Now Available At Smashwords: Spinward Fringe Frontline!

Writing Spinward Fringe Frontline was the greatest writing challenge I've ever undertaken. It's the longest book I've ever written, weighing in at over two hundred thousand words, and the story's layers functioned in a way that closed out a few old plotlines and blew a few new ones wide open.

To date I've never written a more complex book that makes no compromises for the plight of the characters. They get into trouble, they stay in trouble, it's not fun, swashbuckling trouble either and I try my best to drag the reader down into the character's problems (physical and mental). According to a few readers I actually succeeded, while others have enjoyed it as a space opera novel with a much more serious voice than the ones that came before it.

I'm proud to present Spinward Fringe Frontline on Smashcovers today, and I hope you enjoy it.

Here's the synopsis:

Captain Valance and his crew are finally learning to work as a unit. Oblivious to the grander designs of the Order of Eden, they are drawn into a brutal conflict over a planet the Order is depopulating so they can use it for themselves. Who will survive the Frontline?

Smashwords is offering Spinward Fringe: Frontline in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)

This weekend I'll be posting an extensive article here talking about what's going on with the next book in the Spinward Fringe Series: Rogue Element and I'll be talking about the future of the series. It'll be worth checking in for!

RL

[I'm looking for a few readers to post reviews on Amazon.com and Smashwords. Please send me an email after you've posted your review, there will be a free eBook in it for you!]

Now Available At Smashwords: Spinward Fringe Triton

Of all the books in the Spinward Fringe series so far, Triton has generated the most email responses. People seemed to enjoy Resurrection and Awakening, but they absolutely absorbed, read, and re-read Triton.

To be honest it was a book with a soul of its own, writing it felt very different from the others. Spinward Fringe Frontline is again very different (Broadcast 4), and it's getting quite a few emails as well, but there will always be something special about Resurrection and Triton.

When I think of Spinward Fringe, those two books are certainly touch stones, they represent the core of the series in some very important ways.

That's why I'm very pleased to present Spinward Fringe Triton on Smashwords, my new iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony Reader, and general distributor. They seem to be able to provide for practically any modern format.

Here's the synopsis:

After narrowly escaping a brush with an old enemy Captain Valance and his crew reach out to their allies for help. Meanwhile, allies and enemies from his past are set to reveal themselves in unexpected ways, changing his life and the galaxy forever.

Smashwords is offering Spinward Fringe: Triton in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)

Friday Spinward Fringe Frontline will launch on the site. I hope this helps everyone out there who have been trying to get access to my work but couldn't do so conveniently because they use an iPhone, iPod Touch or Sony Reader. I'm glad I could finally entertain you. You can download your copy from the Smashwords site or use your Stanza reader and the Smashwords ebook store.

RL

[I'm looking for a few readers to post reviews on Amazon.com and Smashwords. Please send me an email if you're interested, there will be a free eBook in it for you!]

Spinward Fringe Resurrection and Awakening: Now Available At Smashwords

The Smashwords release parade continues.

Today I'm proud to present (not for the first time), Spinward Fringe Resurrection and Awakening combined in one digital file. This is the last collected science fiction book I'll be offering. Resurrection and Awakening were both on the small side, so it made sense to combine them for the Smashwords release. They are available separately as well if you prefer.

I'm glad to see it finally available for the iPhone through the Stanza reader. There's a Sony Reader format version as well.

Here's the synopsis for Spinward Fringe Resurrection:

Captain Jacob Valance has no memory of his past. Left on a strange ship in an unfamiliar sector of the galaxy, he was forced to begin a new life.

Years pass and after much hard work he's earned a reputation as a man who can recover lost property, hunt down hardened criminals and go where others fear to tread.

All the while he's been searching for clues to his past and a better method of making his way through the galaxy for himself and his ragtag crew. Little does he know great change and the path to his past lay before him.

Here's the synopsis for Spinward Fringe Awakening:

The crew of the Samson are caught up in the problems of their Captain as his past starts to catch up with him. Just as new allies start to fall in line old enemies come creeping out of the shadows, putting everyone at risk.

While the crew struggles to deal with their own problems, Regent Galactic begins putting a plan in motion that will bring about the fourth fall of man and position their Corporation as the sole savior of the civilized outer fringe of space. Their ambition and greed spell disaster for the bulk of mankind.

The threads of Jake Valance's past start to come together in this, the second part of the Spinward Fringe series. He's at the same time to be the benefactor and victim of a personal history he knows nothing about.

Smashwords is offering Spinward Fringe: Resurrection and Awakening in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)


Writing the Spinward Fringe series has been at the same time my greatest writing challenge and a purely enjoyable experience. I've been fortunate enough to have a number of readers (mostly Mobipocket users), who enjoy the series. I hope this fortune continues with Smashwords so I can entertain a broader audience.

