u/Accomplished_Mess243

And there's only vanishing chance of the audiobook making many sales. Ye gods, I probably shouldn't have put it out there in the first place.

Edit: thanks for the responses, folks - lots of good advice. Can confirm that I did list the book as RS only. I've responded to the narrator with positive feedback and I've been up front about the payment situation.

I wrote an adventure book set on a human colony world that's reverted to feudalism. No one's bought it, it's too long, quite childish, and I didn't catch all the typos despite my best efforts.

But it's mine, and I've never read anything else quite like it (there's probably a good reason for that, to be fair).

Despite the snippet here, it's definitely sci-fi. It's got boson rifles, whatever they are, aliens that communicate through dermo-glyphs, spontaneous homunculi spawning, and a thing called Chad which has eaten a man's tongue and lives in his mouth.

Tonally, it probably sits somewhere between Widow's Bay and the new He-Man film.

It's called The Hogman's Homunculi and the Angelwing Massacre, and it's available everywhere books are sold, apart from actual bookshops.

https://preview.redd.it/7mebf9vl6bjh1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=e367f0acf72a10e063caa57ec4ec291219d6e3d9

*Free audiobook version available by purchasing ebook and reading it aloud.

My novel's more a speculative evolution thing with various hominid species coexisting, rather than a apocalyptic survival story. An apocalyptic event has happened in the story's past, but since then civilisation has risen again and fallen more than once.

I'm not a scientist, but I researched pretty hard to make the evolutionary aspects plausible (big fan of Dawkins), and to illustrate fluid, believable relationships between culture, biology and environment while having engaging characters. It reads like a grounded fantasy novel in some ways.

I did an okay job, I think, but now I'm planning the sequel and I'd like to read similar sorts of stories by smarter, better writers than me. Hard-evo-scifi as it were. Write the story you'd like to read, and all that.

There's Galapagos by Vonnegut, and I'm a third of the way through Evolution by Stephen Baxter. I was influenced a lot by Dougal Dixon's Man after Man and Stapleton's Last and First Men, but neither of those are traditional novels as such. Anyone aware of stuff I should seek out?

Edit: thanks for the replies everyone, you've reassured me a lot. My manager is aware of the situation and is very understanding.

I'm not a social worker so I hope you don't mind me posting this - delete and forget it ever happened if you wish. Anyways, I've worked for children's social care in project support roles for about 18 years. I work in the children in care arena but obviously there's a lot of crossover with early help, safeguarding, leaving care etc.

So anyways, my wife and I recently separated and we have a profoundly disabled son. He has Downs Syndrome and will never be able to live independently - that's just the reality, not me being cynical. He's 15.

For reasons I won't bore you with, my ex and I felt a referral to social care was needed, essentially to get support so that our son's needs would be met more effectively. The children with disabilities team is carrying out an assessment and he's now a Child in Need. There's so safeguarding issues and my ex and I are working quite amicably together.

I'm just wondering whether anyone here has had a situation where a member of staff's own kid is in the system, as it were, and whether that causes any complications for their employment. I'm acutely aware that I cannot look up my kid on our system, by the way.

Read an awesome indie book recently called The Living Machine by Mira Wendam. Like a lot of indie gems it doesn't get the love it deserves, so I thought I'd post my review of it here (pasted from my Goodreads review). If you want to find it on Amazon, just search the product ID B0GXCD71FS (not sure if it's available other places).

**

Imagine if something went very wrong in the world of Bladerunner, and it devolved to a Mad Max state of roaming gangs, battles for resources, cannibals, resurgent nature, semi-sentient androids, and hoverboard races where the prizes are ammo and canned food.

That's pretty much the setting for this terrific indie novel by Miraa Wendam. It's told from the point of view (present tense) of a living machine dubbed Maker, and his master, a young woman called Novalie.

