Jeff Carlson's Blog, page 15

We Have Three Winners!

Personally, I'm amazed at the number of entries for the Sci Fi Brain Teaser Of Doom. I don't know that I could have completed the crossword myself, especially because it turned out that 56 Across had one less space available than it needed. You not only had to be fast to get into the top three slots with a correct solution, you also *really* had to be on your toes and scribble a handwritten note alongside 56 Across…

Foolishly, I forgot to add to my fine print that entrants need to reside within the United States, much less live somewhere in North America, so I'll be mailing one set of autographed books to Denmark for our third prize winner. Wow!

In order, the champions are:

Desmond Warzel of Pennsylvania

Gopa Sethuraman of Virginia

Lise Andreasen of the aforementioned, exotic land of Denmark

Congrats!

And in other news…

BBArt, my publisher in the Czech Republic, has released the cover art for their upcoming edition of Plague Zone. Their covers for Year and War top my list of favorites, and Zone has a strong, gritty look to complete the series. I also like it because this is the world's first glimpse of Cam Najarro… for who else would be silhouetted on the cover!?! The ultimate survivor has never been shown in the artwork for any edition in any country, and that shadowy, back-lit-against-the-fire Everyman has a powerful, relentless, capable appearance.

I'm told the tagline reads something like:

A fragile peace has been disrupted…

Is there hope left for mankind?

Nice job, guys!!!

My question for everyone is do you think Cam is walking into the fire or away from it? He's right-handed. But to my eyes, he looks as though he's moving into the chaos…

Sci Fi Brain Teaser Of Doom!!!!

And now for something REALLY different…

Sci fi superfan Rauno Pärnits put together an SF-shaped crossword puzzle which not only tests your knowledge of the world but also features a number of Carlsonian questions.

Ready to play? You'll probably want to print it out in larger size. Then sweat your brain. When you're done, email your solution to jeff@jverse.com. I'll send free, complete, autographed sets of the Plague Year trilogy to the first three people who show perfect scores.

Thank you, Rauno!

Across

1 Trophy of prowess in Indian wars – 6 Common thing in works of JC and Metallica – 16 Selenium – 17 … Amin, dictator of Uganda – 18 River in Siberia – 20 God of single combat in Norse mythology – 21 Chief Marshal of Riddermark, later first king on Third Line of Rohan's kings – 23 Earth as 3rd … from the sun – 24 You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – 26 English film director of Road to Perdition – 28 Desert in Israel – 30 Swedish and German male name – 31 Trophy that JC almost won with novel asked in 76 Across – 33 Metal band with albums "Mean machine" and "Timebomb" – 34 Hero of French novel "Quest for fire" or sodium hydroxide – 35 Wordpart in names of SF-fan meetings – 36 Semi-autobiographical short story of JC – 38 An evil-possessed grain imagined by Stephen King – 40 Band of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle – 45 Armenian male name – 47 City in Columbia – 50 Italian SF movie (1997) or US grunge music band – 52 Internet domain of Hugo Gernsback's birthplace – 53 One of the most successful fantasies of all time – 56 Former capital of Finland – 57 Without water – 59 Atlantis, Roke, Dinotopia or many similar others – 60 River in northwestern Spain – 61 Writer to whom this crossword is dedicated – 63 Useful video data storage for SF movies – 66 King in French language – 67 Hawaiian island – 69 Name of JC's wife – 72 A primary antihero in TV series "Heroes" – 74 One of the oldest and mightiest races in SG-1 – 76 Novel by JC – 79 Version of Windows – 80 Unix command for the removal of files – 81 Tributary of Danube – 82 Castle in Romania, which is known as "Dracula's castle" – 83 Citizen of Tahuantinsuyu – 85 The legendary greatest poet of Ireland – 86 Homeland of "the little green men" – 87 Queen of the lost city of Opar in Tarzan

