Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for August 7, 2015

And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with commentary on the Fantastic Four movie, diversity in comics, reports from GenCon as well as your regular dose of Hugo discussion.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Jen Doll explains how A Wrinkle in Time changed science fiction forever.
• Tor.com shares their 15 favourite time travel novels.
• John Bardinelli offers a newbie's guide to Dune on the event of its 50th anniversary.
• John Scalzi explains which ten SFF characters he wanted to be.
• Matt Staggs shares his appreciation for Poul Anderson. 
• Andrew Liptak discusses Margaret Atwood and her complicated relationship to the SFF genre.
• Ahrvid Engholm discusses Stieg Larsson and his history as an SF fan. 
• Duncan Campbell remembers Edgar Wallace, prolific crime writer as well as creator of King Kong and The Ringer. 
• Cora Buhlert also shares her appreciation for the works of Edgar Wallace.
• Damien Walter takes a look at some science fiction apocalypses.
• Traci Loudin explains the difference between dystopian and apocalyptic fiction. 
• Theodora Goss takes a look at late 19th century monsters and the world that birthed them.
• Alistair Cross talks about sex and vampires. 
• D.B. Jackson a.k.a. David B. Coe talks about genre and community and calls for more respect between writers and fans of different subgenres. 
• Adam Sternbergh asks whether characters belong to their creators or fans.
• Chris Lough is not impressed by the new Fantastic Four movie. 
• Alex Pappademas wonders whether the new Fantastic Four movie will spell the end for the Fantastic Four.
• M.D. Jackson compares Marvel and DC at the movies and wonders why Marvel is so much more successful. 
• Michael R. Underwood points out that the superhero comics published by Marvel and DC have much more diverse casts than the movies based on those comics.
• Caitlin Rosberg says that representation matters and that comics should embrace change and diversity.
• Germain Lussier explains how the various species in Guardians of the Galaxy understand each other. 
• Sanford Allen shares his reappreciation for The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec. 
• Toni McIntyre shares her reappreciation for Sucker Punch. 
• Genevieve Valentine explains why the horror movie It Follows is an allegory for rape culture.
• Katherine Trendacosta takes a look at the lessons learned from Mad Max: Fury Road, Terminator Genisys and Jurassic World. 
• Foz Meadows shares her thoughts about Sense8. 
• Katherine Trendacosta claims that Stargate didn't become a great universe until the various TV shows.
• Noah Smith discusses the economics of Star Trek. 
• Fantasy writer Adrienne Martine-Barnes died aged 73.
• John Hertz shares his appreciation for the late Adrienne Martine-Barnes.
  

Awards and Hugo debate:

• The winners of the 2015 Mythopoeic Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2015 Gen Con EN World RPG Awards have been announced.
• Sasquan, the 2015 WorldCon, has announced that they have received a record number of Hugo ballots.
• Cheryl Morgan implores Hugo voters not to give up hope.
• Camestros Felapton attempts to analyse the Sad Puppy mindset.
• Adam Roberts shares his take on the Hugo controversy. 
• David B. Coe a.k.a. D.B. Jackson offers his take on the Hugo debate. 
• Chris M. Barkley shares his perspectives on the 2015 Hugo Awards debate.
• John Scalzi offers his final word on the Hugo controversy. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Chuck Wendig shares 100 random storytelling thoughts and tips. 
• Ursula K. Le Guin answers the question "How do you make something good?"
• N.K. Jemisin shares some tips and an excercise on worldbuilding (PDF link). 
• Paula S. Jordan talks about creating reasonable aliens.
• S. Andrew Swann discusses seven things you will find in every SFF story.
• Tim Waggoner shares his list about the most common mistakes beginning authors make.
• Django Wexler talks about avoiding middle book syndrome. 
• Wicked Red explains what serialised fiction is. 
• Elisabeth Grace Foley explains why writing is like arranging flowers.
• BookBub share their ultimate guide to book marketing.
• Robert J. Sawyer complains that "bestselling author" has become a meaningless term.
• Julie Ann Dawson explains how to create discount codes with Createspace.
  

Interviews:

• John H. Stevens interviews Samuel R. Delany.
• Sherwood Eliot Wirt interviewed C.S. Lewis (in 1963).
• Diana Biller interview Andrew and Ilona Gordon a.k.a. Ilona Andrews. 
• Deborah Stanish interview Delilah S. Dawson. 
• Kathryn Allan interview Joyce Chng.

Reviews:

• Lauren Naturale reviews Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor.
• Renay Williams reviews The End of All Things by John Scalzi. 
• Elena Linville reviews Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig. 
• Jackie Dana reviews Brother Frankenstein by Michael Bunker and The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree by S.A. Hunt. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Darkness Rising by Brian Moreland.
• Ursula K. Le Guin reviews Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.
• Sigrid Ellis reviews the TV series Killjoys. 

