Deals on Short Story Collections

Jul23

The annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale is underway. It gets its name because where I live in the northern hemisphere, readers are loading up their e-readers for great beach reading and vacations. In the southern hemisphere, it’s the middle of winter and people are spending time in a warm and cozy place reading. All of Hadrosaur’s titles are available at deep discounts this month and I’ll be highlighting them all month long here at the Web Journal. If you’re looking for a specific title, you don’t have to wait for me to highlight it, just visit http://www.hadrosaur.com/bookstore.php and click on the book you’re interested in. On its page is a link to Smashwords if its available there. The coupon codes for these discounts are automatically applied at checkout. One of the things I love about Smashwords is that they provide ebooks in all popular formats and they’re DRM free, so you can download them to your favorite device.

Today, I’m featuring two short story collections I’ve been proud to publish. The first is an anthology edited by Sheila Hartney called Exchange Students. The second is a collection of related time travel short stories by Joy V. Smith.

In Exchange Students you can study abroad! See new places! Meet new people!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is exchange-students-150.jpg — *Exchange Students*

In our exchange student program, you can literally study anywhere or anywhen you can imagine. We’ll send you to new planets. We’ll send you to new dimensions and realms of existence. We’ll send you through time itself!

Don’t believe me? This exciting anthology contains many tales of our thrilling and educational exchange student program. You’ll read tales of aliens coming to earth and humans traveling to alien worlds. You’ll meet a denizen of Hell who travels to Heaven. Some students will discover their super powers on their journey. Other students will have encounters with the undead. You’ll meet a law enforcement officer who travels to the realm of the fae to help solve a crime of truly interdimensional proportions.

Featuring twenty-two amazing stories by Roze Albina Ches, Jaleta Clegg, Ken Goldman, Paula Hammond, Sheila Hartney, Chisto Healy, Joachim Heijndermans, Sean Jones, Tim Kane, Alden Loveshade, Tim McDaniel, J Louis Messina, Jennifer Moore, Brian Gene Olson, David B. Riley, Katherine Quevedo, Holly Schofield, Jonathan Shipley, Lesley L. Smith, Emily Martha Sorensen, Margret A. Treiber and Sherry Yuan

Exchange Students is available for 75% off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1005851

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is sugartime.jpg — *Sugar Time*

Sugar Time is a collection of four connected short stories. Our protagonist’s name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her ‘Sweetie.’

When Sugar’s Uncle Max falls ill and his collaborators disappear, she investigates the old Victorian mansion where he conducted his research. She soon finds the collaborators—or what’s left of them—along with an angry Neanderthal. She also finds her uncle’s research project, a working time machine. Sugar must act quickly to unlock the secret of time travel so she can set things right and protect her uncle’s research.

Sugar Time is available for half off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992

Short Reads for the New Year

Jan1

Happy New Year! The annual Smashwords End of Year Sale ends today. All of Hadrosaur’s titles are on sale and I’ve been highlighting many of them over the course of the sale right here at the Web Journal. The coupon codes for these discounts are automatically applied at checkout. One of the things I love about Smashwords is that they provide ebooks in all popular formats and they’re DRM free, so you can download them to your favorite device or gift them to friends without worrying about what e-reader they prefer. If you are shopping for a friend, just click “Give as a Gift” when you visit the Smashwords links!

With the sale drawing to an end today, I thought I’d highlight some shorter books we’ve published. These can be a good way to read a book in a day or two before you start getting into the flow of the new year. Each of these books is half off the cover price.

Sugar Time is a collection of four connected short stories. Our protagonist’s name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her ‘Sweetie.’

Sugar Time is available for half off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992. The coupon code SEY50 should be automatically applied at checkout.

Revolution of Air and Rust is a stand-alone novella set in the Empires of Steam and Rust world created by Robert E. Vardeman and Stephen D. Sullivan. A story filled with military action, espionage and gadgetry that’s sure to satisfy fans of steampunk and alternate history.

1915. Teddy Roosevelt is building an empire. Only Pancho Villa stands in his way.

The American Expeditionary Force under the command of General “Black Jack” Pershing has invaded Northern Mexico. Pancho Villa leads his revolutionary army in a desperate raid against the American force only to be outflanked. Just as Pershing’s airships prepare to deliver the death blow, Pancho Villa is transported to a parallel Earth where he finds an unexpected ally and the technology that might just turn defeat into victory.

“This novella takes place in 1915 in a steampunk world where the Mexican rebel Pancho Villa is the good guy and his arch-enemy Black Jack Pershing is about to crush the Villa revolution. Pershing has a fleet of airships and an invading army and seems certain to win … That’s the basic situation in this fast moving and gripping story by David Lee Summers.” Neal Wilgus, The Supplement.

