Ian J. Malone

Character-charged sci-fi with a shot of Rock & Roll!

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NEW RELEASE: ‘Red Sky Dawning’ arrives from Theogony Books

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I’m proud to announce that RED SKY DAWNING (Book 2 of THE MAKO SAGA) is now available for purchase on Amazon! I hope you enjoy it, and humbly ask that you please leave a review if you do!!!

Huge thanks to Chris Kennedy and the staff from Theogony Books for helping me bring this series to a whole new realm of readers and push it forward into the future with a brand-new installment (DETRON CITY VICE) coming later this summer.

Stay tuned to the IJM News Desk as more details unfold! Also, don’t forget to sign up for the IJM mailing list and get the MAKO prequel, MAKO: GENESIS!

IJM weighs in on antiheroes, the future of Superman

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“Watchmen” TV creator Damon Lindelof was asked in a recent interview what he thought a modern-day Superman film needed to look like in order to be successful at the box office. Basically, he gave the stock response about the myriad challenges of making a boy scout like Supers relevant in today’s age of antiheroes.

As a child of the 80s/90s and as a lifelong fan of this character, I always take umbrage with this assertion. Fact is, there are still legions of fans out there who want to root for the good guys simply because they’re that — good guys. Heck, I’m one of them.

Don’t get me wrong. I like a complex protagonist as much as the next consumer. I also like it when my characters learn things along the path of their journey. At the same time, it’s refreshing sometimes to follow characters who possess an innate understanding of right and wrong, and we as fans know they’ll never compromise that, no matter what the story throws at them.

Does that make characters like Superman vanilla or predictable? Maybe. Know what else is predictable, though? The bonafide awesomeness of my mom’s lasagna, and you can bet your hard-earned dollar that I’ll piledrive every ounce of that plate anytime it’s put down in front of me.

As an aside, Lindelof goes on to express his excitement over the idea of J.J. Abrams directing a Superman film now that the latter is a major player at Warner Brothers (a hot rumor lately).

I want to be clear here: I couldn’t care less about an Abrams-led Superman film. Sorry. Part of that has to do with the mess he helped make of Star Wars. Mostly, though, it’s because I read his script for “Superman: Flyby” back in the early 2000s, and again, as a lifelong fan of this character, I thought the liberties J.J. took with the mythology were way out of bounds (Jor-El did NOT commit suicide and Lex Luthor ISN’T a Kryptonian). 😕

Anywho, I read this story earlier on Twitter and it struck a chord. So, I thought I’d take a sec to chime in while I had a minute.

Cheers and stay safe, y’all. As always, feel free to hit me up on social media if you think I went wrong somewhere.

Ian

PS — Mega-bestselling scifi author Chris Kennedy and I had a great discussion about the subject of good guy characters versus antiheroes on the most recent episode of The Dudes in Hyperspace Podcast. Feel free to go back and give a listen then leave a review on your podcasting app once you’re done. We, the Dudes, REALLY appreciate those. 😉

NEW RELEASE: ‘Mako’ takes flight with Theogony Books

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I’m proud to announce that my debut novel, MAKO, has been officially re-released by Theogony Books, an imprint of Chris Kennedy Publishing. You can find the book on Amazon (ebook and paperback) as well as on Audible in audiobook form.

Story Synopsis:

It’s just a game…or is it?

On the heels of his divorce, down-and-out history professor Lee Summerston doesn’t have a lot going for him—a nowhere job at a third-rate college with kids who don’t care about anything except how to slide through class. All of that changes, though, when Lee leads a team of old friends to virtual glory as the first-ever group to beat Mako Assault, a revolutionary new game that has emerged from nowhere to take the Internet by storm.

As a reward for their achievement, the group is flown to meet the game’s mysterious designer and assist in developing the follow-on game Mako 2.0. But what they find when they get there is more than they’d expected…much more.

Mako’s intent was never to entertain its players. It was to train them.

An epic sci-fi thrill-ride of action, suspense, laughter, and romance, Mako is the story of five ordinary people who will have to rise to the challenge of extraordinary events, driven only by their faith in each other. If they can’t, the game will become very real to more than just themselves—the Earth itself may ultimately be at stake.

MAKO is the first book in THE AMKO SAGA. Books two and three will release this June and July respectively.

IJM launches 10-day ‘music and characters’ campaign on Facebook

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Hey everybody.

An author pal of mine challenged me to name 10 songs that have influenced my stories and or characters. That’s one song per day over the next 10 days — no explanations, no reviews. Just a music link with a character name and book title. That’s it!

