Book Release: THE DAY WE SAID GOODBYE TO THE BIRDS • by Allan Dyen-Shapiro

 

“Genocide Joe” is a marked man.

Once a highly respected corporate microbiologist, now the scapegoat for a GMO-caused ecological disaster that’s turned San Francisco Bay toxic and poisoned thousands, Joe has lost everything: his career, his reputation, his wife, his home, and most of his friends. All he has left is his 18-month-old daughter, Daphne, the clothes on his back, and a chance to start over again, in a new town, where no one knows his face.

To take that chance, all he needs to do is catch the bus out of town. But an unexpected transit outage has dumped him in Oakland, so now he needs to get to the next station on foot, while pushing a baby stroller.

And hoping to pass unrecognized through a city where everyone hates him, and a lot of people want to kill him….

THE DAY WE SAID GOODBYE TO THE BIRDS

An idea so original Amazon doesn’t have even a category for it yet. Maybe we can call it Hopepunk?

Available now on Amazon Kindle. 

Coming soon to Nook, Kobo, Apple Books, and most other ebook platforms. Print edition coming soon.

________________________

About Dr. Allan Dyen-Shapiro…

Allan Dyen-Shapiro is a Ph.D. biochemist, currently working as an educator. He's sold stories to numerous markets, including Flash Fiction Online (where he is a First Reader), Dark Matter Magazine, Grantville Gazette, Small Wonders, Factor Four, Stupefying Stories, and numerous anthologies. You can find his blog and links to his stories at allandyenshapiro.com. Friend him on Facebook (allandyenshapiro.author); follow him on Bluesky (allandyenshapiro.bsky.social), Mastodon (@wandering.shop@Allan_author_SF), and X (@Allan_author_SF).

To go more in-depth: Six Questions for… Allan Dyen-Shapiro  

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WHAT, *ANOTHER* NEW BOOK RELEASE?!

All we were trying to do was push this book out a little early, so that Guy Stewart could have copies in-hand when he showed up at Minicon 57 next weekend. 

» Click anywhere on the above image to go to the list of links.

This was quite possibly the fastest book launch we’re ever done. The Kindle edition went live in less than an hour. The Nook, Apple Books, and Smashwords e-books were live this morning, and new e-book vendors are coming online hourly.

» Click anywhere on the above image to go to the list of links.

The print edition was approved so quickly, it looks like we may have commercial copies from Amazon in-hand before the case of ARC copies I ordered from Ingram shows up. Thus we’ll have the opportunity to compare the Amazon and Ingram printings side-by-side, and decide which we prefer. In theory, releasing the print edition through Ingram gives us much wider distribution, including into bookstores. In practice, that rarely happens. 

» Click anywhere on the above image to go to the list of links.

ENORMOUS THANKS TO DON MUCHOW, for going way beyond the call of duty and burning much midnight oil to make sure that this book got finished and released on time! THANKS, DON! 

P.S. And consider buying the book, okay?

P.P.S. One more thing: an audio book edition is in the works and should be available shortly. Guy and I talked it over, and decided that using Amazon’s AI to narrate a story about a bunch of teens fighting an evil homicidal AI bent on world domination was just too ironic an opportunity to pass up.

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RELEASING TODAY: THE PRINCESS SCOUT, by Henry Vogel

THE PRINCESS SCOUT, the latest novel in Henry Vogel’s best-selling Terran Scout Corps series, is now out and selling worldwide in e-book, paperback, and hardcover, on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Everand, Bibliotheca, Hoopla, OverDrive, Vivlio, Baker & Taylor, Tolino, Gardners, BorrowBox, Odilo, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson… 

And probably a few more in the time it took me to type this. New sales links are going live by the minute. Click anywhere on the above image to see the latest list of booksellers carrying THE PRINCESS SCOUT. Thus far Amazon seems to be the only one that’s linked the e-book listing to the paperback and hardcover listings, but this will change as the other booksellers catch up. 

We want to stress, THE PRINCESS SCOUT is an all-new standalone and self-contained adventure, with new characters on a new world, so you don’t need to have read all the previous books in the Scout series to enjoy this one. 

