A Rogue Bargain for the Kindle

In my continuing efforts to encourage new readers to sample my material, I have dropped the price of The Rogue Investigations (Kindle Edition) to an all new low of 99 Cents.  This is as low as it can go according to Amazon's pricing formula for independent authors such as myself.  If you've been holding back for whatever reason, now is the time to buy.  It'll never be cheaper than this, and after you read it, the bargain will be obvious.

Don't wait.  Get The Rogue Investigations on Kindle today!

Entering the Fray Once More

It's that time of year again.  The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest is back in full swing, and is accepting novel entries in both General Fiction and Young Adult Fiction (with various sub-categories including Science Fiction).  As many of you may know, The Guns of Mars was a semi-finalist in 2009, and this year I'm hoping to get at least that far once more, with an all new novel.

I know you'd probably love for me to tell you about my entry, and extoll its high points and exciting storyline.  However, that will have to wait.  As I advance in the contest, I'll share more information about the book I've entered, but until we're through the initial "pitch" phase, I'd rather not share too much information about this entry.  Content is supposed to be anonymous at these stages, to prevent any bias in the judging, so there's no sense giving myself away (you never know who might be reading your blog).

In 2010, I didn't advance beyond the pitch phase, and in hindsight I can see why.  The pitch I had written, while not horrible, didn't meet the high standards needed to rise above the competition.  This year, I have made sure to have a very clear and entertaining pitch, which should get through, but there's no way to tell how the initial judges will receive it.  A lot of it is chance.  If the right reader likes what they see in the pitch, then the entry will advance.  If, however, I catch someone in a bad mood, or someone who just doesn't like the sound of my story for whatever reason, I'll get summarily dismissed.  Let's hope whoever reads my pitch likes a good science fiction adventure, and isn't looking for some touchy-feely yawn-fest.

I invite my fellow authors to submit their own manuscripts for the contest.  Get all the information here, and lets get this contest rolling!

Searching For Family

I know I've been pretty silent for the last 3 weeks, as I've found myself tied up with various projects. Yes, I have been doing some writing on the Fantasy Western, though most of my time has actually been focused on an entirely new line of research. I've been digging into my heritage, seeking to build a family tree and uncover more about my extended family, as scattered as it seems to be.

It all started with a bunch of old photographs my mother left me before she died. Among them were notes and notations, which allowed me to piece together much of her side of the family, into the mid-1800's. Shortly thereafter, I was able to find a few online trees other people had made, which let me go well beyond that on some fronts.

On my father's side, I knew enough to get me to his mother's father, George Sylvester Counts. From there, it was pretty easy to find several other family trees which took me far into the past. I've only scratched the surface on how far back I can trace certain branches of the family tree, and there is still a lot of data I've yet to confirm, but from the looks of it, there are some lines that lead back to the middle ages.

Quite a bit of the core tree I'm building is based on other people's research, however I'm piecing together quite a bit on my own. The Ingham line, in particular, was virtually untraced, so I had to build it from scratch, using census data, marriage certificates, birth certificates, death certificates, and other vital statistics posted online. I have thus far been able to link back to Albert Ingham, born circa 1830, though that seems to be as far as I can reach at the moment. His wife's name was Cynthia, and I suspect her maiden name may have been Van Wie. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to confirm that, or get further back on this line of my heritage, but I'll keep trying.

I'm not sure why I've suddenly become so obsessed with uncovering my roots, but it's always bothered me to be so isolated from family. I've had virtually no contact with any of them on either side for various reasons, so I'm naturally curious to see who's out there. Who knows, maybe this is a big mistake, and I'd be better off to remain cut off from my various cousins, though I might as well find out. If I don't at least try, I'll be stuck wondering if I'm missing something.

