David Lee Summers's Blog, page 82

Supporting Indie Publishing

By necessity, big publishers can’t provide a platform for every writer whose voice is worth hearing. They simply have a limited number of books they can publish. Also, over time, big publishing has been reduced to five media companies with an obligation to their stock holders to maximize profits. This limits the number of risks they can and should take. These two facts limit the number of new and diverse voices that can share their creativity.

Indie publishing allows an outlet for those voices. The term “indie publishing” has evolved over the last few years to incorporate self-published authors, authors with boutique presses, and small press authors. It’s a little misleading because they’re not all the same. However, they all provide the opportunity for more voices to be heard.

Self-publishing literally allows anyone to publish a book in print or electronically. That said, it probably still favors voices of privilege since they’ll be the ones who have money for the best covers, editing, and advertising, plus potentially more free time to do the work of getting the word out. Small presses vary greatly but there are a lot of them out there. The best will provide editing, covers, and at least some marketing.

Indie publishing keeps authors from being forced to accept the publication terms of the big publishing houses. While it’s true the big publishing houses pay advances up front, and arguably pay more per book than small presses, the pay can still be surprisingly small. At least anecdotally, I know writers who stick with the big five and yet sometimes barely make ends meet. Indie publishing provides a possible alternative outlet for authors to supplement their pay. When authors do well with indie publishing, it provides some pressure for the big five to offer better pay to compete.

The limited number of publishing venues is a small problem compared to the tiny number of retail outlets for books. By far, most people discover books by visiting bookstores and we only have one major brick-and-mortar retailer in the United States, Barnes and Noble. Shelf space at Barnes and Nobles is limited. It’s not uncommon for me to go into Barnes and Noble and have difficulty finding even current, big name authors with big publishers.

The challenge is how can readers find and support good authors, working through small presses and who self-publish. The usual recommendation is to leave reviews in places like Goodreads and Amazon. This is good, and it’s incredibly helpful.

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Some public libraries and local, indie bookstores will host events for authors. I have attended wonderful events at the Branigan Library in Las Cruces and at stores such as Bookmans in Tucson, COAS in Las Cruces, and Boutique du Vampyre in New Orleans. If your library or bookstore hosts such events, please go and meet the authors. Talk to them, find out if what they write is to your taste. If it is, give their work a try and then follow them online. If it’s not to your taste, please don’t write off small press or self-published authors because of one or two bad experiences. Go to the next event and meet different authors until you find someone you like.

In the genre world, there are science fiction, steampunk and comic conventions. Some of these provide venues for indie authors, either on panels or in the dealer’s room. If you like hearing from indie authors, make sure to send your feedback to the convention committees. If they hear that people like hearing from indie voices as well as the most popular authors, they will often make room for those indie authors.

Indie publishing provides a platform for new and diverse voices. I won’t try to convince you that all those voices will be ones you want to hear or even great voices, which is true of any media. But if you look, you will find the gems. I encourage you to seek out the gems. Leave reviews and visit authors at stores and events. There’s some great stuff out there, just waiting for you to find it.

The Orville

Last week, I watched the first season of Seth MacFarlane’s new series, The Orville, with my daughter who’s home from college. Marketed as a science fiction comedy in the vein of Galaxy Quest, I find that the show is, in many ways, a true successor to Star Trek.

[image error] The premise of the show is that Captain Ed Mercer, played by MacFarlane, has just been given command of a mid-size exploratory vessel. To his chagrin, his ex-wife Kelly Grayson played by Adrianne Palicki serves as his first officer. Other members of the crew include Lt. Commander Bortus, the Klingon-like second officer from the Planet Moclan, Lt. Alara Kitan, the hyper-strong but young security chief from the planet Xelaya, and Lt. Gordon Malloy, Ed’s wisecracking friend who serves as the ship’s helmsman.

The first couple of episodes focused more on the humor, but as the show progressed it became decidedly more like classic Star Trek exploring themes of gender, religion, and the role of social media in society. It’s even taken on some interesting science fictional ideas such as what exploring other dimensions would mean, our interactions with life forms both more advanced and more primitive, and time travel.

