Army of Tomorrow Blog News with special guest Patrick Tomlinson and THE ARK

Welcome to this addition of Army of Tomorrow Blog News. We are a few days late this week do to some personal matters, but enjoy the read!

WINNER OF ELECTRIC GARDENS paperback giveaway from March-April is LAURA STOCKMAN

The contest for this April-May is a Robot 4-book paperback giveaway!Win all four of these books below simply by commenting on this blog! It is a post-apocalyptic-dystopian-survivalist-AI-robot-enthusiasts dream!

Feel free to check them out by clicking the image to the left on this blog. 

Special Guest Today is Patrick Tomlinson, author of THE ARK

Welcome, Patrick Tomlinson author of The Ark from Angry Robot Books. 

“There is so much good stuff wrapped inside The Ark: a locked-room murder mystery, bare-knuckle action, and the kind of hard-boiled science fiction that will make your brain pop. Climb aboard.”

– Adam Rakunas, author of Windswept

READ/BUY

A murder mystery set on a generation ship months from reaching Humanity's new home.

INTERVIEW:

When did you start writing stories?

PST: On a whim in 2009, I started writing a Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy fanfic novel. After a long and circuitous route, it became the bones of my first original novel, GATE CRASHERS, which is coming out in June from Tor Books.

What was your favorite book growing up? Now?

PST: As a kid, my favorite book was probably SPHERE by Michael Crichton. Then I saw the movie and it managed to wreck both of them for me forever. Now? SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD still stands out, but my tastes are constantly growing in new and unexpected directions. THE FIFTH SEASON and THE THREE BODY PROBLEM are both up there as well. Next month? Who knows.

If you could live anywhere in the world where money was not a factor, where would it be?

PST: New York City after they put it under a climate-controlled dome.

How did you come up with the story?

PST: The story of THE ARK literally came to me in the shower. I’d just finished watching a Discovery Channel show on the physical requirements and technological hurdles of building a generation ship and started thinking about what sort of people would be selected to live on one, how society, cultural practices, and laws would have to adapt to the limitations placed on the residents. Then I started thinking about what sort of people would step off the ship after a couple centuries. I had the book outlined within a few hours and got to work. Six months later, I had a rough draft.

What are your current writing plans?

PST: Currently, I’m smack in the middle of a three book contract with Tor Books writing sci-fi comedies set in a universe we’re calling The Breach. The first book, the aforementioned GATE CRASHERS, is a first-contact story with humans basically running around waving their dicks at the rest of the galaxy and daring them to do something about it. The next book, STARSHIP REPO, is exactly what it sounds like. I just finished writing it and it’s spectacularly ridiculous.

One word answers:

Horses, sharks, or eagle?

PST: Giraffe.

Robots, animals, or people?

PST: Animal/human hybrid cyborgs.

Simon and Garfunkel, Metallica, or Queen?

PST: Foo Fighters.

Novels, novellas, or short stories?

PST: I’m not much of a reader…

Morning, afternoon, or night?

PST: The equatorial region of a tidally-locked planet.

Thank you and good night!

PST: Thanks for having me on.

Thank you so much for joining us Patrick Tomlinson! We will have special guest WALTER RHEIN in May! 

  REVIEW for this Blog New is FOOL's GOLD

I don't normally go for a book like this, but I was very bored one day and saw it being advertised. My job has time between work where I can usually write or take notes and read books. So, I chose this for my week. It was definitely fun and put me in another space I don't usually go into. I had to  look around at times while blushing. LOL.

I wouldn't say it is the best slight erotic book out there, but if you were a Fifty Shades of Grey fan, which actually I was not, you would probably like this read. 

Warning: It is not a post-apocalyptic or dystopia and there are no robots;)

But it will make you wish you were alone reading it. LOL

READ/BUY 

EXCERPT from Electric Gardens:

READ/BUY

     “You are to report to the Confinement Center, for a meeting.”  

     Words like Confinement Center and meeting are never good. The Tins want to know something, something they think they will get from Kyle53.

