Michael R. Hicks's Blog, page 8

December Update on VULCAN’S FURY

Vulcan’s Fury has been coming along nicely, and I’m on track to finish the working draft by mid-January 2016, if not before. My target is 100,000 words (that’s just a rough estimate, obviously), and I’m at 89,000 now, so we’re getting there!

That brings me to a strategic decision I’d like to get your input on. In the past, I’ve generally alternated projects between story lines. For example, I wrote Legend Of The Sword (one of the In Her Name novels), then Season Of The Harvest, then jumped back into the In Her Name universe to write Dead Soul, then Bitter Harvest, etc.

I honestly can’t tell you why I originally decided to do things that way, but after a lot of thought I’ve come to the conclusion that a better way might be to take a story line – be it something new like Vulcan’s Fury or in an existing universe like In Her Name – and just keep writing until the story line is finished (which, in the past, has typically wound up being a trilogy), then publish the sequence of books as they’re completed.

As with most things, there is good and bad news with that. The good news is that for those who enjoy Vulcan’s Fury (and I hope that’s most of my fans, because in my mind this story is in some ways akin to In Her Name: Empire), you won’t have to wait too terribly long to get the whole thing, although it’ll probably still take a year-plus, as I can only write so fast.

The bad news, such as it is, is that if I do this we won’t be returning to the In Her Name universe until after the Vulcan’s Fury story line is finished. But once we do, you’ll get a big dose of bad-ass Kreelan warrior mayhem.

Anyway, I’d appreciate any input you might have on this, so please feel free to post a comment below!

P.S. Hey, if you haven’t already don’t forget to enter the holiday giveaway contest!

December Giveaway: Autographed Redemption Trilogy Set

To help celebrate the holidays and the coming New Year, I decided to run another little giveaway for my fans! The prize this time is a complete set of the Redemption Trilogy books – Empire, Confederation, and Final Battle – autographed and with a personal dedication to the winner. While I can’t say that it’s worth anything other than the cover value of the books themselves, there are very, very few of these sets out there (maybe only two or three), so I hope this will be a bit of a treat for the winner!

This contest is also going to be a bit different, as it’s going to be for points, rather than a random drawing. There are multiple ways to score points, like joining the newsletter (note: even if you’re already a subscriber, just sign up on the contest page again if it allows it, as that list is separate from the “real” list), sharing the contest info with your friends, or retweeting. It’s all in a few button clicks and takes no time at all.

So toss your hat in the ring and head on over to the Giveaways Page to enter! Good luck!

Pre-Production of REAPING THE HARVEST Audiobook is Complete

I received some exciting news this morning from the narrator who’s been working on bringing the last of the Harvest Trilogy books to audiobook format: the initial cut of REAPING THE HARVEST is ready for review!

What happens now is that I have to review the entire recording and send any feedback on necessary changes to the narrator (to be honest, based on the initial cut he provided, I’ll be surprised if there are very many). I hope to have that completed by the middle of next week.

So, with any luck, we may be able to get the audiobook published just in time for Christmas! Once it goes out, it will be available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.

Keep your fingers crossed, and I’ll let you know when I have more…

Announcing the Winners of the FIRST CONTACT Giveaway!

I’m happy to announce the winners for the autographed First Contact giveaway that started on 1 December: Colin P., Edward S., and Ann M.! So, winners, please check your mailboxes and make sure the notification didn’t go into your junk folder (the subject line reads “Guess what?”).

One thing that sort of blew my mind was that we had a total of 1,351 entries (!!!!), which was a fantastic turnout!

Now, for those who didn’t win, despair not: you’ll get another chance starting this Thursday (17 December) to win something that will brighten up your holidays: a complete set of the Redemption story, including Empire, Confederation, and Final Battle, all autographed with a personalized dedication to the winner! I’m planning to run the contest through midnight of New Year’s Eve, so when the big ball comes down in New York City, it’ll be over – don’t miss it!

While I’ll be announcing the new contest in the usual places (starting with the mailing list), you can always check the permanent contest page for the latest giveaway goodies.

Win An Autographed Copy of IN HER NAME: FIRST CONTACT

Okay, my friend, I’m trying something new (gasp!), so I’m going to ask your forbearance up front! This is a new contest gadget that I’m trying out so you can enter to win an autographed copy of First Contact. The contest is “live” and from what testing I was able to do it seems to work, but you know how that goes. So, if you run into any problems, please let me know so I can get them sorted out. Thanks!

