Ian J. Malone

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

Opinion

Calling all beta readers!!!

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Yo, gang! I’m working on a new Mako short story which will be a freeie for my email list subscribers. I need some beta readers to help me polish it out. Should be done in the next day or so.
 
Shoot me a message via the contact page if you’re interested.
 
Story Synopsis:
 
Link Baxter defied orders on Mako Assault’s nineteenth environment to save Markus Katahl. Neither he, nor the others could’ve ever known what that started.
 
Witness the moment when the Renegades first came to Jon Reiser’s attention in “Mako: Genesis,” the action-packed short story available only to members of the Ian J. Malone email list.

‘A Family Tradition’ is live on Amazon

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Hey y’all, it’s finally here! For a Few Credits More is officially live on Amazon! Click here to score your copy in ebook or paperback!

For those unaware, this marks the second in a series of anthologies set in the bestselling military science fiction world known as the Four Horsemen Universe (4HU).

My entry, A Family Tradition, tells the story of a young man in Jacksonville, FL who is left to pick up the pieces when his older brother (a mercenary and local hero) passes away in a tragic starship accident at the pentacle of his success. It’s a tale of legacy and loss, though ultimately it’s the story of a family pulling together in search of better days — days that may well be at hand with a stranger’s proposition that could change everything.

I hope you enjoy A Family Tradition, as well as all the other fantastic works in this anthology. I can tell you that we as the authors are extremely proud of them.

Cheers, y’all. Have a fantastic Friday and I’ll catch up with you later.

Ian

PS – Favor to ask: Hit me up via email and or social media once you’ve read the story. I’d love to hear what you thought of it.

About the 4HU

The 4HU is a brilliant new military science fiction canvas from the minds of Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey, both Amazon bestsellers in the genre.

Here’s a quick blurb from the publisher (Seventh Seal Press):

It’s the Twenty-Second Century. The galaxy has opened up to humanity as a hyperactive beehive of stargates and new technologies, and we suddenly find ourselves in a vast playground of different races, environments, and cultures. There’s just one catch: we are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.

Enter the Four Horsemen universe, where only a willingness to fight and die for money separates Humans from the majority of the other races. Enter a galaxy not only of mercenaries, but also of Peacemakers, bounty hunters, and even a strung-out junkie in the way of a hired assassin.

To date, the 4HU has seven books for sale on Amazon.

IJM’s take on ‘The Defenders’

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Hey, y’all.

So, finally got off my duff and watched Netflix’s THE DEFENDERS. Eh… not bad. I give it a solid B.

Daredevil is still hands-down the best thing about this universe, followed closely by Luke Cage.

I now find Jessica Jones to be less obnoxious than before, though not nearly enough to warrant a second pass at her standalone series.

Iron Fist, on the other hand (aka The Dollar Tree version of Oliver Queen), annoyed the crap out of me from the moment he hit the screen… pass!

BRING ON THE PUNISHER!!!

Cheers,

IJM

Debating tailgate menus and predicting Bristol

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Hmmm. I can’t decide what I want to cook for Bristol tomorrow night. Really been craving some wings lately, but it’s somewhat of a chore to pull out, cook with, then tear down and clean my smoker to make that happen.

Aug 22, 2015; Bristol, TN, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano (22) leads Sprint Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski (2) during the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

On the other hand, there’s always my fallback option: Bratwurst parboiled in beer with sweated onion and garlic then grilled over low heat and served in a hearty baguette with spicy mustard and veggies steamed in a beer bath.

*drums fingers*

I can’t even lie, man. The brat sounds pretty darn good. That should tell you something about my wings that this is even a contest. Alas, such is the plight of a lone race fan in Raleigh-Durham.

Race Predictions 

Bristol is, without a doubt, one of my favorite tracks on the NASCAR schedule. It’s just a fun watch, mostly because it’s one of the few venues left where we still get quality, door-to-door racing (when they haven’t ruined the track surface, anyhow).

So, who takes the checkers tomorrow night in Thunder Valley?

*drums fingers again*

As much I’d love to see my boy, Harv, take the win in the 4, it’s tough to bet against the 18 at Bristol. “He Who Shall Not Be Named” is always good there, plus that entire team has been hotter than a firecracker of late.

