Tag: whiskey delta

New Promotional Deal for Whiskey Delta!

shutterstock_107588285Hey all! In honor of Papa Zulu‘s recent publication, and the fact that there are still many people who haven’t read the first book in the series (I know, it’s crazy right?), I have started a special promotion. It began just yesterday, with the price for Whiskey Delta being marked down to $0.99. This will continue until March 31st, at which point the price will go up to a (still discounted) $1.99. The promotion ends on April 4th, at which time it will go back to its full price of $2.99.

So if you haven’t read the book, get it while you can! But of course, the real goal here is to get more people prepped and ready to buy Papa Zulu, which I intend to launch a special promotion for as soon as this one ends. As always, it’s all about getting people interested in the series, which they simply can’t do of they don’t start from the beginning! If interested, follow the link below to WD‘s Amazon page and select it for Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Whiskey-Delta

And don’t forget to review! 🙂

Papa Zulu’s 2nd Five Star Review!

papa_zuluWell folks, Papa Zulu has now been available through Amazon.com for just over a month. And thus far, two reviews have come in, and both are both highly favorable! I tell ya, it pays off to hold back on publication so you can make sure that everything is nicely polished and edited. And while I’m still waiting on a few more people to chime in on what they thought about the book, I am pretty happy with what people had to say so far.

Here are the reviews, with some minor omissions to make sure no spoilers were included:

(5.0 stars) So Good
By Rosie Reader

Lots of action and excitement once again; a great follow-up to Whiskey Delta! I hope there is another one in the series because I want more.

(5.0 stars) Excellent Sequel!
By S.O. “SO” (NY)

What can I say about this….except it’s an incredible follow up to Whiskey Delta! I almost wish I’d given WD a lower rating, just so I could rate this a higher one LOL. It picks up pretty much where book 1 left off, but it is written in such a way that if you didn’t read WD you wouldn’t be too lost. It’s not so much about the zombies this time, but the aftermath of that and the internal conflicts both within the Army and within each person.

(Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler)…

There are a few loose ends where the end of the book is concerned and to quote Braun “this can’t be the end…there has to be more…” His relationship with Saunders is brought to attention, there’s a traitor (or 2) in their midst, and his platoon might have a new leader.

You can check the full reviews by going to the books Amazon page, but I warn you, they do contain spoilers! And it might just be a coincidence, but I did notice a slight uptick in sales since the second review came in. So far, Papa Zulu has sold some 13 copies since publication, and Whiskey Delta and the unrelated Data Miners have even made some added sales. So, for obvious reasons, I am pretty happy right now.

And to my fellow indies, keep hammering those keys and pushing those books! Every copy we sell is a small victory and every favorable review is a big one. After all, that’s why we got into this business, isn’t it? To share what we love, think, and what inspires us, in the hopes that other people draw from it the same things we do.

Happy Anniversary!

fireworks1Today, I got an all=important notification from WordPress.com. It tells me that today is the third anniversary of this here blog, also known as storiesbywilliams.com. Yes, it was on this day, three years ago to the day, that I started this little enterprise in order to publicize my work, share what inspires me, and connect with other writers and bloggers out there.

And as with all anniversaries on this site, I’d like to commemorate this by sharing a few facts and figures, just to put it all in context context. Three years on this site has resulted in the following numbers:

  • 3 years
  • 1095 days
  • 8760 hours
  • 1576800 minutes

Or, to put it in terms of what I’ve actually done with that time, which seems much more relevant:

  • 410,057 views
  • 6,417 comments
  • 2,039 followers
  • 1,541 posts

And as usual, I would like to thank all those who helped make this possible. Since starting this blog, I’ve managed to publish all my works from 2004 onward. These include Source, the Legacies: Preludes collection, Data Miners, Whiskey Delta, and most recently, Papa Zulu. And in the coming months, I plan to release Flash Forward, and finish work on the long-awaited Yuva Anthology.

And, just as importantly, I feel I’ve learned a great deal, thanks to the personal and professional connections I’ve made. And wherever possible, I’ve tried to pass that experience and knowledge onward; and shall continue to do so whenever possible. This site is, was, and always will be about inspiration, and that belongs to no one and everyone.

