Nicholas Ponticello's Blog

A modern sci-fi satire about biotech, grief, memory—and one man’s very strange delivery job.

Do Not Resuscitate is 99¢ this week only.

Grab it now on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VKSQFIC

Jim Frost thinks that when you’re dead, you’re dead. Gone. Finished. Kaput. But on the eve of his seventy-third birthday, his daughter suggests he have his brain downloaded to a microchip for safekeeping, and Jim is forced to consider what it really means to die—and what it might mean to live forever.

Winner in the 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards and semifinalist in the 2015 Kindle Book Awards, Do Not Resuscitate is the firsthand account of Jim Frost, an aging misanthropist who witnessed the rise and fall of the United States as a world power, the digitalization of the planet, the advent of the water wars, and the near collapse of the global economy. Yet he remains impervious to it all. Concerned more with his plasma TV, high-speed Internet, and continual supply of hash, twentysomething Jim takes an under-the-table job off Craigslist delivering mysterious red coolers to strangers in cafés in an effort to pay the bills. But when Jim’s enigmatic employer asks him to fly to North Korea for a delivery, Jim starts to wonder what he’s gotten himself into.

Do Not Resuscitate received honorable mention at the 2015 Green Book Festival, which spotlights “books that contribute to greater understanding, respect for and positive action on the changing worldwide environment.”

Winner, Reader Views Reviewers Choice AwardWinner, 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year AwardWinner, 2016 CIPA EVVY AwardsFinalist, 2016 Next Generation Indie Book AwardsSemifinalist, 2015 Book Pipeline ContestSemifinalist, 2015 Kindle Book AwardsHonorable Mention, 2015 Green Book Festival

$0.99 SALE! As systems fail, secrets unravel, and love and typhus spread in equal measure, this satirical space opera becomes a darkly comic tale of survival, betrayal, and hope.

THE MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE DESTINY UNKNOWN

www.amazon.com/dp/B01C2334GO

It is two hundred million years into the future, and Earth is devastated by a dying sun whose expanding photosphere has melted the surface of the planet and driven humans underground. In this world, humankind is doomed to extinction. But Marcus Fincus thinks he can secure the survival of the human species. He selects a small crew of brave voyagers from the insignificant but determined planet Earth to set out in search of a new home.

Their ship, the Destiny Unknown, is designed to take care of everything. Every meal is regulated to the ounce. Every mile is charted and mapped. Everybody has his or her own unique role in this microsociety: doctor, teacher, electrician, engineer. Then the inevitable happens: the passengers start to behave as people. The captain seduces half the women on the ship, his wife develops a neurological disorder, their sixteen-year-old son runs away in the escape pod, and the doctor dies in a freak scalpel accident.

The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown is a dark parable about the nature of human existence. Told from the perspective of an alien observer who follows our heroes like an unsympathetic reporter from National Geographic—he refuses to intervene when our heroes come face-to-face with deadly meteor showers, alien cannibals, and other crises that threaten to destroy them all. Funny and philosophical in its treatment of human nature, The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown not only seeks to understand the place of humans in the universe—it also seeks to address the looming question: What makes us so special?

This week, Satan’s Diary is on sale for $0.99 for a limited time, so now is the time to grab or gift a copy if you haven’t yet. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.

“A gripping read.”

“Had me NEEDING to read more.”

“It had me hooked.”

“I loved this book.”

“Clever and entertaining “

“Cheeky” and “irreverent.”

I appreciate all the support my readers have shown me. If you’ve already read the book, please leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

So order your copy now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F7G1W5PF

Heaven has been modernized. Angels carry iPhones. God is taking antidepressants and seeing a therapist in London. The Devil lives in the East Bay, serves coffee to university students, and flies kites at the Berkeley Marina. A retelling of the fall of Satan from the point of view of the Prince of Darkness himself, Satan’s Diary follows Lucifer from ancient Mesopotamia to twenty-first-century America in his quest to understand the human race.

Lucifer is God’s attempt at perfection. But Lucifer betrays God to live among the mortals on Earth, making enemies of God and God’s many followers. Lucifer is just like you and me, looking for love in all the wrong places and trying to eke out a living on a quickly evolving planet. But when Lucifer falls head over heels for a mortal girl amid the seventeenth-century witch trial madness, he must risk everything for a shot at true love. Instead of bolting, as he has been doing for thousands of years, he must stay and face his true nature.

