Michael R. Hicks's Blog, page 33

In Her Name: The Dead Soul

In Her Name: The Dead Soul is the working title for my latest book in the In Her Name science fiction/fantasy series, and will wrap up the first prequel trilogy of the series that began with First Contact. And for those who may be wondering why I said "first prequel trilogy," I plan to write a third and final trilogy that will close the story arc between where The Dead Soul ends and where Empire begins.

The Dead Soul picks up the story not long after the end of Legend Of The Sword. Reeling from the bloody invasions of yet more worlds by the alien Kreelan Empire, the Confederation's President McKenna is determined to take the offensive and give humanity a badly needed victory over a seemingly unstoppable enemy.

Marine NCO Roland Mills, a survivor of the disastrous defense of Keran and the Saint Petersburg debacle, is chosen to lead a special reconnaissance team to Alger's World, where the Confederation military plans to mount a surprise attack to take the planet back from the Kreelan invaders. Accompanied by Valentina Sikorsky, a former spy for the Confederation Intelligence Service, and backed up by other veterans such as now-Lieutenant General James Sparks and Rear Admiral Ichiro Sato, Mills is determined to succeed.

What he and the others don't realize is that the Kreelan Empress has sent a warrior priestess to Alger's World, a priestess feared even by the others of her race. For not only does she have terrifying powers, but is utterly merciless, even by the standards of the Empire. Her name is Ku'ar-Marekh, and she is known among the Children of the Empress as The Dead Soul…

Interview with the Broadneck Patch

I wanted to share with you an interview that the Broadneck Patch, an on-line news service from our local area, did with me recently that I hope you might find entertaining and insightful. And thanks to Laura Tayman of the Patch for taking the time to do the interview! Here's the link to the interview – enjoy!

Switching Over From Kreelanwarrior.com

I've been in the process of changing web sites from my old site at kreelanwarrior.com to this one. There were a number of good reasons for this, but I want to apologize to you if you found something in a Google search that led you to kreelanwarrior.com, but you abruptly found yourself here.

I also have to apologize that not all of the content on the old site was transfered here to the new one: a lot of it was either outdated or didn't fit in with where I wanted to take the new site, which is a lot more closely aligned with my goals and intent as an author. In particular, if you're looking for the much-coveted P90X workout sheets, while I'd love it if you'd scope out my site (and maybe grab a free ebook novel), fear not: here's an alternate link for them.

So please look around, drop me a comment or two, and enjoy your visit!

Starting Out With RV Living

Back in August 2010, we decided to take the plunge and buy an RV. My wife Jan and I had been thinking about this for some time, as we had figured on buying one when we retired so we could toodle around the country as part of the Snowbird crowd.

But then we started thinking about how little of the country the boys have seen, and we really haven't seen much ourselves since we got married and did the whole "settling down" thing. After what to most folks would have seemed an amazingly brief discussion on the matter – because we're so totally on the same wavelength about most things – we decided to go ahead and get one.

If you're thinking about buying an RV (a.k.a. motorhome or motor coach), let me first say that I had absolutely no idea there were so many choices out there! Once I started researching, my head just about exploded with the different manufacturers and all the different models they offer. But all of them boil down to three main types: Class A, which have a bus-type front; Class B, which look like hyper-modified vans, and Class C, which typically have a cabover-type arrangement and a truck-style front. For the Class A type, there are two major sub-types: gas and diesel pushers (gas Class As have the engine up front; pushers have them in the back).

Past that, it's all craziness, sorting out the floorplans, features, and whatnot that you feel are in your price range. Plus, not all RVs are readily available in all parts of the country: manufacturers tend to be regional, and don't typically ship new RVs all over the place. So if you have something specific in mind, you may not be able to get it locally, but may have to take a trip to get it!

Of course, you can also buy new or used. There are some real bargains out there in the used market, but you need to know what you're looking for and be prepared to deal with any bugaboos that may (or may not!) come with a used vehicle. A new RV will also have its share of issues, but in our case, we opted to pay the extra money for an extended warranty that covers everything from the tires up for seven years, figuring that we'll be ready to upgrade again in about that time.

We finally settled on a new Damon Daybreak 3211. We liked the floorplan, and it was in our price range. I also was impressed with Damon's construction, but again, all that is totally up to your personal preference and desires. We bought ours at Leo's Vacation Center in Gambrills, MD, and had a really good experience there.

We bought it on 6 August and took several trips in it, the first being to a local KOA near the dealer where we bought it to check things out.

On 6 October, believe it or not, we traded it in for a Daybreak 35BD! Call us lunatics, but we found that the 3211, while great for two people, was going to be a real hassle on longer trips with the boys (we're planning on two to three week outings during the summer): they would have to sleep in the main living area where the kitchen, etc., was, essentially leaving Jan and me trapped in the back bedroom, as we stay up later and get up earlier than the boys.