Overall, the show’s exploration of science fiction themes works. This is perhaps no surprise since there’s a strong overlap of production staff not only with some of the Star Trek series, but with Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos. Although the show keeps its humor low-key, it’s still an integral part of the presentation. It keeps the show light and avoids it taking itself too seriously. That said, my most serious complaint about the show is that its humor is tied very strongly to 21st century pop-culture references. In a show set in the 24th century that is pretty decent at its science fiction, it feels a little jarring. It’s as though me and all my friends were experts in the 1600s and only read books and watched plays from that era. Okay, as an avowed Steampunk there is, perhaps, some feeling of truth in this portrayal, but I think you get what I mean!

I find I don’t always agree with the positions Seth MacFarlane and the producers present in the show, but that’s fine. He presents them in a thoughtful way that doesn’t put me off, which allows me to evaluate my own positions. In fact, he doesn’t always give us easy answers at the end of an episode or imply that what the crew did was the best choice. In this way, The Orville really does what science fiction does best: help us look at our own time with a critical eye.

As it turns out, I don’t have cable. I gave it up as an unneeded luxury back in 2001. I decided to buy the first season of The Orville on iTunes after watching those episodes that were available for free on Fox’s website. I will note that I still haven’t watched Star Trek: Discovery. Here’s the key difference: Fox allowed me to sample some episodes for free (albeit with commercials), and then gave me a means to subscribe to the series for a reasonable cost. CBS All Access, where Discovery runs will only allow me to subscribe to the channel and won’t even let me sample the series without a subscription that includes a whole lot of content I really don’t want. That’s why I gave up cable back in 2001!

I’m currently on Patreon raising funds for my collection of space pirate stories, Firebrandt’s Legacy. Like The Orville, I endeavor to mix some light-hearted humor with good science fiction to provide an entertaining mix. You can read the first story in the collection with absolutely no commitment right here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-one-for-14391922. If you like what you read, you can subscribe for any amount you like at: https://www.patreon.com/davidleesummers. In exchange for your patronage, you get to see each story in the collection as it’s written or reedited. I share behind the scenes information about the stories, and I’ll give you a “thank you” in the finished book.

Dragon’s Fall – On Sale

The ebook edition of my novel Dragon’s Fall: Rise of the Scarlet Order is on sale for just 99 cents from today through January 21. This is my novel that tells the origin story of the Scarlet Order vampires.

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The novel opens in Hellenistic Athens, when the slave Alexandra is sold to Theron, a mysterious banker who is never seen during the day. As time goes on, she notices that slaves called upon to serve Theron in his chamber at night do not return the next morning. When Alexandra’s turn comes, she learns Theron is a vampire who takes his pleasure with the slaves, then drinks their blood. She refuses to be a victim, but as she fights his embrace, Alexandra ingests some of Theron’s blood and becomes a vampire herself.

Next we meet Desmond, a dragon lord in the service of King Ambrosius in Britain of the year 480. He longs for the king’s daughter, the beautiful Guinevere. However, her heart belongs to the king’s young ally, L’ancelot. When Desmond and his friend Arthur are sent to battle Saxon invaders, Desmond is mortally wounded. He is saved by Wolf, a vampire who is seeks the Holy Grail in hopes that it might bring salvation to their kind. Desmond knows he and Wolf cannot find the Grail alone. He returns to court where he finds that Guinevere is pledged to Arthur but still longs for L’ancelot. Now king, Arthur is anxious to remove L’ancelot from court for a time, so he agrees to Desmond’s request for aid in the search for the Grail cup.

A century later, Desmond’s quest carries him to Constantinople and there he meets Alexandra. He persuades her to join him on his quest and the two fall in love. However, Desmond is unaware that another vampire lurks in the shadows. The mysterious Roquelaure, whose identity is cloaked even from himself, serves the human underworld as an assassin and also loves Alexandra.

Three vampires forge a bond of love and blood. Together, they form a band of mercenaries called the Scarlet Order, and recruit others who are like them. Their mission is to protect kings and emperors against marauders, invaders, and rogue vampires. Their ultimate test, though, comes when they’re hired by none other than Vlad the Impaler.

