C.E. Martin's Blog, page 25
January 30, 2014
Why $2.99?
If you've discovered Stone Soldiers you might have wondered about the price--some of you have anyways. I've been told $2.99 isn't enough, that I should charge more. Others have insisted that since I rely on beta readers for editing, I should be giving all my books away from free, until I can crowdsource funding for an editor who'll change my stuff to make it better--like they do in the traditional publishing world.
I say poppycock! (Mainly because it sounds funny and reminds me of Monty Python)
When I was in High School, way back in the 1980s, devouring as many as six paperbacks a week, they cost a couple of bucks (or less if I got them at yard sales). When I first looked into being an author back then, I found out many authors got about $1 a paperback, after all the advances, royalties etc were said and done.
Yes, many an ebook is $4.99, $5.99 and up, but that just seems wrong to me. Why should I gouge the reader, when I'm not printing anything? I don't have to pay any editors, or cover artists, or promotional people or printers. All I'm out is some time. $2.99 seems very fair to me.
And what about those editors? Many of them claim its arrogant to think you can write a book on your own without a noble, hired-gun to rewrite it, slash out sections etc. My response is why aren't they on the cover then? If editors are so important to the creative process that I shouldn't DARE charge for a book that didn't have one, why don't they get co-writer credit?
Well, I don't need a book doctor. I write my series fast, and maybe sloppy, on purpose--to capture that reckless abandon that the early pulps had. I'd love to have proof readers for those inevitable typos and misspellings like they're/their/there, but as an Indie still struggling to make it, I'll stick to my loyal betas for now.
$2.99 for 50,000 words seems about right to me. Thank you for spending it. I pledge to do my best to keep that price for a long time.
I say poppycock! (Mainly because it sounds funny and reminds me of Monty Python)
When I was in High School, way back in the 1980s, devouring as many as six paperbacks a week, they cost a couple of bucks (or less if I got them at yard sales). When I first looked into being an author back then, I found out many authors got about $1 a paperback, after all the advances, royalties etc were said and done.
Yes, many an ebook is $4.99, $5.99 and up, but that just seems wrong to me. Why should I gouge the reader, when I'm not printing anything? I don't have to pay any editors, or cover artists, or promotional people or printers. All I'm out is some time. $2.99 seems very fair to me.
And what about those editors? Many of them claim its arrogant to think you can write a book on your own without a noble, hired-gun to rewrite it, slash out sections etc. My response is why aren't they on the cover then? If editors are so important to the creative process that I shouldn't DARE charge for a book that didn't have one, why don't they get co-writer credit?
Well, I don't need a book doctor. I write my series fast, and maybe sloppy, on purpose--to capture that reckless abandon that the early pulps had. I'd love to have proof readers for those inevitable typos and misspellings like they're/their/there, but as an Indie still struggling to make it, I'll stick to my loyal betas for now.
$2.99 for 50,000 words seems about right to me. Thank you for spending it. I pledge to do my best to keep that price for a long time.
January 24, 2014
SEVEN DEADLY SONS
STONE SOLDIERS #7 is Live! The Stone Soldiers have defended America from the supernatural, fighting the forces of darkness around the globe. But when a new breed of werewolf shows up in Miami, the men and women of Detachment 1039 find themselves fighting for their lives. Bigger, stronger and faster than any werewolf seen before, this mysterious new threat is able to strike anywhere in the world from a forgotten Nazi polar base. Now the Stone Soldiers must journey to the coldest place on Earth and face off against the deadliest super soldiers the Third Reich ever produced.
January 20, 2014
Monster Monday: Werewolves
(Monster Monday, where we examine the monsters of the Stone Soldiers series...)
There have been many incarnations of the werewolf in fiction. In Stone Soldiers, werewolves are a blend of folktale and movie traditions.
Werewolves are supernatural creatures, created by a magical curse. This curse can be passed on from person to person, as in the classic Lon Chaney movie The Wolfman.
Werewolves create more werewolves by biting a victim under a full moon. The bodily fluid of the werewolf, most often salivia, infects the victim. Should they survive, they will also turn into a werwolf on the next full moon.
It shoud be noted that Werewolf blood also carries the contagious aspect of the curse, and can result in infection, so long as the werewolf the blood belongs to is the cause of injury. In effect, being wounded by a werewolf and surviving is the cause of infection, so long as a bodily fluid has been exchanged. (Note: Colonel Mark Kenslir was bitten by an augmented werewolf in the 1950s, who's bite had the ability to instantly transform the victim. This acceleration of the curse has been observed on multiple occasions through out the series)
Infected subjects transform under a full moon, although some have found a means to transform at will (Stone Soldiers #5, Black Knight Down). Generally, once transformed, the creature loses all semblance of sentient thought, becoming a vicious creature intent on only killing.
