Peter Nealen's Blog, page 6

Worldbuilding with Christopher Ruocchio

It’s time for the monthly stream. This month we’ve got Christopher Ruocchio, author of the epic Sun Eater series, joining us. We’ll be talking worldbuilding, writing, publishing–he’s recently changed publishers–and anything else that comes up, as inevitably happens in the chaos that is these streams.

Come join us.

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Listen to The Rock of Battle

At long last, The Rock of Battle, the explosive conclusion to The Lost, is available on audio.

The sorcerous rebellion within the Kingdom of Cor Legear was only the beginning. Now half a million men and monsters are on their way to invade the kingdom in the name of the Empire.

All that stands in the way is the fortress of Cor Chatha.

The Rock of Battle.

Conor and his fellow Recon Marines have ridden ahead to scout the enemy and try to disrupt the advance. A recon platoon can only do so much against such an army, however.

And the army is the least of their concerns.

Monsters, sorcery, and ancient evils descend on the Rock, as the Marines and their allies prepare to make what might be their last stand.

The Rock of Battle is now on audiobook narrated by Mark Boyett. Also available in eBook and paperback formats.

***

Couple of other matters, for those who are interested. I’m running into throttling built into my current newsletter sender, in that it’s only sending to about a third of the list, to “help” me with “sender reputation.” Working on figuring out either a workaround or another service to use. I’ll be sending a newsletter out shortly, but I can’t guarantee that everyone who’s signed up will see it.

Similarly, since I did the hardcover for Gray War through Ingram Spark, Amazon won’t actually carry it; the only way to get it through Amazon is through a third-party seller, which means it’s $9-11 dollars more expensive than it should be. It’s available on Barnes & Noble, or, if you really want one, you can order a signed copy directly from me.

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Gray War Audio!

So, while we weren’t quite able to time things to get simultaneous publication, for the first time we’ve got audio coming out with the ebook and print. Gray War is now available in all formats!

It was supposed to be a break from war zones….

Until all hell broke loose….

Can they survive long enough to fight this new war?

Chris Grant had taken the close protection gig for a finance guy as a break from the last two decades spent in war zones around the world. When a coordinated attempt is made on the client’s life, however, he finds that this job isn’t as simple as it seemed.

Things only get more complicated from there.

The Pallas Group Solutions contractors haven’t been selected because they’ll sit on their hands. As they begin to gather more intelligence, and as the bodies stack up, they discover that there’s more to both the client and their own company than meets the eye.

They’ve plunged into a world of drugs, corruption, foreign influence, and terrorism.

And a secret war that they have no choice but to fight.

Gray War, the first Pallas Group Solutions Thriller, is available in ebook, hardcover, paperback, and audio. The ebook editions of the next two books in the series, The Dragon and the Skull and Silver or Lead, are available for preorder now.

Now, I can’t advertise the audio on Amazon, for the same reasons as the ebook and print. If you missed it, I went into the shenanigans here. So, once again, if you enjoy this series and want more–especially in audio–then I would ask that you post a review and spread the word.

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The Stand Your Ground Stream

As you may have read here earlier, I’ve run into some roadblocks with the launch of Gray War. The middle managers at Amazon Marketing Solutions won’t let me advertise it, citing “violent content” on the cover. That gave me the idea for tonight’s Stand Your Ground Stream.

Larry Correia and Nick Cole have both experienced direct attacks on their careers and character, and Jason Anspach has experienced it slightly more indirectly, as Galaxy’s Edge Press’s account was deleted from Kindle Direct publishing last year, citing a clearly false accusation.

Whether it’s bureaucratic incompetence, a decaying algorithm increasingly swamped by the signal to noise ratio, or actual malice, there are plenty of roadblocks to the author out there. Tonight, we’re going to talk about standing your ground and making it work despite those obstacles.

Come join us.

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The Gray War Rages in the Shadows

Gray War, the first Pallas Group Solutions Thriller, and Book 1 of Brave New Disorder, is out today.

It Was Supposed To Be a Break from War Zones…

But Now It’s a New War, Against Enemies Foreign…

And Domestic…

Chris Grant had taken the close protection gig for a finance guy in the States as a break from the last two decades in war zones around the world. When a coordinated attempt is made on the client’s life, however, he finds that this job isn’t as simple as it seemed.

Things only get more complicated from there.

The Pallas Group Solutions contractors haven’t been selected because they’ll sit on their hands. As they begin to gather more intelligence, and as the bodies stack up, they discover that there’s more to both the client and their own company than met the eye.

