Hank Garner's Blog, page 43
October 2, 2015
Episode 59 Sci Fi Writers Playing Old School D&D
Bonus Episode!
Some friends of mine get together every few weeks to play old school D&D. They record the sessions and something magical happens. There’s something cool about creative people getting together to do something creative together.
On the panel are:
Chris Pourteau
Alison Pourteau
Jon Frater
Jason Anspach
Forbes West
and Nick Cole
Check out their site and poscast at http://www.oldschooldnd.com/
The post Episode 59 Sci Fi Writers Playing Old School D&D appeared first on Author Hank Garner.
September 29, 2015
Episode 58 Jay Mohr Interview
This week I welcome stand up comedian, SNL alum, actor, writer, and podcaster Jay Mohr. Jay started performing stand up at the age of 16, went on to join Saturday Night Live, acted opposite Tom Cruise and Jennifer Aniston, wrote two books and hosts a weekly podcast and a daily syndicated sports talk show.
Put your name on it!
Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live
No Wonder My Parents Drank: Tales from a Stand-Up Dad
The post Episode 58 Jay Mohr Interview appeared first on Author Hank Garner.
Episode 58 with Jay Mohr
This week I welcome stand up comedian, SNL alum, actor, writer, and podcaster Jay Mohr. Jay started performing stand up at the age of 16, went on to join Saturday Night Live, acted opposite Tom Cruise and Jennifer Aniston, wrote two books and hosts a weekly podcast and a daily syndicated sports talk show.
Put your name on it!
Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live
No Wonder My Parents Drank: Tales from a Stand-Up Dad
The post Episode 58 with Jay Mohr appeared first on Author Hank Garner.
September 26, 2015
Free and discounted books for September 26
It’s the weekend again, so it’s time for some free and discounted books to load up your e-reader.
American Son by Ian Garner FREE
Zack Mason is an ordinary boy, working his way quietly through high school. When armed terrorists take over the school, Zack must summon all his courage to lead his classmates in victory against the threat.
The Man Who Shot John Wilkes Booth: A Weird Western Novel by Kevin G. Summers $0.99
What is truth? For nineteen years, Joshua Webb has been asking that question in the pages of his newspaper, The Paradise Ledger. He’s been called a madman, a lunatic and an anarchist, but now he has stumbled upon a story so huge that it could shake the United States to its very foundation. The source of the trouble is Boston Corbett, the man who shot John Wilkes Booth. He claims to possess knowledge of the real perpetrators behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, but if his story can be believed, what threat might this hidden truth present to Joshua Webb and the people that he loves?
This is the complete novel that was originally published in three serial installments.
Raging Heat by Richard Castle $0.99
In New York Times Bestselling author Richard Castle’s newest novel, an illegal immigrant falls from the sky and NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat’s investigation into his death quickly captures the imagination of her boyfriend the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Jameson Rook. When he decides to work the case with Heat as his next big story, Nikki is at first happy to have him ride along. Yes, she must endure Rook’s usual wild conspiracy speculations and adolescent wisecracks, but after reuniting following his recent assignment abroad, she’s glad for the entertainment, the chance to bounce ideas, and just to be close to him again and feel the old spark rekindle. But when Rook’s inquiry concludes that Detective Heat has arrested the wrong man for the murder, everything changes. Balancing her high stakes job with a complicated romance has been a challenge ever since Nikki fell for the famous reporter. Now, her relationship lurches from mere complexity into sharp conflict over the most high-risk case of her career. Set against the raging force of Hurricane Sandy as it pounds New York, Heat battles an ambitious powerbroker, fights a platoon of urban mercenaries, and clashes with the man she loves. Detective Heat knows her job is to solve murders. She just worries that solving this one will be the death of her relationship.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut $1.99
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut’s usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralmafadorians who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
The “unstuck” nature of Pilgrim’s experience may constitute an early novelistic use of what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; then again, Pilgrim’s aliens may be as “real” as Dresden is real to him. Struggling to find some purpose, order or meaning to his existence and humanity’s, Pilgrim meets the beauteous and mysterious Montana Wildhack (certainly the author’s best character name), has a child with her and drifts on some supernal plane, finally, in which Kilgore Trout, the Tralmafadorians, Montana Wildhack and the ruins of Dresden do not merge but rather disperse through all planes of existence.
Slaughterhouse-Five was hugely successful, brought Vonnegut an enormous audience, was a finalist for the National Book Award and a bestseller and remains four decades later as timeless and shattering a war fiction as Catch-22, with which it stands as the two signal novels of their riotous and furious decade.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes $1.99
The beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse.
Daniel Keyes wrote little SF but is highly regarded for one classic, Flowers for Algernon. As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo Award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation Charly (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical.
Following his doctor’s instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate “progris riports.” He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can’t even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving:
I dint feel bad because I watched Algernon and I lernd how to finish the amaze even if it takes me along time.I dint know mice were so smart.
Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: “Punctuation, is? fun!” But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry “friends” at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he’s as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was–and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate…
Flowers for Algernon is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact. –David Langford
Enchantress (The Evermen Saga Book 1) by James Maxwell $2.00
An empire divided by magic. A nation on the brink of rebellion.
After losing their parents in the last doomed uprising, two siblings will find themselves at the center of an epic struggle for power.