Of course, we wouldn’t object if you were to buy the entire series…

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THE PRINCESS SCOUT • Debuts Today on Kindle Vella!

LAUNCHING TODAY, EXCLUSIVELY ON KINDLE VELLA:

THE PRINCESS SCOUT, the latest book in Henry Vogel’s best-selling Terran Scout Corps series. New characters! A new world! A whole new adventure! Ten chapters already online, with sixteen more in the pipeline. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first three episodes are free. The teaser…

Anne Villas worked hard during her first year at the Scout Academy. But her fellow cadets credit Anne’s success to her famous parents pulling strings. Nicknamed “The Princess Scout” by the other cadets, Anne hoped to show her critics wrong during the year-ending cadet cruise. But she and a fellow cadet never planned on getting trapped on a lost colony—one that doesn’t want to be found. With their lives at stake, Anne must prove that she is more than just…

The Princess Scout.

START FOLLOWING ANNE’S STORY NOW!

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STUPEFYING STORIES 25 • IT'S ALIVE!!!

 

Wow, another new issue already?  

It seems like just last month we were looking at Stupefying Stories 24 sitting there on the launch pad, fully fueled and ready to go, and wondering whether it was going to soar like an eagle or blow up in our faces when we pushed the big red button.

Now, here we are again, watching the Amazon links to Stupefying Stories 25 go live and feeling much more confident this time. The magazine itself continues to evolve, with scads of little technical improvements under the skin that you can’t readily see but that make it much better and easier for us to build. Our new editorial team is really coming together and starting to hit their stride. Special thanks to Sharon Cherri and Henry Vogel, for much midnight oil burnt in order to make sure we hit our launch date. Submissions are continuing to stream in for issues 26, 27, and 28, and we actually managed to handle the submissions pipeline and get this book finished and released on time, which is something we’ve always had trouble doing smoothly before.

If you’ve been following this blog (stupefyingstories.blogspot.com) or me personally on Facebook, you have some idea of how hard it has been for us to get this point. If you haven’t been following this blog, you should be, if only to catch SHOWCASE, our daily free flash fiction feature. We’ve been publishing a lot of great little stories in SHOWCASE and growing a really good community around it. If you like short fiction, you owe it to yourself to check out the stories, and join the conversation. SHOWCASE is also turning out to be a great place for us to find and recruit the writers we want to feature in future issues of our magazine—

But speaking of magazines, I need to tell you how excited I am about STUPEFYING STORIES 25! We have a great mix of stories in this issue, by a great mix of returning fan-favorite authors and writers who are new to our pages.

If you’re looking for science fiction that’s so hard it clanks, check out “A Limited View” by Gary Kloster or “Something Came Through” by Michael D. Burnside. If you’re looking for something that’s still hard SF but with more of a biological angle, read “There Is Another Sky” by Bo Balder. If your tastes run to steampunk, read “Cloudbreaker Above” by Brandon Nolta, or if you like to relax with a tall glass of cold horror, read “The Demolition Job” by Neva Bryan.

If you like fantasy, check out “Two-Tone” by Elise Stephens. In this story Elise introduces us to a new form of magic and tells a beautiful and heart-breaking story, which is something we don’t see often. If you’re a bit more jaded about romance, read “The Wawa Stick” by Karl El-Koura, a futuristic tale of crime, betrayal, and just desserts. If you want a foretaste of the kinds of stories we’re selecting for issue #27, be sure to read “Tin Lizzi” by J. L. Royce and “Caliban’s Cameras” by Allan Dyen-Shapiro.

But we decided to lead off this issue with fan-favorite author Fred Coppersmith, and his contemporary fantasy story of two brothers who just can’t seem to stop getting into magical trouble, “If We Shadows.”

 

Enjoy!

Per aspera ad astra,

Bruce Bethke  

P.S. And buy the book, okay?

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The Stupefying Stories 24 World Conquest Continues!

Stupefying Stories 24 is now live on Amazon Kindle worldwide and continues to go live on new ebook platforms almost hourly. The following links are tested and known good.

