Austin Dragon's Blog, page 5
December 1, 2019
Signing Off for 2019 (And Sales)
Yes, it's that time already. The last gasp of 2019 is upon us, so this is my last blog post for the year. I’ll be enjoying my holidays too, but mostly focusing on my writing.
In 2017, I really launched my Liquid Cool series and its sci-detective with attitude in a world of mega-skyscrapers, hovercars, cyborgs, off-world colonies, action and laughs. In 2018, was all epic fantasy with my new series, the Fabled Quest Chronicles with the first three novels of an amazing caravan of humans, elves, giants, other fae, and fantastic animals led by the human Traveler and his “dog.” In 2019, I returned to the Liquid Cool universe with four more new novels.
What’s next in 2020? It will be a much more ambitious and crazier year than before. Fabled Quest, a little Liquid Cool, the relaunch of my original sci-fi series, After Eden and…
Well, you will have to see. (Hint: a new series!)
Well, more on all that next year. For what remains of this year, have a Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s Day in advance. See you back in 2020!
Also, check out my Year-End Sales on my main website home page HERE.
All the Best,
Austin
The post Signing Off for 2019 (And Sales) appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
November 9, 2019
Fabled Quest Chronicles Update!
For those of you who don’t know the story, even though I have been a long-time fan of The Lord of the Rings, I hadn’t intended on writing an epic fantasy series. But I surveyed my VIP Readers’ Club and they loudly told me “Yes! Write it.”
As, with any genre I tackle I had to put my own unique spin on my new epic fantasy series. I made it simple: no dwarves (never been a fan) and no dragons (used far too much). The latter might seem strange because I am a Black guy with the Chinese last name who collects dragon knick-knacks, along with other Ancient Chinese and Japanese artistic pieces, but that's another story. What has always puzzled me with epic fantasy mythology is there are hundreds of beasts, races, and malevolent creatures (ie. manticores!) but you never see them. I wanted to change that. The European continent – British, Irish, German, Netherlands, etc. – is filled with rich and fascinating mythological history. All the creatures in the Fabled Quest Chronicles — many you’ve never heard of — are from that existing folklore. But I had to add to the Fabled Quest glossary my own mythological creations – a land kraken and a dwelf! But only two.
I always imagined the series as a trek from our world (The Lands of Man) into these magical worlds (The Lands of Fae and beyond). My plan from the beginning was the caravan would be comprised of many disparate factions — not only from the human world but the lands of fae. They all would need each other to get to legendary kingdom of Atlantea. No faction could get there by themselves – the journey was far too dangerous.
However, they would be led by one (a human) who had been to Atlantea before. The mysterious Traveler with his wolf dog companion (a dog but not really a dog at all).
Half of the journey has begun with three novels:
Now to complete the dangerous journey to Atlantea.
So what’s next for Traveler’s Caravan? They have left the Lands of the Fae and stand at the threshold of the Great Forest…also known as the Giant Forest.
Since some of you have indicated that you’ll hire bounty hunters to track me down unless I finish the story I’m using the backdrop of the international National November Writers Month to jump right in. I'll do the same as I did for my Liquid Cool series: write multiple books back-to-back. In this case, I’ll write Books 4, 5, and 6 back-to-back. Unlike other fantasy writers, I have a rule not to write those 1,000 plus novels. However, the genre definitely fits with a longer novel than my sci-fi books. Also each of the Fabled Quest Chronicles books is longer than the one before it.
Just to reassure Fabled Quest fans, the books are already mapped out and in one sense, already written. I just need to plant butt to chair with fingers on the keys of the laptop and Write!
So let’s use this blog post for a quick survey.
Question: 1) Release one book at a time or 2) Release all at once?
Comment Below:
The post Fabled Quest Chronicles Update! appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
November 3, 2019
How Cruz Met China Doll
So how did our famous sci-fi detective meet his wife Dot a.k.a. China Doll? I teased it in the last Liquid Cool novel (Book 9), Write Me a Murder on Jules Verne's Island.
Your guesses were great:
She was in the passenger seat during a race against Cruz. He won the race and stole her away from his rival.
She was at an illegal hovercraft race. He saw her and there were instant fireworks. They've been together ever since.
Cruz was in one of his depressed moods and hiding when she shows up in some crazy manner. Falls from the sky or crashes into his beloved vehicle. She is either chasing or running away from bad people and he helps her. ??
I would guess she was a damsel in distress, perhaps due to some situation her parents brought about!
I think it had to be a Blade Runneresque murder mystery and she was the dame in trouble!
They met through a mutual acquaintance, Run Time.
She knew runtime and others in the car scene and met Cruz there
Cruz went in for a haircut.
If I had to guess I would guess they met in college or at the police station.
He was around when she crashed into a bridge. He helped pick up the pieces of her.
Answer:
They met at a Metropolis Phobia Support Group!
