Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Stolen Wings series is on Sale!


The image says it all. The Stolen Wings series is on sale on September 4-10. Get the books here:

The Weight of a Wing $0.99 ($3.99 regular price)

The Strength of a Heart $1.99 ($3.99 regular price)

Of course, both books are still free to read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Cover Reveal: The Chasm by Ioana Visan


The Chasm
by Ioana Visan

On a distant planet, a discovery has been made that can change the industrial world as we know it, landerslide, a plant with properties just beginning to be uncovered, yet ones that may prove endless… and very profitable. The harsh terrain of the planet makes retrieval difficult, yet when the chasm opens and lava spews forth, it makes the operation impossible – and deadly.

Seanah Ward is a brilliant chemist, and possibly the only one alive who can solve the riddle of the chasm. Armed with science and a theory, she is sent with a team to the mining colony on a mission to cool the lava on the hostile world of flame and death. Once there, Seanah discovers that everything she was told is a lie. Her cousin is still dead, but the miners, whom she had been told were dead or deranged from the smoke, are alive. When they crash land while surveying the chasm, Seanah is left to pick up the pieces, salvage what she can from the wreckage and attempt the impossible.

Aided by Griff Hollander, chief commander of the Northside Fire Brigade, and Dex Sheppard, a geologist who currently leads the colony, Seanah must put her methods to work, trying to cool a flame that burns with the planets core. Yet the chasm seems to know they are there as it seeks them out with fireballs and terror. It’s a moving, breathing thing that stalks the planet, surrounding the colony, and appears determined to drown them all in its lava.

Fire burns. What could be worse? Look into the chasm.


Release Date: November 10, 2016

Pre-order on Amazon.
($0.99 special pre-order price)

Add to Goodreads.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

July and August 2016 Reading List

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley – Nice cover. Interesting core idea. Disappointing execution. Nothing happens in the first 10% of the book. Aza’s never ending stream of conscience is awfully annoying. There are no ordinary people in this book; everyone is special in some way. Love triangle and insta love. Ugh. Once she gets to Magonia, no one takes the time to explain anything to her. She’s sent directly to mop the floors. *facepalm* Weak worldbuilding that makes little sense. 2/5 stars

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – This was my first encounter with Mrs. Maas’s writing style and I found it too dense and slow. I didn’t really care for the main couple. Lucien and Rhys were more interesting, though we only get each for half the story as if they couldn’t have been contracted for the whole book. Nesta would be a good match for either of them, hehe. And now I’m in the mood to watch Beauty and the Beast cartoon, which I haven’t seen in twenty years. 3/5 stars

How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman – Beautifully written as usual despite the weird factor, but the story felt unfinished. 3/5 stars

A Tall Tail by Charles Stross – A lot of science was put into this one, which was fine, but I would have liked to be able to tell which was real and which was not. Alas, they don’t teach this kind of advanced chemistry in high school around here. 3/5 stars

Galaxis. Noua opera spatiala edited by Antuza Genescu – I liked George Lazar’s story best, no surprise there. Since I also have a story included in this short story collection, I won’t rate it.

I actually had some DNF this summer, which was disappointing because I was looking forward to read these books, but then for various reason, including voice and style, I discovered I couldn’t get interested in them and after several efforts, I gave up:
Time Salvager by Wesley Chu
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine
The Fireman by Joe Hill
Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – Overly long and disjointed. I only cared for one POV character, some of them disappearing for half the book before getting back to them didn’t help at all, and the urge to turn the pages and the unexpected plot twists so familiar from Sanderson’s other books were absent here. 3/5 stars

How to Make Friends with Demons by Graham Joyce – This books basically shows you what it means to be human. I didn’t care for some parts and some plot points could have been exploited better, but one line in particular turned this book into a 4-star book for me. Why are demons always so sad and waiting? You’ll have to read the book to find out the answer. 4/5 stars

Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell – The banter became too much in places, but other than that it was a good read. Oh, and it comes with free fencing lessons! :) 4/5 stars

Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine – I never cared for Romeo and Juliet’s story, but I quite liked Benevolio in both French musicals so the idea of the story being told from his POV sounded interesting. Unfortunately, I prefer Benevolio more mainly and playful than this scared boy who too often whined like a girl. Some of the plot twists were good and partially explained the insanity in the original play, but too many characters, relationships, and plot points were underdeveloped, the magic added nothing to the plot, and the ending felt rushed. I need to make time to rewatch those musicals. 3/5 stars

