Archive for the 'Predestination' Category
July 24th, 2011 by jdsawyer
Grab a pack of cards. Strap your pressure suit on. It’s time to head to the poker game that started it all, and the book that View From Valhalla called “lovingly detailed, well-written thinking man’s science fiction at its best.*”
Joss Kyle is a one-time National Security Advisor who barely escaped Washington D.C. with his skin intact. For three years he’s lived by his wits and the fall of the cards in the criminal underworld of South America, but jumping planet for Space Station Sidon means walking into an ambush more dangerous than any he’s yet faced:
A man named Alex Hart wants to play cards with him.
Their meeting will fling Joss into a game playing for highest stakes in town: control of the entire solar system. Chased by a revolutionary leader, agents of a corrupt senator, and an underworld boss known only as The Green Lady, he quickly discovers that in the looking-glass world above the gravity well, survival, like poker, is just another sport. And in this contest, it isn’t whether you win or lose, it’s how you rig the game.
Now available in paperback from AWP Science Fiction, Predestination is the story Nathan Lowell calls “A sweeping tale of politics, corruption, intrigue, betrayal, and murder…a fast-paced ride through a world that’s too plausible to be ignored**” and that Brand Gamblin calls “…a lush, powerful story of hunter and pray, betrayal and rebellion, and poker.***.” Available for the first time ever in paper, this handsome new edition rings in at 341 pages contains the full text of the ebook edition, plus new line art and a sample of the sequel, Free Will.
Now, it’s true that you can buy the novel at Amazon now, and you’ll be able to find it in bookstores this fall, but for you loyal folk that read my blog, it’s available for a special rate. Until Worldcon, buy your copy by clicking here and using the coupon code XX2QR2Z8, and you’ll receive $2.00 off the $14.99 cover price.
Finally, for those of you who run vending booths at conventions (or who work in bookstores) and would like to carry Predestination (or any of my other books), shoot me an email from the Contact Form and I will send you the AWP Books wholesale pricing schedule.
I’ll be back soon with news about Free Will and Down From Ten, but until then remember…
It isn’t whether you win or lose, it’s how you rig the game.
*Odin1eye, View From Valhalla
**Nathan Lowell, Author of The Golden Age of the Silver Clipper
***Brand Gamblin, author of Tumbler and The Hidden Institute
May 22nd, 2011 by jdsawyer
And the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, saying “It is done.”
All the original writing for Free Will is now done. I have a few days of continuity tweaking ahead of me, and then some cutting, but it really is now all over but the shouting.
New equipment for the studio arrives this week, and I’ll be resuming production on everything in two weeks after I give things a proper shakedown and take a day or two off.
What does this mean for you?
Predestination and Free Will paperbacks (and Free Will ebook) in June. New episodes of Sculpting God in June. New episodes of Free Will starting in July, and continuing through to the end of the book.
It’s been a marathon–two years of work plotting and researching, and four solid months of aggregated writing time over those two years.. Final count: 212k words. Manuscript page count: 848. (Don’t worry, that will shrink as I shake out the continuity).
Time to crack the champagne!
May 17th, 2011 by jdsawyer
As I get to the very end of writing Free Will, it’s time to wrench open the Antithesis taps again.
My friend Danny Schade has now soundtracked two and a half books for me over the last couple years. For Predestination, he composed upwards of nine hours of music, and it made such an impression that people started immediately clamoring for versions they could listen to without the story talking over it.
A year ago, Schadey came out to ArtisticWhispers where he and I brought in veteran producer Mary Mason, and the three of us proceeded to rework the music into an album. In that first glorious weekend, we culled those original nine hours down to nineteen emblematic tracks with a running time target of between fifty minutes and an hour. Then, over the year since, in stolen moments, Schadey composed and recorded new material and arrangements at his home base in Colorado, while we here in California re-mixed, produced, sweetened, polished, and sometimes re-orchestrated the original material, blending the old with the new to bring Schadey’s audio vision snapping to the fore. The result is one we now proudly present to you, for the first time anywhere: A one hour instrumental genre-spanning rock opera. Predestination: The Soundtrack.
Available now as a DRM-free MP3 download.
Also, don’t forget that the novel which started it all is now available as an ebook, with all new scenes and other material to deepen the world and set you up for Free Will, which is coming in June. Get it now for Kindle, Nook, and for all other readers on Smashwords. And, of course, if you like the artwork, you can get a signed and numbered limited edition poster print for your private gallery.
And remember…
…It isn’t whether you win or lose. It’s how you rig the game.
May 3rd, 2011 by jdsawyer
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Mondu, once an AI designer 
at the top of the Nigerian IT industry, needed to escape from a life that was eating him alive. He found refuge as a shopkeeper in the depths of the Amazon, at a unique resort. It’s a preserve for all forms of Amazon life–reptiles, mammals, and human and material culture. No modern technology allowed.
It’s the kind of place where some people come here to disappear.
And others come to hunt them.
Also available as an ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
April 11th, 2011 by jdsawyer
If you’re missing Joss Kyle, your wait is nearly over. And to whet your appetite for more, I’m pleased to present you with the ebook of the first Antithesis adventure, The Man In The Rain.
Mondu, once an AI designer at the top of the Nigerian IT industry, needed to escape from a life that was eating him alive. He found refuge as a shopkeeper in the depths of the Amazon, at a unique resort. It’s a preserve for all forms of Amazon life–reptiles, mammals, and human and material culture. No modern technology allowed.
