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JEff Walker's Blog
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OUTER RED returns! BUT... NOT UNTIL 2024 - 25So while there hasn't been a huge demand for the book series, I still feel it needs to keep going despite my misgivings about it. The title for this book will be: Beyond The Dark Woods. And if you have read the book, and know what that means, then... you will know adventure awaits. So, yeah... I'm working on a sequel for it. (Yippie...) Before you jump up and down and start running through the streets telling everyone it's happening, I should warn. you it will take a while. A very, long, long while. Because I don't just have this book to work on.. I have a TON of others to working first.
I"ve got two books to follow The Massive Planet, a collective short story book of The Future Tales of Earth Core United, Professor Darkk and Miss Shadow novels, The Long lost War Sequel/Prequel book... oh my stars! SO many to do. So, yeah... it will be a bit. But, hey, I may work on a few chapters here and there, and I might even put them up on Royal Road and Wattpad to give it some exposure and feedback. So keep looking here for more updates, and don't forget to check out my other books (and the new ones soon to be released). Till then... here's the cover for the book. I think this is the one for it.
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Well, it seems my book The Massive Planet wasn't able to make it to the next round. Bummer... I was really hoping it stood a chance and get more exposure while heading into the quarterfinals. Sadly, no... which is a shame, not just for me, but for all those who will miss out seeing this book. It would have been nice if there'd been a review... or some sort of acknowledgement of the material they judges read. I think the team I got wasn't one for writing out any sort of additional comments. Just read the beginning of the book and pass it on to the next round. *Shrug*
I hope I can still get some more readers and possibly more reviews from anyone else that notices this book of mine. Ah, well... on to SPSFC 3, I might have a few books to enter into it by then. Just to add to the heap of work I'm currently plugging away at (curse my creative brain!), I've also started a collective book of other future stories... *sigh*. So many projects, so little time to get them done. I shall try to push it for next year. 2023 is going to be the year I will be trying to publish many books it seems.
THe Adventures Of Deep Contact is now in the running with other great self Published Sci FiWhat is the SPSFC? Why, it's only the best and newest Science Fiction Competition going on right now... and my book is finally in the running for this second instalment of the competition. The Massive Planet (the first book of my epic space adventure series) is being judged by a team that must read, review and place the book towards the next stage of the completion. There are about three phases to it. I'm currently in the first phase, where they read and review.... then they judge it with other reviewers of the team, who in turn either allow it to go to the next stage of the contest or place it in the 'no' pile. I'm hoping mine will continue on as far as it can.
The whole contest takes about a full year to complete, so... I got some time before getting too excited about my prospects. Stay tuned.... Three young friends find an alien spaceship after one of them ran over its occupant. Uh-oh!Okay, so I'm a huuuuge fan of Dennis's books (the Bobiverse Series, Outland, The Singularity Trap) and I really looked forward to something new by him of late. And while this book was generally a good read... the story... well, it just wasn't his best. Dennis, my man, I hope you are not offended with me in anyway, but... the story was sub-par from anything you've done previously. The characters were almost lifted from that of Outland, by that, I mean that they all had high educational backgrounds and some sort of technical background. They also pretty much acted the same when confronted with a situations that were beyond their skillset. Young adults that rationally (and recklessly) used the tech for their own selfish needs.
