Marines (Crimson Worlds I) is now available in paperback.
Marines Paperback at Amazon
The Cost of Victory (Crimson Worlds II) should be available in paperback by early next week.
Also, a quick update, as I have been getting a lot of emails. I am gratified that a lot of people are anxious for book three. Crimson Worlds Book III (A Little Rebellion) will be out the last week of December. I had originally wanted it out in the middle of the month, but I live in NYC, and lost about two weeks to power outages caused by Hurricane Sandy. The book turned out to be a little longer than the others, and I've been working on edits. I will post here and on my mailing list when it is live on the various sites.
Also, if you're not on my mailing list and want to join, just go to my site and sign up. I don't spam my list; I just send out updates and announcements as well as the occasional free story.
www.crimsonworlds.com
I also think I created some confusion with the publication of the first of three prequel novellas. I've gotten a few emails and even got dinged on a review because there was some confusion about the books, etc. in the series.
The core Crimson Worlds series (all full length novels) is:
Marines (available)
The Cost of Victory (available)
A Little Rebellion (December 2012)
The First Imperium (March 2013)
Books 5 & 6 (TBA)
Since as a reader I tend to find myself craving more backstory, I decided to write several prequel novellas, each telling the story of one of the major characters before the events in the main series. These are not full-length novels; they are novellas, about one-third the length of the novels. Some people like shorter works, others may not. While there is a lot of backstory in these, none of them will have anything necessary to the main series. So, if you don't like short works or aren't interested in the prequels, it won't detract from the series itself. If you like more info on the universe in the series and some side-stories the prequels offer that.
Crimson Worlds Prequels:
Tombstone (available now) - Tombstone on Amazon - Backstory on Darius Jax
Consequence of Command (Early January 2013) - Backstory on Augustus Garret
The Gates of Hell (February 2013) - Backstory on Elias Holm
As always, if anyone has any questions or comments, please email me any time - jayallanwrites@gmail.com
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Fast Promotions and Reviews
I've been fortunate to get quite a few really good reviews (and a couple not so good). It's always interesting to see how people react to things differently. I'd probably never read reviews, but I do like to get an idea of what readers think...for obvious reasons, of course, but also because in the end I write for readers. If I think something is good, but the readers in my genre don't like it, I want to know why. I think it is good for my growth as a writer. Sometimes you have something in your head, but if it's not getting through to readers you need to change how you deliver the message.
I don't comment on reviews, not ever. Honestly, that is not a place for me...it's for readers and potential readers. If I posted a review and suddenly found myself sparring with the writer, I'd be creeped out. I aspire to be a lot of things, but creepy isn't one of them. If a reader wants to interact with me, he or she can easily do it on this blog or by email (address in all my books). I get a lot of mail from readers and always enjoy the interaction. But I don't invade the review space or harass my readers to write reviews. If you do, I am always appreciative of the effort, but that is as far as it goes.
One frequent comment in the reviews for Marines is that Cain gets promoted very quickly. That is true, no question. In reviewing these comments I have come to realize that I didn't communicate the situation quite as well as I would have liked. The book covers a period where the Marine Corps is massively expanding, increasing its numbers to face the new realities of warfare on the growing frontier. In my mind as I was writing, I was imagining a time like the American Civil War, where a massive mobilization threw the normal schedules out the window. Mid-level officers found themselves commanding armies in a very short period. In reading the reviews and looking back, I wish I had emphasized the growth of the Corps a bit more.
Nothing enormously important, but a good example of why writers need to listen to readers, something I always intend to do.
I don't comment on reviews, not ever. Honestly, that is not a place for me...it's for readers and potential readers. If I posted a review and suddenly found myself sparring with the writer, I'd be creeped out. I aspire to be a lot of things, but creepy isn't one of them. If a reader wants to interact with me, he or she can easily do it on this blog or by email (address in all my books). I get a lot of mail from readers and always enjoy the interaction. But I don't invade the review space or harass my readers to write reviews. If you do, I am always appreciative of the effort, but that is as far as it goes.
One frequent comment in the reviews for Marines is that Cain gets promoted very quickly. That is true, no question. In reviewing these comments I have come to realize that I didn't communicate the situation quite as well as I would have liked. The book covers a period where the Marine Corps is massively expanding, increasing its numbers to face the new realities of warfare on the growing frontier. In my mind as I was writing, I was imagining a time like the American Civil War, where a massive mobilization threw the normal schedules out the window. Mid-level officers found themselves commanding armies in a very short period. In reading the reviews and looking back, I wish I had emphasized the growth of the Corps a bit more.
Nothing enormously important, but a good example of why writers need to listen to readers, something I always intend to do.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Enough Bad Weather for a While
I'm back after 12 days with no power, courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. The weather set back releases a bit, so I just wanted to give a quick update on what is coming and approximately when these will be out. The key word is approximately!
Tombstone - This is the first prequel novella for the Crimson Worlds series, providing backstory on Darius Jax before the events described in Marines and The Cost of Victory. If you are on my mailing list you will get a free copy of this when it is published. This should be out in a week, possibly ten days.
The print editions of Marines and The Cost of Victory will be released in early December.
A Little Rebellion (Crimson Worlds #3) will be released in mid-late December.
The Fall (Shattered States II) is a novella and the follow-up to the Last Veteran. It will be released in late December or early January.
