Jason Halstead's Blog, page 8

Why Cardio Disappoints

This post isn’t about books! It’s about another passion of mine – and one shared by few people: fitness. So you have been warned, read on at your own peril.

Longtime friends and readers (one and the same, as far as I’m concerned) know that I’m a weightlifting junky. A former competitive powerlifter, in fact. Not one of the super heavyweights that crammed anything and everything into their mouths either. I was a fairly lean powerlifter when I competed – and I was in the 242lb weight class (my highest competition weight was 232, usually I was 229 or lower).

Sadly, my competing days are over, courtesy of an injury caused by overtraining for a meet and not being as safe as I knew I should have been. Some major surgery to reattach torn tendons and muscle to a bone and I’m back in business, but never like I once was. These days I still lift heavy 3 – 4 times a week, but I don’t push myself as hard as I used to. That means I have to make up for the lack of work to keep myself looking decent with other activities. And that means including some cardio elements in my routine.

I read a few studies and educated opinion pieces long ago stating how weightlifting was better in every way for a body than cardio. Since I agreed with it out of principal, I took it as gospel and moved on. Many years later, I still believe that way and happily share such information when asked (no, I’m not the kind of guy who offers it unasked and pesters people). As I get older and my routine is changing to more health and maintenance based instead of trying to amass raw strength, I’m finding more and proof that supports what I’ve believed to be true.

I measure my progress in many ways. How much I can lift, how many times I can lift it, what the dude in the mirror looks like, what the calipers figure my bodyfat is, and what the scale reads. I hit the scale almost every morning and every night because what gets measured gets done. It’s those measurements that leads me to posting this blog and supporting my belief of why cardio is disappointing.

First a mild info dump, here’s a typical week for me:

Monday: Heavy Bench Press, Heavy Cable Rows, supportive exercises (curls, tricep extension, etc.)

Tuesday: HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training – Clean and Presses supersetted with running on a treadmill)

Wednesday: Deadlifts / Squats / Rack Pulls (only one exercise, it varies by month), Declined situps, more arm and shoulder work

Thursday: rest

Friday: Volume bench press, volume lat pulldowns, supportive exercises (arm stuff)

Saturday: HIIT (same as Tuesday)

Sunday: rest

 

Every day, if possible, I try to get in some rollerblading or low impact cardio around my subdivision, typically 10 – 20 minute’s worth. I’ve ramped that up recently, leading to this post.

 

 

So Sunday, father’s day, my wife decided she wanted to start doing my 2 mile cardio with me. For me that means rollerblading around our subdivision several times (rather fast, I push myself and keep my heart rate in the 140 – 150 range). I’d also mowed my lawn today in the 91 degree sunshine, which takes about an hour with my push mower thanks to a couple of short but steep hills. So no weights on Sunday, just cardio…

 

On virtually any weightlifting night I will lose 1.5 – 2 pounds overnight while I’m sleeping. Doesn’t matter the exercise, as long as I work myself hard. Without fail I wake up lighter in the AM, although if I strain my lower body too much it can cause some inflammation in the muscles that takes a couple of days to wear off – the weight comes off over those couple of days though. On any day where I do cardio only I will lose .4 – .8 pounds overnight. Less than half what I lose when I lift weights.

 

Weightlifting works the muscle, breaking it down and building it back up. The building part takes time though, and also requires calories. That means burning calories, both to do the repair work and to strengthen the muscles. A workout will continue to burn calories for 1 – 2 days afterwards. Cardio, on the other hand, only burns calories while you’re doing it and, unless you bust your hump for more than 20 minutes, you’re only burning the calories in your bloodstream and not any stored fat. With weights, it’s a constant slow burn happening behind the scenes, which takes care of the calories in the bloodstream and then moves on to stored fat. My two mile rollerblading only takes around 10 minutes, so the only gain I get out of it is an improvement to my energy systems (heart, lungs, cardiovascular, and flushing water out via sweat).

 

So why not do long term cardio – 30+ minutes? Even if there weren’t studies showing the damage it can do to joints and muscle fibers, it’s f***ing boring! I’ve got way too many things to do to spend that kind of time. I’ll never run a marathon, and I’m okay with that. I ran a 5k once, by myself, and that was enough. I much prefer more intense focused training to keep my energy systems where I need them or close enough that I can ramp up sport specific training as needed (e.g. if I ever joined another hockey league). For those that do it and, somehow, enjoy it, I salute you. You do what works for you and godspeed, just as I’ll do what works for me.

