Leveling the Playing Field

This post has almost nothing to do with writing! I say almost because I know me and I expect that, by the time I finish writing it, I’ll have found some way to mention or pimp my books out. I’m crafty like that.

Instead I’m going to talk about computer games. I’ve been into computer games for as long as there’s been computers with games on them. I started on the Atari 800 and then the Atari 2600 game console. Yeah, I was there from the beginning but I’m still young at heart. I’m having some friends over next month for a good old fashioned LAN party. For those who don’t know, that’s when we all bring our computers together and hook them up on the same network, then proceed to eat pizza, drink beer, and scream obscenities at each other while shooting one another in computer games. Male bonding at its finest! Although, for the record, we’d happily include any female gamers into the bloodshed as well if we knew any.

So I’ve been doing a little research lately trying to find some new games to play. The preferred medium is first person shooters, and so far it’s looking like some of the vintage classics are still holding their own (the early Battlefield games, Unreal Tournament(s), counter-Strike, Half Life and HL2, etc.). But I’ve found some fun new ones as well.

Left 4 Dead 2, for example. Zombie blasting has never been so fun! The only problem is that it’s only a 4 player cooperative style game, although it can be boosted to 4 vs 4 if one team is willing to play zombies. We tend to like the coop games because while most of us are well rounded contributors to society, there’s usually one or two that have spent far too much time gaming and are unstoppable. At that point all I’m left with is threatening to make them work out with me and dropping a few hundred pounds on their chest.

Another fun one I just discovered a couple of nights ago was Borderlands 2. Pretty neat, once you get into it, but it’s another game with only 4 person cooperative play available (and no deathmatch). Since I’m expecting at least 8 guys that kind of defeats the purpose. Another complaint I have about Borderlands 2 is the same I have with any RPG game that bases survival on a player’s level. That includes most of the otherwise outstanding games from Bethesda (Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout, etc.).

Even taking suspension of disbelief into consideration there’s just no realism for having characters based on a system of leveling. Why Bethesda does a decent job in basing their levels off of skills, at least, but it still annoys me to have extra health occur because of that. There’s a role playing game out there that I used to love called Shadowrun. The characters had skills and attributes (stats that helped define their physical and mental abilities) but every character only had 100% health. Depending on how their attributes and armor played out was how they determined if they could be killed. So anybody could kill anybody, just like reality, but it ruled out flukes and ridiculously lucky die rolls (e.g. Bard shooting the dragon in The Hobbit with the legendary “Black Arrow”).

So why can’t game developers deliver a skill and attribute based game that makes sense? You want more health, pick up some weights and eat healthier (meaning improve the applicable stats in the game), don’t just magically improve because you wacked 10 frogloks in the head with a rusty spear.

Okay, rant over, now back to exploring games. For example, Last night I got my hands on a brand new FPS. Aliens: Colonial Marines. It takes place after the second Aliens movie (directed by James Cameron), when the Marine ship has discharged the pods due to contagion and it’s returned to orbit LV426. It shows promise, though I’ve only tried it for about 10 minutes so far. Cooperative play and deathmatch (against people playing as aliens). Cool stuff! I will say that in those first 10 minutes very early this morning the game set the mood very nicely and had me sufficiently freaked out.

The LAN party is still more than a month away so if there are any PC gamers out there with suggestions, I’d love to hear them! Until then I’ll try to sneak in a few minutes here and there exploring and expanding my recent game knowledge. Maybe blast some more aliens and feel inspired to write another Vitalis book. Some of the critters in that book have similarities to the aliens, at least as far as the gestation of young aliens inside a living host that will soon eat its way out.

See, told you I’d find a way to work my books in…

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

A Different Kind of Resurrection

The worst part about the title of this blog post is that I’m not going to go into details. Those would be spoilers, you see, and I just can’t have that! I will share that Resurrection is the title of part 8 in my Vitalis series. I will also say that Vitalis – Resurrection is slated at being longer than the previous seven parts. I might even opt to go for a full novel length story, rather than a novella.