Crowdfunding:

• Hugo Broyler, a science fiction noir graphic novel, is looking for funding. 
• If, a science fiction anthology by 36 comic creators, is looking for backers.
• Asphodel, a space opera comic by Alex Kane and Gale Galligan, is looking for funding. 
• Alternate Hilarities: Weirder Science, an anthology edited by Giovanni Valentino, is looking for backers.
• Mythic Indy, a collection of new myths and legends about Indianapolis intended to support creative writing programs for kids, is looking for backers. 
• A project to create new Thunderbirds episodes based on 1960s recordings and using the original supermarionation techniques is looking for funding. 

Con reports:

• Carolyn Cox reports about a controversial panel on the subject "women in comics" at GenCon in Indianapolis.
• Chuck Wendig shares his experiences at GenCon in Indianapolis. 
• Aaron Pound also shares his experiences at GenCon.
• Artist Bob Eggleton worries about the future of the WorldCon art show.
• John Wiswell shares seven tips for better conventions. 

Science and technology:

• More than 1000 robotics researchers and other experts have signed an open letter calling for a ban of military artificial intelligence.
• George Dvorsky explains why the argument for a ban on autonomous killer robots falls flat.
• HitchBot, the cute robot who has been hitchhiking all over Canada and Europe met his demise at the hands of robot haters while attempting to travel across the US.
• How robots could build a radio telescope on the far side of the Moon.
• Airbus is planning to patent an ultra-rapid aircraft that can reach speeds of up to Mach 4.5.
• What would happen if a black hole met an antimatter black hole?
• How to make 3-D holograms with your smartphone.

Free online fiction:

• "Fabulous Beasts" by Priya Sharma at Tor.com 
• "Night of the Salamander" by Michael Swanwick at Tor.com
• "Midnight Hour" by Mary Robinette Kowal in Uncanny Magazine
• "New Moon Wolf" by David B. Coe. 
• "The Shoulder of Orion" by Eric Garside in Nature. 
• "Tender" by Sofia Samatar in OmniVerse. 
• "To See Pedro Infante" by Sylvia Moreno Garcia in Lightspeed.
• Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of "Oasis" by Floyd Looney.
• Chapter 1 of "Tome of Battle", part 88 of The Descendants by Landon Porter.

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Deadpool.
• Watch a trailer for Spectre, the next James Bond movie.
• Watch a teaser for The Martian.
  

Reunification (Two Worlds, Book 1) by Timothy L. Cerepaka

Release date: July 24, 2015

 Subgenre: Science fantasy, sword and sorcery

About Reunification:

When one knight travels to a another world to find his long-lost sister, he is drawn into a conflict deeper than he knows.

With three photographs of his sister as his only clues, Rii, a Knight of Se-Dela, travels to Xeeo, a world of science and technology completely unlike his magical and mystical home world of Dela, where he hopes to reunite with his sister after her mysterious disappearance six years ago.

It soon turns out that the disappearance of Rii's sister is linked to a vaster conflict between two ancient organizations that stretches back to the dawn of the two worlds themselves. And when Rii finds himself stranded on this world, he must race to find his sister before the mysterious figures who want him dead end his life.

Excerpt:

 

The pictures showed my sister, Kiriah, sitting outside this very Cafe, sipping from an emerald cup, similar in color to mine. She was alone in the first two, but in the last one, she sat across from a large bearish man whose back was to the camera. I had already seen these pictures before, of course; had pored over them for even the slightest detail that might explain why my sister was here or who this man was, but I had found nothing, hence why I was speaking with this merchant.

The merchant's beady eyes scanned the pictures before he leaned back in his seat. “Yep. That's her, though I don't really know her name.”

“But she looks like my sister?” I said.

“Yep,” said the merchant, nodding. “She doesn't come here too often, but she's hard to miss because she's sometimes with that man in the third picture.”

The merchant tapped the third picture with one of his thin fingers, leaving tiny blotches of that disgusting gunk on it. I made a mental note to clean the photographs with the purest water I could find after this discussion was finished.

“What is that man's name?” I said. “Do ye know him?”

“Yeah,” said the merchant. He looked over his shoulder so quickly that his head was a blur before he returned to looking at me. “I mean, it's hard to tell from this picture, of course, because if you humans look the same while facing forward, you are indistinguishable from the back, but even I wouldn't mistake that large back for the back of anyone other than who it belongs to.”

“Delay the revelation no longer, merchant,” I said. I glanced at mine watch. “I have little time to waste going in circles like this.”

“Fine, fine,” said the merchant, holding up his hands as if to calm me. “He's Xacron-Ah. Ever heard that name before?”

I frowned. “Nay. 'Tis a criminal?”

“Actually, he's the Mayor of Xeeon,” said the merchant. “'Course, you wouldn't know that, seeing as you don't live here, but that's who he is.”

