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Book Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations, Book 3: The Body Electric

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations, Book 3: The Body Electric

David Mack

AT THE CENTER OF THE GALAXY . . . 

A planet-sized Machine of terrifying power and unfathomable purpose hurls entire star systems into a supermassive black hole. Wesley Crusher, now a full-fledged Traveler, knows the Machine must be stopped . . . but he has no idea how.

Wesley must enlist the aid of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew, who also fail to halt the unstoppable alien juggernaut’s destructive labors. But they soon divine the Machine’s true purpose—a purpose that threatens to exterminate all life in the Milky Way Galaxy. With time running out, Picard realizes he knows of only one person who might be able to stop the Machine in time to avert a galactic catastrophe—if only he had any idea how to find him. . . .

THE CLIMAX OF A NEW TRILOGY BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF STAR TREK: DESTINY

This Cold Equations trilogy was very loosely tied together, as each book could have easily stood on its own.  It’s more of a common theme that holds them together than a unified plot.  Each of the three books revolves centrally around artificial intelligence, androids, and machines.

I’ve had my challenges in reading this trilogy.  The first book centred on a character I didn’t like and couldn’t get into.  The second book held too much back from the reader and left me unsatisfied.  And this third book seems to be weakly written… which is a shame since I liked the plot of this one the best out of the three books.  There are long passages in this book that could have easily been trimmed and tightened, and there are considerable amounts of telling versus showing (describing what characters are thinking and feeling rather than showing us what they are thinking and feeling through their actions and words).  As well, there were some very odd word and character choices (like frequent use of the word “gonna,” Mack’s regular usage of really obscure words, putting the pronunciation of a black hole in brackets rather than trusting the reader to figure it out, making Wesley Crusher extremely annoying and juvenile, and androids that talk/act like teenagers) that made it hard to take a lot of this seriously.  David Mack is one of the best Star Trek writers right now, but this trilogy was quite weak.

One of the challenges that any writer faces is that each book must be better than the last.  This is especially true if you are writing in a series–each successive entry must be worlds better.  In the Destiny trilogy that Mack wrote a few years ago, the entire Alpha Quadrant was in danger of extermination.  So how does one improve upon that?  How about putting the entire galaxy in danger of extermination?  That’s what happens here.  The concept is really interesting and engaging… but the writing weakened it.

Overall, I still gave this book a pretty good star rating on Goodreads.  This book (and the trilogy) certainly had its flaws, but it was still an enjoyable ride.

10 Steps to Creating a Book Table

A couple weekends ago, I was at the local comic con, where a number of local Champagne Books authors banded together to represent the company.  We had local authors representing fantasy, romance, and erotic romance, most of whom were present at the table at one point or another.

We found, through watching the book tables next to us, and having discussions with other authors, some key steps to creating a good book table that will draw people in and tempt them to buy books.

1.  You need a LOT of books at your table.  When we first set up, we had a couple copies of each title at our table, but we found people weren’t picking them up.  At the tables next to us, where they had 10-20 copies of each book sitting out, passers-by would pick one up and flip through it.  Quantity is key.  Stack your books and display a couple of them upright.

2.  You need FEWER titles at your table.  We had eight titles at our table.  The other nearby tables had, at most, two titles.  I think people were overwhelmed by the sheer variety of stuff we had, especially since it represented a number of different genres.  Fewer titles would be better, with larger quantities of each.

3.  You need to be relevant to the event.  Comic cons generally draw people who are into comic and geek culture.  The fantasy books at our table were a good fit with this.  The romance and erotic romance titles weren’t the greatest fit and were picked up less.  During my time here at comic con, I realized that my erotic romance titles would go over better at a sex-based adults-only convention.

4.  You need something to draw people to your table.  Books, alone, will not draw people.  The table next to us had some Halloween decorations to liven up the table, which were appropriate given that one of the books had “tombstone” in its title.  And erotic romance author a little further down the row had a giant blow up of the latest release cover standing on her table.

5.  You need free giveaways — but with restrictions.  Since we had five authors represented at our table, with eight titles, we had a whole mess of free stuff (plus free stuff from another author who didn’t have books represented, plus stuff from a local artist we are connected to).  People didn’t know what to look at or what to pick up.  Apparently, it wasn’t even obvious that it was free.  Bookmarks, postcards, magnets, pencils, business cards, tattoos… it was all too much.  Fewer items, high quality items, are better.  Especially if they are items people will keep.  People often keep bookmarks, pens, and magnets; they don’t often keep tattoos and postcards.

