Erik Wecks's Blog, page 10

Everything Gets New Covers by Jason Gurley

Recently, a fellow indie author and designer extraordinaire Jason Gurley got sick of looking at the substandard covers in the indie community and decided to do something about it. My books got a complete makeover. Here are the results:

Pretty fantastic, aren’t they? They have made a significant difference in my sales as well. If you interested in seeing more of Jason’s work, you can find it here. I am happy to say that after doing a whole bunch of free work for friends Jason is now doing work for hire for anyone. Pay whatever he asks he’s worth it.

Aetna Adrift is Published

For those of you still smarting from the cliffhanger at the end of Aetna Rising, relief is at hand. Now available on Amazon are both the second-half of the Aetna story and the complete story in one volume—take your pick. The complete story does include a (very) short prologue, which you can’t find anywhere else. (Even my editor didn’t see it. Yikes!) But for those of you interested in sticking with me for the long haul, it might be worth it to pay the dollar more to get the complete edition. The prologue is a bit of a teaser for things to come down the road.

One interesting note: According to Scrivener my book comes in at 102,000 words. I get frequent feedback stating that my book feels short. I take that to mean that you were so absorbed you didn’t notice the words flying by, but rest assured you are getting a full length novel even if it does fly by.

Next up I have to finish a non-fiction project which I have been neglecting to get this done. Then it’s back to the Pax. I have about 33,000 words written in the next book, but to be honest, I wrote them years ago so it will be interesting to see what I have to do to get them up to snuff. Hopefully, we can all be reading the first chunk of that three volume series in early 2014. Oh—and I have a couple of Pax novellas running around in my head as well. One of them tentatively titled Rena’s Song is just itching to get out. Its about a mom and is told from her daughter’s point of view. I am definitely going to make time somewhere this summer to pound that one out. It’s a bit of a departure from the stuff I have written in the Pax so far and that is why I think it has me intrigued. I keep thinking about that one.

Then there are the other science fiction stories I have running around my head which aren’t directly Pax related. Once I get my clone up and running, I should be good to go. Hopefully, he will be able to punctuate better than I can— eh Jonathan?

Amazon.com Widgets

Fabulous Review from www.paydayangels.co.uk

I am truly humbled by the review I received today from the website www.paydayangels.co.uk. It was truly amazing.

“We’d argue that Mr Wecks’ book is the definitive guide to a better life with your finances – especially if you’re currently battling with debt.”

Thanks to Daniel Hilsden for the kind words. You can read the full review here.

Comic Con Super Duper SciFi Blowout! (Free ebooks)

I am looking forward to hanging out at Wizard World’s Comic Con Portland! You can see the previous post to learn more about what I am up to this weekend. I wanted to do something for my fans, so I decided that during the convention all my fiction will be free! Yep, every bit.

Here are your links:

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I Will Be Appearing at Wizard World’s Portland Comic Con This Weekend

I am getting my geek on this weekend at Portland’s first Wizard World Comic Con. The guest list looks outstanding!

On Saturday, I will be moderating a panel of Portland science fiction writers, including Daniel Wilson, Will Hertling, David Levine and special guiest  Christopher Claremont! We are going to discuss how science fiction can help shape the future and our beliefs about what is possible.

I will also be on the GeekDad/GeekMom panel on Sunday, with Jonathan Liu and Cathe Post. We are so lucky to have Daniel Wilson as our moderator.

If you spot me on the convention floor don’t hesitate to come up and introduce yourself. I am looking forward to seeing you there!

About That Ending…

Warning! Minor Spoilers for Aetna Adrift Ahead!

I have been thrilled with the feedback and reviews I have been getting from people who have read Aetna Rising. They have been fantastic! So many people have enjoyed the adventures of Jack. There just seems to be one little problem. I didn’t do nearly a good enough job making sure that everyone understood this was clearly a serialized story. Mae culpa!

Boy some people can get mad on the internets! Yikes!

To be perfectly honest, I thought that might happen. When I first started thinking about writing a novel set in the Unity the very first picture I had in my head was of a man who thought he had it all together finding out he wasn’t in control. I pictured the character that would become Jack running away from his girl, too cowardly to stand up and fight for her, and I knew that is where I wanted to end my story. Rather, I should say that is where I wanted to end the first part of my story.

So am I nothing more than some kind of sadist who takes pleasure from torturing his victims? Ummm… no. I have a point and I am comfortable that my point is there for those willing to try and find it.

I will admit that as sales tailed off dramatically in January, I wasn’t happy with the angry reviews. I hate that they affect my ability to get my book in front of other readers who will get it. On the other hand as many people pointed out to me, I wasn’t boring anyone. Everyone, whether they liked the book or not was heavily invested in Jack and Aetna.

