Yes! That's right! For those of you who wanted to buy the ebook as a single file, or wanted to read the KU or Paperback Versions, Valley of Fire, Book 1: Misplaced, is now live!
So please feel free to check it out!!
(Or please feel obligated to check it out! I don't care, just as long as you buy it ;-) )
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| You know you want to read it! |
If you have comments on the serialization of Misplaced, talk to the publisher - Not me.
This is how this publisher (Raconteur Press) has decided they wish to proceed - for now at least.
Talk to them. Not me. If you like it, let them know, same for if you don't.
This is not something I have any control over. I am not the publisher.
Thank you.
Hello to all of my fans and good morning to you! There's a lot going on this coming week, as well as a lot already going on! First up I have TWO new books coming out next week! That's right TWO!
The first is the sequel to Summer's End -> Sometimes In The Fall come out 3/4/25!
(published by Baen books and available on Amazon and in bookstores)
Sometimes In The Fall is the continuing story of Dave Walker (now Dave Doyle) who having finally emigrated from Earth and settle on Ceres wants nothing more than to build Doyle Shipping and eventually get his engineer 2nd certification. But when you're now a recognized member of one of the richest families in the Solar System, and your step-brother may well be on the way to figuring out the secrets of FTL travel, well—while Dave may be done with Earth, Earth is by no means done with Dave.
And some people just need to be taught a lesson.
Second is the first book in my new trilogy! Misplaced is book 1 in Valley of Fire and comes out 3/4/25!
(Published by Raconteur Press and available on Amazon NOTE: Misplaced will be released as a serial first, in three installments. After that it will be released as a full novel - including paperback)
Misplaced takes place in my Wolfhounds Universe and starts about two years after the events of book 6 (End Game - coming 5/1/25). It is the story of one Eric Wolfram, aka Wolf. Eric and his older sister are both orphans, whose parents were murdered while fleeing from the DPRS when Eric was barely 6 years old. Having been raised by Dartanion, the owner of a large salvage yard, he's learned all about hard work and what it takes to get ahead. As Dar is also one of the largest fences on Teleios, Eric's also learned a lot about crime. He's also learned not to share his biggest secret: that his murdered parents were nobles and he has an interface. A high-level interface.
Nikki's Origin: A Portals of Infinity Novella
For those of you who are fans of my Portals of Infinity series, the story of how Will's sister Nikki ended up a champion is available in Print and Audio! The Audio version (as well as links to the print version on Amazon) can be found on my website:
Audiobooks!
Necessity: Ghost Warrior, Book 2 is now available on Audible!
And, if you didn't know:
War Child: Wolfhounds Book 4 is also available on Audible!
Wolfhounds: War Child - On Audible
Last but not least!
The Kickstarter for Book Ten of Valens Heritage has funded! So that book will be getting written sometime after May of this year! The kickstarter is still running, so if you'd like to get some of the things that are currently only available there, check it out!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnvanstry/valens-heritage-book-10-paying-back
Yes, it's been busy and things are going to continue to be so for the rest of this year!
I hope all is well with you!
Found out why people didn't read GW2, and maybe I should be writing horror?
I've been investigating the complete lack of sales on Ghost Warrior 2, and I think I've figured it out. Because I've seen this before - about ten years ago. So let's take a little trip down memory lane, shall we?
I wrote 'Wolf Killer' back in 2015, and published it the following year. Wolf Killer is the 2nd book in the Hammer Commission series and it became an immediate best seller for me. The story is about a sociopath serial killer with a number of serious mental issues.
He's also a werewolf.
A werewolf who kidnaps hot young coeds who work for him as models, who he then turns into werewolves. Who he then tortures one at a time (with the others helping). Which he films. And sells on the black market. Eventually he makes a snuff film with one of them. Oh, and he's been doing this for years and nobody knows how many women he's murdered this way.
It's quite horrific; he tortures them to death slowly. He has a woman (human) who helps him (she's a piece of work herself - former beauty queen and centerfold), and of course the other girls who help him all know that eventually, they'll end up dying the same way. There are lots of hints dropped as to just how horrific this torture is...
BUT...
But I never show ANY of it. None. All of the torture scenes take place in the reader's head.
I got a lot of hate mail. I got a lot of bad reviews. I was accused of writing the most graphic horror that some folks had ever seen. The numbers on the people who bought the next book in the scene were radically lower and now I finally understand why.
I squicked and freaked out a lot of people. They couldn't deal with what I wrote. Even though all the bad stuff happened, happened in their heads and not on the pages of the book. Maybe that's why they got so upset?
To be honest, I was a bit proud that I could get in their heads like that. That I hit that horror nerve dead on because it was supposed to be horrific. I wanted people to hate the bad guy, and to hate his accomplice. Apparently I just did a far better job than I realized. I'm seriously now considering going back and putting a Warning on the book.
And this brings us to Ghost Warrior - Serendipity, the first book in the Ghost Warrior series. I've now had two people publicly, and a few via email and other private channels, tell me that the mental disorder of the hero,(he's suffering from MPD - Multiple Personality Disorder), bothered them greatly. Enough to stop reading, or skip parts, etc. That it really bothered them. A Lot.
This was with book 1. So yeah, of course they're not going to read book 2.
I was honestly surprised to learn this. I don't know if people don't like reading about people with serious mental issues, or if I just write them in such a way that I'm getting into their heads and horrifying them. And yes, making people feel 'uneasy' and causing them to have to put the book down, or skip scenes because they're so 'troubled' by it, well I think counts as 'horrifying' them.
