Red Warp Excerpt 3

Red Warp launches on December 2nd and it is available for pre-order now at Apple iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble Nook.   It will be released to Kindle, Sony, and everywhere Smashwords distributes to on the 2nd.

 -If you could travel though time without any bulky equipment, would you?-

And here is the last excerpt of Red Warp:

Pulled through time and space, their senses were awash in color and light.  Then after what seemed like an eternity, they crashed out landing with a thud.

James shook his head trying to clear his vision.  Finally the ground resolved.  "Wood?" he muttered.  He got to his feet hearing sea gulls in the distance.  Red was dazed and half asleep next to him laying on the wooden decking.  Looking around James finally saw the ship they were on for what it was, with the large black pirate flag flying above his head there could be no mistake.

He grabbed Red.  "Red!  Red!  We have to get out of here!"

"I ... am ... too ... tired.   Must ... sleep ..."

"You can sleep later, we need to get away, now!  If you can't I will carry you."

"Hmmm?  Okay ..." She barely mumbled before falling sleep.  James picked her up and started moving forward to try and get off the ship when suddenly, there was a lot of commotion from below.  Including several loud voices.

A moment later several large men surrounded them wearing various types of clothing.  Some were barefoot, others had well made boots.  It was obvious their look was by choice rather than something forced upon them.  All of them held their swords drawn pointing at James making him feel as though he was in the middle of a deadly cage.  One false move and they were done for.

All the men sneered at the two people in their midst, and talked among themselves when they suddenly parted reveling a tall man with long black boots.  The rest of his clothing was dark except for the brightly colored coat that looked to be made of silk.  He had pistols on either side of his belt and a sword in its holster.  He stroked his thick black beard.  "Well well well.  What have we here?"

"Who are you and where are we?"  James asked but then quickly regretted the question.

"Who am I?" The tall man laughed which caused the other men to join in.  After a few minutes he raised his hand for silence.  "I am Edward Teach and you are aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge!"

Red Warp Excerpt 2

Red Warp launches on December 2nd and it is available for pre-order now at Apple iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble Nook.   It will be released to Kindle, Sony, and everywhere Smashwords distributes to on the 2nd.

In a race against time the casualty can be your life

And here is excerpt 2:

Red awoke to someone shaking her violently.  She blinked trying to clear her vision.  Then she saw the glint of a gun shoved into her face.  "WHO are you!  And where are we?"  The man waved his gun around and shouted.  "Answer me!  I am not in the mood for games.  The building is gone, everything is gone!  Where are we!" 

Her vision finally cleared and she recognized him as one of the agents that came into the room right before she jumped.  He must have traveled with her.  This was a first.  She looked around then back at him. "I ... I ... I don't know," she stammered.

Suddenly they heard a sound.  An alien sound of something very large nearby.  Her blood turned to ice.  She went back all right, but far far too much.

The man looked around momentarily forgetting Red entirely.  "What in the world was that?!"

Red quickly shushed him.  "Shut up you moron or we will be a meal.  Now get off of me and put that gun away.  If it goes off we are dead."

"I want to--" he said with confused look.

"Okay let me try this again.  Do you want to live?"

He looked blankly at her for a second in a state of shock.  "Of course, what kind of question is that?"

"Then stop asking me stupid questions and do as I say and you might live to see tomorrow!  You got that?"

He nodded slowly and got off of her and she leapt to her feet.  She had been here before, and that was trying to see how far she could go.  Dang them!  If it wasn't for their interference in her concentration, the jump wouldn't have thrust them this far back!

The earth shook slightly as they felt a tremor.  A small one, almost imperceptible, then the next one ... stronger ... the then the next even stronger yet. 

"What is--"

Red covered his mouth.  "Shut up!  Do you want to get us killed?" she whispered.  "Now follow me and for goodness sake try to be quiet!"  He holstered his gun, she grabbed his wrist, and they moved as quietly as they could to a thick patch of very large foliage she could just make out in the dim light.  She jumped into the large ferns and pulled him in with her.  Their noses wrinkled as the ferns strong scent covered them.  Red just hoped it would be enough.  The earth shook again more violently this time as a giant foot of a Tyrannosaurus rex landed very close to them.  The beast looked around sniffing the air then leaned down to where they were hiding and sniffed again, looking confused.  His head bobbed up again as he looked around.  Then he put his snout down and began to push into the ferns when a loud sound froze him into place.  He raised his head and gave an angry retort to the air and took off in the direction of the challenge.

