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New review of Akhet!

A brand new review was just posted on Amazon.com of Akhet, book one!

Hey, all.

My good friend, and faithful reader, Shannon brought it to my attention that she was having issues with purchasing Peret from BN.com for her NOOK. If you would like the book for your NOOK and are having problems, please shoot me an email at heather.reasby@gmail.com and we’ll make arrangements for you to get your copy.

To say that I’m displeased with the support provided for the PubIt service would be putting it VERY mildly.

So I was finally able to get the paperback edition of Peret into shape so it’s now up and available for purchase!

Currently, the Kindle edition is live on Amazon, and the Paperback is available through the Createspace store with Amazon picking it up in the next few days. Also, for those of you who love your Nooks, it’s available through BN.com.

Also, for those of you who regret that your kindle edition can’t be inscribed with a personal message like a paperback… well guess what! Now, it can! Both Akhet and Peret are available for service through KindleGraph.com!

So I dreamed last night that The Rock showed up at my house out of the blue, wanting to option the Sekhmet’s Light series for movies because he wanted to play Kemsefet.

Needless to say, my inner fan-girl was completely spastic.

Of course, my husband was all shades of amused upon hearing about this dream and told me “honey, you’re a professional writer now, you can’t freak out like that”. Yes, I do know that and I don’t know that I would completely freak out… I mean, I’ve managed to meet a lot of celebrities at this point in my life and not go all googly… But then again… it’s the freaking ROCK!

Anyway, it would definitely be cool to find out, doncha think?!

Akhet Review on Red Adept Reviews

B. Tackitt gave Akhet 4.5 stars! Thank you for taking the time to read my book and write such a great review!

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There’s quite a lot going on in my life right now and I thought I’d bring my friends and readers up to speed.

Peret: I will assure everyone that the book is, in fact, done. My marvelous husband, Garth, has the concept for the cover art down and will be working on completing the rendering of it this weekend so I can work on getting it out for all of you. I really think that you’ll like the direction that Nicole’s story is going.

Shomu: Book three of the series is already outlined, and my chief editor has given it the thumbs-up so I’ll be starting work on the manuscript as soon as book 2 is up for sale.

The Days Upon the Year: What the heck is this?! some people might be asking. Well, it’s going to be a collection of 5 short stories/novellas that will tie in with the Sekhmet’s Light world, telling some of the backstories that are hinted at in the series itself. They’re going to include things like Aramair’s backstory and the narrative about the raid lead by Imanekhet and Meshrew, Church’s backstory, as well as part of the story of the first NuruSekhmet ever.  

Short stories: I have a couple short stories that I’m working on currently before I start on Book 3 that will be made available via the Kindle store once they’re completed.

Garth’s Book: I’ve been doing some red-line editing on my husband’s first novel as well and I’m really excited for all of you to get a look at that when all’s said and done. He’ll be introducing you to a fantastic new character and a world that will, I hope, wind up being one of your favorites.

So, that’s what I’m up to these days. Being out of work sucks, but I’m still looking for a new day job. In the meantime, I’m making the best of things by keeping busy!

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So the last few weeks, we’ve been watching our dvds of Deep Space 9. This show is by far my favorite of the Trek series (followed by The Next Generation, The Original Series, Enterprise, and with Voyager coming in dead last). To me, it’s the most complex and the most human of the various series. The storylines tend to be dark and the characters are wonderfully developed as the series goes on. Additionally, in re-watching the series, I can clearly see where the seeds of the new Battlestar Galactica are germinating in Ron Moore’s head which is a beautiful thing, indeed.

Last night, we were watching the episode titled Explorers where Commander Sisko builds a small ship based on an ancient Bajoran design. He then sets out to test whether the ship could have actually made the trip to the Cardassia system as legend says. It’s a nice little episode of father-son bonding since Sisko has convinced his son, Jake, to go along for the ride.

However, what specifically prompted this blog post was an off-hand comment that was made by Sisko. Jake, it turns out, is a burgeoning writer and finally works up the courage to share one of his stories with his father. The story is from the perspective of a Maquis fighter (for those who know Trek, the Maquis are a resistance group that were formed to fight the Cardassians when they were ordered to leave their colonies in the wake of treaty negotiations with the Cardassians that put the Federation colonists in Cardassian territory). Sisko tells Jake that one cannot write about things that one has not actually experienced and it’s that statement that stuck with me all night.

