Eric Kent Edstrom's Blog, page 8
September 15, 2013
New Release: Daughter of Nothing — I’m pretty stoked about this one!
Few people even know that the Scion School exists. Tucked away on a private Caribbean island, the school is host to thirty-six exceptionally gifted students, all orphans. They train and study every day to prepare themselves for an immense responsibility, to lead humankind back from the brink of extinction.
At least, that’s what they’ve been told.
Among the thirty-six is Jacey, 17, one of four Scions in the Eagle class. She is the favorite of the 93-year-old headmaster, Dr. Carlhagen. But when Jacey overhears a conversation between a strange visitor and one of the school’s first graduates, she learns a stunning fact about her future. One that Dr. Carlhagen has kept from all the Scions.
Following the cryptic clues given to her by the school’s AI professor, Jacey races to untangle the truth of who the Scions are, and what the headmaster really means when he says they are bound for a great destiny.
Get it now at these fine e-tailers.
Amazon
Barnes and Noble(nook)
Kobo (epub)
Apple iBookstore (coming soon)
September 9, 2013
Wow. Map from my upcoming novel: Daughter of Nothing
Check this out. My next novel Daughter of Nothing is going to be out very soon. It features this beautiful map of The Scion School by Jared Blando. Download a big, printable version: Download
September 3, 2013
Worldcon 2013 Report
I’ll keep this short long.
First:
Winter is coming (And I’m the Frost Meister).
Second: Not only was this my first Worldcon, it was my first con of any kinds since I went to a Gencon sometime around 1989 (as best I can remember). I had no idea what to expect, except that there would be some people I knew (or knew of) in attendance.
As soon as I arrived, I spied George R.R. Martin sitting in the convention center lobby, holding court. He continued to hold court fairly regularly.
The programming was okay, but was heavy on panels that didn’t seem to have much purpose for fans or writers. The panels that related to indie publishing didn’t have the right panelists.
That said, people seemed engaged and to be enjoying themselves. I had expected the dealer room to have more vendors, but I wasn’t particularly looking to buy anything anyway. Especially books. I have so many unread books already, that one of my shelves recently collapsed. Truth.
Particularly interesting to me was sitting in on panels about the “new wave of SF” which began in the mid/late sixties. I knew nothing about this (having been born after the sixties). Panelists like Norman Spinrad and Kim Stanley Robinson (who knows everything about everything [and I don't mean that in nasty way]), were fascinating. I’ve added a bunch of stuff to my aforementioned infinite to-read list as a result.
I saw many famous (to SF and Fantasy fans, anyway) authors, and many up-and-comers. Perhaps the highlight of the con was the Hugh Howey meet-up at the hotel restaurant. He’s extraordinarily gracious, and a model for how to be a cool author. He’s like a triple crown role model: as a writer, as an indie publisher, and as a celebrity. Also, I met some really cool people there, all writers. Huge win.
On Sunday, I took a day off to visit my brother in Austin. I got to see his beautiful home and family and just rest for a while. Also got to experience the real deal Texas BBQ, where I at all the meat. Marbled brisket . . . mmmmmmm.
Finally, and not least, I met up with some friends, those I’ve met in person and those I only knew online. Had some great conversations! Writers are my people. I genuinely expect to see some of their names on the program in the future.
The Hugo awards ceremony happened while I was in Austin, so I didn’t watch it unfold. I pretty much knew who would win, since it’s kind of a popularity contest. That said, I was thrilled that Brandon Sanderson won for best novella and that the Writing Excuses team won for whatever category they were in. Best Related Work? Who cares?
One thing that is problematic with the Hugos is there is no YA SF category. This is obviously ridiculous, since it probably has greater readership than the stuff you find in the SF/F section of the bookstore. And of course, no indie category. I’m not holding my breath on that one.
The con has a serious age/diversity problem in my opinion. I saw a few more younger folks on the weekend days, but it just didn’t seem to attract much of the younger crowd. I suspect they were at Dragoncon, but what do I know? I’ll just mention again that they don’t have a YA SF hugo award, so you know . . .
So that’s it. Next year the con will be in London. I’ll be in Atlanta.
August 19, 2013
Cover Reveal: Daughter of Nothing
I am thrilled to reveal the cover for my upcoming novel Daughter of Nothing. It features stunning artwork by Anna Dittmann.
The novel, which launches my new YA science fiction series The Scion Chronicles, will be out at the end of September/early October.
Dim the lights! And here we go . . .
July 9, 2013
My Writing Space
My current writing space. A converted recording studio.
Free short story: Skinner Builder in 3 Heartbeats
Yeah! A free short story.
