Archive for the 'Antithesis' Category
December 11th, 2012 by jdsawyer
As I’m winding down to the end of the year, I’m clearing the decks like crazy. Part of that involves installing the new recording studio (all done!), part of it involves releasing a backlog of new stories and books. Turns out the backlog is bigger than I expected. A LOT bigger. Big enough that I finally gave in and did the responsible thing: I got a War Board.
This particular War Board is a grid that shows each story/book/etc, and where it is in the process. It’s currently got 22 projects on it–some are paperbacks of already-released books, but most are brand new projects that have either never seen the light of day, or that published in anthologies that most of you didn’t hear about.
So, for this holiday season, here’s what you can expect:
Ebooks between now and April:
A Goblet of Fifty-Three
Control Room
The Open Source Woman
The Garden Pool
The Faithful May Also Be Burned
The Empty House
Eyes of Wax
Ideas, Inc.
Pumpernickel
Proactive Continuity
Sleep, Walk
Making Tracks: A Writer’s Guide to Audiobooks (And How To Produce Them)
Plus a new, as-yet untitled collection of funny stories exclusively
Paperbacks in March:
A Ghostly Christmas Present (Clarke Lantham #2)
Smoke Rings (Clarke Lantham #3)
Silent Victor (Clarke Lantham #4)
Making Tracks: A Writer’s Guide to Producing Audiobooks
Frock Coat Dreams
Paperbacks in April through June:
Free Will (Antithesis #2)
Throwing Lead: A Writer’s Guide to Firearms and the People Who Use Them
Suave Rob’s Double-X Derring-Do
It’s good to be back 
-Dan
P.S. I know the podcast feeds aren’t working right now. They’re on my December to-do list as well. Have to get them back up for Free Will!
April 24th, 2012 by jdsawyer
Many of you have been asking how to get autographed paperbacks now that I’m not going to Balticon (or, let’s face it, any cons) this year. Well, I’ve crunched the numbers and discovered that I can get you autographed books for the same price you’d get them on Amazon (with about the same shipping rates, assuming you’re not a Prime subscriber).
So, here they are. Add each to the cart as you need to, then click “continue shopping.” You will also need to add your appropriate shipping option to the cart as well. Once you’ve got everything you need, click “check out” instead of “continue shopping.” The shipping options will cover your order of books. Please do not forget to add your shipping option to your order, or I will not be able to ship the book(s). If you are a dealer or want to order more than 10 units, email me privately for a discount schedule using the contact form.
Note: I CAN deliver to Balticon, as I have someone who has agreed to distribute the books there. I am not sending along general stock, only signed preorders. If you want Balticon delivery, please be sure to select “Balticon Pickup” from the shipping options.
Books
Shipping for Books
(Choose one only)
| Balticon Pickup (must order before May 14) |
$2.99 |
|
| Continental U.S. |
$3.99 |
|
| International shipping (includes insurance) |
$7.99 |
|
Posters
Note: Posters require special packing and thus their shipping is hard-wired into their buy button.
 Predestination Cover Art
Signed and Numbered Collector's Edition Poster
$12.00+shipping |
If you’re going, please do enjoy Balticon and raise a little hell for me. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm!
February 21st, 2012 by jdsawyer
For those of you who prefer dead tree to ebook format, I’ve got some excellent news:
Down From Ten, Sculpting God, and Predestination are now in available as handsomely-packaged paperbacks.
They’ll be joined in March by A Ghostly Christmas Present, Smoke Rings, and Silent Victor, and in April by Free Will and the soon-to-be-released Throwing Lead
They are available for order at bookstores across the world, or you can get them now by clicking on the covers:
For those of you outside the US looking for a retailer who will ship to you at reasonable prices, all of the books are available through The Book Depository. Don’t be alarmed by the lack of cover art–my listings just went live there and it takes a while for them to update their images. I promise that the books you buy there will have the same excellent packaging that those here in the US get.
October 28th, 2011 by jdsawyer
The time has finally come. 
The revolution is about to begin. It is my distinct pleasure to announce, at long last, that Free Will, the sequel to Predestination, is now available for all electronic platforms.
The Lunar Revolution is faltering, events are spinning out of control, and Bill Shelley is inches away from achieving victory. Meanwhile, far away in the south, the footsteps of a little girl running for her life bring with them a secret that could start the war before anyone is ready.
As the Persian fleet moves and the American military mobilizes, the fate of Douglas Reeves’s conspiracy rests in the unlikely hands of a fugitive trapped between planets on a ship with his sworn enemy.
And his name is Joss Kyle.
From the surface of Mars to the forests of Vermont, the players are at the table, their antes are in, and the next round of cards is about to hit the felt. The winners will determine the face of the solar system…if they can survive the game.
