Widgets and Gadgets

As I am learning all of the time, I decided to see what different widgets and gadgets may be useful for this blog. This particular one allows direct links to Amazon via their associates program. Not sure whether I will use it, but useful to see how it works.

On seeing the Buy Now box, please don't panic...this novel is still FREE to download on Amazon.com.

Sudden Dearth Book IV Chapter Four Part II will be following soon.

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

So, decisions made, first reviews in the works and there's no turning back now. What will become obvious is that the first reviews are of perhaps less well known and/or more independent authors. They are authors I have found or who asked to be part of my Kindle Trip.

I had a large selection of works to choose from and I will begin with those that I enjoyed as a sample, before the full novel version. This is a good way of looking at and "tasting" novels, wetting the toe so to speak. My view was that if they hooked me as samples, then it boded well for a more complete version.

As I said previously they are a mix of SF and Horror and I will be posting the reviews on my separate blog. The first four are:

Something Evil by Cal Noble
The Ultimate Choice by Lisa Hinsley
Elysium Burning by DDD Bryeton
Invasion by William Miekle.

Keep an eye out for my posts...

Reviews

A while ago on the Amazon Kindle forum, I asked people to pitch me in order to get onto my Kindle for a business trip I was taking. The rule was that people asked, I downloaded a sample and those I liked went on the trip with me (well their books anyway...). I tended to stick with SF and Horror, although no-one got turned away.

Having worked through the list, chosen my companions and completing the trip, I was left with a fair few review notes. Another promise I made was to post my thoughts somewhere. Having done that it came to me that I should have a seperate Blog to this one, in which I could give my opinion, do reviews and genrally cover things not specifically within the Urionverse. So that is what I will do.

I'm working on the page now and hope to kick it off this week. First reviews will be my notes from that trip, and I'll post the list of those books shortly. Having linked this blog to Goodreads, the reviews will be available there too.

Watch this space...

The Gift - Author's Note

This collection of short stories is made up of a strange mixture. The Urionverse has become fixed within my mind over the last few years, with the original outline drawn within my novel Urion’s Belt. This novel, strangely enough, has yet to be published, but it does lay down a flagpole in terms of the general timeline of other stories. My Sudden Dearth series is set four to five hundred years before the events in Urion’s Belt, and its task is to explain how Urion’s Belt came into being.
The Wildwose, A Knight’s Charge and A Cold Dish are placed on the timeline before Sudden Dearth and are intended to describe a little of the worlds and cultures formed within the burgeoning sphere of the Protectorate. Euthan Palace is set three hundred years after Urion’s Belt and describes a more technologically developed Urionverse. At the other end of the scale sits SALIGIA, a novella made up of seven short stories and a common theme. Its purpose is to describe the pantheon of Tauran demons and the reason for their interaction with humanity.

So, finally we reach this collection which is made up of four separate stories, each set in a different time zone on this convoluted story path. The Dark Wheel fits closely with the timeline of Urion’s Belt, with the Protectorate well-established and confident, willing to use every means possible to maintain its power. Four Minutes, and its three following and interlinked companions, take place on or around the time of The Wildwose and introduce a memorable character who takes part in the Sudden Dearth Series. Superbia and Luxuria are two of those seven deadly short stories which make up the whole that is SALIGIA.

I hope that this provides a little bit of background and, particularly for those who have already dabbled in some of my work, context.

El Juego - SDIV Chapter Four Pt1

Chapter Four

Private Yacht
Princess Marie
Fold Space

The vagaries of Fold Space affected everyone differently. There were some who spoke of psychedelic nightmares, yet to Alana it had always been a gut-wrenching entry, weeks of boredom and an even worse exit. Not this time. From the exact second of entry she had suffered; vomiting until there was nothing left to project, blood dripping from nose and ears and the awful wailing sound which threatened to collapse her skull. Something had changed and she could only think that it had been Viker.

Their pilot was unconscious and so the craft continued on its unknown course, with no indication of the duration of their torture. Alana just wanted it to stop. Her last conscious thought was of the pain increasing, heightening her agony and then darkness claimed her.

*

Space shimmered and the Princess Marie re-entered reality smoothly. Those within her protective steel shell whimpered and cried, vomited and bled, and some even died with the strain of their passage. Faint tendrils of light clung for a brief instant before dissipating into the surrounding blackness. This was the last touch of their erstwhile Lord, whose pique had turned him into a murderer. Momentum continued her flight as she left Fold Space, yet it was the only velocity she had. Her engines lay idle and the craft drifted until gravity caught her and pulled her relentlessly in.

Game Control
Flagship
Unknown Location

“Scan them.”

There was a grunt of acceptance and the console whirred.

“Small yacht. General rabble...although we do have armoured personnel.”

“Elite troops?”

“The scan shows a pleasing level of technology...and something else,” the silver-haired man slapped his hand against the screen, causing the readout to shiver and then clear.

“Nope. It’s gone now.”

His companion laughed, “Segregate the soldiers and place the others in Zone Two. If nothing else, they will make a useful food source.”

In response to the hammering of fingers on the keyboard, the Flagship’s main hold opened releasing a bulky craft which moved purposefully towards the yacht. On board the private vessel, Alana still slept oblivious of her impending danger.

Kindle Download Experience

As promised, here is a resume of my experience of being free on Kindle over the last month. A Guiding Light (SDII) was picked up by Amazon as being free on Smashwords/Apple/B&N and hence the price was adjusted on Amazon, in both the US and UK. Around 200 other books were adjusted at the same time and we had a mass download frenzy. Since that date, people have continued to visit and download AGL at a steady rate.

True to form, Amazon put the price back up with no warning, first in the UK and then in the US this morning. It will be interesting to see what the download pattern changes to.

What I do know is that 4000+ copies were downloaded, some liking AGL enough to then purchase the other two books in the series. Traffic to this blog and my Facebook page increased, which bodes well for later in the year when El Juego (SDIV) is published.

Curiously enough, Amazon did not discount The Wildwose which is also FREE at SW/Apple/Sony/B&N. AGL continues to be FREE at these other sites and Kindle lovers can download AGL FREE at Smashwords in the right format for their machines. This will not change and I'll be publicising this elsewhere. Maybe whoever told Amazon about AGL, will also tell them about The Wildwose???

Watch this space...

Kindle Update

Just a quick blognote to say that all of my completed books, novellas and short stories are now available on Kindle in both the US and the UK. Also in Germany, but as they have yet to be translated into German I don't think we'll see much traffic from there.

The big Kindle Freebie resulted in 4000+ downloads, from which I would expect to get some feedback as people get round to reading and enjoying their Kindle contents.

Thanks to Diggory Steele-Perkins and Manolo Guerrero for their brilliant Cover Art.

El Juego is real close to completion and I will make sure there is an update on status and full publication date.

Thanks again for your support. Cheers...