Monday, August 29, 2016

Writing Update - August 2016

The Chasm - 110,000 words, 53 chapters, 6 months. First draft done.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, The Chasm is done! :D I've tripled my daily word quota on Friday just to finish it before the weekend. I'll work on the second and third draft in September, and then my editor will get her hands on it in October. Until then, stay tuned for a cover reveal on Thursday, September 1st, including the book description and the pre-order link. The newsletter subscribers will also receive an excerpt and an option to request an ARC.

Next on my writing agenda are three more installments of Law and Crucible Saga. The plan is to have them out for Christmas along with a Broken People short story. I don't know if it's entirely doable since these aren't only short stories but enter well into novella territory and I only have the first one plotted in detail so far, but I do know what's supposed to happen in the other two as well. If they're not ready by the end of December, they will definitely be released in January. I know you were hoping for the final novel in the Broken People series to be out this year, and so was I, but The Chasm took double the time assigned for writing it and delayed my plans.

For now, let's all get excited about The Chasm. I know I am! :)


Wednesday, August 24, 2016

The Devil You Know Series is Free for a Limited Time!


On August 24-28, you can download for free from Amazon the two short stories in The Devil You Know series:

Breaking the Chains

The Night Between Heaven and Hell

Feel free to spread the word and leave a review if you read them!

Monday, August 1, 2016

The Nightingale Circus and Law and Crucible Saga News


If you're looking for a summer read or an introduction to Broken People series, The Nightingale Circus can be downloaded for free until August 9 from instafreebie.


August is the last month you can read Law and Crucible Saga for free on Kindle Unlimited

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Nominate "Razbunarea lui Tepes" for Wattys Awards

If you have a Twitter account, today you can nominate "Razbunarea lui Tepes" for Wattys Awards by tweeting:

Nominalizez Razbunarea lui Tepes https://www.wattpad.com/story/75800853-r%C4%83zbunarea-lui-%C8%9Bepe%C8%99-romanian #MyWattysChoice

Monday, July 25, 2016

Last week - Smashwords Summer Sale

Last week - Smashwords Summer Sale - 12 titles 50% off and more!
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ioanavisan
Click on each title to see the discount.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

A mini-site for my Romanian readers

My site is getting crowded with all the titles I've published in the recent years, and so does my blog. I also think the visitors feel a bit lost because of the mix of Romanian and English titles. Since the main site is in English and I don't have time to translate the whole thing, I quickly threw something together:

https://ioanavisan.wordpress.com

This wordpress site is focused on my Romanian books and it's in Romanian because my Romanian readers deserve to have all the information in one place and this way they can easily find me and my books.

The official website remains the best place to go for all the details though, and the blog remains the same.


Monday, July 4, 2016

Short story in Aphelion: That Damned Toothbrush...

Exactly eight years and four days ago, I was celebrating my debut as a writer when my first short story was published in a magazine. It's been a long road since; I've learned a few things and, hopefully, preserved my humor and positive view over the world intact.

Today, I'm happy to announce that my short story That Damned Toothbrush... was published in July issue of Aphelion webzine. This should please my English-speaking readers, especially those who have expressed their interest in reading my Romanian stories. The Romanian version of this story was included in my short story collection Efectul de nautil (Millennium Books, 2013).

Go here to read about an atypical guest and have a few laughs. While you're at it, check out the rest of the issue, too. There's some good stuff in there.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Me Before You – Or what happens when material things are more important than character growth

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Me Before You movie (based on the book by Jojo Moyes) and quite a bit of a rant regarding the way disabled characters are used as plot devices.

Normally, I’m not interested in pure romance or sick stories, but this movie caused enough controversy online to make me curious … so I watched it, fully prepared to hate it. Well, I didn’t, but at the end of the movie, it just left me sad and it wasn’t particularly because one of the main characters had died.