Perhaps my beef isn't with that so much, more along the lines with the alien ship itself. Spoiler alert to those who have not read the book yet. Please stop here before going any further.... The ship, or Sheldon (as they've so named him) seemed way too cocky and belligerent for an alien AI to behave. While I'm sure this gives the character some comedic role to play, I just didn't find it to be necessary for him to be so condescending to the trio. Then there was the Laranic(?) threat (aliens trying to take over the world); I think there should have been more tension in the novel about them all. Yes, they did chase after them in several chapters, but, it wasn't very consistent. Two of them were left in the ship for many hours or days (did they not need to eat? Or use the facilities?), and what about that UFO guy? He was quickly dismissed after discovering everything, only to be thought of as dead... then re-appearing (Briefly at the end). Lots of questions with not real explanations, kinda put me off on that. I really, really wanted to give this book a huge number of stars for a rating, but sadly... I can't. This wasn't one of his better books. Usually I re-read (or re-listen the audible, in this case) over and over cause I can't get enough of the story–not this time, I'm afraid. I was only able to enjoy the book once... and that was it. I don't feel compelled to constantly hear the story again. Sorry, Dennis–I know this took you awhile to make, but every author has their good books and their not-so-great ones. Even I have to admit that for some of mine. I'll keep reading more from you, despite this one, and hope you've got more interesting titles to give to us DET fans. We love you're Bob books, still waiting for a sequel to Outland, and hopefully you'll give us some new characters that aren't all MIT or overly-educated University majors that can't get out of their towns. "Engineers, geez!" I rate this 3 our of 4 stars. Best I can do... it was good, but not good enough for the likes of me–sorry. All four parts of outer red in one hardcover book is on the way!It took a long time to make this Book One possible. Originally, Outer Red was meant to be a short story only. I never considered making it an ongoing series. Could I have made it just one big novel? Sure, I could have. But at the time, I wasn't in that frame of mind. Nor did I possess the right formatting tools for the job. I mean, I was doing this all before I had the platform of Vellum, the best ebook creating tool I ever found. I was using Word and a really crappy version of Quark to slap this thing into a novella. Heck, it wasn't even at the right word count to be even considered a novella.
That's why I had to separate the story into parts. It was just overwhelming me to push even one title out of this horrible setup. By the time I was onto The Three Little Peggs (Part 2), I finally found the right program to help me create a proper draft. Scrivener was complex, hard to understand and really ticked me off when trying to format the story. I just wanted one simple program that could do it all. And, I'm sorry if I sound like an advertisement rep for Vellum, but... yeah, it was the perfect all-in-one tool for me. (Thank God!!) Anyways, yes I'm pooling all four parts into a single hardcover edition. That was my plan all along. First, I was going to write all four separate parts in ebooks, then, combine each two as paperback books... and then, the final stage, a fully completed hardcover edition. Was the the right way go go? Maybe not. But, I'm doing it anyways. I'm re-editing the stories, adding in some changes, and placed an introduction at the start. This will be my final revision and last attempt to make this book as perfect as it can be. I've re-made the cover to something better, and hope the readers will appreciate the changes. To all those that bought the books, gave me reviews and joined me on this vision of a Galactic Kingdom far, far away... I thank you. Please, support me further by getting a copy of this final completed vision of Commander Red and her AI buddy, Grimm. The obvious question you'd probably ask is, "So, are you going to write a book two? And-will it be in parts as well?" The answer is.... I'm not entirely sure. The book still hasn't generated enough following for me to start another one soon. I've had very little comments and reviews for these books, so... doesn't motivate me enough. I'd love to make another. I've got the idea (and the will to do it), but, with no one saying "Yeah, I want more!", its on the back burner for now. Send me some thoughts or give a comment on the blog here, let me know if you do want another... in the meantime, here's the cover for the completed book coming soon. Till then, guess I'll keep writing other titles. Jeff Walker Books is now on substack.com officiallyWith all the latest trends going on, authors posting on various social media sites and the like... the latest one we're all hopping aboard is Substack.com. So, why am I joining that as well? Because as a frustrated self published author, having to be told by a-mer-zon that I can't republish my titles elsewhere without being punished on their read-by-page platform, I think it's time to try something new. I've heard a great deal of writers going onto this newsletter type app and publishing their stories there as a subscription service. That way, the readers can get the book chapter by chapter each month (or however long it takes) as the writer pushes it out. They get instant access to the story, they can read the entire book, make comments to the author, and can get in on the latest new stories or news the author would like to share.