Read the first four chapters here.
Or, buy it now for Kindle, Nook, and all other readers.
October 17th, 2011 by jdsawyer
The time has come. There’s too much going on not to have a mailing list and a newsletter, so I’ve taken the plunge. Newsletter readers will get quarterly (and sometimes more-than) updates and general goofiness from me delivered directly to their email boxes. Two weeks later, an edited version of those newsletters will be posted here.
Edited, you say?
Well, yes. Subscribers to the newsletter will get the occasional special preview, discount coupon, contest, and other such goodies that won’t be available to anyone else. Those items will be clipped out of the newsletter before it’s posted here. But other than that, it’ll be about the same thing.
If you wish to subscribe to the newsletter, simply email me at feedback _at_ jdsawyer.net, or use the contact form on this site, and say so.
So, if you’ve been trying to figure out what the hell I’ve been up to for the last year and a half, wait no longer. You can now download the inaugural issue as a epub, mobi, and PDF.
July 24th, 2011 by jdsawyer
Grab a pack of cards. Strap your pressure suit on. It’s time to head to the poker game that started it all, and the book that View From Valhalla called “lovingly detailed, well-written thinking man’s science fiction at its best.*”
Joss Kyle is a one-time National Security Advisor who barely escaped Washington D.C. with his skin intact. For three years he’s lived by his wits and the fall of the cards in the criminal underworld of South America, but jumping planet for Space Station Sidon means walking into an ambush more dangerous than any he’s yet faced:
A man named Alex Hart wants to play cards with him.
Their meeting will fling Joss into a game playing for highest stakes in town: control of the entire solar system. Chased by a revolutionary leader, agents of a corrupt senator, and an underworld boss known only as The Green Lady, he quickly discovers that in the looking-glass world above the gravity well, survival, like poker, is just another sport. And in this contest, it isn’t whether you win or lose, it’s how you rig the game.
Now available in paperback from AWP Science Fiction, Predestination is the story Nathan Lowell calls “A sweeping tale of politics, corruption, intrigue, betrayal, and murder…a fast-paced ride through a world that’s too plausible to be ignored**” and that Brand Gamblin calls “…a lush, powerful story of hunter and pray, betrayal and rebellion, and poker.***.” Available for the first time ever in paper, this handsome new edition rings in at 341 pages contains the full text of the ebook edition, plus new line art and a sample of the sequel, Free Will.
Now, it’s true that you can buy the novel at Amazon now, and you’ll be able to find it in bookstores this fall, but for you loyal folk that read my blog, it’s available for a special rate. Until Worldcon, buy your copy by clicking here and using the coupon code XX2QR2Z8, and you’ll receive $2.00 off the $14.99 cover price.
Finally, for those of you who run vending booths at conventions (or who work in bookstores) and would like to carry Predestination (or any of my other books), shoot me an email from the Contact Form and I will send you the AWP Books wholesale pricing schedule.
I’ll be back soon with news about Free Will and Down From Ten, but until then remember…
It isn’t whether you win or lose, it’s how you rig the game.
*Odin1eye, View From Valhalla
**Nathan Lowell, Author of The Golden Age of the Silver Clipper
***Brand Gamblin, author of Tumbler and The Hidden Institute
July 15th, 2011 by jdsawyer
You hear a lot of talk of “discovery writers” and “outliners” in the writing world. The “pantsers” and the “plotters,” respectively. It’s true that there are a lot of people that fall into both categories–including many of my friends–and human nature loves dichotomies, but I’ve never fit comfortably either, and I suspect I’m not alone.
Last night, I had occasion to have a long conversation with a new writer who’s vexed and confused by the options before him when it comes to writing process, and saying “you have to find your own way” only left him more despondent. I know that look–I’ve been there many times when faced with a new field of endeavor with so many options that at once feel constraining and non-specific. So, in the hope of letting those new writers who don’t comfortably fit a category know that they’re not alone, I’m going to describe my method.
Continue reading ‘Playing Jazz With Words’
July 12th, 2011 by jdsawyer
So, Free Will is in prep for release right now, with the typos and other nit-picky details being worked over, layout being done, etc. It’s a big step forward in the Antithesis Progression, and there are a lot of you out there who have been waiting patiently for the series to continue.
Some of you will get a sneak peak. You see, this is a big book. It ate up more pages, and more time, than I expected by an order of magnitude, and I’m eager to see it find a good home on the shelves and in the e-readers of all of you, including those of you who have drifted away in the meantime, intending to come back when the series continued.