First of all, this is only free on Kobobooks.com. Why only there? Because it’s the only major etailer that lets me make books free without exclusivity (Amazon) or long delays (everywhere else).
If you don’t have a Kobo, you can copy the ePub file you get from there onto a Nook or into any number of apps on iphone or ipad.
“BUT, BUT, BUT . . . . what about us Kindle folk?” (email me and I can hook you up with a file you can copy to your kindle)
Get the story for zippo (aka zilch, goose egg) money!
But wait, there’s more! You can also get my short story Angry Sean from Kobobooks for free if you use the checkout code ANGRYSEAN. (yeah, I could just make it free, but this way the sale counts as a sale instead of a freebie. It’s an experiment.)
July 1, 2013
News and New Releases
Three pieces of news . . . All of which are exciting, stunning, and world-changing (to me, anyway).
First: My next novel is off to my editor, who will proceed to bleed all over it (and make it better.) I still have not set the release date yet, but it won’t be earlier than mid-August. Between now and then I’ll be doing a cover reveal. Let me just say that cover for this book is stunning!!!!!!!!!
Second: A couple short stories are up and available for your reading pleasure.
In this humorous science fiction satire, posthumans Zee and Dox visit the amusement planet of Earthworld, hoping to get in touch with their human roots. As part of their journey, Zee wants to experience a human-themed wedding. Dox has a darker purpose for his visit.
Join them and their Marktwain as they explore vast, living dioramas of human history. (Oh. And there is a bigfoot in this one. And he’s not friendly!)
Amazon
Kobo (epub)
Barnes and Noble (nook)
Apple – check in a couple weeks
“My name is Skinner Builder, and I am a multi-trillionaire. I am also dying, which is why I’ve come to this unlevel world twenty-seven light years from Earth. I come to see the Reader, though I suspect she’s a fraud.”
Amazon
Barnes and Noble (nook)
Kobo (epub) (hasn’t gone live there yet. Soon!)
Apple – check in a couple weeks
Third: While my next novel is with my editor, I’m not just sitting around in my smoking jacket, drinking green smoothies, and watching the entire run of That 70′s Show on Netflix. No! I’m writing what appears to be a longish novella (or a short novel). This is unconnected to anything else I’ve done, but will be part of a fantasy series I’ve been tinkering with for a while. As always, keep checking my Works in Progress page if you’re interested in finding out what I’m up to.
June 12, 2013
June 11, 2013
Exclusive: Danny Michealson Interview
World Famous Teenager Speaks Publicly for the First Time Since First Contact
by Margaret Clarkson
We meet in a hotel suite in downtown Nashville over take out from one of his favorite restaurants, the Wild Horse Saloon. Danny Michealson’s fame is such that he can no longer walk down Broadway, let alone dine in public. Secret Service guards are posted at his door, and Danny travels in a government-issue armored SUV.
Though he lounges on the hotel sofa in khakis and untucked button down shirt, his posture is anything but relaxed. For a boy of just seventeen, he seems extraordinarily self posessed, eyes hold an intensity I’ve only seen in Fortune 500 CEOs and war veterans.
As we sit down for the interview, I have the distinct impression he doesn’t like me. That said, he is polite and offers to order room service if the Wild Horse’s burgers aren’t to my liking.
MC: Tell me about your first encounter with one of the bigfeet.
Danny: It was the scariest moment of my life. Up to that point (laughs). It was during the hike. I don’t remember which day it was, maybe five or six. We had been hiking all day, and we were really tired. Harvin, our guide, took me and Breyona to a creek to fill our water bottles. But Harvin heard something. A shriek. Like a weird bird call. We all heard it. Harvin went to investigate,leaving Breyona and me alone for a little while. And that’s when we saw it.
MC: A bigfoot
Danny: Yeah. It turned out to be Grizz.
MC: But by all accounts Grizz is very gentle.
Danny: He is. But at the time he looked really angry to me. But that’s because he was chasing a tangeg that had gotten loose. It was all part of GorVit’s plan to force the bigfeet to the surface. Gor wanted humans to find the bigfeet. To force First Contact.
MC: What happened that made Grizz so frightening?
I don’t even remember it that well. Breyona and I had gotten scared by some noises in the woods, and we tried to cross the creek to get away from it. But I fell in, and that’s when Grizz picked me up. He saved my life. But I didn’t know that’s what he was trying to do. I thought he was going to kill me. I thought he’d done something to Breyona. After he dropped me, I ran into the woods, and I found Breyona hiding behind a tree. We watched Grizz pacing back and forth holding something to his ear. We thought he had a telephone. And then he came at us.
