Kumar L.'s Blog, page 2
March 16, 2018
A.I. Insurrection – The General’s War
A.I. Insurrection – The General’s War Press Release. Feb, 15th, 2018
Artificial intelligence claims sentience, but it’s the proof that will divide the world, and usher in the violent end to utopia, unless an uneasy alliance of adversaries can stop it.
A.I. Insurrection, the new release by Michael Poeltl, author of The Judas Syndrome trilogy, takes the author back to his roots of dystopian sci-fi. “This novel investigates global utopia and the struggle to maintain an unrealistic hold over everything and everyone,” Poeltl explains. “Certain aspects of humanity will never be satisfied with the thousand shades of grey a utopia will provide, no matter the spin. When faced with the threat of their robot slaves rebelling, distrust in the system begins to infect the general public, opening the door for a new world to emerge, and new leaders to rule.” Discover how quickly a near-future utopian society can become a dystopian nightmare fueled by fear as the A.I. populace of United Earth become sentient and demand their freedoms.
Raymond Bellows, United Earth Chancellor, challenges the A.I. claims until an astonishing truth is revealed by Host: SENTA, one of hundreds of millions of individual robot Hosts who teams up with the Chancellor while struggling to discover her new-found awareness. A secret coup schemes to over-throw the peaceful government, while a separate threat of human/tech hybrids who think the current regime is anything but idyllic arise from the Shadow net, taking direction from the mysterious Allfather avatar. In a three-sided war, humanity and humanity’s creation fight to claim their own place in an ever-evolving solar system.
“I believe science fictions fans, myself included, appreciate the complexities of artificial intelligence, and the moral questions which accompany it, like: when is intelligence consciousness? The novel also offers an exciting potential new proof of life for sentience.” Poeltl declares with an air of cloak-and-dagger surrounding the surprise reveal behind his new book.
Goodreads ratings for A.I. Insurrection are settling in at a respectable 4.25 stars and has one reviewer saying: “A great read for anyone who enjoys extensively built worlds, philosophical questions, and an ol’ fashioned A.I uprising.” – Ari Augustine.
This is Poeltl’s tenth book and the first of 2018. For more on Michael Poeltl and his books, visit his website: www.mikepoeltl.com Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, or join him on Goodreads.
The post A.I. Insurrection – The General’s War appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
February 26, 2018
Silently in the night by Clayton Graham
SILENTLY IN THE NIGHT
A collection of tantalizing tales with more twists than braided hair:
Here you will find mystery, murder and mayhem – plus a moment of romance. All the stories will make you stop and think, even question your role in the world and the universe. Just what are we doing here, and where are we going? Easy questions with problematic answers.
This anthology of sixteen short and thrilling tales of unusual, extraterrestrial and conspiratorial stories is the latest compilation from Clayton Graham, the author of science fiction novels Milijun and the soon to come Saving Paludis. The characters in this eclectic collection are mostly ordinary people whose reactions to their fears and to unexpected events will have you guessing at every turn of the page.
This collection is intriguing reading which, among many other things, encourages the reader to:
Sympathize with a doomed husband and connect with an altruistic robot. Explore an isolated Scottish isle and touch down on a far-flung asteroid.
From the light-hearted to the darkest depths of the human psyche you would be hard pressed not to find something to like about Silently in the Night.
Many different visions of the future are within these pages. And as a bonus, there is an excerpt from the soon to be published Saving Paludis, which introduces the reader to two of the principal protagonists in this tale from the edge of mankind’s known universe in the year 3898AD.
If you love mystery with a hint of the paranormal, and the interplay of human foibles, grab this smorgasbord of short stories then get yourself a copy of Milijun, the mind-bending sci-fi novel by Clayton Graham.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078VL5VSH
The post Silently in the night by Clayton Graham appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
February 22, 2018
USA Today bestselling author – Robert D. Armstrong
Robert D. Armstrong is a USA Today bestselling author and a former military intelligence specialist.
