Lorina Stephens's Blog, page 53

Mik Murdoch shortlisted for Prix Aurora

We're thrilled to announce Michell Plested's debut YA fantasy novel, Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero, has been shortlisted for the Best YA Novel -- English category of the annual Prix Aurora Awards.





Prix Aurora Award

Now it's up to you, Plested's fans and readers, to demonstrate how much you've enjoyed Mik Murdoch's adventure, and vote.






Michell Plested

Voting for the awards begins for members of CSFFA (Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association) on May 6th and will close at Noon PDT on Friday, September 13th, 2013. The awards will be presented at Can-Con (www.can-con.org) in Ottawa, Oct 4 – 6, 2013.





Membership to CSFFA is only $10.00. Registration begins here.




The shortlist for the YA Novel -- English category is:

Best YA Novel – English
Above by Leah Bobet, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong, Harper Teen

Dissolve by Neil Godbout, Bundoran Press

Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero by Michell Plested, Five Rivers

Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow, TOR Teen

Under My Skin: Wildlings Series (Book 1) by Charles de Lint, Razorbill Canada





Copies of Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero, by Michell Plested can be purchased either directly through Five Rivers' catalogue, or from the following online retailers. You can also ask your local bookstore to order the novel for you.





Amazon

Audible Audio Books

Barnes and Noble

Google Play

Iambik Audiobooks

Indigo

Kobo

Ponoka Book Store

Smashwords











Format

Print $23.99 CAD
eBook $4.99 CAD

Four new books all now available

It would seem Amazon decided to ignore our release dates and sell our four new releases (88, Type, A Method to the Madness, and Western King) immediately. So, rather than trying to redirect the Amazon, we thought we'd paddle with the current.



What that means is all four titles are now available in both print and digital from online booksellers worldwide, of course it may take Indigo awhile to catch up, as they're always very slow picking up data feeds from our distributor, Ingram.



Sale prices on our site will hold as they are until June 1, at which time the regular retail prices will go into effect.



We're excited about these four new releases. We hope you will be as well.

Dr. Dee Ceitful Answers the Evil Questions

In the continuing saga of the evil authors of the forthcoming A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil, Dr. Dee Ceitful has condescended to answer questions recently posed to the conclave. What you hear in the podcast might surprise you.

Michael R. Fletcher interviewed at Irreverent Muse

Episode 107 at Michell Plested's podcast, Get Published, features Michael R. Fletcher, author of the gripping debut SF novel, 88.



Hope you enjoy.

Special Advance Price for Western King

June 1, 2013 will see the re-release of Western King, Book 2: The Rune Blades of Celi, the second in Ann Marston's much-beloved series.



As a special thank you to all Marston's fans, we're offering a special discounted price until June 1, 2013 for Western King. 



The novel continues the saga of the people of Celi. The wanderer Red Kian has ruled Skai as Regent, but now it is time for him to step down. War clouds are gathering. Maedun sorcerers have taken the continent, and Saesnesi raiders are pillaging the islands.



But Kian has three sons. One is a prince of Skai blood, one is a wizard touched by Tyadda fire, and one is a dreamer who longs to unite the Celi against their enemies. Who will inherit the rune blade known as Kingmaker? Who will have the power to confront the Black Riders who bring darkness like a cloak to cover the land?



The answer will surprise you. Just as it surprises them.












Format

Print $20.00 CAD
eBook $9.99 CAD

Questions for the Mad Scientists

From captivity editors Jeffrey Hite and Michell Plested have been coerced created the following video, which is a collection of questions for the mad scientists who convened and created the handbook now known as A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil. 









The collection is now available for pre-order.












Format

Print $18.00 CAD
eBook $9.99 CAD

Advance copies of Type now available

now available for pre-order from
Amazon



Alicia Hendley's gripping new YA SF novel, Type, is now available for pre-order at a special 45% discounted price of $18.00. It is also available in EPUB format at the regular price of $9.99.



The novel focuses on the fallout from the Social Media Era, when rates of divorce, crime, and mental illness were sky-rocketing and civilization was at its breaking point. As a result, prominent psychologists from around the globe gathered together to try to regain social order through scientific means.



Their solution? Widespread implementation of Myers-Briggs personality typing, with each citizen assessed at the age of twelve and then sent to one of sixteen Home Schools in order to receive the appropriate education for their Type and aided in choosing a suitable occupation and life partner.



North American society becomes structured around the tenets of Typology, with governments replaced by The Association of Psychologists. With social order seemingly regained, what could go possibly wrong?















Format

Print $18.00 CAD
eBook $9.99 CAD

Author Michell Plested held hostage

It is rumoured Calgary-based
author Michell Plested has fallen afoul of forces greater than he anticipated.




The crisis started in 2012
when a conclave of The Super Evil convened at a secret lair in North America to
create a guide book for aspiring ne’er-do-wells. The result? A collection of
papers known generally as A Method to the Madness: a Guide to the Super Evil,
a collection destined to become the international handbook of every evil genius
come June 1, 2013.












It was agreed such an
undertaking required hiring of minion editors, as such a task is beneath the
genius of an Arch Villain. And who better to fill those two editorial positions
than Jeffrey Hite and Michell Plested?




Jeffrey Hite is co-founder
and editor at Flying Island Press,
and an author in his own right. Michell Plested is the author of Mik
Murdoch: Boy Superhero, podcaster of Get Published, and GalaxyBillies.