Subjects tranforming find their bodies enlarged, their skeletal structures and musculature greatly expanding: an average human male will result in a wolf-headed creature nearly seven feet tall, possessing the strength of a dozen men or more.
Werewolves are fast, strong and highly resistant to trauma, thanks to a magical ability to regenerate wounds. Injuries that would kill a mortal or natural creature are healed in seconds, with no apparent ill effect. This makes killing a werewolf extremely difficult.
Werewolves do have a weakness to silver, a metal known to absorb etheric (magical) energy. Silver coming into contact with a werewolf drains the cruse from surrounding tissue, causing it to want to revert to human form. This is state of being in flux, trying to revert to human tissue while still under the spell of the curse is extremely painful to a transformed werewolf.
Silver weapons, for example, a knife, create injuries that are unable to regenerate as rapidly as other injuries--again due to silver's inherent ability too absorb etheric energy. Silver left inside a werewolf, for example arrowheads, speart tips or even bullets, cause a twofold effect: intense pain and the inability too heal. Wounds of this nature can kill a werewolf.
NOTE: Lycanthropy is a condition that can mimic the curse of the werewolf, ranging from mental delusion to phsyiological changes. While true werewolves may be referred to as lycanthropes, they considerably far more dangerous.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCEWerewolves can differe greatly in physical appearance, based on he origin of the curse they are afflicted with. Generally, they remain a bipedal, humanoid, covered in hair ranging from white to black in color, with a wolf-like head that includes a snout and teeth. The ears of a werewolf remain located on the sides of the head, elongating but not shifting position. Teh hands and feet also enlarge, nails thickening and lengthening. A werewolf's feet often elongate, with the creature walking on the ball of its foot, much like a canid, and resulting ina height increase of several inches (in addition to their skeletal growth). Werewolves do not have tails.
ABILITIESA werewolf is faster, stronger and possesses more endurance than any natural animal of its size and weight. Owing to the supernatural origin of their transformation, werewolves do not tire or require physical sustenance, despite their instinct to kill and eat prey constantly.
In addition to an enhanced regenerative ability, werewolves possess keen eyesight, hearing and a sense of smell rivalling that of sharks.
Werewolves can scale vertical surfaces and even travel inverted on the underside of horizontal surfaces, by means of their claws and great strength. Werewolves can leap several body lengths with ease and have been known to run as fast as a cheetah.
TRANSFORMATION When exposed to the full moon, once the sun has set, the curse begins. The subject is put in incredible pain as their bones and flesh grow. The mass needed for this growth seems to come from the curse itself, cells multiply and changing in apparent violation of the rules of physics and the conservation of matter/energy.
Transformations can be slow, taking as much as five minutes, but generally seem to quicken over time. An infected subject who has been a werewolf for a long period can experience a transformation in only seconds. It is believed this is because the subject is no longer attempting to resist the transformation, but has accepted it.
Coloration of a werewolf is often based on the subjects natural hair color.
When reverting to human form, the extra mass, hair, teeth, etc of a werewolf seem to be reabsorbed into the infected, leaving no trace behind that they ever transformed. Depending on the method by which they are killed, werewolves may or may not revert to human form upon dying.
CURING THE CURSEBeing a magical curse, a werewolf does have a means to cure itself. By killing the creature that killed it, an infected subject can break free of the curse and revert to human form, never to change again. Should the infecting werewolf die by someone else's hand, anyone it infected will remain cursed until their death.
THREAT LEVEL Werewolves are a moderate supernatural threat. While possessed of strength and speed and endurance far greater than any terrestrial animal, including a polar bear, they can be injured by conventional weaponry. Sufficient injury can overcome even a werewolf's regenrative ability. Fire, electricity and even extreme freezing can destroy cell tissue. However, if any cells remain intact, a werewolf will regenerate under a full moon, growing entire bodies from even small pieces of intact flesh.
RELATED SPECIES/CREATURESWerewolves should not be confused with shapechangers or the Native American skinwalker. A werewolf does not transform fully into a wolf, but rather a creature possessing wolf-like and human features. Transformation from human to true wolf form is indicative of an entirely different supernatural process.
