Alien Invasion

30 Days of Giveaways: Part 5: Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3.

Posted by dougdandridge on October 21, 2017

Posted in: Alien Invasion, Alien Life, eBooks, Far Future, Future Warfare, Genetic Engineering, Interdimensional Travel, Military, Nanotechnology, Nuclear Weapons, Plotting, Space Navy, Writing. Tagged: Doug Dandridge, Exodus: Empires at War. Leave a comment

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Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3: The Rising Storm, is available for free for the next five days. I can be found at Amazon UK here. The book is over 200K words long. I decided to do it that way after a fan stated that it was going to take me fifty books to tell the story at 120K a book. After writing it I decided 120K was just fine, but it still stands out as the only Exodus book over 200,000 words.

Part four of the Giveaway is done, so now we move on to part five. When I had originally envisioned this series of giveaways, I had planned to do the first three Exodus: Empires at War books before the first two Refuge books. Unfortunately, all of my books had been entered into KDP Select at different times. KDP select, exclusivity with Amazon, is what allows you to promote a book five days out of a ninety day period. It renews every 90 days, but the giveaways can only be scheduled for the current period. I couldn’t schedule Exodus 1 earlier because the renewal date was right in the middle of those five days. So I shifted it, and then found that I could only do four days of Exodus 3, because it renewed right on the 30^th. The only solution was to move it up to the fifth slot. Exodus 2 will still be given away, but not until the 6^th slot. I apologize to anyone this might confuse. So, just go ahead and get book 3 if you’ve already gotten book 1, and book 2 will be along shortly.

And now for the blurb:

They’re Back, and They want to End us.
The Ca’cadasan Empire is at the gates, and they mean to destroy the human race. But we will not go quietly into the night.
The saga continues, as Sean Ogden Lee Romanov finds himself the uncrowned leader of the New Terran Empire. After two thousand years the old enemy has found them, but the humans are no longer the technologically inferior species they once were. A thousand years of Empire has forged a mighty military that has never lost a war. The Ca’cadasans are still slightly ahead in tech, are much larger, and have never failed in a conquest. There is dissension within as Parliament wants to put their own man in charge, and Sean is woefully unprepared for the task that awaits him. Time is running out, and if the Empire and the species are to survive the new man must be installed and humanity must rally behind him. New technologies are on the horizon, technologies on which the course of the war could turn, for better or worse. War rages across the stars on a Galactic scale. The third book of a series that will span over a century of time and tens of thousands of light years of space.

Grand Science Fiction in the legacy of Weber and Ringo.
Action packed science fiction on a grand scale.

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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 29^th).

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 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: Doug Dandridge, Exodus: Machine War, Kindle Giveaway, Refuge: The Arrival, Supernova. Leave a comment

Supernova

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.

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I put Exodus: Machine War: Book 4: Retribution, up on Amazon last night, so it should be out on all the Amazon sites around the world. In fact, it has already sold some copies in the US without any notifications by me. And someone in the UK must have stayed up all night reading, then gave it a five star review. It can be found on Amazon UK here. This is, as titled, the fourth book in the series, Machine Wars, which takes place outside of the Empire. Humanity had developed autonomous war machines centuries before, and, as they always seem to do, they revolted. The Empire thought they had destroyed all of them, but one got away, and reestablished itself outside the Empire. Its mission, to kill all life, paying particular attention to the intelligent variety. I originally started this series so I could have another bunch of stories to play with when I was at a dead end in Empires at War. Anyway, I have a trip to prepare for, and will be blogging about when I get back. The new Website will be up next month, and I’ll post my panels at DragonCon as soon as I know them. And here’s an excerpt.

“I’m still not really sure what they’re up to, ma’am,” said the fleet tactical officer, Captain Lyndsey Quan, looking up from her board.

The plot was showing the thousands of enemy ships, twice as many as they had picked up when they first entered the system, moving out to meet them. The ships were boosting at various rates, and it seemed the Machines were trying to get their forces into close engagement range en mass. Bednarczyk wasn’t sure if that was the smart play, since a lot of those ships would be taking a longer time reaching her, which meant she could bring them under long range fire for a much greater period of time.

“Send orders to Admiral Hahn,” said Beata to the fleet com officer. “I want him to move his ships around in hyper and set up to take the antimatter production satellites under fire from that point. He is to continue firing at his prerogative.”

Tiberius Hahn had been her battle fleet commander, in charge of the bulk of the combat ships, since the Battle of Bolthole. His ships were all hyper VI, lea by a brand new superbattleship, one of the last to come off the building slips. He had one half of her capital ships, but most importantly forty percent of the wormholes. As long as they were out here beyond the barrier they could maneuver around the system before the enemy could get to any of them.

“And what the hell is that?” she asked, pointing to the very large icon on the plot, moving out of the orbit of one of the closer gas giants at twenty gravities. “Is it what I think it is?”

“If you think it’s a planet killer, then yes ma’am, that’s what it is.”

“So this is where the last one is,” said Captain James Rodriguez, her chief of staff.

“If you assume that’s the last one,” said Beata, looking back at the old captain. “That’s an assumption I’m not willing to make. And I definitely don’t want that thing closing with us.”

The planet killer was a hundred kilometers in diameter, with armor over five kilometers thick. It had lasers that could vaporize any ship in her fleet at under a light minute’s distance, and particle beam generators more powerful than her wormhole weapons. Its major weaknesses were its acceleration and its terminal velocity for entering hyper. It could only accelerate at twenty gravities, making it a scow compared to any of her ships. And it could jump to hyper at a maximum of point one light, verses the point three of her ships. It was a devastating offensive weapon, since, if it was coming into a system and heading toward something that needed defending, it had to be stopped, which could mean coming into close range. As a defensive weapon it was not quite as powerful. It could be avoided, and if in orbit around something important, it could be bypassed by moving launching platforms to different vectors. If she had been in charge of the thing, it would have remained hidden near one of the most important assets of the system, ready to use its lasers wide beam to take out incoming missiles. Or possibly catch one of her task groups unawares.

“Shall we launch on it, ma’am?”

“Not yet. We have missiles with warheads in the tubes, and they can destroy those with wide angle lasers. Which, if they are using their computer brains, that thing will be putting out continuously within the next couple of hours, well before our weapons can reach them. We’ll wait for those shots.”

“We should be getting visual on the supermetal planetoid at any minute ma’am.”

