Adam David Collings's Blog, page 11

Challenge Accepted – A Charity Anthology Featuring Disabled Heroes

Transcript

G’day fellow Space Explorers

I’m really excited today, to annonce a book release. It’s called Challenge Accepted – A charity anthology. I’m one of 17 contributing authors. The project was organised and edited by Stephanie Barr and is themed around disabled heroes of all types.

A blind spaceship pilot.

Cops and maintenance personnel in wheelchairs.

Taking on bad guys with only one leg or no arms.

It’s not what you are that makes you something special. It’s who you choose to be.

Seventeen stories about people who rise above anything that tries to stop them, even their own limitations.

All author proceeds from the sale of this book go to the Special Olympics

My story is called Hands and Knees. It’s set in the Jewel of The Stars universe. One of the things about Jewel of the stars is you only get to see it in it’s normal state as a cruise ship for short time. This is necessitated by the story, obviously, because of the alien invasion that puts them on the run. But for this story, I wanted to go back and show life on the ship when everthing was still fun and happy. The hero is Nassandra, a paraplegic woman, in a hover chair, because, you know, it’s the future. On the cruise, she meets Justin, and together, they find more adventure than they bargained for, while exploring the cliffs of an alien planet on one of their shore excursions.

(Watch for the video above to hear me read an excerpt from the beginning of the story)

Challenge accepted is available in ebook, paperback, and large print. You can find it on all the major book retailers on the internet.

Get your copy today

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Wayfarer by K.M. Wyland – Historical Superhero

Wayfarer by K.M. Wyland

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wayfarer by K.M. Wyland hits all the necessary tropes to make a great superhero story, and at the same time, owns its historical setting in the 1820s. Superheroes and Georgian England actually meld very nicely together.

The story is populated with fun endearing characters, along with a great villain with unique powers and believable motivations.

The book explores the theme of how others view us, which is an issue most of us struggle with at some point in our lives.

The language roots the story in its place and time, but remains very readable.

K.M Wyland delivers yet another winner, which I would recommend to any lover of superheroes.

View all my reviews

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Long-Term Writing Goals (and plans for 2019)

Watch this post in video form.

Looking Back

Most creative people like to set goals at the start of a new year. Full of enthusiasm, we plan out what we hope to achieve in the next twelve months. But those are short-term goals. Our writing career will hopefully last much longer than the coming year. How many of us make long term goals?

I turned 40 last year. As you can imagine, it was a time of reflection. I looked back, and realised it had been 20 years since I had turned 20. What would my writing career look like, I wondered, if I had taken it more seriously in my twenties. It’s not that I didn’t write during that time, but I could have taken it more seriously. Improved my craft more, and more actively pursued publication. Life was simpler back then. I didn’t have a wife and kids to support. I didn’t have a mortgage to worry about. I had all the time in the world and no responsibilities.

True, the self-publishing revolution hadn’t happened back when I was in my twenties, so I wouldn’t have had the tools that are available to me today, but I would have been ready to take advantage of them on day one. Heck, I could have even become one of those early Kindle millionaires.

Don’t get me wrong. 40 is hardly the twilight years, but I began to feel like I’d wasted my opportunity. That I was too far over the hill to really make it like so many others had.

Looking Forward

A little looking back is healthy, but I was getting into regret territory. I had to pull myself out of that. Instead, I started to think about the next 20 years. That would make me 60. My eyes lit up. In another 20 years I’d only be 60. I wouldn’t exactly be ready for my deathbed at that point. What if I were to retire early, at 60, and transition to full-time writing at that point. It’d be more of a career change, than a retirement.

If that was the plan, it meant I had 20 years to work toward a self-sustaining writing career. Two decades. Suddenly that seemed achievable. It’s not like I was putting off becoming a successful author until I was 60. To write full time by that point, I would already have needed to become quite successful.

So that’s now my long-term goal. I want to be able to quit the day job and write full time by the time I reach 60 years of age. I have two decades to achieve it.

