Category: the palladium wars.

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Audiobook news

I’ve turned in my most recent two novels in the span of six months (BALLISTIC in August of last year and ORDERS OF BATTLE in January of this year), and while doubling one’s output is on the whole a good thing, it can also have some unintended effects.

One of those effects is that I’ve outpaced the schedule of Luke Daniels, the excellent and highly popular narrator of the Frontlines series and the first book of the Palladium Wars. Luke is very good at what he does, and because he is so good, his schedule is very, very packed. Therefore, 47North has had to switch artists to avoid holding up both series by a year or more. BALLISTIC isn’t voiced by Luke Daniels, and the upcoming Frontlines novel ORDERS OF BATTLE won’t be done by Luke either. The new narrator is Angelo Di Loreto.

I love Luke’s work on Frontlines and Aftershocks, and I know that a lot of you really love it too because I get frequent comments on the quality of the Audible narration. I know that this may be a disappointment to those who have come to associate Luke’s voice with Andrew Grayson. But that’s one of the realities of the publishing world. A recent commenter took me to task for not writing my books faster, but the production schedule involves more than just me turning in a draft and then someone slapping it on the Kindle store a few days later. There are many people who have a hand in the publication: the lead editor, the developmental editor, the copyeditors, the cover artist, and so on. And the audiobook production isn’t the smallest item on that list because they have to slot in a narrator and plan for studio time, then produce physical media for the CD and MP3 versions…you get the idea. This is a team sport, not a one-man show, and very little of it is up to me except for turning in finished manuscripts. Whenever something alters the flow–like, say, the writer retooling their work flow and doubling their output schedule–it sometimes has unpredictable knock-on effects.

Luke leaves some pretty big shoes to fill for the further narration of both series, but we really liked Angelo Di Loreto’s narrative style and voice, and I believe he will be a great fit. (You can check out his prior work here.)

Changing narrators in the middle of a series isn’t ideal, but the only other option would have been to clone Luke and bring the clone up to speed, and my editor was pretty firm that this would have blown the production budget for the next decade or so…

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BALLISTIC giveaway

 

BALLISTIC, the second novel in the Palladium Wars series, will be out in a little less than two weeks. I just got my author copies in, so I figured I’d do a little giveaway.

Leave a comment on this post if you’d like a signed trade paperback of BALLISTIC. I’ll leave the post open until release day, which is Tuesday, May 26. On May 26, I will let the computer pick five entries out of the hat, and I will send those five people a signed paperback. This giveaway is open to anyone in the world, and I’ll cover the shipping.

Don’t forget that Goodreads still has a giveaway for the Kindle version going on until May 25, so put your name in the hat over there if you’d rather have an electronic copy.

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Release date for Frontlines #7

ORDERS OF BATTLE, the seventh novel in the Frontlines series, will be released on December 8. There’s now a product page up on Amazon, where you can pre-order the book on Kindle, in paperback format, or as an Audible book:

There’s no cover art yet as the book is still in production, but that will be added as soon as the cover is final.

Just in case you missed it, here’s the product page for BALLISTIC, the second novel in the Palladium Wars series, due to be released on May 26:

And there’s a third release this year! This one is my Wild Cards novelette titled BERLIN IS NEVER BERLIN, due out from Tor.com on May 6:

Not a bad year for new releases, I’d say. And I am hard at work to make sure that things will keep coming at this pace.

 

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Pub date change for BALLISTIC

I’ve been informed that BALLISTIC, second novel of the Palladium Wars series, has been moved up in the schedule for a publication date of May 26, 2020.

If you’d like to pre-order it, you can do so via this link. BALLISTIC will be available in paperback, hardcover, Kindle, and Audible formats. (Lots of pre-orders will make my publisher happy, which means an increased chance there will be more Frontlines and Palladium Wars novels past 2020. Just sayin’.)

 

 

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BALLISTIC cover art

The Amazon product page for BALLISTIC, second novel in the Palladium Wars, now has a picture of the cover on it, so I guess it’s official:

I think it’s a gorgeous cover, and I love the art direction they’ve picked for the Palladium Wars novels so far.

frontlines. new hampshah. photography. the palladium wars. writing.

