheese?β Bren said. βThen what is it? Because it looks like cheese, it sure smells like cheese, and,β she took a big bite, βit tastes like cheese.β
βNot real cheese,β Angela said. βThat was made from chickpeas. Real cheese came from milk.β
βBut now there are no more cows, or goats or whatever other animals gave Humans milk,β Bren said, chewing. βSo this,β she nodded to the pizza slice in her hand, βis real cheese.β
Angela shrugged.
βAnyway, isnβt he a vegan?β Bren asked. βWhat does he know about cheese?β
βHe used to not be one,β Angela said. βBut he still remembers what real cheese and real meat tasted like. He hates the new meat they grow artificially. Says it tastes like grass, but smells like cow, or chicken, or whatever variety you bought.β
βAnd donβt think by changing the subject you get out of jail,β Bren said, shaking her head from side to side. βYou still need to eat.β
Angela looked into Brenβs eyes. βI had something when I got back from the gym.β
βLiar,β Bren said.
Angela sighed. βI had a protein shake.β
βOk, that I do believe. But you need real food.β
βWe already established that nothing you are putting in your mouth right now is in fact real food,β Angela said, smiling. βNot the cheese nor the meat.β
βIts food according to the standards of 2053,β Bren said. βSo have some.β
βMaybe later,β she said, shoving the plate away. βIβd feel better once we have looked at the mess and did what we could to contain the fall out.β
βDid you let your mother know?β
Angela shook her head. βShould I be the one?β
βThat is a copout thought.β
βI know.β
Angela lifted her mobile, opened the last conversation to her mother. Typed in #wrightfight. For a moment her fingers hung in the air as she thought about what else to say. But there was nothing to add.
She pressed send.
βDone.β
βThat was short.β
Angela took a swig from the glass of Shiraz. ββ¦and sweet,β she added.
βDid you talk to her since the party?β
Angela rose, started to clear the table.
βStop running, Ang.β
βI donβt know what to say to her,β Ange said from the kitchen. βAll ties seem to be severed.β
βThatβs a lie,β Bren said. βSheβs your mother. It might be all twisted right now, but the connection is still there.β
βI know.β
βBut you lack the courage to make the jump, donβt ya?β
Angela shrugged, but Brenβs eyes on her burned like fire. βYes,β she admitted.
βYou were a cop. You worked the city streets,β Bren said, βCourage isnβt something you ever had a shortage off.β
βI donβt feel myself anymore,β Angela said as she sat down at the table again.
βWhat changed? Because the Angela I know would never fuck up her career with the Intergalactic Bureau of Investigation by driving drunk after a party.β
βI donβt know.β
βCopout answer.β
Angela sighed, swirled the red wine under her nose, and then swallowed it in one large gulp. Placing the glass down, she tried to think of what to tell Bren.
βI feel trapped.β
βHow?β
βIβm Margaret Wrightβs daughter,β she answered. βThe one with the illustrious career as a judge. You know what that is like. Youβve been around long enough to see.β
Bren watched her carefully.
βBut itβs even worse now that she is also the first ever Human to be selected to sit on the bench of the highest court in the galaxy,β Angela sighed.
βIt never made you feel trapped before.β
βIβm almost thirty, and people still see her when they hear my name. It is as if I donβt exist at allβ¦ as if Iβm not a person in my own right. Iβm just another part of her, like an appendage that unexpectedly showed up.β
Bren did not answer.
βWhen they see me, it is like: look, here is something that popped off Margaret Wright, people. Margaret Wright MADE thatβ¦β Angela waved her hand from the head down to the feet, βwell, whatever that is.β
βThat sounds insightful. Iβll take it.β
βI donβt want to live in her shadow forever. Iβm suffocating.β
βWhat do you want to do?β
βI need to get away,β Angela reached over and filled their glasses again.
βAsk for a transfer?β
βIn the department she will always be with me. No matter where I go.β
βTrue.β
Bren opened the box of donuts she brought on the way from the office, holding it out to Angie who selected the chocolate covered one, tearing off a piece to pop into her mouth. They ate the pastries in silence, pondering how to move forward.