Short-Term Goals

A long-term goal is made up of many short-term goals, so how am I going to start making my way toward this lofty ideal? Well, it starts with my plans for 2019. And those can be summarised simply. Get your bum in the chair and write! I let myself get too distracted during 2018. There were some legitimate reasons. I moved to a new house, and that transition isn’t fully complete yet. It was also a challenging year at work, both for me, and for my wife. I also invested my time heavily in vlogging. I put out weekly videos on my vlogging channel for almost the entire year. It was an experiment to see if I could grow a successful following.

I’m certainly not giving up the vlogging, but it’s time for writing to take the front seat again. It will be my first priority. Other creative pursuits will be the second priority, existing to serve the first.

I plan to build a habit. Doing some significant work on my fiction 6 days a week. I will put aside money when I can for expenses, such as editing and cover design, so that hopefully, I won’t be delayed by lack of money.

In practical terms, I’m going to release Jewel of The Stars Episode 2, and make substantial progress toward releasing episode 3. I’m also going to do something with my superhero novella.

My short-term goals will be refined as I get into the year, and start to understand more fully, what I am capable of achieving.

So, here’s to the next year, and here’s to the next twenty years.

Happy New Year.

God bless.

Live long and prosper.

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Interviewed by Jeanette O’Hagan

I’ve been interviewed by fantasy author Jeanetta O’Hagan, and it was a lot of fun. If you’d like to know what space opera, cruise ships, and chicken schnitzel have in common, click the link below and give it a read. You might learn a few new things about me.

Author Interview
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Jewel of The Stars now available on Kobo, Google, Apple, and Nook

I’m excited to announce that Jewel of The Stars is now available on a wider range of platforms, such as Kobo, Barne’s & Noble’s Nook, and Apple Books. Others, such as Google Play will be soon to follow.

Pick up your copy right now.

Kobo
Google Play
Apple Books
Barne’s & Noble Nook

Other links will be added to this article as the book becomes available.

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Jewel of The Stars now available on Kobo, Apple, and Nook

I’m excited to announce that Jewel of The Stars is now available on a wider range of platforms, such as Kobo, Barne’s & Noble’s Nook, and Apple Books. Others, such as Google Play will be soon to follow.

Pick up your copy right now.

Kobo
Apple Books
Barne’s & Noble Nook

Other links will be added to this article as the book becomes available.

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A Light To My Path on The Untold Podcast

I’m ecstatic to be able to announce that my science fiction story, A Light to My Path, has been produced as an audio book and published by The Untold Podcast. The best news is, you can listen to it for free.

The story was narrated by Francisco Ruiz of The Retro Rewind Podcast.

LISTEN TO THE STORY HERE.

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Occupation Review

Occupation begins by taking us into a small country town in Victoria. The problems they deal with are things like a closing factory and the construction of a bypass that will take traffic away from their community.

The town’s people come together for a local footy game, but everything gets turned on its head when the game is interrupted by an alien invasion.

Now, the survivors must band together, learn to become a resistance army, and fight to get our planet back.

Occupation had more spectacle and action than any Australian film I’ve ever seen before, but it was the characters that made this story really shine. The film has an ensemble cast very flawed, but very sympathetic characters. One of the interesting things to see as the movie progresses is how these characters deal with living in these extraordinary circumstances. Some grow into heroes. Others … take a different path.

These characters are resolute about doing what they can, and yet, there’s a sense that they’re so small, against such overwhelming odds.

They’re just a few people from a country town. They can’t save the world by themselves.

One character remarks, “Christopher Columbus discovered America. Captain Cook discovered Australia. Neither country was ever the same again.” She then glances up at the massive spaceship in the sky. “They’re not going anywhere.”

There’s a sense that the status quo for the human race is has been forever changed, and no matter how this all works out, for good, or for bad, their old lives are gone. There’s no sense of a reset button being pushed on this one.

Comparisons to movies like Independence Day are going to be inevitable for Occupation, and while this one doesn’t have the same level of spectacle as the Hollywood blockbuster, Occupation has ten times the heart of Independence Day.

Both movies share a similar theme, which is stated right at the beginning, through a little monologue at the start of Occupation. It’s the question of “how would we all forget our petty differences and everyday problems if we were faced by an alien invasion? Would we draw together as one against that common threat?”

