30 Days of Giveways: Fourth: Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1

Posted by dougdandridge on October 16, 2017
Posted in: Alien Invasion, Alien Life, Armor, eBooks, Far Future, Fusion, Future Warfare, Intelligent Life, Kindle, Military, Nanotechnology, Space Industry, Space Navy, Writing. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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The giveaway of Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2 is over, and today starts the five days of the book that made it possible for me to quit my day job. Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1 started the whole thing off. It can be obtained in the UK here. As mentioned earlier, the next book will be Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3, since the way the KDP days worked out didn’t give me five days for promotion at the end of the month (the current period for that book ends on October 29th).

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1 was, obviously, the first book in the Exodus series, which now stands at eighteen books, twelve in the main series, four in the Machine War series, and two in the Tales of the Empire short story collections. The series had been bestseller on Amazon lists in the US and UK in Space Opera and Military Science Fiction. The series has sold about one hundred and eighty thousand copies, and was the driving force in my being able to become a full-time author. Book 13 of the main series will be coming out by mid-November, the fifth book of Machine War in about January in 2018. Empires at War will probably reach fifteen books, while Machine War is planned for six. I will also do at least one more short story collection, and in 2019 I will start on a new Exodus series, telling the stories of humankind’s journey to the stars and the establishment of the Empire. I will be moving on to other series, including the Kinship War series I will be doing for Arc Manor, but Exodus will always be in mind, and I will try to revisit it when I can. And now for the blurb.

Humanity’s worst nightmare has again come out of the Dark. Can a human race in turmoil survive?

It’s a Fight to the Finish as Two Interstellar Empires go Toe to Toe.

When the human race faces extermination at the hands of an expanding species, the last survivors travel a thousand years to reestablish the race ten thousand light years away. It is now a thousand years after the birth of the New Terran Empire. The race has aggressively expanded during that time, with a fleet that has never lost a war against an alien species. But the signs are there, the old enemy is back, and the Fleet will face its greatest challenge in a foe fifty times their size.

Science fiction in the tradition of Anderson and Weber, where the physics of normal and hyperspace dictate the strategy and tactics. Enormous fleets battle across the immensity of space with advanced technologies. Can the proud human Fleet hold off the tide of an advancing enemy, rallying allies and deploying new tech? Or will the conquerors achieve what they could not two thousand years before, and end the existence of the upstarts?

30 Days of Giveways: Third: Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2

Posted by dougdandridge on October 11, 2017
Posted in: Armor, Dragons, eBooks, Fantasy, Future Warfare, Multiverse, Nuclear Weapons, Sword and Sorcery, Writing. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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Part two of the giveway is over, and we move on to part 3, the second book of the Refuge series. Part 2 went fairly well, books got out into peoples’ hands, hopefully many of whom had never heard of the Refuge series. Now we move on to book 2 of the series, Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2. Those in the UK can find it here.

Book blurb:  The adventure continues. Millions of Earth humans are transported to a world of magic and are in the fight for their lives against an evil Ellala Elf Emperor who sees them as soul energy to extend his life as a litch. But the forces of NATO have brought their weapons along, and it’s tanks against wizards, attack helicopters against dragons, nuclear weapons against elder Gods. The technology of Earth will only work for a short period of time on the new world, due to the laws of Refuge finally overwhelming the beliefs of the newcomers. So, it’s use it or lose it, and the humans, under the command of United States Major General Zachary Taylor, use it with a vengeance. And the humans have brought along allies unlike any seen on Refuge in recent memory. Immortals of great physical power and an immunity to magic. Centenarian Kurt von Mannerheim, a veteran of the slaughter on the Eastern Front of World War Two. Ismael Levine, the Wandering Jew of legend, born prior to Christ. And newcomers, the American Jackie Smith, and the giant Brit Paul Mason-Smythe. Will they be enough to tilt the balance? Or will the humans have traded the nightmare of a nuclear ravaged world for one in which dark Gods prey on their souls? Allies will be gathered, and new enemies made, as technology fights magic in an effort to gain time and space for the forging of a new kingdom.

Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2 will be available for free through October 15th.  Then I will be moving back to science fiction, with Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1, my bestselling novel of all time with over 26,000 sales. I will be giving away the first three books of the series. Due to a problem with scheduling (book 3 was switching from one period on KDP select to another), book 3 will be given away in between books 1 and 2. Sorry, but that was the only way I could give away book 3 for 5 days. Otherwise, the most I could have done was four days. Hope that isn’t too confusing.

30 Days of Giveways: Second: Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1

Posted by dougdandridge on October 6, 2017
Posted in: Dragons, eBooks, Fantasy, Fusion, Interdimensional Travel, Kindle, Magic, Military, Near Future, science Fiction, self publishing, Writing. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

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Well, the first part of the giveaway is done. Exodus: Machine War: Book 1: Supernova, was given away to the tune of just over a thousand books. Not as good as most of my giveaways in the past, but still seemingly worth it if it got the book into the hands of a thousand people who hadn’t heard of it. Hopefully, people who had not heard of me. I spent just under a hundred dollars on promotion. I won’t know the effect, except by guesswork. Some people might buy my other books, both in the series and others. Some who got it for free might also buy it. It does happen. So, on to the next book.

Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1 is a genre bender of technothriller and high fantasy. It can be found in the UK here.  It was the series I thought would take off, but Exodus: Empires at War, released after Refuge, was the one that took that honor. Still, Refuge, both books 1 and 2, sold about 5,000 copies each, a little more for 1, a little less for 2. I really enjoyed writing the series, which is now up to four books plus a sort of spinoff (sort of, because it was written before any of the Arrival books).  I am currently working on book 5 of the main series, and plan to do at least one more after that, just so my readers will get closure for the series. I may pick it up again in the future.

I have talked about this series to science fiction and fantasy fans at conventions, and people thought it a cool idea. I still think it is. And now for the blurb.

In the year 2025 a nuclear war breaks out in Central Europe, the Russians trying to secure their old empire. The dimensional gates open to another world, a world of magic, where our dreams of fantasy are real. The evil Emperor of the Ellala sees the millions of transplanted humans as soul energy to forward his scheme for immortality. He orders his armies to capture the newcomers, to place them in concentration camps where they can be harvested. But the Germans, French, Polish and other peoples or Earth have other ideas. With the help of their American allies and the modern weapons of war they will fight back against the magic of the evil elves, while gathering their own allies in the fight for survival. For they are seen by the native peoples as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. And they have brought immortals with them to this world, men and women of great power on Earth, who become true demigods on the new world. So it is tank against mage, attack helicopter against dragon, and nuclear warheads against impregnable fortress, as the humans must use their technology while they still have it, and gain a foothold on a world beyond their understanding.

The first book of a series about the establishment of a human Empire on a world of magic, led by their immortal king, Book 2 should be out by the first half of June, book 3 in the winter of 2012.

Next up: Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2.

30 Days of Giveaways. First Up: Exodus: Machine War: Book 1.

Posted by dougdandridge on October 1, 2017
Posted in: Alien Invasion, eBooks, Far Future, Future Warfare, Kindle, science Fiction, self publishing, Writing. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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Exodus: Machine War: Book 1: Supernova.

I’ve decided to try something different here to see if it gains some traction. I have done Amazon giveaways several times in the past. I did five of them before I started selling enough to think about leaving my day job. The Deep Dark Well was extremely successful. I gave away 4,100+ copies, and to this day I believe this promotion kick-started my career. I’ve sold almost 7,000 of that book since, and the book I put out after the promotion, Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1, jumped off the digital bookshelves. Several of the other giveaways did well, but didn’t result in greater sales. Prior to releasing book 5 of the Exodus series I did a giveaway of Book 1. 4,900 free eBooks went out, and I sold five hundred of books 1 through 4 when Book 5 came out. Even the book I had just given away.

