Transfer of Blog to Wordpress

Hi, this blog is being retired.

Please use this link to take you to my new blog at Wordpress.

I hope to meet you there.

Best Jim

BIRDIE DOWN - 'High adventure of the best kind'

The latest review for BIRDIE DOWN is in.


'High adventure of the best kind' ... 'a winner' ... 'pleasing classic-sci-fi feel' ... 'what Rudyard Kipling would have called a "ripping good yarn"'


And it's still FREE. Check it out. Gift it on an Amazon Kindle, a Barnes & Noble's Nook, Sony's eReader or on Apple's iPad.


Also available from Smashwords in multiple formats.

Book Covers and Marketing Campaign - BIRDIE DOWN and SCAT

OK, so I'm looking at fronting both BIRDIE DOWN and SCAT with some professional book covers, which gives me the opportunity to do what I didn't do last time - organise a campaign. I'm also thinking of making them exclusive for Amazon's KDP Select Programme for a few months to see how that works, but...

I didn't know this (doh!), although everyone else appears to, Amazon ranks books not by total volume but by the rate at which they leave the digital shelf. That gives Indies a chance, but it means there needs to be a fairly hefty take up in the early hours of a book's release for it to show up in their top 100. Once it's there, wonderful things happen: it appears in little thumbnails, casual visitors to the site get to see it, and they 'take a look inside'.

Maybe some of them then buy it, or as with KDP Select, a whole bunch of US Amazon Prime members borrow it for free. That's all I need.

So...

was wondering who'd help me get the word out during the days leading up to publication, so that readers download them on the first day of their re-launch.

If you're game, are a sport, or just like doing charity, please message me on my FB author page. Closer to the day, I'll send you a prompt and ask you to post a short message, or a link, on your FB page, or to 'twit a tweet'. Something like that, anyways. And if you do, then maybe, just maybe, I can make back the cost of the book covers!

Ha!

With thanks
Jim

Republibot.com BOOK REVIEW of SCAT

Here's an extract from this weekend's Republibot.com Book Review for SCAT


'Regular readers of Republibot may recall that a few months ago I reviewed a book called “Birdie Down” by Jim Graham. I called it the best independently published science fiction E-book I’d read. As that book was a sequel, I decided to give the first book in the series a shot, and I’m happy to say it, too, is a really good book. Mr. Graham has some genuine talent.


'Sebastian Scatkiewicz - known by the semi-unfortunate nickname “Scat” - is a former US Marine. We first meet him at the tail end of the “Resource Wars” on earth a few generations into the future. The major power blocs and nations are fighting each other for earth’s declining goodies. The conflict is inherently corrupt, with nations and megacorporations screwing each other left and right even as they fight the enemy in order to gain advantage. The marines - and presumably the population as a whole - are caught in the middle. “Scat” is a somewhat legendary leader in the field, with a history of taking matters into his own hands, even if it’s not particularly politically wise for him to do so.

Jump forward several years: Scat took matters into his own hands one time too many, and he’s now a civilian attempting to make a new life for himself in the off world colonies. The colonies are mostly corporate, and there’s an “Owe my soul to the company store” nature to them, though it’s not nearly so oppressive as that. Still, there’s a feeling of nominal indenture hanging in the air. There’s also a kind of cultural sterility: the companies are pretty strict about whom they allow to emigrate. There are no religious folk, there are no Chinese on any of the worlds we see, because the Chinese have their own space empire and are a political threat, as are the religious. This isn’t one big happy Star Trekian future. The colonized planets are mostly only marginally habitable (Which is a rarely-used plot device that I love), and existence is relatively hardscrabble.

Much of the first half of the book revolves around a mining asteroid, and “Go Down City” on one of the colony worlds. It’s built in a cavern that’s been roofed over, and it’s a really fun location. It feels completely developed and thought out, and feels lived in, like a real place. As a guy who’s written a few books myself, I’m here to tell you that coming up with a location that actually *feels* like a location is no mean feat, but we get such a sense of Go Down that you can almost map some of it in your head. I actually feel like I learned a few literary tricks from that, which I hope to steal in the future.

The plot involves ...' The review continues here

Thank you Republibot. Glad you liked it.

2012 IndieReadersDiscoveryAward Winners

Sunday was a big day for Indies: the 2012 IRDA Winners were announced yesterday live from the Book Expo America in New York. Check out the winners here

And stay in touch with all the Indie news at IndieReader.com

SCAT - free for the Memorial Weekend

I'd like to thank all the readers of BIRDIE DOWN (all 1000+ of you) and the readers of this blog, by giving  SCAT away for FREE this Memorial Weekend. Yes, that's right - an epic 160,000 word, hard SF thriller for free. Go grab yourself a copy from Smashwords using coupon VW44Q

Chapters 1-100 of SCAT describe the backdrop to the rebellion and the first rebel strike. BIRDIE DOWN picks up the rebellion from there. The remaining chapters of SCAT push past the rebellion to a bigger story.

A GOODREADS review describes SCAT as a 'hard SF thriller' with a terrific late plot twist. It goes on to say: ‘Scat is a big, intelligent, interesting novel. If you enjoy hard gritty sf with plenty of well-handled dialogue, you will not go far wrong with this one.’ Another review says it is ‘clever, topical and thought provoking and the characters, especially the lead character, Scat, are skilfully drawn.’ By this I think they mean it doesn’t suck.