But let’s start from the beginning. First, there’s Louisa, a quirky, awkward, bubbly, chatty, and not very bright young girl. Just look at the idiot she’s been dating for seven years. In fact, my opinion of her was set when she declared she was only interested in clothes. She has a peculiar fashion style mostly meant to give the movie some color, and part of me kept wondering how she could afford all those clothes when she had so much trouble with finding and keeping a job. She’s also very chatty once she gets going, so I totally agreed with Will when he asked her to shut up. I would have gone further than that and put it in the contract before hiring her, but that’s just me. The thing is, she’s not a bad person. She’s just simple, uneducated, and without aspirations. And we’re supposed to root for her? Forgive me, but I’d get bored after only five minutes of socializing with her. There’s nothing for me to learn from her or intellectually stimulating conversation to be had, and since I’m straight, her pretty doll face and nice figure wouldn’t keep me entertained for long. She has, however, one redeeming quality: she is kind and has a big heart. Unfortunately, even that gets ruined when she fails to save Will.

Will who? I don’t know, I still wonder who he is. He used to work in banking so we’ll assume a certain degree of intelligence, he’s decent looking, and his family is awfully rich. They own a castle for God’s sake! Quite the fairytale setting, except Prince Charming doesn’t come on a white horse. He comes in a wheelchair because he’s suffered a spinal-cord injury two years back and he’s a quadriplegic now. He’s also quite an ass. Here comes Louisa to the rescue to tame the beast. Well, not quite. He mops the floor with her repeatedly, and she has no say on the matter because she really needs this job. This could have turned into a cute romantic comedy, but the writer wanted more … I’m not sure what. As it turns out, Will has his mind set on assisted suicide and only agreed to postpone it six months as a favor to his parents.

From this point forward, the whole movie is a trainwreck. Louisa’s attempts to show him life is still worth living are useless, and he never changes his mind. No, even love can’t save this flick. So what do we learn from it? It’s perfectly okay for severely disabled people to attempt assisted suicide because life in a wheelchair sucks so much it’s not worth living. Will tells us that (what we see is a whole different story, but we’re supposed to be dumb and believe him anyway). And if a handsome, smart, rich guy like Will chooses it, what are disable people living on welfare, who might not even have a professional health care assistant or an electrical wheelchair, supposed to do? What is there left for them to hope for? From this perspective, Mrs. Moyes let down an entire community, and they’re quite vocal about it. So bravo to them!

My issue with Mrs. Moyes, who also wrote the screenplay, is more craft related. It really bothers me when in the name of diversity, some minority (whether is a person of color, LBGT, or a disabled character) appears in the story only to be used as a plot device. Because that’s what Will is. He’s not a fully-fledged character, we know close to nothing about him, he’s just the placeholder for the idea of a disabled character with a few shiny trinkets and nothing more. He’s so unimportant he wasn’t even given a character arch. Will never changes other than becoming a little more polite. He starts with one set of ideas and ends the same way because his writer never cared enough to make him ... more.

No one notices how he stares out the window all day long instead of doing something when he could do basically anything, given his wealth, even living in a tropical paradise with Louisa for the rest of his life. No one comments on his mental health. No one brings him a specialist to help him overcome the severe depression he’s obviously suffering. No, they accept it because if Will wants something, it’s his right to have it. And we should accept it along with them and be contented a disabled character was strong enough to get what he wanted, regardless of what that was, and move on.

Because this isn’t Will’s story. He was never good enough for Louisa, his only purpose was to leave her the fortune she so badly needed and make the audience cry. No, this is Louisa’s story. And she does have a character arch. She evolves from living in a crowded attic to buying expensive perfume in Paris. Because that’s everything all girls should ever want. How cool is that?

P.S. Wouldn’t it have been nice to see Will ride off into the sunset with Khaleesi astride his wheelchair? But for this to happen, someone needs to be brave and care for the characters more than for shiny things. Too bad it wasn’t the case.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Smashwords Summer Sale



All my books are discounted on Smashwords in July so don't miss them!

Human Instincts - 50% Off
Blue Moon Cafe Series: Where Shifters Meet for Drinks - Free
The Impaler's Revenge - 50% Off
Sweet Surrender - Free
A Victory that Counts - 50% Off
Casualties of War - Free
Order Restored - 50% Off
The Third Wheel - Free
The Impaler Legacy Omnibus - 25% Off
The Nightingale Circus - 50% Off
Broken People - 50% Off
Broken Hearts - 50% Off

Or just go to my Smashwords page and click on each book to see the discount.

Enjoy your summer!