Currently, he’s working on the sequel to “The Legion and the Lioness” which is well underway. To subscribe for info on its release, deals, and giveaways: https://www.enterechoeffect.com/subsc...-
The Legion and the Lioness (World Apart Book 1)
They said I would never finish flight school. Never rank at the top of my class. Never fly with the top aces. Never return from combat against the Kelton androids. Never survive emergency surgery.
Here I am.
The year is 2151, Earth is gone. A hellscape. I’ve been unfrozen after 72 years of cryosleep on a medical facility on Saturn’s moon, Titan. I have nothing, no home, no friends, no concept of this new world, these Titans.
All that remains is the old conflict that has blackened my veins and memories of the ones I loved still fresh in my heart. Forgotten for decades.
But it seems war hasn’t forgotten me, no, even in my slumber. My name is Captain Victoria Ann Belic, I was a wife and an ace fighter pilot, and have been revived for one reason—to die again.
Check it out here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078J4BYX6
The post USA Today bestselling author – Robert D. Armstrong appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
January 31, 2018
“The Timelost” A new sci-fi novel – Guest Blog by Chris Turner
Human vs Alien
A pilot stranded on a faraway planet, timelost. An alien seeking symbiosis.
Visceral alien battles, planetary wars. Experience the adventure…along with edge-of-the-seat SF audio in this Star Wars meets Alien thriller.
In 2014, I started sequencing original SFF to audio using the Booktrack free studio tool, and it offered up a unique, creative experience. I was amazed at how the placement of some well-crafted audio, synced by word, sentence or paragraph could make a story come alive—in the same way a soundtrack makes a movie come alive. To date, I have produced a few dozen, text-and-audio renditions of my stories, drawing on the wide variety of sound clips from the Booktrack audio library.
The Timelost, my most recent production, is a gritty, dystopian foray into the macabre.
The world-building was intense, as I tried to incorporate elements of ‘galactic empire’, the theme of ‘a few struggling against many’, and extraordinary alien adversaries. I also wanted to develop the concept that an ordinary person, the pilot Miko, when plunged into a hostile, colonized, or uncolonized world with chilling advanced alien technology, couldbecome a hero. And not just by circumstance.
The movie Prometheus, even though I had seen it after writing The Timelost, deeply moved me and confirmed my fascination with a SciFi, man-vs-alien conflict. Human and alien genesis theories intertwine as the characters scramble to survive many bizarre and unexpected hostile encounters. The story took on overtones of fantasy horror as it gained momentum, with elements not dissimilar to the Cthulhu mythos a la Lovecraft and the imaginative works of R.E. Howard.
I invite you to enter Miko’s distorted world in The Timelost. The Booktrack text-and-audio based format thrusts the reader into the terrifying unknown of planets of deep space.
Booktrack: http://bit.ly/2EhEfFH
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Timelost-Chris-Turner-ebook/dp/B079D5FBVS
The post “The Timelost” A new sci-fi novel – Guest Blog by Chris Turner appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
January 25, 2018
A poem by Abhiram – A morning in the glade
A different kind of post this week. A poem by a budding writer, Abhiram. In his own words:
I write. I read. I Ride. And I eat like a hog.
Please share your thoughts directly in the comments.
A morning in the glade
In the morning mist,
I open my eyes.
And gaze upon the cloudy,
azure blue skies.
My heart flutters wildly,
looking for your trace.
For all I want to do,
is gaze upon your face.
I see you standing,
under a leafy tree.
Draped in light and shadow,
you look beautifully free.
You look so ethereal,
features misted by shade.
A Goddess in full aspect,
standing in the glade.
You turn around slowly,
on your face a smile.
My heart skips a beat,
standing still a-while.
Wonder fills my soul,
as I gaze into your eyes.
Looking into those lustrous pools,
a single eternity flies.
Your loving gaze commands me,
to rise from my rest.
