Thursday, March 29, 2012

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

Saturday, March 24, 2012

More praise for Birdie Down


More praise for Birdie Down:
'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.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

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

Thursday, March 15, 2012

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...'


I am, of course, speechless. 

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



Saturday, March 10, 2012

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.

Friday, March 9, 2012

'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...


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

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, March 4, 2012

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

Saturday, March 3, 2012

'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.