Tag Archives: Venusian Gambit

July 27, 2015 · 5:30 pm

Fantasy-Faction interviews me, and I allude to stuff obliquely

TVG-cover-finalThere’s a new interview with me out today from Fantasy-Faction. I talked with the illustrious Dan Hanks — a stand-up guy if there ever was one — about The Venusian Gambit, finishing off the Daedalus series, and what comes next.

I’ve had to kind of tiptoe around that last bit in a number of interviews and such. I can safely say that there’s definitely a something next beyond short stories. In fact, I’m working on it now, and hopefully with out jinxing it, I think it’s some of my best writing. It’s not a continuation of the Daedalus series — that’s a completed story, in my mind, with no pressing need to go back to the setting. It’s new and different.

And that’s all I can say right about now. I’m hopeful there might be more about by September or so. In the interim, I’m gonna write, and you’ll have to hang tight. In the meantime, I do have a story in the Cthulhu Fhtagn! anthology out next month, and it looks like Unidentified Funny Objects 4, which has my “Confessions of an Interplanetary Art Fraud” therein, is due out in the fall.

But that’s all I can say for now. Except for these, which probably doesn’t help unless you do the research to figure out what they are. (Hint!)

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July 13, 2015 · 5:45 pm

What I did this weekend

Well, the most visible and impressive thing was this, which took two hours in the summer heat and was very, very hard. (Actually, it was surprisingly not bad and easier than the instructions made it out to be.)

Yes, we’re going to raise chickens. We have three, in fact: Molly, Diane and Genevieve. They’re a week old and, of course, super-cute.

So now we have a chicken coop, which is really more like a condo and one that’s substantially better than my first apartment. Or my first car, for that matter.

The other cool thing was my chat with the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County at the Hackensack Barnes & Noble. It was a most excellent and engaging crowd — and it was a crowd, which is always heartening. My bit started at 8 p.m., and we didn’t break up until after 10:30. Great questions, great audience.

And by the way, there are signed copies of The Venusian Gambit at that Barnes & Noble now — get ’em while they’re hot!

Finally, I did get some writing done. Writing what, you ask? Something you may hear about soon.

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June 25, 2015 · 3:30 pm

Win a free copy of The Venusian Gambit audiobook

So with the Audible version of The Venusian Gambit now live, I happen to have a couple promo codes for freebies. Time for a giveway? Absolutely!

I’m gonna keep it simple. Leave a comment on this blog post below by Monday at 9 a.m. EDT. I’ll choose a winner at random and post it here and in the comments as well. If you’re the winner, you can drop me an e-mail to claim your code and download the book.

Easy peasy.

You have to be registered with Audible to use the code and get your book, but registration is pretty simple, so don’t let that stop you. I mean, we’re talking more than 13 hours of entertainment here, delivered by the fantastic narrators Bernard Setaro Clark and Kristin Kalbli. What’s not to like?

As for the comments themselves, you don’t have to write an essay or anything — a simple “I’m in!” or something will suffice. And if you’ve not commented before, your comment will automatically go to moderation, which I’ll monitor and clear out regularly before Monday. So don’t panic if you don’t see it right away.

There you go. Get commenting!

UPDATE: The winner has been chosen — see the comments below. Thanks, everyone!

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June 23, 2015 · 6:00 pm

Fantasy Faction reviews The Venusian Gambit; audiobook available now!

TVG-cover-finalIn paying homage to Napoleonic Era naval adventure, I’m well aware the Daedalus series is treading on beloved ground across the pond in the United Kingdom. So I’m doubly proud of this review of The Venusian Gambit from Fantasy Faction, written by one of my favorite Englishmen, Dan Hanks. His conclusion:

The Venusian Gambit is everything you could want in a finale. Bigger, better, darker and with more at stake than ever before, it’s a thrilling climax to a fresh, but delightfully old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure – the type of story we were sure they didn’t make any more.

You can read the whole thing here. My favorite quote, though, is this: “When a French zombie army marching across the English Channel to conquer our green and pleasant land isn’t the craziest event in a book, you know you’re in for a treat.” I’m quite grateful to Dan for the review, and for all the support he’s shown for this series. Rule, Britannia!

Also today, the Audible audiobook of The Venusian Gambit is now available for download! What’s more, the Audible page has a sample of Kristin Kalbli’s fine narration, so head on over and check it out.

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June 16, 2015 · 5:45 pm

One week to go before The Venusian Gambit is released in audio

Once again, my thanks to everyone who’s been reading and enjoying The Venusian Gambit. I’m really heartened at how well it’s been received, and appreciate everyone who’s taken the time to leave reviews on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, etc. Those things help.

Just as a reminder, the Audible audio release of the final Daedalus novel is coming on June 23 — one week from today. You can pre-order it now and get it all set up in your queue. I’m really glad we kept the narrators on for all three books; they’ve done a really fantastic job.

And one more book note: The folks at SFCrowsnest reviewed the latest issue of Apex Magazine, featuring an excerpt of Gambit, which prompted the reviewer to get the first two books in the trilogy. Job well done, there!

