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Outlining and Progress

Hey Goodreaders,

So I had wanted to have my outline for Earthman Jack 3 completed by the end of January, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. I kind of expected this, so I'm not too worried about it. Right now I'm pushing for a mid-February deadline on the outline.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, I'm getting the story together. This book has a LOT of things going on in it, so I have to work out ways to fit all the various storylines with one another. When you're dealing with epic space opera, that is harder than it sounds.

I think one of the things I'm learning from this endeavor is that it's important to stay focused and keep things simple (well, as simple as possible). I'm writing a story that takes place in a HUGE universe, filled with entire planets and species. It can get overwhelming at times, so I'm having to constantly take a step back and try to regain my focus.

Writing is such an interesting endeavor, because it really tests the boundaries of your imagination and creativity. I have a lot of fun writing, but 90% of my time is spent thinking about what to write, so at the end of the day, I feel as though I've done a lot of work and have very little to show for it.

Hopefully once the outline is done, I'll have an easier time. I know once I finalized the outline for Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army, the scenes just flowed and I was able to complete the book in 2 months of non-stop writing. My guess is that the same will happen for EJ3. After all, all the hard work is done in the outlining process.

As always, if any of you have questions about the next book, feel free to contact me and ask. Goodreads also has a nifty "ask the author" tool, so you can use that as well, if you like.

Oh, you can also sign up for my newsletter at: www.EarthmanJack.com.

Talk soon,

Matt

Update On Earthman Jack

Hey everybody,

First off, happy 2016! 2015 was a big year because it saw the release of the sequel to Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet, entitled "Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army."

So far, the response to the second Earthman Jack book has been extremely positive, which is very encouraging. I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read it and write a review. You guys rock!

The biggest question I'm getting from readers is: When is the next book coming out?

Well, after taking a bit of a break to decompress from the release of book 2, I've started working "in earnest" on book 3, which will be titled "Earthman Jack vs. The Conclave Of Corruption."

I'm in the mid-stages of outlining the book right now. For those of you who don't know my process, I like to make detailed outlines before I start writing just so I know exactly what I need to write. Some authors can just "wing it," but when dealing with an epic space opera with so many different characters, worlds, and technology, "winging it" is a recipe for disaster.

Book 2 introduced a lot of new characters and new aspects to the "Jackverse," and I plan on carrying those over into book three. Every major character will have their own storyline in the next book, and new characters and places will be introduced, giving us new insight into other aspects of the Earthman Jack universe.

Because this series is a Space Opera, it can get overwhelming at times, juggling so many different aspects of this universe while trying to also tell a fun, exciting, cohesive story. I now know why it takes George R.R. Martin 5+ years to write an Ice & Fire book. Epic stories are also epic undertakings.

My goal this year is to get book 3 out by November/December. It all depends on how fast I can write it and get it edited. I'm hoping I can have a rough outline done by the end of January and begin writing the actual book sometime in February, with the aim of having a rough draft ready before summer. Because these books are so big, they take a long time to edit, but if the book gets done early, I'll release it early. But for now, I'm aiming for the 2016 holiday season.

So to answer anyone's question of when book 3 will be available, I'm going to say "later this year," and hope that will satisfy all of you. Please be sure to keep track of me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram, and my website as I'll be posting updates about my progress as time goes on.

And as a side note, I want to let everyone know I will be focusing on getting the Earthman Jack series finished in as timely a fashion as possible. I originally had just planned to release a new installment once a year, but I've heard from many of you that you don't like to start a series that isn't finished, so I plan to jump into book 4 as soon as the rough draft for 3 is done, and hopefully continue that trend so you all won't have to wait 7 years for the series to be completed. Whether or not I'll achieve that goal is anyone's guess, but for now, that's the plan.

As always, your feedback and support really helps to keep me motivated, so keep it coming! Also, feel free to use Goodread's "Ask the Author" feature if you have any questions about the books. I'll be happy to answer what I can.

Talk soon,

Matt

The Secret Army Is Finally Here!