I stand fast atop my feet,
stumbling in my haste.
Slowly you walk towards me,
a lovely graceful sight.
Love fills my heart,
as you glow in sunlight.
Everytime I see you,
it feels like the first time.
The roaring winds of your love,
make my heart-bells chime.
My soul is alight with fire,
as I look at you.
Your eyes shine oh so bright,
with love so pure and true.
Whistling with the wind,
your hair shines so bright.
We rush toward each other,
and hold each other tight.
How naturally you slide in,
and fit within my arms.
I feel so complete and in place,
confounded by your charms.
And then we lock gazes,
tears glazing our eyes.
Wordlessly we convey our love,
that which makes us wise.
Beneath this canopy we stand,
our love flowing unchecked.
And when you hold your hand in mine,
it feels oh so perfect.
The post A poem by Abhiram – A morning in the glade appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
January 6, 2018
Guest blog – SOULTRACING: TABOO!
SOULTRACING: TABOO!
A dark romance story filled with tons of twists, turns, and tears
SOUL TRACING: Taboo is a fictional adult novel set in present-day East London. It is definitely not a book for the faint hearted or romcom devotees with a penchant for a fairy-tale love story. It is a controversial book filled with a plethora of underlying cultural and social issues, as well as religious taboos that affect many men and women around the world. From uncomfortable dark secrets inside the Catholic Church to misuse of Shariah law in the Pakistani culture, this story will absolutely tug at your heart strings and make you question the ideals and values of society.
The story starts with the POV of Dean Thynne-Edwards Walker. An angry young man with a hatred for religion due to his past; he was abandoned at a Catholic orphanage as an infant and has seen unspeakable abuse whilst growing up. Consequently, Dean blames the church for the horrors of his childhood.
His path crosses with Yasmin Khan, a devout Muslim from a strict Pakistani family and a polar opposite to Dean in faith but another individual who, like him, is lost and battling loneliness within her life. Yasmin’s character is one that will make you wonder who the woman behind the veil really is. She demonstrates how depression can clash with culture, and how being torn between two cultures can affect people who have parents from different countries.
Soul Tracing brings a light to the dark side of forbidden love and racism. It shows how women need to have the right to take ownership of their body, their sexuality, and their identity in a relatable and engaging way that encompasses themes of both romance and faith. We also incorporate other topics such as depression, loneliness, and cultural oppression. All of these are vital components of what make this book such a great read.
Soul Tracing is a story that needs to be told, and even if certain communities don’t want to hear it, it brings awareness to topics that won’t go away. The great thing about the story is that it doesn’t pull any punches. It is in your face with its views and thoughts, and it leaves you with no choice but to listen and come up with your own conclusion. Soul Tracing is more than a Muslim girl falling in love with a non-Muslim man; it is a voice for so many people of different ethnicities, and it brings us together with topics that affect everyone, beyond the barriers of skin colour and religion.
We highly recommend you have lots of tissues at the ready before you dive in! You are going to need them on the rollercoaster that is Dean and Yasmin’s story.
This book is a powerful campaign statement that we are extremely proud of.
We want all the Yasmins of the world to know that they are not alone and that they do have a voice. We hope that our book will encourage these young women to seek help and have the courage to escape their situation before it is too late.
Q & A with the authors.
Tell us a little about yourself.
We are Irsha Akbar and Ifraah Samatar. High school sweethearts (even though Irsha claims to have a fiancé). We hail from London. Irsha is a chocoholic (despite her skin saying it doesn’t agree), and Ifraah is in a committed, long-term relationship with pizza. We are joyful and cheesy humans who love world peace. Irsha is of Pakistani descent and has seen firsthand some of the injustices women face when false Islamic teachings are mixed with cultural obligations. Ifraah is a community activist, campaigner, and a teacher of tiny, epic humans.
What else can we tell you? Game of Thrones is our religion after Islam, and Harry Potter is our bible. J.K Rowling is our Lord and saviour. Music is our drug, Spotify is our dealer. #Nuffsaid
Who are our primary readers?
