Tag Archives: cross pollination

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Support Mike Plested and Mik Murdoch

Mike Plested has a great new book coming out. I believe strongly that this is a book you should have to read to your kids (and for your kids to read on their own) and heck for you to read for yourself! I reviewed it for Flying Island Press and gave it five capes. The gist:

If you have a young person in your life, who like Mik and I has that desire [to become a superhero], I can strongly recommend this book. The chapters are somewhat episodic and would make for great parent/child bed time reading. For young readers that have the knack of going on their own this is also an excellent choice. While Mik is a boy, I know plenty of girls who would enjoy his adventures and can recommend it to readers of any gender. I give this five capes and commend you to order it…

You can pre-order it here for $3.99 which is a great deal! But let me sweeten the pot. If you haven’t bought Ginnie Dare: Crimson Sands yet, don’t. That’s right, I’m telling you not to buy my book. Buy Mike’s during the pre-order period. Publishers like pre-orders. It shows that there’s a strong demand, or somesuch. If you do that and send me proof, I will send you or the person of your choice an autographed, personalized copy of the e-book for Ginnie Dare.

This offer ends August 1st, 2012. Gives you a week and a half to get it done. You won’t be sorry that you did!

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Win A Whole Library

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I’ve decided to take 52 Weeks of Indie up a notch. Giving away fifty-two books isn’t enough. I’m going to give away a hundred and three! How does that math work out? At the end of the year I’m going to take all of the winners, put them in a hat, and draw a name. The person who wins will get the other fifty-one books they didn’t win. Fifty-two plus fifty-one equals one hundred three! So you can win a whole virtual library.

I’ve got some great books lined up down the pipe too. Some are authors you know and love. There will be a number you don’t know, but that’s part of the fun.

As always I encourage you to go and drop a buck or three on as many of these as you can, though. Win or not these authors are worth supporting. So get cracking and help me spread the word!

Podcasters – Here’s a promo for you to play on your podcast! Let me know if you do!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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And the winner is…

me!!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I sold more copies of Keith Hughes‘ book Borrowed Time than he sold of my book, Through a Glass, Darkly. But while Keith may have lost the battle (by the narrowest of margins) I think we both and most importantly you, the reader, won the war. We both have new folks that know about us and are reading what we write and without folks believing in us enough to buy our works, we’d just be spitting our words into the wind. So thanks to you and to all the people that helped us spread the word.

Listen to the audio version of the results here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Sweet, Sweet Bribery

So we’re nearing the finish to the E-book Death Match and at this point neither of us knows who is winning. It could be neck and neck or one of us could be waaaaay out in front.

I’ve done a lot that I know how to do including making a video:

I left reviews on Smashwords and Amazon. I’ve also crowed about it on the Kindle Boards, MobileRead, on Twitter, Facebook, and here on my own blog. We’ve also been tweeted about by some awesome folks, mentioned in podcasts like The Galley Table and Podioracket, and even blogged about by Channel37

In case that’s not enough, just to try and clinch it, I am going to resort to a little bribery. If you buy or have bought Borrowed Time during the period of the Death Match, I would like to reward your support of my villainy. Simply let me know that you have and I will supply you with a coupon code for the story of your choice from my Smashwords store. Any story, that is, except Through a Glass, Darkly. Unless you want to claim that coupon next week. 😉

So spread the word and go get yourself a great little e-book.

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Borrowed Time – Review

Time travel as a sci-fi trope is pretty haggard by this point. I got particularly tired of the various Star Trek series attempts at doing interesting things with it, but they aren’t the only culprit. So when I see a book whose central plot line relies on it, I’m skeptical. Enter Borrowed TIme by Keith Hughes.

First, let’s get the science-y bits out of the way. The way that time travel works in this universe, essentially using an app built in to a PDA to harmonize you to a future or past universe’s resonance, seems a little wonky. But then so does slingshotting around the sun or a nuclear powered DeLorean. The interesting twist in this particular tale is the farther forward or back you go, the shorter your stay can be, thus the title.

The requisite dramatic tension is supplied by the men with guns and power that are after the PDA. Very Bad Men want what Relevant has and intend to do Very Bad Things with it. They’re willing to do anything they can to get it and Relevant needs to think fast and use every skill at his disposal in addition to taking advantage of time hopping to get and keep the upper hand. It moves very quickly and kept me anticipating the next chapter.

What’s this story really about though? Is it just a good read or is there more to it? (If you want to honk a writer off, ask them that question.) Not to be corny, as the story never falls in to it that I notice, but it’s really about making the best use of time that you have with the people in your life. That’s reflected in Relevant’s relationship with the professor that invented the device as well as in his failed relationships. Lacking a time machine it’s best for us all to remember that we’re all on borrowed time.

I think this story could stand to be fleshed out a bit. I’d like to get to know the professor and Relevant a little better. I’d also like the Very Bad Men to be fleshed out a little. As it stands they’re kind of two dimensional. It works in the framework of a fast paced sci-fi thriller novella, but I’m a sucker for a well written, complex bad guy. Overall, it’s that that keeps this from being the five star book that this could be. This book is well wroth the price of admission though, and I hope you check it out!

Borrowed Time is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

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E-book Death Match

We got ourselves a little e-book death match going on here. I declared to Keith Hughes aka the Penslinger that I could sell his book Borrowed Time better than he could. The punk said something along the lines of “Oh, yeah?” I know, clever right? And so the gauntlet has been thrown down.

We will spend the next two weeks trying to out sell each other. The trick? We’re not pimping out own books. I’m spreading the word about Borrowed Time (please purchase it from Amazon or Smashwords) and he’s letting people know about my horror anthology Through A Glass, Darkly. If his book out sells mine, I win and vice versa.

So what happens to the loser? This is where you come in (besides buying the books). Let me know what you’d like to have Keith do when he loses. Put something in the comments or shoot me an email. We’ll put a poll up a week from today and you folks get to decide. Want him to compose and sing a little song or maybe dance a jig or two? You can make that happen.

I’d appreciate you helping me spread the word. If you like thrillers, science fiction, or a fresh take on time travel I think you’ll like what Keith is doing. Here’s a brief synopsis:

Ness Relevant is living on borrowed time. Molecular implosion, cellular degeneration, and dangerous men are but a few of the perils faced by the friendly and unassuming forensic photographer.

His quiet bachelorhood is interrupted when he receives an innocent looking device in the mail from a friend and former college professor. Ness unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in events driven by his friend’s success.

This device is the focal point of a struggle that could overturn the whole world should Ness or his friend’s invention fall prey to greedy men. Before his time runs out Ness must travel back to an uncomfortable past to prevent an unthinkable future.

In the race for the future, time has no boundaries