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stupefying-stories-24

Apple Books

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6456485322

Barnes & Noble / Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stupefying-stories-24-beth-cato/1143855512 

Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1431711

Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/book/662398404/Stupefying-Stories-24-Stupefying-Stories-24

Palace Marketplace

https://market.thepalaceproject.org/item/5594501

Tolino / Thalia

https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1069277008

Vivlio

https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9781958333105_9781958333105_10020/stupefying-stories-24

Amazon Kindle

US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDB3HC83

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Canada - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Australia - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Japan - https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Mexico - https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Brazil - https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Spain - https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Netherlands - https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Germany - https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CDB3HC83

France - https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CDB3HC83

Also available on:

OverDrive, Odilo, Baker & Taylor, Borrow Box, Gardners, Bibliotecha

But we don’t have known-good links for these outlets.

Coming soon to:

Hoopla

I’m particularly happy to be on Kobo and Apple Books, as these platforms get us distribution into places where even Amazon doesn’t reach. 

This list will be updated as new links go live.

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Stupefying Stories 24 • IT'S ALIVE!

AMAZON KINDLE LINK - More links coming soon!

UPDATE:

Okay, these links are known good:
US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDB3HC83
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Canada - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Australia - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Japan - https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Mexico - https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Brazil - https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Spain - https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Netherlands - https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Germany - https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CDB3HC83
France - https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CDB3HC83
Italy - https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0CDB3HC83

In theory it's also available in India, but the link Amazon provided returns an error 404. Amazon UK *really* wanted to redirect me to the Amazon US page. Amazon Japan has put an "adult content" warning on the book and asked me to confirm that I'm 18 or older. A couple of the Amazon sites required me to do a Captcha before it would let me view the page; the first time Amazon France did so it required me to read and retype a string of letters, one of which is not on my keyboard. I lucked out the second time.

Kobo and Apple rejected the book as initially submitted because it mentioned Amazon and Goodreads in the afterword. We’ve updated the file to remove the “offensive content” and have resubmitted it. Cross your fingers.  

____________________

I can’t begin to tell you what a relief it is to see STUPEFYING STORIES 24 finally finished and on the pad, fully fueled and ready to launch. There have been a lot of times when I thought we’d never make it this far. If you’ve been following the Stupefying Stories blog (stupefyingstories.blogspot.com) or me personally on Facebook, you know the past four years have been challenging, to put it mildly, and the past year especially has been nearly unspeakable.

Yet, here we are: tired, but very proud of our work, and eagerly counting down the last seconds until we push the button and light this candle.

And yes, this is most definitely a “we” and “our” effort. I may be the face and voice of Stupefying Stories, but I would never have gotten this far without the help and support of a lot of people. My thanks go out to the stalwart Henry Vogel, for sharing some of his courage when I had none of my own left; to Pete Wood, for pushing me to keep this thing going every time I was ready to pack it in and call it quits; to the indispensable Sharon Cherri, for more help, support, and in-the-trenches tactical editorial assistance than I have the space to describe here; to Don Muchow, for delivering the whole state of Wisconsin when all we asked for was a little cheese; and especially to our generous Subscribers and Donors, who have voted with their wallets to keep the Stupefying Stories project going. There is an old saying in the aerospace industry: “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” Thanks to your support we now have a schedule and budget in place for the next five issues, and we’re making good progress on securing the funding.

Thank you!

I am really pleased, and slightly surprised, by how quickly and easily Stupefying Stories 24 came together once we fully committed to doing it. We have a really nice mix of science fiction and fantasy stories here, by a really good mix of authors. You'll find stories by writers who have been with us from the beginning—Jamie Lackey, Beth Cato, Pete Wood, and Robert Lowell Russell—by new friends, some of whom have already appeared in recent issues or on the Stupefying Stories website—Andrew Jensen, Avery Elizabeth Hurt, Mike Adamson, and Karl Dandenell—by one shining star who has become a fan favorite on our website but is now making her first appearance in the pages of our magazine—Carol Scheina—and by one really old friend, but you’d had to have been reading Asimov’s and Amazing back in the 1980s to know just how far back Phillip C. Jennings and I go together, and yet this is his first appearance in our magazine.

