Space Opera With a Twist

Category: Announcements (Page 1 of 5)

Winter is Here

We woke up to a carpet of white stuff this morning, only a few days after I put our snowman folk art statue we call Mister Winter by the front door. Though this first snowfall of the season is unlikely to remain on a ground that’s not yet frozen, it marks a drastic change from the balmy, September-like weather we’ve had for the first part of November. Oh well. I’m not a winter person. Never have been, never will be. But when you live in the Great White North, you get to be a person experiencing winter whether you want to or not.

On the writing front, Fear No Darkness (Ghost Squadron #4) is slowly inching its way to the three-quarters completion mark but I don’t see a December release as realistic any more. Mid to late January seems to be the newest release date. There’s just so much going on in the story that it’s taking me longer than expected. I also have a high level concept of the next, as of yet untitled, Constabulary Casefiles story, which I’ll start working on once I complete Fear No Darkness.

And that’s about it from here. Stay safe and healthy, my friends.

Decker’s War in audio format

Though it’s been slowly percolating through the online ecosystem for the last 3-4 weeks, the audiobook version of Death Comes But Once has finally reached Amazon and Audible, the biggest retailers in the audiobook game, so consider this the official announcement. The following link will take you to the retailer selection page:

https://books2read.com/DeathComesButOnce?format=audiobook

The narrator, Henry Jones, did a great job and he’s now working on the second Decker’s War book, Cold Comfort. Our plan is to have the entire series done by the autumn of 2023 by Henry.  I know some of you are thinking, what about the Siobhan Dunmoore stories that haven’t been produced in audio yet? We’re working on a plan to get those done over the next year or so as well.

It’s Almost Here!

Good news! Ashes of Empire: Imperial Ghosts is done, was blessed by my editor, and has gone through the pre-production process.  We’ve followed a more rigorous release plan this time around — as some of you may have noticed, I announced a July 5, 2022 release date last week. Well, that release date still holds, but the book is now available for pre-order pretty much everywhere ebooks are sold and will be released in a few days. Here’s the link:

https://books2read.com/imperialghosts

The Amazon paperback version can be ordered from Amazon right now as well, although the other print versions (paperback from other than Amazon retailers, hardcover and large print) won’t be made available for order from your favorite book merchants until later this coming week.

And in other good news, I’m past the one-third mark writing the next Siobhan Dunmoore adventure, On Stormy Seas. So that’s something you can look forward to in late summer or early autumn.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.

A Change for the Better

A few minutes ago, I officially moved the blog to my thomsonfiction.ca domain at the address

https://blog.thomsonfiction.ca/

What this means is that I am now in full control of my blog’s domain and readers of the blog will no longer see advertising. If you follow my blog or are an email subscriber, I have migrated you to the new blog, meaning your transition should be seamless. If you’re a casual reader, please update your bookmark to the new address. All posts, pages, links, images, etc have also migrated to the new blog.

This blog entry is the last that will appear on the old ericthomsonblog.wordpress.com site. All future blog posts will appear on the blog.thomsonfiction.ca site.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.

Another Step Forward

My editor started work on Ashes of Empire: Imperial Echoes yesterday, which means, barring any unforeseen issues, it should come out later this month, perhaps in synchrony with an eagerly awaited spring. Mind you, this winter hasn’t been exceptionally cold and we didn’t get as much snow as some years, for which most of us are grateful. Temperatures today and tomorrow will remain well below zero, but judging by the weather forecast, we’ll see the annual melt start on Monday. At this rate, the first day of spring might even be green rather than white. In any case, keep your eyes on this space and on the other internet places I frequent for updates on Imperial Echoes.

While my editor’s doing her thing, I’ll take a little break, enjoy my hobbies and let the next book take shape in my mind. At this point, it looks like it’ll be a seventh Siobhan Dunmoore adventure. If so, we can expect it to come out sometime in mid or late summer – again, barring any unforeseen events.

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, fellow humans. Peace.

A New Addition

Sharp-eyed readers might have noticed a new menu item above called “The Sanddiver Bookstore.” And it’s exactly what you might think. An online shop under my publisher banner offering my novels in Kindle and Epub formats. If there’s a book of mine you haven’t yet read, are comfortable with side-loading ebook files onto your reading device and would rather keep a dollar (US) in your pocket than hand it over to Amazon, Apple, Google, and the other big retailers, check it out by following this link:

The Sanddiver Bookstore

Happy Halloween and Happy Blue Moon. Stay safe, fellow humans

Farewell, Little Friend

The last of our three terriers passed away this afternoon, at the age of thirteen years and five months precisely. Though he was a wee little dog, he had a big dog’s spirit, and a wonderful soul. We’ve known for a few weeks he likely wouldn’t see another summer, and when he suddenly took a turn for the worse yesterday afternoon, we knew he wouldn’t see Christmas either. Yet we hoped it was just a passing ailment. It wasn’t. Shortly after two this afternoon, I let him out not knowing it would be the last time. He basked in the sun for a few minutes, did his business, then came back into the house. I picked him up to hold him and felt him die in my arms, just like that.

As deaths go, his was a quick and painless one, and it was natural rather than a result of euthanasia like our older dogs. And both of us were there with him at the end. We will miss and mourn our little friend, our constant companion for the last thirteen years, but to paraphrase George S. Patton, we will be thankful that he lived. However, for the first time in over twenty years, we won’t be sharing our home with at least one dog and that will take a little getting used to.

Kodo

7 May 2007 – 7 October 2020

He was a wonderful dog.

The End

Yesterday, I wrote the final sentences of Hard Strike (Decker’s War Book 7).  When I’m putting down a first draft, I rarely know where my characters will take me and the story, and this time was no exception.  Hard Strike‘s ending surprised me quite a bit.  Until a few days ago, I had no idea it would turn out as it did, but perhaps I should have seen it coming.  This is Zack Decker we’re talking about.  His adventures always have a twist.  I won’t say anything more.  You’ll just have to read it when it comes out in the new year.  I still have a few weeks of revising before my editor takes over sometime around mid-January.  And then there are the holidays.  I have an agreement with Mrs Thomson:  the two week period around Christmas and New Year’s Day are non-working, even for a sometimes hyperactive author.

What comes after Hard Strike?  For starters, my next project is Ashes of Empire: Imperial Twilight which I hope to see published around the late April, early May time frame.  Then, the sixth Siobhan Dunmoore of course.  And I’m mulling over a fresh idea that doesn’t involve the Commonwealth/Empire universe featured in each of my books, but that’s still in the embryonic stage. 

If you’ve joined my mailing list, watch your inbox sometime late January 2019 for the announcement that Hard Strike has hit the virtual and physical bookshelves.

It’s Here!

The latest Siobhan Dunmoore adventure, Without Mercy, has been published.  The link below will take you to the ebook’s landing page where you can select your preferred retailer.  Some retailers take longer than others to process a new title, so if you don’t see your favorite, give it a day or perhaps even two.

Without Mercy (Siobhan Dunmoore Book 5) – ebook

The paperback and hardcover versions are also available on Amazon and should appear elsewhere in the next few weeks.

Without Mercy (Siobhan Dunmoore Book 5) – Paperback

Without Mercy (Siobhan Dunmoore Book 5) – Hardcover

 

 

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