6.  Your table needs some design and organization.  It needs a nice table cloth, it needs books neatly stacked in one area, it needs free stuff organized in its own section.

7.  Things need to be in reach.  The first day, no one picked up a book to look at it.  We realized that was probably because everything was at the back of the table and out of immediate reach.  So, the next morning, we pushed everything forward — all the books now sit at the very front of the table — and immediately people picked up stuff to look at it and we had a big jump in sales.

8. You need to be engaging, but not overly so.  People often will not buy something if you’re overdoing your selling efforts, but they’re also not going to buy something if you ignore them.  The best, I’ve found, is a polite smile, a greeting, and maybe a question about how their day is going.  That’s a harmless opening.  They know you want to sell stuff, but you don’t come across as desperate.

9.  You need to think about self-care.  Don’t wear yourself down.  Keep healthy and happy.  Bring some healthy snacks and lots of water — don’t munch on chips and candy and pop and coffee all day.  Bring a colleague or friend who can watch the table for an hour while you go for a walk and a mug of tea.

10.  Don’t go into this as all or nothing.  If this is your first time doing a book table or you’ve only done it a few times, don’t get discouraged if you’re not selling much of anything.  Talk to your neighbours who seem to be selling well — what have they found to be effective book table strategies?  Walk around and watch what people do.  Are they drawn to certain types of displays?  Are they avoiding others?  What makes people smile?  Take these lessons and apply them to the next book table you put together.  This is a learning experience.

I hope those ten tips helped — they certainly helped me get through the weekend.  I was dreading this, initially, but I learned to have fun and am now looking forward to taking a more head-on approach to this business.

Sexy Saturday: DP Denman

Welcome to the very first in my weekly Sexy Saturday series!

Each Saturday we’ll meet and greet an author of erotic romance or erotica — the guests will usually be authors of M/M, but we might occasionally have an M/F or F/F stop by.  It’s all good, clean, sexy fun!

Today’s guest is DP Denman.  Welcome, DP!

Author Bio:

DP Denman is the author of the recent release Changing Tide (from North Shore Press). She is an MM romance writer and LGBT rights activist who currently resides in beautifully soggy Seattle.

Quickie Questions:

1) What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

My first experience was reading PWP short stories online published by a variety of amateur authors. They were hot if not physically realistic unless there are more contortionists out there than I realize.

2) Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

Like many writers, I started reading at an early age and have harbored a deep affection for books ever since. As a child writing stories and plays happened in fits and starts but I never took it seriously. It was just a way to pass the time. It wasn’t until I was older that writing became a coping mechanism and then a hobby. I spent several years writing online web series as a means of practicing what I learned from conferences and seminars. Eventually I got to a point where publishing mutated from a pipe dream to a viable option.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

The biggest challenge so far has been my new series Saving Liam, scheduled for release in 2014. Without giving too much of the story away, there is a lot of intense emotion involved in several of the chapters and it takes a bit of finesse to get those on paper without being too heavy handed.

4) Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

My advice for aspiring erotica writers is pretty much what I would give to writers in any genre. Don’t get too caught up in the “right way” to spin a story. There are grammatical rules you have to follow and it’s vital to your success that what you put out there is your very best work. Aside from that don’t worry about copying someone else’s blueprint. You’re unique and it’s ok for your stories to be in a unique voice. If we all sound the same readers will get bored.

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

My latest release, Changing Tide is about a man named Jack who is attempting to settle for something that doesn’t really make him happy because he thinks that’s all there is. Then he meets someone who changes his mind but it’s not as easy as falling in love and living happily ever after. The man of his dreams is running from a painful past and is reluctant to slow down.  Meanwhile, the man Jack has settled for up to that point doesn’t want to let go. Trying to keep what he wants and get rid of what he doesn’t inspires more chaos than Jack anticipated.

Thanks for stopping by, DP!

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Changing Tide, you can find it here: http://ow.ly/qbX3X

And if you’d like to connect with DP online, you can find her at these links:

Website: www.dpdenman.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpdenman
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/dpdenman
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dp.denman
Blog: http://dpdenmanauthor.blogspot.com/
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/115738291816175758885

WIN a Signed Copy of Autumn Fire!

I’m running a giveaway on Goodreads — you could win one of three signed copies of Autumn Fire!

Click here to view the giveaway and enter for your chance to win!

(I think you need to be a Goodreads member to enter… and due to shipping costs, it’s only open to Canada and the USA… and due to the sexual content, it may be only open to those aged 18 and above… So if you’re good with all of that, definitely enter!)

