P.P. Corcoran's Blog, page 9

The Economics of Indie Publishing- Chris Nuttall

ppcorcoran:

The only thing I have to add to this is on the book cover front. There is a growing industry around ‘pre-made’ covers, where the self publisher buys a cover ready made (shameless self promotion http://www.theGuildedQuill.com) or some websites even allow you to personalise a cover online before purchasing (no connection http://www.selfpubbookcovers.com/)

Originally posted on According To Hoyt:

The Economics of Indie Publishing- Chris Nuttall

I was on a panel with Chris Kennedy and a couple of others discussing the economics of indie publishing. These are my conclusions.

There’s a general rule in traditional publishing that the money should always flow downhill to the writer. If you’re being asked to pay for anything, once you get picked up by a publisher or agent, you’re being conned. Editing? Cover design? Formatting? Promotional material? The publisher should pay for all of those – and if he doesn’t, something is very badly wrong.

However, this isn’t actually true of independent publishing. Certainly, as before, the writing is the author’s work, but there’s no publisher to pay for all the other items (or, for that matter, to find them.) The author has to meet those costs himself, unless he can do the tasks for himself. (I know authors who can do cover…

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Discovery of the Saiph – Kindle & Kindle App Update

Apologies to everyone who bought Discovery (Saiph #1) and discovered ‘strike outs’ throughout the book. Apparently this version went out to everyone, no matter when it was downloaded.

Amazon assure me they have emailed everyone affected and you have the option to update your version. If you have automatic updates switched on, you don’t need to do anything.

Full details on how to update are found on Amazon, for handiness I’ve copied the instructions below.

 

Turn Automatic Book Updates On or Off

Before you enable the Automatic Book Update feature, make sure Annotations Backup is turned on for your Fire tablet, Kindle device, or Kindle reading app to sync your notes, highlights, bookmarks, and furthest page read. For more information, go to Back Up Your Bookmarks, Notes & Highlights.

Note: Annotations Backup is enabled automatically and can’t be turned off on the following devices:

Fire HD 6 (4th Generation)
Fire HD 7 (4th Generation)
Fire HDX 8.9 (4th Generation)
Kindle Fire HD (3rd Generation)
Kindle Fire HDX (3rd Generation)
Kindle Fire HD (2nd Generation)
Kindle Fire (2nd Generation)
Kindle Fire (1st Generation)
Kindle for Android
Kindle for Windows 8
Kindle for BlackBerry 10

To enable Automatic Book Updates:

Go to Manage Your Content and Devices.
Select Settings.
Select Automatic Book Update to expand the section. Select On to receive automatic updates for your book, or select Off to receive an e-mail notification when an update is available to download.

 

For anyone who wants to know – how I made such a @*!”£$£$£ up, well..

I received a quality notice from Amazon over about half a dozen spelling mistakes in the book and I decided to update the book content. Unfortunately I didn’t realise that ‘tracking’ was switched on in the document I was uploading – I use Microsoft word.

It looked fine to the naked eye, but it turns out that lurking in the background were changes that hadn’t been ‘accepted’ in Review > Tracking and there you go, everyone got to read the latest edits.

I’m very sorry for any inconvenience and hope it hasn’t spoiled your enjoyment too much.

If anyone is still experiencing problems then please contact me 

Sorry folks!

Paul

Introducing American Nemesis

I have great pleasure of again playing host to author Mark Lynch as he introduces his book American Nemesis.

You can catch up on all my guest featured authors on my website here.

What is this book about?   

American Nemesis is a dystopian novel set in the near future, and the story imagines a world where the American States are no longer united.

In 2020 the election of a divisive left-wing President has proved the final straw for an already deeply divided America, and so the conservative and Christian ‘Red’ states of the South and the Rockies opt to secede from the Union to form a new nation, the Confederated Christian States of America. The remnant United States consist only of the ‘Blue’ liberal states of the North East and West Coast, and this reduced nation lacks the will and the power to force the rebels back into the Union.

