News

My book Children of Arkadia is one of the core books in the brand new HopePunk StoryBundle, curated by Adam Gaffen.

Welcome to the Hopepunk bundle!

What is Hopepunk, you ask?

It’s a subgenre of speculative fiction, so it includes fantasy as well as science fiction, and it’s a reaction to the dystopian views that grimdark novels have. Where grimdark is violent and amoral, hopepunk stories feature characters who fight for positive change, communal responses to challenges, and even radical kindness. It’s an intentional ray of sunshine in what could be a bleak literary landscape. It’s taking a stand because it’s right, not because it’s profitable. It’s rebelling against an oppressive regime to improve everyone’s lot, not just your own. It emphasizes cooperation over conflict while realizing that a Happily Ever After isn’t guaranteed.

And it’s everywhere.

A few examples, you say?

How about The Martian? The classic Discworld novels? Jumping into movies, look at Black Panther. Or head to television and watch The Orville or Doctor Who. Hopepunk promises that tomorrow can be better than today, given passion and effort.

And it’s here for you today!

We’ve gathered some of the most rousing, forward-thinking, relatable Hopepunk novels on the market for you today and put them into this special bundle. Check it out!

Adam Gaffen

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

• The Stars and Green Magics by Novae Caelum
• Red Dot by Mike Karpa
• Children of Arkadia by M. Darusha Wehm
• The Road to the Stars by Adam Gaffen

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $20, you get all four of the regular books, plus seven more books/boxed sets for a total of 11!

• The Adventures of Wil Calder by John Wilker
• The Left Hand of Dog by Si Clarke
• Aces High, Jokers Wild: Books 1-3 by O.E. Tearmann
• Tanis Richards: Shore Leave by M. D. Cooper
• The Ariadne Cycle – Boxed Set by J. Scott Coatsworth
• The Andlios Collection – Books 1-3 by Dave Walsh
• City of Kaus: Books 1-3 by Dani Hoots

The Qubit Zirconium is out today in US paperback and ebook everywhere!

Alien detectives stumble across a mystery that could tear apart their patchwork planet, the Crucible, in this riotous science fantasy novel from the smash hit game, KeyForge.

Wibble & Pplimz, the Crucible’s most unusual private investigators, must set off from their office in Hub City to clear the name of a former client. Along the way, their investigation broadens from a simple accusation of theft to include a missing person, a potential murder, and a highly unusual gem. Four interlinking incidents take them across the Crucible, as they attempt to solve the case. But there’s something more sinister lurking underneath: evidence of a secret society that aims to discover the power of the Architects, and forever change the nature of the Crucible itself.

I’m excited to share that my book The Voyage of the White Cloud is a part of the new Glitter And Hope StoryBundle, curated by Cat Rambo!

Hope can find its origin in friendship, whether on an alien planet or a New York street corner. It can come from writing, in a myriad shades as multi-colored as the ink in which it’s inscribed. It glitters at the bottom of Pandora’s box, waiting to escape. Waiting to provide comfort and light and renewed vigor for the fight.

So this is a bundle centered on hope with a touch of glitter, rather than grit, and I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I did. It’s a range of flavors as well as forms: novels, including some beginnings; connected short stories; sequential novellas, and an anthology of stories connected by theme. 

Cat Rambo

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

• Diamondsong – Escape 01 by E.D.E. Bell
• The Burglar of Sliceharbor by Jason A. Holt
• Modern Surprises by Joan Marie Verba
• The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all four of the regular books, plus seven more more books, for a total of eleven!

• Diamondsong – Capture 02 by E.D.E. Bell
• Tales of the Captain Duke – Vol. 1-4 by Rebecca Diem
• The Voyage of the White Cloud by M. Darusha Wehm
• Community of Magic Pens by Atthis Arts Anthology
• Carpe Glitter by Cat Rambo
• Missing Signal by Seb Doubinsky
• The Legacy Human – Singularity 1 by Susan Kaye Quinn

Mars is good place to reinvent yourself, isn’t it?

Jules Morales’s life has always been a state of contact change. When the opportunity comes up, why not take a trip to Mars to work on the platinum mining operation—and make a load of money? But what if there is more to Mars than just a payday and an adventure?

The woman now calling herself Lisa Marie has spent her whole life trapped by the struggle to make ends meet, and sometimes held hostage by her own memories. On Mars she might finally find financial security, but will she also find something to care about today, and maybe even for the future?

Mars is a world in transition, caught in the balance between capitalist exploitation and human exploration. The first people of Mars need to find a way to build a functioning economic zone and liveable habitat on the Red Planet. But could they do more—create a community, a true new home for humanity?

Out now, Retaking Elysium, the prequel novella to The Martian Job.

I’m serializing my new novella Retaking Elysium on Patreon.

Mars is good place to reinvent yourself, isn’t it?

Jules Morales’s life has always been a state of contact change. When the opportunity comes up, why not take a trip to Mars to work on the platinum mining operation—and make a load of money? But what if there is more to Mars than just a payday and an adventure?

The woman now calling herself Lisa Marie has spent her whole life trapped by the struggle to make ends meet, and sometimes held hostage by her own memories. On Mars she might finally find financial security, but will she also find something to care about today, and maybe even for the future?

Mars is a world in transition, caught in the balance between capitalist exploitation and human exploration. The first people of Mars need to find a way to build a functioning economic zone and liveable habitat on the Red Planet. But could they do more—create a community, a true new home for humanity?

Read or listen to Chapter One for free.

Coming July 23—a Patreon exclusive serial in text and audio: Retaking Elysium, a prequel to my Nebula nominated game, The Martian Job.

Mars is good place to reinvent yourself, isn’t it?

Jules Morales’s life has always been a state of contact change. When the opportunity comes up, why not take a trip to Mars to work on the platinum mining operation—and make a load of money? But what if there is more to Mars than just a payday and an adventure?

The woman now calling herself Lisa Marie has spent her whole life trapped by the struggle to make ends meet, and sometimes held hostage by her own memories. On Mars she might finally find financial security, but will she also find something to care about today, and maybe even for the future?

Mars is a world in transition, caught in the balance between capitalist exploitation and human exploration. The first people of Mars need to find a way to build a functioning economic zone and liveable habitat on the Red Planet. But could they do more—create a community, a true new home for humanity?

All patrons will get the weekly chapters in text, patrons at the $2 or more level will get the exclusive audio podcast, and patrons at the $3 or more level will also get the ebook before it is released worldwide in October.

Join my Patreon here!

Woo hoo! The Martian Job won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novella!

The SJVs are New Zealand’s fan-voted awards for best science fiction, fantasy and horror.

I am so excited to share that The Martian Job has been nominated for a Nebula Award in the brand-new Game Writing category!

I am so thrilled to be in the company of such great authors and titles! From the SFWA Nebula site:

Game Writing

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Charlie Brooker (House of Tomorrow & Netflix)

The Road to Canterbury, Kate Heartfield  (Choice of Games)

God of War, Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog, Orion Walker, and Adam Dolin (Santa Monica Studio/Sony/Interactive Entertainment)

Rent-A-Vice, Natalia Theodoridou (Choice of Games)  

The Martian Job, M. Darusha Wehm (Choice of Games)