I’ve got a free signed copy of Monsters and Angels I’m offering through the Goodreads Giveaway program. I mean, that’s if you like free. You can enter through May 22.
Update, 5/24: Thanks to everyone who entered! The signed copy for the winner went in the mail today. And thanks also to the 144 Goodreads members who added the book to their “to Read” bookshelves.
Giveaway ends May 22, 2013.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Oho! What’s this that just arrived in my office? It is indeed the trade paperback edition of Monsters and Angels. I tells ya, tearing open that package and holding that first print copy in my hands is like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one. It will be available on Amazon soon, or order right now from the link below. https://www.createspace.com/4242502
The SyFy Channel debuted Defiance on Monday, a new science-fiction series, and for once Sharktopus and the ghost hunters were nowhere to be found. Could it be possible that the channel devoted to science-fiction actually has some, well, science-fiction to broadcast for a change?
And the answer is yes, sort of. The two-hour debut, to rely on an affectionate term used to describe something you want to like but that didn’t quite work, was a bit of a “sprawling mess.” Which is not to completely discount it. Parts of it were quite good, and I plan to continue watching to see how it develops.
And by “sprawling mess,” I mean that they really threw a lot of elements against the wall to see what would stick. The premiere opens with giant invading spaceships and then quickly shifts to 33 years later, where the ships are floating debris in orbit, a variety of aliens live among us, and the earth has been “terraformed” into a nearly unrecognizable planet. The city of Defiance is built in the ruins of St. Louis, and it is here that the fractious groups attempt to co-exist.
In style, influences from every corner of the SF universe abound. There are clear elements of Firefly in the old-West space mercenary feel of the thing, but then you get a scene that could have come straight from The Road Warrior. Look in the background and you’ll spy costumes that look like they were stolen from the cloak room at a Steampunk convention. There are laser battles against giant alien bug animals, battle cyborgs of some sort that attack the city, and human-like aliens fulfilling the roles of various archetypes.
Grant Bowler, last seen standing up to collectivist goons as Hank Reardon in Atlas Shrugged Part 1, plays the part of a nomad dragooned into being the Chief Lawkeeper of Defiance. Stephanie Leonidas is his adopted alien daughter who, naturally, is an ass-kicking fighter, as all 100-lb alien females must be, lest anyone involved be accused of being insufficiently enlightened.
There are a lot of characters and subplots introduced in the first episode, and a lot of background left unexplained. It’s a pretty bold move by the producers, leaving so much to be teased out later, counting on the audience to stay with you long enough to get the full story. Still, the show delivered a lot too, with plenty of action and cgi eye-candy to make it fun. The show sank just enough of its hooks in me to watch some more and see where it leads.
But if Sharktopus ever attacks Defiance, I’m outta here.
The nomination list for the 2013 Prometheus Award is out. Given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society for the best pro-freedom novel published over the past year, the award will be presented at the 71st Annual WorldCon, held this year during late August and early September in San Antonio. The organization will also present a “Hall of Fame” award for the best classic fiction in the SF and fantasy genres. Some great authors have won this prize in the past, and this year’s nomination list looks intriguing. Call me grouchy, but basic liberties seem to be eroding faster than ever, making this award an increasingly important one. I plan to be at WorldCon and hope to shake the hand of the winner.
Monsters and Angels, along with the first two book in the Connor Rix series, received a nice notice over at superheronovels.com. There are a lot of other good links and reviews over there, so check it out. And thanks to webmaster Eric for including Rix. He’d send his regards personally, but is involved in a case just now, something about a gang of Modified rec-league softball players in New San Antonio stealing breakfast tacos. Or something. My notes are garbled.
The third book in the Connor Rix series of science-fiction thrillers is out! Monsters and Angels just crackled to life in e-book form on Amazon. Other e-book outlets and a paperback version will follow shortly.
Monsters and Angels
Got a problem with a violent superhuman outlaw? Connor Rix is the guy you call to set things right.
Up until now, the relentless development of human Modifications has been primarily centered on physical attributes: Superhuman strength, blinding speed, unprecedented endurance and almost instantaneous healing powers.
But suddenly a new Modification has been bio-engineered that allows people to induce specific emotions in others. The pioneers of this process, the “Transcendents,” move serenely through the population while enraptured followers revel in the profound feelings of joy and purpose they project. Some believe it is the beginning of a glorious new epoch for mankind as the Transcendents begin to spread their uplifting gift.
But there are others who see the development in an entirely different light. And they won’t hesitate to spill blood to contain it.
Modified private investigator Connor Rix is called from the Texas Republic to the Pacific Union to solve a brutal murder and kidnapping involving the Transcendents. But before this mystery can be unraveled he’ll have to confront a monstrous terror that he himself unleashed upon the world.
Monsters and Angels is a 53,000-word novel.