Every day, I’ll also be nominating one of my fellow authors to take part in my challenge so be sure to check out their pages via the post links to learn more about their work.

Parting Hint With Regard to Characters: One of these things is not like the others. 😉

Thanks as always for the follows, y’all. I hope you enjoy the music and be sure to drop me some recommendations for new tunes via the comments while you’re at it!

Cheers!

Ian

COVER REVEAL: MAKO 2020 from Theogony Books

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Theogony Books, an imprint of Chris Kennedy Publishing, today unveiled the cover for the re-release of my debut novel, MAKO.

I can’t tell you guys how happy I am with the way this design turned out. Truly. It stays faithful to my original vision for the concept while integrating some really nice artwork and font styles to give the entire piece a vibrant, modern look.

MAKO, book one of THE MAKO SAGA, arrives May 22.

Related Story: IJM joins forces with Theogony Books for DETRON CITY VICE and THE MAKO SAGA (Read More)

IJM on the Bucs’ new uniforms: “Welcome home.”

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For those who follow me on Twitter, you know that I’m a die-hard Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan and have been for decades. With that established, I am BEYOND THRILLED with the new uniforms that the team unveiled yesterday in preparation for the upcoming 2020 season.

Yes, part of that has to do with the EXTREMELY nostalgic look about the new threads (they’re pretty much carbon copied from our Super Bowl era). More than that, though, I love what these uniforms aren’t — hideously gaudy billboards meant for a generation raised on Xbox and Red Bull with numbers befitting a dollar store alarm clock.

I kid you not, people. I wanted to punch my own face every time I saw those ridiculous pieces of crap. Alas, I digress.

I know there were a lot of calls out there for Tampa to return to the cream-sicle duds of their rookie years, but I the early-2000s era was really the right way to go. That’s a time in franchise history that exuded success and professionalism, and frankly with that guy named Brady now under center, that’s kinda the image you’d hope the Bucs would wanna present for themselves once again.

Bottom Line: IJM approves of the Bucs’ new/old uniforms… bigtime.

Have a great day, y’all, and keep washing those hands!!!

Cheers,

Ian

(Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

NEWS: MAKO to re-release May 22 with Theogony Books

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As was announced at the start of our most recent episode on The Dudes in Hyperspace Podcast, I can now officially confirm that my debut novel, MAKO, will re-release worldwide on May 22, 2020 through Theogony Books!

The remainder of THE MAKO SAGA trilogy — RED SKY DAWNING and AT CIRCLE’S END — will arrive later this summer culminating with the release of my new Makoverse spinoff novel, DETRON CITY VICE, this August.

Stay tuned to the IJM News Desk as more details unfold. You can also visit the Theogony Books website to learn more about the other fantastic books and series on their roster!

New to the Makoverse?

Get a jump on the MAKO re-release by checking out the official prequal, MAKO: GENESIS, available FREE along with two more short stories to members of the IJM Mailing List.

Click here to sign up and start reading today!

IJM says “Stay Calm, Be Informed” on COVID-19

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I was asked by a friend what I’m doing to stay informed on #COVID19.

Tip 1. Avoid cable news at all costs (all of it).

Tip 2. Watch live White House/NIH briefings when possible to get everything in context.

Tip 3: Download a local news app to skim headlines and stay informed on your homefront.

Tip 4. Bookmark the crap out of https://coronavirus.gov and read up.

Tip 5: Follow the CDC, the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Disease, and NIH Director Francis Collins on Twitter.

One other thing. While it’s very true that COVID-19 is no run-of-the-mill flu and should thus be taken very seriously, it’s also not cause for the complete hysteria that’s gripped so many people in our country. This will pass, and we as a community will get through it. Here’s a great video from Dave Ramsey explaining why I feel this way.

Hope it helps, gang. Y’all stay safe out there and keep washing those hands. To borrow a line from Raiders of the Lost Ark, “our top men are working on this.”

Cheers,

Ian

IJM on the Indy 500 move, NASCAR/IndyCar Doubleheader

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HUGE news broke today in the world of North American Motorsports.

In response to COVID-19, the Indy 500 is being moved to Aug. 23, while the Indianapolis Grand Prix (typically run in the first week of May) is moving to the July 4th weekend where it will run as part of a doubleheader with NASCAR (click here for coverage from the India polis Star).

IJM on the 500

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway staff had no choice but to postpone the Indy 500. It was only a matter of time. Even if we, as a society, are somehow on the downhill slide of fighting this virus by Memorial Day — and that’s a big if — there’s no way they’d be able to pull together an event of this scale on that much of a truncated timetable. Logistically speaking, it’s just not possible.