Dragon’s Fall: Rise of the Scarlet Order is available for just 99 cents until January 21 at the following retailers:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iTunes
Kobo

Hunting Asteroids

I rang in the new year by helping Robert McMillan, Jim Scotti, and Melissa Brucker from the University of Arizona hunt for potentially hazardous asteroids in our solar system at the Kitt Peak 4-meter telescope. This is important work since asteroid impacts are one of the few completely predictable and preventable natural disasters. Here I am at the telescope console.

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As it turns out, this observing run was something of a bittersweet milestone. Bob, Jim, and Melissa are the last scheduled visiting observers on the 4-meter. At this point, we have about five more weeks of observing with a scheduled imaging survey program and then the telescope shuts down so it can be refitted with an instrument called the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI. DESI will measure the effect of dark energy on the expansion of the universe. It will obtain optical spectra for tens of millions of galaxies and quasars, constructing a 3-dimensional map spanning the nearby universe to 10 billion light years.

So, what about the asteroids? Well, the good news is that there are smaller telescopes on Kitt Peak devoted to the search. The reason Bob, Jim, and Melissa use the 4-meter is that it allows them to look for more distant asteroids on nights when the small telescopes are not as effective. In this case, we were attempting our observations during the full moon. Because the moon is so bright, it’s hard to see faint, distant objects with small telescopes because you need to expose on the sky for a long time. The 4-meter can take shorter exposures and still detect these faint objects without having the skylight swamp the exposures. In the meantime, Bob, Jim, and Melissa have applied for time on other telescopes around the world to do the work they were doing on the Kitt Peak 4-meter.

Often times when I’m involved in these runs, I’m asked if I’ll let people know if something is going to fall on us. Well, if I know, I’ll tell. However, what we often do is identify small objects a long ways away. It’ll usually take more than the observations we get to determine the object’s orbit and find out whether or not it presents a serious hazard.

So what actually happens if we discover an asteroid that might hit the Earth? I found this NASA video that gives a nice explanation. I notice there is also an image credit from my friend Mike Weasner, a talented amateur astronomer who is also a science fiction fan.

If you want to get more of a sense of what life is like behind the scenes at an astronomical observatory, be sure to read my novel The Astronomer’s Crypt. You can learn more about the novel and get a sneak peak at http://www.davidleesummers.com/Astronomers-Crypt.html

A Look Ahead at 2018

Happy New Year! I hope your 2018 is off to a terrific start.

In my last post, I looked back at some of the highlights of my writing and publishing life from 2017. However, one of the truths of the publishing world is that books take time to write, edit, and publish. The upshot is that many of 2017’s books don’t actually represent work done in 2017. It’s this post, where I look ahead to 2018 that actually represents a lot of the actual work I’ve been doing the past few months.

I spent the last days of 2018 revising book four of my Clockwork Legion steampunk series, Owl Riders. Just a couple of days ago, my editor wrote to tell me he was happy with the latest draft and would give the book a copy edit and then turn it in to Sky Warrior Publishing. While I don’t have a formal release date, the tentative plan is for the novel to come out this spring. Set in 1885, Ramon Morales leaves his home and job in New Orleans to broker peace between the Apaches and white settlers in Southern Arizona. While he’s away, Fatemeh Morales’s past catches up with her and and her one-time betrothed kidnaps her to take her back to Persia.

[image error] Now that Owl Riders is moving into the final stages of production, I have my sights set on a couple of science fiction projects. One of those is finishing my collection of space pirate stories, Firebrandt’s Legacy. For now, the project is live on Patreon where you can read the first story for free. For just $1.00 per month, you can see each story as they’re edited into their final form for the book. I say “for now” because Patreon recently announced a change to their fee structure and I know many authors and artists who have expressed their concerns about it. I’m also concerned, but have decided to wait and see how it actually impacts me and those who support me before taking action.

That said, we do have some exciting things planned for this project. Actor Eric Schumacher in Tucson is helping me produce a full-cast audiobook edition of the first Firebrandt’s Legacy story, “For a Job Well Done.” I can’t say much about the audiobook yet, but I’m really excited about some of the talent involved. Once this is finished, we’ll move on to the rest of the book and there will be opportunities for you to help and get some great rewards, so stay tuned!