So now you can enjoy both stories for free. All I ask is that you please go back and leave an honest review of either book when you’re done. I hope you think that’s fair.

And to my US readers, I hope you're enjoying your Memorial Weekend.

Best

Jim

BIRDIE DOWN BOOK REVIEW - Perfect for Lovers of Gritty SciFi

Another BOOK REVIEW for BIRDIE DOWN

'This story is perfect for lovers of gritty sci-fi and fans of space opera will love it.'

'No excuses not to grab a copy!'

-The Oaken Bookcase

Still free from Amazon and Smashwords 

SCAT - GOODREADS BOOK REVIEW

SCAT - GOODREADS BOOK REVIEW 

'the dialogue-driven plot revolves around ruthless resource-based political machinations worthy of Frank Herbert’s Dune'

 'a big, intelligent, interesting novel'

'If you enjoy hard gritty sf with plenty of well-handled dialogue, you will not go far wrong with this one.'

Available from Smashwords for iPad, Nook, Sony E-reader and Kindle for pc

or from Amazon for Kindle, iTunes for iPad and Sony for Sony E-reader

Are eBooks Too Cheap?

Just caught Melissa Foster's tweet and read her excellent piece for Huff Books: Are eBooks Too Cheap?: Indie Authors Question 99 Cent Price.

It truly is 'A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma'.

And as I can't solve it, BIRDIE DOWN stays free on Smashwords and Amazon...for now

Also available for free from Barnes & Noble, Sony, iTunes and Kobo

Finally - Amazon Price-Matches BIRDIE DOWN to USD0.00

At last, Amazon has price-matched BIRDIE DOWN to zero Dollars. And right now its showing as #51 for Free Kindle, SciFi, Adventure.

Grab your free copy now, before Amazon changes its mind.

BIRDIE DOWN - 'the best amateur SF novel I've read.' -Republibot.com

Wanted - Beta Readers. Must love SciFi...

What is a beta reader?

Well, Wikipedia describes a beta reader (also spelled betareader, or shortened to beta) as "a person who reads a written work, generally fiction, with what has been described as "a critical eye, with the aim of improving grammar, spelling, characterization, and general style of a story prior to its release to the general public."

So that's what I'm looking for: someone who can second guess my work before I foist it onto an unsuspecting public. Although in this case, I'm not looking for an editor-type who has a meticulous eye for fulls stops and semi colons, more for the generalist who understands characterization and can comment on the general style of a story.

There's no benefits and it can be quite stomach-churning at times. But there is the satisfaction of knowing you contributed to a better book, and you do get a mention on the acknowledgement page, along with a free e-copy of the book when it's published. 

If you love to read SciFi, and would like to give this a try, please message me on my FB page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jim-Graham/125582784212980 or email me on jimsgraham@hotmail.com

Best

J

Happy Star Wars Day - 4th May

35 years old and still the most popular SciFi franchise of all time, Star Wars is currently leading the Huffington post Ultimate Fan Face Off against the Harry Potter series by 52.1% to 47.9%

Vote now. Vote Star Wars.

The force be with you, always

BIRDIE DOWN - Still free for all...

BIRDIE DOWN is still free for all and averaging 4.20 Stars.

The US-based SciFi website, Republibot.com, says 'this is the best amateur SF novel I've read... Highly recommended' - 5 Stars

Take a look. And if you're feeling as generous as they were, please pass the word...

BIRDIE DOWN

SCAT - Smashwords Space Opera Ranking #24/152

SCAT - a complex space opera-thriller that builds and builds until the action leaps off the page, taking everyone into another dimension.

So much for the hype. But how's it doing in the real world? 

Well it's averaging 4.67 Stars on Smashwords and is ranked #24/152 in Space Opera sales. Not bad for a first novel. In fact, I'm rather chuffed!

Please take a look and if you're feeling generous, please pass the word...

SCAT

Join me on Facebook... drop by whenever you like

Come join me on Facebook at my Jim Graham author page

And whilst you work out how to do that, here's a copy of my Facebook network. Neat, huh? Looks like a constellation. See that bright star in the centre of the universe? That's not me. It's my wife. The centre of my universe.

And the baby clusters? They're my newly established networks of fellow authors and a few of the readers of BIRDIE DOWN

Courtesy myfnetwork 

Casual Reader Reviews and Feedback

BIRDIE DOWN is a free SciFi ebook available from Smashwords for reading on Kindle, iPad, Nook, and Sony Ereader. It is currently attracting book reviews from dedicated book reviewers, but I'd really like to know what the casual reader thinks of it before I wade into the sequel.

If you read SciFi then maybe you can help. If you want to help, just click the BIRDIE DOWN avatar to the left of this page and then download the book for free from Smashwords. It's around 250 pages long, and I'm told it's pacey enough to be read in two or three sittings. If you can then post an honest review on the book's Smashword page, or post your comments here, you'll be helping out a newbie Indie writer.

Thanks.

An Extract From SCAT - Scat's first pathfinder mission

   Scat’s first Pathfinder mission was meant to be a very quick and simple one. He entered the brightly lit, over-sized chamber, alone and suited up as for a Prebos belt-walk. From inside his suit he could hear the roar of the extractor fans as they continuously re-circulated the chamber air. Above him, the furnace was ready to ignite, should the wormhole fail to maintain its positive pressure.