Down

1 Individual person as the object of own reflective consciousness – 2 Criminal Investigation Department – 3 Beverage made from diluted fruit juice and sweetener, sometimes with carbonated water – 4 … Bizkit (band) – 5 Winnie the ….. – 6 An alien who wanted to call home – 7 Minor deity of nature who usually looks like a beautiful young maiden – 8 Gene Roddenberry – 9 French sculptor – 10 Type of spiral irregular galaxy – 11 Magical society in Robert Jordan's "Wheel of time" novels – 12 One of Charlie's Angels – 13 Robot character in WALL-E – 14 International computer company – 15 Stalin's repressive organization – 16 Crazy family who constantly receives messages from Big Giant Head – 19 An author with whom JC is collaborating – 21 Home of Ewoks – 22 One of the three major macromolecules that are essential to all known life forms – 24 Sith name of Anakin Skywalker – 25 The Last Airbender – 27 European Commission – 29 Giga-ampere – 30 Favored drink of pirates – 32 Moon of Jupiter – 35 Capital of the Old Republic – 37 Short story of JC – 38 Home state of JC – 39 A billionth of meter – 41 Creator of Children of Iluvatar – 42 Communication medium form – 43 Greek letter for Angetenar in Eridanus and Alkarab in Pegasus – 44 German writer of childrens' fantasy – 46 Muslim god – 47 TV channel that never shows any kind of SF – 48 Plague of XXI century – 49 A metal to which elves are allergic – 51 Archive file format – 54 Most commonly pierced part of human body – 55 Hero of Matrix – 58 Abbreviation of yeoman – 62 Formula One licensing organization – 63 Hypothetical domain name for German Democratic Republic – 64 Very Important Person – 65 Creator of famous painting "The Persistence of Memory" – 66 US actress who starred in SF comedy "Innerspace" – 68 Ruined Mayan city – 70 Communication officer on the Starship Enterprise under Christopher Pike – 71 God of fire in Hindu mythology – 72 Maiden name of Isabella Cullen – 73 Lawrencium – 75 Tough and war-like humanoid creatures in various fantasy settings – 77 Union Bank of Switzerland – 78 Irish goddess, one of the Tuatha De Danann, mother of Bres – 84 Networked Robotics Corporation.

Holy cow!

My Wife, The FBBFFAA

We have a niece who recently got her own Facebook page. She and Diana have been best friends since she was a toddler. When she first started to talk, she could only say "Anna," so Diana has been Aunt Anna ever since.

Now they're BFFs on FB. Which makes my wife a FBBFFAA.

Say it with me now five times as fast as you can: "Eff Bee Bee Eff Eff Ayy Ayy. Eff Bee Bee Eff Eff Ayy Ayy. Eff Bee Bee Eff Eff Ayy Ayy. Eff Bee Bee Eff Eff Ayy Ayy. "Eff Bee Bee Eff Eff Ayy Ayy."

Yes!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

With us today is U.K.–based debut novelist Iain Rob Wright, the man behind the supernatural/suspense thriller The Final Winter and a three-pack of horror stories entitled Thrillobytes.



Iain, tell us a bit about Winter.

The Final Winter is about the end of the world, or at the least the events leading up to it. We start out by following a down-on-his luck alcoholic named Harry, who is slowly drinking himself to death for reasons we find out later. He spends all his time at a rundown pub called The Trumpet, and that's where he is on the night that it begins snowing…in every country of the world.

But that's only the start of it, and Harry, whether he likes it or not, is finally going to have to sober up and confront his demons, both real and emotional, if he is to last the night. The entire world could very well depend on it.

Where do you get your crazy ideas?

Life! Life is pretty horrid and provides plenty of material for the aspiring horror/suspense author. The world is full of sickos and deviants and things that don't make sense. That's why writing horror is so cathartic, because in a make-believe setting there can be order and justice. In real life the bad guys win, but in my stories they get what they deserve (usually!). It's my way of punishing the wicked – I put them in a book and kill 'em off in the most gruesome ways I can imagine. Ha!

Plus, like most writers, I get a lot of middle of the night inspiration and a notepad beside my bed is a must! Gotta catch them dreams.



What kind of research went into the meteorological and ecological background of the snowpocalypse?