Autographed Copy of FIRST CONTACT


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Win an Autographed Copy of In Her Name: First Contact!
In the first book of the In Her Name: The Last War trilogy, the Terran survey ship Aurora makes a startling discovery in an uncharted star system: two planets inhabited by an advanced, and decidedly unfriendly, non-human civilization. Disabled by gigantic alien warships before it can escape, the Aurora is boarded by nightmarish blue-skinned warriors with claws and fangs who slaughter the crew in ritual combat using primitive weapons. The sole survivor, Midshipman Ichiro Sato, is returned to Earth as a messenger bearing a device that warns of an impending attack.



For that is the way of the Kreelan Empire, which has waged war against civilizations across the stars in its quest for a savior, one not of their own blood, foretold in an ages-old prophecy. With only a few generations left before their ancient species faces extinction, the Kreelans will wage their last war against humanity, hoping against hope for redemption of sins long past...



The winner will receive a copy of the book autographed by yours truly, with whatever dedication you'd like me to add. Good luck and have fun!



NOTE: The email entry box should be highlighted right above the "Enter The Contest" button. Some folks have reported that it appears too narrow vertically to see the email as they type it in, so just be aware and my apologies for any potential inconvenience while I try to pin down why that's happening. And please check your inbox or spam folder for the confirmation email that should be heading your way!

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Contest Rules & Disclaimer

This contest has just a few rules!



1. There's only a single copy of the book offered as a prize.



2. The winner may be from any country/locale. I'll do my best to get the book to you!



3. The contest closes at noon EST on 21 December.

By entering this contest, you agree to have your name added to my mailing list (if you're not on it already).

I’m In Internet Purgatory!

Well, this was a frustrating discovery that I just made today: my server was at some point blocked by ATT.net for abuse. It would’ve been nice of them to tell me (and give a reason why). Ugh. Anyway, what that means is that if you’re on att.net or one of their affiliated service networks like sbcglobal.net, bellsouth.net, or pacbell.net (there could be more, but those seemed to be the main ones), you can send email to my email address on this domain (authormichaelhicks.com), but any email I send to you – including the offers of free books and giveaways – will be blocked. I know that this affects roughly four hundred folks on my mailing list.

Needless to say, I’ve emailed the ATT.net folks in hopes of getting out of internet purgatory. In the meantime, if you never received the four free books I promised you, please contact me from the email address you used to subscribe to the list and I’ll use an alternate sending address to get the goodies to you.

As the saying goes, “It’s always something!”

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What’s Coming Next: VULCAN’S FURY – THE DARK LANDS

Now that MISTRESS OF THE AGES is on the street, I thought I’d fill you in on the next project I’m working on, titled VULCAN’S FURY: THE DARK LANDS.

My apologies to fellow Star Trek fans, but VULCAN’S FURY has nothing to do with Vulcans like our beloved Mr. Spock. Rather, this book is something of an alternate history of ancient Rome with a sci-fi twist. The feel of the story thus far reminds me quite a bit of both EMPIRE and the books of THE FIRST EMPRESS trilogy, although set against the backdrop of Earth, rather than outer space.

The premise of VULCAN’S FURY is that the civilizations of the ancient world were destroyed by an asteroid impact. Pockets of survivors emerged after what was later called The Long Winter, among them a group of Romans who had managed to preserve their culture and a vision to build a New Rome come the day they could again live under the open sky. When the First Spring came at last, they found the world had forever changed: the boundaries between land and sea were all but unrecognizable, and even the positions of the stars in the sky had changed. Many animals recorded in the now ancient records of the first Survivors were gone. Over the centuries that followed, other creatures, some wonderful and others terrible, appeared, sent by the gods to replace some of those that had been taken away.

A few thousand years after Old Rome was destroyed, the dream of the Roman Survivors had become a reality. Vulcan’s Fury, as the impact event was known, had become a distant but poignant memory of how wrathful the gods can be, and it was the duty of every Roman to see that they were never angered again. Over those many years, the Roman Empire had finally brought to heel the entire known world, save the Dark Lands. Hidden behind a barrier of smoldering volcanoes and the deadly Haunted Sea, the Dark Lands were at the heart of ancient legends among the Romans of terrible beasts, and worse, that had once feasted upon the flesh of men in the earliest days of the First Spring.

