Locus Magazine is a long-time publication that covers the science fiction field. In the December issue, Russell Letson reviewed Pacific Storm, describing it as “a propulsive intrigue-thriller-disaster format, detailed and textured and specific enough that its progress can be mapped onto contemporary Honolulu, a real garden with imaginary monsters in it.”

That review is now online. Click here to read it in full.

By the way — Russell also selected Pacific Storm as his “Holiday Countdown Staff Pick.” 🙂

All the indie-publishing gurus say not to “waste” money on print advertising — but I go my own way and waste money as I please, LOL. This is an ad I have in the current issue of Locus, a trade magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field.

(click to see it big)

Before we leave September behind, I wanted to link to two online reviews of The Last Good Man.

Locus is a trade magazine focused on science fiction and fantasy and has been in print for decades. Issues include publishing news, interviews, and reviews. In the September issue — both print and online — Russell Letson reviews The Last Good Man:

Nagata has devised a thinking-reader’s future-military scenario, a highly qualified adventure in which every thrill comes with a realization of what it costs, what it says about the world that enables it, what it means to fight and kill and face death.

Read the full review here.

And at “Nerds of a Feather” (got to love that name), Joe Sherry has posted a mini-review, saying “Nagata’s near future military sci-fi is as good as it gets.” Read the mini-review here.

The Contest
During 2017 I’ve participated in a few promotions run by Sci-Fi Bridge, an author-created group seeking to mutually expand our reader base. Sci-Fi Bridge is sponsoring one more contest that I want to share with you. Sign up for the Sci-Fi Bridge newsletter (and separate author newsletters if you choose to) during the fall giveaway, and be entered to win collections of signed print books among other things. Details are here.

Locus is “The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field” with news, interviews, and reviews of work in the SFF field. This month’s issue has an interview with me — including an impressive interior photo by Francesca Myman.

This is my second Locus interview. The first was way back in the year 2000 — toward the end of my “first career” as I like to call it.

There’s also an interview with Joe Monti, my editor at Saga Press.

If you subscribe to Locus, check it out. The issue is available in print, PDF, and ebook versions.

Update: November 28
Excerpts from the interview are now available online.

The Locus Recommended Reading List was posted yesterday, and I’m very pleased to report that The Red: First Light was included as one of only twenty science fiction novels.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that The Red: First Light is an indie-published novel. Many venues will not even consider reviewing a novel unless it’s from a traditional publisher. Ironically, it was only some of the bigger review venues that paid attention to TRFL — specifically, Russell Letson at Locus and Stefan Raets at Tor.com, as well as UK reviewer Paul Kincaid. At any rate, I’m very grateful to the staff at Locus for including The Red: First Light on their list.

And also…

Among the many Locus recommended short stories is my Nightmare Magazine story “Halfway Home.” If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can find it online here.

Back on August 1 I posted that Locus, “The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field,” had reviewed The Red: First Light.

That review can now be read online. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

(Update: August 28, 2013 — the review is now available online.)

When I decided to indie publish The Red: First Light — the first adult science fiction novel I’d released in ten years — I knew I could handle the production, including professional editing, copyediting, cover development, ebook creation, and print book creation. I also knew that the online distribution was easily within my reach.

The remaining questions were:

• Could I get the book into bookstores?
So far as I know, the answer to this remains “no.”

• Could I do the publicity?
Among other things, this blog post talks about what I’ve managed. Has it been enough? Nope.

• Could I get the book reviewed?
Despite wonderful reader reviews posted at Amazon and other venues, to my knowledge The Red: First Light has not been reviewed at any standard book review site or publication — until today. The August issue of Locus is just out and contains a full review of The Red: First Light by long-time reviewer Russell Letson.

Locus is “The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field.” It’s a trade publication covering science fiction and fantasy since 1968 and available in print and digital editions.

And what did Russell Letson have to say about The Red: First Light? Here are a few pull quotes:

…the novel’s vision of the military – or at least of the soldier and his or her most immediate context of competence, loyalty, dedication, and courage – is anything but disrespectful or dismissive. The setting in which these virtues are employed, tested, and sometimes betrayed, however, is something else again.

…a series of operations, described in enough detail to satisfy any mil-SF enthusiast, and with a sour enough attitude towards official and actual power structures to keep old lefties from feeling too guilty about enjoying the action.

…the same post-Vietnam sense of discontinuity that separates The Forever War from Starship Troopers, updated for the post-9/11 world.

The August 2013 issue of Locus contains reviews of many other books, along with an interview of Kim Stanley Robinson. Find it here.

And if you’ve read and enjoyed The Red: First Light, please consider reviewing it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your own blog. Getting the word out is the most challenging part of publishing — whether indie or traditional. Thanks!

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The Locus Recommended Reading List is out, and I’m very pleased to say that both of my science fiction stories from 2012 are on it.

“Nahiku West” — Analog, October 2012 — is in the novelette category, and “Nightside On Callisto” — Lightspeed Magazine, May 2012, is in the short story category.

Both stories are available in an ebook edition that can be purchased through my own ebook store, as well as through the usual vendors on the web.

Illustration for Analog by Tomislav Tikulin

Lois Tilton reviews short fiction at Locus and has some nice things to say about my recent Analog story “Nahiku West,” giving it a “Recommended.”

Find the review here.

The story is not available online, but the August issue of Analog can be purchased in both ebook and print form.

Check this page for ebook vendors.