Hello from Cambridge
I have lots of news and information for you this week, so I’ll try to be brief.
Firstly, thanks to everyone who entered the Guess the Character competition. The correct answer was Kes, the xenobiologist in Space Colony One, Part Two.
The winners are:
Richard Irwin
Julian White (you’re good at these, Julian!)
Victoria Watson (you too, Victoria!)
Christina Hicks
Many thanks to everyone who entered. More competitions are coming up soon.
Readers sometimes ask me where I get my character names from. Some are simply names I like – I seem to have a penchant for female names beginning with Car, such as Carrie, Cariad, and Carina. But Kes’s name comes from an old, classic, black and white British film called simply Kes. It’s the name a young boy gives his pet kestrel. It’s a sad film but worth watching.
What do you think about character names in books? Do they matter to you? Write and let me know at jenny@jjgreenauthor.com. I’d love to know your opinion or if a character name ever had a special meaning for you.
Another question I’m sometimes asked is where do I write. It’s an interesting question to ask a writer because they often need a particular space to write in for the words to flow. My little secret is that I actually write in bed. It’s strange, I know, but after trying various options I’ve found it’s the most comfortable place. So now you know, all the books of mine you’ve read were all written in a double bed.
(It’s also very handy for power naps.)
More below on what to expect from the bed of J.J. Green in the coming months and 2020.
Bargain Books
Starship Waking by C. Gockel
On an icy, barren world, a starship dreams of doom…
Throughout the galaxy, the reclusive alien race known as The One are incapacitated by terror.
On the planet Luddeccea, wolf-human hybrid Volka harbors a terrible secret…a secret that must explain her nightmares.
Trapped on a luxurious asteroid, pleasure ‘bot 6T9 struggles to find purpose–until he receives a message from an Unidentified Caller.
The worlds of The One, Volka, and 6T9 are about to collide.
The starship is waking.
Download your (free) copy here.
The Fall of Endurance by R.L. Blalock
A starship’s sirens scream into the void. Can a highly trained protector fight for peace on an unfamiliar world?
It’s elite soldier Laure’s duty to protect the last of humanity. Four hundred years after Earth fell to alien invaders, she’s only known life on a colonization ship searching through space. But when the vessel is forced to crash land for emergency repairs, Laure comes face to face with a new breed of enemy.
Struggling both to battle aliens and rescue her colonists, Laure never expects to find her other half on the strange planet. As her telepathic and physical bond with the alien grows, she’s horrified to discover the people she’s sworn to protect turn on her and consider her inhuman.
Torn between two species, can Laure defend humankind from extinction?
Snap up your copy here.
Publishing News
2020 plans are finalised, and the rest of 2019 is looking good, too!
Final Onslaught goes out to Patreon followers in late November and live on Amazon for all shipmates just before Christmas.
I’ll write the fourth Carrie Hatchett Christmas story soon. The entire collection of stories is to be your Christmas present from me! Even if you haven’t read any Carrie Hatchett books yet, I think you’ll love these light-hearted, seasonal stories.
I’m recording the Shadows of the Void books on audio and I’ll post a new episode in each ship’s bulletin, so you can listen to the story every week. I was going to include a link to the first episode in this bulletin but I have some technical issues to solve yet.
Books 4 to 6 of the Star Mage Saga will appear in the first half of 2020. Again, the books will be available to Patreon followers before they go live on Amazon, so non-Amazon readers have the opportunity to download them.
I’m publishing a new series in the second half of 2020. I can’t tell you much about it yet, except to say it’s another space fantasy, like Star Mage Saga, and it includes many elements of mythology and folk lore.
That’s all for this week. If don’t already have your reading guide to my books, download a free copy here.
Enjoy your books!