Another reason I won’t go into details is because I’m not quite sure how it’s all going to play out. I’m two chapters into it and they’re practically writing themselves, but that doesn’t mean I know what’s going to happen in chapter 3 yet. So far I’ve got a full loaded troop transport hurtling towards Vitalis at speeds greater than anything seen previously in the Terran Coalition of Systems. Unfortunately for the Marines thawing out from their hibernation sleep, there’s a really big rogue asteroid floating in their flight path…

And in chapter two Elsa, the second in command of Treetown, runs across a new kind of hybrid. A hybrid, for those unfamiliar with the Vitalian take on the term, is the result of the queen of a species of Vitalian creatures dubbed spitters that inserts her eggs into the abdomen of a human host. The chemicals released leave the hosts lethargic and extraordinarily stoned while the eggs acquire DNA from the hosts to allow them to fertilize and mature. Then they hatch and begin to eat the hosts from the inside out. It ain’t pretty. And what’s different about the new type of hybrid that they haven’t seen before? Well all of the former hybrids had male hosts, thus the hybrids were male. The new one Elsa encounters just so happens to have breasts – and we’re not talking man-boobs.

So what’s the big deal? As anyone who’s read the series knows, the hybrids are close enough to humans that they’re able to breed with them. If it sounds gross that’s because it is. Scary too. The offspring are more intelligent and in a poorly lit alley very hard to tell from a pure blooded human, whereas the hybrids can only pass as human from a distance. From the perspective of physical menace the hybrids are more dangerous – no one’s sure just how dangerous their offspring are (yet). Now imagine a female hybrid that’s able to mate with her own sub-species. A rapid gestation period and high probability of multiple births makes for a race of dangerous and amoral creatures. Hmm, maybe it’s a good thing there’s a company of Marines about to crash into the planet?

Of course Resurrection can’t be just about that – there are too many characters and too many subplots to wrap it up that neatly! What about the Terran Coalition Systems ships orbiting Vitalis that are building the jump station to allow FTL travel between systems? Or Fiona, the newly crowned Matriarch of a tribe of hybrids that has to find ways to thwart every attempt Klous makes to steal the hybrids allegiance? Tarn, Captain Sharp, Jeremy, and the rest of the residents of Treetown have their own stories and lives to unfold. Not to mention poor Eric. What will he do now that Kira’s been gone for over six months and everyone has written the former huntress off?

In the meantime how about some reviews – I love writing and want to keep doing it but without reviews my books don’t make their way up on the Amazon lists for people to see and buy. For my books Amazon requires 20 words, a title / subject, and a 5 star rating. Okay, 4 star will do too.

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

I Love it When a Story Comes Together

I gave up smoking cigars years ago, but if it helps the title of this post, feel free to imagine me with one in hand. If you have no idea where that image comes from…um, never mind, I’m just showing my age.

The point of the post is that I’ve decided to honor the requests of so many negative reviewers regarding my Vitalis series. Every one of them states they really enjoyed the story but they grew frustrated with the length of the individual stories – or lack thereof. They felt they were only chapters in a larger story. Sorry folks, that just ain’t the way of it! A chapter is generally less than 5000 words, although I’ve seen them grow to a rare 10,000 on occasion (e.g. my Voidhawk novel has multiple 10k+ chapters, but it’s basically an omnibus of Voidhawk adventures). The Vitalis stories are all well over 10k words, and even over 20k in some instances.

Now that I’m done defending myself, let me move on to the point of this. The Vitalis Omnibus book has just been released on Amazon and Smashwords! Barnes and Noble soon to follow. I’ll have the links up on my website tomorrow sometime (if not sooner). Until then, look below for a direct link to it if you’re interested. The appeal to this book over the others is that it’s cheaper than buying all 7 of the existing books. Outside of that, it’s just a combination of the first seven stories. My recommendation, for those not familiar with Vitalis, is to drop $.99 on the first book (New Beginnings) to see if you like it. Then if you do, buy the omnibus and you’re still saving money or buying all 7 of the individual stories. Did I mention it’s available in print too? Yeah, pretty cool, isn’t it? See below for the print links.

Oh, and not to worry, I’ve many more planned – I just haven’t gotten to writing them yet.

Until then, here’s the cover and the links!

Amazon

Amazon UK

Smashwords

Barnes and Noble 

Vitalis Omnibus in print!

