Hey Space Cadets, how is everyone on this fine day? I’m doing well, and wanted to bring you my news! My former editor, Corey D Truax, and I have signed our next series with a small publishing house, Theogony Publishing. This umbrella publishing house is a part of the larger and more dynamic Chris Kennedy Publishing. Corey and I scoped him out together, in a totally non-stalker kind of way, and liked how he operated. He’s professional, and another veteran of America’s Armed Forces. I think Corey liked that he was a sailor too, but I forgive them both for their imperfections
So, what to say about The Odera Chronicles without giving too much away? This story tells the tale of Alexis Monroe, one of the first female infantrymen in the US Army. Alexis was an only child, her dad was a Seabee and veteran of the wars in Mesopotamia. After her mother died, it was just the two of them, so she became the son he wanted. Alexis strove to please him and honed her inner tomboy. Shortly after she graduated college, females were being allowed to join the combat arms of the military. Alexis enlisted into the infantry. Alexis did well at training, very well. When those scores were combined with her college degree, she was quickly advanced to the rank of sergeant. Despite how well she did, her fellow grunts always assumed she was promoted because she was female. When she graduated from training at the NCO Academy, she was given an out of the way assignment. Out of sight, out of mind, or so the Army thought. Her job was simple; guard a warehouse, don’t look inside. Of course, she looked – and a grand adventure ensued. To find out more, you will have to read the book.
As you all know, I will keep you up to date with our plans for the series, but for now, less really is more! I really enjoyed working with Corey as he edited The Sleeping Legion series, so I think this collaboration will be a blast. I really hope that the fun we have translates onto the page. We both really want our readers to enjoy this little tale of galactic woe. So, if you’ve enjoyed the shenanigans over here in the Handley Trenches, then re-enlist on the insanity train!
Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry!
JR
–> As usual, all images came from the Google’s “labeled for reuse” section or are owned by JR Handley.
Hey Space Cadets, how’re y’all doing today? I’m doing great, working on a few small projects and prepping to start my next series. While I wait for the editor to take his Red Pen of Doom to my final Sleeping Legion novel, I’ve started outlining several smaller projects and tying up loose ends. I’ve got two short stories for different anthologies to write and then I’ll start on my next series. I really like the premise of the series in question, and think it has a lot of potential but more on that in another blog!
Hey Space Cadets, today I want to again look at marketing – trying to see through the weeds. This will be the last blog I have on this series for a while. However, I make no promises that I won’t come back to it. This week we are going to look at Amazon. While I am no expert – this is where I am selling my books. So on to today’s adventure. 
Hey Space Cadets! Today I get to make the happy announcement – 
Hey Space Cadets, time for another article in my Marketing series. Today I wanted to tackle Mailing Lists, yet another aspect of marketing. Now, quit your groaning – you might learn something. Even better, someone may make a comment that will teach me something! I am always learning new things. Anyway, I digress, on to today’s subject. Remember, I’m no expert so this is just what I’m doing and it seems to be working for the moment. As things change, I’ll adapt which is a major key to success in many of life’s adventures.
somewhat more stressful than it should’ve been. The hotel room wasn’t the nicest, so I had to wait an hour for the maintenance people to fix the AC and turn the hotbox into a hotel room. It didn’t stop me from writing, but it slowed me down. Finally, to fix parts of the strategy I had to research HALO and HAHO drops by the US Army so I knew what we were capable of now. I tend to use modern tech as the base line from which I extrapolate my future tech. Also, I compiled a document for Boss Man on what assets would be joining the main body of the Human Legion on the final battle for Earth. The close of the Sleeping Legion story will link back up with his last book in the Human Legion Series. I love it when a plan comes together!
My Blog is one of the main aspects of my marketing strategy. I won’t bother linking to it, since you are reading it which means you are already there. I know I hyperlink more than conventional wisdom says is necessary, but when it seems appropriate I link away! I’m probably a little neurotic on the topic, but hey, they say acceptance is the first step to recovery! This blog serves as my author platform, right next to my public 
The theme of your blog is very important. Both the general theme or look of your blog and the theme of the contact of the blog. First, let’s look at the general theme of the blog. When I started my blog, its sole purpose was to simply exist. I had more generic posts, some of it appealing to the deep well that is the WordPress author community. I’ll admit I also participated in the ‘I follow you, you follow me’ gimmick because I didn’t know any better. Ultimately, if you want your blog to serve a purpose, following others so they will follow you serves no purpose. What will help is themed blog. The theme will be broadly based on the genre in which you write. There are many ways to do this, both visual and content driven. My blog starts with the intro of “Hey, Space Cadets,” which harkens back to the earlier Heinlein book with the same name. It screams to the world, “I’m a science fiction blog.” I do this intentionally, but didn’t violate my rule of authenticity because I do love science fiction. If I didn’t love it, I couldn’t write it. Following with the theme for my blog, I end everyone with “Until next time, stay frosty and don’t forget to keep your powder dry.” Again, this was to intentionally call back to America’s earliest military history and Rogers Rangers. The US Army Rangers claim this as their origin story, but it’s also something I heard throughout my time in the infantry and the military writ large. It reminds the reader that one of my sub genres is military science fiction. It also reminds them that I have some credibility with that genre because of my affiliation with the US Army. I was a Sergeant in the US Army. When you pick your theme, it should reflect who you are and what you write. Part of that old adage, know your audience.
The second type of theme is the theme/subject you’re discussing in a specific blog. The general theme branded me as a military science fiction author. While I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about it, bear with me awhile longer. My general theme includes several factors; the visual look, as well as the header and footer. The content of my blog – information I choose to share – has a theme of its own. I’ve intentionally avoided politics because it’s an unnecessarily divisive issue – personally I don’t want to unintentionally alienate customers due to my political views. My purpose here is to sell books and I try to remember this. Let’s face it, you need to be a mercenary when you think about your marketing strategy. For me, I do this by putting on my reader’s hat, considering what I look for from an author, what information I like versus what turns me off. I try to keep the subject of my posts related to my writing. Sometimes those decisions are unconscious, I’ve admittedly been known to follow my massive gut, but strategic nonetheless. I have several series I have started such as, World Building Wednesday; Scyfi Shenanigans; and Warrior Weekend; among others. I try to keep my topics entertaining – but the purpose of my posts is to generate interest in my world. This is tricky, since I have the “curse of knowledge.” I need draw my readers in without spoiling the adventure in my books. As I finish The 
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