Hold THE CALLING in your hand!

Here's where you can find The Calling as a print book - the CreateSpace e-store. Pardon my efforts at customizing my page, but that's all it seems to be able to do. From there, though, you can order a copy of the book. As soon as I get paid for some work I did last month, I hope to order some to sell around town (and give away to the important people in my life!)

The Calling In Print

New Feature: Valin's Log

Now that The Calling is an ebook and almost a print book, I have a few moments to throw in some more content. 

Imagine if you could look over the shoulder of the main character of the story, and follow him or her off the page and into their everyday life. What might you discover? What if you could borrow Valin Derojan's private journal and find out more about the world he grew up in?

That's the aim of Valin's Log. I will add to it gradually, as I have time, and your comments are welcome. Does it add colour? Is it too dry? Do you have ideas of what you'd like to see there? As a guide, I'm writing it as if Valin's still living with his family, a few chapters into the book, before the Winter Market incident changed everything. Then, when I get round to writing Book Two, Valin will find the time to add to his journal all the new things he's learning on his adventures.


Click the Valin's Log button to the left of this post, near the top of the page, and see where it takes you! Remember, it's a work in progress.


PS... You can find the button for Valin's Log on the left, above, but here's the link again: http://valinslog.blogspot.ca/

LAUNCH!

Now The Calling is finally published and available as an ebook! In a few days' time I hope to publish it on CreateSpace as a print book too. I've had a full day of work, helping a friend re-roof his house, and I need to sleeeeep! See you later....

And here's the link to The Calling at Amazon Kindle

Real science amidst the fiction!

More excerpts from 'The Calling' which is (honestly!) nearing the end of its last revision. I think science fiction for any age group can be liberally spiced with real science to feed the mind. It makes the fiction more solid, too.

Then he turned the SHF receiver dial and listened for the space communications traffic he occasionally heard during his flights, usually as he was approaching Elmara City. He loved to hear the chatter of pilots coming in from deep space to Elmarune's only orbital station, known by the call sign E-One. Even the shuttle pilots making their scheduled lifts and drops in and out of Elmara City could be interesting to listen to. The best reception of these microwave signals was at the lower end of the band, up to 10 or 15 gigahertz, since at much higher frequencies the moisture in the atmosphere tended to spoil the signal, and the voices of the flight controllers on the ground would fade in and out....

He powered off the radio and pushed the MR-65 into a steep climb. Before he engaged the return-to-base autopilot he wanted to do a little flying. Heading east, the interceptor shot towards the outer reaches of the atmosphere. The planet rotated towards the east, and heading that way meant Valin was already travelling at great speed. Elmarune was boosting him into orbit. The cockpit shook, and the details of the land slowly disappeared into haze. He spared quick glances outside, and otherwise kept his eyes on the instruments: hull temperature still rising as the airspeed increased, reactor field strength steady, exhaust temperature normal, magnetic heading 83 degrees east; then altitude, atmospheric pressure, vertical acceleration, angle of attack, pitch… there was plenty to watch. His eyes flicked back and forth, constantly responding to the ship's slow drifting by adjusting the power or the steering yoke.

Excerpt from 'The Calling'

"No excuses," said the warrior, baring his teeth, "it's you, alright. The call is for you. Your scan matches the profile we were given." While he was still speaking, a cluster of slim steel shapes like fish streaked out of the distance towards him. He merely held up his other hand, without looking over his shoulder. The air seemed to ripple like a silk flag, and the missiles were rudely scattered, some exploding on the ground, some tumbling away out of sight. "Stand up like a man!" he went on. "The honour of your people is at stake. Your honour!"

Valin just began to edge away from the glowing man, sliding along on his rear, along the base of the boulder, and shook his head frantically. Honour! What use was honour to a man who thought he saw silver angels? As much use as a jewelled crown to a child who sat in the mud, lecturing the birds.

The final edit of The Calling is being squeezed in between all sorts of other work! But it should be finished and released in the next few weeks. The cover art is ready... I'm pretty happy with it, after quite a few hours using an application called Paint.NET. The image reflects a scene or two from the story. Here's a preview:

 

Towards The Calling ebook...

After much busy clicking and making some short ebooks on Smashwords (and now Amazon, Kobo, etc) I'm aiming at putting the Calling out there as an ebook too.


Have I given up getting a publishing contract? Yes, for the time being. Breaking into print via a traditional publisher isn't happening, and it sounds like it happens very rarely for new writers. So the ebook way I get my story read by some people, and I will explore CreateSpace at Amazon so it will be available also in print.


Watch here or at my Amazon author page for the e-release. Estimated Time of Arrival... next month?

About Writing

If you're in North-Western Ontario and would like a visit by an author to your school, club or other group, then I'm willing to look into it. I can present a simple session on the basics of writing, and can include some of the science in science fiction writing. I can read extracts from my writing, tailored to fit the age group and interests of those attending.

If you're in another part of Canada, we can talk... I like to travel, but Canada is so BIIIG!To get in touch, email me at the following address (I am not writing the complete address to avoid spam, so complete it yourself, without any spaces)


If email doesn't seem to work, try leaving a comement on this post.


rjpeace  'at'  fastmail  'dot'  fm