In addition to Firebrandt’s Legacy, I’ll be releasing a new edition of my novel, The Solar Sea, which tells the story of humanity’s first voyage through the solar system in a solar sail spacecraft. I already have a fantastic cover by Laura Givens and will show that off soon as I finalize plans for the re-release.

If all goes according to plan, these projects will be released, or at least in their final stages, by the middle of the year. What about the second half of the year, you ask? Well, I would like to move on to the second book in my Wilderness of the Dead series, and I’m considering reading for another anthology.

I also have several events planned. I’ll be at Arizona’s Wild Wild West Con and the Tucson Festival of Books this March. I’ll be at El Paso Comic Con in April. In May, I plan to do a signing at Boutique du Vampyre in New Orleans.

In the world of astronomy, the DESI spectrograph will be installed at the Mayall 4-meter telescope. This instrument will be used to map the dark energy distribution of the universe. The NEID spectrograph will be installed at the WIYN telescope and that will be used to support NASA’s extrasolar planetary research.

All in all, 2018 promises to be an exciting year. Of course, I hope it’s exciting in good ways. I hope the world at large finds a little more sanity and our leaders seek peace and work for a world that’s better for all, and not just a select few. As a mid-term election year, I hope the people of the United States will hold the leaders accountable for their actions. In short, I hope we leave this planet better at the end of 2018 than we find it at the beginning. All best wishes for the year ahead.

A Look Back at 2017

2017 has proven another tumultuous year in the United States and around the world. Despite all that and despite my concerns for the future, I find that 2017 was another good year from a personal perspective.

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I was pleased to see the release of three new books this year. Technically, my horror novel The Astronomer’s Crypt was released at the end of 2016, but the paperback edition wasn’t released until January of this year, so I’ll go ahead and count it. In addition to the novel, I released two new anthologies, Kepler’s Cowboys co-edited with Steve B. Howell of NASA and Maximum Velocity: The Best of the Full-Throttle Space Tales co-edited with Carol Hightshoe, Dayton Ward, Jennifer Brozek, and Bryan Thomas Schmidt. You can learn more about my novels and my anthologies at http://www.davidleesummers.com/books.html

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I’m also proud to have stories in three outstanding new anthologies. Straight Outta Tombstone edited by David Boop features my story “Fountains of Blood” in which Larissa Seaton and Billy McCarty from my Clockwork Legion novels find the dark truth behind the 1896 Albert Fountain disappearance. Disharmony of the Spheres edited by J Alan Erwine features a brand new Captain Ellison Firebrandt story about his quest for lost treasure with his father. Finally, Extinct? edited by Dana Bell features my story “Jackson’s Hadrosaurs” in which the Battle of New Orleans is re-imagined in a world of dinosaurs. You can find links to these books and other short stories I’ve written at http://www.davidleesummers.com/shorts.html

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I contributed introductions to two books. The first is the wonderful Astropoetry by Christina Sng. I published many of Christina’s poems over the years in Tales of the Talisman magazine and have always marveled at her use of words. As I say in the introduction, “We glimpse a wonder, ponder it for a time, then move on to another. The experience doesn’t diminish with time. Instead, it builds, layer upon layer.” You can find Christina’s fine collection at http://store.albanlake.com/product/astropoetry/

I also edited and wrote the introduction to Legends of the Dragon Cowboys which presents two weird western novellas, one by David B. Riley and the other by Laura Givens. You can learn more about the collection at http://hadrosaur.com/bookstore.html#Dragon-Cowboys

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My novels Owl Dance and Lightning Wolves appeared on Audible.com in editions read by Edward Mittelstedt. The timing of these audio releases proved quite fortuitous, because they allowed me to revisit the earliest chapters of the series while plotting out the fourth novel. My editor and I have just finished our work on that novel and I hope to have more news about its release soon. You can explore the entire Clockwork Legion series at http://www.davidleesummers.com/books.html#clockwork_legion

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Perhaps the accomplishment I feel most proud of is the production of the short film and trailer based on my novel The Astronomer’s Crypt. Of course, many writers dream of seeing their creations come to life on the screen and I’m no exception. What’s more, this exercise expanded my horizons as I explored screenplay writing and I learned a lot about the movie making process from the wonderful professionals I worked with. Watch the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIcXPxmnVmQ

As we reach the end of 2017, I find I have a lot to be thankful for. Not only for the projects I’ve just mentioned, but my daughters have had good academic success this year and my wife was able to get knee surgery that has improved her mobility considerably. My work at Kitt Peak National Observatory continues to be fulfilling and I’m proud of the work I’ve done helping scientists obtain the data they need to further their understanding of the universe.