   At the far end of the chamber stood the unopened and spinning disc of transparent liquid-like elements.

   Ratti was conducting operations from the cabin built into the chamber, high up and to the left of the unopened hole.

   ‘Ready, Scat?’

   ‘As ever I will be, Carlo. Open her up.’

   The outer-edges of the disc danced with light. Its inner surfaces shone like highly polished tubular chrome, turning in on itself in a smooth, continuous movement. As the eye opened up, the liquid-like elements appeared to increase in depth, becoming more three dimensional, like a camera lens. As it opened wider, the eye appeared to float, unthreateningly, inviting investigation.

   Beyond the eye lay the surface of a planet, still referred to by its catalogue number, one of several orbiting the smaller of two stars, a typical binary system. He had been told of its precise location and distance from Runnymede but Scat couldn’t relate.

   He was keeping his cool by focusing on the more tangible things. Between him and the hole lay his designated bugbot and a couple of drones; the bugbot fitted out with a range of sensors plus a PIKL and a neural disruptor. He understood these things, so he focused on them. It helped to stop his imagination from spinning out of control.

   Previous drone surveys of the insertion area had recorded distant footage of several ambulatory life forms. They already knew that the planet was covered in a great many different forms of vegetation, some of it quite large; analogous to Earth’s bushes and trees, and that the air was breathable. Several drones had been pushed out into local orbit, storing data for transmission each time the eye opened. They had shown there to be several different climate zones.

   Lynthax had chosen a temperate area, mid-way between the planet’s equator and its northern pole, for the site of its first human visit. Ground insertion was to be onto a secluded glade within a “wooded” area a little way up a hill slope, the other side of which was a large vegetation-covered plain. Despite the drone’s remote encounters with life forms, he was advised that the likelihood of his encountering any of it whilst he spent his planned 15 minutes on the surface was about the same as a summer’s walk through the Yellowstone National park. Scat couldn’t give that comment any context. He’d never been. In any case, he didn’t think anyone on Runnymede could offer any kind of re-assurances about what he might meet.

   As he approached the wormhole, he glanced up at the marble-sized power source, mounted in a ring at the top of a tall rod to the right of the hole. It appeared to be spinning within the ring but without touching it. He pulled his eyes away: Dave had briefed the Pathfinders not to look directly at it and never to touch it. Over a couple of cool and crisp post-training beers the night before, the trainers had told stories of researchers freaking out, security guards refusing to clock on, electrical equipment being drained of power when in close proximity to it. Apparently, no one liked being near the thing.

   ‘Just don’t get close and don’t be drawn to it,’ he recalled Dave as saying.

   But the urge to look at it again was strong so he checked the bugbot for a second time. He then knelt beside the drone to punch in his personal activation code, and willed the eye to open fully to allow him to step through it. Still, the spinning marble drew him in, and again he had to work hard to push it out of his mind. He stood, checked that his belted equipment was buttoned and strapped down, trying hard not to look at the marble out of the corner of his eye.

   ‘Any time you’re ready,’ Ratti said.

   He could feel himself wavering, losing his concentration.

   'Damn it, Scat! Focus. Focus!'  he told himself, taking three steps through the hole.

   The new world opened out around him. In an instant, air from the chamber side of the wormhole rushed past him and onto the bushes ahead. He swivelled around to get his bearings and to check how far he was from the tall vegetation behind him, feeling as vulnerable and as disoriented as a dog dumped at the roadside.

   As expected, there was the wormhole, through which he could now see the chamber, and around the other side of it, perhaps 50 metres away, was a bank of thick foliage.

   He fiddled nervously with his solida-graf and located the bugbot that had followed him through the hole. He took local control of it and set it to defensive, cranking it up to maximum sensitivity. He then turned back to the view he had seen from Runnymede.

   He was standing in a glade of flower-like life on solid, dry ground. He knew he was in an area of rolling hills but couldn’t see further than 50 – 75 metres in any direction. The shallow valley was on his left, the vegetation canopy at eye level, sunlight dappling the undergrowth in dark and light patches that moved as the canopy swayed in the light wind. Ferns, bushes, and the larger bushes, which could pass for trees, if one overlooked the multiple trunks, rose up the hill towards him and covered most of the ground surrounding the glade. Through the “trees”, he could just about make out some rocky outcrops.

   Directly above him the sky was blue but tinged with yellow closer to the ground.

   On the other side, to his right, bushes, or trees, nestling in thicker undergrowth, obscured his view of the ground. As expected, the canopy climbed the hill as it rose to its summit.

   ‘No dallying, Scat. Sightseeing is for later on. Just run through the checks, get to the top of the rise, and come on back.’

   ‘Roger that. Just checking for Injuns, is all. Everything working to spec,’ he replied, looking down at his solida-graf. ‘Comms good… Bugbot at 100%... Ground firm... Air pressure at 98% Runnymede normal… Temperature and humidity as expected... Radiation normal... I’ll call the drones through and send them out to the 3 km markers.’

   On Runnymede, the dark brown, oval-shaped drones woke up, drew power from their fuel cells, flipped open their rotor blades and lifted their man-sized bodies into the air. In seconds they were both through the hole, rising to an unfamiliar sky, relaying a stream of data back to Ratti and his assistants.

   Scat look up through the vegetation.