Revolution of Air and Rust is available for half off the cover price today at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/254622. Coupon code SEY50 should be applied automatically at checkout.

Legends of the Dragon Cowboys brings you two short weird western adventures by authors David B. Riley and Laura Givens. Their heroes ride boldly out of the Far East to find their way in a mythic land of danger, romance, and adventure.

In “The Venerable Travels of Ling Fung” by David B. Riley, a wandering businessman encounters a Mayan god, crooked enterprises and Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, when all he really wants is to open a gun store. Ling Fung is not any ordinary Chinese entrepreneur–he’s highly skilled in Kung Fu and he can shoot good, too. While his heart is set on business, providence seems to have other plans for him.

Laura Givens brings wily acrobat Chin Song Ping to the Wild West in search of adventure and fortune. He finds little fortune, but plenty of adventure. Chin Song Ping is a scoundrel, a gambler and a trouble magnet. His heart of gold lands him in schemes to outwit would-be gods, cannibal ghosts, insane robots, Voodoo despots and the ultimate evil–bureaucrats. But he is a romantic, and the love of his life is the true treasure he seeks. The odds are always against him but if he survives he will become the Western legend he always was in his own mind.

The Wild West just got a lot wilder!

Midwest Book Review says, “These two Western novellas are seasoned a dash of exotic adventure, featuring cowboy protagonists who hail from the Far East and pursue their dreams in the tough-as-nails frontier. Riveting from first page to last, Legends of the Dragon Cowboys is enthusiastically recommended for public library collections and connoisseurs of the genre!”

Get the book for 50% off at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/751811. The discount code SEY50 should be automatically applied on discount.

Already read these, or just want to browse for something different? Every single Hadrosaur Productions ebook at Smashwords is on sale through 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time tonight. Find the complete listing at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/davidleesummers.

Short Story Collections on Sale

Jul24

In Exchange Students you can study abroad! See new places! Meet new people!

Exchange Students is available for 75% off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1005851

Sugar Time is a collection of four connected short stories. Our protagonist’s name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her ‘Sweetie.’

Sugar Time is available for half off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992

Journey through Time and Space

Jul14

Today I wish to share a pair of science fiction tales I’ve been pleased to edit. The first is the first novel by Don Braden a talented author who has fascinating things to say about what makes us human. The second is a collection of time travel short stories by Joy V. Smith.

On its way to a distant colony world, the space vessel Marco P loses all power and an unknown force convinces the navigator that a distant, dead world is the vessel’s true destination. Commander Malcolm Carpenter orders the crew to abandon ship to protect them and to learn how to defeat whatever force has intercepted his ship. The crew discovers a small group of inhabitants, the only people on the planet who were not uploaded into a vast computer network—a computer network captivated by upstart humans and their imaginations. To free his crew and his navigator from the planetary network’s grip, Commander Carpenter must face a moral dilemma. Can he save his crew without condemning a planet’s inhabitants and their digital ancestors to death?

Get Upstart Mystique for 75% off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1010602

Sugar Time is a collection of four connected short stories. Our protagonist’s name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her ‘Sweetie.’

Sugar Time is available for half off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992

End of Year Sales

Dec31

As the year draws to a close, Hadrosaur Productions is pleased to offer our ebooks at a discount through the Smashwords End of Year Sales Event. All of our books normally priced higher than $1.00 are on sale through tomorrow. This is a great chance to load up your e-reader with some great new books.

Travel to the Past

Fallen Angel is the story of Mabel, an angel from Hell, who accompanies General Grant’s army during the last days of the Civil War only to discover that Martians are watching the Earth with envious eyes and slowly drawing their plans against us. Not only that, but Mabel has to contend with her evil sister, who wants to have humans for dinner. Use discount code SEY50 to get Fallen Angel for just $1.50 at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/924099

Sugar Time collects Joy V. Smith’s Sugar Sweet stories into one volume. When Sugar Sweet’s Uncle Max falls ill and his collaborators disappear, she investigates the old Victorian mansion where he conducted his research. She soon finds the collaborators — or what’s left of them — along with an angry Neanderthal. She also finds her uncle’s research project, a working time machine. Sugar Time is available for $1.50 with discount code SEY50 at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992

In Revolution of Air and Rust, tt’s 1915 and the American Expeditionary Force has invaded Northern Mexico. Pancho Villa leads his revolutionary army in a desperate raid against the American force only to be outflanked. Just as American airships prepare to deliver the death blow, Pancho Villa is transported to a parallel Earth where he finds an unexpected ally and the technology that might turn defeat into victory. Revolution of Air and Rust is available for $1.50 with discount code SEY50 at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/254622