Storytelling Lessons from Captain Phillips

*There are spoilers for the movie Captain Phillips in this post*

I saw the movie Captain Phillips last night.  To sum it up quickly, the movie is based on a true story of an American cargo ship that is hijacked by Somali pirates when traversing around the horn of Africa.  Having not read the book, I’m not sure how much of what is depicted is what really happened, but the movie takes an interesting turn when Captain Phillips is taken hostage by the Somali pirates and they are stuck in a lifeboat together.

If this had been a typical action movie and the pirates were depicted as one-dimensional, it still would have been an interesting movie, but it would have lacked the punch that it had.  One of the biggest storytelling strengths that this movie had was its ability to humanize the antagonists.  Muse is a young Somali man who is both trapped in a life of crime by bosses that demand money and who must set out to prove himself as a capable leader.

And it’s not just Muse that’s humanized.  I can’t remember all of the other characters’ names, but the youth is of particular interest to me.  He enters into this pirate venture with the wide-eyed idealism of youth and the belief in his own invulnerability.  The fear and terror in his eyes as the movie progresses holds the viewer’s attention and makes this youth very real.  The driver of the lifeboat is strong and confident, but fear chips away at him until he is just as scared as the youth.  And, like in real life, not all characters are the same.  The fourth pirate becomes more resolute in his belief that they need to go out with a bang.  He is violent and hot-headed.

There is power in portraying the villains this way.  Yes, they are people doing bad things.  But, they are not bad people.  For the most part, they are people who have made the wrong choices (or maybe never even had the opportunity to make the right choices), and the movie takes the time to highlight this.  These are people.  These are not cardboard cutout villains.

Though they are doing bad things, the realization that they are simply people whose lives have led them to this very moment, possibly due to circumstances beyond their control, suddenly makes it very hard to root for the death of the bad guys.  I wanted Captain Phillips to be rescued, but I didn’t want the pirates to die.

All of this, as it is, would make a great movie.  What made it a phenomenal movie for me, is that they not only humanized the villain, they humanized the hero.  Yes, to some degree, every movie humanizes the hero.  What made this truly exceptional was the Captain Phillip’s state of shock after being rescued and his overwhelming emotional breakdown in the medical ward in the final scene.

Far too often, books and movies depict the hero as near-invincible.  After a dramatic and traumatic event, the hero embraces his/her lover, they share a kiss, and they hobble off screen (or something to that effect).  I find it is very rare to read/watch fiction that shows the strongest hero at his/her moment of greatest weakness.  To cut this from the movie would have done it great disservice.

The breakdown was so real, so true, and so amazingly depicted by Tom Hanks, that I wish that movie had been an hour longer, to examine his attempt to recover and rebuild his life.  This is not a situation one can easily recover from.

And to end the movie at that point, leaving the viewer wanting just a little bit more, is an effective tool to create a satisfying end.  To actually follow through and watch Captain Phillips recover would have removed some of the emotional attachment to the movie.  It would have lost a little of its resonance.

Captain Phillips is an example of good storytelling, an example that has a lot to teach about telling effective stories that resonate with the reader or viewer.  It could have easily been an average movie, it was the skill of storytelling that made it a phenomenal movie.

New Release: Gaymer

Check out my new release, Gaymer!

Click here to find out more.

Excerpt: Gaymer

I just released Gaymer, a new erotic short story, on Smashwords!

Check out a snippet:

“We’ve got to turn this around,” Zack says. He picks up his controller and gives the level another try.

Now I’m watching him and only him. I chew my lip, captivated by his gorgeous face, his rosy cheeks, his brown eyes behind his geeky glasses. God, he’s smoking hot, every bit of him.

Zack loses another life, and the game switches back to me. “You’re down to your last guy. After this, it’s over.”

Yeah, after this it’s over—both the game and Zack sitting next to me. Soon I’ll be alone, jacking off, wiping up my load with a pathetic wad of Kleenex. A cold sweat breaks out on my forehead.

I hit pause.

Zack looks at me. His lips are moist after a fresh swig of pop. He looks so innocent, but his brown eyes gleam with something else…

My heart thumps. “I…”

Zack waits, doesn’t say a thing.

Fuck, this better work. “I have this fantasy.”

His lips part, glistening wet—plump, delectable lips. “What kind of fantasy?”

“I’ve…” Fuck, do it Carter. Do it! “I’ve always wanted to get blown while playing a video game. It’s weird, I know, but…”

He doesn’t reply. He just stares at me.

