Neon City - 99p all week

 

Now 99p - Join Xi as he dives into the mysteries of Neon CIty

Free book! Your new favourite horror/thriller author. Misfit teenagers face a sinister red fog. Coming-of-age adventure horror - with a dash of rock & roll

Click here to connect to Goodreads to review. Please also consider Amazon!

What Happens When You Cause Paradoxical Chaos in Time?! Your New Favorite Futuristic Adventure in Time Travel

Within the dark expanse of space, something sinister waits for him, ready to devour… Fans of The Twilight Zone series will not want to miss this space opera horror short.

Listen on Audible Click on your country below to link to this title on Audible. US, UK, FR, DE

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Currently active Bookfunnel giveaways

Horror ebooks! (Apr 11 - Apr 16)

Horror & Supernatural Thrillers giveaway! (Apr 5 - May 1)

Springtime is Prequel Time (Apr 1 - May 1)

Spring Speculative Fiction Promo (April 1 - Apr 30)

COMPETITION: Neon Sands Trilogy SIGNED

Sign up the Stranger Writings Newsletter and be in with the chance to win the Neon Sands trilogy, signed. No location restrictions. Deadline April 1. Simple

The stars brought life to the planet, and the stars destroyed it.

Siblings Calix and Annora have spent their entire lives within Sanctum, the domed town that protects them from the dangerous sands that storm against the curved wall. But they are orphans, with questions about their heritage. With a childhood that prepares them to become scavengers. With a father figure in Kirillion who has an agenda all of his own - just what are they searching for when the scavenger crews depart?

All grown up, they join Walker's crew, scouring the sand in giant Crawlers, ready to dig. When an accident unlocks childhood memories and murder, questions arise within the crew about where their allegiances lie, and what their true purpose is. And then their search hits the big time.

A sci-fi dystopian adventure in an inhospitable landscape, Neon Sands is the opening book in an epic series that will explore Man’s technological and innate potential, and the search for hope when all looks bleak.

BUY NOW

Neon Sands Trilogy Boxset & Permafree Prequel - NOW OUT!

She's out there in the world for all to read. A little scary; heart flutters of nervousness.

It'll be fine.

You'll click on this link:

DOWNLOAD AND ENJOY MY BOOK

And then you'll LEAVE A REVIEW and the world will keep on turning.

I'll keep on writing.

And we'll do it all again, you and me.

And should you enjoy that little taster, you'll either buy the reasonably priced BOXSET or have that sweet KINDLE UNLIMITED membership to read the entire set in one go.

And LEAVE A REVIEW on all 3 books.





Because you're a reader, and you're great.

Breaking the silence - Neon Sands FREE

I am alive! The blog is not dead! Hallelujah!

In all seriousness, I've just been too busy to do anything but work and write Flames of Apathy! It was a bit of a beast but in the end, I think I've done the trilogy justice. Science-fiction, for me, has always been about hope and aspiration, as much as it has been about any futuristic science, or high-concept action scenes. I'm most interested in the human story. Which is why I think Flames of Apathy works well. But, who knows, maybe it'll divide opinion. If at least one person enjoys it, than that'll be something!

It's out on 6 December, so to celebrate, Neon Sands is free, and Plains of Ion is reduced, for the next 5 days. Neon Sands is currently sitting at #2 in various categories, which is pretty amazing. Might even be #1 by the time I finish writing this. This will be the first and only time it'll be free, so grab it while you can. I'm writing a prequel to the Neon series which will be permafree, out in February.

Promo time!

This weekend, my books are on promo. The Risen, a mid-apocalypse zombie horror is free on Kindle, and Neon Sands and the follow-up, Plains of Ion, are reduced to 0.99.

Join in the fun!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adam-J-Smith/e/B01ITQM3UG

BOOK REVIEW: The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag

To say I love Simon's art is an understatement, so this book could have been all pictures and still attained 5 stars. Behind the art however is a story: it is a roadtrip across an alternative version of USA in the 90s, one filled with a mixture of analogue and digital and a curious array of science-fiction artefacts left to rust and decay after an apparent 'event'. Or are they?

The story is told using a mixture of the art and the writing, often using the writing to delve into some character backstory and history of events – the pacing is slow and allows the world to become ingrained before we learn more about the narrator and the kind of events that have lead to this point. Indeed, there is some satisfaction in the scarcity of revelation; little nuggets we are given which we are able to mesh with revelations further on. It’s not a long read so there’s no trouble remembering important little elements, and a second read through might be worth it to pick up on anything you may have missed.

