Tag Archives: Science fiction

Sep 9 2017

PARADISI CHRONICLES & NEWS

NEW MUST-HAVE PARADISI CHRONICLES RELEASES (details below)

As my regular readers know, my JANUS PARADISI series takes place in an open-source sci-fi universe. A what?

Essentially, a group of authors agreed on the backstory and main features of a time and place where all action will occur, then write their own stories within those parameters.

These stories can be from any sub genre (hard sci-fi, space opera, fantasy, romance, whatever), as long as they stick to the overall parameters, such as planet names and environments, technology, history, and so on. They can use other writers’ characters (with permission), usually giving them walk-on parts, or referring to great events in other writer’s stories. Continue reading →

Aug 19 2017

The Price of Fame

Beware Book Pirates!

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been running an Instafreebie promotion (where science fiction readers sign up to my newsletter and receive a free copy of my novel, “FACES OF JANUS“).

Then Google Alerts notified me that the novel was available on a few pirate sites. I checked and found that one site claimed not only to have my novels but also every anthology I ever was published in. Some charge for their copies (and keep the income). Others hand out copies for free. Forever.

I explored a few pirate sites’ extensive book lists. Some of these pirates claim to have as many ebooks as Amazon! Most likely, these were cover shots only and downloaders would get a nice virus instead of my book. (Be warned!)

As my free offer was limited in time and scope, I was at first unhappy about this. But I decided to ignore it, because… Continue reading →

Aug 12 2017

Snippets

KINDLE/NOOK AND NOVELS GIVEAWAY COMPETITION

The contest I announced last week is now over and the winners’ names will be released next week. So keep those fingers crossed.

REVERSALS

(Apologies to followers who received a draft copy of this post, sent in error last week. And this contains an update.)

It’s well known that book reviews are important to readers making buying choices. My two Janus Paradisi novels enjoyed a straight flush of 5-star reviews and I was a happy man!

Of course, I’m eager for more reviews and took a look to see if I’d garnered any. I found the opposite: a whole bunch of reviews had vanished.

Of course, I queried this with Amazon: no reply.

I queried again: no reply – for a few days.

Then came the good news: Amazon reinstated those reviews after investigating. Thank you, Zon!

I want to make it clear that I strongly approve of Amazon’s campaign to stamp out fake and bought reviews that boost a rich author’s lousy book to top position, misleading book-buyers. I guess I was just collateral damage, but anyways, Amazon refunded me the stars and so now I’m happy again.

An author friend suggested I’d drawn attention by being a new author with 100% 5-star reviews. So now I’m hoping for a few 4-stars… although it feels odd to be wanting worse reviews to enhance credibility and sales.

Ah, well. Such is the modern world.

SUCCESS STORY: DAVID BRADLEY

I had to mention this. You have to hand it to this guy: following a long list of acting appearances including the Harry Potter movies, Captain America, and Broadchurch, he’s been in both Game of Thrones and Dr. Who.

Well done, that man! And he’s from Yorkshire! Just like me.

So we’ll be looking for his appearance in Westworld soon?

Happy reading, until next time.

 

Aug 2 2017

Space Opera Readers

Enter to Win a Summer Bundle of Sci-Fi Novels

PLUS a New eReader!

Today, I have a fun surprise I’d like to share with you.

I’ve teamed up with space opera science fiction authors to give away a huge collection of novels to 2 lucky winners, PLUS a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet to the Grand Prize winner!

As well as a brand new eReader, you can win my novel, FACES OF JANUS, plus all the books shown below!

Enter the giveaway right now by clicking here or on the image below – competition expires Monday, August 7, 2017.

Good luck, and enjoy!

Jul 28 2017

Blurb Versions: One Plot, Three Stories

 

I’m offering Faces Of Janus free for a couple of weeks for sci-fi fans’ summer reading enjoyment.

(Grab it here or click the image below.)

Writing the short descriptive blurb for the promotion was hard. (Hell, I took 60,000 words to tell the story and now you want it in 70 words?) You see, there are three different stories in the novel, intermingled with the main plot. Although I hope everyone gets equal value from the overall experience, each protagonist’s story might appeal more to a specific type of reader:-

  • Zag: the spy, assassin, womanizer = adventure (Guys)
  • Katya: lost girl with secrets and thwarted love = coming of age/frustrated romance (Young Adult)
  • Angel: achiever, powerful and successful woman = ambition/drive (Post-YA)

I show the alternative blurbs below this image of the text I chose. Let me know what you think of them and if they are too overly-targeted or just market-segment themed 😉

Alternative 1: For the guys…

2091: Earth is dying.

Agent Zag Bishop penetrates a corporate conspiracy to expose the truth about the space program.