Hey everyone,

Well, today is the day!  The second book in The Earthman Jack Space Saga is finally here.  It’s been a long road getting this book written and to the market, and now I can finally relax… at least for a bit, lol.  If you haven’t already, please go purchase your copy over at Amazon.  It’s on sale for a limited time for just $0.99!  (Or you can get the paperback, which is not on sale.  Whatever you prefer.) You can get your copy of The Secret Army here:

Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army

As you may know, the release week of a book is very important!  This is when it has the best shot to get on those all-important best-seller lists and allows new people to discover the series.  By purchasing a copy, you’re really helping get the book exposure, believe it or not.

And in case you want to go even further, you can post about the book’s release over on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, or whatever social media platform you prefer.  Any word-of-mouth would be appreciated.

Most important – don’t forget to let me know what you think of the book!  I love hearing from readers, and would love to hear from you about how you think the series is shaping up.

Thanks again for your interest and support!  It means a lot.

Now, back to work on book 3…

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Artwork Preview 2: Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army

Hey everyone!

So we’re only 3 days away from the book’s release, and I have one final sneak preview to share with you.  Today, it’s more art from the extremely talented Brian Shearer.  This is an image from chapter 56 of the book, where Jack, Scallywag, Heckubus, and Grohm are trapped in the office of Director Uleeg Casgor, with a squad of Alpha Force members getting ready to break in.  Obviously, there’s a lot of stuff leading up to this situation our heroes find themselves in, and I don’t want to give anything away.  But let’s just say that the Secret Army has their sights set on our heroes and it looks like they may have finally cornered them.

Of course, Jack and his friends stage a daring escape, which happens just in the nick of time.  In this image, you can see Heckubus, Jack, and Scallywag leaping from the office window just as the Alpha Force squad enters.  (For those of you who don’t know yet, Alpha Force soldiers are some of the most fearsome and capable soldiers in the Regalus Empire, designed specifically for fighting Deathlords and extreme threats.)  The office is located in the Capitol Supertower, which is thousands of feet high, so the characters leaping out of a window means they may actually be putting themselves in more danger than if they had faced off with Alpha Force!

So what happens?  How do our heroes survive this daring escape?  Well, I guess you’re just going to have to read the book to find out!

Tune in on Monday when I give the low-down on when and where the book will be released, and how you can get a copy.

The post Artwork Preview 2: Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army appeared first on MatthewKadish.com.

Secret Army Character Profile: Mourdock Skyborn

One of the fun parts about writing a series is introducing new characters into the mix.  Different characters can bring a different dynamic into the narrative, so it can be exciting to see how their introduction affects the main characters of the story.

Someone who is going to affect the saga of Earthman Jack a great deal is the character of Mourdock Skyborn.  Mourdock is one of the new characters introduced in The Secret Army, and his story is going to be one with far-reaching effects in the universe.

Mourdock comes from Legacy Skyborn, which is the ruling family of the Maxima Star System.  In the “Jackverse,” a “Legacy” is a title awarded to governors of solar systems, which can only be granted or taken away by the Emperor of the Regalus Empire.  All inhabited planets, colonies, and outposts within a solar system are overseen by a Legacy, the responsibilities of which are typically passed down from generation to generation.  It is not unheard of to have Legacies which have ruled over a solar system for thousands of years, with the next generation constantly groomed for the responsibility that is passed down to them.

A Legacy is one of the most powerful positions within the Empire.  They essentially rule a mini-empire of their own and typically command a great deal of power and influence.  The Maxima star system is a gateway to many Imperial worlds and outposts on the outer edges of Imperial Space, and this gives the Skyborns a great deal of political and economic influence.

Mourdock is the only son of Gebhard Skyborn, who is the current ruler of the Maxima system.  Mourdock has been training as a Paragon from a very young age, and was genetically engineered to be both strong and intelligent.  In a weird way, Mourdock is the kind of man Jack wants to be.  He’s attractive, capable, rich, and a real man of action.  In a sense, Mourdock is more of a typical “hero” than Jack could ever hope to be.  In fact, when writing him, I based his character on many aspects of the traditional “hero” you’d see in young adult novels.  For Mourdock, everything comes easy, and he’s just naturally a “good guy.”  In fact, you might even go so far as to call him a “Gary Stu,” since he’s so gosh-darn perfect.

