Yeah, I’m looking forward to this one. I’m part of a local author book signing event at Circle Brewing Company in Austin on October 3. Come meet the authors, buy some books and sample a pint or two. Hey, anything involving books, beer and Michael Bunker has got to be fun. Check out the Facebook event page for details and updates.
Roger Zelazny is one of the giants of the science-fiction and fantasy genres. He’d land a spot in my personal top-10 on the strength of Lord of Light alone. Throw in The Chronicles of Amber and This Immortal and he’s an absolute lock for my “favorites” list.
Still, Zelazny is one of those giants of the field that is in real danger of going undiscovered by younger generations of fans. Despite being a six-time Hugo Award winner and a three-time Nebula winner (This Immortal tied with Frank Herbert’s epic Dune for Best Novel in the 1966 voting), not a single one of his books was available in e-book format until 2014, and even now, much of his catalog remains out of print. Even Lord of Light is not available as an e-book.
Roadmarks, a short novel from 1979, is one of those books that
requires a trip to Half-Price Books or a tour through Amazon’s used book vendors to find. It is out of print and not likely to see the light of day anytime soon, given the travails of Zelazny’s literary estate.
In Roadmarks, Red Dorakeen and a variety of odd characters travel up and down a mysterious highway that can take one to the past or the future, even alternate timestreams. Of course, it requires a special talent to even find the highway, but those who do can wield enormous power. As in many of Zelazny’s books, the characters may or may not be gods or god-like beings and you never quite know until the end. It’s a fast, fun read, but one that forces you to pay attention, as Zelazny not only jumps frequently from character to character, but also to different time periods for each of those characters. That’s difficult for any writer to pull off but Zelazny makes it look easy.
Roger Zelazny died young, at only 58 years old, in 1995. If he had lived a normal lifespan he would no doubt have produced at least a dozen more great novels, and his legacy would no doubt be on more solid ground. As it is, he left too soon and his literary estate has not advanced with the times. Take the time to search the “Z” section at your local used bookstore; Zelazny’s novels are too good to be forgotten.
One of the really fun parts of being a writer is when I get to pass along screamin’ deals on great books. This is one of those posts. The first novel in my Connor Rix series, Rules of Force, is included in the new boxed set Taste of Tomorrow 2, edited by Joseph Turkot. But that’s just the beginning. This bundle includes nine e-books for the spare-change price of $1.99. Some fantastic books by truly talented authors like Nick Cole, Michael Bunker, Saul Tanpepper and Tony Bertausky are included.
Taste of Tomorrow 2 will be released on June 11, but you can pre-order now and have it automatically shipped to your Kindle on launch day. Your summer reads are here!
Well. If you ever wanted to make a writer’s day, month or year, you might want to try something like this.
My friend Bert W., whom I’ve known since grade school, is a veteran world traveler. You name the place, he’s been there, probably twice.
His latest adventure was a trip to the Mount Everest base camp. Fortunately, he managed to avoid being buried by the recent earthquake in Nepal, but judging by some of the pictures he sent back, it was a close call.
While standing in that rarified air at the top of the world Bert took the time to snap a couple photos that will have me smiling for the rest of the month—my Connor Rix books at Everest.
Bert, I may live only 700 feet above sea level, but this took my breath away. One of my creations has now traveled farther than I ever have. A million thanks and a hearty salute for you, sir!
Indie publishing has opened up more opportunities than I can even keep track of, but the really intriguing possibilities involve those concepts that you rarely (or never) find in traditional publishing—shared universes, cross-overs and collaborative marketing.
I’m working on a new project that’s hip deep into all of that. I’ve signed on to write a novel set in the Apocalypse Weird series by Wonderment Media, due out later this year. Apocalypse Weird is a big, sprawling multiverse saga involving every apocalyptic scenario you can imagine. Some great writers are producing hugely entertaining works in this series.
The Apocalypse is off to a great start. They’ve published nine books since the February launch and plan two more per month for the next several years. And now, Wonderment is conducting a crowd-funding push through Indie GoGo to take it all to the next level. There are some excellent perks offered at ten different contribution levels. If you’ve been looking for a fresh way to support the new wave of publishing, this is your chance to help build something that will spur the creation of great books for years to come. Follow the link and check it out. If you want a taste for free, The Red King by Nick Cole is the volume that kicks it all off. And check out my novel Follow the Chupacabra for confirmation of why I might be suitable for spinning yarns of end-times weirdness.
Need more? Here’s the very cool book trailer by AW author Eric Tozzi for his entry in the series, Phoenix Lights:
Some stories just stay with you. You read them once, and then again, and then one day the book earns a permanent spot on your shelf. You find yourself dipping back into the story years later and enjoying it every bit as much as you did the first time.
