The Rising, Now on Kindle

It’s been kinda crazy around the household these past few weeks and I completely forgot to mention here that I released a new novel on Kindle. You can now finally get Book Two of the Star Saga – The Rising, on Kindle. It’s only $2.99 and it’s available here. If you are new to the series, you can get Book One, Starforgers on Kindle, Nook and Kobo for .99 cents or snag it free here on the blog in the column to your right. As it happens, Book 3, Counterattack will be out in April. Just as soon as I finish proofing it and we get a cover completed.

So lots of reading ahead of you if you like my fiction. For the first time all three books of the Star Saga’s first trilogy will be available. I’ll be spending some time on advertising after Counterattack launches, so be ready for that media blitz. As a reminder, the reading order for the Star Saga is as follows:

  1. Tales From Ocherva, Volume One (anthology) – Devon Ardel’s days as a Stellar Ranger.
  2. Starforgers, Book One (novel) – Devon joins the Federation Stellar Fleet and helps start a war with the Votainion Empire.
  3. Devon’s Blade (novella) – Devon is assigned to a demoralized fighter squadron on a backwater world, to help turn it into a fighting unit.
  4. The Rising, Book Two (novel) – Devon goes home on leave when her mother, the President of the Alliance is blown up by a Silicant.
  5. The Blood Empress (novella) – About the rise in power of Empress Nykostra.
  6. Counterattack, Book Three (novel) – Devon commands a starship named for her mother and must stop a massive enemy counterattack.

These six books cover the career of my heroine, Devon Ardel, from a gun slinging Ranger to a gun shooting fighter pilot to a starship captain. There are lots of reoccurring characters throughout the series from Silicants to space pirates, politicians and military personnel. The overall story is of the beginning to a millennial war between the Alliance and the Votainion Empire. There is about a 500 year gap between Book Three and Book Four, so all the characters and the situations change in the second trilogy. You can read the first book of the second trilogy, Starstrikers, but I’ve yet to write Book Five and Book Six. If you really want to know how it all ends, skip to Book Seven and read Starveyors. I know, it’s complicated.

Back Cover Art – Starveyors

Source: via Ken on Pinterest

 

Here are some back cover thumbnails I did for the Starveyors paperback. The first one shows the Silicant, Eighty-eight engaging the Votainion fleet at Selene. I like this, but it might be harder to pull off.

Source: via Ken on Pinterest

 

A slightly more refined version of the second thumbnail which shows the Alliance Fleet at Voton and perhaps some of the opposing Votainion Fleet. I like this one because it should be easier to pull off. Lots of repeating ship images perhaps flipping the images left and right of center.

My cover artist, Byron, is working on using some pictures of the S. S. Sokol model seen in my blog header for the back cover of Starforgers. These images will go in the star field band that extends around the spine and onto the back cover. That’s why they are rectangular shaped.

The front covers of these books have already been created with the coins. For the paperback versions, these images will be tweaked with an eye on making them more realistic looking and less like computer graphics. I’m not a big fan of CG on book covers, I’d much rather have some original art, but unfortunately there is no room in the budget for the kind of epic paintings I’d like to commission.