Category: update

Calling All Writers

On By J.R. HandleyIn update, Writing3 Comments

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Hey Space Cadets, 2017 is here!  It’s a new year, so I’ve decided to talk about my goals for the year.  I hope to write 2k words a day, as I strive for a million words for the year.  Towards that goal, here are some places where you can submit your writing.  I’ve mentioned some of them before, but they’re worth re-posting.  I hope you find these helpful, and if you have more share and I’ll add them to the post!!

 

One of the anthologies I’ve mentioned before is the Roswell Anthology being assembled by Tickety Boo Press Ltd..  In this short story, which should be between 2-5k words, you’re tasked with writing a tale surrounding the alleged alien activities surround Roswell, New Mexico.  I wrote mine, it was fun and is now waiting for my editor to do his thing.  In fact, this short story will become my previously mentioned Odera Chronicles.  You should join me, maybe our pages will end up touching!!

 

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The second anthology, which I’ve already mentioned, is the Zeborian Anthology.  In this anthology, you’re given a premise and a short backstory and then set free to let your creative juices flow.  You get to do all of this in 2-5k words, which seems to be the sweet spot for anthology short stories.  I’ve not written this one yet, but I hope too.  If this sounds like your thing, get started writing and keep us posted!!

 

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Finally, I found a new eMagazine or eZine that has an open ended subject matter but limits you to 6,000 characters.  I don’t think I could write that concisely, but if that’s you it’s a paying gig!  The Thing is run by Matthew Wayne Selznick, the very same soul who slew interweb dragons for me and helped make my webpage shine.  He’s pretty reasonable and easy to work with, so go ahead and give it a shot!  I posted about him here and here if you want to learn more.

 

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If you know of any others, give me a holler and I’ll add it to the list!!!  At the conclusion of this post, I’ll link to several more general places where you could submit your work.  I’ll also list anywhere I found that had lists of places to submit for you to jump down the rabbit hole with me. 

 

 

Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!  

brown_bess

 JR

 

 –> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section, are screen grabs taken by JR Handley or were used under the Fair Use Doctrine.

  1. Roswell Anthology
  2. Zeborian Anthology
  3. The Thing eZine
  4. Lambda Literary (LGBTQ)
  5. Writers Life Lists
  6. Joe Vasicek Lists

 

Tickety Boo Forum

On By J.R. HandleyIn Blogging, update, WritingLeave a comment

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Hey Space Cadets, just a quick note to tell you that the gracious people over at Tickety Boo Press Ltd. have given me some space in their forums.  It’s designed to be a place for readers and writers and everyone in-between to chat about books and their love of the written word.  Pop over and say hi, leave a comment and join us in the usual shenanigans!!  Now, if you haven’t finished your gift shopping or wrapping… what are you doing in front of your computer?  GO!!!  Otherwise, click here to join us in the forums to talk books!

 

Also, check out the SciFi Explorations if you’re looking for science fiction deals.  It’s a mailing list that sends deals and recommendations to your inbox of the stories you know you’ll love.  If what I write is up your alley, then they’ll have many more recommendations.  Most of them, at least while they’re in the mailing, are on sale at a steal of a price.

 

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Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bessJR

 

 –> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section or are owned by JR Handley.

 

Nick Webb’s Constitution deal, and my new book is out next week — The Human Legion

On By J.R. HandleyIn Human Legion Series, update, WritingLeave a comment

One of the stars of the recent boom in science fiction literature is Nick Webb. Now, if your’re reading this, Nick, I would describe you as a very annoying kind of author Not only does he sell a gazillion copies of his books, which come out more regularly than mine, but he also has a…

via Nick Webb’s Constitution deal, and my new book is out next week — The Human Legion

Marine Monday: Infopedia’s

On By J.R. HandleyIn Marine Monday, update, Writing2 Comments

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Hello Space Cadets, how are you today?  I’m doing outstanding, getting ready for the launch of my debut novel The Legion Awakes and hoping everyone loves it.  Paying back my mom for what we spent in the pre-publication stage wouldn’t hurt either!  To do that, people have to find me, so that lets me justify my time playing on my blog.  Shh, if anyone asks it’s for work (nods vigorously).

 

Today I wanted to talk to you about a feature of Tim’s website that has a metric frakk ton of information about his world building.  He labels these Infopedia’s, and they read like an encyclopedia entry.  They’re written in from the perspective of future historians studying the past, the eras we both write in.  It was a lot of fun to read when I was first introduced to his world as a reader.  I often refer to it as I write as well, and since I started this World Building Series Tim has been inspired to update this section on his own blog.

 

In addition, these posts serve as additional cannon support for the Universal Codex that my editor posted about over on his blog.  Sometimes they’re called other things as well; Universe Bible, World Building Style Guide or their brain dumps.  If you don’t follow him, and you love reading and writing, you should check him out.

