Three Audiobooks in the Works

The audio files for Captain Bartholomew Quasar: The Bounty Hunters from Arachnxx Three are currently under review, and distribution via Audible and iTunes should commence within the next week or so. E. M. Carberry did an excellent job bringing this novella to life, equally as good as his work on Starfaring Adventures, and I've got my fingers crossed, hoping he'll be able to produce the novel-length audiobook as well. 

Also in production this month is my new screwball comedy Vic Boyo, Doofus Detective, voiced by the talented Douglas Reed. In the same way that Carberry is such a good fit for the often misguided, larger-than-life heroism of Captain Quasar, Reed is able to pull off the imperfect Vic Boyo. He manages to be sincere but funny in his delivery, perfect for the defective detective's hilarious antics.

Due to a very busy production schedule, Robert Rossmann won't be able to start work on The Suprahuman Secret until early August, but I'm glad I've got this collection of Charlie Madison case files in his queue. Judging from his other voice work, I'm confident he'll be able to pull off Charlie's good-natured, world-weary tone, intelligent without taking himself or the dystopian city around him too seriously.

I count myself lucky to have my work in the capable voices of these three gentlemen, and I can't wait to share the finished products with you. Be the first to know when my audiobooks become available, and enter to win an Audible claim code or few: Subscribe today!

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Sprechen sie Future Noir?

The final special edition of Visionarium ("Das Magazin für Horror, Mystery, Bizarro, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fiction, Steampunk, Noir, SF und New Weird") was released today, and if you happen to read or speak German, then this Austrian spec-fic publication is for you.

Visionarium Presents: Malice, Stories of Crime features a dozen sordid tales, including a translation of my novelette Girl of Great Price. I can't understand a word of it in Deutsch, but still, it's very cool knowing a new audience will get to enjoy this Charlie Madison case file in their own language.

And on the off-chance you haven't read Girl of Great Price in English yet, the eBook is currently free wherever books are e-sold. So what are you waiting for? Download your copy today.

New Release & My Kindle Scout Experience

Two murders. One detective. Half a brain. 

1931, New York City: Detective Vic Boyo may not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but that doesn't stop him from solving cases as only he can. With a little luck and a whole lot of gumption, Boyo sets out to find the murderer of a local cop.

Problem is, Boyo's more interested in a gorgeous femme fatale accused of killing her husband. She's destined for the electric chair, but Boyo's got a hunch she might be innocent. And nobody gets in the way of Boyo's hunches, not even Vic Boyo himself.

  

Thanks for all the pageviews, likes, retweets, and nominations during my Kindle Scout campaign. It was an interesting experience. I went into it with no delusions that Vic Boyo would be selected. After being rejected by more than 100 agents and publishers who seemed to think there's no market for screwball detective novels, ol' Vic was fighting an uphill battle. But Kindle Scout campaigns are a free way to increase visibility for new releases, and I'm all about free when it comes to promoting my work. At the end of the 30-day campaign, close to two thousand readers had checked out my novel, and as soon as I received word that it wasn't selected, I had it ready for purchase on Amazon. The Kindle Scout folks then notified everyone who'd nominated it that Vic Boyo was now available.

It'll be in the Kindle Unlimited program until June, at which point I'll distribute it via the other usual suspects: iBooks, Kobo, Nook, etc. The paperback turned out great, and it's available from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The audiobook is currently in production, and it should be available in early June. I've got a couple dozen reviewers lined up, and I'm curious to see what they think of Boyo's shenanigans.

It was eye-opening lurking around the KindleBoards during my campaign and reading about authors spending hundreds of dollars on advertising, racking up thousands upon thousands of pageviews, only to be rejected by the Kindle Scout review team in the end. Vic Boyo may have never stood a chance, but now hundreds of potential readers know his name, and if they're curious, they can find out just how much of a doofus he really is.

"The Last Human Child" @ Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Dahlia loved Brawnstone as much as she hated him.

He protected her. Provided for her. Cared for her like she was a glass flower. But it was her fault all those people had died.

Creatures. Whatever they were. Like Brawnstone, they were difficult to classify. Spliced, the humans called them. One had the shaggy golden face of a lion and the body of a large muscular man. Arsalean was his name, chief among the Elders.

Now as dead as the rest of them, thanks to her.

Brawnstone had taken her from her own people. Tasked with her capture and delivery to his masters, he had broken into the human compound like it was made of chalk. Smashed right through the wall, a stone monster breaking through reinforced concrete. Chunks of the stuff hit the floor, and dust enshrouded his features as he stomped toward her cot.

He had taken her away in her nightgown, tucking her under the enormous trench coat he wore, shielding her from the toxic rain.

It had not been a rescue.   

> Read "The Last Human Child" in the latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies

And if you'd like to catch up on the Dahlia & Brawnstone tales that preceded this one, check out Dahlia and the Ronin, free wherever eBooks are sold:

 Amazon     Barnes & Noble     iBooks     Kobo

Dahlia, the last human child, has been summoned to a banquet in her honor by the Elders of the great Council. Her escort, Brawnstone the trollgre, must carry her through the dangerous ruins of a human city, deep into the abandoned warehouse district where the feast is to be held. No one knows this little girl's dark secret -- not even young Dahlia herself.

Bounty Hunters Now in Production

Captain Bartholomew Quasar returns -- in audio!

