Tag: Of Mortal Creatures

Of Mortal Creatures Gets Significant Update

On By cadreonepublishingIn angry ghosts series, Black Hawks From a Blue Sun, Of Mortal Creatures, publishing, Science Fiction1 Comment

Hello from Texas!

Some publishers are content to kick back and relax while this virus thing sorts itself out. Not us! We know it is waaaaaay too easy to lose a week with porch sitting and adult beverages, so we’re keeping noses to the grindstone.

Now that the Angry Ghosts series is a wrap (after ten years in the making), we’ve gone back and looked over our earlier titles. Sure, we made them the best we knew how. But we are also green as sprouts with shoestring budgets. We can do better.

Black Hawks From a Blue Sun was the first to get a needed update, and has since gone live. Same cover, but much better inside.

Of Mortal Creatures has gotten the business, inside and out. You’ll find a smoother book block interior and a refreshed cover. See it here first!

In the meantime, stay healthy (and sane, if possible) while we wait out the COVID-19 pandemic. Brighter days ahead!

-C.O.P.

 

Of Mortal Creatures Updated

On By cadreonepublishingIn angry ghosts series, New release, Of Mortal Creatures, publishing, Science FictionLeave a comment

OMC Cover FIXED

Soon after release, we noticed there were a few things not quite right with our latest offering, Of Mortal Creatures.

Now, we’re pleased to report those issues have been addressed. Since it was under the knife, anyway, OMC benefitted from another pass through the editorial gauntlet. We all agree this is the polished version our readers deserved from day one.

The updated Kindle version has been uploaded to Amazon and is available now.

Revised files have been submitted to our printer along with a punch list of defects requiring attention. These changes should process within the next couple of weeks. We’ll ship out replacement copies as soon as humanly possible.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience, and we thank you megatons for sticking by us all these years!

Sincerely,

-C.O.P.

Of Mortal Creatures available worldwide Dec 25th

On By cadreonepublishingIn angry ghosts series, Holiday, New release, Of Mortal Creatures, publishing, Science Fiction, special event1 Comment

We at C.O.P. thought this day would never come. We thought, Well, that’s it… Farnham’s finally gone and done himself stupid. It was a rational assumption, because death is a brain cell’s only reasonable means of protest against liquor of that magnitude.

Yet, here we are.

9780982711651-Perfect OMC.indd

 

For a Cadre Operator, the need to serve is bred in the bone and honed to a razor’s edge…

Thompson, Argo, and Maiella were once the inseparable Team Spectre, unequaled in lethality and stealth. But mistaken identity aboard the Colony Ship Europa led to seventeen human deaths. In a time where all mankind numbers less than two-thousand, taking human life is the only unforgivable crime…

For Argo, nothing matters more than regaining his honorable place in the Operator Corps. For Maiella, subservience to authority is no longer enough, and she searches for a master greater than the Cadre. But Thompson has not faced his demons from the Europa disaster. He must decide where his loyalties lie, and quickly, because the hell storm unleashed during his mission to Earth is catching up with them all.

Print copies available at all major on-line booksellers December 25th. Available for pre-order on Kindle now!

Click the links below for your choice of Paperback or Kindle:

Of Mortal Creatures, Kindle version

Of Mortal Creatures, paperback

When you buy the paperback, the Kindle book is only $.99 extra. Huzzah!

Thank you so much for your patience! We can assure you the series conclusion, Plasma Rain, will not be so long in coming.

As for Farnham, he’s getting a fat sack of charcoal for Christmas. Which he’ll probably use to mellow his cheap bourbon.

Happy Holidays and have a wonderful New Year!

Sincerely,

C.O.P.

Cover Art for Book 4, Of Mortal Creatures

On By cadreonepublishingIn Holiday, New release, Of Mortal Creatures, progress, publishing, Science Fiction1 Comment

It must’ve seemed it would never happen. It has been an awfully long wait. That, and the fact our U.K. web host is suddenly riddled with malware, and everyone who tries to log on to our site gets the sternest warnings from their web browser…

Google Chrome: You want to go to this site? Really? Are you sure you want to go to this site? It’s totally unsafe. Like swimming with a necklace of pork chops in Tasmania unsafe. You’re serious? You’re actually going to go to this site? All right. Fine. We can’t stop you. Oh, and why not post your Social Security Number and bank account numbers while you’re at it? It’s your loss, pal. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

We’ve got some challenges.