So giveaways can work. And even if they don’t result in greater sales, they get eBooks out in the hands of readers. I don’t do them often because they actually take a lot of time. Posting on the sites that publicize the giveaway, blogging, tweeting. But they work, and I thought it was about time I tried another. But which book? I have three series that do well, and those are the ones I thought it would be best to promote. Across the entire month of October. Amazon allows the free promotion of any book exclusive to them for five days every ninety. So I decided which books to do, and went ahead and set up the first three on a number of promotion sites.

I start out with Exodus: Machine War: Book 1: Supernova, which can be found in the UK here. It will run from October 1-5. The series currently stands at 4 books, with more to come.

Blurb: Exodus: Machine Wars: Book 1: Supernova is the launch of a new chapter in the Saga. Not all the action occurs on the main front. Space is too big for that kind of restriction.

The Klassekians are a gifted race, with an ability which could help the Empire in its war against the Ca’cadasans. Just entering space, the species is still torn apart by religious and nationalistic schisms. They are on the verge of a nuclear war. And that is the least of their problems. For six light months from their star system is a blue giant, and the timer on its life is just about to hit zero.

Exploration Command ships discover the civilization, and it is soon apparent that this is one that needs saving. But saving the six billion people on the planet is a daunting task, especially with a killing wave of radiation a year and a half away, six months after the blue giant explodes. And one of the main religious factions of the planet sees their destruction as a cause for celebration, the return of their God. Now the humans must not only battle time, but the politics and religious fanaticism of a fatalistic people who do not desire rescue, and are determined to stop those who do. Add to this the mysterious alien artifacts that rise from surface to above the atmosphere, and the mission becomes interesting in the most hazardous manner.

And in the darkness, wait things that humanity thought they were well rid of, probing the human fleet, and threatening the great Empire base at Bolthole.

Following will be the two books of the Refuge series, Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1 from October 6-10, and Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2 from October 11-15. This series currently stands at 5 books, with more to come.

After that I will be doing the first three books of the Exodus: Empires at War series, which stands at 12 books, with more to come. I will be blogging about the other books on their day of release. So, if you haven’t read these books yet, or know someone who might like them, go ahead and grab them while they’re free.

Science Fiction Author Robert J. Sawyer.

Posted by dougdandridge on September 29, 2017
Posted in: eBooks, Far Future, Plotting, Quantum Physics, Robots, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

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First off, this is not an interview blog. I would love to do one, and I think I could get enough people on here to interest readers, but basically I don’t have the time for it. No, this is just a blog about a writer I’ve known for some years, who is now selling some of his own work. I’m boosting his signal, so to speak. Now, I’m sure there are a lot more fans of Robert J. Sawyer than there are for Doug Dandridge. But I’ve learned over the years that among the casual reader, probably the majority of fans, great knowledge of the field is not a given. I have mentioned famous authors to many of my more nerdy friends, and even some fans and conventions, and all I get back is a blank look.  So this is my shout out for Rob. And I may be doing this kind of blog more often in the future.

I met Rob Sawyer about six years ago on the internet. I was browsing for science fiction author sites, and came across his, aptly named www.sfwriter.com. It looked familiar, and I realized I had found it several years before. I had a question about something, publishing, websites or some such. I sent him an email, not really expecting an answer. And received an answer that very same day. I followed him on Facebook, and I think he was over the limit for friends at that time. The first time I met him in person was at DragonCon in 2012, just after I had started to make enough money to become a full-time writer. I was sitting there waiting for a panel on which he was featured. I called out to him, told him my name, and he came and sat down next to me to talk for about five minutes. I was amazed. This was a Hugo and Nebula award winning author, and he spent time before his panel to talk with me. I’ve seen him over the years at every DragonCon, and we were always able to talk for some minutes, sometimes longer. Some years later I proof read a speech he was to give in Great Britain, and finally was able to get friend status on Facebook. And this year he congratulated me on my book deal with Arc Manor, and we talked for some time about things in general.