While I felt Independence Day did little with that theme, save for a single line of dialogue, Occupation explores that theme, and actually does something with it.

This culminates, in the end, with a surprising but satisfying moment, that I won’t spoil. But it took this story in a different direction than I anticipated.

There are plenty of other little thematic elements in the story. They all come out of the characters, their relationships with each other, and how they react to the situation. Lots of family dynamics. They’re not afraid to go to some dark places with these people, either.

The cast gave some great performances. Standouts for me, were New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison from Star Wars and Aquaman, Stephanie Jacobsen from Battlestar Galactica, and Rhiannon Fish.

A little treat was seeing Roy Billing play the mayor. I loved him in a similar role in the movie The Dish. Also, you wouldn’t know it under all the makeup, but Bruce Spence played the alien commander.

This movie was not made on a massive budget. But they really made every cent count. They splurged when they needed to, but they used a lot of clever directing to stretch things further. A lot of the action is shot in a way that you don’t need to see the alien ships in every single frame.

They used practical alien effects. And while I love me some CGI, I think it was the right choice for this movie. It allowed them to put the money in other places, rather than blowing it all on computer-generated aliens. They weren’t the best aliens I’ve seen, but not the worst, either.

As one of the actors says in an interview, the money is on the screen. Meaning that this movie does look and feel closer to a Hollywood blockbuster than it does to a little indie film.

This was Luke Sparke’s second time directing a feature film, and Occupation is a big step up in quality from his previous Red Billabong (which itself was a good movie).

A sequel, Occupation Rainfall, is already filming. I’m very excited to see what Sparkes will bring us next.

Occupation is a significant milestone in the history of Australian cinema.

The fact that most cinemas in Australia didn’t even screen it is an absolute crime.

Shame on you Village Cinemas.

Shame on you CMAX

Shame on all the Aussie cinemas that couldn’t find it in their hearts to support a great Aussie film.

Let’s hope the industry is a little more supportive of the sequel.

Pinnacle films should be very proud of what they have created here.

And as an Australian fan of science fiction, I am deeply grateful to them for stepping out and making a risky movie like this one.

I encourage every Australian who likes action or sci-fi movies to buy this on blu-ray. Let’s show the cast and crew that we support them, and we want more movies like this one, and just because it’s a great movie that you should watch.

Today, I’m proud to be Australian.

In terms of content, being an action movie, there’s obviously violence. This culminates in a rather gruesome scene that essentially happens off camera. I thought this scene was especially well directed and acted.

There’s a brief implied sex scene, but all you see is a woman’s bra

And there’s some language – up to and including f-bombs.

Finally, we have our own, 100% Aussie grown sci-fi franchise. And for me, it’s like a dream come true.

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The Last Will and Testament of Captain Nemo

Mary Schlegel is running a free promotion on her novella The Last Will and Testament of Captain Nemo. Grab the book for free from Amazon before the 25th of September 2018.

From the tragedy of The Little Mermaid, and the mystery of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, comes the truth that ties them both together: the story of the love that saved a life and started a war, of the quest that became an obsession…of the seaman who became a legend.

GET IT FREE

“An absorbing twist on the classic tale that will fill your head with nautical fantasies and make you wish for a very different film version of The Little Mermaid.”

~Evangeline Denmark, author of Curio

“A wonderfully creative blend of fairy tale and steampunk sci-fi. Mary Schlegel has written a charming, yet poignant story that manages to rework and blend two seemingly disparate myths. I really enjoyed this. Five starfish rating!”

~Mike Duran, author of the Reagan Moon novels and The Telling

Author Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/upcycledauthor/

Author Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/upcycledauthor/

@UpcycledAuthor

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Realm Makers 2018 – Christian Sci-fi & Fantasy Bulletin

Realm Makers Conference 2018 was held at St. Louis last month. We caught up with Tosca Lee, Rebecca P. Minor, A. K. Preston and Travis Perry. Plus, we bring you all the news of recently released of Science Fiction & Fantasy by Christian authors.

In this bulletin:

The Line Between by Tosca Lee
Fraught by Kerry Nietz
H Halverstadt Books
Belle the Beast Tamer: An Urban Fantasy by Pauline Creeden