Ian J. Malone

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

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FREE NEW RELEASE: “Nightfall,” the short story prequel to “Colonies Lost”

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Happy Hump Day, gang!

By now, y’all know that my new book, Colonies Lost, is on the way June 12. You also know that the story focuses on a present-day US Marshal who delves into the mystery surrounding the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. What you won’t see in that story, however, are the actual events at Roanoke in 1587.

Well, ordinary readers of Colonies Lost won’t get those events. You, on the other hand, can if you sign up for my newsletter to receive the new short story, Nightfall!

Better yet, it’s FREE!

But wait! There’s more! (I so just wrote that while speaking aloud in my cheesy announcer voice)

By signing up for the email list, you’ll also get Mako: Genesis, the official prequel to my space opera trilogy, The Mako Saga. It’s all just my way of saying thanks to those who support my work.

Take care, y’all, and hope you enjoy the new short story!

Cheers… Ian

Description — Nightfall: A Roanoke Short Story

On a cold November night in 1587, 108 colonists stood starving and alone on the shores of Roanoke Island, their eyes fixed on the heavens as something magnificent and terrifying descended from above.

“Surely this is the end,” one man whispered in fright. Acting quickly, he jammed his knife into a nearby oak to scrawl out a message.

The man was wrong. It was just the beginning.

Witness the Roanoke colonists’ final moments on Earth through the eyes of those who took them in Nightfall, the short story prequel to Colonies Lost.

VIDEO: Talking Colonies Lost and FSU spring football on FB Live

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Morning, y’all! I had a few seconds after breakfast so thought I’d take the opportunity to check in via Facebook Live with a quick project update on Colonies Lost, as well as a few other projects I’ve got in the works.

I also give my thoughts on tonight’s Florida State spring football game, and what fans should expect.

Come feed your eyeballs then weight in via the comments if you’re so inclined.

Cheers, ya’ll. Have a great weekend, and talk soon.

Ian

COVER REVEAL: Colonies Lost

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Trip Hackett needs a beer.

On the heels of his latest suspension, disgraced US Marshal Trip Hackett packs up his Stetson and returns home to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where he hopes to circle the wagons and find a new means of supporting his family. He knows shooting the man was justified. However, with his history and the scrutiny cops face these days, plus the deceased being the son of a senator, Trip would bet his paltry retirement savings that his career in law enforcement is over.

Enter the enigmatic Mr. Smith, an odd-looking stranger with a proposition. If Trip helps Smith’s employer find a missing girl, then he and his family will never want for money again. Grudgingly, Trip takes the case, expecting it will be the last of his career. He may be right, though for reasons he could have never imagined.

The search takes Trip on a journey to the stars. But while he escapes his present, he runs straight into a past he never knew existed. He may just find the answer to America’s greatest unsolved mystery: What really happened to the settlers of Roanoke Island?

(Coming to a bookshelf near you this summer!)

Click here to see this book on the publisher’s website.

IJM weighs in with Harvick on Danica, NASCAR stardom

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There’s a great article from NBC Sports this weekend on Danica Patrick’s exit from NASCAR, and the sport’s need for new “mega star” drivers moving forward.

I was a huge Danica supporter, dating all the way back to her rookie season in IndyCar. She brought a ton to the table in terms of exposure (see her 2005 Sports Illustrated cover, promoting her maiden run at Indy). Still, Kevin Harvick is exactly right when he says in this article that eventually, star power has to be paired with results on the track or it’s all moot.

Danica was in top-flight equipment for most of her career, in IndyCar and stock cars. But what did she bring home for that? A handful of top-ten runs at Indy (no small deal, granted), one fuel mileage win in Japan (the only major victory of her career), and a pole at Daytona (rookie season in Cup). That’s it. In more than a decade of bigtime racing, that’s all the success she managed to find.

I wish Danica well in her future endeavors. I really do. I’ll also never argue with anyone who says she’s the Anna Kornikova of motorsport.

On a related note, with guys like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart having retired from active competition, the NASCAR garage needed someone to step up and “call it like he sees it” on issues of the sport’s health. I’m glad that someone is Harvick, and not just because he’s my driver. Harv is widely regarded in sports business as a sharp dude, especially when it comes to branding. So when he says “the sport needs to grow/market itself in this direction,” most agree that he knows what he’s talking about. Couple that with his on-track credentials — Cup Series title in 14, Daytona 500 title in 07, 90 career wins in NASCAR’s top three series — and the man possesses both the on-track resume and business savvy to be a voice of reason in this discussion.