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Rob is a true scholar of science fiction. He’s a great fan of the original Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, as anyone who follows him on Facebook would know.  As said above, he’s won the two major science fiction award, Hugo and Nebula. Also the Aurora, the Seiun, the Campbell Memorial Award, the Hal Clement and others. He is considered Canada’s gift to science fiction. So, he’s as well known as they get, but still not universally known. I doubt anyone is in this field unless your name was Heinlein. I was only able to put in the links for his work at Amazon.US, but he can be found on just about every platform in existence, in eBook, paperback and audio.

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I’ve always enjoyed Rob’s work. Now I’m a military science fiction writer, with lots of explosions and death and all the exciting things my fan base likes. Rob’s works are different. He puts a positive spin on things. Not to say there are some horrific moments in his stories. Assassinations, murders on the surface of Mars, the government overstepping its bounds and terrorizing citizens. But who else would write a story about an emerging AI (Awake), and make it benevolent. Great three book series by the way, and if you haven’t read it, you need to. Or his tale about an alternate dimension where Neanderthals became the dominant species, a three novel series (Hominids). His series about intelligent dinosaurs living on a doomed moon that is destined to fall apart as it passes the Roche limit of the gas giant it is in orbit around (Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy). Or an avowed atheist writing about an alien race that has discovered God through mathematics (Calculating God). One of my favorites was Red Planet Blues, about a detective in the one domed city on Mars, and the murder he tries to solve. And Flashforward, a novel about the world jumping ahead temporarily twenty-one years in to the future for two minutes, and seeing what their lives had been like. That one was the basis of a TV series.

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Rob has recently gained the rights to some of his works and is selling them under his own name, something quite a few of the scifi and fantasy writers I know have done. They had a chance to get their work out with some more publicity, and make a fair wage on their writing. Again, I recommend his work. His grasp of science is fantastic, his grasp of human behavior is terrific, and most of all, his grasp of story is out of this world. So, if you haven’t read this artist of an author, might I recommend that you pick up one of his books today. You’re in for a treat.

Dragoncon 2017. Day 3: Sunday, September 3rd.

Posted by dougdandridge on September 24, 2017
Posted in: Conferences, eBooks, Military, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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Starship Showdown panel, with Van Allen Plexico, Sue Phillips and myself.

I had planned to stay through Monday as usual, so I didn’t know this was going to be my last day. The breakfast room was full, about half the people there football fans. FSU fans were kind of dejected, not just from losing the game, but losing their all-star quarterback for the year. I talked with some people from Birmingham, where I had lived, then went back to my room to get ready.

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Cosplayers in the Hyatt lobby.

Again the nice walk to the Hyatt. I didn’t have my first panel until 4 PM, so I took my time. Went to a panel I wasn’t on, then took pictures. I ate lunch, this time in the food court, finally found a table, and took pictures of some of the more interesting costumes. Talked to a couple of people in the Embassy hallway, including Will Wight once again, and then it was time for my first panel.

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The Barckets.

Starship Showdown is not really a panel as much as a contest. Van Allen Plexico presided over the event. Myself, Sue Phillips, and an audience member picked just before the start were the judges. Van took suggestions from the audience as to which ships would compete, and two out of three panel members had to agree. Most were from TV, books and movies, though one was from anime. I don’t think any of the video game mentions made it in. Ringo’s Troy was not eligible as it had won last year. We had the Enterprise E, Defiant, Borg Cube, the Medusa from Honor Harrington, something from Farscape, the Battleship Yamato, and the White Star. We went through the columns, ship against ship, audience members making their cases for one or the other. I think we only had two that weren’t unanimous. In the end the White Star won, and it will not be eligible for next year’s contest. Love that panel, a lot of fun, and I hope to be on it again next year.

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The captain in his boat.

