Thar Be Pirates Afoot, Matey

So, what do you do when you find out that Meta (a hydra-like multinational technology company consisting of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and the harvested souls of countless smartphone zombies) has stolen 40 of your books & short stories to train its darling artificially intelligent monster how to think like humans and generate "original" content? That's right. You write about it. 

According to the Authors Guild, 7.5 million books (so far) have been pirated by Meta to train its AI. Whose works are included in this vast swath of stolen intellectual property? Type the author's name into this handy-dandy search engine, and you'll see that I'm in pretty good company: Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, Orson Scott Card, and JK Rowling, just to name a few.

Authors have no control over what readers do with our books after buying them. (Tear out all the pages to wallpaper the guest bathroom? Have at it.) If Meta wants to use my books, they're welcome to do so. But they need to pay me for my work. According to The Atlantic, it would have taken Meta over four weeks to legally acquire the amount of quality writing needed in order to compete with ChatGPT. And it would have been very expensive. Piracy was much cheaper.

I deleted my social media accounts years ago when our Silicon Valley Overlords started quashing and canceling free speech under the guise of fighting misinformation. So I'm not surprised by this latest dishonest venture. They are the kind of people who design addictive devices and apps for your children, but won't allow their own kids access to them. "Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit" (Matthew 7:17). 

Good news: There's a class action lawsuit currently in the works, and every author of material used by Meta is automatically included in this battle against the forces of evil. We'll see how it goes.

Happy Easter!

Writing Update

It's been a couple months since my last check-in, so how are things progressing with Angels & Androids, the final installment in my Dome City Investigations trilogy? I'm so glad you asked. The going has been incredibly slow, but I've made it to the 65K mark. A minor victory. I've got about 25K left to draft, but I'm fairly certain where I'm headed at this point, so it should be a breakneck sprint to the finish. Plenty will need to be cleaned up later, but that's okay; this is just the sloppy copy.

Speaking of sloppy, I started writing it longhand a few chapters ago. We lost power for a couple days during a recent storm, and my laptop needed a charge, so I dug out an old spiral notebook and pen and got to work. Doubtful anybody else would be able to read my scrawling penmanship (at times, I struggle with it myself), but I've noticed that it's helped me to get my ideas down without stopping to edit as I go. And it's nice to take a break from the ol' computer screen now and then.

If I can manage between 500 and 1,000 words a day, I should be able to complete this draft by the end of the school year. That's my goal, and I'm sticking to it.

Friday Freebie

Long ago, before the days of recorded history, during the Hyperbolean Age of a much younger Earth, AGROTHARN the Interstellar Semi-Barbarian roamed the ancient volcanic lands in search of fame and fortune. These are his somewhat heroic tales, sure to enthrall the most adventurous of readers!

When AGROTHARN learns that his long-lost witch-mother is still alive, he sets off on a perilous journey with his loyal Triceratops to find her. Along the way, they meet a conniving trickster, a vengeful T-Rex, and a bunch of bloodthirsty aliens from a distant planet. Nonstop adventures take AGROTHARN deep into space and back through time as he unravels new truths about the reality he's always taken for granted. What he discovers will forever change his life, setting him on a new path to rewrite the past and forge a glorious future for one and all!

Download Your Free Copy       

Pre-Order Option Unlocked

The re-release date for Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque, the first installment in my Interdimensionals trilogy, is set for May 6, but if you'd like to take advantage of the $0.99 pre-order price, there's nobody stopping you. Seriously. Go hog-wild, and while you're at it, tell all your friends that they too can jump to the head of the line. That's basically what pre-ordering accomplishes on the reader's side of things: you get the eBook on your gizmo the instant it goes live on all sales channels. And on the writer's end, it helps stack the deck in our favor as far as rankings and algorithms and whatnot. So throw caution to the wind and go for it. What have you got to lose? Sure, a buck. But what else can you get for just a buck these days?

Pre-Order Your Copy Today

Book Review: Midnight, Water City

This year I'm keeping track of what I read. Whether I enjoy the book or not, I'll post a blurb and brief review. Most will be speculative fiction in some form—genres I gravitate toward in my own writing. Today, it's the future-noir mystery/thriller Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney:

 

Year 2142: Earth is forty years past a near-collision with the asteroid Sessho-seki. Akira Kimura, the scientist responsible for eliminating the threat, has reached heights of celebrity approaching deification. But now, Akira feels her safety is under threat, so after years without contact, she reaches out to her former head of security, who has since become a police detective. When he arrives at her deep-sea home and finds Akira methodically dismembered, this detective will risk everything—his career, his family, even his own life—and delve back into his shared past with Akira to find her killer. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the futuristic world-building in this one. Underwater seascrapers and vehicles that can fly as well as plunge into the ocean depths? How cool is that? An eighty-year-old protagonist who feels like he's fifty thanks to advances in medicine and technology? Maybe a stretch. But what really sets him apart is his color-blindness and synesthesia (talk about being cruel to your character). In his case, it's a superpower, making him an intriguing investigator who can see certain colors when a murder has been committed. Too bad he doesn't have a name (not once in the entire novel), and that he spends way too much time on grumpy navel-gazing. (After a while, I just skimmed over those parts and didn't miss a thing.) If you like Blade Runner or the Charlie Madison, P.I. series, you might enjoy this one. 4 out of 5 stars.

