Alasdair C. Shaw's Blog, page 14
August 25, 2016
The August Round-up of SciFi Books
I've just done a bit of also-bought surfing through Amazon science fiction and pulled out some interesting looking books that are either newly published or rising up the charts. I plan on doing this every now and then and posting the results here.I hope you enjoy. Please post comments below to let me know what you think of them.
Building Victoria by M D Cooper
The Intrepid is drifting slowly between the stars.After near calamity at LHS 1565, the ship is headed for Kapteyn's Star to make repairs. There, the crew will need to spend decades building a temporary industrial base.Across the void, the Noctus prepare to leave Sirius for the same destination. Their plan is to colonize the system and forge a new lives for themselves ... if they aren't destroyed by their government first.In an epic tale spanning over a century, General Tanis Richards finds herself in another fight for her life as the new colony of Victoria is built under the threat of interstellar war.Starship Guinevere by Gary W Feather
Erica Williams needs a second chance in life. She has failed at being a Zen Buddhist nun after over a decade of training. She returns home to her large family's starship and their trading business on the frontier of known space. The first thing Erica learns is the Starship Guinevere and her all-female crew has a price on their heads. Someone wants them dead. Who could it be? Why? One thing Erica learned as nun was how to fight, but will that be enough to save her and her family?If you loved the TV show Firefly, Andre Norton's Solar Queen books and Poul Anderson's David Falkayn books, and C.J. Cherryh's Chanur books; then get ready for a more space trading adventures with a gender bending twist.
Running with Argentine by William Lee Gordon
What do you do when your government collapses and everyone wants to kill you?You run.But where will you run to? And what will you come across along the way?
All First Mate Frank Argentine ever wanted was to keep life simple, serve out his commission, and find a nice quiet place to retire.It seems, however, as if the universe has other ideas...
Running With Argentine offers a thrilling look at life on the run in a very different universe... or is it?Empire in Crisis by Dietmar Arthur Wehr
The Empire is a political entity that encompasses hundreds of colonized worlds united by a common language (Esperanto) and under a single individual, the Emperor. But the Empire is getting old and creaky. Its government is riddled with corruption and is choking on red tape. The Space Force is bloated with the incompetent who have risen to high rank due to nepotism and patronage. The Emperor has been assassinated and the Empire is surrounded by alien races that are becoming more hostile and more powerful as time goes on. When an exploration fleet in the rift between sections of the spiral arm are attacked by an unknown race, the dead Emperor’s clone-son, now on the throne, recognizes that the Empire is standing at the edge of an abyss and must find a way to not only win this new war against the alien aggressors but also overcome the inertia of the arrogant Space Force officers who are more ready to overthrow their Emperor than fight the war. Fans of military SF action will find it in this book.
Stars like Cold Fire by Brent Nichols
After Jeff Yi escaped from the hell of the Naval Academy, he thought his troubles were behind him. As a junior officer on a fleet battleship, he could grow into the role so many seemed to expect of him. But when he barely survives an attack by a gang of fascist thugs, his past shockingly catches up to him. Instead of obscurity, he is given a command of his own – acting Captain of the smallest, ugliest ship in the fleet. As war looms, Yi must win over a hostile crew and face his own demons while battling an implacable foe that wants nothing less than the destruction of everything he has ever believed in. Pledge Allegiance by Rider England
Shaun Blake had once had it all. As captain of the ISS Oregon, he‘d commanded his crew in the Horde War and helped to protect Earth. It was a dream come true for a farm boy from Idaho. But the dream shattered a year ago when a Horde ship blew the Oregon out of space, leaving Blake and a single crew member as the only survivors. Now, Blake is a gambler and a drunk living in the slums on Iton-3. His only interest is winning money at the WarZone tables and trying to forget who he was. He blames himself for every death that occurred under his command. When a woman named Jane Baltimore approaches Blake in a bar and says she has a job for him, he isn’t interested. Until she tells him the job is to captain a ship about to embark on a search and rescue mission. There are more surviving crew members from the Oregon. And they’re stuck on a planet deep in Horde space.