When Ella witnesses an enchanter saving her brother’s life, she knows what she wants to be. But the elite Academy expects tuition fees and knowledge. Meanwhile her brother, Miro, dreams of becoming one of the world’s finest swordsmen, wielding his nation’s powerful enchanted weapons in defense of his homeland.
After Miro departs for war, the void he leaves in Ella’s life is filled by a mysterious foreigner, Killian. But Killian has a secret, and Ella’s actions will determine the fate of her brother, her homeland, and the world.
Published in 2014, the highly acclaimed Evermen Saga is a worldwide bestseller.
Revised edition: This edition of Enchantress includes editorial revisions.
The Wretched of Muirwood (Legends of Muirwood Book 1) by Jeff Wheeler $2.00
In the ancient and mystical land of Muirwood, Lia has known only a life of servitude. Labeled a “wretched,” an outcast unwanted and unworthy of respect, Lia is forbidden to realize her dream to read or write. All but doomed, her days are spent toiling away as a kitchen slave under the charge of the Aldermaston, the Abbey’s watchful overseer. But when an injured squire named Colvin is abandoned at the kitchen’s doorstep, an opportunity arises. The nefarious Sheriff Almaguer soon starts a manhunt for Colvin, and Lia conspires to hide Colvin and change her fate. In the midst of a land torn by a treacherous war between a ruthless king and a rebel army, Lia finds herself on an ominous journey that will push her to wonder if her own hidden magic is enough to set things right. At once captivating, mysterious, and magic-infused, The Wretched of Muirwood takes the classic fantasy adventure and paints it with a story instantly epic, and yet, all its own.
Brilliance (The Brilliance Trilogy Book 1) by Marcus Sakey $2.00
A 2013 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Paperback Original
In Wyoming, a little girl reads people’s darkest secrets by the way they fold their arms. In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They’re called “brilliants,” and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in—and betray his own kind.
From Marcus Sakey, “a modern master of suspense” (Chicago Sun-Times) and “one of our best storytellers” (Michael Connelly), comes an adventure that’s at once breakneck thriller and shrewd social commentary; a gripping tale of a world fundamentally different and yet horrifyingly similar to our own, where being born gifted can be a terrible curse.
Nomad by Matthew Mather $0.99
Something massive is coming…
And it’s heading for Earth.
That’s what Dr. Ben Rollins, head of Harvard’s exoplanet research team, is told by NASA after being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. His first instinct is to call his daughter, Jessica, who’s vacationing in Italy with his wife. “Something is coming,” he tells them, “a hundred times the mass of the sun. We can’t see it, we don’t know what it is, but it’s there. NASA’s calling it Nomad, and in just months, the Earth may be destroyed.”
“The disaster thriller we’ve all been waiting for. Compelling science, gut-wrenching adventure, and a truly original premise. ” – Nicholas Sansbury Smith, author of the Extinction Horizon series.
But what is it? And how did they miss detecting it until now? In a frantic race against time, Dr. Rollins must unravel Nomad’s secrets. A mysterious clue surfaces in his old research papers from the end of the Cold War, more than thirty years earlier…
The world erupts into chaos as the end approaches–and Ben discovers that his wife and daughter are trapped in Europe. The key to humanity’s survival rests in the final answers Dr. Rollins pieces together, in the midst of his desperate scramble across continents to find his family before Nomad swallows the planet.
Silent Scream: An edge of your seat serial killer thriller (Detective Kim Stone crime thriller series Book 1) by Angela Marsons $0.99
Even the darkest secrets can’t stay buried forever…
Five figures gather round a shallow grave. They had all taken turns to dig. An adult sized hole would have taken longer. An innocent life had been taken but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried, bound in blood …
Years later, a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the first in a spate of gruesome murders which shock the Black Country.
But when human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed. D.I. Kim Stone fast realises she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades.
As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past before it’s too late?
Fans of Rachel Abbott, Val McDermid and Mark Billingham will be gripped by this exceptional new voice in British crime fiction.
Pines (The Wayward Pines Trilogy, Book 1)
by Blake Crouch $2.00
The international runaway bestseller that inspired the most watched show of the summer, from executive producer M. Night Shyamalan, starring Matt Dillon
Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.
2013 International Thriller Award Nominee
The post Free and discounted books for September 26 appeared first on Author Hank Garner.
September 22, 2015
Episode 57 with Daryl Gregory
This week I’m joined by Daryl Gregory, short story, novel and comic writer.
Daryl Gregory writes genre-mixing novels, short stories, and comics. His next novel is AFTERPARTY, a near-future story about consciousness, religion, and cutting-edge drugs that will be published by Tor Books in early 2014.
His first novel, PANDEMONIUM, appeared from Del Rey Books in 2008 and won the Crawford Award for 2009. It was also a finalist for several other awards, including the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award. It’s a romp that takes in Jungian archetypes, superheroes, and demonic possession.
His second novel, 2009’s THE DEVIL’S ALPHABET published by Del Rey Books, was named one of the best books of the year by Publisher’s Weekly and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. The novel combines murder, quantum evolution, and religion in a small mountain town.
RAISING STONY MAYHALL, his third novel, also from Del Rey Books, appeared in 2011. It was named one of the best SF books of the year by Library Journal. It’s a coming of age tale about the most polite living dead boy you’d ever want to meet.