So expect to hear plenty more from me, and be sure to make yourself heard as well – as often and as much as possible. Here’s to three years more, and to forever looking onward!

space_camera

Papa Zulu – Ready and Available, Finally!

papa_zuluWell, after about a week of tinkering, complaining, and demanding that Amazon, Kindle and Createspace get their act together, Papa Zulu is now available in all formats, and all in one place! This was a bit of a bugger last week, when I was finally finished with the tedious editing and submission process, only to find that it wasn’t even showing up in the right places.

To recap, Papa Zulu was made available through Amazon.com as of last Monday, but it did not appear with the rest of my books. So for the untrained consumer (i.e. anyone who doesn’t know me already), the book’s relation to Whiskey Delta would have been unclear. In addition, the Kindle edition and the paperback didn’t even appear together, with one only available at Amazon.com and the other at Amazon.ca.

But after a few days, that was all resolved. As of now, all formats of Papa Zulu can be ordered from one place (Amazon.com) and I’ve made sure the links to it have been updated to reflect that. And on top of that, it now appears alongside all my other titles on my Amazon author page. So now it will be easy to find, and people who said they wanted a sequel will actually be able to find it.

Yay for small victories and the work that makes them happen! Woe for the speed bumps and delays that make the extra work necessary! And feel free to check out the book’s listing and my author page, now that they are are in working order:

Papa Zulu:
http://www.amazon.com/Papa-Zulu-Matthew-S-Williams

Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Matthew-S-Williams

Papa Zulu – Impending Release!

shutterstock_103Well, the day seems to finally be upon me. After six months of rereading, rewriting, and editing, Papa Zulu is set to be released in about a week’s time. While I was hoping to get it out in time for Valentine’s Day, a bit of deliberate irony on my part, I am pretty sure at this point that I will need a few extra days to make sure everything’s in order.

Wanting to avoid the same mistakes I made last time with early publication, I have opted for the slow road and I hope to maintain that until I’m sure the book is as polished as it can be. Needless to say, I am pretty happy with the end result and it has tested pretty well with those who’ve read it thus far. I’ve also taken the liberty of preparing advance copies for people who have agreed to give it an early review.

papa_zuluNeedless to say, the book picks up where the last left off, bringing new enemies into the fray and revealing new details about this post-apocalyptic world. Consistent with the Three Act Play scenario, the second book is where things go dark, the heroes are put in a harm’s way, and people die! If you want details, you’re going to have to red it…

So as you can imagine, I’m pretty excited! By this time next week, the long wait will be over and the sequel to Whiskey Delta will be published! And maybe then I will be able to get to penning the third installment without thinking I’m getting ahead of myself. In the meantime, I thought I’d share the cover art (above) and the promo trailer (below) one last time:

New Trailer For Papa Zulu

Check out this video trailer for the upcoming sequel to Whiskey Delta, the much-anticipated Papa Zulu! Well, anticipated by some, but they certainly seem dedicated enough. And after schooling myself in the uses of Youtube video creation and the miracles or Shutterstock, I think this one is a big improvement over the first. Check it out, and be sure to comment!

2014’s Master To-Do List

Colourful 2014 in fiery sparklersWith this year in full swing and the events of 2013 now a memory, I thought it was high time to take stock of everything I need to do in the coming twelve months. As always, I got a lot of projects in the works and plenty of things I want to get done, some of which I was supposed to be finished with already. And I seem to recall mentioning a few of these items in the course of my New Year’s resolutions…

So here goes…

1. Finish Editing Papa Zulu and Release It:
Now this is one I’ve been letting linger for quite some time! Originally, I had hoped to have this book ready a year ago, but editing has proven to be a more arduous process than previously expected. However, I got my trusty and professional editor (hi Leslie!) in my corner, and she’s editing both it and Whiskey Delta. So sometime before the Spring season hits us, I plan to release the one and re-release the other. It will be a kind of one-two, launch/relaunch combo!

2. Edit Fast Forward and Release it:
Back in April of 2013, I penned a number of short stories for the A to Z Challenge. Since that time, I’m coalesced the best stories, added a few extras from over the years, and created a volume of futuristic tales that I named “Fast Forward”. And with my membership over at Shutterstock.com, I also prepped a new and eyepopping cover that I think will get some attention once its published. But before that can happen, I need to go through it again and make sure its all cleaned up.