It actually came mostly from my own experience. The UK has suffered from unprecedented snowfall in the last few years (at least unprecedented for us) and has been completely unable to cope; roads choked up with car smashes, public services halted, and the entire country skiving off work for weeks. I thought to myself, this is nothing compared to what some countries have on a seasonal basis, so why are we making such a hash of things? My next thought was what if the snow never stopped? What if it kept going? What if it got worse? The idea blossomed from there.

What are you working on now? A sequel?

Yes, a sequel indeed. Animal Kingdom will be done later this year and is another end-of-the world thriller (I'll move on to something else soon, I promise) where animals all over the world suddenly attack humanity. We follow our protagonist, Joe, as he finds himself, and his 8-year old son, standing in the worst place in the world that day, the freakin' zoo! Suddenly the animals aren't the ones on the endangered list anymore.



Please also give us the quick pitch on Thrillobytes.

Thrillobytes is a 'thank you' to my readers. Only 99 cents on Kindle or free from my website, it will be an ongoing series of short stories. Each one will examine a classic horror theme: Sicko rapists, Killer viruses, crazed animals, etc. It is a way for me to give back to my readers and to also explore my own ideas. If something really 'pops' as a short story then it may be the idea I use for my next novel. Animal Kingdom for example is based off a piece of flash fiction that won in a competition (it is featured in Thrillobytes, Volume 1).

Readers can find Iain's web site here with free excerpts of The Final Winter, free short stories, and more.

Crazy Carlson's Free 15K Festival

I've had a lot of fun the past two weeks corresponding with new readers and old fans, some from as far away as Norway or Australia. Ain't the internet cool? "The Frozen Sky" is now over 15,000 sold, and since the celebratory Short Fiction Give-Away has been a success by any measure, and since 15K is more of a milestone than Lucky 13, I thought I'd continue my thank you.

Again, this offer is not limited to people who've bought "The Frozen Sky." It's not limited to Kindlests and Nooksters, either. I have yet to place these stories on Apple or Kobo, which is foolish (soon! soon!), but the following collections are all available as ePub files, which run on iPads, iPhones, iPods, you name it.

Email me at jeff@jverse.com. Just let me know whether you prefer Mobi or ePub. Please also put the collection name in the subject line.

Your choices are:

* The hard sf collection Long Eyes and Other Stories. ("Striking" says Locus Online)

* My horror/suspense collection Monsters. ("Ostensibly horror, with a pinch of the surreal. Clever, conclusive, and not a little weird" says The Fix)

* Or the sci fi action-comedy of The Adventures of Julie Beauchain ("Memorable and amusing" says Tangent Online)

Again, to everyone who's enjoyed "The Frozen Sky," especially those of you who've written to demand more of Alexis Vonderach, you are awesome.

With Love For Spain

They're not having a particularly good time in Spain these days.

Energetically Examining EBooks…

It's funny to keep piling thank yous upon thank yous, but I want to thank everyone who's made the Lucky 13,000 Short Fiction Give-Away a success.

* Meanwhile, yes, the give-away is still on & will remain on. Ping me if you want your freebie. *

During the past week, I've traded emails with dozens of new readers — new to me, at least — some of whom were already familiar with the Plague Year novels, some who weren't.

This has become a trademark phrase with me, but it's very true: I spend a lot of time alone in a room with a laptop listening to the voices in my head, so it's awesome to know there are real live people out there in the world who enjoy the work.

Thank you. There's more coming — more e-collections and also the Secret New Big Thriller. More soon!

Two digressions:

First, as part of gathering data about who's reading what how ( i.e., I asked everyone what sort of ereader and/or software they preferred), two emails really jumped out at me.

Here's one favorite: I'm neither a Nook nor a Sonywhatever person. I use my oldie Nokia with Opera Mini 4.2 and have uploaded your book into the Bookworm online epub reader http://bookworm.oreilly.com and the Ibis (epub online) reader http://ibisreader.com (for my UC Web browser), and read it online.

