L. Joseph Shosty's Blog
December 31, 2018
Now on Wattpad
Big news, big news. I'm moving a number of my properties over to Wattpad. This includes both of my current series, Achilles & Swiss (sf) and The Hardwood Case Files (noir/mystery). These will be followed by two others, Lay of the Plagueflesh (sword & sorcery) and A Season of Worms (fantasy) when they are ready for publication. Other properties may get posted, as well.
Today, I'm releasing the first chapter of Operational Costs, the first Achilles & Swiss story. It's an 8-part serial which I'll update every Monday until it's done. When it completes there will be a week of inactivity after which I'll begin posting new chapters of the second story, Present Value, followed later in the year by the third, Amortization. These three novellas will be collected before the end of 2019 as General Ledger, which will be the first printed book in the series.
If you're interested and haven't given Operational Costs a look yet, feel free to do so. It's a throwback to the Golden Age of science fiction, complete with rayguns, rocketships, and clunky robots. If you're more the modern video gamer type, think of the plot as a man being forced to play a real-life pay-to-win video game.
https://www.wattpad.com/story/1712898...
Today, I'm releasing the first chapter of Operational Costs, the first Achilles & Swiss story. It's an 8-part serial which I'll update every Monday until it's done. When it completes there will be a week of inactivity after which I'll begin posting new chapters of the second story, Present Value, followed later in the year by the third, Amortization. These three novellas will be collected before the end of 2019 as General Ledger, which will be the first printed book in the series.
If you're interested and haven't given Operational Costs a look yet, feel free to do so. It's a throwback to the Golden Age of science fiction, complete with rayguns, rocketships, and clunky robots. If you're more the modern video gamer type, think of the plot as a man being forced to play a real-life pay-to-win video game.
https://www.wattpad.com/story/1712898...
November 9, 2018
Ebooks at Smashwords
My ebooks are now free at Smashwords, including newly-published electronic edition of my collection, Old Wine & Black Hearts.
Drop by the site and download everything. Oh, and don't forget to rate and review here on Goodreads. Thanks, and good reading!
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Drop by the site and download everything. Oh, and don't forget to rate and review here on Goodreads. Thanks, and good reading!
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
December 9, 2017
Ebook Giveaway
I'm giving away free ebooks until December 24th.
If you're on Facebook and want to participate, follow the link below for more details.
https://www.facebook.com/shostyis1337/
It's ebooks only, and the formats available are .mobi, .epub, and .pdf.
Have a happy holiday season, everyone.
If you're on Facebook and want to participate, follow the link below for more details.
https://www.facebook.com/shostyis1337/
It's ebooks only, and the formats available are .mobi, .epub, and .pdf.
Have a happy holiday season, everyone.
July 10, 2016
Operational Costs
It's a thing. If I make one of my ebook exclusives free, chances are, I'm going to make another free soon afterward.
And so it goes with my novella, Operational Costs, which is now free to download through Amazon.com until Thursday, 7/14.
Operational Costs is the novella that starts a series about a mercenary in the far future who has been hired to steal a precious religious idol from a temple on an alien world. In the backstory, he has learned that the unions have a stranglehold over the small portion of the planet humanity has negotiated to occupy, and because of this, the mission has become more difficult. Why? Because the human's treaty with the planet's indigenous race, the Quell, stipulates that certain technologies can't be brought down from space. Much of that tech, like a chameleon suit, would make our hero, Achilles', journey much easier. He also finds that he can't bring the rest of his gear, the legal stuff, but must either buy or rent everything he plans to use on this op. In short, the mission is bleeding him dry even before he's begun.
To make matters worse, anyone not affiliated with a union must rent the B9-ED model robot for the length of their stay. The model is a walking vending machine of potentially useful items offered at a ridiculous mark up, yet another means the unions employ to punish independent contractors, or scabs.
However, Achilles' unit, who likes to be called Swiss, is no mere company store, designed to keep workers like Achilles poor. It is a fascinating, if often frustrating, being, dedicated to helping Achilles in his mission. Together the two plunge into an ancient forest, dodging Quell and battling creatures with horrific-sounding names (lots of x's and z's) on their quest for the idol. But it's when they reach the temple itself that the real adventure begins...
