Hello friends and fans!
Welcome to my 8th newsletter: August 2017 – jam-packed with tidbits and information about new releases and projects I’m currently busy with!
Coming up in this edition of Another Round @ The Crow Bar:Regular updates, new releases, and a monthly spotlight on one of my books, this time “Black Sunrise“, book 1 in The Quantum Series!
New Releases
In April 2017 I announced a new series – “Panic! Horror In Space” and the availability of the first volume in that series which featured two related short stores: “Mercury Rising” and “Mercury Resurgent”.
The second volume has just been released (10 August 2017) and features two more related short stories entitled “Dead Center” and “Through A Dark Glassy” in the 2nd volume in a series of horror misadventures in deep space with the crew of the I.S.S. Mercury. In “Dead Center”, to repay a debt, Captain Flane accompanies the crew of the cult TV show “Specter Adventures” in a “lock-down” of the most haunted abandoned Terran outpost in the Galaxy, while “Through A Dark Glassy” explores the creepy consequences of placing a paper note reading “WARNING: ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY DO NOT OPEN” on a crate containing some of the most dangerous haunted items known to humanity – and sending it away via a space courier service – and not in a hypothetical way either.
What, you may be asking yourself, is there to panic about? You can find out here.
The Galaxii Series
“Galaxii – Into The Abyss” – a special omnibus of all three already released titles in the Galaxii Series, was released on 23 June and is only available in paperback 6″ x 9″ format. Book 4, “Where Darkness Softly Treads” is still on hold due to other projects at this time.
The Quantum Series
“Underground Movement”, the short novella and supplemental title that slots between book 6 and 7 in The Quantum Series which I told you about in the last newsletter, is under way! Set immediately after the sixth novel (“High Steaks”) “Underground Movement” continues the saga of the ‘third rate’ Terran colony on the planet Deanna, and the diverse characters you readers have no doubt by now become familiar with! This was a sort of spontaneous project that just “happened”! It shouldn’t side-track me from work on the main story line at all!
About The Quantum Series will give you more background about the series, it settings and characters. To get a better idea of what the latest two titles are about, read What Readers Can Expect In “Prodigal Sun”, “High Steaks”, “Fortitude” & “The Last Hurrah”.
Panic! Horror In Space
Panic! is a sci-fi/horror series, which will have some decidedly sci-fi characters encountering some decidedly horror entities – ghosts, haunted objects, zombies, etc. along with my usual twisted brand of humor! The first two titles are available in paperback and ebook versions on various distribution platforms including Amazon and Lulu. “Panic! Horror In Space #1” was released earlier this year, and “Panic! Horror In Space #2” is now also available as of 10 August 2017.
For more detail about this series, visit About Panic! Horror In Space.
Short Fiction
Nothing to report in this section this time!
- Fan Mail & Honorable Mentions
Several reviews were left on some of my titles on Goodreads:
- Good Short Story “Really liked this short vampire story. The author has great imagination. Why read a super long book when you can read a nice little story in no time!” – Michelle on Goodreads (“Death By Vampire”), July 11, 2017.
- Love this Author’s Books “Even though this book was short it still provides the reader with an awesome story. I really enjoyed reading this!” – Michelle on Goodreads (“The Thirteenth Ship”), July 13, 2017.
- Original “I am looking forward to reading all of Christina’s books. I really enjoy her unique imagination , she is a terrific author!” – Michelle on Goodreads (“The Peed Off Peasant’s Collection of Awesome Parking Memes “), July 13, 2017.
- A message received on July 12, 2017 from Michelle Rickman, who enjoyed “Death By Vampire“!
Noticed in the past month by my long-suffering PA Wendy K. Gloss, were the following honorable mentions:
- Books2freepdf.com users rated my free sample short story “The Thirteenth Ship” 4.8/5 out of 6173 voters!
- Someone used the cover of “Space Vacation” in an advert about converting books to audio books!
- The Ultimate List of 500 Best Vampire Books lists “Death By Vampire” at #343 on their vampire book list! (votes are sourced from Good Reads.)
- Reddit – a whole conversation about one of my quotes from an article in 2009!
- Wothquotes used one of my quotes (“Nobody can take your faith away from you. Faith is something you have to lose for yourself.” – Christina Engela) in their quotes about faith section.
- Wiseoldsayings – One of my quotes turned up here.
- Beauty in Diversity – another site sharing some of my quotes.
