Hello Readers!
I wanted to drop in and give a quick update on Welcome to Deadland! I've had the pleasure of meeting my Production Editor from Girl Friday Productions, as well as my Developmental Editor. We're diving in headfirst, and the next few months are going to be a whirlwind of hard work and collaboration until Deadland is poked and prodded into perfect shape. Stay on the lookout for updates as we continue to progress further toward the finish line!
As some of you already know, Inkshares and Sword & Laser are currently hosting another contest, and I highly recommend The Animal in Man by Joseph Asphahani. I've placed my pre-order and I encourage my readers to check it out and do the same.
Also:
Get ready for the inaugural Inkshares Review-a-Thon, an independent event, organized by Inkshares authors!
On December 19th, all authors and readers are invited to leave reviews on currently funding Inkshares books using the Inkshares “leave a review” option.
Throughout the day we’ll be hanging out on Twitter in the #InksharesReviews tag as we share our favorite book projects, answer author Q&As, debate the merits of astronauts with swords versus cavemen with lasers, and much, much more!
From 6 - 8pm ET, JF Dubeau and Paul ‘such a nerd’ Inman will be hosting a Google+ Hangout livestream filled with author interviews, review readings, and live announcements of prize winners!
Everyone who leaves a review on December 19th by 6pm ET will be eligible to win fantastic general prizes:
-Sword & Laser Contest Winners Package - print copies of the six winning books from the Sword & Laser Inkshares contest!
-Nerdist Contest Winners Package - print copies of the five winning books from the Nerdist Inkshares contest!
-An immediate pre-order of the book of their choice for five winners!
-$30 in Inkshares credits!
Readers: Peruse the “currently funding” books on Inkshares and leave as many reviews as you want. You could even start up a “must-have” list of books to order in case you win a free pre-order or the $30 in credits!
Authors: Join our review exchange to leave three reviews in exchange for two guaranteed reviews on your Inkshares project and a chance at author-exclusive prizes!
I'm here to tell you about Dax. Not my Dax, although I'll definitely get to him soon. No, I'm talking about Dax Harrison, the amazing space opera book by Tony Valdez.
Here's an excerpt:
Dax sat drunkenly snoring up a storm, dead to the world. He had propped his boots up on the control console in front of him and reclined the pilot's seat as far back as possible. It wasn't nearly as cozy as his bunk, but it was serviceable enough when he was too drunk to bother stumbling all the way from the cockpit to the far end of the ship. Besides, the angle this created was perfect for cradling a liquor bottle at crotch level. Perfect, that is, until the ship began to rock, sending it flying to the floor.
The continued turbulence woke Dax to the fruits of his labor.
"Ugh. Son of a biiiitch," he moaned, attempting to rub the hangover away through his temples. He gazed over to the bottle on the floor. Cheap-ass Verdasian wine, he thought. Never again. The ship lurched some more, and Dax sat up, steadying himself. What now? A flashing red light on the console caught his eye.
"Samm?" He turned to his side, expecting an answer. Nothing. The protracted mechanical cylinder, branded “SAMM” along its side, hung lifeless from the ceiling. Annoyed, he focused his eyes back on the blinking alert. The distant rumbling from outside was growing to an unnerving roar now. A few quick taps on the console and the cockpit shutters began to open. Instantly, an incredible light flooded the ship, blinding Dax. The nose of the Crichton glowed hot orange and white, burning up from the steep, high-speed entry into the atmosphere.
The legendary Commander Dax Harrison was crashing into a planet.
------------
Sooo good, right? You need this book in your life, and this book needs your preorder! There's less than two weeks to get the book to Quill publishing, but I know we can do it because we have almost 80 book lovers following DHM, and if ten of us preorder we'll make Tony's dream come true! That's only 8% of the followers here. Come on! Be awesome and preorder this book!
Head on over to Dax Harrison and preorder today!
Dear Blood Dawn backers,
Since many of you are also writers, I wanted to send this out today to highlight the author-exclusive prizes we have for the inaugural review-a-thon tomorrow. (Readers, be sure to join us too -- there are great prizes for you as well, as you'll see below!)
That's right, the big day is TOMORROW, December 19th!