The Achilles & Swiss series is planned to be between four and six books, each of them collecting several adventures (some even novel-length). Operational Costs will eventually be collected with its sequel into a print edition called General Ledger, the series' first book, which will either be published later this year or early 2017. The novella is also scheduled to appear in my collection, Trouble My Bones. I'm offering it now to introduce readers to the world before the print edition hits the shelves. After that, it's likely that Operational Costs will no longer continue to exist by itself so I can offer General Ledger as an ebook.
On a side note, The Achilles & Swiss stories exist in a much larger 'verse, called Exo-Terra. Other stories of mine appearing there are the soon-to-be-published short stories, "The Crippled Sucker" and "A Mystery for a Mystery", as well as the novellas, "Five Out of Texas" and "The Big'un", and the novel, The Whore Had Bat Wings. So, keep an eye out for these stories, and y'all enjoy!
https://amzn.com/B00WFJO2CG
And so it goes with my novella, Operational Costs, which is now free to download through Amazon.com until Thursday, 7/14.
Operational Costs is the novella that starts a series about a mercenary in the far future who has been hired to steal a precious religious idol from a temple on an alien world. In the backstory, he has learned that the unions have a stranglehold over the small portion of the planet humanity has negotiated to occupy, and because of this, the mission has become more difficult. Why? Because the human's treaty with the planet's indigenous race, the Quell, stipulates that certain technologies can't be brought down from space. Much of that tech, like a chameleon suit, would make our hero, Achilles', journey much easier. He also finds that he can't bring the rest of his gear, the legal stuff, but must either buy or rent everything he plans to use on this op. In short, the mission is bleeding him dry even before he's begun.
To make matters worse, anyone not affiliated with a union must rent the B9-ED model robot for the length of their stay. The model is a walking vending machine of potentially useful items offered at a ridiculous mark up, yet another means the unions employ to punish independent contractors, or scabs.
However, Achilles' unit, who likes to be called Swiss, is no mere company store, designed to keep workers like Achilles poor. It is a fascinating, if often frustrating, being, dedicated to helping Achilles in his mission. Together the two plunge into an ancient forest, dodging Quell and battling creatures with horrific-sounding names (lots of x's and z's) on their quest for the idol. But it's when they reach the temple itself that the real adventure begins...
The Achilles & Swiss series is planned to be between four and six books, each of them collecting several adventures (some even novel-length). Operational Costs will eventually be collected with its sequel into a print edition called General Ledger, the series' first book, which will either be published later this year or early 2017. The novella is also scheduled to appear in my collection, Trouble My Bones. I'm offering it now to introduce readers to the world before the print edition hits the shelves. After that, it's likely that Operational Costs will no longer continue to exist by itself so I can offer General Ledger as an ebook.
On a side note, The Achilles & Swiss stories exist in a much larger 'verse, called Exo-Terra. Other stories of mine appearing there are the soon-to-be-published short stories, "The Crippled Sucker" and "A Mystery for a Mystery", as well as the novellas, "Five Out of Texas" and "The Big'un", and the novel, The Whore Had Bat Wings. So, keep an eye out for these stories, and y'all enjoy!
https://amzn.com/B00WFJO2CG
July 3, 2016
Yet Another Promotion
July 4-8, you can get my mystery two-fer, Gomes & A Murder of Confessions, free on Amazon.com.
I've long been a fan of mystery fiction. My first real reading obsession was The Hardy Boys mystery books, begun in the third grade. My school library had the entire original series, and I read most of them in a single school year. After Hardy Boys I moved straight to Sherlock Holmes. I had an omnibus edition of the entire series, and I read it cover to cover. After that I moved to fantasy, science fiction, and horror for more than a decade, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the genre.
So, celebrate the 4th of July with a good book. I think you'll like it.
https://amzn.com/B00SU75IPM
I've long been a fan of mystery fiction. My first real reading obsession was The Hardy Boys mystery books, begun in the third grade. My school library had the entire original series, and I read most of them in a single school year. After Hardy Boys I moved straight to Sherlock Holmes. I had an omnibus edition of the entire series, and I read it cover to cover. After that I moved to fantasy, science fiction, and horror for more than a decade, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the genre.
