Tag: captain arlon stoddard

Tramp Steamers – looking for a cover image

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

I’ve long appreciated the wonderful images by Ian McQue of boats gliding through the air. I find them evocative and beguiling. There are whole stories told within his illustrations. (And he does way more than boats – see his instagram).

Part of my creative process for imagining the world of Tramp Steamers was doodling my own ideas of the boats and I thought I’d share some of those rough sketches here, just for fun.

Tulip

 

I don’t know why there’s a castle in with these last three, but I kind of like that picture.

Tramp Steamers – Captain Arlon Stoddard book 10 now available for preorder

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

I’m excited that the Captain Arlon Stoddard series has now reached book number 10. I have such a blast writing these and it’s fun setting them free into the world.

Also, this is going to be the first with an updated cover style. Still with the “A CAPTATIN ARLON STODDARD ADVENTURE” banner across the top (but now in caps), but also switching the title to the bottom, and my name to the top. In this world you gotta shout out if you want attention 🙂

Here are the old style and new style covers by way of comparison. Next part of my plan is to retrofit all the previous nine novels in the series like this.

 

 

Tramp Steamers

Planet Ulshene’s unique trading culture takes some getting used to. Steamers ply the skies, skimming over the endless prairie.

Barl Brennan rates his skills as a crewman. Without a job, he faces a tough choice. Edmond Steverin knows desperation when he sees it.

Captain Arlon Stoddard slips undercover and finda himself tipped into a world filled with intrigue.

Can they survive the complex interlinked web of easy deceit and mortal danger?

Universal book link here. ebook $5.99, print book $18.99. Preorder available now, releasing on October 20th.

I love the art of Ian McQue, most especially his junks and tugs that float through the sky. Would that I could draw images like those. At least those images were part of the inspiration for Tramp Steamers. Something that fitted right into the Captain Arlon Stoddard Adventures – antigravity is part of the stories already, and the idea of pirates and complex commercial shipping all kind of fell in together.

And another inspiration was Sherri S. Tepper‘s wonderful 1989 novel Grass. Less about the alien side of it, but certainly a planet dominated by prairie. I was much younger when I first read it and found myself plunged into her remarkable, immersive world. Sometimes it’s compared to Dune, as a book that takes a world with a singular aspect and exploits that for the story.

 

A quick update

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

A new post. How about that? I’ve been otherwise distracted with travel and some licensing issues that needed resolving. Just about there with all that now, but a little more travel lies in my future, so it may take a little while to get back up to speed.

Looking ahead now to the next Captain Arlon Stoddard adventure Tramp Steamers. This will be the tenth book in the series. Something of a new direction, but with all the action and adventure you enjoy with the crew.

Finishing up the cover and blurb now so it should be out for preorder soon, with a release date of October 20th.

At the moment I’m deep in the heart of the next book in the series, tentatively titled Cradle Robbers. Hope to have that out next year. The next Cole Wright Thriller Hard Ground is complete and with the copy editor now, then it’ll get a final proof and should be available on December 20th.

I’ve been able to get a few short stories up as standalones, as well as a story collection The Blaze of Pollux and hope to get back into that through the rest of the year.

I’ll post once Tramp Steamers is available. Being the tenth book, it kind of feels as if it might need some kind of little celebration.

Looking ahead – two new books coming

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

With book 7 of my Cole Wright thrillers series just out, I thought I’d take a quick gander ahead at upcoming books. I do like to have the next preorder available before the last one is complete, but I’ve to missed that this month. I still plan to have Rorqual Saitu (Book 9 of Karnish River Navigations) on full release on August 20th, and Tramp Steamers (Book 10 of the Captain Arlon Stoddard Adventures) out on October 20th. There’ll be some short stories and maybe even another novella or two in the meantime. I thought I’d share here the draft cover layout mockups for Rorqual Saitu and Tramp Steamers here. I like them, but there’s probably still a little way to go. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s kind of cool seeing two of my series side by side like this – the series each have their own look.

Dead Ringers – Captain Arlon Stoddard book 9

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

Dead Ringers, book 9 in my Captain Arlon Stoddard series is available on pre order with an April 20th release – universal book link here

More will come closer to the time (though I will be away from the net on a research trip on the lead up to release day).

