AUTHOR NEWSLETTER
Herb Hughes
Winter/Spring, 2023
A LONG, LONG TIME
It’s been a long, long time since my last newsletter! The Summer/Fall 2022 edition was never published for a simple reason: There was little news to report. I was making steady but slow progress on two novels, and steady but slow progress on remodeling my house. Well, perhaps not so steady on my house, but a few things have been finished in the last year or two.
Probably my worst mistake, however, was taking up the game of golf again, after almost two years away from it. The absence did nothing to improve my ability. The Champions Tour is safe.
And, finally, I’ve been served a few slices of real life in the intervening time. But enough of me. The real question is what have the characters in my novels been up to?
INFALL RELEASED!!!
What would you do if a naked alien materialized in front of you amid a ball of swirling winds and colored lights? Would you freeze, run away, scream, hit it, or try to communicate?
This is the question investigated by Infall, a science fiction novel that spans much of the globe while looking at how humans might react to such events. And, in some ways more importantly, how these aliens would react to us.
As you would expect, there is a wide range of reactions. We humans have difficulty seeing “eye-to-eye” over almost everything. It would be no different if aliens started appearing in our world.
The cover was created by a company called 100 Covers, based on my narrative description of what I wanted. I thought they did a fantastic job of capturing my intent. I believe this is one of the best covers for any of my novels. If you read the book, you will see how well their work fits with the story.
Infall is my eighth novel in the span of eight years. (It amazes me to realize it’s been eight years since I wandered down this path. Years are getting shorter and shorter!)
Infall is available in eBook and paperback formats. The eBook price is $2.99 but will be on sale from March 2nd through March 9th for $.99. (Yep, less than a buck, so you can imagine how rich I’m getting writing novels.) The paperback is $15.95. There’s no good way to have a sale on hardcopy. As is the case for all of my novels, you can order an autographed paperback from my website, herbhughesnovels.com. You can also order them as gifts on my site.
The links to purchase on Amazon are:
eBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS5F8X1G
Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSHYTQQP
PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS
My son, Stephen Hughes, is making a series of short videos to promote my novels. He came up with the idea and started filming (phoning?) and I didn’t know about it till I saw one. His videos can be seen on FB Reels, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. If you run across any of them, please share. The more views, the merrier, of course!
Inspired by what he is doing, I’ve started a video series called The Writer’s Life. This is a humorous look at the more painful aspects of being a writer. It’s not all fun and games, but the best part is being able to make fun of yourself. (I’m such an easy target.) These will be released one at a time over the next few weeks. I hope you get to see them on your favorite social media platform. And please share these as well. If they don’t flash across your screen, you will be able to find them in the near future on my FB page.
POUNDING THE KEYS – THE CRYSTAL SHELL
[Pounding The Keys is a regular feature about my current novel in progress.]
Kindle Vella is a relatively new reading service for people who like serialized novels, much like the old serialized movies in theaters from the days before televisions were commonplace. The Crystal Shell is a science fiction novel being written specifically for this market. A book published in Kindle Vella is exclusive to that outlet. It cannot be published in any other markets.
The bones of this story originated back in my days at Intergraph. I would write a few pages during lunch or break time each day then every week or so email a chapter to the people in my department. It was the mid-nineties, and layoffs had become a hard reality for those of us in the hardware division. I felt that having a fictional diversion might ease the tension of having the layoff ax constantly hanging over our heads.
The original story was poor at best. Since it was written during a few ‘stolen’ minutes, there was little time to work out the plot details or rewrite to make it more polished. The new version is not the same story it was when it was born. It is, I believe, vastly improved. The plot has been written and rewritten multiple times since the original. I am happy with the results so far. The novel is two-thirds written and I expect to complete it before summer.
JUST FOR FUN
[Writer’s jokes. Something to help you smile.]
Excited by a friend’s first story sale, one asks what she’s going to buy with the money. She shrugs: “I don’t know, a candy bar?”
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What do you get when you cross a writer with a deadline? A really clean house.
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What type of blood does a proofreader have? Type O.
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Why are writers always cold? They’re surrounded by drafts.
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I once asked this literary agent what writing paid the best, and he said, ‘ransom notes’.
My apologies for any repeats.
Thank you for reading my newsletter,
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