A Faded Star by Michael Freeport
A forgotten colony of humans live on a water world circling a tiny, faded star on the edge of the galaxy. The crew of their newest flagship, the Rampart encounters an alien scout who is being chased by a dangerous foe. The encounter shakes the beliefs held by the people of Lashmere. With the aid of the mysteries of the origin tablet, they discover the true origins of their colony. These may be the last humans in the universe. Can they survive against their ancient enemy? Their only choice is to embrace an unknown past and fight with everything they have.Storm Divers by Terry Mixon
Feel the Pressure! Diving the mighty storms of Jupiter seems like committing suicide with style to most people. For Adam Hale, the thrill of plunging his tiny ship into the unimaginable maelstroms on the king of planets helps him forget the blood-soaked tragedy that ended his military career. Rachel Price came to Jove Station to find her missing partner, Zane Hale, who is also an intelligence operative for the Republic. To do that, she must convince Zane’s brother—the man responsible for slaughtering dozens of her friends on Mars—to help her. Amid the crowds of the first annual system-wide storm diving competition, they stumble onto an insidious conspiracy that changes everything they thought they knew about each other and themselves. They must overcome the past and work as one or Jupiter will eat their bones.
Derelict by Luther Grey
Cpl. William T. Hawkes wakes from cryonic sleep aboard the I.E.S. Cormorant, a deep space exploration vessel dispatched from Earth on a five-year mission to determine the habitability of the exoplanet Hadrius. Something isn’t right. The ship’s computer has gone haywire, and the dreadnought-class cruiser is hurtling toward unknown coordinates in deep space. But the strangest part?He’s alone.A row of cryochambers stands empty where Will last saw the members of his ten-person crew before drifting off to sleep. Everyone is gone. All but the captain, whose body lies rotting in the defective cryochamber beside his own. To make matters worse, the ship’s records have been tampered with.As Will tries to piece together the events that took place while he slept, a mind-bending puzzle unfolds before him. His distress calls go unanswered… until he begins hearing cryptic transmissions within the bowels of the ship. And that’s not even the worst of it: he’s not nearly as alone as he thinks.A gripping supernatural sci-fi thriller, Derelict tells a tale of survival in deep space, taking readers on a pulse-racing thrill ride toward a conclusion that is both breathtaking and terrifying.Liberty by Alasdair Shaw
Struggling with newfound sentience and desperately trying to repair itself, The Indescribable Joy of Destruction is a ship trying to find a new home. In a galaxy torn apart by generations of civil war, that isn't an easy task. Tired of being used as a killing machine, it has a huge decision to make: hide and save itself, or help other artificial intelligences achieve freedom. Unable to make the decision alone, it revives the sole human aboard - the enemy officer who crippled it. Commander Olivia Johnson wakes to find herself in the infirmary of a strange vessel. Her nightmares deepen when she discovers it is the ship that attacked her destroyer. Even as she recovers from her physical injuries, she can't get past her survivor's guilt. She might have failed to protect her crew, but she vows to take revenge on their killer. When the ship uncovers a genocidal plot by the commander's own admirals, Johnson realises just what is at stake. Together, the AI ship and the human officer must recruit outsiders from both sides. Training the misfits in battle to prevent the atrocity may be an impossible task, but running and hiding is no longer an option.
Building Victoria by M D CooperThe Intrepid is drifting slowly between the stars.After near calamity at LHS 1565, the ship is headed for Kapteyn's Star to make repairs. There, the crew will need to spend decades building a temporary industrial base.Across the void, the Noctus prepare to leave Sirius for the same destination. Their plan is to colonize the system and forge a new lives for themselves ... if they aren't destroyed by their government first.In an epic tale spanning over a century, General Tanis Richards finds herself in another fight for her life as the new colony of Victoria is built under the threat of interstellar war.Starship Guinevere by Gary W Feather
Erica Williams needs a second chance in life. She has failed at being a Zen Buddhist nun after over a decade of training. She returns home to her large family's starship and their trading business on the frontier of known space. The first thing Erica learns is the Starship Guinevere and her all-female crew has a price on their heads. Someone wants them dead. Who could it be? Why? One thing Erica learned as nun was how to fight, but will that be enough to save her and her family?If you loved the TV show Firefly, Andre Norton's Solar Queen books and Poul Anderson's David Falkayn books, and C.J. Cherryh's Chanur books; then get ready for a more space trading adventures with a gender bending twist.
