Donald J. Bingle October 2022 StoryBundle, Book Festival, TikTok Vids, Promos, and More |
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Locked and Loaded Military SciFi StoryBundle The Locked and Loaded Military SF Bundle - curated by Kevin J. Anderson:
Whether it's service in the galactic marines, or defending Earth from an alien invasion, or traveling with the Federation fleet to protect a new colony, Military SF always gives readers a great story.
This new Locked and Loaded Storybundle, curated by bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson, contains fifteen action-packed books across the whole range of Mil SF. Galen's Way by Richard Paolinelli "Wow! Heroic Fiction is not dead! Characters with beginnings both humble and great, that develop in believable ways and actually move the plot forward rather than simply being cardboard cutouts witnessing events. Ideas and ideals honorable and grand, a bold sweeping ride that is hard to put down and will leave you hungry for more. We will mention him among the greats like Heinlein, Asimov, Tolkien and Correia, if this grand vision of the future is completed as well as it has started." – Reader review Ashes Fall by Richard Fox "All of the action and intensity that I love from the Ember War universe on full blast, I can't wait for the next one!" – Amazon review Recruit by Jonathan P. Brazee "Well written coming of age tale, a boy becomes a Marine. Loved the combining of various historical Marine Corps into one while retaining their significance. The technology is impressive but, nobody can close with and destroy the enemy as well as a Marine infantry unit. The characters are well developed, I "knew" someone like these guys. Kudos, Colonel, on a job well done. I plan on spending my liberty money on the rest of your stories. Semper Fi!" – Amazon Reviewer INVASION by Jerry Shepard "Another awesome fast-paced and action-packed sci-fi adventure. The storyline was very believable. The characters were easy to identify with and get behind. I really like this book and I highly recommend it." – Reader review Renegade Magic by Jennifer M. Eaton "This story was so excellent! I adored the crew … In this case, the "Firefly" aura is awesome, because I automatically adore the crazy crew members who feel like old friends. This is a fun yet serious and well done story line where, despite the best intentions, the enforcers also can be unjust. … It gives readers something to think about while also keeping us amused… I look forward to more of this series. I'm loving it!" – Emily Pennington, Top 500 Reviewer Gehenna Dawn by Jay Allan "Started reading and thought, no, don't think I'm going to get into this - then after a few chapters, couldn't put it down. Brilliant story of courage, survival and betrayal - have just purchased Portal Wars II, and can't wait to go to bed and start reading it!! Well done, Jay Allan - and congrats on your fantastic Crimson World series, which was awesome." – Reader review Forced Conversion by Donald J. Bingle "Visceral, bloody — and one hell of a page turner! Bingle tackles the philosophical issues surrounding uploaded consciousness in a fresh, exciting way. This is the debut of a major novelist — don't miss it." – Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author White Ops by Declan Finn "While some writers of science fiction neglect humor, Declan Finn embraces it." – Amazon reviewer The Magnetar by Jo Boone "I hate gushing in my reviews because I worry people won't take them seriously, but Magnetar deserves all the gushing. I laughed and cried and reread the awesome parts. The worldbuilding is detailed and believable. The aliens are fascinating, and the supporting characters feel real. I devoured Magnetar in too short a time and had a massive book hangover afterward. Charlie is a wonderful main character, and her adventures appear to be just starting. I look forward to book 2! I read Magnetar in KU but bought it to reread." – Dr Susan, Internet Reviewer High Mountain Hunters by William Alan Webb "The characters are believable, the pace is excellent and the idea is gripping. Very hard to put the book down." – Thomas Lee The Signal Out of Space by Mike Jack Stoumbos "One of the best xenofiction books that I've read!" – Mikhail Karadzhev Stars Like Cold Fire by Brent Nichols "This entertaining novel is a fast-paced military adventure... full of political intrigue and drama." – Publishers' Weekly Double Tap - Sever Squad Books 1 & 2 by A.R. Knight "I was transfixed all the way through the story. The concepts in the story are very imaginative and made me wonder how someone can think of the scenarios. Can't wait to continue reading the next stories." – Reader Review |
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Yep, that picture is a QR code. Most of my readers are familiar with them, but if you are not, it's kind of a fancy bar code that lets someone point the camera of their smartphone or tablet at the square and it will automatically ask you if you want to go to the website that the QR code is set for. I've got one for my website, but this particular one is for the Military SciFi StoryBundle I'm participating in. I'm super-charged that my first novel, Forced Conversion, is one of the base books in the bundle, along with best-selling authors like Kevin J. Anderson, but you should get all 15 of these military science fiction thrillers right now for one low price. Check it out. |