MC: Sounds terrifying
Danny: It was. You’ve seen them in person, but most people have only seen a bigfeet on TV. That doesn’t give you any idea how big they really are. It’s like when you go to a football game, or a basketball game. That’s when you really get to see how big those athletes are. And smallest bigfoot, is bigger than any of those athletes. And they kind of look like bears—their faces anyway–so yeah, it was terrifying.
Breyona and I tried to run, but it was clear from the footsteps behind us we were never going to escape. I think I grabbed a stick or something. I was really desperate. Grizz stopped and looked at us, and then he heard a sound. And I’ll never forget this for as long as I live. He spoke to us.
MC: What did he say?
Danny: He said, “What a mess.” And then he took off into the woods. And that’s when the hypothermia started to kick in and I sort of passed out for a while. Harvin rescued me. Built a fire. And Breyona . . .
MC: Did you tell Harvin what you saw?
Danny: (long pause) Eventually. You have to understand, when you don’t have any evidence that you’ve seen a bigfoot, it doesn’t really do any good to go telling everyone you’ve seen one. They tend to laugh in your face.
MC: But you saw Grizz again
Danny: Yeah.
MC: You seem reticent. Is there some reason you don’t want to talk about this?
Danny: It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. It’s just that I know how words can be misconstrued. I don’t want people to think poorly of Grizz.
MC: Because he abducted you.
Danny: It wasn’t Grizz who did it. There was another bigfoot. He was—difficult.
MC: Did he harm you?
Danny: Not exactly. Look, everyone knows the bigfeet take an oath of nonviolence. But this Bigfoot—
You’re speaking of Hanameesovenama, or as you called him, Shaggy.
Danny: Yes. Shaggy’s interpretation of the Oath was . . . different. He used the Oath as an excuse to hold me and the others against our will. But Grizz, and many of the others, disagreed with Shaggy. I want everybody to understand that kidnapping us was not the will of all of the bigfeet. And when the Great Mother found out about it, she was furious.
MC: I understand. But don’t you think it’s important for the public to know that not all of the bigfeet agree with the Great Mother? That the current leader of the Council of the Strict, your friend Grizz, does not speak for all of the bigfeet in Undermountain?
Danny: I guess so. But those at the center of Shaggy’s plans have all been demoted and reassigned.
MC: Have you ever heard of the Stockholm syndrome?
Danny: You mean when hostages start caring about their captors? You’re not the first person to ask me that question. And if you’re asking if that’s what happened to me, I can assure you I feel no great love for my captors. But as I said, Shaggy and his allies have been demoted and reassigned. The bigfeet you see on television–the ones interacting with the governments of the world–those are not the ones who kidnapped me and my friends.
MC: You spent some days in Undermountain. But when you are rescued on the mountainside, you and your friends lied. You said nothing of Undermountain or the bigfeet. You said you’d been trapped in a cave-in.
Danny: Yes.
MC: Why?
Danny: It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. One of the reasons the bigfeet wanted to keep us in Undermountain was that they were afraid of being discovered by humans. They felt that if the human race got a hold of their technology, that we would turn it into weapons. And when we escaped, we all agreed that the bigfeet’s fear was probably valid. That for all the good the bigfeet could do us, the human race wasn’t ready.
MC: This is one of the things it doesn’t make sense to most of the public. If the bigfeet were so dead set on keeping their existence secret, why did they come out and make First Contact a months later?
Danny: That was Shaggy’s doing. He had a plan to—
Let’s just say his timetable moved up because the tangoga forced his hand. Or so he thought. I’m still not convinced it was the best thing.
The fact that the tangoga presented a threat was partly his fault, too. As a member of the Council of the Strict, it was his responsibility to keep an eye on GorVit, who had earlier tried to annhiliate all the bigfeet in Undermountain. But GorVit escaped.
MC: And he came after you.
Danny: They kidnapped me from my grandmother’s house. Those of us who had escaped Undermountain were having a reunion there.
MC: And?
Danny: Somehow GorVit managed to hire some goons. Humans. I never did learn their names. He killed them as soon as they’d done their dirty work. They came into my grandma’s house and took me and Wa. They gave us some sort of sedative and then we woke up in Egypt. In some ruin. I have no idea how GorVit got there. For all I know, he shipped himself there in a crate, same way he got us there.
MC: And why did he want you?
Danny: He wanted my help solving a puzzle.
MC: What kind of puzzle?
Danny: I’m not supposed to talk about it.
MC: Does it have something to do with the so-called Starkiller?
Danny: I don’t know you’re talking about.
MC: No? You’re telling me you’ve never heard if the term Starkiller?