Jack’s relationship with Mourdock is also an odd one.  In a way, Jack resents Mourdock because of the fact that everything comes easy to the guy.  Jack is indeed jealous of Mourdock, and doesn’t want to like him.  And while it would probably be easy for Mourdock to have been another “meathead jerk” who picks on Jack, Mourdock actually has a good heart, and goes out of his way to be Jack’s friend – something which Jack has short supply of on Omnicron.  So in a weird way, even though Mourdock could be considered one of Jack’s rivals, he’s also one of Jack’s most important allies.

But there is more to Mourdock than meets the eye.  I don’t want to give too much away, but Mourdock’s journey is one that is just as important as Jack’s, and you’ll get to see the start of this journey in The Secret Army.  As the series progresses, you’ll get to see Mourdock grow just like you’ll get to see Jack.  But these two friends will be taking very different paths.  For while Jack is surrounding himself with good people he can rely on, Mourdock is surrounded with people who don’t always have his best interest at heart.  And one can only be surrounded by such dark influences for so long before they begin to take their toll.  So the question is, can Mourdock remain as pure and perfect of a hero as he has been up to this point?  Or will temptation lure him off the righteous path?  I guess you’ll have to keep reading the series to find out!

Though Mourdock plays a big role in The Secret Army, all your favorite characters from The Ghost Planet are returning.  Scallywag is back, as is Grohm, along with Professor Green and Anna.  And Heckubus Moriarty?  Yeah, he’s back too!  AND he has a side-kick this time around!  (After all, what’s an evil genius without a sidekick?)

We’re only a few days away from the book’s release, so be sure to check it out on September 15th, 2015 when it becomes available!  And be on the lookout for another post tomorrow when I’ll be sharing more artwork from the book!

The post Secret Army Character Profile: Mourdock Skyborn appeared first on MatthewKadish.com.

Artwork Preview – Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army

Hey everyone!

We’re getting really close to the release day of the new Earthman Jack book.  I hope you are all as excited as I am about it!  I cannot wait to finally have it out there for everyone to enjoy.  Be sure to tell your friends about the series so they can check out the first book!  In fact, they can actually download book 1 for FREE over on www.EarthmanJack.com.

And not just any regular ebook copy either. I’m giving away a Special Edition version of Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet on that website.  What’s so special about the “special edition” you ask?  Well, lots of things (there’s a reason why it’s “special” after all), but the biggest is that it has artwork in it!

When I was prepping The Secret Army for publication, I wanted to do a special edition for it too.  Luckily, I had met a very talented artist at the 2014 New York Comic Con by the name of Brian Shearer.  When I saw his artwork, I was immediately drawn to it.  He had a fun style that reminded me somewhat of the Harry Potter illustrations done by Mary GrandPré, but with more of a comic book feel.  In fact, Brian has illustrated some of the Transformer, Dr. Who, and G.I. Joe comic books, in addition to doing a great web comic of his own creation called William the Last (which was what actually first attracted me to his booth).

I commissioned Brian to do ten original illustrations for Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army, each one depicting a scene from the book.  I always liked the old Hardy Boys novels where you’d eventually turn to a page that had an illustration depicting the chapter you’d just read.  The Narnia books also did this, and I thought it would be fun to have the same thing in my book.  Ideally, I’d have liked to have an illustration for each chapter, but that was just out of my price range.  However, I’m extremely happy with what Brian came up with for the illustrations I was able to afford.

Today, I’m sharing with you an illustration from chapter 10 of the book, which is where Jack attends a Royal State Dinner as the guest of honor and is introduced to some of the alien races within the Regalus Empire for the first time.

This scene has Jack very nervous, because, as a kid from a small town in Ohio, he’s not used to having so much attention directed his way.  I wanted the image for this chapter to evoke how small Jack feels in this new world he finds himself in, while also illustrating how big and strange the Empire is.  I honestly didn’t know how Brian was going to capture this feeling, but as you can see from the illustration, it’s perfect.  Jack is facing a Grand Hall filled with strange aliens and people, on a new planet, in the heart of the pomp & circumstance of Regal culture, and you really get a sense from the illustration of how overwhelming it all is for him!

I wanted this chapter to be kind-of reminiscent of the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from the original Star Wars film, where we get to see a various collection of strange aliens and start to get a sense of the larger universe at play.  Jack is introduced to lots of different alien races that I created for my “Jackverse” in this chapter, and it was fun to invent them and introduce them to both the reader and my main character.  This chapter also gives Jack his first real look at how politics comes into play on the capitol planet of Omnicron Prime.  Since Jack is pretty young, he never really cared about or paid attention to politics while on Earth, but now the bureaucrats of the Empire are setting their sights on him, and he suddenly finds himself in a position where he has to mature and understand certain things about how the world works, and quickly.

