Personal

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Time Flies When You’re Saving the Universe

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Time Flies When You’re Saving the Universe

Ten years ago today, I hit the ‘publish’ button on Starshine and unleashed Alex upon an unsuspecting public. At the time, I had no idea the impact this one act was going to have - on my life, on hers, on the multiverses of Amaranthe. But in the years that followed, a story about a starship pilot with dark red hair that came to me in the shower one morning (you’ve all heard that story by now) became so, so much more. Over the course of 2,227,818 words, 20 novels and 10 short stories, it has transformed into an epic tale of humanity (and our allies) putting aside our squabbles to rise above our deepest fears and come together to do what we must to survive, then thrive.

Amaranthe is, above all, an optimistic vision that dares to believe humanity will prove to be both stronger and better than we believe ourselves to be - and that’s the story I was driven to tell when I started typing on a keyboard ten years plus nine months ago….

It was the summer of 2013, I had no idea my life was soon to change.

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Audiobooks on Spotify, a Dragon Con Postmortem, & More Free Books

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Audiobooks on Spotify, a Dragon Con Postmortem, & More Free Books

September has been a doozy! I have tons of news to share.

Did you hear that Spotify now offers audiobooks? They aren't part of your subscription - you need to purchase them a la carte - but they are CHEAP. In particular, I direct you to the Collection audiobooks, which at these prices are just an incredible deal (on average, $12.50 for 30-45 hours of audio).

Since this is a brand-new feature, Spotify's implementation is still pretty basic. For now, just search for "G. S. Jennsen" in audiobooks - or follow this link right here!

I thought I’d share a brief Dragon Con post-mortem report with you, including pictures! In short, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my live. I banished the inner introvert for a week and met so many incredible people - authors, artists and most of all readers. The panels were full of fascinating discussions and amazing co-panelists, and the Bard’s Tower was a joy to spend many, many, many hours at. A heartfelt thank you to everyone there for making me feel welcome.

See many more pictures, with commentary in the gallery here.

Quick DUALITY update, because I know you’re curious. I have blown clear through that 120K word-count goal; you probably all knew I would. I am now deep into heavy editing, which means I’m eating, sleeping and breathing this book. And wow, it is so incredible, I am without words to describe it (all the words are in the book). I seriously can’t wait to share it with you all. Still a bit of work to do first, though! Have you pre-ordered it yet?

Finally, I’ve got a fresh collection of over 75 terrific indie sci-fi and fantasy books for you today - all of them at the low, low price of FREE. Grab whatever catches your fancy today.

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Dragon Con Schedule, New Collection Covers, & a Bundle of Free SFF

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Dragon Con Schedule, New Collection Covers, & a Bundle of Free SFF

Dragon Con is next week, and I will be there! It runs Sept. 1-5 in Atlanta, and is one of the world’s largest celebrations of all thing sci-fi and fantasy: movies and TV, comics, of course books, and so much more. Get your tickets here. If you're going to be there, come see me whenever I'm at the Bard's Tower. You don't need to buy a paperback, promise - just stop by, say hello, and we'll take a pic together if you like. (Read the full post to see my schedule.)

Now, what is this madness? It's a comprehensive re-branding of the omnibus collections, that's what it is. One theme, one epic story, one beautiful set.

Important: the content has not changed - just the titles and covers. So if you've already got your "Complete Collections," you're good.

No, Volume VI isn't out yet - as per usual, it will come out 2-3 months after Duality does, and will include All Our Tomorrows, Chaotica & Duality (maybe some bonus material?). BUT, you can pre-order it today: https://www.gsjennsen.com/amaranthe-vi-verge.

Also no, the fact that the wheel is complete with VI does not mean that the story of Amaranthe ends there. But I am going to need a new wheel....

If you already own the Collections and you bought them from Amazon, you can get the new covers by removing the download on your Kindle then downloading the book again. (Note: don't "permanently delete" - just remove the download then re-download.)

Finally, I leave you with an epic giveaway of FREE sci-fi and fantasy ebooks.