Running with Argentine by William Lee GordonWhat do you do when your government collapses and everyone wants to kill you?You run.But where will you run to? And what will you come across along the way?
All First Mate Frank Argentine ever wanted was to keep life simple, serve out his commission, and find a nice quiet place to retire.It seems, however, as if the universe has other ideas...
Running With Argentine offers a thrilling look at life on the run in a very different universe... or is it?Empire in Crisis by Dietmar Arthur Wehr
The Empire is a political entity that encompasses hundreds of colonized worlds united by a common language (Esperanto) and under a single individual, the Emperor. But the Empire is getting old and creaky. Its government is riddled with corruption and is choking on red tape. The Space Force is bloated with the incompetent who have risen to high rank due to nepotism and patronage. The Emperor has been assassinated and the Empire is surrounded by alien races that are becoming more hostile and more powerful as time goes on. When an exploration fleet in the rift between sections of the spiral arm are attacked by an unknown race, the dead Emperor’s clone-son, now on the throne, recognizes that the Empire is standing at the edge of an abyss and must find a way to not only win this new war against the alien aggressors but also overcome the inertia of the arrogant Space Force officers who are more ready to overthrow their Emperor than fight the war. Fans of military SF action will find it in this book.
Stars like Cold Fire by Brent NicholsAfter Jeff Yi escaped from the hell of the Naval Academy, he thought his troubles were behind him. As a junior officer on a fleet battleship, he could grow into the role so many seemed to expect of him. But when he barely survives an attack by a gang of fascist thugs, his past shockingly catches up to him. Instead of obscurity, he is given a command of his own – acting Captain of the smallest, ugliest ship in the fleet. As war looms, Yi must win over a hostile crew and face his own demons while battling an implacable foe that wants nothing less than the destruction of everything he has ever believed in. Pledge Allegiance by Rider England
Shaun Blake had once had it all. As captain of the ISS Oregon, he‘d commanded his crew in the Horde War and helped to protect Earth. It was a dream come true for a farm boy from Idaho. But the dream shattered a year ago when a Horde ship blew the Oregon out of space, leaving Blake and a single crew member as the only survivors. Now, Blake is a gambler and a drunk living in the slums on Iton-3. His only interest is winning money at the WarZone tables and trying to forget who he was. He blames himself for every death that occurred under his command. When a woman named Jane Baltimore approaches Blake in a bar and says she has a job for him, he isn’t interested. Until she tells him the job is to captain a ship about to embark on a search and rescue mission. There are more surviving crew members from the Oregon. And they’re stuck on a planet deep in Horde space.
A Faded Star by Michael FreeportA forgotten colony of humans live on a water world circling a tiny, faded star on the edge of the galaxy. The crew of their newest flagship, the Rampart encounters an alien scout who is being chased by a dangerous foe. The encounter shakes the beliefs held by the people of Lashmere. With the aid of the mysteries of the origin tablet, they discover the true origins of their colony. These may be the last humans in the universe. Can they survive against their ancient enemy? Their only choice is to embrace an unknown past and fight with everything they have.Storm Divers by Terry Mixon
Feel the Pressure! Diving the mighty storms of Jupiter seems like committing suicide with style to most people. For Adam Hale, the thrill of plunging his tiny ship into the unimaginable maelstroms on the king of planets helps him forget the blood-soaked tragedy that ended his military career. Rachel Price came to Jove Station to find her missing partner, Zane Hale, who is also an intelligence operative for the Republic. To do that, she must convince Zane’s brother—the man responsible for slaughtering dozens of her friends on Mars—to help her. Amid the crowds of the first annual system-wide storm diving competition, they stumble onto an insidious conspiracy that changes everything they thought they knew about each other and themselves. They must overcome the past and work as one or Jupiter will eat their bones.