Of course, this all begs the question, where do I go from here? I’ll take a look at things to come in Monday’s post.

Smashwords End of Year Sale

The e-book retailer Smashwords has started an End of Year Sale, which runs from today through January 1. Did you get a new ereader fo the holidays? Are you looking for a fun way to spend some time during the dark nights of winter? Why not pick up some great books from Hadrosaur Productions. Five of Hadrosaur’s titles are available for 50% off their retail price as part of this global event. All you have to do is enter the code SEY50 at checkout. Smashwords presents their ebooks in a variety of formats including mobi (which work on Kindles), epub (which work on Nooks), and PDF (which work on just about anything).

A Kepler’s Dozen

[image error] A Kepler’s Dozen presents thirteen action-packed, mysterious, and humorous stories all based on real planets discovered by the NASA Kepler mission. I edited this anthology along with Steve B. Howell, project scientist for the Kepler mission. Whether on a prison colony, in a fast escape from the authorities, or encircling a binary star, these exoplanet stories will amuse, frighten, and intrigue you while you share fantasy adventures among Kepler’s real-life planets.

Get the book at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/325583

Kepler’s Cowboys

[image error] NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has discovered thousands of new planets.

Visiting, much less settling, those worlds will provide innumerable challenges.

The men and women who make the journey will be those who don’t fear the odds.

They’ll be Kepler’s Cowboys.

Saddle up and take an unforgettable journey to distant star systems. Meet new life forms—some willing to be your friend and others who will see you as the invader. Fight for justice in a lawless frontier. Go on a quest for a few dollars more. David Lee Summers, author of the popular Clockwork Legion novels, and Steve B. Howell, head of the Space Sciences and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center, have edited this exciting, fun, and rollicking anthology of fourteen stories and five poems by such authors as Patrick Thomas, Jaleta Clegg, Anthony R. Cardno, L.J. Bonham, and many more!

Get the book at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/698694

Revolution of Air and Rust

[image error] This is my tale of Pancho Villa in an alternate Steampunk reality. Set in 1915, Teddy Roosevelt is building an empire. Pancho Villa is the only man who stands in his way!

The American Expeditionary Force under the command of General “Black Jack” Pershing has invaded Northern Mexico. Pancho Villa leads his revolutionary army in a desperate raid against the American force only to be outflanked. Just as Pershing’s airships prepare to deliver the death blow, Pancho Villa is transported to a parallel Earth where he finds an unexpected ally and the technology that might just turn defeat into victory.

Revolution of Air and Rust is a stand-alone novella set in the Empires of Steam and Rust world created by Robert E. Vardeman and Stephen D. Sullivan. A story filled with military action, espionage and gadgetry that’s sure to satisfy fans of steampunk and alternate history.

Get the book at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/254622

Sugar Time

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Her name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her “Sweetie.”

When Sugar’s Uncle Max falls ill and his collaborators disappear, she investigates the old Victorian mansion where he conducted his research. She soon finds the collaborators—or what’s left of them—along with an angry Neanderthal. She also finds her uncle’s research project, a working time machine. Sugar must act quickly to unlock the secret of time travel so she can set things right and protect her uncle’s research.

Sugar Time collects all four of Joy V. Smith’s Sugar Sweet stories into one volume. I had tremendous fun editing this volume. If you enjoy a good time travel romp, this might just be the book to put at the top of your summer reading list.

Get the book at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992

Legends of the Dragon Cowboys

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Legends of the Dragon Cowboys brings you two weird western adventures by authors David B. Riley and Laura Givens. Their heroes ride boldly out of the Far East to find their way in a mythic land of danger, romance, and adventure.