Speaking of the magazine: I keep looking at that cover. I picked the artwork because it’s exciting, colorful, and dramatic, but what exactly is it? A phoenix? A dragon? Rodan emerging from the Isla da Mara volcanic crater? Is it simply, as one person suggested, an image of all Hell breaking loose? The artist wasn’t much help. They titled this painting, “wizard summoning the phoenix from hell.” Shrug. We paid them for artwork, not to teach mythology and folklore.

It is, I have decided, a phoenix—and it’s us, rising from the flaming wreckage that was the past four years. The past is behind us. It’s time to discover the future. All systems are go.    

Now let’s launch this thing!

Per aspera ad astra,
Bruce Bethke

 

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Return to the Moa by Bruce Bethke, October 09, 2017

And here I am, back at the Mall of America again. Twenty-some years ago, when the MOA was shiny and new and I was a promising young writer with both a new novel out and an American publisher who actually put some promotional effort behind such novels by such writers, I got booked to do a signing at the MOA, at what was then the flagship store of a now-defunct bookstore chain.

Let me tell you, I was excited to do this signing! A week or two before Colin Powell had done a book signing at the same store, in the same time-slot, and it was a major media event, covered by all the local papers and TV stations. The line for him was out the door and halfway down to the next food court. I figured, if I could get just half the turnout he got; a quarter, even...

On the day of the signing I took extra care to shave, shower, brush and floss, make sure my hair was perfect, dress in my sharpest suit, pack a couple of spare signing pens (always bring your own pen) and a small tin of Altoids -- I even put on aftershave, which I almost never do, and showed up well in advance of the appointed time. The staff in the store were happy to see me and eager to accommodate me. They'd set me up with a table and chair and nice signage, and neat stacks of about 200 copies of my new novel, in a location where it was impossible for people to enter or leave the store without walking right past me.

Which is exactly what they did: walked right past me. I sat there with my "accessible and approachable" smile pasted on my face and pen in my hand, ready to sign and personalize books, watching people walk past... and walk past... and walk past...

And after about fifteen minutes, I decided this was stupid. I'd worked in sales before -- been quite successful at it, actually. You don't make sales by sitting there and waiting for customers to approach you. You get out from behind the counter and approach them. Confidently and assertively, but without crossing over into aggressive and obnoxious, which is where most sales people blow it, especially in the used car business.

So I got out from behind that table, and I worked that sales floor, approaching and engaging people and selling my book, one customer at a time. When my assigned time was up I got permission from the store manager to keep going, and I wound up staying there until the store closed. By the end of the evening my voice was shot, my feet were killing me, and I had sold...

Exactly sixty-four books. I made a point of remembering that; wrote it down, even. I was making roughly ten cents a copy on that one, so all my work that evening had contributed a glorious $6.40 towards earning out my publisher's advance. I was depressed.

The store staff were thrilled, though. "This is the best book signing we've ever had!" But, but, Colin Powell?

Someone explained. That wasn't a book signing. That was a publishing event. People weren't showing up to buy Powell's book and read it. They were there to get a signed copy so they could display it, and start conversations by saying, "I was talking to Colin Powell the other day..." They figured the people who bought Powell's book might read a chapter or two, or look at the pictures, but eventually they'd get tired of having it taking up space in their house. Then they'd try to sell it, and discover it wasn't a valuable collector's item after all, whereupon they'd dump it at a garage sale or donate it to Goodwill.

"But you," another someone said, "you actually wrote your book. The people who bought your book are going to read it. This is the best turnout we've ever had for a real novel by a real writer!"

Well. That was some consolation. And definitely food for thought.

...the thinking process continues to this day. Twenty-some years later, the book business remains a strange and dynamic space, where the only constant is change and what worked well even a year ago no longer works now. For too long I have been sitting behind the table, with my "accessible and approachable" smile pasted on my face, waiting for book sales to magically happen. For a time, that seemed to work. We sold thousands of copies of Scout's Honor and The Fugitive Heir, among other titles.