Great Story Collections

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has discovered thousands of new planets. Visiting, much less settling, those worlds will provide innumerable challenges. The men and women who make the journey will be those who don’t fear the odds. They’ll be Kepler’s Cowboys. Saddle up and take an unforgettable journey in this anthology of science fiction stories about planets discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission. Kepler’s Cowboys is available for 75% off the cover price with coupon code SEY75 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/698694

Explore P’Eng-Lai, the legendary home of the immortals in Tales of the Talisman volume 8, issue 3. Travel to an exotic future inhabited by the bee and wolf tribes. Join a quest for a druid’s master — just be careful, the master has been dabbling in forbidden magic! Climb rugged mountains in search of dragon eggs and power. These and other tales of the imagination await in this issue of Tales of the Talisman. This issue is available for $1.50 using discount code SEY50 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/377360

Thanks to all the readers out there who have made 2019 a year to remember. I wish you a wonderful and prosperous 2020 filled with good books, new discoveries and amazing adventures.

Adventures Through Time and Space

Jul16

Books are one of the great ways to explore realities that might have been or could yet happen. These stories tell us about ourselves. By looking at the past and seeing what might have been different if certain conditions were changed, we understand a little more how we reached the present day. By looking to the future, we can explore worlds we’d like to visit as well as ones we’d like to avoid in the wrong set of circumstances. In all cases, we learn a little bit more about our spiritual selves and where that side of ourselves might have originated.

In Armageddon’s Son, the forces of Light and Dark wage war on and above Earth as each side seeks human allies to advance either the destruction or salvation of an ignorant mankind. In one bold, desperate act, an agent of Chaos has stolen the most powerful and coveted holy relic from the very heart of Vatican City, The Ruby Crucifix of Christ. This powerful relic was carved from the very cross where the savior was nailed, and is stained with His blood. This holy relic is said to be the instrument to end Armageddon and herald a new age of Man.

Ex-CIA Agent Erik Knight is recruited to assist his mentor, Martin Denton, in discovering the identity of the mysterious thief and locate the stolen relic. The agents soon realize the clergy of Vatican City have secrets and political schemes surpassing even Washington DC’s politicians. In order to solve the mystery, the agents must break through the papal code of silence and accept that the world as they know it is mere illusion, hiding a brutal physical and spiritual war of ‘Good’ versus ‘Evil’. As Erik Knight digs deeper into the mysteries of faith, he realizes his own alien ancestry is linked to biblical prophecy. Is he the fabled ‘Armageddon’s Son’?

Armageddon’s Son is available for half off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/928557

Sugar Time is a collection of four connected short stories. Our protagonist’s name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her ‘Sweetie.’

Sugar Time is available for half off the cover price at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992

Revolution of Air and Rust is a stand-alone novella set in the Empires of Steam and Rust world created by Robert E. Vardeman and Stephen D. Sullivan. A story filled with millitary action, espionage and gadgetry that’s sure to satisfy fans of steampunk and alternate history.

1915. Teddy Roosevelt is building an empire. Only Pancho Villa stands in his way.

Revolution of Air and Rust is available for half off the cover price this month at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/254622

Taboo Tech

Jun8

This past week, I had the opportunity to read Joy V. Smith’s latest novel, Taboo Tech. It tells the story of a young woman named Lacie Leigh Collier. Her parents seek out and try to understand old, dangerous, and forbidden technologies. As the novel opens, Lacie is graduating from primary school and preparing to move on to secondary school. Meanwhile, her parents have just found a lead on such a cache of taboo tech and leave her in the care of her uncle. If anything her uncle has an even greater interest in taboo tech and is soon tempted to explore yet another cache. He takes Lacie along with him, but they soon find the Interstellar Guard on their tail. Lacie’s uncle devises an intricate escape for his niece, but she soon finds herself alone in the galaxy with only the companionship of a fledgling AI called Embers.

At this point, Lacie’s adventures really begin. She completes school, then meets and befriends a group of professors who worked with her parents and they take her to a cache of taboo tech where she’s given command of a spaceship left to her by her parents. The professors and Lacie then hatch a plot to build a school on the site of the cache to allow the professors to investigate the cache while not arousing suspicion. To further allay suspicion, Lacie moves on to the resort world of Rainbow’s End where she befriends two members of the security staff and a diplomat’s daughter. All together, they help to thwart a plot against a princess. Lacie then must rescue her friends, the professors, from a plot to take over the school she helped to create. All the while, Lacie hopes to find clues to her parents’ and uncle’s whereabouts.