With profound respect to the writers of DS9, I think that Sisko’s argument should’ve been more along the lines of one cannot write what one does not know. That is to say, you should take the time to research your subject and become familiar with it. If a writer were only to write what they have actually experienced first-hand, we wouldn’t have things like Star Trek at all since interstellar space travel and alien species are not part of our reality at this point in our existence. 

I seriously doubt that Thomas Harris or Jeff Lindsay embarked upon careers as serial killers to bring us characters like Hannibal Lector or Dexter. Furthermore, we would lack significant works of fantasy and science-fiction if we only wrote what we know. Certainly Captain Tolkien never infiltrated a dragon’s lair as Bilbo did with Smaug, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t write it well.

My point here is that if you have experience with what you’re writing, that’s fabulous and I think that you should definitely bring that to the page. However, if you don’t, that shouldn’t hold you back from writing what it is that you want to write.

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The Sekhmet's Light Kickstarter Project

You may or may not know that I’ve been without a day job since the beginning of February. Although I’m receiving unemployment benefits and looking for a new job, there’s a gap between what I was making and what I have coming in now. As a result, the opportunities to promote the Sekhmet’s Light Series are less because I don’t have any extra income to pay for things like ad spaces.

The purpose of my Kickstarter project is to finance those promotional opportunities and to be able to purchase copies to have on-hand for signings.

Any support you can give would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be as little as $1 and for those that can give more, I do have benchmarks set up with awards for your generosity.

Thank you in advance!

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Sad News for Star Wars Fans

Yesterday, I got some news that made me incredibly sad: Michael Stackpole’s X-Wing novels have been relegated to out-of-print status. For those of you who have not read the series, you’ve been missing out on a real treat. The X-Wing novels, and I, Jedi are among the best ‘Extended Universe’, or EU Star Wars novels you’ll ever find.

I’ve gone onto Amazon and requested the books in kindle format and I highly encourage others to do the same. The X-Wing novels gave us, in Corran Horn, one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars universe and added new depth to the universe. Even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, I’m certain that if you read the novels, you’d find something you love becaue the writing is just THAT good!

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I figured it was probably time for another update of what I’ve been up to lately.

I briefly posted earlier that I’d gotten word that ‘Akhet’ is now available to the UK library system thanks to the efforts of the wonderful Michael Margerison, but I should probably expand upon that. I’m very pleased that Holt Jackson Book Company has added my book to their system, needless to say. It opens up doors to not only school and public libraries in the UK, but also venues that might be a bit less obvious like government institutions and even (eep) prisons. Cool (and mildly scary)!

I’d ask that anyone in the UK who’s interested in reading Akhet, please request it for your local library. It’d be hugely appreciated…. And, hey! If you come across a copy on the shelf at the library, why not snap a pic and post it here? That’d be very cool!

Now I just need to find a way to afford a trip to London (probably not gonna be any time real soon, unfortunately), so I can take Michael out to dinner and take him up on his comment that if I were in the UK, he could get me some appearances scheduled!

I hope that things are good in your neck of the woods!

CHEERS!

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I just got word this morning from my friend, Michael, who works for a library in London that he’s successfully lobbied for my book to be available in Britain’s library system! This is insanely good news as it potentially opens up all kinds of doors…

Now I just need to find a way to afford a trip to London so Garth and I can take him out to dinner as a thank you! :D

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So, my husband and I are engaged in playing Star Trek Online recently… it’s a tremendously fun game that I really recommend. However, the reason for this post is not to endorse the game so much as to point out that support for your writing and marketing efforts can be found in the strangest of places.

We’ve hooked up with a fleet on the game and the guys have been very cool about purchasing the book, arranging for signed copies, and expressing a general level of excitement about knowing a published author.

Recently, the fleet leader, Paul, introduced me to another member of the fleet who works in the library system in London. After talking for a while, he offered to submit a request that they carry my book in the London libraries which would translate into at least one copy per library, and a significant jump in exposure for me! Who knew that playing computer games could benefit your writing career as well?!

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So I haven’t posted in a bit and I thought I would give you guys some updates on what’s going on with book 2.