Here's the other: I prefer to read off a backlit LCD screen. Right now I've just been reading on my Android phone. It's convenient since I always have it. But over the years I have mostly read books on Chinese media players. My current 5″ touch screen Chinese player (Onda Vi20) makes a great ebook reader in addition to playing music and high def movies.

I feel like we're living in a William Gibson novel. Welcome to the future!

Second, I wanted to plug my friend and evil genius Michael Gallowglas, who's dabbling his own toes into the expansive e-waters of e-publishing with two novellas. One is a collaboration with Steve Moore. One is a solo flight.

Knight of the Living Dead In this tour de farce novella, a group of Renaissance Faire performers find themselves in the middle of the Zombie Apocalypse. Can they fight their way to safety in the Arizona desert? Where exactly is Area 51? Who is the mastermind behind the Denny's franchise? Let's be honest, our heroes are some of the finest people ever to don tights… but can they piece this puzzle together and bludgeon their way through the living dead before it's too late?

Dragon Bone Flute "Dragon Bone Flute" is a fantasy novella by Michael Gallowglas, a professional storyteller at Renaissance Faires and frequent contributor for Fantasy Flight Games.

No one in Elzibeth's village has seen any sign of a dragon in generations, yet they still have the good sense not to wander too close to the Dragon's Cave for fear of stirring up old trouble. Three bullies challenge her to seek the cave place out, and though the last man who went there never returned, she must accept this task or risk losing her music forever. Returning to her village with a small bone as proof, Elzibeth learns that the magic of dragons is more than skin deep…

"Lucky 13,000″ Short Fiction Give-Away!

So I've neglected my blog again because the writing's been going gangbusters, which I like.

My plan was to make this announcement when ebook versions of "The Frozen Sky" topped 10,000 units sold. Whoops! Instead it's hit 13,000 — lucky thirteen — and as a big thanks to everyone who's made "Sky" a success on Kindle (and to a lesser extent on Nook), I'd like to make this crazy offer:

If you're an e-man or an e-woman, shoot me an email at jeff@jverse.com and I'll shoot you back one of my other mini e-collections. My first thought was to make all of them free on Kindle and Nook for a week. Unfortunately, that's impossible. KDP and B&N do not allow individuals like myself to price anything below 99 cents. Ah well.

This may become something of an administrative nightmare, so be please patient. I'll field your emails as fast as I can.

Your choices are:

* The hard sf collection Long Eyes and Other Stories. ("Striking" says Locus Online)

* My horror/suspense collection Monsters. ("Ostensibly horror, with a pinch of the surreal. Clever, conclusive, and not a little weird" says The Fix)

* Or the sci fi action-comedy trio of The Adventures of Julie Beauchain ("Memorable and amusing" says Tangent Online)

This offer is not limited to people who've bought "The Frozen Sky," btw. Go ahead and hit me. Come one, come all. The deal isn't limited to Kindlers and Nookies, either. I have yet to place these stories on Apple or Kobo, for example, but the collections are all available as ePub files, which run on iPads, iPhones, Kobos, you name it. Just let know which file type you prefer. Also, please put the collection name in the subject line.

To everyone who's enjoyed "The Frozen Sky," especially those of you who've written to demand more of Alexis Vonderach, thank you.

JC

Judging Books By Their Covers

That's right, campers! It's time for Deep Thoughts With Jeff, so put on your thinking hats. I finished Chapter Forty early today and decided I couldn't leave you in suspense despite swearing all week that I'd be too busy to wrap up the 4C Cover Concept Competition.

First, Ben Metzler please take a bow. If I had 2500 super friends like him, I would rule the world!

Here's what I think. Ben knew what he was doing with the cover for "The Frozen Sky." It's simple, stark and ominous much like the movie posters for "Alien." Take a gander.

[image error]

That's not bad company! Sometimes if you let people bring their own imagination into the equation, that interactive experience is a winning combination. A great example of Less Is More.

The covers of Allen Steele's Coyote series fit perfectly with this idea. Completely aside from being an awesome space adventure, this series has an understated look that I think works very well. Ron Miller's artwork is stunning, but you only get a little of it, like you have to open each book to get more.

