Howdy folks,
Now normally I don't harp on much about the books that I read, but this is one that any budding Military Sci-fi writer should read.
It's called House of Steel: The Honorverse compendium.
This book is primarily for the fans of the books by David Weber, which I have can say proudly I am.
The first part is the story I Will Build My House of Steel, a superb story on King Roger III of Manticore from the days before he became King to the day Manticore received the news of Barnett being taken by Admiral Alexander. The story is superbly written and really enjoyable, telling of the military buildup of the Manticorian fleet and how they built such a technological advantage.
The next section is colour photographs of the flags, crests, insignia, ribbons, uniforms, rank insignia, patches and ships of both the Manticorian and Grayson Navies.
The next section is the Companion itself which has information on both the Star Empire and the Protectorate, Astrography of the nations, the history, the governments, the important people, all the armed forces including equipment and personalities.
The next section is the part I was most interested in it was Building a Navy in the Honorverse which is an explanation about how David Weber designed his fleets to define the structure of the organizations, designing the capabilities, mission, layout, how they are supported, how they are managed, from personnel, logistics, how the organization is funded and how all that is pulled together.
Next is the Frequently asked questions, none of which surprisingly enough I had.
The next part is all about BuNine themselves and the people involved.
I liked it, and would recommend it to fans of the Honorverse and Military Sci-fi writers.
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Monday, 22 July 2013
Seasons of the Dead
Howdy folks,
As part of a Blog Tour group I've joined I'm bringing you details of the first book in the Tour.
It's called Seasons of the Dead and it's by a brilliant writer named Paul Freeman, those of you who have Strange Tales will have read The Map which was his short story in the anthology or you may have read his other release Tribesman, which I haven't read yet, but it's on my to read list, especially after reading his contribution to Strange Tales. This has been added as well, but as more books get added to the list every frickin day it might be a while.
I'm sure it will appeal to everyone who watches the Walking dead and loves Resident Evil (the games, not the movies cause they blow.)
Season Of The Dead, a zombie apocalypse book like you've never read before.
"It is said that unto everything there is a season...these are the stories of a group of survivors during the season of the dead."
Four individuals fight to survive as the zombie apocalypse crashes over the world in a wave of terror and destruction. Color, creed, and social standing mean nothing as the virus infects millions across the planet.
Sharon: a zoologist from Nebraska, USA, has worked with the virus, and has seen the effects on the human mind. She knows more about the virus than nearly anybody alive, and far more than she wants to. Gerry: from Ontario, Canada, he gets his first taste of the virus from inside a prison cell. Locked up after an anti-government riot, his prison guard transforms before his eyes into a flesh craving zombie. Lucia: a chemist from Pittsburgh, USA, flees from a furry convention dressed as a giant squirrel, and escapes from the city in a Fed-Ex van. She's a girl who knows when to run and when to fight. Paul: thinks he can sit out the apocalypse in his apartment block in Dublin, Ireland, until the virus comes to visit, bursting his bubble and leaving him with no choice but to face reality or perish.
All four begin perilous journeys in mind and body as they face daily trials to survive: Four threads, four different parts of the world, one apocalypse!
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Any how, if you can support this great writer in his second novel and if you like this you can find Tribesman on the Amazon sites too.
As part of a Blog Tour group I've joined I'm bringing you details of the first book in the Tour.
It's called Seasons of the Dead and it's by a brilliant writer named Paul Freeman, those of you who have Strange Tales will have read The Map which was his short story in the anthology or you may have read his other release Tribesman, which I haven't read yet, but it's on my to read list, especially after reading his contribution to Strange Tales. This has been added as well, but as more books get added to the list every frickin day it might be a while.
I'm sure it will appeal to everyone who watches the Walking dead and loves Resident Evil (the games, not the movies cause they blow.)
So it begins!
Season Of The Dead, a zombie apocalypse book like you've never read before.
"It is said that unto everything there is a season...these are the stories of a group of survivors during the season of the dead."
Four individuals fight to survive as the zombie apocalypse crashes over the world in a wave of terror and destruction. Color, creed, and social standing mean nothing as the virus infects millions across the planet.
Sharon: a zoologist from Nebraska, USA, has worked with the virus, and has seen the effects on the human mind. She knows more about the virus than nearly anybody alive, and far more than she wants to. Gerry: from Ontario, Canada, he gets his first taste of the virus from inside a prison cell. Locked up after an anti-government riot, his prison guard transforms before his eyes into a flesh craving zombie. Lucia: a chemist from Pittsburgh, USA, flees from a furry convention dressed as a giant squirrel, and escapes from the city in a Fed-Ex van. She's a girl who knows when to run and when to fight. Paul: thinks he can sit out the apocalypse in his apartment block in Dublin, Ireland, until the virus comes to visit, bursting his bubble and leaving him with no choice but to face reality or perish.
All four begin perilous journeys in mind and body as they face daily trials to survive: Four threads, four different parts of the world, one apocalypse!
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Any how, if you can support this great writer in his second novel and if you like this you can find Tribesman on the Amazon sites too.