So, celebrate the 4th of July with a good book. I think you'll like it.
https://amzn.com/B00SU75IPM
June 20, 2016
The Mystery of Bob Solomon
Just got back from Comicpalooza in Houston, Tx, where the strangest thing happened.
After checking in at the hotel Friday night, we went up to our room expecting to relax a little before bedtime. From the moment we opened the door, we noticed something was wrong. First, the hotel room was cold. Usually there's a default temperature for rooms not in use, like 75 F, and you make it colder or hotter once you've checked in and gotten to the room. This one was about as cold I like to keep mine, which is somewhere hovering around 66 to 68 F.
When we flipped on the lights, we saw that one of the queen-sized beds was unmade. I looked around and found a lightly packed overnight case. My son found a pair of pink trainers (about men's size 11s), loose change on the desk, and a few other odd details. My sister-in-law, who was visiting, found prescription medication in the bathroom.
The wife called the front desk to tell them that we'd been given someone else's room, and that someone was obviously still a resident. The S-in-L found the man's name on the meds. We'll call him Bob Solomon to protect the innocent. Bob apparently had made a reservation for the night before, but had reportedly never shown up. He was never checked in, yet he somehow got hold of a key card, which was sitting next the loose change, and he had apparently stayed at least a little while in the room, as evidenced by the way he had spread out. The bed appeared to have been slept in, yet there was no Bob Solomon to be found. This was at about 9:30 at night, a time I would have expected most reasonable people to have been in their rooms, an iced beverage sweating on the bedside table and the TV playing some inane police procedural.
So what happened to Bob? It's a question that's likely to occupy my mind like other greats, such as "What is the Riddle of Steel?" and "What does God need with a starship?" How did he get the key card without getting checked in? Why wasn't he in his room? Did he leave as mysteriously as he arrived, and, if so, why didn't he take his stuff with him? Where's the body? And, what did he to do to the KGB to warrant a death sentence? We may never know.
After checking in at the hotel Friday night, we went up to our room expecting to relax a little before bedtime. From the moment we opened the door, we noticed something was wrong. First, the hotel room was cold. Usually there's a default temperature for rooms not in use, like 75 F, and you make it colder or hotter once you've checked in and gotten to the room. This one was about as cold I like to keep mine, which is somewhere hovering around 66 to 68 F.
When we flipped on the lights, we saw that one of the queen-sized beds was unmade. I looked around and found a lightly packed overnight case. My son found a pair of pink trainers (about men's size 11s), loose change on the desk, and a few other odd details. My sister-in-law, who was visiting, found prescription medication in the bathroom.
The wife called the front desk to tell them that we'd been given someone else's room, and that someone was obviously still a resident. The S-in-L found the man's name on the meds. We'll call him Bob Solomon to protect the innocent. Bob apparently had made a reservation for the night before, but had reportedly never shown up. He was never checked in, yet he somehow got hold of a key card, which was sitting next the loose change, and he had apparently stayed at least a little while in the room, as evidenced by the way he had spread out. The bed appeared to have been slept in, yet there was no Bob Solomon to be found. This was at about 9:30 at night, a time I would have expected most reasonable people to have been in their rooms, an iced beverage sweating on the bedside table and the TV playing some inane police procedural.
So what happened to Bob? It's a question that's likely to occupy my mind like other greats, such as "What is the Riddle of Steel?" and "What does God need with a starship?" How did he get the key card without getting checked in? Why wasn't he in his room? Did he leave as mysteriously as he arrived, and, if so, why didn't he take his stuff with him? Where's the body? And, what did he to do to the KGB to warrant a death sentence? We may never know.
May 30, 2016
Book Signing
At 2 p.m. Sunday, June 12th, I will be participating in a panel at Barnes & Noble in Beaumont, TX. The subject will be non-traditional publishing as part of their event for promoting an interest in teen/YA fiction. Local actor, writer, and film director, Paul Bloyd, will moderate, and I will be joined (so far) by another local author, Kenneth Deville (the Copper, Texas series and Real Love).
Immediately afterward, I will be signing copies of my two collections, Old Wine & Black Hearts and Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar. I'm inviting everyone to come and participate in what is sure to be a fun Q&A.