   ‘I’ll start moving up to the skyline. It looks thicker at ground level than we thought. No paths or animal runs. I can’t see the second sun; the atmospheric refraction is too intense.’

   He felt odd wearing a suit in near normal gravity and in an oxygen-normal atmosphere, but moving through the vegetation was cumbersome work so he was grateful for its air-conditioning. Occasionally he would look down at his solida-graf to check that it was still working. Of course it was. There were no immediate threats.       It was quiet because it had nothing to say. He was just nervous.

   After a few minutes of panting, he eventually reached the top of the hill, wishing he’d stayed a little fitter than he was. The trees still blocked his view, but he could see the wood thin out and the ground brighten up some 20 metres further on, just over the crest. To his left a tree rose from the ground, arched above him then plunged back into the ground on his right, sprouting flowers of red and leaves of all colours.

   He pushed on, down a slight incline, then arrived at the wood’s edge to a view he could only describe to himself as stunning.

   The sky above seemed huge and distant, and off to his left was the second sun, a faraway star as bright by day as Venus is by early morning when seen from Earth. The hillside slipped away to a wide expansive savannah, dotted with low bulbous trees, a sea of thick ferns of red, brown, green, yellow, and white flowers tinged with blue. The vastness of the plain gave him a sense of freedom that he hadn’t experienced since his trips across the Gap Plain on Trevon. It was as close to a National Geographic movie of the Rift Valley as he would ever see in his lifetime. He felt right at home.

   ‘What’s the matter, Scat? Your heart rate and blood pressure have become erratic.’

   The question brought him back to mission.

   ‘Nothing. It’s just more beautiful than I expected. Visibility now out to around 20-30 km.’

   ‘Well, it was bound to be an improvement over Trevon, Scat. So, are you ready to breathe local air?’

   ‘I’m ready.’

   ‘OK, take it off.’

   Runnymede had sampled the air and they knew it to be safe, but only to the limits of human understanding. As with all new environments, there were bound to be pathogens that had gone undetected, unfamiliar gases as well. Despite numerous tests on animals on Runnymede, the only true test would be for a man to take a deep lungful in situ, just as they had once done on Trevon, Constitution, G-eo, Runnymede and all the other human habited planets in the OR.  

   Scat took off his helmet and continued to breathe normally as instructed, whilst Ratti monitored his blood gases. The smell of sap, pollen and decaying vegetation, dung and damp, musty, fertile soil saturated the air. There was none of the usual closed habitat smells of solvents, ozone, plastics.

   ‘Seems good, Scat. Nothing of note from your end?’

   ‘No. Nothing. All’s good. The air smells of shit.’

   Ratti didn’t reply immediately. Data from a drone was distracting him.

   ‘We have indications of a large moving mass, Scat. Off to your right. One of the drones is flying intercept. Do you see anything?’

   ‘No. I’ll move around and see what I can see.’

   Scat turned to contour around the hillside, keeping the wood line to his right. More and more of the plain came into view. The colours of the ground ferns seemed to change in waves, back and forth, as they bowed and flickered in front of a gentle breeze. Then he saw them.

   Around a kilometre away, and stretching from extreme left to extreme right horizons, were several tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of four legged life-forms whose mass formed a continuous slash of brown against the colourful ferns. They were walking slowly, 20 and 30 abreast, dipping their heads frequently in a manner that was repeated kilometre after kilometre along its length. He kept walking, hoping to see more from where the hill sloped away more sharply to the plain below.

   His solida-graf began to bleep gently as it received data from the drone. Scat instructed it to throw up the images. As the close-up pulled into focus, he stopped dead in his tracks.

   ‘Do you see this, Carlo? Do you see this?’ he shouted excitedly.

   ‘Not yet, Scat. We’re moving the hole over the hill to get better reception. What do you see?’

   ‘A truly wonderful sight!’

   ‘What is it?’

   ‘Meat!’

Extract From SCAT

   The journey from the V3 to Go Down City would be a short but spectacular one, so Scat hurried through the shuttle’s cargo bay and into the launch room, grabbing a forward-facing launch seat close to the flight cabin.

   Before him and filling the window to the port side of the flight cabin was a living and shining Trevon. To the starboard was the blackness of space. As they closed in on the planet, Trevon’s horizon flattened out until the brilliant white band of its terminator ran in a straight line from roof to floor. It then appeared to rotate and drop below them as the shuttle altered its approach and offered its heat shield to the thin upper atmosphere.

A frenzy of heat and light wrapped itself around the shuttle, obliterating the view, leaving a visible disturbance in its wake.

   Some 20 minutes later, the shuttle slowed sufficiently for the air to part before it and Scat could then see the sky all around him. The blackness of space was gone and the refraction in the atmosphere obscured the detail he had seen from space. The shuttle continued towards a morning sun that pushed a wave of light across the mostly white and sometimes green Trevon surface, in places scarred and brown where mines dug deep into the crust. A line of clouds obscured the frozen continental seaboard, dissipating over a sea of gunmetal blue.

   Scat’s spirits lifted. If he were lucky, the sky would be clear on the surface, the air sharp and bracing, smelling of decaying vegetation, snow, salt - all natural things.