They had picked up the graviton signals of missiles engaging at three of the other five planetoids, and the fifth and sixth would be registering soon. They had assumed they were doing damage to those planetoids, but they really didn’t know. Now would come confirmation of at least one strike.

The view, brought in clear through gravity lens telescope, showed the planetoid with its defensive ships in orbit. There were also some orbital defense platforms, lasers and missile batteries. The surface was a maze of machinery. Accelerator tubes, fusion reactors, millions of square kilometers of cooling systems. What they couldn’t tell was if any of that machinery was weaponry, though Beata had to assume it was there.

Something flared on the view, one of the incoming missiles engaged and destroyed, followed by more. The orbital weapons and ships could take them out quickly, if there weren’t too many. And there were eight hundred missiles coming in at point nine light, in an interval of less than a second. Followed by two more after that. Almost a hundred missiles had flared in space before the first hit was generated, one weapon striking a destroyer class robot warship, converting it to vapor. Two more destroyers followed, then the prize, a battleship. Close detonations took out groupings of orbital platforms, some more damaged smaller warships. The first wave passed with no hits on the planetoid, though the defenses were degraded. And they still knew nothing about surface defenses.

The second wave came in and destroyed more of the orbital assets, ships and platforms. Now the weapons on the planet opened up as a greater mass of weapons made it through the outer defenses. Lasers, particle beams and close in projectile weapons took out over two hundred weapons, most of those that made it past the outer defenses. And the first two hits were generated on that surface. Bright flashes spread out over tens of thousands of square kilometers, digging deep into the surface, gouging large craters. All machinery in those areas was totally vaporized, while the thermal wave radiating out destroyed a much larger area, and the seismic waves toppled structures and ripped connecting infrastructure apart further out.

The third wave came in, also losing most of its number while taking out more of the outer defenses, including a second battleship. Surface installations again hit them, but almost forty made it through. The result was almost total devastation on the surface, entire supermetal factories, thousands of reactors, millions of square kilometers of heat exchangers, blotted out of existence. The thermal wave rolled around the surface, meeting on the other side, leaving no working facilities their wake.

“Yes,” said the tactical officer, pumping a fist in the air.

Bednarczyk was satisfied with the result. Assuming the enemy didn’t lose this system at this time, it would take months to build the machinery for new production plants, and more months to put them in place and get them running. On planetoids that might take even longer to get down to an efficient temperature for making the metals.

Now, if only the other strikes go so well, thought the admiral. There was no reason to think they wouldn’t. This strike had been overkill. The planetoid could have been swept clean with half the hits they had achieved.

“Admiral Hahn’s force has jumped into hyper and are starting to work their way around, ma’am.”

Yes, everything was working out well. Too well. And that was worrisome. And the clock was still ticking.

Asbaran Solutions can be found on Amazon here. First, a confession. I have known Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey for several years, having met them at Liberty Con in Chattanooga. But I have met a lot of authors at conventions, and sometimes I review their books. Also, I don’t do bad reviews. I’m not in this to make enemies, and a bad review can come back to bite you in the ass. That said, I also don’t do reviews that I wouldn’t stand behind. I have been asked to contribute to an anthology set in this Universe. With all the items on my plate at the moment, including a new book contract, I would only agree to write a story for a Universe that I enjoy reading myself. This series is a winner, and I was happy to accept. Now on to the review.

The Revelations Cycle is set in a Galaxy populated by thousands of technologically advanced sapient species. After a history of disastrous wars, combat has been ritualized to lessen its destruction of valuable property and reduce collateral damage. And not all species are natural warriors. Some are unable to defend themselves, while others are bloodthirsty barbarians who revel in combat. Bring in humans, not the most bloodthirsty, but with the aid of combat armor, one of the most proficient. Humanity needs cash to be able to enter the Galactic Market, and they really don’t have anything to offer, except their lives. So mercenary companies earn the cash that Earth needs. There are a large number of companies, but the most famous of all are the Four Horsemen, the only survivors of a disastrous mission in the past that wiped out all of the other companies involved.

Mercenaries are used to secure valuable targets, or to take them away from competitors. Some weapons and tactics are forbidden, including the use of biological weapons and bombardment from space. Some of the alien species don’t always play by the rules, which leads to complications, including those in this story. Nigel Shirazi is the oldest son of the current leader of Asbaran Solutions, one of the Four Horsemen. His displays of temper have gotten him thrown out of several colleges, and out of his inherited position. When a contract target is taken from Asbaran by a force of aliens, using forbidden weapons, the males of the family attempt several assaults to get it back, losing their units and their lives in the process. When Nigel’s sister is captured, it is up to him to rally the bankrupt company and accomplish the mission, bringing in a grand payday that will save the company, and rescue his sister as well. Don’t want to spoil the story, so that’s all I’ll say. Just know that it is a tight, action packed tale that is sure to please fans of military science fiction. There is a lot of violence, and Kennedy reminded me a little of George R R Martin in the way he killed off characters. But war is a bloody business, and Kennedy captures the camaraderie of living on the edge of the combat soldier. Highly recommended.

People have told me in the past that they have not been able to find all of my books. If you read my space opera, then all of the books of that type will eventually appear on the ‘People who bought this also bought’ list. However, you won’t find my fantasy or near future scifi there. So here it all is, at least what I have so far, with links to their individual Amazon sales pages. All are also available on Kindle Unlimited with the exception of Machine War 3. It will appear on KU in a couple of months. Hope everyone finds this helpful. And to those with new Kindles, try one of my books. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

The dates alongside each book is the year it was written, not the publication date. The earliest any book was published was December 13, 2011. when both The Deep Dark Well and The Hunger were published. Right now I am sitting at just over 4,000 reviews on Amazon, with a 4.6 * average. On Goodreads, a little harder Audience, I have 4,166 ratings with a 4.12 * average.

Books by Doug Dandridge

Science Fiction

The Deep Dark Well Series

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The Deep Dark Well: (2004) An Adventure 40,000 years in the making. Pandora Latham was a Kuiper Belt Miner from Alabama. She’s used to landing on her feet, even when the next surface is through a wormhole, halfway across the Galaxy and 46,000 years in the Future. Pandora must discover the secret behind the end of civilization, and the enigma of the Immortal Watcher, the last survivor of the Empire that once ruled the stars. Her decisions will set the path for Galactic recovery, or a continuation down the roads of Barbarism.