Some of those who were the most upset were the most articulate in their critique. My favorite response on Amazon came from Anne Graham. I include it below in its entirety and my subsequent conversation with her. It will give you some insights in to why I would end my book with that ridiculous cliff hanger. (Here is a link to the original review on Amazon.)

Anne Graham:

This is my first ever review after reading and enjoying many hundreds of Sci Fi titles on kindle. It is also the first time I have been angered the conclusion of a story. Actually angry…! I am upset that the author chose to leave me hanging within inches of the climax of the single building serious plot line…. and leaves me with a solicitation to buy the next installment in 6 months..?? This is a teaser, not a novel…it is a chapter or two perhaps in a serious novel… I do not recall ever being angered at such a thing before but there it is. The kicker is that the story is excellent and engaging as far as it goes….everything the other reviewers have written…but the lack of a denouement and the manipulation of the reader thereby threw cold water on me. I will not be reading any more of his work as my only way to express my irritation. Too bad he didnt wait to package a full novel out of it….that way it would have been excellent

Erik Wecks:

(Spoilerish comment from the author)

I have to say, that I so understand. I knew this would be a huge risk when I wrote the book the way I did. But I wanted it to end exactly where it did. It isn’t meant to be simply a teaser. It is without denouement on purpose because in the first part of the whole story Jack learns about love. In a traditional fairy tale what comes at the end of this book would be “And they lived happily ever after.” But in life this isn’t the way it goes. In life when you choose to love you choose to hurt. So I didn’t want a happily ever after for Jack. Happily ever after endings are hard earned, and if Jack and Anna are going to get one they have a long ways to go. I hope you stick around to find out where we are going. I promise I’ll try to make the wait as short as possible.

Anne Graham:

Erik,

Actually I care a lot less about the love story than the reason VP Randall is taking over the installation. I care to see the bad guys ‘get theirs’ I care to see how the revolt o the citizens gets resolved….etc, etc. There are so many unresolved threads building to some climax that you avoided giving any resolution I felt like someone took me off the roller coaster ride at the top of the first rise out of the station… missing the fast paced remainer of the ride. Your book; your style, of course. But I still think you would do well to cram this story in front of your next one as a single full novel rather than piecmealing it. Regards….

Erik Wecks:

Anne,

Thanks for the time to give me the feedback. I appreciate it greatly. This story is a prequel to the three book series which comes after this. I decided to avoid the classic mistake of writing the prequel afterwards. I am glad that you are invested in Randall’s comeupance. That tickles me as a writer. I will endeavor to do my best to make it worth the wait. That said, the second half of this book will make for its own completed story which is why it isn’t a four book series, but rather a stand alone followed by a trilogy. So I don’t want to give away here on Amazon what comes next but some threads will be resolved and others will carry through to that series.

Thanks again for your feedback. It is always so very helpful.

Erik

Anne Graham:

Erik,

When all 3 of the coming trilogy are available at once, I will relent and buy them.

You do write well and have created an engaging and unique enviroment for this story.

Anne

Anne Graham via Email:

Hey Erik

This is Anne Graham who has been having an enjoyable exchange with you on the Amazon site.   I had an additional thought, and felt that the Amazon review has concluded well….and so I dug out your email from the story. I was reminded suddenly of The Princess Bride…. at the point in the story when the grandson interrupts the narrative of the grandfather to exclaim something like this…..
” …so who gets Humperdink?”….
“…what do you mean?…”
“…I mean who kills Humperdink????!!!  SOMEbody has got to get him..!.. who? who?”
‘”… nobody….Humperdinik lives….”
” GEEEEZE GRANDPA !!…what did you read me this for ???

LOL !!   It is a near parallel to my reaction to the ending of your story. I only write this additional email in case you are a Princess Bride fan  ( who isnt?) and would appreciate the parallel…

regards,
 Anne

Erik Wecks via Email:
Anne,

You made my day. It is a tradition in our family to try to fit in a Princess Bride quote of the day. So yours will be the quote for the day. We are huge fans. I actually saw that film for the first time in a theater with 400 other people on opening weekend.
I don’t think I have ever laughed harder in all my life. I really like the conversation on Amazon as well. It is a doozy of a cliffhanger and I recognize that it will cause a certain amount of discontent. Now I just have to get the rest done. I have it all outlined in my head and I have everything to the first marker outlined on paper. I even wrote the first scene. So we are on the way.
Thanks for writing.
Erik

Just to give you a quick update. Chapter 3 of Aetna Adrift is finished and will be presented to my critique group this afternoon. Chapter 4 will be started next week. “Stay thirsty my friends,” it’s on its way.