I chuckle awkwardly. “I’m just kidding, but, I mean…who knows? I’ve heard it works, on the internet…uhh…something like that. It’s supposed to relax you. But, uh, I don’t mean you have to blow me, I’m just saying it might work, or…fuck, I don’t know what I’m saying. It was supposed to be funny. Forget I said anything.”

Zack’s staring at me like he’s figuring out the quickest path to the door. He adjusts his glasses again, cheeks darkening with a blush. “If I blow you, then you have to blow me on my turn.”

I run through those words, over and over, trying to figure out if I misheard or if I’m missing the sarcasm or something. The more I replay the sentence, though, the clearer it becomes that Zack is serious. My cock leaks, my cheeks warm with their own blush, and my pulse pounds in my ears. I try to force everything down, to appear cool and calm, as if I hadn’t been dreaming of this moment for weeks now.

“Deal.”

Click here to find out more.

Autumn Fire in paperback!

Woohoo!  I got my hands on my first ever paperback book!

Autumn Fire is available in paper from my publisher’s website!

Book Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations: Book 2: Silent Weapons

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations: Book 2: Silent Weapons

David Mack

Three years after the disastrous final Borg Invasion, a bitter cold war against the Typhon Pact has pushed Starfleet’s resources to the breaking point. Now the rise of a dangerous new technology threatens to destroy the Federation from within.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew answer a distress call from an old friend, only to become targets in a deadly game of deception. To protect a vital diplomatic mission, they must find a way to identify the spies hiding in their midst, before it’s too late.

But Worf soon realizes the crew’s every move has been predicted: Someone is using them as pawns. And the closer they get to exposing their enemy, the deeper they spiral into its trap…

I’m a big lover of Star Trek books, and a big lover of Star Trek books by David Mack.  Mack has an energy and way with his words that keeps me flipping the pages, reading for hours on end.  The Cold Equations trilogy, though, has been disappointing so far.  I found the first book largely followed a character I dislike and, though Mack did a fine job of it, I had trouble getting into it.  By the time I reached the end of that book, I had trouble garnering the enthusiasm I normally hold for a book.

This one was a much better balance across characters and I enjoyed that aspect of it.  However, I found I had trouble maintaining my enthusiasm for this novel, too.  It took me a long time to figure out what was putting me off with this book, and I think it has to do with when Mack chooses to reveal vital plot information.  When writing in third person limited point of view, there are things you hold back from the reader, because putting all your cards on the table just spoils a lot of the fun and surprise of a book.  I found that Mack played his cards far too close to his chest.  There are scenes that, initially, are confusing and unclear — and only in hindsight do they piece together.  But by the time I reached that point of clarity, my interest in the plot was wearing thin.  With how tight Mack kept his plot secrets, it often felt like surprises were being thrown in randomly, rather than feeling like the carefully crafted novel it truly is.

And I find that the more I’m pulled out of the plot, the more I examine the writing.  (And in a good book, you shouldn’t notice the writing.)  I felt that there were many passages that were telling rather than showing, a handful of odd characterization moments, and Mack makes several odd word choice decisions (which I’ve previously noticed in Mack books, even when I’m not examining the writing).

However, despite its flaws, it was an interesting book.  One thing I truly like about David Mack’s books is that they often move the general Star Trek universe forward.  I often feel like the Star Trek novels don’t do much in terms of the overall story arc of the universe, but Mack’s books tend to give it a kick forward with characters dying or moving on or vast movements in politics and such.  (Though I wonder if the editors of the Star Trek books specifically give Mack those stories to write…)  The Typhon Pact stuff has been a muddled mass of hit and miss stories that loosely bundle together — I find that this book gives the Typhon Pact line some serious meat and something interesting finally happens with it.  Mack has a way of bringing things together nicely.

As well, this book, and this trilogy as a whole (and, heck, most of Mack’s books) do a very nice job of integrating a diverse array of characters from various books, series, and guest spots across the Star Trek universe.  It takes a great knowledge and love of Star Trek to pull that off without it coming off as cheesy.  So, hats off to Mack for doing that.

So, overall, this book was interesting but not phenomenal, which is reflective of the series so far.  (And I’ve just read the first chapter in the third book — so far it seems to be proceeding on similar style lines.)

TWV: How to Use LinkedIn as an Author

Howdy, y’all!

Today, I continue my monthly series over at the The Writers Vineyard focused on how to use social media for book marketing purposes.  To give you a quick background — I’m currently taking a social media marketing course and am applying what I’m learning to the life of an author.  So far, I’ve covered Twitter and now LinkedIn.  Over the next several months, I hope to cover online video, blogging, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Anyway, click here to read this month’s post!