To Well and Back: (2013) Pandora Latham is back, working Watcher’s plan to restore Galactic Civilization. But first she has to deal with the Xenophobes of the Nation of Humanity, back in the Supersystem with their sights set on making the Galaxy their own. Pandora is angry at the hyper religious Nation, and you don’t want to make a woman from Alabama angry.

Deeper and Darker: (2014) Pandora Latham is on the warpath. Watcher, her lover, and the only man who can once again unite the Galaxy, is a prisoner of the Totalitarian government of the New Galactic Empire. The Empire thinks they have the upper hand, but they have never faced someone like Pandi, and the peoples of the Galaxy that she has rallied to her cause.

Theocracy: (2011) A young gunpowder era monk becomes the only hope for his doomed world as he is caught up in the game of empire between two more advanced cultures.

The Exodus Series

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Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1: (2010) The introduction to the Exodus Universe. Two thousand years prior mankind fled from the Predatory Ca’cadasans, traveling a thousand years and ten thousand light years to a new home. Now the greatest power of their sector of space, things seem to be going well for the New Terran Empire. Until the enemy appears once again at the gates. And the years have not softened the aliens’ stance toward Humanity.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2: (2010) The saga continues. The Ca’cadasans attack at the moment when the government of the Empire is at its most chaotic. There are other enemies as well, waiting for their chance to fall on the overwhelmed humans. And a young man with no ambition for power finds himself in the position he most dreads.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3: (2013) Sean is rescued, but he is not about to go back to the safety of the capital without striking back at the Ca’cadasans who have invaded his Empire. But will his decision put the lives of thousands at risk, as well as risking the safety of his own Empire, by depriving it of its leader.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 4: (2013) Sean is crowned Emperor, and attempts to organize the Empire for war against the Ca’cadasans. But he finds that planning battles and winning battles are two different things. Defeat follows defeat. Can anyone snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Or will the new Emperor fail before his reign even really begins.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 5: Ranger: (2014) Cornelius Walbroski enters the rigors of Ranger training, becoming one of the augmented warriors of the Empire. But his first assignment, Azure, is one of the most deadly planets in the Galaxy, even prior to the coming of the Cacas. Can Cornelius survive his first mission? Or will a promising career end before it really begins?

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 6: The Day of Battle: (2014) Sean and the Empire need a victory before human morale goes completely into the black hole. He develops a plan to bring the Ca’cadasans into battle in space of his choosing. But the Cacas are not an easy opponent, and they have plans of their own, for the Donut.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 7: Counter Strike: (2014) The Empire has weathered the Ca’cadasan onslaught, and now it’s the time to strike back with an offensive of their own. A victory could win the war. But will it?

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 8: Soldiers: (2015) The Cacas have been ejected from Imperial space, for the moment. But millions of citizens of New Moscow are still held captive in death camps in their former empire, processed for rations for the large aliens. Sean is determined to save as many as he can, and the Fleet and Army are prepared to carry out his directive; free the prisoners at all costs.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 9: Second Front: (2015) The exploration mission sent around the edge of the Ca’cadasan Empire has found the other Empire at war with the large aliens. They are not as expected, and Sean must order his military to perform actions that could vilify him in the eyes of his new allies.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 10: Search & Destroy: (2016) The Fenri, all but beaten, have not given up, and their new plan promises random death and destruction in the Empire. The Cacas have launched a new offensive against the Klavarta, and their new commander is much more intelligent than the last.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11: (2016) Day of Infamy: The Ca’cadasans come up with a bold new plan to destroy the heart of the Empire, and the gigantic station that is the source of the New Terran Empire’s technological edge. Using their own newly created wormhole, they will deep strike into the Supersystem. The result could doom the Empire.

Exodus: Tales of the Empire: Exploration Command: (2015) Three novelettes concerning Exploration Command, the arm of the Fleet tasked with pushing back the boundaries of the Empire, and discovering the technology needed to win the war.

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Exodus: Tales of the Empire: Beasts of the Frontier: (2016) Three novelettes and three short stories about the dangers of the frontiers of the Empire. The Cacas are not the only threat. Sometime the danger is the wild, at other times, other humans.

Exodus: Machine War: Book 1: Supernova: (2015) When a civilization is discovered that has a special ability that would be of tremendous benefit to the Empire, great excitement is generated. When it is found that a nearby blue giant star is due to supernova in less than a year, destroying that world, excitement turns to a frantic race to save as much of that species as possible. And enemies from the past, lurking in space, bring forth a new war to the embattled Empire.

Exodus: Machine War: Book 2: Bolthole: (2016) The Machine Intelligences are back, with a vengeance. While the Empire is busy fighting a war of survival against the Cacas, the murderous killing machines they had created hundreds of years prior are now ready to strike back. And the Imperial stronghold of Bolthole is in their sights.

Exodus: Machine War: Book 3: Death From Above: (2016) The Machines are on the move, their planet killers headed for Bolthole. The human fleet is outnumbered and outgunned. But the humans have some technological tricks up their sleeves, and the genius of an unconventional commander. Will it be enough?

Other Scifi

Diamonds in the Sand: (1998) When a perfectly healthy scientist falls dead of an apparent heart attack, it is up to Sarasota Police Detective Lieutenant Gary Lariviere to find out what really happened. The scientist was working on Nanotechnology, a secret desired by everyone from the Government to the Mob. There are too many suspects, including the woman that Gary comes to love. The Army had made Gary better than human, but had they prepared him for the terrors that had been unleashed by the new technology?

The Scorpion: (2006) The Scorpion had been the world’s deadliest living terrorist. Kestral McMann had been in on the kill. Now The Scorpion is back as a mind upload, using clones to penetrate the tight security of an isolationist United States. McMann is the only man who can stop him. But can McMann survive the threat of his own side, and the insane President who leads the Nation, in time to stop The Scorpion from plunging the Great Satan back into the Stone Age?

The Shadows of the Multiverse: (2005) Something has been periodically wiping intelligence from our Universe through the ages. It’s back, and it’s up to three unlikely heroes, the Captain of a Battle Cruiser, a Physicist turned Archeologist, and a Child, to save the intelligence of the Universe from Monsters from another Dimension. Can they learn to use the powers of their unusual Quantum Minds to defeat creatures that have been playing the game for billions of years?

