Guest Blogger Ty Johnston

Today we welcome fantasy writer Ty Johnston. His latest novel, Demon Chains, has just been released and is available in a variety of e-formats from all the regular e-tailers. His other novels include City of Rogues, Bayne's Climb, and Ghosts of the Asylum (all available for the Kindle, the Nook, and online at Smashwords). You can follow his blog at tyjohnston.blogspot.com.

And now...here's Ty!

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I have a confession to make. Actually, sort of, several confessions. I’m a fantasy writer, but there are still a lot of other fantasy writers I’ve never read, or I’ve read very little of their work. Many of these are names you will likely know, and yes, I feel guilty for not having read these authors.

Who are they? Here are some names:

George R.R. Martin

Robet Jordan

Jacqueline Carey

Brent Weeks

Brian Jacques

Stephen R. Donaldson

David Eddings

Terry Pratchett

Now, before you go all fan boy on me and roll your eyes saying something like, “Oh my gosh, how can he call himself a fantasy writer when he has never read (insert fanboy’s favorite author here),” keep in mind one simple thing.

I’m human.

There are a lot of writers I’ve never read, and while I spend a lot of time reading and writing, certain authors have slipped past me over the years. I average reading about 50 books a year, which I consider slow. I wish I were a faster reader, one of these people who plows through 200 novels a year, but unfortunately, I’m not.

It’s not that I’ve intentionally ignored such authors as the ones listed above, but that there is so much out there to read. For that matter, I do own books and e-books written by all of those writers above, but I’ve yet to get around to those books.

Concerning my career as a writer, mainly a fantasy fiction writer, I still consider myself fairly well read in the genre. Here are some of the speculative authors I have read, most quite extensively:

Steven Erikson

J.R.R. Tolkien

Lord Dunsany

R.A. Salvatore

Karl Edward Wagner

Neil Gaiman

Stephen King

Anne Rice

Glen Cook

David Gemmell

Steven R. Boyett

Terry Goodkind

Terry Brooks

Have you read all the works of all those authors? If not, then don’t judge me. If you have, well, laddy da! Good for you.

Truthfully, though, I’ve read a lot of other fantasy authors, as wells. A number I’ve never gone back to because I did not care much for their writing. I won’t name names, but there are some better known fantasy authors who didn’t do much for me. I don’t hold it against them. I simply figure I am not their audience.

And that’s the thing about opinions concerning fiction writing. If there is something you don’t like, an author or a book, you are not part of the audience for that particular writer or product. Oh, the writer always had hope you and a bunch of others might be part of the audience, but in the end, it doesn’t always work out that way.

Some writers have lots of fans, some don’t. The same can be said for novels, short stories, movies, food, music, etc. If you like it, if you love it, you’re part of the audience. If not, well, then you’re not.

Before you try something, at best you are part of the potential audience. Then after you’ve come to an opinion, you fall down either within or outside of the audience.

It’s really that simple.

So, for you writers out there, don’t get worked up too much if someone doesn’t like what you write. They are not your audience. What you do with that knowledge is up to you. You can keep working the way you are, hopefully building upon your current audience, or you can try something different in hopes of retaining your current audience will drawing in others.

For readers, just keep in mind not everything written, filmed, cooked, recorded, etc. necessarily is intended for your personal, unique taste. Sometimes it is, but often enough it is not. There is little reason to be offended when something doesn’t draw your love, though it is likely time to move on to something else, to search elsewhere for that which you will enjoy.

For instance, I hate pickles, but I don’t lose sleep over it. I also don’t spend my life on the Internet griping about pickles. Now, I admit, if someone tries to force pickles upon me, that’s a different story. Then I would rail to the high heavens about how much I hate pickles and the individual trying to force pickles down my throat.

Otherwise, I keep my mouth shut.

Looking back over what I have just written, one might think I had a bone to pick with readers or reviewers. Actually, I don’t. I have had some bad reviews, as has any writer with works in the public eye for any amount of time, but for the most part they don’t bother me. Oh, I’ve had some I thought were downright silly or even mind boggling, making me wonder if the reviewer even read my material, but again, I don’t lose sleep over it. I keep chugging along, doing what I think is best, because that’s all any writer can do.

No, I’m not out to target reviewers. There are some good ones out there and ... well, some who need some polish, in my opinion. If I am to offer any advice on the subject matter, I would suggest reviewers try to be civil and, if possible, to be helpful. Writers truly want to know what readers do and do not like about their works. Such information can help to inform the writer what he or she is doing right and what he or she is doing wrong.