Non-Euclidean geometry, fall edition

 

When I need to let my brain’s background processes figure out a story element or untie a knot in a chapter, I take a walk in the place you see pictured above. It never fails to work.

In other news, I just turned in the edits for BALLISTIC, second in the Palladium Wars series, and I think it turned out very well. In fact, it may just be the fastest-paced plot I’ve ever managed to squeeze between the front and back covers.

Next on the production schedule is Frontlines #7, which will take me the rest of the year to finish. The title of the seventh Frontlines novel is ORDERS OF BATTLE.

 

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Dispatch from the desk

The most enjoyable words for a writer to read are “Pay To The Order Of…”, and the most enjoyable words for a writer to put down on the page are “THE END”.

I’ve been quiet on here because I’ve spent the last few weeks finishing BALLISTIC, the second book in the Palladium Wars series. But it’s turned in, and once the edits are done, it will make its way through the production line for its scheduled July 2020 release.

I took the holiday weekend off, but now I am back at my desk working on FRONTLINES #7. That’s right, friends and neighbors. It’s in the works, so you can stop emailing me to ask about it. (“Is there going to be a #7?” and “When is the next Frontlines coming out?” make up about 90% of the messages I receive from readers.)

For the release of AFTERSHOCKS, the PR team had me scheduled for a lot of radio interviews, and I find that I enjoy doing those a lot. They only take 15-30 minutes out of my day, and I can do them in my PJs if I want, so that’s easy to fit into the schedule.

Next up will be the Frontlines novella I’ve threatened to release for months now. It kept getting shunted to the back of the line by various other obligations, but now I’ll finally be able to finish it. It takes place concurrently with the events in Frontlines #6, “Points of Impact”, and centers on a character you haven’t met yet. As soon as that one is available for purchase, I’ll make an announcement here on the blog, probably in the next week or two.

books. the palladium wars.

The Big Idea: Aftershocks

My friend John Scalzi was kind enough to let me borrow his blog today, where I talk a little about the central idea behind Aftershocks.

In related news, I have been informed by reliable sources that I can claim the first use of the term “giraffe-adjacent” on Whatever. May it stand to future historians as one of my greatest achievements.

books. capitalism. contests and giveaways. the palladium wars.

Various AFTERSHOCKS items

The AFTERSHOCKS giveaway is now closed. Later today, I’ll pull ten numbers out of a hat and match them with their respective comments, and then I’ll post the winners here for all to see. (If you find yourself on the winning list, email me at frontlines@markokloos.com with a mailing address.)

Also, AFTERSHOCKS is one of the Amazon First Reads books on Amazon.co.uk this month. If you are a UK-based Prime member, you get to download AFTERSHOCKS for free all month, which means that you get to read it a few weeks before everyone else (it comes out in the US on July 1.)

US readers, I don’t have a way for you to get your hands on an early copy (other than the giveaway that just ended), but there are more news in the pipeline regarding the July launch, so stay tuned.

books. contests and giveaways. the palladium wars.

AFTERSHOCKS Paperback Giveaway

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I just got my author copies for AFTERSHOCKS, so let’s have ourselves a little giveaway! Everybody likes giveaways, right? They have layers. Like a parfait.

Anyway, I am going to give away TEN signed trade paperback copies of Aftershocks. Because the Goodreads giveaway is limited to US residents, and because I like my international fans, I will make this giveaway available to ANYONE IN THE WORLD. If you put your name into the hat and end up winning, I will ship the book to you regardless of your place of residence, as long as it’s a.) on this planet, and b.) somehow reachable by some sort of postal or package service. No personal hand-deliveries!

TO PARTICIPATE:

Leave a comment on this post stating that you would like a copy. I will keep comments open until 5pm EST on Friday, May 31. Then I will employ a random number generator to pick ten winners based on the number on their comment, and post the results the next day, June 1, with instructions for receiving your giveaway copy. I will cover all shipping regardless of destination.