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Afterlife: (2010) What if you didn’t believe in the afterlife of the World’s Religions? And what if science offered you the alternative, survival within the Virtual World of a computer, where your mental abilities are magnified and you can do anything you want? And what if the World decided that your way was wrong, and declared war on you, meaning to destroy your reality? What would you do? Afterlife, a tale of survival at all costs.

We Are Death, Come For You: (2011) When aliens strike the Tau Ceti colony, humankind knows that something bad is on the way. They prepare as best they can, but will it be enough against superior technology? The aliens are death worshippers, and only the extinction of the human race will satisfy their evil intent. There are wonders of tech on the horizon, but can they be deployed in time? Or will humankind have to depend on the smallest of their techs to save them?

Fantasy

The Refuge Series

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Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1: (2010) A nuclear war in Central Europe opens the gates between dimensions, sending millions of Earth Humans into a land of myth, archetypes and fantasy. The Evil Emperor of the Ellala Elves sees the humans as energy to fuel his transformation to immortality. But the humans have brought their own weapons with them, as well as a race of Demigods who will battle the fantastic armies of Refuge. The war is on, and only one side will ultimately survive.

Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2: (2010) The Ellala have a plan to destroy the human military and capture the civilians. And the humans find that their weapons will soon cease to function. So it’s use it or lose it for the Earth Humans, and they use it with a vengeance. Tanks against Mages, Attack Helicopters against Dragons, and Nuclear Weapons against Death Gods. And the other peoples of the planet come forth as allies to the humans that they see as the fulfillment an Ancient Prophecy. But will it be enough?

Refuge: Book 3: The Legions: (2012) The human invaders are now without their technologies, at least those using explosives and internal combustion engines. But they still have knowledge of many other techs, especially the arts of warfare as practiced by the greatest infantry of the ancient world. Will it be enough to stand up to the half lich Emperor and his magical forces.

Refuge: Book 4: Kurt’s Quest: (2014) When the evil half lich Emperor sends his minions on a mission to find the Crown of the Lost Gods, an artifact which can control the minds of millions, it is up to Kurt von Mannerheim to stop them. Along with his fellow immortal, Jackie Smith, the human Physicist/Mage James Drake, the Ellala Ranger Fenris and the Grimakan Priest Garios, they must head to the frozen north to foil the plan, and ensure that the evil artifact never sees the light of day.

Refuge: Doppelganger: (2006) Set thousands of years after the arrival, Kurt von Mannerheim, the Immortal Emperor of the Imperium of Free Nations, must give up everything to save his Empress, the Elfin Princess Gwenara Elysius von Mannerheim. The world is at a crisis point as the Evil Tarakesh Empire, under its Immortal Emperor Heinrich Stuppleheim, prepares to overrun the world with its Nazi Ideology. And Kurt must face a creature of legend that may prove too much for even his physical and mental abilities.

Other Fantasy

The Hunger: Abused wife, drug addict, prostitute; Lucinda Taylor had been victimized by men all her adult life. Left for dead by her pimp, Lucinda was turned by a passing vampire. When he is destroyed she becomes a free agent, slaking her hunger for blood on the bottom dwellers of society, the type of men who once victimized her. The crime boss of Tampa is her next target, and the City by the Bay is about to become a bloodbath. But can Lucinda avoid those who are hunting for her; the Priest, the FBI man, and a pair of Vampires who would like nothing better than to send one Avenging Vampire forever into the dark?

Daemon: A Steampunk Fantasy. The world is dying, the victim of the magic used by society for the last three hundred years. Daemon Corporation thinks they have the answer, stealing the life from other worlds, bringing from other dimensions the intelligences that inhabit them for sacrifice on Earth. But something has come with them, a force that is killing the employees of Daemon Corp. It is up to Forensic Mage Detective Jude Parkinson to find a way to stop the unstoppable, while keeping the head of Daemon Corp from silencing him to keep the dark secrets of the company out of the public eye.

Aura: Triplets are born on a world where the magical Aura decides the fate of its owner. Ariel is a girl with more than double the normal Aura, destined to become a mighty Priest or Mage. Aiden has a less than normal Aura, and is destined to be a soldier or laborer. While Arlen has no Aura at all, and is seen as an abomination in the eyes of the Church of Baalra the Dragon God, which has no power over those with Negative Auras. Fate will rip the siblings apart, then bring them back together as they battle to defeat the Dragon God and leave the Evil Empire, before Ariel is taken as the Avatar of Baalra, his mortal vessel on Earth.

Books with other Authors:

Five By Five 3: Target Zone: Novellas by New York Times Bestsellers Kevin J. Anderson and Michael A. Stackpole, along with Prometheus Award Winner Dani and Eytan Kollin, Baen Author Sarah A. Hoyt, and Exodus Empires at War Author Doug Dandridge, make this a must have book for the military science fiction aficionado.

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Bellator: An anthology of military science fiction and fantasy, with my Exodus: Empires at War story Slacker.

Fight the Monster: Find the Cure for MS: An anthology of horror and dark fiction, featuring my short story, Midnight Sun.

Exodus: Machine War: Book 3 is Out.

Posted by dougdandridge on November 21, 2016

Posted in: Alien Invasion, Alien Life, eBooks, Far Future, Intelligent Life, Military, science Fiction, self publishing, Space Navy. Tagged: Amazon, Artificial Intelligence, Exodus: Empires at War, Exodus: Machine Wars, Galactic War, Kindle. Leave a comment

On November 20, 2016 I put Exodus: Machine War: Book 3: Death From Above on Amazon. It is available at Amazon.US, Amazon.UK, and of course all of the other Amazon outlets. Like most books this year, this one took longer than usual to write, and I had to drop a lot of other projects just to have the energy to complete it, including my blog. I should be able to get back to bimonthly blog entries again, as well as ramp up my productivity again. The CPAP is doing wonders, and while I’m not back to one hundred percent, at least I am getting around better and even hitting the gym for an hour four days a week. Right now I am working on a fantasy I hope to sell to Baen, then I will start on book 5 of Refuge, since I haven’t put anything out in that series for almost two years. From there it will be back to another Empire at War book, then the second volume of Theocracy, followed by yet another Machine War book. I have big plans for 2017. I may be able to finish off Exodus: Empires at War, though I still think it will be completed in 2018. From there I will be looking to develop a new series, possibly one I’m titling Exodus: The Empire, which will go back to the time of the human Exodus from Earth, on to the establishment of the Dictatorship, on through the Kingdom, and further, to the Empire. Some of the stories hinted about in the Empire of War books will be filled in. After that I will have to find something else to keep me out of trouble and off the streets. I have also released Theocracy: Book 1 and Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11: Day of Infamy on Kindle Unlimited, for those waiting for those books to reach that sales outlet of Amazon. And now for an excerpt to Exodus: Machine War: Book 3: Death From Above.

