New serial news…
What’s Up?
Getting the newsletter off today, I had to fill in some background on the Among the Stars books. It’s five years since ‘A Name Among the Stars’ was written! Some of you may remember that it was written here on WordPress, a chapter or two every weekend. And I often left you on a cliffhanger, because I’m mean like that.
Okay, so that may be the way I progress on my side projects, as I said earlier this year.
My number 1 priority is Bite Back 8, which is proving very difficult to progress. I have written a lot, but it doesn’t hang together yet.
My side projects will be split between Science Fiction and Urban Fantasy. I’ll be going back to writing a chapter or two at a time, rather than complete episodes as I have done up to now on The Long Way Home. These will appear here. I’ll also do ‘catch-ups’/’story so far’ on BookFunnel. All of that, but slower. I can’t put out the equivalent of a short story in a side project every month.
I’ll flit between one story and another.
First up…
Most of you will have read my Among the Stars series. There are only two books at the moment, ‘A Name Among the Stars’ and ‘A Threat Among the Stars’, both of which were written as serials. Book number 3, ‘A Ship Among the Stars’, will be next. It will have mutiple points of view, like book 2, and you can only get the first full episode in an anthology which is due out on Monday 19th.
The anthology is called The Expanding Universe #8, and my story in it is called ‘To Catch a Thief’.
“Stranded on an icy moon in the remote and lawless Frontier, merchanter Sam must sup with the devil to get her spaceship repaired, and she’s all out of long spoons.”
Here are the links
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9SW1X7S/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9SW1X7S/
As in ‘A Threat Among the Stars’, the opening chapters are seen from alternate points of view, not the main character Zara’s PoV. In ‘To Catch a Thief’, you’ll meet Sam, solo merchanter and sometime conwoman, in a deadly dangerous situation. This is the serial I’ll be releasing a chapter at a time, starting next month. It will concentrate on Sam and will only make sense if you read the first episode from the anthology.
In the same way, although ‘To Catch a Thief’ stands alone, book 3 as a whole will only make sense if you’ve read books 1 and 2. If you haven’t read the Among the Stars series, and want to see if you’d like it, I’m dropping the price of ‘A Name Among the Stars’ to 99p this week only (19th-25th September).
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076WZBFVJ/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076WZBFVJ/
Second up…
I’ll be producing book 4 for The Long Way Home in the same chapter by chapter format. For those of you that find this is torture, all I can say is that I’ll probably finish the book and release it well before the completion of the serial installments! If you want to read it in sections, sign up for the newsletter and watch out for the link to BookFunnel.
Book 4 should get Jan and Bjorn to Earth.
Third up…
I will return to Stand Up. It needs a thorough rework, and again will be released a chapter or so at a time. For those who didn’t catch the earlier version, this is an Athanate romance set in New York shortly after the events of ‘Change of Regime’. It’s stand alone, but it would undoubtedly help if you read ‘Change of Regime’ first.
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711ML84S/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0711ML84S/
What do I have in my to-do list?
Bite Back 8 & 9 (and possibly 10)
Bian’s Tale 2-6
Among the Stars 3 & 4
The Long Way Home 4, 5 & 6.
And a host of others! Some of the other projects I’ve mentioned before, like a Steampunk Fantasy set in South Africa, the dragon rider after the age of dragons has passed, the space marine recruit escaping ‘justice’ on her terrible homeworld, the monster that walks the Canadian highways, the college wizard just trying to get his degree, the rogue detective and the serial killer, an Amber novella of a daring rescue, Heartbeat (SF), Marionette (thriller set in France)…
What dictates the priorities?
Success, basically. A book in the Bite Back series is pretty much guaranteed to make twice what a book in the Among The Stars series makes. It’s too early to tell where The Long Way Home will come in overall. I can say the launch of books 1-3 was successful, without it being the sort of response that would change my priorities.
Other news
I’m having the Bite Back series translated into Spanish. I’ll report how that goes. It’s a bit of a gamble, but the Spanish-speaking market is growing, and I feel lucky.
Bian’s Tale book 1 released
And here’s the problem with using WordPress as a medium for telling a book in episodes – I can’t make the blog ‘threaded’. So, when I have an announcement like this, it sits in the middle of the current episodes for A Threat Among the Stars.
Anyway – here’s the link for A Harvest of Lies – Bian’s Tale book 1:
<<https://www.amazon.com/Harvest-Lies-Athanate-Nineteenth-Century-ebook/dp/B07DBPK2B6/>>
Bian’s Tale – Revenge – LAST part
Here is the eighteenth and LAST episode of Bian’s Tale. It’s long: 6,000 words. The first book in this series is done. This book has been the longest for me to write by far, although some of that was because I paused to write other books.
If you’re just arriving here, and haven’t read from the start of this serial, here’s a link to the beginning: https://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/bians-tale-innocence/ and each episode has a ‘next post’ at the bottom to take you to the next episode.
The whole story’s 18 episodes will stay up for TWO WEEKS more, before being taken down. After that, the final version with edits and amendments will be released on Amazon.
Following an idea from writing friends, the book will go up as $0.99 FOR ONE DAY so that alert friends and readers of my blog and Facebook page can get in there for a discount. Next day it’ll go to $2.99.
If you enjoy my posts, please LIKE the Bite Back page and/or FOLLOW or FRIEND me on my personal page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackSeries/
https://www.facebook.com/mark.henwick
I will be starting a Group soon. <<<— I know I keep promising this, but it will come.
The other books planned in this series are:
The Words of the Dead
The Weight of Gold
The Sword of the Son
The Tears of the Leopard
The second and third follow immediately after The Harvest of Lies. The Sword of the Son is set in WWII. The Tears of the Leopard is based at the end of French rule, just as American influence starts to be felt in Vietnam, and yes, it moves the setting from Vietnam and ends in America.
