Jaunt and New 2 Shorts (+1) on Smashwords

JauntWorld has joined the burgeoning ranks of Smashwords, a new site for a multitude of ebook formats (ten, at last count). The technology is still in its infancy, and while I'm not quite satisfied with the formating issues I've faced presenting Jaunt and 2 Shorts on Smashwords, embracing the new and getting exposure is the way to go. And as an added incentive, 2 Shorts has an exclusive new weird short added to it, "Neptune Diamond," so I've retitled this collection 2 Shorts (+1) to distinguish it from its Lulu original. Price is whatever you care to pay, so check them out!

Fantasy Debut

The first chapter of Jaunt is currently being featured on the Fantasy Debut blog's Discovery Showcase for first-time and self-published authors! While not a strictly fantasy blog, it gives those of us with genre fiction titles a chance to be read, and potentially, to have the word spread of our efforts. Check it out!

And thanks to Tia for showcasing Jaunt!

Korean Finger Trap

1991 saw the collapse of the USSR into its constituent republics, a victory for the Western world, or so we all thought. Nearly twenty years on and Eastern foreign policy is a nightmare of dozens of regional crises all ruled over by a spectrum of fairly friendly governments (at least capable of doing business with) to downright hostile regimes. One more Cold War relic, however, has yet to thaw: North Korea. And when it does, some year, the consequences could be dire, not just for South Korea, as everyone assumes, but China as well.

Kim Jong-il's recent, still rumored, stroke put him out of the "public" eye for a few months this past autumn and winter. While he rules as Commander-in-Chief (his late father, Kim il-Sung, is still technically President of the state) the Dear Leader can't live forever, despite his "divinity." I postulate in my JauntWorld timeline a disaster effectively removing the Kim Dynasty from power some time in the nearly distant future, a vacuum filled by the military. This would have repercussions not just politically, but economically. No country with its lid welded on as tightly as North Korea's simply goes from bad to good; a real-life lesson was the ex-USSR; we've all seen how well that's worked out. If the various cadres and parties in North Korea were to be suddenly freed from the Kims, chances are the People's Republic would be carved out into dozens of fiefdoms at the mercy of any strongman (generals, perhaps), a medieval scenario no respectable or responsible outside country would want on their foreign policy plates. China and South Korea would be flooded with refugees and old scores would be settled (post-America Vietnam, anyone?). The chances China or even Russia would intervene to "keep the peace"—as those two nations have done so brilliantly in the separatist Uighur and South Ossetia enclaves—are quite high.

We ignore the Kim succession plan at our own peril.

Update, 04/09: He's appeared in public, and he's not looking too hot.

Further Reading:

Who Will Succeed North Korea's Kim Jong-il?

Profile: Kim Jong-il

North Korean Leader Appears In Public

Kremlinology

The world today sometimes seems eerily eager to be the prologue for the fictional world of tomorrow. Russia's recent "August War" in Georgia and President Medvedev's pronouncements of military rearmament are clear signs that the Bear is desperate to show it still has teeth, albeit in need of serious dental work. This does not mean, though, that Russia has ceased to be a threat or to become the one they are presented as in Jaunt. The "Confederation of Independent States" were borne out of internal collapse and external strife, mainly economic, political and environmental. Seen in the light of the world's economic recession—the burst bubble of credit and profligate greed—the dire circumstances in the JauntWorld backstory don't seem to be all that unreasonable, or unfathomable.

Further Reading:

Russia Announces Rearmament Plan

Advancing, Blindly

Poor Little Rich Kids

Russian Military Rearmament Plan Pits Politics Against Economics

IPTP Agent Maya Is Ready For Action!

Over at IPTP Agent Maya, the long-awaited first two adventures of Agent Maya are now for sale! Go on over and check them out!

Armchair Interviews Reviews Jaunt!

Online book review site Armchair Interviews has provided the second review of Jaunt!

"Special Agent James Gilmour is on a mission unlike any other. He must travel through space and time to prevent the enemy from creating a super weapon and destroying all of humanity following the discovery of three caches of jewels with mystical powers. The jewels, discovered in Asia in an area where an extraterrestrial crash occurred during a previous world war, have the unusual ability to alter time.

Gilmour, the main character, is a courageous and dedicated agent who overcomes his distrust of his assignment to travel through time in an effort to save the world. His brave and stoic nature is portrayed through his words and actions throughout the storyline.

Although the idea behind the story is intriguing, I found this book very difficult to get involved in. Although I am an avid sci-fi fan, the fact that this story’s plot revolves around different nations here on earth, rather than different planets throughout the universe, made it somewhat difficult to believe as science fiction. The story is placed a meager 200 years in the future, at which time humanity has many advanced technologies and even the newly discovered capability of time travel, yet Russia is leading a confederation against the rest of the world.

With the exception of Agent Gilmore, I struggled with character believability in this novel. The characters seemed to have similar traits, and I did not feel that they stood out with their own distinguishing personalities. There were many different characters throughout the story and at times it became difficult to remember which individual played which role.

The author, Erik Kreffel, lives in Indiana. His website has interesting information about Ether, the upcoming sequel to Jaunt, and link to order the e-book.

Armchair Interviews says: Perhaps as much drama/fiction as sci-fi."

Check out armchairinterviews.com!

JauntWorld, Year 2

JauntWorld begins year 2 in 2009! With all the turmoil in my personal life, I'm looking forward to finishing the first draft of Ether and finally releasing the first two Agent Maya books after much delay (not due to writing, mind, just scheduling time to fit them in). The crucial last act of Ether is still to be committed to paper (or hard drive) but the impetus is there!

A further project I have begun is the gathering and editing of a book honoring my father's artwork and illustrations, tentatively titled Kreffel: A Life in Gags, that I will be self-publishing through Lulu.com in the future, with all proceeds benefitting charity. This volume (one of a projected work of volumes, more likely) will be all his black and white comic strips, panels, magazine and editorial work created in the nearly four decades of his career, starting from late high school, his years in the US Army, Indiana Bell Yellow Pages advertising and his final decades in freelancing. This is a monumental task, as he was extremely prolific, and scanning all this linework in is a job unto itself! It's a labor of love, though, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 2009!