Known Relations:
Here's a short list of some of my closer relatives. If you are related to any of these people (or know anyone who is), let me know:

Father's Side:
George Sylvester Counts (Great Grandfather; Son of James Wilson Counts and Mertie Gamble)
Lois Hazel Bailey (Great Grandmother; Wife of George S. Counts, daughter of Charles W. Bailey and Mary Stark)
Raymond W. Ingham (Grandfather; Son of Edward "Ned" Ingham & Effie K. Robinson)

Mother's Side:
William E. Forthman (Great Grandfather; Father of Ethel, Anabell, Ruth, Kathryn, William Jr., and Mary Nadine).
Anna Littlefield (Great Grandmother; Wife of William Forthman, daughter of Anne Carney Littlefield)
Julius John Kirton (Great Grandfather; Son of Newton Kirton)
Mary Alice Nelson (Great Grandmother; Wife of Julius Kirton, daughter of I.R. Nelson and Ada Urech)

Crusoe: The Complete Series (Review)

The Monday after Christmas, a package arrived from Amazon. It was a DVD set I had ordered a few weeks prior, which I had gotten for a serious bargain price. I paid less than $9 with my Goldbox deal of the day, so it was a low-risk entertainment investment.

The set was Crusoe: The Complete Series on DVD, a short-lived television show which ran for only 11 episodes. It was filmed primarily in South Africa, with some bits done in the UK, and overall it was a very fun production, with a lot of swashbuckling, pirates, cannibals, and other exciting island adventure. The writers were very creative, inventing new scenarios each week to keep the stories fun and entertaining. While the storyline did not follow the original book, it was a very well done series, and I'm sorry it didn't run longer. The DVD set has no extras, but the episodes themselves more than make up for it. There is nothing really offensive about this show (no nudity or swearing) so it's suitable for the whole family.

I've seen big budget movies that weren't as good as this series. I can think of a lot of modern blockbuster movies about pirates and the carribean that look like pathetic garbage compared to this intelligent work of cinema. Why this show didn't take off is anyone's guess, but I'd personally wager that an executive at some network didn't like it. Maybe I'm just feeling a little mean spirited today with the conspiracy theory angle, but that's the way a lot of good tv series seem to die. The infamous "powers that be" decide a show isn't "right" for some reason, so they manipulate things to assure its quick demise.

I put this series up there with "Firefly" in the pantheon of slaughtered television shows that should have run a lot longer, but for whatever reason weren't given a fair chance. Unlike that brilliant sci-fi show, however, I don't think they'll be making a movie to conclude Crusoe. At least they left it in a decent place, and not with some cliffhanger.

I would certainly recommend this show for everyday viewing. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Fantasy Western Novel

A few months ago, I told you about "A Dwarf at High Noon," the short story I sold to Hall Brothers Entertainment for their "Villainy" anthology. The short story, which incorporated Fantasy elements into an Old West setting, was received well, and I now have some exciting follow-up news.

I am pleased to announce my next great writing endeavor: the Dwarf at High Noon novel project. Unlike my previous works, which were all written first and then shopped out to different publishers, this work has been contracted ahead of time by Hall Brothers Entertainment, first for display on their website, and then publication in book form. The book is currently planned to be displayed in 8 weekly episodes on the HBE website starting in August 2011, and the print edition will likely be released sometime in September/October.

So, what's this whole story going to be about?  I know you're dying to know, but I can't give away too much at this point. I can say it will follow several main characters, one being Boron "Ron" Grimes, a gunslinger Dwarf who's been deputized by a Nevada sheriff. We'll also see a bit of that sheriff, who happens to be a Warlock. There will be some arrogant, trouble-making Elves to contend with, and an arch villain who threatens all of creation. I hope that's enough to whet your appetites for this upcoming epic.

At present, I have a solid plotline running around in my head, along with the first "episode" drafted. I'll keep you all apprised of my progress, and hope you'll be around later this summer to read the Dwarf at High Noon saga.

Camera-Mania

After repeated requests from my wife, I finally broke down and bought a digital camera. Yes, I know, such an affordable piece of equipment is something I should have had a long time ago, though Christmas was a good excuse to pick one up. The one I purchased was a Panasonic Lumix (below), and I am quite pleased with it thus far. The image quality is pretty good (10.1 megapixels), and the price was nothing to complain about. Overall, this is a fine camera for everyday use.

I'm sure some of you would like to see some pictures I've taken, so I will not disappoint you.

Left, is a picture of my wife, Jenna, with our oldest daughter, Sylvia.  Right, we have a fresh picture of my wife with our most recent addition, Kathryn.

Here's a picture of my foot.  It was just too fun and wacky to exclude!



The Foot of Fear!



 Some more interesting pictures of the kids:



Wyatt in a more sedate mood than usual.





One happy LePage supporter!



Gene the cat, friend of the family.



