Tag Archives: promotion

Magic Mushrooms

mushrooms tree

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

Lin came to harvest another batch of Yun Zhi or what most people called turkey-tail mushrooms from the dead and rotting tree in the field behind her house. Her arthritis had been acting up again and the tea always seemed to help.

“What the…?” She took off her glasses and cleaned them but the wee ones were still there, sitting on the mushrooms or sometimes using them like stairsteps. The little folk each had a pipe and were madly puffing away.

“Contains PCP or don’t you know?” said one with a silver beard.

“They’re all getting high.” Lin’s mouth gaped.

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My Latest Interview and the Secret to Writing Good Adventure Stories

wobble cover held

© James Pyles

Over the weekend, I was interviewed by Jenn and Rob on their podcast MythBehaving about my writing. The main emphasis was my latest YA/Teen boys’ adventure A Wobblegong And His Boy, but we also discussed my science fiction/space opera My Legacy The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure.

We had a great time discussing how I see science fiction and writing in general based on my background. I grew up watching shows like the original Star Trek series as well as the original incarnations of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.

Beyond that, my “gateway drugs” into science fiction and fantasy were books like A Princess of Mars, The Time Traders, and The Skylark of Space.

Turns out as I see its, the secret to writing a good adventure novel people want to read resides somewhere in the past.

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What is a “Wobblegong?”

wobble cover held

© James Pyles

My Teen/YA Boys’ adventure novel A Wobblegong And His Boy has been available in both paperback and Kindle formats for nearly four months now. I’ve been on a number of podcasts promoting the book (I record the next one tomorrow) and blanketing social media with promotional material. However, as many of you know, one of the most difficult tasks when you are an indie author and have been published in mainly smaller presses is marketing, that is, getting the word out to the point where a significant number of people buy, read, and especially review your book.

In other words, I need to build a bigger audience.

Raconteur Press has been doing its best in this area and for the novels in their Boy’s Adventure Books line, but as I said, they’re a smaller press with limited resources.

So here I am sending “positive waves” (I just rewatched the 1970 film Kelly’s Heroes if you don’t get the reference) into the universe in the hopes of grabbing someone’s curiosity about why my book would be an absolute GREAT read, especially for boys between the ages of ten and eighteen.

In interviews, one of the questions I’m asked most often is “what is a Wobblegong?”

It’s a very good question and kind of difficult to answer because Wobble’s nature is rather mercurial. It’s in a state of almost constant flux not only in shape but in behavior and half the time, even Remmie, the book’s teenage protagonist, has no idea what Wobble is up to.

I’m posting part of Wobble’s “origin story” (everybody loves a secret origin story) to give current and future readers a handle on where Wobble came from.

Oh, keep reading after the end of the excerpt for links to the three interviews that are already online.

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She Can’t Hear Me Anymore

two chairs

PHOTO PROMPT © Lily

He watched her sitting in the same chair she always occupied. This was the resting spot on her daily walks where she watched the island. It and the empty chair beside her held terrible memories that would forever possess her.

“Lily.” He called her name but of course she couldn’t hear him. In a few moments she would go back to her walk eventually returning to the home they once shared.

All the while, he was trapped here, maybe forever. She could never forget the day she murdered him and he would always haunt these two chairs and the island.

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Hank And Bob Are Available To Accept Your Sacrifices

hank and bob

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

“I really hate these damn toys, Bob,” said Hank the propane barbecue on the left.

“Me too,” replied Bob, the one on the right. “They make too much damn noise and that motorized one is especially irritating. Kids should not be disturbing the sanctity of the backyard.

“Shall we consume them?” Hank asked eagerly.

“Won’t they melt and gum us up?” observed Bob.

“Hadn’t thought of that,” said Hank. “How about flamethrower action?”

“Yeah!” They opened their mouths and threw out white-hot flames of destruction.

Hours later, the firefighters had put out the blaze much to Hank and Bob’s chagrin.

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Pre-order “Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology” Today

ruins

Promotional image for the anthology “Ruins.”

Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology is on pre-order now through the end of May. The anthology was created by Matt Herron and along with twelve other tales, includes my 12,000 word story “Sunrise.”

A large sleeper ship on a mission to colonize a far-distant planet is pulled off course awakening the command crew. The vessel is in the gravitational field of a highly unusual solar system, one where the star has been modified to be a thruster pulling the entire system with it toward the edge of the galaxy. What’s worse, for months, the ship’s AI has been in contact with an alien intelligence from that system which is surrounded by thousands of asteroids, shepherd objects guiding the system’s course.

Captain Art Cuevas and his crew use a shuttle to travel to one of the shepherd objects trying to get some answers, especially now that they’re too far away from their original destination to get to it before the ship’s fuel supply is exhausted.

What they find is startling and will either spell their doom or perhaps a new and unanticipated life.

Here’s a sample:

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Beneath Pale Stars

whatever

PHOTO PROMPT © Lily

John finally crested the alabaster rim of the crater after hours of climbing under the cold sun. He was sweating and couldn’t catch his breath in the thin atmosphere. He sat down on the edge looking downward, his chest heaving.

He said at last, “All wrecked.”

He’d been hoping that the Crater Base had at least one working spacecraft left, but they were crumbled and lying across each other as if they were toys mangled by an angry child.

“I’ll never get home,” he lamented looking upward at pale stars.

Then a voice came from one of the derelicts. “Welcome.”

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My Science Fiction Novel “A Wobblegong And His Boy” is a Number One Best Seller

a wobblegong and his boy

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

Okay, with a caveat although it’s still pretty fantastic. As I write this, my YA science fiction novel A Wobblegong and His Boy is the NUMBER ONE BEST SELLER in Amazon’s Children’s Space Exploration books.

I wish that qualified me to say I’m a best selling author but this value can change on an hourly basis.

I looked it all up on Guide to Amazon sales rank: Best Sellers Rank (BSR).

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Phone Photography, Still Lifes, and Other Silliness

ted

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

“Dad, what are you doing?” Harold watched his father using his phone to take a photo of a collection of breakfast items and a tablet.

“Creating a still life,” Leonard said trying to hold his smartphone with one hand and maneuver his thumb.

“Uh huh,” replied his son. “I thought that was done with a bowl of fruit, a canvas, and oil paints.”

“This is the digital age, Harold,” Dad replied pressing the button. “Oh, now you did it. I didn’t get the framing right.”

“Digital photography is forgiving, Dad.” Harold rolled his eyes and went back into the kitchen.

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Wishful Thinking

wish

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

Jerry had been a little surprised that Yasna still lived with her parents. She was twenty-five and a rising star in his company’s HR department. This was their first date and he didn’t expect to have to meet her parents.

While Yasna was getting ready (he’d gotten there ten minutes early), they left him in their den. Her Mom went upstairs while her Dad offered to get him something to drink.

“Christmas wreaths I can get, but what are these?” He reached up and touched one of the odd ornaments hanging from the lamp.

“What is your wish my master?”

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