βI need to get off this planet.β
Brenβs eyes jumped from her donut to Angelaβs face. βDonβt you think thatβs a bit extreme?β
βDo you?β
For a long moment they only looked at each other, and then Bren looked away.
βMaybe.β
Sins of the Fathers
Book #2
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Angela Wright is new to bounty hunting, and on her way to find Nuremburg, a cop-killer. She is also new to Uranus. And to loving a woman. She thinks sheβs doing rather well, for a late bloomer.Β
She learns that Uranusβ has a nickname. βBlack widow.β Interesting Creatures. An underground where the resistance live in squalor. And a box with journals and pictures from her father, Winston James Wright.
Only, he died when she was six years old.
Meanwhile on Earth, a stalker rears his head. His has his eyes and mind Angelaβs girlfriend, Bren.
Maybe blooming isnβt really what she thought it would be. Or maybe it is just that everyone else had a head start.
Angela rose too, walked towards the box in the corner and then stood looking at it for a long time. Finally she sat down, and touched it. There was a layer of dust on it, and she knew that it had been waiting here for a long time.
Waiting for me?
Reaching out, she lifted the lid. On top was a photo. Of her on graduation day. She was standing beneath the trees on campus, holding her diploma. She remembered the moment, reading those words typed out, her name in bold letters.
And the grey-haired man with the camera snapping what would be this picture, lifting his journalist tag for her to see when she looked concerned about the stranger and his camera. Then he smiled, nodded and turned to walk away.
Her father was at her graduation. And she did not even recognise his face.
But then, how was she supposed to know? In her mind heβd been dead and buried. Sheβd been at his grave on occasion, touching the cold marble stone, saying a few words. But even now, thinking back, she always felt as if he wasnβt there. She just assumed that it was because she did not know him and have felt disconnected from the idea of a father. But what if it was a premonition? What if deep down inside she knew that he was still alive?
She lifted the photo, and set it aside.
Underneath were what looked like personal journals, and more photos. Pictures of her playing outside on the lawn, swimming in a pool at a friendβs house, in the backseat of the car on the way somewhere. Most were grainy, taken from a distance. Some she knew where from articles of her mother on the internet. But in these, mother had been cut off and she became the main feature of the photo.
Margaret would hate the idea. Angela smiled. Pulling the first notebook out, she flipped it open. The pages where covered in small script, the words tightly fitted, reaching to the very edges of each page.
βItβs hard to come by paper and ink here,β Angelo said.
She jumped, slamming the book closed.
βBut he would want you to have those,β Angelo smiled, and hobbled back to the bedding. βNone of us here can read Human anyway.β
βWhy didnβt he tell me?β she asked. βItβs obvious that he wanted to be close to me, to know how I was doing.β
βHe loved you,β Angelo said. βAsk anyone who knew him.β
βI still donβt understand why he faked his death.β
βHe didnβt fake his death. Someone tried to kill him. He actually died. The first people on the scene where able to resuscitate him. But when they ran to get help, he got up and walked away,β Angelo coughed. βAnd stayed away.β
βWhy would someone want to kill him?β
βHe was a journalist,β he told her. βAnd he was working on a story that would shake the foundations of the Intergalactic House of Rulers, and all the peace treaties that were ever signed.β
She did not answer him.
βItβs all in there.β He gestured to the box. βYou can read all about it.β
βHow did you know I was here?β
βWe are the rΓ©sistance,β he said. βWe know everything that happens on this bloody planet.β
βWhy?β
βWhy what?β
βWhy connect with me?β she said. βI didnβt know he was gone, and now you have opened all kinds of wounds. For what?β
βRead the journals,β he said. βHe left them for you.β
βHow could he have done that?β she said. βHow could he have known Iβd ever come here?β
βHe pulled some strings with the right people, okay?β
βIn other words, he blackmailed someone to offer me a job?β
βGod,β he said, βif your mother is anything like you, I think he probably just wanted out of the marriage.β
Angela rose with a scream. βHow dare you talk about my motherβ¦β
βNo,β he said. βHow dare you talk about your father like that? He was a hero. A man of principle. A man that would lay himself on the altar to save another. And everyone that knew him would do anything for him. Anything.β
Dancing in the Dark
Book #3
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This is book three of Angelaβs Epistles Series.