More conversations out in the hall, dinner, then it was time for my big panel, the one I was to moderate.  Basic Military Science Fiction. Going in I still wasn’t sure what it was about, so I decided to approach it by asking the panel members why they wrote military scifi, and go from there. I had six panel members, a large herd of cats. This was the third panel I had moderated. Two years ago at LibertyCon I did a ‘Do You Have To Be A Combat Veteran to Write Combat’ panel with seven other members. This year, again at LibertyCon, I did the “Favorite Space Opera’ panel with four other members. So I wasn’t totally inexperienced, but this was DragonCon, and my performance here might mean more moderator slots in the future. And the sound system didn’t work, while we were playing to a full room.

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Cosplayers.

To my right was John Hemry, better known as Jack Campbell, the author of the Lost Fleet series, and a writer whose work I loved. At the end was Kacey Ezell, a Baen author and someone I had been in an anthology with, who was an Air Force helicopter pilot. Other panel members included Mike Massa, Evan Currie, Marc Edelheit and J A Sutherland. Everyone introduced themselves. We had the helicopter pilot,  ex-Naval special ops, the Navy surface warfare officer, and a couple who weren’t in the military. I didn’t give my experience, so I chimed back in to say I was a ground pounder. Maybe not as exalted a position as the others, but one that gave a different perspective to the military. A couple of panel members had not been in the military, but loved to read military scifi, so that is what they wrote.

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The Basic Military Science Fiction Panel, with six successful authors.

The panel went well, and I think everyone had a good time, panelists and audience. I had a moment where one of the panelists tried to take over the panel, and it could have been a discussion on the Roman Empire. I got it back under control, kudos for me. Everyone got a chance to talk, even me (I believe the moderator should get equal time, and not just be the question generator). Afterwards a lot of people came up, and I talked with a couple of fellow ground pounders and gave away some cards and a zip drive with the complete Exodus series. I think I did well. I guess I’ll find out next year if the people at DragonCon agree.

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Mike Massa joins the panel, raising the number to seven.

Afterwards, I walked back to my hotel, talking with a fan most of the way, and giving him another zip drive of the entire Exodus series. I had planned to go to another couple of panels the next day, but on waking up in the morning I decided I had accomplished enough and was ready to go home. The Alabama and FSU fans had been replaced at breakfast by Tennessee fans, since their game was that night.

I’ve always had problems driving home from Cons. I’m tired, and I drive through my normal nap time. I sing loudly, drink lots of caffeine, rub ice on my face, or even slap myself. And still find myself at the edge of nodding off on the way. This time, leaving earlier, that wasn’t a problem. And I saved the $30 for parking in the garage next to the Hilton so I could go to the morning panels.

So, DragonCon this year, what did I learn? There was more to be gained in talking with people and networking than in frantically running from panel to panel. Meeting with people can include eating in real restaurants, which means no walking around looking for tables. And panels don’t just come to you. That was what I had thought. You get Attending Professional Status and the panels will just come. Now I know to have a strategic plan in place, knowing which track directors to contact with my resume’, suggestions to make, etc. I will try to get the Marriott Marquis next year, to again be in the center of things, but the Residence Inn is a viable alternative. Next year will be my sixth DragonCon, meaning, what? I’m definitely still not an old timer, but I am  a veteran.

Day 2: Saturday, September 2nd.

Posted by dougdandridge on September 20, 2017
Posted in: Fantasy, Kindle, science Fiction, self publishing, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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Parade and crowd.

Big day. It was parade day, and I had scheduled lunch with Chris Kennedy. Originally we had talked about having it in the food court, but things worked out differently and much better. Breakfast again at the Residence Inn, this time much more crowded due to the FSU and Alabama fans. Then up to the room for a shower and to get ready. On the way I ran into Chris Kennedy and his lovely wife, Sheellah, right outside the sports bar restaurant with the Braves sign. We agreed to meet here after the parade, and I headed up to the parking garage I was hoping would give a good view of the spectacle to come.

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Parade marchers.

