Category Archives: Writing

Yesterday, I ponied up another year’s dues and renewed my membership with The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. And I was happy to do so. I find a lot of value in the organization, and for the most part, I find my fellow members to be among the best sort of people.

That’s not to say SFWA is one big happy family. Like any organization that includes a broad array of personalities, beliefs and identities, SFWA has had its share of controversy. I’ve no desire to get into the details here, except to say that I believe that the vast majority of the stuff you may have heard about are the actions of a very few people who seem to think that being on the Internet, or even simply being a writer, absolves them from the need for basic decency and civility. (It doesn’t, by the way.)

The vast majority of folks in SFWA are good people and good writers who want to broaden the reach of the genres and protect the interests of authors. These are very worthy pursuits, and that’s why I support SFWA with my membership and involvement.

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A pleasant surprise: Publishers Weekly reviewed The Enceladus Crisis today, had had some great things to say about it. I didn’t expect them to chime in because they didn’t review The Daedalus Incident, likely due to the publishing mess surrounding it last year. (A mess, I should add, that’s cleared up very nicely.)

In any event, PW called Enceladus “riveting” and “a uniquely imaginative science fantasy tale,” which is perfectly awesome in my book. They also dinged me on a few things, but overall, I seriously cannot — and will not! — complain one whit. That’s their job, after all. And heck, it’s a positive review. I’ll take it!

Check out the whole review here!

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The Enceladus Crisis is still more than two months away, but reviewers are already reading it — and the first review came out today from the Hugo Award-winning awesomeness that is SFSignal.

And, as you may have surmised, I’m quite happy to report it’s a good one. In his four-out-of-five-star review, Paul “PrinceJvstin” Weimer writes:

The followup to Martinez’s debut novel The Daedalus Incident builds on the strengths of the first novel and shores up its weaknesses…the sequel continues the first novel’s mix of alchemy, intrigue, mystery, science fiction and high adventure into an entertaining package. Mike Martinez’s The Enceladus Crisis avoids some of the pitfalls that many second novels face by trying some new things, and giving us some new facets of his interesting universe.

Since Paul has given both my books good reviews (his review of Daedalus is here), I may be a little biased, but I genuinely think he’s an excellent reviewer. His knowledge of the genre is impressive, and his criticism is thoughtful and on point. Many thanks, Paul, for all your hard work.

As a reminder, The Enceladus Crisis is out in print, e-book and audiobook on May 6. You can pre-order your print copies on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or go to IndieBound and order from your local bookseller. Not sure if we’re getting e-book or audiobook pre-orders or not, but I’ll keep you posted here. You can also add the book on Goodreads, too.

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I’ve been remiss in mentioning this here, so it’s high time I correct it. I’m quite happy to report that a new excerpt from The Daedalus Incident is included in the 2014 Campbellian Anthology, assembled by M. David Blake and published by Rampant Loon Media. 

This massive anthology includes literally dozens of short stories and excerpts from longer works, all written by folks like me who are eligible for the 2014 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, to be presented alongside the Hugo Awards at this year’s WorldCon in London.

And the anthology is free. As in, zero cost, go and download and enjoy. You get the work of 111 new, up-and-coming authors to peruse, all for the price of belly-button lint. How can you not love that?

The idea, of course, is to help WorldCon voters make informed decisions with regard to the Campbell awards. It’s hard to check out every story, every novel that was written by the newbies in any given year, so this is a great chance for fans to get caught up on who’s done what.

To be eligible to nominate works and vote on the Campbell award, as well as the Hugos, you need to be an attendee or supporter of the 2013 WorldCon in San Antonio, the next WorldCon in London and/or the 2015 WorldCon in Spokane. You don’t have to actually go, of course — you can buy relatively inexpensive supporting memberships that allow you to vote on the awards. (And as a WorldCon member, I can tell you that you also get a nice bundle of the Hugo- and Campbell-nominated works to read as part of that membership. In other words, it pays for itself.)

The anthology is available for download in DRM-free .mobi or ePub formats at the Stupefying Stories site. Again, it’s free. And if you have a WorldCon membership, the Hugo and Campbell nomination instructions are online at LonCon3’s site. You have until March 31 to get nominations in.

Did I mention the anthology is free? Even if you’re not a WorldCon member, it’s still free. Seriously, it’s chock full of awesome. Go download! And a big thanks to David, Rampant Loon and Stupefying Stories for making it all possible.

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