FlashForward_2

3. Bring Yuva Anthology to Completion:
Khaalidah and I – a friend and fellow indie writer over at Writer’s Worth – started this anthology of space travel and colonization two years ago. At first, we found ourselves joined by several friends and respected colleagues who also wanted to see the project come to fruition. But after several months of initial progress, things began to slow down and linger.

But I’m pleased to say that in the past few weeks, things have really picked up again. Owing to a full-court press to recruit new talent, we have just about all our stories accounted for and I’m waiting for drafts from all the participants. It would be really nice if we could get this book – a tribute to Ray Bradbury and a tale that is more relevant than ever now – finished by the end of the year.

Yuva_cover

4. Finish Reading List and Review Them:
Yeah, my reading list is, as always glutted and filled with stuff I was supposed to have finished a long time ago. It seemed to take me forever to finish reading World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks. And now that that’s finished, I am hoping to finish the last three books that I have started but not finished, and then move on to the many other novels on my nightstand.

These books include Accelerando by Charles Stross, a story about this century that is required reading for anyone trying to write about the Technological Singularity; We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, the quintessential dystopian tale about social engineering, failed utopias, and the inspiration behind such classics as 1984 and (arguably) Brave New World. And last, but certainly not least, The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones by Rami Ungar.

we_zamyatinAnd when I’m done all those books, which I’ve been reading simultaneously and in bursts, I can move on to Ready Player One, The Giver, and Back To The Front, an account of one man’s walking tour of the battlefields of World War I. Hey, I don’t just deal in science fiction, you know!

And with all that done and put away with, maybe the wife and I can finally find a bigger place, which is something we’ve been working on for some time. And of course, there will be the walking tour that we will be doing with my family this coming April. I need to do some research to prepare for that, and you can bet your bottom dollar you’ll be hearing about it too!

So yeah, 2014 is shaping up to be an eventful year. I hope it proves to be as productive and enjoyable as I hope, and that you all get what you want from it as well. Take care and Happy New Year!

New Reviews for Whiskey Delta!

Good_News_EveryoneI have just received word that Whiskey Delta has received its fifth review over at Goodreads this afternoon. And the review was pretty good, 5 star good in fact, and pushed the overall rating of the book up to a full four stars. The reviewer was woman named Seregon (I’m omitting her full name to protect her anonymity), who is an actress, model, and fan of indie writers who enjoys reading and reviewing.

When I learned this last bit about her, I couldn’t help but contact her and send her a free copy in exchange for an honest review. And here is what she said (just the first part to avoid the biggest spoilers):

This wasn’t your typical horror/zombie book. It was more about survival, much like the Walking Dead. If you’re a fan of that show, you’ll really like this book. Taking place in SoCal, the military has a special team designated to find Patient Zero, aka Papa Zulu, aka the first person known to have contracted the virus that turns people into Whiskeys (zombies…

I was impressed with the dialogue and references to getting by in life that involved a lot more than dealing with zombies… I like that each character has his/her own personality and is three dimensional. The reader follows and can relate to each character on some level and there’s no feeling of “fluff” anywhere in the story.

Even if you’re not a zombie fan, you might still enjoy this book. As I said, it’s less “horror” and more about completing an important mission.

Wasn’t that nice? Always good to be differentiated from the rest, not to mention being compared to one of your favorite franchises (she mentioned The Walking Dead in the post and compared this book favorably to it). Reading it put me in a good mood instantly!

good-reviewAnd, in truth, this is the second 5 star review I’ve received in recent months, I just happened to forget to post about the other one. In that case, it was a woman named Kellie, also a fan of the new literature and someone with a soft spot for zombie and horror novels. In her case, she responded to a discussion thread I started months ago where I was asking for reviews.

She responded, and a few weeks later, this is what she had to say (Once again, the reviews is edited for spoiler content):

This is a badass Zombie book. Braun and his crew have a very important classified job to do as its classified im unable to tell you about it… This book is awesome! Very suspensful… The threat of the zombies have you wondering when they are going to jump out and bite someone. The whole crew is likeable you don’t want anyone getting hurt… This author really knows what hes talking about with all the military terms and the battles. Wait for the battles, you feel as if your there and the zombies in this book don’t just shuffle, moan, and bite. They run and fight back… I said it once ill say it again AWESOME! I hear there’s a sequel. I will be on it.