The story begins in the summer of 2030. America has been divided for a decade now and the border between the CCSA and the USA has become heavily militarised. America is no longer capable of playing the role of global policeman, and so many regional conflicts are escalating to frightening new levels. However, the most significant crisis develops on the North American continent, as a tragic border incident brings the two Americas to the very brink.

The bulk of the novel is set in Fort Scenic, a small border town close to the militarised boundary between Nevada and Arizona. Our protagonist is the 30 year-old Joshua Hamilton. Josh is an outcast in his own country, as his left-wing views put him at odds with the ultra-conservative population of the Arizona strip. However, Josh has a plan. He intends to save up enough money from his illegal enterprises in order to escape from the CCSA, and to start a new life for himself in the remnant USA. This is the plan, but Joshua will have to act fast, because, for every day he waits, the divided nation creeps ever closer to civil war.

American Nemesis is a dark, fast paced, and action packed novel which also asks important questions about the deep divisions and social problems within contemporary American society.

What inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always been interested in American society, history, and politics, and so I wanted to develop these interests into a novel. Having studied many periods of American history, I feel that the US is as divided now as it has been since the Civil War. We see this manifested in many ways in the news coming out of the States. You have the divisive issue of gun control, the controversy of ‘Obamacare’, the conflict of state regulation versus personal freedom, state rights versus federal control, Christian fundamentalist opposition to gay marriage, abortion, stem cell research etc., the issue of immigration…The list could go on, but you get the picture…

One of my major inspirations for the concept of a divided America was the famous ‘Jesusland’ meme which appeared on the internet just after the 2004 Bush-Kerry Presidential election. This visual gag presented a map of North America, with the Red (i.e. Republican) states set as a part of a separate country named Jesusland (i.e. a reference to the right-wing Christian values of the Bible Belt) and the remainder of the Blue (i.e. Democrat) states having merged with Canada, presumably due to their similar political beliefs and ideology. In Nemesis I have pushed this idea of two Americas to its logical conclusion, i.e. two opposing countries glaring at one another across a militarised frontier.

There were other influences too of course. For example, the main protagonist, Joshua Hamilton, is a former college student who has turned to dealing drugs in order to make a living. This is obviously a nod to the brilliant Breaking Bad TV series.

Who are the primary readers of your book?   

I would hope that the novel can find an audience in America. Obviously, I’m an outsider (i.e. an Irish writer) looking in at the problem and writing about it from my own perspective. That said, I’ve done my research and I believe the novel presents an accurate portrayal of American society and politics. It has been commented by some American readers that the concept is chilling similar to the existing political situation in the States.

I wouldn’t necessarily class Nemesis as being a science fiction novel. The story is set only 15 years in the future, and therefore I haven’t included many SciFi aspects within the book. I would describe Nemesis as a speculative fiction novel, bordering on dystopian.

I think the book can appeal to all readers with an interest in American fiction. It’s a character driven novel, but the story itself is pretty dark, and so it may not be to everyone’s tastes.

How long did it take to write it?   

I began writing the novel in January of 2014 and had finished the first draft by the end of August in the same year. Based on experience, it takes me roughly 8 – 9 months to complete a novel of around 100,000 words. Nemesis was submitted to and accepted by David J Publishing, and was published through Amazon in February 2015, for both kindle download and paperback order.

How did you come up with the title?

There have been so many variations on the classic American genre over the years, such as American Graffiti, American Beauty, and American Psycho etc. Obviously, I’ve decided to shamelessly piggy-back on this trend!

Nemesis is the interesting word within the title. The word is defined in the dictionary as either ‘an unconquerable enemy or opponent’ or ‘an act or agent of retribution’. The irony is that, in the context of this novel, the nemesis America faces is itself, and the divisions between the states have effectively destroyed the world’s last superpower.

In an interesting footnote to my decision regarding the title, I was advised by a well-known SciFi author that, although he personally liked it, American Nemesis was a title which would ensure no American publisher would look at the novel. Maybe this is true, but I still hope Nemesis will capture the reader’s attention.

Why did you choose this cover?   

