Category: frontlines: evolution

family. frontlines. frontlines: evolution the palladium wars.

May the first be what the fuck, where has the time gone

Looks like I blew right through April without a blog post. Whoops. (How are we almost halfway through the year already?)

We’ve had a death in the family, so the regular routine was thoroughly derailed for obvious reasons. It wasn’t a surprise–the family member was 81 and in failing health–but these things are never easy no matter how prepared you think you are.

We just got back from a week-long trip south to attend the celebration of life, and now I am back in the office and working on finishing ECLIPSE, Palladium Wars #5. I had aimed to have it done by the end of April, but life happens, and sometimes schedules get upended. But I’ve heeded the wise words of Stephen King, who said (in ON WRITING, his excellent treatise on the craft), that life isn’t a support system for art–it’s the other way around. If I need to step away from the keyboard for a bit to address important real-life events, that’s just the way it goes.

I’ll need a few weeks to edit ECLIPSE and get it ship-shape before I release it on KDP (to what I hope will be an enthusiastic reception and EXTREME sales numbers so my publisher can have proper regrets for dropping the series after Book #4), so expect that one in late June if all goes well.

Next up after that will be a new stand-alone for 47North with the working title of COHORT. I’ll let you know more about that one as soon as I can. As this is a 47North book, it will have a 2027 release date. In the meantime, please to be looking forward to the December release of CYGNUS, the third and final book in the Frontlines: Evolution series, and the best one of the whole lot as far as I’m concerned.

(That doesn’t mean I am done with Frontlines or its spin-off. Stand by for news on that subject soon-ish.)

frontlines: evolution writing.

CYGNUS draft is in the bag

I haven’t updated this space in a while because I’ve been crazy busy and had nothing much of general interest to report. However, some of you may be happy to hear that I just finished the draft for CYGNUS, the third book in the Frontlines: Evolution series, and sent it to my editor this morning.

This will be the final book of the series with Alex as the point-of-view character. My publisher wanted me to cap the series as a trilogy, and I think I managed to accomplish what I had planned to do, which is to give Alex a great character arc and bring her story to a full circle. People really seem to like Corvus, and I think this one may be even better. But time will tell.

Now I’ll be in recovery mode for a little bit, and then it’s off to the races to finish Palladium Wars #5, ECLIPSE, before year’s end so you can all get your hands on it soon.

 

books. frontlines: evolution

CORVUS is out today!

 

Today is the release day for CORVUS, the second book in the Frontlines: Evolution series!

When colonial refugee-turned-soldier Alex Archer is stranded on a hostile planet with her unit, she has to draw on her experiences growing up on an occupied world to keep her little band of survivors alive.

CORVUS is available here in Kindle, paperback, and Audible formats.

Buy, read, enjoy, leave a review if you enjoyed, tell your friends, tell them to tell their friends. Heck, just approach people on the street and hold out the paperback. Say “Is good book. You read. You read now.”

books. frontlines: evolution the palladium wars. writing.

Busy, busy, busy

The draft for CYGNUS, third book in the Frontlines: Evolution series is due to my publisher this month, so I’ll be busy with that one until I turn it in. When I am in deadline mode, I don’t have much bandwidth for anything else, so if you have sent me an email in the last few weeks (or plan to do so in the next few weeks), remember that I am bad at quick replies on the best of days, so bear with me until this manuscript is on the way to my editor.

After that, I’ll be finishing ECLIPSE, the fifth and final book (for now) in the Palladium Wars series. Since 47North declined to continue the series, I’ll be publishing ECLIPSE myself through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). For those of you waiting for the book (and I hope that’s a lot of folks), that means it will be available not too long after I’ve finished the draft and edited it with my partner in crime. I aimed to have it ready later this summer, but the way the calendar is progressing, it will be out in the fall instead. I’ll be sure to make it worth the wait–it’s shaping up to be a very good novel.

Now the world just needs to stop falling apart for a little while. I thought my cortisol levels were high in 2020 and 2021, but all of this 2025 business is making the pandemic stress feel trivial by comparison. When I write, I need to tune out the world so I can get into my zone, but this world keeps refusing to let itself get tuned out…

 

books. contests and giveaways. frontlines: evolution

CORVUS giveaway winners

All right, the Random Number Gods have spoken. The winners are:

  • Jacob Moore
  • Patrick Ryan Storey
  • Chris/chriskidd22
  • Ryan Beck
  • Kris Stacks
  • Ben Wiechman
  • Brian H.
  • Brenda J. Cromwell
  • Jim Foster
  • Emily Henry
  • Marla McOmber
  • Eric Hembree

You may have noticed that the list of names is twelve strong instead of ten. That’s because I decided at the last minute to make it an even dozen this time.

If your name is on this list, please send me an email to marko.kloos@gmail.com with your current U.S. or Canadian shipping address. I’d like to get those books on the way this week, so a prompt reply would be appreciated (and helps you get the book into your hands faster.)

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you for playing to all those who replied. It’s always nice to see the excitement for a new release.

 

books. contests and giveaways. frontlines: evolution

CORVUS giveaway begins right meow

All right, friends and neighbors—I’m giving away ten copies of CORVUS, the second installment of the Frontlines: Evolution series. The book is due out for release on August 19th, so whoever wins an early copy will get to read it a few weeks early.