April Reading Deals

Check out these multi-author book promotions. You're sure to find something you like:

Sci-Fi & Space Opera        Sci-Fi Crime Thrillers        Plot Twists & Shocking Endings

Fantasy & Sci-Fi Sales       Time Travel Books       Mayhem & Motives       Spring Fantasy

Collections & Anthologies        Dystopian & Post-Apocalyptic        Dark Fantasy Sale

No Spice Fantasy Romance        KU First in Series        Starships & Cyberpunks

Fierce Fantasy        Audio Books Promo        Cozy Mystery Cravings        Free With KU

Fantastic Fantasy MegaSale        Kobo Plus Fantasy Box Sets        $0.99 Mystery Sale

More Dystopian & Post-Apocalyptic Fiction      All Genres Pre-Order Event      Tales to Devour

Bestsellers & Hidden Gems        Exclusive SFF Deals        Epic Sci-Fi & Fantasy

$0.99 Sci-Fi & Fantasy      More Epic SFF Sale      April New Releases      Kobo Plus Fantasy

SFF Series Sale        Science Fiction Series Sale        Sound of Stories        Criminal Reads

And peruse these multi-author book giveaways. Download as many as you like:

Free Adventures in Sci-Fi & Fantasy        From Beyond: Free Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Giveaway     Take the Darker Path     Free Fantasy & Sci-Fi Books

Free Sci-Fi & Fantasy for April     Fantasy & Sci-Fi Freebies     April Sci-Fi & Fantasy Freebies

Free Fantasy & Sci-Fi        Free April Science Fiction        Epic Sci-Fi & Fantasy Giveaway

More Epic Sci-Fi & Fantasy        Escape into Imagination        Spring Flowers & Fantasy

April Free Fantasy & Sci-Fi        Science Fiction + Fantasy Promo        Fantastic Realms

Dark & Epic Fantasy        Fantastic FREE Fantasy        SFF Mania        Sip 'n' Flip

Free Collections       Free Book Bonanza       Free Fantasy & Paranormal       SFF Giveaway

Steampunk Sci-Fi or Gaslamp Fantasy?

As a cross-genre writer, I'm often most comfortable whenever I can mix things up a bit, adding elements of science fiction to fantasy (and vice versa), horror to historical fiction, and comedy to all of the above. The weird western genre is one of my favorites, bringing the uncanny to the American frontier with monsters of all kinds. Overlapping that time period but set mainly in Victorian England are two genres I haven't dabbled in until now: steampunk science fiction and gaslamp fantasy. Trappings of both can be found in my novel Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque, but what's the difference between these two subgenres?

While both steampunk and gaslamp stories can take place in the same alternate-historical era, steampunk tends to be more scientific with its gadgets, technology, and anachronistic vehicles, whereas gaslamp fantasy includes sorcery, magical creatures, and an acceptance of the supernatural existing alongside its characters. So which direction does Madame Antic's lean? While there is plenty of gadgetry, nothing in the story is steam-powered. The world I've created prefers electrik power instead. And while there are portals and mention of magik, there's no sorcery involved or unnatural beasts (besides the villains). That's why I'm selecting Alternate History, Steampunk, Gaslamp Fantasy, and Horror as the primary categories when I list it for sale. I reckon that just about covers everything leading up to the big reveal at the end. No spoilers!

New-ish Collection

Alternative Histories collects 7 tales from a past that never was—but could have been, given enough science fiction, fantasy, and horror tossed into the mix. Travel back to a time when super-powered minutemen fought King George's zombie horde, when memories were bought and sold during the Great Depression, and when JFK tried to stop an alien invasion just prior to his assassination. Time-travel with a member of the Mahican tribe searching for answers, meet Goliath's decapitated head that refused to die, and find out just how wild and weird the Old West might have been with a body-hopping, phantasmal anti-hero along for the ride. 

These stories were originally published by a variety of venues and included in Alienated, Soul Smuggler, and Unreal Encounters:  Minutemen, For a Future Peace, Thanks for the Memory, Mo's, The Cost of Freedom, Mercer's Ghost, Shadow of Death. If you act fast, you might be able to snag a free copy.

Blurb + Early Reviews

I'm in the process of getting Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque ready for pre-order across all sales channels. It should be good to go next week with a release date scheduled for early May. I've overhauled the blurb a bit; here's the current iteration:

In an alternate Victorian era replete with aerovehicles, automatons, and other electrik wonders, factory worker Anthony Reynolds seeks to improve his station in life for the sake of his young bride-to-be. Against his better judgment, he joins Richard, a gregarious coworker with social connections, for a night on the town after their late shift. Richard leads them deep into the city’s underworld to a brothel of sorts specializing in the illegal art of mutilation where willing victims are skinned, broken, and mangled without lasting damage due to a special drug that returns them to their original state. Horrified, Anthony wants to leave at once—but that's when Constables raid the establishment. 

While attempting to flee the scene, Anthony encounters a giant monstrosity of a man who infects him with an unknown substance. Anthony is instantly disfigured, and when the authorities capture him, he is unable to identify himself, let alone speak. What follows is a mind-bending adventure of mistaken identity, multiple realities, and paranoia as he fights to reclaim a simple life he never truly appreciated but now wants more than anything. When he discovers the shocking truth of his world and Madame Antic's disturbing role in it, nothing will ever be the same again. 

And here are a few super-early reviews – based on the original release: 

"A twisting labyrinth of shifting realities, a fast-moving adventure merging the ideas of Philip K. Dick and David Cronenberg. Highly Recommended." – Deborah Walker, author of Future Tales 2100 

"This brilliant genre mashup brings the gore and mystery in equal measure. Just when you’ve figured it out, Fowler dashes your reality with a new twist." – Anthony J. Rapino, author of Soundtrack to the End of the World

"Steampunk / horror / Matrixy. Insane in all the right ways. I will be looking forward to new titles arriving in the Interdimensionals series." – Kris Diebold, book reviewer

"In a genre where the sky is literally the limit, Fowler excels in reaching new heights." – Jennifer Tooker, book reviewer