Hello ,
Thanks for joining me for my bi-weekly updates once again. If you're new to my newsletter, welcome aboard!
In this edition:
- My Musings
- Mechhaven Missives
- Mech of the Month
- Featured Authors
- Featured Promotions
My Musings
I hope you're all doing well. As you'll see below, April has been a productive month writing-wise and I hope to continue the trend into May. My family and I have recently caught up One Piece (all 1100 episodes!) and are now watching it week to week. I can't say enough about this series, but if you want to experience some epic storytelling, this certainly has it. I'll eventually do a more extensive write up about it. Without thousands of episodes to binge on, I've been catching up on other shows like Bad Batch and X-Men '97. Star Wars and X-Men are the two franchises that have had the most influence on me. We also started Solo Leveling (anime) and we're enjoying this quite a bit.
What books, movies, or other media are you enjoying right now? Let me know!
Mechhaven Missives
- Book 5 Update: I've written more words in April than I have during any month over the last year. I'm approaching 10,000 words and may hit 11,000 or even 12,000 by the end of the month. I feel like I'm back on track and have slogged through whatever molasses was slowing me down. I'd still like to see a higher word count, so I'm aiming to double this over the next several months until I wrap up the first draft.
- We're still working on wrapping up some final details on the Pax Machina audiobook, but it is coming. I'm hoping it will be available sometime in May, or early June at the latest. I'll keep you posted.
- As promised, here's another excerpt from the Pax Machina audiobook: Main Cast Meets Sly
Mech of the Month
April's Mech of the Month is Gridman from SSSS.Gridman! This anime has 12 episodes and originally aired in 2018. The story follows Yūta Hibiki, a high school student with amnesia. When kaiju suddenly appear (don't they always?), Yūta, with the help of an old junk computer, merges with Gridman to defend the city. An interesting aspect to the series is that after each kaiju attack, the memories of the city's residents are reset and they forget anyone who has perished.
Gridman easily defeats the kaiju at first. But the monsters get more difficult to defeat with each iteration. With the help of some mysterious companions who can transform into additional weapons, Yūta and Gridman find ways to overcome their enemies.
I've watched a lot of anime lately, both mecha and non-mecha related. Whenever I start a new show, I'm looking for how unique it is from others and how does it embrace or bend the tropes of the genre. I'm about six episodes in, so far I'm enjoying the high school aspects of the show. I'm also intrigued by the villain of the show and how they relate to the rest of the characters. Of course, the way the mysterious allies change into weapons and combine with Gridman add to the cool factor!
If you enjoy mecha, kaiju, mystery, and character-driven stories, SSSS.Gridman is worth exploring.
Featured Authors
This week's featured authors are Ingrid Moon, Bradley James, and Richard Rimington.
by
Ingrid Moon
A young man undermines a warlord's conquest to free himself and a girl he barely knows.
Play the game.
Murder the innocent.
Don't let them see you sweat.
Commander Boone's treacherous secret could save thousands of lives—if he could only escape from the murderous warlord who employs him. He wears his game face while following orders to destroy enemy fleets and handles a reckless assassin with elemental powers. Behind the scenes, he is undermining the warlord's pursuit of an innocent rival.
The duplicity and the horrors are taking their toll. Boone wants out.
In a bold gambit, he crafts a plan to escape. But his superiors might be catching on, and the plan is not without its own horrors. With everything working against him, including the woman he thought was his salvation, he may not live long enough to execute it.
by
Bradley James
A world beneath the surface. How did it get there?
Elliot Adams, a seasoned astronaut, embarks on a routine mission to survey the site for humanity’s first lunar base. However, a catastrophic collision between an asteroid and Earth, coupled with a violent meteor shower, disrupts the moon’s serenity and upends Elliot’s world.
In the aftermath, Elliot finds himself trapped under the moon’s surface beneath layers of rock, dust, and debris. As he struggles to escape, he stumbles upon a mysterious airlock – a doorway to a world that defies imagination.
Welcome to Lunar: a hidden civilization flourishing beneath the moon’s crust. With Earth seemingly destroyed, Lunar appears to be the answer to Elliot’s prayers, but will it prove too good to be true? And how exactly did Lunar come to exist?
Defiant Space-Infinite Void Book One
by
Richard Rimington
One starship against the galaxy.
A planet facing invasion. A starship with monstrous enemies. Can a mission into uncharted space prevent a world’s destruction?
When young academic Caladon Heit is recruited to protect his homeworld, he leaves behind the woman he loves and embarks on a near-suicidal journey to a distant planet.
As Cal learns the hardships of space travel, he grapples with the knowledge that failure could cost the lives of everyone he’s ever known. The peaceful life he knew becomes a precious memory. Unknown terrors stalk through the depths of space, ready to crush his world and enslave its people.
Featured Promotions
Star Warriors: Sci-Fi in Kindle Unlimited
Noblebright SciFi and Fantasy (Free Books)
Comic Con Revolution
My next appearance is at Comic Con Revolution in Ontario, California on May 18th and 19th. This is a cool up-and-coming convention in Southern California. They’ve made a name for themselves by securing great guests. This is probably because of the proximity to the LA area, not too close, and not too far. For me, it’s only a 20 minute drive.
Last year, they had the entire surviving cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This year, they have the big three from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and most if not all, the cast of Star Wars: Rebels. Also, they just announced they have several voice actors from X-Men ‘97! Whether you’re a fan of Comic Cons, or have never been to one, I’d encourage you to come out and see the show. I’d love to meet any readers of this newsletter. If you are there, please stop by and say “hi”! I’ll be in the Artists Alley section with a lot of other cool authors, artists, and other creatives. Check out this link for more information:
I hope to get to a few more shows this year, but I have nothing scheduled after this one. As usual, work demands keep me pretty busy during the summer, so my next shows will most likely be in the Autumn.Until next time, have fun and read a lot of books!
Greg Sorber
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