Tag Archives: Enceladus Crisis

April 12, 2016 · 8:33 pm

Officially heading to Phoenix Comicon this June!

I loved being a guest at Phoenix Comicon last year. The panels were a huge amount of fun, I met a lot of fans, I had a blast hanging out with my fellow authors and more fans, and if I may be mercenary for a moment, I saw a lot of my books get sold.

So yeah, of course I asked to go back. And the most excellent folks at PHXCC agreed to invite me again. So look out Phoenix…I am coming for your tacos and craft beer once more, from June 2-5 to be exact.

Scheduling? Dunno yet. I’m sure there will be panels. No doubt there will be signings, and I’m hoping that the crew at Mysterious Galaxy will be there selling books again. I’ll certainly talk about the Daedalus trilogy, especially with The Enceladus Crisis out in paperback just weeks before the con.

I’ll also be talking about MAJESTIC-12 and MJ-12: Inception. And if all goes well, I’ll have some swag. I’m thinking pin-back buttons, but I’m open to suggestions. Maybe I’ll do a Twitter poll. Oh, and thanks to the good people at Night Shade Books, I’ll have a bunch of advance copies of MJ-12: Inception to give away to those I deem worthy. (I am not, in fact, super-picky on this front. Just be enthusiastic.)

And finally, I do believe the folks at Geeky Giving will be doing something interesting out there. Not sure what, but…I’d keep an eye out.

If you’re anywhere near Phoenix after Memorial Day — or simply enjoy a great road trip — I hope you’ll think about heading to the con. It’s pretty darn awesome. Hope to see you there!

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March 18, 2016 · 5:00 pm

Your Friday grab-bag of updates

Just to make things easier, I thought I’d throw a bunch of little things into a single post. Here we go!

Operation: DAEDALUS: Robert Junker is the winner of Operation: DAEDALUS! There were over a hundred individuals who left reviews, posted to Facebook, Tweeted and otherwise used social media to get the word out about the paperback release of The Daedalus Incident, and I am hugely grateful to everyone who did so. Robert went all out across multiple platforms, multiple times over, and the law of averages was on his side. Thus, he gets a signed Daedalus paperback and a signed ARC of MJ-12: Inception later this spring. Congratulations, Robert!

More operations ahead: The Enceladus Crisis is coming out May 10, so stay tuned for details about Operation: ENCELADUS. I may try something different there, in terms of the qualifying stuff. Or not. Again, I’ll keep you posted. And yes, there will be an Operation: GAMBIT this summer, too, and even possibly an Operation: INCEPTION. Because you’re all awesome…or just want free books. Either or, I’m good with that.

Lunacon!: As a reminder, if you’re in the greater New York City area and want to geek out with me, I’ll be haunting Lunacon this Saturday. My schedule is here. Come say hello!

MJ-12.net update: Now that The Daedalus Incident paperback is out — with an excerpt of MJ-12: Inception therein — I’ve updated MJ-12.net with a post about Frank Lodge, one of the first people we meet in the excerpt. So head on over to MJ-12 net and dive in to the mythology I’m building around the MAJESTIC-12 series.

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March 11, 2016 · 5:45 pm

Where’d you come up with that?

Every story has a beginning — or at least, that’s what Hollywood tells us when they launch the umpteenth superhero reboot. Those aren’t really beginnings, though. They’re rethinkings, sometimes without much thought. The actual beginning of a story is that little flash of inspiration, the mini-epiphany that hits you and you say, “Dude, I could totally write a story about that.”

I’ve gotten into the inspiration behind The Daedalus Incident and it’s sequels more than a few times around the Internet — you can find the story here and here if you’re so inclined. It’s funny, though, because I had basically stuck with that one story idea for almost a decade before it finally got written — and then when it did, I found all these other ideas came to the fore, as if my idea-brain suddenly became unstuck.

Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. The notion behind MJ-12: Inception is perhaps only a couple years old at the moment, and I can honestly say I don’t remember where it came from. I do remember emailing the incomparable Paul Weimer about it a few years ago, before The Enceladus Crisis came out, asking if there had been other Cold War superpowered spy thrillers out there. (I ask Paul these things because his knowledge of SF/F is truly impressive and comprehensive.) He pointed me to a couple titles, but there was nothing that really mirrored what I wanted to do.