   At 20,000m, the shuttle extended its wings and slowed from Mach 4 to a sedate 450 km per hour, its flight properties changing from a ballistic missile to that of an air-rider. As it descended through 5000m it buffeted slightly, dipped, straightened, yawed and banked as it lined up on the Go Down City spaceport, only just visible in the haze some 10 km away. Then a member of the crew closed the flight cabin door in preparation for landing, stealing the view away. In no time at all, it was hitting the runway, wheels screeching, cabin rumbling, loose bin lids rattling.

   The three shuttles pulled off the runway to a row of buildings set back from the main terminal and once they had powered down, everyone, including the flight crew, disembarked along a closed and windowless gantry into a small customs hall reserved for Lynthax personnel. Teams of environmental specialists pushed past them in the opposite direction to fumigate the interior.

   In the background, and spread out around the hall, were several groups of Lynthax Security, each trooper armed with a stun gun and, this time, a lethal small arm.

   Off to Scat’s right he could see the supervisors, who, like him, had been led on board the V3 in plasticuffs, being re-arrested. As he looked back at the head of the queue in which he was standing, he saw two troopers waiting, looking at him.

   It would be his turned next.

Another Extract From Birdie Down - the rescue goes wrong

There was a slight thump. The rear door sprung open. A disoriented Smithy fell out into a patch of flattened grass. He found his footing and stumbled his way into the forest, clutching his PIKL to his chest.

Bales watched Day’s impressive display of suppressive PIKL fire. The compound’s rooftop weatherproofing began to smoulder under the barrage of laser strikes. An occasional pulsed energy strike caused blue fingers to run along the balcony railings and arc across the open space between the compound and the outer fencing. There was only a single blue line of defiance, and it came from the main gate, a hundred and fifty metres away. It bounced harmlessly off the cockpit glass in front of him.

Bales engaged the downward thrusters and aimed the nose of the Furtive at the Main Gate. He raised his left flightcontrolskin and pressed the middle finger against the thumb. He pressed down for a short 2000-round burst, pulling his fingers apart as quickly as he could.

The main gate disintegrated into an expanding dust cloud. Large chunks of concrete flew off to bounce across the roof and into the clearing. A breeze then pushed the cloud towards him, obscuring the view.

Bales lowered his left hand and allowed the Furtive to settle back onto the ground.

Day was right. The rail gun was a beaut. He marvelled at how the GCE had engineered something so powerful - yet so smooth, quiet and with so little kick-back. The Furtive had hummed as he fired; it barely vibrated.

He checked behind him. The rear engines had powered up in synch with the rail gun to steady the ship. The edge of the forest smouldered. Perhaps he should have warned Smithy about that. He hoped he was OK.

He looked up at the clock. 30 seconds. No movement out front that he could see, but then the dust cloud was making its way across to him. He raised the nose again and gave the main gate another short burst. The dust cloud thickened. He looked back over his left shoulder at the forest. Nothing.

45 seconds. He looked again. There was still no sign of Smithy, just the smoking trees and a thin dusting of powdered masonry.

50 seconds. There was a rap on the side of the hull. He looked up at the monitor. It was Smithy with another much taller man, both of them holding their hands over their mouths. It must be Goosen.

He popped the rear door.

‘What about the other guy?’ he shouted over his shoulder.

     ‘Couldn’t make it,’ Cummings replied, PIKL arm outstretched. He leant in and held the end of the barrel just behind Bales’ head. He flicked the PIKL to maximum power. Bales froze when he heard it whine in his right ear. ‘Hands where I can see them. And kill the engine.’

An Extract From Birdie Down - the bad guys are on the hunt

Cummings stood inside the forest’s edge and studied the still rippling water. They had just missed him. He flipped the filter down over his right eye and ramped up the thermal imaging in his left.

Coming from bright sunshine into such a gloomy environment had left Sparks all but blind. He fished around in his trouser pocket for a night scope. As he waited for it to boot up, he unfocused his eyes and looked for movement in his peripheral vision. Still he saw nothing. Hemmings shrugged in the gloom. It was like entering a cave.

Cummings flicked his filter up. There was nothing to see, just a wall of trees.

‘This way,’ he ordered.

Cummings broke away to the left and followed a spit of dry ground around the edge of the pool, looking down at it for signs of foot prints. He continued for a few hundred metres as it curved around the far side.

Sparks followed Cummings closely, looking out across the pool through his scope, trying not to bump into him whenever he stopped to check a piece of ground.

The lower half of the image began to sparkle. He stopped and looked into the pool with a naked eye. It was moving of its own accord. The fish were beginning to thrash.

‘Sir. Sir!’

Cummings stopped in his tracks, hoping Sparks had seen them. He looked to where Sparks was pointing. He saw the fish.

‘Ignore them,’ he ordered. ‘Just turn your sonics up. Now follow me.’ He set off again, annoyed to have wasted a few precious seconds.

Sparks and Hemmings followed Cummings less eagerly as he made his way around the last half of the pool. They constantly looked up at the now stirring canopy.

Cummings stopped, kicked at an empty airbed and placed his hands on his hips. Sparks and Hemmings sighed with relief, hoping Cummings would call the hunt off. But the relief was short-lived.

He pointed across to a pool that lay fifty metres or so off through the trees. Or maybe it was the edge of the river; it was difficult to say - anyways, it was brighter.

‘That way,’ he said. He set off at a run, splashing across the water, heedless of the growing noise above them.

Sparks shook his head and made to run after him, but something hit him on the shoulder. Hemmings froze, staring at Sparks’ back and then at the water. Sparks turned around.