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple | Smashwords | Google | ARe | DriveThru | Libiro | XinXii

 

About Timothy L. Cerepaka:

 
Timothy L. Cerepaka was born in Austin, Texas, although he was raised in the small town of Cherokee Texas, where he was homeschooled by his parents and where he still lives today.

As a young boy growing up building LEGO sets, reading books from many different genres and on many different subjects, and playing video games, Timothy's strong imagination led him to begin writing his first stories. He began posting these stories on the Internet on a fansite dedicated to the LEGO toy line called BIONICLE, where he met similar authors starting out and received a lot of valuable criticism to help improve his work.

Yet it wasn't until 2014 that Timothy decided to get serious about his dream and began pursuing his writing career. After founding the independent press known as Annulus Publishing to publish his work, Timothy published his first book, the epic fantasy novel titled "The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock," in June of 2014, following it up over the next few months with the next three installments in his Prince Malock World series of fantasy novels.

Although Timothy reads all types of books in many different genres, his primary interests are in fantasy and science-fiction, though he enjoys a good mystery novel every now and then. This is reflected in his major writer influences: Greg Farshtey, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, and Rachel Aaron. He also enjoys the Sherlock Holmes books and stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, having read all of them several times each.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

An Aching in the Bone (The Strange Adventures of Carolina Brown, Book 2) by Genevieve McKay

Release date: July 21, 2015

Subgenre: Young adult paranormal

About An Aching in the Bone:

 

Carolina Brown finally has the life she’s always dreamed of. She lives in a fantastic house with a family who loves her. She is following her dream of being a chef (just like her idol Gordon Ramsay) and she even has a horse of her own.
So what if she’s still a hermit? All she wants is for things to stay exactly as they are.
But, like it or not, things are changing. Cara’s family enter her in a province-wide Junior Chef competition; one she knows she’s going to fail miserably at. That creepy boy from next door lurks behind every tree and, worst of all, her beloved friend Henry is losing his zest for living.
When forces from outside threaten Cara’s world she will stop at nothing to protect her family. 

Excerpt:

 

Phineas walked over and gave the horse a final pat before climbing stiffly through the fence rails. He limped down the narrow deer trail, pushing automatically through the damp ferns and ducking to avoid half-fallen logs. He didn’t need a flashlight. He’d walked this path so often; he could do the trek in his sleep. His steps faltered the closer he got to the over sized rental house his parents had temporarily taken over.

Warning bells went off in his head, screaming for him to get out of there as fast as possible. Go back, steal the horse, and ride off into the night. Go anywhere but inside.

He stopped, half-turning to look up the path behind him, weighing his options. He stood rigidly, fists balled at his sides, wracked with indecision.

Finally, he shook his head with a sigh and hunched his shoulders in defeat. He was only a teenager. Where would he live if he ran away? How would he feed himself and a horse? He didn’t have a job or money or any skills at all. He’d never been to school in his life, though he’d begged to go. If he ran away, they would track him down and drag him back.

Phineas scuffed the rest of the way up the path, his head bowed. He was sore and tired right to his bones—way older than his fifteen years, as if heavy weights dragged behind him in the dirt, chaining him to a life he hated.

 The house was completely dark except for a tiny stream of light escaping around the blankets tacked over the windows. It gave the place a vacant, haunted look; as if bad things happened behind those doors.

He was halfway up the steps when the front door inched open and his father’s head peered out. The dim light glinted off the crooked tinfoil cap his father almost always wore when he got nervous. It covered his blond curls like a misshapen silver melon.

Phineas groaned. His dad was clearly having a bad night. He looked like someone dressed up as a cartoon Martian for Halloween. Only for his dad it was no joke; he was deadly serious.

“Hello,” his dad whispered, blinking near-sightedly into the darkness. “Is that you, son?”

“Yes, Dad,” Phineas said reluctantly. There would be no turning back now.

“Oh. Good. Well, you’d better get inside. He’s here and he’s not happy.”

“He’s insane,” Phineas grumbled under his breath. He stepped into the dirty front entrance way and kicked off his shoes. They landed in the corner with a sodden squelching sound, splattering muddy water on the wall. The mess didn’t matter, though. Nobody cleaned or tidied anything here.

His dad shushed him loudly.

“Shhh! He’ll hear you!”

He raised a finger and held his breath, listening intently. His other hand fidgeted anxiously with the worn silver edge of his battered foil hat.

“He’s in a foul mood,” he hissed. “He blames us for not catching the creature sooner, Phineas. He’s thinking of withdrawing his funding or—or worse.”

 

Amazon

 

About Genevieve McKay: 

Genevieve Mckay is a freelance writer, short story author, and first time novelist. She lives on the West coast with her two and four-legged family in the wilderness. When she isn't busy creating new worlds she enjoys playing outside, riding horses and preparing for the zombie apocalypse. 

