Jeffrey Allen Davis's Blog, page 13

What I’m Currently Reading

Since I first got my Kindle (nearly two years ago), I’ve been reading mostly on it. In fact, the only hardcopy books that I’ve read have been books that I already had and have already read in the past. So, this is a bit different:

It’s no secret that my ten-year-old daughter is an advanced reader for her age. And it’s no secret that I’m as proud of her as any father can be. Gone are the days when I could pick up a children’s picture book for her and she would be happy. Actually, those days have been gone for a long time. Now, she reads chapter books. The Barcode Tattoo is a book that she left at my house for me to read, as she has already read it and its sequel. Judging by the title, one would almost think that it’s an End-Times thriller, ala Left Behind. I guess I’ll find out.

It is a YA book, which is something that I need to read more often, considering the series that I’m writing.

Alright, Kaitlyn. Daddy accepts your challenge.

UPDATES

Whew! It’s been so long since my last update. My apologies to those of you who follow this blog. Life’s been hectic for me.

The editor of METAHUMANS VS. ROBOTS has given an update that the book is nearly ready. The cover art is just awaiting coloring and she should be ready to go. I’m excited and nervous about this one. The thrill of a new character is mixed with the fear of how my readers (and new readers) are going to react to said character. As I’ve said before, I have big plans for Seigi. She’ll be having another story in the next Metahumans anthology, along with some short stories published under the GCD Publishing banner. I won’t give her origin story until BOOK SIX of the Adventure Chronicles. After that, I have a number of full-length projects in store for this former Waruiyatsu-turned-super hero. Whereas I have had a definite end point in mind for the Adventure series, I intend to drive forward with Seigi, making her a new possible flagship character.

Speaking of the Adventure Chronicles, I’ve finished the first draft of BOOK FOUR and am working through the second draft. Once that’s completed, I’ll send it off to the editor. I’ve also sent her a short story that takex place between Book Three and Book Four. I’m hoping to have it released before the latter novella. And, for those of you who wanted to string me up for the death at the end of Book Three, please bear with me and read Book Four. Think about the second and third Star Trek movies.

Having now spent two books on the world of Thera, I’ve decided to write a trilogy there that is seperate from my main series. I see so much potential in the setting, I’m looking forward to mining it for all that it’s worth.

Well, that’s all for today. Until next time, God Bless.

Promo Weekend

I’m doing a push for downloads of Invasion of the Ninja, which is now permafree on the various sites. I’ve promoted it to various lists that post free ebooks and set them for delivery beginning on 8/23. You all can help by promoting this blog entry and downloading a copy, if you haven’t already done so. If you have done so, and have read it, please leave a review on your favorite online shopping site and Goodreads.

“Jamie and Yoshi are late twentieth century members of the Funakoshi ninja clan who were trained by Yoshi’s uncle, Tanemura Funakoshi. When the Waruiyatsu, a sinister clan with an ancient grudge, attack Jamie’s high school and hold his classmates hostage in an effort to bring Tanemura and his two students into the open, Jamie and his clan sister are forced to attempt a rescue.

“Going along are a close group of friends, each with his own interest in the fighting arts. From Dave, whose muscle-bound frame and love of a good scuffle are overshadowed by his cheerful personality and kind heart, to Buster, whose Bible is his greatest weapon, each of their friends has a loyalty to them and each other that is stronger than the Waruiyatsu can ever fathom.

“This is a story of courage, friendship, and faith ….”

Read it for FREE on your ereader device:

KINDLE

NOOK

KOBO

ITUNES

SMASHWORDS

Also, remember that you can get BOOK THREE for the introductory price of ninety-nine cents. The sale ends on August 28.

Book Three of the ADVENTURE CHRONICLES is FINALLY released!!!

It took awhile, but Gateway to Thera has finally been released. I had some headaches with the conversion to Smashwords being accepted into the Premium Catalog, but, after removing an unintended highlight from the theme Bible verse, it was finally accepted. So it’ll be released on Kobo, B&N, Apple and the rest within the next week or so. You can already purchase it at the links below.

BOOK THREE is very special to me in that it is the first book in the series that was never released by my prior publisher. The first two books were released (with virtually no editing) by my former “traditional” publisher. But I waited for my contract to be up before I ever considered releasing BOOK THREE. With cover art by the talented Andy Borders, the novel is more than I’d hoped for.

Currently available:

KINDLE

PAPERBACK

SMASHWORDS

The Four Questions and My Four Answers

I have been tagged by author Ethan Erway

to answer these 4 questions about my writing. So let’s see where they lead me?

You can always check out what his answers are for these same questions and much much more on his blog at:

http://ethanrussellerway.blogspot.com/2014/07/anna-questerly-tagged-me-for-blog-tour.html

What am I working on now?
I just released the third book in my ADVENTURE CHRONICLES series. I’ve also created a new character who will be included in the upcoming Metahumans vs. Robots. I intend to continue writing short fiction about her and I’m working on the fourth novel in my series in order to keep the ending of BOOK THREE from making too many of my fans want to tar and feather me. LOL.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?
I don’t know too many Christian YA books that feature ninja. My biggest rule of thumb is that I don’t let my Christian main characters be weaklings.

Why do I write what I do?
For the most part, I write what I would enjoy reading. It’s that simple.

How does my writing process work?
I have to write something everyday. I try to make sure that I’m working on more than one project, so that I can move around if I get stuck on one.

Now, it’s my turn to introduce you to two more authors who will continue this blog hop next Monday:

Sean Koury-Creator of Bounty Hunter, a metahuman who will be joining me in the upcoming “Metahumans vs.” books. Sean is also a talented voice actor.