Because readers are where it’s at. Readers are what keep us going. Hell, readers pay the bills.

I’m not suggesting writers should totally sell out and give readers everything they want, but readers do need to be in the writer’s mind when working. All writers write for themselves to some extent or other, but we also write for the pleasure of others.

Because if we’re not pleasing others, at least to some extent or other, we won’t be writing very long.

And none of us wants that.

Okay, none of us writers want that. Some of the rest of you might wish some of us would just go away and shut up.

Which I will now do.

Thank you.

Redding Up for Guests

Used to live in Western PA (pronounced P-A for you'ns who are a little backward and don't want to come with) and we'd red up the house if we knew company was comin'. Gotta love regional dialect. At any rate, ready or not, we'll soon be hosting a couple of writers here in our neck of the woods (or in PA it would be down here in the holler).

First up? Ty Johnston is coming February 2nd. He's going to make a confession. Stay tuned, but so that you know what you're in for, here's his cred:

Fantasy author Ty Johnson’s latest e-book novel, Demon Chains, has recently been released. As a way to promote Demon Chains, and because he enjoys meeting new people online, Ty is taking part in a blog tour running from February 1 through February 29. His novels include City of Rogues, Bayne’s Climb and Ghosts of the Asylum, all of which are available for the Kindle , the Nook and online at Smashwords. To learn more about Ty and his writing, follow him at his blog tyjohnston.blogspot.com.

So be on the lookout for Ty around the web and be sure to check out his books. Then, check back here for his guest post and for other writers making an appearance. In fact, here's his schedule:

Below is [the first half of] my schedule for my February 2012 blog tour. I'll be updating this list as details solidify. If you would like me to appear on your blog, please let me know. And, just to clarify, I don't mind guest posting on blogs I've appeared at before, I'm just trying to reach out a little more, so if I have appeared at your blog, please don't think that means I'm not interested in doing so again. Make sense?

Feb. 1 -- Indie Book Blogger
Feb. 2 -- Residential Aliens
Feb. 3 -- Colin McComb
Feb. 4 -- Journal of a New Guy
Feb. 5 -- Ben Dobson
Feb. 6 -- Scott Fitzgerald Gray
Feb. 7 -- Darrin Drader
Feb. 8 -- Weblog of Zoe Winters

Feb. 9 -- Carson Craig, nascent novelist
Feb. 10 -- Derek J. Canyon: Adventures in ePublishing
Feb. 11 -- Uri Kurlianchik: D&D Kids
Feb. 12 -- James Grenton's Blog
Feb. 13 -- Greg Hamerton 


Also, you can catch me asking fellow writer Hugh Howey about his new SF series of interrelated novellas called Wool. These stories are tearing up the charts at Amazon. I'll be back with an indepth review, but for now you can catch over 100 5 star reviews right here. That is nothing short of amazing.

January Issue of ResAliens is Live!

Will it ever end?

What, you thought I was talking about my 3rd period Language Arts class? Yes, that was a humdinger. But I'm really referring to the end of the world. Not that that's this issue's theme or anything, but end of life scenarios do creep into a few of our stories this month.

 For instance, "Others" by Kelly Ledbetter and "The Conversation" by Lawrence Buentello are about preserving memories and names while "The Third Wish Is Always the Killer" by Louis N. Gruber and "Wedding Wizard" by Heather Kuehl are about preserving life and love - while tossing in a bit of humor. Which is what "The File" by Alexander Foxx tries to preserve, a sense of fun.

 Hope you enjoy all five offerings this month. But hurry and read them...before the world ends.

While the Morning Stars Sing

An Anthology of Spiritual Infused Speculative Fiction

More than 30 short stories, poems, and illustrations, make up this collection of speculative fiction with a spiritual thread running through the whole volume. From science fiction and fantasy to magic realism and supernatural thriller, this new volume from ResAliens Press introduces readers to new and established writers who can not only tell great tales but at the same time touch on eternal themes.

The authors and artists who contributed to this volume, include: Pete Mesling, Aaron Polson, Steve Goble, Breanna R. Teintze, Rodney J. Smith, Stoney M. Setzer, Jonathan D. Stiffy, Marshal Latham, Margaret Karmazin, Jonathan Shipley, Cate Gardner, Rachel Starr Thomson, T. J. McIntyre, J. J. Steinfeld, Rachel Kolar, Mark Joseph Kiewlak, Michael W. Garza, R. L. Copple, Fred Warren, Vonnie Winslow Crist, Joyce Frohn, Carole McDonnell, Kat Heckenbach, Ray Foy, Harper Hull, S. J. Higbee, Jeff Draper, Richard H. Fay, John C. Mannone, Brad Foster, and Lance Red (cover artist).