 Website | Twitter

Pirates (The Rim Confederacy, Book 1) by Jim Rudnick

Release date: July 22, 2015

Subgenre: Military science fiction, space opera

About Pirates:

“Tanner Scott, a RIM Confederacy Naval officer, has fought many battles against both humans and aliens. Years ago, he proved victorious against a band of aliens. His ongoing fight with his own alcoholism however remains a stalemate.

And suddenly, Pirates have appeared on the RIM. They have kidnapped the passengers of many craft and sold them into slavery and Scott is ordered to find them and rescue them.

But the pirates aren't acting alone. They are sponsored by a powerful Royal with ambitious plans, and she isn't about to let some Navy captain stand in the way of her mining empire. Scott must rescue the slaves while simultaneously navigating the treacherous space of interstellar politics.

If he fails, a Royal will gain more power, the entire Confederacy may unravel, and Scott's alcohol addiction will be the least of his worries…” 

Excerpt:

 

Prologue 

            It was from deep space, that the Pirates came, each of them boarding with what could only be called glee. They had come up behind the merchant passenger ship from due aft, on the way back from the ringed planet of Eons to Juno, about 4 light-years off DenKoss, and had matched TachyonDrive speed with the quarry, and had used the newest weapon in their arsenal, to slow and then stop the merchant passenger ship dead in space. When they came aboard using the aft boarding port, but they didn’t open same, they simply blasted it open with magnetic mines and stuck a force-field in the hole once they were in.

The two boarding teams split up upon entry, with one heading directly to the cargo holds on this deck. Pushing thru the corridors with sleds for hauling away their spoils, the team burned off the locks on the cargo hold and entered quickly. Inside, they took an aisle each and searched for cargo chests with the correct bills of lading and finding the right nine containers, they began to load up the containers to move them back to their ship. One said “nine, right?” and got a nod in reply from the team leader who made a notation on his wrist mounted PDA as they began to manhandle the sleds out of the bay.

The other larger team had made their way up one deck and were moving from passenger room to room, where the passengers simply cowered and accepted the stunners that were applied to each of them, then lay like cordwood, ready for a fire. Not a one of these Issians had bowed or called on their own God to help; the devastating depressurization makes you imagine that you have only seconds to implode. As lambs to the slaughterhouse, they fell where they trembled. Even those among them that were Adepts – humans who had the power of reading another human’s mind, shrunk as they were approached and answered none of the questions that their families left unasked.

Within one passenger’s quarters, a small girl hid in the cabinet in her cabin’s washroom, burrowing under the collection of personal care products and towels. As an Adept she knew why the boarders were there, she knew they would take all on board and that her Aunt had already been stunned and lay paralyzed out on the sofa and she knew that she too would be found and cried into the towels with anguish. Where she was going, she had never even heard of, but judging by the feel of the name in the boarder’s minds it was a place that many went and none ever left. Her cries went unanswered till her cabin was broken into by the boarders and as they entered, she heard a snapped voice that simply said ‘Bathroom cabinet, bottom shelf’ She turned to stone at the image of that mind so close to hers, she tried to inch around it in her consciousness and watched in fear as the mind turned towards her. This too was an Adept, but she quaked at the power within that mind and tried to fight it, to push back, but she was losing ground she knew power wise her mind was not as strong. She felt the power of the Adept Pirate, and then had to shy away, trying to burrow back and into the shelf itself. Moments later as she was dragged out into the deck hallway, she looked up at a tall woman who stood watching her, a woman dressed all in black, her robe clinging to her slim frame. This was the mind that had scared her so much and she watched as the woman crossed off the name Roison on a list, and grunted in agreement and stunned her onto the floor and only then said in a low voice “powerful little one…too bad…” and moved out into the corridor again…”

Amazon

About Jim Rudnick:

Being a youngster in the 1950's meant that I was a voracious reader in what has been called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. That meant that for me, my heroes were not on the hockey rink or gridiron - but instead in my local Library where at 12 I had a full Adult card (thanks Dad!) and took out more than 5 books a week.

Everyone from Heinlein, Norton, Leiber, Pohl, Anderson, Simak, Asimov, Brackett, Van Vogt and more....I fell in love with and eventually owned Ace Doubles of my own. While I never knew who wrote the Tom Corbett - Space Cadet series, I fell in love with them and they had a place of honor on my own bookcase too!