How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any is Free 1-26-13 to 1-30-13

Here is a link

The Device My New Short Story Is Up on Amazon

I wrote a short story which is up on Amazon today. In The Device,  a person grapples with the effects of an implant which will allow him to shut off all pain at will. While wrestling with his own demons, he lives his life to free others from the machine in their heads.

Since it is a short (3,500 words), the social commentary is a little more pointed than in my other two published pieces of fiction, but I think I managed to avoid sounding preachy.

I like this one. It is dedicated to everyone who is willing to face their pain and discover its creative purpose. I think that is all of us in the end.

 

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Kindle Edition of Aetna Rising Free This Week

A belated Merry Christmas to all of you! In honor of the day, the Kindle edition of Aetna Rising is free  this week. Now you can’t say I never gave you anything for Christmas!

Who would Mal Reynolds be if he had never served in the military and had never met Zoe Alleyne? While it isn’t Firefly fan fiction, Aetna Rising developed from asking this question and others like it.

If you are interested in finding out more here is a link to the books page on this site. If you want to get the book here is a link to Amazon.

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing

Hugh Howey, what a great guy! He sent me the author’s equivalent of a chain letter. It’s an internet meme where authors all answer the same questions on their blog and then tag five other authors to do the same.

I swear his email said that the world would end on December 21st, 2012 unless I answered the following questions. Sigh…

You see, if the world were to end, everyone would blame it on the  Mayan calendar, but I would know the truth. It would be my fault. So to make sure that the Mayans take the blame for making a calendar which didn’t go past the Winter solstice of this year, I will answer the questions.

What is the title of your next book?

Fiction or Non-Fiction? (I am having trouble already. The world is truly doomed.) Let’s stick with fiction, since the non-fiction is a bit of a snoozer.

Aetna Adrift

It is the second half of my story that I started in my currently published Aetna Rising.

(I can hear the San Andreas fault easing back on that 9.0 it had coming as I write.)

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I wanted to use the space opera trope of the “lovable” scoundrel. Except in this story, the scoundrel gets so over matched he cannot pull himself out by his bootstraps. The desperation of his situation forces him to depend on others, to be part of a team. This is about a guy who thinks he can handle it by himself, but can’t.

It’s a Han Solo story turned sideways. My character starts out less lovable, less happy, and more vulnerable. Plus the story is a bit darker than Episodes IV-VI.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I wanted it to actually have interesting characters as well? That is something missing in much of space opera.

What genre does your book fall under?

How-to: It is a how-to manual for anyone who finds themselves trapped on a barely habitable distant icy moon when their evil corporate led government starts interfering in their lives. I expect huge sales, especially from our colonists on Titan.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Jack, my scoundrel, would be played by Humphry Bogart from the 1940s. I had him in mind when I created Jack, especially Rick Blane from Casa Blanca. Except Jack doesn’t have a heart of gold like Rick.

As for the rest, I haven’t really thought about it.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Smuggler Jack Halloway thinks he has it pretty good until the corporate government decides his backwater home is important to them, and Jack gets caught up in their schemes; now he’s not sure he will survive.

(Is a semi-colon considered cheating?)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-published, but I am always willing to entertain offers.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

It’s done? I’m still writing. Considering it is one of three projects on my plate, I expect it to be completed in Mid 2013. When I can concentrate on it full-time, it should take about 60 days.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Haven’t thought about that before. Frankly, I’m not sure. I would love to know what my readers think. One compared the first half, Aetna Rising, to Orson Scott Card. But it doesn’t have pre-pubescent children floating around in zero-g, so I am not sure what book he was referring to.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I like to write stories about guys growing up. In fact, all the stories I have currently mapped out in my Pax Imperium Universe—that’s the Universe Aetna Adrift will inhabit—are all about guys growing up.

My interest in that theme started when I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I found myself thinking that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were pretty grown up for 17. I don’t think guys really understand the world until after they have made a bunch of mistakes, usually sometime in their 20s—sometimes, as in the case of Jack, much later. I decided I wanted to write real coming of age stories that made sense of what I see in the men around me.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Aetna Rising readers really like Aetna, the icy moon I created. People seem to like my use of technology and setting. So I must get something right in the world building. I think I do a good job of helping people picture their surroundings.

*****

So who am I going to tag?

David D. Levine
Will Hertling
Toni Dwiggins
Annie Bellet
Ernie Lindsey

(You can check back in a week to see if they answered the questions… If we’re still here.)