If you're a VIP Member, this Friday (11/8) I'll send you the “lost” chapter to read. It will be a preview of a new feature and category I'll launch in 2020 called Flash Fiction! It will be excerpts from new books and series.
The post How Cruz Met China Doll appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
October 1, 2019
What If You Were the Casting Director for a Liquid Cool TV Series?
Let me ask a fun question: What if my Liquid Cool — my sci-fi noir detective series — were a TV series? Which actors do you think should play the main characters?
Who Should Play? (Pick two: Cruz and one other)
PJ. Caucasian female (French), remember the initials stand for “Punch Judy” meaning she punches people with her bionic arms.
Dot. Asian female, classy, businesswoman fashionista, was “famous” long before she met Cruz.
Run-Time. African American male, consummate businessmen.
Phishy. Caucasian male, slim build, radiates crazy fun.
and Cruz! our hero detective with the cool hat, cool red hovercar, and attitude. Hispanic, 30-ish male.
Let us know who'd play Cruz and pick an actor for one other character, if you'd like.
Comment below:
The post What If You Were the Casting Director for a Liquid Cool TV Series? appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
September 14, 2019
National Cozy Mystery Day
For this post, I'm going to completely defer to author Sarah Weldon whose post on the Alliance of Independent Authors is better than anything I'd write about September 15th, also known as National Cozy Mystery Day!
Excerpt below but the link to the full post is here: https://selfpublishingadvice.org/national-cozy-mystery-day/
What is a Cozy Mystery?
“Cozy mysteries, also referred to as “cozies”, are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thus stand in contrast to hardboiled fiction, which features violence and sexuality more explicitly and centrally to the plot. The term “cozy” was first coined in the late 20th century when various writers produced work in an attempt to re-create the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.” (Wikipedia)
Examples of Cozy Mysteries
Miss Marple, Poirot, Jeeves and Wooster, Death in Paradise, Rosemary and Thyme, Murder She Wrote, Shakespeare and Hathaway, Miss Fisher Mysteries, Pie in the Sky, Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, Father Brown, Cadfael, Jonathan Creek, Midsomer Murders, Lovejoy, Aunt Dimity, Hamish McBeth, The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Inspector Montalbano.
What is Cozy Mystery Day and When is it Celebrated?
Observed annually on the 15th September (Agatha Christie’s birthday), Cozy Mystery Day is about sharing and celebrating cozy mystery books, movies, and television series with the world. The official hashtag is #cozymysteryday
Ways to Mark #cozymysteryday
Blogging and Social Media: There are loads of ways to celebrate the day, starting with writing a blog post on your website, or posting a tweet to wish everyone a happy #cozymysteryday.
Except from author Sarah Weldon. https://selfpublishingadvice.org/national-cozy-mystery-day/
So why am I jumping into the celebration?
My own latest Liquid Cool novel, Book 9 — Write Me a Murder on Jules Verne's Island — qualifies as a bonafide cozy mystery in its own cool sci-fi way. Grab it HERE.
#cozymysteryday
The post National Cozy Mystery Day appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
September 6, 2019
Write Me a Murder…Trivia
In the last blog post, we asked:
How did Cruz (our famous detective) and Dot (aka China Doll) ever meet to begin with?
Your guesses were great! Definitely Liquid Cool fans here.
She was in the passenger seat during a race against Cruz. He won the race and stole her away from his rival.
She was at an illegal hovercraft race. He saw her and there were instant fireworks. They've been together ever since.
Cruz was in one of his depressed moods and hiding when she shows up in some crazy manner. Falls from the sky or crashes into his beloved vehicle. She is either chasing or running away from bad people and he helps her. ??
I would guess she was a damsel in distress, perhaps due to some situation her parents brought about!
I think it had to be a Blade Runneresque murder mystery and she was the dame in trouble!
They met through a mutual acquaintance, Run Time.
She knew runtime and others in the car scene and met Cruz there
Cruz went in for a haircut.
If I had to guess I would guess they met in college or at the police station.
He was around when she crashed into a bridge. He helped pick up the pieces of her.
Well, you know I always come up with something new. What's the answer? In a week, I'll email the entire VIP Readers' Club with the answer and a special offer. (You can become a member too HERE)
The post Write Me a Murder…Trivia appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
August 24, 2019
Some Liquid Cool Trivia
Yes, it's true! There's another Liquid Cool novel out before the end of Summer–Write Me a Murder on Jules Verne's Island! That's a dozen books in the Liquid Cool series.
But wait…Before you read the latest novel, we have a trivia question for you:
How did Cruz (our famous detective) and Dot (aka China Doll) ever meet to begin with?
Write your best guess in the Comments Below.
The post Some Liquid Cool Trivia appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
August 10, 2019
Where’s My Liquid Cool T-Shirt?
