Spirits of a Glitch – Launch Day

Woot! Spirits of a Glitch is now available! 😀

This is the final book in Tim’s story, following what happens when a second terrifying airship made from shapeshifters and technology is created… only this one isn’t as obedient as the first.

With Spirits of a Glitch, the Glitch Saga is now complete, I’m off to work on other books in the Distant Horizon Universe. But, seeing as how those books still need editing before I can release them, why not check out Tim’s story in the meantime?

Upper YA Science Fiction

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | BN.com | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

“We are legion. But you, Master Zaytsev, are only one…”

Nineteen-year-old council member, Tim Zaytsev, is tasked with removing glitches from the council’s newest living airship, the CLS Manticore. Like its predecessor, the Manticore is formed from living shapeshifters. Their minds were wiped and their memories erased, but the occasional “ghost” of their personalities remain.

Removing the “ghosts” should be simple after dealing with the first vessel. But the task descends into madness when the Manticore traps Tim within its fleshy walls and attempts to force him to join the shapeshifters who made the merge.

Determined to undermine the ship’s dangerous, telepathic games and convince the other council members that the ship is manipulating them, Tim must summon a courage he’s never had, the courage to stay and fight. But doing so would force him to confront the vessel alone—a path that can only end in his destruction.

Buy now!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | BN.com | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Haven’t read the first book yet? Sign up for the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter to read the first book, Whispers in the Code, for free!

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Enjoy! 😀

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Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

Another month has passed. Not quite as much done this month, but that’s in part due to taking care of things like taxes and going on a trip to Missouri for Spring Break (visiting family, friends, and enjoying the anime convention my husband and I like going to).

We still have snow. It’s now a mixture of snow and ice, due to yesterday’s warmer day, but the snow still triumphed! It’s spitting snow now. 🙂

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Glitch: Whispers in the Code and Ghost of a Memory are both now available, and Spirits of a Glitch releases this Saturday! That means the mini-series will be complete!

With those books published, my next step with the Glitch Saga will be to create the print editions. With luck, I’ll have that done in April. But I still need to create the wrap-around covers and format the interior for print, as well as order proof copies, so I’m not setting any release date for the print editions just yet.

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). I finished the latest round of edits and revisions a couple days ago, and I’ve sent it out to the next beta-reader. Depending on their feedback, this one might end up with another reader before it’s finished, or it might move on to the read-aloud stage. We’ll see. I feel like all the story elements are in place now, but there may be some pacing issues that still need to be resolved (especially since it’s currently sitting at 161,000 words).

Distant Horizon: When I create the print editions for the Glitch Saga, I also intend to update the print edition of Distant Horizon so that it has the new cover.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold.

Little One: On hold.

Book Three of The Wishing Blade series: This is my next big project. With the Glitch Saga complete and Fractured Skies out to beta-readers, I am now set to tackle Isaac’s notes and wrangle this one into a cohesive book. Oh… and I might finally have a title for it. Keep an eye out for news about that. 🙂

Wind and Words: (Book 2 of Stone and String). Out to beta-readers. After I get their feedback, I’m going to do one final pass and then hand it over to Isaac.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: I’ve gotten feedback from beta-readers, so I’m ready to start work on this. It’s in the queue after I finish edits on book three of The Wishing Blade series. In the meantime, I still need to revise the related short story.

At the moment, I think these will stand alone, but I have ideas of what else I can do in this world if readers show interest.

Marketing: While in Missouri, we stopped by the Warrensburg Reader’s World and did a semi-impromptu book signing (Thanks for having us, Sai! 😀 ). I think it went well. 🙂

In the meantime, I’m continuing to build our newsletters, and I’ve been releasing the Distant Horizon Universe and The Wishing Blade Universe newsletters every other week (I end up writing one newsletter a week).

 

Check out the top of this blog’s side bar for the updated newsletter section. It now has links for all three newsletters.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished creating a banner related to the logo I created earlier.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: Got beta-reader feedback on the first 44,000 words, and I’ve decided to go ahead and make it a full-length novel. It’s currently sitting at 48,000 words. Slow going, especially with all the other projects I’ve been trying to finish, but I’m thinking about making it my CampNaNo project.

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That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

Behind the Scenes – Lesson Plan For Murder

A cover for Barking Rain Press. For this cover, since the mystery involves the murder of a school teacher, the publisher was looking for something that would convey the theme (as cozy mysteries often do). So we chose to have the chalkboard background with a chalk-like font for the title, along with books and pencils on the desk, which would create the sense of a school setting. We also included hints of the murder weapon by having the concealed pills and the spilled coffee… obviously drank from due to the lipstick stain.