~*~

Available at:
+ CreateSpace (paperback)
+ Smashwords (all e-formats, coming soon)
+ Barnes and Noble (Nook, coming soon)
+ Amazon (Kindle, coming soon)

Monsters! Anthology Call for Subs

The good folks at A Flame in the Dark are putting out a call for submissions to their new anthology, Monsters! Here are some pertinent details.

First, you don't have to deal with classic monsters. You can make up your own creature, or use variations on nontraditional themes. However, if you do choose to write about a more traditional monster (like vampires and werewolves, for example), classic movie rules apply. Silver hurts werewolves. Vampires hate garlic and crosses, have a severe sun allergy, and can be killed with a stake through the heart.

And speaking of classic monster movies, think about your favorites as you write. Stories can be serious, or perhaps a little cheesy (humorously so). Imagine your story playing on-screen at a 50s or 60s drive-in. We're going for pulp, here.

Stories must also contain an element of faith. As the website's title suggests, A Flame in the Dark is about shining a light in the darkness.

They're accepting stories from 500 to 7500 words. Submission deadline is May 31, 2012 with a publication date set for October. Participating authors will receive a contributor copy of the anthology. Be sure to read their submission guidelines for all the info. Sounds like a fun, frightful - and inspiringly delightful - collection. I'll be submitting a story, for sure.

Changa's Safari by Milton Davis

You've heard of Sword & Soul, of course. What? You haven't yet? You will. It's a dynamic, adventure-packed genre of African-based fantasy that is growing in popularity. Place Conan in the Congo and you'll start to get the picture. But I say that as a Euro-American reader to other Euro-Americans who, like me (at least until a few years ago), are unfamiliar with the genre.

Really, Sword & Soul stands on its own. The genre description was coined by Charles Saunders, author of Imaro (introduced in the 70s) and Dossouye novels. According to Milton Davis, sword and soul is "action-adventure fantasy based on ancient and medieval African culture, mythology, and traditions." It differs from European based fantasy in that it combines the vibrant myths and kingdoms of Africa with the Griot tradition of story telling.

One of the new voices in this tradition is Milton Davis, founder of MVmedia and author of a number of fantasy novels, including Meji Books I and II, and Changa's Safari, an epic tale of sorcery, friendship, betrayal, and ultimate triumph. Here's the blurb from Changa's Safari.

In the 15th century on the African continent the young prince Changa Diop flees his homeland of Kongo, vowing to seek revenge for the death of his father and free his family and people from the foul sorcerer Usenge. He survives slavery and the fighting pits of Mogadishu, eventually becoming a merchant adventurer whose extraordinary skills and determination make him a legend. From the Swahili merchant cities of Mombasa and Sofala to the magnificent Middle Kingdom, Changa and his crew experience adventures beyond the imagination. Despite his reputation, Changa will not rest until he has fulfilled his promise to his people. The anchors are lifted and the sails are dropped. Let the safari begin!

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I was privileged to edit Changa's Safari, Volume I and just finished editing Volume II - which is the second book of a planned trilogy. And I have to say I hope I get the job for Volume III. If not, I'll just have to buy it! I found myself getting caught up in the story and forgetting to proof every now and then. Milton does a fantastic job of submerging the reader into a swashbuckling tale of 15th century African adventure. His stories - and the genre - come highly recommended.

• Find out more about Milton's books at Goodreads.
• And check out Shauna Roberts' interview with author Milton Davis.
• You can also read my previous post about Milton's books Meji I & II.

Castle of Endless Woe Reviewed

The Castle of Endless Woe

by Ty Johnston

This is a solid novelette set in the same world as the author's epic fantasy trilogies known collectively as The Ursian Chronicles. The setting of this story is vivid and the pacing is steady, and like a novel it takes awhile to warm to the plot. But by a third of the way in I was hooked.

Johnston is a deliberate writer, choosing words and images with care. His characters are soundly developed with just enough ambiguity to keep you guessing as to their drives and motives.

As for the suspense, it definitely simmers but doesn't quite boil over, in my opinion, and ultimately the mystery surrounding the Castle of Endless Woe isn't fully explained. Not all loose ends need to be tied up, but I was expecting a bit more revelation as to the evil residing in the haunted manor. However, if you enjoy storylines with an episodic feel to them, this long short story will provide some engaging entertainment while leaving you wanting more.