When I published the debut novel of my sci-fi detective series, Liquid Cool back in 2016, I added something as a joke. Here's an excerpt:
He disappeared out the door and began to close it.
“Wait,” I yelled.
He popped back in.
“What's he wearing?”
I pointed to one of the sidewalk johnnies, who stopped his kicking and stood up straight. Under his jacket, he was wearing a T-shirt of me! My face and wearing my tan fedora.
“What's that?” I asked.
“That's you,” the johnny said, beaming. “Cruz, the People's Detective. The Detective of the Revolution. Liquid Cool Rules Metropolis!”
All I began to say was, “What the—”
When I got back inside, my Pops opened his jacket, and he was wearing a T-shirt of me. My Ma had one in her little purse. Even the Wans opened their jackets to reveal they had them on, too.
“What the heck.”
“They're selling them in the lobby and on the street in front of the building,” Dot said.
“I’m being franchised.” I looked up. “Phishy!” I looked at PJ.
“Don't look at me, boss,” she said. “It's exactly what he would do. You're a public figure, now, so you better get used to it.”
“Public figure? I am not a public figure. They can’t franchise me.”
“Oh, non. We’re stupid!” PJ ran to her mobile computer. “We need to be franchising you, too. I’ll have a shopping portal up on our virtual storefront in five minutes. We’ll sell the official Liquid Cool T-shirts and hats, too. I need to get paid, so this will bring in a steady income stream.”
“How are people franchising me? What’s going on? I’m a private person.”
My parents and Dot’s parents burst out laughing.
“Why am I being laughed at? Laughed at by even my own parents.”
“You need to catch up on the news,” Dot said.
I shook my head.
“Boss!”
“What?” I yelled back.
I walked over to PJ's home workstation and she pointed to her mobile computer.
“Wait, what did you just have on the screen?”
“Nothing.”
“I saw ‘Le Liquid Cool.’ What’s that?”
“It my on-screen translator.”
“It’s not ‘Le Liquid Cool’ or ‘El Liquid Cool’ or anything else in front of it. It’s Liquid Cool.”
Well, readers and fans wanted the real thing. So here they are HERE!
Grab a Mug and stuff too while you're at it HERE!
The post Where’s My Liquid Cool T-Shirt? appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
July 29, 2019
NEW RELEASE: Digital Samurai (Liquid Cool: From the Crazy Maniac Files, Book 2)
Author Austin Dragon launches the second novel in the Kindle Unlimited spin-off of the sci-fi detective thriller series—BioPunk Blues to science fiction fans worldwide.
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 30, 2019)
In the shadowy world of the megacorporations there’s a rumor of a cyber-assassin like no other.
Digital Samurai (Liquid Cool, Book 2)
LIQUID COOL is Sci-Fi Meets the Detective Crime Thriller!
In the action-packed (and funny) cyberpunk detective series, tag along with Cruz, our sci-fi detective (and unlikely hero) with attitude in the fifty-million-plus, future supercity of Metropolis.
Cruz enters the secret deadly world of corporate espionage and warfare. Corporate soldiers, cyborg soldiers, samurai soldiers, and digital samurai. Two sinister megacorporations are locked in a final battle to destroy each other. Cruz is hired by an assassin rumored to travel through the Net to find and kill her targets. But why would THE DIGITAL SAMURAI need a detective?
Welcome to the high-tech, low-life world of Liquid Cool.
GRAB IT HERE!
The post NEW RELEASE: Digital Samurai (Liquid Cool: From the Crazy Maniac Files, Book 2) appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
July 5, 2019
Latest Kindle Giveaway – Summer 2019!
This summer comes the next novels in the sci-fi/cyberpunk detective Liquid Cool series! We get BioPunk Blues (Book 7), The Moon Is a Good Place to Die (Book 8), and Write Me a Murder on Jules Verne's Island (Book 9). As a bonus, we also get the next installment of the Kindle Unlimited Liquid Cool: From the Crazy Maniac Files mini-series —Digital Samurai (Book 2).
To celebrate, we launch our latest giveaway — The Liquid Cool Summer 2019 Kindle Giveaway! It begins Monday, July 8 and ends Wednesday, July 24th.
All you need to enter the Giveaway is your email! However, if you want extra chances to win and spread the word, you have plenty of choices–as few or as many as you like.
AUTHOR AUSTIN DRAGON'S THE LIQUID COOL SUMMER 2019 KINDLE GIVEAWAY!
Enter below for your chance to win!
Author Austin Dragon's Liquid Cool Summer Kindle Giveaway
If you win the giveaway prize, what is the first ebook you'll get — title, author, genre and why? Leave Your Comments Below.
#Win #FREE #Amazon #Kindle #Freeebooks #Giveaway
The post Latest Kindle Giveaway – Summer 2019! appeared first on Official Website of Author Austin Dragon.