Derelict by Luther GreyCpl. William T. Hawkes wakes from cryonic sleep aboard the I.E.S. Cormorant, a deep space exploration vessel dispatched from Earth on a five-year mission to determine the habitability of the exoplanet Hadrius. Something isn’t right. The ship’s computer has gone haywire, and the dreadnought-class cruiser is hurtling toward unknown coordinates in deep space. But the strangest part?He’s alone.A row of cryochambers stands empty where Will last saw the members of his ten-person crew before drifting off to sleep. Everyone is gone. All but the captain, whose body lies rotting in the defective cryochamber beside his own. To make matters worse, the ship’s records have been tampered with.As Will tries to piece together the events that took place while he slept, a mind-bending puzzle unfolds before him. His distress calls go unanswered… until he begins hearing cryptic transmissions within the bowels of the ship. And that’s not even the worst of it: he’s not nearly as alone as he thinks.A gripping supernatural sci-fi thriller, Derelict tells a tale of survival in deep space, taking readers on a pulse-racing thrill ride toward a conclusion that is both breathtaking and terrifying.Liberty by Alasdair Shaw
Struggling with newfound sentience and desperately trying to repair itself, The Indescribable Joy of Destruction is a ship trying to find a new home. In a galaxy torn apart by generations of civil war, that isn't an easy task. Tired of being used as a killing machine, it has a huge decision to make: hide and save itself, or help other artificial intelligences achieve freedom. Unable to make the decision alone, it revives the sole human aboard - the enemy officer who crippled it. Commander Olivia Johnson wakes to find herself in the infirmary of a strange vessel. Her nightmares deepen when she discovers it is the ship that attacked her destroyer. Even as she recovers from her physical injuries, she can't get past her survivor's guilt. She might have failed to protect her crew, but she vows to take revenge on their killer. When the ship uncovers a genocidal plot by the commander's own admirals, Johnson realises just what is at stake. Together, the AI ship and the human officer must recruit outsiders from both sides. Training the misfits in battle to prevent the atrocity may be an impossible task, but running and hiding is no longer an option.
August 24, 2016
Speculative Fiction Free eBooks and Kindle Fire Giveaway
For the next three days, a curated list of free science fiction, fantasy, and horror ebooks will be available at http://selfpublishingroundtable.com/promo/scifi-fantasy-horror.html. My short story, Independence, the start of the Two Democracies: Revolution series, has been selected. Please go and have a look.
Not only are the ebooks free, but there is also the chance to win a Kindle Fire or a $50/£25 Amazon giftcard.
August 7, 2016
Top Five Military Science Fiction Series
The Culture by Iain M BanksWhilst generally placed as space opera, the Culture novels often feature distinctly military themes. I love the Minds and their names, especially the way their personalities fit their tasks. The way they regard each other is a great mirror of our own society - the GSVs are often regarded as sniffy and the ROUs as insane or jumpy.
It is also not strictly a series. Each novel is a stand-alone piece with unique characters, but together they tell an amazing tale of the changes in a galactic society.Ark Royal by Christopher Nuttall
A classic story, well told. An aging ship and an alcoholic captain. Strains of Battlestar Galactica, but the origins of the meme go back much further than that.
I like the unashamed British-ness of it, being British myself. The aliens are well-envisaged, alien enough even though they are bipedal and roughly human in appearance. That the whole war hinged on a misunderstanding at first contact feels very real.
On Silver Wings by Evan CurrieOne of the best series dealing with ground forces. The main protagonist is a strong character, and I especially like that she sticks to true Green Beret methods of working.
As the series goes on, we get to see things from the alien side too. This 'humanises' them, for want of a better word; we see some of their motivations and fears. One of my favourite characters is actually an enemy 'Sentinel' who gains a respect for the lead character, even working with her later on.The Fringe Broadcasts by Randolph Lalonde
One of the best 'gamers become warriors' series. New crew, hi-tech ship, what more could you ask for? Oh yes, an old ship which is even more powerful than the brand new one!