"That was--"

Red slapped her hand over his mouth.  "Do you ever shut up?" she whispered.  "Give it another minute or two then we can move."  After a few minutes, which seemed like hours in their cramped location under the ferns, she stood up.  "Should be clear now.  I am sure he took off after the challenger at full speed and won't be back now."

The man stood up his face glistened in the dim moonlight wet from sweat or the ferns, Red couldn't tell which.  "What was that?"

"Tyrannosaurus rex.  I am sure you have herd of them."

"Of course I have heard of them!  But they are long dead.  So are we on some kind of movie set?"

Red snorted.  "Don't I wish!"

"Well then where are we?"

Red glared at him as she sat down on a large rock nearby.  "Isn't it obvious?"

The man looked blank.  "No."

"Okay let me try this again, really really slowly.  That was a real dinosaur.  A Tyrannosaurus rex, now think for a moment.  What does that mean?"

"We went back in time?"

Red raised her arms looked to the sky.  "Thank you God, yes he can be taught!"  She lowered her arms and jabbed a finger in the man's face.  "Now if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be in this situation."

"Because of me?" He said placing a hand on his chest.  "I didn't do this to you!"

"You did!  You broke my concentration!  I came to try and help save your president, and what do I get?  People calling me insane and think I am a terrorist.  If I was a terrorist would I have been warning people?  You government types have no sense at all."

"We broke your concentration?"

"Yes YOU!  I should have normally spent a hour preparing for that jump, instead I had to do it blind.  I only wanted to jump a little bit not this freaking far!"

"And why do you keep saying we did this?  I didn't do this to you."

"You are with the FBI aren't you?"

"Well yes--"

"Well then, who are you?"  Red felt the idiocy of the question the second after she said it.

He stiffened.  "Agent James Moknkin!"

"Oh full agent eh?  And where is your access badge?"  She said pointing at his chest.

James looked down to see a ripped spot on his sport jacket where his badge once hung.  "Well looks like it was taken off by a whirlwind that someone else made!"

"And how long have you been there?"

"My first day, I--"

Red snorted and shook her head.  "Just great.  All the agents in the world and I get stuck with a trainee in the distant past!"

Red Warp: Excerpt 1

Red Warp launches on December 2nd and it is available for pre-order now at Apple iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble Nook.   It will be released to Kindle, Sony, and Smashwords on the 2nd.

In a race against time the casualty can be your life

And as promised, here is a excerpt:

She looked around the room and sighed flicking her long red hair over her shoulders as she stood up.  She knew that it would drain her beyond normal limits, already being so very tired, but there was little choice.  They would be back soon and then her time would be up.  They wanted her power, or thought her insane.  While most didn't really believe, they would soon!  And to think she came to help them!  She looked around the small room again.  She picked up the four heavy wooden chairs and placed them on the table that took up almost the entire space.

She sighed again and pulled the zipper of her skin tight black bodysuit all the way up, past her neck.  She hoped there was enough room.  She had never done it in such a small space before.  Looking off into the distance and with great concentration she began to run.  In a circle ... faster and faster.  Air began to swirl around picking up several papers that were on the table and flung them into the wind.  Faster and faster she ran.  "I must DO this!"  She muttered and increased her speed again.  One of the chairs flew off and were now following her swept up in the whirlwind.  A storm had formed.  A storm of her own making.

And with the crack of thunder a bolt shot from the center and the room reeked of ozone.  She increased her speed once more but began to feel the storm's draining effect and knew she was out of time.

With a loud KABOOOM that shook the whole building, a warp had formed.  A rip in the very fabric of space and time.  She knew there were only seconds before they came running in here.  The table cracked, splintered, fell in upon itself, and disappeared as the warp grew gaining strength.  A microsecond later the door burst open with armed men ready to do battle, but with the storm all they could do was hang on to the door frame as the great forces pulled them horizontal.

The warp was smaller than usual, but she could not go any more.  It was enough.  She ran for it and jumped into the angry swirl of color.  With a loud CRASH it closed in upon itself and instantly the wind died.  People and the chairs fell to the floor with a thud.

Stars in a multitude of colors streamed past her vision.  She knew they were not real stars but she was beyond what her mind could comprehend, making them look like stars.

As quick as it started, it stopped.  She fell to the ground on a soft patch of grass.  Gazing around she saw trees, lush streams and heard birds chirping in the background.  She knew it was not a matter of where she was but when.  She closed her eyes and muttered "I must rest" and fell into a deep sleep.

Red Warp Launches December 2nd

Red Warp, my latest novel is finished and launches in December.  It will be available for pre-order on Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo!  On December 2nd it will also be available on Amazon's Kindle and Smashwords.

In a race against time the casualty can be your life

If you could travel through time with just your self and no machine needed, would you?

