Yeah, that image above is ‘Oumuamua, a mysterious interstellar object seen a few years back.
Pretty cool.
It only relates tangentially to my newest idea, a series about an alien invasion. Guys, it came to me yesterday during a long, boring drive in the middle of nowhere.
This is frequently how ideas come to me. My mind in neutral, cruising along. I tell myself stories as I drive. Sometimes they are stupid. Sometimes crazy. Usually implausible. But always entertaining, at least to me for a short while. Maybe I get these stories because I can’t stand to listen to the radio and my mind fills in the gaps.
Whatever. All I know is that the creative engine is cranking while I drive along. Yesterday was one of those days.
Suddenly, I had the premise for a pretty cool book, and I bounced the title off of my passenger. She and I tossed it back and forth, and I had a working title by the time I reached my destination.
No, I won’t reveal it. I won’t even reveal it over on my paywall page for my hard-core fans. Not yet, anyway.
This idea is so new it’s glistening like a newborn foal.
But it’s one of those concepts that simply must happen. I’ve seen a fair bit of enthusiasm over on Patreon, and I’ve decided that this is going to be my latest series.
Everyone loves an alien invasion, and I am no different.
This is going to happen, amongst all my other projects.
I wanted to let you know that two books of mine are discounted right now on Amazon, and they will remain so until Saturday the 20th of August, 2022, at midnight PST. Later today and tomorrow another two books will drop to 99 cents as well.
That’s right. My latest release, The Storyteller’s Heaven, is set to .99 USD cents. The original book of my first trilogy, In the Valley, is set to 0.00. Also, for a limited time, The Captain’s Cauldron and Immolation will be set to 99 cents as well, although the price on those won’t change until 0800 PST on the 16th (Captain’s Cauldron) and 0800 PST on the 17th (Immolation). Don’t ask me why these are staggered, I’m sure Amazon had its reasons.
This means that for less than the full-whack price of The Storyteller’s Heaven, you can get all four of my books this week. It’s a pretty good deal.
By all means, go over and score some copies on Amazon.
This deal was meant to reward you, my fans and readers.
This past weekend, I met an intelligent and articulate author, Shannon Eichorn, at the Confluence convention in Pittsburgh, PA. She had released a debut novel “Rights of Use,” which involved alien abductions, a secret and underfunded Air Force unit, and alien/human symbiotic relationships. I’ll say right up front that the alien abduction sub-genre usually isn’t my thing, but something about her premise intrigued me.
My reading preferences are eclectic, and it’s difficult to say which books I’ll select for my library. I chose this author’s book for a reason I can’t put a finger on. Maybe it was the whole underfunded Air Force unit thing; I can easily picture the scenario she described. One scene early on in the novel sold me on her work and kept me flipping pages.
I don’t think I’m putting any spoilers out there by describing the atmosphere at the remote Air Force base where a distraught father and politician landed to be read-in to the project.
The oh-so-secret base was in the middle of nowhere, as one would expect, but it was a picture of disrepair and neglect. It was a dead-end for careers, complete with a seedy dayroom filled with taped-together furniture, cheesy decorations, and Hollywood posters depicting aliens.
Anyone who has worked for Uncle Sam would recognize such a space. Lack of funding, penny-pinching, and careless use by government employees permeated her description. I thought it was authentic to a tee, and curiously enough, the dayroom setting in this “secret and powerful” base shot me ahead into the narrative.
The only things missing in her description were the scent of Pine-Sol, a bored enlisted trooper watching some crappy movie on an old TV, and a pot of vile coffee brewing in a stinky corner.
I thought this scene was wonderful.
It took me a little while to get into her world-building; at first, there was some confusion. It was OK, though, because she resolved my questions as I plowed through the narrative. This is as it should be.
Something I noticed as I read was that I kept skipping over words to SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. This is always a good sign for me; the author has engaged me in the given work.
Another thing I’d like to point out.
Ms. Eichorn’s debut novel is a far better effort than my own. Why do I say this?