The pool behind them was already foaming. The branches above them were swaying and starting to sag. Another black ball hit the water beside him. It re-emerged and then scampered away on the surface. Then another. And then another.

It was raining rats.

Hemmings screamed, bent over and clutched at his leg below the knee. He started to dance in a frantic effort to tread water.

Sparks took a step backwards and looked down at his own legs. Below the surface he saw rats tearing into his boots.

Cummings jumped up and spun around, cursing under his breath. The water below him boiled. He roared in pain as something tore into his calf.

The sonics weren’t penetrating the water.

Hemmings slipped. He thrashed as he tried to stand. Sparks wanted to help, but the rats were now ripping into his trouser legs and taking bites from out of his boots. He snatched down to push them away. They grabbed at his hand. He pulled it out of the water and the rats let go.

Cummings staggered towards the river line. Sparks tried to follow. Hemmings continued to thrash about on his back.

Out in the river the water pushed and sucked at Sparks’ legs. The rats let go and sped away on the surface, back into the forest.

Cummings growled and cussed. He raised a leg as high as he could to inspect his wounds but stumbled backwards. Sparks caught him before he was swept downriver. He looked back into the forest. There was no sign of Hemmings; no pleas for help; just the shrill noise of rats as they dropped into the pool and the constant thrashing of water.

Cummings steadied himself and took a deep breath. He raised his pain threshold. Sparks could only grin and bear it.

‘What use are these friggin sonics if they only work above water, eh?’ Cummings asked, grimacing between sharp stabbing waves of pain.

‘None, sir. You think they’ll be of use against them?’ He pointed across the river.

One by one, large brown reptiles slid into the water, attracted to the high-pitch squeals of the rats descending into the pool behind them. Their tails whipped left and right as they powered themselves across the river.

‘I doubt it,’ Cummings replied, taking a first shot with his PIKL. ‘Back to the Farm. Quickly.’

‘What about that Scatkiewicz guy? He must be close,’ Sparks asked. He then turned awkwardly in the swirling water to face the forest. ‘And what about Hemmings, sir?’

Cummings switched to the company net. He cussed as his right leg gave way again.

‘Hemmings is gone, Sparks. You fancy going back in to confirm it?’ He broke off as the companynet came to life. ‘Muldrow? Wake the medic up and get your butt into the air.’

It Ain't Half Bad...

I'm not much into stats, but earlier today I was reviewing Birdie Down's progress on Smashwords where it is a free-to-read. I've got to say I'm not disappointed: it's climbing the rankings and now sits at #413 out of a total 1250 or so SciFi freebies available on the site. That's not bad considering I published it only two months ago.

The book averages 4.25 stars and has received four reviews, which range from 'this is the best amateur SF novel I have read' and 'fantastic read' through 'Graham doesn't disappoint' to 'for a book written in 5 weeks, it ain't half bad.' I'm not sure what to make of that last one, but it did go on to say 'it's not something to avoid.' So there you have it. No excuses. It's free, and the worst review so far says there's no reason not to take a look. You can either click the Birdie Down book cover to the left of the page, or use this link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134591 at zero cost.

For everyone who has (taken a look, that is), many thanks for spending some time with it. I hope you enjoyed it. If you could now post a review you'd be doing me a big favor. I suck at the promo side of the Indie business, and need all the help I can get. Besides, reviews are helpful to other readers, too. Even a Two Star review helps (not sure about One Star though;-) as it shows the reader at least finished the book!

My very hot and humid Malaysian holiday finishes soon. I'll be clearing the miniature ants out of the key board (just got a couple during the previous paragraph) and will crack on again with Petroff's Pogrom. The plot line is gelling, I'm ready to develop a couple of the characters a little further and some scenes are already imagined, so I can't wait.

All I need now is for the markets to behave themselves for a while - and for the day job not to get in the way.

Sequel to BIRDIE DOWN

I've started the sequel to BIRDIE DOWN. It'll probably be of around the same length, and be of similar pace and style. It'll focus on human trafficking and Lynthax's abuse of Trevon's undocumented 3rd generation inhabitants. The issues won't be quite the same as we understand them today, but of the sort that'll exist in 2210.

The working title is 'PETROFF'S POGROM'. It's anyone's guess as to how long it'll take. BIRDIE DOWN took 5 weeks to pen, 6 weeks to clean up, and 2 weeks of dithering over publishing.

Looking forward to it.

http://t.co/1mdfkUBZ

More praise for Birdie Down

More praise for Birdie Down:

http://haveyouheardbookreview.blogspot.com/2012/03/birdie-down-by-jim-graham.html

'Jim Graham didn't disappoint...Birdie Down is a well crafted tale and action filled...You'll enjoy the way this story unfolds'

4 out of 5 stars

Which is 4 more than I was expecting.

Thank You to Readers of 'Birdie Down'

If you're reading this as one of the 300 or so who downloaded 'Birdie Down' in the last 4 weeks, then I'd like to say a big thank you for your support. That's 300 more than I expected, so it stays free-to-read.

Like you, perhaps, I'm an amateur without the back up team, so I rely on readers to tell me if I'm hitting their sweet-spots or turning their tummies. Not many readers like to do that, but I'd really welcome the feedback before cracking on with the sequel. 

If you're feeling adventurous please drop me a line at jimsgraham@hotmail.com. If you're an exhibitionist, then maybe you could leave a review. 