Taboo Tech is a rollicking fast story that propels Lacie from one adventure to another as she meets new friends, new adversaries, AIs and aliens. We’re never really told why old tech is taboo in this world other than it’s “dangerous.” However, I did wonder if the author gave us some sly clues. Her characters are often as carefully analytical as computers and the deepest emotions are sometimes expressed by the AIs in this world. It makes me wonder if the powers that be in this universe don’t want the humans to know something about their connection to the AIs. If Joy V. Smith ever writes a sequel, maybe this is something that can be explored. Taboo Tech is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Taboo-Tech-Joy-V-Smith/dp/0359516572/

I have had the pleasure of publishing another of Joy V. Smith’s books. Her short story collection Sugar Time is available as an audio book, a print collection, and an ebook from Hadrosaur Productions. The book tells the story of Sugar Sweet who inherits her Uncle Max’s old Victorian mansion where he conducted his research. She soon finds his collaborators—or what’s left of them—along with an angry Neanderthal. She also finds her uncle’s research project, a working time machine. Sugar must act quickly to unlock the secret of time travel so she can set things right and protect her uncle’s research. You can learn more about Sugar Time and order a copy at http://hadrosaur.com/SugarTime.php

Read an Ebook Week

Mar6

Smashwords’ ninth annual Read an Ebook Week promotion is underway and Hadrosaur Productions is proud to participate. We’re offering the following titles at a 50% discount. This includes our brand new collection of short stories about planets discovered by the Kepler space telescope: Kepler’s Cowboys. To take advantage of the discount, simply go to the link, add the book to your cart and use the discount code RAE50 on checkout.

Kepler’s Cowboys

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has discovered thousands of new planets.

Visiting, much less settling, those worlds will provide innumerable challenges.

The men and women who make the journey will be those who don’t fear the odds.

They’ll be Kepler’s Cowboys.

Saddle up and take an unforgettable journey to distant star systems. Meet new life forms—some willing to be your friend and others who will see you as the invader. Fight for justice in a lawless frontier. Go on a quest for a few dollars more. David Lee Summers, author of the popular Clockwork Legion novels, and Steve B. Howell, head of the Space Sciences and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center, have edited this exciting, fun, and rollicking anthology of fourteen stories and five poems by such authors as Patrick Thomas, Jaleta Clegg, L.J. Bonham, and many more!

Kepler’s Cowboys is available at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/698694

A Kepler’s Dozen

Of course, if you’re going to explore the Kepler planets, I know you’re going to want to get them all!

A Kepler’s Dozen presents thirteen action-packed, mysterious, and humorous stories all based on real planets discovered by the NASA Kepler mission. Edited by and contributing stories are David Lee Summers, editor of Tales of the Talisman Magazine, and Steve B. Howell, project scientist for the Kepler mission. Whether on a prison colony, in a fast escape from the authorities, or encircling a binary star, these exoplanet stories will amuse, frighten, and intrigue you while you share fantasy adventures among Kepler’s real-life planets.

A Kepler’s Dozen is available at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/325583

Revolution of Air and Rust

1915. Teddy Roosevelt is building an empire. Only Pancho Villa stands in his way.

Revolution of Air and Rust is a stand-alone novella set in the Empires of Steam and Rust world created by Robert E. Vardeman and Stephen D. Sullivan. A story filled with military action, espionage and gadgetry that’s sure to satisfy fans of steampunk and alternate history.

Revolution of Air and Rust is available at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/254622

Sugar Time

Her name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her “Sweetie.”

Sugar Time collects Joy V. Smith’s Sugar Sweet stories into one volume.

Sugar Time is available at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/567992

It’s Sugar Time!

Aug15

This week, I’ve been revisiting an old friend of sorts. Back in 2002, Hadrosaur Productions recorded an audio edition of three short stories by Joy V. Smith and released them under the collective title, Sugar Time. There was a fourth story, which we published in Hadrosaur Tales magazine. Talking to Joy, we decided it was high time to bring out all four stories in a single edition. We’ve released them in print and ebook formats. The beautiful new cover is by Laura Givens.

Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:

Her name is Sugar. Sugar Sweet. But never EVER call her ‘Sweetie.’

Sugar Time collects Joy V. Smith’s Sugar Sweet stories into one volume.

I had a lot of fun going back and re-reading these stories. A couple of elements make these stories stand out from the usual time travel stories. First is an element of mystery. In particular, Sugar meets two creatures from the past that her uncle called Chessies. They are cat-like creatures whose eyes can disappear into their fur and resemble a certain famous feline from Alice and Wonderland. These are creatures not in the fossil record and it’s not until the end that Sugar figures out the true story of their origin.

