Jon Michael May's Blog, page 10

More updates…coming soon…

I don’t post here as much as I should, or as much as I need to really justify even having this blog.  So in the coming weeks and months, I’m going to make a distinct effort to post as much here as I do at other social media sites.

And to start off:

I’m a big fan of the Nerdist and Smodcast network series of podcasts.  Run by Chris Hardwick and Kevin Smith, respectively, they cover a range of geek and nerd subjects.  And both podcast services also have Youtube channels, that offer material far beyond their podcasts.  If you’re in need of a good laugh, or looking for good interviews with a wide range of guests, than I highly suggest checking them out.

And now for the shameless self promotion portion of this post:  My book, Method of Life, a tale of post apocalyptic survival and sacrifice, is available on amazon, for download on the kindle, or your PC, or a smartphone, or a tablet like the Ipad and many other devices, for 3.99.  So buy a copy, you’ve probably got four extra dollars lying around somewhere, and help make it possible for me to not get a real a job.

I forgot to add that if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow the book for free.  And whats better than free?  Not much really, unless you’re getting paid to read.  I suppose that would be better, but that’s not the case here.

Solar System Guide: New Haven

This is my first attempt to create a Solar System Map, depicting the various locations and positions of the four inner planets, along with the Lagrangian points for Sun-Earth, Sun-Mars, and Earth-Mars and a handful of important military bases.

Orbital Dynamics (around which gravitational body you’re orbiting, your place in orbit around that body, and the time/power/fuel/energy/ needed to travel along an orbit of that body to achieve a better position to deploy your weapons) will play a vital role in the depiction of combat in New Haven. Almost all space oriented combat occurring during the series, takes place with both sides in orbit of a large gravitational force, whether it be a planet, moon, or Lagrangian point.

For right now, this is a simple guide designed to provide a very basic sense of where things are in the solar system in April of 2164. It could stand to be a fair bit more precise and definitely needs some work in that regard. For now though, it’s just a simple graphical aid for story planning.

Anyway, I thought I’d share it in case anyone else is interested.

This is a work in progress and by no means perfect, or finished.

Test…

This is only a test.

Method of Life: a new synopsis

I’ve updated the synopsis for Method of Life, trying to make it a bit more catchy and succinct. It will take a few hours for the new version to show up, though the book will still be available during that time.

In The Future:

There was no great war of nations, no thundering voice from the sky unleashing a rapture of judgment on the kneeling masses, and no great extinction level event of cataclysmic proportions. The Fall of Man came incrementally over half a century, in the form of economic and social decay, spiraling civilization into collapse without so much as a whimper.

At least that’s the story people believed.

Many had tried throughout human history to control the world. Dictators had conquered half the globe and free men had seen their efforts squandered by the selfish masses. Never had either side done as much to unite humanity in common cause, as Jacob Morrison. Where they had failed, he succeeded, binding humanity in a single effort to halt his reign of destruction across the world.

Together, they repaid his treason with blindfolded gunfire. And after a time, all that remained of his legacy was a son that had never known his father and the broken world left to rebuild.

The Method of Life:

Caleb Johansen has spent his life hidden away from those who might wish to see him answer for his fathers crimes against the world. In an effort to to blame anyone for their poor lot in life, the past has finally caught up with him in the town of Rosa. A resettlement camp abandoned by the government and turned self sufficient community, Rosa is an island amid the wasteland that stretches out between the privately owned Districts, where a lucky few live lives of luxury.

As his ailing guardian prepares him for the next step in his life, Caleb must entrust his future to soldiers of fortune hired to ensure his protection. Harmon McCullough is such a man, though not without a conscience and the understanding of the larger stakes in play and the risks involved for the band of brothers standing with him and friends on the wrong side of his mission.

Creasy is one such friend, and must contend with the one obstacle Harmon presents, a currency not in great supply. Dispatched from the District New Haven to take Caleb into custody by any means necessary, Harmon and Creasy will meet for the last time in Rosa, both with the realization that nothing can stand in the way of completing their missions.

Caught in the middle of their everyday lives, Alaster and Veda Nelthrope must contend with being swept into the whirlwind of danger sweeping through Rosa. With problems of their own, their lives may never be the same as the interaction with events unfolding around them force resolutions from aspects of their lives they both had been afraid to face.