Today I’m featured on the Queen’s Book Asylum blog. I talk about my love of junk food, my trip to Paris, and my struggle with mortality. Check it out at the link below.

Satan’s Diary: Interview with Nicholas Ponticello

Another milestone! SATAN’S DIARY is Amazon’s #1 Hot New Release in Angel Paranormal Romance! Order your copy right now to help me keep it #1.

https://www.amazon.com/Satans-Diary-Nicholas-Ponticello/dp/B0FDWRVJYR

OMG! Satan’s Diary just hit #1 on the Amazon Top New Releases Mythology list! That blows my mind. Help me keep it there by preordering your copy right now! Every preorder counts toward staying on the top new releases list!

www.amazon.com/dp/B0F7G1W5PF

Satan’s Diary was an interesting retelling of the fall of Lucifer and the other angels from Lucifer’s point of view. I loved how the big ancient …

Review of Satan’s Diary by Nicholas Ponticello

I sat down with Emily from Emily’s World of Design this week to talk about the process of designing covers for books. Emily has designed two of my book covers so far, and I’ve been thrilled with the results.

NP: How did you conceive of the cover design for Satan’s Diary?

Emily: The inspiration for the cover of Satan’s Diary came by reading the questionnaire that [you] filled out. The stained glass effect that [you] wanted to have on [your] cover was something that I loved from the first moment. It was something that could be used throughout the whole series and it was very unique because there are not a lot of covers with stained glass effect out there. As the setting for the book, [you] mentioned The Garden of Eden which was used as an inspiration to use the snake on the cover.

NP: Why did you choose the color scheme  you chose for Satan’s Diary?

Emily: The color scheme was inspired by the classic stained glass colors ( blue, gold, green ).I didn’t want to use all of them so we can use them in the next book in the series. The addition of the dark background was important for the title to stand out especially on a thumbnail size.

NP: Does the genre of the book make a big difference in how you design the cover?

Emily: Yes, genre is very important when designing a cover. You don’t want to trick people into buying a book thinking it is one genre and then it turns out to be another. My process is very similar regardless of the genre, I am just looking for different stock photos that can work for the cover and the atmosphere of the cover that fits the genre and the current trends in that genre.

NP: How much input do you get from authors when creating a cover design?

Emily: I have a very detailed questionnaire that I ask the author to fill out before we start with the design. It helps me to get info about the book they wrote so my design can be in cohesion with what they wrote. It helps me to get inspired and to find out what are the main elements or characters of the book. Then my task is to combine all of that into one balanced cover that both looks great, attracts the eye of the readers and fits the story authors wrote.

NP: What genres do you specialize in?

Emily: I design covers for books of all genres except children’s books. I love and enjoy working on the covers of all genres from romance to fantasy to thrillers and horrors. Regardless of the genre, I love getting the opportunity to work with an element that I haven’t used before because then it is a new challenge for me.

NP: Do you have a cover design you are most proud of?

Emily: This is a difficult question which I can’t answer specifically. There are so many of them and my answer could vary depending on the day you ask me. I gave my 100% on every cover that I worked on so I look at them with different eyes, and I am emotionally connected to all of them. You can take a look at my portfolio on my website so you can decide which one is the best for yourself.

I am thankful that I got to design every cover that I designed and I hope to get to do this for the rest of my life.

NP: If someone wants to contact you about your services, where should they go?

Emily: The best way to reach out to me is through my website www.emilysworldofdesign.com or my email which is emilysworldofdesign@gmail.com.

NP: Thank you so much for sitting down to answer a few questions. I hope lots of people discover your work through this interview!

More free books! This collection of non-human characters in fantasy and scifi includes lots of great free reads, including an advance reader copy of SATAN’S DIARY. Go download your copy while it’s free!

https://books.bookfunnel.com/nonhumanpov/299mlsz4ek

Who doesn’t love free books? Here’s the Books to Read in Bed promo (with SATAN’S DIARY among those listed) where you can download any book for free (including mine)!

Go find your next free gem!

https://books.bookfunnel.com/booksinbed/7tfw7hurri