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Don't forget, I'll be participating in the Louisville Book Festival in downtown Louisville, Kentucky on October 28-29, 2022. I'll be happy to chat with you about any of my books and stories, sell you print copies of the books in my Dick Thornby Spy Thriller series (Net Impact, Wet Work, and Frame Shop), tell you how to easily access copies of my other books and stories (as well as Familiar Spirits, the ghost story anthology I edited--just in time for Halloween), and converse about writing in general. |
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| | My Fall Project: Posting Videos on Reels and TikTok to Promote My Stories and Books I'm an old guy and not particularly attuned to the latest fads in social media, but I'm not dead yet and I try to keep up on what works and what doesn't work re the independent author marketing. Oddly enough, TikTok (and Facebook's Reels) have emerged as one of the least expensive ways for indie authors to find an audience, most particularly for book series in Kindle Unlimited. I can't say that I fully understand why an audience which watches endless videos is a great target for finding readers or why videos of something as mundane as flipping the pages of a book while text flashes by is motivating to download those books, but all of my research says that it is--sure, it works best for selling spicy romance, but it can have success for other authors as well. So, a week ago, I downloaded Canva so I could start making videos and started posting them on TikTok and Reels. As for my other social media, you can find me @donaldjbingle. So far, my performance has been minimal to moderate. While Reels has been pretty consistent, my videos on TikTok have veered from just a few views to more than five hundred. I've had several videos promoting Familiar Spirits for Halloween, one pretty-much-unwatched video about my Writer on Demand story collections, and the video linked to the pic above introducing myself as an author who you might want to follow. As with most experiments, I'll be trying various things to see what works and what doesn't. Can't really say I've seen any book sales impact yet, but it takes time to build followers and views, so we shall see. ' If you are on TikTok or watch booktok videos, please consider giving me a follow and let me know what you think of my various experiments. Halloween Reads It's fall, with Halloween fast approaching. That makes it the customary time to put a special push on for horror books and stories. For me, that means giving a shout-out to Familiar Spirits, the ghost story anthology, as well as The Love-Haight Case Files, Books 1 & 2, the urban fantasy/horror/mystery/legal procedural series (with a touch of action, romance, and comedy) that Jean Rabe and I co-authored about two lawyers representing the legal rights of supernatural creatures in modern day San Francisco, where magic has returned. But I've also got a few other horror stories, like: Tales of an Altered Past Powered by Romance, Horror, and Steam; Shadow Realities; Crimson Life / Crimson Death; and Blind Spot. But, my fellow authors have plenting of offerings, too. You might want to check out the following: Entomophobia, by Sarah Hans. Here's what I had to say in my Amazon review: I've long been impressed with Sarah Hans' short fiction, so I picked up her first book with great expectations. Sarah delivered on those expectations, plus more. This is creepy, raw, psychological horror that is not only totally original in concept and vivid and brutally honest in execution, but has such credible dialogue and such a fluid narrative flow that it makes for a compelling, fast, and devastating read. (I read it in a single day, turning each page wondering--and a bit afraid of--what would happen next.) Certainly among the best horror novels I have ever read. Highly recommended. | | |
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| | (continued from previous column) Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter, by Christine Verstraete. Here's what I had to say in my Amazon review: Historical horror fiction is a very difficult thing to pull off well. Stick too close to the actual details of the case and you are competing with true crime, which is in many ways a much more disturbing genre. On the other hand, if you push the fictional envelope too far you run the risk the tale will veer toward silliness and camp or come off as mere window-dressing for a purely fictional horror tale. Verstraete does a fine job of intertwining the historical details of the Lizzie Borden tale, broadening and deepening our understanding of what really happened, while placing it in a context which encompasses all of the grit and ghastly horror of classic zombie tropes. At the same time, she manages to capture the essence of the historical era with language choices, character motivations, and rich, descriptive flourishes that feel right for the period, without being so bound to historical rhetoric that the narrative loses the pace modern audiences need or becomes difficult to parse. I found the first half of the book especially compelling, as the narrower focus on Lizzie's situation, and the inquest and trial following, make the story a bit more intimate and ultimately more credible. While broad, even apocalyptic, horror can be truly frightening and credible, the broader a tale of historical horror goes, the more difficult for the author to maintain a level of terror at a subconscious level with believability. This means the author of large-scale historical horror must rely more upon ramping up the action, body count, and squick factor. Verstraete clearly understands this tension, heating up the action sequences as the trial ends and the story broadens. Ending was satisfactory, though it could