Thursday, June 30, 2016

2016 June Reading List

Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Ann Long – Every red blooded woman has dreamed at least once about meeting a movie star, and this makes the story a bit of a cliché. I think I’ll stick to Long’s historical romance novels, those are more fun. 3/5 stars

My Cat is a Hypocrite by Helene Lassarre – I can’t decide whether this book was aimed at kids or adults. For adults, it could have been funnier. As for kids, I fear they’ll miss some of the irony and sarcasm. A funny little book, though I’ve never seen my cat playing with green beans. 3/5 stars

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead – Lovely cover. Unfortunately, this book is billed as fantasy while it’s not, and it doesn’t work well as historical romance either. Add to this an MC who is supposed to be intelligent and well educated but makes the most stupid and irrational decisions ever and it becomes a terribly frustrating read. 2/5 stars

Company Town by Madeline Ashby - I'm the type of reader who doesn't mind when an otherwise unlucky character gets everything he or she has ever wanted and more at the end of the book. I didn’t care much for the serial killer subplot because it took too long to make sense, but other than that it’s a recommended read. 4/5 stars

Tinerete fara batranete (Youth without Old Age) by Marian Coman & all comic books, issues 1-6 – An interesting sci fi interpretation of the old Romanian myth/fairytale. With some minor exceptions, the illustrations looked great. The dialogue felt clunky in places, but maybe it’s the comic book style and I’m just not used to it. 4/5 stars

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – One of the best covers from last year. A bit simplistic and slow. I tried to listen to the audiobook, but it was dragging too much so I had to get the ebook instead. 3/5 stars

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraigth – I would have been happier without the gory parts. The novel is strong enough to stand on its own without the shock factor. And Robin must be competing for the longest engagement in the history record, three 500+ pages books and counting. 4/5 stars

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab – I’ve loved all three books I’ve read by Ms. Schwab so far, however this one didn’t live up to my expectations. Too much teenage angst, whining, and gore while we find out little about the secondary characters besides their names and the worldbuilding isn’t explained enough to fully make sense. 3/5 stars

Friday, June 24, 2016

The Wattys 2016 Awards and What to Read for Free


The Wattys 2016 awards are on, that is the awards given by the Wattpad.com writing community, and I have two stories entered. One is Broken People, which was serialized last winter on the site. It's still there so yes, you can read the full novel for free. I hope you'll find The Nightingale Circus' world just as fascinating as I do.

The other story is Razbunarea lui Tepes. This is the Romanian edition of The Impaler's Revenge. I'm serializing it right now as I'm going through the final draft of the translation, and it will compete in the WattysRo category. By the way, The Impaler's Revenge is still available to read for free on Wattpad.

With so many stories from all over the world entered in the competition, the goal here is not to win in one of the categories but to gain exposure. So if you read my stories already, please help spread the word. If you haven't, read them, comment, vote, and then spread the word. :) Thanks!

Monday, June 6, 2016

The Stolen Wings series is on Sale!


New week, new series put on sale. :) The Stolen Wings series has suffered a big price drop from $3.99 to $0.99. If you enjoy reading urban fantasy, get the books now!

The Weight of a Wing http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W4BSUUU

The Strength of a Heart http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4AP5KI

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Law and Crucible Saga is Free on Amazon


Since you've asked for it, Law and Crucible Saga is free on Amazon for a few days:

This the first time all three installments are free and it will probably be the last time as well so get it while it lasts! 

Edited to add: There seems to be some confusion on whether this is the full series. It is not. These are only the first three installments in a series of several novellas and short stories. The plan is to publish three of them at a time, and I'll try to stick to it.

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

2016 May Reading List

The She-Wolf by Maurice Druon – It describes Isabelle’s ascent to power, but since she was unlikable from the start, I can’t say my opinion on her has changed. 4/5 stars

The Lily and the Lion by Maurice Druon – Moving from mother to son who is interesting, plus major character’s death. Rather bleak. 4/5 stars

The King without a Country by Maurice Druon – The sudden switch from 3rd person POV to 1st person is jarring, and there’s a lot of rambling. An unfortunate way to end the series. 3/5 stars

The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister by George R. R. Martin – Not a book, just a few Tyrion quotes. I repeat, this is not a book. 3/5 stars

