Aaron Frale's Blog, page 10

The Robin Hood of Couches is on Audible

[image error] The Robin Hood of Couches on Audible

If you are like me, you love audio books. I listen to them in the car, when I work out, wash dishes, clean the house, and just about everywhere I can pack in an audiobook. I have good news for you audiobookphiles. The Robin Hood of Couches is now on audible! And better yet, the narrator agreed to do the entire Tuners Trilogy, so stayed tuned for that (haha, tuned, get it?).

Reese investigates corporate fraud and discovers some joker has been giving away free couches to the needy, because when a person can no longer afford the subscription service fees, all their furniture disappears. The bearer of sofas ends up in a ditch when blunt force trauma snuffs out the poor’s best chance of not living in an empty room their whole life. Reese rolls up his sleeves. Time to get to work.

[image error] Dark by Paul Arvidson

In other news, check out a buddy of mine, Paul Arvidson, his book, Dark, is on audible too and just came out! Give it a listen and write a review about what you think. Here’s the description: In the strange labyrinth of pipes on the planet called Dark, things are falling apart. Dun doesn’t want to be a hero, he just wants to find an answer to the terrifying dreams he’s been having. But the answers, the real answers, are going to take him places he’s never imagined and tear him from the only home he’s ever known.

Time Burrito 2: The Bison Agenda

While Time Burrito 2 is far from complete, I couldn’t wait to share the cover art with you. It is just as ridiculous as the first book. Take a look:

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One word: Amazing.

Get an exclusive Patreon only edition by pledging now. Don’t wait for the book to come out, by then it will be too late!

BTW, the Tuners Trilogy is only $2 for a limited time only. The first book is free!

Also, grab Othello and Zombies for free while you can!

With Great Burrito Comes Great Responsibility… Again.

I’ve been putting off writing a Time Burrito sequel for years now. Clara and Misako burst into Pete’s life in the final chapter to herd him away into another nutty time travel adventure. I ended the first one that way because I didn’t want the story to end, but needed something. So I did what musicians are famous for doing when they don’t want the song to end. They fade out the music.

My wife and I saw a rock concert in someone’s living room once. It was somebody famous, but not so famous that the guy wouldn’t happen to play in somebody’s living room. I mean we saw the same guy (Chris Trapper, if you’re curious) in a cafe with maybe about fifty people munching away on food while he put on the show.

Admittedly, Chris Trapper wasn’t someone I heard of before I met my wife. I was into heavy metal, classic rock, and generally what you’d expect from the dorky white kid with an afro and a Slayer tee-shirt in his high school year book. But suffice to say, I’ve become a Chris Trapper fan, not just because he wrote the song that we danced to at our wedding (coincidentally, he played it at that living room concert, a surreal experience). I became a fan because of his story telling and comedy while on stage. A concert by him feels like you are at a friend’s house hearing a little jokes, some stories, and music.

Back to the living room concert. While he played one of the songs, he told us that he was going to fade the music. He did it by strumming his acoustic guitar lighter and lighter until the melody drifted away. While he did it, he told us that he likes to think that the song is still out there, playing somewhere.

The idea of the music still going on, but we just happen to move away from it has stuck with me so much that when I enjoy writing a story, such as I did with Time Burrito, I don’t want it to end, but would like to think that Pete, Clara, Misako, Unk, and Lion are still out there, going on adventures.

[image error]Clearly, other people did too. This has been my most requested sequel. Even more than Atmospheric Pressure 3, which I’ll get too! Promise! So, I’d like to say, I am breaking ground on it. The process of writing has begun. You will get Time Burrito 2. In the meantime, if you haven’t read Time Burrito. Now’s your chance, it’s free.

If financial support is in the cards for you, consider a patreon donation for early access, or just go purchase Atmospheric Pressure 2 while it’s 99 cents for a limited time.

Last but not very least, a lot of what I do is supported by fellow authors, and I want to take some time to highlight one of them. If you can, please support her too. Folks without the backing of a major publisher only exist because of you. Catherine Greenall is a fellow Sci Fi author and is reducing the price of one of her books for a short period of time. Here is the information:

[image error]As the world battles a powerful disease, one scientist must fight grotesque creatures to find the truth. If he fails, he’ll doom humanity itself. If you like zombie apocalypse, global conspiracy and intelligently written fiction then you’ll love Catherine Greenall’s shocking book.

On sale here for a limited time!

Teristaque Chronicles 8: Sarge’s Secret

[image error]My next story has been a long time coming. I published the first Teristaque Chronicle back in December of 2014. At the time, I had no clue what I was doing with writing, publishing, or anything. All I knew was that I had a story to tell, and I’ve been letting it unfold for years since then.

The tale I am here to share with you today was conceived while I was writing Kal’s Fall. The only reason it took me six years to write was because I didn’t realize how Makiuarnek fit in Kal’s past until recently. With this series, I wanted to create a blend of episodic space opera that dealt with the problem of the day but was all connected to each other. I knew that every character would eventually become front and center for a book of their own, even if Kal’s journey was the main through line of the series.

I also knew that I wanted Makiuarnek to be a person who thinks they are doing the right thing. Too often, villains are portrayed as monsters driven by a demonic evil that compels them to commit atrocities. Whereas I believe that the real life monsters, the dictators murdering and locking up their people and so forth, are just people who have belief systems that harm other people.

I saw this documentary that stuck with me. They interviewed Hitler’s secretary. While Hitler is indisputably the classic model of an evil villain, he was still a person despite being misguided. His secretary told stories about how he would black out the windows of his limo and plan routes through the city so he wouldn’t have to see the destruction first hand. During his final days, he said that because the Germans had lost the war, women would be raped and people murdered. In short, Hitler thought he was doing the right thing.