 

If you’re wondering what HIIT is, it’s weight training done aerobically, for lack of a better term. In my case I do a set of 6 – 135lb clean and presses (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_OGoQ94mPQ, except I make sure I go all the way to the floor on each rep). After that set I hit the treadmill and run for 2 minutes. Ideally there should be next to no rest between exercises. For me I rest 30 seconds or lest just to catch my breath. My heart after the clean and press is in the 150s, typically, and then in the 140s after the run. Five sets of that and I’m done. Any compound exercise can be used – I’ve done squats, front squats, and bench pressing as alternatives from time to time, but I really like what clean and presses do for the body – it’s a full body workout and helps support every other exercise as well as general strength and conditioning.

 

So there it is, my rare workout post. Social media is a funny place – people get upset about others posting about working out, which baffles me. I encourage it, but I don’t want to upset anybody either (unless they deserve it, and even then I’d typically rather just save my time and walk away). Still, I got some great feedback on my workout posts a couple years ago, so maybe somebody can learn something from this and use it for their own good.

 

These days I’m floating in the 225 – 230 range, depending on whether it was a bad weekend or not. Last night I was 226.4 and this morning I was 226 (remember the cardio only yesterday). My bodyfat is in the 11% – 12% range and I can still bench 315+ and deadlift 500+. I figure I’m doing okay for a dude in his 40’s.

 

 

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

The Universe is Going to be a Scary Place

I don’t blog enough. I’d like to, but I don’t. I think about bloggable topics all the time, but thinking and finding the time to write those thoughts down are few are far between. When I do blog, I try to keep it as on topic as possible for the majority of people interested in my blog. Books. My books, in particular. So, with that said, here’s the latest on what’s happening.

Vitalis: Valkyries is what’s happening. It’s book #9 in the Vitalis series and I’m happy to announce it went out to my editor last night. I anticipate releasing it late this month or possible very early next month. I apologize for the delay, I didn’t remember to schedule time with my cover artist and editor in a timely manner.

So what’s Valkyries about? Well, it picks up a few weeks after Commandos finishes. It includes those characters as well, focusing on Lieutenant Simms and Corporal Mendez primarily. There are plenty of new and old characters too though. Astra and Leona are back, for example, and there are four new people joining the story (Pandora, Shannon, Evan, and Faramor). The story takes place back on Earth and not only explores what’s happening there, but it opens up a whole lot of other opportunities down the road.

That’s a quick hint of what’s coming in a couple of weeks. Now for my next project. I was inspired by something I read recently, a story by an amateur writer that explored a man trapped in an Amazon culture. I liked it so much, it made me want to write something similar. Not about Amazons though. My problem was, should I start another story that would possibly become a series, or could I fit it into one of my existing settings? Dark Earth seemed a natural, but there were a lot of reasons I didn’t want to do that.

Enter Dawn Michelle (my wife).  I was talking to her about it and discussing my protagonist. She fell in love with him right away (in a sort of platonic way…I think. He’s fictional, so at least I’ve got that going for me). She demanded that I stop ignoring her and help her finish up her Continuum series that was first exposed in Claimed by the Dragon King (part of the recent Christmas anthology she took place in that landed her another spot on the USA Today bestsellers list). This character, you see, would fit perfectly into that series. Book 2, in fact, would focus on him.

So what was my idea became ours (come on guys, you know that’s how marriage works, and no, ladies, I’m not complaining). I’m okay with it though, because we’ve been working on the concept and it sounds extremely cool. It’ll be a joint effort between us, but with her name on the cover since it’s her series. Fast paced and action packed fun, with the main character being somewhat of a cross between a playboy and a hero straight out of Greek and Roman mythology. And let’s not forget the gargoyles, wyverns, dragons, and other mythical creatures that are coming out to play. After all, this guy is the first full blooded heir to the Kingdom of Atlantis in thousands of years.

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

Mother Nature’s a Witch

Believe it or not, I’m not writing to complain about the crappy weather in Michigan. We’ve had summer here, at least one or two days of it in between the cold and the rain. No, I’m referring to the awesome power of nature and just what it can do. Especially when we extend natural phenomena beyond our own planet and into the solar system and universe that surrounds us.