Many of his stories are collected in UNPOSSIBLE AND OTHER STORIES, which was published by Fairwood Press in 2011. The collection named one of the best books of the year from Publisher’s Weekly. Most of those stories appeared in Asimov’s, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and a variety of “year’s best” anthologies and foreign editions. His story “Second Person, Present Tense” won the Asimov’s Readers’ Choice Award and was a Sturgeon finalist. The stories run the gamut from neuroscience to religion to superheroes.
Daryl lives in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife, a couple of teenagers, and a passive-aggressive dog. He’s online at darylgregory.com.
Afterparty
It begins in Toronto, in the years after the smart drug revolution. Any high school student with a chemjet and internet connection can download recipes and print drugs, or invent them. A seventeen-year-old street girl finds God through a new brain-altering drug called Numinous, used as a sacrament by a new Church that preys on the underclass. But she is arrested and put into detention, and without the drug, commits suicide.
Lyda Rose, another patient in that detention facility, has a dark secret: she was one of the original scientists who developed the drug. With the help of an ex-government agent and an imaginary, drug-induced doctor, Lyda sets out to find the other three survivors of the five who made the Numinous in a quest to set things right.
A mind-bending and violent chase across Canada and the US, Daryl Gregory’s Afterparty is a last chance to save civilization, or die trying.
Harrison Squared
From award winning author Daryl Gregory, a thrilling and colorful Lovecraftian adventure of a teenage boy searching for his mother, and the macabre creatures he encounters.Harrison Harrison–H2 to his mom–is a lonely teenager who’s been terrified of the water ever since he was a toddler in California, when a huge sea creature capsized their boat, and his father vanished. One of the “sensitives” who are attuned to the supernatural world, Harrison and his mother have just moved to the worst possible place for a boy like him: Dunnsmouth, a Lovecraftian town perched on rocks above the Atlantic, where strange things go on by night, monsters lurk under the waves, and creepy teachers run the local high school. On Harrison’s first day at school, his mother, a marine biologist, disappears at sea. Harrison must attempt to solve the mystery of her accident, which puts him in conflict with a strange church, a knife-wielding killer, and the Deep Ones, fish-human hybrids that live in the bay. It will take all his resources–and an unusual host of allies–to defeat the danger and find his mother.
Raising Stony Mayhall
From award-winning author Daryl Gregory, whom Library Journal called “[a] bright new voice of the twenty-first century,” comes a new breed of zombie novel—a surprisingly funny, vividly frightening, and ultimately deeply moving story of self-discovery and family love.
In 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman’s arms is a baby, stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda—and he begins to move.
The family hides the child—whom they name Stony—rather than turn him over to authorities that would destroy him. Against all scientific reason, the undead boy begins to grow. For years his adoptive mother and sisters manage to keep his existence a secret—until one terrifying night when Stony is forced to run and he learns that he is not the only living dead boy left in the world.
The post Episode 57 with Daryl Gregory appeared first on Author Hank Garner.
September 21, 2015
Very Strange Places
Every city, state, or community has its own identity. You can travel from the south to the north, and even though we are all the same on the inside, we all ultimately have the same hopes and dreams, we all express it differently. We like different foods, we say hello differently, we use different slang and colloquialisms. These are things that make us who we are, and they help us to stake out a little piece of identity in this world of sameness. But sometimes you go to a place and you think to yourself, “there’s something very strange about this place.”
There are phenomena around the world that can’t be explained. Cultures have talked about these oddities for as long as people have recorded history. People disappear never to be heard from again. Strange lights appear in the night sky. Otherworldly visitations are normal. Weston, MS is one of those places.
I introduced the small town of Weston in my book Bloom. Bloom is a little book with a big heart, and although the story is primarily about a young man named Huck, and later his lady friend Eleanor, if you scratch beyond the surface you will pick up on some odd things in Weston.
I since set all of my subsequent stories in Weston and they all have a character that is central to the stories. Weston. Can a place be a character? Of course it can. It’s what gives your story that added dimension. Weston is a bigger part of the story than most of what happens to the individual characters.
Mulligan, The Witching Hour, Writer’s Block and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son all have at their core the strange goings on of this sleepy little southern town. You might be wondering what it is that ties all these stories together. Let me just say that there is more going on below the surface than you know.
I have begun work on the sequel to Mulligan and a sequel to Seventh Son is coming after that. I also will be releasing more short stories in this world. On the surface they don’t look like they have anything to do with the others, but as they come out you will realize they are pieces to a grand puzzle. I turned in my short story for Chris Pourteau’s Tails of the Apocalypse anthology and it also is an ancient piece of the puzzle.
Thanks for reading along, and if you’d like to jump into this strange world, pick up Writer’s Block for free right now. Here’s the link.
The post Very Strange Places appeared first on Author Hank Garner.
September 19, 2015
Kindle deals for Sept 19
New Kindle Fire for $49.99
This is crazy. Amazon released its new Kindle Fire for less than 50 bucks. While I prefer my Kindle Paper white, this is an incredible deal for an e-reader and tablet.
Beautiful 7″ IPS display (171 ppi / 1024 x 600) and fast 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. Rear and front-facing cameras.
All-new Amazon Underground, a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $10,000 in apps, games and even in-app items are actually free – including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs and more
Enjoy more than 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, apps and games
8 GB of internal storage. Free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with Fire devices. Add a microSD card for up to 128 GB of additional storage.