 Here are some interesting wall pictures.  Left, we have the back wall of our kitchen.  It's some nice stonework my father did about 30 years ago.  Right, we have a view from the hallway leading into the kitchen, and some very nice pine board paneling.  That facing board is about 18" wide.



More nice paneling I recently stained and sealed.  The shelf is 16" clear pine, and I gave it a nice coat of clear poly to keep it tha way.  The boards underneath and to either side were done with Minwax Polyshades Olde Maple Satin.

Freshly sealed shelf beside hallway leading into kitchen.





Shelf with lamps added.









Another lovely feature of the camera is a "sepia" coloring, allowing for some interesting antique appearances.  Here's a good example:

Martin T. Ingham, Circa 1890

Christmas Sweepstakes Winners!

I have drawn the names for my 2nd Annual Christmas Sweepstakes, and we have the following lucky winners:

Grand Prize: Sean Brezovsky

2nd Prizes:

Paul Weiss

J. J. Tirinato

Chris Redding

Congratulations to these winning participants, and a big thank you to everyone who joined in the fun.  I'll do another one of these next year, with a brand new book release (yes, there will be one, details forthcoming in the new year).

A Near Miss

A little while ago, I received an acceptance letter for one of my novels, "Frontier Jump." The book relates the tale of the far future, where people are grown en-masse in rearing facilities, and natural conception is outlawed. It is told from the perspective of a "Nature Born" teenager, who falls in love with a genetic reject (someone whose genome didn't meet manufacturer's specifications) and runs off with her aboard a ship of smugglers, hoping to escape to a distant frontier world, where they will not be persecuted for their genetic imperfections.


Now, before you break open the champagne to celebrate, I must inform you that I had to decline the acceptance.

Hilliard and Harris is the company that wanted to publish the book, but their contract was simply unacceptable. First, they wanted to purchase ALL RIGHTS to the work; not just publication rights, but everything (copyright, movie rights, etc...) for the duration of the contract (7 years). This is not standard procedure these days, as most publishers simply buy exclusive publishing rights.

Second, there was a clause stating that I had to purchase 100 copies of the book at a 50% discount. This is something I could not financially afford at the moment, and it is somewhat underhanded. If they want to be a subsidy publisher, they should be up front about it.

The third (and most egregious) problem was a "non-competition" clause, which said I couldn't try to sell any literary work that is "similar" to the novel, or might "harm sales." The vagueness of the clause could be easily construed to say I couldn't publish any other books with any other publishers for the duration of the contract. That may not have been the intent, but it was far too dangerous a possibility!

I pointed out these problems with their standard contract in a polite and professional manner, and I requested that they be changed. Sadly, they were inflexible, and refused to budge in these areas, so I had to turn them down. I really had no choice. I wasn't going to give them all rights to my work, be forced to buy copies I couldn't afford, and be barred from publishing other novels for the next 7 years. It really is a pity, but truly unavoidable.

I haven't given up on "Frontier Jump," and this near miss has only steeled my resolve to get it into print. I already have it sent out to another publisher, and hope to receive another acceptance in the near future. It's a good book. All I have to do is find the right editor.

Martin's Christmas Sweepstakes II



Win This Book!

Last year, I held my first annual "Christmas Sweepstakes," where I gave away a free copy of The Rogue Investigations.  This year, I'm doing it again, only this time I'm offering a free copy of The Guns of Mars to one lucky winner.

New Second Place Prizes!  For the 2nd Annual giveaway, I will also be giving away 3-second place prizes.  They will be all new "Guns of Mars" bookmarks, created by yours truly.  These will be a fine freebie for the three lucky entrants.

This contest is open worldwide.  I will ship this book anywhere, but it's up to each entrant to know the laws in their country. If you're not allowed to participate in this sort of giveaway, don't blame me.  Instead, start a bloody revolution, overthrow your government, and rewrite the laws so you can participate next year (just kidding).

Ready to enter?  There are 3 ways to do it.

1: Reply to this blog post, saying you wish to be entered into the contest.  Be sure to include an email address or some other form of contact information, so I can notify you if you win.

2: Join the Facebook Event for this giveaway.  Click "Attending" and you'll be entered.

3: Send an email to inghamediting@earthlink.net asking to enter the contest.

That's all there is to it.  The winners will be drawn at random on December 18, 2010.  Prizes will be mailed on December 20, or as soon as each winner gives me their mailing address.