Moving the 500 to late-summer was the only way to preserve the integrity of what this event is while caring for fan safety.

Having said all that, every sport has its nasty little community of trolls who dump on any sort of change in the name of dying on Tradition’s Hill. IndyCar is no different.

Don’t listen to those fans. They’re idiots.

IJM on the IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader

This is a ginormous story for A LOT of people… I’m just not one of them. it’s not that I dislike IndyCar. I really don’t. Heck, I used to be one of their biggest fans back in the early 2000s. Somewhere along the way, though, I simply fell out of love with that series, and it never came back.

These days, my time cup runneth over with everything from family obligations to day job duties and church stuff, plus writing, of course. That only leaves me so much time for sports. Thus,  if I’m to choose but one racing series to follow, it’s gonna be my bread and butter — NASCAR.

As for the doubleheader, I honestly don’t care who NASCAR partners with for its race weekends, July Fourth or otherwise. So long as the guys I root for each week are on the track at some point — i.e. Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, etc. — then everything else is gravy in the Malone house.

The caveat…

Much like Alabama and Auburn fans or in-laws at a family reunion, NASCAR and open wheel fans haven’t always mixed well in a crowd (open wheel = wine and cheese, NASCAR = beer and pizza). Some think that’s changed over time, and maybe it has. Nevertheless, I’ll be interested to see what the fan reaction is when those two groups collide in the stands at Indy come Independence Day weekend.

Again, all of this is assuming that we’re back to racing by then, which I, for one, sincerely hope we are.

Think I’m going wrong in my analysis of this story? Track me down on Facebook or Twitter (@ianjmalone) and throw me your beef. Trust me. I can handle it. 😉

Stay safe, y’all.

Ian

(Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis Star)

NEWS: IJM joins forces with Theogony Books for DETRON CITY VICE and THE MAKO SAGA

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I’m proud to announce that the next book in my sci-fi Makoverse series, titled DETRON CITY VICE, will be released in August 2020 through the Theogony Books imprint of Chris Kennedy Publishing (CKP). In addition, CKP has also acquired the rights to the original Mako Saga trilogy and will be re-releasing each book in the series throughout the summer in preparation for the arrival of VICE sometime before Labor Day.

Tentative Makoverse release schedule (exact dates TBA):

  • MAKO (The Mako Saga: Book 1) — May
  • RED SKY DAWNING (the Mako Saga: Book 2) — June
  • AT CIRCLE’S END (The Mako Saga: Book 3) — July
  • DETRON CITY VICE (A Makoverse Novel) — August

For more information on this development as well as what readers can expect from the new book, visit the IJM Facebook page and watch my live announcement video on the Makoverse/CKP partnership.

For more on Chris Kennedy Publishing and Theogony Books, visit the CKP website or follow the company on Facebook.

IJM short story AKALLA NIGHTS arrives with new Salvage Universe anthology

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I’m proud to announce that the new Salvage Title Universe anthology, SALVAGE CONQUEST, featuring my new short story, AKALLA NIGHTS, is now available for purchase through Theogony Books on Amazon. Click here to get your copy today!

AKALLA NIGHTS follows the adventure of a husband-and-wife freight running team as they seek to save their struggling business by entertaining a deal that could net them more than they bargained for.

About This Anthology

Harmon Tomeral and his friends wanted nothing more than to go to space, and they have beaten the odds, time and again, to get there. They developed a mech and won the Top Fleet Marine Competition. They brought back a battlecruiser from an unknown system and made it their own. They made allies who helped them achieve great victories, and they ultimately founded new colonies in what has become known as the Salvage System.

Salvage System is a beacon of hope, and a number of other races have begun looking toward it as an inspiration for how to live and govern themselves, and—in some cases—for assistance in defending themselves and throwing off oppressive regimes.

But the galaxy is a big place, and many of the races in it aren’t friendly. Would these forces like to take over Salvage System and acquire its resources? Absolutely.

Fifteen incredible authors take you further into the Salvage Title universe, giving you looks at some of the beacons of hope…and some of the malevolence that has yet to show its face. Can Harmon Tomeral and his friends hold out against it? Take a look inside and find out!

With stories by:

  • Kevin Steverson
  • Chris Kennedy
  • Christopher Woods
  • Kevin Ikenberry
  • Robert E. Hampson
  • Van Allen Plexico
  • Ian J. Malone
  • Marisa Wolf
  • Quincy J. Allen
  • John G. Hartness
  • KC Johnston
  • Alex Rath
  • David Alan Jones
  • Mark Wandrey
  • Brad R. Torgersen