(Note: I downloaded a free promotional version of this story. It's now 99 cents at Amazon, which is not a bad deal for an afternoon of reading pleasure.)

The Metaphysics of Magic

Guest Blogger, Dean Hardy, presents...
The Metaphysics of Magic:
Writing Christian Fantasy from a Christian Worldview

While a philosopher by trade, I am a fantasy writer by heart. But sometimes these worlds collide and I can’t help but to allow the left side of my brain to wrestle and pin down the right. I can’t stand to do anything passionately until I understand what it means to do that specific action. That’s why I’ve had to address my own questions: “What does it mean to write 'Christian' fantasy? What are the essential marks of a Christian fantasy writer?”

Christian fantasy writers are of a different suit than other artists. Painters create works of art, musicians write songs, and dancers dance, but fantasy writers are charged with creating another world; an alternate or additional story to the reality we now inhabit. The writer is free to ask, “What if our world was different? Or if it never existed at all.”

With this in mind it’s safe to say that fantasy writers are artists who teeter on blasphemy. For if we create merely for the sake of creating, or put even more selfishly, if we write for our own mere enjoyment, then there can be nothing more blasphemous. For to create an alternate world with no intent to bring God the glory is a bold and brazen attempt at being God, who did create this world for His own glorification.

While there may be some disagreement on this last point, I make it merely to showcase the concept that a positive intent is a necessary component of Christian fantasy. It’s not merely a fantastic tale, there must be a focus on “something more.”

Please don’t interpret this last sentence as an argument that all Christian fantasy must be blatantly gospel-laden. Rather, just like Tolkien’s notion that Lewis’ Narnia was “heavy-handed,” I think that Christian fiction writers may sometimes be too overt in their integration of the gospel. Just to think, we could have even more stories that end in a risen hero who has sacrificed himself to free his friends from some sort of bondage. While allegory is often practiced, it’s rarely done in such a way that seems original and entertaining to the reader.

One of the most neglected motivations for fantasy writing (and reading) is for discipleship. Many valuable lessons can be taught and learned from a truly good story. There are obvious examples like the value of friendship and sacrifice in The Lord of the Rings and the Narnia books, but there are plenty of examples of philosophical and theological discipleship in other works of fantasy as well.

Consider C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra, where the writer explores the nature of an alternate Adam and Eve that never sinned or even George MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind, where a young boy considers the problem of evil when the noble North Wind performs some questionable actions. Under the beautiful guise of fantasy, concepts about our Creator and general truths about our world should overflow.

While magic is not an essential part of the Christian fantasy story, it’s a quite common element to many. The question the writer should ask is not, “Should or shouldn’t there be magic in my story,” but rather the question should be, “How does the magic in this story work, especially if there is no explicit God figure in the tale?”

I believe it’s right and reasonable to ask, “From what or whom does this power come?” when you are reading a magical story set in this world. Is it from Satan or from God? This is exactly the reason why there was so much buzz and ridicule of The Harry Potter series. While Hogwarts was a magical school, it still took place on earth and the powers were not limited to an alternate world.

But if the magical powers or the story as a whole are bound in a different reality, the question above makes little sense. In a speculative realm what we may call “magic” may be as normal as simple physics. No one cried, “Foul!” when Gandalf’s staff illuminated, or Lucy’s cordial healed Reepicheep. Why? Because the reader realized that things of that world were very different from ours, and that no supernatural being (good or evil) was necessary for the magic to take place.

The question should then be reformulated pragmatically for the reader, “For what is this magical power used? Something good, or something evil?” For the source of the magic is no longer the question. The action is as normal as any other action in that world. The inquiry then turns to the motivation and consequence of the magical deed.

That leads us to our last point: there should be an easy-to-discern good and evil in the story. This doesn't mean that there must be a perfectly good protagonist and horrendously vile villain, but rather that goodness itself is established in the tale, and evil the obvious lack thereof. Goodness itself, the qualities that God personifies and the virtues we strive for should be clear, encouraged, and unquestioned.

While not an exhaustive set of attributes, the essential elements of Christian fantasy have been considered, and a manifesto of Christian fantasy writers has commenced. Comments, reactions, and differing views welcome below.


~*~
Dean Hardy, Bible Department Chair at Charlotte Christian School in North Carolina, is also the author of Magnus Kir, an allegorical YA novel published by Ambassador International. You can connect with Dean at his Facebook page.

Review of Magnus Kir

Magnus Kir by Dean Hardy

Published by Ambassador International

Reviewed by Lyn Perry (I purchased my copy.)

Read my review at Bloggin' Outloud.

Review of The Worker Prince

The Worker Prince by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Published by Diminished Media Group, October 2011

Cover art by Mitch Bentley (high res image worth a look)

Reviewed by Lyn Perry (I received a free advance copy.)


Read my review at Bloggin' Outloud.

Free Magazine and Book Giveaway

This is your week!

ResAliens Press is giving away a free issue at Smashwords (download the e-format of your choice). Issue 4.11 of Residential Aliens Magazine features 5 spec fic stories (over 25k words total) ranging from sword-and-planet fantasy to science fiction, and magic realism to zombie exterminators.

Here's the TOC. Enjoy! (Download Here)
1. Petition by L.S. King
2. The Fluttering Flies by Gary Raven
3. Plague Ship by Kurt Heinrich Hyatt
4. Full Moon Gala by Lachlan David
5. Tarzan at the Earth's Corps by Walt Staples

Like I said, this is your week. You visited the right blog at the right time. Especially if you're visiting from the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour. Welcome! Enjoy the free magazine and be sure to enter the drawing (it closes August 30, 2011).


(BTW, if you arrive here for the the drawing at Goodreads to win T. M. Hunter's anthology of space opera, Dead or Alive - An Aston West Collection, it is now over. These 11 new and classic space opera tales feature everyone's favorite space pirate, Aston West. Ride along with Aston as he treks across the galaxy and discover for yourself why he is so often wanted either dead or alive. More information in the ResAliens Press Bookstore.)

Humour in Flash Fiction

Note: Our Guest Columnist is Camille Gooderham Campbell, Managing Editor at Every Day Fiction. I asked her to share some thoughts on writing flash fiction, EDF's specialty. Here's what she has to say.

Back in the early days of Every Day Fiction, we decided that we’d make a point of scheduling something humorous for every Monday. Mondays are hard enough, we thought, without adding a gritty tale of abuse, terminal illness or abject poverty to the mix. And so, over the past four years, we’ve done our best to make sure that the start of the week brings a laugh from EDF.

However, finding enough humorous pieces to fill our Mondays hasn’t proven to be as simple as all that, for two reasons: genuinely humorous storytelling isn’t the easiest thing in the world, and even leaving writing skill aside, we don’t all share the same sense of humour.

Many of the unsuccessful humour submissions that we see at EDF fall into the category of joke-telling rather than storytelling:

Since to some extent jokes are stories, there’s no clear line between a joke and a story, and a flash fiction piece can play both roles through character development and narrative skill. A joke virtually never develops its characters; when a man walks into a bar, he doesn’t have any characteristics that don’t function as part of the joke – he’ll be tall or ugly or a priest as the punchline requires, but that’s it. In a joke, the setup exists only to serve the punchline, rather than the humour serving the story. The difference is a matter of perception and taste, and has a lot to do with the way in which the piece is delivered. Told as a story, it comes alive as a story; told as a joke, it is reduced to a joke. (from my essay “Connecting the Dots” in The Best of Every Day Fiction Two)

Unfortunately, since perception is a subjective thing and tastes differ from person to person, and especially with flash fiction since so much of the story has to be sketched in, implied, hinted at and left to the author’s imagination, the difference between a joke and a story is an imprecise grey area. A humorous story is an exercise in tightrope walking, with half the readers ready to shoot it down for being only a joke and the other half ready to find it unfunny and either boring or offensive.

There’s no formula for success in writing humour, but after reading too many flash fiction submissions to count, I’ve come up with three tips that seem to be relevant more often than not:

* Develop real characters and settings. Make them as real as anything in your head. Give that tall ugly priest a secret lover and a weakness for chocolate, give that bar a grotty washroom and watered-down booze. Even if you only hint at those dimensions when you pare your story down to the bones of flash, you’ll be thinking of them as real and they will come across as real.

* Tell the story naturally; don’t editorialize or try too hard to be funny. If you’ve got a genuinely humorous concept, it will make people laugh without any additional window-dressing and finger-pointing.

* Value the flow of the story as a whole over individual witty lines; falling in love with a particularly clever turn of phrase can impair your inner editor, and a great line isn’t great when it has to be shoe-horned into the story.

Writing a good story is only half the battle, though, since you then need to match the story to the right publication for a good fit.

When you choose where to send your finished piece, keep in mind that not all publications have the same level of tolerance for humour involving bodily functions. Whether we’re talking about comedy of the gastrointestinal system or the lighter side of getting sexy, there’s a delicate balance between funny and gross, and the line falls in different places for different magazines. Think about the target readership when deciding if a piece is appropriate for a particular venue; for example, at EDF we know that many of our readers are eating while they read and may also be at work (on a coffee or lunch break, right?), so we’re cautious about stories that push the gross factor. We’ve seen some very funny pieces that are just too extreme for us.

Finally, remember that humour is largely a matter of taste, and that goes for editors and publishers just as much as for any other reader. There’s no benchmark of humour, no way to authenticate whether something is or isn’t funny – the reader either laughs or doesn’t laugh, end of story – so if a piece gets rejected on the basis that it isn’t funny, recognize that it wasn’t funny to that editor, and try a different market. Collecting a stack of twenty-five “it wasn’t funny” comments might suggest something, of course, if only that your sense of humour is fairly esoteric and you might be hard pressed to find an editor who shares it.

[Thanks, Camille, for sharing your take on humor (American spelling ;) and flash. I have a similar opinion regarding the difference between jokes and short stories. At my other blog, I talk about it in Part 3 of my short series on writing flash fiction. Read Part 1 and Part 2 as well. - Lyn]

Dead or Alive by T.M. Hunter

Disclaimer! I'm the editor and publisher of Dead or Alive - An Aston West Collection by T.M. Hunter. That being said, I think it reasonable to assume that if I liked these stories well enough to publish them I should be able to talk about them! After all, editors are simply people who promote stories they enjoy reading. So read on...

The Aston West series is classic space opera where rawhide adventure of the frontier meets sophisticated technology of the 23rd century. T.M. Hunter has developed an engaging and likeable antihero in Aston West, the reformed (?) space pirate who still manages to get himself into a number of ill-advised scrapes. That, despite the gentle guidance of his AI companion, Jeanie, who is his ship's brain and has a few adventures of her own.

In Dead or Alive, Hunter pulls together a representative collection of 11 new and classic stories featuring Aston, Jeanie, and a number of other recurring characters. These short fictions coordinate nicely with Hunter's longer works, Heroes Die Young and Friends in Deed. (Visit AstonWest.com.) These compact novels, along with the novella Seeker, establish the author as a fresh voice in the expanding universe of space opera/science fiction. T.M. Hunter is here to stay, and we can thank him that Aston West is as well.

Note: The Kindle, NOOK, EPUB, and other e-versions are on their way. In the mean time, you can buy a 10 story collection at iTunes for your iPad/iPhone (see the different cover to the left? That's why!). Also, the paperback is always available at CreateSpace.

Some Amazon Reviews:
“Fabulous book! I was kept in suspense on every page and I couldn't stop reading until the end!” - About Heroes Die Young

“My favorite sci fi hero is back! Aston West, the reluctant hero and space scavenger, seems like an old, dear friend to me.” - About Friends in Deed

Reviewing Darkside by SKS Perry

Darkside isn't that dark, really. In fact, the novel by S.K.S. Perry (no relation to yours truly), if not exactly light, is quite witty, fast-paced, and seriously genre-bending. The story is about a guy named James Decker who dies in the process of saving a young woman from being attacked. But he finds that he really isn't dead...well, sort of.

From the blurb:

Haunted by the ghosts of his father and grandfather, [James Decker] learns that the woman he rescued is in fact an Innocent, the physical embodiment of hope. As it turns out, seeing dead people is the least of James' worries. It's the trolls, goblins, vampires, and other assorted creepy-crawlies that make being dead a living nightmare.

Turns out "Darkside" is what all these dark creatures living in the Otherworld call our reality. And that's just one of the rules of the afterlife James has to learn as he finds a new lease on life protecting the Innocent from further harm. With wry humor and snide first person remarks, Perry transports you from one realm to the other and back again in a quest you'll not likely forget - if you don't die laughing first. A bit slow in the middle, but overall, a solid debut novel.

The frolicking adventure continues in Darkside: Waking the Dead, which I just loaded on my Kindle! By the way, Darkside, first novel is available for only 99 cents!

Zero Hour by Stoney M. Setzer

If you have a nostalgic fondness for old episodes of the Twilight Zone, then you'll likely enjoy Stoney M. Setzer's collection of short fiction. In Zero Hour - Stories of Spiritual Suspense, Setzer combines mystery, thriller, and moral themes into a family friendly volume. Think Mystery Theater with a spiritual twist.

