THE BIG ONE! NEON SANDS BOXSET FREE!

As forewarned last week, the Neon Sands trilogy is free from 24-28 February! So what are you waiting for? GRAB IT NOW! Even if you already have it, or have read the books individually, I would love it if you could add the boxset to your list, as it would help bump it up the ranks. The higher it gets, the more eyes see it! And as mentioned before, I'd love to get this boxset into a bookbub advertisement ASAP! And for that, I need reviews. So, how about a little Quid Pro Quo? Eh? Love ya!

!ALL THREE FREE!

What's that? You want more? Well, I don't want to share all the other promos, because only the above one matters this week... BUT, a lot of last week's are still active if you want to check them out.

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On Mars, blood is the same color as dirt. And dirt can hide an awful lot of sins.

When Allison Jiang wins a ticket to be a reality show contestant on the first manned trip to Mars, she’s certain all her dreams have come true. As she steps into the rust bucket spaceship complete with flashing lights and televised social media centers, she suddenly realizes this isn’t quite her dream; but then fear and anxiety are what the drugs in the sleeping compartments are for. In the high-stakes game of reality show TV where never-ending drama is a requirement, it’s possible to pay the ultimate price. Be careful what you wish for. Fame never comes without a cost. NOVELETTE. GENRE: Science Fiction.

Whole bunch o' freebies!

So this week is a kicker for freebies. Scroll down and you'll see plenty of links to promos currently active - and stop here if you still don't have Neon Sands Book One on your reader, this is FREE today only (Monday 3 Feb). 

Since revising the novel and adding an extra 15k words, I've been getting more and more favourable reviews for it, so there's never been a better time to begin!

BUT THERE'S MORE!

Two new shorts have been added to the blog - first, The Order, the short story competition entry with Obsession, Mason and Fantasy as the keywords. Read it here now.

The Risen Part II Prologue

In addition, The Risen Part II's bloody prologue has also been uploaded. Delve into Ffion's world of isolation, bodily changes, and malting. And if that grabs your interest, it's on preorder now for the special price of 0.99. 

Viewing pleasures

It's all go at work and with the novel writing, so haven't caught much. I started the Picard series, and though I will watch it all, I'm finding much of it forced character-wise, plot-wise, all-wise! I guess I miss the episodic nature of Trek. And good writing. O.O. Speaking of which, I thought Uncut Gems was a cut above, a force of nature that ramped up the stress along the way. It was a good example of how to have your characters make stupid decisions - under different circumstances each of Sandler's decisions could seem contrived and forced to cause conflict for the film to ride on, but by the end you realise this is the character. He is Sandler-esque despite himself, but having watched him in the actor's roundtable and knowing the effort he put in to research, you can call it one of his best performances.

Leave No One Behind

For warriors, those words and the meaning behind them have been sacred law, ever since the first human picked up a stone in anger. For Captain Shane Mallory, United Nations Air & Space Command, the spirit of those words rings no less true now than it did then.

Captain Mallory and the Special Operations soldiers assigned to her gunship have just completed a cake mission, and all are looking forward to some well-earned down time. But when a desperate distress call comes in over the communications wave, those sacred words—leave no one behind—will truly be put to the test. DOWNLOAD NOW

New year, new releases

Happy new year to all! If you celebrated the whole xmas period I hope it was merry and full of whatever things you like doing. New books, new word experiences and plenty of mouth pleasure, (that's all food is at xmas, right?!) Mine was family filled and new years eve was Srabble-icious, with some back to back comedies. Knocking out QUEUED for 105 points in the Scrabble game was probably my highlight, ha! (Lots of double letters and double words involved.)

January has started positively on the book front, with a few additions to the roster. Neon City Book 3, Purge of Deceit, is now out and available to purchase, or read in Kindle Unlimited.

With this one, I really wanted the characters of Elissa, Annora, Deke and Calix to be the driving force of the story, delving deep into their motivations while asking questions of the city. I also wanted to try and break down a lot of the narrative limitations that the city itself posed upon ME, the writer, so that I could go into the final trilogy (Neon Driver, see previous entries) with a little more freedom. I hope you enjoy it, readers. I had a lot of fun writing it.

If you're new to my writing, or at least new to the Neon City trilogy aspect of the Neon series, then the boxset is also now available, enabling you to purchase all 3 books at a reduced rate. 