Together they journey through ruined cities, wastelands and underground communities, on a mission to execute Novalie's revenge on a sinister dude who wronged her in the past. Meanwhile, Maker struggles to understand his own origins and what it means for his present.

The world is well realised, with concise, striking impressions of the environment (weeds surging through ruined tarmac, crashed star ships, dangerous bands of chimpanzees), the food, and more than anything, the cheapness of human life - in that respect it reminded me of the Italian crime drama, Gomorrah. The sheer dangerousness of the place and ubiquity of enemies brought to mind Fallout 4 and games of its ilk, and there are similarities with Dimitri Glukhovsky's Metro books, in which humanity shelters in the Moscow underground after nuclear war.

The Murderbot novels and Adrian Tchaikovsky's Service Model are obvious comparisons (robots trying to make sense of themselves in a changed world) but Tchaikovsky's Dogs of War, told from the POV of a genetically engineered dog/human soldier, is actually closer in terms of the brutality and overall vibe.

The writing complements the setting - the prose is punchy, actions scenes impressionistic and brutal. Bones snap, teeth fly, guts unspooling all over the place. But there are slower, more emotional scenes in which we see the relationship developing between the main characters, and Maker struggling with his past, and therein lies the heart of the book. Novalie is a particularly engaging character - violent, emotional, brutal and caring in equal measure. Because her journey and desires and actions are morally grey, she comes across as deeply human, and this is what made me want to see what happened to her.

Like the subtitle says, the book is 'relentless' and this is probably a strength and a weakness of the book. The characters zoom from one location to the next, one visceral action scene to the next, in the blink of an eye. True, these are offset by quieter scenes, but I felt the author could have cut a quarter of the scenes while keeping the book the same length, by spending a little more time in each place. There are environments and communities in the book I'd have liked to learn more about. The stakes are successfully raised as the story progresses, with particularly shocking outcomes for some of them, but the brutality loses its impact in places. Saying that, every bruise and cut suffered by Novalie feels real, and the climax of the story was spectacular.

So it's not perfect , but if you're a fan of robots and post-apocalyptic action with engaging characters, you need to read this book. It has slotted nicely into my top tier of post-apocalyptic books (and I've read quite a few). After finishing it, I immediately hopped onto Amazon and bought the author's other novel, a cyberpunk thing called Dead Line which I'm looking forward to.

Anyone know of any chilled out local writers' groups? I'm part of Northants Authors but it's kind of dwindling away, not least because the rest of the crew are of an advanced vintage.

I'm aware of one or two other groups but the thing is I'm a lazy git and don't really do the whole writing challenge/homework thing. "For next week's meeting write a 500 word piece on the theme of unrequited love." Sod that.

Why? Because the last time I did one there were four people in attendance and one was half asleep. Likely to have a similar turnout this time, so who cares?

Nice to be asked though and I'm looking forward to it.

That's right, there's no codes available, I'm just trying to entice you to part with your hard won credits and take a punt on my humble effort, The Starved God.

It's good, the narrator sounds like Jonathan Pryce, and it comes with a PDF listing the lore and characters (because some readers found the world building a little, er, taxing).

If you like meaty lore and world building like Dune Hyperion etc, it might be your cup of tea.

What's it's about I don't hear you ask. Here's the blurb and a link:

The distant future. An immense planetary ring dominates the sky, drowning the humbler stars in its borrowed light. Moulded by aeons, humans have evolved into diverse new forms. The people are born, they toil and they die, their lives at the mercy of theocratic edict and a flawed, implacable god.

Canna Dawn’s mundane existence is upended when a transgression forces him to join an audacious sea voyage, led by a charismatic and unstable captain. As the crew approaches the mysterious continent of Eyra, they face deadly wildlife, treacherous seas, and an enemy within their ranks. Canna’s profound insights into the living world set him on a collision course with everything he holds sacred, while a patient, merciless enemy awaits his return.

The Starved God is an enthralling tale of adventure, mystery, and philosophical exploration.

