STARFLIGHT PUBLISHED!

[RonCo]

You're a tough negotiator.

[RonCo]

Time marches on, right?

The next bit of exciting news is that Book 2, STARBURST has just gone live everywhere. Read about it and find links here.

Now, on to that pesky Media Guide ... and then there's book three in January, and the thriller, and book 4, and ... grin.

Here's the cover, BTW ....

[RonCo]

And, here's the announcement for book 3 and where to find it!

...and just to explain my semi-silence around here the past couple weeks, I'm being totally swamped with (a) getting these done...it turns out I'm splitting book four into two pieces...which is a wise decision, but a tough one to do this late... (b) trying to participate in OOTP beta stuff now that the iron is hot... (c) dealing with a very fun situation wherein a publisher is asking me to consider another project... (d) running my little 250 person astronomy club... and (e) pretending to have a life.

Not really an excuse, I suppose...but a few reasons. [grin]

Here's the cover...

[recte44]

Check this out:

Off Topic

Collins, Ron, Starflight, Starburst, Books One & Two of Stealing The Sun, Skyfox Publishing, 2016. I had an unusual experience reading these two books. Ron asked me to provide a blurb for the second book in this series, even though I hadn’t read the first.

Now, understand, I rarely provide quotes for novels. I don’t have a lot of time to read, and once a writer-editor starts providing quotes, she’s stuck, either saying no to everyone and his dog, or reading a whole pile of stuff she hates because she’s not gutsy enough to say no. Lesson learned back in the 1990s. Someone asks for a quote, I say no.

Unless that someone is Ron Collins.

I’ve read Ron’s work since before he sold his very first short story. I remember his work arriving across my desk when I was editing. I always looked forward to whatever he had to offer, even before his craft had caught up to his idea machine. Once those two things combined, and he added powerful storytelling to the mix, Ron went from writer to watch to writer to read no matter what.

He’s a staple of Analog, and he appears a lot in Fiction River. He’s written some of my favorite stories for Fiction River, including one of my favorite stories in Tavern Tales (the current issue), “Hero #8.” Amazing, excellent stuff. The byline says “Ron Collins,” and I’m so there.

So, I read Starburst first. It stands alone. It starts with a bang and is impossible to put down. I finished it in about a week, while trying to do other things, which was highly annoying, because I had hoped I could just scan it. Nope. No. No way. I had to read.

And then, when I finished, I asked Ron how many other books were in the series. At that point, he had just published the first book, Starflight. (Starburst wouldn’t be out for another month or so.) I gobbled up Starflight and read it just as fast as I read Starburst.

Here’s the thing: I have a lot of trouble finding science fiction novels that satisfy me. Either I want to rewrite it and “fix” it (in other words, do it my way) or I poke so many holes in it that I stop enjoying the book halfway through. I can sustain my disbelief for 100 pages, but after that, whoa, is it hard–if the characters aren’t good. (And often, in hard sf, they aren’t good.)

Ron’s characters are great, his message is great, his vision is great, and holy smokes, can he tell a story. Pick up this series, but take it from me. Start with Starflight. You’ll be happy you did.

- See more at: http://kriswrites.com/2017/02/04/recomm ... IvH36.dpuf

[RonCo]

Aw, shucks. < kicks the ground >

I wrote a little about that on the blog, too.

I'm massively slammed right now, but trying to keep up with the exports (exported today). My 5 book series bloomed to 6, I've got a SF/Thriller coming out in a couple days that I need to support, and I'm prepping for an intense late February Workshop, and a late March trip to LA that should be a little less stressful but still time consuming. At that point I should be back to my semi-normal self. Whatever that is.

Ultimately, that almost certainly means there will not be a Media Guide this off-season.

[RonCo]

Just catching up. While I've been gone we've seen these things hit print:

STARCLASH, Book 4 of Stealing the Sun
The Knight Deception, More political thriller than SF

and, today:

STARBOUND, Book 5 of Stealing the Sun ... which has a cover I really kinda dig:

[RonCo]

Please don't take this as a push in any way, but if you happen to have interest in STARFLIGHT, Book 1 of this series, and you've been thinking "I'm going to pick that up someday..." today or tomorrow would be appreciated. There's a bit of a small run happening on it now, and every push helps.

If you're not an SF guy, then never mind anyway.

Here's the Amazon link, in case it helps...

[bschr682]

Please don't take this as a push in any way, but if you happen to have interest in STARFLIGHT, Book 1 of this series, and you've been thinking "I'm going to pick that up someday..." today or tomorrow would be appreciated. There's a bit of a small run happening on it now, and every push helps.

If you're not an SF guy, then never mind anyway.

Here's the Amazon link, in case it helps...

Pitch it to me.

[RonCo]

What happens when a career-locked systems leader discovers his commanders are willing to sacrifice an intelligent species to protect their careers?

Commentary:

"I don't even like Ron, and yet I read this book in one sitting straight through...I literally couldn't put it down." (Genius)

"Well done" (Jimmy Hopkins)

"My 12 year old son read it and when asked he said, 'actually...it's really good,'" (Mike's kid)

[bschr682]

Boy I dunno. If Stu likes its bound to be terrible right?! haha

[RonCo]

therein lies the problems with blurbs...try these (since I'm having fun, and being able to type them here blows my own mind):

“Ron Collins is one of our best hard science fiction writers—a novel from him is a major event. Enjoy!”
Robert J. Sawyer
Hugo Award-Winning Author of Quantum Night

"Great characters I cared about, a kick-ass plot with surprising twists, great techie details, and a powerful story. Pick up Starburst. I guarantee you won't set it down until you’ve read every last word."
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Hugo Award–winning author of the Diving Universe

“Ron Collins covers the spectrum with clear prose, compelling characters and settings, and a bright imagination.”
Kevin J. Anderson
New York Times bestselling author of ETERNITY’S MIND

“STARCLASH proves once again that Ron Collins is a master of the science fiction adventure story—not the crazy stuff you remember from the pulps, but the kind of interstellar adventure that has believable characters, plotting that makes sense, and a future that rings true."
Mike Resnick, Hugo Award–winning author of Kirinyaga

[felipe]

Ok Ron, will do

[RonCo]

Technically, you can help by picking up any in the series. REviews always help, too. But seriously, don't grab anything you're not actually interested in reading.

[RonCo]

Here's a very cool opportunity that STARFLIGHT is included in. Love SF books? Consider picking up the bundle and a chunk of change goes to support AbleGamers.

[allenr]

Done!

[RonCo]

Thanks! Hope you enjoy them all!

[allenr]

Enjoyed Starflight. On to the others from the bundle, but will definitely be picking up the remainder of the series.

Cheers.

[RonCo]

Among the other things going on around here...

STARCRASH, Book 6 of Stealing the Sun is finally available for pre-order. Official publication is December 1.

Here's the obligatory cover shot...

[Ted]

Oh good. There's more. I didn't want to be an annoying fan, but I was wondering.

[RonCo]

Actually, my expectation was the the story would be done after book 6, but the damned thing said there were really a total of 7 ... unless it's lying to me and there are 8.