I haven’t blogged for a few months because I’ve been very busy preparing to write my next book, which will be the first in a 3-book series of Conspiracy-Thrillers based in the post-BREXIT world…

After months of researching, brain-storming, mind-mapping, plotting and character development, I’m now really excited to have started the writing – the first 1500 words of Chapter 1, Scene 1 have been laid down!!

Here’s a picture of me having a coffee in August, working on my characters…

Here is some of the feedback I’m getting about the book:

“… This novel is intriguing. It’s about a future dystopia and the race to change it. Its definitely a book for techies, who will enjoy the web-based plot elements.”

“… Tightly-plotted fast-paced hard SF thriller… pulls the reader forwards at a fast pace… I enjoyed this, and finished it in a single sitting. Let’s have another one soon please, Mr Russell!”

“… If you liked the Matrix, you will love this book. You only have to read the 1st chapter to get hooked. I couldn’t put it down. Really well written & original.”

I also received this feedback by email from an ARC reader:

“… The story is adventurous, starting out in the slums surrounding the Ramsgate ‘Plex … and ending eventually in the Antarctic tundra… the story reveals the author’s strong interest in cold geo-scapes; his enthusiasm shines through in the creation of a deeply inhospitable terrain with which the characters interact appropriately. I felt the impulse to reach for a jumper and a mug of something hot to drink frequently.

Dead Snow reveals the author’s scope of imagination and explores some truly fantastic ideas. I really felt a passion for the sci-fi genre within the words and a sense of joy in the freedom to create. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to any sci-fi aficionado.”

I’m really proud of the feedback and pleased that the book is slowly finding an audience. I’m now starting an online marketing push to share the reviews and hopefully drive more sales!

I’m really excited to have at last reached the launch day for ‘Dead Snow’!

The paperback and e-book are now published on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com, and the paperback is also available from my US CreateSpace store. Initial feedback from people who received an advance readers’ copy has been good, and I’m hoping that will translate into some good reviews on Amazon.

It has been a lot of fun writing and publishing this novel. I enjoyed seeing Karen Torsen’s story play out through my keyboard and it was very satisfying to return to the world of the mega-plex. There is plenty of potential for future stories in that world!

Ordering ‘Dead Snow’:

You can buy the Kindle e-book from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
The paperback is available on Amazon UK, Amazon.com, or my US CreateSpace store

Both the paperback and Kindle versions of my latest novel, ‘Dead Snow’, are now ready for publishing at the end of March. I am currently waiting for any last minute feedback from the advance reader copies that I have shared.

In the meantime, here is a copy of the final artwork for the ebook cover:

I’ve made good progress in the past week towards being able to publish ‘Dead Snow’:

Book Launch Marketing Checklist – complete
Target Audience Profile – complete
Launch Plan – Started
Kindle format file – nearly ready (trialling on Kindle devices)
CreateSpace paperback file – nearly ready

I’m looking forward to seeing this book ‘fly the nest’!

Things are moving quickly now that the writing is finished for my next sci-fi novel called ‘Dead Snow‘.

Over the past week I have been completing all the last minute checks and started formatting the book for the Kindle. Once the e-book version is ready I’ll start working on a paperback copy on CreateSpace. One prerequisite for both versions was to settle on the artwork for the cover. I’m very pleased to say that I licensed my chosen image this morning – here is a preview of the Kindle cover (note, the tag-line is still subject to change):

I finished the first draft of ‘Dead Snow’ on New Year’s Eve 2016 – that’s exactly one year after finishing ‘An End of Beginnings’! I’m now at the embellishing/polishing/formatting stage and am aiming to publish in 2 months’ time.

Although this novel was ‘completed’ 1 year after AEOB, the writing only really got going in Jun ’16. I’m excited to see how quickly I’ve managed to complete ‘Dead Snow’, especially as I’m planning to produce 2 novel next year: the first will be a Brexit-based espionage-thriller, and the second will be a literary novel. I’ve spent years ‘learning the craft’ of writing through the lens of sci-fi, and I’m looking forward to writing in 2 different genres on 2017.

Happy New Year everyone!

I run a small website on the internet to promote my writing and share free stories. In the past 2 weeks I have seen a significant increase in hacking attempts by criminals trying to take control of the site. They are seeking admin passwords, worpdress passwords, passing carefully constructed PHP strings, attempting to download vulnerable Photoshop extensions, and on and on and on. The hack attempts are mostly coming from servers in Ukraine, Russia, Seychelles, Germany and The Netherlands – its’ a good reminder about the need to keep your passwords secure, to avoid sharing them between platforms, and be careful about the sites you visit on the internet… criminals seem to be everywhere now.

 

Writing of my next novel, ‘Dead Snow’, is going very well and I hope to complete the first draft by New Year’s Eve.

It is a coincidence that my first book, ‘An End of Beginnings’ was completed on New Year’s Eve 2015. That one took 5 years to complete – this one will have taken 18 months, although the bulk of the writing has been done in the last few months, once AEOB was out of the way.

51,000 words are down on paper and I’m aiming for around 75k, so that’s a target of around 25k in 5 weeks – 5,000 words per week – “doable”, as they say, but I will definitely have to dig in…!