The idea has stuck with me. People aren’t inherently evil, but are convinced by either themselves or others to do evil acts because they believe their influence on the world will be positive. I try to write most of my villains with that premise in mind. I feel that idea explains so much in why we have a lot of the problems we have today. Imagine a planet where the media, your leaders, your co-workers, everyone you encounter say that’s a bad place. The aliens there do bad things. Now imagine you’re sent into that area armed with a deadly weapon. I can see how a person might overreact and gun down a villager.

If I were to wave my magic wand and fix the world, I’d send the armed individuals trained for combat into the places where an armed response was required (like terrorists swarming a hotel for example). However, for the drunk guy asleep in his car, I’d send the social worker, the addiction counselor, or maybe even an ex-addict themselves who’s been there. The point is that sending guys with guns is like using a hammer for every situation. Sometimes, you need the screwdriver, sandpaper, or maybe just a shop vac to get the desired result.

With the Teristaque Chronicles, I’ve been telling the story how Makiuarnek thinks that he is not only doing the right thing, but believes that the hammer is the best approach. In turn, that use of force shapes our lead character Kal. In this story, we finally get answers to some questions that have been seeded ever since story one. We are going to find out what happened with Sarge and Makiuarnek back before Kal was born when they first touched down on Nigramoto. We are also going to see what Sarge was doing when he met Kal back in Kal’s Fall, and how it might not be what you thought it was.

Enjoy, and thank you for being a part of my writing journey.

You can pick up your copy here.

Tuners Hit 48 Last Week!

[image error]I was worried when I first decided to release Tuners. It was a project I had been working on for years. In fact, I wrote some of the first draft back in 2016. Now it was 2020, I was about to take years of work and put it out there during a time that has been uncertain for us all. So I took the plunge…

And it worked, Tuners hit 48 on the Amazon free store! That’s over 6,391 downloads of the book as of writing this post. I hit refresh and the number still continues to climb. Most of them are free downloads. I’m glad I can help give people something to read while they are stuck at home.

Books are a good way to transport us away from our daily lives, and Tuners is literally a story about a person traveling to new and exciting worlds. If you missed out on the free edition, the kindle edition of the series is only $3 for a couple days. You can get all three here.

I really couldn’t do it without the support you all have given me. As a thank you, enjoy a copy of my most popular book, Time Burrito, for free.

Lastly, if you like what I do, why not leave a review? Those help me out tremendously.

Tuners

[image error]As promised to help you all out in this unique time in human history. The first book is free and the second two are 99 cents (US & UK only). You can snag your copies here.

Thank you for your support and if you enjoyed reading them, please leave a review or tell a friend about the series. Those are super helpful ways to keep books like these coming out.

One More Free Book

[image error]I wanted to thank you all again for going on this writing journey with me. Hopefully, you are staying safe and healthy. I have one more book to keep you occupied. This next one is the first 5 stories in a science fiction short story series that I’m writing. Number 8 is well underway, and I plan to collect 6-10 in another volume like this when they are done. Until then, enjoy the first volume for free.

In the meantime, Tuners will be free next week (and book 2 and 3 will be 99 cents!). If you’ve already read them, please don’t forget to leave a review. Those really help us independent authors.

Thank you and stay safe.

When a Bell Rings, an Elf Gets His Glock

[image error]I’m sure many of you need a little cheer in your life right about now. What better way to spend your lockdown than reading about an Elf who waterboards for Santa? In my next free book to help you get through the times were are living in, enjoy Xmas Elf.

Also, Cacophony (Tuners book 3) is out. Remember, you’ll be able to get the whole series for $2 on 5/11, but i know some of you might have Kindle Unlimited or just might not want to wait that long.

Keep safe, wash your hands, and my best wishes to you and your family.

Free Books and Tuners 2

[image error]With so many people out of work, I have decided to give away free books. Since many of my books are escapism with a some humor baked for a serving a of genre fiction fun. I figure they will help people escape the news cycle even if it is for a little while.

Since I can’t really fight the virus, I can at least help people stay entertained. I will be giving them away lots of free books in the coming weeks. Today only, you can get Othello and Zombies. Saturday (4/11) through Wednesday, you can get Time Agency.

As for Tuners, the second book is out right now. Keep in mind the whole trilogy will be $2 on Kindle 5/11/20. But if you can help me out and want to read it right away, you can do so now.

Thank you and support each other.

Tuners & COVID19

[image error]I’m sure a lot of you around the world are in a situation right now where you are dealing with a March and April that didn’t go as expected. Locked away in a basement in Montana with my wife and two-year-old son is how I’m going to spend the next few months. I realized that people are going to need something to read during that time that is a nice escape that has nothing to do with viruses, so I’ve bumped up the timeline for Tuners. The first book is out right now.

The second and third will be out soon. I’m still in the middle of doing my final edits. I had originally planned to release all three in May. Since many of you may be out of a job, and can’t afford the book, I am dropping the price of the first one to 99 cents indefinitely, and I plan to do a free download for the first book on 5/11/20, and I’ll drop the price of the second two during that time to 99 cents. So the whole series will be $2 on 5/11/20 (Sorry I can’t do it sooner. I have some obligations to those dates because I thought it’d be out in May).

Lastly, my apologies to my Patreon Patrons. Normally, you would get to read the book before anyone else, but since the editing for the second two isn’t done, I can’t send paperbacks out. I’ll make it up to you with some free book downloads when I charge for your support around 4/25/20 (you also have till then to back out of it as well).

Thank you all for your support, and I hope you stay safe and healthy.