A great example of one such possibility can be found in my latest release, The Vault. The book takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting, but yet it’s not the typical war torn world with enemies lurking in every shattered building. The Vault is our present day Earth after a perfectly natural catastrophe has occurred. The kind that wipes out nearly all life on a planet: an asteroid. Not even Bruce Willis can save us this time, and the governments of the earth know it. They know it, and they keep it a secret to themselves.

For millions of people, life is over after a brief but beautiful show of fire and light in the sky. For the billions that remains it takes days, weeks, and for some months for the horrible winter that settles over the planet to kill them. By the time a year has passed only a privileged few remain tucked away inside vaults hidden deep in the ground. The Vault is the story of a group of survivors that return to the surface to discover what remains of the world above.

Rather than give any spoilers away, I’m going to end the description there. I will say that before doing research for this story and writing it, I had no idea just how scary rocks can be. Especially when they fall from the sky at 20 – 30 kilometers per second and rival the size of a city. There’s really not anywhere to hide if that were to happen. And the scariest part is that it’s happened before to the Earth and it will happen again. Hopefully by the time it does we’ll be ready to find a way to save as many people as we can.

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Now it’s time to chase away the grim chill running down my spine and talk about something else. My next book! I’m working on the next Vitalis book and it has been a pure joy to write so far. I’m nearly a quarter done with it already, and I’ve only been working on it a few days so far. Like most Vitalis books, this mixes in some new characters with some old ones. It is a return to Earth (asteroid free, thankfully). Although in place of asteroids there are plenty of other threats that exist, pitting people against not only each other, but they must also struggle to survive against a wild and savage nature influenced by Vitalis. And, hopefully along the way, a couple of them might even find each other. After all, extreme situations can lead to some very intense romantic relationships.

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

Authoring Like a Boss

I just finished The Vault, a book I wrote that takes place in a post-apocalyptic North America (New York, to be precise). I intended it to be a novella but it got away from me and turned into something bigger, longer, and better. It was a book full of lessons for me too, as it detoured away from areas I am more comfortable with (science fiction / fantasy), and yet I could not use a lot of modern conveniences in it (no running water, electricity, etc.).

In fact, The Vault is set a year after a very impressive asteroid falls out of the sky and lands in the Atlantic Ocean, just west of the Bahamas. People around the world are wiped out, either right away or over the next several months as the sun is blotted out by debris, acid rain scours the planet, and the food chain is wiped out. All in all, it’s a pretty grim time, but there are survivors – otherwise how boring would it be to write about a barren rock we used to call home?

But that’s another story that’s already been told. It’s in my editor’s hands and when she’s finished with it, I’ll make it available. A week or two is my guess. I was inspired to write it by the success of my second book I ever released, Wanted. That book (and the series it spawned) has arguably been my most successful book. My hope is that I can recapture some of the magic in Wanted in the post-apocalyptic setting, although this one is very different both in setting and in the amount of people remaining. If it does well, who knows where it might lead later on?

That’s for later, this is now. And now it is time for me to once again take up the glowing crystal spear and knife and revisit the universe of Vitalis. When I last left Vitalis there was a group of bad-asses on Vitalis that were training and developing themselves. They have their orders now, and they are ready to return to Earth. Their mission: become the enemy so they can defeat the enemy. Pity the name “Suicide Squad” has already been taken, it might have made a great title.

At this point, after I finish up Vitalis #9 I’ll finally move back to Voidhawk and finish the rather epic storyline that was unearthed in Fallen Goddess. Not to mention addressing the hole that I left in the hearts of both the Voidhawk’s crew and myself when Jenna was lost. Finishing that story is going to require the third and final book in the Serpent’s War trilogy to be written as well.

Somewhere in there I need another Dark Universe book and another Terminus book. Good thing it’s only May – I have a lot planned for this year still!

As a special note, I’ve been doing a lot of research on character development and interaction recently and I really hope it begins to show in Vitalis and beyond (not that the characters haven’t developed and grown already, it’s just some new things I want to introduce).

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

Writing the Right Fiction

I’m working on a story I’m calling “The Vault.” It’s a post-apocalyptic story exploring what happens to a group of people that are the first to emerge from a government vault designed to help a tiny portion of humanity survive an asteroid striking the earth. Trust me, when big, fast rock hits the earth lots of bad things happen. It’s happened before and it will happen again, but hopefully not for hundreds of thousands of years (or millions).