I will say now, though, that I’m excited about this one. Nine books now in the series. Who’d have thought, huh?

And, as I type this, I’m working on Tramp Steamers, the tenth book.

I also wanted to mention briefly the wonderful cover by Algol (licensed through Dreamstime) – I actually licensed this years back for a different story. A story I hadn’t written at the time. I loved the image and I grabbed it, and wrote a story based on it, thinking just to indie publish it. But then, I sold the story to a magazine, so that locked it up for a while (generally when you sell – license – a story, part of that is a period of time when it’s exclusive to the magazine, fair enough, they paid for that).

Anyway, in the interim, I’ve just never got around to publishing the story as a standalone (goofing off, I guess, since, you know, apparently I’m a slouch when it comes to putting stories and novels up indie and really should be getting more of them out), but I still hold the license on the image.

Then I wrote Dead Ringers and it was really different and high-concept and stuff like that and ultimately I was struggling to find cover art that fitted the story. Then I remembered I had this. It fits this story well, it’s dynamic and energetic and conveys the action. So here it is.

More soon – a blurb and other details on price and so on. But you know, we do have until April 20th until it’s out.

Thanks for reading.

More soon.

Sean

“Sea Skimmers” – a Captain Arlon Stoddard short story

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

I am currently deep in the heart of writing the ninth Captain Arlon Stoddard novel, Dead Ringers, which is proving to be one of the most complex I’ve ever written – I’m taking more notes as I go than ever, and I’m tinkering a whole lot more with early parts of the story. It’s fun and different, and I hope to have it out in the first quarter of next year, all going well.

Also out is “Ortanide Steppers“, the first novella in the series.

Sea Skimmers

Experienced Captain Ulliana Alvis loves skimming above the forty-five hundred kilometer stretch of the Tegh Sea. Her vessel the Mourave carries fifty passengers in safety and comfort. The calm of the water always reassures and moves her at once.

But safety can be an illusion.

A Captain Arlon Stoddard short story that pits the crew against cascading events and into a desperate attempt to save lives.

A great place to jump in if you’re new to the series, and a wonderful addition for fans.

Cover illustration © Savagerus | Dreamstime.

“Sea Skimmers” is out now as an ebook and a little paperback. Usual thing of $2.99/$5.99.

 

 

Novellas in October and November

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

I like to have new book releases out on the 20th of the month, and for October and November, these will be novellas from two of my series. The first novellas in both. My novellas sit around a quarter the length of a novel – say around a hundred pages. I think Amazon labels them in with “90 minute reads” or something.

First up in on October 2oth is “Ortanide Steppers” from my Captain Arlon Stoddard Adventures series. Think deep space adventures with mysteries and puzzles around the galaxy. Technically a “novelette” in SF terms, but boy, keeping track of the names for the different lengths…

Ortanide. A planet with a unique geography, a rich history and a strange political system.

A political system that defies Captain Arlon Stoddard and his crew.

Restrained in a dank cell by the very people he came to help, Arlon faces the choice of violating the charters he works to uphold.

Or certain death.

A Captain Arlon Stoddard novella that pits the crew against possibly their most heinous foe yet.

 

Priced especially at $2.99 for the ebook, and $6.99 for the paperback. A bargain, right?

Next out on November 20th is “Cold Highway” from my Cole Wright Thrillers series. Pretty standard kind of thriller, adventure, gunplay stuff here. I’ve always liked those frozen highways and figured that might be a fun place to set a story. I was right, at least in writing it. I hope it’s as much fun to read.

A trip north of the border takes Cole Wright into the heart of snowbound Canada. Friendly people, vast distances, tough vehicles, isolation.

When a breakdown looms, Wright finds himself caught in the white, compacted landscape. A road thirty feet wide, hemmed in by the piled up ridges left by snowploughs. And an endless forest that could hide just about anything.

Unfriendly territory. Dangerous places.

A Cole Wright novella that focuses down on a single moment where the slightest error could be his last.

Still reasonably priced at $3.99 for the ebook, and $7.99 for the paperback.

So far all my paperbacks have come through Amazon, but I’m testing this one through Draft 2 Digital as well, in a slightly larger format, and ending up priced at $10.99. We’ll see how that goes.