have been a bit tighter and tied up a few more details, but an altogether good read. Sure, it's not War & Peace (of course, neither is Moby Dick), but if you are looking for a review of historical horror or zombie fiction, this hits all of the buttons you are looking for. Well-written, well-edited, well-researched, and well-constructed to deliver what those of you reading this review are probably looking for. Creature Feature, by Steven Paul Leiva. Here's what I had to say in my Amazon review: Steven Paul Leiva has a writing style which has mostly disappeared from modern genre fiction. Avoiding both the graphic action-soaked pace of some tales and the plotless and tedious exposition of other alleged tales, he instead gives readers fun, smart-alecky characters doing wild and sometimes silly things in advancement of an understandable plot, all told with witty narration, laugh out loud wordplay, and wry observational humor, plus a touch of social commentary. Relaxing, enjoyable, and intellectually satisfying, which is more than you can say about most books these days. Take a look. Dr. Cushing's Chamber of Horrors by Stephen D. Sullivan. Despite a lifetime of traveling with their father to collect strange artifacts, twins Topaz and Opal Cushing have never fully believed in monsters or the supernatural. Oh, sure, they share an eerie psychic connection, and their tarot card readings often come true, but… Werewolves? Vampires? Living mummies? None of those could be real. Those legends are just for rubes. Right? Since the girls’ father has been away, though, strange things have been happening in the family’s little exhibit—and in the waxworks studio that shares their dilapidated Victorian mansion on the outskirts of London. Now, the twins’ dreams of a fun, romantic summer season are turning into a nightmare, and the monsters are running... | | |
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As holiday shopping season approaches, please keep in mind that if you access Amazon through my affiliate link (above) or the link of your favorite author, they get a few cents for each purchase (at no cost to you). Support independent authors. Bookmark the link so you don't forget. |
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I also did a panel for ConTinual recently on ghost and monster hunters. You can find it here. |
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The Love-Haight Case Files, Omni Edition of Books 1 & 2 The omni version of The Love-Haight Case Files is now available. With all eight cases from Books 1 and 2 in one volume, the omni edition is one impressively long book. You can get the ebook here. And, just like the separate volumes, Kindle Unlimited subscribers can download for free. You can even get the omni version in an impressively hefty, 794-page print version here. |
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Madame Maudelynne was a sought after psychic reader who joined a beloved travelling circus in the 1860s. It was in that very circus that she fell in love with her soul mate. Who wasn't human. When her soul mate died, she slipped into a deep feverish fervour. And started channelling an important secret about what was coming... The New Way. From then on, she sees it as her mission to prepare people and the world for the coming of Venus and The New Way. An intriguing short story for lovers of historical and occult or gothic fiction. Venus is coming. Are you prepared? |
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Review Codes Available for Audible Audio-Book Copies of Net Impact and Wet Work Explosions, Action, Spycraft, Intrigue, Conspiracies, Family Strife, Adventure, More Explosions! Dick Thornby is not Hollywood's idea of a spy. He's got a wife, a kid, a mortgage, and a boss who thinks he's too fond of explosives. I've got some codes left which will allow reviewers to get a free audio-book copy of the first two of my Dick Thornby Thrillers. All you have to do is email me at orphyte@aol.com and request a code. Preference for Wet Work codes for those who tell me they've actually already read (and, hopefully, reviewed) Net Impact. Quantities are limited and given out entirely at my discretion. If you want a taste before you ask, check out the link below. Read the Opening of Net Impact for Free. |
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Donald J. Bingle is the author of seven books and more than sixty shorter works in the horror, thriller, science fiction, mystery, fantasy, steampunk, romance, comedy, and memoir genres. His books include Forced Conversion (near future military scifi), GREENSWORD (darkly comedic eco-thriller), Frame Shop (murder in a suburban writers' group), and the Dick Thornby spy thriller series (Net Impact, Wet Work, and Flash Drive). He also co-authored (with Jean Rabe) The Love-Haight Case Files series (a three-time Silver Falchion winning paranormal urban fantasy about two lawyers who represent the legal rights of supernatural creatures in a magic-filled San Francisco; Book 2 just came out). Don also edited Familiar Spirits (an anthology of ghost stories). Many of Don's shorter works can be found in his Writer on Demand TM collections. Get the audiobook version of Net Impact at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes and the audiobook version of Wet Work at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes. Full disclosure: Various links in my newsletter or on my website may include Amazon Affiliate coding, which gets me a small referral fee (at no cost to you) if you purchase after clicking through. |
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