Reality Surpasses Fiction Again // World of Skills 4 // Free Books on KU
Jan 07, 2021 9:27 pm
Hello from London,
In a year we will likely be remembering January 6th, the second time since 1800 that the Capitol has been occupied. Last time, it was destroyed, but democracy and a sense of American identity rose stronger from the ashes. This time, the building survived, but it's democracy and the American identity that suffered the most.
Once again the world throws news headlines at us that could have been taken from the first scenes of a dystopian movie. While it's true this has probably been coming for a while, yesterday's events are nevertheless surprising and upsetting. There's no preparing for real-life scenes of Senators and Members of Congress sheltering in government buildings from a mob of their own citizens.
Hopefully, now that they see what their rhetoric has wrought, the fever will break and certain individuals will finally decide that courting these votes comes at too high a cost.
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Sorry about that - I know it's a speculative fiction author newsletter, but I am that author, and it's difficult to pretend the images I saw last night exist in a different universe to my own, because they don't. I feel a terrible sadness for my American friends who are having a hard time recognizing their own country at the moment.
World of Skills 4
As many of you may know, I write a monthly episodic story about a world in which people with powers exist. It's called World of Skills, and I publish it for subscribers to my Patreon.
The first episode is free, and available by clicking this button:
In this latest episode, entitled "Infinite Happiness", Darius and Molly encounter a cult-like fanaticism spreading through society, and trace it to its source.
The entire series is summarized on a dedicated page on my website.
Thank you to my Patreon subscribers for your support.
Kindle Unlimited
The two promotions included this week are collections of books that are free on Kindle Unlimited.
I'm a very recent convert to Kindle Unlimited, both as an author and as a reader. I resisted for years, because my brain doesn't think of novels as a subscription-based activity, but lockdown finally pushed me into trying it.
I subscribed because I wanted to find new authors. I need to read the first couple of chapters in a book before I know if it's for me. Often, this means I either don't buy a book for fear of disappointment, or I buy the book and end up putting it down because I don't enjoy it, despite having paid for it.
For me, Kindle Unlimited is a good compromise. The cost of a new book is only the time it takes me to read it, since I pay for my subscription monthly.
As an author, the same arguments apply. I don't doubt the quality of my work, but it won't be for everyone. That's Ok. I don't want to force anyone who dislikes my book to pay for it. By putting my novels in Kindle Unlimited, subscribers can put them down at any time if they decide its not for them, without wasting their money.
If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited with this link, I will get a (very small) fee from Amazon, which will allow me to buy one hundredth of a book cover, or some small fraction of a coffee, so if you're thinking of subscribing, doing so with my link costs you nothing extra, gets you one month free, and helps me a little. Also, you'll be able to read the box set of Emily Voss I published two weeks ago, as well as my older published works, at no extra cost.
Book Promotions
This week I'm sharing two collections of speculative fiction for you to consider. These books are free if you are subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, otherwise they do cost a few bucks to buy. Lists like these are a good way of finding authors and book suggestions you might not otherwise have come across. Feel free to browse them and explore what these authors have to offer.
In both cases, my own book on the list is the recently-published first volume of the Emily Voss series, which includes episodes 1 through 3, and runs to a little over 30,000 words. It's free if you're subscribed to Kindle Unlimited.
The Emily Voss Box Set is available here:
You can read more about the series on the dedicated page on my website.
UNLIMITED FANTASY COLLECTION PROMOTION
All the books in this collection are free on Kindle Unlimited, and most are priced modestly outside it. Many of the authors have considerable experience and you should find at least a few books that are good candidates for binge-reading.
READING TREASURES PROMOTION
This is a very broad collection of fantasy books. Mine is, due to my late arrival in this promotion, right at the very bottom of the list. Once again, all books on this list have been enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, so if you've subscribed, you should be able to read any of them at no extra cost.
From Other Authors
The Black-Eyed Witch by Rowan Staeffler
Lithia is hunted by evil King Noran, a madman obsessed with acquiring the longevity, healing powers, and inhuman strength of witches. Royal guard and former witch hunter Ronan, framed for killing Noran's predecessor, escapes the palace before Noran can silence him.
A chance meeting with Lithia sees him join forces with the witch and devise a plan to assassinate the malevolent King. Traveling across the kingdom, recruiting others to their cause, the secrets Ronan and Lithia hide threaten to destroy not only themselves, but to bring Terom to its knees at the feet of King Noran and his diabolical desire to rule over the witches.
Chase: The Boy Who Hid by Z Jeffries
Unlike the previous book, this one is aimed at a younger audience, and has a focus on LGBTQ+ characters.
Don’t hide from your feelings. Hide from the killer robot hunting you.
I always knew I’d inherited my grandad’s mind for science and technology, but when he goes missing, I get his spot in a top-secret government game of hide and seek. The military camouflage challenge, DARPA’s game where shapeshifters, mechs, and telepaths hide from a robot seeker, is also where Grandad vanished.
To find out what happened, I’ll play along- gain the team’s trust, master the tech, and avoid catching feelings for the team navigator. If I can do all that, then maybe I can survive the dangerous game. But if it comes down to winning or finding Grandad, I’ll ditch the game and betray my team in a millisecond. Even if it means I go missing, too.
Book One in the Hide & Seek Series, the action-packed coming-of-age stories of STEM-minded queer kids getting their hands on the tech of the future.
Welcome to the New Year. As always, hit reply to get in touch. See you next week.
Nick
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