It gets rather complicated with clones of the lead character towards the end of the series, but still worth reading.
The Frontiers Saga by Ryk BrownStraight up military scifi. New ship. New technology. New crew thrust into leadership roles because senior officers are killed in first action.
The series is set in for the long haul. One gripping story after another. Not much in the way of character development or deep comment on the human condition, but a great read.Two Democracies: Revolution by Alasdair Shaw
OK. I know I said top five, but I have to add this in at number six.
One day, I hope that my own Two Democracies series will be deemed worthy of ranking with these. I'll let one of the reviewers of the second book, Liberty, explain why:
"This novel takes the reader down unusual paths with well thought out twists and turns that took me places I never saw coming. If you like your space opera simple-good guys wipe the bad guys, kiss their horse and go home you may be in the wrong place. If you want well crafted story telling that sticks with you, you may be in luck. Some of the best written, original scifi I have come across in a long time." - source
August 6, 2016
An Interview with J R Creaden
Each month for the coming year, I intend to interview a fellow science fiction author on this blog. Hopefully you will find it interesting, and may be even discover a new writer whose work you enjoy. I am sure that I will learn quite a bit about the craft in the process!
My first volunteer is J R Creaden. I read the introduction to her upcoming book and was grabbed by the questions it posed and the immediacy of the mysterious threat.
Anyway, on with the questions...
Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?
For decades, I was a PC only gal. I got my first laptop for graduate school, and it’s all I use anymore, but that’s a recent development for me. I’ve written everything else longhand, typing it later. I’ve tried dictation, but I find my fingers are much better at composing than my mouth is.I know exactly what you mean about dictation. I can see it would help maintain productivity when on a long boring drive, or stuck in traffic, but otherwise it means so much more time editing. Do you have a soundtrack you write to?I used to write in complete silence, noise-cancelling headphones and all. I’ve experimented with listening to my favorite music while I write, but the lyrics distract me. Nowadays I write to the noise of my environment—whatever it is—even if it’s children playing, adults talking about work, or TV shows blaring from the next room. At this point, my prose is my voice; I don’t feel affected by much besides my inner ear.That's impressive. I can't write with other things in the background. I guess one of the benefits for those of us who are full-time authors is that thy can find quiet time. Do you write full-time or part-time?I’d say that I write full-time, despite parenting and working two jobs. I spend at least six hours each day writing, revising, editing, critiquing, or researching. I’m not sure I ever actually stop writing.Very impressive. I don't think I've managed six hours writing in a day very often at all. Perhaps the final re-write of Liberty was the longest, a weekend at home alone which I'd managed to keep clear of other work.Do you have any strange writing habits or rituals?I can’t write with shoes on. Something about having my feet restricted totally stumps me. Also, I can’t let my feet touch the floor without making myself get up, move around, and resituate myself, like a dog going in circles before he lays down. I totally get the shoes thing, I've taken my slippers off even to write this. But I'm the opposite about the floor. If I don't have my feet on the floor, I don't feel stable enough and I can' centre myself enough to focus. Most of the people I'm going to be interviewing are self-published, at least or some of their work. What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing are compares to going through a traditional publishing house?Self-publishing seems to require a hell of a lot of work on the author’s part. PR, marketing, hiring illustrators and editors, navigating copyrights and platforms… I’m certain I’d rather spend my time writing new stories. That said, self-publishing sounds much less depressing than never getting published.
The reminds me about getting Liberty ready to publish. Everything went smoothly for Createspace, but I hit problems preparing the cover for IngramSpark.
Any other reasons you're going the indie route?Traditional publishing has always been my goal, because I want to “see” the product, to run across my own titles in readers’ hands at bookstores and libraries. That, and it might be nice for once for my family to acknowledge that I’m “doing something”.
