I try to do this every holiday season over at the comic, but I’m slammed this year and I thought it’d be nice for people to have a permalink to their sites. Plus, I’m slammed this year and can’t email the emails. Did I mention I’m slammed this year?
Hey! Dog! Don’t be like that. Don’t you know that publishing as an industry is in a state of transition, and that new opportunities for authors to promote and distribute their work to readers seem to be popping up nearly every single day?
Like this one! If you are an author of any stripe, whether that be self-published or traditionally-published, promote your work here! Blurb your book, tell us about your universe, and remember to add a link to where people can buy your stuff.
(Please try to keep it short. Pitching comic projects is fine, but there will be a separate post for artists coming next week, and if you’re an artist you might want to camp there instead.)
K.B. SPANGLER 
My whole life, people have repeated truisms like, “You know, if Rome hadn’t fallen, we’d be colonizing Mars by now.”
Well, in The Valkyrie, you can enter a world in which Rome never fell. Magic and science coexist. All the gods are real. . . and war, naturally, is coming.
Julius Caesar escaped his assassination attempt almost two thousand years ago, and his son by Cleopatra took over Rome after his death, helping to usher in the era of the Empire. The Empire deported the most obstreperous Gallic and Gothic tribes across the ocean, starting the colonization of the western hemisphere before firearms were even invented. . . and the Empire was perfectly fine with people worshiping their own gods within their own provinces, so long as they gave a nod to Rome’s gods, too. There was only one catch: No more human sacrifices, anywhere where the rule of Rome extended.
As our story begins in the year 1954 after the ascension of Caesar, a young girl has been kidnapped, and a team has been assembled to find her and prevent her sacrifice. Some people and their gods seem to believe that the end of the world is at hand. So how can this be prevented. . . and why does prophesy suggest that only one woman will survive Ragnarok?
To do so, everyone must serve. Everyone must sacrifice.
Our cast:
* The god-born: Sigrun Caetia, valkyrie of Tyr, born in Nova Germania, across the sea
* The summoner: Trennus Matrugena, son of a petty king, native of Caledonia
* The archmage: Kanmi Eshmunazar, a former wharf-rat of Tyre, Carthage
* The godslayer: Adam ben Maor, special forces, of Judea
* The prophetess: Sophia, Pythia of Delphi
* The truthsayer: Minori Sasaki, scientist and sorcerer, native of Hokkaido
And the man who brings them together in Rome’s service: Propraetor Antonius Valerius Livorus.
Join their adventure as they encounter gods, men, and monsters, in a realm that goes beyond merely filing the serial numbers off of history, but presents a wholly re-imagined world and history: Edda-Earth.
[Available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Valkyrie-Saga-Edda-Earth-Book-ebook/dp/B00OGW1ULG. Wiki and other information at http://www.edda-earth.com. Social media links available there as well.]
Welcome to the mayhem, and thank you for the opportunity to present this to your audience, Ms. Spangler. I’m a long-time AGAHF reader, and never miss an opportunity to recommend the comic to people I know. 🙂
I recently started my blog
http://provocativepraise.wordpress.com
and I would like you to give it a try, but there is no hurry.
There is a hurry, however, and you might say that time is of the essence, if you use stupid expressions like that, with my friend Kelci Crawford’s Kickstarter:
http://t.co/8FaDNoA7J4 Seeing Him
Only four days left, which is sad, but many rewards still to be claimed (frankly, that’s even more sad).
Please check it out and make up your mind!
Thanks for putting up with me
Timothy
Self-published and small-press published author here! All my self-published works are available nearly everywhere: Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, Kobo, Apple iBooks, and anywhere else Smashwords distributes to. (Scribd and Oyster are on the list as well.) On Smashwords, most or all of the novels have a sample-size of 50%, so one can really tell if one is interested!
I currently have three “universes” that might be of interest. Starting with the stand-alone, Queen of Roses, a science fiction novel reviewed in the September 2014 Analog, wherein an accountant learns that there are fates worse than having one’s indenture sold — and that’s having it sold to a cruise ship on a budget. Then add stowaways.
Continuing with science fiction are my Kintaran stories — felinoid, centauroid aliens who’ve gone from primitives discovered by the spacefaring society to starship-owning clans getting into trouble singularly and en masse. In particular, I recommend “What Really Matters,” where a planetary outing becomes five juvenile Kints on their own, trying to discover what’s going on when their communications to their ship go down. But “Leaping Lizards” is free on Smashwords!
And finally, the fantasy-romance duology: Herb-Witch and Herb-Wife. In a world where alchemy works, immunity to poisons and particularly loyalty-potions is valuable. So valuable that the Lord Alchemist must possess the “alchemist’s immunity.” Unfortunately, it’s rare. So rare, in fact, that when he finally meets an immune woman, he immediately sets himself to court her — even though she’s half-barbarian, unattractive, from the bad side of town, and accused of disminding a man with alchemy. This is something of an unexpectedly uphill battle. As my favorite review on Amazon says: it turns out that proposing to people when you first meet them in a dungeon and you are in a position of power makes it hard for them to trust you. Who knew, right?