“We’re lining up for the first pass, ma’am,” called out the Force Tactical Officer.

Vice Admiral Mara Montgomery nodded as she continued to study the tactical plot. There were almost three hundred ships ahead of her force, forty of what the humans thought of as Machine capital ships, ninety of their cruisers, and one hundred and sixty scouts. Montgomery was facing them with eight battleships, fifteen battlecruisers, thirty-eight light cruisers and eighty-one destroyers. In tonnage it was almost an equal fight. Her main advantage lay in the fact that all of her ships were capable of traveling through hyper VII, while the Machine vessels were at best able to get into VI. That gave her four times their pseudo-speed, and made her ships invulnerable to their attacks while she occupied the higher dimension. She could still launch missiles in VII, dropping them down to VI while they were still travelling slowly enough to make the transition, point three light.

Of course, while the enemy couldn’t strike at her ships from lower to higher hyper, she couldn’t fire back with her beam weapons as well, and her own missiles would still only be approaching at a suboptimal velocity unless launched from distance. If she wanted to use her lasers and particle beams against them she would have to move into hyper VI, which meant that all of her ships would have to get down to point three light. That caused another problem, since the enemy fleet was moving at well over point nine seven light, and her ships would quickly fall behind as they tried to accelerate at maximum rate to catch up. That was a losing proposition. Even if she could get up to that velocity, the radiation it would cause to sleet through her ships could be deadly. Or she could drop down to VI ahead of them and let the enemy move through her formation while she attacked, then jump back to VII to come back and get ahead of them again.

I could beat them that way, she thought, her agile mind using the data she had to plot a battle plan that would destroy the Machine fleet. She would also take a beating, but she thought she would still have a command, while the enemy wouldn’t. If that was the only thing she had to face, that was what she would do. Unfortunately, there were other vessels in that Machine force, three of them, in fact. And they were her major headache.

The planet killers had shown on the sensors well before the rest of the Machine vessels. At one hundred kilometers in diameter, and massing several trillion tons, they had to be the largest, most massive spaceships ever built. The Donut was much larger, but that giant station around a black hole didn’t move, with the exception of its orbital path. And it didn’t carry the weapons of the massive warships that seemed to be armed much like battleships in proportion to their mass. She didn’t even know how to hurt them. She had studied the holos of the attack by the force that had guarded the Klassek system and engaged a single one of the huge killers. And everything they had thrown at it had not been enough.

The analysts thought the planet killers had at least a kilometer of armor, maybe as much as five. Not even a missile strike would penetrate. One coming in at point nine five light might punch through, but the inside of the planet killer was most probably crammed with machinery that would absorb the blast. Their generators and antimatter stores were stored deep in the vessel, and standard missiles would not get through to them.

And I don’t have a convenient black hole to lure them into, thought the Admiral. One enterprising battlecruiser captain had done just that, and had tricked a planet killer into a close pass of a black hole. A couple of missiles preaccelerated through a wormhole had knocked the planet killer closer to the black hole, dropping it through the event horizon. She didn’t have anything that powerful. Hell, while she was in VII she couldn’t even use the one wormhole her force carried to send preaccelerated missiles into the things. And even worse for her, the planet killers carried huge graviton projectors that could drop a vessel in hyper back to normal space in a catastrophic translation. Which meant she had to keep her distance from the ships she most wanted to stop.

“Make sure everyone knows to give those big bastards a wide berth,” the scout force commander told her Com Officer.

Moments later the message went out, both through short range com and grav pulse, and through the wormhole back to the Bolthole command center. She knew the ship commanders had already been briefed and cautioned, but she wanted to make sure they knew how important it was not to risk their vessels for no return.

“Beginning run,” called out the Force Tactical Officer. On the plot the first of the destroyer squadrons closed on the enemy, keeping their distance, well beyond the estimated range of the graviton beams. A second squadron moved up on the opposite side. All the ships were moving at point three light, able to drop missiles down into VI or lower if necessary.

“Launching, now.”

The plot blossomed with vector arrows leading away from the destroyers, immediately dropping into hyper VI and starting their acceleration toward the enemy ships at fifteen thousand gravities, well above their sustained rate. Sustained rate meant nothing in this engagement, since the missiles would strike within a minute of launch, or be gone.

“Enemy is starting to shift their formation, ma’am.”

That was what she had been afraid of. As long as the other ships had screened the planet killers she had a chance of whittling their force down. The graviton beams would also drop their own ships out of hyper, accomplishing Montgomery’s task for her. Now the screening ships were starting to shift inward, while the planet killers moved out, one to a side, the third staying put in the center, where it was equidistant from all sides of the formation, ready to move toward the next threatened area.

They didn’t get into place in time, and the first wave of missiles, almost three hundred weapons, came sweeping in from both sides. The screening vessels, mostly scouts, took them under fire with counter missiles and lasers. With over a hundred ships firing on the missiles most of the human weapons were taken out, only twenty-three making it through the defensive fire. They generated three hits, and two enemy ships disappeared from the plot, destroyed or damaged badly enough to drop them out of hyper.

“Well, that didn’t work so well,” said the Tactical Officer, earning a stare from his Admiral, the one who had planned the attack.

“It’s too late to change this run,” said Montgomery. “Continue the attack.” And we’ll try something different when we come back.

The next pair of squadrons hit, sending out the same number of missiles. They also generated a hit, killing one Machine ship. The group after that wasn’t so lucky, the planet killers in place and sending wide spread graviton beams out. All of the missiles dropped off the plot as they fell out of hyper, followed by one destroyer that had gotten too close.

“Was that ship within the predicted range of the beams?” asked Montgomery, getting up from her seat and storming over to the plot. The machines had so far lost three ships, she only one. But her ship had contained living breathing beings, sentients with their own hopes and dreams, now gone forever.

“It was not, ma’am,” replied the Tactical Officer. “They seem to have greater range than we thought.”

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11 is out, and back to the grind.