Updated user interface – Fire OS 5 designed for quick access to your apps and content plus personalized recommendations that make it easy to discover new favorites
Up to 7 hours of reading, surfing the web, watching videos, and listening to music
Stay connected with fast web browsing, email, and calendar support
George R. R. Martin | Tuf Voyaging $2.99
Long before A Game of Thrones became an international phenomenon, #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin had taken his loyal readers across the cosmos. Now back in print after almost ten years, Tuf Voyaging is the story of quirky and endearing Haviland Tuf, an unlikely hero just trying to do right by the galaxy, one planet at a time.
Edward W. Robertson | The Cycle of Arawn: The Complete Trilogy $3.99
Dante Galand is young. Penniless. Alone. But devoted to learning the dark magic of his world.
His quest will take him from the city gutters to a foreign land of sorcerers. To a war for independence. And finally, to another war—this time, for his people’s very survival.
A USA Today bestselling series, THE CYCLE OF ARAWN is a complete trilogy of 1600 pages—over half a million words of strife, civil war, friendships made and broken, and one man’s obsession to become the greatest sorcerer since the days of the gods.
Iain Rob Wright | The Final Winter: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel $0.99
Critically acclaimed début novel from bestselling author, Iain Rob Wright. #1 Bestseller in both Horror Fiction and Apocalyptic Fiction.
The snow is just the start…
What would you do if it started snowing in every country in the world? Would you panic? For a ragtag group of strangers gathered at a creaky English pub, the best solution is a pint of beer and a shot of denial — but, one by one, they will slowly be forced to accept that something sinister is lurking out there in the snow. Something they could never have imagined.
James Rollins | The Devil Colony: A Sigma Force Novel $1.99
From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a novel of boundless imagination and meticulous research, a book that dares to answer a frightening question at the heart of America: Could the founding of the United States be based on a fundamental lie? The shocking truth lies hidden within the ruins of an impossibility, a lost colony of the Americas vanished in time and cursed into oblivion. A place known only as The Devil Colony.
Mark T Barnes | The Garden of Stones (Echoes of Empire Book 1) $1.99
Shortlisted for the 2014 Gemmell Morningstar Award – Best Debut Novel
When the Shrīanese Empire explodes into civil war, fighters of all kinds flock to the banners of their lords. Indris, a skilled swordsman and brilliant sorcerer, seeks to end the bloodshed once and for all. He knows this war is simply a ruse—a power play by a ruling Family desperate to take control of the Empire by any means necessary. Indris cares little for the politics except to see that justice is upheld. But even he can’t see the terrible price his opponents are willing to pay to secure their legacy.
A true epic, the first book in the Echoes of Empire series creates a spellbinding new world. With its twisted politics, new races, compelling heroes and villains, and unique magic, The Garden of Stones is a lyrical fantasy on the grandest scale.
Robert J. Crane | The Sanctuary Series, Books 1-3: Defender, Avenger and Champion FREE
This is a collection of the first three titles in the Sanctuary Series, which is about a warrior in the mythical world of Arkaria, facing great battles against magical and fantastical foes. (Approx. 357,000 words or 950 pages total.)
The world of Arkaria is a dangerous place, filled with dragons, titans, goblins and other dangers. Those who live in this world are faced with two choices: live an ordinary life or become an adventurer and seek the extraordinary.
Books included:
1. Defender
2. Avenger
3. Champion
Lindsay Buroker | The Dragon Blood Collection, Books 1-3 $0.99
A thousand years have passed since a dragon has been seen in the world. Science and technology have replaced magic, which has dwindled until it has become little more than an element of myth and legend.
There are those who still have dragon blood flowing through their veins, distant descendants of the mighty creatures of old. These rare humans have the power to cast magic, the power to heal, and the power to craft alchemical weapons capable of starting wars… or ending them. But they are feared for those powers, and in recent centuries, they have been hunted nearly to extinction.
The few remaining survivors must find a way to change how humanity perceives them or be lost to the world forever.
The Dragon Blood Collection includes three full-length novels of action, magic, and romance:
Balanced on the Blade’s Edge
Deathmaker
Blood Charged
Michael Martinez | The Daedalus Incident (Daedalus Series Book 1) $1.99
Mars is supposed to be dead…
a fact Lt. Shaila Jain of the Joint Space Command is beginning to doubt in a bad way.
Freak quakes are rumbling over the long-dormant tectonic plates of the planet, disrupting its trillion-dollar mining operations and driving scientists past the edges of theory and reason. However, when rocks shake off their ancient dust and begin to roll—seemingly of their own volition—carving canals as they converge to form a towering structure amid the ruddy terrain, Lt. Jain and her JSC team realize that their realize that their routine geological survey of a Martian cave system is anything but. The only clues they have stem from the emissions of a mysterious blue radiation, and a 300-year-old journal that is writing itself.
Lt. Thomas Weatherby of His Majesty’s Royal Navy is an honest 18th-century man of modest beginnings, doing his part for King and Country aboard the HMS Daedalus, a frigate sailing the high seas between continents…and the immense Void between the Known Worlds. Across the Solar System and among its colonies—rife with plunder and alien slave trade—through dire battles fraught with strange alchemy, nothing much can shake his resolve. But events are transpiring to change all that.
