Fan Friday—The Reduced Series


I don’t often blog about my book series, REDUCED, because, well, you know how that goes. Besides, they’re all listed down the sidebar here—————->

But just in case you missed all that, and you want more info, I’ll lay it out all nice and neat. And of course, if you’ve read them, feel free to tell everyone how great they are!

[Should I insert a j/k or a wink here or something? Nah, you get that this is all a making-fun-of-promotions thing, right?]

Reduced cover

A devastating biological agent is about to be released, to be tested in remote areas. Rumor has it, though, that there is more to this than meets the eye. One group makes plans to hide out, and survive, in case that rumor proves to be truth. Meeting at an abandoned summer camp near St. Louis, Missouri, a dozen old friends gather after the alarm is raised.

Life becomes more precious, more tenuous, as time passes. Government controls tighten, people are herded into the city…or killed. Towns are obliterated. And soon, the enemy agenda becomes obvious.

Abby, like the rest, has special skills – each member of the group was chosen not only because of past ties, but also for their unique training and abilities. She will come face-to-face with death, bear the responsibility for a young girl, and endure the severing of childhood relationships in the most terrible way imaginable.

From mere concealment to reconnaissance to aiding a rebellion, where will it end? Will the entire region be decimated, and who will be left alive to know?

Reused cover

Colonel Barton has been replaced, and the new commander is sending his henchman, Major Blake, to scour the outlying areas and remove any insurgents. Abby and the girls have remained in the cave at the camp, relatively safe for now, but plans are underway to eliminate all of them… for personal reasons, known only to the commander himself.

Soon, however, worlds will collide as Captain Alison Hinson is transferred in from Chicago. In spite of her background, Alison is horrified by the tactics of her superiors in the field and begins to question her own stance on the new government. As she puts together the pieces of the past, she realizes that she and Abby are kindred spirits, faced with a mission not of their own choosing but of circumstance.

Across the country, while officials and mercenaries live the high life, the citizenry are faced with more sanctions, more regulation, and fewer necessities.

Pockets of rebellion are quickly quelled, but incidents continue to increase as more people make the decision to go underground. Literally.

From abandoned caves below St. Louis itself to a subterranean river winding north into Illinois, REUSED will tell you more, perhaps, than you truly wish to know about the potential for the utter collapse of our civilization.

Recycled cover

Survival had become a way of life since Co-opComm first launched VADER. Thirteen years had passed, and yet, Abby remained . . . she and the others prevailed where many had surrendered. And died.

Abby is tired. Tired of running and hiding. Tired of struggling, tired of fighting. Ultratron has a new secret weapon—a better, improved version. And the government-sponsored company has a new target, a more heinous plan.

Traveling to Chicago, the heart of the current regime, they come face-to-face with a new threat—or is it? Who is this mysterious Riley, and what does she know about the St. Louis compound? And how? Shadowy inhabitants arise from the depths of the city, but are they friend . . . or foe?

But Abby has only one objective: to defeat the government. Regardless of the cost.

 

Fan Friday—And Then It Continued


Naturally, the first thing I did after finishing REDUCED was to send it to a few beta readers. I also queried half a dozen agents. And heard zip.

So, after making a few tweaks as per my readers’ suggestions, I simply published the book.

I really had no plan. I wrote it, yay, I wrote A BOOK! And I was done. I used CreateSpace, picked a cover template (but used my own photo), and I was good to go!

And then someone said, well, great, but what happened next?

Next? How should *I* know??

So I sat down to write REUSED. But this time, I had a plan. Sort of.

A couple days in, I got stuck. And then more stuck (stucker?). So I gazed around my office, trying to find something to do to avoid writing this book.

And then it hit me—I’d publish OTHER people’s books! Really, how hard could it be? I’d fielded so many questions about my CS experience, so yeah, that’s it. Start a publishing house.

So I did. Rocking Horse Publishing.

I planned to release 6 books in 2013, including the one I was writing and was stuck on—I wasn’t even sure I’d get any submissions.

I got one. Then another. Then a virtual flood of manuscripts.

RHP published 12 books that year; we did 17 this year, and have 14 scheduled for 2015, so far.

REUSED? Oh, yeah—after I got done with the flurry of starting the publishing house, I sat down and wrote non-stop for four weeks. REUSED came out in December 2012.

And then someone said, well, great, but what happened next?

Crap.

So I scheduled RECYCLED to come out in March 2013. I had nothin’. Zip. Postponed the launch.

July arrived, suddenly and without warning somehow, and I had promised my fans, er, fan, or well, something like that, that the book would ABSOLUTELY be available in July.

Finally, I sat down to write. Three weeks later, RECYCLED saw the light of day.

Whew. A trilogy. I DID IT!

And then someone said, well, great, but what happened next?

Darn. Repeat. Oh, yeah—REPEAT! That’s it!

Coming in March 2015 . . .