Good on ya, Harv.

As always, this is merely my opinion. Take it for what it’s worth. Now, onward to Texas!

Cheers,

Ian

PS – Harvick cites Chase Elliott as having the potential for mega-stardom. I wholeheartedly agree with that because of his name. I’d be remiss, however, if I didn’t add Bubba Wallace to that list. The kid’s personality, on and off camera, is downright infections, plus he’s got skill. Now, if he just had Chase/Danica’s funding and equipment, he’d be good to go.

IJM finally sees Justice League

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Finally got around to watching Justice League last night. Believe it or not, I didn’t think it sucked. Was it the best superhero movie I’ve ever seen? Not even close. However, it was a far cry better than Thor: The Dark World, X-Men: The Last Stand, or Spider-Man 3.

What didn’t work about this film:

The Directors Switch: I’ve got no argument with fans who labeled this picture a train wreck of Frankenstein proportions in terms of tone and story. The change in directors from Zack Snyder to Joss Whedon was totally evident from title to credits, and that manifested itself in every aspect of this film from visual style to dialogue.

Movie Barry needs to be different then TV Barry : Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen/Flash, while relatively humorous at times, was something of a throwaway character. I get why DC didn’t want to use Grant Guston from the television series. However, don’t recast the character then use musical elements and story themes from the show and expect CW fans to give Barry 2.0 a pass. If you’re gonna change the character, change the character.

Me personally? I’d have stuck with Guston and called it a day.

The Return of Superman: Superman’s resurrection was also a bit dodgy for my liking. Without giving anything away, I didn’t like the way this film handled that. I’d have stuck with the source material from the comics and moved on to the next scene.

Eisenberg as Lex Luthor is beyond saving: There are several references to Lex Luthor in this film (one in particular), which suggests that DC/WB has no plans to recast this character. That’s a real shame. I like Eisenberg in certain roles, but he was just, plain awful as Lex. Period. End of story. Peace. Gotta go.

On paper, I get why you’d want to reinvent Luthor for the modern era, ala an evil Mark Zuckerberg. In reality, it just didn’t work. Sorry. Time to cut your losses and move on with a new actor.

Steppenwolf was terrible: I thought Aries from Wonder Woman was the most cookie-cutter, cliché villain I’d ever seen in one of these films. I was wrong. Steppenwolf took the cake, horns and all.

What did work about this film:

The Cast: The core cast DC has assembled for this franchise is spot-on — and yes, I’ll even toss Batfleck into that. Ben is a solid Bruce Wayne, really solid, and Cavill is a fantastic Superman. I also like Momoa as Aquaman, Fisher as Cyborg, and I’ve long since been on record as saying that Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is one of the best in comic film history (male or female).

Final thoughts:

At the end of the day, I think this cast could really work with a good story and solid direction. Snyder is clearly not that director, though the Firefly homer in me will forever think Whedon could’ve been had he guided this project from green flag to checkers. Alas, we’ll never know.

With Flashpoint on the way, it’s likely that much of what I’ve discussed above will be changed. As to the length of those changes, we’ll just have to wait and see.

My suggestions: Leave the core JL roster as is, separate Barry’s story from that of the CW series, recast Lex immediately, and bring in some new storytelling blood with some fresh characters to spice things up. *cough* Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan. *cough*

Cheers, y’all. Thanks as always for the vine, and feel free to drop your own thoughts in the comments below if you’ve got some.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to hammer out some rewrites on Where Eagles Fly then put some finishing touches on the Colonies Lost prequel short story, Nightfall.

Later!

VIDEO: IJM talks music and writing on Facebook

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Happy Hump Day, y’all! Just wanted to let you know that the latest entry into the “Ian answers stuff about…” video series is now on my Facebook page! This month I discuss why it is that I tweet so much about music, and how music informs my writing process as a fiction author.

Click here to watch the new video!

Hope you enjoy, and drop me a line anytime via the comments below or the Contact IJM page if you’ve got questions!

Cheers,

Ian

Draft 1 of next book is in the can

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BOOYAH!!! Draft one of the new Mil SF project, Where Eagles Fly, is in the can. Now I’m off to pen a quick short story based on those same characters (for email listers only) then it’s onward to draft two. Hoping to have the finished manuscript in to the publisher by Memorial Day.

Colonies Lost Update: I’m still waiting on line edit notes from the publisher, so nothing new to report on that front at this time.