Feedback always valued, folks. 🙂
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Bian’s Tale – Revenge – fifth part
Here is the seventeenth episode of Bian’s Tale; the fifth part of Section 6 – ‘Revenge’.
If you’re just arriving here, and haven’t read from the start of this serial, here’s a link to the beginning: https://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/bians-tale-innocence/ and each episode has a ‘next post’ at the bottom to take you to the next episode.
The story will stay up for a week or two after I complete it, and then, shortly after that, the final version with edits and amendments will be released on Amazon.
If you enjoy my posts, please LIKE the Bite Back page and/or FOLLOW or FRIEND me on my personal page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackSeries/
https://www.facebook.com/mark.henwick
I will be starting a Group soon.
Feedback always valued, folks. 🙂
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Bian’s Tale – Revenge – fourth part
Here is the sixteenth episode of Bian’s Tale; the fourth part of Section 6 – ‘Revenge’.
Unpleasant dialogue. My apologies.
If you’re just arriving here, and haven’t read from the start of this serial, here’s a link to the beginning: https://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/bians-tale-innocence/ and each episode has a ‘next post’ at the bottom to take you to the next episode.
The story will stay up for a week or two after I complete it, and then, shortly after that, the final version with edits and amendments will be released on Amazon.
If you enjoy my posts, please LIKE the Bite Back page and/or FOLLOW or FRIEND me on my personal page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackSeries/
https://www.facebook.com/mark.henwick
I will be starting a Group as well this weekend.
Feedback always valued, folks. 🙂
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Bian’s Tale – Revenge – third part
Here is the fifteenth episode of Bian’s Tale; the third part of Section 6 – ‘Revenge’.
If you’re just arriving here, and haven’t read from the start of this serial, here’s a link to the beginning: https://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/bians-tale-innocence/ and each episode has a ‘next post’ to take you to the next episode.
The story will stay up for a week or two after I complete it, and then, shortly after that, the final version with edits and amendments will be released on Amazon.
Again, I progressed a bit slowly this week, some of which is down to some marketing I’ve been doing for A Name Among the Stars.
If you enjoy my posts, please LIKE the Bite Back page and/or FOLLOW it. Alternatively FRIEND or FOLLOW me on my personal page, where I copy the Bite Back posts, but add it a bunch of posts not related to writing.
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackSeries/
https://www.facebook.com/mark.henwick
I will be starting a Group at the end of next week.
Feedback always valued, folks. 🙂
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Bian’s Tale – Revenge – second part
Here is the fourteenth episode of Bian’s Tale; the second part of Section 6 – ‘Revenge’.
Not really a cliffhanger this time. Medium length. It’s taken me all week to write these two chapters and I’m still not very happy with them.
If you’re just arriving here, and haven’t read from the start of this serial, here’s a link to the beginning: https://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/bians-tale-innocence/
As before… You may have already seen the changes to the feeds in Facebook. If you enjoy my posts, please LIKE the Bite Back page and/or FOLLOW or FRIEND me on my personal page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackSeries/
https://www.facebook.com/mark.henwick
I will be starting a Group, but I need some time to think about it.
Feedback always valued, folks. 🙂
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Bian’s Tale – Revenge – first part
Here is the thirteenth episode of Bian’s Tale; the first part of Section 6 – ‘Revenge’.
Mid length, but I sincerely regret, ending on a cliffhanger again.
If you’re just arriving here, and haven’t read from the start of this serial, here’s a link to the beginning: https://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/bians-tale-innocence/
You may have already seen the changes to the feeds in Facebook, as mentioned last week. If you enjoy my posts, please LIKE the Bite Back page and/or FOLLOW or FRIEND me on my personal page.
I will be starting a Group, but I need some time to think about it.
Feedback always valued, folks. 🙂
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Bian’s Tale – Darkness Falls – last part
Here is the twelfth episode of Bian’s Tale; the fifth part of Section 5 – ‘Darkness Falls’.
Short and, I regret, ending on a cliffhanger. Mwah hahaha.
If you’re just arriving here, and haven’t read from the start of this serial, here’s a link to the beginning: https://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/bians-tale-innocence/
Business stuff:
Please do read my other post on the Bite Back facebook page. Facebook is changing to ensure that the only ‘business’ posts (which would include posts from the Bite Back page) that you see in your feed are going to be paid-for advertising. I am not going to pay Facebook every time I post something, so you may miss out on posts in the future.
You may want to consider some steps to mitigate this:
(1) ‘LIKE’ the Bite Back page anyway
(2) ‘FOLLOW’ my personal page, because I generally copy Bite Back posts there
(3) If you haven’t already, message me your email address to be added to my book alert list. I only use this list for new book announcements.
What will I be doing differently?
I *may* start a newsletter, probably with other authors, if there’s an interest.
I will be moving any new serials to Wattpad.
Feedback folks. 🙂 On the changes and on the story…
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Bian’s Tale – Darkness Falls – fourth part
Here is the eleventh episode of Bian’s Tale; the fourth part of Section 5 – ‘Darkness Falls’. (There are only a couple of chapters left of this section, but this seemed a good break point).
The impression I was trying to build of Qingzhao was uncertainty. Up to this section Bian is not sure Qingzhao likes her & the woman is hard to read. We’ll see.
Bian’s been rescued from her attackers in Cholon, but she must go on, back to Saigon, and persuade Riossi to find Nhung, whatever the cost to her…
Feedback folks. 🙂
< * * * >
This episode from Bian’s Tale 1 – The Harvest of Lies has been removed.
The book will be available shortly on Amazon.
Mark Henwick 