The Daybreak 35BD, or "bunkhouse," has two bunk beds in a second slide. That slide also gave us something that was another irritation in the 3211: storage and walk-around space in the bedroom. The upgrade wasn't cheap, as we had to eat a fair amount of negative equity on our first loan, but the new loan wasn't all that much more (okay, so we have to eat more peanut butter!), and I think in the long run the 35BD will be worth it. I'd also like to give another shout out to the folks at Leo's Vacation Center: they gave us what I thought was a really good deal both on the 35BD and the trade-in on the 3211, and also worked with us over some bumps in the road on the financing side of things.

On a side note, comparing the two vehicles, as far as I'm aware the suspension for the two is supposed to be identical, although the 35BD is three feet longer (36′) than the 3211 (33′). The ride, however, is totally different! The 3211 shook our teeth out going over bumps and was extremely touchy to steer, but the 35BD provides a really smooth ride and seems to not need so much steering input, which greatly reduces driver fatigue.

Anyway, the morals of the story here are to really give some thought to how you plan to live in your dream RV before you buy. Also, we made some decisions for our first buy purely on price, and in retrospect, the monthly amount that we had to pay wasn't all that much more to get a considerably improved vehicle. So, be smart and don't break your piggy bank, but don't shortchange yourself, either!

Tagging and Liking Books on Amazon

One thing I frequently ask readers (or prospective readers) like yourself to do is to consider leaving a reader review of the books you've read on the site where you bought it. I can't emphasize enough how important that is, because it helps other would-be readers decide if the book is (or isn't, which is sometimes just as important, because no author wants readers to be unhappy!) for them. Doing that and telling your friends about books you like is our most important source of "advertising," especially for self-published authors like me.

Another thing you can do that is a huge, gigantic, enormous help if you get your books from Amazon is to both "like" and "tag" the books you've bought and enjoyed. The like button is just sort of a warm-fuzzy indicator that I assume plays some role in whatever algorithm Amazon uses to compute various things affecting where a book appears in various promotional spots.

Tags are much the same, but they also have an additional role in helping readers to find books matching their interests. When you click on a tag link in a book catalog page, you'll be shown other books with similar tags. And tags likely play an even greater role in how Amazon's HAL9000 computer figures out how to measure a book's popularity and ranking.

So, dear reader, if you've read and enjoyed any of my books, please consider taking a minute or two to like and tag them. It's really easy! Just click on the "Like" button near the top of the book's page, and then scroll down to the "Tags Customers Associate with This Product" section and check off any tags you think fit the book, or add new ones. Here's the link to my author page on Amazon to help you find the books, and THANK YOU for your time and help!

BookLoons.com Reviews In Her Name – And Loves It!

was reviewed by BookLoons.com, which hosts over 10,000 book reviews! Normally I'd just post excerpts of a review, but in this case I couldn't help myself and decided to post the whole thing. Enjoy!

In Her Name, Reviewed by Elizabeth Schulenburg for BookLoons.com

Reza Gard's world is about to disappear. Under attack from the alien Kreelan race, the young boy watches his parents fight the invaders to the death. Running for his life, he is caught by Tesh-Dar, a Kreelan priestess. Showing courage beyond his years, he strikes at her with his knife, leaving a wound that runs across her face. Impressed by his courage, Tesh-Dar gives Reza a matching wound – and leaves him with his life. As one of the few people left alive, Reza is sent to Hallmark, a planet filled with orphans whose parents have been killed. Used as slave labor, the orphans live a dangerous life, and Reza soon becomes the leader of a motley group trying their best to survive. When the Kreelans return, Reza expects to be killed. However, when Tesh-Dar recognizes him, he is instead captured, along with several thousand other children, and taken to the Kreelan homeworld, where he will be part of an experiement to see if the human animals can be taught to have a soul.

As a captive slave, Reza is treated like an animal. His keeper, Esah-Zhurah, teaches him the language and customs of Kreelan society, but also beats him and keeps him virtually caged. When he makes rapid progress in learning the ways of his new world, he is allowed a great honor – he will be trained in the ways of the Desh-Ka, the order of the warrior priestess Tesh-Dar, who has saved his life once again. He is expected to die quickly, but amazes his captors by becoming proficient in their warrior society. As he is immersed in the culture, he finds himself becoming more and more like the Kreelan – except, of course, that he is a man, and all the Kreelan warriors are women. As his relationship with his partner, Esah-Zhurah deepens, Tesh-Dar begins to wonder if he is the One fortold in a prophecy, who will bring redemption to the Kreelan people. As the time comes for his final testing, Esah-Zhurah performs an ancient blood ritual, tying the two together, and allowing Reza to experience for the first time the Bloodsong, making him truly Kreelan. However, his full acceptance of the Kreelan way brings with it a horrifying choice – to continue on his path, he must make war against humans. If he refuses, he must leave the Kreelans forever.

The choices Reza makes, and their inevitable consequences, make up the rest of this impressive first novel. Hicks blends fantasy, science fiction, and romance together to create a story that crosses genres, and will appeal to a wide range of readers. Weighing in at 600+ pages, it is not a novel for the faint of heart, but it is certainly well worth the time invested. I found myself unable to put it down, and spent the better part of a weekend engrossed in this amazing world.

