Niven's War Released.

Finally, Niven's War has been released, making it my first book of 2022. It took a little while longer than I had planned. I went through it several times, making sure the manuscript was as polished as I could make it. Also, as I had said in past blog entries, it was my first time delving into military science fiction. I wanted to make sure I did a good job.

At the time of writing this, the campaign has mostly been fulfilled, with only a few copies left to mail out to backers. What makes me even more proud is that I have managed this with two months still to go on the project's clock. I don't want to gloat, but if I can fulfill a crowdfunding campaign, preparing and mailing out all the copies on my own, certain other individuals out there have no excuse.

With that, I continue on with other projects. Once I have finished writing the one I am on now, Niven's War book two will be started, and I can't wait to delve into that again. But, one thing I have found is that I enjoy branching out into other areas of science fiction because I can really let my mind go nuts. I have three other projects planned, different from what I have done before, and the ideas alone excite me. Not to mention, I have really improved my editing, so that has become a much less painful chore to endure.

Finally, I wanted to thank everyone who has been with me on this journey, reading my work, or supporting me in other ways. It will forever be appreciated.

New Year, Good Plans.

This year was a good one for me.

Well, creatively at least.

I shared in the struggles of many these past couple of years, including the loss of a relative to the virus. I chose to keep myself busy instead of watching the continuing misery unfold outside, as it seemed the best course of action. Sadly, I feel it'll be like this for a while, but we will prevail. I'm sure of it.

I wrote three good books in that time. Some of my best work, in my opinion. Even my editor, Tim, has commented that my writing has improved since we first began working together.

The first was the second in my Furman Simms series, Furman Simms vs the Anti-fun. I enjoy writing pulp-length books and this one was a prime example of that. Plenty of mayhem, action, fun characters, and a few nods to other stories I was inspired by growing up. This will be out towards the middle of next year.

Niven's War was my second, and was successfully funded through Indiegogo. It will be fulfilled and released in January, two months before the target date. It was my attempt at a military science fiction novel, and came out great. It is to date, my longest book yet and the first I worked on with a different cover artist, Carla Tornielli. I wanted a manga/anime cover, and she was a perfect choice for it. Since she has now focused on other ventures, I will be working with a different artist for the second book's cover. I have seen the rough draft and it looks great.

The third book I wrote this year is the one I am most proud of. Escape from Crescendo-Station One was a love letter to a genre of movie I cherished growing up, underwater science fiction. It has elements of action and horror, and is without a doubt the book I'm most proud of writing. It will be my second release of the year.

I only released two books this year, Wasteland Vigilante and The Adventures of Furman Simms, because a lot of time was spent improving my craft. My editing process is much better and I can now submit a much more polished draft to my editor. As a result of this, the time to edit will hopefully be reduced and make his job easier. The audiobook of the Harem Nights omnibus is still in production and I have been listening to the chapters. Michael is doing an amazing job for sure.

I want to thank everyone who has been with me on my continuing journey, either by encouraging or reading my work. Your support has meant the world to me and I do not want to ever disappoint you. I hope all of you have a great Christmas and a happy new year.

See you all in 2022.

Audiobook!

 

Alright!

I am so very pleased to write that the audiobook for the Harem Nights Omnibus is officially underway!

I advertised the project on ACX, the website used to create audiobooks, hoping I would catch the eye of a narrator, and continued working on my current project. Sure enough, I got an email informing me someone had submitted an audio audition while I was at work, so I couldn't wait to get home and hear it.

The audition was by a Mr. Michael Beckett, and to be blunt, it blew me away. I listened to the audition a number of times, purely out of sheer enjoyment, before offering him the job. Of course, he accepted and began working on the project. 

Part of the process of recording an audiobook on ACX involves the narrator submitting the first fifteen minutes before continuing, so the writer can approve. Michael submitted it Friday evening (UK time) and I listened to it first thing this morning (Saturday) and was, again, blown away. At the time of writing this, he's now working on the rest of the project.

It's stuff like this that makes being an independent author fun. Hearing another creative's take on your work is something of a thrill, especially when you look forward to hearing what he does with the characters further into the story. And, already, when I'm thinking of future projects, a little part of me is wondering what Michael could do with them.

More updates will follow on this, but for anyone interested, Michael has narrated another book, A Knife in the Dark. You can find it here. I've already added it to my wishlist. Do pick it up, you'll be supporting an independent author and narrator.

My First Omnibus.

 

So, this announcement is a little late, and I apologise for that.

I was going to wait a little longer before releasing this collection so I could pay to advertise it properly, but such is life that other things needed paying for. So, I quietly released the book and made a mental note to announce it via this blog.

You can see how that worked out.

I began writing another book, something of a passion project, while Niven's War is being edited. It is something I've been brewing for a while and wanted to get it out of my head while all the mental images were still fresh. I realised the other day that I had forgotten to write about the release of, you guessed it, my first omnibus.

The Harem Nights trilogy did quite well for me and I wanted to do a collected edition of them for some time. I'd seen many other authors do it with their works, now it was my turn. But, I didn't want to just release them at a discounted price with a new cover, so I have included the short prologue story Final Days, which was previously available as a free download for my email subscribers.

As I said, the omnibus' release was a quiet one. But, upon checking my sales dashboard, I was pleased to see it had sold a handful of copies already, which was nice. Advertising is something I need to work on, but it's awesome to know there are people out there paying attention for new releases. For those people, I offer my sincerest gratitude. Stick around. Hopefully, you'll still be enjoying the ride.

To check out the book, check out the following links:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Niven's War: A Success!

 

Wow.

This was one hell of an end to my week.