I got a great view of the parade. There was no room near the front, but I found a spot with some short people I could stand behind. The parade was distant, but with a 60X telephoto lens everything zoomed close. I talked with an Alabama fan who was there for the game, but had decided the parade was worth a look. As usual the parade was spectacular. And after the streets were full of people. One final spectacle was the sweeping of the street by motorcycle police, moving people back onto the sidewalks. It was like trying to part the sea, and as soon as they passed people again flooded into the street. Fun.

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Saw these good sisters earlier in the day. Must have been some kind of church gathering.

We met at the restaurant, and Chris and Sheellah were already there, holding down a table. Soon Mark showed up, then someone I’d never met, Will Wight, who had sold 400K books online. He had even more of a recognition problem than I did, since he was also an attending professional, and hadn’t gotten even one panel. Joy Wandrey came in, along with a friend of hers, and suddenly we had seven people at the table. I had planned to buy lunch, but hadn’t figured on this many. When the check came Will grabbed it, and I decided to let the guy who had sold twice as many books as I had have it.  I had wanted to talk business with Chris, who had an out of this world business model. I was also hoping to ask about writing a book in his universe. I didn’t get to talk as much as I wanted, though the conversation at lunch was great. Did get to discuss some matters, and altogether I was very happy with the outcome of the lunch.

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Lunch on Saturday. Right side, myself, Will Wight, didn’t remember her name. Other side, Chris Kennedy, Sheellah Kennedy, Mark Wandrey, Joy Wandrey.

Afterward, I headed back to the Hyatt, hoping to catch Kevin J. Anderson’s panel, New York Times Bestsellers. I had wanted to say hello in person at least once this con. I had said hi to Rebecca Moesta, his wife, earlier. The line around the Hyatt was unreal, and I thought that boded ill for getting in to see him. And the next day he had a panel in the same room, same time, with Jim Butcher, so forget about that one as well. Instead, I went to the Baen Roadshow, and found out it was two hours, when I only had one hour to spare, or so I thought. I left early for my mentoring session with Elizabeth Moon, and got there to find out that I had gotten the times wrong. I felt bad about it, until later I saw that there were plenty of hopefuls lined up hoping to get a slot, so her time didn’t go to waste. I saw several friends in the hall, all with stories of breaks they were getting. That was cool. I had been told at earlier cons that I was an inspiration because I actually sold books. Now a lot of those same people were getting their foot in the door and making it.

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It’s a trap.

One more panel, then I sat and talked with James Palmer, and Robert Sawyer sat with us and talked. Robert thought he had seen an announcement for my book with Arc Manor in Locus. I was excited. Turned out he was mistaken, and the next day he said it might have been one of my own blog posts. Robert is an interesting guy, and it was always a pleasure to talk with him. Got some time with Bill Fawcett, and some more conversation with Robert. Then it was time for meeting Raphyel Jordan, who was supposed to have supper with me.

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Sith warrior.

I had met Raphyel at Superstars, and we had always met for a meal at DragonCon after that. I was sitting in front of the Hyatt when a tall black man with dreads came walking out. I thought it was Raphyel, and I yelled at him, but he didn’t stop. So I was up to chase after him. That was a losing proposition, as he was young and striding, and I had a cane. Finally lost him, last sight was two blocks ahead on the other side of the street. So I called him up and found that he was still on the dealers floor at America’s Mart. When I met with him I was still amazed at how closely that stranger had resembled him, to skin tone, dreadlocks and head scarf.

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Uh oh. Batman coming for me in front of the Hyatt.

Raph talked about the podcast he was running and I asked him if I could be on it. Sure thing. They were booked up at the moment, but would probably have some openings about the time Kinship War was due at the publishers. Perfect. After eating I wandered back to the hotel, to see my college team collapse in their first game. And so went the second day of DragonCon.

Up next; DragonCon: Sunday, 3rd September.

Coming soon: Thirty Days of Giveaways.