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire – I loved the title and the cover. The writing starts off lyrical, which was a nice change, but the gore took me by surprise. And then there was more gore. The other worlds didn’t make much sense. It was like reading in a language I didn’t understand well. The ending didn’t seem to fit, and then it sort of did when I discovered it’s supposed to be part of a trilogy, duh! 3/5 stars

Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan – Brennan’s hilarious humor is missing, and while there’s sarcastic dialogue, that’s actually the annoying part. The worldbuilding shows potential, but the main character uses only a small part of her brain, the good guy is a doormat, and while the not-so-bad guy is the most fleshed out character, he gets … well, you’ll see. 3/5 stars

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Writing Update - May 2016

Quite a few things happened since the last writing update back in February. My second Romanian short story collection, Secventa de zbor, was launched at Final Fantasy book fair. I had three short stories published, one in Argos, one in Revista de Suspans, and one in Stiinta si Tehnica. The Galaxis space opera anthology will be launched at Bookfest book fair in June. The second book in The Stolen Wings series and the second story in The Devil You Know series have been released as well. So it's been pretty busy on the publishing front.

The real work was done, however, on the writing front. I've finished translating The Impaler Legacy series and got it to the second draft. The final draft will have to wait until I finish writing The Chasm. I'm up to date with the daily writing quota, but the novel turned out to be longer than initially planned. I was aiming for 50k, I passed that mark, and I'm no way near the end. I suppose that's good news as it will be a bigger story, but it also means the release date gets delayed. I'm not sure when it will be ready. I'll have a better idea once the first draft is done. I still enjoy writing it so I'm not rushing it.

Yes, I know you're more invested in Broken People and The Stolen Wings series and can't wait for book 3, but there will come a time for those, too. My fingers are itching for another Law and Crucible adventure actually. And should I tell you meanwhile I'm having a lot of fun plotting a ghost story? No idea when I'll write that one. :)

Saturday, April 30, 2016

2016 April Reading List

The Iron King by Maurice Druon – Typical French court schemes and plotting. It felt like an installment of a bigger piece so good thing I bought the entire series. The Romanian edition has all the notes at the end and by the time I got to them I had forgotten what they were about so I didn’t bother to read them. 4/5 stars

The Strangled Queen by Maurice Druon – While I had some trouble adjusting to the writing style of the first book in the Accursed Kings series, this one read better and it had a tighter plot. 4/5 stars

The Poisoned Crown by Maurice Druon – I enjoyed the previous book more. There’s nothing to like about the MC in this one, and the plot seemed to wander and drag. 4/5 stars

The Royal Succession by Maurice Druon – Another good one with a strong plot and enjoyable and, most important, smart MC. 4/5 stars

Friday, April 29, 2016

Galaxis. Noua opera spatiala - Table of Contents

Here is the Galaxis. Noua opera spatiala table of contents (source), and it looks like the book has a new cover, too.

Niciun port din galaxie by Ioana Vişan
Solitudine
by Daniel Haiduc
WW0
by George Lazăr
Desprindere lentă
by Silviu Genescu
La început au fost serviciile de calitate
by Alexandru Lamba
Scriitor
by Liviu Radu
Evangelion
by Liviu Surugiu

Niciun port din galaxie is the Romanian version of No Port to Land and it was written for this anthology. Did I tell you I really, really like this story? :)

Saturday, April 23, 2016

New Story: Suprafete de contact

Never in a million years did I imagine my stories would be featured in a magazine with Iron Man and Captain America on the cover. I mean how cool is that? 

When you're invited to write for a magazine as prestigious as Stiinta & Tehnica, you drop everything and write it. I had three weeks to get the story done, one to come up with an idea (it fully crystallized during the last two days before actually writing it, but this is how it usually happens), one to write it, and one to polish it. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.

"Suprafete de contact" (Contact Surfaces) is included in issue no. 55 of Stiinta & Tehnica from April, 2016. The story deals with parallel universes, something I haven't played with before. The issue already made it to Iasi so you can check the local stores and get it.


Oh, and check out the illustrations that accompany the story. They were specially drawn for it.


Here is a video presentation of the April issue. My story is mentioned at 48:21.