And don't forget to check out my Amazon.com giveaway (see previous blog post). There's still some time to try and win an electronic copy of my collection, Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar.
Old Wine & Black Hearts: http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Black-Hear...
Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar: https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Immedi...
Immediately afterward, I will be signing copies of my two collections, Old Wine & Black Hearts and Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar. I'm inviting everyone to come and participate in what is sure to be a fun Q&A.
And don't forget to check out my Amazon.com giveaway (see previous blog post). There's still some time to try and win an electronic copy of my collection, Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar.
Old Wine & Black Hearts: http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Black-Hear...
Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar: https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Immedi...
May 24, 2016
Giveaway
I'm giving away copies of my story collection, Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar, on Amazon. To enter, you need an Amazon account and have a device capable of reading Kindle (.mobi) files. If you don't have such a device, the Kindle App is free for download.
Yep, this is a giveaway for ebooks only. If this giveaway goes well, I'll likely do a print copy soon. Keep watching around here, or like me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/shostyis1337).
Good luck to everyone who participates, and please feel free to let others know about the contest.
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/d98c65d...
Yep, this is a giveaway for ebooks only. If this giveaway goes well, I'll likely do a print copy soon. Keep watching around here, or like me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/shostyis1337).
Good luck to everyone who participates, and please feel free to let others know about the contest.
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/d98c65d...
May 4, 2016
Getting Back Into It
Haven't been on Goodreads in a while. After losing my mother to cancer last year, there was a period where I wasn't doing much of anything, but when I started writing again, it was with a focus. Being on a site like Goodreads didn't factor into that. By May or so, I wasn't doing my reading challenge, like I had in the past, and I wasn't rating or reviewing the few things I was reading at the time. I did keep busy, writing and publishing a few things here and there, and keeping up with my Facebook page.
So, an update. I've published two collections in the past year, Old Wine & Black Hearts and Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar. I've written a supplement for writers, called Wicked Words, which is in edits at the moment and should be out in a month or two.
And I'm editing two novels. One is called Ataraxia & Aponia, which I've mentioned before, either here or on my Facebook page. It's about an Epicurean science fiction writer at odds with modern mores and technology, and the struggles he goes through as he begins his first novel after several successful short stories have garnered him a small amount of fame. The other is the first volume in a massive sf novel called The Reader, the Rouse, the Pounder, and the Move. The first volume, called Waterbeard is Beneath the Tomb!, is set on a human-settled world in the far, far future as mankind in all of his intergalactic forms emerges from a Dark Age. It combines my love of MMORPGs with space opera into a slam-bang adventure story. No idea when they'll be out. Hopefully this year, but I'm not rushing things.
Finally, a link. This is an interview I did with fellow author TP Keane, about my collection, Old Wine & Black hearts. I hope you enjoy it.
http://tpkeaneblog.blogspot.com/2016/...
So, an update. I've published two collections in the past year, Old Wine & Black Hearts and Wizards for the Immediate Cheddar. I've written a supplement for writers, called Wicked Words, which is in edits at the moment and should be out in a month or two.
And I'm editing two novels. One is called Ataraxia & Aponia, which I've mentioned before, either here or on my Facebook page. It's about an Epicurean science fiction writer at odds with modern mores and technology, and the struggles he goes through as he begins his first novel after several successful short stories have garnered him a small amount of fame. The other is the first volume in a massive sf novel called The Reader, the Rouse, the Pounder, and the Move. The first volume, called Waterbeard is Beneath the Tomb!, is set on a human-settled world in the far, far future as mankind in all of his intergalactic forms emerges from a Dark Age. It combines my love of MMORPGs with space opera into a slam-bang adventure story. No idea when they'll be out. Hopefully this year, but I'm not rushing things.
Finally, a link. This is an interview I did with fellow author TP Keane, about my collection, Old Wine & Black hearts. I hope you enjoy it.
http://tpkeaneblog.blogspot.com/2016/...
May 4, 2015
Free Ebook
Now until May 8th, my short mystery twofer, Gomes & A Murder of Confessions, is free on Amazon.com. If you're interested, give it a look. Fans of Herbie's Diner will certainly enjoy it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SU75IPM
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SU75IPM