Researching what would happen for an asteroid strike is some pretty freaky stuff. Impressive, to say the least. Or maybe terrifying, if you’re the type that lets you worry about things you have zero control over (um, sorry, if that’s the case). In my scenario I’ve got a rock roughly 8kilometers (5ish miles) in size, fairly dense, traveling around 30 meters a second striking just off the Bahamas. Secondary problems involve fault lines shifting and causing earthquakes around the world, including an early release of a lot of stored up magma and pressure in the Yellowstone Caldera. It is, for all intents and purposes, an extinction level event.

Yet, people are resilient. Worse (or better) than cockroaches even. Survivors are trying to find a way to bring life back to the planet and rebuild. And that’s the gist of the story without giving anything away. I’ve got a core group of characters I’m focusing on and making them deal with one natural disaster after another. Fun, in its own way, but I’m afraid I went and made a terrible mistake.

I accidentally saw a snippet of a series on Netflix called Orange is the New Black. That tiny snippet was enough to hook me. That lead to the necessity of binge watching the first three seasons whenever I could. And now I’m waiting for the fourth season to come out this summer. Wait – what the heck does that have to do with my writing?

Good question. The characters in Orange is the New Black are outstanding. Even the ones I don’t really care much for have such rich backstories and lives I’m left shocked and impressed. My only complaint is that the series has expanded so much on so many of the other characters that I feel like the original heroines of the story, Piper Chapmin and Alex Vause, aren’t getting as much focus as they should. Their story, after all, is the one that hooked me and made me want to know more. I’m not happy with how the 3rd season ended, regarding those two, but I have my own hidden theories about what might happen to / for them.

Now then, back to writing. As I said all of these characters are so rich and thought out that it’s really opened up an itch in my to write something new and different. I’m struggling to stay focused on The Vault, and I’m happy that I only planned this story to be a novella instead of a full length novel. I’m halfway done by my guess, and I’m anxious to get it done as soon as I can so I can explore my new ideas.

What does that mean, as far as what comes next? Well, there are many options. I was thinking my next book would be a Vitalis story, and I could see myself trying to incorporate some of these ideas into Vitalis. After all, Vitalis has a history of having many characters with their own backgrounds and stories, so it might be a natural fit. Conversely, I could very easily find a way to slide these new ideas into a new Lost Girls book, although Katalina and Skylar would not be the main characters anymore. Instead it would follow their daughters and their desire to grow up and make their mark on the world.

Or maybe something else completely new? Naw, probably not. I’m probably going to end up focusing on Vitalis, but the appeal of a Lost Girls spin off is growing. I still need to write more Dark Universe, Voidhawk, and The Serpent’s War too (and countless many others). Come to think of it, maybe some of these new ideas could end up working out in an extension of my Wanted series too…

The positive take-away from this is that inspiration can come from anywhere. On the flip side, it can be damn irritating too, because it’s messing with my current focus. That makes me mad though, and anger I can use to drive me forward. Scorched earth be damned, I will have these stories out as soon as I can!

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

Lucky Star

Brindal and Ellena are Terrans lured to an alien world with the promise of a new way of life and equality among the races. Potential for all, regardless of race, gender, or belief. The reality was far from the truth, especially when Ellena showed her first signs of mutation.

Mutated beings- those whose latent powers are awakened with the resurgence of alien energy brought about by the return of the Ampythean race- are hunted and taken away. Their fate is unknown, but nobody has heard from them since.

As Ellena’s powers grow and she fails to control them, they are left with no choices but to throw away their lives and run. They have to find a way with no weapons and no friends to get off the planet before the Vagnosian army catches them. If they can manage that, then they can hope for a better future among the stars.

 

You just read the blurb for Lucky Star, book 6 in my Dark Universe setting. I’m sharing it because it’s out there now, waiting for eager readers to devour. Longtime fans of the series might not recognize the names in the blurb, which might be confusing. Well, there’s a reason for that. These are new characters.

Brindal and Ellena are the kind of heroes that are made, not born. Except there’s nothing heroic about them. Brin is an eighteen year old young man trying to figure out what to do with his life and his growing skills in robotics. Ellena is fifteen and has nothing going for her except her talent as a track star and the fact that she’s a female on a Vagnosian world. Oh, and then there’s Ellena’s strange new powers that has her afraid of her own shadow.