But this year: the market tectonics have shifted again. What was working for us then isn't working for us now. Meaning it's time for me to get out from behind the table and start making things happen. And that, my friends, is what I'm already in the process of doing, and will be expanding on doing in the upcoming months.

Fair warning, though: the reason I got out of sales in the first place is that my salesman persona -- well, he's not exactly the most patient and nurturing of people. In fact, he really got on my wife's nerves, which is why I shut him down and changed careers. Once he's online, I have a lot of trouble switching him off.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

As we're changing our sales positioning and marketing strategy, one of the things I'm doing is consolidating the SHOWCASE and Stupefying Stories websites. SHOWCASE was a nice idea, and it had a pleasant if erratic four-year run, but our focus now must be on our core business, which is selling books. Ergo, SHOWCASE will carry on, but as a feature of this site, not as a semi-independent (and money-losing) entity. As we're winding up and shutting down the existing SHOWCASE site, though, I'll be running a sort of "best of SHOWCASE" feature here, with plugs and links to some of my personal favorites out of the 170-some stories we've published on that site over the past four years.

Guy's Note: As HEADCRASH (1995), REBEL MOON (1996), and WILD, WILD WEST (1999) were all published around the same time, this could have been written for any one of the books. My money is on HEADCRASH, though. So, unless Bruce corrects me, let's go with that! 

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IT'S ALIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!

 

After the longest and most difficult book launch ever, The Hostage in Hiding is at last live on Kindle. Seven months on the Kindle Vella “Most Faved” list! A Science Fiction Top 5 title the entire time! Now it’s finally out worldwide on Kindle, for readers who aren’t subscribers to the Kindle Vella serialization service. Get it today!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1GRS82S/

 

 

 

 

 

    

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Status Update • 11 May 2022

 

Work on STUPEFYING STORIES #24 is rolling right along, and barring divine or demonic intervention the book is on-track for a June 1st release. Having learned from our painful experience with The Hostage in Hiding, we’re going to upload this one to Amazon KDP first, and then go wide with distribution to other e-book platforms via Draft2Digital. 

We have been doing a lot of learning in these past few weeks, not all of it painful. By reexamining what we did in the past, and by getting a lot of good advice from people who probably would prefer not to be named for fear of having to give up what they’re doing now to become professional publishing industry consultants, we have identified a major pivot that we need to make as we go forward—and go forward we shall. For the first time in I can’t remember when, we actually have a solid and workable business plan for what we’ll be being for the rest of this year, and going on into next year. I’m actually feeling quite optimistic about it.

The essential points of it are:

• Our initial ad hoc crowd-funding campaign worked far better than I ever expected. Thank you!
  
  
• Stupefying Stories #24 is now fully funded and on track for a June 1st release.
  
  
• Stupefying Stories #25 is now fully funded and on track for a September 1st release.
  
  
• By reallocating resources and shifting to a laser-like focus on the magazine, we have almost enough in hand now to fund Stupefying Stories #26 and release it on December 1st. Therefore we will be continuing the ad hoc crowd-funding campaign through this summer, to ensure that by the time we get to September we have enough in hand to fully fund SS#26.
  
  
• After SS#25 is out the door, we’ll roll out the serious crowd-funding campaign. Through this we hope to raise the $4K we’ll need to put out issues 27 through 30 on a quarterly basis in 2023. However, this is just the first goal. We have a series of stretch goals planned, all of which work towards our ultimate objective of paying authors more.
  

That was always my idea: to grow Stupefying Stories to the point where we could afford to pay our authors professional word rates. At last, I think I know how to make this happen. 

Thanks for your support!

—Bruce Bethke

 

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Releasing May 1st!

After more than seven months on the Kindle Vella “Most Faved” list (Vella is way too edgy and hip to have something as mundane as a “Bestseller” list), and spending all of that time in the Science Fiction Top 5, Henry Vogel’s latest novel, The Hostage in Hiding, is at last coming out in a complete and standalone edition.

We are doing something different this time, too. Instead of going with our usual Amazon-only release, The Hostage in Hiding will be available on Kindle, Nook, iTunes, Kobo, and about thirty other ebook distribution channels we never knew existed, as well as in paperback and—this is the really exciting part—in a proper hardcover, with a dust jacket and everything!

