Phil Giunta's Blog, page 69
November 8, 2015
Revisiting a favorite hobby
For many years, one of my hobbies was building science fiction plastic and resin model kits, mostly space ships from Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, etc. The only car model I ever built was the Delorean from Back to the Future.
Once my writing kicked into high gear, I had little time for model building. However, last year a friend stopped by with a model kit of a 1972 Chevy Nova. He had recently reunited with his high school sweetheart and wanted me to build a model of the car in which he had driven her to their prom.
It took me another year to begin working on it. I started building it in June 2015, but then had to put it aside for another four months before I began priming and painting it. I thought I’d share some pictures of this work in progress. It gave me an opportunity to work with my brand new Master airbrush that I bought in 2012 and only used twice. 
Work in Progress
Work in Progress
Work in Progress
Work in Progress
Work in Progress
Work in Progress
High Praise for Testing the Prisoner and By Your Side!
Wow, now here is a unique reader review left for both of my novels on Amazon a few days ago. Thank you for the high praise, “Amazon Customer”! 
October 30, 2015
Book Review: The Best of Lester Del Rey
You will find no shortage of robots and strange religions in this collection of stories from Lester Del Rey. Del Rey was an award-winning speculative fiction writer active from the late 1930s through the early 1990s before his death in 1993. He was awarded SFWA Grand Master in 1990.
As with any collection, there are stories ranging from mildly interesting to absolute gems. My favorites included:
Helen O’Loy – Robotics experts Dave and Phil create a female robot complete with emotions and decide to name her Helen O’Loy, a derivative of Helen of Alloy, which is a pun on Helen of Troy. Got that? The only problem is that she falls in love with Dave, making his life miserable…at least at first.
The Coppersmith – Industrious elf Ellowan Coppersmith emerges from a long sleep in the Adirondacks looking for work among humans only to find that his skills in repairing copper and brass items are no longer in high demand. Worse, mankind has developed horrid combustion engines. Perhaps Ellowan could use his skills to bring an eventual end to that…
Hereafter, Inc. – Righteous and judgmental Phineas Theophilus Potts returns to work after a long illness, forcing himself to be kind to the disgusting sinners around him, until he begins to realize that something is amiss. Some of his colleagues had died before his illness, so what are they doing here? Perhaps the question should be, what is Phineas doing there?
The Wings of Night – Two astronauts land on the moon to repair their ship and encounter a bizarre but benevolent alien named Lhin. Through trial and error, the astronauts find a way to communicate with the alien and learn that Lhin is the last of his kind, but with a small supply of copper could repopulate his species.
For I Am a Jealous People – A preacher’s faith is shaken when aliens attack the Earth claiming to be on a holy mission from the Lord Almighty to eradicate humans from the planet. This is one of three novellas in the collection.
Vengeance is Mine – A robot named Sam is left behind on the moon when the humans are evacuated to Earth. Shortly thereafter, Sam notices bursts of light on the Earth’s surface before the planet goes completely dark. Believing that aliens had attacked, Sam finds his way back to the planet only to eventually learn the truth behind the death of mankind. The last of three novellas.
October 26, 2015
The Arbiter Chronicles: Space Opera Spanning Audio Dramas & Novels
Writer pal Steven H. Wilson’s award-winning SF drama series, The Arbiter Chronicles, began as an audio podcast and has since evolved into a series of novels and novellas. If you enjoy exciting space opera with diverse characters and intelligent plots, this series is for you. Even better, it will cost you only 99 cents to get started with the first novella, The Arbiter Logs: Mutiny Springs Eternal. I’m confident that once you read it, you’ll come back for more. Enjoy!
Click here to check out Steve’s books on Amazon!
A Tale from the Arbiter Chronicles
October 14, 2015
The Halloween 99-cent Sale Continues!
Just a reminder that the 99-cent eBook sale is still running!
For the entire month of October, you can purchase eBook versions of my paranormal mystery novels Testing the Prisoner and By Your Side for 99 cents directly from Smashwords. Our latest anthology, Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity, is also available for the same low price!
Simply click the links below to go to Smashwords and use the appropriate coupon codes when purchasing. Thank you for supporting independent and small press authors and Happy Halloween!
Testing the Prisoner – $0.99
Coupon Code: LA88N
Expires: November 1, 2015
By Your Side – $0.99
Coupon Code: PW44K
Expires: November 1, 2015
Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity – $0.99
Coupon Code: TY45L
Expires: November 1, 2015
October 12, 2015
The Conclusion of Steven H. Wilson’s “Of all the Animals”
The conclusion of Steven H. Wilson’s latest Arbiter Chronicles adventure is available for your FREE listening pleasure at Prometheus Radio Theatre!
The Arbiter Chronicles is a Mark Time and Parsec award-winning SF audio drama that spans over a dozen audio episodes, eight novellas, and two novels. Click here to check out the Arbiter Chronicles and other books by Steven H. Wilson on Amazon!
October 3, 2015
Halloween eBook Sale!
For the entire month of October, you can purchase eBook versions of my paranormal mystery novels Testing the Prisoner and By Your Side for 99 cents directly from Smashwords. Our latest anthology, Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity, is also available for the same low price!
Simply click the links below to go to Smashwords and use the appropriate coupon codes when purchasing. Thank you for supporting independent and small press authors and Happy Halloween!
Testing the Prisoner – $0.99
Coupon Code: LA88N
Expires: November 1, 2015
By Your Side – $0.99
Coupon Code: PW44K
Expires: November 1, 2015
Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity – $0.99
Coupon Code: TY45L
Expires: November 1, 2015
September 30, 2015
Get Eternity at a Discount!
The paperback version of our anthology, Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity is currently just $5.79 on Amazon. Not sure how long this price will last as Amazon likes to adjust prices without warning.
For your money, you will get 13 fantastic tales of Fantasy, Science Fiction and the Paranormal. Each story is accompanied by a black and white illustration by artist Mike Riehl who also created our amazing cover.
Thank you for supporting small press writers!
September 27, 2015
“Of All the Animals” Part III now available!
Part III of The Arbiter Chronicles episode, “Of All the Animals”, is now available for your FREE listening pleasure on Prometheus Radio Theatre. The Arbiter Chronicles is the award-winning SF audio drama created by Steven H. Wilson.
September 18, 2015
Free Stories on Wattpad!
You can sign up with a free account on Wattpad and read thousands of books and stories for free, including four of mine. I just posted “Water to Share”, a SF story originally published in Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity.
Click here to sign up for Wattpad and read the story!
You can also read “My New Shiny”, my urban fantasy tale published earlier this year in GLWVG Writes Stuff, the anthology published by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group.