But rest assured, there’s no way I’d completely abandon the old crew! I love those guys and gals. The problem is, they live a hard and dangerous life. Some of them aren’t what they used to be— or even at all. Brindal and Ellena need to get off of Marloon, the world they live on, but they can’t do it alone. They need help. And that’s where some old friends come in.

Into the Dark (book 1)
Out of the Dark (book 2)
Chasing the Dark (book 3)


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Oyster
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Page Foundry / Inktera

Oyster
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Oyster







Dark Star (book 4)
Shades of Dark (book 5)
Lucky Star (book 6)


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iTunes

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Page Foundry / Inktera

Oyster
Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Scribd

Page Foundry / Inktera
Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Scribd

Page Foundry / Inktera

 

Next up is something completely different. No, not a Monty Python skit (hopefully that jokes not lost on most of you), but a new book I’m trying out. It’s unrelated to anything / everything else I’ve done so far. The Vault, a story in a post-apocalyptic America that takes place after a disaster destroys almost everything on the planet. I’m talking about an extinction level event, except humanity has the technology, resources, and blind luck to insure a tiny percentage survives. Or, as Michael Crichton put it in Jurassic Park: Life finds a way.

As always (and forever), thank you for keeping up to date on my ramblings and for enjoying my books. Spread the word, the world could use more readers!

 

-Jason Halstead

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

Now What?

Last night I finished Lucky Star, the 6th book in my Dark Universe setting. That book had a lot of surprises in it, especially for me. The end, for example, was something I was stressing over. And then suddenly it happened and I realized I’d missed it. I had to backtrack a little bit and rephrase a few things. Once that was done it was a magical moment that wrapped things up and set the stage for the next adventure of Brindal and Ellena, siblings that are trying to find their way in the awakened universe with the help of the crew of the Uma. It will be a few weeks until it’s available, what with editing and cover art.

After that I moved on to a book I wrote for a secret project due out later this year. Shh, I can’t speak of it. But I am, just not anything useful. I’d already written the book but I hadn’t gone back over it since I sent it out to my team. Last night I did that, and I was happy to see far fewer screw-ups than I’d realized. I had to make some other continuity changes to make it work with the rest of the project, but once again, that was easily handled. I may touch a few more things up with it yet, but I’ve got plenty of time.

So now I’m back to needing something to keep my fingers busy. I know I need to continue several of my series (Vitalis, Serpent’s War, Voidhawk, Terminus, and Homeland), but I really want to branch out and try something new. A post-apocalyptic story, except I haven’t figured out what the deal is with it. I also don’t intend to turn that one into a series, although I might enjoy doing several one off post-apoc stories that are unrelated (different disaster situations, for example).

What’s driving this? My need to explore. And my need to sell books. My second series I ever released, Wanted,  was post-apocalyptic and is arguably my strongest one to date, and it only has 4 books in it. Yet over 6 or 7 years it has sold more copies, per book, than anything else I’ve written. But I don’t have any more for those characters that would do them justice. So why not try to recreate the magic with someone else?

So the questions I have to answer is what caused the breakdown of society? Disease? War? Aliens? Economic collapse? Terrorism? Climate change? Massive power Outages? Rise of Artificial Intelligence? A global shortage of coffee?

Next is the characters. Who are they and why are they? Are they young, middle aged, old, or something else? I’m planning on a romance element, but how is that going to play out? Then there’s the heat level, which is writer-speak for how hot and heavy do things get in the story (aka if the book were a show, would it be rated G, PG, PG13, R, NC17, or higher)?

And after I figure all that out, then I have to come up with a plot. What drives the characters and what do they need to try and accomplish? This is often called the trope, and to be honest I mostly let this question resolve itself as I write the story, but I usually have an idea what’s supposed to happen too. So far I’m fumbling with a blank slate. I’ve got a concept that I explained, but no idea how to fill in the blanks yet. Hopefully organizing my thoughts in this post will pour enough gas on the fire to help me figure it out and get started.

Feel free to toss some ideas at the wall too. I’m happy to take any feedback I can get and see if I can work with it. As I said, I might like to do several of these stories so the more raw material I’ve got to fit in, the better!