Okay, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with my couch, the Star Wars: Rebels finale, and a much-needed beer.

Cheers, y’all!

Ian

IJM talks writing, Mako, and more with JR Handley

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I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by JR Handley for his SciFy Shenanigans blog. Needless to say, we had a blast!

You can read the full interview here!

About the Blogger:

JR Handley is a veteran who writes military science fiction to excise the demons of his time spent fighting in the late unpleasantness in Mesopotamia. Handley is also a blogger and book reviewer, as well as a co-host of the SciFy Shenanigans podcast.

Quick Project Update

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Hey ya’ll, just wanted to pop by for a quick update on where I stand with my current slate of projects.

Colonies Lost

Colonies has wrapped the content edit phase and is on to line edit with the publisher. I hope to have those notes back in the next month.

Where Eagles Fly

50,000 words and climbing on the new Mil SF project. At this rate, I should have draft one wrapped in the next three weeks. From there, it’s on to the fleshing out phase of draft two, the polish phase of draft three, then a submission to the publisher by Memorial Day.

Detron City Vice (A Mako Story)

Already outlined and ready to start draft one as soon as Eagles and Colonies are out the door. Right now, my plan/hope is to have Colonies launched by early summer, Eagles into the publisher by May 25 (late summer launch), then get cracking on Vice in June.

As always, all of this remains fluid on account of publishers. Vice is the lone exception. I’ll indie pub that one, so I’ll get to set the schedule.

In summery… 

Roll on, Big River. Roll on.

Cheers, gang. Be good, and talk soon.

Ian

Quick thoughts on Star Wars: Rebels, “Jedi Night”

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Finally caught the mid-season premiere of Star Wars: Rebels last night after dinner. Boy, that one’s gonna take some time to digest.

I maintain that Star Wars under Disney is a mixed bag. I was not a fan of The Last Jedi, and it had nothing to do with female protagonists, overinflated expectations, childhood allegiances, or any of the other weak excuses that TLJ defenders love to throw at its detractors. I just didn’t like the story, plain and simple. That’s merely my opinion.

By contrast, Rebels is arguably the greatest addition to Star Wars canon since The Empire Strikes Back. It’s chockful of fantastic tales and wonderfully crafted characters, plus an all-around sense of heart indicative of everything Star Wars was meant to be. That’s a tribute to the show’s lead writer, Dave Filoni — a man who gets this franchise in a way few others do.

Star Wars: Rebels ends its four-season run next month, not because it must (the show remains a huge draw for Disney XD) but because that’s the time the creators feel the Ghost Crew’s story will have been told. If only all shows could end that way.

If you’ve never seen Rebels, especially those with kids, my family and I highly recommend it. Honestly, it’ll make you believe in Star Wars again.

Cheers, y’all. And may The Force be with you… always.

Ian

IJM pines for the old days of WWE

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Finally got to check out the WWE Raw 25th anniversary special on Hulu last night.

Is it just me, or are there no quality pro wrestlers anymore? Seriously, every time one of the new “stars” came out, he or she was complete upstaged by the likes of Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, DX, and Trish Stratus. What happened to the talent factories? Are there no new gimmicks? Don’t get me wrong, I see a ton of talent out there in the form of folks who can fly around a ring. Problem is, they all suck on a mic! Where’s the charisma, man? The electricity? The renegades, the outlaws? The fresh new faces who set the industry on its ear for a whole new generation of fans?

*sigh*

I guess it’s true what they say. When it comes to the WWE, they really don’t make ’em like they used to. #GetOffMyLawn

Ian

IJM schedule for illogicon 2018

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Hey y’all, it’s that time again. It’s illigicon 2018, this Friday through Sunday, in Cary, NC!

My panel schedule is as follows:

Friday

  • Do You Even Geek Sports and Fitness? (4pm in Reynolds) — Come join a bunch of geeks as we discuss our love of nerd culture and exercise.
  • Conventions and Disabilities (6pm in Smith) — Cons are becoming more inclusive every day. Come here how they’re achieving this for people with disabilities.
  • Box Office Bombs (9pm in Smith) — Come join a spirited discussion on what makes a box office bomb in SF&F, and why.

Sunday

  • Livin’ the Dream (2pm in Smith) — A group of creatives discuss how to turn a hobby into a moneymaker – and maybe even a career.

For more information about illogicon, including hotel, registration, and guest info, visit the con’s official website.

Cheers, and see you at the con!

Ian