Ten Days of Feed 3! Starting with: Cover Reveal!

Feed 3 comes out on December 15th and this post should have gone up yesterday. But let’s pretend that today is the 5th and not my mom’s birthday (Happy birthday, Mom! She doesn’t read my blog, haha, but if she happened to glance at it, I would definitely want her to know that she MUST have a happy birthday.). 

I have a bunch of stuff planned to celebrate the long awaited release of this book. So I want to get right into it. 

First of all, if you’re not signed up for my mailing list and you’re a fan of my Feed series (also known as the Fooko series), then you should know that if you DO sign up for it, you will receive a copy of “Feed 0.5 (Genesis)”, which is only available to my newsletter subscribers. Here’s the link to do that.

Secondly, the cover of the new book! 

Pretty great, eh? Yeah, it sticks with the style. Thematically speaking.

Feed 3 is going to be available in paperback and as a Kindle edition. It won’t be available from any other retailer except Amazon. If it ever is, I’ll let you know. For now, you’ll be able to read it on Kindle Unlimited. It’s going to be on sale for 99 cents for the first week before it goes up to $2.99.

OK, one more thing. Feed 1 and 2 are currently not available in paperback because I’m still reformatting them into the smaller (and better) size. As soon as they’re back on sale as paper back, I’ll let you know.

Enormous Sci-Fi and Fantasy Ebook Giveaway!

Can there ever be TOO many unicorns? They're a staple. So no. I don't think so.

Are you a compulsive reader of fantasy and sci-fi? Do your thoughts drift to the book you’d rather be reading over being forced to engage in conversation with store clerks, coworkers, bosses, dentists? 

If you answered yes to either of those questions, then this MASSIVE giveaway, hosted by esteemed, glitterati sci-fi writer Patty Jansen (via #Instafreebie) is for you. There are over 150 books for you to peruse and download at your behest.

And all you have to do to get one is surrender your email address! 

I know, it’s like level 100 book-extortion! Haha.

But it’s not, really, because hey, we’re authors and if you LOVE our work, like we all hope you do, then we’re actually doing you a favor! 

Heh. Heh. 

No but seriously. I’ve signed up for a few mailing lists, including Jansen’s. She’s got quite a few series I’m looking to read soon.

What have you guys been reading? I’m always interested in getting reader’s recommendations. Lately I’ve been reading books from the Discworld universe and loving them. 

Let me know if you find anything on this list that piques your interest. Oh, did I mention, Feed 1 is on there? It is! And by the way, I have a major announcement coming soon on that front, so keep that on your radar. 

Blue Hearts of Mars Is Free Till Wednesday

Blue Hearts of Mars Final 2

Blue Hearts of Mars is free on Amazon until Wednesday, the 19th. Click here to get a copy!

Additionally, my short story that was Patron-supported (via Patreon) “The First Post-Android Buy-Back Program” is also free until Wednesday. Click here to download it!

Below, I’ve included the covers to some of my recent Patron-supported stories! Eventually, I release these stories for sale on Amazon. But if you follow my work and want to contribute as little as 99 cents per story (no more than once a month), you can have them as soon as I release them to my fabulous supporters–every Patron gets mentioned on the first page of the story in the acknowledgements.

Thank you so much for being in my life and reading my work! <3<3<3<3

–Nicole

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“Godslayer” was September’s story and is one of my longest short stories (in some ways it doesn’t even qualify as a short story).  Click the image to go to the Patreon page to get this story for 99 cents!

 

glitch: charles bridge, 2004
“Glitch: Charles Bridge, 2004” was August’s story and is one of my shortest short stories! Click the image to go to my Patreon page to get this story for 99 cents!

I Am On Patreon. Come Support Me!

 

That’s where we’re at these days. And by WE, I mean me. But I also mean WE as a community of artists and creators. I insert myself into that community because it seems like that’s what you have to do these days if you don’t get a formal invitation from the in-crowd.

Which I haven’t. Because the want-to-be-in-the-in-crowd crowd is massive and endless. And so like always, I’m just standing outside the posh restaurant (the metaphor for the in-crowd), and I’ve had enough of simply looking in through the glass with a hungry, longing expression on my face. So I’ve gone inside and flipped off the maitre d’ and said, “Hey mother-f!$*ers, I’m in.”

And because I was so bold, they let me have a seat! Ha! Also, I actually said it. The F-word. In my head. But I disguised it for all my sensitive readers (hi mom!) who think I should be better than that.

But anyway. If you’ve ever supported anything through crowdfunding (Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe), the Patreon concept shouldn’t be unfamiliar to you. The difference is that support can be given endlessly, through an eternal campaign that continually rewards supporters. It’s like supporting public radio or television. It’s like the old patron system that brought about great works via the wealthy elites bolstering artists like Michelangelo in Italy and Shakespeare in England.

It’s pretty fantastic. I’m patronizing (in a good way!) some top creators whose work I love and I’m excited to have some of my own support from people I coincidentally adore and love (because they support me!) So if you’ve ever read any of my work and enjoyed it and wanted more, please find your way to my Patreon and show me encouragement with as little as $1, which will get you all my stories digitally (previous releases to when you pledged support and all future releases).

Additionally, there are free stories available just to show you what I do and how well I do it. With every new story I write, I get better–my stories get more exciting, my characters more real and empathetic, my pacing better–you name it! In short, it is through the generosity of friends and strangers who believe in me that I become a better creator.

I love interacting with people who read my stories. So please, don’t ever hesitate to contact me, through Twitter, Goodreads, Patreon, Facebook, email. Whatever! I respond to every message I get! This work can be lonely. Hearing from you makes it feel less like I’m sending my work out into the void.