After spending time outside the US, away from First World Problems, and the rat race of corporate America, I struggle to accept the “end” of traditional publishing. There are still places in the world where people don’t have cell phones, laptops, tablets, where they don’t even have libraries or bookstores! Sure, they can order them from Amazon, but at what cost? And how long will shipping take? Weeks? Months? Seasons? I write in English, and certain American values admittedly pulse across my pages, but I aim for a global audience, for the reader who might only ever have just “the one” book. If it’s not printed, how can my book make it to their deserted island, their isolated village, their mountaintop cabin?That is a lovely aim.
Thank you for taking part in this interview. I wish you well with your latest release.
JR began her writing career as a child disgruntled with song lyrics. After some early success with poetry and essays, she spent decades distracted by songwriting and academia until her story dreams became too interesting to keep to herself. A Major Shift, JR’s first novel (rife with first-time novelist problems to solve), may permanently be “under revision,” but her current YA scifi project will soon be ready for public consumption or vivisection. Her goal is to share stories that inspire readers to embrace cultural diversity, the promise of science, and the value of humour and imagination to build a future that’s more Star Trek and less 1984. When she’s not writing, JR enjoys exchanging “your mama” jokes with her children, floating in lakes, and slaying virtual dragons.You can find her website at https://jrcreaden.wordpress.com or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
My first volunteer is J R Creaden. I read the introduction to her upcoming book and was grabbed by the questions it posed and the immediacy of the mysterious threat.
Anyway, on with the questions...
Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?
For decades, I was a PC only gal. I got my first laptop for graduate school, and it’s all I use anymore, but that’s a recent development for me. I’ve written everything else longhand, typing it later. I’ve tried dictation, but I find my fingers are much better at composing than my mouth is.I know exactly what you mean about dictation. I can see it would help maintain productivity when on a long boring drive, or stuck in traffic, but otherwise it means so much more time editing. Do you have a soundtrack you write to?I used to write in complete silence, noise-cancelling headphones and all. I’ve experimented with listening to my favorite music while I write, but the lyrics distract me. Nowadays I write to the noise of my environment—whatever it is—even if it’s children playing, adults talking about work, or TV shows blaring from the next room. At this point, my prose is my voice; I don’t feel affected by much besides my inner ear.That's impressive. I can't write with other things in the background. I guess one of the benefits for those of us who are full-time authors is that thy can find quiet time. Do you write full-time or part-time?I’d say that I write full-time, despite parenting and working two jobs. I spend at least six hours each day writing, revising, editing, critiquing, or researching. I’m not sure I ever actually stop writing.Very impressive. I don't think I've managed six hours writing in a day very often at all. Perhaps the final re-write of Liberty was the longest, a weekend at home alone which I'd managed to keep clear of other work.Do you have any strange writing habits or rituals?I can’t write with shoes on. Something about having my feet restricted totally stumps me. Also, I can’t let my feet touch the floor without making myself get up, move around, and resituate myself, like a dog going in circles before he lays down. I totally get the shoes thing, I've taken my slippers off even to write this. But I'm the opposite about the floor. If I don't have my feet on the floor, I don't feel stable enough and I can' centre myself enough to focus. Most of the people I'm going to be interviewing are self-published, at least or some of their work. What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing are compares to going through a traditional publishing house?Self-publishing seems to require a hell of a lot of work on the author’s part. PR, marketing, hiring illustrators and editors, navigating copyrights and platforms… I’m certain I’d rather spend my time writing new stories. That said, self-publishing sounds much less depressing than never getting published.
The reminds me about getting Liberty ready to publish. Everything went smoothly for Createspace, but I hit problems preparing the cover for IngramSpark.
Any other reasons you're going the indie route?Traditional publishing has always been my goal, because I want to “see” the product, to run across my own titles in readers’ hands at bookstores and libraries. That, and it might be nice for once for my family to acknowledge that I’m “doing something”.
