Dyego Alehandro's Blog, page 2

6000 Minutes of Free

Treasure of the Mayan King is fast approaching its six thousandth ebook sale. To celebrate this momentous event we’re going to be giving the book away for free. That’s right, 6000 sales means 6000 minutes of free! That equals just over four days, so mark your calendars and tell your friends: from Sunday, June 1st to Thursday, June 5th Treasure of the Mayan King is going to be free on Smashwords!

Here’s how it works: you’ll have to get the book at its Smashwords page, located here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/307171

Sometime Saturday night (the 31st) I’ll post up the coupon code on all of my social sites and you can then use that code to get the book for free. At Smashwords you can download the ebook in a handful of formats so you can read it on any device that you prefer.

So please help us celebrate our 6000th book by enjoying our book for free, and telling everyone you know about it!

Well, that went well. So here’s some more! Presenting The Frontier Archives

The process of putting The Missing Capstone up for free on Smashwords was such a resounding success, and so very easy, that I’ve decided to do the same thing for my other short stories.

These have been available to download as separate PDF files from my website for quite awhile now, but here they all are in one easy-to-read book, in as many formats as you’d like.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/432147

This is a collection of four short stories that are based in the same universe as Avarice Dynasty: Evasion. Each of the stories is self-contained and makes the universe more alive.

This is science fiction for people who don’t normally like sci-fi. Read it for free to try it out, and tell your friends!

The Missing Capstone is now available for free!

In preparation for the release of The Golden Scepter later this year, Alex Zabala and I collaborated on a short story. The Missing Capstone is about Chauncy Rollock’s first adventure in Egypt.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/431848

Read it for free and tell your friends about it!

…Vut Ees Dees Verd “Research?”

As I mentioned in The Science and History of Avarice Dynasty, I tend to take a lot of liberties in my science fiction because, to me, it makes writing more fun. Certain rules of physics are always broken in sci-fi. For instance, faster-than-light-speed is probably not possible, but it shows up in practically every sci-fi book and movie ever made. However, when dealing with a real-life setting my hands are tied by this pesky little thing called reality.

Not completely, of course. Alex Zabala and I delve into subjects that modern scientists and archaeologists are too conceited to consider possible. But we still have to deal with subjects that are based in feasible reality, and that requires  research. The upcoming short story entitled The Missing Capstone deals with ancient Egypt so my research has gone from esoteric sci-fi particles to ‘what are the names of the pharaohs of the First Intermediate era of Egyptian history?’

Before I started working on Capstone I didn’t even know there was a First Intermediate era. It’s not like school would have helped in this particular area. We didn’t delve into cool Egyptian history, we were stuck with boring American history. I vaguely remembered that there was an ‘old kingdom’ and a ‘new kingdom’ in Egypt but that was about it. That means I have to do research. And lots of it, because I do rather want to get the story right.

So I’ve learned more about Egyptian history in the last nine days than I ever thought possible. Who knew the Great Pyramid of Giza is actually the Khufu pyramid? Not me! But I need to make sure the details are at least believable and possible so that means…you guessed it…more research.

But at the end of the day I still get to go back and have crazy schemes and crazy science involved. I guess it evens out.

My Lego Obsession

The author hard at work.

I’ve had this post in my mind for over a year now, but it seems like a perfect time to post it. After all, everyone seems to be in the love with The Lego Movie at the moment. I am what is known as an Adult Fan Of Lego, or an AFOL, and I have a story to tell.

Most AFOL’s go through the “Dark Ages.” That’s usually during the teenage years when they think they’ve outgrow their hobby or simply lose interest. Then they re-discover Legos years later as an adult and reignite the passion for the wonderful little blocks.

I never had a Dark Age. I’ve been creating, devising, and just plain playing with Legos ever since my brother gave me my first batch at about 4 or 5. Sure, there’ve been years when I used them less, but never once did I imagine that I’d outgrown them, and never once did I lose interest in them.

But why Legos? That seems to be a popular question that people ask AFOLs. Why do we keep ‘playing’ with a so-called children’s toy? Every AFOL’s answer to this question is different and here’s mine.

It’s about imagination and freedom. When you buy an action figure of Iron Man, for instance, it will always be an action figure of Iron Man. Nothing wrong with that if that’s what you want. For me, however, when I buy a Lego Iron Man set it’s different. The little minifigure will always be Iron Man, of course, but the rest of the set can be turned into anything I want at any time. I’ve turned pirate ships into castle workshops, helicopters into submarine repair vessels, castles into evil super villain lairs, and the list goes on.

Legos are like toy stories, if you’ll pardon the blatant Pixar rip-off. Legos can become anything you want at any time. They foster creativity and engineering, always thinking about ‘how can I turn this pile of colorful bricks into a structure that fits my needs?’ That’s no different from being an author. ‘How can I turn this pile of colorful words into a story?’ I’m convinced that my lifelong obsession with Lego is partially responsible for my wanting to be an author. I always loved telling little stories with bricks.

So here’s to Lego. Never think you’re too old or too cool to enjoy them. In closing, this is one of my favorite sayings:

“There’s nothing more immature than an adult who refuses to play.”

The One Year Anniversary and Count-Up to 5000!

Today marks exactly one year since Treasure of the Mayan King was made available as an ebook on Amazon. In that time it has sold an amazing 4,960 books. That’s more than most self-published ebooks sell in their entire lifetime, let alone their first year of publication. I’m extremely honored and humbled to have been a part of this process. I learned many things from the early days of purely physical books and I’ll be sharing those thoughts later on this month.