The cover was designed by my publisher, David J Publishing. I received about five or six different options, all of which were very good. A couple of designs featured scenes of Capitol Hill in Washington, but I felt these didn’t quite capture the concept of the novel, as the story is largely set in the western states of Arizona and Nevada. I particularly liked the chosen cover design as it features a desert skyline with the foreboding presence of an Apache helicopter gunship in the foreground. I feel this image best encapsulates the concept of the story.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?   

Like all of the novels I’ve written to date, Nemesis does deal with some pretty controversial subject matters. I don’t want to give too much anyway regarding the plot, but there are two chapters that are particularly dark and violent. These scenes were hard to write, particularly because both of the featured scenarios are eerily similar to events which have occurred in the real world in recent years. That said, I personally believe that good work should be controversial and hard-hitting in order to challenge people’s perceptions. Hopefully the readers will agree with my assessment!

Did you do research for your book?

There was quite a lot of research required for this novel. The setting for most of the action is the Arizona strip, up in the extreme north west of this state. This is an area I have never visited, and so I needed to research the locality. That said, the town of Fort Scenic is entirely fictional, and I wanted to give the town a feel of ‘Anywhere USA’, atypical of the 21st century suburban sprawl.

Other than the location, I did research into US Army weaponry and equipment, as several of my characters are either military, police, or civilian ‘gun nuts’. Also, because Josh Hamilton is a small time weed dealer, I had to investigate methods of cannabis cultivation, which is not an area of expertise for me!

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?   

Nemesis is my third novel published and so I would like to think I have honed my skills since I first began writing. That said, I think a writer should always be learning new skills and techniques, and this was certainly the case for me when I was working on this book. I think that, as a writer, you risk going stale if you’re not constantly learning and expanding your base of knowledge.

What do you want to say to your readers?

I hope that my readers will enjoy this novel. The setting is very different from my previous works, but the writing style is similar, and I cover many of the same themes, such as the destructive effects of extremism upon society. The central message of this novel is a warning, as I personally believe that America is better together than divided along ideological lines.

Note from Mark Lynch

Keep an eye on my Facebook and Twitter for further updates and promotional offers

Mark

An Alternative Ulster by Jo Zebedee

Today, I’m very pleased to introduce my guest author Jo Zebedee as she explains the inspiration behind her newest book:  Inish Carraig.

INISH CARRAIG by Jo Zeedee. Out 21st August 2015. Available for pre-order now on Amazon.

An Alternative Ulster

Well, Belfast, actually. But you get the gist.

My brain being what it is, I was minding my own business when the Writing Angels sang to me. I should write a book set in a post-alien invasion Belfast, they said, very loudly. Once I moved past the obvious jokes of whether anyone would notice the difference, I found myself in the position of taking a place I knew well – I live about 15 miles from the city – and re-imagining it.

That the place I wanted to change was Belfast added to the complexity a little. I wasn’t writing the future of somewhere where a breakdown of society in the wake of an alien invasion would be simplistic, or nuance-free. This is a city where a descent into rioting, or the bombing of one sector of the city over another, could be seen as sending a message. And the one thing I didn’t want to write was another book about Belfast that was all about our past, or future, or anything other than pure entertainment.

So, before I sat down, I laid out a few ground rules.

Firstly, I didn’t want the book to be dominated by religion. I get fed up reading books that focus on it as the inevitable upshot of a story in Belfast.

Secondly, I wanted to portray a changed Belfast after the invasion, but still have it feel like Belfast. I imagined a world where society hasn’t quite broken down. Whilst the book is bleak, it’s not a full dystopia. The city has been abandoned: whoever survived the alien invasion is living in a crumbling city, scavenging for food, for heat, for safety. This is Maslow’s Hierarchy at its most basic. But there are still law-keepers, and limited structures of governance. It’s just that everything has got stretched to the point where the cracks are wide enough to slip through.

