Die Empty by Kirk Jones

Lance is a middle-aged man stuck in a loveless marriage and a life with no meaning. His sedentary existence has packed on the weight, both physical and mental, and he envies his successful and fit neighbor who may be banging his alcoholic wife on the sly. The Grim Reaper shows up to recruit Lance into brainstorming new ways for people to die.

Kirk Jones tells the story in second person, thus forcing you to take on the role of Lance. In chapter one, Jones dumps you into Lance's life. Jones systematically tears down Lance's pitiful attempts to find meaning in a world of soulless consumerism. Lance knows that his life is pathetic, but he lacks the self-esteem—or even friends—to find a way out of it, so he trudges on, looking for something, anything, to jolt some life back into him.

Fortunately for the reader, the Grim Reaper shows up in chapter two to give Lance a way to escape what author Danger Slater perfectly describes as "suburban ennui." Seeing this as an opportunity to escape his misery, Lance accepts.

The pace picked up, and it seemed like the story was headed in a direction I was hoping it would go, but then it veered off into a different direction. While Jones does a fine job with second person storytelling, I could never connect with Lance. Jones would write that you (Lance) would do something and my reaction was always, "I wouldn't do that." All I could do was shake my head and hope that Jones would have the Grim Reaper show up because those were the best parts.

3 stars

Die Empty was published by Atlatl Press.

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Just to be clear. This book was not submitted to us. I went out and bought it on my own. Now, back to hibernation!

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The Liminal Zone by Richard Abbott

Nina Buraca, investigator of possible signs of alien life, has heard tales of mysterious events on Pluto's moon Charon, where a science outpost studies extrasolar planets. Facing opposition from her colleagues, she nevertheless travels from Earth to uncover the truth. Once there, she finds herself working with a team of people who have many secrets. To make progress, she has to take sides in an old dispute that she knows nothing about. Can she determine who – or what – is really behind the name "selkies" that the station's staff have given to this uncanny phenomenon?

The Liminal Zone is the third book in Abbott's Far From the Spaceports series, and like the others, it's a standalone. While the first two books (Far From the Spaceports and Timing) featured the same characters, this one introduces us to a whole new cast with a completely unrelated plot. It isn't necessary to read those first two to read this one, but if you like The Liminal Zone, you should check out the others.

For those unfamiliar with this series, humanity has colonized the solar system, and artificial intelligence (AI) has come to fruition. Space travel has improved, it still takes weeks, sometimes months, to travel from one celestial body to another. As such, there's a bit of self-governance each place enjoys, and adults are very much in charge. No dystopia here.

AI entities work alongside humans and have personalities that are barely distinguishable from them. Just as the gods of Mount Olympus suffered from the same emotional shortcomings as humans, so too do Abbott's AIs. As such, people and "personas" work together, live together, and form friendships. They're each other's besties. When Nina announces to her persona, Aquilegia, that she's headed to Charon to investigate the Selkie mystery, the latter balks at going. A fight ensues, and the two of them break-up. As theirs had been a six-year relationship, Nina is devastated and feels very much alone.

All the while that Nina investigates the mystery, her encounters with other people and personas and exploration of the Charon settlement and surface, she can't help but reflect on her feelings. She's the outsider trying to fit in among a group of people. Some are paired up; some work alone. Some are friendly; some stymie her every move to make progress on either the mystery or fitting in. The story is very much an introspective journey as well as an investigative one.

Having a character journey over 30 AUs to find herself may seem unusual, but is it really any different than someone traveling halfway round the world? You go where the path leads you. I confess that I was more interested in the secrets Nina strove to uncover than her personal journey, but I chalk that up to being in a healthy relationship for 26 years. One last thing I'd like to point out is that I haven't read this much about characters drinking tea since Ancillary Justice. I kid. All of this makes for a charming read. Having taken us to the asteroid belt, Mars's moons, and now distant Charon, I'm wondering where Abbott will travel to next.

4 stars

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Just to be clear. This book was not submitted to us. I went out and bought it on my own. Now, back to hibernation!

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DED

Cover Story - David Drazul

I started a discussion on the topic of book covers on this blog eight years ago. I was disappointed that many indie authors were put in the position to sell their stories with sub-par book covers. Budgets tend to be tight unless the author's household income makes covering living expenses a breeze. Finding an affordable cover of decent quality can be tough. I asked several indie authors what route they took to get their covers and presented their stories here. I dug up affordable book cover designers and shared them with readers of this blog.

Today, I'm sharing my story. I'll try to keep it short.

When I finally gave up on traditional publishing as an avenue for my first novel, I searched for affordable graphic designers but couldn't find any. I was looking at $2,000—a non-starter. The pre-made covers available at the time didn't convey anything relatable to the story. I posted to an RPG messageboard I was active on at the time and found a guy who was eager to jumpstart his illustrator career. I got what I wanted for one-tenth the price.

I loved it when it was made, but I'll admit that, a decade later, it looks dated. Image design and editing software has improved so much. Textures and lighting are more realistic. You name it: It's improved.

As I've struggled to finish writing the sequel, I hoped that redoing the cover for Armistice Day might light a fire under my ass. Spoiler alert: It hasn't. Even beyond the pandemic, the rioting, and toxic politics, I've had my share of personal tragedy which has weighed heavily upon me. I decided to find a new cover anyway.

I've seen a ton of wonderful art on Pinterest and DeviantArt. I didn't want to commission a new piece, but rather wanted to pay someone for their existing art. Again, working with a somewhat limited budget. I approached one artist but was ignored. I looked through Shutterstock to see if I could find some images to purchase for a graphic designer to synthesize into something greater than the sum of its parts. No dice there. But one day while perusing through the pre-designed images over at goonwrite.com, I found it.

The original artwork is by Tithi Luadthong and was posted to Shutterstock. And the full image has been utilized as a wraparound design on the print version. It was great working with James again (He did the cover for my short story collection). I've got that old feeling of cover love again! I mean, what's not to love about a fully licensed piece of fabulous original artwork as the cover for my book?

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Book Cover Sale

The sale is over, but I'm leaving the post up to: 1) remind indie authors that there are good/great and affordable book covers out there and 2) that this blog has a little more life to it than a Norwegian Blue Parrot. ;)

Hi all! I hope everyone is safe and sound during this pandemic. The folks over at goonwrite.com were hit with varying degrees of Covid-19, but fortunately they all seem to have recovered. One of them, David, runs a t-shirt business that had to close down as various sectors of the economy worldwide have taken a hit. To raise some quick cash, they're having a 50% off sale on his pre-designed book covers. If you're an indie author who thinks that she might be buying a cover this year (or next), have a stroll through the listings (all genres represented on the page) and see if any work for you. You can buy now and have the final work done at a later date. I have no idea how long the sale will last, so have a look this weekend!

For the record, no one here on the podlerstaff gets any sort of commission for sales nor are we compensated for posting this sale info here. I (David Drazul) just like the work they do. I've bought two covers from them: one several years ago and one just this week.

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