Another thing that stands out about Sugar Time is the period of time Sugar explores. In many time travel stories, we see people travel through human history. Every now and then, you’ll find a story that takes you to the time of dinosaurs. Joy will take you to the Pleistocene Epoch to see Neanderthals and Saber-tooth cats. It’s quite a thrill ride, and one you don’t want to miss.

The ebook edition of Sugar Time is currently available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Kobo, with more vendors coming soon.

The print edition of Sugar Time is available via Amazon and Hadrosaur Productions.

And, of course, the audio CD is still available through Hadrosaur Productions and well worth a listen. It still has the old cover, but Laura Givens made that one over, too. The new audio cover will be debuting as soon as I run the next batch of disks.

Summer at Kitt Peak

Aug8

In a typical year, July and August bring monsoon rains to Arizona and New Mexico. The rain is much needed in the desert, but it does mean poor observing conditions for most of those two months. Because of that, the observatory typically shuts down its major telescopes for ongoing maintenance and upgrades that help keep them state of the art.

Those of us who work principally at night, often get a more relaxed schedule, which enables us to take vacation time. When we’re at work, we often get a chance to lend a hand on projects around the observatory. This past week, I worked during the daytime, helping with a couple of projects at the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope. One of those projects was cleaning, tuning, and testing the actuator control cards on the back of the WIYN telescope.

Here you see the back of the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope. Each of those disks at the back are attached to a motor and a rod, which deform the telescope’s primary mirror so it has the optimal shape, no matter where it’s pointed in the sky. With time, the electronics in each of those actuators becomes less reliable.

So, for example, the WIYN primary mirror weighs about 4200 pounds. When working properly, the actuators should measure that weight pretty accurately. However, with wear and tear, they reached a point where they were measuring the weight as 4570 pounds. As I write this, we’ve tuned about about one third of the cards and now the weight is reading 4370 pounds, much closer and an indication that we’re doing much-needed work. Here’s one of the control cards in its test bench setup.

Another project I helped with this week was upgrading the drives for the filter arms on the One-Degree Imager at WIYN. In essence, the whole objective of having a camera on a telescope is to accurately measure the amount of light coming into it from distant stars and galaxies. However, visible light is made up of all the colors of the rainbow. Red light, blue light, and violet light are all jumbled together. So, the best way for us to measure light accurately is to take black-and-white pictures with colored filters in front that allow light of precise frequencies to pass through.

The One-Degree Imager has filters that are approximately one-foot by one-foot square. It takes a lot of force to move those pieces of glass and hold them rigidly in place.
In the photo on the left, you’re looking down on the filter arms. The filter arms used to be held in place by a series of gears. However, the force required to move those arms was so great, the gears were literally grinding themselves to dust. So the gear system has been replaced by a system which utilizes a chain drive like that you might find in a motorcycle! You can see the chain on the bottom of the photo. I’m looking forward to the new observing season when we get to use this new filter drive system. It promises to move and hold the filters much better than the old system.

Another project that’s moving forward is the Extreme Position Doppler Spectrometer which NASA is contracting for the WIYN telescope in order to support space missions searching for planets around other stars. This week, I was asked if I would provide input into how to practically operate this device. It sounds like I’ll learn more this autumn, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and hoping I’ll have something good to contribute which will both help achieve the mission objectives and make it a user-friendly instrument.

In the meantime, I have not forgotten my literary endeavors. I just finished editing a four-short story collection called Sugar Time written by Joy V. Smith. Hadrosaur Productions published an audio book edition some years ago, but this will be an ebook and chapbook containing the four original stories with new cover art by Laura Givens. Look for more details in next week’s blog post.

Also, if you live in New Orleans or will be visiting on the weekend of August 22, please drop by Boutique du Vampyre in the French Quarter between 3 and 6pm, where I’ll be signing copies of Vampires of the Scarlet Order and Dragon’s Fall: Rise of the Scarlet Order.

David Lee Summers’ Web Journal

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and More!

Tag Archives: Sugar Time

Deals on Short Story Collections

Short Reads for the New Year

Short Story Collections on Sale

Journey through Time and Space

End of Year Sales

Travel to the Past

Great Story Collections

Adventures Through Time and Space

Taboo Tech

Read an Ebook Week

Kepler’s Cowboys

A Kepler’s Dozen

Revolution of Air and Rust

Sugar Time

It’s Sugar Time!

Summer at Kitt Peak