Halcyon’s Heirs is Released

Book 4 in the Pirates of the Milky Way series is up on Amazon! Here’s the blurb:

The survivors of the SLS Excelsior are marooned on Halcyon, an abandoned planet limited by 19th century technology. In Epsilon University, the seed of Resistance is forming, and attracting unwanted attention. And on Lute, the Tetrarch sends in the Marshal’s Service to try and recapture his daughter Jillian. Meanwhile, a secret gold shipment to Petra Roe attracts the attention of certain pirates.

The book also contains a bonus Patreon short story that won’t be published elsewhere.

Ghostsuit to be published by Kindle Press!

Amazon’s digital imprint, Kindle Press, has decided to publish the second Empathic Detective novel, Ghostsuit!

Thanks to everybody who nominated it for publication through Kindle Scout. You’ll get your free copy from Amazon when it’s released in a few weeks.

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Only a few days left to nominate Ghostsuit

Time is marching down on the Kindle Scout campaign for Ghostsuit. If you nominate the book, and Kindle Press decides to publish it, they’ll send you a free copy through Amazon!

Click on over and check it out. The campaign ends Nov. 22.

 

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Ghostsuit: An Empathic Detective Novel is on Kindle Scout

Today marks the start of the Kindle Scout campaign for Ghostsuit: An Empathic Detective Novel.

This will be the second Empathic Detective book, following the adventures of Detective Gerald Bryce. Here is the blurb for the new book:

A serial killer is loose in Central Texas. The Hangman steals victims’ DNA, disappearing without a trace. When Gerald Bryce investigates, he uncovers a far more sinister plot. Someone is intent on creating artificial life and harnessing its clairvoyant powers. Can he stop the Hangman before people he loves get hurt? And can he stop the larger plot before everyone in the city falls under a dangerous psychic spell? A ghostsuit may hold the key, by giving him an electronic set of spectral powers.

Readers who nominate the book for publication will receive a free copy from Amazon if Kindle Press publishes the book.

Please nominate the book today.

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Phasers in the Wild West

I still get hits to an article I wrote a while back, Lasers vs. Lead in Science Fiction: Pew-Pew or Pow-Pow?

In it I explored the use of gunpowder weapons in science fiction, notably in the movie Aliens but also on occasion even in places like the original Star Trek (where admittedly, they were described as antiques).

These thoughts were running through my head while writing the first Redwood book, which takes place on the second-farthest planet from Earth. At that distance, technology has to be super reliable, because fixing things that break becomes problematic. Consequently, a lot of the technology in that book is relatively simple.

I’m reminded of the whole discussion again thanks to my new work in progress, which is an alternative history where technology is about 200 years or so farther along than in our timeline, but most of the key events remain the same. The American Revolution was televised. Drones and AI played a role in the American Civil War, etc.

So yes, in this book, cowboys on the plains get to shoot “pew-pew” weapons at each other.

If you’d like a sneak peek at a rough draft of the first couple of chapters, jump on my mailing list and I’ll send it your way.

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photo credit: DAKKAR via photopin (license)