Wednesday, April 13, 2016

New Story, Review, and Interview in Revista de Suspans

The April issue, no. 25, of Revista de Suspans is out, and it includes several goodies among which:

- a short story - "Înlănţuiţi" (this is the Romanian version of Breaking the Chains, initially included in "Efectul de nautil" short story collection, Millennium Books, 2013.)

- a review of "Secvenţă de zbor" short story collection (Millennium Books, 2016); this is the first review of the book as far as I know since it was just released earlier this month.

- an interview with yours truly in which I'm talking about the new book and also about self-publishing.

Thank you, Cezarina, for inviting me to be part of this great issue!

P.S. If you want to read more about angels and demons, the second installment in The Devil You Know series, The Night between Heaven and Hell, is out on Amazon.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Cover Reveal: Galaxis: Noua operă spaţială


Galaxis: Noua operă spaţială
Ioana Vișan, Daniel Haiduc, George Lazăr, Silviu Genescu
Alexandru Lamba, Liviu Radu, Liviu Surugiu
Coordonatoare Antuza Genescu
Editura Eagle
2016   

În curând, „Galaxis: Noua operă spaţială” – o nouă antologie marca Societăţii Române de Science Fiction &Fantasy!

În acest al șaselea volum, autori consacraţi (Silviu Genescu, George Lazăr, Ioana Vișan, Liviu Surugiu, Alexandru Lamba, Daniel Haiduc) publică alături de prietenul și colegul nostru, cel care a fost Maestrul Liviu Radu, povestiri pe o temă generoasă și incitantă: space opera.

Noi, membrii SRSFF îi dedicăm această antologie, în semn de omagiu lui Liviu Radu!

Care nu a mai avut răbdare să aștepte volumul tipărit și a plecat să scrie și să publice într-o galaxie îndepărtată.

Ne lipsești și ne vei lipsi, Liviu!

Coordonatoarea antologiei este Antuza Genescu, binecunoscută traducătoare, autoare, președinta Societăţii H.G.Wells (Timișoara), membră a SRSFF, iar editorul este Mugur Cornilă (Editura Eagle&Editura Virtuală), membru SRSFF.

Imaginea copertei aparţine artistului digital George Muntean, unul dintre cei mai valoroși tineri creatori români de artă a imaginarului (http://horheart.blogspot.ro)

Friday, April 8, 2016

The Stolen Wings #2 and Broken People #2 Print Editions


While I was busy with the launch of the new book, two new print editions became available:

Broken Hearts (Broken People #2) - Createspace, Amazon

The Strength of a Heart (The Stolen Wings #2) - Createspace, Amazon

Monday, April 4, 2016

Secventa de zbor - Table of Contents

Secvenţă de zbor Table of Contents

Plimbarea de dimineaţă a Domnişoarei Vu
Adevărul din privire
Punct de rendez-vous la +3000
Ucigaşul de dragoni
Defazaj
Sufletele arborilor
Noapte bună, Mihai!
Dacă aerul n-ar avea miros
Secvenţă de zbor
Arde-mi-ar sufletul in iad, Doamne!
Iluminare
Jumatătea lipsă
Visul broscoiului
Niciun port din galaxie


Secventa de zbor (Flight Sequence) - 14 stories published or submitted to Romanian anthologies, including various themes and genres like sci fi, fantasy, steampunk, time travel, dragons, mind control, zombies, parallel universes, aliens, cyberpunk, and space opera.

The book is available on Millennium Books website.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

New Release: Secvenţă de zbor

Back in March 2013, I debuted in print with my Romanian short story collection Efectul de nautil (The Nautilus Effect). It included a selection of short stories published in various on-line magazines since my debut as a writer in 2008, plus a few new ones. Later on, Efectul de nautil was nominated for the Colin Awards in the Best Sci Fi Short Story Collection category.

In the summer of 2015, it occurred to me I had enough stories published in anthologies or submitted for publication to put together another short story collection. I wrote a message on Facebook about it, and the same day, the book found a publisher. This is how Secvenţă de zbor (Flight Sequence) came to be.

This time, the stories are longer, breaching into novella territory, because I tend to write longer stories when I write for anthologies. The themes weren't my choice since I usually wrote when a submission call was put out, so they're all over the map in the sci fi and fantasy genre. I confess a couple I didn't care for and I initially considered I had nothing to say in those genres, but then I took it as a challenge and proved myself I could write stories to match those requests, stories that I enjoyed. Obviously, the editors agreed with me since they accepted the texts. In the end, it turned out to be an interesting exercise that broadened my horizon as a writer.