Oh, and if you just want more Dark Universe, Vitalis, Voidhawk, etc. hang in there, it’s still coming – I promise!

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

When Writing Sucks

That’s a strong title. Perhaps too strong. Nonetheless, I’ve noticed something as I near my 100th published story. A pattern or a trend, if you will. Almost every book suffers from parts where it becomes almost a chore (or in some cases it is a chore) to continue on. And that, my friends, sucks.

When I start a new story, no matter the premise, setting, or characters, I’m excited. It’s a blank book full of possibilities and potential. Anything can happen. And, invariably, it soon does. Beginnings are a mystery waiting to be explored. Action and adventure and excitement and even romance. Yes, I can appreciate romance even considering I may not be plumbed for it.

The end of the book is another fast paced and very exciting time. The characters and sub plots are coming together. Questions are being answered and good things (usually) are happening. It’s fun and vindicating. All that time spent crafting the story and exploring the ups and downs of the characters is about to be rewarded.

The part that can suck? That’s in the middle. That’s when I’ve got different characters doing different things and I start to doubt what’s going on. The end seems so far away and I often wonder if the people I’m writing about will ever make it there. It’s not writer’s block – I don’t believe that exists – it’s a matter of complexities and low points in the story that are necessary. Truth be told, they aren’t even that low, they just aren’t the emotional build up and pending release that other points in the story hold.

Several months ago I read something that I believe R.A. Salvatore posted on Facebook where felt a very similar thing. I shared my empathy with him, but my comment was no doubt lost among the masses. After all, Mr. Salvatore is a NY Times Bestseller and has achieved exceptional success with his writing and sales. I may have the NY Times bestseller title under my belt, but sales these days are in the gutter, so I remain a little fish in an ever expanding pond.

The point is, for budding writers out there or those that feel they get stuck mid way through their book: take heart, it happens to most (if not all) of us. The fear that we’ve overstepped our bounds and that the end we envisioned can’t possibly happen because of what we just did. Well, the good news is, you’re in charge (or the characters are). Either way, the book can and will go on. If the ending changes, then change it. Just keep writing and finding the words to reach that point. It’s like putting one foot in front of the other until you reach your destination. It may seem like a long walk, but no matter how long it is, you can only get there one step at a time.

My current project, Lucky Star, is the 6th book in my Dark Universe series and I’m suffering a minor spell of this sort. I love the new and old characters and I love the story, I’m just troubled about how I’m going to connect where I’m at with where I want it to go. The characters will show me the way, they always do, but that doesn’t stop the frustration of wondering just how, exactly, that’s going to happen.

The answer, as always, is to write on.

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

New Book, New Setting, New Universe

I just fired off my newsletter and I still have post pics to my Facebook page and update my personal website. I’ll get to that in a minute though, first I want to write this and get it out there because I can hardly contain my excitement. I teased a new series and concept in a recent blog post. This is the culmination of all that work: Terminus.

The first book in the series has been available for more than a week already but it wasn’t free yet. Now it is. And not only that, but my second book in that setting is also available now. Between that, John M. Davis’s book (Ghost Planet), and the website being published and available – it’s time for the reveal!

Terminus is the name of the setting. It seemed fitting, given how a terminus is an end or a final destination. So it is for the characters in the first few stories in this new setting, but as with any ending, it is also a beginning. A beginning of new lives, new adventures, and new stories we get to tell.

The backdrop is four hundred years into the future, give or take. Humanity has spread to the stars. Even more than that, we’ve been met by aliens and they aren’t so different from us in many ways. Then again, some are – there are a lot of different races out there. So many that we’re not even sure who they all are yet.

We’ve got faster than light travel, we’ve got blaster rifles and pistols (pulsed laser weapons), conventional weapons, massive navies in space, an overreaching central government (called the Continuum) trying to control everything, and hundreds of smaller governments ranging from controlling systems to individual planets that are at odds with one another. Oh, and did I mention the Gifted? They’re a new order of psychics with some wicked and truly unpleasant powers.

Now here’s where John comes in (other than helping to brainstorm and create what we’ve come up with). I whipped up a novella for an introduction to the setting. It’s called Terminus (shocker), and it’s free! It’s actually been out for a little over a week now, but I didn’t want to advertise it until it was available for free. Now it is! But wait, that’s not all! (did you read that in a Billy Mays voice?)