Ben Bova wrote one of those stories that got stuck in my brain and never left. I found it almost by accident. I was in the 7th grade and one of my teachers, Mrs. Howe, kept a shelf of books in her room loaded with paperbacks we could read in class or even borrow to take home. One of these was a battered 1967 edition, 7th printing, of Rod Serling’s Devils and Demons. Now, I was never much one for horror stories or the supernatural, but buried among the chillers was a true science-fiction tale titled Stars, Won’t You Hide Me?
That’s the story that pulled me in. The last human survivor of a colossal war against implacable aliens flees in his one-man starship, but the Others will never give up the chase. They have judged humanity guilty of a terrible crime and the penalty is the extermination of the species. But time dilates as they race through the universe at the speed of light. Ages pass, then eons, billions upon billions of years until our protagonist races on to the end of the universe itself, one step ahead of the aliens. I can’t claim it’s a work for the ages, but for a teenager stumbling his way into the science-fiction genre, it was positively addicting. Mrs. Howe noticed how much I liked the book and at the end of the school year gave it to me. I don’t know if she realized I was reading the same story over and over, but I was thrilled to have it. And I’ve never gotten rid of it.
Stars, Won’t You Hide Me? was originally published in The World of Tomorrow in 1966 and picked up for the Rod Serling anthology the following year. My copy is ugly as an old boot, so worn it doesn’t even have a cover. The original was either torn off by clumsy teenage hands or, more likely, it was a remaindered book that the teacher acquired for pennies and added to her class library. It has a large stain on the title page from a spilled coke, and that blotch shares the page with the teacher’s signature and the date she gave it to me. Old glue is exposed on the spine. The back page (Send for your free catalog of Bantam Bestsellers today!) is crumpled and barely hanging on.
I’ve long hoped to find a better edition, but I’ve never seen the story published anywhere else. I thought Stars, Won’t You Hide Me? had been well and truly lost to memory, but was astonished to find that the Rod Serling book has its own Wiki page, and I was able to download a cover image from there.
To track down any new editions I decided to go straight to the source. Ben Bova is still as prolific as ever at the age of 82, and his website has a complete bibliography, writing tips, chronology of his “grand tour” novels, and plenty more. I wrote to him, giving a brief version of this tale and how much his story affected me. He replied almost immediately. “You’ve made my day!” he told me. You can imagine what a thrill it was to read an influential story as a teenager, to carry the book around for decades through several moves and purges, and then 40 years later to correspond with the author by eeeelectronic mail. It’s not exactly the future I envisioned back then, but in some ways it’s more amazing.
Bova told me that the story had been reprinted in two other collections: Forward in Time (Walker, 1973) and Escape Plus (Tor, 1984). Although the paperbacks are long out of print, Forward in Time and Escape Plus are both available as e-books on Amazon. They may not be there for long, however. Bova recently signed a deal with Baen Books for a three-part omnibus of every short story he ever wrote. Stars, Won’t You Hide Me will be part of the Bova Omnibus, Volume III, due out in about three years.
Just goes to show—give a kid a book, you never know what direction it will take him. Thanks, Ben, and thanks, Mrs. Howe.
For all you Central Texas readers, I’ll be participating in the North Shore Book Festival II in Lago Vista at the K-Oaks Clubhouse on February 21. I’ll be signing and selling books, but there’s a lot more going on than just little ol’ me. They’ve got at least 25 authors attending, plus live music, workshops and author Q&As. Admission is free, so take a drive out in the beautiful hill country on the north shore of Lake Travis and support your local authors.
Also, I’ll have a new paperback book available. I released my short story collection Alien Texas in e-book form in August, and now I’ve got the print version ready to go. This will be its first public appearance anywhere. Three short stories, 10k words, 50 pages, nice and easy affordable price. See you there!
Update: I received the list of authors that will be attending, along with other details.
I kept my novel Gods and The City in Amazon’s Kindle 
Select/Unlimited program after its launch, but now the experiment has run its course and the exclusive period is done. My fast-paced space opera has now been released into the wider world. If you’re a fan of Apple’s iBooks store you can find it there, as well as from Kobo, Smashwords, and soon on B&N’s Nook platform.
The follow-up to this book is coming along nicely, so if you want to be ready for the new release, hit one of the links and give it a read. Your humble author thanks you in advance.
For those who like their books with a personal touch, I’ve added an online store where you can purchase signed copies of my books. All my novels are available, plus a couple of my automotive titles. I promise I won’t sign in crayon, or charge extra for the ink.
Sale time! I’ve teamed up with the guys at The 4th Realm to hold a joint e-book sale during the first week of November. We’ve got a variety of Fantasy and SF titles at bargain (even free) prices. Check out the details on my website, and take advantage of this special pricing!
Rocket Cars to Mars 