In any city that happened in, I reasoned, some people would rise to importance. They’d be the people with enough strength to stockpile supplies. People with existing contacts. In short, they’d be those who could wheel and deal, who knew how to control things – and in any city, that would be someone with access to some dodgy networks. In short, my antagonist was a hard-liner before the war, and remains one now. I make no apologies for that – I simply can’t imagine how any other structure would fill the vacuum left by the invasion in the time scale I’ve set.

What of the city itself? What would be left? Before I answered that I took a short survey from people on an worldwide internet forum, and asked what images they associated with Belfast. They were depressing, of course, given history. Soldiers and checkpoints. Rioters and petrol bombs. Booby-trapped cars. Murals. Now, people can say that’s not fair – hell, I don’t think it’s fair – but that was the dominant theme that came back. So, what to do? That picture of Belfast wasn’t the one I wanted in my book.

What I tried to do was filter some of the imagery into the story and make it part of what gave a sense of place, without letting it dominate. For instance, I used the perhaps-urban-myth about Castlecourt shopping centre being a glass structure to withstand bombs. I made the odd reference to rioting. I showed a peace wall shattered by alien bombs and a mural re imagined to reflect the alien invasion. And all the while, I knew I walked a tight-rope, that not everyone would like what I had chosen to reflect back on the city.

In all, I’m happy with what I came up with. The voices feel authentic to Northern Ireland. The geography, with its mix of sea and Lough, hills and cityscape jostling beside each other, is pretty well what I hoped for. It made the story very real for me.

I hope, when people read it, that’s what they take away from it – the sense of a place I’m very fond of, with a feeling all of its own. And, perhaps, a sense of a city and land moving beyond the clichés of the past. A place where a story can be set without a wider agenda, but just because as a setting, Belfast is great. It’s got fabulous voices and characters, changing landscapes, a sense of identity that was fun to try to capture. I hope I did it justice.

INISH CARRAIG by Jo Zebedee out 21st August

Post-alien invasion Belfast. Earth has been defeated. Pity the locals aren’t listening.

Belfast teenager John Dray will do what he must to survive. When he’s offered desperately needed food in exchange for dispersing a mysterious compound over the city, he takes the job. The compound turns out to be a virus lethal to the city’s invaders, and John is charged with xenocide.

He’s sent to Inish Carraig, a forbidding prison, where he uncovers the secret behind the virus – a secret that threatens Earth and everyone he loves. He needs to unveil the conspiracy.

He just has to get out of prison first.

Jo has been writing for five years.

Her début science fiction novel, Abendau’s Heir, came out this year and is the the first of a space opera trilogy.

More about Jo can be found on her website, www.jozebedee.com, including links to her blog and facebook pages, and she can be followed on twitter on @joz1812.

  

Search for the Saiph, book 2 in The Saiph Series (Audio Edition)

Saiph #2 Audiobook is out now, it’s narrated by the brilliant Eric Summerer.

   Listen  or buy now

Or get it free by taking up a free trial with Audible.  If you sign up for Audible you can get one free audiobook if you’re in the UK or two free books if you’re in the US.

 

And don’t forget to enter the Goodreads giveaway for your chance to win a free copy of Discovery of the Saiph on Audio CD.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Discovery of the Saiph
by P.P. Corcoran

Giveaway ends August 31, 2015.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

 Enter Giveaway

Search for the Saiph Audiobook – Get an Audiobook Free!

Saiph #2 Audiobook is out now, it’s narrated by the brilliant Eric Summerer.

   Listen  or buy now

Or get it free by taking up a free trial with Audible.  If you sign up for Audible you can get one free audiobook if you’re in the UK or two free books if you’re in the US.

 

And don’t forget to enter the Goodreads giveaway for your chance to win a free copy of Discovery of the Saiph on Audio CD.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Discovery of the Saiph
by P.P. Corcoran

Giveaway ends August 31, 2015.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

 Enter Giveaway

Introducing The War of Zero-Sum by fellow Author Mark Lynch

Following on from my blog ‘Meet a fellow sci-fi writer’ I’m pleased to host Mark Lynch as he introduces his book The War of Zero-Sum.

You can catch up on all my guest featured authors on my website here.