In “The Venerable Travels of Ling Fung” by David B. Riley, a wandering businessman encounters a Mayan god, crooked enterprises and Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, when all he really wants is to open a gun store. Ling Fung is not any ordinary Chinese entrepreneur–he’s highly skilled in Kung Fu and he can shoot good, too. While his heart is set on business, providence seems to have other plans for him.

Laura Givens brings wily acrobat Chin Song Ping to the Wild West in search of adventure and fortune. He finds little fortune, but plenty of adventure. Chin Song Ping is a scoundrel, a gambler and a trouble magnet. His heart of gold lands him in schemes to outwit would-be gods, cannibal ghosts, insane robots, Voodoo despots and the ultimate evil–bureaucrats. But he is a romantic, and the love of his life is the true treasure he seeks. The odds are always against him but if he survives he will become the Western legend he always was in his own mind.

The Wild West just got a lot wilder!

Get the book at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/751811

Miss Ione D and the Mayan Marvel

Earlier this week, I turned Owl Riders in to my editor. In order to celebrate, I decided to strap on my goggles for a steampunk adventure in the jungles of Guatemala!

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I had this adventure by reading Miss Ione D and the Mayan Marvel, a young adult novella written by Vaughn Treude and Arlys-Allegra Holloway, which I purchased this past summer at Westercon in Phoenix. The novella introduces Miss Ione Dfrdwy. She’s the daughter of the American ambassador to Guatemala and of Welsh descent, hence her unusual surname, No wonder she typically goes by the name Ione D!

Set in the year 1896, the novella tells the story of 19-year-old Ione who travels to the ancient Mayan city of Tikal with a native translator from the embassy named Magdalena Ruiz. While visiting the ruins, she makes an amazing discovery and stumbles upon a terrible conspiracy.

The Mayan region of Central America is the fascinating backdrop for this story. The Maya had one of the most advanced civilizations in pre-Columbian America, which disappeared for reasons we still do not understand. Yet the last Mayan city endured until being conquered by the Spaniards in 1697!

The Victorian society of Ione’s time was fascinated with Meso-American antiquities and spawned a booming business in clever forgeries such as the famed crystal skulls. Miss Ione D and the Mayan Marvel asks the question, what if these ancient people had made technological advances unknown even in modern times?

I particularly enjoyed that this novella featured a bright, young woman under the guidance of a knowledgeable older woman. Their adventure felt believable and the fantastic element of the Mayan artifact was compelling. Readers who’ve enjoyed my Clockwork Legion books would almost certainly enjoy Miss Ione D’s adventures as well. As with the best young adult books, this novella may be enjoyed by readers of all ages, and not just young adults. In fact, I suspect readers of all ages will learn a little something about Guatemala and the Mayans from this story.

I’m certainly going to look for more of Miss Ione D’s adventures. I gather there is a second novella called Professor Ione D and the Epicurean Incident and I look forward to reading it soon.

You can find Miss Ione D and the Mayan Marvel at Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats: https://www.amazon.com/Miss-Ione-Mayan-Marvel-Adventures-ebook/dp/B01G2TBBPU/

Owl Riders Edits

These last days of 2017 find me hard at work polishing Owl Riders, the fourth novel in my Clockwork Legion steampunk series. My editor has given me his notes and my revisions are due this Wednesday, December 20. While I don’t have a final publication date yet, Larry Bonham at Sky Warrior Publishing indicated they were shooting for a spring release.

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In the series, the alien called Legion has unleashed humanity’s potential in the nineteenth century. Now, Legion has gone. The United States Army with its ornithopters has reached a standoff with Apache warriors armed with mighty war machines. Ramon and Fatemeh’s exploits have been immortalized in a novel called Owl Riders. Now Ramon is called away to solve the dispute and Fatemeh’s one-time betrothed arrives on the scene. I hope you’re looking forward to this fourth installment in the series!

Because of staffing changes at Sky Warrior, I’m working with a new editor. This is always something of a nervous thing, especially given that I’m an introvert who doesn’t find it easy to open up to new people. I’m showing something I’ve worked on for much of the past year to a complete stranger and hoping they “get it.” Of course, I hope that’s true with any reader who buys one of my books, but I’m trusting the editor to help me find ways to make my narrative clearer and more palatable to readers.