Thank you for the opportunity to pitch stuff!
With a few poetry books and general farce, most of my individual works at least have the advantage of being short. The poetry flutters between grimdark and goofy things about cats and bad puns. There’s some humor stuff as well, with the general bibliography and sales links located at: http://wetdryvac.net/wdv/?q=node/3
Oh, and a kid’s book that isn’t, quite, which probably makes for the best item to blurble about: Alphabet Food Distortion is a letters of the alphabet scramble laid out in a crossover between children’s verse and things more unfortunate, so parents should preview the thing to see if they’re comfy having their kids learn about, “D is for Doughboys, back from the war…” And, “M is for mayonnaise which many might mix / with manly meat milkshakes, migod how they’re thick…”
*raises cup of coffee in salute*
Thanks for the chance to pitch, and it’s probably a good plan to set the coffee down before reading.
Ever wish for a superhero story that doesn’t make you wince every time it starts to talk about science or the characters do anything vaguely romantic? Try the complete novel “The Fall of Doc Future” and it’s nearly complete sequel “Skybreaker’s Call”, serialized with a new chapter every two weeks here:
http://docfuture.tumblr.com/
The “Ugly Dirt Box” is the affectionate nickname for magic-powered starships created by the United Corps of Starfield Travelers (UCST). The UCST, based on Terra, uses many Ugly Dirt Boxes to manage message delivery, trade, and diplomatic connections between the many worlds inhabited by elves, dwarves, goblins, and other races.
When a ship is docked on-world, it looks a lot like someone built a fifth-century dwarven feasting hall in the middle of a bunch of modern government buildings and warehouses, but with less character than an actual feasting hall.
The books are written from the point of view of Commander Rylae Westiel, elven Executive Officer of the UCST Corsari, an ambassadorial starship. The first book, Rylae’s Storm, is about the Corsari’s trip to a goblin world to stop a war, only to arrive and find out that nothing is going the way they expected it to.
The Ugly Dirt Box Universe is ‘modernized fantasy’ – a ‘magitech’ environment created when a standard high-fantasy realm of magic-using creatures reached a technological breakthrough, causing the organic development of magic-based technology to allow them to travel the starfield. After ten thousand years of development, many worlds are inhabited, many different types of technology have been invented, and millions of folk live in individual variants of ‘peace and prosperity’ (meaning there are still lots of fights).
Rylae’s Storm, the first book in the series, is free now and forever. You can find links to the books at http://uglydirtbox.com
SB4B is a dialogue based, action-packed mystery.
Contains suspense, sarcasm and science.
It updates five times a week Monday – Friday.
You can find it at sb4b.com.
Multi-published bestselling blah blah author here–the important bits are the wide range of categories I write in:
Paranormal Romance, and Military Science Fiction.
The romances are chock full of plot, comedy, and smut, and take place in a fantasy world (18+ advisory stuff!…but if you read Otter’s novel THE RUSSIANS CAME KNOCKING, you shouldn’t have a heart attack over what’s in mine), and the military scifi got me accused multiple times of having served myself. (For the record, I have not. I just know how to interrogate and extrapolate.)
I also have straight fantasy coming out soon (no real romance attached, marketed as fantasy and not romance), and have dabbled in steampunk fantasy, superhero romance, erotically revised fairytales, and more. My stories can vary wildly in setting and plot content, as you can see…but I guarantee I try to put my best into each and every one of them so that each story will be an enjoyable read.
Why do I bother? Because I’m writing the stories that I myself want to read. (Just ask my roommates; they’ve caught me reading and re-reading my own books from time to time!) Why am I posting this information here? ‘Cause Otter likes my books. That, and I like hers…but I’d recommend reading DIGITAL DIVIDE before reading THE RUSSIANS, ’cause you have to know Peng as a character to understand why I laughed so hard about her simply–nay, blithely!–leaving Glassman’s apartment in his story, near the end.
That’s the kind of humor I like to sneak into my own stories, though right now, the scifi is a bit more on the serious side. But there is humor, oh yes. (“Inevitable” but-still-hasn’t-happened-yet zombie apocalypse jokes 400 years into the future, anyone?)
Most everything I have is available in paperbacks (regular mass market sizes and slightly larger trade paperbacks) and in ebook formats (a wide range of formats at that) as well. The paperbacks will be a little hard to find in physical bookstores as they tend to fly off the shelves, but you can also order online from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and more. Also…might want to buy two copies, because if you agree to loan your only copy out, I am not sending you a replacement when they refuse to give it back.
(And also also, not responsible for you staying up until all hours of the night, sucked into my stories and unable to put them down until you’ve reached the end. Just sayin’.)
Almost forgot this: http://www.JeanJohnson.net
Thank you for the plug-fun! (I’ve already written down a couple just from this list!)
Justice & Mercy – a traditional mystery set in contemporary San Antonio, Texas.
Desperate people make bad decisions, but Justice and Mercy Givens are about to make one of the worst. Co-owners of the Givens Detective Agency, Mercy, a paraplegic genius, and Justice, her gun-toting twin sister, have one rule: no murder cases.