And so here we are; the first MAJESTIC-12 thriller comes out in September.

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February 22, 2016 · 5:45 pm

Back from vacation with tidbits of news

I’m back from the wilds of the Adirondack Mountains and once again ensconced in the day-to-day. We had a great time, and I even managed some intermediate trails on Gore Mountain (I’m typically a green-circle skier, so this was a nice thing for me). Took a bit of a spill on an icy patch and pulled a muscle in my chest, which has made for less-than-optimal sleeping, but it’s healing up. On the bright side, I sampled many fine beers and hung out with my family and other lovely people. Overall, it was a win.

And now that I’m back, I wanted to point out a few things:

After a short delay, The Gravity of the Affair is now free on Amazon as well as Google Play, iTunes and Kobo. (Due to arcane policies, it remains 99 cents at Barnes & Noble.) We’re going to keep it free for a while as part of a ploy to get people to check out the Daedalus series in paperback. So if you haven’t read it yet, please to enjoy!

I’m very OK with Barnes & Noble of late, despite the whole not-free thing, because The Daedalus Incident is on its list of “Alternate Realities – Alternate History” best sellers. And in some seriously fine company, too.

And hey, speaking of The Daedalus Incident, it’s on track for a March 15 release in mass-market paperback! And it’ll have the first chapter of MJ-12: Inception tucked in the back. The Enceladus Crisis follows in May, and The Venusian Gambit arrives in July, and they’ll both have different MJ-12: Inception excerpts as well. Collect them all, as they say.

Operation: DAEDALUS is still a going concern, and I’m excited to see all the love out there. As a reminder, if you leave reviews for The Daedalus Incident and/or use your social media superpowers to talk up the impending release, you’re entered to win a signed copy of the paperback and a preview copy of MJ-12: Inception. The more you review/post, the greater the odds of winning.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be adding material to MJ-12.net for your enjoyment. As you may know, MAJESTIC-12 is the conspiracy theory surrounding the government’s involvement in capturing aliens and using their technology. My take in the MAJESTIC-12 spy-fi thrillers will be…very different. But pretty darn fun.

I also want to point out that Geeky Giving has released its first story bundle! You get four great short stories and novelettes for the low price of $5, which goes toward neurological research. I urge you to check it out and donate. My novelette, “Mind Flight,” is in the March bundle, so get ready for that, too.

Finally, I did a guest post over at kt literary, my literary agency, as part of its “Peace, Love, Books” series. In it, I talk about unexpected joys of having fans. Because, to my very great surprise and delight, I have some fans. And they’re all awesome.

And that’s it for now. I’m working on MJ-12: Inception edits and outlining MJ-12: Shadows, which coming out around autumn 2017. Next week, I go to Los Angeles for the day job and will likely have some killer ramen and excellent tacos. It’s good to keep busy, right?

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February 15, 2016 · 9:45 am

The Gravity of the Affair is now free to download!

gravitycover-hiresNeedless to say, I’m pretty excited about the re-release of the Daedalus trilogy in mass-market paperback. And to kick it off right, I’ve decided to offer up my tie-in e-book novella, The Gravity of the Affair, for free — from now until The Venusian Gambit is released in July, at the very least.

Free, y’all. No strings. Just waltz on over to Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, iTunes, Books-A-Million or wherever you download your e-books, and get it.  (Note: Because of various e-book arcana, Gravity can’t be priced at “free” on Barnes & Noble’s Nook platform. Cheapest it can go is 99 cents. No, I don’t know why. Arcana, man.) You can also check it out on Goodreads.

Since it’s been a while, I should probably recap. The Gravity of the Affair is set in the Known Worlds of the Daedalus trilogy, loosely tying in with events in The Daedalus Incident. That said, you don’t have to read Gravity to enjoy Daedalus, or vice versa. The novella was conceived as a kind of introduction to the whole sailing-ships-in-space concept, and follows the adventures of a very young, very brash Horatio Nelson during his first command in 1779.

There’s action, adventure, a bit of romance, a courtroom drama…it’s a fun little story. I hope you like it.

