It’s been a while since I’ve posted (sorry, I’m still working hard on my next book) and hadn’t planned to post but this piece from Terry on Rosie’s blog deserves to be spread far and wide.
If you are an author and you ask someone for their honest opinion of your work, don’t get upset if they give it. Book bloggers are treasures. They should be encouraged, praised, and if possible given red wine and chocolates. These wonderful people give up their time, for free, to review books. And as every book is a piece of art, whether they like it or not is subjective (if you don’t believe me, look up the one-star reviews on your favourite book).
A well-thought out review is a gift, whether positive or negative, and if you don’t think you can react well to somebody not liking your book, then you should think long and hard about publishing it at all.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Interview: Dylan S. Hearn, Author of Second Chance, Book 1 of The Transcendence Trilogy
Susan from Dab of Darkness was kind enough to interview me the other day and I had an absolute blast revealing my hidden Tolkien geek!
Feel free to check it out on Susan’s blog where she also has lots of reviews, interviews, and giveaways.
Everyone, please give a warm welcome to author Dylan Hearn. Learn about Dylan’s fascination with The Lord of the Rings and also about his science fiction thriller, Second Chance.
What now-dead author would you like to interview? What are some of the things you would chat about?
I’d like to interview Iain Banks and ask about how he manages to slip so seamlessly between writing well-respected literary fiction and equally well-respected science fiction with his culture novels. I’d also like to know how he came up with his names for the ships. They’re genius!
If you could, what book/movie/TV series would you like to experience for the first time all over again and why?
This is a really difficult question. I’d love to relive the moment I experienced watching the Fellowship of the Rings on the big screen. The Lord of the Rings was the first book (or…
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Genesis Redux by Dylan S. Hearn
How to make an author’s day!
The first official review of Genesis Redux is in from Dave Higgins. Thank you so much for your kind words. Is it too early in the day to open the champagne?
Hearne mixes complex, gritty politics with technology just beyond our own to create a dystopia that is both surprising and all too familiar.
This novel is the third volume in the Transcendence Trilogy. As such, the remainder of this data file poses a risk of corrupting the users surprise file for previous volumes.
Nico Tandelli and Mike O’Driscoll have been imprisoned by mysterious forces. Stephanie Vaughn is trapped in an unresponsive body. And the conservative faction of Global Governance are all but overthrown. But as Indigo reaches for the prize she has lied, stolen, and manipulated her way toward, it is snatched from her. As each struggles to break free, the secret battle for humanity’s future becomes open war.
As befits the conclusion of a trilogy, both the scale and consequences of the plot are larger. However, Hearne deftly avoids catastrophe for the sake of it; at its heart this…
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Gatecrash: Liberating creativity in the age of boilerplate fiction
This is the first of a series of posts by Kevin Brennan about indie publishing and the art of writing. I agree with a lot of what Kevin says, not all, but as a thought-provoking look at where literature is heading his series of posts are excellent (with more to come).
Last March I developed a long essay on the state of fiction these days, as I see it — particularly the fiction we associate with the indie market. It’s probably thought of mainly as genre fiction, though there’s a mixed bag of material out there, available predominantly as ebooks from Amazon.com. It struck me — still strikes me, in fact — that the tools offered by online publishing present an enormous opportunity that’s not being taken advantage of by writers, artistic freedom being the biggest elephant in the room.
I had planned on publishing the essay as a standalone ebook, but over the course of the year I realized that hawking my novels is hard enough. I’ve decided instead to post it in eleven parts here on the blog, offering it at the end as a free pdf download. Each part will run about a thousand words so it’s easily…
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Second Chance – a review
This is a lovely review of Second Chance by Jane Dougherty as featured on Susan Toy’s Reading Recommendations Reviewed.
This review has a particular place in my heart as it was one of the first reviews I received from another writer whose work I admired. Up until this point I just thought people were being kind. After this review I started believing in myself a little more.
Second Chance
by Dylan S. Hearn
Second Chance is thrilling and chilling. There is blood and gore, but it is the cold-blooded, or even bloodless aspect of British society that is really at the core of this story of a political system that controls everything even beyond the grave.
There are four distinct threads to the story as well as sub-stories, as murky as the crumbling cityscape. Each chapter adds a little more detail to one of the main threads, and as Dylan Hearn pulls in the threads, we begin to see through the murk to where they are all going. And it’s not a nice place, I can tell you.
The technical parts, the cloning and regeneration, the memories that are replaced in the new brain, or not, depending, seem perfectly feasible to a non-techy person like me. The idea of cheating death on the one…
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No author is an island …
If I had one piece of advice for any author, whether they choose to go the indie route or prefer toward with a publisher, it is to read this post then work out how you can support your fellow authors.