The writing itself was four out of five because of some inconsistencies over style, sometimes verging into stream of consciousness without punctuation, when really the slow, meandering style it had been using, and which was sometimes elegant, would have sufficed. It could have done with another editor too as it should have been tighter, often losing impact because of a passive voice.

Overall though, it leaves you wanting more, which is always a good sign.

Plains of Ion is out! PREVIEW

Plains of Ion's release date is today - head over to grab it for the cheap 0.99 price while it's still on offer, or add it to your Kindle Unlimited list!

It's a race scarred by scorched desert and broken machinery, but if he wants answers, it is one he must win.

Beyond the sand mountain stretches the arid patchwork tundra of the ion plains, where the only township is run by ruthless matriarchs who host the bi-annual Liberty Trials. With one full circuit around the outer rim, and Kingdom City looming invitingly and forever on the inner horizon like a nightly neon bonfire, losing could mean death, but winning could be the answer to his only concern: chasing down Annora.

Plains of Ion is book two in the Neon Sands trilogy; exploring a desert matriarchal township with secrets to unearth: one reliant on the overbearing domed city to survive. Start those engines!

http://getbook.at/amazon-plains-of-ion

Neon Sands on Preorder

It's finally happening! Neon Sands is on preorder until next Friday. Been a while coming, but book 2 and 3 won't be too far behind. Hanging around on Kindle Scout seemed like forever!

Kindle: http://amzn.to/2FX3tNT
Paperback: http://amzn.to/2ubcGwq

Also in Kindle Unlimited when out!

Short Story: Accident

He had the most boring job in the city – for real – it ranked bottom in a Kingdom-wide satisfaction survey. Traffic control warden. There were only six of them, and they rotated in eight-hour shifts, two a shift; relinquishing their soft, warm seat and sweat-sticky headset to the next with a wordless, faceless expression.

                An expression that didn’t change.

                He could see through the ‘eyes’ of the drones and direct their movement through the headset and from the ‘comfort’ of the office. There were physical monitors too for when the heavy feeling on the eyes became too much, but for the most part, that faint blue glimmer of the screens was a pale facsimile of light on his skin and nothing more.

                Two minutes into a shift and he became a dislocated entity, a city-bird without a roost.

                A little longer and red triangles flashed in his periphery. An accident. Two traffic control drones were needed on the A5 road. He despatched them and connected to their cameras; autocars shifted in synchronicity around him, keeping their distance and speed in check. As he got nearer to the accident he began to overtake them as their speed decreased, and then stopped altogether. Up ahead, one autocar had overturned. The wheels hadn’t thought to stop turning.

DailyFlash: Crawling the sands

Inside the forward cockpit was a beep. The metal detector had detected something large; it stretched long and metallic left-to-right, or perhaps right-to-left, before them. Walker brought the crawler to a stop and the last few track revolutions dug into the sand before finally halting.

                He sent Caia out to investigate. She dropped to the sand, blower on back and sand-boots on feet, and walked forward, sweeping the blower in arc before her. The sand swirled up and became a red mist around her. She pulled the scarf around her face a little tighter.

                A shiny green surface appeared just below her. The more sand she cleared the clearer the pipe became, arching over to the other side. She removed her hands to touch it and felt vibrations running through her arm, and when she placed her ear to the cool metal, the sound of gushing water bellowed.

This flash fiction was inspired by the world of Neon Sands, the first in a trilogy currently accepting nominations on Kindle Scout. Like this world and want to read more? Please vote for Neon Sands on Kindle Scout and get a free copy!

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/M0AVK7KHQVAB

Short Story: Ends Meat

There it was again – the smell. Barrick glanced at his father, who had his eyes closed but he probably wasn’t asleep, just too exhausted by hunger to keep them open. His cheeks were shallow, as though sucking air, his lips two thin lines of scabs.

                Father’s hemp shirt had become a shawl these last few weeks. The same was true for Barrick, his brothers and his sister.

                Finally, father’s eyes opened, his nostrils twitched, and with energy summoned from a dark place, he rose. “Again…” he said, barely moving his lips; tension in the jaw and scabs that would split.

                “I don’t know how they can do it,” said mother, head limp and resting on her raised knees.

                Father swung his legs from the bed and stared into space. The look was a disease, and they all had it. Barrick had seen it first in the faces of the eldest; at night, sharing a bowl of thin soup and disappearing as the first songs began, taking a bottle of moonshine with them. One by one, others caught the look and stopped turning up at all. He’d see them by day, afflicted by the vacant gaze as they sat beside the transparent wall of the dome. They’d stare at the sands but Barrick had no idea what they were looking at; perhaps they saw mirages of visiting caravans that no longer came.