Many cultures around the world further describe other were creatures, for example werebears and were hyenas. Whether these are also the result of a curse or are supernatural creatures capable of reproducing by biological means is unknown at this time.
For more werewolf action, read the upcoming Seven Deadly Sons, Book 7 in the Stone Soldiers, to be released January 2014.
There have been many incarnations of the werewolf in fiction. In Stone Soldiers, werewolves are a blend of folktale and movie traditions.
Werewolves are supernatural creatures, created by a magical curse. This curse can be passed on from person to person, as in the classic Lon Chaney movie The Wolfman.
Werewolves create more werewolves by biting a victim under a full moon. The bodily fluid of the werewolf, most often salivia, infects the victim. Should they survive, they will also turn into a werwolf on the next full moon.
It shoud be noted that Werewolf blood also carries the contagious aspect of the curse, and can result in infection, so long as the werewolf the blood belongs to is the cause of injury. In effect, being wounded by a werewolf and surviving is the cause of infection, so long as a bodily fluid has been exchanged. (Note: Colonel Mark Kenslir was bitten by an augmented werewolf in the 1950s, who's bite had the ability to instantly transform the victim. This acceleration of the curse has been observed on multiple occasions through out the series)
Infected subjects transform under a full moon, although some have found a means to transform at will (Stone Soldiers #5, Black Knight Down). Generally, once transformed, the creature loses all semblance of sentient thought, becoming a vicious creature intent on only killing.
Subjects tranforming find their bodies enlarged, their skeletal structures and musculature greatly expanding: an average human male will result in a wolf-headed creature nearly seven feet tall, possessing the strength of a dozen men or more.
Werewolves are fast, strong and highly resistant to trauma, thanks to a magical ability to regenerate wounds. Injuries that would kill a mortal or natural creature are healed in seconds, with no apparent ill effect. This makes killing a werewolf extremely difficult.
Werewolves do have a weakness to silver, a metal known to absorb etheric (magical) energy. Silver coming into contact with a werewolf drains the cruse from surrounding tissue, causing it to want to revert to human form. This is state of being in flux, trying to revert to human tissue while still under the spell of the curse is extremely painful to a transformed werewolf.
Silver weapons, for example, a knife, create injuries that are unable to regenerate as rapidly as other injuries--again due to silver's inherent ability too absorb etheric energy. Silver left inside a werewolf, for example arrowheads, speart tips or even bullets, cause a twofold effect: intense pain and the inability too heal. Wounds of this nature can kill a werewolf.
NOTE: Lycanthropy is a condition that can mimic the curse of the werewolf, ranging from mental delusion to phsyiological changes. While true werewolves may be referred to as lycanthropes, they considerably far more dangerous.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCEWerewolves can differe greatly in physical appearance, based on he origin of the curse they are afflicted with. Generally, they remain a bipedal, humanoid, covered in hair ranging from white to black in color, with a wolf-like head that includes a snout and teeth. The ears of a werewolf remain located on the sides of the head, elongating but not shifting position. Teh hands and feet also enlarge, nails thickening and lengthening. A werewolf's feet often elongate, with the creature walking on the ball of its foot, much like a canid, and resulting ina height increase of several inches (in addition to their skeletal growth). Werewolves do not have tails.
ABILITIESA werewolf is faster, stronger and possesses more endurance than any natural animal of its size and weight. Owing to the supernatural origin of their transformation, werewolves do not tire or require physical sustenance, despite their instinct to kill and eat prey constantly.
In addition to an enhanced regenerative ability, werewolves possess keen eyesight, hearing and a sense of smell rivalling that of sharks.
Werewolves can scale vertical surfaces and even travel inverted on the underside of horizontal surfaces, by means of their claws and great strength. Werewolves can leap several body lengths with ease and have been known to run as fast as a cheetah.
TRANSFORMATION When exposed to the full moon, once the sun has set, the curse begins. The subject is put in incredible pain as their bones and flesh grow. The mass needed for this growth seems to come from the curse itself, cells multiply and changing in apparent violation of the rules of physics and the conservation of matter/energy.
Transformations can be slow, taking as much as five minutes, but generally seem to quicken over time. An infected subject who has been a werewolf for a long period can experience a transformation in only seconds. It is believed this is because the subject is no longer attempting to resist the transformation, but has accepted it.
Coloration of a werewolf is often based on the subjects natural hair color.
