Reading

In Death’s Shadow: Cover Reveal & Blurb

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Hey everyone, here’s the cover for my upcoming Urban Fantasy release, In Death’s Shadow.  I plan to release it at the end of the week.

Ari lives in the shadow of death.

Ari is a combat veteran who has chosen to leave the military behind and live a quiet, normal life.  He’s got a few problems though.  For one thing, the cops think he’s a serial killer.  For another, a vengeful politician has put Ari in his crosshairs.  To make matters worse, Ari has a guardian angel… and not just any angel, Ari’s protector is the Angel of Death.  When his life is in danger, people start to die, and Ari’s guardian can sometimes be indiscriminate whose life he takes when protecting him.

That’s not even the worst problem.  Death wasn’t assigned to him by mistake.  An ancient werewolf wants Ari dead and even with death on his side, Ari might not survive.

Ari needs to find a way to stay alive, to clear his name, and most importantly to get out from under the shadow of death and live a normal life… even if it kills him.

Writing

New Release: Army Space Corps: Vernian Space Gun

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Hey everyone, I’m happy to announce that the first book of my new series, Army Space Corps, is now live!  You can find it on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2vofJTd)

For over 225 years, the United States Army has fought every enemy of the nation from around the globe, but now there’s a threat never before seen and it comes in the form of a transmission from a nearby star.

The transmission shows a war, a war on a scale never seen by man. And that war is on Humanity’s very doorstep. Major Daniels knows that Earth isn’t ready for that kind of war. In an era of fighter jets and smart-phones, we don’t have the technology or infrastructure to begin to fight aliens with the power to travel the stars.

But that’s the impossible mission set before him and his team. The United States will need defenses, ships, stations, bases, and weapons capable of fighting that enemy. The first hurdle: finding a way to stage supplies and materials in orbit for the massive surge in space infrastructure. It would require every scrap of lift capacity in the entire world five times over and Major Daniels has to find out how to do it fast.

His solution is simple: build the world’s biggest gun and start firing payloads into orbit. The execution is what’s wrought with peril. Because even if bureaucratic infighting and simple physics aren’t enough to stop his project, then real enemies here on Earth might well be.

Daniels has to figure out the problems with his Vernian Space Gun and keep an eye on his back, because some nations on Earth see the alien threat as an opportunity to settle old grudges and they don’t care about what might happen to all of Mankind in the process.

Reading, Writing

My Contribution To Staying At Home

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Hey everyone.  If you’re like me, you’re suddenly finding a lot of reasons to hang out at home due to current events.  If you have kids and they’re stuck at home, you may be struggling finding things to keep their attention.  Believe me, I sure am.

I’m trying to get some writing done.  In the meantime, I figured I’d do an early release of a couple of my books.  Coming to you this Monday, March 16th, is my all new near-future hard science fiction novel: Army Space Corps: Vernian Space Gun.  I was planning on releasing it later this year, but I figure there’s lots of folks that are looking for something to read at the moment.

I will also be releasing my first Urban Fantasy novel: In Death’s Shadow, very soon, pretty much as soon as I get a cover lined up.

Both books will be live for kindle, though the wait for paperback may take a little while.

I’m also working on getting Hidden Valor out by the end of the month.   And I’m re-releasing Fenris Unchained, Odin’s Eye, and Jormungandr’s Venom.  So expect those as well in the near future.

Additionally, if your kids like to read, rejoice!  I’m making Valor’s Child (http://amzn.to/2ukhgni) free from the 16-20 March, so you can pick up a copy for your kids.  If you’re looking for something to read for yourself: also free this week is Echo of the High Kings (http://amzn.to/1EQycGg)  and Dead Train: All Aboard (https://amzn.to/3aXtlEk).   Who doesn’t like free books?

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

Reading

Kal’s March 2020 Forecast

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Hey everyone, it’s been a bit since my last post.  I’m happy to say I’ve finished writing a pair of books and I’ve outlined and begun writing the 3rd Forsaken Valor book.  It’s going to be a little bit of a race, but I think I can get it finished, edited, and published by the end of the mont.  I have been wanting to get back to writing Will Armstrong’s story since I left off.  My goal is to have it ready to go March 27th, but check back here for updates as we get closer.

My project after that is rewrites to an existing story and then outlining and writing the first book that picks up after the end of Valor’s Stand.  I am really looking forward to writing those books and I hope to have it ready to go sometime in April.

Additionally, some of you may have noticed that Fenris Unchained, Odin’s Eye, and Jormungandr’s Venom are all no longer available on Amazon.  Henchman Press, the original publisher for those works, has disbanded.  I’m in the process of editing those three works and I hope to not only re-publish them in the next few months, but also to start audiobook productions for all three novels as well.

That’s all for now, hopefully I’ll have some book and movie reviews here over the next few weeks as well as snippets for upcoming books.  Thanks for reading!

 

Conventions

Kal’s LTUE 2020 Schedule

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Hey everyone.  Late post, but I’m headed to Life, the Universe, and Everything writers convention in Provo, Utah.  I’ll be a panelist again this year.  See below for my schedule.