To let people know Antithesis is back, we’re going to need publicity. Publicity means you! Some of you out there enjoy blogging, posting opinion pieces and reviews, etc., and you are the ones I need. Starting today, the first hundred of you that email me (either the normal way through the feedback at jdsawyer.net address, or through the web form you can find here) with the subject line “Free Will Ebook” will receive a free, pre-copyedits ebook version of Free Will (and a corrected version once the proofs are done).
In return for receiving this advance review copy, you promise to blog the book when you’ve finished reading it and, once the book is released to the general public in the next week or two, to post a copy or extract of your blog review in two of the following: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, Kobo, Sony ebook store, Kobo, iBookstore. Those of you who feel enthusiastic enough about the book to post the review in all those places will be entered into a drawing. The four prizes in that drawing will be:
A copy of the signed-and-numbered collector’s edition of the Predestination poster
A signed paperback copy of Predestination
A signed paperback copy of Down From Ten
A Clarke Lantham Mysteries 2-pack: Paperbacks of And Then She Was Gone and A Ghostly Christmas Present
Spread the word!
Also, watch this space. There will be more announcements in the coming days about casting calls, a new Death Threats contest, and other goodies.
July 11th, 2011 by jdsawyer
As of last night, the fact-checking of what’s currently going by the uninspired name of “The Gun Book” came to a close. We’re now on to layout and diagram phase, as it’s a graphics-rich book. Once I get a proper title for it, it’s going to be a guide to firearms for writers. A spin-off short piece on science fiction weaponry that wound up not fitting in the book will appear next weekend in the relevant markets.
But, more importantly for those who have been quietly composing your death threats:
Free Will is done. The continuity edit, all the little fixes, it’s all done. All that’s left now is the copy edit, which’ll take a few days. With any luck, we’re looking at an ebook release this weekend or early next week.
We’re also currently breaking scripts out. Expect a casting call around the same time as the ebook release!
July 2nd, 2011 by jdsawyer
Neurological pharmacology–a fancy way of saying “what drugs do to brains”–is a subject with which I have a special fascination. Some of them accentuate specific aspects of personality, some create hallucinations and religious experience, some relieve depression, some kick the sex drive or the bonding drive into high gear. In a lot of ways, though, for my money, I’d nominate alcohol as the most interesting for one reason:
In vino, veritas. Pliny the Elder nailed it: Wine tells the truth. It doesn’t make you do things so much as it lets you do things. You can learn a lot about yourself, and about your friends, by watching what happens when they’re well-buzzed.
National holidays can do the same thing to people–and not just because of the amount of alcohol people tend to consume given half an excuse. Like all things, love of one’s country can come in a lot of flavors. Soviet dissidents, for example, loved their country while hating its system–they loved its culture, its geography, its weather, the shared history in which their identity was rooted. Members of totalitarian systems, on the other hand, are trained to identify the system with the country, and to see non-conformity as so unpatriotic as to deserve death. Some people are patriotic about countries where they’ve never lived, so much so that they’ll move across the world to live in them, because they’ve fallen in love with the ideology, or the people, or the culture of that country. You can learn a lot about a person by watching the flavor of their patriotism.
Writing a political thriller series these last few years, I’ve carefully watched the political micro-climates around the world and studied how they relate to the version of love of country I carry around in my own psyche. Call it a love affair with the Jeffersonian vision of freedom: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
This year has been an amazing year around the world for the struggle against different forms of tyranny, and as an Americans it’s been more exciting than I can say to watch the most action-packed year of calculated struggles against tyranny since the late 80s and early 90s (it’s also more than a little embarrassing how little my home culture seems interested in carrying on their struggle on the home front, but that’s a topic for another time). It’s quite possible that the Arab Spring, the Iranian struggles, and the other protests and revolutions around the world will all come to bad ends in the same way that the revolutions of the twentieth century almost all ended in dictatorship, civil war, and genocide; still, I have a thin hope that some of the people who are laying down their lives–for reasons as simple as the next loaf of bread or as idealistic as bringing democracy and universal suffrage to cultures where such notions are without precedent–may have read history and learned from the missteps of the last hundred years.
Because of that, in celebration of the first revolution that actually worked (if imperfectly), I’ve dedicated Free Will (my new book about revolution) as follows:
This volume is dedicated to the men and women
Who sat in Tahrir
Who crossed the Wall in Berlin
Who fell at Tiananmen Square
Who bled in the streets of Tehran
Who lost their lives in Boston
And all those like them before and since.
To them we owe a debt we cannot repay
Save that we make their dream come true
For Everyone
Forever.
I’ll be seeing you soon, with the rest of the book. Have a safe weekend–and spend it however you want to. The ability to make that choice is a remarkable thing in the history of the world.