I had my ‘road to Damascus’ moment nearly 2 years ago, realising that there was no point trying to persuade people to buy my indie book if I was’t buying books by other indie authors. Since then I’ve read many indie books and promoted those I’ve enjoyed on my blog. The best thing about it has been discovering so many great authors and becoming part of a much greater, supportive community.
So what are you waiting for?
I finished reading a book on marketing that, while good, worthwhile, and filled with lots of ideas and information (much of which I already use) to get your book out there and selling, it fell short, in my estimation.
Yes, it discussed the importance of building a fan base and giving fans what they want, and it also suggested one way of developing your career as being to call on others more experienced in your field and essentially “use” them and their influence to get ahead (something I didn’t particularly agree with).
But where the book fell short was in not once mentioning the importance of “promoting the writing and books of other authors” or in working with other authors to create a community in which all can thrive. Authors who read and follow the advice in this book will come out looking like lone wolves grasping after sales alone…
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Yesterday Road is now just 99 cents
Yesterday Road was one of my books of last year, a beautifully written tale about a man looking to get home and finding so much more, so this is an absolute steal. Hurry, while the offer lasts!
You heard me right. To build up uncontainable excitement for the December 8th release of Town Father in Kindle format, I’ll be running sales on my other two indie titles. From now till the release, you can nab Yesterday Road for 99 cents.
Occasional Soulmates will go on sale for 99 cents on December 3rd.
Meanwhile, you can pre-order Town Father for a neatly affordable $2.99. (Be among the proud, and the few!)
Reading Recommendations Celebrates 2 Years of Promoting Authors and Their Books!
I’m a little late on this as I’ve been tucked away editing my book (while ignoring the banging and crashing of builders) but the wonderful Susan Toy is celebrating the second anniversary of her Reading Recommendations blog.
For those who don’t know her, Susan is a great supporter of indie writers and is a big proponent of paying something back to the community. She works tirelessly searching out new, wonderful writers and promotes them on the condition that those writers reciprocate to others in the writing community.
She is one of blogging’s good guys and if you’ve not done so already, please go over to her blog and say hi. She’s even running a series of giveaways donated by writers she’s helped in the past. Having read some of these books and recommended them myself, you really should get over there quick before they all go!Many congratulations, Susan! I would be happy to donate a free epub or mobi of both Second Chance or Absent Souls in celebration of your great work and as thanks for all the support you’ve given me. Here’s to the next two years and more!
I’m so thrilled to be able to share this celebration of Reading Recommendations’ 2nd Anniversary with so many of the authors and friends who have made the blog what it is today! Since Nov. 18, 2013, I have been promoting Authors on this blog – more than 250 of you!! – to a readership that is worldwide in scope. What began as a way of getting the word out about a few of us has blossomed into an effective means of increasing awareness of books, authors, reading and writing far beyond what I ever believed to be possible! Thank you to everyone – subscribers, readers, authors, publishers, editors – all of you who have read and/or contributed to this blog in one way or another. Please continue to share the information you find here so that other readers may discover Authors and their Books – Great Reading…
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Writespiration #66 2 Sentence Horror Story
If you’re looking for a writing prompt, you should visit Sacha Black’s blog. She’s always looking at creative ways to get the writing juices flowing and this was one I couldn’t resist. How about you have a go, too?
One of my ongoing series is about villains and creating the scariest, most evil of all bad guys. A friend showed me this concept somewhere else so I thought it would be nice to break up the NaNo-age with a bit of a trip to the dark side.
Two sentences… make em as scary as you can… Here’s mine:
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Toofer one #giveaway: Buy Occasional Soulmates n’ get Yesterday Road for free!
I really enjoyed both of these books and listed them as Recommended Reads, so if you want to great books at an excellent price, why not take advantage of this offer!
Here’s a nifty little deal for the weekend. Tell your amigos and amigas.
Buy a copy of Occasional Soulmates for $3.99 and I’ll shoot you a free copy of Yesterday Road in whatever ebook format you prefer.
Just send a copy of your Amazon receipt to kevinbrennan520(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll reply with your freebie.
I know many regular readers have already bought and read both books, but here’s a chance to deepen the readership pool. Spread the word, or get the pair and give them as gifts to your ebook-reading compadres.
Tweet this post to all your tweetniks so they can take advantage. Two fine novels for under four bucks, but the offer ends Sunday evening.
Have a great weekend, everybody. Summer’s wrapping up in a hurry.
Suffolk Scribblings 