I'm moving!!

I've been a little quiet on here over the past few weeks because I've been plowing ahead with some of my books, trying to get them finished and ready for release by the end of the year.

I've also been working on a new self-hosted site that's still in progress, but it is up and running and subject to change as I discover new and shiny things to add to it to make it homely and functional.

I've also set up a mailing list, which you can sign up to from here (on the side bar), or at the new site (but only sign up once - you'll be signing up to the same list)

Subscribers will get first dibs on pre-release review copies of new books and special offers from time to time. I'm starting it off as a quarterly thing, so you'll get updates 4 times a year at the least, and also when I have new stuff out or special offers and giveaways.

You can now find me at srsilcox.com Head on over and let me know what you think about my new place, and as is customary, I'm happy to receive any housewarming gifts you might bring - beer and chocolate are most welcome.

What I really think of... Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey's Wool

 'The children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do. While they thundered about frantically above, Holston took his time, each step methodical and ponderous, as he wound his way around the spiral staircase, old boots ringing out on metal treads.'

So begins Hugh Howey's first novella in his blockbuster Silo series, Wool.

I can't exactly remember when I first heard about this guy, Hugh Howey, but I do remember his name popping up all over twitter and blogs, and I thought "Hell, I'll give this guy a go." At 99c for his first novella, Wool, it was a pretty good bargain, and having received my first kindle for Christmas 2011, I was looking for cheap books to fill it. 

I read that first book in one sitting then immediately downloaded the second part ("Proper Gauge") and then the third one ("Casting Off"). I remember staying up until the early hours of the morning to finish "Casting Off", and making myself wait until the next morning to download the final two in the series "The Unraveling" and "The Stranded". 

Briefly, the Silo series is set in an apocalyptic world, where humans live underground in huge silos 144 stories below the ground. It's set in a time when no-one can remember what happened on the outside, and no-one questions why they live the way they do. 

That is, until Jules comes along. Jules is a mechanic from the Down Deep, the very bottom levels of the silo, where she works to keep the machinery of the silo functioning. Needing a new sheriff after the tragedy that is Holston's death (which is so hauntingly written in Wool 1), Jules is the one who steps up (albeit reluctantly). Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she begins to question everything she has ever been told about the history of the silo and the circumstances of their existence. Wool 2-5 follows Jules' story - the consequences of questioning long-held beliefs, and the lengths that some will go to to protect the status quo.

The reason I love these books so much is that they focus on something that is a real problem in our own time - taking what we see for granted, and living our lives through computer screens. We listen to politicians and the media and assume that what they tell us is the truth. We have no real desire to do the hard work and find information for ourselves. We form opinions on someone else's view of the world, instead of seeing it for ourselves.

I know from reading interviews of Hugh that those were major factors in his desire to write this series. 

I came away from that first series feeling like I needed to be more involved in the world around me; to take a more proactive role in my own life, instead of sitting back and letting it happen. 

For any of my teacher friends out there, if you're looking for books to spark discussions with students, these are the books to read. 

On a slightly different tangent, Hugh is also a shining light for those of us looking to self-publish our own stories. Hugh began with a small publisher with his first Molly Fyde book (Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue), a YA science fiction novel, and quickly learned that he could do a lot of the publishing side of things himself. 

So he did.

The popularity of his Silo series made bigger publishers and agents sit up and take notice, and he made history when he signed a print only deal with Simon and Schuster, enabling him to keep his digital (ebook) rights.

This is extremely significant, because traditionally, contracts from publishers effectively restrict authors from writing and publishing anything that is seen to be in competition to the books they've sold, which really means everything that comes after.

I won't bore you with the ins and outs of how that deal will hopefully help to change the publishing industry in the long term, and how they treat their authors, but suffice it to say, it's a small step in the right direction.

There is so much more I can say about Hugh Howey and the effect he's had on the self- and indie-publishing industries and authors, but I will leave the other stuff for another post.

The last thing I will say is BUY HIS BOOKS! I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

You can find Hugh here:

Hugh Howey

Buy his books from Amazon (or order the paper copies of his books from your local bookstore):

Hugh's Amazon Author Page


You can find out more about his Wool series at Simon and Schuster here:

Wool Series

Let's get Sonny to meet P!nk!!

I want to tell you about a great friend of mine (and some time great rival), Sonny Hughes. 

Sonny and I played for rival soccer teams, and were sworn mortal enemies for the best part of 10 years. She was a young and cocky striker, and I was a young and smart-mouthed goalkeeper. It was a rivalry made in heaven. There was no greater satisfaction for me than denying her a goal, and some of my greatest and fondest memories in the sport are of our matches against each other (not to mention the "friendly" banter).

To me, Sonny was always energetic and full of life. She was tough and strong and unforgiving on the field. Little did I know that those characteristics would come in handy when she faced the fight of her life.

At the age of just 33, she has fought and beaten cancer 3 times - in 2008 it was Non-Hodgkins lymphoma; in 2009 there was cancer in her groin; and finally, after 2 years cancer free, in February 2012 she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Her last bout of chemo and radiation caused complications that have resulted in her having an ileostomy and colostomy. In the space of just a few months, I saw her go from someone who was getting her life back on track and regaining her health, to fighting for her life.

