Hugh B. Long's Blog, page 10
July 27, 2014
Review: Write. Publish. Repeat.
Write. Publish. Repeat. by Sean Platt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I picked this book up because the authors are highly successful Independent authors and publishers. They’ve helped re-introduce the concept of the serial story via ebooks. Their “Yesterday’s Gone” series has sold gazillions of copies all across the galaxy. But seriously, this book is chock full of simple, but highly useful ideas. It’s also very entertaining. Learn from the guys who made lots of mistakes, and made it.
They finish the book with a series of interviews with other Indie authors who’ve been commercially successful. Most enjoyable book on writing I’ve had the pleasure to read.
View all my reviews
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July 22, 2014
Free Short Stories on Smashwords
Several of my short stories, including the Best Selling “Yggdrasil Codex” are now available on Smashwords for FREE! You can download ANY 
ebook format you like, and feel free to share them with anyone.
I’m foregoing the revenue from my short stories to allow more fans to try my work. Once you have a taste, I’ll have you hooked! With no added chemicals! LOL
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hughblong
I’m also producing self-narrated versions of many of my shorts and novel intros. You can find those on Podbean: http://hughblong.podbean.com
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July 19, 2014
Star Viking – Coming Soon!
I’m hard at work on the third book in my Tribes Of Yggdrasil series. Here’s a sneak peek!
This very short story is an introduction to my novel “Star Viking – The Tribes of Yggdrasil: Book 3″
In this intro, we catch up with the history between Star Fury (Book 2) and the current novel, as eight years have elapsed.
NOTE: Don’t feel like reading? Scroll down and listen to me read it for you!
Star Viking – Introduction
Eight years have passed since the Hrymar slavers obliterated the human colony of Norvik. The Hrymar didn’t stop at a single colony. They set their sights on the Earth herself. And they came, visiting ruin and destruction upon her greatest cities – one craven human was to blame.
Once the traitor was identified, Haldor Olsen hunted him mercilessly across the stars, finally putting a stop to the billionaire’s unspeakable experiments on humans and other sentient races. Yet, it was a hollow victory. No victory would bring back Haldor’s wife and young son – they were dead…as far as he knew. Then came the death of his lover Eva’s unborn child – his child.
Meanwhile, The Solar Inclusive Democracy, weakened by internal strife and politicking, refused to act to prevent further Hrymar incursions into allied space. Haldor decided that he would do what others could, or would not, do. With his old friend, former-Governor Drew Zelinski, they founded Rig’s Vaka (Heimdall’s Vigil) to stand as a first line of defense against the dark forces.
Part outpost, part fortress, Rig’s Vaka became a home to Olsen’s Privateers. They sought out and harried the Hrymar, disrupting the slave-trade, and bringing war to the enemy’s homes and colonies for the first time. Men and women, and even other races, flocked to Haldor’s banner. A diverse lot, they all had this in common: an icy desire for justice, and a fiery need to live a life with honor. These things Haldor promised them. And delivered.
As Rig’s Vaka’s worth was proved time and time again, crushing the enemy in space and on land, other governments sought alliances and pacts. With the help of the Alfar, Rig’s Vaka began fielding newly designed classes of starships; some for fighting, others for commerce.
Though Haldor kept the wolves from Earth’s doorstep, the SID remained factious. After years of tension and secret military build-ups, several of the strongest factions tried to seize the Prefabricated Colonization Module factories on Mars. The PCMs were crucial for rapid expansion beyond the Solar system, and ultimately, ensuring the future of the Human race. This contest sparked The Industrial Conflict of 2130 which raged for nine months, shattering the Martian economy.
After the Industrial Conflict, four new home-worlds were established beyond the solar system: New Mecca (Mecca J’adeeda), an Islamic Theocracy; The Soviet Socialist Empire (Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Imperiya), a Socialist Dictatorship; Mang’s Republic of China (Mang-Zhonghua), a newly minted Socialist Monarchy; and The Republic, a Plutocratic colony of North Americans governed by the Corporate Congress. These four stellar forces began competing with the SID for resources, gravely weakening the ability for humanity to defend itself.
