Rorqual Saitu – Karnish River Navigations book 9

Finally I’ve made it. Rorqual Saitu has been written, proofed, formatted and sent out into the world. It’s up on preorder now for an August 20th release. The paperback will be out a week or so earlier.

Get them here: Rorqual Saitu, Univeral Book Link


Rorqual Saitu

When Kumi Saitu’s difficult mission to wrest vital data from Hundstein’s criminal network almost kills her, she faces a critical decision.

The maelstrom of danger and intrigue draws in Kumi’s old friends, Flis and Grae.

Facing an ancient harvester and a far-reaching illicit web, they must fight the clock to set things right.

Have they met their match?

 

Cover art: © MerryDesigns | Dreamstime.com (Flis), © Bianca Van Dijk from | Pixabay (Rorqual), © Bertrandb | Dreamstime.com (Background)


Rorqual Saitu is book 9 in the Karnish River Navigations series, started way back in 2015 with Arlchip Burnout. Astute readers will notice that book 10, Tombs Under Vaile came out in 2018, and might ask ‘why the long wait?’ Fair question. The answer stems from the title of the first book, when I noticed that the first letters each word in the title were A and B. It struck me that that was also the first two letters of the English alphabet. So then I wrote Canal Days which came out in 2016.

Suddenly I had a thirteen book series to write. All the way to a book using the letters Y and Z in the title (more about that little problem further down).

The next book I wrote was Guest House Izarra, somehow sneakily using up an extra letter of the alphabet there (and in 2018 later I did the same with Tombs Under Vale – now it was a tidier twelve book series). I had, though, skipped over the letters E and F. I guess I have ‘oooh, shiny’ brain with this series, and just write all over the alphabet.

The books can be read in any order, but if you put them alphabetically you’ll get books one to ten (with eleven and twelve coming next year, hopefully). With the ten books out so far, if you take the order they came out, you get 1, 2, 7, 3, 8, 9, 4, 5, 10, 6. (that is, Eastern Foray the third book in the series, was the seventh one out, and book four, Guest House Izarra, was the third one out).

Possibly this shows some lack of planning. Or perhaps there’s some greater scheme that my subconscious is not letting me in on.

I did mention they can be read in any order. Apparently they can be written in any order too.

I hope that over the years I’ve become a better writer, and that Rorqual Saitu is a stronger book than Arlchip Burnout (though I do stand by that book, absolutely). I wonder if the contrast is notable for readers who go from Liquid Machine (2023) straight into Night Operations (2016). I would hope that seven years of practising at being a better writer would yield a stronger book. Perhaps though, that (slightly) more youthful me wrote with more verve and energy? I don’t know. That’s up to the readers.

Anyway, all that said. I’m having fun with the series and it’s nice having it rebranded and looking good.

Now, though, I do have the challenge of coming up with titles for the WX and YZ books. Didn’t think of that, Sean, did you, when you raced on into Canal Days imagining the alphabetic series. Wiggling Xylophone anyone? Wasteful XerxesWicked X-ray?

It should be out sometime next year. I suspect it may take as long to come up with a decent title as it will take to write the book.

Thanks for reading, and remember to check out the series on the Karnish River Navigations page..

Sean

Mist Drifters – Captain Arlon Stoddard book 8

I love writing science fiction adventure stories. Kind of stuff I grew up reading. And with my Captain Arlon Stoddard books, I seem to have more fun each time.

Book 8 Mist Drifters is out on August 20th.

Mist Drifters – Blurb

Captain Arlon Stoddard and his tireless crew patrol the spaceways.

Unexplained deaths on the planet Hanshirr stretch the local investigators to their limits. Arlon and the crew find themselves in a race to save lives. With virtually no clues.

Because the layers of appearances and deception pit them between the obvious and the hidden.

Another pacey adventure in the Captain Arlon Stoddard series.

Cover art by Luca Oleastri – thanks Luca.


Available from the Universal Book Link

$5.99 ebook, $15.99 print

Right now it’s showing as “#10,339 in First Contact Science Fiction eBooks” on Amazon. That’s an awful long way down the rankings 🙂 but I suppose a fair start for book in a little series still on preorder. 


See the Captain Arlon Stoddard page here for the full run down on the series. Now that we’re up to eight books, it might be time update the graphic.


Jackpot Kingdom – Out now

The fifth book in my Karnish River Navigations series, Jackpot Kingdom, is available now from the usual channels.

$5.99 ebook, $5.99 print

Blurb:

The city of Turneith. Right at the edge of the ancient canal lands. Beautiful. Teeming. Dangerous.

Survival goes to those with the sharpest wits.

When an illegal gambling operation turns deadly, investigators Flis and Grae find themselves caught in a whirlwind of intrigue.


Technically, though, this is the eigth book to come out, but number five in the sequence. I’ve been writing them out of order (which perhaps explains why I stalled for the last couple of years on getting this out). I’m working on filling in the gaps to get the series nicely complete.

They can, though, be read in any order.

Eight books so far. Four to go. Then, I guess I’ll rethink things a little. Who know, maybe I’ll even write some more.



Reading order:

1. Arlchip Burnout
2. Canal Days
3. Eastern Foray
4. Guest House Izarra
5. Jackpot Kingdom
6. [book coming 2023]
7. Night Operations
8. Persephone Quest
9. [book coming 2023]
10. Tombs Under Vaile
11. [book coming 2024?]
12. [book coming 2024?]

See the Karnish River Navigations page for links and full blurbs.