[image error]What is this book about?   

The War of Zero-Sum is an Irish Troubles novel, but one with a unique twist! Zero Sum is set in an alternative reality, where Ireland is on the frontline of the Cold War conflict between the USSR and the USA.

The point of divergence (to use the popular alternative history term) is set in the spring of 1943, when a premature D-Day landing ends in failure, and the Anglo-American alliance breaks down shortly after. The Soviet Red Army still succeeds in defeating the Nazis, and their forces continue to advance across the German territories. The Russians seize all of Germany by 1945, and they go on to ‘liberate’ the Low Countries and France.

In the post-war period, Europe is dominated by the Soviet Union, and the United States has withdrawn from the continent, renewing her inter-war policy of isolationism. Ultimately, a bankrupt and abandoned Great Britain falls to communism in the autumn of 1961.

Jump forward to 1969, and you have the island of Ireland still divided; with the North occupied by the Soviet Union, and the South garrisoned by the Americans. Meanwhile, the CIA backed Resistance fights a desperate guerrilla war in the mean streets of Belfast, as our hero Sean McCann tries to stay one step ahead of the ruthless Red secret police, headed up by an ex-IRA man by the name of Alexander Lynch.

Zero Sum is a ‘Troubles’ novel like none other. It is a Belfast story, full of colourful characters, black humour, and Irish tragedy. But, first and foremost, the book is a new and unique take on the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, and imagines how the traditional divides and divisions in this society could have been altered by a starkly different political reality.

What inspired you to write this book?

The concept for the novel was in my head for many years before I started working on this project. I have long been interested in Irish history, and particularly in the history of our most recent Troubles. Because of my age and upbringing, I wasn’t directly impacted by the Troubles (as so many were) but I have lived in Northern Ireland for my whole life, and I’ve witnessed how the legacy of the conflict continues to damage our society.

There’s obviously been a significant number of Troubles related novels written over the years and so I wanted to write something a bit different from the norm. I studied history throughout school and university and (outside of Ireland) my main area of interest is 20th century history, particularly World War Two and the Cold War.

Finally, I’m a big fan of alternative history fiction, and I enjoy the novels written by the giants of this genre, such as Harry Turtledove and S .M. Stirling. The concept of ‘What if?’ has always fascinated me.

In Zero-Sum I have brought all of these loves together, and I’ve combined the Irish Troubles and the Cold War in order to create an ambitious alternative history saga. Hopefully I’ve managed to pull it off, but that’s for the readers to decide…

Who are the primary readers of your book?   

The obvious reader base is in Northern Ireland itself, but I feel that the novel has a much wider appeal. As with my fellow modern authors, I’m fortunate in that Amazon and other online resources allow me to reach a worldwide audience.

Alternative history is definitely a growing sub-genre and there is a substantial AH fan base spread across the US, the UK, and further afield. I’ve posted some advertisements on AH websites and have enjoyed some positive feedback. The Cold War aspect is certainly an element which many readers can relate to.

The story itself is fast moving and action packed. Also, I believe the reader will identify with many of my characters, as I have tried to make each individual as real as possible. I’m a big believer in writing characters who are neither ‘black’ nor ‘white’, ‘good’ nor ‘bad’. The people in Zero Sum are largely products of their environment, or victims of the poor choices they have made in their lives.

How long did it take to write it?   

I began writing the novel in January of 2013, and had finished the first draft by October of the same year. I dabbled with self-publishing for a bit and then I was fortunate enough to get offered a contract by David J Publishing. The novel was published in e-book and paperback formats in June 2014.

How did you come up with the title?

There’s a bit of a tale behind this one, so bear with me…

The novel was originally self-published under the title ‘The Red Star of Ulster’, which was meant as a pun on the traditional ‘Red Hand of Ulster’.

This was okay, but my publisher felt that the title wouldn’t have a broad enough appeal internationally, and it might also confuse some readers.

