A Semi-Not-Horribly-Regular Newsletter #5
In this issue: Out of Due Season Preorder Information, New Posts, 2022 Indie Author Review Program Selections, This Past Few Week’s Work, news about the Transit series, and Recent Reads (a review).
But first… Now through February 7th, you can enter to win one of 100 copies of Out of Due Season: The First Transit through Goodreads. Just click the button and see how easy it is to enter.
Preorder Now
We are just two weeks away from the launch of the Transit series, and you still have time to preorder the novel for just $0.99 and have a chance to enter the drawing for a new Kindle packed with 100 books. The price will return to normal shortly after its release, so you don’t want to miss out.
Out of Due Season: The First Transit will be released on February 8, 2022!
What if humanity had a second chance?
On a June afternoon, a body is discovered floating in a remote lake in northwestern Washington. When a recovery team attempts to retrieve it, they make a shocking discovery: 311 other bodies lie under the water, all members of a previously unknown religious cult. However, what appears to be a tragedy of immense proportions is only the beginning.
When a few relatives and friends of the victims discover inconsistencies in the stories, a small group bands together to learn the truth. As government agencies apply pressure for reasons unknown and civil unrest in the country makes communication and movement difficult, this tiny yet determined team unravels what may be the greatest event in recent—if not all—human history.
Something epic is about to happen in that remote lake, and as competing sides inch ever closer to the truth, the last pieces of the puzzle are revealed.
The First Transit is for those who follow the rules, while disaster awaits everyone else.
Check out the 1st Excerpt here.
As I mentioned, this book is the first in a series called Transit. More about the series in an upcoming newsletter. The second book is expected in mid-2022 with the third shortly thereafter. In sum, there are eight books scheduled! This is a whirlwind ride that ultimately asks the question:
Would humanity’s sociological journey look the same if it had a chance to start over?
If you like generational stories or are a fan of science fiction epic series such as Dune or Foundation, Transit is for you! Preorder Out of Due Season: The First Transit today!
New Posts
- New blog articles:
- What the Devil is Anthropological Science Fiction?
- The genre of anthropological science fiction sounds like an oxymoron on the surface. But as I attempt to prove here, it is actually a genre with which we are all very familiar.
- On Writing a Synopsis, Blurb, Logline and Tagline
- It’s the same for every writer, I suppose: the synopsis is a beast that guards the gates of publication, one that rears its ugly head right after finishing a 100,000-word novel. So, how do you best write one?
- Research: Some Odd Findings
- What the Devil is Anthropological Science Fiction?
The 2022 Indie Author Review Program Selections
I have chosen the following 12 books to be reviewed through my Indie Author Review Program.
- Broken Pledges by Kevin Kilgarriff (Mystery/Thriller) – reviewed below
- Gathering of the Four: Book One of The Serrulata Saga by A. E. Bennett (Dystopian Science Fiction)
- Songbird Ascension by Khira Allen (Hard Science Fiction)
- Squid Face Girl and A Wretched Little Book of Poems by Allen Isom (Supernatural Horror, Young Adult)
- Captain Madigan by Patrick Fullmer (Science Fiction Space Opera, Humor)
- Fee Simple Conditional by Harriet Helfand (Contemporary Fiction, Legal Thriller)
- Bibi Blundermuss and the Tree Across the Cosmos by Andrew Durkin (Fantasy, Middle Grade)
- The Anuvi Incident by James Vincett (Science Fiction Space Opera)
- Twenty-Eight by Raymond Beaman (Horror, Short Story Collection)
- Soul of Lucifer: Lost by Rune Rivers (Supernatural Horror, Urban Fantasy)
- American Nomads by N.l. McLaughlin (Literary Fiction)
- Pearl in the Deep by Katherine L. Parker (Cross genre: Science Fiction, Mystery, Horror, Psychological)
These are not the only books I intend to read and review during 2022, but they are the ones I have selected to be bought, read, reviewed and promoted in my newsletter and on social media throughout the year. Stay tuned each month as I present a new review from this list, and check out the Reviews page for all reviews.
This Past Few Week’s Work
On January 1st, I returned to the third book in the Transit series. Aside from finalizing all things in preparation for the launch of Out of Due Season: The First Transit, I will be working on this third novel for the next few months.
The second novel in the series (The Second Transit–not it’s final name) is now out with some beta readers and is expected to publish in the summer. More details on this novel (along with its title) will be coming up in the next newsletter.
Recent Reads
Aestus: Book 1: The City
Cli-Fi, or climate fiction, is not new to the world of literature. Jules Verne’s 1889 novel The Purchase of the North Pole is the earliest example I know of. However, cli-fi has seen an uptick in offerings over the past decade. Typically, cli-fi sticks to near future timelines with a distinct dystopian feel. Some novels, however, take us centuries into the future and employ unique engineering or adaptation methods to allow the characters to exist in the first place.
S. Z. Attwell’s Aestus: Book 1: The City is one of those books. Set long after a climate disaster that has left the surface of our planet incredibly difficult to inhabit, the story focuses on a solar engineer turned Patrol named Jossey Sokol and her discovery of the true threats to the society.
Primarily told from Jossey’s point of view, the story successfully weaves political intrigue, mystery, science fact, science fiction, classism, betrayal, action and even romance together in order to bring us into the City and beyond. This is a drama, a cli-fi that sometimes feels as operatic as Dune or Foundation. And while those two novels are set in a place far removed from Earth, Aestus: Book 1: The City is set here, and that makes it all the more possible…and very similar to the world of today.
To pull off so many elements of fiction in one book takes a lot of pages (700 or so), but the writing is smooth, without too much superfluous narration. Attwell does an outstanding job. It is easy to digest and engaging as I thought about how the present is exposed in this novel’s future. While it does end on a cliffhanger, Aestus: Book 1: The City does not leave us wondering about much. All in all, S. Z. Attwell’s novel is a fitting entry into the cli-fi library, and I look forward to reading Book 2.
Broken Pledges
My college experience was atypical. As such, I was never in a Greek fraternity, but several of my friends from high school were. I’d heard stories from them, but I suspect there were a lot more that were left out. I have been fascinated with the Greek life, however, and Broken Pledges by Kevin Kilgarriff certainly satiated my need to know more.
The novel begins with a history lesson, one that I was most appreciative of. You can skip that part if you’re already super knowledgeable about Greek fraternities and sororities, but I do not recommend it. I believe the introduction sets the scene perfectly and immediately immerses the reader in the Kilgarriff’s world so that when first chapter kicks off, we’re already there.
Broken Pledges is a mystery/thriller novel, one of the few genres I enjoy which are not rooted in speculative fiction. The story follows two paths which intersect right away: the false accusations of murder suffered by a fraternity pledge and the mirror accusations levied against his own son twenty-eight years later. The set up is nicely done and left a mystery that stayed with me until the end.
Unlike some mystery novels, I was not able to guess the ending until, well, the ending. To me, this is the hallmark of a good mystery novel. If I figured it out by the middle, I’m left skimming to the end. I did not do that with Broken Pledges. I had to know what really happened and I had to have a resolution I was satisfied with. Kilgarriff weaved in enough red herrings for me to keep wondering about who did what and, more importantly, why.
The only story fault I could find with the novel had to do with the town police and the reporter While it is not always necessary to fully flush out side characters, these were too one-dimensional and not as convincing as I would have liked. Nevertheless, it did not detract too much from the story.
Overall, Broken Pledges is a quick, engaging and exciting read, one that I fully recommend to fans of straight-forward mystery novels. I look forward to more from Kilgarriff in the future.
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That does it for this issue of the newsletter. I’ll see you back here next time!
— Ben