Hicks has created some of the most memorable, likable characters I have read about in a long time. Reza is the quintessential coming-of-age hero, starting as a young, scared boy, and ending up a strong, confident warrior. He is surrounded by strong, powerful women, who each have their own struggles, allowing the reader to sympathize with them as they uncover their weaknesses. His villains are somewhat one-dimensional, being wholly evil, and there are times that the book may have benefitted from editing, as the plot gets slightly bogged down, but these are small quibbles. I was enchanted by the world Hicks has built, and would love to read more of it in the future. I highly recommend this novel to lovers of fantasy and science fiction, as well as anyone who enjoys an engrossing, fast-paced novel set in a new and fascinating world.

- BookLoons.com

A Lesson About Book Promotion Gift Giveaways?

Today was the first time that I tried a gift giveaway contest as a promotional tool, and I have to sort of chuckle at the results, at least as of when I'm writing this, which is a bit after 9 p.m. on the day of the contest, which fell on Monday, 4 April.

My wife Jan and I were brainstorming ideas for ways we could get more people interested in my books, and thought, hey, why not have a drawing for an Amazon gift certificate for a particular day for someone who buys Season Of The Harvest on Amazon (you can see the contest details here)?

Oddly enough, so far there've been only a few entries, and the ranking for the book has steadily – although not appreciably (thank God) – fallen throughout the day. The contest doesn't officially close until the end of 6 April, so folks still have time to enter, but I have to confess that I'm surprised at the results: I expected that the ranking would go up at least a little! If nothing else, Season Of The Harvest got another 5-star review and an additional "like" on the Amazon catalog page!

So, we'll see how things turn out, then it'll be back to the drawing board. And if you, dear reader, have suggestions for book promo ideas (or what not to do), please do leave a comment here and let me know!

And now it's back to writing on the next novel in the series!

Season Of The Harvest Gift Contest

Okay, my friend, dig this: buy my thriller Season Of The Harvest from Amazon on Monday, 4 April 2011 and send me a copy of your receipt, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

The rules are simple:

1. Your purchase has to be dated 4 April.

2. You have to email me your receipt no later than Wednesday, 6 April, to contest1@authormichaelhicks.com

3. Both paperback and Kindle versions qualify.

4. Purchases at any of Amazon's stores (e.g., Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, etc.) qualify.

If you've already bought Season Of The Harvest, don't worry! There will be more contests and giveaways coming up that are just for you! So tell all your friends!

The iPad 2 – I'm In Geek Heaven!

Okay, I've been a terrible slacker lately about my blog, and I'm going to start kicking it back into gear! There's a lot of stuff I could say, but I first wanted to give a big shout out about the new iPad 2′s that we got (one for my wife, Jan, for her birthday, and one for me to replace my netbook). I also got Apple's little bluetooth keyboard to go with it for more heavy-duty typing: the on-screen touch keypad is okay for tweets and such but when I'm trying to crank out 500 to 1000 words an hour, I need a "real" keyboard. And both the iPad and the keyboard slip into my bag with plenty of room to spare.

I'm not going to try and do a big techie review, as I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there doing that. I just wanted to say that the iPad 2 is just plain, freakin' cool. I have Pages on it (which is Apple's word processor), and I can sync my latest book project between the iPad and my MacBook Pro as necessary, even using the iDisk on MobileMe (if that's all greek to you, don't worry: it's just a neat way to share files between devices).

There are also some other really cool apps for the iPad. The one that I like the most (of the relatively few I've played around with so far) is Flipbook. Just that one silly app totally transformed the experience of "reading" Twitter and, more importantly, some of the blogs that I really should follow and read, but haven't bothered with. Flipbook makes it incredibly easy and visually intuitive. Just plain cool. And there are a bazillion other apps out there to choose from.

I'm still waiting on my case to arrive, so I'll let you know how that goes when it gets here. That's the one thing I don't like about the iPad so far: it's a bit awkward (and a tad heavy) to hold without a case. But other than that, I'm really liking it so far!

Season Of The Harvest – Draft of the Foreword

Just as a teaser for my upcoming novel Season Of The Harvest:

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

Just sitting there on the page, the term sounds exotic, doesn't it? Like something out of a science fiction story. You may have heard about them, or you may not. But one thing's for certain: unless you eat only organic food, you've probably put a genetically modified organism in your mouth and eaten it. Many times. Corn. Soy. Rice. Wheat. And others.

There are companies here in the United States and in other nations that have modified the genetic material of many of our most basic food crops to be fundamentally different than their "natural" siblings. Strains of these crops have been engineered to be resistant to certain herbicides, or to repel insect pests. To need less water. To grow faster, or larger. Human engineering has improved on the work of Nature, tailoring these vital plants to our needs. It's a multi-billion dollar industry that controls an ever-larger share of the world's food supply, for the benefit of people everywhere.

On the surface, it all sounds good, doesn't it?

And we know that GMOs are safe for us, for our children. For the animals we depend on for our protein. We know this because the companies that produce these wonder crops say so. The government agencies responsible for the safety of what we eat say so. Therefore, it surely must be true.

Genetically modified organisms. You are what you eat…