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

Take a Squat

Everything about my latest futuristic science fiction book, Squatter’s Rights, has been on the fast track. This is the fifth book in my Vitalis series. I wrote it in less than a week and my editor had finished it inside of another week. The cover art came in just last night, taking perhaps a week as well. All in all, it’s been a book that defies the traditional timing of writing and publishing. I know I felt fevered and impassioned when writing it. On any given day in spite of being constantly busy I would manage to crank out 2,000 to 8,000 words. I love the direction it took me and can’t wait to explore the possibilities that lay ahead of me. My editor returned it to me with the comments, “I liked Squatter’s Rights. And soooo creepy about those parasites!”

What? Creepy? Oh yeah, I went there. I’m branching out and trying to mix my sci-fi with a dash of horror!

There’s more though, this came through at an amazing time. Today’s my birthday and what better birthday present then for two people to get something at the same time? Treat yourself to Vitalis – Squatter’s Rights for a whopping $.99 and everybody wins! Here’s the blurb and the cover…

The accidental colony on Vitalis has grown with each lucky survivor the planet tried to chew up and spit aside. For three years Treetown has offered shelter and solace to the refugees of the beautiful planets merciless life cycle. Survival against nature is no longer enough.

 A new danger threatens the indentured colonists. The survivors must put aside their differences if they hope to stand a chance against an opponent that will use their very DNA against them.

Vitalis – Squatter’s Rights on Amazon

Vitalis – Squatter’s Rights on Amazon UK

Vitalis – Squatter’s Rights on Smashwords

Vitalis -Squatter’s Rights on Barnes and Noble (coming soon)

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

Another Amazon Prime Experiment

In a recent post I both applauded the usefulness of the KOLL (Kindle Owners Lending Libary – I think) and challenged the usefulness of Amazon Prime to people who suffer from a lack of enough hours in the day.  None of that has changed from that post until this one, but I’m trying to figure out just what an author can get out it.

For me the greatness of KDP Select (the program through Kindle Publishing where an author enrolls his or her books in to the KOLL program) isn’t about the lending or the borrowing. It’s about the [limited] ability to manage promotions. Each title gets a 5 day collection of days that the book can be offered for free. These can be broken up into 5 separate days, a five day stint, or any combination of lesser time (in full day increments running from midnight PST to midnight PST). That helps books get visibility and exposure, and if everything else is lined up AND the book doesn’t suck, then it can help generate sales.

So with that in mind, I’m releasing the third book in my Vitalis series, Parasites. Parasites isn’t going free but it’s close at only $.99. New Beginnings, the book that started it all, will be free for both Thursday and Friday (January 19th and 20th). Grab it and check it out, it’s got some great reviews and it’s free, what more could you ask for? And after that’s over, you’ll surely want to know more about this undiscovered planet and how the survivors are making do, so check out The Colony and the brand new third installment: Parasites.

Parasites, book 3 in the Vitalis series by Jason Halstead

Parasites on Amazon (doesn’t that just sound cool?)

Parasites on Amazon UK

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

KDP Select and Human Nature

Those who know me will groan and realize they expected nothing less at my choice of titles and words. Those who don’t know me will groan anyhow (for the same reason). The Human Nature I’m referring to has nothing to do with our personalities and quirks. This Human Nature is a science fiction book I wrote a while back, but aside from some great reviews it’s never really taken off. Enter KDP Select and Amazon Prime…

I’ve got a blog post coming out in a couple of days about a new release that’s coming out this week (so stay tuned!). This particular experiment took place last week. Using the KDP Select promotions manager I keyed up Human Nature to run free for two days late last week (Friday and Saturday, I believe). I ‘sold’ a couple hundred copies of it. Since then it’s been selling at the regular price at a much improved rate and moving up the charts. At this early stage, it looks like a successful experiment.

There’s a downside though. That being the exclusivity Amazon requires in order to enroll in the KDP Select program. Just this morning I had an email from a reader in Australia who was looking for my books but was unable to get them because of her location and the fact that she doesn’t have a Kindle. I’m trying to help her figure out a way to do so, even if it means using the Kindle App for the PC and reading it on her computer. I’m not sure if Amazon is able to sell books in Australia. Shame on me for my ignorance, but I’m using this situation to eliminate that problem. In the meantime let me point out to my fellow writers that are considering KDP Select that it can be a double edged sword.

And for anyone who’s curious about the stand-alone novel, Human Nature, here’s the cover you click on to go check it out!

Human Nature, sci-fi / romance by Jason Halstead

Human Nature on Amazon

Human Nature on Amazon UK

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.