Unfortunately, since Gravity was self-published, it won’t carry an excerpt of MJ-12: Inception. But the paperback release of The Daedalus Incident on March 15 certainly will — and the release of The Enceladus Crisis in May and The Venusian Gambit in July will have brand new excerpts as well.

But in the meantime, if you haven’t checked out Gravity, give it a whirl! And do me a solid and tell your friends, too. Every bit helps!

Note: Some outlets are lagging a bit this morning and the price remains 99 cents. Hang tight; we expect them to follow suit presently!

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January 27, 2016 · 3:00 pm

The Daedalus trilogy is coming to mass-market paperback!

The new paperback cover! Click to embiggen!

The new paperback cover! Click to embiggen!

It’s hard to believe that The Daedalus Incident first set sail back in August of 2013, and it’s been a heck of a journey. Best part of all — it’s not over yet!

I’m super excited to report that Night Shade Books is re-releasing the trilogy — The Daedalus Incident, The Enceladus Crisis and The Venusian Gambit — in mass-market paperback this year. For those not wholly conversant in publisher-speak, the books will come out in the smaller paperback format you’ve seen at the bookstore.

But wait, there’s more. Each paperback will have an exclusive excerpt from the forthcoming MJ-12: Inception, the paranormal Cold War spy-fi novel that’s kicking off the MAJESTIC-12 series this September. And yes, that’s a different excerpt for each paperback title, for added genre-blending goodness.

I’m stoked about this because it’ll give folks another opportunity to explore the Known Worlds of the Daedalus trilogy — and a cheaper opportunity at that — while also hopefully getting people excited about MJ-12: Inception too.

Here’s how it’ll work:

Back cover. Also click to enlargenate.

Back cover with MJ-12 teaser! Click to enlargenate!

The Daedalus Incident is coming out mid-March, with The Enceladus Crisis coming in mid-May and The Venusian Gambit finishing up in July. It looks like we’re going for a $7.99 list price, but I don’t know how Amazon or others will ultimately list it. (Here’s Daedalus, Enceladus and Gambit on Amazon — expect those release dates to change slightly. I’ll be posting more sales links as I find them.)

I expect the price of the e-books to be adjusted as well, though I can’t say for certain because there’s some serious dark alchemy that goes into e-book pricing that I just don’t grasp. I also expect that if you’ve already purchased the e-books for the trilogy, you’ll be able to re-download the books after the paperback launch to get your hands on the MJ-12: Inception excerpts. I honestly can’t say how this affects Audible prices, but since a lot of that is on a subscription model anyway, I don’t know how much of an impact you’ll see there.

We’ve tweaked the covers for each book, though the stellar artwork by Sparth (Daedalus) and Lauren Saint-Onge (Enceladus and Gambit) will remain completely intact, because they are awesome in every way. We thought about including bonus materials based on the trilogy, but most of that material has already been featured on the blog and elsewhere; we ultimately decided that the MJ-12: Inception teasers would be a lot more fresh and fun.

And since we’re effectively reducing the price of the Daedalus trilogy, I thought I’d do the same with The Gravity of the Affair, the tie-in novella we produced back in December 2013. I mean, it’s not horribly expensive now at $2.99, but I’m going to go ahead and make it free, starting in mid-February. (Mostly free, I should add — B&N won’t let you drop it below 99 cents for some reason, but most other book vendors allow for freebies. Again, dark alchemy!)

Finally, I’m going to launch a contest where you can get your hands on a signed copy of The Daedalus Incident paperback and an early galley or ARC of MJ-12: Inception. Still working through the details at the moment, but it’ll involve you lovely people spreading the word about these fine books through social media and leaving reviews and whatnot. Expect more on that by early next week.

It’s great to see these books getting out there once more, and that’s largely due to all the wonderful people who’ve read and enjoyed them over the past couple years. My thanks to you, dear readers, for being so very, very awesome.

Sail on!

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October 27, 2015 · 5:15 pm

The Daedalus Incident on sale for the Kindle

TDI-bigcoverWhy do things go on sale all of a sudden? Who sets the price? When does it end? When it comes to my things (i.e. books), I kind of wish I had answers, but in the grand scheme of things I guess it’s a good deal for you, the reader, so I won’t complain.