In the meantime I hope you’ll join Alex and me as we count up to the fabled 5000 mark. If you’ve been on the fence about buying Treasure of the Mayan King, now’s the time to join in and help us reach our best sales ever! Arcani Arts is looking forward to an eventful 2014. The follow-up to Treasure of the Mayan King, known as The Golden Scepter, will be available in the coming Summer months. Our newest author, KayCee Riva, will have her first ever book published in 2014 as well. I’ll be publishing a steampunk horror novel and plenty of short stories that go along with my science fiction novel as well. 2013 was a great year for us. 2014 will be even better.

We hope you join us on our exciting journey forward.

Books needed for 5000 as of this posting: 40

Addicted to Pandas (And other animals)

Some of my favorite childhood memories are the visits I would make to a little zoo/botanical garden called The Living Desert. It’s located in Palm Springs (Palm Desert, technically) and it was like journeying into another world. The sprawling nature trails with plants and animals unique to deserts from around the world, the “dark room” with all of the creepy/crawly night creatures, the Golden Eagles that were bigger than me at the time…it was a perfect place for memories and to plant the seeds of my future love of animals.

So I was very excited to hear that the Smithsonian National Zoological Park was engaged in a Giant Panda breeding program and that Mei Xiang was expecting. I read about the birth of the new female cub on August 23rd and was delighted. It wasn’t until about two and half months later that I discovered the Panda Cams. Then they were shut down during the US Government Shutdown. And then I belatedly started taking screenshots. This is the first picture I took of the little panda cub, who was not yet named.

Yep, there she is, being cuddled by her mother. Adorable, right?

My wife and I are deathly allergic to every animal it’s legal to own. So nowadays we check in on little Bao Bao and her mother several times a day. We’ve kind of adopted them. Here’s a few more precious moments of them.

Ah, Life!

Things have been extra busy around here lately. The most excellent news of all is that Alex Zabala and I are hard at work on next summer’s biggest release! Come back soon for more information about: The Golden Scepter

The Barons

I had three blog ideas ready for this month. Instead another driver decided stops were optional and totaled my vehicle, leading to rather acute pain for my wife and I. I hope you can forgive me for not writing sooner. This is a short explanation about the general government structure of the Barons, as found in my science-fiction series Avarice Dynasty.

The Barons are in charge of the Frontier Worlds and since the end of the Second Cartel War nobody will challenge that fact. They use the unstoppable Frez Jankins to destroy anyone who gets too far out of line. However, they have granted the six Alpha Cartels a substantial amount of leeway in the everyday governing of matters

At the top of the Baron “food-chain” are the Vier (four in German), whose identities are a closely guarded secret. Nobody outside of the Vier know who the Vier are, with the exception of Frez Jankins.He answers directly to them and is occasionally used to root out conspirators within the Barons themselves. In direct order of power, the ranks of the Barons are:

The Vier: The four absolute leaders of the entire Frontier Worlds. Their words and whims are law. They have direct control of Frez Jankins and the Mandators, an ultra-secret warrior sect.

The Mardukes: The Mardukes are in charge of Baron military operations and are warlords in everything but name. They are almost as elusive and secretive as the Vier.

The High Resheph: This position is generally held by a single person but occasionally a committee handles it. They have enormous power and act as a buffer between the Mardukes and their subordinates. They can even overrule a Marduke edict if the situation calls for it.

The Molochs: (I’ve been using this name since 1997; much longer than a certain conservative radio/television host) The Molochs are in charge of the financial operations of the Barons, which means pretty much the entire purpose of the Barons. They control vast tracts of commercial territories and are concerned only with the furthering of the Barons control of the economy.

The Militates: These are people just beginning to gain power in the Baron hierarchy. They are almost always assigned to a specific planet or project. They are also the highest Baron rank that ‘outsiders’ usually aspire to meet and deal with personally.

The Acolytes: These are the newcomers and there are six separate levels within their ranks alone. Entry to the Barons is only by selection; the Militates seek out and select people who have shown tremendous loyalty and competence and then induct them as Acolytes. Those who continue to show loyalty and promise are quickly given higher Acolyte ranks. First-Class Acolytes have a very strong chance of being promoted to Militates, while those who never rise above Sixth-Class are often drummed out of the Baron command chain. Sometimes Sixth-Classers are even executed for being too incompetent.

The Treaty of Six, which ended the Second Cartel War, placed specific ranks, privileges and duties upon the Alpha Cartels as well. But that’s another subject for another blog.

Gaining Inspiration: The Upside-Down Method

Inspiration comes in many forms. It also refuses to come in an equal number of forms. The malady known as “writer’s block” affects every creative person at some time in their life. For some people writer’s block is a constant state of being. It can be difficult to break past the frightening blank page, or blank canvas, blank bead tray, etcetera.

“Think outside the box!” is a phrase usually applied to gaining inspiration, or thinking creatively. But what box do we need to think outside of? Our house box? That certainly can work. Many great inventors, including Nikola Tesla, gained inspiration from taking long walks. In Phoenix, during the summer, our time for long walks is limited to very early or very late.

But I digress. Instead of trying to ‘think outside the box,’ it might be time to try thinking “Upside-Down.” The idea behind Upside-Down Inspiration is to freshen your perspective on something, rather like thinking outside of the box. Look at your situation from a different and fresh angle. If you are writing a story, imagine things backwards or upside-down. What if the good guys were really the bad guys? What if the love was actually hate? What if the destruction was really creation? If taking a photograph, why not take it upside-down? If designing a pattern, what if it was inside out?

By removing yourself from the situation and looking at it with new eyes you can often find just the spark you were looking for. Here’s a collection of photographs in their normal and upside-down versions to spark some creativity. If ever the Writer’s/Beader’s/Chef’s/Photographer’s/Etc’s Block hits, turn your world Upside-Down.