April 23, 2013

Zack Jackson Book 2

Zack Jackson 2 bluesteel

We working on the final read-through of Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy. The cover art is underway and looking great. I estimate that it should go up for sale on Amazon for Kindle and in print no later than the middle of May. In the meantime, I can offer you a few pieces of art I’m going to feature in the novel.

Hermes Final

Venus Express’s Hermes interplanetary transport

Cytherea Final

Cytherea floats 50 km above the Venusian surface

If you’re going to Gen Con, I will have a table on Author’s Avenue where I will be selling (and signing) copies of my books. There is a good chance I’ll have a limited-printing, convention-exclusive hardcover compilation of The Foundation of Drak-Anor, as well. Stop by and say “Hi!”

Posted by on April 23, 2013 in Zack Jackson.

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March 7, 2013

Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy & other news

Zack Jackson 2 bluesteel

The second Zack Jackson novel is ready to go to my paid editor! The Alpha read and first pass edit are finished and I’ve contacted an artist for cover art. I’ve sent the manuscript to my editor and now the ball is in her court. Once I get the manuscript back from her, I’ll be looking for Beta Readers to give me feedback on the story.

Posted by on March 7, 2013 in Zack Jackson.

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February 20, 2013

Kindle Exclusivity

The period of Kindle exclusivity on Wings of Twilight and Iron Fist of the Oroqs ends on Saturday. Beginning Sunday (or Monday, depending on how long it takes the files to process through the system), you’ll be able to purchase both novels in The Foundation of Drak-Anor series on Smashwords, DriveThruFiction, and possibly Kobo Writing Life. I’m still looking into ways to get my novels into the iBookstore without buying an Apple PC.

On Sunday, March 3rd, Kindle exclusivity ends for Zack Jackson & The Cult of Athos and you’ll be able to find that novel in the aforementioned stores.

As always, print versions are available through Amazon & CreateSpace.

I will be attending Gen Con this year with a table on Author’s Avenue. I’ll be there to sell and sign books when ever the Dealer Hall is open (with a few hour-long exceptions). If you plan to attend, stop by and say “Hi!” There’s a possibility that I might have a con-exclusive hardcover edition compilation of The Foundation of Drak-Anor available for sale there, too, depending on how the pricing shakes out. More news on that later.

Posted by on February 20, 2013 in Iron Fist of the Oroqs, Publishing, Wings of Twilight.

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February 10, 2013

Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy

Zack Jackson 2 bluesteel

I have finally finished the first draft of book 2 in the Zack Jackson series: Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy. Now it’s off to my wife for first-round proofing, alpha reading, and a preliminary edit. I hope to be able to send it off to a paid editor by the end of March.

The Zack Jackson series is a Middle-Grade/Young Adult sci-fi series (science-based fiction) taking place in the 43rd century. It follows book 1, Zack Jackson & The Cult of Athos.

 

Posted by on February 10, 2013 in Zack Jackson and tagged , , , .

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January 22, 2013

Zack Jackson Promotion

Sci-fi has a long history of celebrating diversity, so in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. day*, today and tomorrow you can download the Kindle version of Zack Jackson & The Cult of Athos absolutely free! Just click the link and it will take you right to the Amazon page for the Kindle version. If you prefer print, you can buy it at Amazon or at CreateSpace.

Zack Jackson Redearthtone

* Yeah, I know MLK day was yesterday. Kindle Direct Publishing has a little monthly calendar on which you can set up your promotions and I did not notice it is set up as a Monday – Sunday calendar. Who uses those? I can’t remember the last time I saw one actually being used. All the ones my office uses are Sunday – Monday, ’cause you know, SUNDAY is the first day of the week! So, this promotion was delayed a day. Sorry.

Posted by on January 22, 2013 in Publishing, Zack Jackson and tagged , , .

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January 14, 2013

Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy Update

Zack Jackson 2 bluesteel

The doldrums of December caught up with me and I hit a brick wall with Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy. It was a very busy and stressful month and I just couldn’t get my brain in gear to actually write anything. I might have written 1,000 words all month. Probably not. By the time January rolled around, I was pretty much lost.