All authors and readers are invited to leave reviews on currently funding Inkshares books using the Inkshares "leave a review" option. I'll be on Twitter recommending books to review under the hashtag #InksharesReviews (@johnrobinrt)
There will be great prizes for everyone, but if you are an author, here are some of the great reasons to participate:
1. WIN A FREE COPY OF SCRIVENER for Mac and PC
Scrivener is a great program that gives writers an edge over Word. Authors who join the review exchange will have a chance to win a copy of Scrivener - we’re giving away one copy for Mac and one for PC!
Everyone who participates will get 20% off of the purchase of Scrivener, whether they win or not.
Want to know more about Scrivener? Here’s a video I made where I talk about the pros and cons of Scrivener (and why getting your hands on Scrivener will change how you write for the better):
2. WIN A FREE MONTH OF AUTHOR ACCELERATOR!
Want to write a solid first draft that’s equivalent to a fifth or sixth? The Author Accelerator program combines weekly pro editorial input with your drafting process to let you go from draft idea to rough draft successfully, and we’re giving away one FREE MONTH (valued at $199) of the program to one lucky author.
Find out more about the Author Accelerator program in this interview I did with the founder of the Author Accelerator program, Jennie Nash, to see how it has given me a true edge and how the Author Accelerator program works for writers who enter it:
AND OF COURSE, there are other GREAT prizes available for all:
All you have to do for a chance to win is LEAVE A REVIEW to enter the draw for these prizes. Throughout the day we'll be hanging out on Twitter in the #InksharesReviews tag as we share our favorite book projects, answer author Q&As, debate the merits of astronauts with swords versus cavemen with lasers, and much, much more!
Also, from 6 - 8pm ET, JF Dubeau and Paul ‘such a nerd’ Inman will be hosting a Google+ Hangout livestream filled with author interviews, review readings, and live announcements of prize winners! I will be there making a brief appearance, along with other authors like Gary Whitta, Rick Heinz, and Jeyna Grace, so come join us for the fun!
Email AC Weston at cara.c.weston@gmail.com to learn more and join the review exchange.
Hope to see you all there!
(And please share this with as many people as possible.)
Hello everyone!
Work continues on Lost Generation and it is reading (and sounding great.) I can't wait to share the book with you, and I think you're all going to love it. Right now I'm running my book through an application called TextAid ReadSpeaker, which helps me listen for flow, quality, and misused words. Doing this ensures you're going to get the best quality end product, and for all those who have been waiting since the beginning, it will be well worth it!
Need something to do while waiting for Lost Generation to be finished? Well, there is an event coming up tomorrow that can net you free books! Hold onto this link (https://www.inkshares.com/search?genres=All&scope=funding) and check the detail below to see how you can join in.
Get ready for the inaugural Inkshares Review-a-Thon, an independent event, organized by Inkshares authors!
On December 19th, all authors and readers are invited to leave reviews on currently funding Inkshares books using the Inkshares “leave a review” option.
Throughout the day we’ll be hanging out on Twitter in the #InksharesReviews tag as we share our favorite book projects, answer author Q&As, debate the merits of astronauts with swords versus cavemen with lasers, and much, much more!
From 6 - 8pm ET, JF Dubeau and Paul ‘such a nerd’ Inman will be hosting a Google+ Hangout livestream filled with author interviews, review readings, and live announcements of prize winners!
Prizes?!?!
Everyone who leaves a review on December 19th by 6pm ET will be eligible to win one of our fantastic general prizes:
Readers: Peruse the “currently funding” books on Inkshares and leave as many reviews as you want. You could even start up a “must-have” list of books to order in case you win a free pre-order or the $30 in credits!
Authors: Join our review exchange to leave three reviews in exchange for two guaranteed reviews on your Inkshares project and a chance at author-exclusive prizes!
Email Cara Weston at cara.c.weston@gmail.com with questions, or simply to learn more.
(And authors, if you’re in, please copy the message above and include it in your next update!)
It’s gonna be fun.
Time for another book recommendation Sunday. I'm speeding it up to 5 books this time, mainly because my procrastination on starting this weekly update has led to quite a few of the books getting really close to their funding end date before I could get around to them. While I didn't intend it this way, this week sort of puts on display one of the earliest genres that attracted me to storytelling - science fiction. My fantasy geekdom may be more often on display nowadays, but I'm still a complete sci-fi geek as well. I'm a bit of a Trekkie, Brown Coat, and Whovian(my first love of the three was Trek and without it I may not have moved on to the others). My sci-fi fandom goes far beyond that though, with an especial love for the particularly cheesy bits(did I hear someone say Ice Pirates?).