With that kind of an introduction to Science Fiction, it's no wonder that when got my writing work done, I turned my own fictional side of my brain to writing same. It's one thing I know to write - and a totally different matter to release same to the world - something that I've just started to work on....suffice it to say my own works are rooted in that Golden Age and it's that era that I'd like to one day be known as a teensy contributor to in some small way…

Website | Twitter

Awakened (Auralight Codex: Dakota Shepherd, Book 1) by Shei Darksbane and Annathesa Nikola Darksbane

Release date: July 20, 2015

Subgenre: Urban fantasy

About Awakened: 

 

Geeky lesbian Dakota Shepherd was just a bored night security guard, working at a museum in Knoxville, Tennessee until one fateful encounter changed it all. A rogue wizard. A demonic ritual. A silver chalice. Dakota Awakened, Hellfire blazing from her hands.
Dakota's powers are a danger to herself and everyone around her, and she has to learn to control them quickly or risk losing her one chance to finally fulfill a lifelong dream.
While coming to terms with her new reality, she stumbles upon a secret that changed the course of her life.
Now she wants to know who is responsible for the holes in her memory, the blocks that hold back her powers, and all the years she spent alone.
Who put her back to sleep when she Awakened years before?

Awakened is the first book in the Auralight Codex: Dakota Shepherd series.

Excerpt:

 

“Miss Shepherd?” He slowly stepped toward me, tugging on a black glove.

I took a step back, not backing down, but bracing myself. I didn’t trust this man one bit. “Who the hell are you and what do you want?”

The man in black adjusted his glove then started to pull on the other one. I noticed a silver emblem on the back of his glove, an iron cross, and my head was swimming with need to remember where I’d seen that symbol before recently. The man regarded me levelly as he settled his gloves. “Dakota Shepherd, you are a werewolf.” I straightened reflexively; my instincts were screaming danger. “And I will purge you in the name of God.” Crap.

I took a step back. “Wait, what? Why would you need to purge me? I haven’t hurt anyone.” My thoughts were racing. The man pushed his coat aside, revealing a freaking longsword on his hip. The same iron cross adorned the pommel. I had seen that symbol before. I knew I had.

He put his hand on the hilt of the sword. “You are an abomination in the sight of the Lord. Your kind will be cleansed from the Earth in His name.” I heard a thumping sound from the next room, and what I presumed to be raised voices, muffled by the thick wall, but I didn’t have time to think about it.

“Woah!” I was starting to panic. “Hold on there Father Psychopants! I’m not an abomination! I’m just a girl that happens to be a werewolf! I can’t even shift!”

For an instant, I thought I had swayed him. He closed his eyes as an expression of earnest sorrow flashed across his features. “Then may God have mercy upon your soul.” He drew the sword, and I flexed my hand upward, gripping the lambent flames that sprouted from my palm without so much as a thought. The man in black hesitated, taking a step back reflexively.

“Hold the hell on!” I yelled. I was as surprised as he looked that the flames had come to my call. I hadn’t even had to focus on it the way Nita had taught me. I’d barely even formed the idea of bringing the Hellfire forth when it’d just happened, coming as naturally as a breath of air. “Just hold it right there. I don’t know who you are and I have no idea why you want to kill me, but you don’t want to do this. Just put the sword down, and I won’t have to use this.” I held up my hand threateningly. His face contorted in disgust and outrage. I steeled myself. “I know you know what this is.” I didn’t. “And I know you don’t want me to use it.” I hoped. “So back the hell off, and we’ll all walk away from this.” The thumping from the other room was accented by the screech of metal twisting against metal, but I was entirely too distracted to process that at the moment.

The man took another step back but his grip on the sword tightened. “This only proves that you are truly an abomination. A werewolf is one thing, but a werewolf who bears Hellfire is no innocent lamb.” His eyes darkened as he readied the sword. “For a moment, I believed your lies. But now I can not allow you to leave.”

I was getting pretty desperate. I didn’t dare actually use the Hellfire on him. After all my practice with Nita, there was one thing I was absolutely sure of: if I unleashed the Hellfire in force, there was an excellent chance I would never regain control of it. And we were in the middle of a crowded building, full of innocent people, children, old folks, and probably even a couple of puppies. There was no way I would risk all of their lives, even to save my own, and I knew it. But he didn’t. I flexed my arm toward the wall beside me. “Take one step closer and I’ll set the building on fire.”

The man snarled at me. “Fiendish creature!” he spat, incensed. He raised the sword to strike, but snapped his head around to the door as something hit it from the outside, hard, denting it inward and all hell broke loose.

 

Amazon

 

About Shei and Annathesa Nikola Darksbane: 

Shei Darksbane is a blue-haired geek with a love of awesome stories of all kinds whether they come in the form of books, shows, movies, comics, roleplay, video games, music, art, theater, etc.

She is a proud lesbian and feminist, a human rights activist, and a passionate person in general who loves the wonderful, beautiful world and the incredible creativity of humankind. She refuses to give up believing in magic, fairies, and monsters under the bed, and she feels sorry for those who do. She lives with her wife who has been her partner for over 15 years, their awesome daughter, Rune, and one really cool cat named Velvet.

Shei studied Illustration at the Academy of Art University, worked as a professional illustrator for a while, then gave it up to focus on telling her own stories instead. She turned to writing, inspired by her wife who is also an author, Annathesa Nikola Darksbane. Now she writes Urban Fantasy in a world they have been crafting together for more than a decade, and she has enough stories to keep her busy for the next several years.