Well, I regard “In the Valley” as a flawed work in a few regards. One of its problems is a simple lack of planning, and “Rights of Use” does not suffer from this. There is a clear structure, character development, midpoint, and acceleration to the finish. “In the Valley,” as many of you are aware, lacked some of these critical story beats.
My first book was a study in “hold onto my beer and watch this,” it was written on a whim while I proceeded through the US Army Medical Board. Later books in the series had an outline and a structure, but the damage was done with Number One. Readers who made it through “In the Valley” to continue to the rest of the series have my appreciation and respect. Debut novels are NOT easy.
This author’s book shows the signs of careful planning and execution, which I appreciate.
I have some minor quibbles, but they are just that, minor. At first, her “alien” words took some getting used to, but this is a standard tactic in sci-fi novels, and she didn’t overdo it. Some of the military bits weren’t entirely as I would have written them, but hey, my background and hers are wildly different. Also, a few sections required a bit of suspension of disbelief, but this is also standard sci-fi. If everything has to be hyper-realistic, I suggest you read a different book.
Me? I was content to sit back and enjoy an entertaining yarn, well-told.
Also, it turned out that some of the too-lucky escapes and surprising discoveries were… by design. I will say nothing further, as I don’t do spoilers.
If you are interested in Shannon Eichorn’s debut novel, I’d say it’s definitely worth a read. This goes doubly so with a first book and series kick-off. Very impressive.
A detail from the header on my Patreon page over at patreon.com/jasonlambright. The artwork is by my daughter, a graphic arts major at the university.
Alright, I thought to re-visit a theme. I choose to do so because of some correspondence I’ve had of late with a few peeps; I have the idea that I haven’t made it exactly clear what’s hanging out over behind my paywall site.
In short, a ton of my content is posted over there.
For those who would like a free sample, I have included this link to the “FREE STUFF” tab, which I believe is insufficiently visible at the top of my page. It’s there, but I’m not happy with the Patreon format for accessing it.
Here’s what’s available to whoever would like to hang out and be one of my super-betas.
For three bucks a month, you get the free ARC of “The Storyteller’s Heaven,” which I made available to my guys shortly before the official launch. In addition, two complete rough draft manuscripts are posted, STORY1 and RIFLES1, which is the as-yet unpublished alternate history due out in November. The official title is “The King’s Ohio Rifles,” and I’ll let you guess its premise.
There’s more, of course. I am busy with the weekly serial release of chapters of the bridge novel in the Promised Land trilogy, “The Storyteller’s World.” About half of it has been posted to date. Also, about half of book two of the Ohio Rifles trilogy has been posted, “The Hidden Sun.” So, that’s two rough draft novels in progress to read as well.
If that’s not enough, the three-dollar tier also has access to my RANTS, stuff involving the writing process, and my life that I only post behind the paywall. I like the crowd on interstellar, don’t get me wrong, but I put out the nitty-gritty in a non-public forum to my dedicated peeps.
Finally, at the three-dollar level, you can chime in on all of the posts- your words impact the developing works. I said super-beta reader, and I meant it. My books are a team effort, and I’d like to have you aboard.
I must mention the five-dollar level, which has all the benefits of the three-dollar level, plus you get analysis pieces covering most chapters. This is where I explain my method as I write. I let you see the machinery behind the books; I explain my thought processes. For new or fellow authors, hang out here. Interact, and bounce ideas around. It’s great fun.
Finally, a few ten-dollar slots are still available to those who want skin in the game. You become part of my books at this level. What am I talking about? Well, you can choose naming rights on a character. I’ll put you into a book series of your choice. You can also knock up some fan-fic, and I’ll slide it into an ongoing project.
I believe in teamwork and getting my fans into the game. You may want to consider my site for those who want to take things to the next level. Also, all tiers get to communicate with me through IM; I check and answer these at least daily.
There are no caveats. No gimmicks. No infomercials. No timeshares in Florida. Just raw access to my work and a seat at the table.
The Interstellar Valley 