Note: Only 1 entry per person.  Please don't try to fake it by applying under multiple aliases.

Okay, if you have any other questions, let me know.

Review: Odyssey 5

I know I mentioned doing a review for the 5^th Series of Doctor Who, and that's in the pipeline, but I recently had the chance to view the DVD set for Odyssey 5, so I'd like to do this one first.

Odyssey 5 is a show that aired on Showtime in 2002.  The premise is interesting, involving 5 people who survive the end of the world and have their consciousnesses sent back in time 5 years, in order to change history (notice a whole lot of 5's running around this review.  It must be an alien plot).  You can read all the great promo material for this series at amazon.com, so I won't waste time rewriting a synopsis, but get right to my views.

This series had a lot of potential, and if it had run for more than one season, it may have been truly great, but it was sadly cut short, leaving us with an unresolved cliffhanger and a whole lot of ideas.  With that said, there are a couple of stylistic flaws which aided the decline of this series before its time.  1:  The language was excessive.  Every other word was a curse word at times, and it got to the point where it distracted from the show.  2:  The brief scenes of full female nudity weren't really necessary, and they were often stuffed into episodes just because they could put them there.

I personally believe that this series would have lasted at least 2 seasons (or possibly even longer) if not for the adult content which lowered the viewing potential.  From an economical standpoint, this series would have had a lot more profitability if it had been done as a PG-13 format, for the syndication value would have increased.  There are a lot of networks that still don't show R-rated content.

In my estimation, if you liked the X-Files and don't mind a lot of swearing and a few minor scenes containing naked women, you'll enjoy Odyssey 5.  The DVD set is petty cheap, too, so I'd recommend it for the aforementioned folks.  However, I would most certainly not recommend it for anyone with strict morals, or for children.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5.

NaNoWriMo Victory!

Hello, it's me again!  I know, I've been conspicuously absent this past month, as I've focused all of my writing efforts on completing the NaNoWriMo challenge, all while working a pretty rigorous day job and managing 3 kids while at home.  It was no small task, but I pulled it off, and with a full day to spare!  I hit the 50k word count today, so I can be called a winner.  Even though the book still needs a lot of work, it's coming along nicely, so you'll be hearing more about "The Time Traveler's Illegal Harem" in the coming months.

So, now that the deadline is met, and I have a more flexible work schedule, I'll be back to posting regularly on this blog.  Get ready for more news and views in December, along with some reviews.  I'm working on a brief post about the new Doctor Who Series 5 DVD set, which I'll share in a few days, and we'll see where it goes from there.

Writing never ends for me, and now that the contest comes to a close, I'm actually speeding up my word count.  It seems the pressure may have actually slowed me down.

I'll be back!  You can count on it.

The Novel in One Month

Today was the first day of National Novel Writing Month, and things are coming together nicely for me.  I sat down for about an hour this morning and threw together the first page of my novel, "The Time Traveler's Illegal Harem," and I spent another hour this evening, ending up with 1,920 words in total.  It's not the biggest showing (in fact, it's downright weak compared to the last book I wrote, when 3,000 was a slow day).  Still, If I can keep this pace, I'll win handily.

As the title implies, this is a time travel novel.  It tells the tale of a rogue time agent who has the habit of kidnapping women from different time periods, and the Time Agency which is determined to stop him.  There'll be a lot more to it than that, and I can't say too much right now, because I'm still working to weave the complex threads into a coherent storyline.

I have a pretty busy work day tomorrow, so I don't know how far I'll get, but I will let you know!

Keep track of my progress here!

NaNoWriMo 2010

For those in the know, each November is "National Novel Writing Month."  Writers spend the month throwing together a book of 50,000 or more words.  This is a contest I have never officially entered, but this year I have decided to bite the bullet and actually try it.

I am no stranger to self-imposed deadlines.  Last December, I produced an 80,000 word novel in approximately 3 weeks, but that was when I had nothing else to do.  I was able to sit down and do nothing but write for that time.  At present, I am still working some physically draining and time consuming jobs, which will hamper my writing.  I do not know if I'll be able to pull off an entire novel this November, but I will do my best.

If I should fail to achieve this laudable goal, I will still be a step ahead, with a good hunk of another novel ready to be finished, and it'll all be good fun.

Enough with this pesky blog post.  I have to prepare for the big event!