     I stand too, beside my best friend. I see the sweat dripping from his neck; his breaths get faster, and his hands shake. 

     “What is this about?” I say loudly, to deaf ears.

     The Tin turns, with its grip still on Kyle53, and he has to comply, has to follow, or his arm will be ripped off from the socket. 

     “I’ll talk to you later, Lex!”

     “Later, it will all be fine. Just tell them what they want to know.”

     I say that for a good show. Kyle53 knows me well. I don’t want the Tins to know anything we know. Our secrets, are our secrets. The one thing we have that the Tins can’t take from us. The one thing that belongs to us solely. 

     My hands clasp the table beneath me, and I feel my chest huff a few times, shocked. I can think of a few things they might want to know. Why we were talking about our classes in my room; if he’s ever seen me go into the vents; if he knows where his sister is. 

     That’s got to be it. The Tins figure he is her brother. He’d be the one she’d reach out to if she returned to the Compound. Then again, maybe she’s lost somewhere on the outside, as far as the Tins know.

     I can’t finish my breakfast, and return my tray with the single thought, don’t let them break you. Don’t let them break you. 

I hope you enjoy this weeks Blog News and I'll see you again, twice as a matter of fact, next month! 

Any questions or comments can be sent to the author M.Black: touch-of-grace@hotmail.com 

Army of Tomorrow news welcomes Brett Savory and a New Release from M.Black

Welcome my Army of Tomorrow readers We have a lot of fun today! First up is the winner to the paperback giveaway for last month and then we have the new release ELECTRIC GARDENS from M.BLACK, followed by a spotlight and interview with BRETT SAVORY, and lastly a review of what M.Black is reading now. Enjoy the blog news for the week! 


The Winer of the ELECTRIC GARDENS paperback from last month is: LAURA STOCKMAN! Congrats girl! 

The New Release of the month is ELECTRIC GARDENS! 

After several world catastrophes, robots called 'Tins' have come to power.

Lexi019 knows them well. She's lived inside of a Compound ruled by Tins for the past twelve years, and maintains a strict schedule. After attending Electric Gardens classes, she learns that she will be transferred, as all eighteen-year-olds are, to serve the gardens for the rest of her life.

Instead, Lexi defies the Tins and looks for a way out. With her best guy Kyle53 at her side, and a couple of unlikely friends, Lexi eventually finds her way out of the Compound. 

But in the end, can she escape... or like all things in this artificial, post-apocalyptic world, be stuck under the Tins' power forever?

SPOLIGHT on BRETT SAVORY

The Perfect Machine

Henry Kyllo is a Runner, a member of a secret society called the Inferne Cutis. Every day he is chased through the city by Hunters whose goal is to fill him with bullets. It is a secret war steeped in history, tradition, and mutual fear.

Rumours abound about what happens when a Runner achieves ascension, but it has supposedly never happened before, so no one knows for sure. Except that it has happened before. And it is happening again.

This time, to Henry Kyllo.

File Under: Science Fiction [ Hunter / Killer | The Man Machine | Over and Over | Run, Rabbit, Run ]

MY 2 CENTS: This is such a cool idea, but of course I love well-written monster-robot stories. I recommend you take a look at his work and let me know what you think! 

INTERVIEW: BRETT SAVORY

Welcome Brett Savory, author of A PERFECT MACHINE from Angry Robot Books Publishing. 

“A destabilizing gutshot of science fiction, crime, and existentialism that will leave your head spinning well beyond the final pages of Henry Kyllo’s apotheosis. Savory truly delivers an inventive, disturbing, and unforgettable thrill ride.”

—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Little Sleep

INTERVIEW:

When did you start writing stories?

My earliest memory of writing a story is at age 11 when I wrote a tale called “Fright Night” for my 7^th-grade English class. I got the highest mark in the class for it, so I decided I should keep writing that kind of stuff. Ha! It was all about mutants, killer bees, haunted houses, and duplicitous brothers, and tons of machine guns. Very action-horror—kinda like A Perfect Machine, I suppose.