Let me know what you think of Brian’s illustration.  I’ll be sharing another one very soon.  And on Friday, I’ll be doing a profile of a new character who has a big role to play in the Earthman Jack Space Saga, who is introduced in this book.  So stay tuned!

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Reader Review Of Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army

Hey everyone,

So, last week I shared with you the first “official” review of the new Earthman Jack book, over at Kirkus Reviews.  Well, having an industry publication say your book is good is one thing.  But having normal readers like it is quite another!  After all, there are plenty of “critically acclaimed” books out there that are awful reads.  Considering how much readers loved the first book in the series, I approached a small group of fans to do advanced reviews of Secret Army.

Now, it’s always really nerve-wracking when you put your book out there and allow others to start expressing their opinions about it.  As the old saying goes – opinions are like buttholes.  Everyone has one, and they usually stink.  However, after the warm reception Ghost Planet received, I felt confident that Secret Army would be just as loved by readers of the first book.

Only 3 advanced reviewers have submitted reviews so far, but the first one I got was actually the most encouraging.  It comes from a gentleman named Dan Grover, who discovered my book through Hugh Howey’s blog, and became a fan after reading it to his kids.  When I asked if he’d be interested in an Advanced Review Copy of the new book, he responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!”  I now want to share his review of Secret Army with all of you, so you can get a sense of what fans of the first book are thinking.

Earthman Jack is Really, Really Cool…

I while back, Hugh Howie—indie author extraordinaire and vocal advocate for self-published authors—shared a letter on his blog from some guy named Matt Kadish who had written a book and self-published it on Amazon.  Hugh Howie hasn’t lead me wrong yet, so looked up Matt’s book on Amazon…600 pages for $.99?  Harry Potter meets Star Wars?  Uh…duh.  I downloaded Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet immediately. And then didn’t read it. For like a year.

I can’t remember what made me finally pick it up, but I can tell you that once I got going I plowed through it.  I hadn’t had that much fun reading in, I don’t know, maybe EVER! I Immediately went back to the beginning and started again, this time reading out loud to my kids—and they loved it as much as I did.

I’d found a rare thing.  I’d found a self-published book that deserves to be read.

That was early last year, and since then I’ve been anxious to get my hands on the second installment, Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army, to see if Matt Kadish can deliver again.  Now that I’ve had my hands on every page, I think I might have to start calling him Matt “The Mailman” Kadish because—yep, you guessed it—he delivered.  Big time.

Like EJ1, EJ2 starts off slow—not slow like boring.  Slow like brisket in a slow cooker.  Once the action gets going around the half way point, the blood pressure and the laughs (Isn’t that a great combination?) both reach levels only found in the best books.

Certainly Earthman Jack isn’t for everyone.  Like, for example, if you’re boring and don’t like to laugh, I suggest you go read something more your style.  Maybe try something by that Stephenie Meyer person.  But if you can handle some good, light hearted fun without taking yourself (or your books) too seriously, you really need to read Earthman Jack. Start with the first one though.

A warning for my more discerning followers: There is some “15-year-old-boy speak” in this book.  Things like “Most girls would at least let you cop a feel…” or “Yeah, remember that thing she does with her tongue?” came up a handful of times.  Nothing I would feel uncomfortable letting my 14-year-old read, but things I’ll likely filter out when I read it aloud to my 8-year-old.

Also—and this is a biggie—there is a cliffhanger the size of the Grand Canyon at the end of this thing.  I wish I had Matt Kadish’s phone number, because I would have called him demanding an explanation when I turned the last page to find out what happens and I find this instead:

Earthman Jack will return in…

EARTHMAN JACK

VS.

THE CONCLAVE OF CORRUPTION

Curse you, The Mailman.  All I know is that you’d better be ready with Book 3 soon.

Because Earthman Jack is really, really cool.

Five Stars

I found this review really encouraging.  Dan went ahead and posted his review to The Secret Army’s Goodreads listing, and other reviews are trickling in as the ARC readers complete the novel.  So far, all the reviews have been extremely positive.  You can check them out here if you want.