Therefore, we came up with ‘The War of Zero Sum’. Zero Sum is a mathematical term which is also used in political analysis. A broad definition of the term is ‘a gain for one side which results in a corresponding loss for the other side’. This term can be applied equally in the context of both the Northern Irish Troubles and the Cold War, thus the use in my title.

Why did you choose this cover?   

The cover was designed by David J Publishing. I was presented with a choice of half a dozen excellent and professional options and I chose the cover above. The two flags set upon the map of Ireland clearly encapsulates the core concept of the story, i.e. the island divided between the Cold War superpowers. The motif also parodies the map we are so used to seeing, with the Union Jack in the North, and the Irish Tricolour in the South. The silver metallic and industrial style lettering in the foreground also evokes images of the Cold War era. I was very pleased with the final cover design for Zero Sum.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?   

This novel was certainly a hard one to write, for a number of different reasons. I was concerned that many of the themes of the book would be controversial, especially given the ongoing political situation here in Northern Ireland.

It’s almost impossible to tread the middle line when you’re writing about such a divided society, but I did my best to remain neutral, and to show the ugly realities of sectarianism on both sides. At the same time, I’ve tried to portray the beliefs and loyalties of people from all factions, including those who support a Communist style government in Northern Ireland as an alternative to the old sectarian split. This was quite a challenge!

Another difficulty I faced was with the length of the book. I originally envisaged a single novel charting the story of a peoples uprising against a Soviet regime, however, I soon realised that the tale was just too big for the one book, and so I’m now working towards the completion of a trilogy!

Did you do research for your book?

Yes, there was quite a lot of research involved in writing this novel. The alternative history genre is something of an oddity, because you’re creating a fantasy scenario but, at the same time, you have to stay close to the historical record for some aspects of the story. Therefore, you have to do your homework to ensure that the novel is as authentic as possible. Luckily, I’m a history buff anyway so it wasn’t too much of a chore to read up on the early years of the Troubles and on the Cold War era.

In regards to locations, most of the chapters in Zero Sum are set either in Belfast or Dublin, which are cities I know pretty well. This obviously helped when it came to describing particular streets and landmarks. That said, I’ve been told that a couple of discrepancies have crept into my descriptions of 1960’s Belfast…but I put this down to creative licence!

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?   

Perhaps the most important thing I learnt while writing this novel was that it’s extremely difficult to write objectively when you’re dealing with such a divisive subject matter. I was very concerned about how this novel would be received by the readers, and not just because of all the bad language!

In a place like Northern Ireland, there’s always the risk that certain people will accuse you of being bigoted or bias towards one side or the other. In the end though, I learnt that I’ve just got to write the story and not concern myself too much with what a minority of readers may think. ‘You can’t please all of the people’, as the say…

What do you want to say to your readers?

In Zero Sum I’ve tried to write an entertaining and character-driven novel, but I’ve also tried to say something about the society in which I live. Perhaps I’ve been over-ambitious or arrogant in this regard, but that’s for the readers to decide.

As always, I want to say thanks to all who have bought, downloaded, or read the novel and, of course, constructive feedback is always welcome.

Special Announcement from Mark Lynch

I am pleased to announce that the sequel to Zero Sum has been submitted to my publisher for consideration. The novel is entitled ‘Insurgent Town’ and, all being well, it will be published later in the year. Keep an eye out for further updates on my Facebook Page and Twitter account –

Twitter username – @sfwriter83

Mark

Interview with Jo Zebedee – How I Self-Published.

Sci Fi Author, Jo Zebedee recently interviewed me over at www.sffchronicles.com.

It includes more ‘stuff’ about how I decided to self publish and how I’ve got to the point where I now write full time – just 18 months after publishing my first book.

I’m extremely pleased with how things have worked out for me and I hope if any of you out there are sitting on the fence about self-publishing you’ll take that leap!

I hope some of you may be inspired by my experiences – read the interview here.

Jo has kindly agreed to guest on my blog in the near future. Here’s a brief intro!

About Jo Zebedee

 

I write science fiction and fantasy in a little corner of Northern Ireland. Sometimes I write stuff on Earth, sometimes in my space opera world of Abendau.