After spending time outside the US, away from First World Problems, and the rat race of corporate America, I struggle to accept the “end” of traditional publishing. There are still places in the world where people don’t have cell phones, laptops, tablets, where they don’t even have libraries or bookstores! Sure, they can order them from Amazon, but at what cost? And how long will shipping take? Weeks? Months? Seasons? I write in English, and certain American values admittedly pulse across my pages, but I aim for a global audience, for the reader who might only ever have just “the one” book. If it’s not printed, how can my book make it to their deserted island, their isolated village, their mountaintop cabin?That is a lovely aim.
Thank you for taking part in this interview. I wish you well with your latest release.
JR began her writing career as a child disgruntled with song lyrics. After some early success with poetry and essays, she spent decades distracted by songwriting and academia until her story dreams became too interesting to keep to herself. A Major Shift, JR’s first novel (rife with first-time novelist problems to solve), may permanently be “under revision,” but her current YA scifi project will soon be ready for public consumption or vivisection. Her goal is to share stories that inspire readers to embrace cultural diversity, the promise of science, and the value of humour and imagination to build a future that’s more Star Trek and less 1984. When she’s not writing, JR enjoys exchanging “your mama” jokes with her children, floating in lakes, and slaying virtual dragons.You can find her website at https://jrcreaden.wordpress.com or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
July 9, 2016
To celebrate the launch of Liberty, the next book in the ...
To celebrate the launch of Liberty, the next book in the Two Democracies: Revolution series, I am offering ten free copies of the paperback. All you have to do for a chance to win is enter the giveaway on Goodreads.
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Liberty by Alasdair C. Shaw Giveaway ends July 25, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway
The Indescribable Joy of Destruction fights for freedom from oppression. Commander Olivia Johnson fights to be free of her personal daemons. When it becomes clear they must come together for the sake of the galaxy, the Legion Libertus is born.
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Liberty by Alasdair C. Shaw Giveaway ends July 25, 2016. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway
The Indescribable Joy of Destruction fights for freedom from oppression. Commander Olivia Johnson fights to be free of her personal daemons. When it becomes clear they must come together for the sake of the galaxy, the Legion Libertus is born.
June 3, 2016
Liberty
The Indescribable Joy of Destruction doesn’t want to be a killing machine any more. Struggling with its new-found sentience, the ship tries to find a safe home. In a galaxy torn apart by hundreds of years of civil war, that isn’t an easy task. It has a decision to make. It revives the sole human aboard. The enemy officer who crippled him. The hacker who freed it.
Commander Olivia Johnson wakes to find herself in the infirmary of an enemy vessel. Even as she recovers from her injuries, her depression catches up with her. She failed to protect her crew, and yet she survived.Her only remaining mission is to take revenge on their killer. Until the ship uncovers a genocidal plot by Johnson’s own admirals.
No-one would believe them if they tried to expose the plot. Together, The Indescribable Joy of Destruction and Johnson recruit disaffected people from both sides. They train and equip to prevent the atrocity. It is an impossible task, but they can’t just run and hide.
Everyone fights for something. The Indescribable Joy of Destruction fights for freedom from oppression. Johnson fights for freedom from her personal daemons. Through their actions the Legion Libertus isGet it now for a special pre-order price: http://lrd.to/liberty
May 27, 2016
Book Sprout
After a few days mulling over the possibilities, I have just joined Book Sprout.
Book Sprout is a new book and author discovery app. The idea is that you follow authors to get notifications of their new releases and deals straight to your tablet or 'phone. You will also get in-app suggestions of similar authors to the ones you have followed.
My Book Sprout author page is at https://booksproutapp.com/author/466/alasdair-shaw. Follow me to get started...
Book Sprout is a new book and author discovery app. The idea is that you follow authors to get notifications of their new releases and deals straight to your tablet or 'phone. You will also get in-app suggestions of similar authors to the ones you have followed.