Posted by dougdandridge on August 18, 2016

Posted in: Alien Invasion, eBooks, Far Future, Future Warfare, Intelligent Life, Interdimensional Travel, Kindle, Military, science Fiction, self publishing, Space Navy, Writing. Tagged: Exodus: Empires at War, Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11, Sleep Apnea. 18 Comments

Yes, Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11: Day of Infamy is finally out. I had originally planned to have this out by the end of May, but factors beyond my control caused a delay of three months. But it’s finally here.

First off an explanation, and an apology. I found out in January that I had sleep apnea, or at least that’s what I was told by my primary physician based on my symptoms. I was tired all the time, and my blood pressure had been going up for the last six months. My pharmacist had been increasing my BP meds and adding new ones. In the past I haven’t had much problem with blood pressure, but I had gained weight since blowing out my right shoulder in the gym several years ago. The workouts went out the window, but the eating I had been doing to keep my weight up didn’t, and the pounds starting piling on. I had a sleep study in April (this is the VA, where hurry up and wait is the rule) and it was found that I had severe sleep apnea, eighty-seven interruptions or cessations an hour. I looked up the condition and found that it could be deadly. Your heart struggles at night to get enough blood to your internal organs, since the blood is not fully oxygenated. You wake up with an oxygen debt. Eventually, it can lead to major complications. I was tired all the time, I had no motivation, and I stopped going to the gym altogether. The book I had planned to release in May kept getting put off as I was doing only four or five hundred words a day, when I did any. Finally, after another sleep study, this one in the hospital, and numerous threats to write my legislators and the newspapers, I finally got my CPAP machine. And while everything is not wonderful, I feel much better. I can go to the gym and I can work. At least a couple of thousand words a day, and the motivation is back. So I finally completed Book 11, and am hard at work on Book 3 of the Machine War saga. And now I am back to blogging.

So I have another book out, my thirtieth on Amazon. I listen to my readers, and this book is back on track with the main storyline. And the Empire is again in danger from the Cacas. I have been asked how long this series will be going on. From the beginning it was meant to be a long saga, much like a real war. Imagine World War two, but over distances that can take half a year to traverse. Throw in new technologies by each side, and counter techs to defend against the new. Logistical problems, the times needed to build new vessels, to train more warriors, and you might see the scope of this kind of war. I wasn’t going to give one side a miraculous counter that would win the war in a day. So I had originally planned on doing twenty books in the main series, then rethought that to fifteen. Now? I just don’t know. It will end when it needs to end, when one side or the other finally brings its opponent to its knees. About the time Empires at War wraps up I should be finished with Machine War as well, and some of the short story anthologies I will put out to cover other facets of that Universe.

And then I will go back to the beginning and tell the story of the Empire as it was founded and struggled on its way to dominate its region of space. And maybe some stand alone novels set during the war. I have in mind an alternate WW2 history with more of a science fiction flare than most. And a post-apocalyptic series that’s a little bit Fallout and a bit of Robert Adams’ Horseclans, with some original ideas thrown in as well. And of course, finally finish my gunpowder fantasy, hopefully in time for the workshop cruise I will again be attending in December. I want an editor to take a look at it, and talk with an agent about possible representation. So the coming months and years will be busy ones, and hopefully now my health will cooperate, and I can work on these projects the way I want. I have a lot more stories in me, and I hope my fans will come along for the ride.

This will be a short post with the exception of the excerpt. I have been battling sleep apnea and now have the wonderful addition of a throbbing tooth that will probably need a root canal in the future. Here’s hoping that antibiotics will take care of it for this flare up, and I can get it taken care of a couple months from now.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 10: Search and Destroy is out on Amazon Kindle, and should be out in paperback in a week. It should be available on all the Amazons worldwide, but I will only give the links to Amazon.US and Amazon.UK, since those are my two largest markets. This is the tenth volume in the main storyline, and the fourteenth book in the Exodus Universe overall. Right now the plan is to do twenty books in the main storyline, which makes this the end of the first half of that series. I will also continue the Machine War series for at least five books, and have some more Tales of the Empire short collections planned. And then? Well, I have this idea to go back to the beginning and tell the story of how the Empire began, from the flight from the Ca’cadasan invasion through the reestablishment of the human species as a power to be reckoned with. After that? Well, I have a lot of ideas for other Space Opera series, Fantasy series, Alternate History series. Alternate History is a long time love of mine, and I have some ideas I think will do very well in that marketplace. But I still have a long way to go with the Exodus series.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 10 follows the action on both of the fronts of the war, as well as the guerrilla naval war with the Fenri. It also offers a look into the workings of the Ca’cadasan Empire, from the halls of power to the commanders on the fronts. An Empire that has rolled over all opposition in its past, and now finds itself facing a powerful coalition that is not about to lie down and let them have their way. As said before in other blogs this is a big war in a big Galaxy, with a lot going on. It was never meant to be a series where one side comes up with the winning superweapon and the war is suddenly over. Instead, it’s a long back and forth battle for supremacy, with setbacks along the way. And now for an excerpt.

PO 1st Winston Nagawa stood in the hanger of the Scranton, armored up, wondering how in the hell he got into such a situation. It was bad enough to have to be aboard a warship during combat, but to take place in a boarding operation. It struck him as a bad idea, especially in hyperspace. He had images of pirates swinging across from the deck of one planetary ocean ship to the deck of another on ropes that hung from creaking masts. Instead, he would be exiting one ship that was moving through space at a significant percentage of light speed onto another doing the same.

“You ready, PO?” asked the naval officer who would be in charge of the assault. A Lieutenant JG engineer from the Scranton, in command of a Marine platoon and a couple score of spacers.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, sir,” answered Nagawa, looking around the hangar at the other armored figures. Thirty-three Marines in battle armor, some heavy, along with thirty spacers wearing their shipboard medium armor. This was team Alpha, which had two initial targets aboard the liner. The engineering section, which contained the only means of blowing up the ship. And the passenger sections along the way, where almost all of the ship’s crew and many of the civilians should be located. Team Bravo, thirty-three Marines and twenty spacers, under command of the Marine commander of Scranton, would be going in on the one hyper capable shuttle available. They would target the bridge, where all the command and control systems converged, and the auxiliary control station.

“You make sure that nothing happens to you on the way to engineering,” ordered Lt. Mishara with a smile. “You’re the only one who knows his way around this engineering section.”

“It’s not exactly the same as the ship I served on, sir,” commented Nagawa.

“Still closer than anything the rest of us have seen, PO.”