I have a healthy interest in lots of things like reading, and writing, and gardening. I have an unhealthy interest in sexy space pilots, aliens and all things Space Opera.

When I’m not writing I run a management consultancy and run after children, dogs, fish, not neccesarily in that order, ably supported by my husband.

JoZebedee.com, sffchronicles.com

The Importance of Reviews

Thanks to Sci fi fan Hutch Morzaria at Zone 6 for reading and reviewing my Saiph Series.

He gave them a massive 8/10 and 8.3/10 respectively which I couldn’t be more pleased with!

I also want to say thanks to those readers who leave reviews and give me feedback. It’s through these comments that I improve my writing style.  I want readers to enjoy my writing and I always take on board their comments, good and bad! Hutch’s second review (here) really highlights this fact.  So, please keep them coming!

If you haven’t already done so click below to review my books.

  

You can also contact me at my website or leave comments below!

Meet a fellow Sci Fi author – Mark Lynch

I attended a local book festival last month and met up with several other Indie Sci Fi writers one of whom is Mark Lynch.  I found his books intriguing particularly with his background in history and politics.

Today I’m excited to introduce Veritas Dawn, a science fiction novel by Mark Lynch, published by Whiskey Creek Press LLC.

I have also introduced a new page to my website that will feature new authors and their books on a regular basis – you can find it here.

What is this book about?   

Veritas Dawn is the story of an isolated and struggling human colony situated in another solar system. The book is set roughly fifty years after the first landing on the ‘Veritas’ moon, and the small colony is totally cut off from Earth. To make matters worse, ‘Veritas’ has also been ravaged by two devastating wars, and the surviving colonists are still struggling to deal with the repercussions of these conflicts.

The main plot revolves around the daily lives of a small but diverse group of settlers living on a collective farm out on the very edge of the HPZ (the human populated zone). Early on in the novel, we see the settlers struggling to survive in a harsh and unforgiving alien environment. Furthermore, the characters all have reason to fear or despise the totalitarian colonial government, and so they seek to ‘stay under the radar’ and avoid the attentions of the regime’s ruthless security apparatus.

The colonists are preoccupied with their internal problems, and so they are caught completely off-guard by a sudden attack mounted by a resurgent indigenous enemy. As the battle escalates, the small settlement is forced to the brink, and it appears that the colonists’ only hope rests with an enigmatic drifter-cum-soldier of fortune. But does this mysterious ‘Outlander’ hold his own sinister agenda? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

In conclusion, Veritas Dawn is a unique Science Fiction novel with well-developed and memorable characters. The story balances an action packed plot with a carefully considered social and political analysis, which (I hope) makes for an entertaining and thought provoking read!

 

 

What inspired you to write this book?

From a young age, I always held an ambition to write a science fiction novel. I scribbled down a lot of ideas over the years but I never had the self-confidence to develop any of these rough concepts into a fully blown story. This only changed whenever I was approaching my 30th birthday, and I thought ‘now’s the time to make a go of this’. The concept and basic plot outline for Veritas was already there, but the writing process itself was a big learning curve for me.

I read and watch a lot of SciFi but I’ve always been particularly interested in the space colonisation sub-genre. In this vein, I am a big fan of John Scalzi’s work (such as his novels Old Man’s War and The Last Colony). I also really enjoyed Allen Steele’s Coyote series.

Another novel I enjoyed was Philip Dick’s Martian Time Slip. What particularly interested me regarding this story was the fact that Dick’s imagined colony on Mars was still very much divided along traditional lines i.e. by nationality, religion, ideology, socio-economic status etc. I think this poses an interesting question as to whether humans would change if they were taken off the Earth, or whether they would fall back into their traditional ‘tribes’ and ‘factions’ This is one of the central themes I have tried to explore in Veritas.

Who are the primary readers of your book?   

I feel that Veritas will appeal to a wide range of readers, and not necessarily just those who are fans of science fiction (although hopefully the SciFi crowd will enjoy it too!).