Finally Angela tastes success in as a bounty hunting. The Top Ten list of worst criminals was changing because of what she did. Having conquered her new career, she now turned her mind to new endeavours.
Bren, her girlfriend, was still plagued by a stalker, and the police was not helping much.
Angela starts to read her fatherβs journals, at last. He speaks about a betrayal. They are also filled with concern for the atrocities that was happening on Uranus. Therefore she sets forth to rescue her brother from the Black Widow (Uranus). She has a brilliant scheme, a map, and just in case, a Plan B.
But can she leave Uranus untouched? Will its darkness touch her? Will she, and the team of people who are gathering, be able to get to the stalker before he gets to Bren?
βHey bro,β she said, keeping her voice soft and low.
He coughed, and then laid down again. βWhat are you doing here?β
βLooking for you.β She hunched down next to his makeshift bed.
βYou shouldnβt have come,β he told her between coughs.
βYouβre my brother. I promised to bring you home. Everyone is waiting to meet you.β
βIβm too ill,β he told her. βThis planet is killing me. Those antibiotics worked well, but then they were finished and it was back to the same thing. I canβt make my way to the shuttle port. And even if I could, this cough would give me away as a rebel immediately. People under the domes donβt cough from the oil deposits in the air. Itβs only us here below the surface that taste that Black Death each time we breathe.β
βWe expected this difficulty,β she answered, opening the side pocket of her pants to take out a needle with amber liquid. βAnd I have the solution right here.β
βWhatβs that?β
βThis is the best tranquilizer on four planets,β she said. βOr that is what the doctor who gave it to me said.β
βTranquilizer?β
βYou will not be able to cough on the shuttle,β she told him. βYou will be sleeping all the way to Earth.β
βAnd Iβm just supposed to trust you?β
βIβm your sister!β
βSo what?β he shouted. βI have only met you once before. Itβs not as if we have a history together.β
βI donβt know what you have been taught about family,β she told him. βBut where I come from, family is the most important thing. You are important to me. We are connected by blood.β
He coughed, wiped his face with the back of his hand, and coughed again.
βLet me help you,β she said. βPlease.β
βI donβt want to live anymore,β he said. βThat is why I didnβt come. I just want to die here.β
βOn Earth, doctors might be able to heal most of your illness.β She took his hand. βAnd even if they canβt, youβll spend your last days in a real house, with people who care. Sarah is going to feed you until you double in size. Thomas and Bren will love on you. Please let me take you home.β
He watched her for the longest time, coughing softly from time to time. She did not speak, even though she wanted to, only waited for him to think quietly. But inside, her mind was racing like a shuttle at top speed. And uncertainty swamped her like and angry ocean.
Dark Eclipse
Book #4
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This is book four in Angelaβs story.
The attack on Bren unleashes all kinds of trouble in Angelaβs life. With Bren and Angelo both in hospital, she is almost living there. Heading for a nervous breakdown, she is able to get them both in one room, with a guard outside. And an extra bed for herself.
In the middle of this she needs to find answers. What really happened on the night Bren was attacked? Where did she go? And why did she make those calls to Bren?
No, WHO made those calls to Bren?
Prof Linden and the top students go through Brenβs case file and find some irregularities. Evidence is missing. The police investigation is going nowhere. All fingers point to the stalker being a policeman. Soon the Intergalactic Bureau of Investigation takes over. Can they find the truth?
And Margaret wants the journals her father wrote for her. She is willing to take Angela to court.
Adulthood has a fierce bite. Can Angela hold on amidst all the twists and turns life is throwing at her?
βI have no idea what any of this is, but it smells delicious,β he said.
βHe ate most of the cupcakes all by himself,β Angela told Sarah.