One night will change their lives forever and by the time the sun rises, their worlds will never be the same.

On another note, if you missed Wednesday’s XKCD Comic: Click and Drag  it is definitely worth checking out.  It’s truly amazing.

Method of Life…for sale right now!

So I wrote this book.  It’s probably the greatest story ever told and you should definitely buy it and demand that all your friends and family to buy it as well.  Method of Life:  www.amazon.com/dp/B0093JL7ZQ

Here’s a synopsis:

The end of the world wasn’t what anyone thought it would be. There was no great war pitting nations against one another, no booming voice from the sky unleashing plagues and judgment on the kneeling masses, and no great extinction level event, chalking up humanities time on Earth as just another phase in grand march forward. The Fall came incrementally over the years as economic and social decay, spiraled into collapse without so much as a whimper, almost as if invited. By the time people worked up the fervor to react, The Fall had already reached the point of no return.

Unable to pay their own salaries, government properties were bought wholesale by the highest bidder. The private sectors that had seen it coming, quickly found themselves in possession of first world global technologies and the infrastructure needed to support them. Vast walled off Districts rose up amid the decline of man as self sustaining refuges of privileged society.

For the rest of the world, the rising cost of living amid the worsening climate and economic depression, has quickly thinned out the heard. A waste of habitation evolved between the Districts where survival of the fittest is no longer just an adage associated with the animal kingdom. In this waste, relocation camps sprang up to hold back the unwanted; camps that eventually grew into fully fledged towns. Rosa is one such town and as the twenty-first century draws to a close, two forces from the old world will collide there amid the day to day lives of that that call Rosa home.

Caleb Johansen is one such man. Raised with no knowledge of his family or his past, his life will come into danger as Harmon McCullough and Creasy square off to take him into custody, no matter who gets caught in the middle.

Harmon must save Caleb at any cost, believing wholeheartedly that he is the key to rebuilding the world, once his truth past is revealed.

Creasy, a man with no hold on the world, must take Caleb into custody at any cost, and use his name as a rallying call to unite the broken world, even if that means killing him.

These two men will come to Rosa as friends, but only one will leave with Caleb in their custody; no matter who or what stands in their way.

Method of Life

My book, Method of Life will be avialable through amazon, starting this weekend.  You can see the cover here: http://jimi-james.deviantart.com/#/d5...

I’ll post the link to Amazon, when it’s available.

Here’s a brief synopsis:

The end of the world wasn’t what anyone thought it would be.  There was no great war pitting nations against one another, no booming voice from the sky unleashing plagues and judgment on the kneeling masses, and no great extinction level event, chalking up humanities time on Earth as just another phase in grand march forward.  The Fall came incrementally over the years as economic and social decay, spiraled into collapse without so much as a whimper, almost as if invited.  By the time people worked up the fervor to react, The Fall had already reached the point of no return.

Unable to pay their own salaries, government properties were bought wholesale by the highest bidder.  The private sectors that had seen it coming, quickly found themselves in possession of first world global technologies and the infrastructure needed to support them.  Vast walled off Districts rose up amid the decline of man as self sustaining refuges of privileged society.

For the rest of the world, the rising cost of living amid the worsening climate and economic depression, has quickly thinned out the heard.  A waste of habitation evolved between the Districts where survival of the fittest is no longer just an adage associated with the animal kingdom.  In this waste, relocation camps sprang up to hold back the unwanted; camps that eventually grew into fully fledged towns.  Rosa is one such town and as the twenty-first century draws to a close, two forces from the old world will collide there amid the day to day lives of that that call Rosa home.

Caleb Johansen is one such man.  Raised with no knowledge of his family or his past, his life will come into danger as Harmon McCullough and Creasy square off to take him into custody, no matter who gets caught in the middle.

Harmon must save Caleb at any cost, believing wholeheartedly that he is the key to rebuilding the world, once his truth past is revealed.

Creasy, a man with no hold on the world, must take Caleb into custody at any cost, and use his name as a rallying call to unite the broken world, even if that means killing him.

These two men will come to Rosa as friends, but only one will leave with Caleb in their custody; no matter who or what stands in their way.