I have passed the manuscript along to two people other than Garth and Ren (they’re kind of in the thick of things with their own books and don’t really have time to give mine a read through at the moment); that would be the lovely and brilliant Quiana Kirkland and up-and-coming editor Jenna Huffman. Jenna previously helped edit Ren Cummins’ second novel “Reaper’s Flight” so I’m looking forward to seeing what she makes of Peret.

I’m hoping to have rewrites out of the way and the book ready for publication by the end of March or early April which would be a year after Akhet’s release. I’m hoping to maintain a one-book-a-year pace of publication which should be very do-able.

Once I’ve finished working on my as-yet untitled Steampunk story, I plan to start plotting out the final book of the Sekhmet’s Light trilogy, Shomu, and start finalizing the 5 stories I want to put in the companion book “The Days Upon the Year”.

On a personal note, I took a few days of vacation around the new year and have come to the realization that I would really like to be able to give up my day job and write full-time, but until the sales really take off, or I hit a massive lotto jackpot, it’s just not going to happen… which kind of makes me a sad panda, but I’ll just have to keep trying, I suppose!

Have a great day, everyone!

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So, today I’d like to talk about something that is extremely serious and which is a major sore spot with me. I’m going to be discussing the recent ‘revisions’ made to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I will be using the ‘n-word’ in a few places relation to the use in the book. If you’re going to be offended by this, please stop reading now. You have been warned.

Firstly, I’d like to say that my vehement objections to this sort of action, along with the concept of ‘banning’ or ‘challenging’ books extends back long before I, myself, was a published writer. I was brought up to cherish books and to respect the work that went into producing them.

I first read Huck Finn when I was about ten (along with dozens and dozens of other classics that my grandmother, who worked at the local library, would send to me) although some of the satirical elements of the story were rather above my head. Never would it have occurred to my family to prevent me from reading it because of racism or poor language. Rather, my parents were wise enough to allow me to read it and be willing to discuss any questions I had about it with me in an open and adult manner. Reading the word ‘nigger’ did not make me a racist, nor did it permanently damage my psyche, or that of any of the other people I’ve met who’ve read it over the years.

My firm belief is that the problem is not with the text of the story, but with the society that is demonizing it. I find Dr. Gribben’s actions here offensive on many levels, not just as an artist myself, but as a reader and as an intelligent, thinking person.

Mark Twain did not set out to write an offensive book. What he did do was attempt to present a ‘slice of life’ in the antebellum South. The fact of the matter is that in that area and during that time period, the black population was enslaved and looked on by many as less-than-human. Even Huck, himself, at the beginning of the novel thinks this way but throughout the narrative of the book, he gets to know “Nigger Jim”, and to love him as a friend. The application of the word Nigger goes from being a thoughtless epithet to being almost a part of Jim’s name.

In many ways, Huck’s evolution in his thinking mirrors our own evolution as a society from ignorantly enslaving of the black community to acceptance and embracing of them. It was hardly easy; there were many bumps in the road, but ultimately, the days of slavery and ‘separate but equal’ are behind us… but they should never, ever be forgotten.

To me, this is similar to the factions in Germany who want to deny that the Nazi party ever rose to power or those who chose to believe that the Holocaust against the Jews never happened. We cannot forget the atrocities of the past. A co-worker of mine, Tabitha Elders, stated it beautifully when she told me “The message they are sending to the next generations is a little too loud and clear: “If you don’t like what history says, sterilize it until it reflects your opinion.”

Yes, the N-word is painful to hear and to say, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing! To me, to remove that from the text takes away some of what we should feel looking back and looking at the subjugation that occurred. The shock value of it smacks us in the face again and again. The sting of that epithet should inspire us to take steps to ensure that we will never again make the mistakes that our forefathers did.

The above reasons are bad enough, but then there’s the hypocrisy involved as well. Dr. Gribben has done away with both ‘Negro’ and ‘Nigger’, and yet left the other racially charged epithet intact: ‘Injun’. If you’re going to be ‘racially sensitive’, it’s not exactly fair to remove some and leave others. I guess the Native American community just isn’t vocal enough to be worth Dr. Gribben’s effort.

As for myself, I’ll leave Dr. Gribben’s ‘edition’ on the shelf and pick up the real books for myself and my family.

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