In this case, my new editor has made very few suggestions about actual scenes. Instead, he’s suggested a rearrangement of scenes to provide a more clear narrative flow. He also suggested reducing the number of point of view characters. On one hand, I feel like having a small number of limited third-person points of view is largely genre fashion right now. However, I do have to admit that applying this advice has helped me tighten several of the story arcs without having to do much rewriting.

Will there be more novels in the series after Owl Riders. The most honest answer I can give is “I hope so, but it depends.” Owl Riders was written such that I endeavored to wrap up as many dangling plot threads as possible from the first three books. Also, I built a trilogy where an alien being significantly altered the flow of history. I wanted to explore what happened after this alien influence had moved on. In that sense, this book serves as a conclusion to the series. That said, I’ve attempted to set the world up such that I could continue to tell stories with these characters in new situations. One could see it as the first book of a new story arc, or possibly a transition from the old story arc to a new one. In fact, my story “Fountains of Blood” in the anthology Straight Outta Tombstone is set about ten years after the events of Owl Riders, so new stories can definitely be told.

In the end, a lot will depend on how well all the books continue to sell. That will determine my publisher’s interest in acquiring more books in the series. If you’re already a fan of the series, please spread the word. If you’ve dropped by this post and I’ve piqued your curiosity about the books, you can explore more at the links below. You can read the first chapter of each book as well as find links to your favorite retailers.

Owl Dance

Lightning Wolves

The Brazen Shark

Mannheim Steamroller

Back on December 5, my wife and I had the opportunity to see Mannheim Steamroller in concert at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. This was a special treat for me since I’ve been a big fan of this group of musicians since I first heard them way back in 1974. It was also a special treat because my youngest daughter was part of the choir selected to greet concert goers on their way into the show.

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Now, I should note that I didn’t originally discover the Mannheim Steamroller musicians AS Mannheim Steamroller. Like many people I first heard them playing as the backup band for a country artist named C.W. McCall, whose hits at the time included such songs as “Convoy” and “Wolf Creek Pass.” C.W. McCall, in turn, was the nom de guerre of ad man Bill Fries. I’m still a fan of C.W. McCall, and in fact the space pirate story I posted this week at my Patreon site is inspired by “Convoy.”

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I learned about Mannheim Steamroller as a separate entity from C.W. McCall when I went to college in 1984. My dorm’s RA was a fan of both groups and introduced me to their four albums at that point, the original Fresh Aire albums. A Mannheim Steamroller Christmas came out that very year and really defined the band for many people. For me, Mannheim Steamroller’s instrumental mix of renaissance, classical, jazz, and modern instruments was great music to study by and it’s still among my favorite music to write to. They currently seem to refer to themselves as a neo-classical group and the classification fits pretty well.

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One of the first things I noticed when I got the program was that there are two touring groups for Mannheim Steamroller, nicknamed the Red and Green groups. This seemed quite fitting for a concert in New Mexico. The group that played for us was the “Green” Tour group. Most of their names were unfamiliar and when they came out, I realized that many of the people on stage were too young to have been playing since 1974. I came to realize that Mannheim Steamroller is now more like a classical ensemble with players who change out with time and less like a rock or a country band where you see a set of specific personalities.

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The one personality who seems indelibly connected with Mannheim Steamroller is composer and one-time drummer Chip Davis. I gather he no longer tours with the group, but they showed videos during the concert where Davis spoke. They were interesting from a marketing standpoint. In one of the videos, Davis spoke about the band’s history and success, including clips from various television shows. Another was a direct appeal to visit the merchandise booth. The videos combined with the band’s performance brought to mind some great points about artists marketing themselves.

First and foremost, create something your passionate about.
Collaborate with experts in the craft to make your art shine.
Tout your successes.
Remind people to support your art through purchases.

Point one, should be pretty obvious. For a writer, point two can be as simple as working with a good editor or a good cover artist to breathe life into your work. It can also take other forms like working with a narrator on an audio book, or a team on a short film. Numbers three and four require some balance. To be honest, I was almost turned off by the video of the successes, but I came back around because the group in concert showed me what wonderful music they perform. That’s why the order of the list is actually important. You have to do as well as you can with steps one and two before you move on to steps three and four. What’s more, you need to remember that the art itself takes precedence.