Again, wasn’t that nice? I tell you, a good review makes it all worthwhile, and a bad one is enough to put a writer (this one, at any rate) in a funk for a good while. Having heard kind words about my writing like these, I’m all the more pumped to get Papa Zulu ready for publication. In fact, I’m itching to do it now, but releasing the last one too soon is why I got some of the mixed reviews I did. Very interested in avoiding that this time around.

In the meantime, to all indie writer’s, keep hitting those keys and your eyes firmly fixed on the prize. If you love what you do, nothing should stand between you and recognition and respect, not to mention some decent sales figures! I hope we can all look forward to some of that too 🙂

zombies-city-and-the-crowd

Papa Zulu: Edits Complete!

Oscar MikeWell, it’s finally finished. After months of being behind on getting Whiskey Delta‘s sequel ready for publication, I am finally finished with my edits. And now, I turn it over to my betas and those who’ve selflessly volunteered to take this book on with me. I sincerely hope I got all the typos and errors out in that first run.

Probably not, but it’s nice to think that the next round of edits will be mercifully brief so I can get this book out before the holidays. Fans of the first book specifically requested a sequel, and people shouldn’t have to wait for a year to get one. You hear that George RR Martin?

Another reason I need to get this book out is because of my progress on the third, or rather lack thereof. Twice now I’ve tried to get the ball rolling on that story, only to find myself backtracking a few weeks later and deleting everything I wrote.

I know why too, I can feel in my heart that I’m overreaching. Until such time as I can get book II out and get some feedback on the story, I know I won’t feel confident plotting out the third one.  I imagine there are plenty of people out there who know what I’m talking about 😉

In any case, look for it soon. Papa Zulu, second book in the Whiskey Delta series!

Papa Zulu – Second Revision 1/2 Done!

editing1Editing is such a slow moving process, which is why I hate it so! As it’s not enough that you go through your initial draft and make all those pesky corrections, then you have to go over the whole thing and implement them. Then, assuming you haven’t made additional mistakes, you got to wait on beta readers to pick out anything you missed. Only then can you finally submit your work and wait for the kudos and criticisms from the reading public to come in.

At least, that’s the process when you’re working from a paper manuscript and doing most of it yourself. Were it not for the fact that this way is actually faster for me than scanning line after line of a doc file, I would have abandoned it a long time ago! And of course, its become a necessity since I can’t afford most editors rates. Oh, the slings and arrows of being an indie writer/teacher!

papa_zuluBut alas, this post was supposed to be about good news. After finishing the edits on Papa Zulu‘s first draft – the sequel to my Whiskey Delta zombie-apocalypse novel – I am now half done implementing all the edits and rewrites I made there. The process has felt arduous, but I’m actually surprised by the progress. I seem to be able to get four to five chapters a day done, far better than my initial prediction of say, one!

And in case its not patently obvious, I am very anxious and impatient to get this done! I was so hoping to have this novel finished by the end of this past summer. Despite its initial success, Whiskey Delta has been accumulating dust over at Amazon and the reviews have ceased since the last few (which were all really good). So I am determined to get the ball rolling and figured the sequel would be the best way of doing that.

thumbs upAnd of course, part of why this editing process is taking so long is that I am determined to get it right this time. Whiskey Delta still only has a rating of 3.5 stars thanks to all the people who penalized it for having editing mistakes. In my haste to get it out there after Max Brooks mentioned it by name (thanks again, Rami!), I took some serious flak for that. This time around, I want there to be no mistakes, or at least as few as possible.

I’m also hoping that getting the sequel out will help me get the ball rolling on the third one – Oscar Mike. I tell ya, that book has been through two starts and stops now, but I just can’t seem to capture the essence of what the third book should be about. Somehow, I feel that some sales and some feedback on the second installment might help me get my priorities straight for the latest.

Such is the life we’ve chosen isn’t it, my fellow indies? I sincerely hope you’re all doing well with your own pursuits and your works are garnering praise or at least some constructive criticism. And may we all find our way to that lovely person, known as an editor, who can take some of this arduous process of our hands and help us to do better!