Under the broad umbrella of sci fi and fantasy, you'll read a mix of action, adventure, romance, mystery, and horror, featuring steampunk, time travel, dragons, mind control, zombies, parallel universes, aliens, cyberpunk, and space opera. These are all stories I enjoyed writing and I still enjoyed re-reading them during the process of putting the book together. Some of the anthologies they've been written for haven't been published yet, so those texts are technically new.

Out of all of them, my favorite stories are Adevărul din privire (The Truth in their Sights), Punct de rendez-vous la +3000 (Rendez-vous Point at +3,000), Dacă aerul n-ar avea miros (If the Air had no Smell), Jumătatea lipsă (The Missing Half), Niciun port din galaxie (No Port to Land - the prequel to Law and Crucible saga), and of course the story that gives the title of the book, Secvenţă de zbor (Flight Sequence). That one is probably the more atypical for my writing style. You'll have to read it to figure out why. I thought the title was fitting for the book because it illustrates my trajectory as a writer. We all need a flightplan. Visul broscoiului (A Toad's Dream) gets a special mention because, unlike the others, it wasn't written for an anthology, but it's set in the Broken People universe.

The book is available at Final Frontier book fair in Bucharest this weekend, with the official book launch scheduled for Sunday at 12:30 (I won't be there).

You can also order Secvenţă de zbor on Millennium Books website. Add it to your Goodreads to read list, read it, and let me know what you think!

Friday, April 1, 2016

Visul broscoiului – Fragment



— Prinde-o că iar pleacă! strigă Spinner, ocupat să repare proteza care înlocuia genunchiul bărbatului din scaunul de operaţie.
Rake îşi aşeză cizma grea pe grămăjoara de particule argintii. Se târâse până lângă prag. De când se încălzise şi lucrau cu uşa de la vagonul-fabrică deschisă, fosta mască tot încerca să fugă.
— Ţi-am spus că ar fi trebuit s-o distrugem, mormăi Rake, încruntându-se la mască.
I se răsucise în jurul cizmei, înnodându-se la capăt cu o fundă, asemeni unei eşarfe. De unde naiba ştia de moda apărută în oraş?
— Nah, las-o până plecăm în turneu, gesticulă Spinner cu şurubelniţa. Abia a învăţat să numere. Să vedem ce altceva mai poate să facă.
Clătinând din cap, Rake apucă masca de margine şi trase cu degetele brăzdate de cicatrice, obişnuite să manipuleze cuţite şi unelte şi nu lucruri atât de fine. Masca se întinse ca un voal, refuzând să-i dea drumul la picior, dar când câmpul electrostatic ajunse la limită, se înmuie cu un bâzâit şi reveni la forma pe care o lua cel mai adesea, un pătrat cu latura de un metru, plin de sclipici.
Aşa îl găsi Cielo, cu masca în mână şi pregătindu-se s-o închidă în cuşca menzataxorului. Măcar de acolo n-avea cum să scape, deoarece pereţii erau din sticlă ranforsată.
— Oooh, da’ ce ţi-a făcut? îi luă Cielo masca din mână şi o strânse la piept.
(Visul broscoiului Secvenţă de zbor, Millennium Books, 2016)

Indie Friday: Maddox Files: Back to Business



Guest post by R. J. Davies Mornix

Maddox Files: Back to Business is about a 26-year-old woman who has had enough, she was working a dead-end job and living with her fiancé who cheated on her but it all changes when she catches him in the act the second time. Dice quits her job, kicks her fiancé out and opens up her own business, Maddox Investigations. Her first client is Ryan Winters never been married before but after a weird car accident finds himself married to the very beautiful Lily Winters. As Dice digs into this case to figure out what is going on, she soon discovers that Lily is not who she says she is but it’s worst. Who is Lily Winters? A demon? An alien?

This book was for me to test out the self-publishing market, I didn’t want the normal things that I saw out there.  I checked online and noticed there weren't many female private investigators who were in their 20s, I knew it had to have a strong female character and I grew up watching detective shows. I wanted her to be dealing with strange cases with a slice of science fiction flavor to them.