I don't mind constructive criticism. I'll take it all positively. It all helps.

Thanks

Jim

Republibot.com Review of 'Birdie Down'

BOOK REVIEW: “Birdie Down” by Jim Graham (2012)

'this is the best amateur SF novel I have read...I enjoyed it. I really did... I’m so impressed by this that I’m going to pick up his first book, and review that ASAP. That’s something I’ve never done before...'

The full review can be found here http://republibot2.nfshost.com/content/book-review-%E2%80%9Cbirdie-down%E2%80%9D-jim-graham-2012 

I am, of course, speechless. 

'Birdie Down' is still Free-to-Read from

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134591

First Industry Review for 'Birdie Down' Due Next Week

Republibot.com, a US SciFi site, has written to tell me they are publishing a review of 'Birdie Down' sometime next week. I've read some of their reviews so I'm trawling Amazon.com for body armour.

'Scat' Free-To-Read until 11 March

The prequel to 'Birdie Down', 'Scat', is still free to read until sometime Sunday 11 March as part of the Smashwords 'Read an eBook Week'. The first half of the book lays out how Scat and his side-kick, Goosen, get sucked into in the New World rebellion. It then moves on to a much bigger story. 'Birdie Down' is the first in the Rebellion series, which covers the rebellion with shorter stories akin to TV episodes. You don't need 'Scat' to enjoy 'Birdie Down' but it adds meat to the bone. I hope you enjoy it - and like what happens when the rebellion is over...

Grab your copy from https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95221

Smashwords Read an eBook Week 4 -10 March

I decided to add both 'Scat' and 'Birdie Down' to this event for free. Why not? It's only a week.

'Birdie Down' was a freebie from outset, and was already doing well, climbing the 'most downloads', 'free', general SciFi category at a fare click, rising from its starting place at the bottom of the heap (around 1180) to mid-table in the two weeks since publication.

'Scat' wasn't a freebie. Now it is. And three days into the promotion, as of this evening, the downloads for it  are just as brisk. It's now hovering in the top #10 to 20 of SciFi books that have achieved 'units sold' at 'any price' during the promotion. (There appear to be some 2200 SciFi novels on offer). It bounces around some, in and out: but it's up there; readers are downloading it - I can't complain.

And when they finish it, hopefully a few of them will be good enough to post a review.

Sunday... a slow day... just as it should be

Still waiting on Amazon to price-match 'Birdie Down' to US$0.00 but they're taking their time. In the meantime Smashwords is the place to go (see previous post). And if reading from your pc is an eye-strainer, just drag the Smashwords Kindle for pc version across to your Kindle. Even I've done it - so it must be easy.

Here are places you can contact me, crit my writing, or ask questions. Feel free. I listen to it all:

Twitter: @jimsgraham

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jim-Graham/125582784212980

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=14203577&trk=tab_pro

Smashwords Author Page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jimgraham

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006OZL5Y0

'Birdie Down' - Free-To-Read

The first in the Rebellion series, based on the 'Scat' universe

Praise from Republibot.com:

'this is the best amateur SF novel I have read... I enjoyed it. I really did...I’m so impressed by this that I’m going to pick up his first book, and review that ASAP. That’s something I’ve never done before.'

Birdie Down

The Outer-Rim rebellion stumbles into its second day - and in the wrong direction. Will it survive a third?

The third generation residents of the resource-rich New Worlds are seeking to throw off the yolk of corporate rule. Ex-Resource War veteran, Sebastian Scatkiewicz and his colleague, Andrew 'Birdie' Goosen, have dared to take on the biggest company of them all. Hot from attacking the Lynthax Corporation head offices on Trevon and then on G-eo they're planning to attack a third. But there's friction in the rebel camp: Scat's ignoring the advice of colleagues; his personal beef with Jack Petroff, Lynthax's head of security, is affecting his judgement; his friends and political masters are doubting his motives; and the loyalty of the newest recruits is far from certain...

    

*If you like SF this is a fantastic read. Great Pace and a wonderful story line.*

Grab your FREE copy from https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134591 in formats for iPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader and more

My Imaginary Interview With Me

Describe the ‘Scat’ universe for us.


It’s a finders-keepers universe. Earth is on its chin-straps: it’s low on natural resources and high on population. We’re already burning our way through the planet’s ability to replace the resources we use; it’s only a matter of time before we need go look for planets that have them. By the mid-22nd century, and I think I was being conservative, it became vital for man to break through the speed of light so the resources could be found and shipped. The UN incentivises the resource companies to stump up the capital needed to make that happen by handing them the mandates to run all the Earth-similar planets they found. Once the speed of light barrier was broken, these mandates gave the companies a license to print money. And, of course, they needed to protect the mandates, so they got a lot more involved in politics than they already are today. Governments are now weak, over-burdened, and compliant. Companies rule. The Lynthax Coporation is the resource company equivalent to today’s GoldmanSachs - no offence meant, of course. It pretty much influences everything, everyone - it’s unseen but ever-present in all of our lives.


Scatkiewicz is an ‘Out-of-System’ worker. He lives in a bubble, and although he works for a company, he’s fending for himself. Does your experience as an expatriate worker influence the character?