John’s book, Ghost Planet, is also available. And so is my full length novel, Frozen Dreams (book 3 in the series). The way it works is Terminus sets the stage and gets you interested, then Ghost Planet introduces John’s cast of characters that are intertwined with mine. Frozen Dreams happens at the same time as the other two books and ties everything together with my cast of characters. Ghost Planet and Frozen Dreams are not free, sorry, but on the plus side John’s already working on his next book in the series, Fear the Gifted.

There’s a little bit more to Terminus that I haven’t mentioned yet. We love this setting so much, and we know readers will too, so we’re opening it up for contributions. No, we’re not asking you to do our work for us, we’re offering a spot on the Terminus website (http://www.booksofterminus.com) for people to contribute things they’d like to see in it. New planets, new alien races, new technologies or weapons, new characters (good or bad), or just about anything! We can’t promise everything will make it in, but we’ll do our best to work things in and be sure to let you know privately and publicly about the effort.

 

Terminus

Ghost Planet

Frozen Dreams


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Page Foundry / Inktera
Amazon

Amazon UK

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Kobo
Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble (coming soon)

iTunes (coming soon)

Kobo

Scribd

Page Foundry / Inktera

That’s it for now, but there’s lots more to come! As I said, John’s hard at work on the next book and both of us have promised 4+ Terminus stories this year. Knowing me, that will probably grow as long as the readers are there. The first two I already wrote were so much fun I tore through them in no time, so I can’t wait to immerse myself in this new setting again and explore it some more.

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .

The Future Just Got a Whole Lot Closer

2016 started out rough, but now it’s ramping up and launching straight into the year 2402! I teased in my last blog about the new project, Terminus. Well that’s when Terminus is set, in the year 2402. There has been contact with aliens – lots of contact, in fact. Humanity is spread amongst the stars and is colonizing worlds, on top of learning to live with other alien races under the galactic rule of the Continuum.

As exciting as Terminus is… it has to wait. Oh sure, I’ve been feverishly working on a web site and an introductory story for it, but it’s not yet time for those. What it is time for is another very active and compelling science fiction tale to keep you busy: Shades of Dark.

First, in spite of the name, I want to promise there is no poor acting or whips and chains in the book. Mind you, there might be some used behind closed doors – Seph and Twyf are both pretty uninhibited when it comes to showing their affection for their partners. The point is, this novel continues the story of Aden and his friends and family as they seek to topple the Kesari domination of the known universe. There are some scenes of torture and bondage, now that I think about it, but there are no safe words

Here’s the blurb, to whet your appetite a little more:

For Aden and Twyf, a human and his Tassarian lover, the time has come for them to have a few moments to themselves. The moment is spoiled by a surprise attack launched by the Kesari. Their goal? Destroy anyone and everyone seeking to upset the control they’ve established over the universe.

The thing about heroes is that, no matter how unlikely or unwilling, they don’t go down without a fight. Bloodied by the assault and the loss of their friends, Aden and his remaining friends must set out to do the impossible: Topple an alien regime.

Hopelessly outnumbered and facing superior technology, Aden, Twyf, Sierra, and Seph have run out of tricks and luck. Will running on sheer willpower alone in an alien universe amidst uncertain allies be enough?

 

Into the Dark (book 1)

Out of the Dark (book 2)
Chasing the Dark (book 3)


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Page Foundry / Inktera

Oyster
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Page Foundry / Inktera

Oyster
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Page Foundry / Inktera

Oyster







Dark Star (book 4)
Shades of Dark (book 5)



Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Scribd

Page Foundry / Inktera

Oyster
Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Scribd

Page Foundry / Inktera

Now stay tuned for Terminus. I plan to launch the website at either the end of this month or early next month, along with the first story – for free! Shortly after that two new releases will be available, one by myself and the other by my talented accomplice in the Terminus setting: John M. Davis. Personally I’ve set a goal to write 4 Terminus stories this year, if not more. I can’t speak for John, but I know he shares my passion for writing a quality story as well as knowing what it takes to get the work done. Heck, the man has over 20 published works already! That’s the mark of an individual who’s fought through the trenches and is willing to go the distance.

Until then, I hope to drop more teasers and pleasers here about Terminus. Stay tuned, I’ll be releasing bits and pieces about technology and alien races (For example, I just conceived a new one today, Mongrellians).

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter , or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .