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.)

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

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.

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)