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Kristell Ink Rafflecopter
By request of my friend and fellow geek Sammy HK Smith proprietor of Kristell Ink I'm posting this.
<a id="rc-5d5c321" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5d5c321/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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<a id="rc-5d5c321" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5d5c321/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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Saturday, 13 July 2013
Submit I tell you
Okay, it's been ten days since I last posted and I've submitted stories to two places that pay for submissions, and a horror Anthology Burial Day's Gothic Blue Book for 2013 and I've had one rejection back, but funny that it didn't really bother me at all for some reason, but I worked it out after some deep thought, I realized I really don't care where something get's published as long as it eventually does which has spurred my writing on just a little bit.
It might just be because I've only ever before submitted one piece for professional publishing before in Strange Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults which means I'm on a 50% for pro-publishing, I'm sure after dozens of rejections from all over the place I'll feel differently, what I'm wondering is, what if I don't give a even after that possoibility.
I have as big an ego as anyone and I like to know my writing is good or bad or in the middle but when i saw the rejection all I thought was, maybe the next person I submit the story to will like and if not maybe the next, it freaked me out a little that I wasn't freaked out by it. And when I submitted Mississipi Mayhem to Burial Days all I thought was on to the next one which you don't really need to worry about it cause it's half done already. It's only just when I've stopped and thought about it started to worry where the hell was the guy who was worried sick about his submission to Strange Tales.
All in all I've come to one conclusion.
I'm just weird.
It might just be because I've only ever before submitted one piece for professional publishing before in Strange Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults which means I'm on a 50% for pro-publishing, I'm sure after dozens of rejections from all over the place I'll feel differently, what I'm wondering is, what if I don't give a even after that possoibility.
I have as big an ego as anyone and I like to know my writing is good or bad or in the middle but when i saw the rejection all I thought was, maybe the next person I submit the story to will like and if not maybe the next, it freaked me out a little that I wasn't freaked out by it. And when I submitted Mississipi Mayhem to Burial Days all I thought was on to the next one which you don't really need to worry about it cause it's half done already. It's only just when I've stopped and thought about it started to worry where the hell was the guy who was worried sick about his submission to Strange Tales.
All in all I've come to one conclusion.
I'm just weird.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
O'Hearn
There was a blog here that was written for the Military Sci-fi series main character I am writing but since I changed a whole lot of things about the story the story didn't actually fit in with the character and the path he was taking it just didn't work with the arc.
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Writing, writing writing
So,
The first of the short stories first draft is done, there are three more on the list, yesterday I wrote a total of just under three and a half thousand words,just over two thousand words were on the Military Sci-fi book, working Title Running out of Space, because I suck at titles. This combined with everything else, made a very productive day.
Happy writer, and happy mind.
The first of the short stories first draft is done, there are three more on the list, yesterday I wrote a total of just under three and a half thousand words,just over two thousand words were on the Military Sci-fi book, working Title Running out of Space, because I suck at titles. This combined with everything else, made a very productive day.
Happy writer, and happy mind.
Thursday, 20 June 2013
Been a While
Hey folks,
So it's been a while since I blogged, and I thought maybe I should about now.
My PC died it's final death after six years of use and the laptop died within a couple of weeks of that , not long before my back-up drive went caflooy with all my work gone, that which wasn't backed up in emails was gone, the whole second draft of Burn, Forest City, Burn which was a couple of chapters and fixes from completion, gone, the typing up of half a dozen other ideas, gone, dozens of short stories, gone, five years worth of research into various things, gone. So you can imagine I wasn't the most pleasant of people to be around for a couple of weeks until I had a new plan. Quite a bit of the writing was written down before it was typed up so all was not lost, but a hell of a lot was my usual off the cuff, fly by the seat of my boxers writing and that's all gone now, never to be seen again.
It took ages for them to figure out what was wrong with the Laptop and still aren't sure what is wrong with the bloody PC, I go the laptop back but still not replaced the PC yet, frankly I'm probably better off, I get more work done without the distractions, not able to play STO, LOTRO, Skyrim or Football Manager, that's a solid thirty hours a week that can be used towards doing other things.
No PC meant no gaming, and it took me almost a month and a half to remember my Playstation 2 (Never bought a console from the last generation, never saw the point when most of the games on consoles are on PC anyway, the Xbox exclusives tend to come out on the PC a year later as well, so what's the point, and I like my keyboard and mouse controllers, much more flexible than a control pad). Still got about fifty games for it, with many classics like Prince of Persia, God of War, Hitman, Metal Gear Solid, Red Faction among others and the first game I play, Quidditch World Cup, I really don't know what's wrong with me sometimes, it's like I've got a compunction to do weird things. The next game I played was Masters of the Universe, which is an absolute classic (sarcasm), which I have no idea why I bought it. I think there was a 5 for £30 offer in Game at one point and I was stuck on the fifth game, I saw that and thought, I'll buy that.
That's enough of the past, currently using Dropbox for back ups, straight from the computer to the web, no more big ass usb external drive, no more fucking about with the little USB drives and if a computer dies, just install Dropbox on another 'puter and walla me files are all there. Also easily shared with the people that are alpha readers of my work.
