NEWS46 Calling beta-readers for EXOSTAR.
Dec 01, 2022 7:22 pm
Dear ,
Here we are at the end of another year. The start of 2022 was a bit shaky, but I hope you are finding your way back into the (re-)opening world.
I'm thrilled to be ending this year with the launch of THE LOST SPACE TREASURE. This brand new science-fiction series about an interstellar hunt for a legendary spaceship filled with gems is bound to please Ben Archer fans!
The hardest part about writing this series was three-fold. I had the plot, but then I realized I was missing a ton of world-building based—as much as possible—on scientific facts (aliens, planets, spaceships, cool sci-fi gadgets, etc.). I spent most of 2022 figuring out all the details. Once I had the visual "background", it became much easier to navigate through this super entertaining cluster of stars and planets. Second, I kept switching between the middle-grade and young-adult genre, which are very different. In the end, I went with an upper middle-grade vibe to mirror the Ben Archer books. Third—while I was writing EXOSTAR—I came to realize that my main character, Trin, had a prosthetic leg (because sometimes characters surprise me like that). This was a challenge in itself, which turned into an extremely rewarding and humbling experience as I learned to view the world through Trin's eyes. I hope you will have this same experience.
1. The Lost Space Treasure - A Novella is available for purchase
You can get The Lost Space Treasure - A Novella here:
- Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKFXY87S
- Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/198960546X
- Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1989605478
- Or ask your local bookstore to order it for you.
I sent you a PDF link in my previous newsletter so that you could read this series-starter for free. Some of you requested a downloadable version so that you could read it on different devices. If you would like an EPUB or MOBI version, click here:
If you have some time, I would greatly appreciate an ARC review so that new readers can discover this exciting new series.
Review links:
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKFXY87S
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/the-lost-space-treasure---a-novella
- Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/the-lost-space-treasure-a-novella
2. EXOSTAR (The Lost Space Treasure Series, Book 1) : calling beta readers!
EXOSTAR (The Lost Space Treasure Series, Book 1) is up for preorder. What do you think of this stunning book cover?
I am searching for 3 BETA READERS who would be willing to read this exclusive early version. WATCH OUT: I am searching for specific readers! Click to apply:
3. Space map
Finding a treasure out in space can be daunting, so a map to find your way around might be helpful. Discover the planet of the Magnus Star Cluster and the Interstellar Alliance! Print out your own copy by clicking on the image:
4. SPECIAL MESSAGE
I would like to thank all of you who have sent me messages and letters in the past year. I also very much appreciate the time you spend creating wonderful images like the ones below. Know that I cherish every one of these moments. You are the reason I am able to tap into my imagination every day to provide you with more adventures.
Let me know what you enjoy about my newsletter or my books, what I could do better, what you're going through, what you're doing this winter vacation or what you do in the Southern hemisphere, your rambling thoughts... Anything! I want to read it all! 👉 raeknightly@gmail.com
We are a community of 2,650. Welcome! :)
December 2022 reading list
The Book of Chaos by Jessica Renwick
FREE DEC. 6-8
Twelve-year-old Fable Nuthatch has something that nobody else in Larkmoor has—magic. But living under the roof of her overprotective aunt, she's forced to hide it from the world.
When a strange book lands in her lap and her cousin vanishes into its pages, she follows, hurtling into an enchanted forest far from the rolling hills of her home. Starfell is filled with unusual people and mystical creatures. Here, she's accepted for who she is, and she's finally free to embrace her powers.
But not everything is bright in Starfell. A darkness looms over the land, and her cousin is still missing. After following a trail of clues about other disappearances and the mysterious Fae Witch, Fable and her friends are confronted with a deadly secret—one that's connected to Fable and her family.
With help from her peculiar new friends, Fable must learn to trust in herself or risk losing her cousin forever. Can she face the wicked secret hunting her and save him before it’s too late?
Dreamland by Barry S. Brunswick
A world of imagination. A child of prophecy. With evil on the horizon, can he save a wondrous land?
For as long as he can remember, Eric has always had vivid dreams. When the lines start to blur between sleep and reality, he and his parents begin a desperate hunt for answers. But after he slips into a coma, Eric enters an amazing enchanted dimension where he’s forced to fulfil an ancient destiny and defeat a nightmarish enemy.
Discovering he possesses incredible powers, Eric begins a punishing training schedule with an eccentric queen to ready himself for battle against his dangerous foe. Faced with aliens, dinosaurs, and vicious gargoyles, this young hero must master his gift quickly if he’s to defend the realm from a terrible fate.
Can Eric destroy the coming doom and rescue a kingdom of magic?
Villain's Vacation: Secret Supers 2 by Andy Zach
Four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they've been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.
Little do they know the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.
Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain's attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?
M. E. G.: An Ardent Redux Universe Short Story (Ardent Redux Saga) by J.L. Stowers
She takes being lost in space to the next level.
When Meg wakes up alone in a fighter ship on its last legs she knows she's in trouble.
What she doesn't know is who she is.
Her memory and her identification chip have been wiped clean.
But by who?
Meg goes looking for answers at the nearest space station and finds more than she bargained for. Her amnesia was no accident but now she doesn't know who to trust.
Can Meg figure out who she is before the people who messed with her mind find her?
Sunlight by Kristian Joseph
In an alternative dystopian future, the city of Sovereign falls victim to a sinister plot.
The epic saga begins in the broken city of Sovereign where civil war is on the horizon:
Nathan Sahl (the nation’s Chief of Defence) has enemies all around him. Now he must choose to hand himself in to a failing government and pay for the crimes of his predecessor, or to rise up and become a man of war once again.
Nathan must strike first, but will he strike for peace or revolution?
Meanwhile, Sam Royle (a seasoned war veteran) has lost his mind and strength. When he awakes in a mysterious underground facility; he has the chance to regain what was taken from him.
Will an estranged scientist and child-like artificial intelligence hologram help restore his broken mind and body, or will Sam discover find he is there for a far more sinister purpose?
Witness savage mercenaries, brutal fights, ancient prophecies, and secret organisations in this epic tale of destiny, betrayal, and revenge.
The Black Heart of the Station by Jay Allan Storey
Delinquent or Prophet? Whichever one teenager Josh Driscoll is, he may be humanity's only hope for survival.
Josh lives in The Station, a city buried deep beneath the surface of a frozen, lifeless earth, its origins lost in the mists of time. His frequent rule-breaking exploits are focused on a single question - how did we get here?
But Josh goes too far when he steals a space-suit and escapes to the surface to explore.
As punishment, the governing Council, of which his father is a member, forcibly enrolls him as a novice monk at Saint Carmine's, the Station's resident monastery. At first desperate to escape, Josh finds himself drawn into the monastery's ancient texts.
Deciphering an encrypted journal hidden for centuries, he learns that the Black Heart, a computer complex sealed off after an ancient asteroid strike, may hold the answers he's been seeking, and may be all that can save the city from certain annihilation. When the deranged head of the Council is determined to demolish the Black Heart and doom them all, Josh leads a desperate battle to stop him.
I wish you a healthy, happy and peaceful end of the year.
See you in 2023! :)
Rae
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