We do not yet have pre-sale links for the ebooks, but the trade paperback and hardcover listings are live now, and Amazon is taking pre-orders. Check it out!

» Hardcover - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1958333026/

» Paperback - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1958333018/

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BLASTING INTO YOUR UNIVERSE ON MAY 1ST!

 

Coming in seven days on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and every other platform we can find! Available in paperback and hardcover, too!

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IT'S ALIVE!

It’s our first HARDCOVER, and it’s a beaut! THE LOST PLANET is now live on Amazon! 

Never mind the “Not for Resale” banner in the photo: that’s something Amazon slaps on proof copies to make sure we can’t pre-order copies for a launch party before the book goes live on Amazon. (Grumble, grumble.) 

The point is, the book is real! It’s really really real! THE LOST PLANET in hardcover looks like a real book to be taken seriously! It has a nice, crisp, colorful front cover, an actual honest-to-gosh back cover with jacket copy, a sharp spine, tight binding that’s going to last for years, a great interior design with first-class typography…

Sorry, I’m running out of superlatives, so I’m just going to post a collage of photos of the actual physical book and remind you one more time: 

THE LOST PLANET! NOW LIVE ON AMAZON IN HARDCOVER! BUY IT TODAY!

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IT’S ALIVE! BWA-HA-HAAAAAAA…

Rampant Loon Press is delighted to announced that after a difficult labor and some last-minute complications, the print edition of SCOUT’S FIRST MISSION came into the world at 2:56 a.m. this morning. The print edition listing is already linked to its sibling Kindle edition and the rest of its family, author and baby are fine and resting comfortably, and the 5-star reviews and good review quotes are already starting to come in.

» “[…] a fun, two-fisted, action-packed romp on a distant planet, with a wild assortment of characters and alien creatures.” 

» “This is yet another light, fun read very reminiscent of golden age science fiction and fantasy.”

» “With this book, you’ll get that classic sci-fi feel. A dangerous unexplored planet for the heroes of the story […] to explore and make new discoveries on. The fact that they discover humans on an undiscovered planet comes as a shock, but in a universe set with a diaspora of lost colony ships from humanity’s first reaching into space, it is understandable. What else they find on this mysterious planet is unexpected…” 

» “While there are mentions of events in previous books, this is it’s own self-contained story arc, so reading this one out of order won’t take the reader out of the story.”

» “The Scout Academy has spanned generations, still seeking to teach the virtues of Honor, Oath, and Duty. This bodes well—a society needs such things.”

» “My 14-year-old son enjoys this entire series. Definitely fun-filled adventure books for boys!”

» “Overall, it was an entertaining, quick read. I will definitely be back for more.”

SCOUT’S FIRST MISSION: the latest book in Henry Vogel’s best-selling Terran Scout Corps series, now available in paperback, on Kindle, or free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. Read it today!

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Book Release: THE HOSTAGE IN HIDING, by Henry Vogel

Kindle Vella went live this morning, which means that THE HOSTAGE IN HIDING is now live as well, at this link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095C1LGD8/

 The jacket copy:

In a family full of heroes, Nora Connaught is the normal one. She's never fought space pirates. Never saved anyone's life. Never done anything remotely heroic. But now she's 18 and going off to college on another planet. Nora hopes she'll finally have a chance to step out from under her family's shadow, but life never goes as expected. When events spiral out of control putting thousands of lives at risk, can Nora live up to the Connaught name and cast her own heroic shadow?

 The first three chapters are free. Please give them a read, up-vote them so that the book is easier to find, and share the link.

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Another New Book Release (sort of)

 

Also releasing this week: THE HOSTAGE IN HIDING, the latest book in Henry Vogel’s bestselling FUGITIVE HEIR series.

For this one we decided to release the book first as a serial, using Amazon’s new Kindle Vella service, which Amazon assures us will be going live sometime this week, but as of this morning they remain a bit vague about the specifics. 