What was your favorite book growing up? Now?

My favourite book growing up was The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. My favourite now (barring any o the books we’ve published at ChiZine Publications) is probably American Psycho.

If you could live anywhere in the world where money was not a factor, where would it be?

St. Martin would be lovely!

How did you come up with A Perfect Machine?

It’s based on a story called “Running Beneath the Skin,” which was published in 2004 in the Penguin/Roc anthology Outsiders. I basically just took the opening, massaged it a bit, then expanded it from there on to novel length. As for the idea itself, I have no idea where that came from. Maybe from watching Tetsuo: The Iron Man.

What are your current writing plans?

I’m half-way through my 4^th novel, Lake of Spaces, Wood of Nothing. Once that’s done, I fire it to my agent, and we see if anyone wants a weird Lynchian spy thriller!  :-)

One word answers:

Horses, sharks, or eagle?

Sharks.

Robots, animals, or people?

Robot animals! (Totally cheating.)

Simon and Garfunkel, Metallica, or Queen?

Metallica (but only up to 1988).

Novels, novellas, or short stories?

Novels (though I do love a great short story, of course).

Morning, afternoon, or night?

Afternoon (if the sun’s out; if not, night).

Thank you and good night! 

Thanks for having me!

Review of what M.Black is reading now:

THE FERRYMEN

I have been reading THE CULLING, THE AUTHORITY and have just finished THE FERRYMEN.

I have to say I really liked this series. I got way into book one and had to see what happens. I think book two is my favorite, just because I really liked how Dahn was fleshed out with his tortured love issues. 

I would give book one four stars, books two five stars and book three four stars. 

Essentially, there is a culling that happens to keep the solar system in check and our main lead is one of those who culls. She eventually finds the corruptness behind it all and 'bad guy' and this leads her to joining the rebels who are called the Ferrymen. But now she has to pretend to be a culler and pretend she still works for the Authority. 

There is a love triangle with our main girl, a guy from the Authority and a guy from the Ferrymen, but this is a backdrop not the main story. It is not a romance, but you do get a sense of feelings from the three characters. I really liked Dahn the best personally, but you will see who she ends up with at the end of book three which concludes the series.

Recommend you to check it out!

Solid four star series!

FREE

Well, that concludes this blog new! Hope you enjoyed it and I'll talk to you two weeks from now. I hope you keep reading!

  M.Black

ELECTRIC GARDENS eBook Giveaway

ELECTRIC GARDENS eBook Giveaway!

5 copies are up for grabs! 

Contest ends February 15th.

Enter by commenting on this thread! 

Look out for the public release March 15th, and the paperback giveaways! 

Army of Tomorrow Blog News

Welcome to the Army of Tomorrow Blog News. 

Win the paperback set of EXOTIQA WORLD, books 1-3 by commenting on here: WIN Exotiqa!

If you want to check out the book to buy, please click EXOTIQA

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Exciting stuff is happening. The ten minute Animal Graph script for the pilot show on Amazon Prime is done, now Amazon just has to accept it! The writers and I are planning a twelve part season one broken up into ten minute episodes. The short is the new hot thing.

What do you think? Feel free to comment. Would you watch a ten minute episode of Animal Graph?

Animal Graph and the 6 part series is also going to be on tour with RockStar Book Tours from Feb 12th-16th and 19th-23rd. Please stop by and post comments on the stops. I will post the link for you to see all stops in February.

In the meantime feel free to check out the series that readers are calling a "Concept never read before" and a "Hunger Games meets Dr. Moreau" here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072M7BVXR

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In other news, Quantum State, an A.I. Dystopia where the powerful A.I. controls all decisions inside the small town of Cherni, will be on tour with RockStar Book Tours Feb 19th-23rd and Feb 16th-March 2nd. I will post the link to stop by in February. 

Quantum State went free last week and hit the top of the charts #2 Hard Science Fiction, #4 in YA Dystopia and #2 in YA Survival Stories. Read a sample here: Quantum State 

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New Years Recipe for the cold:

I am a fan of veggies and chili! So, I came up with a recipe I love and have been using for years. I wanted to share with you all because I'm that generous!