Mr. Carberry did such a great job with Starfaring Adventures, I had to get him to produce the novella -length audiobook as well. His comic timing and tone is perfect not only for the captain himself, but also for all the other peculiar aliens and fiends Quasar encounters on a regular basis.

The best part? Having Mr. Carberry tell me he's had to stop recording because he keeps laughing out loud. The release date should be sometime next month. Chuckles guaranteed.

New Audiobook Now Available

Amazon             Audible             iTunes

Join Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude in this hilarious collection of short stories as they confront bands of nefarious space pirates, cantankerous bandits, exotic aliens, devious powers of persuasion, mysterious ghosts from the past, deep space identity crises, a runaway hyper-speed train, an insidious computer virus, and a villain with the fastest thumbs in the quadrant -- all narrated by the vocally talented E. M. Carberry.

An In-Depth Review of The Suprahuman Secret

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"Previously released as four separate novellas, The Suprahuman Secret by author Milo James Fowler details the case files of Private Detective Charlie Madison in one convenient tome. Although the main action takes place in a future world where automatons known as mandroids are deployed to fight wars, and most everyone has a handy LinkCom either implanted or mobile, there is still a hint of the classic noir that harkens back to Bogey’s Sam Spade movies. 

"Charlie Madison is probably the last remaining Private Detective in his Russian-controlled corner of the world. (Isn’t it amazing that after everything and with all human advancements, organized crime still manages to survive?) After the “great diaspora,” the Eastern Conglomerate has pretty much taken major portions of the world. With immigrants and refugees flooding into the Unified States, the area sees a fundamental change is its ethnic make-up with the Russians owning the landscape and the Asians relegated to hastily constructed slums and settlements in the outskirts of major urban areas. With the various nations of the planet competing for supremacy, all manner of shady dealing is tolerated if the means justifies the ends. 

"Reading through this series, I found myself transported to a world that was part Terminator and part Maltese Falcon. Charlie is the classic gumshoe living out of his office with Wanda as his femme fatale assistant and loyal confidant. It is very easy to picture Charlie with a classic fedora reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart, and I do believe I caught a smidgen of a Casablanca reference a time or two as well. Wanda, as his Girl Friday, is the typical blonde bombshell, but underneath that pretty exterior is a smart gal with an aptitude for navigating the current tech that their world is saturated with. 

"Charlie’s world is the acid rain-ridden ruin of a California town in a post-war world where nations fight for dominance, organized crime is alive and well, and if you are Anglo you do not want to be caught in Little Tokyo after dark. Fowler’s balancing of the old and new serves this series well, with the old not seeming outdated and the new not feeling too futuristic. Having read all four books in the space of a few days, I did notice a little bit of repetition with certain descriptions; however, keeping in mind that these were previously separate releases over several years, this did not bother me. Rather it served to reinforce the world where the action takes place. Also, while all novellas work together to tell a larger story, they also work as stand-alone offerings. Fowler is currently working on the fifth and final installment in this series called The Gifted Ones, and I for one will be waiting to catch up with Charlie again for another Case Closed. 

"If you are a fan of noir, science fiction, dystopian or fantasy, you may want to give The Suprahuman Secret a read. You will not be disappointed!"

- Jennly Reads

2017: Just the Highlights

This was a good year, writing-wise.

I spent the first few months working on my novel BackTracker. After three rounds of edits, it was ready for Mr. Agent to send out on the submissions circuit, meeting editors whose doors my work has never darkened before. Over half a dozen positive rejections so far; fingers crossed for one positive acceptance.

The spring and summer months were all about diving back into short stories. I'd taken a break, but now I was ready to catch up with some of my recurring characters. The result:  "Not Good Enough," a Roadkill Joe tale published by Perihelion; "The Last Human Child," a Dahlia & Brawnstone tale to be published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies;  and "Captain Quasar vs. the Frozen Death Planetoid," currently out on submission. This week, I started drafting a new Quasar tale about robo-pirates, and it has all the hallmarks of a real hoot. We shall see...

In other Captain Quasar-related news, I sold a reprint of "The Insurmountable Barrier of Space Junk" to Future Affairs Administration, and they've translated it into Chinese; should be published early next year. "What Do You Need?" was published in French by Ténèbres, and I received a nice contributor's copy. Can't read a word of it, but it was pretty cool, nevertheless.

My Charlie Madison case file "Up in Smoke," a standalone novella, was published last month, and I finished preliminary edits on my latest novel The Gifted Ones. Spoiler alert: Madison finally solves the mystery of The Suprahuman Secret; dealing satisfactorily with all the loose ends I've left dangling in this series was a top priority. We'll see what readers think.

After the release of my first audiobook Soul Smuggler last fall, I managed to find producers for Coyote Cal, Maikro, and Westward, Tally Ho! this year. They all turned out great, and I'm so thankful for my talented narrators. Production on Captain Quasar: Starfaring Adventures just wrapped up last week, and it should be available next month. Stay tuned!

What's in store for 2018? No idea. But if all goes according to plan, I'll still be teaching my students to be effective communicators for Christ, and in my spare time I'll craft the best stories I can. Never giving up, never surrendering, and enjoying every step of my journey as a writer.

Listen to "Tomorrow's Dawn" - Courtesy of 600 Second Saga