She wasn't even sure she'd live long enough to see a P!nk concert, such was her prognosis, but she bought a ticket anyway. She has fought her battle against cancer with dignity and humility, and has come out the other side with her humour and strength intact. Nothing would make her fight worthwhile like getting to meet P!nk in person. 

What can you do to help?

Like and share the facebook page with family, friends, businesses and anyone else you can think of to get the word out. Flick Sonny a message on the page to let her know you're thinking of her. Let P!nk know on twitter and facebook that this wonderful, courageous woman has a dream that she can make come true - a dream that only a few short months ago really was impossible.

Introducing... Layce Gardner

I'm not big on the lesbian romance genre. (I can't believe I can say that with a straight face, considering I am currently dabbling in that genre, but anyway.)

I guess it's because my early forays into it were a little sub-par. The characters were all a little too beat up, and some of the plot points bordered too far on the unbelievable side of the fence for me.

I get it. We've all been through our Coming Out period, our Lusting After our Straight Best Friend period and our U-Haul Lesbian period (in Australia we call it the Budget Lesbian period) among others. Most of us want to read about that stuff to make us feel better about bad decisions, bad romances, and to escape from our bad, sad lives.

Here's the thing. I'm more than the sum of my bad and sad parts. I have lots of happy times. "Why doesn't anyone write about the happy times?" I lamented. "Why doesn't anyone write something fun?"

Then I found Layce Gardner. I am proud to be able to call her my Facebook Friend. (Which means that she stupidly accepted my friend request even though she didn't know me from a bar of soap, and now I can stalk her interact with her whenever I want.)

I can't remember exactly how I discovered her novel Tats, but I devoured it in two sittings. I would have devoured it in one, but a pesky little thing called my day job came between us.

I passed my paperback copy on to a great friend of mine, along with rave reviews. (Lisa, I still want it back!)
 
I loved the book so much, in fact, that as soon as the next book Tats Too came out, I downloaded it onto my kindle as soon as it was available. This time, I got to read it while I was on holiday in Fiji - I wasn't going to let a little thing like a friend's wedding get in the way of me and that book.

I read parts of it out to my wife, giggling like an idiot, while my wife just looked at me knowing full well I AM an idiot. "I guess you have to read what happened before" was my answer to her blank looks. 

Anyway, to the point. 

I downloaded and read Penny Nickels and Wild at Heart as soon as they came out too, and was itching for more.

That was a few months ago now, and I had decided that I wasn't going to go out of my way to buy any new books until I had finished some of my own. 

Then, I saw this pop up on my facebook feed:

I was so excited that the new book was available, but you know, my no-book-buying thing.

I held off for exactly three days. 

I bought it, promising that I would only read the first chapter after I had at least completed my word-count quota for the day. 

I only lasted a couple of hours before I thought "I'll just read the first paragraph and see if it grabs me." 


A couple of hours of reading and laughing out loud later, I realised that it was past midnight, and that I had wanted to get to bed early, so I could get up early and get in some pre-caffeinated writing time. (For non-writers, that's the best time to trick my muse into giving up some of her secrets - before she wakes up and goes MIA).

I don't really have the whole "do something good, reward yourself" thing down very well.

So the truth of it is, I don't think I can hold out on reading the rest of the book. I think I might just take an early weekend and go ahead and get it over and done with.


If you're curious, my favourite part of the book so far is when the girls (Dana and Trudy) are sharing an unlit cigarette. They both take pretend puffs and then Trudy takes the cigarette back and "ashes" on the floor.

No wait. It's when Dana meets Ellen. "She had brown-almost-black eyes like melted chocolate and a smile that reminded Dana of strawberry cheesecake. Her smile itself didn't exactly remind Dana of cheesecake; it's that the smile gave her the same feeling as looking at a slice of strawberry cheesecake."

No, it's the conversation about Dana's need to fill a hole in a conversation. "See, when there's a hole in the conversation I feel this urge to stick something in the hole. In fact, there's very few people in this world I'm comfortable being around and not sticking something in their hole."

Layce, you had me at "'My girlfriend is a slut,' Dana Dooley said." It's going to be another late night.

You can find Layce's books on Amazon here
Check out her blog here

Introducing... a new series of posts

Regular readers of my blog will know that I am very irregular with my posting schedule. It's not that I'm too busy to write anything, it's just that I write stuff, forget about it, then it's old news. Or I have a great idea for a ranty post but then think better of it, so I don't write anything.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately about how I want my books to spread by word-of-mouth from readers who love my work. I realised that I am also a reader, and therefore I should be spreading the word on authors and books I love so anyone who's interested can check them out for themselves.

Spread the love I say.

With that in mind, and having discovered some pretty awesome writers and books over the last 18 months that I've had my kindle, I've decided to do a series of posts on those books and authors I think deserve a little bloggy love.

My intention is to post these monthly, but we'll see how we go.

First cab off the rank is one of my new favourite lesbian romance authors, Layce Gardner. That post is ready and raring to go, and will go up on the 1st of July.

Other authors I'll be posting about will include Hugh Howey (he of the Wool phenomenon), JA Konrath, Lindsay Buroker and John Scalzi.

There will be others as I continue to read and go back over my "Read" list on my kindle. 

There's a pretty eclectic mix of genres, so not everyone will like all the books or all the authors I recommend. The great thing about the kindle, though, is that you get to download a sample and then can buy it if you like it, or ditch it if you don't.

I'm also open to suggestions, so feel free to drop me an email or a comment on the blog.