RL

[If you're looking for the printed edition of this book, you can find it at Amazon.com]

First Light Chronicles Omnibus: Now Available At Smashwords

Yesterday I released the First Light Chronicles: Freeground free eBook on Smashwords. Today it's the First Light Chronicles Omnibus, which contains the entire trilogy: Freeground, Limbo and Starfree port.

It's finally available for the iPhone (through Stanza, just browse to the Smashwords store), the Sony Reader and any other reader you could imagine.

When will the Spinward Fringe Series appear? Soon. In fact, some of them may already be there.

To celebrate its release to the iPhone and iPod touch I'm offering a 25% discount code [NK87H] until August 7th.

Here's the synopsis:

In the middle of the darkest region of explored space sits one bright beacon; Freeground Station. Serving as a supply and trading post it is home to a select number of human beings that will take an unlikely chance to make a difference in their end of the galaxy.

Jonas and his friends spent their spare time in tactical simulations and drew the attention of Freeground Fleet Command when they hacked into restricted combat scenarios for elite trainees and defeated all comers.

Instead of punishing Jonas and his friends they offered them an opportunity to undertake a dangerous and exciting mission. They were to go out into the Galaxy and acquire any advantages that would improve life for Freegrounders.

This series is about their first voyage together, the challenges they face, and the relationships they forge with each other and the beings they meet along the way.

The First Light Chronicles Omnibus contains the entire First Light Chronicles Trilogy. Freeground, Limbo and Starfree Port.

---End Synopsis---

Smashwords is offering the First Light Chronicles Omnibus in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)


I hope everyone enjoys this book as much as I enjoyed writing it over a year ago. My work on the Spinward Fringe Series (which follows this collection), continues and I have to say it's been a fantastic experience so far.

I'll be releasing books on Smashwords throughout the week. When I've finished them all I'll be providing a peek into the upcoming Spinward Fringe book: Rogue Element.

Enjoy!

RL

[If you're looking for the printed edition of this book, you can find it at Amazon.com Oh, and please ignore the signed editions on sale for over $40.00 there, they're all fakes.]

Freeground: Now Available For Everything, Even the iPhone

I've been trying to find a good distributor and conversion service for the ePub format. In doing so I may have found the ultimate distributor.

Mobipocket has been very kind to me, but since Amazon decided that their iPhone reader (said to have been completed in August 2008), would not be released people have been less and less interested. [EDIT: Amazon stopping Mobipocket from releasing their iPhone reader has not been confirmed by Mobipocket or Amazon, they're silent on the subject.]

Smashwords has provided a free conversion and distribution solution that's above and beyond what I could have expected.

That doesn't mean I'm abandoning the format, in fact, Mobipocket readers will always have access to my work at Mobipocket.com or from Smashword's site. There are differences between the two sources. Mobipocket's files come DRM protected and have an index. Smashwords books are not DRM protected but don't have an index. Smashwords is working on a good indexing system, and considering how quickly things are developing over there I'm sure it's coming soon. This is NOT me announcing a switch to Smashwords. All my work will continue to be available from Mobipocket, Amazon.com (printed and Kindle), and Lulu.com. I'm not dropping any distribution avenue, just adding a very good one.

I'll write more about Smashwords and what I'm doing there over the coming week.

For now, the free eBook that stands as the beginning of the First Light Chronicles and Spinward Fringe Series is available at Smashwords for free. You can access the book using your Stanza reader on your iPhone / iPod Touch, just head over to the Smashwords store and get your free copy.

Here's the synopsis:

Large enough to support an entire civilization, one of the last free ports all alone in the dark, Freeground Station is about to come under siege. Able to fight off periodical assaults and attempted takeovers in the past, they are losing ground technologically and with no nearby allies they find themselves resorting to unorthodox methods to improve their situation.

Jonas Valent, once a former engineer with the Freeground Fleet has been reduced to a trade and supply agent, a glorified port traffic director. In his spare time he and his friends engage in anonymous combat with anyone who opposes them in station wide simulations. Their success rate and original thinking have earned them a great deal of attention. Fleet Command has no choice but to send them on a very real, very dangerous mission: to go into the galaxy and acquire allies and technology on their behalf.

Smashwords is offering the First Light Chronicles: Freeground in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)

Smashwords is a distributor made for indie writers and so far they've treated me extremely well while barely lifting a finger. I hope this makes for a good place for everyone to pick up my books and I'll announce the arrival of each one as they're adapted. Now is a great time to spread the word about the First Light Chronicles and the Spinward Fringe Series. I have to give everyone who reads my work credit, they've been very supportive and adept at making my work more well known.

More to come...

RL

[Meanwhie, work on Spinward Fringe Rogue Element continues!]