I'm very new to this kind of publishing. I remember there being something similar to a chapter by chapter service a very long time ago. It didn't work, then, but maybe it will work now? Not sure. But, I'm willing to give it a try and see if this is a viable solution to expanding and gaining new readers. One can only hope. My substack site will have my general rants (of course, much like my blog, podcasts, YouTube vids, etc), I'm trying to put up stories on a subscription service as well. It might work, or it might not... but I'd love to get your feedback on that site and on here as well. Do you think this is a good idea or bad idea? Not sure really. But why don't you check it out... head over to https://jeffwalkerbooks.substack.com and give it a shot. Book One is finally finished.... The Four Part Adventure Is Over!After 11 years (OMG... can you believe it?), the book is finally finished. And yes... this is only book 1. Why did I break it up into four parts, you ask? Well, quite simply, I just hadn't the time to sit down and complete a full novel in one go. Breaking it up was the only way I could flesh it out and bring my work to the masses to read in a timely manner. Ok, maybe not so timely, but it got out there nonetheless.
Outer Red has been a very big struggle for yours truly. I began this journey with only a short story that soon blossomed into three other novellas. Originally, I was only going to keep it a short story... but to my surprise, people really enjoyed reading it. So I kept going. Reviews help to encourage or enlighten a writer to what works and what's doesn't. To those that did take the time and give the books a chance (the positive ones and the negative ones)... I thank you very much. Without giving those reviews I would have never honed the craft of this work and strived to complete it with a critical eye. That's why I encourage readers and those listening to the audiobooks to leave reviews whenever (and wherever) possible. Authors need this push and praise more than you realize. If you've never listened or read any of the Outer Red parts, I urge you to go do so right now. Give them a chance and leave a comment on those platforms (Amazon, Goodreads, blogs... anywhere you can). So now that the story is done, what next? Well, I think I'm due for a rest on this character. She's been on a very long journey and there hasn't been too strong a following to keep up with another book... yet. I need to hear more from you... the readers, the possible fans, the ones who subscribe and give me some feedback. I write these stories, not only for myself, but to entertain and delight all of you. At The End Of The Well is the final journey of Red Huntsman and her AI companion, Grimm. Battle lines are drawn, the Galactic Kingdom is on the verge of ruin, and the only way to find out what happens is for you to get your copy today and read the final part of this tale. Thanks ever so much for 11 years, may we do it again soon Red.... Jeff Walker In The Jungle, The Mighty Jungle...The Jungle Planet is my latest distraction sci fi idea I’ve started on the platform. I know it’s just more to my incredibly full plate of other stories and books I’m working on, but I really feel good about this story and want to keep chugging away on it. I’d love to get some feedback as it progresses, maybe even see if you (the reader) would love for its completion sooner. It’s about about a ship sent to collect oxygen for a company that manufactures air for various industries on Earth. The jungle world has vast quantities of renewable O2 that Earth desperately needs. It’s up to a young bio-scientist, Katelan, and the crew she’s with to collect and purify the air for human use.
The only problem with this endeavour is that the planet is full of floating pollen, spores, and tropical foliage that makes it hard to process. But there’s more to this world then just the pure source of oxygen. Something is on this world no one expected. Not even Katelan, who made it her mission to come here, will believe in the horror that awaits them all. Interested? Tell me what you think of this story, share it with others, and join the progress of this book chapter by chapter. You can check it out here. Outer Red Part 3 Audible on the way! Well, it's been a while hasn't it? But, I've been slowly plugging away on the final part of Outer Red. Part 4: At The End Of The Well is nearly done. Just a few more chapters and that book will finally be over with. It's been a long ride. And so, with that... I decided to continue the audible (audiobook) series, Part 3: The Last Of The Riding Hoods is being done by a totally different company. Sadly, I could not get into contact with Punch Audio Studios (no idea why). So now I'm trying out a new one called Electric Garden Company. They will add sound, two different narrators and will give the book a totally different feel.
I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll do. Hopefully, the readers/listeners will enjoy the added elements as well. I know most audiobook enthusiasts prefer just the reading... but, like I said, it's a totally different take. I hope you will listen and give me feedback on what you thought of it when it gets released. So, hang on folks, the end is near and the audio is on the way. Take care for now. |
AuthorJeff Walker - Distant Saga Trilogy: A Short Story Collection, The Mysterious World Of Professor Darkk And Miss Shadow, Outer Red and Your Service Is Required. Archives
December 2023
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