 As many of you know I am mostly vegetarian, except for occassional fish, so here is an easy peasy veggie four bean chili that you are sure to love!

You can buy beans fresh or canned (I prefer canned because it is faster). 

1 can black beans

1 can of white beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can chickpeas

1 can of roasted corn

1 cut large onion, sauteed

1 large can of roasted tomatoes

2 cut fresh medium tomatoes

1 jar of pasta sauce (I prefer Publix Vodka or herbs)

1 can of coconut milk (add the secret ingredient last)

Optionals: 1 can mushrooms, 1/2 bag of cooked and cut carrots

Put them all into a big pot. Warm and stir.

Flavor:

Add pepper, salt, tumeric, paprika, mexican pepper or hot pepper, chili powder or cayenne, all to taste.

Optional: Tarragon for a more exotic flavor. 

When all cooked for about ten minutes, serve. 

Optional: Add parmesan cheese on top.

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Update: 

This month I will be releasing the 6 book Box Set GRAPH WORLD on the 15th of January, along with ELECTRIC GARDENS on Kindle Scout. I will give you links to both when the time comes, so you can check out Graph World and vote for Electric Gardens. All reads and votes help! 

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                       NEW RELEASE: 

Forever Elf is essentially a YA Elf Romance Action-Adventure Fantasy. Here is the link: FOREVER ELF

Forever Elf 2 will be out next month. Join an adventure of a lifetime with Michael meet Evelyn and she draws him into her mystical world in the forest. Twilight meets Lord of the Rings!  

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MY REVIEW of CREWEL

I loved the beginning and it drew me in, but about 1/4 into the story I wasn't sure if this was for me because of the fantastical premise of weaving space and time. I also was not happy with the lack of descriptions on what this actually entitled, but for paranormal and fantasy fans they will likely be more satisfied. By the middle though I was engrossed and wanted to know what would happen next. About 2/3 of the way done, we are told that they are not living on Earth and so this helped me to better justify this fantastical premise. I did enjoy this story, and I thought the world building and characters were suitable, though not fully done.

I am interested enough to read book two and I think that is the goal of all authors. In that extent, she did succeed!

M.Black

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My book picks for this week:

If you are a fan of paranormal you definitely want to check out this box set!

Find it here: SIGILS and SPELLS

This looks yummy. I'm not typically a fan of paranormal romance, but it does look good. Find out more here: Dracones

For those of you looking for something more on the SFF side, try this top seller: Hell Holes

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That is it for now gang, and I hope you enjoy something and learned something!

Till next time!

M.Black 

SPHERE FREE today only!

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"LIKE EXOTIQA THERE IS A MIXTURE OF EMOTIONS THAT GO THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE STORY AND GETS YOU THINKING THAT QUITE POSSIBLY IT MAY ACTUALLY HAPPEN IN THE REAL WORLD" -AMAZON REVIEWER

"THESE BOOKS ARE GREAT. AS WITH THE OTHERS, I COULDN'T PUT THIS DOWN. NEW FAVE AUTHOR" -AMAZON REVIEWER

"ANOTHER GREAT READ!" -AMAZON REVIEWER

Divergent meets iRobot. ENTER TOMORROW with this YA Robot Cyberpunk Dystopian novel

EXOTIQA 1
THIRTY 1.5
SPHERE 2

With machine advancements embedded within human bodies, the questions of social inequality and prejudice come to light...

A year after the events of Exotiqa, Fione and Maci, are now facing ImaTech’s latest threat, the Humanbot program. Under the careful eye of Russell Wagner, this won't be easy. 

With Sector Spheres keeping watch on Fione and her best friend Spear joining the rebellious Vigilante group, Fione has to trust Pix more than ever. But is his allegiance to the human race the same as hers?

Find out in the conclusion to EXOTIQA, the top #100 YA Dystopian seller!