Still can't even look at Burn at the moment, every time I try I just want to curl up into the fetal position and cry, fortunately a lot of the work was hand written and I know what needs taken out and where things need work, it's just doing it is the issue.
I'm working on a couple of other books at the moment, one a Military Sci-fi and the other an Epic Fantasy at the same time I'm got invited to do another submission for another Kristell Ink Charity anthology, this time based around the gods of Olympus, got a tailor made main character for that :). In addition, I've decided to write a whole load of submissions for magazines and anthologies of Sci-fi and Fantasy, which means the next six months are going to be a tad on the hectic side.
I'm also working on the rules systems for a space combat game for my military Sci-fi book series and a wargame for me epic fantasy series. It's hard, but I thought, I've been playing the games for twenty odd years I ought to be able to through together a couple of sets of rules, cross marketing them with the books when they get released. (I know most of the time I'm a pessimistic old codger, but with the writing I don't get pessimistic, even if sometimes the writing is pessimistic).
Oh, yeah, Star Trek: Into Darkness is fuckin awesome, as is Man of Steel, if you haven't seen either of them go see them, I don't know where the critics got the average ratings they've been giving Man of Steel, so it messes with the origin story a little, I think it was smart the way they've done it. Even if you are a Trekkie that hates the idea of the alt Universe, you must see Into Darkness, while it is not as good as Wrath (But come on, how could you better Wrath of Khan) but still an awesome movie with plenty of call backs to the old movies.
Anyway, that's going to be me for this post.
See ya.
So it's been a while since I blogged, and I thought maybe I should about now.
My PC died it's final death after six years of use and the laptop died within a couple of weeks of that , not long before my back-up drive went caflooy with all my work gone, that which wasn't backed up in emails was gone, the whole second draft of Burn, Forest City, Burn which was a couple of chapters and fixes from completion, gone, the typing up of half a dozen other ideas, gone, dozens of short stories, gone, five years worth of research into various things, gone. So you can imagine I wasn't the most pleasant of people to be around for a couple of weeks until I had a new plan. Quite a bit of the writing was written down before it was typed up so all was not lost, but a hell of a lot was my usual off the cuff, fly by the seat of my boxers writing and that's all gone now, never to be seen again.
It took ages for them to figure out what was wrong with the Laptop and still aren't sure what is wrong with the bloody PC, I go the laptop back but still not replaced the PC yet, frankly I'm probably better off, I get more work done without the distractions, not able to play STO, LOTRO, Skyrim or Football Manager, that's a solid thirty hours a week that can be used towards doing other things.
No PC meant no gaming, and it took me almost a month and a half to remember my Playstation 2 (Never bought a console from the last generation, never saw the point when most of the games on consoles are on PC anyway, the Xbox exclusives tend to come out on the PC a year later as well, so what's the point, and I like my keyboard and mouse controllers, much more flexible than a control pad). Still got about fifty games for it, with many classics like Prince of Persia, God of War, Hitman, Metal Gear Solid, Red Faction among others and the first game I play, Quidditch World Cup, I really don't know what's wrong with me sometimes, it's like I've got a compunction to do weird things. The next game I played was Masters of the Universe, which is an absolute classic (sarcasm), which I have no idea why I bought it. I think there was a 5 for £30 offer in Game at one point and I was stuck on the fifth game, I saw that and thought, I'll buy that.
That's enough of the past, currently using Dropbox for back ups, straight from the computer to the web, no more big ass usb external drive, no more fucking about with the little USB drives and if a computer dies, just install Dropbox on another 'puter and walla me files are all there. Also easily shared with the people that are alpha readers of my work.
Still can't even look at Burn at the moment, every time I try I just want to curl up into the fetal position and cry, fortunately a lot of the work was hand written and I know what needs taken out and where things need work, it's just doing it is the issue.
I'm working on a couple of other books at the moment, one a Military Sci-fi and the other an Epic Fantasy at the same time I'm got invited to do another submission for another Kristell Ink Charity anthology, this time based around the gods of Olympus, got a tailor made main character for that :). In addition, I've decided to write a whole load of submissions for magazines and anthologies of Sci-fi and Fantasy, which means the next six months are going to be a tad on the hectic side.
I'm also working on the rules systems for a space combat game for my military Sci-fi book series and a wargame for me epic fantasy series. It's hard, but I thought, I've been playing the games for twenty odd years I ought to be able to through together a couple of sets of rules, cross marketing them with the books when they get released. (I know most of the time I'm a pessimistic old codger, but with the writing I don't get pessimistic, even if sometimes the writing is pessimistic).
Oh, yeah, Star Trek: Into Darkness is fuckin awesome, as is Man of Steel, if you haven't seen either of them go see them, I don't know where the critics got the average ratings they've been giving Man of Steel, so it messes with the origin story a little, I think it was smart the way they've done it. Even if you are a Trekkie that hates the idea of the alt Universe, you must see Into Darkness, while it is not as good as Wrath (But come on, how could you better Wrath of Khan) but still an awesome movie with plenty of call backs to the old movies.
Anyway, that's going to be me for this post.
See ya.
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