βThatβs a lie!β he defended himself. βBren had half, and Francisβ¦ donβt even get me started on how many she ate.β
βDonβt blame me,β Francis said, waving her index finger at him. βYou still had more than both of us together.β
βOkay,β he said. βThis is what I recognize because we have it where I come from. Green beans.β He pointed at each as he mentioned their names. βCarrots, although these are very small, and are those potatoes?β
βBaby carrots we call them,β Angela said. βAnd yes, these are potatoes that have been oven roasted. The bowls you skipped were white rice, here,β she pointed at the bowl, βwhich is a grain. And these are meat. Roasted chicken and this here is meat loaf with gravy.β
βMeat, as in flesh?β
βYes,β Angela said. βI know youβve never had them, but they are good for you. Especially if you want to gain weight.β
βIβm not sure I want to,β he said.
βYou donβt want to gain weight?β Angela asked.
βHe doesnβt want to eat meat,β Francis said.
Angelo only nodded his agreement.
βMy father is a vegan too,β Francis said. βHe does not eat any animal products at all.β
βI was a vegetarian for a few years in high school,β Angela said.
βItβs perfectly in your right to not want to eat meat,β Sarah said. βIβll make sure to bring you something with lots of protein next time. It will still help you gain weight and make you strong enough to leave the hospital soon.β
βThank you, Sarah,β he said with a nod of his head. βThe more I think about it, the more I donβt want to eat flesh.β
βMeat,β Angela said. βWe call it meat.β
βA rose by any other nameβ¦β Angelo quoted.
βShakespeare!β Thomas shouted. βYou read the manβs work?β
βFather always brought me books when he came to Earth,β Angelo said. βHe said the classics where the best, and since we spend so much time in hiding, reading was the perfect activity. You could do it anywhere, and it made no noise.β
βWhat was your favourite?β Sarah asked.
βThe Count of Monte Cristo, of course,β Angelo answered.
βWhy?β Angela asked. βI hated that one.β
βThat is because you were free,β Angelo said. βI identified with him. My whole life was spent in confinement, and I considered myself innocent of the crimes which I had been accused of.β
Francis touched him lightly on the shoulder with her hand, and when he looked up at her, she gave him the widest smile ever.
βBut am I free?β he asked. βThere was a poetess from your planet, long ago. Emma Lazarus. I read her because I liked her surname. Lazarus was the one who died and was resurrected in another ancient document from Earth. But she said the followingβ¦β He coughed into his hand.
βUntil we are all free, we are none of us free,β Sarah said.
Angelo turned to look at Sarah. βExactly,β he said. βI donβt consider myself free. I am in a better position than I used to be, but that doesnβt make me free. It only adds a greater responsibility to me. My fight for freedom continues until the war upon it is won, and all creatures of Uranus are free.β
βThen you are in the right place, son,β Thomas said. βAngela and I have been looking at the Future Foundation Mining Company for weeks.β
βWhy?β he asked, looking at Angela.
βBecause of Trim,β she told him. βAnd the way he and his people have been treated.β
βThank you,β Trim said. βFor acknowledging that there is something wrong in that system.β
βYou are not the only tribe that suffered under the hands of this company,β Angela told him. βSo far we have found that where ever they go, they follow the same procedure. They select a tribe that would work like slaves, and then start to create the idea, with propaganda and biased research, that they were less than the others on that planet. And wham, bam, thank you maβam, they have a workforce that costs them nothing.β
βCost effective for the company,β Thomas said. βBut the tribe has to pay the price.β
βAre there other planets where the workers are rebelling?β Trim asked.
βIf there is a hammer, there are people fighting,β Sarah said.
βThere is always a hammer,β Angelo said. βFather taught me this.β
βNot here on Earth,β Angela said.
βTax is a hammer,β he told her. βYour inheritance, once you receive it, will become a hammer.β
βHow so?β she asked.
βBecause it comes with a responsibility to continue the accumulating of wealth,β he told her. βAnd you have no idea of how your family has acquired wealth in the past, or how they are accumulating it right as we speak.β βIβve never been interested in my familyβs business,β she said.
Masquerade
Book #5
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This is book five in the ANGELAβS EPISTLES series.
Life after the attack on Bren is hard on our relationship. Her walls are up so high I cannot reach her. But I know itβs not only the attack. I lied to her. Everything between us is tainted.