But when the bank balance is low, taxes are due, and an oil baron is holding a blank check, they risk everything on a drug-addled debutante’s innocence. Genevieve Simmons, only daughter of Texas Senator Bob Simmons, swears she didn’t stab her abusive boyfriend.
Mercy is sure Genevieve is guilty. Justice is sure Genevieve is innocent. They’re both sure they can’t afford to return the retainer. Luckily, a “quick” embezzling case drops into their laps. But what should be a fast fee and freedom turns into another murder, and now the twins are scrambling to stay out of the body count. Mercy’s genius plus Justice’s thirty-eight may not be enough this time…
A Thousand Deadly Kisses – Book 2 in the Justice & Mercy series – coming out 12/19!!!
Mercy Givens, feisty genius behind the Givens Detective Agency, is determined to win the San Antonio Chili Chompers Cook-Off Competition Her motivation? To stick it to Marlene Givenchy, reigning Chili Chomper Queen and world-class local diva. Justice, Mercy’s long-suffering twin sister and agency partner, has humbler goals: to get through the competition without strangling one or both of the competitors!
When a Cook-Off judge, who also happens to be Marlene’s lover, dies after sampling her chili, Marlene and Mercy take center stage as suspects number one and two. Marlene hires the twins to find out who poisoned her chili, but it’s not long before she’s arrested for the crime. Mercy, frankly, isn’t sure whether Marlene is innocent or guilty. But it soon becomes apparent that the twins have taken over first place on the murderer’s To-Do list!
Justice and Mercy pull out all the stops to do what they do best – find the truth, dodge bullets, and catch a killer!
Ah, does being an editor count? My author, Isabelle Saint-Michael claims I’ve made “significant contributions” or something like that. We just published two books last month!
“Practical Uses for Princes with Pointed Ears”
Lillian Chambers was just an ordinary high school teacher, until she fell through a Fairy Circle. When she came to on the other side, she was surprised to find herself in the company of an Elven prince she thought only existed in her dreams. Now she’s slaying monsters and rescuing Prince Tallyn, instead of playing the part of the damsel in distress.
Tallyn had been the protector of his kingdom for over one hundred years. He knows that the world is filled with danger around every corner, but these days he’s finding himself babysitting the annoyingly fearless Lady Lillian.
When their worlds collide sparks fly, humorous situations ensue and the only thing for sure is that neither will ever be the same. Practical Uses for Princes with Pointed Ears takes readers on an adventure into a modern fairytale where we explore what it really means to fall for Prince Not-so-Charming.
“Holiday Spirit for Hire”
When life handed half-werewolf Grace MacGregor a pink slip four weeks before Christmas, she was determined to get back to work as soon as possible. She just didn’t expect it to be the very next day – or at the North Pole. She now has four weeks to make other people’s holiday wishes come true, but will she be able to grant her own while she is at it?
Justin Kringle is the nephew of Santa Claus and his job is to keep operations of the Pole on point. When Grace is dropped bed and all into his work shop, he can’t decide if it’s love or hate at first sight. First impression: she’s a total mess. Can he keep her on track and remember to not mix business and pleasure?
She also writes a blog at Elvenlife.com (yes, I edit that too!) that follows the life of a newly-discovered Changeling living in Seoul, South Korea. The books are available at Amazon, Powell’s, and Barnes and Noble. Thanks so much for the space to talk about our books! And I’ll definitely be writing down some of these names….
Hey all, I am a bit of a polymath when it comes to writing. I’ve been working on short story and poetry both for fun and to submit various places, and was a regular at the iron poetry competition at http://www.giantitp.com forums. (if you write poetry, you should check it out in the forums, its a single elimination poetry tournament, lots of fun!) I have a pair of stalled serial novels (rewriting and starting is my goal for Feb next year) at the site I run for starting serial novelists, http://www.dreamfantastic.com (several good stories, though none continue to update currently.)
I write scripts for the web comic http://antiheroescomic.com/ , and co created and write the scripts for http://www.disrealitygears.com . I also do some freelance copy editing and story editing, so anyone that wants a beta reader or an opinion on a piece of writing or story, feel free to drop a line! im at the Gmail under itsatrap (cause it’s always a trap!). (Aaaand… I always have lots of story ideas running around. If you’re an artist who wants to work with someone to create a comic or short gag, and could do with an author either for an idea to work with, or to polish an idea of your own and turn it into a compelling story, I’m always up for it!)
OOOO! and to plug a few other places for writers. http://www.bookcountry.com is a great tool for connecting with other authors. If you’re looking for a good read, http://www.webfictionguide.com has a wide listing of stories that are updating serially, meaning on a regular basis like webcomics. If you’re a writer yourself looking to put stuff online chapter by chapter, or post by post, well… I am always more than happy to build a site for someone at http://www.dreamfantastic,com , but to be honest, some of the awesome serial writers I read collaborated on a MUCH cleaner way to do it, at http://www.starterserials.com GO TO THEM!