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Starved-God-Audiobook/B0C95F8HNK?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

Not to mention the "tonal whiplash."

All I can say is: Guilty as charged!

They still gave it three stars though, so fair play. The review was on Library Thing, and they're pretty harsh there because they read, like, proper books and stuff. One has to have a thick skin in this writing lark, eh what?

Good job too coz I'm skint, and the amount of shite I've had to get boggles the mind.

I got, among other stuff, loads of storage boxes free, two lamps free, 4 IKEA glass tumblers free, a coffee table for £4.

Charity shops, B and M, and Poundstrrrreeeeetcher have also been a godsend.

Don't take this question / idle thought too seriously, but am I, a manly beer drinking lout of a man, accidentally reading cozy fantasy? It's good, but is The Devils...cozy?

Is the book a massive ruse to lure big boy readers like me in with swords and blood and then spring on us found family dynamics and cryptobestiality? A gateway drug to Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J Maas?

I feel the need for some Cormac McCarthy as a palate cleanser.

I'm enjoying it though and looking forward to the sequel.

EDIT: 6 codes left.

Hi all,

I've got just 8 US freebie codes available for my sci-fi short story collection, Anomic Bombs, and about a dozen UK codes.

From alien parasites and hive-mind politics to sentient robots and surreal invasions, these stories explore the lives of organisms, human and otherwise, who don’t quite fit in.

Send me a DM if you would like a code, stating if you're US or UK.

Listen to a sample here if you like:

Audible US:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Anomic-Bombs-Audiobook/B0G1CPS9FM?amp&ref=a_author_Th_c19_lProduct_1_1&overrideBaseCountry=true&ipRedirectOverride=true&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&plink=qSTzdUWtQVWLdiGG&pageLoadId=RJAcFmEbJnzKSIn7&creativeId=b50d3acf-bf15-400e-8f43-f1ebd0e505ca

Audible UK:

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Anomic-Bombs-Audiobook/B0G1CSK2T1?ref_pageloadid=2I9u10DTrDhDV7YF&plink=q7hvP81xpb7gBzf0&pageLoadId=9g4ZRtjzlV4LLbm5&creativeId=83220593-1d50-4883-bad4-b5d505543719&ref=a_author_Th_c9_lProduct_1_1

EDIT: 8 codes left.

Hi all,

I've got just 12 freebie codes available for my sci-fi short story collection, Anomic Bombs.

From alien parasites and hive-mind politics to sentient robots and surreal invasions, these stories explore the lives of organisms, human and otherwise, who don’t quite fit in.

Send me a DM if you would like a code.

Listen to a sample here if you like: https://www.audible.com/pd/Anomic-Bombs-Audiobook/B0G1CPS9FM?ref_pageloadid=Avph2ckKg5u6zqqf&pf_rd_p=f3abc0ee-320d-4c19-8388-fcd3a8e6c3a4&pf_rd_r=8PCA8J5E8GWSDNR5K9SY&plink=C8sz7cRGdT8SJmTT&pageLoadId=iFJqk8C7Uh1kxiY9&creativeId=73c32a9a-e504-4597-bb87-c30c58fc0204&ref=a_author_Th_c19_lProduct_1_2

Hi all,

EDIT: No codes left for The Starved God, still quite a few available for Anomic Bombs.

I've got 29 freebie codes available for my two sci-fi audiobooks. 27 available for Anomic Bombs, which is a short story collection, and just 2 available for my first SF/fantasy adventure novel The Starved God.

The Starved God: An amateur naturalist commits blasphemy and is forced to join a perilous journey to a mysterious continent. What he discovers threatens to shake the foundations of his world, while patient, inhuman enemies hide in plain sight. The Starved God is a tale of adventure, horror and the occasional philosophical tangent.

Anomic Bombs: From alien parasites and hive-mind politics to sentient robots and surreal invasions, these stories explore the lives of organisms, human and otherwise, who don’t quite fit in.