The King of the Battle Field: An Introduction to Artillery
2PM · THURSDAY · BRYCE
Worldbuilding
Panel
How to Usurp a Kingdom
9AM · FRIDAY · ARCHES
Worldbuilding
Panel
When Life Isn’t Organic: Alternatives to Organic Chemistry for Life and Material Science
1PM · FRIDAY · BRYCE
Worldbuilding
Panel
Book Signing Event (6:30-8:00)
6PM · FRIDAY · EXHIBIT HALL B
Writing

Kal’s 2020 Forecast

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Hey everyone.  I’m back online after a bit of a hiatus.  I’m finally coming out from under a lot of the “stuff” happening in life, and thank goodness for that.  As a result, I’m writing again and I hope to be posting a bit more regularly here in 2020.

So what’s on my  horizon?  Honestly, digging into all the writing projects is at the top of the list.  I have several WIPs that I need to get edited and hopefully get out in the next couple of months, some that may be ready as early as the end of January or early February.  My goal is not to rush things, though, I want to try to keep the quality of writing solid.

I’ve got two finished novels, both headed to publishers as soon as I can do the edits.  I have an outline for the next Forsaken Valor book and I’m outlining the follow-on series, (tentatively titled War of Valor).  The fourth book of the Eoriel Saga is around 50% completion.  I have outlines for Renegades IV, Shadow Space Chronicles VII, and several other book series that have been on the backburner for a while now.  My goal is to hit 30 published novels by the end of the year.

I’m thinking 2020 is going to be a busy year.  Hopefully it will be a good one as well.  That’s all for now and thanks for reading!

Reading

Book Review: The Last Champion

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There’s a lot of epic fantasy out there that feels dark, depressing, and populated by unpleasant characters who backstab one another for fun.  The Last Champion is not that kind of epic fantasy.

The titular Champion character is heroic.  The world he populates is under threat, the people he’s charged to protect are under threat, and he does his best to protect them.  Korr is a warrior who does what he does because he’s very, very good at it.  He’s a man who sticks to his customs and ways because that is all he has left, all he has to him, in an almost ronin-esque fashion that provides a gripping story.

There is plenty of action, plenty of character growth.  The characters are vivid, the scenery is epic in scale, and there’s so much potential in the setting that as a reader, I was always hoping for more looks at the greater world.  This really is epic fantasy, there’s a scope to the world that makes it feel big, feel populated, even though we only see a small part of the larger world.

It’s really rare that I can’t put a book down, but the story caught me and I read it in just a few hours.  My only complaint about the book is that it ended and I’ll have to wait on a sequel.  I highly recommend it.

Here’s a link to it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/39Ar4ia

Reading

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker Movie Review

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If you’ve already made up your mind about Star Wars, this review isn’t for you.  Go ahead and move along, because if you’ve decided to love/hate it because of politics/gender/(insert stupid thing to care about with space wizards) then go elsewhere.

I did my very best to leave all my preconceptions of Star Wars, other movies,  Directors, Producers, Actors, Politics/politicians and all the rest when I went to see it.   I didn’t watch the trailers, I didn’t read spoilers.  I wanted to see what JJ Abrams and cast could do.

And I enjoyed myself.

The Rise of Skywalker starts of jerky and comes in a tumbled rush.  The first half of the movie, the pacing is awful, the editing is jerky, and it’s something of a hot mess.  But it’s also fun.  Poe and Fin work well together, and both are given opportunities to put actual character into their characters.

Rey actually has character growth and has to struggle.  It’s a foreshortened struggle, compressed into the too-packed movie, but it’s there and it’s interesting, it made me actually care about her as a character.

The fight scenes are impactful and I had some emotional attachment when characters were in peril.

They make use of a lot of movie cliches and they pay total homage to every bit of fan service they can.  It can be eyerolling, at times.  But it gets back to a central part of Star Wars: hope and redemption.   That people can change the universe for the better and that what you do is more important than where you come from.

It’s not a great movie.   We are not getting the Extended Universe books in movie form that all the die-hard fans (including me) wanted.  But it was an enjoyable night out, the movie closed the chapter on the trilogy, and it’s something I can show my kid and share in his enjoyment, as well.

At the end of the day, that’s enough for me.

Uncategorized

Kal’s September Update

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Hey everyone.  Sorry for the long time without posting.  Life has been a bit… well, hectic doesn’t really do it justice.  I finished up a four month military course, knocked out a cross-country move, I’m acting as the executor for my father’s estate, and I’ve been trying to help a family member with severe mental health issues.

It’s been rough.  I’ve tried to sit down and write, even a blog post, and the words won’t come.  I try to post mostly positive things here, but most of my positive energy has been focused towards my family.

I hope to get back to writing here in the next week or so.  I’ve got several books that are basically done, minus some edits.  My goal is to get back on track, hopefully with stuff coming out early next month.  Thanks for reading and I’ll try to post here more often.

The news and opinions of Kal Spriggs