Disclaimer! I had the privilege of editing these 15 stories and then recently publishing this anthology through my indie publishing venture, ResAliens Press. But, despite my bias, I can say these are fun and engaging reads.

But don't take my word for it. Check out this review from MindSpike.

The cover copy claims similarity to The Twilight Zone, and certainly there is something of that flavor herein. Stories like “In the Shadow of the Sphinx”, and “All Hail Sam” feel like they should begin with Rod Serling voiceover delivering the moral lesson of the story. Other tales hearken back to radio programs like Escape and X Minus One, with the subtle deviations from reality that tell the reader something is just barely off about the world they are experiencing; “Doomsday Falls on a Tuesday This Year” and “Square Peg” need only a scratchy background of static noise to complete the illusion. Still other offerings evoke the classic short stories of Larry Niven or Isaac Asimov with their emphasis on the ordinary character reactions to the most extraordinary situations, including “The Alabama Hammer” and “We Serve All Kinds Here”. Finally, Setzer delivers his more direct spiritual lessons in the form of pure morality plays in “Darkest Before Dawn” and “Enamored.”

Find Out More: Visit Stoney's website, Zero Hour, and his Facebook Page to discover the stories behind the stories. Plus, you can purchase one of his short stories not in his collection at Amazon titled The Widow Greer. Still not convinced? Then read his time travel conundrum, "Unsinkable," for free in Issue 5.1 of ResAliens.

About the Author: Author Stoney M. Setzer lives outside of Atlanta, GA, with his beautiful wife and three wonderful children. As a fiction writer, he strives to create suspenseful stories with Christian themes. His works have been featured in such publications as Residential Aliens and Christian Sci-Fi Journal, as well as a number of anthologies. He is employed as a middle school special education teacher.

Reviewing The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn

A brother of mine turned me on to SF writer Timothy Zahn (the author of a number of Star Wars novels as well as the Conquerors' Trilogy and Dragonback series). My introduction to Zahn came via The Icarus Hunt - a fun and fast-paced space opera jaunt through the galaxy. I thoroughly enjoyed the engaging characters, witty dialog and repartee, as well as the adventure laden plot (that reads like an Agatha Christie in space along with the requisite locked room mystery and Poirot-like denouement). Good, clean fun (with a few minor swear words and PG situations) - a solid book in which to introduce the genre to your junior higher! Don't let the 450 pages deter you either, quest/adventure novels have come a long way since Don Quixote.

Zahn is a talented writer with an imagination that spices up the standard space opera trope with just the right amount (imo) of hard SF detail. The Icarus is a spaceship that is carrying an unknown cargo that could break the economic stranglehold of the Patth, an alien civilization that controls a majority of the commercial space lanes. Enter Captain Jordan McKell who is hired to pilot the Icarus to Earth - and along the way unravels a number of mysteries that spring up regarding this special cargo. The book is a page-turner as McKell jumps through space from one crisis to the next.

I enjoy Zahn's first person narrative voice (via a Han Solo-esque protagonist); he nicely integrates dialog and action, weaving in the world-building and background information through POV reflection and conversation. If there is a quibble, it would be that his characters "grimace" too often. It's a descriptive word, but is almost as frequently used as "said" for a dialog marker. (I've noticed in the two other books I've read by Zahn that grimacing must be one of his writerly peccadillos.) Still, I can live with that since it doesn't take away from the story, and eventually one just ignores those markers.

That said, if you're looking for an escape while on spring break or at the beach this summer, grab The Icarus Hunt and strap yourself in for a wild ride. (8 out of 10)

Quantum Muse Writing Contest

Get the Skinny Right Here!
Do you have a literary funny bone? Then put it to use! Here is a writing contest for the silly and bizarre. Check out Quantum Muse and discover a whole new world of speculative fiction. You might get published and win some money at the same time!

Four stories will be selected for publication in June. The prizes? 1st place will win $20; 2nd place $15; and 2 runners-up will receive $10 each. Sounds fun and best wishes to those who enter!



Thanks to my writer friend, Jeromy Henry, for telling me about this contest. (BTW, Jeromy's story, Playing Cards in Limbo, appears in Fear & Trembling Magazine, which I edit.)