I had no idea people would react that way, and it wasn't my intent. So, Maybe I need another Warning tag.
And as I sat there thinking about all of this, I recalled a few other scenes I've written in other books, where there are scenes in which bad things happened and how some people just really lost their shit over those scenes. A lot of it suddenly stands out a lot more in my memory. I've always known that there are people who can not deal with bad things. That certain bad things really set some people off. But it's a grab bag of what sets off who, so I made the decision a long time ago that I'm not ever going to do trigger warnings.
But on those two books, I apparently struck a much larger nerve than I realized existed? I know there are a lot of people who get really upset if you even mention mental illness in public. They freak over the word 'retard'. As an aside I spent almost a year having to deal with mentally disabled and even convicted criminally insane people. I did not like it. At All. If you want to know horror, imagine driving a shuttle and it's you and a convicted criminally insane murderer in the back who is CHAINED to his wheelchair, and he spends the entire trip telling you in great detail how he's going to kill you.
Yeah. Did that. Refused to take him back. Fuck that - get somebody else or give me an armed guard.
About the only sociopath I've ever written that people liked, was Shadow. Note that I wrote him long before 'Dexter' came out. Years before. But he's very much a sociopath. Just a functioning one (and I've met several of those in my life as well - it doesn't take long to learn the signs after you've dealt with the extreme ones).
But I digress. Again, I don't know exactly how I squicked out all of those people and made them uncomfortable - I only know that I did. There's no 'fixing' it. The guy has MPD, and has it for logical reasons. It's key to the story. His progression in dealing with it was one of the key story lines of the continuing series and the second arc. But at least I now know why so many did NOT want to read book 2 after book one.
Which leads to the thought: So maybe I should start writing horror? I don't like the stuff, never have. But apparently I really know how to get into people's heads and mess with them.
I don't know if that's a good thing or not?
The audiobook for Ghost Warrior bk2 is up for pre-order on Audible. I have to admit I'll be curious to see how it does, because the book has had the worst sales of any book I've ever published.
It sold about a thousand copies. That was it. I effectively 'lost' money, in that after paying for editing and artwork, I about $5 an hour for my work, (before taxes). I honestly don't know why it failed, a lot of folks I know who read it, loved it, but I guess a lot of the people who read bk1 didn't?
I don't know if it was the topic, the cover, the people in the story, if folks don't want to read a story with an American Indian in it, or I just sucked at writing it. I mean I enjoyed writing the story a lot. I do want to write more, I had a whole second 4 book arc planned. At this point, while I may still write it, it won't be getting published. I'll just put it up on Patreon for my fans. Then at least I won't have to shell out for editing and a cover. However, that means writing will be sporadic and only occasional.
I will however, be forever curious as to why people didn't buy it.
It's live and here's the link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnvanstry/valens-heritage-book-10-paying-back/
Check it out!
As hopefully all of you know, next week I'm going to launch yet another kickstarter - this one for book 10 in Valens Heritage. Which will close out that series.
I need reward levels for it still. I also need add-ons. (My recent substack post also mentions this).
I've got three rewards currently:
Two Add-ons:
And that's pretty much -IT-.
Obviously I need some more ideas and suggestions, please!
That's right! It funded yesterday on Christmas - a nice touch to be honest.
As of this post, it's got 40 minutes left and is almost $1000 past the goal.
So I need to finish Wolfhounds 5 ASAP (almost done)
Write POI #12
Then Dan's Inferno V
Then the second book in the Wolfhounds Spin-Off trilogy (Valley of Fire)
THEN write the first book in the Wolfhounds follow on series.
Oh, and I think I need to sleep in there somewhere - and write the sequel to Sometimes in the Fall.
In other news I seem to have gotten nominated for an award?
It would appear that the Audiobook version of 'Force Majeure' is up for 'Best SciFi Audiobook' on the 'Discover Sci-Fi' website.
On the Second Page of the selections, 'War Child' has been nominated for 'Best Military SciFi'!
I have no idea how big the DSF awards are
(The publishing company for my audiobooks contacted me, so apparently it has
some standing), but I'd appreciate it, if you'd all go vote for me.
https://discoverscifi.com/the-best-sci-fi-books-of-2024-voting-round/
Portals Of Infinity books One thru Seven go on Sale Today on Amazon!
Yes, my first Best-Selling Series, the one that revived Portal Fiction over a decade ago, and also helped start the current interest in Harem stories (and was considered LitRPG at first because it was based very much on tabletop – but there’s no stats or charts, just discussions on ‘rules’) is On Sale!
Starting today (at Noon, Amazon time – no I’m not sure when that is!) until the 28th, the first four books (Champion For Hire, The God Game, Temples & Trials, The Sea of Grass) will be on sale for 99 cents!
Books Five thru Seven (Demigods and Deities, Reprisal, Kaiju), will be On Sale for $1.99!
Don’t miss it! Read the stories that helped launch two of the biggest genres that you’re all reading today!
(Note: Yes, there will be more POI books, I just got delayed on writing book #12 due to life events this year – and Wolfhounds)
http://johnvanstry.com/PortalsofInfinity/PortalsofInfinitySeries.html
It's got 6 days left to run, and still needs $6K. Less than 200 people kicked in.
It's probably safe to say that there wasn't the interest that I was led to believe by folks.