With the aid of his fierce captain, a drug-addled alchemist, and a servant girl with a remarkable past, Weatherby must track a great and powerful mystic, who has embarked upon a sinister quest to upset the balance of the planets—the consequences of which may reach far beyond the Solar System, threatening the very fabric of space itself.
Set sail among the stars with this uncanny tale, where adventure awaits, and dimensions collide!
Various Authors (Gaiman, Card, Doctorow, Le Guin, etc.) | Alien Contact $1.99
Are we alone? From War of the Worlds to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, ET to Close Encounters, creators of science fiction have always eagerly speculated on just how the story of alien contact would play out. Editor Marty Halpern has gathered together some of the best stories of the last 30 years, by today’s most exciting genre writers, weaving a tapestry that covers a broad range of scenarios: from the insidious, to the violent, to the transcendent. 507 pages.
Marty Halpern — “Introduction: Beginnings…”
Paul McAuley — “The Thought War”
Neil Gaiman — “How to Talk to Girls at Parties”
Karen Joy Fowler — “Face Value”
Harry Turtledove — “The Road Not Taken”
George Alec Effinger — “The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything”
Stephen King — “I Am the Doorway”
Pat Murphy — “Recycling Strategies for the Inner City”
Mike Resnick — “The 43 Antarean Dynasties”
Orson Scott Card — “The Gold Bug”
Bruce McAllister — “Kin”
Ernest Hogan — “Guerrilla Mural of a Siren’s Song”
Pat Cadigan — “Angel”
Ursula K. Le Guin — “The First Contact with the Gorgonids”
Adam-Troy Castro — “Sunday Night Yams at Minnie and Earl’s”
Michael Swanwick — “A Midwinter’s Tale”
Mark W. Tiedemann — “Texture of Other Ways”
Cory Doctorow — “To Go Boldly”-
Elizabeth Moon — “If Nudity Offends You”
Nancy Kress — “Laws of Survival”
Jack Skillingstead — “What You Are About to See”
Robert Silverberg — “Amanda and the Alien”
Jeffrey Ford — “Exo-Skeleton Town”
Molly Gloss — “Lambing Season”
Bruce Sterling — “Swarm”
Charles Stross — “MAXO Signals”
Stephen Baxter — “Last Contact”
James MacGregor Burns | The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America $1.99
The Three Roosevelts is the extraordinary political biography of the intertwining lives of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who emerged from the closed society of New York’s Knickerbocker elite to become the most prominent American political family of the twentieth century. As Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author James MacGregor Burns and acclaimed historian Susan Dunn follow the evolution of the Roosevelt political philosophy, they illuminate how Theodore’s example of dynamic leadership would later inspire the careers of his distant cousin Franklin and his niece Eleanor, who together forged a progressive political legacy that reverberated throughout the world. Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt led America through some of the most turbulent times in its history. The Three Roosevelts takes readers on an exhilarating voyage through these tumultuous decades of our nation’s past, and these momentous events are seen through the Roosevelts’ eyes, their actions, and their passions. Insightful and authoritative, this is a fascinating portrait of three of America’s greatest leaders, whose legacy is as controversial today as their vigorous brand of forward-looking politics was in their own lifetimes. “A remarkable example of narrative and biographical history at its best.” — Bruce Clayton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “No one has written more trenchantly about Franklin Roosevelt and American politics … than James MacGregor Burns….” — H. W. Brands, The Raleigh News & Observer “A detailed study…. Written with impeccable scholarship.” — Malinda Nash, Houston Chronicle
Robert E. Keller | Knights: Four Novels $2.99
This epic collection, spanning four complete novels and nearly as long as The Lord of the Rings in word count (roughly 410,000 words compared to 450,000), is being offered at a special limited-time discount.
This collection includes:
Knights: The Eye of Divinity
Knights: The Hand of Tharnin
Knights: The Heart of Shadows
Knights: The Blood of Kings
The Plot:
Strange and legendary Dremlock Kingdom is facing destruction from both within and beyond its stone walls in the form of goblins–creatures spawned by evil that come in all shapes and sizes–and the Deep Shadow, a hungry and spreading force of dark sorcery that infects people with madness.
To save their kingdom, the knights recruit a lonely and isolated boy named Lannon who lives in a wooded valley with his crazy father, who bears a dark illness of the soul, and his foul-tempered mother. Lannon is sought out because he possesses a rare power called the Eye of Divinity. The knights need Lannon’s gift to see through the fog of evil that shrouds Dremlock Kingdom and give them the advantage they need to turn the tables on their ancient foe.
Hugh Howey | The Shell Collector $1.99
The ocean is dying. The sea is growing warmer and is gradually rising. Seashells have become so rare that collecting them is now a national obsession. Flawless specimens sell like priceless works of art. Families hunt the tideline in the dark of night with flashlights. Crowds gather on beaches at the lowest of tides, hoping to get lucky.
Supreme among these collectors is Ness Wilde, CEO of Ocean Oil. Ness owns many of the best beaches, and he keeps them to himself. It’s his fault the world turned out this way. And I aim to destroy him.
My name is Maya Walsh. You might be familiar with my shelling column in the Times. I was working on a series of pieces about Mr. Wilde, when out of the blue, he called. He says he wants to talk. But I don’t think he’s going to like what I have to say.
Robert Dugoni | My Sister's Grave (The Tracy Crosswhite Series Book 1) $1.99
Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn’t believe that Edmund House—a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder—is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.