In case you couldn’t tell from Dan’s post, yes, EJ2 does indeed end on a bit of a cliffhanger.  Though, you have to consider that this book is part of a much larger story, and is meant to lead right into the third book.  Though there is a bit of a cliffhanger there, the book is also fairly self-contained, so you can read the whole thing and feel like you ingested a stand-alone story as well.  So for those of you who despise cliffhangers, don’t worry about it too much.  You’ll still be able to enjoy this book!

Tune back in on Wednesday when I give you a sneak preview of some of the artwork from the book.  I got a very talented artist to do illustrations for the special edition of book 2, and I’ll be revealing one of his works then to help give you a visualization of the story.  If you want to see the special edition of the first book, be sure to head on over to EarthmanJack.com and sign up to download it there.

See y’all Wednesday.

The post Reader Review Of Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army appeared first on MatthewKadish.com.

The First Official Review Of Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army!

Kirkus Reviews is one of the biggest publishing industry trade magazines there is.  Originally established in 1932 by book reviewer Virginia Kirkus, it is one of the industry mainstays in the publishing world.  In short, people who work in the “book business” pay a lot of attention to it.  We’re talking people like agents, publishers, book distributors, librarians, ect.

One of the reasons it’s taken me so long to bring Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army to the public is because trade publications like Kirkus require substantial lead time to review books.  We’re talking anywhere from 4 to 6 months of lead time.  This makes sense, since they get a ton of books that they have to read and then write reviews for.  Kirkus is a publication that only does advanced reviews for books before they are published, so I had to make sure they got a copy of The Secret Army before it hit the shelves.

In addition to this, Kirkus’s reviews are syndicated across pretty much all book databases.  This means that one review from Kirkus will show up prominently on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and pretty much any other catalog that lists books for sale.  Wholesale sites run by Ingram and Baker & Taylor also post syndicated Kirkus reviews, so that booksellers and librarians can see if a book is getting positive press before they decide to order any copies.  As is plain to see, getting a good review from Kirkus is pretty important.

There is no guarantee that Kirkus will like your book, though.  So it’s a real crap shoot to see if the “industry” will respond as well to it as the fans do.  Luckily, Kirkus really liked Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army.  In fact, you can check out their full review here:

Kirkus reviews Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army

Pretty positive, right?  I especially liked the line at the end:  “A veritable carnival of geeky sci-fi delights.”  Honestly, you couldn’t ask for a better quote.

But here’s some really cool news…

Kirkus gets a lot of indy book submissions.  Like, A LOT.  And every season they select a small number of indy titles to be featured in their publication, which is sent out to over 5,000 industry professionals.  In fact, I’m told that less than 10% of indy book submissions sent into Kirkus get chosen to be featured in their print editions.

Well, Kirkus has selected Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army to be one of the reviews they are going to feature.

I got an email the other day saying the editors of Kirkus’s Indy section selected the book to be featured in the fall issue.  This was obviously a huge surprise, because the main reason I submitted the book to Kirkus was to get their review featured in the Ingram and Baker & Taylor catalogs.  But this was a great honor, even if it was unexpected!  In a way, I feel like I won a contest.  In another way, I feel like this is the first step to getting the Earthman Jack series recognized by the publishing industry.

So a good review, plus a featured position in one of the publishing industry’s biggest publications, all before the book is even released.  Frankly, I think Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army is off to a good start!

Let me know what you think of the review in the comments.

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Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army: Cover Reveal

One of the things I most enjoy about getting my books published is working on the cover.  For the Earthman Jack series, I wanted a cover motif that appealed to people of all ages, clearly communicated that the book was both Science Fiction and Young Adult, was visually striking, and unique to my series.  My original concept was to have covers that mimicked the Star Wars posters, where you had a collage of characters and spaceships and lighting effects.  However, I eventually settled upon a different concept that I felt was more unique and original, and gave the Earthman Jack series its own identity.

Essentially, each book will have a space backdrop to it that represents the primary location of the novel, along with a silhouette of Jack.  The backdrop will change from book to book, representing a new “aspect” of the Jackverse I’m creating.  In addition to that, you’ll see Jack’s image change as well as he grows up and evolves into the greatest hero the universe has ever known.