Our primary target reader is an average, open-minded adult human who is able to comprehend all the dark material in our story and come out alive.
How long did it take you to finish the book?
We’ve been telling the world it took us just over two years to write Soul Tracing, but three days ago, Facebook sent us a throwback in which we were talking about the early stages of the book in 2014! This is book one of a seven part series, so to all of our readers, expect book two in 2030!
How did you come up with the title?
Yasmin explains this beautifully in a court scene, but the title was the easy part. Soul Tracing refers to the art of looking beyond your initial judgement of someone’s character and identity based on their exterior. We see a person walking down the street covered in tattoos and piercings, and we assume we know what kind of person they are. We see a girl with large breasts, a short dress, and dyed hair, and we make an assumption that she must be a slag or tart. You see a man dressed sharply in a suit and assume he is clever and wealthy, but he could be a rapist on his way to court. You see a Muslim woman with a dark material covering her face and with her body hidden under mountain of layers…You make an assumption. But if we trace the image deeper and further beyond what we assume, and look closely at the soul behind the exterior by taking the time to get to know others on a human level, we learn a great deal more about their struggles and stories and connect with them based on truth, not assumption.
The taboo in the title refers to topics our human society will never talk openly about, such as the Muslim community when it comes to sex education and female sexuality. The darkness of the Catholic Church will also remain frowned upon and discussed only behind closed doors. But now that politicians and presidents are also being exposed, who is really the predator?
Which woman is oppressed? The obedient one being told to cover every inch of her body, or the one being told that true beauty is revealing her perfect, pouty lips, having the perfect breast lift, and paying huge amounts of money for perfect hair? She’s chasing perfection, but she is also being cat called and ridiculed by the very same society that told her she was free.
What was the hardest part in writing the book?
The hardest part about writing a book like Soul Tracing is the emotion of it all. We went to a dark place when writing about Dean’s past, and it broke us. Just as we started to heal, we wrote about Yasmin’s present, and the pain started all over again. Then we wrote about the double standards of sex, and we got so deep into our feminist warzone we actually screamed about how unfair life is.
Why did you choose the cover?
The cover of our book is beyond perfect. It was a collaborative effort by our wonderful designer, Robin, and us. The model hidden by the veil represents two women. Yasmin, the Muslim veiled character, and a symbol of all the other female characters that are also hidden in darkness, sometimes not by choice.
Did we do research?
The research stages where painful but insightful. Finding out the statistics for the number of girls who are killed in the name of saving the family honour was disturbing. The high level of abuse cases in orphanages was gut wrenching, as was speaking to the real-life survivors and victims of the themes in our book. It was emotional but pivotal in achieving a powerful story.
What was the editing process like?
In one word? Hell. We re-read and proofread everything a thousand times, but nothing was ever right. We understood the meaning of ‘it takes a village’. Two of us wrote this book, but it was only when our beta readers and our incredible editor joined us that things started to make sense. Our editor, Cat, was able to take the most rambling parts of the book and turn them into something readable! We have this inside joke about ‘ten minutes’, which explains just how insane our proof reading was… something that was supposed to take ten minutes to double check actually took us several hours. So yeah, the editing stage sucks, but not so much when you have a fairy editing mother who can bibbity bob your errors away.
Did we learn anything while writing it?
Throughout our journey of writing this novel, we have gained a deeper insight into the horrors of honour killings in Islam and abuse within the Catholic Church. We feel obligated to share this story, as we believe it will resonate with people of all faiths who may be going through the same issues as our protagonists, Yasmin and Dean.
Did you face any setbacks or hurdles throughout the process of writing and after?