Thursday night, I sent a message to a friend, asking if he could advertise the project to any friends of his, as the finish line was just over a day away. He did so, and I went to sleep because it was late and I had to be up for work in the morning. I woke up to a donation from my friend, someone backing the paperback, and a large donation, from someone I didn't know, putting me over the finish line. 

I couldn't believe it.

The pledges flooded in over the course of the day. I celebrated the campaign's success on a podcast with Aria and Dave from the Bargain Bin show, plus Will, whose show I'd been on previously, and the super artist Yan. It was made all the more memorable, or horrific, by the videos Aria made of me to act as intros and outros. I don't ever want to see them again.

So, as of this morning, my editor has the book and is working on it. I'm waiting for Indiegogo to send the cash to me so I can order the packaging and bookmarks. In the meantime, I've almost finished writing my next manuscript this weekend and will start another one as soon as I'm ready.

Tonight, I'm going to celebrate the campaign's success with some beer and ice cream. A massive thanks to all who supported the campaign by either backing or promoting. All of you are awesome.

The book will remain In Demand until fulfillment begins. Find it here until then. Cheers.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/niven-s-war/x/18589009#/

Thank God for the Scrivener App!

One thing I have learned recently is that, when trying to write and finish a novel, life will sometimes get in the way.

With me and my family, life changed recently. My wife had been trying to get back into work after being a stay-at-home-mother for the last eighteen years. She kept getting rejected for jobs she applied for, or just ignored for others. One day, she got a phone call while cooking dinner, from a local store she'd applied for. She went in for the interview, got the job, and has been working for a couple of weeks now. Suddenly, I found my time to write getting cut short. My wife had been manning the fort so I could write and get books out, as per an agreement. She's my biggest fan, but we both knew the day would where she would eventually go back to work.

I started meeting her from work, because I didn't want her walking home alone at night, and doing other chores she usually did, like taking our eldest son for his driving theory test. It meant a lot of waiting around for long periods of time with nothing to do. Since I had a book I was trying to finish,  I started using the Scrivener app on my phone. Now, to be clear, I had owned the mobile app for a while, using it to tweak what I've written on the desktop version when not at home. I'd write little bits on breaks at work also, but nothing major.

I started using it when waiting for my wife to finish, ten minutes before I was about to leave to meet her, and then for longer periods when on a lunch break at my job. I made up for a lot of lost time on my current project, and am much near to finish it as a result. When the weekend comes, I have noticed I write with more of a passion, because I have a bigger appreciation for my writing time. I'm also more appreciative of those free ten or fifteen minutes because I can make good use of them.

I have long been a champion of Scrivener and what it can do for us writers, but even more now. I've also used the app to write character bios, record plot research, and, of course, finish books that little bit more. I know this blog post probably reads like a huge advertisement for the program, and I suppose it is in a way. I have come to appreciate it a lot more because of what it can do for me in those few quiet moments I have.

My wife is happy being back at work, but she still nags me to finish my latest project so she can read it. I do my best to finish these books, because who am I to disappoint? Thanks to the Scrivener app on my phone, I now finish my works that little bit quicker.

Crowdfunding a Book: Niven's War

 

Okay. This was something I didn't think I would do, let alone do right.

A long time ago, I tried crowdfunding a book, but it was a complete failure. I didn't have any kind of an audience and the project fell flat on its ass. I had never thought of doing it again, because, why? I was quite capable of funding my own work and getting it out there. But, after releasing Wasteland Vigilante, a free book on my mailing list, and releasing The Adventures of Furman Simms, I wrote my next book. It was the project that would become Niven's War. It was a new direction for me.

It was my attempt at a military science fiction novel, something I'd often thought about doing in the past. However, I always dismissed the idea because let's face it, military sci-fi books were everywhere. When the idea hit me again, I decided the only way I could tell it was to make the story as uncomplicated as possible. I wanted to focus the story on a group of survivors caught up in the struggle, as opposed to scenes of people pointing to positions on a map and a potentially bloated story.

But, why crowdfund? Two reasons, really.

First, I had run out of money for the editing of any more books. Second, I had established more of an audience and figured it could work. The great thing about crowdfunding is it can gauge an audience's potential interest in a project. At the time of writing this, I have raised sixty-one percent of the target goal. It's going pretty good so far.

I also chose to work with a different artist for my book cover. Don't get me wrong, Peta is awesome and we'll be working together till the cows come home. But, a little variety is a cool thing. I had seen Carla Tornielli's work on the Grim Reaper books (although I missed them at first) and the above SunSworn Visual Companion. The above was also what told me I had to work with her. I loved what she did with the character and the surrounding colours and mentioned it to SunSworn's author, Red Gaze, and how much I wanted to work with her. I didn't realise it, but Carla was tagged in the conversation and saw what I said. One conversation later, and we agreed on terms and she drew me the cover for Niven's War. It was awesome and a real winner as far as I was concerned.

Launching the book was a big event for me. I was a guest on the Bargain Bin Show, where I officially launched the project, but not without a few hiccups. I had a great time and got my first backers from the show's audience, and felt a little better at appearing on camera for interviews. Since that show, I have appeared on The Creators Outlet, Critical Blast, and Monday Madness. I had a great time on all of them. It's really awesome talking about the craft with other creatives and I've no doubt the conversations could go on for hours, given the chance. I'll be on more shows in the future, now I'm not so camera shy, but we'll see how it goes.

I'll be announcing a new launch soon, the first omnibus edition of my work. I've also signed up to be more active on GoodReads so I can engage with readers and build a profile, something I've been meaning to do for a while now. My future is a busy one and I like it.

If you haven't taken a look at the Niven's War Indiegogo, you can find it here. As always, thanks for reading.