In a world of dictators and perpetual surveillance, it is one place where a man can disappear–and Mondu isn’t the only one who knows it. When the tourist traffic is driven out by torrential rains, only the businessmen and the scientists remain–until the day when a man walks into Mondu’s shop. He wants to disappear–and the Yakuza are hot on his tail.
The story is now available at Amazon and Smashwords, and is coming soon to other retailers.
Those of you familiar with The Antithesis Progression will recognize the characters and the universe, but this story stands alone. Consider it an appetizer for the main event coming later this month. But until then, I invite you to join me for an excursion into the heart of the Amazon for a tale as close and dangerous as the jungle itself…
Continue reading ‘Released: The Man In The Rain’
April 4th, 2011 by jdsawyer
When I started writing The Antithesis Progression, I had a nice, tidy three-book series in mind. Then I wrote it, and discovered that what I thought was book 1 was actually 2 books cleverly hiding inside my head under a single title.
Well, no problem there. Turns out there was an excellent break point where book 1 could end naturally–and on a very nice cliffhanger–so I could move on to the new book 2 (which was originally the planned second half of book 1). I’d just sit down and write book 2 as soon as the time afforded.
Yeah.
If you’ve been following my progress with this book, you already know how that bright idea turned out. I’ve gotten four other books written in the meantime, and I’m quick on the way to finishing a further two, and still Free Will mocks me with its recalcitrance. And it’s not because I haven’t kicked ass on writing it either: Predestination rang in at 122,000 words after some serious cutting post-podcast and only had to cope with four major storylines. That’s a healthy sized book–it’s fantasy-novel length. Free Will is…well…bigger.
Continue reading ‘The Great Cull (Free Will Update)’
March 31st, 2011 by jdsawyer
The good folks at AWP Books and I have a decision to make: What order do we publish things in? In the process of discussions, it occurred to us that you all might have an opinion, so here’s your chance to vote:
[poll id="2"]
You may vote for two of the three options (this is to let you voice your desire for hardbacks, as well as priority). Let us know what you want!
September 10th, 2010 by jdsawyer
This one’s artwork heavy, so I’m putting the “get more” link right at the top so it doesn’t take over the main blog page. Click on it, check out the coolness 
Continue reading ‘UPS Loves Me’
July 27th, 2009 by jdsawyer
We are now taking pre-orders for the Predestination (Book 1 of The Antithesis Progression) book poster at right. All pre-orders will be signed and numbered by the author. Whenever we have 20 orders – the minimum we need to pay for a small print run – we will send the order to the printers and ship your poster to you.
Click on the paypal link to pre-order your poster!
(In the event that we do not receive the minimum order quantity by January 1st, 2010, we will refund your paypal order.)
July 24th, 2009 by jdsawyer
Well, ladies and germs, it’s official:
Predestination is a parsec finalist. Officially we’re up for “Best New Speculative Fiction Podcaster/Team,” and, while it’s only *one* of the nominations I was hoping for, if i had to pick only one this would probably be it. Why’s that? Well, this one has the advantage of being a shared award. I don’t know how many physical awards they give out, but if they give out multiples one is definitely going to Danny Schade, whose music made the world complete.
Thank you — all of you — for a hell of a first year doing this. Next year is, I hope, going to be even more exciting — I’ve gots me some plans!
July 20th, 2009 by jdsawyer
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Hello everyone —
Due to circumstances beyond my control, Down From Ten is not going to be posting until next week, when we should have two episodes up. In lieu of that, I’m bringing you the much-anticipated preview for Book 2 of the Antithesis Progression: Free Will and other Compulsions
June 18th, 2009 by jdsawyer
Six Parsecs, to be exact. I’ve been officially nominated for the Parsec awards in six categories – three for The Antithesis Progression and three for Sculpting God.
For Predestination, I’ve been nominated for:
Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novel Form)
Best Audio Drama (Long Form including Independents)
Best New Speculative Fiction Podcaster/Team
And for Sculpting God, I’ve been nominated for:
Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form)
Best Audio Drama (Short Form including Independents)
Best Speculative Fiction Magazine or Anthology Podcast
There’s obviously a lot of genre bending that I’m doing between fiction/drama, so that may work against me. Who knows? The only down side of this is that I have to send in samples, which is one more thing on my overlong to-do list. Even so…
Being nominated for the Parsecs f*cking rocks! Thanks guys, you are all fabulous!
-Dan
June 7th, 2009 by jdsawyer
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This one features Miss Kalendar along with Chris Lester and Kitty Nic’Iaian.
This is part two of the final round of Dealing In. Part three will be coming next week. You guys rock!
In this episode, we deal with some very particular and intelligent criticisms of Predestination voiced by Paul Fischer and Michael Spence.
-Dan
June 3rd, 2009 by jdsawyer
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This one features Miss Kalendar along with Chris Lester and Kitty Nic’Iaian.
This is it, folks, the final round of Dealing In before we get to Down From Ten. We toast the successful conclusion of Predestination and look forward. Some info on Down From Ten here, as well as some very involved conversations about the themes of Predestination, the possible interaction of quantum mechanics and consciousness, and the nature of trust. Not to mention a LOT of laughs, some inside information on what I’m like as a director, and lots of other stuff. This is one of three episodes in this final Dealing In saga — 61 minutes of audio goodness here. Enjoy!!!
-Dan
May 15th, 2009 by jdsawyer
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What kind of insanity have I wrought? What does it take to do something like this?
What’s next on my plate? What does Tee Morris’s pubic hair have to do with podcasting?
Give it a listen and find out as Tee Morris roasts and interviews me on this special one-hour retrospective on Predestination and look forward to Free Will and Down From Ten.
Thank you all for listening all these long months.