But ancient legends held no fear for Princess Valeria, daughter of Caesar Tiberius Claudius Augustus. Enthralled by reports of strange happenings along the coast and bored by the life of a young Roman noblewoman, she begs her father to allow her to travel to the coast of the Haunted Sea to indulge her curiosity. Tiberius grants her request, anxious to see her safely away from Rome, where the Senate is plotting against him. Together with her closest companions, including her enormous hexatiger, Hercules, Valeria sets off on her adventure, unaware that she has set in motion a series of events that will change the history of the Empire, and all Humankind, forever…

So, that’s a bit more than you would get in a typical book blurb, but I wanted to give you more of an idea of where the story is coming from. I don’t have a publication date yet, of course, but as of this writing the manuscript is already at 41,000 words, so it’s moving along pretty quickly. I also don’t know if it will be a standalone or not – we’ll just have to wait and see!

Lastly, for those who have been wondering, MISTRESS OF THE AGES was not the last book of the IN HER NAME series. The story of the Kreelan Empire and Confederation of Humanity isn’t over yet.

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MISTRESS OF THE AGES – Calling All Beta Readers

I’ve decided that it’s time to go ahead and put out the call for beta readers for MISTRESS OF THE AGES. I’m still waiting for a few revisions for the very last chapters, but the rest of the book is ready for “beta testing,” so I’m going to go ahead and send out all but the last bit and then send that on once it’s ready.

For those who may be new to this game, the function of beta readers in my editorial process is primarily to find anything that jolts you out of the story or that you think, well, sucks. Finding typos and bloopers is, of course, always appreciated, but don’t feel like you have to dig around for them. I want you to read the book and let me know what, if anything, you didn’t like about it so I can put some final polish on it before it hits the street.

For those who are selected, I will need your feedback not later than next Sunday, 26 July. If you can’t meet that deadline, please don’t apply.

To toss your hat in the ring, submit a comment to this post telling me why you’d make a good beta reader. I plan to make the selections sometime this evening and will notify the poor fools, er, lucky winners tonight or tomorrow morning!

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Cover Art For MISTRESS OF THE AGES

The time is drawing near, my friend! MISTRESS OF THE AGES is now in the second editing phase, and it’s around this time that I typically get the cover art ready…and here it is!

I’m sure you’re probably wondering about a release date. Unfortunately, all I can tell you at this point is that it should (hopefully) be within the next few weeks. I wish I could be more specific than that, but getting a book through the first and second stage editorial revisions, then the beta readers, takes a bit of time, and I’m not going to try and rush things along to meet a deadline. But the end, at long last, is definitely in sight!

I’ll keep you posted here and on my social media outlets on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, the best way to stay in touch is through my mailing list, which I highly recommend you take a moment and join (especially since I’m planning a bit of fun for the release that will only be available to my newsletter subscribers).

Stay tuned!

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The Draft of MISTRESS OF THE AGES Is Done!

As the title declared, the draft manuscript of MISTRESS OF THE AGES is finished! I just typed “The End” this afternoon after wrestling the last chapter to the ground.

While it still has a lot of rough edges that need to be ground off and polished, I’m quite happy overall with the way the story has come out, especially since it has to sort of “plug in” to the events that happen in the original book I read.

For those of you who are clamoring about a release date, I still can’t/won’t give you one, just because I’m a big meanie. However, having said that, I can tell you that it will likely take me about a week to do my own revisions before kicking it to the first set of editors, who typically take the most time because they have to deal with my draft writing, which isn’t pretty. Then, after I’ve finished those revisions, it goes to another set of editors, who spray more red ink on it. After I’m done with *those* revisions, it goes out to a group of beta readers, who typically have a week to read and provide me feedback. Once those revisions are done (those are typically just typos and other minor bloopers), I’ll have become thoroughly sick of the project and will gladly hit the publish button just to be rid of it!

So, a semi-realistic estimate of when it’ll go out the door is something on the order of six to eight weeks from now. But if it takes longer than that, I get to blame someone else because they’ve got the manuscript, not me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, right?

Anyway, I hope you’ll think it was worth the wait, and I’ll keep you posted as it percolates through the chain.

Oh, and by the way: I’m having a devil of a time coming up with ideas for the cover! Anyone have any bright ideas? If I pick your idea, I’ll send you a signed copy of one of the books or give in to some other reasonable (to me, not you!) request.

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