Steph Bennion's Blog, page 10

Democracy: An Epitaph coming soon...

Coming soon is DEMOCRACY: AN EPITAPH, a collection of political verse by up-and-coming London poet Lallafa Jeltz. This short anthology contains six poems to mark the forthcoming UK General Election: None Of The Above, Ode To Magna Carta, Civil Disobedience, The Road To Number Ten, Blameless Tiers and Democracy: An Epitaph. The ebook edition will be published 13 April 2015... (Steph).

Google Play, Flood City Blues and other updates

A smattering of minor updates. Firstly, HOLLOW MOON and PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS ebooks are now available from Google Play (see book pages for links). If you have an Android phone or tablet, the chances are you're already familiar with Google's mighty online store. Secondly, from 2 to 6 March (i.e. starting tomorrow), THREE TALES FOR CHRISTMAS will be available free of charge from Amazon UK, USA and other Amazon sites. Finally, the tentatively-entitled FLOOD CITY BLUES, the third novel from The Worlds of Hollow Moon, is taking an age to write but should be completed sometime later this year. In the meantime, I've released A MESSAGE TO EARTH, a first-draft teaser from the new novel, just to prove this isn't all lies and I am actually writing something. Happy reading! (Steph).

Smashwords Reads 2014

Happy New Year! Yes, I know I'm almost three weeks late, but that still leaves over eleven months in which to make this year joyous. Once again, in the spirit of annual musings on the year now gone, the Smashwords Reads 2014 page presents a collection of short reviews of the indie ebooks that took my fancy in 2014, complete with Goodreads star ratings. Most are science-fiction: reviews are obviously subjective and my tastes can be a little quirky at times... (Steph).

GENIE And The LAMP

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Published today is G.E.N.I.E. AND THE L.A.M.P., a free seasonal short story from The Worlds of Hollow Moon. A young Angelos Inari, petty thief and self-professed laziest man in Epsilon Eridani, is offered more money than he's ever seen to help steal a top-secret corporation interrogation device. Before the night is out, the Local Ambient Megastructure Projector has surrounded him in riches and won him the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, the mysterious Namtar has no intention of letting Inari keep his wonderful new prize... G.E.N.I.E. AND THE L.A.M.P. is an 'origin' story for the incompetent revolutionaries Namtar and Inari. Having first appeared together in HOLLOW MOON, the dynamic duo will return to cause more havoc in the forthcoming third novel. SPECIAL OFFER: From 24 to 28 December, THREE TALES FOR CHRISTMAS will be available free of charge from Amazon UK, USA and other Amazon sites (see www.wyrdstar.co.uk/news.html for links). Happy reading! (Steph).

Awesome Indies website relaunch

AWESOME INDIES, the book review site dedicated to quality self-published works, is launching its shiny new website this weekend and celebrating in style with a huge sale - 70 ebooks under USD3.00! To quote Awesome Indies: "Every one of these books is worth your time. Buy them and support the independent authors who are spear-heading the new wave of quality independent fiction." (see http://awesomeindies.net). I'm pleased to announce that a new additon to Awesome Indie's stable is HOLLOW MOON, which joins PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS as an 'approved' ebook for your reading pleasure. Both titles are available for GBP1.99 / USD2.99 from all major ebook stockists. Finally, this month's offer on THREE TALES FOR CHRISTMAS closes today. This ebook is available for free from Amazon UK / USA (and other Amazon sites)... (Steph).

Author Interview at Pebble In The Still Waters

Book blogger Jaideep Khanduja asked me to answer some questions for his 'Pebble In The Still Waters' blog and despite getting side-tracked for a couple of months, eventually I did just that. The resulting blog was published today! (See www.wyrdstar.co.uk/news.html for links.) On a related note, a few other 'Wyrd Worlds' writers have also been interviewed on various blogs, the links to which can be found in the 'Author Biographies' section on the WYRD WORLDS II page. Happy reading... (Steph).

Short stories galore

WYRD WORLDS II is now available online at most major ebook retailers. This should be available free of charge, but if this is not the case from your preferred retailer, all popular ereader formats are also available from Smashwords. Meanwhile, THREE TALES FOR CHRISTMAS will be available free of charge from Amazon UK / USA (and other Amazon sites) on Friday 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st October. This offer starts around midnight US Pacific Standard Time. Short stories are a great distraction for the daily commute! Unless you drive to work, that is (please don't read and drive). Enjoy... (Steph).

Wyrd Worlds II anthology out now!

PUBLISHED TODAY is WYRD WORLDS II, the work of an international collection of science fiction and fantasy writers, independent authors old and new, who have come together through the book recommendations site Goodreads to contribute to this anthology. This ebook contains a bumper 19 short stories from 17 independent authors from around the world, encompassing a wide range of science fiction and fantasy. Here lurks tales of the future, steampunk and time travel; of magical realms and fantastical deeds; and of things so weird they defy categorisation. The original WYRDS WORLDS rode upon a new wave of indie collaborations; and now we're back! The anthology is available free of charge from Smashwords, with more ebook retailers to follow. (Steph).

Wyrd Worlds II coming soon...

WYRD WORLDS II, the sequel to last year's anthology, is on its way! If all goes to plan, the ebook will available from Smashwords from 21 September, before being rolled out at other retailers over the following weeks. This collection contains a bumper 19 stories from 17 indie authors from around the world, encompassing a wide range of science fiction and fantasy: from tales of the future, steampunk worlds and time travel, tales of magical realms and fantastical deeds, to tales that are just weird and defy categorisation. Watch this space... (Steph).

Goodreads giveaway winners

Congratulations to the winners of the Goodreads giveaway for HOLLOW MOON and PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS in paperback. Around a thousand entries per title were received for the five copies on offer. The winners who will each receive a copy of HOLLOW MOON are: Ayman Mohamed Farag Bashandy (Cairo, Egypt), Julyn Cataquiz (Tayabas City, Philippines), Mohamed Ben Taouil (Marrakech, Morocco), Areta Gedutyte (Cavan, Ireland) and Beatriz Mira Godinho Santos (Lisbon, Portugal). The winners who will each receive a copy of PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS are: Vennela Indrakanti (Bangalore, India), Alexe Alexandra (Cremona, Italy), Kel Wheeldon (Springfield Lakes, Australia), Tony Drummond (Hemel Hempstead, England) and Tanu Awana (Noida, India). Thank you to all who entered. Books will hopefully be with the winners by the end of August. (Steph).