In any case ten episodes are already written, uploaded, and should be available immediately as soon as Kindle Vella goes live. Another ten episodes are in the pipeline and will be uploaded shortly, and we’ll tell you all about it just as soon as Amazon gives us some solid information.

In the meantime, check out the parent trilogy, which in this case really is the parent trilogy. 

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Book Release / Book Sale

Busy day, busy week here at RLP, as we’re ramping up for the release of SCOUT’S FIRST MISSION on July 20th. We’re not ready to take pre-orders yet but should be able to do so very soon.

In the meantime, if you do not already have the previous five books in the Scout series, we’re continuing with our staggered countdown sale. Right now you can pick up Book 3, SCOUT’S DUTY, and Book 4, SCOUT’S LAW, on Kindle for just $0.99 each.

Beginning tomorrow, you’ll be able to get Book 5, SCOUT’S TRAINING, on Kindle for $0.99, and beginning on Friday you’ll be able to pick up HART FOR ADVENTURE, also for $0.99.

In case you’re curious, Books 1 through 4 comprise the first series, and tell the story of how Terran Scout Corps pilot David Rice crash-landed on the lost colony world of Aashla and was thrown from the space age to the age of swords in the blink of an eye. Stranded without hope of rescue, David made a new life on Aashla…

Only to find that galactic civilization was not about to forget him or ignore Aashla, and now he had to take up arms one last time, to fight to protect his adopted home world from the Terran Federation he had once served.

And that, we thought, was the end of it…

HART FOR ADVENTURE is a sort of a side quest: same universe, same Terran Scout Corps, different characters and a completely different adventure. HART FOR ADVENTURE is a standalone book, and a good choice if you’re not sure you want to make the commitment to reading the entire series. 

But, you could also start with SCOUT’S TRAINING, as that is the direct precursor to SCOUT’S FIRST MISSION and the start of a new series that I wanted to call SCOUT’S HONOR: The Next Generation, but Henry wouldn’t let me.

In any case, here you are: six books for the price of an upscale cup of coffee, and a lot of fun, exciting reading. What are you waiting for? Start reading today!

 

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BOOK RELEASE / BOOK SALES

RELEASING JULY 20

SCOUT’S FIRST MISSION

THE LATEST ADVENTURE IN HENRY VOGEL’S BEST-SELLING SCOUT SERIES

Henry Vogel’s Terran Scout Corps novels have not only been best-sellers for us, they have at times been a real source of hope and inspiration. Therefore, as a build-up to the July 20 release of Scout’s First Mission—no, it’s not a prequel, but Henry rejected the title of Scout’s Honor: The Next Generation—for the next three weeks we are running a cascading series of book sales.

This week the second book in the series, SCOUT’S OATH, is on sale for just $0.99 USD. 

GET SCOUT’S OATH NOW!

And keep watching for more special deals, as we ramp up to the July 20 release of SCOUT’S FIRST MISSION.

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IT'S ALIVE!

Rampant Loon Press is excited to announce our biggest and most ambitious project yet: STUPEFYING STORIES 23. Twelve new stories, covering a range of genres from contemporary horror, to urban fantasy, to science fiction so hard it clanks. Twelve authors, ranging from names you probably know and love already to new voices we believe you'll be hearing a lot more from very soon. A nice balance of previous contributors and new friends; a good mix of lengths and tones, from a novelette set on a generation ship gone terribly wrong ("Outrider") to the delightful little confection that is "Brimstone and Brine," STUPEFYING STORIES 23 features:

Woe to the Hand, by Julie Frost
The Unicorn’s Companion, By Jamie Lackey
The Secret of Erin Stewart, By Terry Faust
Outrider, By Helen French
The Last Feast of Silas the Wizard, By Karl Dandenell
The Bird and Baby, By Allison Thai
The Worm’s Eye, By Tom Jolly
Magic with the Bones, By Beth Hudson
Eddie’s Upgrade, By Kevin Stadt
The Dead Barn, By Amy Caylor
They Call Me Charon, By Gary Pattinson
Brimstone and Brine, By Beth Powers

From magic to mystery to science fiction, from the mythic past to the dystopian future, here are twelve tales to chill, thrill, excite and amuse you. Always fresh and entertaining, never formulaic or predictable, Stupefying Stories is the terrific new reading you've been looking for!

