My Favorite Artist

It's raining in Henderson today and the forecast is for showers all week. Yeah, I know, we need the moisture. In an environment that is habitually dry an occasional shower sort of breaks the monotony of so many glorious sun-filled days.

I get asked a lot about the books and especially about the covers. My son Christopher has been my cover artist since the first book was published. He is easy to work with, gets my ideas in a heartbeat and has never missed a deadline. Now he is working on some "fan art" and will bring to life some of my fictional characters for the world to see. He sends me all of his sketches and notes, and he has his own art page on deviantart. In the future I plan to share some of his work, some of his "pre-cover" sketches with my followers here.

Christopher at the Grand Canyon, photo by R. Jones.

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The new Belt Loop novel will be available sometime tomorrow (10/5/2011) and once again I would like to tip my hat to my favorite artist!

http://mawnbak.deviantart.com/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SC002S

New Month

Greetings to all. Well, October is upon me and I have two things staring me in the face. The first: my birthday is this month and I'm not so much enthralled by the two very crooked numbers looking at me. Oh well, it could be worse. There is only one remedy to stop the aging process and I'm not quite ready for that cryogenic tank yet, too much dang work to do. Secondly, I have to put The Belt Loop (Book Two) to bed. The book finished at almost 97,000 words and all of the editing has been done. I only have to go back and check a few continuity facts from Book One to make sure that my facts in Book Two agree with those previouly published.

Finishing a novel is a major undertaking for me. It starts with an idea, is nurtured through its growing pains, it reaches a pleasant old age and then it gets published. Not many other endeavors have given me the same feeling of accomplishment.

The Great Ashtray Nebula © 1991 R. Jones
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It's hard for me to believe that this drawing of mine is now 20 years old. Boy, time really flies when you're having fun.

Look for The Belt Loop (Book Two): Revenge of the Varson to be available on October 5, 2011. Continuing with the saga starring Captain Haad, Commander Yorn and the rest of the crew of the Corpus Christi, find out what happens to them as they limp back into port and run smack into a Varson uprising.

When Book Two goes live I will post the appropriate link here.

Robert.

Book Cover

The Belt Loop (Book Two) is in the final stages and here is a look at the new cover created by my son Christopher A. Jones. Yeah, lots of battles in this one as things get serious in the Fringes. . .

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Look for the new book on or around October 5th, 2011. Don't fall behind in your reading, get Book One today and start reading it so you'll be up to speed when the second installment hits. Action and adventure with a twist, things to keep you awake at night, a good read.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HRNKA8

Sneak Peek: The Belt Loop (Book Two)

      “We are at the re-building stage, Galnal. I know that as well as any. But my concern is focused on what we are re-building for. It took us, as a race, hundreds of tanuude to get where we were, masters of our domains in space, masters of this arm of the galaxy. It only took a couple of alien bombardments for us to lose that status. The people are not used to being told what to do, being told where to go, what is permitted travel, what is not. The humans did not elect to occupy any of our worlds which to me was a sign of weakness. Their blockade of our territorial space is thin and porous. What we do now must shape our future as a species, and that future should not be clouded by the ashes of war or the overbearing domination by another race.”
      “And I agree with what you just said. But until we can effectively find a way out of this bottle, find a way past the blockade, how do you see us regaining what we have lost?”
      Phatie grunted. “It is your lack of vision that disturbs me most, Galnal. You were appointed by the Orduud politicians; I reached my position by way of battles won. We seem to be at an impasse here about the future of the Malguur. Do you not agree?”
      “You seem to forget that I served in the Hyfuur campaign, eminence. My experiences there led me to where I am now.”
      Phatie stood quickly and yelled, “Your experiences on Hyfuur! What a joke! What did you do, Galnal, hop the first ship out of the system when the bombs started to destroy your birthplace? You certainly didn’t rally any resistance to the incoming Elber Fleet.”
      Galnal stood and leaned in. “What you say is pure rubbish. We were outnumbered and our ships were no match against the humans. I did what was necessary to survive, as did many.”
      This insubordinate geluur, thought Phatie, summoning up the most outlandish curse he could think of. He reached down and opened one of his desk drawers. When his three-fingered hand came out of the drawer it was holding a high-powered projectile weapon. “Survive this,” he said casually as he pulled the trigger.
      A loud report filled the room and Fleet Uurgud Wan Galnal grabbed at his chest. His hand almost disappeared into the gaping wound. He looked at his eminence with a quizzical stare before he crumpled to the floor, his ceremonial sword making a clattering racket as it fell with him.
     Phatie walked around the desk and kicked the sword away with his boot. “You’re not fit to wear this, not even in death,” he said.

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The above dialogue takes place between the Supreme Military Commander of the Malguurian Armed Forces and one of his underlings. Things didn't go well for poor Wan Galnal.

When asked later by one of his staff members how Ganal took his demotion, Bale Phatie replied:

      “He took it in the chest.”

Look for Book Two to be published before the 10th of October.

Tomorrow's post: The new cover by Christopher A. Jones (my son, Yay!)

Update: The Belt Loop (Book Two)

I've been very busy the last two weeks getting the second installment of The Belt Loop ready for publishing. It should be right around 100,000 words and continues the saga from the first book.

Lot's of interesting things in this story, as much of it is told from the other side: the alien perspective. Needless to say, the Varson Empire is not a happy place to be. Humiliated in their short war with the humans some ten years back, the Varson plot and plan their retribution against the Second Fleet of Elber Prime and the action is non-stop and riveting.

And, as is typical of stories from the twisted left-side of my brain, there are a lot of plot twists and the tale eventually comes to a rousing finish with a lot of sustained battles taking place between the warring fleets.

I am hoping the book will be ready sometime during the first week in October, 2011, depending how much time is devoted to edits and re-writes.

Nest post: Excerpt from The Belt Loop (Book Two): The Varson Uprising.

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The Omega Point © 2000 R. Jones

Check out my books at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HRNKA8
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YTMNUS
Artwork at:
http://DeeVade.deviantart.com/

New Month, New Challenges

Okay, here I am again, looking at a new month. Last month was a rush, getting the new novel done and published, and I expect this month will be even busier. Now that I have pretty much all the time in the world to write I find that it is a good way to pass the time and it satisfies my creative compulsions.

I talked to my illustrator (my son Christopher) and detailed what the next book cover should look like. I gave him a month to work on it and I hope to have The Belt Loop (Book Two) finished sometime in the first week of October. Yeah, I know, a little ahead of schedule. But why wait? I want to strike while the iron is hot and since Book One is selling well (for me, anyway) I figured that a quick-released sequel will further cement my vision of the Loop into my readers' minds. Can't hurt. As usual, the new chapter in this space-opera will be loaded with action, humor, and plot twists. Amazing, huh?

Zero-Gee Plumbing © 2007 R. Jones

In The Works

I am really encouraged by the initial success of  The Belt Loop (Book One). The five-star review went a long way to help push the book up the sales chart and I look forward to another super month of writing and reading.

At this juncture, with two manuscripts in the formative stage, I've decided to put The GOD Machine on hold until I finish the second book in the space opera series. Now that the characters have been fully developed and the story line firmly established, writing the sequel will be a piece of cake. I'm already 15,000 words deep into the story of Book Two and the opening part, the first seven chapters paint a very dismal picture from the other side of the canvas -- from the alien's perspective.

They are not pleased with the defeat handed them by the Second Fleet of Elber Prime over ten years ago. So they plot, they plan, they get really hyper and seek revenge. Having three planets destroyed by atomic weapons from orbit will tend to do that to a species.

The Belt Loop (Book One) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HRNKA8