Hieronymus Hawkes's Blog, page 11

Round the Fountain Art Fair

I moved to Lafayette in April and I do love it here. This weekend they had their fair celebrating local artists, and it was the first one in three years do to bad weather and the pandemic.

There was a lot of wonderful stuff including jewelry, paintings, pencil drawings, and pottery. Here is a sampling of some of the stuff we bought today:

Stephanie Pierson-Hutson of Pondscum Ceramics Brian Beam Pottery Brian Beam Pottery Brian Beam Pottery Brian Beam Pottery Carrie Wild of Wildworks

We talked to a lot of artists and had a wonderful time. The potter, Brian Beam, was a joy. The pandemic affected his business in such a way that after 20 years of successful business solely as an artist, he had to find a fulltime job. He has basically stopped doing his incredible art. What he does now is very cool, as a craftsman building WWI vintage biplanes by hand. I hope he finds time to get to his art. It was an awesome day!

Project Hail Mary – Weir is Back!

Finished the Audiobook version this week. I loved The Martian, but found Artemis lacking. But Andy Weir is back in from with Project Hail Mary. It opens to a narrator that has no idea where he is or why or what is going on. He slowly pieces things together, like the fact that he is alone on a spaceship. I won’t say more to save spoilers but it is simply a phenomenal story.

Ray Porter does the reading and he is perfectly cast as a frustrated Junior High science teacher. His read was right on the money and we could feel the anxiety, irritation, and resentment in the main character.

The science details are extremely well done, which is what made The Martian so good. It is brilliantly done to give the impressions of how difficult the things that are happened actually are without boring us. Just the right touch.

So much to love about this from the characterizations to the plot to the finish. Just when you think they have a situation figured out, it escalates. Didn’t see how he was going to get out of several of these but Weir does a wonderful job keeping the pages turning. 5 stars easy. I would give it 6 if that was an option.

I can’t wait for his next book now.

The InD’tale Review is Back!

The review is back and they gave Effacement 4.5 stars out of 5 in the May issue of InD’tale Magazine.

“”Effacement” is a clever, well-balanced near-future tale with seamlessly integrated, carefully thought-out tech and a perfectly paced plot. The gritty, attention-trapping action makes the pages flash by! The author has created a fully fleshed out, likeable hero. The romantic element takes a back seat to the futuristic corporate intrigue, but the inventive technology and smooth pacing will hold the readers’ attention until the very last moment. Traces of the science-fiction masters are threaded through this entertaining read. Inspired story-telling, gripping action and a tantalizing hint of romance make this an engrossing sci-fi read. Hieronymus Hawkes is definitely an author to follow!”

–Starling Gray

Can’t decide

I’m not sure I need either of these but I really want one. Found these at Home Depot in the garden section.

Enjoy an Offbeat song!

I was listening to my Pixies Radio channel on Pandora yesterday and this song came on and I have to admit that I love this so much!

Indie Book Stores are awesome!

I recently moved to Lafayette, Indiana and have just this past week finally finished unpacking. It was quite the endeavor, but it’s done. The weather was so nice yesterday and after getting some errands completed, my girlfriend and I went to visit Second Flight Books over next to Columbia Park. I visited Second Flight Books back before COVID hit, to see about finding a writing group and checked on the possibility of doing something with them once I was published. A lot has happened since then. They moved to a new location and I published my book, among many other things. Their store is very cool, with lots of rooms filled with books, old and new, in every genre. They have a place to sit and read and an area for kids. They are also very welcoming to writers.

The incredible thing was how busy they were. It warmed my heart so see so many people out buying books. And they were buying them by the armload.

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While I was there, arranging to sell my book, I ran into another local writer, whom I had known about for some time. He is a prolific horror writer with 13 books published and more on the way. He was gracious and humble and very cool. His name? Jonathan Janz

This pic is of both of us signing our books inhouse. If you want to get a signed addition of our books you can get them at Second Flight Books.

It was a wonderful day all around, and meeting Jonathan was the icing on the cake.

Mythic Quest on Apple is Epically Funny

Just watched the first episode of Mythic Quest on Apple TV. I expected it to be a run of the mill attempt to do millennial angst in the workplace type of show. I’ve been a gamer most of my life and have played a lot of video games of about every sort. The video game industry is bigger than Hollywood in terms of revenue now, but it is still a patchwork of companies that rise and fall, and that generally don’t treat their employees very well. My son actually has a degree in game design, so he has a different perspective on the industry than most of us.

But the show is only using the industry as a setting. The head designer is a complete narcissist. All of the characters want something. And they got F. Murray Abraham. The writing is excellent, every character unique and at odds with someone else in the show, providing natural conflict. It is outrageous, but it is very funny. I laughed out loud more than once. I only hope it can sustain that quality going forward.

It’s Discovery day!

Effacement is live on Reedsy Discover! The most upvoted books will be considered for their weekly newsletter. So I would really appreciate it if you could take a few moments and upvote Effacement. Their newsletter goes out to thousands of readers.

BookBub Featured Deal Results at the Halfway point

This was my first experience with BookBub. I peaked at #144 in the Kindle Store. Made #1 in two categories, Hard Science Fiction and Medical Thrillers. #2 in Technothrillers and Contemporary American Fiction.

I sold more books than I ever have before, saw a Best Seller tag for a little more than a day and finally got some visibility. I’m about halfway through and very close to paying for the cost of the Featured Deal. It will run through Sunday and hopefully I will get a little bit on the back side as well, which is common. As I write this I am here:

Best Sellers Rank: #1,773 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

#6 in Medical Thrillers (Kindle Store)#14 in Hard Science Fiction (Kindle Store)#23 in Technothrillers (Kindle Store)

Was it worth it? Definitely! I am seeing my Amazon ads pay off now as well. I tried once before to get a featured deal and was turned down. Not certain what the difference was, but having solid numbers on Goodreads probably helped. I also let them pick the date.

I will definitely sign up again in the future.

Have you had any experience with BookBub or any other marketing sites that boosted your sales?

The Kirkus Review is back!

The Kirkus Review just came out, and it’s a good one. You can read it here!

“Hawkes superbly extrapolates what our technology-dependent and pandemic-stricken world might be like a dozen years from now.” — Kirkus Reviews

Also, the book is discounted for the next week and will be a Featured Deal on BookBub.

In a future marked by widespread surveillance, Dr. Cole Westbay has made a name for himself with the creation of a neurochip that records everything about a person. But after he’s framed for murder, Cole has no choice if he wants to survive: He’ll have to go off the grid.