Ian J. Malone

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

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IJM picks the 2020 NASCAR All Star race at Bristol

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To all my fellow geeks or sports lovers who AREN’T NASCAR fans… if you ever wanted to see why folks like me enjoy this sport, watch tonight’s Cup Series All-Star race on FS1. Coverage begins at 7 pm ET with the All Star Open (qualifier event where those drivers who didn’t make the main field try to race their way in) followed by the All Star race itself.

The event will be held for the first time on the historic Bristol Motor Speedway (a half-mile, high-banked “short track”) and will be contested for NO POINTS. That means drivers have every incentive to go all-out for the win because tonight’s results — for better or worse — don’t count toward their season-long chase for a title.

Translation: Expect TONS of action!!!

Ian’s Pick for the Win: Kevin “the Closer” Harvick from Bakersfield, CA, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford (not a stretch for those who know the sport).

Ian’s Dark Horse Pick: Aric Almirola from Tampa, FL, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield’s “Vote for Bacon” Ford (he’s been hot lately).

Have a great night, y’all. I hope you enjoy the race!!!

Cheers,

Ian

INTERVIEW: IJM chats with the Future Books Podcast

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I was honored sit down with host Randall Willis for a wonderful chat about the craft of writing, the re-release of the Mako trilogy through Theogony Books, and much more on the first ever episode of the Future Books Podcast.

Click here to check it out!

(The Future Books Podcast is a production of Chris Kennedy Publishing)

COVER REVEAL: ‘At Circle’s End’ from Theogony Books

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AT CIRCLES END, the third and final book in THE MAKO SAGA, arrives July 31 from Theogony Books!

Not familiar with THE MAKO SAGA? Catch up now with books one and two of the series then sign up for the IJM mailing list to get the saga’s prequel short story, MAKO: GENESIS, absolutely free!!!

Reviews on all IJM Books are much appreciated!!!

Theogony Books is an imprint of Chris Kennedy Publishing.

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!