When she isn't writing, co-writing with Annathesa, or working on their cover art, she spends her time roleplaying or playing video games with her family, reading, listening to music, singing, geeking out over her favorite shows, artists, authors, and musicians, or dreaming about traveling and seeing all the awesome places and peoples in the world.

Annathesa Nikola Darksbane is a Discordian lesbian sorceress who dreams of one day becoming a real cyborg. Currently residing in Portland with her awesome partner (and fellow author) of 15 years, and her unusually awesome eight year old daughter, Rune.

She loves philosophy, science, critical thinking, chaos, good food, reading, writing, pen and paper RPGs, video games of most kinds, has an interest in melee combat and believes in doing magic every day. She is also the world record holder as the only living person on Earth to have ever seen a live armadillo.

Though she was born wanting to be a storyteller, for many years the only stories she told were born of being a game master for varying circles of friends. Eventually, with much prodding, she was convinced that those tales needed a new home, instead of living solely in her head.

Website | Twitter

Hexad: The Factory by Al K. Line

Release date: July 8, 2015

Subgenre: Time travel

About Hexad: The Factory: 

 

Dale dug furtively, feeling like a muppet but unable to get the previous evening's conversation with Amanda out of his mind. A stupid, drunken conversation, full of conjecture about the possibility of time travel. Then one of them, he couldn't remember which, had come up with the idea that if it really was possible at some point in their future then they'd go back in time and bury proof under the apple tree in the garden.

Dale knew he was acting foolish, and prayed Amanda didn't wake up to find him digging in the dirt. He couldn't help it though, however ridiculous it seemed. There was that nagging at the back of his mind: what if?

 

Excerpt:

