Steph Bennion's Blog, page 12

A Wizard, A Sword And A King

PUBLISHED TODAY is A WIZARD, A SWORD AND A KING, a free seasonal short story and a prequel to PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS. On the moon of Avalon, Alpha Centauri, the young orphan Artorius is resigned to spending Christmas alone, wandering the snowy streets of Londinium just as a new series of the bloodthirsty holovid show 'Gods Of Avalon' is about to start. As the medieval tournament gets under way, he finds that the alien-worshipping nuns encamped in the fake Temple of Mithras are taking more notice of him than usual. Not only that, but the man playing wizard Merlin was not the usual company cyberclone! AWIZARD, A SWORD AND A KING is available as a WyrdStar pdf and is also now included in Smashwords editions of PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS. Readers who previously bought this novel from Smashwords can download all subsequent updates at no extra cost. (Steph).

News snippets

A smattering of minor news items today: The 'you set the price' special offer for PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS at Smashwords (normally USD3.99) and HOLLOW MOON at Smashwords (normally USD2.99) will come to an end on Sunday 8 December, so grab a bargain while it lasts! Secondly, this year's seasonal short story, A WIZARD, A SWORD AND A KING, is a bit delayed but should be out on Sunday 15 December as a WyrdStar pdf ebook. Finally, the latest addition to the WyrdStar website reveals all (well, some) of the movie influences that made their presence felt whilst I was writing PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS; some influences are obvious, others maybe not. (This page is actually just an excuse to plug the near-forgotten Hammer film 'Moon Zero Two', which deserves wider recognition in the annals of sci-fi movie history.) I hope you find it of interest. Thanks for reading! (Steph).

Officially Awesome

Firstly, PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS has been approved for inclusion in Awesome Indies. More details soon! Secondly, WyrdStar books are now being shipped to Flipkart, the India-based online retailer of books, music, movies and lots more. Those of you who have read HOLLOW MOON will understand why I'm quite excited about getting into the Indian ebook market! Links will be added to this website as the various titles become available. Finally, this year's Christmas seasonal short story is on its way. A WIZARD, A SWORD AND A KING is a prequel of sorts to PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS, where the young orphan Artorius finds himself spending Christmas on the Londinium holovid set. The hit holovid reality show 'Gods Of Avalon' is about to start, only things aren't quite what they seem... (Steph).

Kobo UK ebook store and Amazon free offers

WyrdStar ebooks are currently unavailable from the Kobo online store to UK customers. For those of you who missed the story, Kobo and UK retailer WHSmith took umbrage at certain items of 'adult' literature that they had previously accepted via the usual self-publishing channels, with the result that all self-published titles have been removed from their virtual shelves in the UK. WyrdStar does not publish such literature, but our ebooks have been removed along with the rest. Kobo has assured affected independent publishers that normal service will be resumed (for most) as soon as possible. Meanwhile, a series of special offers are scheduled for THREE TALES FOR CHRISTMAS, which will be available free of charge from Amazon over a month of Sundays! Or to put it another way, on Sunday 27 October, 3 November, 10 November, 17 November and 24 November. As before, these offers start around midnight US Pacific Standard Time, so should take effect from 8:00am in the UK. (Steph).

Book reviews and ebook price changes

Books by WyrdStar have received some nice coverage recently. Writer, blogger and reviewer for Awesome Indies D L Morrese wrote the first review for the recently published PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS, though not before also giving HOLLOW MOON an equally-cracking write-up - see links on WyrdStar website news page. The Indie Book Reviewer blog has a nice write-up (and an interview with yours truly) about WYRD WORLDS. This is one of several author interviews done by contributors, links to which can be found with author biographies section of the WyrdStar book page. If you haven't already got a copy of this damn fine anthology, download it now! Finally, WyrdStar ebook pricing has been reviewed: the main change is a price reduction for HOLLOW MOON and an extension to the 'you set the price' deal at Smashwords; see WyrdStar website for full details... (Steph)

Paw-Prints Of The Gods out now!

Published today is PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS, the sequel to HOLLOW MOON! On the forbidding planet of Falsafah, archaeologists are on the verge of a discovery that will shake the five systems to the core. Ravana O'Brien finds herself on another wild adventure with a mysterious little orphan, a cake-obsessed secret agent and a god-like watcher who is maybe also a cat. The cyberclone monks are preparing to meet their saviours. But nobody believes in prophecies anymore, do they? PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS is available from Amazon UK / USA at a recommended retail price of GBP2.99 / USD3.99 and will soon be available from other ebook retailers. A limited-time offer is currently running at Smashwords, where for two weeks, both PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS and HOLLOW MOON are available via an exclusive 'you name the price' deal! Happy reading... (Steph)

Wyrd Worlds anthology out now!

WYRD WORLDS is a new anthology of science-fiction and fantasy short stories by indie authors brought together by the social network Goodreads. The collection, which contains 14 stories from 12 writers from around the world, includes a wide range of speculative fiction, from slices of fantasy and time travel to steampunk and science-fiction. The tales vary widely, yet are all born from the same drive to create, share ideas and above all to entertain! Wyrd Worlds is currently free of charge available at Smashwords, with more ebook retailers to follow. (Steph)

Hollow Moon offer at Amazon

For the next couple of weeks (or longer if the fancy takes me), Hollow Moon is GBP 0.77 / USD 0.99 from Amazon USA / UK (and other Amazon sites), reduced from the usual recommended retail price of GBP 2.99 / USD 3.99. Enjoy! (Steph)

Christmas in July

Christmas in July is something I heard about after a trip 'down under' many years ago. To mark this rather odd occasion, THREE TALES FOR CHRISTMAS, my science-fiction short-story collection for the Kindle, is free from Amazon on Wednesday 24 July to Friday 26 July... (Steph)

Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale Promotion

For one month only, thousands of Smashwords authors and publishers are providing huge discounts on ebooks. Hot on the heels of June's special offer on Amazon, HOLLOW MOON at Smashwords will be half price throughout July, reduced from the usual recommended retail price of USD 3.99, as part of the annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale. The special promotion catalogue goes live on 1 July (US Pacific time) on the Smashwords home page, where readers can browse what is on offer and search by coupon levels and catagories. Seek out new authors today! (Steph)