Meet Red, a woman with a amazing gift, the gift of passing though time and space without the need of any bulky equipment.  The places she has seen, the people she has helped will blow your mind.

Now meet James, just your average newly minted FBI agent minding his own business until he is thrust headlong into Red's world.  A world he didn't ask for, but one that hit him in the face full force.  Can they get along long enough to survive?
 I will be posting small excerpts from now until Launch Day!  Be sure to sign up for updates!

Red WARP Nears Release!

My next novel Red Warp has entered the final editing phase.  A few tweeks and I hope to have it published soon.  The cover is all done, and the ISBN is secured.  More details to follow.  :)

In a race against time the casualty can be your life

If you could travel through time with just your self and no machine needed, would you?

Meet Red, a woman with a amazing gift, the gift of passing though time and space without the need of any bulky equipment.  The places she has seen, the people she has helped will blow your mind.

Now meet James, just your average newly minted FBI agent minding his own business until he is thrust headlong into Red's world.  A world he didn't ask for, but one that hit him in the face full force.  Can they get along long enough to survive?

Oyster is poised to become the pearl of ebooks

As anyone keeping up on recent news in the ebook sphere can tell you, something very interesting has developed recently.  Oyster is a new subscription service for iOS (iPhone or iPad) that allows one to download and read as many books as you want for a flat monthly fee.  Very similar to the movie service Netflix or music service Spotify.  Although with those you need a internet connection to play the media.  Oyster allows you to download the books and read them even if you are not currently connected.  For example you could still read the book you just downloaded on a airplane.  Apparently they have over 200,000 currently published books (in other words not freely available elsewhere) in their library which will only grow from here on.

Amazon's Kindle lending library has something similar but only for those in Amazon's Prime service.  Also they are only allowed one free book per month.   Authors that do allow their book in Lending Library get paid every time their book is borrowed.  The amount varies, but in general about $2.00 USD.  The downside of this is you must be in the KDP Select program and therefore your book is exclusive to Kindle.

Oyster is also paying authors royalties with the same premise, however without requiring any exclusivity.  If anyone reads more than a sample of your book, you get paid.  If this catches on, it could change the entire publishing industry.  From content you purchase up front, to a service you subscribe to.  Now I don't see the whole thing changing over night, and it does have its downsides.  Personally I like owning my books instead of subscribing to a service, but I wouldn't be apposed to using the service to check out new authors.  Similar to going to a library first, then buying later what I like.  Either way this is a great service to readers and authors alike.

And for those already published though Smashwords: They signed a distribution agreement with Oyster.  Books should be shipping to Oyster by the end of September!  For those authors that want to be in on this great new service, they don't have to do a thing, just as long as they are Premium Catalog-approved.  Of course if you don't, then it easy to turn off sending your book to Oyster with the catalog settings.  But I don't see why anyone would want to.

While only for iOS, the app is coming soon to other platforms.  Which is interesting since Oyster said at launch they were only planning for iOS.  Apparently the large outcry for Android (and Windows) changed their minds.

In short keep a eye on Oyster, they are posed to become the pearl of ebooks.


Don DeBon is the author of Italian Fever.  Currently available on Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Kobo.

To Library or not to Library

One of the interesting topics lately floating around is the situation of ebook libraries.  Corry Doctorow (a long time advocate against DRM and what many large publishing companies are doing) had a conversation with the American Library Association about the problem of unfair practices the publishers are forcing on libraries.  You can read about it here. 

In essence they make libraries pay $60-$80 per book and force them to invest in complicated proprietary collection-management systems (overdrive).  And of course they can only lend one copy at a time.  While this does make sense, in a way, since that is what a normal library does with physical books, the other aspects do not.  Also a library cannot sell the books later on if they wish.  And some publishers would like to have a book self destruct after it has been borrowed 26 times!

This is truly sad and the reason is simple: Publishers view libraries as a loss of sales.  Which is far from the truth as you can get.  They should view it as a wonderful low (to none) cost advertising venue.  Consider this: Most people that barrow from a library either can afford to buy the book, or they read so much they don't have the space to store all the books they read.  Now yes the publisher didn't get a sale from this person, however this person tells several other friends that do buy books on a regular basis and do so based on this persons recomendation.  In this example (which is more common than you might think) the publisher actually makes MORE money than if they had just the one sale.  And over the course of the library books life, there is a potential for quite a bit of income for the publisher.

In the end supporting libraries is a win-win situation as the publishers get more sales, and readers get access to wonderful books they wouldn't have otherwise.  And isn't that what a library is all about?

Don DeBon is the author of Italian Fever.  Currently available on Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Kobo.