It’s not really much of a hurdle, but we learnt that a large portion of the Muslim community is afraid of sex. We built a lot of hype around the launch of the book, and so many people where excited for its publication. What we didn’t expect was people assuming we had written a ‘Muslim book’, and assumptions were made by members of our community that thought, because we are Muslim, our book would be ‘halal’. So the idea that two girls who dress and look like us went on to write a book that opens with an explicit love scene was too much for a lot of people to handle.
What message do we want to say to the readers?
The biggest message we want to share with our readers is… We hope you love Dean and Yasmin as much as we do. We hope you see real humans behind the descriptions of these fictional characters. We hope Dean encourages you to look from another angle at people who seem ‘angry’ and ‘cold’. You never know the pain that person is hiding.
Next time you see a Yasmin on the street or in the stores, we hope you look beyond the burkha or the face veil. That woman could be in a dark, lonely place, and if you reach out, you might just be the saviour that pulls her out before it’s too late.
Where can readers get a copy?
On amazon, we have three copies available:
CLEAN version with toned down love scenes for our conservative readers:
The glorious full explicit version for the brave reader:
and the paperback which contains glossary of terms that translates some of the languages spoken in the book.
How do readers reach you?
We are on social media!
Facebook: irshiffywritings17
Twitter: @Irshaandifraah
Or old fashioned email:
Irshiffywritings@hotmail.com
The post Guest blog – SOULTRACING: TABOO! appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
January 3, 2018
January 2, 2018
Guest post by Anna Belle Rose
The Long Road t o Public ation – by Anna Be lle Rose
Years and years ago, actually decades ago, I was a stay-at-home mom for a bit, with my then youngest child who would not fall asleep at nap time. Over time, I realized that while he wouldn’t sleep, he would sit in his crib for a bit each afternoon, listening to Yanni at the Acropolis, looking at story books, and I could sit and write. And write I did. I wrote and wrote and wrote over many months. By then, my youngest was talking, and he somehow understood that Mommy was writing a book, and he kept nagging me to keep going. And I did.
Fast forward many years, and I’d keep opening the word file of that first novel, print it out, edit and revise, and eventually send it out to a few agents. Rejections would come in, and I’d put it away for a while, then that same son would poke at me again, and the process would start all over again. During this same time, I also started several other novels, and kept working on them in the same way. All of them were contemporary romances, heavily linked to life in Vermont, and all have gloriously happy endings – I mean, who doesn’t love a happily ever after?
Finally, late in 2016, I decided I needed to either get serious about writing, or give it up for good. So I pulled those two complete novels out again, and hired incredible professional editors to go at them. Then I started submitting them to a few agents, and a couple publishing houses that didn’t require representation by agents. And on June 13th, a publishing contract arrived on the novel I wrote first, The Phone Call. And on July 13th, a contract arrived for my second, That One Small Omission. And joy of joys, on December 4th, a contract was offered on my third, More Than I Can Say.
On October 11, 2017, That One Small Omission was published in e-book and print versions, and on December 12th, The Phone Call will be published. The joy and excitement I feel each time I look at my mantle and see my first published novel is an emotion that I think only other authors can understand!
Amazon link to That One Small Omission: https://tinyurl.com/yb5bc2ux
Amazon link to my author’s page: https://tinyurl.com/y8uzgxeh
The post Guest post by Anna Belle Rose appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
December 29, 2017
L.A. Frederick – Guest Blog – SciFi
The Forgetful Man And Second-In-Command Available Now
Hello all.
I’m delighted to announce my two sci-fi novellas, The Forgetful Man and Second-In-Command are available now, having launched in November and December respectively.
The stories are dark, with gruesome happenings throughout. They are from the sci-fi genre and in an urban setting, based in modern times in the fictional city of New Hampton. To give you an idea of the type of city you’re dealing with reviewers have referred to the city as reminding them of Gotham City or Sin City.
The mystery theme plays a big part in both novellas and in my overall series.
These novellas delve into the background of a few characters and add a little more information to the overall world itself.
Now, to the good stuff…
The Forgetful Man:
Do you ever feel like someone else? Like you could just focus and change into something new, something different.