Be awesome. You. I’ll continue trying to be awesome as well. We can meet in the middle of awesome!

Oh yeah. This story is posted for free on Patreon!

Blue-eyes-dark-space

 

Feed 3 Teaser #41: Long Excerpt

city lights 2

 

He got up and went to the window. The view was immense. Mountains in the distance were a black shadow hovering over the golden lights of the endless sprawl. This city was a diamond on the edge of a strand of desert like a necklace. He’d never been here before, but now he could hardly enjoy it. No. He was no sightseer, not a tourist in the slightest. He touched the back of his neck, remembering that he was onscreen. Someone’s screen. Somewhere. Were they coming for him? Did they know he was up to no good, again? He shivered as he recalled what that evil woman had done to him. How did she justify it? He clenched a fist and felt a sneer coming to his lips. The same way he’d justified his previous work, probably. It made it harder to feel the rage he wanted to feel, because it was either understand her or hate himself for the justifications he’d worked out in his own head.

Well, I was a dick. I was wrong. I was part of the evil.

He sighed. There was still a taint in him. He could imagine the perfect angles for what he was doing now. He could visualize how he would look as the main subject of a scene and what an Editor would guess he was thinking so the music they pasted onto it could reflect his inward thoughts. The perfect song for this moment, “All the Light Within,” by Kat and Bodie. Sort of a love song, but the mood was right for it, pensive, brooding. Weighted in a way that could lend gravity to the scene without any sort of dialogue.

Love. A love song.

There’s no time for love, is there? In these strange times? There was no sanctuary for him to conceal his heart within so the world could never know his pain or joy. But, well, there was Beth and that moment at the camp, and no one had seen except the two of them. If he was honest, he hadn’t been into it. At least, not enough. Not enough to stick through the rough patches.

He no longer trusted her. His sights were elsewhere.

In the courtyard beneath his window, he caught movement beneath the strings of lights and soft-glowing lanterns. He inched closer to the patio door and squinted. It was Marci, wandering. He’d hardly expected her to not be in her room. What was she doing? His heart tripped over itself as he watched her sit beside the fountain and draw her legs up to her chest. God, she was beautiful. But something else, as well. Kind. Vulnerable. Guileless.

He knew so much about her. Had seen more than anyone should see of a person, a real person and not some actor in an old film, actually, the kind no one bothered to make anymore. Ghosteye trained himself with those pieces of art. He knew that there was power in the unsaid and unseen as much as the spoken and seen. When he’d made his own feeds, he’d been careful with those ideas, always trying to strike a balance.

Though he’d seen much of Marci, he saw how she wore silent things. Her own quietness, her secrets, were overlooked by nearly everyone. What did she hold in that vault of ribs?

 

 

Feed 3 Teaser #33.5

It’s finally here! A new teaser!

Geez. I don’t know what happened. I fell off the wagon or something.

No but seriously, sometimes it’s hard to keep your momentum. I got sidetracked by actually, I don’t know, writing the book and editing it, so much so that I forgot to try to keep you guys in the loop.

So here it is. This is a small excerpt, meant to show you that Feed 3 isn’t just about overcoming the dark side of new tech and whatnot. It’s also about people getting butterflies in their stomachs over someone else.

I have about 500 more words from this little section scheduled to post to my blog tomorrow morning. This is a snippet from that excerpt. So be sure to come back to get further insight into what’s going on in Ghosteye’s head!

As usual, the typical stuff applies here: content is subject to change or just, you know, not even show up in the book! I might change it. I might decide I hate it and cut it entirely. Anything is possible right up to the day you’re actually reading the book.

feed-teaser-january

Feed Re-Release Cover Reveal!

Some of you may have heard that I’m re-packaging Feed. This is an experiment to see how the more serialized version of book-selling goes. There were also some major and minor changes to the first book and I wanted to transition those who’ve already read the first one so that when they pick up the second book, they’re not totally shocked. The big news then is that the second book is done!

The other news is that I’ll be releasing things all over again! Yay!

So, first off, is that Feed 1 (there will be Feed 2, Feed 3, and Feed 4 after that!) is done and ready. Not *that* much has changed, but I needed to announce that there *are* some changes. Keep that in mind if you get the new version.

That said, I’ll be releasing it fully in, two weeks, possibly sooner. It has about 110 pages, and will be available in both e-book and paperback. The paperback version won’t be released at the same time as the e-book, but will come out about two weeks after the e-book version comes out.

So here’s the new cover! I’d love to hear if you guys think it’s an improvement!

Feed-1 new cover

Alpha Readers Needed: A Boat Made of Bone

Screen Shot 2013-08-14 at 5.28.08 PMBorrowing from a page out of the Mary Robinette Kowal play book, I’ve decided to experiment with running an alpha read program on my website using a password protected page. Anyone who is interested, fill out the form below and I’ll send you the password to access the page.

This is the second draft of the novel, so there will be mistakes and problems. I’ll mainly be asking for feedback on large issues that I can still change. There are the questions I’ll ask you to bear in mind as you read.

I will want you to look for things that:

  1. Confuse you
  2. You don’t believe
  3. You are bored by
  4. You think are cool

What I want are your reader reactions, not grammar problems or other things related to punctuation and whatnot.

And yes, if you follow the link to Mary’s page, you’ll see that I COMPLETELY ripped her off. She’s great and smart and beautiful, why wouldn’t I? If you haven’t read her books, try them out. I’m about to start Without a Summer (I have to clear a couple other books off my plate first, but then . . .).

Also, if you can’t get enough of me (and I so would not blame you if you couldn’t, I mean, I’m utterly charming, right?), check out my recently added Free Fiction page for a fun story I started writing earlier this year.