It’s based in Toronto a place where I use to live. I started off with her parents. Her mother was a nurse and her father a professional gambler. Her mother lost the bet for naming their daughter and this is how she got the first name, Dice. Dice Maddox was born, she has a few characters she has to deal with and a couple exes. A new guy who she likes more than she is willing to admit.

Dice discovers she that her uncle has a secret he was keeping from her.  Finding out about it makes her feel a little closer to him and it opens her mind to the world around her.

This book is about Dice Maddox opening with her in an unsatisfying situation and it progresses with her discovering new things about herself and the people she thought she knew. Her ex Chris who she was engaged to just doesn’t disappear out of Dice’s life; he sticks around and wants another chance with her. Getting back into the business she meets up with another ex who is on the police force. There are some other characters that she meets along the way that shows up in future books.

I didn’t find any struggles writing this book, in fact, it practically wrote itself. It was like I had Dice Maddox pacing behind me saying yes to this and no to that. I had completed the first draft in 22 days at Nano Camp. It’s been through a series of rewrites and edits but it’s stuck very close to the original manuscript.

The most satisfying moment was when I got my author copy in the mail and saw my book in print.  I had always considered myself an Author but now I was a Published Author. Thanks to my husband he kept pushing me forward with this or I would still be editing this book to death. This book is the first in a series, so far I have seven books lined up, the first four are already written. I would love for everyone to know Dice Maddox. 

~~~~
 
Maddox Files: Back to Business by R. J. Davies Mornix
 
Available on:
Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble

Official website:
http://www.rjdaviesmornix.ca 


Like the Author on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/R-J-Davies-Mornix-Author-253530731521799/ 

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Thursday, March 31, 2016

Jumătatea lipsă – Fragment


Hattick apasă butoanele de pe console, trecând de la o masă la alta. Ajuns la capătul rândului, se întoarce şi mă priveşte cu sprâncenele ridicate.
Furnicăturile din ceafă îmi dau de ştire că sunt conectată la cipurile lor. Simt orice răsuflare, încordare de muşchi şi... cam atât. N-am acces la psihozele lor. Testez fiecare conexiune în parte să mă asigur că funcţionează corect. Diferenţele sunt subtile, dar identific cu uşurinţă fiecare potenţial candidat la libertate. Vor deveni mai puternice odată treziţi. Dar nu înainte de a ajunge la destinaţie. S-ar putea însă să avem o mică întârziere.
— Nu-l simt pe nr. 5, îi spun lui Hattick.
E prea devreme pentru nume, încă nici nu le-am citit dosarele.
— Cum aşa? întreabă Hattick şi consultă din nou consola. Cipul răspunde la interogări, nu e o defecţiune tehnică.
Deci fie s-a întâmplat ceva pe drum sau n-a funcţionat bine de la început. Mai există şi bostănei găunoşi.
— L-au testat înainte de a-l expedia? întreb, deşi este greu de verificat. Cei de la centrul de implanturi ar putea spune orice.
— Aşa scrie aici, dă din cap Hattick spre consolă.
— E unul dintre cazurile S?
— Nu, specialul e nr. 1, iar socialul e nr. 6.
— Bine, trimite-l înapoi şi cere reimplantarea cipului, îi spun, refuzând să pierd timpul enervându-mă. Şi mie dă-mi pe altcineva din stoc.
— Imposibil, ridică din umeri Hattick. Ultimul lot l-a luat Messer, când a coborât în urmă cu trei zile. Nu aşteptăm alt transport decât peste două săptămâni. E plin acolo jos şi ştii şi tu cât de greu îi rezolvă.
(Jumătatea lipsă Secvenţă de zbor, Millennium Books, 2016)

2016 March Reading List

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab – A decent sequel, several very good scenes, and great characters. The downside is not much happens in the first half, then too much time is spent with the tournament, and it ends with a cliffhanger, damn. 4/5 stars

Argos Doi, edited by Michael Haulica – Lucian Merisca’s story really stayed with me.

The Crow Comes Last by Italo Calvino – Beautiful short stories portraying the Italian cities and villages and life in war time. 4/5 stars

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman – Someone finally did Snow White justice. Cool twist and some nice images, but in the end, there’s nothing memorable about the story. Gorgeous illustration if you’re a fan of that particular drawing style, which I’m not. 3/5 stars