I really liked the Firefly TV series by Joss Whedon, and, as with the Firefly / Serenity franchise, I would describe Veritas as a ‘science fiction western’. In my novel you essentially have a frontier society populated by a variety of colourful outcasts, gun-slingers, and bandits. What’s more, the central conflict between the alien ‘Astri’ and the human colonists is loosely based upon the historical wars between white settlers and Native Americans, back in the ‘Old West’ of the 19th century. Also, one of the main characters of the novel (the man known only as the Outlander) is based upon the classic ‘man with no name’ of the Spaghetti Western film genre.

First and foremost though, I would describe the book as a ‘character-driven’ story. I have put a lot of thought into my characters and I developed detailed biographies for each before I began writing the novel. My main style of writing is multiple character POV, and so I can tell the same story from different perspectives. Hopefully this method will appeal to the majority of readers.

How long did it take to write it?   

I started writing the novel in March of 2012, and had a first draft completed by December of the same year. However, this draft was pretty rough, and so there was a lot of work required in terms of proof reading and editing. The final e-book was published by Whiskey Creek Press in June 2014. It would be fair to say that it was a ‘long journey’!

How did you come up with the title?

‘Veritas’ is the name of the colony moon, and is also the Goddess of Truth in Roman mythology. The search for the truth, or more specifically, the true meaning of life, is one of the central themes of the book. Each individual character has their own personal feelings about the ‘true meaning’, and some have found solace in political or religious extremism.

The key relationship in the story is between Reverend Carmody and ‘the Outlander’. The two men have very different core beliefs, as the Reverend is a great believer in the ‘human spirit’, while the Outlander is effectively a nihilist who spouts survivalist rhetoric. These two characters are often in conflict with each other, but they are ultimately forced to co-operate in order to save the settlement.

Why did you choose this cover?   

The current cover was assigned to me by the e-book publishers, Whiskey Creek Press. The concept in the design was a western style, but also emphasising the alien setting of the story. Therefore, you have the mysterious cowboy figure in the foreground and the dual suns of the Veritas system in the background.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?   

Writing a novel is a huge project which will take months of your life and hundreds of man hours to complete. The hardest part is always looking down at a blank page at the beginning of a session and wondering how the hell you are going to fill up that page!

Veritas Dawn was my first novel and, in many ways, it was also the hardest to write, mainly because I was learning everything from scratch.

That said, writing is my passion and so it’s what I love doing. Also, it’s a great feeling of accomplishment to get to the end of a project and then to see the book on Amazon or in hard copy.

Did you do research for your book?

Yes, there was quite a lot of research involved in writing Veritas. I avoid attempting to write ‘hard’ science fiction as I don’t have enough of a scientific grounding. My base is in history and politics, and so I’ve tried to bring this knowledge into my writing. For example, while I was working on Veritas I read accounts of historical colonies, such as Jamestown in Virginia, and Botany Bay in Australia, and this research helped when I was describing the fictional colony on the Veritas Moon. I think an author is best sticking to the areas he or she knows best, although you have to come out of your comfort zone every now and again!

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?   

When I started writing Veritas Dawn, I knew next to nothing about the writing process, about proof reading, editing, or formatting. I also had no prior experience of the publishing industry and knew very little about the opportunities for authors provided by Amazon and other online outlets. It would be fair to say that it’s been a big learning curve for me over the last three and a bit years, but I have definitely honed my skills during this time, and hopefully I’m now a better writer thanks to what I’ve learnt.

What do you want to say to your readers?

Please buy Veritas Dawn!

Seriously though, when you’re a new and unknown author trying to break through, every sale feels like a small victory, and so I would like to sincerely thank all those who have bought and read the novel.

Also, feedback is good because it helps me to become a better author, so please take the time to post a short review on Amazon.

 

Special Announcement from Mark Lynch

I am delighted to announce that Veritas Dawn will soon be released in paperback format, under the new title ‘The Rogue Colony’. This edition will be published by David J Publishing, and is due for release in early autumn 2015.

Watch out for further updates on my Facebook and Twitter!

 

Mark