They’ve plunged into a world of drugs, corruption, foreign influence, and terrorism.

And a secret war that they have no choice but to fight.

Available now in ebook, Hardcover, and Paperback. (Audiobook is forthcoming, expected on Feb 9.)

***

While my previous thriller series, American Praetorians and Maelstrom Rising have been about possible near-future conflicts (though American Praetorians was near-term enough that it overlapped with a few current events at the time), this series is a little different. As I explain in the author’s note at the end of Gray War, some of this stuff is happening right now. It’s “non-martial warfare” as described in the 1999 white paper Unrestricted Warfare.

So, this is a slightly more kinetic, fictional version of a war that is being waged on some level against the United States as we speak.

That’s not all that’s different about this series, though.

As I explained the other day, for those who missed it, I’m not being allowed to advertise this book on Amazon Marketing Solutions. The AMS staff doesn’t like the “violence” depicted on the cover, and considers it “threatening.” The search results issue that I encountered seems to have resolved itself, but the marketing issue remains. So, then, since I’m not willing to change the cover to accommodate their political biases, I’m going to be entirely dependent on organic reach to get this book out there and make it successful. If you have enjoyed my work in the past, then, please pick this book up–this week, if you can manage it–read it, review it, and tell your friends about it.

There’s only so much that we can rely on systems that we don’t own. Amazon’s ecosystem has been immensely useful for independent authors like me, but it doesn’t necessarily exist for independent authors like me. I’d rather rely on you, the readers, anyway. So, thank you, in advance.

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New Series Incoming

So, I wasn’t planning on posting about this until release date, which is this coming Tuesday, 1/31. However, recent events with Amazon have forced my hand.

I’ve been planning this new series of Pallas Group Solutions Thrillers (a couple series, actually) for a while. The first book, Gray War, comes out on 1/31. I already have the preorders for Books 2 and 3 up, as well, with release dates in March and May.

However, things have started to take a turn with Amazon.

First, the Hardcover and Paperback are up, but not linked with the ebook. That might just be algo weirdness, since both are through Ingram, and I had to adjust the data to match up with the ebook, since some things didn’t save the first time around. It’s gotten weirder from there, however.

I submitted a scheduled ad campaign two days ago. I got back the reply that Amazon Marketing Solutions wouldn’t run the ad, because the cover contains “violent content,” i.e., there are guys in an action thriller pointing guns at each other. “To ensure a good customer experience, we don’t allow ads containing images of weapons (including realistic and non-realistic firearms, swords, bows and arrows, etc.) shown in a violent, threatening manner, for example in the process of injuring another character.”

When I pointed out that it’s an action scene in an action novel, I got rejected again.

To make matters worse, none of the books in the Brave New Disorder series now appear in search results for my name. They’re there if you search for them specifically, but not for me. They’re on my author page, but that’s it.

Furthermore, there is audio coming for this book, narrated by Steve Marvel, who did the audiobooks for Escalation and Holding Action. Because of the time crunch, the audio files didn’t quite get submitted in time for a simultaneous publication, though I reached out to ACX to try to expedite the Quality Assurance process. Unfortunately, that resulted in an offer of a release date in September. I’m still working on that, and it’s possible that there’s just some miscommunication there, but it’s one more thing.

So, dear readers, here’s the thing. Whether it’s the algorithm plus a squeamish ad review team, or actual malice, the results are the same. Amazon’s putting up some serious roadblocks to this release. Maybe it’s just a perfect storm of screwy bad judgement and an algorithm that no longer has the indie author’s best interests in mind. Maybe it’s because this series is about the intersection between dirty politicians and their families, Chinese Communist operations via ostensibly commercial companies, and drug cartels. I simply don’t know. The entire process is opaque enough that I can’t know.

This means that I’m going to be dependent on you, the readers, for help on this more than ever.

I can’t rely on Amazon to market these books. It’s going to be all word of mouth. If you have enjoyed my work in the past, I’d ask that you order the books and spread the word around. Big Tech doesn’t care if we go hungry. This is my livelihood, and they’re screwing with it.

It’s in your hands.

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Livestream with Doc Spears

We’ll be going live tonight at the usual time with John “Doc” Spears, a former Special Forces soldier turned instructor and action adventure writer. We’ll be talking about work before and after becoming a writer, along with anything and just about everything else that comes to mind. Come join us on Facebook or YouTube. As always, it’ll be up on Rumble tomorrow.

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The Rock of Battle

Today is the day. The Lost comes to a close as war comes to Cor Chatha: The Rock of Battle.