When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past—and open the door to deadly danger.
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September 14, 2015
Episode 56 with Philip Harris
This week I’m joined by the author of Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet, Philip Harris.
Philip Harris is a speculative fiction author and video game developer. Born near Oxford, England, he now lives on the West Coast of Canada where he spends his days developing video games and his nights writing speculative fiction – anything from horror to science fiction to fantasy.
His first publication, Letter From a Victim, appeared in the award winning magazine, Peeping Tom, in 1995. Since then he has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies including Garbled Transmissions, So Long, and Thanks for All The Brains and James Ward Kirk’s Best of Horror 2013.
He has also worked as security for Darth Vader.
You can find free fiction and his blog at his website.
Website: http://www.solitarymindset.com
Twitter: @SolitaryMindset
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SolitaryMindset
The post Episode 56 with Philip Harris appeared first on Author Hank Garner.
September 12, 2015
Kindle deals for the week of September 12
Discounted and free Kindle deals for the week of September 12
Unnatural Creatures: Stories Selected by Neil Gaiman $1.99
Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories about the fantastical things that exist only in our minds—collected and introduced by beloved New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman.
The sixteen stories gathered by Gaiman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, range from the whimsical to the terrifying. The magical creatures range from werewolves to sunbirds to beings never before classified. E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Gahan Wilson, and other literary luminaries contribute to the anthology.
Sales of Unnatural Creatures benefit 826DC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students in their creative and expository writing, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.
The Ghosts of Belfast (The Belfast Novels Book 1) $1.99
“The best first novel I’ve read in years…It’s a flat-out terror trip.”—James Ellroy
“Not only one of the finest thriller debuts of the last ten years, but also one of the best Irish novels, in any genre, of recent times.”—John Connolly
“The Ghosts of Belfast is the book when the world finally sits up and goes WOW, the Irish really have taken over the world of crime writing. Stuart Neville is Ireland’s answer to Henning Mankell.”—Ken Bruen
“Sure to garner attention and stir lively pub discussions.”—Library Journal
“Neville’s debut novel is tragic, violent, exciting, plausible, and compelling. . . . The Ghosts of Belfast is dark, powerful, insightful, and hard to put down.”—Booklist
“Neville’s debut is as unrelenting as Fegan’s ghosts, pulling no punches as it describes the brutality of Ireland’s ‘troubles’ and the crime that has followed, as violent men find new outlets for their skills. Sharp prose places readers in this pitiless place and holds them there. Harsh and unrelenting crime fiction, masterfully done.”—Kirkus
“[Stuart] Neville has the talent to believably blend the tropes of the crime novel and those of a horror, in the process creating a page-turning thriller akin to a collaboration between John Connolly and Stephen King. . . [The Ghosts of Belfast] is a superb thriller, and one of the first great post-Troubles novels to emerge from Northern Ireland.”—Sunday Independent (Ireland)
Fegan has been a “hard man,” an IRA killer in northern Ireland. Now that peace has come, he is being haunted day and night by twelve ghosts: a mother and infant, a schoolboy, a butcher, an RUC constable, and seven other of his innocent victims. In order to appease them, he’s going to have to kill the men who gave him orders.
As he’s working his way down the list he encounters a woman who may offer him redemption; she has borne a child to an RUC officer and is an outsider too. Now he has given Fate—and his quarry—a hostage. Is this Fegan’s ultimate mistake?
Stuart Neville is a partner in a multimedia design business based in Armagh, northern Ireland. This novel, also known as The Twelve in the UK and Ireland, is the first in a series.
Dust (Silo series Book 3) $1.99
WOOL introduced the silo and its inhabitants. SHIFT told the story of their making. DUST will chronicle their undoing. Welcome to the underground.
The Bronze Horseman (The Bronze Horseman Trilogy Book 1) $1.99
The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler’s armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad.
Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana—and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander’s impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects—a secret as devastating as the war itself—as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.
The Wee Free Men (Discworld Book 30) $1.99
The first in a series of Discworld novels starring the young witch Tiffany Aching. A nightmarish danger threatens from the other side of reality. . . . Armed with only a frying pan and her common sense, young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching must defend her home against the monsters of Fairyland. Luckily she has some very unusual help: the local Nac Mac Feegle—aka the Wee Free Men—a clan of fierce, sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men. Together they must face headless horsemen, ferocious grimhounds, terrifying dreams come true, and ultimately the sinister Queen of the Elves herself. . . .
The Awakening (The Judas Curse Book 1) FREE
The Awakening is a tale of immortals, ancient gods, and a Detective who doesn’t believe in any of it. Detective Ben Stanford is forced to come face to face with theology, mythos and everything he refused to believe in as his world is turned upside down by Mark, the immortal Gospel writer, who requests the detective’s help in finding his missing companion, Judas Iscariot. As Ben dives deeper into the world of broken Theology, ancient religions and terrifying Greek gods, he’s forced to come to terms with the world where vast forces struggle in their endless game of power. He must make his way, with the help of companions he doesn’t believe in or trust, to try and stop a potential global disaster.