Digging

Present Day

A blackbird chattered angrily from the lush cover of the apple tree where the blossom had faded, replaced by tiny fruits, annoyed at having its breakfast interrupted. The sunflower seeds in the hanging feeder were tantalizingly close, but they remained elusive until the man finished whatever it was he was doing.
The resident gray squirrel watched from the safety of a large conifer hedge bordering the garden, scratching an ear while it waited, tail twitching manically with anticipation, hoping that its horde of seed and nuts wasn’t discovered by the strange behavior being carried out on its territory. It tried to figure out how to steal the seed from the feeder while it waited impatiently.
Dale ignored the costly wildlife — it seemed like he was making a weekly trip to the local pet supply store these days — and stopped for a second to wipe the sweat from his eyes, then looked around guiltily.
He felt a little queasy, the wine from the night before lingering in the form of a slight hangover — he definitely should have drunk more water before he came out to dig in the dirt, but he was too excited. He couldn’t even consider stopping for such base needs when he woke up, the crazy conversation of the drunken evening with Amanda nagging at his mind like a cold caller refusing to take no for an answer, ringing back until you gave in and said, "Why yes, I do have a problem with my computer and I would be over the moon to give you my password so you can fix it for me dear stranger."
“I must be bloody mad,” muttered Dale to nobody in particular, forehead now smeared with sweat and dirt. He stared at his hands, then at the bare patch of ground accusingly. “Should have cut my nails, this will be a pain to get out. God, what am I doing? This is stupid.” Yet he knew he had to do it, he simply had to find out; what if it really had happened? How cool would that be?
Amanda would laugh her head off if she could see me now. Hope she has a lie-in so I can pretend I never did this. What an idiot!
Dale continued digging up the lawn while more birds amassed in the apple tree, waiting to take their turn at breaking their fast.
“What you doing Dale?” asked Amanda, huge smile on her face.
“Damn, you made me jump. Morning honey, thought you were going to have a lie-in.”
She’ll never let me hear the end of this. Probably laugh at me for the rest of our lives. She’s gonna remind me of this every day until we die of old age. Worse, she'll probably get it carved on my headstone: Here lies Dale; what an idiot!
“I needed a wee, and a drink, so I thought I may as well get up.” Amanda just stood there, smiling enigmatically.
Dale shielded his eyes from the morning sun rising right behind the love of his life, making her little more than a silhouette, but there was no getting away from the smile, certainly there was no escaping the humiliating vibe of condescending amusement that was emanating from her.
Silence.
“Oh, alright. I know, I know. But I had to look. Stupid, right?”
“Well, you could say that, yes. Or you could say that you are still drunk and that you don’t seriously expect it to be there." Amanda waited for an answer, Dale said nothing, just fidgeted awkwardly, trying to remove the dirt from under his nails. "You do, don’t you? Oh my god! You really think it’s going to be there.” Amanda walked around to the other side of the tree, then poked her head out from behind the trunk as birds scattered into the safety of the hedge. “Ooh, it’s so exciting, I can’t wait. Go on then, carry on digging up the lawn with your bare hands like a demented mole.”
“There’s no need to be cheeky. I know it’s stupid alright? But, well, erm…”
“You could have at least used a trowel,” offered Amanda helpfully.
“I was too excited,” mumbled Dale.
“What was that? Didn’t quite catch it.”
If she smiles any wider she’s gonna lose it off the side of her face.
“I said I was too excited, alright?”
I am such a muppet.
Amanda burst out laughing, unable to contain herself any longer. The blackbird, the bravest of the hungry new parents that brought constant chatter to the garden from dawn to dusk, flew off startled. The squirrel retreated deeper into the hedge that bordered with the Tambornes at number 19.
God, what if the neighbors are watching? Nah, they’ll be off with the kids somewhere by now. Dale checked his watch; it was half nine. The day was set to be a real scorcher if it was this hot so early.
“Okay, stop laughing. And I thought you said you didn’t have a lie-in? It’s late already.”
“It’s not a lie-in for a Saturday, not after last night anyway. Go on then, carry on." Amanda nodded at the mess Dale had made of the lawn, tufts off grass piled high along with the earth he’d removed so far. A worm wriggled in the rich soil, but the garden's resident robin took a chance and quickly flew in, taking it back to the hedge to eat while it watched the scene unfolding on the lawn.
When he’d got up he’d quickly had a pee, got dressed, then gone straight out into the garden, unable to stop himself. He’d walked up to the tree, stood in front of it, taken two steps to the right, one backward, then eyed the ground excitedly. He felt stupid, but at the same time he knew that he simply had to look — just in case. Thinking about it now, it would have just been quicker to have got some tools out of the shed, rather than scraping at the earth like a caveman digging for worms, heart beating fast in his chest. Even they probably used a stick or flint, or whatever it was that ancient man used instead of a proper trowel. Instead he'd acted like an over-excited kid waiting to go to the funfair
Dale couldn't help himself though and his heart was still beating double-time. What if? He had to find out, he simply had to.
“Here you go my hero, this will make your quest easier.” Amanda handed him the trowel she’d got while he was lost in his dreams.
“Thanks. But can you stop with the sarcasm please? I know I’m an idiot and I know this is silly. You better not tell anyone!” said Dale in a panic.
“No way am I keeping that promise,” giggled Amanda.
Dale scowled at her. “As I was saying," continued Dale. "No spilling the beans to anyone, but you can’t tell me that you aren’t just a little bit interested. If you think it's silly then why are you watching?”
“Because this is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen Dale, that’s why. Plus you’re kind of cute when you’re embarrassed.”
“Oi! I’m not embarrassed, it’s just hot doing all this digging.”
“You’ve only gone about a half foot, that’s not exactly hard work.”
Dale waved away her nonsense. “Whatever. You gonna go and put the kettle on then? I’m parched.”
“Only if you promise to wait for me so I can watch you uncover the greatest invention in the whole history of the world ever.” Amanda wandered off back to the house, laughing loudly as she went.
“Fine,” said Dale, sitting down on the grass, staring at the hole accusingly. “Look at the trouble you’ve got me into. I’ll never live this down. Never.” The hole didn’t say anything in reply, but that didn’t stop Dale giving it another nasty look.
The robin landed on the pile of excavated soil, peering into the hole, taking a look at the carnage to its territory. It cocked its head sideways. Probably in amusement, thought Dale. It seemed that whenever he did anything in the garden there it would be, taking the chance to grab an uncovered worm or just indignant that Dale had dared to do something without asking permission first.
“Help yourself dude, I’ve got to wait for the girlfriend to bring the coffee so she can laugh at me some more.” Accepting the invitation, the robin jumped into the hole then emerged gulping down the end of a worm before flying off to see what else was going on in the garden.
“Coffee’s up,” shouted Amanda, walking up the garden then handing Dale a steaming mug.
“Thanks.”
“Well, what you waiting for?”
“I thought we were going to have our coffee first? And anyway, you don’t believe it’ll be there really.”
“Do you? Seriously?”
“Well, no. But, you know… What if it is?”

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About Al K. Line:

Al K. Line is a British author who lives in rural England with his wife, son and dogs (too many. Dogs, not wives or sons). The first to admit he was made to write his own bio he will now switch to first person...

Hey, thanks for stopping by. I write in a variety of genres, but I guess that what all ties them together is family, love, and the fight for survival. Be that in the form of Horror/Comedy where the zombies are after the brains of you and your baby, or in Fantasy/SciFi as in The Commorancy series where people try to cling to hope, and the chance of a new beginning, amid an almost empty world.

New releases include INK, a Dystopian Thriller trilogy where the pace is unrelenting and we see a man pushed further than he thought possible, and Hexad, a Time Travel series that is seriously testing my ability to stop my brain going mushy and oozing out of my ears.

Oh yeah, who am I? Degrees, jobs, living in other countries, fighting squirrels, cuddling monkeys, amused by penguins, all the usual stuff.