It has been a long road since 1st Platoon drove their Zodiacs into that unseasonable fog off the coast of Norway, and found themselves in this strange and haunted world. It has led them here. To face one of the mightiest armies on the face of the planet.

***

War Has Come.

The sorcerous rebellion within the Kingdom of Cor Legear was only the beginning. Now half a million men and monsters are on their way to invade the kingdom in the name of the Empire.

All that stands in the way is the fortress of Cor Chatha.

The Rock of Battle.

Conor and his fellow Recon Marines have ridden ahead to scout the enemy and try to disrupt the advance. A recon platoon can only do so much against such an army, however.

And the army is the least of their concerns.

Monsters, sorcery, and ancient evils descend on the Rock, as the Marines and their allies prepare to make what might be their last stand.

The Rock of Battle is available now on Kindle and in Paperback.

***

Today is a twofer, though. Not only is The Rock of Battle out in ebook and print, but The Alchemy of Treason has finally arrived on audio.

Friends. Foes. Where is the line?

Conor and his allies return from the quest for the Sword of Categym to find the Galel kingdom under siege. The forces of the Empire of Ar-Annator gather on the frontier, and the Marines must fight their way through enemy lines to reach friendly territory.

To make matters worse, an attempt is made on King Uven’s life, grievously wounding him. As traitorous elements among his retainers make a grab for the throne, a deeper, darker, sorcerous plot makes itself felt. The Empire has planned this for a long time. The foul things they’re in league with have been planning longer still.

Can Recon Marines and their allies adapt quickly enough to head off a coup before darkness envelops Cor Legear?

Audiobook includes WarGate After Action Report with the author.

If you’re an audiobook listener, don’t miss it. Get it here.

***

I hope you enjoy the conclusion to The Lost. We’re not done with this world, though. Look for more to come…

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Dec Livestream – James Rosone and Ukraine

James Rosone joins us once again on the livestream tonight, to talk about the war in Ukraine. James has some unique insights on what led up to this, and he’s been digging deeply into what’s been happening. (He also dealt with the Ukrainian situation in his fiction way back in 2017.) We might well get into some uncomfortable truths about the war tonight. War is almost never as clear-cut or neat as the narrative (on either side) would have you believe. Tune in on Facebook or YouTube:

While the livestream is currently only on YouTube and Facebook, we do have a Rumble account as well. Once that hits 100 subscribers, we can stream on Rumble, getting us out from under the Google thumb, so go check that out, too. This episode will be up on Rumble tomorrow.

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Setting the Stage – Gradients of Warfare

The term “Fifth-Generation Warfare” has been getting bandied about a lot, lately. The YouTube channel “S2 Underground” even did a lengthy video about it, explaining its somewhat amorphous nature. In short, “Fifth-Generation War,” coming on the heels of “Fourth-Generation War,” which is supposed to be largely guerrilla-based, is so low-level that it’s hard to detect it at all.

The full video is here, and well worth checking out:

However, when you really start to dig into history, you see that while technology and the geopolitical situation might change some of the details, many of these forms of war have been around since time immemorial. Guerrilla warfare didn’t suddenly appear in the mid-20th century, and as you might have seen from the earlier Setting the Stage post on the T’ai Kung, the use of influence operations, bribery, and crime to plant the seeds of an adversary’s downfall from within is just as ancient.

So, what if the whole “Generations of War” idea is bunk?

In The Handbook of 5GW, Daniel H. Abbott introduces what he calls the “xGW Framework,” which, in his words, “rejects the theory of sequential emergence, and the Generations of Modern War (GMW) school that is associated with it. While some theorists in the xGW framework still us the term generation, the elements of the taxonomy are now generally known as gradients. The gradients of war, like gradients we see in other elements of social organization (wealth, height, skin color, and so on) flow indefinitely into each other, and their emergence pre-dates written history.”

This framework, I think, summarizes things much better. It’s not a matter of new forms of warfare emerging, it’s more a matter of different gradients, ranging from total annihilation to a combination of non-martial warfare that’s so insidious that it’s hard to detect. The latter fits pretty neatly into the Chinese “Three Warfares” strategy, of Media Warfare, Psychological Warfare, and Legal Warfare. There are a few other forms touched on in Unrestricted Warfare, to include economic warfare and (perhaps most importantly for the upcoming Pallas Group Solutions series) “drug warfare.”

It is entirely possible that we are already at war, against an enemy (or enemies) using a combination of the Fourth and Fifth Gradients of warfare against us, keeping the bleed slow enough that it evades notice.

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