 

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BOOK RELEASE: SCOUT’S TRAINING, by Henry Vogel

Rampant Loon Press is delighted to announce the release of the fifth novel in Henry Vogel’s best-selling Scout series, SCOUT'S TRAINING. The story thus far:

“Lieutenant Chris Marlow and airship pilot Jade Cochran believe they know their future—work, marriage, and a family. They joined Dr. Agrilla’s annual medical mission as a break from their routine...

“Then a raider airship dove out of the clouds, its crew intent on capturing the outmanned flyer. The young couple must fight for their lives, and pray they still have a future together!

“But their fate is written in the stars, not the skies of their home world. It brings challenges and dangers undreamt of by the teenagers. Facing the gulf between steam-age Aashla and the space-age Terran Federation, will Chris and Jade fall prey to the machinations of those who want lost colonists to stay lost?

“Far from home, far from David Rice and Princess Callan, Chris and Jade will discover if they are ready for…Scout’s Training.”

Available now in trade paperback or in ebook exclusively on Kindle.  

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938834712 
Ebook:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085HGJV7Q

(Some day these two book listings will be joined, but as of right now they aren’t, because Amazon.)

If you have not already read the rest of Vogel’s Scout series, SCOUT’S TRAINING does stand on its own, as it introduces new characters and begins a new story arc—I did at one point suggest that we call this one Scout’s Honor: The Next Generation, and Henry was not amused—but on further reflection we decided that the obvious way to introduce this series to new readers was by offering special limited-time bargain pricing for the rest of the series.

Therefore, for the next 7 days, you can get all of the previous books in the Scout series for the special book-launch price of just 99-cents each! Collect the entire set!  Starting with...

SCOUT’S HONOR
The best-selling novel that began it all! When Terran Scout David Rice crashes on the long-lost colony world of Aashla, he is thrown from the space age to the steam age in the blink of an eye... And then his life got really difficult! 

Told in a relentlessly fast-paced style, Scout’s Honor is an exciting homage to the classic tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett, as well as the cliffhanger-driven energy of the early science fiction movie serials. If you long for honorable heroes and feisty heroines, treacherous villains and loyal companions, get Scout’s Honor and join David’s adventure!

Buy it now! - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JXLCXDY


SCOUT’S OATH
Picking up where Scout’s Honor left off, David Rice thinks he’s finally found true happiness and his proper place in Aashla’s complex, honor-driven, and often all too deadly society. But in winning the woman of his dreams he has made powerful enemies, and now those enemies want revenge! Can a plucky princess, a crusty doctor, a young thief, an old pirate, and a slightly unhinged airship pilot rescue David, stop a war, and save the world?

Yes, of course they can, we wouldn’t have much of a series if they didn’t, but all the same it’s a wild and fun ride!

Buy it now! - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TH859HA


SCOUT’S DUTY
After pledging his life and sword to Princess Callan and Aashla, David believes he’ll never see another Terran again—until the night the skies are lit by laser weapons fire, as another starship tries to blast its way through Aashla’s deadly planetary rings. The attempt fails, but as David and Callan rush to the crash site they realize they aren’t the only ones who witnessed the disaster. Looters are already on the scene...

For on a world of swords and steam-powered airships, even a wrecked starship contains secrets that can overthrow the world!

Buy it now! - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017081LFC


SCOUT’S LAW
After two thousand years of isolation, the lost colony world of Aashla has at last rejoined the Terran Federation. Callan and David made that happen: now they lead a mission to ensure that Aashla’s unique culture isn’t overwhelmed by the vast and technologically far superior Terran Federation. But when a routine inspection of a Federation scientific outpost unearths a mass grave, and an unnatural storm knocks David and Callan’s airship out of the sky, they are forced to confront their worst nightmare. Someone has smuggled forbidden galactic technology onto Aashla, and the trail of murder and destruction has only just begun!

Buy it now! - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSKV5MV

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