But here’s some proof we’re still very much in business:

9780982711651-Perfect OMC

We at C.O.P. are still pushing for a late December release for paperback, possibly earlier for Kindle.

And we know what you’re saying: “It’s been three years. This better be worth it.”

No worries, folks. It is.

May you all have an excellent Thanksgiving!

-C.O.P.

Artwork for the Colony ship, Europa

On By cadreonepublishingIn angry ghosts series, New release, Of Mortal Creatures, progressLeave a comment

Europa screen grab

From the earliest days of sailing, life at sea was a risk. Skill and stout planks were no guarantee of survival. A man had to love his ship. He had to care for her, had to fuss over every detail so she could weather the harshest storms. If a man did not love his ship, if he didn’t pay attention to the creaks and sighs that warned of trouble, she might sink him.

Ships of old had figureheads—a tangible representation of the ship’s beauty, of her soul. Progress of technology, war, and commerce may have stripped away such non-essentials in the name of economic pragmatism. But the best ships have always been loved by their crews. And that love shows not only in the gleam of her decks. Sometimes, it shows in artwork that graces her hull.

The Colony ship Europa has been traveling for centuries. She is muted by burns and dust, is dented from minor collisions. The hull is patched with unpainted plates.  Yet beneath it all the mural on her side is still visible, bright and alive like the spirits of the people inside.

We discussed artwork that might adorn such a ship. We considered the myth of Europa and the bull…how the maiden was deathly afraid, but that she was so in love, she simply could not stop herself from climbing atop the bull and letting him carry her away to a distant shore.

“The royal maiden, not knowing on whom she was sitting, was even so bold as
also to climb on the back of the bull. As the god very slowly
inched from the shore and the dry land he planted his spurious footprints
deep in the shallows. Thus swimming out farther, he carried his prey off
into the midst of the sea. Almost fainting with terror she glanced back,   
as she was carried away, at the shore left behind. As she gripped one   
horn in her right hand while clutching the back of the beast with the other,   
meanwhile her fluttering draperies billowed behind on the sea breeze.”
–Ovid

 

It’s a romantic metaphor for space flight, we think.

Sara Richard captured the mood precisely, and when we saw the final draft we knew we had found the Europa’s soul. We’re proud to share it with you here:

europa and bull transparent fix

Look for more of this on the cover of our upcoming release, Of Mortal Creatures.

Thank you all for your patience, and thank you again, Sara, for such beautiful work!

v/r

-C.O.P.

Of Mortal Creatures

On By cadreonepublishingIn angry ghosts series, New release, progress, publishing, Science FictionLeave a comment

Dear Readers-

To those stalwart few  holding out for the continuing adventures of Thompson, Argo, and Maiella, take heart! We’re close to releasing Book #4 in the Angry Ghosts series, and we’re calling it, Of Mortal Creatures.

Those with a sharp eye already know the inspiration for this title.

“Of mortal creatures, all that breathe and move,
Earth bears none frailer than mankind. What man
believes in woe to come, so long as valor
and tough knees are supplied him by the gods?
But when the gods in bliss bring miseries on,
then willy-nilly, blindly, he endures.”

-The Odyssey, by Homer, Book XVIII
Translated by Robert Fitzgerald

The Gods in Bliss came in a very close second, though in the end we agreed such a title was a tad too obscure. Your thoughts? Would be glad to hear them in comments below.

Farnham’s final draft is deep in the editorial process as we speak. Coming together nicely. We anticipate a release this year, in fact. Might be December 31st at 11:59pm but still this year. Provided Farnham gets all his revisions back in a timely fashion it could be sooner. Of course, we’re not holding our collective breath…

(While we’re speaking of our own indolent scribbler, we’d like to congratulate him on his recent marriage! His new bride is a rare beauty, way out of his league. How he managed to pull that off without voodoo charms or killing off every other male on the planet is a complete mystery.)

Cover art is coming from Sara Richard, a remarkable talent with a brilliant future. We’ve been a fan of her work for years, and we’re excited to have her working on the project. Soon as the final draft is in, we’ll share it here.

 In the meantime, check out her page. It’s worth the trip!

SaraRichard

Warmest regards,

-C.O.P