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Guest post by James Wells: Community Marketing

When you are getting ready to self-publish your book, two questions loom over your project and in fact your entire life:

- Who will read my book?
- How will I find them?

You'll find lots of advice online about how to promote your book. Typical ideas may include setting bargain days (especially for the ebook version) and then paying promoters to send out thousands of emails about your opus to their subscribers. You are advised to set up your website and Facebook page, and flood the ether with tweets (doing your part to alleviate the serious shortage of tweets out there).

Some sites may advocate a kinder, gentler version of self-promotion, where you locate online groups who might be interested in things similar to your book and so you join, making a point of doing enough to be recognized as a contributor before you do much mentioning of your great work. Conducting the delicate dance of promoting while seeming not to. Flying casual past the imperial star destroyer of being perceived as selling or spamming.

While online promotion is an important part of launching your book, there's a complementary approach that’s worth doing at the same time: Community Marketing.

One of the best methods to help get your book started is to bring it, directly and honestly, to the communities where you already are a contributor and a known friend. You'll be surprised how many people are willing to give your book a chance, and if it's excellent (that part's up to you) they will tell their friends about it or write a review.

This may seem to be in conflict with another piece of advice that you'll see - to seek out people interested in the subject matter of your book, rather than people you simply know.

Here's how that apparent conflict resolves: The people you choose to spend time with probably think about similar themes as you, and hopefully what matters about your book is theme - those ideas that you care mostly deeply about - just as much as the overt subject matter.

[Let's be clear that affinity groups matching your subject matter can be great. I won't turn down a chance to meet with a bunch of scifi readers!]

Here's an example of community marketing from the launch of my science fiction novel The Great Symmetry. A reasonable person would think that it's important to find science fiction enthusiasts - that's the overt subject matter. But that posed a problem, because as much as I love science fiction, in my daily life I have not become part of any scifi affinity groups.

Rather, my community is defined mostly by the groups shown in the diagram below.

Luckily, there's some alignment going - more than I would have thought. Out of each population, some people like science fiction. Others care about freedom of ideas and social equity, which are strong themes of the novel. Others just like an adventure story in any setting.

It's really worth evaluating which of your communities may be interested in your book, even if you initially don't see any alignment. For example, members of all six of the groups I list above have bought my novel.

Now you need to learn how to tell people about your book. It's scary. Nobody wants to sell to their friends.

Here's the key realization to help you through this stage: You are not going to make money on your first self-published book.

It's not a commercial venture. Some day in the future? Okay, maybe. But not today, or next week, or next month. The selling price of your book isn't income, not by a long shot - it's cost recovery.

This is actually good news.

Your book is your art. It's your labor of love. And that changes everything.

Instead of selling, you are sharing a part of yourself. People respect that. Once you embrace this idea, suddenly you can ask where you never could before. Go for it - tell people about your book. Ask them to come to your book launch. If they read it and liked it, ask them to post a review on Amazon or elsewhere.

You can ask because it matters. The ideas in your book matter. Sharing those ideas with your friends matters.

My friend Kurt told me this one day, as I was pondering how many Facebook posts about the book launch was too many:

“James, DO NOT apologize for promoting your book! Use any legitimate means at your disposal to get the word out!”

As the date of my first reading and book launch approached, I faced a level of social terror that I don't think I have ever experienced before. I had spent years on this project. But - no matter what I might do to get the word out, what if nobody other than my mom showed up?

So I asked. I wrote individually to friends to tell them about the event. I asked a local talk radio host for a radio interview. I asked the editor of our local weekly to profile the book. I made a Facebook event and invited everyone in the known universe. The results were encouraging.

None Specified

Attendee count: 123 people, the third highest in the history of the bookstore (Tom Robbins and Ivan Doig outdrew me). Mostly because I asked. And in case you were wondering, my mom did make it.

Community Marketing won't work forever. After a while, you'll run out of friends who don't yet know about your book. In the long term, it can't be your only plan. But I believe Community Marketing can be very effective in helping your book get started: getting some copies out into the world, having an encouraging first reading event, and accruing those all-important first few reviews.

Just remember - it's okay to ask for something you think is important.

Notes:

All the community marketing in the world won't help your book if it's not good enough. See this post The Kübler-Ross Stages of Editing about the process of getting ready for publication.

Song Lyrics from Paperback Writer by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

About James Wells:

James R. Wells is the great-grandson of pioneering author H.G Wells, and so naturally he grew up loving science fiction. He writes in very personal terms about the kinds of choices that we all may face in the fast-arriving future.

James is a life-long cave explorer and outdoor adventurer, having led expeditions deep into some of North America’s great caves, including the Mammoth system, longest cave in the world.

When he is not writing or with family, James can be found in a cave, on a mountain, or anywhere else outside.

The author lives in northwest Washington state with his wife and his daughter.

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