- Crowd Count – Another site sharing some of my quotes in their streaming banner at the bottom.
- Tranzmember – a blogger from Hungary shared one of my quotes.
- Quotable has one of my quotes from “Other Kids Are Kids Almost Just Like You“.
- Litteram – on this one, my quotes are among quotes from Ghandi and such!
I display my Fan Mail & Compliments with pride, gratitude and humility. You are always welcome to have a look.
- Hate Mail
July was rather quiet on the hate mail front. I’m almost sad to say I have nothing new to show you this time! (I may have something to show you next time though!)
(I’m rather proud of my hate mail, and you can review it here – but be forewarned, don’t do it while eating or drinking or you might choke while laughing!)
- Reviews & Interviews
Nothing new during this past month! If you would like to do an interview with me about my works, please do get in touch!
- New Videos
Nothing new at the moment.
- New Listings
All my books now seem to be listed just about everywhere – except for the ones I haven’t published yet! As of this month, new listings include xxx, who now also stock my books.
Monthly Book Spotlight [Spoiler Alert]: “BLACK SUNRISE”
‘Black Sunrise’ is the first title in the Quantum Series by Christina Engela – a writer described as ‘that rarest of authors – able to seamlessly blend together elements of dark horror and sci-fi to create stories that will stay with you long after the last page has been turned.’ (Mark Woods, author of ‘Time of Tides’ and ‘Fear of the Dark‘). Her writing in the sci-fi genre has been described as ‘one of the most unique and captivating styles I’ve encountered in science fiction.’ (Alex S. Johnson, author of The Doom Hippies.)
This being sci-fi, ‘Black Sunrise’ is set in the distant future, on a Terran colony world called Deanna, which has a charm of its own. Deanna is a unique place, filled with strange creatures and even stranger people. (To learn more about the planet and its weird inhabitants, visit About The Quantum Series and Concerning Obsidian Crows.)
The lead character in this first story in the series is Cindy-Mei Winter, a former CIA (that’s Colonial Intelligence Agency) agent. She’s a transgender woman who comes to Deanna looking for her own little share of happiness, but the rest of the universe just keeps getting in her way. Mei has much in her past she would prefer to forget and write off to having happened to someone else, not her – and wants to start over in life. In her male life, she was a go-getter – ambitious and effective in her work, but now she prefers to live and let live, to remain anonymous and under the radar.
When she first arrives on Deanna, only a few hours before a long-absent alien foe of the human race arrive to invade the small backwater Terran colony, it becomes crystal clear that life has other plans!
The invasion averted (by a mysterious case of ‘falling sherry’) ‘Agent Winter’ sets out to track down the lone survivor of the Ruminarri invasion force. To assist her in this task, she enlists the help of the male lead in ‘Black Sunrise’ – one Gary Beck, aka Beck the Badfeller – whose reputation as a bounty hunter on Deanna insists that he is ‘so good he could find the missing day in a leap-year!’
Beck as it turns out, is not as bad as his name makes him out to be, and over the course of their quest – during which they encounter and have to overcome numerous obstacles, including murderous minions of the local mining magnate – become more than ‘just friends’.
While transgender people have been included in quite a lot of books over the years, their traditional role has been as either a villain, an incidental plot device, or as a comedy prop. Typically the portrayal of transgender characters and the issues and obstacles faced by transgender people – and their unique tragedy – are not treated with the insight, understanding and respect they deserve. Transgender readers and fans of sci-fi need not fret in this case however, as Engela – a transwoman herself – has poured her very soul into the creation of this unique and special tale! Cisgender readers need not fear that the topic is put forward ‘too heavily’ as the setting of Engela’s stories – the planet Deanna, and Atro City itself – is big enough to get completely lost in!
The characters in ‘Black Sunrise’ continue their adventures in the next two books in the Quantum Series: ‘The Time Saving Agency’ and ‘Dead Man’s Hammer’.
Published: May 25, 2016
Pages: 258
Binding: Perfect-bound Paperback
Dimensions (inches): 4.25″ wide x 6.88″ tall (pocketbook)
This is the first title in The Quantum Series. To read more about the settings and characters of this series, visit About The Quantum Series and Characters & Plot Devices. To find out about Christina Engela’s main writing focus, read No LGBT Stereotypes Here!
In Closing
Thanks again for all your support, friendship and interaction! Until next time,
Cheers!
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All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2017.