J.M. Filipowicz's Blog, page 10

#SFFSAT More from my Work in Progress

With my new book being released this week, I almost forgot to post the snippet of my work in progress. I’ll be posting the entire first chapter of this rough draft in ten sentence snippets. I also urge you to check out the SFFSAT site and read all the other authors’ snippets.

     Wona watched as her friend’s face displayed an intricate pattern of colours, changing shape and design with each passing moment.  Flecks of green and yellow surrounded his nose. Though Wona had no idea how Elmar could be both happy and sad at the same time, she enjoyed how the yellow matched his eyes.  Around those round yellow spheres his scales blinked white, not quite as brightly as when they had dug their sand tunnels but he was definitely nervous.  But then, Elmar was often nervous.

The pink concerned Wona most, it traced lines around his features, lines that had grown brighter and bolder in the last few years.  Now they were impossible to ignore.  Elmar liked her in a way she just wasn’t ready for.

Vlog: Many Ways to Read My Book

Here’s that link to buy my book: http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-77115-094-7&picsize=LARGE&x=37&y=112

Wardroids is out – cover update.

In my last post I announced the release of my novel and kind of poked fun at the protagonist’s outfit. Well my wonderful publisher/ cover artist has given the main character pants, for a much more accurate depiction of Emily Reid, fix-it chick aboard the mining ship Destiny.

I think the pants are a marked improvement but what do you think? Tight space pants or thigh-highs and leather hot pants? Which is better?

I also want to draw your attention to the W for Wardroids on the wall panel in the background. Being a fan of Wonder Woman, I love how this Wardroids logo reminds me of the Wonder Woman crest. The wardroids really are Wonder Women after all.

Wardroids is out!

This morning I awoke to a message from my publisher saying that my new book Wardroids had been released. Huzzah! Does this cover make you want to buy the book? Yes! Does it make you want to buy leather undies and thigh-high socks? Maybe.

You can buy the book (not the socks and undies) on the Double Dragon website. There’s a small excerpt there too so you can read a little before shell out your sheckles. Speaking of which, new ebooks are 15% off, which means if you buy now you save 90 cents. Regular price $5.99.  Now $5.09!

If you want to buy the book off amazon or iTunes or whatever your favourite e-retailer is, the folks at Double Dragon are working on that now and Wardroids should be purchasable all about the interwebs by the end of the day (or tomorrow). Print on demand copies will be available sometime next week.

Edit: Due to my comments on Emily’s lack of dress, my publisher/cover artist is giving her pants. Thanks Deron. No really, thanks for everything.  I’ll post the updated cover  when I have it.

Click here to buy the book!

So Many Ways to Fail

As I write this, the release of my first novel, Wardroids fast approaches. For those of you who have been following my A to Z posts for April, you know that I’ve been talking about this book all month. If you want to check back I suggest reading B is for Black, E is for Emily, and T is for Thirty-two Eighty.  Those three characters are the soul of this story.

When is comes to my work, my friends will tell you that I’m pretty self-deprecating. A gremlin sits on my shoulder, declaring my writing bad as I type the words. It’s even sitting there as I write this post.

So it should mean something when I say that I think my book is pretty good. If I were not the author, and I happened to read the book I would enjoy it. The gremlin would like it too. I mean, I don’t like to brag.  No, really, I hate to brag and that’s a problem. How can I sell my work if I don’t feel comfortable screaming “look at me!” at the top of my lungs?

Like the title of this post says, there are so many ways to fail. First, you can write a bad book. I don’t think I did, but only my readers can judge. Second, you can fail to find an agent or publisher. I didn’t find an agent this go around but I found a publisher fairly quickly.  I basically researched publishers until I found one (Double Dragon Publishing) that seemed a good fit, and luckily the publisher agreed with me.

Now as my publisher prepares my novel for its debut, I have the feeling that this process has only just begun.  There is yet another way that failure is possible. My writing has been praised by parents and primary school teachers alike, but no one has ever told me that I’m good at marketing. I’ve recently read several articles on selling ebooks and they all warn not to expect your book to do too well. I’m not sure if this means that I won’t become an instant millionaire (obvious) or if it means that no one who is not already my Facebook friend will pick it up. My goals are modest.  I want a few people to read and enjoy the book.

Have a marketing idea that is working for you?  Let me know in the comments below.

Z is for Zipper

All the crew members of the mining ship Destiny wear a stylish uniform consisting of a one-piece blue coverall which zips up the front. The breathable cotton fabric is practical for the difficult and dangerous work of asteroid mining, and the zippers quick changes a snap. The wardroid Thirty-two Eighty wears her uniform without underclothes and zips down to naked at a moments notice.

And on that note, so ends the A to Z challenge.  And what a challenge it has been!  Especially since I decided to make the posts exclusively about my upcoming novel Wardroids. I did my best to keep the posts interesting and to keep spoilers to a minimum.  Keep following this blog for updates on the book’s release.

And remember to check back for new blogs on Wednesday, vlogs on Friday, and Saturday snippets.

Y is for Youngest

The youngest crew member on board the Destiny is twelve-year-old Pete, called “Tiny” by his shipmates. Pete lied about his age in order to serve on the mining vessel, though everyone knows he isn’t eighteen. For Commander Black, Pete is a reminder of his own youth. He ignores Pete’s fib about his age because he suspects that Pete is running from a life far worse than the dangers of space mining. Tiny Pete is the only Destiny crew member who was born on planet Earth.

X is for seX

Yes, I know I’m a cheater-pants but there are no xylophones in Wardroids. The word “sex” appears twenty-one times in the novel, most often referring to the function of different types of droids. If you’re looking to Wardroids for explicit smutty scenes, you’ll be disappointed. If you want something pure and clean, you’ll likely be disappointed too. One of the challenges in writing Wardroids was to find that balance.

 

The following is a snippet where Thirty-two Eighty talks about Dr. Adam Black. In it, she credits him with granting her sexuality.

 

Dr. Adam Black never became as well known as his superior, Dr. Maximus Bauernhof, whom he helped design the wardroids.  However, Black is responsible for our post-war refits: our skin, our bodies, our sexuality.  He made us who we are today.

We owe him, and no one more so than me.  Dr. Black took my program as close to humanity as it would go, overriding safeguards meant to keep me forever in the dark.  He endowed me with intelligence because, he said, that only an intelligent woman could ever hope to take the place of his dead wife.  I would like to believe that I am the only wardroid who ever lay by Adam Black’s side, as I do now with his son, but I cannot be certain of that.  All I know is that I failed to bring him happiness.  I was a poor substitute for the love he had lost so tragically.

W is for Wardroids

Near the end of the Great Interplanetary War, all was but lost for the allies. That is until robotics genius Maximus Bauernhof created the wardroids. These efficient soldier drones soon went into mass production and were sent to Earth in large numbers, decimating the planet and its inhabitants. They won us the war.

During peace time we had little use for the thousands of wardroids stored in warehouses all over the solar system, and so they were reprogrammed as cheap servants.  As an added bonus, they were also given female bodies and basic personalities so they could service more primal needs.

V is for Victory

During the Great Interplanetary War the allies first line of defense was a lunar base called Victory. It is on this base that Dr. Maximus Bauernhof and his assistant Dr. Adam Black created the Prototype wardroid. A surprise attack destroyed the base shortly afterward.

Only six people (seven if you count the Prototype) survived the battle of Victory, including Bauernhof and Black. Bauerhof lost his leg; Black lost his family.

Keep following this blog to find out when you can get a copy of Wardroids, coming soon from Double Dragon Publishing.