[image error] [image error]

In comparing the original "Long Eyes" artwork to Ben's, however, it's his busier cover that evoked a stronger response from the crowd — and since our vote, Ben has made improvements. Is this a contradiction of what I just said? Partly. The original cover is colorful, crisp, and fully professional. The basic idea was mine, so I have to take the fall if there is one.

The reaching arm is meant to convey distance and striving, even yearning, against a specular backdrop of time and space.

Do you want to know who it is, where she is, and why she has cool cybernetics in her arm? I hope so. But one of the overriding comments in favor of Ben's cover is that the title isn't "Long Arms," it's "Long Eyes," so his artwork ties better to the name. There's a stronger gestalt.

We're trying to ask the same questions in both covers. Who? Where? Why? But I don't think there's any question that the realistic backdrop of stars is more powerful than a nebulous swirl of blue and purple. The original almost has a fantasy look. It's kind of girly. And my demographic trends more toward readers of sci fi techno thrillers.

Here's one more time with the original against Ben's improved look:

Note that the eyes are brighter and laced with cyber stuff. Your comments in action!

But here's an unexpected twist. I went ahead and uploaded Ben's cover to Kindle… And it's so much busier than the original, with smaller fonts used for the taglines, that when Amazon compressed the file, it suffered "clipping" in some of the text. More than that, thumbnails of this cover have a blurred look. If you look for it in those Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought rows such as here, well, the behind-warped-glass look is even more pronounced.

Also, the original cover had a themed look with "Monsters" and another collection I haven't yet released. Same lay-out, same byline, same band across the top, same title fonts. Having a brand appearance is an asset. But the new "Long Eyes" artwork is just too cool and, though solitary in its look, "The Frozen Sky" has been doing very well in sales. Sometimes its the story, not the cover.

Ah, the endless juggle of self-publishing. Dammit, Jim, I'm a writer, not an artist! So we may be back to the drawing board despite the arresting, evocative look of those space eyes.

In the meantime, my Kindle ninja is working through a few upgrades to the "Long Eyes" collection. He's making no changes to the stories themselves, but, for one thing, he'll add a new dedication at the end as a thank you for everyone who weighed in on my dilemma. Here's what it will say:

FOR THEIR HELP IN DECIDING THE COVER ART

FOR THIS STORY COLLECTION…

Five thousand years from now, when sentient raccoons rule the Earth, they may find this collection on a rust-eaten Kindle.

(Yes, the battery will still work. And their scholars will understand English.)

If so, in order to preserve these names, the author would like to thank the following family, friends and fans for weighing in on the Great Art Debate:



Chris Africa; Anne Allen; Mike Baldwin; Lewis Bornmann; Johnny Bowen; Lars Bringemo; George Brown; Gus Carlson; Stephen D. Covey; Lara Endreszl; Emily Flint; Gail and Paul Ford; Joanna Gottfried; Peg Hanna; Penny Hill; Debra Davis Hinkle; Steven Hoffman; Geir Lanesskog; Linda Leach; Christina Lihani; Lani Longshore; Ben Metzler; Ben Morrison; Louise Morrison; Jan Myers; Kym Pectelidis; Anne Peterson; Jeff Quiros; Jeff Sierzenga (our land was populated with Bens and Jeffs, o Great Racoons!); and Alex C. Telander.

.

Ha ha. Immortality!

4C: Carlson Cover Concept Competition!

Superfan Ben Metzler, the quiet genius behind the stark, ominous cover art for "The Frozen Sky," has stepped up to the plate again with another visually intriguing rendition, this time for "Long Eyes."

I gotta call for a vote!!!

To our left we have the original artwork for this e-collection. To our right we have Ben's. I have a number of Deep Thoughts With Jeff about the strengths of each cover, but without prejudicing anyone too much, I'd like to hear what people think before I start blathering on about "Alien," Allen Steele and other seemingly unrelated topics.

Hit me in the comments field, please. Each vote receives a small reward.

[image error]