When reverting to human form, the extra mass, hair, teeth, etc of a werewolf seem to be reabsorbed into the infected, leaving no trace behind that they ever transformed. Depending on the method by which they are killed, werewolves may or may not revert to human form upon dying.
CURING THE CURSEBeing a magical curse, a werewolf does have a means to cure itself. By killing the creature that killed it, an infected subject can break free of the curse and revert to human form, never to change again. Should the infecting werewolf die by someone else's hand, anyone it infected will remain cursed until their death.
THREAT LEVEL Werewolves are a moderate supernatural threat. While possessed of strength and speed and endurance far greater than any terrestrial animal, including a polar bear, they can be injured by conventional weaponry. Sufficient injury can overcome even a werewolf's regenrative ability. Fire, electricity and even extreme freezing can destroy cell tissue. However, if any cells remain intact, a werewolf will regenerate under a full moon, growing entire bodies from even small pieces of intact flesh.
RELATED SPECIES/CREATURESWerewolves should not be confused with shapechangers or the Native American skinwalker. A werewolf does not transform fully into a wolf, but rather a creature possessing wolf-like and human features. Transformation from human to true wolf form is indicative of an entirely different supernatural process.
Many cultures around the world further describe other were creatures, for example werebears and were hyenas. Whether these are also the result of a curse or are supernatural creatures capable of reproducing by biological means is unknown at this time.
For more werewolf action, read the upcoming Seven Deadly Sons, Book 7 in the Stone Soldiers, to be released January 2014.
December 31, 2013
Coming Soon, Seven Deadly Sons
Someone is killing retired Nazi Hunters around the world. They leave no trace of their coming or going and no clue to their identity. But when the murderers begin to strike in America, Detachment 1039 investigates, and the Stone Soldiers discover Germanywase working on their own super soldier program before and after the Reich fell. The hunt for the last of these Nazi Supersoldiers leads the Stone Soldiers on a globe-hopping journey to the coldest place on Earth and something very unexpected buried beneath the polar ice.
Coming in 2014
December 18, 2013
SNEAK PREVIEW 2014
A new year is just around the corner, and the Stone Soldiers will return.
After meeting my own goal for readership in 2013, I've decided to extend the Stone Soldiers at least one more year, in the form of at least three more pulp-horror adventures and one new spinoff book that will be lighter on the horror and heavier on the pulpiness.
Stone Soldiers #7, Seven Deadly SonsCurrently still in the outlining phase, Book 7 will see the Stone Soldiers tracking down a furry enemy intent on slaying senior citizens--Nazi Werewolves operating from a remote base, hungry for revenge on the Nazi Hunters that kept the Fourth Reich from ever forming. Hopefully completed for a February release.
Stone Soldiers #8, TerrorcotaLittle more than a premis now, Book 8 will feature a mad Chinese General steals ancient imperial secrets from the bowels of the Forbidden City and plans to trigger a war with the U.S.. Chief among his supernatural weapons: a bomb capable of turning humans to clay statues. Look for this one in May or June 2014.
Stone Soldiers #9, Pale HorsemanAgain, its early in the outline phase, but this one will feature Soviet super soldiers, an underground city and Centaurs.
For the spinoff, 2014 will have at least one book in a new Kingdoms of Perdition trilogy. Tentatively titled Shadow of Perdition, Book 1 will take some of the Stone Soldiers team to an alternate reality ruled by demons, where most humans are slaves forced to do manual labor. Featuring cowboys, dinosaurs, steamships and more, the Kingdoms of Perdition will run longer than a Stone Soldiers novel and feature a lot more of the exploratory adventure pulp is so well known for as a new world is added to the Stone Soldiers universe.
Want to see more? Spread the word. With two worlds to choose from, Stone Soldiers is a big universe, with lots of possible foes and plenty of story telling potential. The series can only continue if people keep reading.
After meeting my own goal for readership in 2013, I've decided to extend the Stone Soldiers at least one more year, in the form of at least three more pulp-horror adventures and one new spinoff book that will be lighter on the horror and heavier on the pulpiness.
Stone Soldiers #7, Seven Deadly SonsCurrently still in the outlining phase, Book 7 will see the Stone Soldiers tracking down a furry enemy intent on slaying senior citizens--Nazi Werewolves operating from a remote base, hungry for revenge on the Nazi Hunters that kept the Fourth Reich from ever forming. Hopefully completed for a February release.