A signal buzzed over the com, and every person in the hangar tensed. “Team Alpha. Check your environmentals. Mission is a go. Mission start time, two minutes.”

Nagawa ordered his suit to lower his faceplate and looked over the diagnostics of all his systems. Everything was a go. He checked the particle beam rifle hanging around his neck and made sure the proton pack was seated properly and that it was powered up. The same with the backup pistol holstered by his side. His HUD was showing a timer, and when it hit one minute and thirty seconds he went ahead and linked into the ship’s tactical system, in time to see the light cruiser’s laser rings fire brief beams of energy, striking singular points on the liner. The beams were invisible, the strikes were not, and hull alloy flared with each strike. The cruiser rotated around the liner, firing. One beam came back, hitting the cruiser and doing minimal damage, just before being taken out.

“Liner’s defenses offline. Launching shuttle.”

On the other side of the cruiser the starboard hangar opened and the hyper capable shuttle flew out into hyperspace, curving around the ships and taking up a station on the reverse side of the liner.

“Prepare for movement. Twenty seconds.”

The hatch of the hangar everyone had been standing in slid inward, then split and moved out of the way to both sides. The side of the liner was a couple of kilometers away and moving closer. In seconds they were in close proximity, and the space between was enclosed in the combined hyperfields of the two ships. Magnetic grapples held the two ships together, and Nagawa hoped that the tractor was a secure link. Otherwise, they might be falling out into hyperspace, to their doom.

“Opening up the Star’s hangar,” came across the tactical net. A bright flash appeared on the hull across from the boarding party, alloy flaring and vaporizing into space. The cruiser put the full power of one ring into the hatch, an eight meter wide spotlight beam that burned through the thin hull of the commercial craft in a couple of seconds.

“Boarding party, go,” came across the general com.

Winston wanted to go at that moment, to get the crossing over with. That wasn’t his spot. The initial crossing went to the first squad of the Marines. Twelve heavy battle suits, flying out through the cold plasma field over the hangar hatch, into the forty meters of empty space, and through the opening on the hatch of the liner’s hangar. The Marines went through two at a time, their eyes sweeping the hangar as they entered. Shouts rang out over the com, followed by a short scream. A part of the still intact hangar hatch glowed, as if some beam weapon had struck the other side.

Two more Marines entered, then another pair, and commands rang back and forth as they engaged in combat on the other ship. More Marines entered, until the entire squad was in the hangar. The second squad launched itself across the space, another twelve heavily armed and armored Marines. More hot spots appeared on the hangar hatch, and one point blew out as something powerful struck.

“Hangar is secure,” came the voice of the senior Marine Sergeant over the com. “You can start sending the spacers over.”

That meant Nagawa’s group, and he lifted from the deck and headed out, crossing the space between the ships as quickly as possible. He still had time for a glance upwards, through the combined fields, into the red emptiness of hyperspace. It sent a shiver down his spine, but he was back inside in moments.

The hangar looked like a battle had been fought. Two Marine suits lay on the floor, one unmoving, a large hole burned through the torso. The other was still moving, but was missing an arm, and one of the newly arrived spacers, a medic, was kneeling by the Marine. There were holes in several places along the walls of the hangar, a shuttle was a total wreck in the middle of the chamber, while another had a hole through the cockpit. Scorch marks were everywhere, the sign of particle beams fired with abandon. And there were a half dozen small armored suits laying in attitudes of death, as well as one that was about the size of a medium suited human, though of non-human design.

Pensacon 2016, Part 2.

Posted by dougdandridge on March 13, 2016

Posted in: Alien Invasion, Conferences, eBooks, Military, science Fiction, self publishing, Titles, Writing. Tagged: Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Halo: Last Light, Kevin Ikenberry, Kevin J Anderson, Michael Dorn, Pensacon, Runs In The Family, Troy Denning. Leave a comment

As related in part 1, I really didn’t know much about Pensacon when I decided to attend. I had heard that about ten thousand people had attended last year, it was just to the west of where I lived, and I thought it was worth checking out. I bought a pass, some photo ops, booked a hotel, and off I went.

I don’t think I mentioned it in the first post, but the gate actually opened late, after 11 AM, when there were panels scheduled for 11. Same this day. I thought this was poor planning, as I was sure there were people there that wanted to go to those panels. This time I at least knew to avoid the line of people who were in line to buy passes. So I got into the line that seemed to be waiting in vain for the doors to open. Finally, at about 11:05 AM, they opened, but now we had to pass through bag and weapons inspection. Compare this to DragonCon, where once your fake weapons were bonded you were free to go where you wanted for the weekend. After the parade there were people checking passes at the entrance to the hotels, meaning they looked at the badges in passing, but people walked in and out with bags without having them checked. Pensacon forbid any outside food or drink, another policy not found at Dragon. And, as in the first day, there weren’t that many panels scheduled.

I went to one, a panel of scientists on what constituted good science fiction, which turned out to be more of a list of famous scifi movies, most of which I had seen. One of the scientists from the University of West Florida got up ten minutes into the presentation of the moderator and left. Otherwise, it was a good panel, especially since the moderator agreed with me about Forbidden Planet being the best of the best. Next panel was about publishing, and I made a new friend in author Troy Denning after the panel, getting a book signed, HALO: Last Light, which I have since read and highly recommend. Then it was on to the photo op.

I had wanted to meet Claudia Christian in person, who I had met on Facebook, and I had received a very nice photo of the Babylon 5 cast signed by her. I remember looking up photo ops at Dragon, and many of the celebrities were charging $80 for a photo. Claudia and Bruce Boxleitner were each charging $40, so I decided to get one with each of them. I knew from Dragon that photos and autographs were a major revenue source for celebrities, and I didn’t begrudge them making some money. But what I didn’t expect was how a photo op was run. I thought I would get to shake hands, exchange some pleasantries, and get a picture taken. I was the first in line at the time that both stars were supposed to do photos over a fifteen minute period. Most were there to get a combined photo with both stars, maybe six to get individual pictures with Bruce, and I was the only one there to get a photo with Claudia alone. So they rushed through the people who wanted the group photo, then Bruce. I went last for him since I was going to get a photo with Claudia right after. I was ushered in, stood next to Bruce, had my picture taken, and was ushered away, all in about ten seconds. Same with Claudia right after. To say it did not meet my expectations would be understatement.