The Outlander (P.S.) $1.99
In 1903 a mysterious young woman flees alone across the West, one heart-pounding step ahead of the law. At nineteen, Mary Boulton has just become a widow—and her husband’s killer. As bloodhounds track her frantic race toward the mountains, she is tormented by mad visions and by the knowledge that her two ruthless brothers-in-law are in pursuit, determined to avenge their younger brother’s death. Responding to little more than the primitive fight for life, the widow retreats ever deeper into the wilderness—and into the wilds of her own mind—encountering an unforgettable cast of eccentrics along the way.
With the stunning prose and captivating mood of great works like Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain or early Cormac McCarthy, Gil Adamson’s intoxicating debut novel weds a brilliant literary style to the gripping tale of one woman’s desperate escape.
Childhood’s End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) $1.99
In the near future, enormous silver spaceships appear without warning over mankind’s largest cities. They belong to the Overlords, an alien race far superior to humanity in technological development-and their purpose is to dominate the Earth. Their demands, however, are surprisingly beneficial-end war, poverty, and cruelty. Their presence, rather than signaling the end of humanity, ushers in a golden age-or so it seems.
But it comes at a price. Without conflict, humanity ceases to work toward creative achievement, and culture stagnates. And as the years pass, it becomes more and more clear that the Overlords have a hidden agenda for the evolution of the human race-that may not be as beneficial as it seems.
Originally published in 1953, Childhood’s End is Clarke’s first successful novel-and is considered a classic of science fiction literature. Its dominating theme of transcendent evolution appears in many of Clarke’s later works, including the Space Odyssey series. In 2004, the book was nominated for the Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Better World (Fractured Era Series Book 1) FREE
The last humans spent centuries searching for a new Earth. Now they face extinction. For three hundred years, arks have carried the last remnants of humanity through dark space. The ships are old, failing, and every colonist must do their duty to ensure the fleet’s survival. Maeve is a metalworker, toiling in the blistering sublevels of the London. She’s lost friends and family to the hazardous work conditions and fears every job she’s assigned could be her last. All she wants is a little control over her life, but the oppressive sublevel enforcers ensure that’s not an option. Now, after decades of traveling, the ships have finally reached their destination: Soren, a toxic planet that may have the resources they desperately need. But mining a planet comes at a price, and Maeve and the other workers will be expected to pay it with their lives. If a better world awaits, Maeve’s sure to be dead long before the fleet finds it… unless she finds a way to control her destiny and change it.
Taking Eve (Eve Duncan Book 16) $2.99
#1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen is back with the first book in a chilling new Eve Duncan trilogy that asks the question: will Eve survive what lies ahead?
Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan’s mission is to bring closure to the families whose loved ones have vanished. She knows their anguish–her own beloved daughter, Bonnie, was taken from her when Bonnie was just seven years old. It is only recently that this mystery was resolved and Eve could begin her journey to peace. Now, Jim Doane wants the same kind of answers that Eve always longed for. His twenty-five-year old son may or may not be dead and he has only burned skull fragments as possible evidence. But he cannot go to the police for answers without risking his own secrets and dark past, so instead he chooses a bold step to find the truth–a truth that takes Eve down a twisted path of madness and evil and into the darkest heart of her own history. Doane needs Eve Duncan’s skills and he’ll do anything to get them.
Even if it means taking Eve.
Shift Omnibus Edition (Shift 1-3) (Silo series Book 2) $1.99
In 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the hardware and software platform that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even self-propagate. In the same year, the CBS network re-aired a program about the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma. A simple pill, it had been discovered, could wipe out the memory of any traumatic event. At almost the same moment in humanity’s broad history, mankind had discovered the means for bringing about its utter downfall. And the ability to forget it ever happened.
The Soldier Son Trilogy Bundle: Shaman’s Crossing, Forest Mage, and Renegade’s Magic $2.99
For the first time, read the entire Soldier Son trilogy as one ebook … at a special price! In Book One, Shaman’s Crossing, Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly anointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military training at the elite King’s Cavella Academy—and survive the hatred, cruelty, and derision of his aristocratic classmates—before joining the King of Gernia’s brutal campaign of territorial expansion. And it continues in the next two novels, Forest Mage and Renegade’s Magic. Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son, destined from birth to carry a sword. The wealthy young noble will follow his father—newly made a lord by the King of Gernia—into the cavalry, training in the military arts at the elite King’s Cavella Academy in the capital city of Old Thares. Bright and well-educated, an excellent horseman with an advantageous engagement, Nevare’s future appears golden. But as his Academy instruction progresses, Nevare begins to realize that the road before him is far from straight. The old aristocracy looks down on him as the son of a “new noble” and, unprepared for the political and social maneuvering of the deeply competitive school and city, the young man finds himself entangled in a web of injustice, discrimination, and foul play. In addition, he is disquieted by his unconventional girl-cousin Epiny—who challenges his heretofore unwavering world view—and by the bizarre dreams that haunt his nights. For twenty years the King’s cavalry has pushed across the grasslands, subduing and settling its nomads and claiming the territory in Gernia’s name. Now they have driven as far as the Barrier Mountains, home to the Speck people, a quiet, forest-dwelling folk who retain the last vestiges of magic in a world that is rapidly becoming modernized. From childhood Nevare has been taught that the Specks are a primitive people to be pitied for their backward ways—and feared for their indigenous diseases, including the deadly Speck plague, which has ravaged the frontier towns and military outposts. The Dark Evening brings the carnival to Old Thares, and with it an unknown magic, and the first Specks Nevare has ever seen . . .