As with previous months, I’ll have short stories out in the lead up to the releases. “Sea Skimmers”, which is the first Captain Arlon Stoddard short story, and followed by “Cardinals” which is a Cole Wright story with a difference – Lieutenant Ione Anders as the lead character (you’ll remember her from the first Cole Wright novel The Arrival) and Cole himself tagging along as a background character.

Details to come.

Remember you can explore the series from the pages available in the menu at the top of the page on the website here.

Thanks for reading.

Sean

Mist Drifters – Captain Arlon Stoddard book 8

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

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.

Island Hoppers – Captain Arlon Stoddard Adventure #7 available for preorder now

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

I have several series on the go now, and it’s hard to pick a favourite. I like them each for different reasons. The Captain Arlon Stoddard Adventures are really just me writing the kind of stories that I liked to read as a teenager. They’re fun to write, and Arlon’s universe is broad and complex. I’ve had settings in deserts and deep space, ice bound planets and jungle-covered lands. Island Hoppers is set on an ocean world, dotted with islands.

Island Hoppers – Blurb

Captain Arlon Stoddard and his tireless crew patrol the spaceways.

Arriving on Melle, a planet covered in vast oceans, hundreds of archipelagoes and entirely lacking continents, the crew know they have their work cut out for them.

With conflicting jurisdictions, megalomaniac leaders and a mysterious ruin, the planet presents exactly the kinds of problems the crew specializes in. Impossible ones.

But betrayal from an unexpected quarter throws them into a desperate battle for their lives.

A battle that might just have Melle reveal its secrets.

Out on April 20th. Available now for preorder from the usual channels – universal book link here. Paperback available around April 17th. ebook $5.99, print $15.99.

 

 

 

 

If you love space adventure, the Captain Arlon Stoddard series is for you. A close knit crew, devious villians and near-impossible situations, all with a twisted mystery and a genuine heart.

With Island Hoppers, the series draws level with my Karnish River Navigations series with seven books. I’m just about finished drafting an eighth book in that series – Jackpot Kingdom – and hope to have that finished and out later in there year. I enjoy writing in both, so I might be alternating with them for a while.

Thanks for reading.

Sean

Two preorders for November and December

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

For the last couple of years, I’ve released a new book on the 20th of each month. Sometimes a novel, sometimes a collection, and sometimes a standalone shorter piece.

Keeping that up, I’m releasing the final two for the year as preorders already. Might as well. Also, I will be starting the release schedule of a new thriller series for next year,  so it’s good to get these out in the world now to give me a moment to focus a little planning for the thrillers and get ready for the first one on January 20th. More on those soon.

Both these new ones are novella length science fiction tales, albiet with very different focuses (as the covers hint, I hope), one very Earth-bound, and the other set in deep space.

Dangerous Machines – November 20th – $2.99 ebook, $5.99 print – available here – cover by Chepko Elelna

Gina Parker explores the underground alien tubes. The mystery of their existence draws her. Deeper and deeper. But the tubes hold more than mysteries. And Gina might just find more than the answers she so desperately seeks.

Load Bearing Member – December 20th – $2.99 ebook, $5.99 print – available here – cover by info793925

Coral Daimeer lugs her wrench around deep space vessel the Derlater. Sensors tell her what to fix. Coral fixes it. Coral’s intuition makes her great at her job. Mostly. A story that explores the question of what can a single crew member do when faced with impossible odds millions of miles from the nearest hardware store.

If you enjoy slightly longer sci fi stories with a heart, you’ll like these ones. Preorders up now, print available a few days before the ebook release date.

More news on the thrillers soon.

Right now I’m deep in the heart of writing the seventh Captain Arlon Stoddard book. It’s crossed the 200 page mark, with still plenty to go. Usually, as with most of my novels, these come in between 300 and 350 page marks, so enough left that I still don’t know the ending, but enough written that it’s feeling like it has some substance.

Hoping to have that out around early next year, depending on various factors. Then on to write a sequel to The Ergs, some more short stories, finish up the fifth of the new thriller series, then see where my writing goes. Feeling like another Captain Arlon Stoddard book might be fun. It had been a while since I’d written one, and I’m having a blast with this one. They really are a lot of fun.

Thanks for reading. Take care out there in the big wild world.