Should I Vote for a Third Party in 2016?

Should I vote 3rd party in 2016?   The following is not for those of you who are already deeply entrenched in standard party politics. I know there are groups of people who would vote for Hillary Clinton’s dead corpse swinging from the gallows for treason before they would vote for ANY republican, and I would be willing to bet there are plenty of Republicans who do the same for a Bush.   This is for those of you, like me, that feel or felt disenfranchised by the American political system with its hegemonic parties whose positions seem to be…

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Deep Time launched and Muramasa: Blood Drinker available free for a limited time

This week marks the first major launch of the massive hard scifi IP Deep Time, spearheaded my novel Prophet of the Godseed on the Amazon Kindle platform. My historical fantasy novel Muramasa: Blood Drinker is also available free for a limited time. Now’s the time to grab it. I’m exceedingly proud of these two works, and of being able to bring them to the market. I’m looking forward to releasing both of these as paperbacks in the coming months, so be sure to check back of follow me on Amazon and YouTube to keep up with what’s going on. In the meantime, don’t forget…

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Muramasa: Blood Drinker (Historical Fantasy) is free on Amazon for a limited time!

My Historical Fantasy novel, Muramasa: Blood Drinker, is now free on Amazon through Friday! Get it while you can!

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How Design a Book Cover: Copying a Best-Seller in Inkscape (video)

Every wonder what goes into a modern book cover? In the video below you can watch me go through every step, from blank document to finished product, to create a modern book cover using only stock photography, Inkscape (a free vector and object program), and a little know-how. I demonstrate this by copying the design of the cover for Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, a best-selling fantasy epic that uses a standard photographic book cover. In essence, most modern book covers are composed of several photographs that are blended together to create the image of a scene or location, and…

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Deep Time: Drawn from the Water, part 7

“He’s breathing,” Anders said. “Quick, Tully, give me an O2 read.” Tully pointed her datapad at the pod. “Eighteen percent, but dropping rapidly.” “Are we doing this?” Randall removed from his side pouch a portable life support system with an oxygen tank and mask. “He’s alive, so yes,” Anders said. He shined his light on the control panel, brushed his gloves over some ancient buttons, and found a long rotary handle. He pulled it out and began turning it. Gas escaped from the seal of the stasis pod, rushing out in a hiss that sounded loud even in the EV…

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Deep Time: Drawn from the Water, part 6

“Relax,” Anders said. “It was just that panel bouncing off of something.” “I’m going to go check it out,” Randall said. “Negative,” Anders shot back. “No separation. We all go or we all stay. That’s an order.” “Let’s go,” Tully said. “Let’s get out of here.” “Not yet,” Anders said. “Let’s see if we can get this panel online” Tully stared out into the dark fog for a long moment, and then nodded. “Right.” The terminal sprang to life, and white letters flitted over black screens. “Looks like it’s going to boot awhile, LT,” Randall said. “Let’s see what that…

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Deep Time: Drawn from the Water, part 5

The door fell inward, floating and tumbling for a few seconds before crashing into a corroded beam of steel, pitted and rusted, then ricocheting off of a dead terminal. The darkness was total inside the derelict craft, and only the light streaming in from the transport provided any illumination. Anders, Tully, and Randall turned on the lights attached to the top of their environmental suits. Dust filled the beams in strange patterns amid the zero-g environment. Tully cautiously pushed her head past the airlock and looked down one direction, then the other of the interior, which took the shape of…

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Deep Time: Drawn from the Water, part 4

“Anders? Report.” It was Macbeth. A nearby screen lit up with the old man’s face. He was frowning. “Tully’s working on life signs. I’m attempting to create a virtual uplink and hopefully extract some data.” “Where is it from?” Anders paused a moment, intent on his screen. “Not sure just yet.” “Like hell you aren’t,” Macbeth said. His signature popped up on Ander’s terminal screen. “This data could be invaluable. We haven’t dared to examine Earth in millennia.” “When you get it, I want it put into physical isolation, not just virtual isolation. Don’t attempt to run any software you…

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Deep Time: Drawn from the Water, part 3

“Sensors are aligned for a sweep,” Vanessa said. “I can drop our own sensor burst probe now. We should be able to map the dorsal side of the probe, and then pick up our readings a few million miles on the other side of it.” Anders scratched his chin. “That doesn’t give us the options the old man wanted.” “Of destroying it?” Vanessa said. “I can drop an armed probe capable of that, if you wish.” “He’s looking for an excuse to drop speed and sweep in real time,” Tully said. “Maybe,” Anders said. “If we speed on past it…

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Deep Time: Drawn from the Water, part 2

Anders stepped onto the bridge. He noticed the empty captain’s console and chair (though he knew his father rarely sat when he was running the ship) and looked around briefly. He noticed the patriarch leaning over the chair at Tully’s messy station, his eyes flitting over a green-lit display. “Sir.” Malcolm turned and raised an eyebrow to Anders. “On time, as usual.” Anders nodded, then relaxed. “What’s the dig, sir?” “Couple of data pulses over the last few hours,” Tully answered. She nodded to Macbeth without taking her eyes off the screen. “Gramps thinks it might be from Earth. Maybe…

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