Price of War availible for Presale

I have made Price of War availible for presale on Amazon. It will be $.99 for the pre-sale and the first week of release. After that, the price will go up. I am very excited about the release of Price of War. The series has been fun to work on. Hopefully, it has been fun for you to read.

New Cover Art Received - Price of War

Aaron Miller of of Miller Design & Marketing has done it again. He has produced a fantastic cover for the third book in the New Glasgow War series - Price of War.

I think he has done his best work in the series for this one. Very happy.

Counter Strike Release Day

The time has finally come and Counter Strike is availible on Amazon for download. I am really excited about this series and I hope that you will give it a chance. Book three, the Price of War, is slated to be released on December 21st.

Update on New Glasgow War Series

I just finished with the edits from my beta readers. Thank you very much for your input. Counter Strike has been uploaded to Amazon and is ready for publication on November 21st.

Book three is coming right along in time for a December launch. I have just broken the halfway point with it. It was my goal to have it finished by this point of nano but I feel good that I have done what I have so far. If all goes well, i should have the first three books in the New Glasgow War series in a bundle and availible as a Kindle and Paperback edition sometime in January. Or at least that is the plan. We will see.

Starting work on the outline for book 4 of the series. Hopefully I will make some progress on that.

In the meantime, I have been doing some reading myself. Just finished with Jamie McFarlane's A Matter of Honor in his 12 book series A Privateers Tale. It is a great series. Really enjoyed this book. Will have to get the next one this week.

In Need of a Few Good Readers

I am finishing the editing for Counter Strike, Book 2 of the New Glasgow War series. I would like to get some Beta readers for it who would be willing to give me some feedback before my November 21st release date. If you are interested, please let me know from the contact form on the right.

Thank you.

Working on a Title

One of my least favorite activities is working on a title for a book or project.  It never seems to capture what I want. I need a new title for the Third Book in the New Glasgow War series.  I am thinking of going with A Pyrrhic War as the title. Any opinions on that?

Dark Matter

Been caught up in the series Dark Matter lately. The premise gripped me from the beginning of a group of space travelers woken from an extended sleep without their memories. I have nearly finished the second season so far. It has not disappointed. The show is getting better and better.

What sci-fi shows are you currently watching? A friend of mine is raving about the Orville. I may need to check that out next.

Out of the Ashes - Give away

Just floating the idea around of a giveaway for my current book, Out of the Ashes. How many people would be interested in a model of the mech that Major Dietler is in when he gets captured? Just trying to see if there is interest for that. Any thoughts or opinions?

Out of the Ashes - Launch day

OUt of the Ashes is now availible on Amazon. It is currently on sale for $0.99 until October 30th. Then it will go back up to its normal price.

I have two reviews on the book already. Take a look and if you are interested, you can pick up the prequel, Free Fall, for Free by subscribing to my mailing list.

Stop on by and take a look.

Thanks

Thoughts on Stories

Growing up, my favorite stories were the ones that my parents told me about when they were my age and the things they did. My Mother grew up in Germany during the Second World War. My Dad lived in Pensacola during that same time. Two very different experiences. Both left me feeling how blessed I was to grow up in a relatively peaceful time. But it also has left me feeling that my own growing up stories are completely LAME by comparison.

My Dad grew up in the South when segregation was a daily reality. There was far more freedom for children to roam around and do things that would get folks arrested now. His friends had BB Gun wars, rubber band gun wars and made rubber band shooting tanks in order to play out the battles that they read about in newspapers and heard on the radio. They were depression kids. He had kids at his school beg him for apple cores to eat. In college, Dad got a summer job on an oil tanker passing through the Suez Canal in 1948 during Israel's War of Independence. He described troops marching across the bridges heading north while he sat on deck and watched. He had a colorful army career in Germany during the Korean War. All things I that I hung on to every word he said even though these things came out in casual conversation.

After Dad's passing, my Uncle filled in a few gaps that Dad had left out. All tales that left me in awe of the man even more. If you are going to be a character, it great to be an interesting one. Dad fit that bill.

Mom was no slouch when it came to backstory either. She described being a teenager on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall. She crossed multiple times before leading her family across to the west from Dessau. During the war, she lived in a castle with the Duke Von Anhalt. She came to America with a boyfriend who died after she arrived. Yet she stuck it out and made a life for herself, by herself in New York. She survived bombing attacks during the war and the American and later German occupation of her city.

The two met in New York and then moved to Florida. A perfect setting for two wonderful yet crazy individuals. I was blessed to know them let alone have them as parents.

How do you top colorful lives like that? Well, you can't. But the impact of their stories have stuck with me. Elements of them get woven into the stories that I write, sometimes without me realizing it. They passed on to me a love of reading. I love to learn as much as escape with a good book.