This is the final result:

Stock images from Shutterstock:

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stack-old-books-isolated-on-white-110298509 – books
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cup-pens-pencils-isolated-74529190 – pencil cup
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cup-coffee-spilled-on-computer-keyboard-76303951 – coffee cup
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wooden-table-on-blank-green-board-208701988 – blackboard and table
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/lip-stain-vector-241323901 – lipstick stain
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pill-bottle-concept-healthcare-medicine-97588814 – pill bottle

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

Well, this month sure flew by fast. But it’s been productive (aside from both me and Isaac catching a cold). At least, as productive as a launch month tends to be, while still figuring out the loops and holes that come with a launch.

Also, there is snow. There is a lot of snow. Really fluffy, pretty snow. A lot of it.

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Glitch: Whispers in the Code is now available! (You can download it for free if you sign up for the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter). In the meantime, Ghost of a Memory just released on Monday, and the third book (previously titled For We Are Many) now has its official name, Spirits of a Glitch. We hope to release it in mid-to-late March.

Isaac and I are progressing through the read-aloud phase of Spirits of a Glitch, and then I’ll format it, proofread it, and then upload it for pre-order. I also need to do the final touches on the cover.

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). I’ve gotten notes back from my beta-reader, and I’m now in the process of editing. Then it will go out to another beta-reader.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold.

Little One: On hold.

Book Three of The Wishing Blade series: I need to review Isaac’s notes and then begin revisions. Hopefully this will start after The Glitch Saga is complete.

Wind and Words: (Book 2 of Stone and String). Got feedback from my beta-reader. I finished a round of minor edits, and then I sent it out to another beta-reader. Next, after I’ve made those revisions, I’ll hand it to Isaac to look over with developmental notes.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Got a book cover done and created a flier / finished a logo.

Game Development: On hold while Isaac works on obtaining his PhD.

Marketing: Increased newsletter subscriber count by taking part in several giveaways on BookFunnel and InstaFreebie. I’m going to do at least one more month of BookFunnel, and then we’ll see if the newsletter translates into sales or not. Depending on the results will determine whether I try using InstaFreebie and/or BookFunnel giveaways as a long-term plan.

If you want to sign up for the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter (and download Whispers in the Code for free), click here.

If you want to sign up for the Wishing Blade Universe newsletter (and download “Stone and String” for free), click here.

If you just want to be informed of new releases and events, sign up for the Infinitas Publishing newsletter by clicking here.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: I hadn’t planned on making progress with this, but since I haven’t had a chance to look at the notes for the third Wishing Blade series book, this sort of got shuffled upward on my to-do list. I’ve finished the first pass of revisions and it’s now out to beta-readers.

I still need to make revisions to a related short story, and then that can go out to beta-readers, too.

In the meantime, I created a proof for a potential cover for the main story, and I’ve been developing ideas for a possible continuation of the story into a series.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: Slowly making progress on this. I got feedback back from a beta-reader who read the first 20,000 words and confirmed it is going in the right direction (once a few tweaks are made), so I’m continuing to write this. It’s slow going since it’s a side project and the other projects take precedence… and because working game mechanics into the story means it takes me a little longer than usual to write the rough draft. I want to get the mechanics right the first time… rather than having a cascading effect of failures if I mess up the stats early on.

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That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

Ghost of a Memory – Launch Day!

Hey, everybody! Today’s the launch day for Ghost of a Memory! 😀

Ghost of a Memory is the second book in The Glitch Saga, and continues the story of Tim Zaytsev as he attempts to reprogram a living airship made from shapeshifters. But the glitches are getting worse, and the Legion Spore’s rogue personality is threatening Tim’s sanity with a series of nightmares that are more real than Tim wants to believe.

Ghost of a Memory

Upper YA Science Fiction

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | BN.com | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Some ghosts refuse to be forgotten.

Nineteen-year-old council member, Tim Zaytsev, oversees the Legion Spore—a living airship made from shapeshifters. He’s tasked with removing glitches, fragments of the shapeshifters’ memories that reside as “ghosts” in the ship’s code.

But as he removes each glitch, the ship shows an alarming trend toward developing its own personality. It clearly prefers to work with Tim instead of his superiors, and its haunting dreams invade Tim’s sleep, filling his mind with false memories of an affair with the alluring Lady Black, a council member known for her seductive advances. As the dreams intensify, he can’t even look at his loving girlfriend without remembering Lady Black’s touch.