 

I’m sorry this wasn’t a more exciting post, but I felt that I needed to point everyone in the right direction to see the building blocks of my works.  From here on out, I’ll be focusing on the things I added to the universe and will let Tim embellish his own idea babies.  Hopefully this helps, and wasn’t too disappointing.  As you know, I’ve been handling the pre-publication details of my first two novels.

 

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 Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bess JR

 

 –> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section or are owned by JR Handley.

 

A Moment of Silence

On By J.R. HandleyIn Blogging, Human Legion Series, Sleeping Legion Series, update, Writing6 Comments

Hello Space Cadets, today I’m the bearer of bad news.  Today we mourn the loss of one of my closest friends and a staple of the first two Sleeping Legion novels.  Additionally, I had the unpleasant duty of killing off several Red Shirts and my heart breaks.  My spouse might call them imaginary, but I know they’re real.  She also likes to point out that it was I who killed them.  Yes, cold hearted bastard that I am, I killed them all.  Almost an entire regiment had to die today, so that Serendine might be free of the New Order heathens.  I know the truth, they were cold heartedly murdered by those Hardit scum.  In memoriam, I would like a moment of silence as we celebrate those poor young lives cut drastically short by the ravages of war. 

 

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Thank you for your kind considerations.  Please make all bereavement donations to the Human Legion Widows and Orphans Fund.

 

 

Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bess

JR

 

 –> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section, are owned by JR Handley or are being used under the Fair Use Doctrine.  The image of the statue can be purchased at the Mainely Urns and Memorials website.  It’s called the Battle Field Cross Memorial Sculpture and no copyright infringement is intended.  We at Team Handley fully credit this company for their masterful artistry and value the intellectual property rights of our fellow artists.  Seriously, check out their stuff if you are ever unfortunate enough to need to commemorate fallen loved ones.

Prompting Creativity

On By J.R. HandleyIn Blogging, update, Writing9 Comments

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Hello Space Cadets, how is everyone today?  Just a quick update, I have finished my short story for the Roswell Anthology from Tickety Boo and will be sending it to my editor today!  Once I submit it, I’ll keep posting updates on the process.  If you like science fiction, why don’t you write something and submit it!  It was a lot of fun and sparked about two dozen or so novel ideas that I fully plan on exploring.  We would all love to hear about your process, your final project and whether or not it got picked up.

 

For today’s blog, I decided to share a fun little writing prompt I found.  This challenge came from high school, somehow, I never started it.  Shh, don’t tell my teachers.  I decided to give it a shot and set some ground rules for myself.  I needed it to be flash fiction, to practice my abilities at writing the shorter stuff as well.  I wanted to keep it around 125 words and I only had one extra word I couldn’t cut.  And I had to do it in under 5 minutes.  Here is the results of my efforts, feel free to point and laugh!  And if you’re feeling especially froggy, jump on in and write your own reply to this prompt!  Can’t wait to read it if you do!

 

Writing Prompt: What started a centuries-old blood feud?

 

The Banpiro Clan and the Lupo Clan attended their neighborhoods weekly shad planking, and were enjoying a hearty meal. The beer was flowing, wine was in every glass and the kids were joyfully playing in the adjacent meadow. When Lordette-Chief Banpiro and Lord-Chief Lupo got to the buffet line there was only one slice of pecan pie left. Deciding to strike a blow for equality, Lord-Chief Lupo ate the last slice of pie.

Undone by the lack of civility, Lordette-Chief Banpiro slapped the Lupo Clan Chief and challenged him to a dual. History never knew exactly who fought whom, but the feud that followed has lasted eons and stood the test of time, while the battle that followed has been lost among the ravages of time.

 

Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bess

JR

 

 –> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section.

World Building Wednesday: Sand Tables

On By J.R. HandleyIn Blogging, Infantry, Sleeping Legion Series, update, Writing7 Comments

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Hello Space Cadets, how is everyone doing today?  What’s that?  I can’t hear you, sound off like you got a pair!  And if you don’t, fake it till you make it!  So, now that I have your attention, let’s have a little chat over coffee!  Today I decided to give you get a sneak peek into how I wrote my battle scenes.  Let’s dive into the world of sand tables, sometimes called Recess for Soldiers!

 

So where to start, first let me start by discussing what a sand table is.  In a nutshell, a sand table is a surface bearing a three-dimensional map of a given piece of land.  According the Merriam-Webster, it’s “a table bearing a relief model of a terrain built to scale for study or demonstration especially of military tactics.”  Basically, I a super special map!  The military has used them since forever, long before Christ was even a Corporal.

 

Now that I’ve explained what a sand table is, I’ve decided to show you the one I made for my first novel.  Yes, The Legion Awakes, which will be published on December 19th, 2016.  It’s an improvised sand table for a combat scene in the novel involving a battle that my main character is involved in.  Wanna know more, read the book!  You’ve probably already read this, but please let me be prideful for just a few words!  I’m currently writing The Sleeping Legion Series set in the military science fiction world of Tim C. Taylor.  That book will be out soon, so I wanted to share some of how I got here.  Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let us return to our regularly scheduled programing.

