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.

Monday, July 27, 2015

#Codename Salamander

My new Science Fiction novel Codename Salamander has been accepted by #Melange Books, LLC. I've signed the contract last week. It is scheduled to be published in September/October 2016.

That is the hard part: The Waiting. Of course, before it gets published my editor will go through the novel, send it back to me with suggestions and whatever else needs to be done until the final step. That won't be for months from now. In the meantime I will write another novel. So far, I don't have any ideas yet and I am hoping for 'Lady Muse' to give me some hints and inspiration.

A couple of months ago I had an erotic novel published by Fiction4All under a pen name. They take only a few weeks from the time I submit a novel until it gets published. Last week I submitted a second novel to them. So I'm waiting for that one to be published. I'm not divulging my pen name, because those two novels are quite explicit. Fiction4All publishes only Adult fiction and some of them are quite graphic. They have a large reader base.

I am not writing any more explicit erotic novels under my real name and I'm not certain if I will write more under my pen name. I'll see how those two are selling. I enjoy and prefer writing my Science Fiction novels over any other genre, anyway. A bit of titillating erotica won't hurt and I will keep that, but no more graphic scenes. Maybe I'm maturing and growing out of it. Perhaps the novelty of writing erotica has worn off. I'm not sure and it doesn't really matter what the reason is. My family is happy with my new trend.

To come back to Codename Salamander. It is the fifth novel in my 'The Spider Wars' series which was published a few years ago. I like the universe I created in that series and also the characters. I may just write another story that takes place in that same universe. We'll see what comes up.

Here is the blurb for Codename Salamander just to give you an idea what it is about:

 

Master Scout Terrex Stonewall and his nephew Bret Grayson have signed a one-year contract with Salamander Mining Ventures. Grayson is supposed to study one of the native tribes while Stonewall’s job is to teach rookie Scouts how to survive on a hostile planet. But those are not the only reasons they are on Salamander.
There is something on Salamander the humans want for themselves. It would give them access to an ancient device that would make it possible for humans to become the most powerful species in the galaxy. However, it seems the Spiders, the Anorians, the Accilla, and most other species also know about this device and all of them are willing to start a war with the humans to keep them from sole ownership of what is buried beneath Outpost Salamander. There is just one hitch—nobody knows the code that unlocks the device. Only the brilliant mind of Bret Grayson may be able to decipher the symbols on the artifacts an ancient race left behind.
When a sexy Anorian female makes Grayson an offer he can’t refuse, he is forced to form an uneasy alliance with her. The Spiders and the Accilla also want to be present should Grayson be successful in cracking the code. At the same time, Master Scout Stonewall has to deal with a threat from within the Solar Union. The Military High Command has a sinister plan, and the job of thwarting the plot is thrown into Stonewall’s lap.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

My interview on #Whohub



I just updated my interview on Whohub. Interested? Please check it out here: http://www.whohub.com/hegro/

Friday, July 17, 2015

#My new novel Codename: Salamander

I finished my first scrutinizing (and agonizing) edit of Codename Salamander, looking for inconsistencies and other mistakes that creep in while writing a novel over the course of a few months. I also did the line-break check, you know the one with the little reversed 'P' symbol, and then I inserted the page-breaks. Boring job.

Next comes the Spell check, but I don't rely on that one too much. The program has plenty of glitches, finding mistakes that aren't there and suggesting changes that are completely wrong. I still rely on my own judgement. When in doubt, I check out my books on writing which I have in my library. Books written by authors and 'gurus' of the English language.

Once I did all that, then I'll read it again to see how the story flows, but still with an eye on mistakes. That is already the fun part. After that I will convert it to RTF format, because that's what my publisher (Melange Books LLC) wants. And then I'll submit it.

It won't be long now. What I'll write after that I don't know yet. Something will pop into my head.