TW Johnson-Creator of Metaegus, another metahuman who will be joining us. Tim is also a skilled graphic designer who is responsible for the layout of my book covers.

What’s Coming Next

While I’m waiting patiently for the final edit of Gateway to Thera to come back from my editor, I thought I’d mention something else I’ve been working on. When A.P. Fuchs announced his retirement a few months ago, the “Metahumans vs.” series found itself in limbo. Jennifer MacDonald, the creator of Nightcat, stepped forward to take over the project. This forced it to be put off a little longer, as her own Nightcat novel was due by May. Inspired, I decided to submit a short story. As the Adventure characters were not really suitable for a superhero story (although I insist that Yoshi could take the Huntress or Catwoman any day of the week), I found myself inventing a new character. She’ll be linked to my Adventure characters in a future book (probably BOOK SIX).

A former member of the Waruiyatsu ninja clan (you’ll recognize them from the Adventure Chronicles), she was trained to someday kill Yoshika Funakoshi. Obviously, she has to be incredibly skilled to do that. However, she had a conscience when they sent her to assassinate the six-year-old daughter of a diplomat and was kicked out of her clan. A nunekin, or clanless ninja, she has become a Christian and has vowed to make ammends for the lives that she took while a member of her former clan. When she stepped into the light, she stopped aging and found herself immune to poison and magic. Now she prowls the streets of St. Louis, MO, as Seigi (Japanese for “Justice”).

I’ve written two stories for the upcoming Metahumans vs. Robots and Metahumans Unleashed. I have three more short stories plotted out and at least one novel. Here’s a pic of the character, drawn by the talented Nathan Bonner and colored by the always gifted TW Johnson.

BOOK THREE Cover Reveal!!!

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of ups and downs. My editor has the updated manuscript of BOOK THREE and, hopefully, we’ll be looking at a release date by the 20th of June.

So I present to you the cover of Gateway to Thera: Book Three of the Adventure Chronicles.

As I’d mentioned, BOOK THREE takes some of my characters from Earth and throws them into a fantasy world that I will continue to explore in the future.

Thanks to Andy Borders for the amazing artwork and to TW Johnson for the color and cover layout.

Review of EXTINCTION POINT: REVELATIONS by Paul Antony Jones

I stumbled across the third book of the Extinction Point series without much fanfare. Having started off with a bang in the first book, the second one was a little bit of a let-down. And, unfortunately, this book continued that trend. The fear was gone completely. I don’t know what happened to the author, but I really didn’t like this volume.

A submarine crew joins Emily and Jacob. Emily turns into a real jerk toward Jacob. Despite his reason for lying to her, he still saved her life. Her anger toward him gets old real fast. The crew of the sub are mostly forgettable. For some reason, the one who becomes Emily’s new love interest (who is Scottish), took on the appearance of Gerard Butler in my mind.

We find out the reason for the attack. These aliens believe that humanity is too violent to continue to live, so they take it upon themselves to violently kill us so they can start a new planet.

Ugh. I think I would have just as soon not known their reason.

The author indicated that he’s planning on writing a fourth book. However, this third book pretty much ruined the series for me. As far as I’m concerned, Extinction Point is dead.

One Star.

Review of THE BLACK STILETTO: SECRETS & LIES by Raymond Benson

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I loved this series when it first came out. The titular heroine quickly won a place in my favorite heroes list. The second book lost a little something, but was still good. The third one threw politics into the mix and (wouldn’t you know) put her on the liberal side, along with making her jump into bed with two different men . . . way too easily, IMHO. I really didn’t like that book.

Well, there are five years’ worth of diaries that are telling the story of the Black Stiletto. Secrets & Lies is number four and it shows why the famed vigilante moved from NYC to California. She did it to follow a man.

Okay, it wasn’t that simple.

She had to leave New York, as the police there were making things incredibly difficult. The man, Leo, gave her a place to go.

Here’s where it gets a little bad. Leo is a criminal. So is his sister. Judy has slept with him and she STILL doesn’t recognize his voice when she interupts him . . . as the Black Stiletto . . . during a robbery. Her sixth sense keeps warning her that he’s hiding something from her. He’s as much as admitted to working with (though not for) criminals in his warehouse business. And she doesn’t put two and two together.

Why does she keep getting more and more naive?

The pros here are in the modern journals. We see Judy’s granddaughter finally find out about her heroic grandmother. Judy had somehow expected her granddaughter to continue her legacy. And, as much as Gina has learned to kick butt, I expect her to live up to Judy’s expectations.

In addition to the cons listed above, we have journal entries by Leo. These just didn’t seem to really belong.

So, the only thing that is making me really read the final book is Gina’s destiny and the fact that this book ended in a cliffhanger. Though the final book is due in November, 2014, I won’t necessarily buy it then. This series tends to charge way too much for ebooks. I purchased this one on sale for 3.99. It is currently 9.99. And that is twice what I’m willing to pay for a fiction ebook.

A Quick Interlude

I’m still diligently working on the updates on Gateway to Thera. I’ve taken very few breaks, outside of my day job, my daughter’s school’s Career Day, and her choir concert. Today, I received a package in the mail from Helock Comics. I had asked Jamie Hickson for two comics b . . . and dedicated to . . . John O’Neal, an artist from Campbell, MO, where I went to elementary and junior high. Sadly, “Big” John passed away recently and his death left a great number of people saddened. Jamie, who is the older brother of my old friend Ryan Hickson, sent me this:

Thanks, Jamie!