I’m getting started on notes for book 6 at the moment. Likely title is Liquid Machine, but we’ll see how the salt settles.


 

Hide Away – Cole Wright book 3 available for preorder

It might just be me, but I have a sense that when a book series has three titles, then it’s got a real foundation.

So, May 20th sees the release of Hide Away, book 3 of my Cole Wright Thriller series. A foundation, I suppose.

The books can be read in any order, so if you want to start here, feel free to jump in.

_

Cole Wright sits in a sparkling bright Route 66 themed diner in a small Montana town. Kind of town you could walk side to side in five minutes and leave behind.

In the mountains nearby, Joe Bridger consults his phone.Any moment and he will get the go ahead. A simple job.

He can get out of the snow and grab himself a meal.

The two should never meet. No need to.

Practically nothing in common.

Wright finds himself on a collision course. Suits him just fine.


As usual, $5.99 for the ebook, but $16.99 for the print. This is the longest yet, pushing 400 pages (okay, I do that Patterson thing of having all chapters start on the right hand side, so sometimes there’s a blank page on the left… maybe 360 pages, then).

See the whole series here at Smashwords. Or Amazon. 

Universal book link for Hide Away is here

Check the Cole Wright page on my website for more details on the series.


Stay tuned – as with the previous releases, at the start of the month I’ll have a Cole Wright short story free to read on this page. It’ll stay up for free for a week or so, then be available through the usual channels. That’ll be $2.99 for the ebook, and $5.99 for the paperback.


The Forest Doesn’t Care

A Cole Wright short story.

Charlie and Suze just want a quiet, relaxing hike through Crater Top park. A beautiful, tranquil and hidden in the mountains.

Helping out with the park’s trails, Cole Wright enjoys the change. The chance to do something different.

No one expects trouble. Not way out there.

But then, trouble has a way of showing up.

[Free to read here on this website from May 10th through to May 18th]


Links to the other novels

 

 

 

 

 

 

and stories

 

 

 

 

 


Thanks for reading.

 

 

The Arrival – A Cole Wright Thriller – out now

Cole Wright, disillusioned former cop. Kind of guy you want on your side when things get tough.


After working on these for the last couple of years and figuring out how to publish them, promote them and get them out, I’m finally underway. The Arrival, the first Cole Wright thriller is out now. Well, technically, “Dark Fields” a Cole Wright short story, has been out for a week or so already – kind of meant to be a teaser, or a way to try out the series to see if the character and my writing style appeal to you. Good, I figure to to read a complete story that wraps up, rather than just samples from the novels (though, the story download does include a couple of chapters from The Arrival, and you can read samples on the sites of the retailers anyway).

Enough rambling. Here’s the cover, the blurb, and the links to purchase it. $5.99/$14.99/$19.99 (ebook/paperback/hardback).


 

Worn, battered and bruised from years as a cop, Cole Wright wants a moment of peace.

But the Spokane locals have other plans for his vacation sabbatical.
And Wright just has to stick his nose in. Whether wanted or not.

 

Universal Book Link


The short story Dark Fields is here – Univeral Book Link – $2.99/$9.99(ebook/print)

South Dakota. Sunset. One dark day in July, Brad crashes his busted light plane in a dusty cornfield. Not great for his weekend plans. Not great for anything.

Passing by, Cole Wright stops to lend a hand. Which might just plunge them both into something more dangerous than plane wrecks.

New Thriller series coming through this year

I tend to write here and there – a little fantasy, a few thrillers and a whole lot of science fiction. Sometimes it’s all on the basis of whim.

For 2022, a little more focus.

Over the last couple of years I’ve been working on a new thriller series – Cole Wright – and I’ve got them lined up for publication over coming months – January, March, May, July and September. The first four are written and just about ready to go, with Zero Kills (September) at the late draft stage. There are also a few short stories that will pop up here and there.

I have dedicated page here for the Cole Wright Thrillers with blurbs and covers and details.

The first book – The Arrival – releases on January 20th, and is available for preorder now (the link takes you to the Universal Book Link and then on to your regular retailer – Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, etc.)

A short story “Dark Fields” will be available free to read here on this website for one day on Monday 10th January, and then available for $2.99/$5.99 (ebook/print) from the usual outlets. There will also be a free story for mailing list subscribers (“Junkyard Mornings”), at some point during the year (soon, I hope. You know all those ‘subscribe’ buttons everywhere? I’m sure it’s very easy to create a mailing list, but right now I’m still figuring it out).

The Arrival will be $5.99/$14.99/$19.99 (ebook/paperback/hardback).

Worn, battered and bruised from years as a cop, Cole Wright wants a moment of peace
But the Spokane locals have other plans for his vacation sabbatical.
And Wright just has to stick his nose in, whether wanted or not.

Stay tuned

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile… if you need a Sean Monaghan thriller (and you probably do) – you could try one of my Emily Jade books or one of my standalone thrillers.

Release Day – The Ergs

The Ergs thumbMy SF adventure novel The Ergs is out now, from the usual retailers.

$5.99 ebook, $16.99 print

Click/tap here to go to the universal book link and then on to your favourite retailer.

Essaline loves exploring the old hidden relics out on the erg. Tolesse has many secrets. A history dating back to the earliest times when humans first inhabited the planet.

But do humans belong?

A twisted tale of hidden destiny and people who will stop at nothing to get what they need.

Even from the innocent.

Cover art © Brian Vectorartist | Dreamstime