Otherwise, I’m here plugging away. I have some vacation coming up at the end of the month after the Vermont SF Writer’s Series, and I’m working on the Next Thing, which you may hear about later this summer. My Pathfinder serial should be gearing up in a few weeks, and Cthulhu Fhtagn! comes out in August with my short story therein.

Long story short, things are pretty darn good.

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June 10, 2015 · 5:30 pm

Yes, there’s a gay character in the Daedalus series

TDI-bigcoverThey say, of course, that one should not respond to bad reviews, and I wholeheartedly believe this to be correct. Nonetheless, a recent reader review — on a site that will go unnamed and unlinked here — asked a question:

Is it absolutely necessary to make a gay character these days!? They’re 3% of the population!

The reviewer in question left a four-star rating, which was lovely and greatly appreciated, so this was by no means a bad review. And since the question was asked, I’m inclined to provide an answer. (Note: Very mild spoilers for The Enceladus Crisis and The Venusian Gambit below.)

I’m going to assume that the character in question is Maj. Gen. Maria Diaz, USAF, 22nd century commander of the DAEDALUS task force. She started off as a colonel in command of a backwater Mars base in The Daedalus Incident, then (quite appropriately) found herself promoted to lead DAEDALUS’ efforts to study interdimensional rifts and, as needed, defend against further incursions.

And yes, she’s gay.

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June 9, 2015 · 9:26 am

Subscribe to Apex Magazine and enter to win The Venusian Gambit

So here’s something pretty cool. Apex Magazine is having a subscription drive sale until Wednesday, June 10. Not only do you get $3 off your subscription, but you’re automatically entered to win a copy of The Venusian Gambit, which was excerpted in the latest issue.

That is one heck of a lot of science fiction for a great price, plus the chance to win more. What are you waiting for? Go! Go now! Subscribe and enjoy!

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June 3, 2015 · 5:45 pm

New Venusian Gambit excerpt in the latest issue of Apex

I’m back from Phoenix Comicon (and a two-day detour to Los Angeles). I’m pretty much exhausted, but it was a really fantastic con — thanks largely in part to the people there and, more importantly, all the staff and volunteers who put it together. Thank you all.

I’ll have some more PHXCC thoughts over the next few days, but for now, I wanted to flag folks on the new excerpt of The Venusian Gambit appearing in this month’s Apex Magazine. This is exclusive to ebook purchasers and subscribers, so you’ll have to pony up for it — I’d like to think it’s worth it. I may be biased.

It’s the most extensive excerpt we’ve had out there on this one, so I encourage you to check it out if you’re on the fence about Gambit. Enjoy!

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May 26, 2015 · 10:00 am

A look at outlining in Excel

With the release of The Venusian Gambit, I’ve been doing a fair amount of stuff, including a guest post on the writing process at Chuck Wendig’s Terribleminds, as well as a Reddit AMA on r/Fantasy. And a question came up in both places: What’s with this Excel outlining you keep talking about?

Well, it’s a long answer, but I figured I’d give it a go. I use Excel to outline my novels in a far more complete, intensive way — more like a storyboard, really. I can include not just what happens, but to whom it happens, why, their reactions, the effect on the setting, etc. I found Excel useful because my books tend to have some complexity to them — different dimensions, multiple POV characters, lots of moving parts — and it helps me keep things straight. Plus, I like being able to storyboard a scene before writing it because I’ve spent two decades writing to spec, and that’s what works for me — even if I create the spec.

OK, let’s see what one of these outlines looks like. Continue reading →

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May 20, 2015 · 5:00 pm

A brief Venusian Gambit excerpt, and a new review of Daedalus

TVG-cover-finalThere were a couple of things that hit the Internet over the past couple days I wanted to flag for you guys, especially if you’re fans of the Daedalus series. The books keep chugging along, and yet again, I’m really pleased and humbled with the reception. Thanks for your support and your ratings and reviews! Here we go:

On the Page 69 Test blog, I talked about The Venusian Gambit and discussed some of the elements of the story found on — you guessed it — page 69 of the book. It’s a pretty neat exercise, and I think page 69 of Gambit doesn’t disappoint. Click here to read it, along with the entire page from the book.

TDI-bigcoverOver at SFFWorld, Rob Bedford reviewed The Daedalus Incident and had many nice things to say about it, such as:

The Daedalus Incident is a clear indication of a writer with an interesting and fun story to tell who possesses writing and storytelling skill. All three books have been well-received and I very much look forward to finishing my journey along with Weatherby and Jain through the Solar System in both (maybe more?) universes. Recommended.

Read the whole review here. My thanks to Rob, a man who knows his beer and books.

Finally, I did a guest post today for the New York City Writers Network on how my two decades of experience in journalism and communications prepared me for fiction writing far better than I had realized. There are definitely days where I still have to pinch myself when I realize this whole novelist thing is working out well, but in retrospect, I had been building toward it for a while. Check out the post here.

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