Paperbacks (and signed)

I've also caught up with the paperback situation. All 6 books in the series are now available as paperbacks (if anyone wants the Neon Zero prequel book in paperback, let me know.) Neon Sands is now selling in my local store, so I have plenty of copies of this, should anyone like a signed copy. If you contact me via email or through social media, I would be happy to send you a signed copy for £10 (plus P&P if you're outside the UK).

The Risen Part II

I'm not sure if that should be part 2 or part II. I prefer part II, but what does that do to the algorithms, if anything? Something for me to research! Anyway, as a bit of a break from Neon, my next book is going to return to The Risen world. Looking back at the story and the reader comments, there's potential there for me to tap into, and I've wanted to do a first-person narrative for a while; and the way part 1 ends offers me a perfect opportunity to explore this. The world is your typical post-apocalyptic one, set in the UK, with a monster variety. However, there is a twist - you'll need to read the first one to find out.

The sequel is out on preorder now for a special price.

New year

This year will be different. There will be a revamp, both in the focus of my writing, but also in my online presence. My Instagram and website will no longer be Stranger Writings, but Adam J Smith Author - Sci-fi, Dystopian, and Horror. This will also be exemplified on my Twitter and Facebook pages. Find me, and you will know what I write. For many writers, writing the book is the easy part, it's maintaining an online profile and building up support where the struggle begins. I think it requires a discipline and certain extravagance that many, like me, don't have. We wish we could just churn out something and put it out there and by magic, people will find it. We have to advertise it, and us too, and I often forget that.

So this blog will play a role; a weekly update whenever possible. Connecting with other authors, and sharing more about myself , while also updating on book offers. I have a 2k mailing list, but that needs to grow, so I'll rejoin bookfunnel and storyorigin, and rebrand the newsletter. And I'll grow the Facebook page, sharing more posts both related to my work, but also to hashtags like #cyberpunk #scifi and #coolshit. Or something. It'll get something done to it.

About me

My stories percolate in the shadow of the Malvern Hills in Central England; just a few long strides from a glorious view, though one not so grand or as high as the sand mountain, no doubt. Rain dapples this quaint English town (of course it does) but on clear days you can see for miles as the land ebbs and flows, green and pale fields sliced apart by hedgerow and road. The occasional farmhouse unchanged for decades. Perhaps a boxy Grand Design or two.

This is nothing like Neon, and neither is the town plagued by an overzealous hierarchy. (At least to my knowledge, though fools and kings are so often interchangeable.) So Neon is my escape; while I dream of places like Tokyo and Google the dunes of the Sahara, hoping one day to visit. Who lives here? And what do they do? Why do they do it? These questions I try to answer, pointing the character towards a goal and letting them make their own decisions on the way. I’m often surprised by the result – I hope you are too.

Stay connected

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There’s never very long to wait until the next title – be sure to follow me wherever you roam

Latest news!

So it's been a while since the last update! Lots happening though; on the written word front Tides of Hysteria was released, and Purge of Deceit was put onto pre-order. The story arc through these two titles takes a slightly different approach to the previous books, with a more direct follow-on, meaning I had to choose the best place to cut Tides of Hysteria. The initial release had the cut in a place that I later decided would be better placed further on, so an updated version was uploaded. If you downloaded the preorder and have finished/haven't yet finished it, you may want to update the file if you haven't already, or in some cases delete the file and re-download, depending on what Amazon and Kindle will allow! There'll be a few thousand words extra at the end!

It's time for a generation to take its final stand.

The city is divided; which side do you stand on? The authority’s? Or the lowcases? Across Neon, the elite and the protesters are rising to battle for their future; for their children and the generations to come. To keep down the boot, or to rise from the darkness. Just what is freedom anyway when the walls of your oppression are everywhere you look?

Coming soon!

Also on the written word front, you may want to check out Ten Billion to Ten's Facebook page for notice of a free download next week. "War of the Worlds meets 2001: A Space Odyssey". I've written the words to a sci-fi story about the end of civilization, about space, and exploration; and this has been composed into an awesome electronic musical score by colleague and friend doctea, and narrated excellently by DJ Ed Steelefox. Should you reside in the Midlands there is a live performance on Monday 28 October - Ten Billion to Ten: A Live Reading. Otherwise it will available to download next week!

Paperback & Cover Reveal!