Update! Monsters and Angels is also now available for the Nook at Barnes and Noble.com
Along with freezing in the grandstands at my daughter’s track meet, hauling away the brushpile from my backyard and attending a wedding at a 113-year-old house, I spent part of last weekend roaming the aisles at the Staple Independent Media Expo in Austin. I wanted the chance to mingle with and talk to my fellow local writers, of course, but I was also scouting the event for next year when I may set up a table and peddle my wares. I’ll have more of my own books ready by then, and wanted to see if Staple was a good venue.
I’d have to say it is a good event for self-published genre writers, although with certain caveats. I’d estimate that 75 percent of the vendors on hand were comics creators, illustrators and animators, with only a smattering of self-published novelists wedged in-between. So it’s definitely weighted in favor the comics side of the market. But the Staple expo has recently expanded its reach to include more self-published literature, and one thing the event absolutely delivers is a very accepting audience for independent publishing efforts. Plus, there is a lot of overlap between the markets for graphic novels and comics and genre fiction such as SF, fantasy and horror, so my books wouldn’t be out of place next to a table displaying, say, Stratum Comics’ The Threat.
One takeaway from Staple was that independent comic artists are a little further along the acceptance curve than self-published writers, at least as far as public perceptions go. Although it is gradually fading in the new media environment, self-published authors still drag around some “can’t get a real publisher” baggage. But comic creators have been self-publishing successfully for decades. Some artists set out independently because they wanted to step beyond the bounds of all-ages fare that the Comics Code allowed, and others because the big comics publishers were notorious for locking up all intellectual property rights, with only crumbs left for the actual creators. Thus, fair or not, the independent comic publisher today enjoys more of a reputation as a brave, no-compromise iconoclast than your average self-pubbed romance novelist.
On the business side, with all the comic and anime conventions scattered across the nation there are now many established avenues for direct selling. Even comic shops like the Dragon’s Lair brag in their advertisements that “We sell indie comics!” I’ve been shopping at comix hotbed Austin Books since the 1980s and never had a problem finding independently-published comics. I have yet to encounter a traditional bookstore, however, that boasts of their independent novelist section. (Although if there are any out there, please let me know.)
But! You were wondering about the expo. There were some heavy-hitters in attendance along with new talent. The great Bernie Wrightson was there signing and selling his artwork and comics. Sean Wang hosted a good seminar on using Kickstarter to fund the next volume in his Runners series. That Kickstarter campaign is still live, BTW, so hop on over to see what a well-executed fund-raising campaign looks like.
Whenever I attend a convention I make a point to spend some money to support local writers and illustrators, and this time I brought home one of Jenner Carnelian’s graphic novels, which I look forward to reading. Had a great chat with him, and that was an almost universal experience at Staple. Lottsa nice people with interesting things to say. Hope to squeeze in a table amongst them next year.
It’s done! The third book in the Connor Rix series, Monsters and Angels, is complete. Revisions and editing and input from beta readers to follow, but the e-book will be on sale in March. Oh man, that’s a good feeling.
Now, this is how you make a short science-fiction film. Packs a complete story into less than five minutes. I think about 75 percent of Twilight Zone episodes would be vastly improved if they were compressed to about this length.
Berenstains, Berenstains… Wait a minute, Isn’t that?
Yes. Yes it is. If you were a kid in the closing decades of the 20th Century (especially the 1980s or ’90s), or raised kids during that time, then you probably have encountered the Berenstain Bears cartoon books by Stanley and Janice Berenstain. The husband-and-wife team had a long and productive run—the Berenstain Bears reached the 50th anniversary milestone in 2012.
But before the Berenstains turned almost all of their efforts toward producing gently humorous books about anthropomorphic ursines, they had another single-panel cartoon strip called It’s All In The Family that appeared in McCall’s and Good Housekeeping magazines.
The strip spawned several paperback collections, including this gem, Never Trust Anyone Over 13, from 1970. Imagining myself a future comic artist, I was a voracious reader and collector of all forms of comics back then, from Marvel superheroes to Charlie Brown compilations, whatever I could find. This is one that I’ve kept all these years. It’s a part of the Berenstain world that seems to have fallen through the cracks. I haunt a lot of used bookstores but have never seen another copy.
As with the bears, it’s gentle humor that examines the foibles of family life. It’s also an example of very skillful cartooning that manages to develop characters and tell a funny story all within the confines of a single panel.
Of course, it’s a product of its time, which makes it a fun period piece to read today. There are lots of jokes about long hair, teenage rock bands, and the ‘tween girl’s swooning over “Herbert’s Hoozits.”
And yes, the characters look like Berenstain Bears turned into people (or vice versa).
But it holds up well. And not to put too much of a financial emphasis on it, but the whole sprawling Berenstains empire is a reminder to writers how one well-developed property can have an extremely long and lucrative life. Especially if cute bears are involved.
Rocket Cars to Mars 