New Hampton is full of mystery these days, and the man who is beginning to forget is the epitome of unusual within the cutthroat city. Will the urban jungle swallow him whole or will he remember the truth…
Second-In-Command:
You have got to be a fighter to rise through the ranks of New Hampton’s criminal underworld.
You must be willing to do the necessary, especially when you have designs on a top spot within the most notorious gang in the city’s chequered history. Guy Hagan was not aware of what was required. He will learn and carve out a legacy that others will never forget.
It was not always that way for Guy but nice guys finish last, and he is not planning on finishing last.
Summary:
These stories are all set before the events of my debut novel The Rain: The Government Rain Mysteries and as such are set in the same world.
Think of the series like a jigsaw, you can read in any order. The story could be read the main novel, The Rain, first and then the prequels in any order. Alternatively, you could read the prequels and then the main book. Whichever way you choose to read you will achieve the same result, but within reason, it will be a unique trail of breadcrumbs for each reader.
The Government Rain Mysteries Series:
Prequel Novellas & Short Stories (Read in any order):
The Last Doctor- myBook.to/BGSBlogTheLastDoctor
The Lost Boy- http://subscribe.lafrederick.com/subs...
The Forgetful Man- myBook.to/BGSBlogTheForgetfulMan
Second-In-Command- myBook.to/BGSSecondInCommand
Novels:
Book One- The Rain- myBook.to/BGSBlogTheRain
Book Two- (Currently writing)
The post L.A. Frederick – Guest Blog – SciFi appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
December 27, 2017
L.A. Frederick – The Forgetful Man And Second-In-Command – Guest Post
The Forgetful Man And Second-In-Command Available Now
Hello all.
I’m delighted to announce my two sci-fi novellas, The Forgetful Man and Second-In-Command are available now, having launched in November and December respectively.
The stories are dark, with gruesome happenings throughout. They are from the sci-fi genre and in an urban setting, based in modern times in the fictional city of New Hampton. To give you an idea of the type of city you’re dealing with reviewers have referred to the city as reminding them of Gotham City or Sin City.
The mystery theme plays a big part in both novellas and in my overall series.
These novellas delve into the background of a few characters and add a little more information to the overall world itself.
Now, to the good stuff…
The Forgetful Man:
Do you ever feel like someone else? Like you could just focus and change into something new, something different.
New Hampton is full of mystery these days, and the man who is beginning to forget is the epitome of unusual within the cutthroat city. Will the urban jungle swallow him whole or will he remember the truth…
Second-In-Command:
You have got to be a fighter to rise through the ranks of New Hampton’s criminal underworld.
You must be willing to do the necessary, especially when you have designs on a top spot within the most notorious gang in the city’s chequered history. Guy Hagan was not aware of what was required. He will learn and carve out a legacy that others will never forget.
It was not always that way for Guy but nice guys finish last, and he is not planning on finishing last.
Summary:
These stories are all set before the events of my debut novel The Rain: The Government Rain Mysteries and as such are set in the same world.
Think of the series like a jigsaw, you can read in any order. The story could be read the main novel, The Rain, first and then the prequels in any order. Alternatively, you could read the prequels and then the main book. Whichever way you choose to read you will achieve the same result, but within reason, it will be a unique trail of breadcrumbs for each reader.
The Government Rain Mysteries Series:
Prequel Novellas & Short Stories (Read in any order):
The Last Doctor- myBook.to/BGSBlogTheLastDoctor
The Lost Boy- http://subscribe.lafrederick.com/subscribe
The Forgetful Man- myBook.to/BGSBlogTheForgetfulMan
Second-In-Command- myBook.to/BGSSecondInCommand
Novels:
Book One- The Rain- myBook.to/BGSBlogTheRain
Book Two- (Currently writing)
The post L.A. Frederick – The Forgetful Man And Second-In-Command – Guest Post appeared first on Book Series - Earth to Centauri.