Send me a DM if you would like a code.

Listen to samples here if you like:

https://www.audible.co.uk/author/Thomas-Norford/B0BXTCQJ4J?ref_pageloadid=9g4ZRtjzlV4LLbm5&pf_rd_p=aebffbf1-33ac-4be8-82f9-b498e9e5fcfa&pf_rd_r=RZFDQ0232XYXXMM1AJ5G&plink=R3iVTCkp8YCWZtAn&pageLoadId=os9RRVii8EOTTvQS&creativeId=2b976816-4201-44fc-989c-4535caab7c59&ref=a_pd_Anomic_pin_author_1

Quite possibly it was one of two of you lot. Thanks muchly. 🙏

https://www.reddit.com/r/BritishSuccess/s/JBSkYZL8CD

Do you like science fiction? Do you like books? Do you like things that are independent?

If so, party likes it's 1776 and stick it to the evil empire (trad publishers) by checking out the Smashwords Indie sale.

There's lots of indie sci-fi on there, including my load of old cobblers (see link). None of my books have DRM because FREEDOM and I've given up on being rich anyway.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of shonky indie novels!

PS, it's not too late to return to the warm bosom of the empire. We love and forgive you. 😔

If you like slow burn horror novels which gradually build that something-not-quite-right vibe, you might like my novel This Burdened Clay. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Children of Men with COVID overtones.

It's about a children's social worker called Fran, who is battling various personal demons and has two troubled boys added to her caseload.

Meanwhile, a utopian environmental movement is building whereby people put their normal lives on hold to viscerally reconnect with nature. As the movement becomes increasingly sinister and bizarre, Fran must get the boys to safety while facing her past, avoiding her enemies and coping with a radically changed world.

It's not a perfect novel - it's a bit long and convoluted in places - but one guy who reviews a lot of indie novels gave it his novel of the year award. It's brutally violent in places but there's a lot of humour in it.

As my bank account would attest, I'm shit at promoting my novels but I reckon it's worth a few of your precious bucks, so give it a whirl and get that fuzzy feeling from supporting indie authors.

https://books2read.com/ThisBurdenedClay

I've had a long term fascination with evolution, mostly from Dawkins books, so when I decided to write a novel evolution was at the heart of it.

It's called The Starved God, and it imagines a far future Earth in which humans have speciated into various forms. The 'default' species, most like us, has evolved the ability to enter a state of torpor in times of hardship, whereby metabolism slows to a crawl and the individual becomes zombie-like. It's recoverable but can result in brain damage if it lasts too long. In the dominant theocratic culture of the book, it's seen as a sinful state, barring entry to heaven, and this is one of the main drivers of the plot. Because of reasons, Earth now has a huge planetary ring which forms the basis of various religions.

Another species (and I was quite proud of inventing this monster) is a vampire like species which resembles a 'normal' human, and has certain biological attributes congruent with its lifestyle, and marked sexual dimorphism. There's a cave dwelling human (think the monsters from The Descent but chill), and an arboreal species which has domesticated another hominid.

Said plot was inspired by Darwin's voyage of the Beagle, and the charismatic captain of the ship in the novel was inspired by the Beagle's captain Fitzroy.

The main character is a Darwin analogue called Canna Dawn. After inadvertently committing blasphemy, he is forced to join a exploratory journey to the vast Southern continent. On the way, he gradually builds a coherent theory of natural selection which has profound implications for his while world, while avoiding the perils of the sea, various monsters and hidden enemies (spoiler: one of the vampire-like hominids is aboard).

God knows the book has its flaws, being my first novel. Some of the philosophical/science bits are too long, there's too many characters to keep track of with hard to remember names, and the main character is a bit passive. But it's got some fine attributes and I'm proud of it.

So if you like dense world building, adventure, the odd bit of hardcore violence and a helping of dark humour and evolutionary stuff, give it a whirl.