Where do your best stories come from? the ones you tell your kids or write or tell the other guys at the bar?

Counter Strike - Book 2 of the New Glasgow War

I just got in some sample cover art. Would love to get some opinions on them. Which do you like better?

Free Fall

Just finished the work on Free Fall. It is now availible to anyone that signs up for my sci-fi mailing list. Free Fall is the prequel to the upcoming series The New Glasgow War. I am set to publish Book 1 of the series on October 24th. I have everything lined up and am ready to mash the publish button on it.

Free Fall answers some of the questions that are opened up in Out of the Ashes. It talks about what Rachel Duncan has lost along the way and why after five years of service, she hadn't been promoted. Anyway, I hope you like it.

Currently Reading List

One of the reasons that keeps me writing is being inspired by other authors. Lately, I have been on a science fiction kick. My current go to series when I want to have a book I can just jump into and enjoy fast paced action is Jamie McFarlane's Privateer's Tales.

He is up to book twelve in the series but I have only just cracked open book nine myself.

The other author I have just discovered, is Chris Fox. I have been avidly reading Chris Fox's non-fiction for a while now. But I never tried his fiction. Why? I was trying to figure out how to be a better author and he seems to know what he is doing. So while reading his book Launch to Market (great book) he referenced his book Destroyer throughout the process. I picked the book up to see what it was about and how he was doing things.

I found a new series that I like. He has several series out and I will probably end up being sucked into those as well. There is nothing better than a good book, except a good series of books.

Anyway, I hope you check these out. They are personal favorites. Let me know if you like them.

New Release Coming Soon

I have finished the editing on the first book in my sci-fi series - Out of the Ashes. I have a new cover for it for the book from the very talented artist - Aaron Miller of Miller Design and Marketing. I really like it.

The series is the New Glasgow War. The basis is that the Federated Union of Planets controls a number of systems in the galaxy. There are core planets that formed the FUP. They are the full members. Secondary systems that were colonized later are associated systems that have fewer rights within the FUP. Several planets have rebelled against the FUP whose military has brutally suppressed them in each case.

The planet of New Glasgow has been fighting the FUP for years. Duncan of the New Glasgow Militia has been in the fight since the beginning. She is fighting against the elite that the FUP has to offer including their Mechs.

New 3d Cover for CSS Appomattox

While I am waiting on a cover for my Sci-Fi Story, "Out of the Ashes: A Story of the New Glasgow War", I ran a promotion with someone on Fiverr. They gave me a 3d cover for CSS Appomattox. I really like it. Let me know what you think.

While I am at it, if you are interested in being a beta reader for Out of the Ashes or any of the series, please reach out to me. I'd be happy to get some feedback.

Sci Fi Series - First Book is Draft Complete

I just finished out the first of my Sci Fi series - The New Glasgow War. The first book is titled "Out of the Ashes". I am just starting editing on it now. I hope to have it ready for beta readers by next month.

The second book in this series will be "Counter Strike." I have the principle outline ready for it and will start work on it for camp Nanowrimo next month.

The plan is to have the first three books in the series written before I release any of them. If all goes well, I hope to have a cover done for them soon.

New Project - Peril in the Park

I have just finished a draft of a story called Peril in the Park. It will be part of a collaborative series called Hemisphere after the fictional town where the action takes place. I have really enjoyed working on this and my writing partners in making the town come alive. I have the initial Cover for the book completed and I wanted to share that with you all now.

Let me know what you think.

Works in Progress

I have reached and surpassed the 9K mark in my sci-fi story. I believe that I will release this as a short story of about 15K to 20K words. It will be part of a larger series that I hope to release several more this year. I am struggling for a name for both this book and the series. I may be asking for beta readers for this before I get to the naming point. Not sure yet.

Also I have two stories completed for the Hemisphere project. This will be collaborative effort from a writing group that I am part of. We created the imaginary town of Hemisphere where - Anything can happen, and something always does. Thus far, we have three writers on board with the project and are diligently working on their stories. Hopefully we will be releasing first of them over the summer.

What about the Devareaux series? Well, progress is still going on but at a slow pace. I will get back to Thomas and his crew soon enough. At the moment, he is training Russian Airship crews in the Crimea and I can't in good conscience leave him there.

The Last Airship from Khartoum going on Sale

I have put The Last Airship from Khartoum on sale from March 24th to March 31st. It will be on sale in both the US and UK Amazon Stores. Stop by and check out the story on Amazon.

While you are at it, you can sign up for my Alternative History Mailing list and get the follow on short story for free. Click here to sign up.

Honor Restored Update and others

I have finished with the my first round of editing and have worked up a cover for it. I will be sending it out to my Alt History subscribers shortly. Right now I am waiting on permission to use an image. If that gets approved, I should be in good shape.