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September 11, 2015
Interview with fantasy author Megg Jensen
I’d like to welcome USA Today best selling fantasy author Megg Jensen to the blog today. Megg is the author of the Dragonlands series and the Song of Eloh Saga, which includes The Cloud Prophet Trilogy and The Swarm Trilogy.
Hank: Megg, what is your first memory of wanting to be a writer?
Megg: I began reading, voraciously, at the age of four. When I was seven, I penned a story about a unicorn. I typed stories on my parents’ ancient typewriter, cut the pages to paperback size, and stitched them together. I wrote for the local newspaper by ten and won a national writing award the same year. I spent high school writing terrible poetry and song lyrics. By college, my poetry mirrored the dark angst of the 90’s grunge era. It wasn’t until I graduated college that I decided to become a full-time writer. I sold a few short stories here and there, corresponded with some of my favorite authors via snail mail. Took creative writing classes. Then life intervened, forcing me down a path in parenting journalism. It wasn’t until 2008 that I took novel writing seriously.
I know you asked for my first memory, but writing has been an integral part of me since I was very small. To me, writing is life and can’t be truncated into one memory.
Hank: Your Dragonlands books have been very successful. Have you always been a fan of fantasy?
What do you like about writing in the genre?
Megg: Fantasy and science fiction have always been my favorite genres. There’s something about escaping everyday life, whether by reading or writing, that appeals to me. Real life can be so monotonous. It’s fun to take a mental vacation every day.
Hank: Do you have a particular process when planning a novel or series?
Do you consider yourself a plotter, Pantser, or some hybrid of the two?
Megg: My process is messy. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Usually, I come up with an idea. I let it fester for months in the back of my mind. Once it’s taken some kind of solid shape, I research other books, to make sure it hasn’t been done. Occasionally, i’ll happen upon a book with a plot exactly like the one I dreamed up. Then it’s back to the muse.
When I have an idea that I comfortably feel is original, I start writing. Within two or three chapters, everything changes. Dramatically. Happens every time. I keep writing, and I begin to journal. I ask myself questions about the plot and the characters. I also follow basic plot guidelines to be sure I’m hitting the proper beats – rising action, tension, conflict, climax, etc. Once I’m doing writing the first draft, I usually re-write the entire first quarter of the book.
Like I said, it’s a bit of a mess, but it works for me.
For a long time I considered myself a pure pantser. Since I began working with plot charts, I guess I’m a hybrid.
Hank: Do you have a daily writing ritual? Do you aim for a certain word count, or have daily/weekly milestones that you shoot for?
Megg: I have a basic daily ritual. Get kids off to school, exercise, then work. My specific goals change all the time. Sometimes it’s editing. Sometimes it’s writing. Sometimes it’s both. Other days, I slack off and play video games.
My word count goals are directly related to my deadlines. I will go weeks without writing if I’m editing, and vice versa.
Hank: Do you try to maintain a rigid release schedule?
You are a very prolific author. Do you have any advice for authors that want to be more productive?
Megg: I do try to maintain a rigid release schedule. Part of that includes writing one or two books ahead. My last release was in April, and I won’t release the first book of my next series until the second is edited. That way, I can get books in a series out to the reader faster.
I’m prolific because I’m full time. I have hours every day to write, and I try to take advantage of the time I’m given. Before I was full time, I worked everywhere. My first novel, Anathema, was written almost exclusively while my daughter was in swimming lessons or while my son napped. If you don’t have the flexibility to write full time, then sneak in words wherever you can.
Hank: Can you tell us a little bit about your next series?
Megg: Sure, I can tell you a little. My next series is the Forsaken Stars Saga. It’s not your typical space opera. Instead, this series leans closer to the science fantasy genre. I like to say it has a bit of scifi, a bit of fantasy, a bit of pew-pew-pew, and a bit of mystery. If you want to compare it to something familiar, you could say it’s Dune meets Flash Gordon.
The first book will release before 2015 is finished (though I don’t have a date yet). My plan is to release a new novel every 90 days. I hope I can keep up with that, barring life emergencies.
Hank: That’s really epic sounding! Did you listen to the Flash Gordon soundtrack while writing? Speaking of that, do you listen to music when you wrote or do you prefer silence?
What piece of advice would you give to a new writer/publisher that you wish someone would have given to you?
Megg: I am a HUGE Queen fan, so I listen to the music from Flash Gordon on a regular basis. It’s also one of my favorite movies, and I’ve managed to convince my children they love it, too.
I always listen to music while write. I typically listen to bands like The Birthday Massacre and Nightwish. Lindsey Stirling is another favorite. Occasionally, I’ll listen to these random epic soundtracks on You Tube.
I would tell a new writer be humble and listen to those who’ve come before you. I thought I knew it all before I was published. Now I realize I knew nothing, and I’m willing to learn something new every day.
Hank:I think that’s great advice. If someone is not familiar with your work, where should they jump in?
Thanks for stopping by the blog. Any parting thoughts?
Megg: Well, if a reader prefers young adult fantasy with romance, they should try Anathema, which is free everywhere. If they prefer a more mature fantasy read, then Hidden, also free, is the entry point to my Dragonlands series.
Thank you so much for having me, Hank!
Dragonlands, Books 1 – 3: Hidden, Hunted, and Retribution
The Song of Eloh Saga
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