Now, however, because of his
involvement in the Mik Murdoch project, it would appear The Conclave has seized
Michell Plested and his family. He made the following statement on his blog,
April 6, 2013:




As
many of you witnessed a few days ago, the young superhero, Mik Murdoch (whose
adventures are documented in  Mik
Murdoch, Boy Superhero ) posted an opinion piece on this website
decrying the bully tactics of certain villains. He had heard through trusted
sources that the super-villains of the world (many of whom have written
articles for A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil )
were out to get him.




I
saw no harm is allowing Mr. Murdoch to post his thoughts on this website. After
all, he has allowed me to document his adventures thus far. What could be the
worst that could happen?




That
is a question I probably should have explored in greater detail. You see, I was
chosen/coerced/press-ganged/drafted by the aforementioned villains to act as an
editor for their how-to book (in case you missed it the first time, it is
titled: A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil and is
available for pre-order until June 30th (don’t hate me, I was promised mercy if
I pimped the book in this post.) Myself and Jeffrey Hite were to gather the
articles and assemble them into a pleasing book that is to be made available to
all wannabe villains.




You
might see where my roles as editor for villains and documenter of deeds for Mik
Murdoch might be slightly at odds with each other.




Apparently,
some of the contributors to the Guide took exception to Mr. Murdoch’s comments
and to me allowing him to post them on my website. Late last night, my family
and I were relocated to the secret undersea volcano lair of the self-styled Lord Aquarius, Master of Oceans.
Lord Aquarius has made it very clear to me that in order for my family to
continue breathing air (not water or liquid-hot magma), I must cooperate fully
with the wishes of the super-villain community.




As
such, I feel compelled to state, that while Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero is the
kind of person I always hoped to become, and that his adventures are awesome, I
must label him as the worst kind of goodie-two-shoes, interferer there is. Mr.
Murdoch must, in the opinion of my self-preserving self, retire from the
superhero game effective immediately. To do otherwise will result in the pain
and suffering of innocents everywhere (me, for example).




Give
it up, Mik! I’m begging you!




Publisher Lorina Stephens, at
Five Rivers Publishing, stated
she has had no recent contact with Michell Plested or Mik Murdoch, although
does admit the collection of articles written by The Conclave is nearing
completion and should be ready for the printer tomorrow, April 5, 2013. 




“I can
only hope cool heads will prevail,” she said. “It is our sincere wish to avoid
any untoward confrontation.” 




Editor-in-Chief at Five Rivers, Dr. Robert Runté, was unavailable for comment. It is alleged
he is planning several trips in the next few weeks, to where and for what
reason remains unclear.

Advance Order and Review Copies for 88 now available

We now have available review copies of 88 available in either PDF or EPUB format. Please contact us with details of where your reviews will be posted, and we'll be pleased to send you Michael R. Fletcher's gripping, action-packed debut novel. 




Five Rivers is also offering 45% discount on all advance orders for the trade paperback version. Instead of paying $32.99, you pay only $19.00, plus shipping.






88

ISBN 9781927400234 $30.99 ADVANCE PRICE $19.00 until May 31, 2013

eISBN 9781927400241 $9.99

science fiction novel

by Michael R. Fletcher

Trade Paperback 6 x 9, 400 pages

ePUB format

June 1, 2013



The dream of Artificial Intelligence is dead and the human mind is now the ultimate processing machine. Demand is high, but few are willing to sacrifice their lives to become computers. Black-market crèches, struggling to meet the ever-increasing demand, deal in the harvested brains of stolen children. But there is a digital snake in that fractally modelled garden; some brains make better computers than others.



88, a brilliant autistic girl, has been genetically engineered and raised from birth to serve one purpose: become a human computer. Plagued by memories of a mother she never knew and a desire for freedom she barely understands, she sets herself against those who would be her masters. Unfortunately for 88, the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan have other plans for her.



Griffin Dickinson, a Special Investigator for the North American Trade Union, has been tasked with shutting down the black market crèches. Joined by Nadia, a state-sanctioned reporter and Abdul, the depressed ghost of a dead Marine inhabiting a combat chassis, Griffin is drawn deep into the shady underbelly of the brain trade. Every lead brings him one step closer to an age-old truth: corruption runs deep.



An army of dead children, brainwashed for loyalty and housed in state of the art military chassis, stand between Griffin and the answers he seeks. But one in particular, Archaeidae, a 14-year old Mafia assassin obsessed with Miyamoto Musashi, Sun Tzu, and Machiavelli, is truly worthy of fear. Archaeidae is the period at the end of a death sentence.







Format
  Print $19.00 CAD  eBook $9.99 CAD  

 

LibraryThing review: Organic Home Garden

The following 4-star review for Patrick Lima's The Organic Home Garden appeared on LibraryThing's website:





I grew up helping out in my parents’ large garden, and last year I finally attempted one of my own. Some things worked (delicious bush beans through September) and others didn’t (my poor eggplant and pepper starts never got above 4 inches tall). Reading The Organic Home Garden I now have some ideas as to why some of my plants failed, what I can do differently, and other great plants to try – I can hardly wait until July to start fennel! This book was written in a very accessible way by an author who, by trial and error, now has a magnificent looking and bountiful garden. The book is nicely broken down with similar plants forming their own chapter and takes you through seeding to harvest, with a few recipes at the end for your bounty. There were several pictures throughout the book; I wish these had been labelled better and been more plentiful. As a gardening novice I found this book to be very helpful, but a more experienced gardener might be looking for something more scientific or detailed. ( )


aliciamay | Mar 26, 2013 |













Format

Print $29.99 CAD
eBook $9.99 CAD