I have also begun work on a new series of short stories. I have three stories planned out. Two are written and I am about a third of the way through the next one. This will be part of a larger collaborative effort. At this point, I don't know much about the how or when of the release of these yet. But I have had a great deal of fun working on them.

Last update for today is on my Sci Fi series. I am still working on the first book. I am thinking about writing at least the first two of the series before releasing them just to see how that goes. Then again, I doubt that I have the patience to wait that long.

Honor Restored - Draft Complete

I have finished the first draft of Honor Restored: A Thomas Devareaux Alternative History Military Adventure. I will be sending this out to all of my Alternate History list subscribers once I have finished with the editing. This story follows immediately on the heels of The Last Airship to Khartoum. It resolved Lieutenant Alexander Almond's story line and was fun to write. I hope that it will be fun to read. I anticipate having this done and ready to mail out by May 15th. Watch your mailboxes. I am trying to get the cover sorted out for this project now.

I also made some progress on the first novel of my Sci Fi series. I have not come up with a name for it yet. But I do have at least three or four books in mind for this series plus a giveaway book from the series. I believe that I am about a 1/4th of the way through this one. Thus far, I am really enjoying working on this one.

But what about the third novel in the Devareaux series? Fear not. I have not abandoned it. I pushed it aside for the moment to work on the two above projects before returning to it. Devareaux, Stoe and the boys still have more adventures to go.

Update

I am currently working on a short story for subscribers to my Alternative History list. So far the story is coming along well. I have broken the 10,000 word mark today. The working title is Honor Restored. It follows Lieutenant Alexander ALmond following the events of The Last Airship from Khartoum. The Third book in the Devareaux series has been started but I did not have a place to continue on Almond's story within it. So the idea for the short story to wrap up his unresolved issues at the end of the last story. I am working on this for Camp Nanowrimo and hope to get a draft complete by the end of the month if all goes well.

Works in Progress

I am being pulled in several directions at once. Currently I have four works in progress going on. The first is a short story that follows Commander Alexander Almond following the mystery orders that he received at the end of Last Airship from Khartoum. This will be a free short story that I am giving out to anyone who is subscribed to my Alternative History Mailing List as a thank you. I will not be making this available anywhere else. If you are interested in my alternate history stories, please sign up for the mailing list. I try not to reach out too often and bug people. Click here to sign up.

Next up is the third installment of the Devareaux series. In this installment, Devareaux gets involved in a looming war between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. So far the book is coming along and is seven chapters into it out of what I think will be thirty by the time I finish. What I need to figure out is a good title. Any suggestions?

The third project is a science fiction story. Sergeant Duncan of the New Glascow Planetary Militia is fighting against the combined armies of the Federated Union of Planets. Much of her home world has been reduced to ruins but the militia fights on toward victory. I am seeing this becoming a series of discrete adventures of Sergeant Duncan and her platoon within the wider universe where the FUP's control of its subject planets is beginning to slip from its grasp. Thus far the story is coming along and is about 4,500 words along at the moment. If you are interested in following along with the progress of the science fiction stories, please sign up for my Sci Fi mailing list. Click Here to sign up.

Last work in progress is getting my Mother's biography up on Kindle. It was something she asked me to do and I am finally getting around to do it. Her book Crossroads to Freedom details her life growing up in Nazi Germany, falling under Soviet control in East Germany and her eventual escape to the United States. My Mom lived more adventure than I can write about. She was a remarkable woman. There are still hard copies about. Heck, I inherited five boxes of them in my garage. If you are interested in the hard copy, shoot me an email. We can work something out.

One thing I am trying to do is to subdivide my mailing lists. That way if you are only interested in Alternate History, I won't bug you with zombies and sci fi. The main point is that I only want to send you information on things you are actually interested in. If you are interested in my Zombie Horror stories such as the Home and Hunting Season, please click here to sign up for that mailing list.

Updates

Chapter 11 of Hunting Season is now up on Wattpad. The complete book is in the hands of my Beta readers. I am happy to say that I have gotten a brand new cover for the book by the very talented artist, Aaron Miller.

I am really happy with it.

On another front, I am 7 chapters in on the Third Book in the Devareaux series but that has taken a backseat to another story idea that I came up with last night. I am planning on making it a series of short stories and release them over the next couple of months. It is a science Fiction story that I will post up the first thousand words here to see what everyone things.

Thanks everyone.

Hunting Season - Chapter 4 is up on Wattpad.

I have just uploaded the 4th chapter to Wattpad. Stop on by and check out the story. Hunting Season can be read here. I have just finished writing Chapter 12 and started work on 13 last week.