So, I did my old trick of outlining the plot to see where the holes were. Now I have a roadmap of where I need to go to complete this first draft. I’ve already written over 6,000 words, so I think I’m back on track. I might have the manuscript finished by the end of next week. Then it’s off to editing (and I can get back to writing fantasy)!

Posted by on January 14, 2013 in Uncategorized and tagged , , .

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January 2, 2013

2012 in Review & Looking Ahead

2012 was quite a year, wasn’t it? Aside from personal life events, I managed to publish Iron Fist of the Oroqs and Zack Jackson & The Cult of Athos, despite being somewhat late on both of them. I’d like to say “this is the year my books really took off,” but I’m satisfied with having given away over 700 books between Wings of Twilight and Iron Fist of the Oroqs during the two Kindle-exclusive promo periods I ran. That’s a lot more people than I know personally, so hopefully, word will start to spread about my novels. I’m just happy people I don’t know are reading my books. I hope they’re enjoying them.

I have several goals for next year:

  • Publish Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy
  • Publish Scars of the Sundering
  • Re-release Wings of Twilight on Smashwords
  • Release Iron Fist of the Oroqs & Zack Jackson & The Cult of Athos on Smashwords
  • Release all my novels through Kobo Writing Life
  • Release all my novels through Drive-Thru Fiction (Wings of Twilight was previously offered there with distribution assistance from Rite Publishing)
  • Write the first draft of Zack Jackson & The Hives of Valtra
  • Get a good start on the first draft of the next World of Calliome novel

You’ll notice I didn’t mention the iBook store for platforms on which I plan to release my books. I would like to, but all of my research thus far indicates that you have to use Apple’s software and it’s only available for Mac OS PCs. Well, I’m using a Windows 7 machine, and I don’t plan to purchase a Mac anytime soon. I think Smashword’s expanded distribution eventually reaches iBooks, so maybe I don’t have to worry about that, but they take a cut of my royalties. I’ll have to look into it further.

2013 is going to be busy. Here’s hoping I can keep to my schedule and get into a rhythm that will let me release two books a year (late spring & late fall)!

Posted by on January 2, 2013 in Writing and tagged , , , , , .

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December 24, 2012

Christmas Giveaway!

As a celebration of the holiday season, combined with a belated 1st Anniversary, for the next five days, I’m giving away the Kindle version of Wings of Twilight ABSOLUTELY FREE! If you haven’t taken the opportunity to buy the debut novel in The Foundation of Drak-Anor duology, now is the time!

Posted by on December 24, 2012 in Wings of Twilight.

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December 13, 2012

The Universe of Zack Jackson

The Zack Jackson universe was inspired by many sources, the least of which are actually Star Wars and Star Trek. When I started watching Through the Wormhole (I love shows like that, though I usually fall asleep because they come at the end of long work days near bed time), I thought about how cool a lot of the concepts were that they discussed and decided I wanted to make my sci-fi universe conform to reality as closely as possible. I made a few concessions to allow for FTL travel, but I’m doing my research to make sure all the environments and technology is as close to reality as possible. For instance, any place there is artificial gravity, it is achieved through means we know are possible today (even if we don’t quite have the technology to achieve it). There are no magical gravity generators. Fabrication units are based on the development of 3D printers, but people still have to cook their food. There’s some telepathy in the second book, but no magic space elves controlling people’s minds; it’s just a form of communication that requires touch and only one species uses it, and they generally don’t use it except amongst themselves because they’re amorphous blobs and it requires them to envelop a human’s head in order to use their telepathy on them.

Plus, it was funny to have them talk through monotone voice translators. I get to use HK-47 AND Elcor references in one character!

I do not plan on having this character recite Hamlet.

Zack Jackson & The Cult of Athos is current available at Amazon.com for Kindle and in print. Look for Zack Jackson & The Cytherean Academy next year!

Zack Jackson Redearthtone

Posted by on December 13, 2012 in Uncategorized.

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December 10, 2012

VFF Publishing Google Community

I created a Google Community page to foster discussions about my books. If you’re a Google+ or gmail user, feel free to drop by sometime and say “Hi!”

Posted by on December 10, 2012 in Publishing.

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