Determined to perform his duties to the council while remaining faithful, Tim searches for the source of the Legion Spore’s rogue personality. But as the dreams descend into nightmares, Tim begins to suspect they aren’t random glitches; they’re warnings from the “ghost” of Lady Black’s lover.

To ensure a lifetime with the woman he loves, Tim must find the source of the Legion Spore’s rogue personality before the vessel usurps his mind, trapping him like all the other “ghosts” in the code.

Purchase Today!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | BN.com | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Haven’t read the first book yet? Sign up for the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter to read the first book, Whispers in the Code, for free!

* * *

Enjoy! 🙂

Thoughts on Writing – Flash Fiction – “Unicorn”

I recently met Charli Mills, a local author who introduced me to her website, Carrot Ranch. There, a community of writers respond to weekly prompts for flash fiction, which, for their purposes, is fiction with an exact count of 99 words.

This week’s prompt is “Unicorn.” I very much enjoyed researching the mythology of unicorns when I was in junior high and high school, so I decided to take part in the fun. First, with a darker variant on the idea of the unicorn, which was inspired by stories in which the unicorn was used in courts to determine if a criminal was guilty or not. (You can blame these stories for the version of the chesnathé mentioned in The Shadow War, a brutal, bulky, immortal equine who tends to pass judgment on “lower beings.”) Second, I also wrote a lighter variant (following a more European story).

Enjoy. 🙂

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“Judgement”

His curved horn meets with flesh and another criminal meets his fate. A sinner. A thief. No more shall he steal. The crowd roars their approval. The unicorn raises his bulky head and swings it side to side like a bull. They cheer for him and his judgment.

He flicks his tail, slender like a cow’s, with a tuft of brown hair at the end. The rest of his fur is black. His horn is tri-colored. Black at the base, cinnamon in the middle, and red on top. Stained red… it would be brown, but the blood never dries.

* * *

“Captured”

Her fingers pass through the creature’s mane, which is silky white, like threads dipped in the morning dew. He is in chains. She slides her fingers under the delicate silver.

“You will be free.”

His ears swivel, listening. She strokes the damp fur of his neck. He breathes hard from the chase.

“Do not worry. I will return.”

She disappears, her slippers padding through the rain-flushed grass. When she returns, her gossamer gown whispering around her calves, the unicorn raises his head. His blue eyes regard her, pleading.

She reveals a pair of wire cutters and smiles. “Be free.”

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I hope you enjoyed this post. If you want to participate, head over to Carrot Ranch for their Feb 22nd prompt. 🙂

Ghost of a Memory – Available for Pre-order!

So, I don’t think I’ve shown you guys the book cover for Ghost of a Memory yet (unless you happen to be subscribed to the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter). But Isaac and I are happy to announce that the next book of the Glitch Saga is now available for pre-order! Ghost of a Memory will be published on February 26th,  so you don’t have to wait long before you can find out what happens next. It’s as fast-paced (if not more so) than Whispers in the Code, and you’ll get to read more about the illusive Lady Black, as well as the haunting Legion Spore.

Ghost of a Memory

Available February 26th, 2018

Some ghosts refuse to be forgotten.

Nineteen-year-old council member, Tim Zaytsev, oversees the Legion Spore—a living airship made from shapeshifters. He’s tasked with removing glitches, fragments of the shapeshifters’ memories that reside as “ghosts” in the ship’s code.

But as he removes each glitch, the ship shows an alarming trend toward developing its own personality. It clearly prefers to work with Tim instead of his superiors, and its haunting dreams invade Tim’s sleep, filling his mind with false memories of an affair with the alluring Lady Black, a council member known for her seductive advances. As the dreams intensify, he can’t even look at his loving girlfriend without remembering Lady Black’s touch.

Determined to perform his duties to the council while remaining faithful, Tim searches for the source of the Legion Spore’s rogue personality. But as the dreams descend into nightmares, Tim begins to suspect they aren’t random glitches; they’re warnings from the “ghost” of Lady Black’s lover.

To ensure a lifetime with the woman he loves, Tim must find the source of the Legion Spore’s rogue personality before the vessel usurps his mind, trapping him like all the other “ghosts” in the code.

Pre-order Today!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | BN.com | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Goodreads

Haven’t read the first book yet? Sign up for the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter to read Whispers in the Code for free!

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Enjoy! 🙂