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Title & Cover Reveal + Release Date for ANR Book 2

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Title & Cover Reveal + Release Date for ANR Book 2

Asterion Noir is due for another book, don’t you think? I think so. OF A DARKER VOID (Asterion Noir Book 2) will be released in ebook and paperback DECEMBER 3RD! [See the cover and description here]

More space. More cyberpunk. More Nika. More NOIR, hacking, aliens and explosions. More secrets and revelations. They will all be coming your way in a few short weeks.

I’ll be sharing further details, including retailers and spoiler-free teaser quotes, soon. Audiobook listeners, never fear - Pyper Down plans to start recording as soon as the final manuscript is ready, so expect the audiobook in very early 2019 :). OF A DARKER VOID already has a Goodreads page, so you can add it to your “Want To Read” shelf today.

For those of you who are still working your way through Aurora Rhapsody: first, fantastic! Second, you don’t need to finish Aurora Rhapsody to hop over to Asterion Noir, though there are some minor links between it and the final trilogy, Aurora Resonant. For an overview of Asterion Noir and how it relates to Aurora Rhapsody, check out this blog post: Introducing Asterion Noir. You can pick up Asterion Noir Book 1, EXIN EX MACHINA, in ebook or paperback at all major online retailers worldwide and in audiobook on Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

Thank you all for your patience and your support, as always.

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Choose the Name of Nika’s Ship

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Choose the Name of Nika’s Ship

[UPDATE]: The poll is now closed, and the winner was Wayfarer! While Wayfarer had a small lead from the very beginning and never relinquished it, all the choices were popular! Perhaps I need some more ships....

If you’ve read Exin Ex Machina, you know that near the end of the book, Nika gets herself a lovely starship. If you’ve read Aurora Rhapsody, you know that in my books, ships tend to take on a personality (and sometimes a life) of their own. Ships are characters in their own right, and they deserve proper, meaningful names.

So here’s your chance to contribute to Asterion Noir in a cool way. [SPOILERS for Exin Ex Machina follow!]

As you’d expect, Nika and Dashiel will be spending some time on the new ship in Book 2. Like I did, they’ll decide it needs a name - and what they choose is up to you. All the options have personal meaning for Nika, so we’ve got that prerequisite covered. Your options are:

  • KIR (Nika's Artificial during the SAI Rebellion that became part of her core psyche)

  • Nova (NOir Vertsatile Adjunct /a star that suddenly becomes thousands of times brighter)

  • Riven (to be torn or split asunder)

  • Wayfarer (traveler, or one on a journey)

Vote HERE!

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As promised, a dark Asterion Noir shirt style (t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, sweatshirts, etc.) is now available in the Zazzle store. Check it out and lots more Aurora Rhapsody and Asterion Noir gear here.

Next time: Cover and title reveal for Book 2! And a release date? Stay tuned….

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Exin Ex Machina Now Available Everywhere

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Exin Ex Machina Now Available Everywhere

Readers of iBooks, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and everything that isn't a Kindle - the wait is over. Exin Ex Machina (Asterion Noir Book 1) is now available on all major ebook platforms, worldwide: links here. And of course you can also get it in audiobook on Audible, Amazon and iTunes, and in paperback  at online retailers worldwide.

Did you tune out all the Exin Ex Machina chatter once you learned you couldn't read it yet? Now suddenly curious what the fuss is about? I hope so. I'll let readers fill you in:

“A game of rebels, politicians, cops, criminals and black markets - a big twisty web of motivations and intrigue.”

“Techno space opera with romance and lasers - what more could you want?”

“Puts a whole new spin on the ‘noir’ concept - even the combat has a rebellious-outlaw flare to it.”

“Great characters, cool-ass tech, wonderful plot-lines that keep the reader wanting more, and twists and turns that you don't quite expect.”

Read about the background of Asterion Noir and how it relates to Aurora Rhapsody in my blog post, “Introducing Asterion Noir.” And for everyone who's all caught up and waiting for more, know that Asterion Noir Book 2 is now quite far along - expect a cover and title reveal and release date announcement next month!

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Beyond the Stars: Unimagined Realms - With a New AR Short Story

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Beyond the Stars: Unimagined Realms - With a New AR Short Story

Who misses Alex and Caleb? It's okay, you don't have to raise your hands - I can guess the answer. Well, today I have a treat for you. A small, bite-sized short story treat, but a treat nonetheless.

Available today and for only $0.99 is the latest volume of the bestselling Beyond the Stars anthology, titled UNIMAGINED REALMS. It includes "Fractals," a brand-new short story set in the Aurora Rhapsody universe, but outside the primary timeline of the series. The official teaser reads like this:

"A mysterious signal coming from deep space attracts the attention of humanity’s scientists and the soldiers who protect them—the kind of attention the originators of the signal will do anything to avoid. When the two converge, first contact doesn’t go the way either side planned."

A mysterious signal coming from deep space? If that sounds familiar, you're not wrong. But here's the real hook for Aurora Rhapsody veterans: What if the 1st Crux War had never happened? How would that have changed the trajectories of Alex and Caleb's lives in the years leading up to the events of Aurora Rhapsody? Who or what could change history in this way, and why?

In Fractals, see Alex and Caleb in action again, but not exactly as you remember them - yet in some ways, exactly as you remember them ;). Is the story Aurora Rhapsody canon? For now, I'll just say this: I'm reminded of a quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

I should probably mention that Unimagined Realms also includes 11 imaginative stories by top-notch indie sci-fi writers David Bruns, T.R. Cameron, Marion Deeds, Patrice Fitzgerald, Joseph Robert Lewis, J.E. Mac, Craig Martelle, Sean Monaghan, Chelsea Pagan, R.A. Rock and Mark Sarney. And I should definitely mention that the $0.99 release price will only last through August 31st, so grab it from any of these retailers for pennies today, while you still can: [read more]

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Epic Rhapsody Sale, Blogging & ANR Updates

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Epic Rhapsody Sale, Blogging & ANR Updates

An advantage of having a completed series is that I can (1) wrap it all up in a couple of collections and (2) put those collections on sale to woo new readers and convince them to dive in, big time :).

From now through Monday readers can pick up the entire Aurora Rhapsody saga for under $12 (or foreign currency equivalent, because this is a worldwide sale). The ebooks are available and on sale at all major retailers - Amazon, iTunes, Nook, Kobo, Google Play - and many smaller ones. Tell your friends!

What else is going on?

I have a new blog post today: Cross-Country Journeys, Chicken Scratch & Bossy Characters. Give it a read to find out how a notebook buried in a stack of other notebooks led to a stroll down a nostalgia lane named Aurora Rhapsody, and the things that almost were.

The Exin Ex Machina (Asterion Noir Book 1) ebook will leave Kindle Unlimited and be available on all major retailers in very early September - so not long now. You'll hear from me again when it's up everywhere!

  • Have you read Exin Ex Machina? Sharing your thoughts in a review - even just a sentence or two - is a great way to boost the book's visibility, bring in new readers and increase its success. Much appreciated :). Amazon / Goodreads

The first draft of Asterion Noir Book 2 is done, and I'm well into draft #2 - which basically means it's still on track for a release late this year. Title and cover reveals are coming...soonish.

The Zazzle store has gotten a much-needed revamp: all the previous designs have been updated from "Aurora Rising" to "Aurora Rhapsody," and I've added a selection of Asterion Noir gear and t-shirts.

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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.