Stone Soldiers #8, TerrorcotaLittle more than a premis now, Book 8 will feature a mad Chinese General steals ancient imperial secrets from the bowels of the Forbidden City and plans to trigger a war with the U.S.. Chief among his supernatural weapons: a bomb capable of turning humans to clay statues. Look for this one in May or June 2014.
Stone Soldiers #9, Pale HorsemanAgain, its early in the outline phase, but this one will feature Soviet super soldiers, an underground city and Centaurs.
For the spinoff, 2014 will have at least one book in a new Kingdoms of Perdition trilogy. Tentatively titled Shadow of Perdition, Book 1 will take some of the Stone Soldiers team to an alternate reality ruled by demons, where most humans are slaves forced to do manual labor. Featuring cowboys, dinosaurs, steamships and more, the Kingdoms of Perdition will run longer than a Stone Soldiers novel and feature a lot more of the exploratory adventure pulp is so well known for as a new world is added to the Stone Soldiers universe.
Want to see more? Spread the word. With two worlds to choose from, Stone Soldiers is a big universe, with lots of possible foes and plenty of story telling potential. The series can only continue if people keep reading.
December 4, 2013
Omnibus #2 is here!
A second collection of Stone Soldier novels, including Shades of War, Black Knight Down and Armageddon Z.
Look for it on Kindle at http://amzn.com/B00H3QOZ4Q
3 tales of the military battling mystic monsters—for the price of 2!
Look for it on Kindle at http://amzn.com/B00H3QOZ4Q
3 tales of the military battling mystic monsters—for the price of 2!
December 1, 2013
Coming soon in 2014: Kingdoms of Perdition
It may sound off to do a spin off of the Stone Soldiers when the series has yet to catch on, but for 2014, Colonel Kenslir and his gra ddaughter leave earth behind and travel to another world: Perdition.
Book 1 of the Kingdoms of Perdition trilogy will take some of the members of Detachment 2013 into a world ruled by demons. Steampunk sorcerery will meet modern supersoldiers as the Kenslirs try and free an entire world from the bonds of demonic slavery.
Book 1 of the Kingdoms of Perdition trilogy will take some of the members of Detachment 2013 into a world ruled by demons. Steampunk sorcerery will meet modern supersoldiers as the Kenslirs try and free an entire world from the bonds of demonic slavery.
November 18, 2013
The Sub-Genre Grows!
Good news for fans of squad-level, military vs monsters novels. Seal Team 666, by Weston Ocshe (Thomas Dunne books) has been greenlit for a movie starring Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson. Seal Team 666 has two books out, and is available on Kindle. It seems to follow a SEAL team battling demons or something. Combined with Stone Soldiers, Bob Meyer's Area 51 Nightstalker series and Myke Cole's Shadow Ops series, it appears that Seal Team 666 isgoing to bring the military vs monsters sub genre to the popular forefront. We just need to come up with a clever name for it. Milfic? If you know of any other similar series, list them in the comments.
November 1, 2013
Armageddon Z, now on Kindle
If you knew that the zombie apocalypse was coming, who would you tell? That's the dilemma facing Kenji Nakayama, a young college student who keeps on living, and dying, over and over, when the undead rise up and attack the living. Young Kenji uses his ability to return to the present and start again to guide a small band of survivors to somewhere safe when America falls to the zombie menace. But hope is fading fast, as no matter what he tries, Kenji can't avoid his ultimate fate: death. All that changes when Kenji stumbles across the Stone Soldiers--slaughtering the arisen and rescuing survivors in the middle of reanimated America. Kenji now must learn everything he can, then go back and try to warn the men of stone so they can stop the apocalypse before it happens. But even if they can defeat their necrotic foes, can the Stone Soldiers stop the sinister being responsible for this outbreak, or will this really be the end?
Available on Kindle!
Available on Kindle!
October 8, 2013
Thanks for Entering!
Thank you to all 652 entrants in the Mythical Goodreads giveaway!
Carolyn Y of Maryland is our lucky winner, and should receive her print copy well before Halloween.
For those who didn't win, but are still interested, Mythical (Stone Soldiers #1) is free for download on Kindle, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.
Look for another Stone Soldiers giveaway in November and December.
The next book in the series, Armageddon Z, will be releasing the week of October 15th.
Carolyn Y of Maryland is our lucky winner, and should receive her print copy well before Halloween.
For those who didn't win, but are still interested, Mythical (Stone Soldiers #1) is free for download on Kindle, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.
Look for another Stone Soldiers giveaway in November and December.
The next book in the series, Armageddon Z, will be releasing the week of October 15th.