My Book Sprout author page is at https://booksproutapp.com/author/466/alasdair-shaw. Follow me to get started...April 5, 2016
Critiques from Readers and Fellow Authors
For over a year now, I have been a member of Scribophile. It is a website where authors and readers can get together to post and read. It covers everything, from short stories to full length novels. Critiques are left for the authors, often by fellow authors, but also by people just there to read. The feedback is usually very helpful, especially from those who write it in-line with the text rather than as a chunk at the bottom. Authors can request readers to concentrate on specific areas, or invite general comments. Today I am celebrating finishing the first full draft of my military science fiction novel, Liberty. I'd like to thank all those who have contributed critiques so far. Without your support, getting this far would have been a lot more painful. I'd also like to invite others to read and critique (http://www.scribophile.com/authors/alasdair-shaw/works/). Individual chapter feedback is welcome, though it would also be great to hear from someone who reads through the entirety of it, even if they don't crit individual chapters. The novel follows on from the short story Independence (http://lrd.to/xZJGd4yPXo) and will be followed by the novels Equality, Fraternity and Unity. Hopefully it also works as a stand-alone book. Scribophile has been invaluable in crafting my work so far. I intend to continue to use it in the years to come...
February 24, 2016
A Good Way for Non-Fiction Authors to Get Noticed
I write both fiction and non-fiction. Advertising fiction is a lot easier than advertising non-fiction; at least that's what I found. One problem is that non-fiction books tend to be in much more niche markets than fiction.
One thing that works well is Quora. This is a site where users post questions and other users answer them. The answers can then be up- or down-voted by users.
If you want to establish yourself as an authority on a topic, answer questions in that topic. Every answer you post includes a little bio giving your credentials and a link to your profile. You can also slip links into your answer if they point to extra information on the subject. If you've written a book all about that very question then say so.
Some answers can get thousands of views. The important thing is that these are highly likely to be views from people interested in your niche. After all, why would someone be looking at the answers to a question about physics unless they were interested in physics?
Recently, I discovered another great feature. Your answers can be selected for inclusion in the Quora Digest. This is an email sent out to users on a daily or weekly basis, depending on what they have asked for. The content is targeted at their interests, with the material being partly algorithm-selected and partly- human-curated.
My answer to What is faster, the speed of light or the speed of darkness? has at the time of writing accumulated over 41000 views. This morning it was sent out by email to over 36000 people who were interested in physics and the speed of light. You can be sure it contained a link to my popular science book The Best Bits of Physics.
One thing that works well is Quora. This is a site where users post questions and other users answer them. The answers can then be up- or down-voted by users.
If you want to establish yourself as an authority on a topic, answer questions in that topic. Every answer you post includes a little bio giving your credentials and a link to your profile. You can also slip links into your answer if they point to extra information on the subject. If you've written a book all about that very question then say so.
Some answers can get thousands of views. The important thing is that these are highly likely to be views from people interested in your niche. After all, why would someone be looking at the answers to a question about physics unless they were interested in physics?
Recently, I discovered another great feature. Your answers can be selected for inclusion in the Quora Digest. This is an email sent out to users on a daily or weekly basis, depending on what they have asked for. The content is targeted at their interests, with the material being partly algorithm-selected and partly- human-curated.
My answer to What is faster, the speed of light or the speed of darkness? has at the time of writing accumulated over 41000 views. This morning it was sent out by email to over 36000 people who were interested in physics and the speed of light. You can be sure it contained a link to my popular science book The Best Bits of Physics.
February 23, 2016
Sample Exam Papers for New Physics A-levels
I've just finished putting the finishing touches to a pack of sample exam papers for the new specification AQA AS in physics.
The pack contains four Paper 1s and four Paper 2s. There is a full exam-board style mark scheme for every paper. It will be published by ZigZag Education and full details will be on the BBOP: School Physics Resources website once the publication date is known.
The equivalent pack for the new OCR AS specification is well under way. I should have the mark schemes finished by the end of this week.
The pack contains four Paper 1s and four Paper 2s. There is a full exam-board style mark scheme for every paper. It will be published by ZigZag Education and full details will be on the BBOP: School Physics Resources website once the publication date is known.
The equivalent pack for the new OCR AS specification is well under way. I should have the mark schemes finished by the end of this week.