Poking my head out of the freezer to announce a couple of exciting developments! First, Neon City can now be purchased as a paperback. Here's a link for that!

~~~~~~~

For some, the streets aren't wild enough.

Xi Chen can see beyond the surface level of the work-sleep cycle, and the shackles imposed on its population by the city of Neon. He's joined a group of like-minded individuals seeking to force change from the ground up. Only when change comes, it's not exactly what they had in mind.

It's far from what Detectives Deke Allinson and Catherine Slay had in mind too. With so many deaths on their hands, the pressure from above and their need to 'do what is right' stretches them to breaking point. How far are they willing to go to test their loyalty?

Book one in a cyberpunk, crime and mystery trilogy, Neon City follows on from the Neon Sands trilogy, with characters old and new fighting to break the chains of slavery.

~~~~~~~~ 

The second announcement is the cover reveal for Neon book #7 - Neon Driver. It was created by the awesome Amir Zand - you can check out more of his work on Twitter and Instagram. I had a little taste of popularity when he revealed the cover over on Twitter, as it was liked and retweeted hundreds of times, and since I was @'d I'd never seens so many notifications. How do the popular people manage it! Anyway, I love it! I'm aiming for a December/January release, so it's not on preorder yet, but you can add it to your Goodreads shelf here.

~~~~~~~~

When he puts his foot down someone will die...

In Neon where quantum memory and virtual reality render so many chair-bound, the Driver craves the roar of the engine. He longs for the smell of biofuel, to see the road flash by and the city lights sliding across the puddled blacktop.

He yearns for destruction. For blood. For death.

Tides of Hysteria on preorder - 0.99

Hi folks! Tides of Hysteria has been on preorder a while now but I just realised I hadn't blogged about it! And after Rebecca Gransden's 5-star review on Goodreads for Neon City I thought now might be a good time to shout it out loud! Here's a clip:

For this book he visits the hyper-stylised world of future noir, creating a tense narrative featuring propulsive action and a plot harnessing classic crime and suspense themes. The backdrop is one of glossy opulence juxtaposed with grimy backstreets, moody rain flooding neon soaked streets. All very inviting.

 Thank you Rebecca!

Tides of Hysteria is book two in the Neon City trilogy and will build on the suspense and action from book one, getting into the cracks of gutters and looking closer behind the glass of the Agridome. It'll be out early September and can be preordered for 0.99 pence or cents, before going to full price. As only book ones are ever free, this is your only chance to get it at a reduced cost!

It's time for a generation to take its final stand.
The Neon City trilogy continues with book two, Tides of Hysteria. With the citizen's eyes beginning to open, it's a race against time and a fight for truth to open them further, or close them forever.

Revised edition of Neon Sands - FREE download

Hi folks, it's been pretty quiet here recently while I've worked on various projects. Primarily, this has involved revising Neon Sands. I've learned so much writing its sequels and prequel that I felt I had to go back and add more. Calix and Annora needed more building - and we needed more story. So there's an extra 15k words there now, including a map of the world around Sanctum, adding some lore and more depth. (Probably spurred on by reading GRRM.) This book is free to download 11-12 July - if you have it on your ereader it should update next time you open it. If you don't have it yet, now's a perfect time to grab it.

Other titles are also free or reduced, including The Risen, Hereafter, Neon City, Plains of Ion, and Flames of Apathy. Head over to my Amazon page to check them out. 

Two other projects currently in the works are Tides of Hysteria, the Neon City sequel, and a musical project with Doctea, an album of moody, scifi tones with a scifi adventure story at its core. Looking forward to seeing this one play out!

Neon City trilogy covers!

Hi all, excited to reveal the next covers in the Neon series! It's another trilogy; Neon City, Tides of Hysteria, and Purge of Deceit. The blurbs aren't completed yet but you can add them to your reading lists on Goodreads! 

Cover reveal - Neon Zero - Neon Series Prequel

Hi all! Well it's been an exciting month for my book sales - having Neon Sands Book One on free for a few days was great, reaching #1 in 3 different categories and curiously, across all 5 days, the ratio of free downloads to purchases of books 2 and 3 was 30:1, consistently. I like that ratio. So next up, the perma-free prequel Neon Zero:

You cannot outrun the sun...

With Earth falling to pieces, those who escaped look back with sorrow, and forward with hope. Hope of a new beginning. A chance to start over.

Then the fires began...












Looks good, eh? I might just have to get a paperback version printed, if only for myself, even though it'll only be 100 pages or so long. You can add it to your Goodreads reading list here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43199128-neon-zero

I seem to have had a rise in book review requests lately - apologies if I've not responded to you. At the moment, the only books I'm thinking about are my own and a few that are already on my reading list, sorry.

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.