All of this is to say that The Daedalus Incident, the first book in the Daedalus trilogy and one of the best SF/F books of the year according to Library Journal and BuzzFeed, is going for just $5.59 on the Kindle, and the Kindle only. Given that it tends to sell for $9.99, that’s a decent 45% cut, give or take. (Don’t ask me to commit mathematics.)

I have no idea when this started, and no idea if/when it will end. But if you haven’t given the series a shot yet, now’s a good time to do so. And if you have — and I thank you for it! — this isn’t a bad time to nudge your pals about that weird, quirky Napoleonic Era space opera you enjoyed.

Sorry, The Enceladus Crisis and The Venusian Gambit remain at full price…for now.

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October 21, 2015 · 5:30 pm

New podcast interview: Hanging out with TJ Redig on Scrivener’s Soapbox

Just a quick note: I did a interview recently with author and podcaster TJ Redig, proprietor of the Scrivener’s Soapbox podcast, which is now live and available for your listening pleasure. In it, I discuss the Daedalus trilogy, my short fiction, and the upcoming MAJESTIC-12 series. We also talk about homebrewing, and I am duly chastened for not upgrading my brewery game beyond the basics.

It was a fun interview, and if you’re interested, there’s some new MAJESTIC-12 tidbits in there that haven’t been revealed anywhere else. I also had a cold when I did this one, so I apologize for coughing in your ear from time to time. If memory serves, there’s also an awkward pause where I had to hit mute so I could give my wife some money for our daughter’s lunch for the week.

Real life, man. Raw and unfiltered.

My thanks to TJ for having me on. You can listen to it right here on this site, surf on over to TJ’s site, or head to iTunes and download it.

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September 14, 2015 · 5:15 pm

Donate to help refugees and win a signed Daedalus trilogy

Kevin Hearne is good people. Seriously, he’s the absolute best. He writes absolutely fantastic books, he’s the Tacopope of the Holy Taco Church, and he always seems to bring joy wherever he goes. No, really. Hang with him some time. Real, honest-to-God joy seems to follow in his wake.

This is probably why his effort to help with the European refugee crisis has attracted so many authors, including myself. Kevin goes forth, we help. It’s what we do.

So here’s the deal. Donate to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, or to the Worldbuilders effort to fund the Mercy Corps, helpfully linked right here. Then send Kevin an e-mail (kevin at kevinhearne dot com, but with all the appropriate formatting) telling him that you did so, and boom — you’re entered to win books. There are a ton up for grabs, including all three of mine — The Daedalus Incident, The Enceladus Crisis and The Venusian Gambit, each signed by me.

In addition to my books, there are tomes from such upstanding people as Stephen Blackmoore, ML Brennan, Peter V. Brett, Beth Cato, Adam Christopher, Myke Cole, Harry Connolly, Karina Cooper, Delilah S. Dawson, Leanna Renee Hieber, C.A. Higgins, Jason M. Hough, Mario Kloos, Brian McClellan, Nicole Peeler, Andrea Philips, Jay Posey, Alan Smale, Michael J. Sullivan, Jaye Wells and Chuck Wendig.

I mean, wow. That’s a lot of books from a lot of great authors.

Now, technically and legally, you don’t have to donate to win. You can just e-mail Kevin. But seriously, it would be exceptionally good karma if you did. Folks out there need your help. Be good to one another. Help out.

Kevin’s gonna be doing this until Sunday, Sept. 20, and picking winners on Monday, Sept. 21. Please donate, and let Kevin know. Thanks.

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August 6, 2015 · 5:45 pm

In praise of editing and editors

There are a lot of writers out there today. The Internet has made it easy for folks to get their words out their for consumption — there’s an insatiable demand for “content” (ugh…it’s writing, dammit!) on any number of sites, for one. Blogs can be set up in mere minutes. And self-publishing has made it relatively simple for an author to get his or her work out there.

These are all good things, mind you. I’m not going to complain about this one whit, nor am I gonna pass judgment on this new influx of post-Internet writers. They’re either good or they’re not, but judge them on the merits, not how they got there.

Yet if there’s one thing that kind of irks/concerns me, it’s the seemingly not-insignificant number of writers who relish putting their words out there without an editor. “I don’t need an editor.” “Editors will only mess up what I’m trying to do here.” “I already know how to write.”

*stares boggle-eyed*

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