You know the general rules—leave a comment on this post declaring your desire to receive a copy, and I’ll close the comments and pull ten name out of the hat via random number generator next Sunday, June 29th, noon EST. 

Winners will receive a copy of CORVUS, shipped at my expense. As I’ve mentioned in the last post, there’s a change in eligibility this time. As much as it sucks, I have to limit participation to US and Canadian addresses  because of the current tariff fuckery which makes sending international shipments a crapshoot as far as customs duties are concerned. I hate having to limit the pool of readers who can score a free copy, but things are what they are right now.

(As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve also had to eat the cost for some books whose recipients declined to pay the customs fees assessed by their home countries’ revenue services, which sucks doubly for me because I’m out the cost of the book and the international shipping. That is super uncool and ruins the fun for everyone.)

Anyway, the contest is now open. If you want to put your name in the hat for a free copy of CORVUS and you have a shipping address in the US or Canada, leave a comment below to be entered in the giveaway. Winners will be announced after noon EST on Sunday, June 29th.

books. frontlines: evolution

CORVUS ARCs are here

I received the customary box of advance reader copies for CORVUS, second book in the Frontlines: Evolution series, which will be out on August 19th.

If you’re a reviewer, lit blogger, BookToker or YouTuber interested in a review copy, send me an email at marko.kloos@gmail.com, and I’ll send you an ARC free of charge per media mail on a first-come, first-serve basis, or provide you with a NetGalley link for an electronic copy.

(Please don’t ask for one just to get an early/free read if you’re not a reviewer. I will get a box of author copies and do my regular giveaway with those as we get closer to release day.)

books. frontlines: evolution new hampshah.

07OCT2024

The developmental edits for CORVUS, second volume in the Frontlines: Evolution series, are finished and turned in. My developmental editor is excited about this book and says it’s my best one yet, so I hope it’ll land well with readers when it comes out in August.

(For those of you wondering why it can’t be released sooner if the edits are done already—the manuscript will get a few copyedit passes now, the cover art needs to be commissioned, and then the audiobook version needs to be scheduled and recorded. It takes time to get all the moving parts coordinated.)

It’s the best time of the year here in upper New England—temperatures in the sixties, sunshine, and the turning leaves of early autumn popping their colors everywhere. My personal idea of paradise has this kind of weather year-round. October is my favorite month, and that’s not just because it’s my birth month. It’s nature’s last deep breath before the onset of the cold season, which feels like it lasts half the year up here sometimes. I’ll be getting out the snow shovels and gassing up the snowblower soon enough, but for now I am enjoying the sunshine and the crisp fall air.

I am working on a secret project right now. Once that’s turned in, I’ll spend the rest of the year on Palladium Wars #5, which should be ready for Kindle Direct and paperback sometime in the first quarter of next year. Since 47North declined to continue the series, I’m limited to a Kindle and paperback release until I’ve squared the audio rights away separately with Audible or another party. (Watch this spot for updates.)

 

conventions. frontlines: evolution travel. writing.

CORVUS draft and Worldcon after-action report

As you can tell from the progress bar in the sidebar to the right, I have finished the first draft of CORVUS, the second installment in the Frontlines: Evolution series. It’s with the editor now, and I’ll see it again in a few weeks to begin the developmental edits, but for now it’s off my desk.

I spent a long weekend in Glasgow, Scotland, where I attended the Alfie awards dinner thrown by George R.R. Martin, honoring the authors whose works had been inexplicably punted off the shortlist by the powers in charge at the Chengdu Worldcon last year. I also spent much of Saturday at the con, where I got to meet up with some old friends I hadn’t seen since before the pandemic, so that was lovely. The travel itself was another story altogether. I took the draft of CORVUS with me to finish it on the way (spoiler warning–I didn’t finish it on the way), and deadline stress plus travel anxiety combined into a new and special cocktail of stress that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But I finished the draft in my hotel room on Friday, literally two hours before the awards dinner, and everything was much more fun and relaxing once I hit “Send” on that email to my editor and agent.

In the wake of the con, a lot of people reported testing positive for COVID, including a good friend with whom I spent time at a pub on Saturday night, and several people who went to the same awards dinner I attended. I’ve tested negative three times since Sunday and I feel fine, so I hope I made it through a busy con and two packed airports without catching it.

I got back on Monday and took the last few days to recover from the combination of travel and deadline stress, but now it’s back to work. I have a project to keep me busy until I get the editor notes for CORVUS back, but I can’t disclose that one yet, so you’ll have to take my word for it that it’ll be cool and awesome.

Once I turn in this secret project, my schedule for the rest of the year consists of writing Palladium Wars #5, which doesn’t have a name yet. I aim to have that one done by the end of December, for a release in the first quarter of next year. I have news on the future of the Palladium Wars series, but that’s a matter for another post.

Anyway–the year is already almost two thirds of the way done, and there’s plenty of work to be done in that last third, so I’d best get to it. More news to follow soon!

 

books. contests and giveaways. frontlines: evolution

Contest books are in the mail

The contest prize books will be going out to the winners today. In this round, the international readers were particularly blessed by the random numbers gods. Of twelve books, only three are going to U.S. addresses. The rest are all international: one each to Germany, Finland, and Switzerland, and six(!) to addresses in the UK.

THE THINGS I DO FOR MY INTERNATIONAL READERS.