Angelo has found love! Iβm happy to have my brother here. Only, he isnβt my brother, is he?
The board members of Search International is having a party. Only, it turns into the worst idea ever. I should have expected that for them. Anyway. The new target on the International Bureau of Investigationβs Top Ten list is Identity Thief. Which means I have to go to the bank right after the party to ensure my money is protected properly.
And then the hunt starts.
Can I find a way to reach Bren in her tower of pain? How deep does the investigation into the mining atrocities in her fatherβs journals go? And what other secrets will he share with her? Will Margaret change her mind about wanting the journals? And can Angela find the Identity Thief before he finds her?
Close Cuts
Book #6
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This is book six in the series Angela’s Epistles.
Follow the escapades of Angela, Bren and the people they love. This time Angela has to face enemies from within and without. But can she do this without the support of her lover, Bren, who had always been the rock on which she could stand?
Margaret, her mother, is still fighting her around every corner. Added to this is a trusted friend that turns into an enemy.
The Identity Thief seems like a walk in the park in the middle of Angela’s storms. But will she ever find this elusive criminal?
What new secrets will her father’s journal reveal? Can she heal the damage to her relationship with Bren before it is too late? Can she survive in a world filled with people that want to kill her?
β Author Interview β
What is the first book that made you cry?
Itβs difficult to remember the first, since Iβve read so many. The last one that made me cry was Stephen Kingβs THE GIRL WHO LOVE TOM GORDON. I recommend it to anyone that loves stories that makes your heart bleed with feeling and scare the crap out of your mind.
What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?
Stealing someoneβs work and selling it without their consent. Writers spend a lot of time and creative energy to write. Time and energy that could have gone into their families. It also costs a lot of money to pay for other professionals to make tour book the best it can be. Editors. Cover designers. Formatters.
Finding your book being sold without your consent is heart-breaking.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Both, in fact. There is nothing as exhilarating as writing a great scene. Or starting a new project. Or finally finding a way to tie all the knots together. But when I write an emotionally charged scene, it is exhausting. I often have to rest afterwards.
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Thinking itβs going to be easy or fast. Building a reputation in any career takes time. Be ready to play to long game.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Binge worthy television serials. I can lose an entire week or more of writing time by watching a series that has captivated me.
Have you ever gotten readerβs block?
Yes. Plenty of times.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
I did. I have some erotica out under a pen name that I will take to my grave.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I write the story. I allow the characters and the location to speak to me. They dictate what happens. I donβt write with a specific market in mind. Iβm a storyteller first, a salesperson second.
Meet the Author

Rita Kruger lives in Vereeniging, South Africa. She is wife, granddaughter, daughter, mother, and grandmother. Most of childhood happened within the pages of books. Stories conspired to carry her away from the world she knew. The places and people books introduced her to were much more exciting than her boring existence.
Currently married to her personal MacGyver, she surrounds herself with what enriches her body, mind and soul. Family. Friends. Nature. Great food. Good wine. Mountains of books. She writes novels challenging major themes of her life in the genres of fantasy and gothic horror, which she loves.
Website | Facebook | Twitter (@RitaKrugerWrite) | BookBub | Amazon | Goodreads
Whoopy!!! Thank you for this wonderful tour post.
You’re welcome. Best wishes on your tour! β€οΈ
I also want purple hair! Is 47 too old to dye my hair purple?? π
Never too old. My older sister was switching between pink, blue, and purple well into her 50s.
I shouldn’t do it though (because of skin conditions), so I’ll settle for another piercing. I haven’t gotten a new one in like 15 years, so I think it’s time! π
Do! I love that one you have…I don’t know what it should be called…chin? Or would it be called lower lip? It’s not something I see very often so it’s eye-catching (and so cool)!
It’s called labret (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labret). I’ve had it for ages. I recently removed the one in my tongue because I got tired of it. Now I’m thinking of doing a septum piercing (it’s the middle part of the nose) π
I’ve always liked the look of nose piercings, but can’t help but wonder how much trouble they’d be with a cold.
LOL yes, I’ve been having the same thoughts, but I’ve just decided to ignore it π
π π€§