Greg Spry's Blog, page 3

Beyond Cloud Nine Awards

Congrats to Beyond Cloud Nine, which won the silver medal (second place) in the 2015 Readers' Favorite Awards and placed as a finalist in the 2015 IAN Book of the Year Awards, both in the Science Fiction category. I'm proud to say my book is now an award winner!

The Cool Tech of BC9: Starthroats

This article continues my blog series about the technology, world, plot, characters, and other aspects of Beyond Cloud Nine. This is the second installment of a two-part post. In this article, I'll be discussing the technology behind the Starthroats (star fighter craft) in the novel and how they cope with the realities of orbital conflict outlined in my previous post on the realities of orbital conflict.

I'll be the first to admit that the Starthroats and space battles in BC9 aren't perfect. I allowed myself to embellish a little in the name of excitement as long as I didn't do anything impossible, and I think I did a reasonably good job of creating believable spacecraft and orbital conflict. I have yet to hear one person say the fighter craft are unrealistic or the battles would never happen as portrayed...so far (knock on futuristic smart wood).

One thing that's kind of ironic is the design of the Starthroat on the cover of the novel. I worked with a talented designer on it, and he came up with something very cool. If I were to get nit-picky and technical, though, I'd point out that the cover design is too close to a modern fighter jet, isn't all that space-worthy, and doesn't match my exact description from the novel. Nevertheless, cool is the way to go when you're trying to sell a work of action-packed fiction, so I have no real complaints.

Continue reading the rest of this article on Greg Spry's Blog or the Beyond Cloud Nine Blog.

Space Battles & Star Fighters: Part 1

This article continues my blog series about the technology, world, plot, characters, and other aspects of Beyond Cloud Nine. In this post (part one of two), I'll be covering the realities of real space flight and how fictional space battles should take these factors into account. In the second part (to be posted later), I'll discuss the technology behind the star fighter planes and how that tech helps the fighters cope with these realities.

According to the unofficial bylaws of hard science fiction, any discussion of orbital conflict has to begin by recognizing that most popular sci-fi gets it wrong. As much as I loved Star Trek: Into Darkness, I rolled my eyes when the Enterprise fell out of lunar orbit toward the Earth, and you should understand why after reading this article.

The laws of orbital mechanics, otherwise known as astrodynamics, govern motion in space, and various fundamental properties of space lead to orbital results we Earth dwellers might not expect. Let's take a look at the major differences between air travel and space travel. Stick around! It'll be fun, and you might learn something along the way.

Continue reading the rest of this article on Greg Spry's Blog or the Beyond Cloud Nine Blog.

The Theme of BC9

This article continues my blog series about the technology, world, plot, characters, and other aspects of Beyond Cloud Nine. This time around, I'll be covering the thematic aspects of the plot.

Most readers have told me that the conspiracy in BC9 is plausible and thought-provoking, and the the "alien invasion with a twist" strikes them as something positively different. I aimed to leave these impressions, so I'm thrilled to have other people vindicate my efforts. On the other hand, a small handful of naysayers have questioned or even rolled the eyes at certain aspects.

The question that encompasses the overall theme of the novel is...

Continue reading The Theme of BC9 on Greg Spry's Blog or The Theme of BC9 on the Beyond Cloud Nine Blog.

The Importance of Reviews

Authors understand the importance of book reviews. Obviously, we want as many positive reviews as possible because they help us sell the next book. Much has been written, researched, and debated about why book reviews are important. For the purpose of this article, I'm going to take their extreme value as a given, so that's not what I want to talk about. Rather, I don't think readers truly get how important their reviews are to everyone else, so consider this an impassioned plea to review each and every book you read, especially self-published/indie books.

So much work goes into...

Continue reading The Importance of Reviews on Greg Spry's Blog or The Importance of Reviews on the Beyond Cloud Nine Blog.

BC9 On Sale, Book 2, Mailing List, and More

The digital edition of Beyond Cloud Nine is now on sale for US $0.99 for a limited time. Head to Amazon to pick up your copy before the price goes back up to US $4.99.

To be the first to learn about the release of book two, be sure to subscribe to my New Releases and Deals Mailing List for the latest updates on Beyond the Horizon. I also post updates to my Twitter account @GregSpryAuthor on a regular basis. My tentative plan is to publish BTH in early 2016.

Finally, visit the Beyond Cloud Nine Blog and Greg Spry's Blog for the latest posts. I don't always post every article on Goodreads that I post on my blogs.

Happy reading!

The World of BC9

This article continues my blog series about the technology, world, plot, characters, and other aspects of Beyond Cloud Nine. This time around, I'll be covering the world/setting of the novel. A number of readers have both praised and questioned the setting of Beyond Cloud Nine, so I thought I'd spend a little time talking about why I created the world the way I did. BC9 begins in the year 2247 AD...

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Interview: BC9 Cover Designer Tobias Roetsch

This post continues a series of interviews with the people who helped me publish Beyond Cloud Nine. Next up is Tobias Roetsch of gtgraphics.de, the designer who created the overall cover for the novel. I asked Tobias a few questions about working on BC9, being a graphic designer, and life in general.

What was your favorite aspect of working on the cover for Beyond Cloud Nine?

I really enjoyed the part at the end when the ship and character designs were finished and ready to be added to the cover design. With those elements, the image made it to the next level. Besides that I loved to work on Jupiter and alter it to the books needs. To work with an actually existing planet is somewhat special for me as I am normally creating my on worlds.

Tell me a little about your book cover creation process.

From the initial briefing to the final result it has been a long way with normal back and forth periods. From the rough sketch...

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Interview: BC9 Proofreader Sophie Logan

This post continues a series of interviews with the people who helped me publish Beyond Cloud Nine. Next up is Sophie Logan of Sharper Editing, the editor who proofread the novel. I asked Sophie a few questions about working on BC9, being an editor, and life in general.

What was your favorite aspect of working on Beyond Cloud Nine?

Working with texts I enjoy is always fun, and I enjoyed the protagonist, Brooke Davis, a lot. She's tough and driven, which I admire, but she also deals with incredible guilt and shame. She certainly is not a perfect woman, and does her best to be a good person amidst some difficult decisions. I like reading books about imperfect heroes, and working on this book was a treat.

We know you do amazing editing, but what else sets Sharper Editing apart from other companies provided similar services?

The motto here at Sharper Editing is...

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Interview: BC9 Fighter Plane Designer Chi-Chun Liu

This post continues a series of interviews with the people who helped me publish Beyond Cloud Nine. Next up is Chi-Chun Liu (pvtskwerl), the designer who created the amazing Starthroat (star fighter plane) found on the book cover and website. I asked Liu a few questions about working on BC9, being a designer, and life in general.

What was your favorite aspect of working on the fighter plane design for the cover of Beyond Cloud Nine?

I would say, the most enjoyable element was the challenge of trying to combine identifiable features of fifth generation fighter jets with elements of space flight technology in a visually coherent and functional manner.

What design programs do you use?

Mostly Adobe Photoshop. However, depending on the situation, I may also use...

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