The SID, aware of their weakened position, and recognizing the success of Rig’s Vaka, signed a mutual defense pact with Haldor Olsen’s forces. Because of this, Haldor and Drew Zelinski, concluded that a more formal martial authority needed to be established. And so, they founded The Council, to be governed by an elected Jarl, or Chieftain. Haldor was unanimously elected as the first Jarl of Rig’s Vaka.
Now part Warlord and part Viking, Haldor’s days are filled with his quest for justice.
Read The Tribes of Yggdrasil Books 1 and 2
Star Wolves, Book 1
- “Stargate Meets The Lord of the Rings!”
Star Fury, Book 2
- “Evil, Vengeance, Politics, Romance and Galaxy spanning Action.”
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July 11, 2014
Star Fury on Kobo!
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/star-fury
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New cover for The Yggdrasil Codex
New cover for my Best Sellling Short Story – The Yggdrasil Codex.
Buy a copy of this highly acclaimed short, which tells the tale preceding my Tribes of Yggdrasil series of novels.
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.co.uk
Description:
In this life there are a great many profound questions that have yet to be answered: Are we the first intelligent life in the universe? Why are we here?
Man continues to ask these questions, apparently to deaf heavens. But what if someone, or something, did answer?
In the short story The Yggdrasil Codex, two University researchers stumble upon an incredible secret encoded on ancient Scandinavian runestones. Their discovery leads them into the world of modern code-breakers and ultimately leads to a revelation with galactic consequences!
(This short story is 3200 words)
BONUS: Includes the first 3 chapters of the Novel “Star Wolves” which takes place 115 years after this short story!
And if you’ve read the short story, by all means, grab the novels!
Star Wolves
Star Fury
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July 9, 2014
Alien Invasions
Evan Curry, author of the upcoming book, Out of the Black, from his popular Odyssey One series, discusses the idea of an Alien invasion on earth.
The words invoke imagery from a hundred movies and books, from War of the Worlds to Independence Day and beyond. In the Odyssey series I play with the common tropes of the genre, twisting some and just enjoying others, but the common question has a tendency to remain… Even if we accept the central premise, is any of it really possible? Why would aliens bother with us anyway? More importantly, for a military science fiction writer like myself at least, could we beat them back? Could we win?
Better minds than mine have given it a lot of through, including the US Military if rumors hold some truth to them, but it always seems to boil down to us poor humans having something the big scary aliens want. Alright, that makes sense on the surface, so what could we have? Air? Water? Gold or other precious metals?
No, none of those make sense. Any space faring culture would more easily acquire those in space at any asteroid belt, out in the Oort Cloud, or any of a thousand other possibilities. So why invade? Two possibilities make sense, a lot of sense.
First, Aliens may want or need our Biosphere. Air, Water, even food can easily be manufactured…. READ MORE ON KINDLE POST
Check out more of Evan’s Books on his AUTHOR PAGE
Check out my favorite of Evan’s books below!
Into the Black – Odyssey One: Book 1
The Heart of Matter – Odyssey One: Book 2
Homeworld – Odyssey One: Book 3
Out of the Black – Odyssey One
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July 7, 2014
Beta Reader Program CLOSED
July 6, 2014
A Little Romance?
July 4, 2014
New Titles? What?
New Titles? What?
The series name will be the same, but after doing some market research, the bulk of fans, prefer simpler, more catchy titles. Who am I to argue? The content is still the same!
Before you start in on me, saying, "Oh, you're caving to business demands instead of artistic - blah blah blah...". I get it. BUT, and this is a big BUT (no pun intended). I write full time. This means if I don't sell books, I don’t have money for things like...oh, let’s say, groceries, rent - you know...all the luxuries!
So, I’m making one small artistic concession – making my titles less flowery, and more impactful. I can do that!
Dawning of the Wolf Age – The Tribes of Yggdrasil: Book 1 is now:
Star Wolves – The Tribes of Yggdrasil: Book 1
Fury of the Northmen - The Tribes of Yggdrasil: Book 2 is now:
Star Fury - The Tribes of Yggdrasil: Book 2
And finally, the third book in the first trilogy, which didn’t have a firm title, is going to be called:
Star Viking - The Tribes of Yggdrasil: Book 3
* (there will be three trilogies, nine books overall in the series)
I really hope my readers appreciate the new titles, or at the very least, tolerate them, and continue to enjoy the galaxy sweeping stories in The Tribes of Yggdrasil multiverse.