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ALL OUR TOMORROWS Update, Plus An Epic Signed Book Sale

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ALL OUR TOMORROWS Update, Plus An Epic Signed Book Sale

I’ve got some big personal news to share (stick around, as it affects you, too). I’m moving to Akeso!

…Pardon me, I mean Montana, which is basically the same thing. I’m so excited to begin this next adventure, but why do you care? Well, two reasons. First, this means that ALL OUR TOMORROWS is going to be slightly delayed. Hopefully only by a few weeks, but I just threw my life into utter chaos, so we’ll have to see (if I have to guess today, I predict it will be released in early October). I love this book so much, and I absolutely can’t wait to get it in your hands - I just have to do this one little (by which I mean big) thing first.

Second reason? I am kicking off a Mega Clearance Moving Sale on signed books! Save me from having to box up and move all these books - I’m begging you. All paperbacks are marked down to ** 50% off ** (each one personally inscribed by me). Also, I’ve acquired some new shipping boxes, such that for most U.S. orders, shipping is also 50% reduced. What does that mean in real terms? Most paperbacks are now all of $7, plus a mere $4 U.S. shipping per book.

The sale will last until I run out of stock or I have to box up what’s left and head north in about 2-3 weeks, whichever happens first. Stock levels for some books are already low (in particular Starshine with the new cover, Inversion and Echo Rift), so get your orders in early! And THANK YOU.

GO TO THE SALE

I appreciate your patience and your support. The new view from my writing desk is going to be a-mazing, and you know what that means. ;)

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The Good, the Bad, the Ugly--and the New Shiny!

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The Good, the Bad, the Ugly--and the New Shiny!

Social media. Is it bringing the world together, or tearing us apart? I can’t say, and this post definitely isn’t about trying to figure out the answer; you can decide for yourselves.

The reasons why some of you may be considering leaving Facebook or Twitter (or have already done so) would take the rest of this post to list, so I’ll spare you. Google+ is dead come the end of April. Tumblr is in the middle of a cringe-worthy identity crisis that may well kill it. Instagram was comparatively unscathed by 2018, but it’s always one bad redesign away from disaster.

The point is, social media platforms come and go (raise your hand if you had a MySpace page). They change their design and their rules and inevitably rise and fall. As omnipresent as Facebook feels today, it’s transient like all the rest.

So, what to do? I plan to continue being present and active on the most popular sites of the day, whatever those are, so don’t worry - I’m not going anywhere. But if you are, it shouldn’t mean we have to stop sharing our enthusiasm about space and tech and sci-fi with each other. This is why I’m creating a place where I will always be sharing my enthusiasm about those topics - a place I will always control, and where you are always welcome.

I give you SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES: Breaking News & Random Musings On Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & The View From A Writer’s Window. At SMBH, I’ll be cross-posting all my Facebook posts, as well as notable posts of mine from Twitter, Instagram and other platforms. At SMBH, you can not just comment but join and follow the conversation, without worrying about Mark Zuckerberg mining your data for an army of ad bots or Twitter shadow-banning you. It’ll be fun!

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Cross-Country Journeys, Chicken Scratch & Bossy Characters

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Cross-Country Journeys, Chicken Scratch & Bossy Characters

The other day I was cleaning out my notebook collection (which is shockingly extensive, considering I use a PC/tablet/phone for nearly everything). In checking the contents of each notebook before sorting it into the “keep” or “toss” pile, I was surprised to discover pages and pages of handwritten notes in one innocuous looking little notebook. It took me a moment to realize that this was the notebook I took on our cross-country drive from Colorado to Georgia in 2014 for Thanksgiving.*

The drive where Aurora Renegades and Aurora Resonant came to life.

November 2014 places this drive two months after Vertigo was released, which means I was heavy into writing Transcendence. I’d had the broad brush-strokes of the full 9-book saga in place from the very beginning (yes, including the ending!), but up until this point I’d forced myself to focus on Aurora Rising—because if Rising wasn’t a success, there would likely be no 2nd and 3rd trilogies. But by November, Starshine had taken off and Vertigo was doing very well; I was collecting an enthusiastic fan base, and I had started to accept the notion that this writing gig was something I could do. As in, forever.

So it was time to get serious about the rest of the story.