If one is to succeed as an author he must say words that will inspire readers to buy books. If this can be accomplished in one or two sentences, the author will have discovered his story brand.

So, I’ve been pestering everyone who’s read my work to wax eloquent, such that keywords might be extracted. To my surprise, a fellow author said my novel Elbert is sentimental.

I tend to agree. The storyline, set in the late 1920s, is nostalgia-inducing by default. That said, it didn’t feel like an idea I could use to describe the entire catalog.

A review of synonyms ensued. I dithered over ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘homely’. I wrote a ream of ad copy. Nothing clicked. I kept coming back to ‘sentimental’, a longing for the good old days, when everything was better, or at least seemed like it.

Even though most of my books are Science Fiction, I have to admit the word ‘sentimental’ covers a lot of ground. I’ll hold onto it for a while. In other news …

I assembled a book trailer video, which you may peruse via the link below. All of the art was created by others, except the script, which is only ‘art’ in the sense that I strained myself writing it and now cannot bear to read it without editing.

Composed in DaVinci Resolve. A testament, of sorts, to what a person can learn from YouTube tutorials.

Book Trailer — Elbert: AjJivadi Book One

This coming October I’ll publish, I hope, a breakout novel. ‘Elbert’ is action, adventure, and family drama — a fusion you don’t often see in Science Fiction. It’s a fun ride across an unlikely landscape, a moving tale with a positive vibe.

I’m staking out my own territory with original and intelligent stories, written for thoughtful readers. ‘Elbert’ isn’t rocket ships and ray guns. It’s about challenges we face creating successful lives, a noble existence, a hopeful future.

I’m shopping for word-of-mouth publicity. If you like the pitch, follow the link. If you like what you see, please tell your followers.

Regards,

John G Dyer

On Sunday, August 28, I will be an honored guest on Books Charming, India’s Top Book Blog. It’s kind of an accident, arranged by a promotion service, but curiously apt — my Science Fiction books are replete with allusions to South Asian culture. I actually have followers in that part of the world, although I don’t know how it happened.

It’s not as if I posted, “SciFi for readers in India.” or, “Sanskrit spoken here.” or “Look for Devanagari script on the cover of ‘Resilient’.”

The latter may be found below a neon sign, made in the image of a coffee cup. The word is, ‘Kaphi.’

Anyway, I’m running an eBook promotion, starting the same day. The Illusion of Gravity. Free for three days. Sunday, August 28. You might also read the interview, thus motivating you to read the book, which you will get for free, that same day, or for two days thereafter, as stipulated above.

In other news, I’ve been publishing a serial memoir about the expat life, 1950s Philippines and forward. Relative to my other essays, it’s been exceptionally well-received. Check it out.

Author Ashley Manning (find him on Amazon here) was kind enough to post a pre-publication review, for which I am deeply grateful. He writes:

The beginning of this book lulls you into thinking that this will be a straight forward story about Elbert learning about the existence of aliens, and coming to terms with what that means for humanity, but it turns out to be so much more than that. As I read the first few chapters, that’s what I thought the story would be about, a story we’ve all seen/read before, but that’s resolved quite quickly and Elbert takes the news in stride, before moving to Jivada and starting the de-aging process. One of the books biggest strengths is the way that John G. Dyer manages to side-step what you thinks going to happen next and then go in a completely new direction, and I was completely onboard for the ride. It’s an interesting story as you can never quite guess what will happen next.

The other day, I uploaded manuscript files to Amazon so I could order printed proofs of Elbert in paperback format. Whilst so engaged, Amazon invited me to make the eBook available for pre-order, and I thought, “Why not?” I set a publication date of October 3. This gives me seven weeks to obtain feedback from friends who declined to read on their tablet computers, but swore they would if I supplied printed books.

Most likely, nobody will read the book. October 3 will arrive and I still won’t know what shape it’s in.

Unless …

I re-enrolled my books in the Kindle Select program. Jump in with your Amazon Prime or Kindle Unlimited subscription and read them for free!

Find my titles on Amazon here!

I get paid by the page. So, you know, hang in there.

In other news, I wrote the final chapter for Habit of Providence just this week. The first book in the AjJivadi series, Elbert, is up for a third editing pass, then I’ll edit Habit again. Look for new books in July.

Artist Paul Trif just sent me the latest cover design for my novel Elbert. He added a new character interpretation to the back. It’s the Maroli labor appliance, a frequent cast member.

I was tickled as could be. Had to share it.

A teaser from 'A Habit of Providence'. the current novel-in-edit.

The Anodyne Virtuality

Aswang the errant fighting drone had made a preliminary reconnaissance pass at the Pacific Pride gas station in Mount Angel, capturing enough data to assemble a VR scene in Anodyne Workbench, through which one could meander if implanted with a neural interface.

The drone had a sense of smell, recording the aromas of diesel fuel and Double Bubble in a vicinity where the pickup truck’s rear bumper faded from sharp to fuzzy, a result of spotty image coverage. Pam was disappointed. “The convenience store is in focus from where I’m standing, but the truck drops into low-res at knee-height in back. I can’t read the license plate.”

Artist Paul Trif is working on a concept for the maroli labor appliance. Here’s a serving suggestion I pasted together.