With affections divided between his powerful boss, Angel Flores, and Katya Ulyanov, the young recruit with a secret past, Zag seeks to join humanity’s greatest adventure.

Spies, lies, assassins, intrigue, corruption, romance, betrayal, mistrust, hi-tech and space travel.

Grab it now!

Alternative 2: For the YA (young adult) reader…

2091: Orphan Katya Ulyanov escapes the desert camps and earns her place as a security agent. She falls for her boss, Zag Bishop, lover of the agency’s manager, Angel Flores.

Hiding a secret past, Katya struggles with her conflicting emotions and nightmares, and Zag’s mixed messages.

Zag and Angel discover the true objective of the corporate space program and plan to leave for a paradise among the stars.

Will Katya win through the intrigue, corruption, romance, betrayal, and mistrust?

Will she grab a place on humanity’s greatest adventure? Will Zag stand with her?

Alternative 3: For the Post-YA female reader…

2091: Security company chief, Angel Flores, has risen far on a dying Earth.

She takes agent Zag Bishop as a lover when her affair with the agency’s owner wanes.

Together, they discover the truth about the corporate space program and plan to join humanity’s greatest adventure among the stars. But Zag is attracted to a young recruit, Katya Ulyanov, a girl with a secret past.

Can Angel overcome the corruption, betrayal, and distrust to gain Paradise?

So what do you think? (Comments below.)

For more background on the key players, see the interviews they gave in an earlier post.

And Happy Reading!

 

May 1 2017

The Economics of AI: Example

I recently had a great time at the 68th British National Science Fiction Annual Convention: meeting old friends; making new ones; attending some fascinating panels…

The panels prompted my restless mind to explore tangential threads, as they should. Example… Continue reading →

Apr 10 2017

JANUS PARADISI

 

I am delighted to announce the publication of the second novel in my JANUS PARADISI series, set in the open source Paradisi Chronicles universe.

Take a look at both ebooks here.
Or read the first chapter of FACES OF JANUS here.

In FACES OF JANUS, Angel Flores’ security agents uncover the lie behind Earth’s greatest corporate conspiracy. They fight for places on humanity’s incredible journey.

Her lover, Zag, assembles a team of special ops warriors but falls for Katya, an operative with a secret past. Betrayal and secrecy on all sides put the whole plan at risk.

The hardest journey is the one on Earth. The stars can wait.


In JANUS CHALLENGE, Angel’s team have maneuvered their way aboard a great spaceship bound for a paradise planet in another galaxy.

But the battle is not over. They must seize the ship before the voyage can begin. Their special skills are needed again and again as the journey continues.

Zag struggles with his love for both Angel and Katya, whose behavior becomes more erratic until Angel’s life and the fate of the entire ship rest in her hands.

And when they arrive in that far galaxy, they face more conflict…

If you’re interested in becoming a Beta Reader or receiving Advance Review Copies, for future releases, please sign up here.

Happy Reading!
Andy

Feb 20 2017

Faces Of Janus: 100% 5 star!

Reader Reviews

51i8civxul-_ac_us240_ql65_With Janus Challenge straining at the release leash as March approaches, I’m starting to gather 5-star reviews for Faces of Janus (the first in my Janus Paradisi series)

Samples of kind words from readers… Continue reading →

Jan 17 2017

Beyond Beginnings: Sequels

A Good Year End

In November 2016 I became a published novel author, building on my years as a short story writer. 51i8civxul-_ac_us240_ql65_51vykdagqhl-_ac_us240_ql65_

Where do you go from there?

You write the sequel.

Actually, I started writing the sequel long before I published “Faces of Janus“. It’s already gone out to beta readers, for publication in Spring 2017. Continue reading →

Dec 20 2016

What’s With Wattpad?

I heard a few good things about Wattpad during 2014.

Wikipedia (December 20, 2016) says…

“Wattpad is an online storytelling community where users post written works such as articles, stories, fan fiction, and poems, either through the website or the mobile app…

As of April 2014: [Yes, 2014]

  • 85% of its traffic and usage comes from mobile devices,
  • the site has 35 million unique visitors per month,
  • there are over 100,000 story uploads per day,
  • there have been over two million writers.

… According to the profiles visible on the site, many of these authors are teenagers.”

I took a look and found it full of YA, Romance and Undead Fantasy (not my genres), mostly written by teens. Still, I thought I’d give it a try and uploaded some short stories (horror, hard scifi…) to test the waters. I had a reasonable readership response, but few Likes or comments. Okay (shrug), I’m not Rowling or Atwood or Howey (yet). I’m not going to get swarms of eager readers seeking out every word I electronically utter (yet).

Persevering, I tried a novel.

Continue reading →