Next I went to see Bruce and Claudia on a panel at one of the theaters that served as large panel rooms for the con. It was a good panel, but again offered no chance to actually meet the stars. You could ask a question, if you wanted to wait in line to get to the microphone. Still, it was a good panel, and after it was over I decided to get something to eat. And after that, it was back to the hotel to do some writing. There really weren’t a lot of activities at night that I was interested in. They had a bunch of themed parties that I guess lasted into the early hours of the morning, but as I don’t drink they really weren’t of interest. But I did get two thousand words done that night.

The next day I started out going to the autograph area to get Bruce Boxleitner’s autograph. He was sitting with some young woman and no one waiting in line, so I finally got a chance to talk to one of the stars of one of my favorite science fiction series. I found him to be very personable, and I actually got him to take one of my cards. Who knows, I doubt it will amount to anything, but I could end up getting a review. One thing I have learned as an indie is you have to ask and take advantage of opportunities. Otherwise, nothing happens. I then went to a panel with Kevin J. Anderson. I’ve heard the story he told several times in the past, but Kevin tells a good story with humor, and I like supporting him, so it wasn’t a bad way to spend forty-five minutes. After, I went to sign some copies of Five By Five that were on display at the Wordfire Press table. And there I finally got to meet Claudia Christian. I bought her book, and when she asked who to sign it to I showed her my pass. And to my delight, she smiled and said she recognized that name and now had a face to put with it. We talked for about five minutes, and then I let the next fan have her. My last panel of the day was at the other theater used for the Con, with Michael Dorn, better known as Worf. Interesting guy and a great panel, and a good one to end the Con with.

On the drive home to Tallahassee I thought about the Con. It hadn’t been a bad experience, and I did have a good time. My one real complaint was the lack of panels. Most times there was only one, other times two going. The most I saw at one time was three, and not all of them were of interest to me. At Dragon and Liberty there were always panels of interest, and the problem was deciding which one to attend. At Pensacon I went to some that I really wasn’t all that interested in, since there weren’t a lot of choices. Still, this was only the third rendition of this Con, and I figured it would get better as time went on. After all, though it wasn’t a huge Con, it still had respectable numbers.

Two days later I received an email from Pensacon, in which they explained that the venues they used would not let them book for next year. So they might have been destroyed by the people who control their venues before they really had a chance to get their feet under them. Hopefully they will work something out. Would like to see how this Con grows in the next decade or so.

Kevin Ikenberry’s book Runs In The Family, and a contest.

My good friend Kevin Ikenberry, newly retired from the Army, has republished his book, Runs In The Family, which will have a blog entry here soon. Kevin is an ex-armor officer, so for all you tankers out there, you might want to check him out. He is running a contest to design Mairin’s (the heroine of the novel) Challenge Coin. Details below along with a link.

Challenge Coins

A tradition of Western military service is the challenge coin. Typically presented by a commander to those who perform in an outstanding manner, challenge coins have a long, treasured history. Once given, especially of a particular unit, it is to be carried all the time. Should someone present their coin and challenge you, you must produce your coin or you will owe the challenger a drink of their choice.

Challenge coins have evolved in the last few decades from simple brass coins to embossed, custom designed coins that have actual physical uses like opening bottles. The tradition remains unchanged and fans of the military science fiction novel RUNS IN THE FAMILY have a unique opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind design to be sold with copies of the book at signings and special events.

Mairin Shields commanded the Regimental Cavalry Troop of the Terran Defense Forces at the Battle of Libretto, and their march to glory deserves to be commemorated with a commander’s coin. Your challenge is to design Mairin’s coin. Anything in the novel is in play, but please keep in mind that coins are honorable gifts and should not contain foul language, images, or inferences.

The rules are simple:

Create a challenge coin design. Coins can be any design but should be sized to fit within the palm of an average hand – most coins are around 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Submit the design as a photo in jpg or png format to contest (at) kevinikenberry (dot) com by no later than April 7, 2016. A winner will be chosen by April 10th. Winners may have their final design altered by the award committee to best reflect the scope of the contest.

Coins can be simple or intricate. The best coin design will win. Coin designs will be judged on originality, cavalry traditions, understanding of the story, and creativity. The judges will include the author, the publisher, and a committee of soldiers and officers familiar with said traditions.

Each artist is allowed only one entry, so send us your best design. That being said, try to send in a color image of the coin design or very clear directions as to the colors you would have in the design. We’ll take black and white designs, and pencil designs, but we’re drawing the line there.

Entries received after midnight, US Mountain Daylight Time on April 8th will be disqualified regardless of how awesome they could be. Please be prompt with your submission.

For your entry, in the body of the email include your name, shipping address, and a valid email address that you check often. Also, sign up for Kevin’s newsletter – that’s how we’ll announce the winners, so you’ll want to do that. You can find the newsletter signup at www.kevinikenberry.com.

The Grand Prize in the contest is a $25 Amazon gift card, a personalized copy of RUNS IN THE FAMILY, five challenge coins featuring the winner’s design, a creator’s certificate, and a collection of signed books from Strigidae Publishing.

Second prize will receive a personalized copy of RUNS IN THE FAMILY and a collection of signed books from Strigidae Publishing.

As we judge the contest, we encourage you to visit the store where you purchased RUNS IN THE FAMILY and leave a review. It doesn’t have to be much, but every single one helps. While you’re there, check out Kevin’s other works, too.

Good luck!

Now, get designing!

Kevin Ikenberry

Mairin’s Challenge Coin Contest.

Troy Denning’s HALO: Last Light.

I wasn’t very familiar with HALO, having never played the game or read a book, my only experience a couple of movies. I had never heard of Troy, but met him at a panel at Pensacon. Later I saw him at the Wordfire Booth on the vendor floor. I asked him which if his books he would recommend and he asked if I wanted something gritty. HALO: Last Light was a gritty, action filled, well written military science fiction tale. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it. It will not be the last of Troy’s books that I read, not the last of the HALO series.

Doug BrotherofCats Dandridge

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Site

Alien Invasion

30 Days of Giveaways: Part 5: Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3.

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

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

Exodus: Machine War: Book 4: Retribution is out, and I’m headed to Nevada, again.

Review of Asbaran Solutions: Book Two of The Revelations Cycle.

My Bibliography of Online Books.

Exodus: Machine War: Book 3 is Out.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11 is out, and back to the grind.

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 10 is Out.

Pensacon 2016, Part 2.

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