In the cover for Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army, I went from a classic “space background” like I had with the first novel to a red nebulous background.  Since The Secret Army is based primarily in the heart of the Regalus Empire, and the Empire’s primary colors are red and gold, I wanted the backdrop to evoke that feeling of lush red that is so pervasive in Regal society.  But in addition to that, the red also represents the massive danger that Jack will be facing in this book – a danger that is in some respects even greater than what he faced in book 1.

Another change is the planet behind Jack.  On the cover to book 1, I had an image of Earth that was made to look like an atom.  This was meant to represent Jack’s “awakening” to the concept of a Free Mind, while also giving the series a retro sci-fi symbol I could brand it with.  In the cover for Secret Army, we have the planet of Omnicron Prime represented.  Omnicron is a planet that has been heavily populated and is mostly urbanized – so much so that you can see the massive cities which exists upon it from space.  The original homeworld of the Empire, Regalus Prime, was destroyed by the Deathlords, and the center of government was then moved to Omnicron, which assumed the “Prime” title as the new homeworld of the Regalus Empire.  Omnicron has a long and interesting history behind it, some of which is revealed in this book.  However, more about the world will be revealed in future books in the series.  But I wanted to communicate to the reader that we’re now someplace completely different from Earth in this book.

The next thing you’ll notice is the image of Jack is different.  His silhouette on the cover of book 1 shows him as very much a “teenager,” with loose clothes, messy hair, and things like that.  In this book, Jack gets a “makeover” and starts dressing better, has nicer hair, and essentially starts learning how to present the image of a “hero” to the masses.  You’ll notice the image of Jack has neater clothing and nicer hair when compared to his image on book 1.  This represents the first stage in his journey to maturity.

A new thing that was added to this cover that was not on the cover of the first book is the ghostly image of a Deathlord looming above both Jack and Omnicron.  One of the themes of The Secret Army is that the enemy you don’t see is always the most dangerous, and there is a new bad guy in this book who likes to lurk in the shadows.  In a way, he is everywhere, but he is always hidden, and no one is aware of the threat he presents until Jack and the gang begin to stumble upon his dastardly schemes.  The fact that his image is so subtle is meant to convey an air of menace that looms over both our hero and the new location of the book.

Now that you’ve got a breakdown of the cover, you’re probably wondering what the back blurb will be.  Well, allow me to share it with you, so you’ll have a better idea of what the story is about.

After his heroic battle against the Deathlords on the Ghost Planet, Jack Finnegan is looking forward to arriving at Omnicron Prime, the capitol planet of the Galactic Regalus Empire – the largest and most advanced civilization in the universe.

Things are looking bright for Jack.  He has his unconventional group of friends, his mystical spaceship, and the girl of his dreams – Princess Anna.  Not to mention a secret mission that could save Earth and everyone he cares about.

But things get complicated when he arrives at Omnicron.  Not only is Jack uncomfortable being thrust into the spotlight for his courageous actions to save the universe, but he soon finds life in the Empire isn’t everything he’d dreamed it would be.

His friends abandon him to pursue their own interests.  Greedy and cunning politicians conspire to steal his spaceship.  Even his relationship with Anna is strained now that she’s gone from being “the girl next door” to the most powerful woman in the universe.

But beneath all that lies a new and terrifying threat from the Deathlords.  A threat that grows in secret, slowly spreading throughout the Regalus Empire like a plague, and it threatens to destroy from within the only thing powerful enough to stop the Deathlords and their malicious rampage throughout the galaxy – the Empire itself.

Worst of all – Jack is the only one who knows about this new threat, and no one will believe his warnings.

Suddenly, the Empire is no longer safe for Jack and his friends.  Even the people they’ve come to rely on the most can no longer be trusted.  As those he’s sworn to protect turn against him, how can Jack hope to save the day?

Fighting the Deathlords was one thing.  Fighting the “good guys” is quite another.  Will Jack be able to find the strength to be the hero the universe needs?

Or will he finally be defeated by this Secret Army?

I hope you guys enjoyed this cover reveal.  I’ll be sending out a new update on Monday, August 31st, where I share with you the first official review of the novel so you can see what other people are thinking about it.  So stay tuned!  And as always, feel free to comment and let me know what you think of the cover.

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