Welcome to my blog

Hello visitors. On my blog I'm talking about my books, but also about what I'm currently working on and, maybe, some other stuff. Browse through my posts and don't forget to check out my older posts in the archives. If you are interested in my books, please, visit my website Fictitious Tales for more information and a few excerpts. Also, take a look at my second blog Herbert Grosshans, where I talk about fun-stuff and things that concern me.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

New contract

I just signed a contract with Midnight Showcase for my book 'Mark of the Cobra'. It is not SciFi this time, but an erotic thriller. It is scheduled do be released in September.
March is almost here. Tomorrow, actually. I have another book coming out in March. It will carry the title 'Double Vision', because it contains two stories: Cliffs of Time, a time travel story, and Orion, the Hunt, a SF story. So, keep your eyes open for that one. I'll announce it here when it comes out. Book Two of Seeds of Chaos will be available in April.
Right now I'm busy with an Anthology of mine. I'm putting together a bunch of my short stories and it's coming along fine. (That even rhymes, wow! I hope that's a good sign.) ( Will it ever stop with this rhyme?) YES, RIGHT NOW!
Here is an excerpt from Cliffs of Time: (Sorry about this, this was not an intention of MINE. LOL)
Anyway, here it is:

Traveling through the tall grass proved to be rough. They walked without talking, trying to be as silent as possible. Melanie followed a compass, which she had dug out of her backpack. Without it they surely would have walked in circles, because at times the grass grew so tall, it made navigating extremely difficult.
After about thirty minutes of walking, Melanie stopped and studied a small device she held in her hand. “I think we’ve picked up company,” she said with a low voice.
Steel looked at the small screen and saw a number of moving dots.
“What do these dots mean?” he asked.
Melanie pointed at two stationary dots. “You and me,” she whispered. “Those other ones? Hunters.”
“Who are they hunting?”
“Us.”
“What are they?”
She shrugged. “I can’t tell, but from my readings I assume they’re Deinonychus. That means we’re in trouble. They’re smart and deadly predators, and they hunt in packs. They’ll attack even large dinosaur. We have only one chance. We know where they are and we wait for them to attack us. Get ready.”
After trampling down the grass in a circle around them to give them a larger area to control, they stood back to back, waiting.
“One is heading straight for us from your direction,” Melanie said calmly.
Steel heard the rustling of the grass and then he faced the first of their hunters. He reacted without conscious thought. Bringing the rifle to his cheek, he aimed for the open jaws and pulled the trigger. The head of the saurian creature exploded, spraying Steel with blood and body matter. He didn’t have much time to triumph, behind the first one another one appeared, sharp, serrated teeth gleaming in its powerful jaws. Steel just kept on firing into the snapping maw.
Behind him, he heard Melanie’s rifle firing and felt her back slam into his from the recoil of her rifle.
“Two o’clock!” she screamed.
Steel swung his rifle to his right, fired into the broad chest of the predator. It kept on advancing, tearing up the air in front of it with its clawed three fingered hands. He put an exploding bullet into the gaping maw. The creature dropped to the ground, clawed feet scrabbling for support.
Melanie fired again. “There is one more,” she said, “from your direction.”
He heard it before it came out of the tall grass. When he saw its shadowy form through the thick stems, he began firing. It dropped, still a few yards away from their position.
“I think that was the last one,” Melanie said and relaxed behind him. “Come, let’s move on quickly. The dead bodies will attract the scavengers. They’re just as deadly.”

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Seeds of Chaos revised cover

Here is the new cover. Anybody who has purchased the book until now still has the old cover. Maybe that first version will be a collector's item some day. You never know.



Posted by Picasa

news update

Just checked fictionwise and to my pleasant surprise I found Seeds of Chaos still at number six, but my Xandra books are moving up again. Book 1 is at number 13, Book 2 at number 9, and Book 3 at number 11. That makes me very happy.
Microsoft has pulled a fast one. Now their artwork cannot be used anymore for commercial purposes, that means my cover for Seeds of Chaos had to be re-done. The new cover is coming out shortly. Actually I like it even better than the first one. I'll be posting it here next.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Seeds of Chaos news

I'm sad to report that my book has slipped from number two position at fictionwise to number six. Disappointing, but on a more positive note, my Xandra series is gaining sales again. As long as the books are selling, that means more readers are seeing them, which is encouraging. Possibly, when Book two, Hell's Gate come out in April, the interest in Book one will be kindled again.
Right now I'm working on a new novel, Tarnished Valor, a mainstream novel, something Ludlum would write. I'm up to 20,000 words right now and a long way still to go to the end. This is a new experiment for me, no sex, maybe a bit of erotica, but very mild, nothing explicit. So far, the writing went well, but I seem to have hit a bit of a block. If I finish it the way I had planned, it would be too short, so now I'm waiting for some inspiration. I need a twist to make it more interesting. We'll see. If I get stuck then I'll just work on something else, let it brew for a while until a new idea begins to form in my mind. I have plenty of other stuff I need to get into print.
It's cold outside, minus 30 Celsius, and colder even in the windshield. I'm not going out there, since I'm also fighting a cold, so I spend more time on my computer, writing. That's just fine with me. We just came home from the Dominican Republic, where the tempature was 30 plus. What a difference, this makes it twice as hard to take, but we're Manitobans. We're tough and used to this weather. Better then tornados anytime.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Welcome to my Blog

If you are a new visitor to my blog please stay awhile and read some of the excerpts from my books and short stories. I write mainly Science Fiction with a touch of Erotica. Why Erotica? Why not? Sex is part of our lives. Without it we wouldn’t be here. We write and read about everything else. Some people might call erotica smut or porn, but it isn’t, there is a difference. There is always a story. Sometimes the erotic element is the theme of the story, sometimes it is just a part of. Sex can be beautiful or ugly. Sex and love is beautiful. Sex and rape is ugly. I don’t write those kind of stories. If you want to find out more about the stuff I write, read my books.
My latest book Seeds of Chaos is right now at number two position at fiction wise. I’m quite proud of that. It means there are readers out there who like the stuff I write and I know I’m on the right track. I’m hoping for number one. Book One of my Xandra series did reach number one position. To my disappointment Book Two and Three never got higher than number three, which isn’t bad either.
Find my books at http://www.midnightshowcase.com/ or
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/MidnightShowcaseeBooks.htm

Seeds of Chaos update

The book is out and at number Two position in sales at fictionwise. I am happy.