Dead or Alive - The Aston West Collection

ResAliens Press is proud to present T. M. Hunter's Dead or Alive: The Aston West Collection. This compilation of 10 new and beloved short stories from the universe of Aston West is available from iTunes as an iPhone/iPad app for $1.99. (UPDATE: A paperback edition is now available!)

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Aston West is everyman. This smarmy space pirate embodies the best of us as well as the worst of us. You cheer for him, you boo him, and on rare occasions, you’d like to sit down and toss back some Vladirian liquor with him. He’d rather just live his life, being the loner and uncaring slob he is normally, but when the chips are down, there’s no one you’d rather have watching your back.

T. M. Hunter is the author of two acclaimed Aston West novels, Heroes Die Young and Friends In Deed (Champaign Books). Now you can follow your favorite space pirate through these short fiction adventures and discover for yourself why Aston West is so often wanted dead or alive.

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“T. M. Hunter presents a fun sci-fi trek with space pirate Aston West at the helm....will leave you longing for the next great adventure.” - Kaylin McFarren, author of Flaherty's Crossing, (Finalist, 2008 RWA Golden Heart Award)

"Aston's adventures are most entertaining, have twists and turns aplenty, and each one will send you in search of the next." - Amazon Review

"A fast-paced trip into Aston's world of future space is sure to make the heart of any fan of Star Trek or Star Wars beat with joy." - Joyce Scarbrough, author of Symmetry (Finalist, 2011 EPIC Book Award)

Wynfield's War by Marina Neary

Wynfield's War by Marina Julia Neary

M. J. Neary, the author of "My Salieri Complex" (a featured story in ResAliens Issue 4), has a new book available from Fireship Press. Wynfield's War is Book 2 of the Wynfield Series. Here's a summary from the publisher:

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The spring of 1854 was filled with violence, deceit, and bereavement, and marked the end of Wynfield's reign as the king of the Bermondsey slums. His memory shattered and his perception of reality distorted, he falls under the influence of an unlikely patron - the ruthless Lord Lucan.

Known to his Irish tenants as the Exterminator, Lucan plans to mold his ward into a brainwashed ally for his upcoming Crimean campaign. While in the company of some frightfully incompetent and arrogant generals, Wynfield travels to the Crimea as a junior officer in the British cavalry. From the chaos of the extensive slum of Bermondsey, Wynfield finds himself in a military campaign that makes Bermondsey look orderly.

There he catches a glimpse of the personal war between Lords Lucan and Cardigan, which results in the blunder known as the Charge of the Light Brigade, and discovers the darker side of the saintly Florence Nightingale. Short-lived alliances with comrades who would never make it home to England, and haphazard sexual encounters with women he would never see again, challenge Wynfield's innate sense of loyalty. Having seen so many heroes trampled and so many cowards exalted, Wynfield must choose sides and, in so doing, shape the course of the rest of his life.

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"These new adventures of Marina Neary’s gothic anti-hero take us from the horrors of a Crimean field hospital to the intrigues of mid-Victorian London, meanwhile providing intimate glimpses into the lives of Florence Nightingale, Lord Lucan of Light Brigade infamy, and other famous personages of the time. Intensively researched, with unsparing attention to grim detail, Wynfield’s War is a fascinating and frequently disturbing read."
- Eileen Kernaghan, author of Wild Talent: A Novel of the Supernatural

"A fascinating look behind the military curtain - a story of men and women who look beyond the tenets of a waning empire toward a modern world just beginning to reveal itself."
- Meghan Walsh, editor of The Recorder

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For a summary of Wynfield's Kingdom, Book 1 of the Wynfield Series, visit the author's website. You may also purchase your copies here. For an article about the author, read this from the Stamford Advocate.

New Issue of ResAliens Magazine

Jungle Statue (c) 2009 Jason ZampolAvailable Now for $8 from ResAliens Storefront
Issue 5 features seven 'dark fantasy' stories by veteran speculative fiction writers, including:

• "Where the Sun Don’t Shine" by Jeff Parish


• "Not Your Kind of Heathen" by Erin M. Kinch


• "The Noble Experiment" by Pat R. Steiner


• "Rockets Over Éireann" by Kristen Lee Knapp


• "A Heroine’s Death" by Billy Wong


• "Azieran: Lokxenthuul" by Christopher Heath


• "Protein" by Gustavo Bondoni

Plus an interview with cover artist Jason Zampol and an anthology review by Fred Warren.

Purchase your copy today!
+ Paperback only $8.00 plus shipping.
+ PDF Download only $2.00
+ iPod, iPad, iPhone verson only $3.99