Danny: Sounds like something from a videogame.
MC: Do you understand why so many are suspicious of the bigfeet?
Danny: I understand it. I really do. I wish I could ease their minds about them. If they could meet Grizz, they’d know.
MC: I think what people object to most are all of the conditions the Great Mother has put on sharing her technology.
Danny: It is their technology. We don’t have a right to it.
MC: You haven’t returned to school in Nashville. There are rumors you’re working for the government. What role does a 17-year-old boy play in the the government’s work with the bigfeet?
Danny: It’s true that I have not returned to school. And I do work with the government. I understand the bigfeet culture better than any other human, so I’m a sort of liaison. I guess you could call me a consultant, or a diplomat.
MC: But you were only with the bigfeet for a short time. I’m sure that the government could find any number of volunteers to spend the same amount or more time with them. Those who are more qualified as diplomats.
Danny: The bigfeet specifically requested me. And you can’t think of them as an adversary. They are not. I’m not saying we don’t have differences, but they need nothing from us. They don’t want any of our resources. The don’t need any of it. They are truly benevolent.
MC: Isn’t it true that the bigfeet specifically said they would deal with no one else but you?
Danny: I’m not privy to all of the conversations the bigfeet have with humans. If you’re saying that you think I’m too young, or too inexperienced, then I can understand your concern. From your perspective, that is. But you have no idea what I went through. What I did. I am qualified. So is Breyona. So is Em. So is Joachim.
MC: We have no idea what you went through because you won’t tell us.
Danny: The whole story will come out. Eventually. But there are a lot of moving parts to this.
I’d rather we focus on the positives, you know? The things we’ve gotten from the bigfeet so far, in the areas of medicine, clean energy, and our knowledge of life elsewhere in the galaxy, all of those things are available to the public due to the generosity of the bigfeet, and in large part due to my influence with them. I’m not saying that to brag. It’s just the truth.
MC: Many people are suspicious of the technologies you mentioned.
Danny: No one’s forcing anyone to take advantage of the technologies, especially the medical ones. That’s entirely voluntary. But we all know where this planet was heading before First Contact. Even if you don’t like that there was some strings attached–all of which have been made public–no one can’t argue the benefits. It’s clear from the growth in the global economy, the reduction in pollutants in our water and air, the increased food production–all of it organic, by the way–that the quality of life on earth has only been benefitted by the bigfoot technology.
MC: You don’t talk like a 17-year-old
Danny: (smiles) I’ve lived a full life.
MC: A report leaked two weeks ago that suggested you’ve been off planet Earth.
Danny: (laughs) There is no way to answer that statement without adding fuel to the conspiracy theory fires. I won’t respond to leaked reports.
MC: You could simply deny it
Danny: If I start denying every allegation, then all I’ll be dealing with are more allegations as people try to suss out what happened. I repeat, the entire story will come out. I’ve been deeply involved with the project. It is detailed–very detailed–and it will be thorough. But what we don’t want is for half the story to come out, which is what’ll happen if I just answer interview questions and random allegations.
MC: One could interpret that to mean that you and the bigfeet and the government are conspiring to create a huge piece of propaganda. That you’re all trying to get your story straight.
Danny: You’ll have to be the judge of that. I’ll make sure you’re on the list when the report comes out. We have some special events and tours planned for journalists. I’m confident you’ll be impressed and convinced.
MC: And what happened to GorVit?
Danny: They’re dead. I can say with absolute certainty that GorVit can do nothing to harm Earth or the bigfeet ever again.
MC: Do you have proof of that?
Danny: I do. You’ll see it at the end of the report. Video footage of Gor’s destruction. Vit was already dead by then.
MC: With today’s special effects, footage like that could be faked.
Danny: We’ll take explosive experts to the site. They can analyze the scorch marks. That’s the best I can do.
MC: Scorch marks?
Danny: (smiling, coldly) Yes. Scorch marks.
Join me next time for an exclusive interview with Breyona Lewis.
June 9, 2013
New Release: “Angry Sean”
I’m stoked to announce that my short story “Angry Sean” is rolling out across the ebook universe. Pick up a copy for the ereader of choice on Kindle or Nook or Kobo (coming soon).
Sean doesn’t know where the Medallion came from. He just woke up one day with it embedded in his chest, right over his heart. Even worse, the artifact makes him angrier and angrier until he has to “split”. Making the best of the curse, Sean uses his Split, Angry Sean, to do dirty work for people in need.
So when a miserable client comes in, asking him to help rescue her young daughter from an abusive household, Angry Sean is more than ready to deal out some pain.