 

Anyway, the key to a successful sand table is that they provide you with the opportunity to visualize the battle space in three-dimensions.  This allows you to better describe the field as you’ve envisioned it.  It allows you to envision all of the obstacles which might get in the way of the armies you are describing, though this could work for any type of writing, combat or otherwise.  I supposed I would be remiss if I didn’t also tell you that these can be used to model towns, and other generic settings for your works in progress.  Not as exciting, but certainly necessary.  They are used by the military for strategic visualizations, are extremely helpful with strategic planning, but can be used by everyone!!

 

Without further adieu, my masterpiece!

 

My Sand Table

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LEGEND:

Cups: Akoni Mountains

Green Sponges: Dense forests

Brown Building Blocks: Old Government Tower and Akoni City

Blue Paper: Water Features; Dynia River and Lake Charon

 

Now that we’ve covered this in depth, feel free to sound off in the comments below!  And if this tickled your fancy, click the follow button and never miss out on the insanity or shenanigans from the Handley Trenches!

 

Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bess

JR

 

 –> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section or are owned by JR Handley.

 

Sleeping Legion Update

On By J.R. HandleyIn Sleeping Legion Series, update, WritingLeave a comment

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Hello Space Cadets, I wanted to tell you the official release date of my second novel!!  I’m still pinching myself, is it a dream?  Cause if it is, don’t wake me up!!  The second novel in my Sleeping Legion Series will be released on December 21st, 2016!!  Can you believe it?  After all that blabbering, it is finally real!

 

Just to give you a taste of what’s to come…. With no context! 😉

 

“Tonight, we crush these Hardits. Look at the ground around you. Look at the blood of the fallen. Look at the destruction. How long have we sat on these walls and watched our brothers and sisters pour their blood onto the battlefields? How long has the enemy hovered, just out of reach or out of range? How long have we waited for this moment? It is here. We wait no longer. Jotun, human, Marine, Aux — none of that matters now. We are Legion!” 

 

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Not gonna lie, it will be an epic contest of wills and many will die.  If I pulled a JK and apologized for every death….well, I’d die before I was done!!  Hope everyone is as enthusiastic as I am!!

 

Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bess

JR

 

–> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section or are cover art owned by Human Legion Publications under licensed use for JR Handley.

 

Sleeping Legion Update

On By J.R. HandleyIn Sleeping Legion Series, update, Writing10 Comments

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Hello Space Cadets, I’m trying not to float away as I write this!  It’s finally here!!  The big day, the day I get to tell you about the release date of my first novel, The Legion Awakes!!  It will be the first in a series of military science fiction novels set in Tim C. Taylor’s Human Legion Universe.  This debut novel will be released on December 19th, 2016 amid much celebrating in the Handley Household.  Hey, if it goes well I might just buy back that family castle!  😉

 

To let you glimpse what you’d be buying, I thought about a quote from the book.  I wanted to give you a feel for my bad assed main character, Senior Veteran Sergeant Lance Scipio’s training style.  I hope you enjoy it.

 

“… Lance decided to take the beast by the horns and address the assistant squad leader, Cadet Sergeant Fitzgerald Wyckoff, directly. “Cadet Sergeant Wyckoff, is it true that Cadet Hayley Mason led the mutiny by herself? Think carefully before you answer my questions.”

Cadet Wyckoff jumped to attention, though less rigidly than Cadet Mason had, with a self-assured cockiness that told Lance he often tried to charm his way out of trouble. “That’s correct, Sarge, right on the money.”

Wyckoff never saw it coming, so confident was he that his charisma would save him. Without missing a beat, Lance pulled the Flenser pistol out of the holster on his thigh and shot Fitzgerald in the head. This abrupt execution caused a rippled gasp around the room, as 1st Squad finally had one reaction that was unified. Apparently that’s what it takes to get everyone’s attention?”

 

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Hopefully this has sparked your interest, because it has been a rollercoaster journey of self-discovery for me.  If you do decide to buy it, please be kind and leave an honest and heartfelt review.

 

Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bess

JR

 

–> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section or are cover art owned by Human Legion Publications under licensed use for JR Handley.

Revenge Squad: Advance to Contact — The Human Legion

On By J.R. HandleyIn Human Legion Series, update, WritingLeave a comment

Hello Space Cadets, just wanted to pass on the latest news from the Human Legion trenches!  All of our books are on schedule for a Kindle release!  The paperbacks to follow as quickly after as boss man can type!  Finally, check out his site and the bad assed cover design!!!

 

Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!

brown_bess

JR

 

–> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section, were created by Team Handley or are screen grabs taken by JR Handley for use under the Fair Use Doctrine. 

 

After War, the first book in the new Revenge Squad series is out on Kindle pre-order now, and I can tell you it feels very exciting, and not a little nervous, to have this finally out in the world. You can pre-order from Amazon now, and they will post the book onto your devices on…

via Revenge Squad: Advance to Contact — The Human Legion