Yes. Once you live and work in someone else’s country, you become more reliant on your company. I’ve spent 20-odd years working overseas, not as a visitor but as a resident. I was what I’d call ‘corporatised’ for maybe 5 years of that. For the rest of it I was making my own way. Once you’re corporatised, you don’t rock the boat or have a show-down with your boss, not if you want to keep your job and all its benefits. Once you’re fired, you’re on your own, only you’re also without access to the local social welfare or unemployment benefit you’d normally get at home. You’re also more vested, locally: home and schools, that sort of thing, all of which cost more. Inter-planetary contract work will be more extreme, so all I’ve done is to extrapolate. Scatkiewicz works on planets that are barely habitable. He relies on his company for the very air he breathes, and it’s a very long and expensive ride back home. And with Earth being such a basket case, there’s no realistic prospect for re-employment if you’ve fallen off the corporate ladder. Once that happens, you’re knocked back to medieval times, as with most of the world’s population.


‘Scat’ follows Scatkiewicz as he gets sucked into the New World rebellion and beyond. It takes him a while to choose sides and when he does, his motives aren’t exactly pure. Why did you develop the character as you did? He’s hard to like.


For all of the above. He’s already been dumped out of the US Marines for following his conscience, and holding to his values - he’s not a very politically correct character, although he is loyal - and it’s taken him a long time to get his life back on track. He doesn’t want to risk it all again, just for a set of principles. So he’d buried his, just to cope. Even today, no one - if they are honest about it - would risk ALL that they have achieved for a group of people they hardly know, or for a cause that’s as controversial as independence from Earth: especially if it may cause wide-spread shortages on Earth; possibly the death of so many of its poorer population. Maybe the latter doesn’t play such a great part in his thinking, but with the universe being such a dog-eat-dog place in which to live, the decision to throw everything away would be a painful one. I show that pain. I put Scat through the mill. Even I was screaming for him to make up his mind. But nothing goes in a straight line. Again, that’s a hallmark of the story. Nothing ever does. Maybe in romance novels. But this is SciFi - and I’m being as realistic as my imagination will allow.


You don’t make it immediately obvious who the good and bad guys are. Isn’t that a little risky? E-book distributers only sample the first 15% of a book and we live in a Twitter-a-minute world.


Good people work for bad companies. Bad people work in good ones. It’s the same in politics as it is in war - and very definitely the same in a revolution or a rebellion. After all, not everyone funding the fight against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria will be a democrat. There will be business interests as well. Why would it be any different in the future? Besides, if a reader likes Petroff, I’m ok with it. In ‘Scat’, one’s actions - and where you’re finally standing when things go south - count just as much as motives. How we get there is less important. These things come out in the wash. The reader discovers these things as Scat does. No sooner.


There are several twists. One of them appears to make almost everything that went before irrelevant. Why did you do that?


That’s technology for you. As I say, the story doesn’t go in a straight line. Nor is the story-line a convenient one. If you think the pc and the iPAd have changed lives, wait until Petroff cracks the Thing’s secrets. That does change everything. And when man eventually finds out more about himself, that changes things even more. Some things are more powerful than technology. We forget that. We’re too busy tweeting.


You say your story-lines don’t go in a straight line. What do you mean by that?


I mean nothing in life goes as we originally predict. And in the future, things happen much more quickly. There are a billion unforeseen factors at play. The politics are compromised. The system is corrupt. When it’s as corrupt as it is by the 23rd century, there’s no predicting the future, or an outcome. Plus I don’t like giving my characters an ‘easy out’, or a ‘get out of jail free’ card. They live in this universe. They play by its rules, like everyone else. Besides, the story is layered. It’s a complicated universe.


Things happen around Scat, and things seem to happen to him. Why is it he doesn’t have more control over his actions, his reactions?


Because he’s human. He’s like the 99% of us. Stuff happens and you deal with it the best you can. If he comes off as being a little selfish, then walk down a corridor or two in his shoes and ask yourself - how heroic are you, really? And could you behave any differently?
He does get his way eventually. He thrives in the chaos. In real life, he wouldn’t make for a good corporate worker. He’s at his best kicking in doors and thumbing his nose up at the establishment. Trouble is - he’s unpredictable.


When is the sequel to be published?


When it’s finished. This self-publicity thing is a killer.


You broke off from completing the sequel to ‘Scat’ to write ‘Birdie Down’ and then you gave it away for free. Why did you do that?


I was experimenting. ‘Scat’ was a first attempt at anything longer than an email. It came in at 160 thousand-odd words (my emails are considerably shorter). ‘Birdie Down’ is some 60 thousand, again, much shorter, and aims to tell a single story without any loss of pace. Again, the reader picks things up as the story develops, and is made to wait before it’s possible to pick out the good guy - as in real life. The Arab Spring was hailed as a good thing for the West, until people though it might not be. To know for sure you have to let things develop, let it play out.


It also gave me a chance to focus on a single character, this time Andrew ‘Birdie’ Goosen. As a policeman, it cuts against the grain for him to kill, to rebel, to turn the established order upside down. It was a huge leap for him to rebel, more so than for Scatkiewicz. We see him make the conversion, and see his belief in the goodness of others put to the test.


It has had a good run on Smashwords in terms of total downloads, rising from bottom of the pack (around 1180) to mid-way in less than two weeks. Of course that’s just downloads. I’ve no idea if people are reading it. If you do, leave a review. I’m still new at this game, and I’m still listening.