The second Crimson Worlds prequel novella is also in the works, probably for a late-January release.
The First Imperium (Crimson Worlds IV) will probably be out in March.
There are a couple other things in the works, and I'll post about them when they are closer to publication.
Tombstone - This is the first prequel novella for the Crimson Worlds series, providing backstory on Darius Jax before the events described in Marines and The Cost of Victory. If you are on my mailing list you will get a free copy of this when it is published. This should be out in a week, possibly ten days.
The print editions of Marines and The Cost of Victory will be released in early December.
A Little Rebellion (Crimson Worlds #3) will be released in mid-late December.
The Fall (Shattered States II) is a novella and the follow-up to the Last Veteran. It will be released in late December or early January.
The second Crimson Worlds prequel novella is also in the works, probably for a late-January release.
The First Imperium (Crimson Worlds IV) will probably be out in March.
There are a couple other things in the works, and I'll post about them when they are closer to publication.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Prequel Novellas
This is a great time to be writing fiction. New technologies allow a closer interaction with readers, which is an amazing thing. Of course it is (and always has been) nice to get good reviews, but it is another thing again to get emails with specific feedback from readers...what they liked, what they want to see more of in upcoming works. The ability to feasibly offer shorter works also allows a lot more flexibility in how a story is told.
I've had a number of people email and say they'd like to see some side stories set around the main Crimson Worlds storyline. As it happens, I had done some work on something very much like this, so I decided to take a couple weeks away from finishing book three to polish one of these and throw it out there. It should be available in about a week, and I will be offering it free to members of my mailing list (you can join at http://www.crimsonworlds.com).
There will be at least three in all, and each will be a prequel novella covering the earlier life and career of one of the Crimson Worlds characters. The first features Darius Jax, and the next two will be about General Holm and Admiral Garret. They will all be outside the main storyline, so a reader who just wants the novels will not be affected. But those who want a little more on where these characters came from will have the option.
I've had a number of people email and say they'd like to see some side stories set around the main Crimson Worlds storyline. As it happens, I had done some work on something very much like this, so I decided to take a couple weeks away from finishing book three to polish one of these and throw it out there. It should be available in about a week, and I will be offering it free to members of my mailing list (you can join at http://www.crimsonworlds.com).
There will be at least three in all, and each will be a prequel novella covering the earlier life and career of one of the Crimson Worlds characters. The first features Darius Jax, and the next two will be about General Holm and Admiral Garret. They will all be outside the main storyline, so a reader who just wants the novels will not be affected. But those who want a little more on where these characters came from will have the option.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The Cost of Victory Released
The Cost of Victory was just uploaded to the various sites and should be available within a few hours. COV is the second book in the Crimson Worlds series and the follow up to Marines.
Marines was very focused on the early career of Erik Cain, but the second book expands the viewpoint, introducing a number of new characters and looking more broadly at the Superpowers and their struggles. I've always enjoyed science fiction with rich backgrounds, and that is what I try to write as well, so COV takes a closer look at the Crimson Worlds universe.
I'm busy finishing the third book, A Little Rebellion, which will be released in December.
Marines was very focused on the early career of Erik Cain, but the second book expands the viewpoint, introducing a number of new characters and looking more broadly at the Superpowers and their struggles. I've always enjoyed science fiction with rich backgrounds, and that is what I try to write as well, so COV takes a closer look at the Crimson Worlds universe.
I'm busy finishing the third book, A Little Rebellion, which will be released in December.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
First Post
This is going to be a blog to support my science fiction and fantasy writing, which means that is mostly what I'm going to talk about. I'm going to try to post 1-2 times per week, but that's subject to deadlines and workloads.
Right now, I'm reviewing the final edit for book two of the Crimson Worlds series, The Cost of Victory, which is launching in e-book format in a couple days. I'm also finishing the writing on book three, A Little Rebellion, which is being released on December 17, 2012. In between these two releases I'm putting out another novella in the Shattered States series and the print versions of Marines and The Cost of Victory are coming out by the end of the month.
So the current workload is pretty significant, but I intend to find the time for this blog. I feel very strongly in interaction with readers. To me, there is no greater inspiration or influence on future work than the people who read (and hopefully enjoy) my books. Hopefully some of you will engage in some discussions on here and let me know what you liked (and didn't) and what you hope to see next.
I'm also going to do some posts about other science fictions and fantasy books I have enjoyed. Some of these may be older classics, while others may be new works. I think it might be enjoyable to discuss some of the works that have influenced my own.
The rest I will make up as I go along.
Right now, I'm reviewing the final edit for book two of the Crimson Worlds series, The Cost of Victory, which is launching in e-book format in a couple days. I'm also finishing the writing on book three, A Little Rebellion, which is being released on December 17, 2012. In between these two releases I'm putting out another novella in the Shattered States series and the print versions of Marines and The Cost of Victory are coming out by the end of the month.
So the current workload is pretty significant, but I intend to find the time for this blog. I feel very strongly in interaction with readers. To me, there is no greater inspiration or influence on future work than the people who read (and hopefully enjoy) my books. Hopefully some of you will engage in some discussions on here and let me know what you liked (and didn't) and what you hope to see next.
I'm also going to do some posts about other science fictions and fantasy books I have enjoyed. Some of these may be older classics, while others may be new works. I think it might be enjoyable to discuss some of the works that have influenced my own.
The rest I will make up as I go along.
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