Enough of me geeking out over my own geek though, the point was that 4 of the 5 books this week are science fiction. Without further ado I'll get on with it. As always the links to the books are embedded within the titles, and links to the author pages are embedded in the author's names. After all 5 books I'll briefly list the funding time remaining on each.
"The Continuing Adventures of Starbuck McClaw" by Jen Elizabeth Rose: I love this premise, and the prologue's delivery keeps me chuckling every time I see it. To better sum it up though I'm just going to quote from near the prologue's end.
"That is where I will let the story begin, but before I do, here here are some important facts to know:
1. Mummies are mostly from Egypt. They are dead people, very well preserved because of many chemicals, the dry Egyptian climate, and also wrapping them in cloth.
2. Mummies do not have any organs. This includes the brain.
3. A Brain is pretty essential for storing memories and thoughts and things like that.
4. The shrouded figure/young man in a lab coat is named is Steve."
"Dax Harrison" by Tony Valdez: I think this one does a great job of showing off both the shiny hull and the dirty outskirts of its universe. Plus I've always been a bit of a sucker for a captain who's at least a bit of a ne'er do well. The narrative also does a good job of changing just enough depending of the focal character to reflect that character's personality beyond relying solely on the character's actions, creating a story that has us learning about the character's through nuance as well as words and actions. To me this always serves to draw me in further, since it is the same way we naturally interact with and learn about each other. Read it and you'll both see what I'm talking about, and I suspect you'll also greatly enjoy yourself.
"Feyside" by Peter Birdsall: The one fantasy book on this week's list. I must say I find myself getting lost in this one's descriptions, which for me is a good thing. The narrative paints such vivid imagery of both the settings and the characters(beyond merely the physical) that you can't help but be absorbed into the sight of as well as by the personality of each. Beyond this the excerpts currently up do a grand job of presenting the magic of the Fae in the manner I most often think of it(both grandiose and subtle at the same time), and interjecting that magic into the otherwise ordinary world(whether rustic logging camp or prosperous trade town) in a way that only increase the effect of wonder. Again, read it, enjoy it, and order it if you're even half as enchanted by this one as I am.
"She is the End" by A.C. Weston: I may sound repetive here, but once again great use of narrative to describe both setting and characters vividly. You'll hear variations on those points often from me because honestly the two things I enjoy most about reading are being drawn into a new world to explore and being able to study well-written/interesting/unique characters. I suppose that's why sci-fi and fantasy have always been my favorite genres, because in my experience they deliver the most interesting/unique/breathtaking new worlds and characters to submerge myself in. The excerpts from this book exemplify both points, and it does it in a manner which is also wonderfully fast paced. Writing scenes that both flow at a breakneck speed and provide you with enough details to fully draw you in is(to me anyway) one of the hardest things to do, and A.C. seems to do it with complete ease. Read it and see.
"Ghosts of War" by Paul Robinson: Okay, I'm going force myself to not be repetive over my enjoyment of narrative here, but its true of this one as well. It also does a good job of flowing as a fast pace, which shouldn't be surprising since it follows a group that I like to think of as "Delta Force or Navy Seals in Space". Don't get the wrong idea from my cheesy description though, its not just a blow-em-up action flick style of story. You do get character development and drama, which again is one of the main reasons I typically take the time to read a story. Ultimately as with all good books, this one's own words show itself to be a good book far better than my words ever could. So, as always, I have to suggest you read it for yourself and see.
Since I'm posting this one so late, I'll tell you how many days there are for each as of tomorrow. There's 9 days left on the funding for "The Continuing Adventures of Starbuck McClaw", 12 days left for "Dax Harrison", 18 days left for "Feyside", 22 days left for "She is the End", and 27 days for "Ghosts of War". I know I've somewhat broken my own guideline laid down last week of focusing on books that haven't met the Quill goal yet by including 2 that have hit that goal in this week's recommendations, but they were just too good to not recommend them.
Thanks for your time, and I promise to be on time with my blog post on Tuesday.