Other drivers to watch out for tomorrow:

  • Martin Truex (dominant this year)
  • Kyle Larson (speaking of firecrackers)
  • Matt Kenseth (my dark horse is auditioning for rides next year)

Happy Friday, y’all. Have a great weekend and best of luck to your respective drivers tomorrow… unless, of course, that’s Kyle, in which case I hope your night sucks.

RUAH!!!

IJM

A few thoughts before tonight’s NFL Draft

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Two blog posts in a day? *GASP* The end is surely nigh!

For those who don’t know, I’ve been an NFL Draft junkie since I was 14. Seriously, I used to do analysis for the local sports talk radio station in Tallahassee on it.

That said, here are a few of my thoughts heading into tonight’s selections:

CLEVELAND BROWNS — If the Browns take Trubisky first, they deserve every boo they get. I watched Mitch at UNC. He’s a solid player with some really good attributes. Know what he doesn’t have? Experience. The guy started all of 13 games in college, and in no way does that make for an NFL resume. Not even close (see Mark Sanchez, Akili Smith, Blake Bortles, etc.).

Garrett’s your pick, Brownies. Don’t spike yourselves in the nads by choosing otherwise unless you can land the mother of all trades to move down.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — If Cam Robinson or Ruben Foster are there at 19, TAKE THEM! Otherwise, trade down if you can find a partner. I love Dalvin Cook, but he does come with legit injury concerns and the Bucs have other, more pressing needs to fill. It also bears mentioning that this is a very deep RB class, meaning they’ll inevitably have the chance to snare one in later rounds. (Dalvin n early Round 2?)

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Don’t overthink it, Jags. Take Fournette and be done with it. Rumors abound that Tom Coughlin loves Deshaun Watson, and while I do, too, I don’t in the first round. Great kid, enormous talent, but a project nonetheless.

Learn from your Blake Mistake, guys. Don’t reach for a QB when you’ve got tons of other needs, especially at OL which couldn’t block a statue last year.

WATCH THE BACK HALF — Depending on how the nights’ first half goes, the back half could make for a lot of intrigue. There are several teams in need of a QB, though most (I think) have enough sense to know that none of these prospects are worth drafting high. Take Watson, for instance. A team would be nuts to take him in the Top 20. The Pittsburgh Steelers at pick 30, on the other hand, could be a magical fit. Ben Roethlisberger is in the twilight of his career, and the team needs an heir apparent. Watson could ride the pine with no pressure from fans to start then slip in when Big Ben retires, conceivably without some much as hiccup to offensive production. (see Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay).

The Saints, Cardinals, Chargers, and Chiefs all bring similar situations with established veteran starters.

If Watson and others fall (or Dalvin, for that matter), expect some jostling as teams move back into the late-first round to get them.

PRIMETIME STILL SUCKS — The NFL Draft should be held at noon on a Saturday, period. End of story. In moving this even to primetime, ESPN might as well have been announcing to the world that they hate sunshine and puppies.

Stop hating sunshine and puppies, ESPN. Do what’s right and move the Draft back to Saturdays… and while you’re at it, STOP FIRING PEOPLE!!!

Happy Draft Night, y’all! I’ll be on Twitter for as long as I can stay awake if you want to chat picks (@ianjmalone).

IJM

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Customer reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others are vital to the success of independently published works like those of Ian J. Malone. As such, if you enjoy his books, please consider leaving them a brief review on the retailer of your choice. (One or two sentences will do wonderfully.)

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A quick rant about Facebook Ads

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Fair Warning: For the non-author readers of this blog, this post will probably bore you to tears. Just bear with me. It’s been that kind of week.

So, for grins and giggles I decided to “boost” a Facebook post, promoting my free ebook giveaway on Amazon. Granted, it was only $10, but I figured, “Gotta spend money to make money, right?” I set my budget, spent an hour going through metrics to hone my audience, then let fly with the ad when ready.

Fast-forward to this morning and according to FB’s Insights summary, I’ve reached nearly 1,500 users along with 500 engagements.

DANG RIGHT, SON! VICTORY IS MINE!

“Not so fast, my friend,” Lee Corso would’ve said.

After coming down from the engagement rate which far exceeded those of my ordinary posts, I scanned down the page to my ad’s click-through rate. This is the metric which shows how many people actually clicked the link to go download a free ebook.

Question: I know the number 2 is considered plural, but does it really qualify as “people?”

Now, let’s contrast this with Twitter (whom I paid nothing to) where I received 1 link click from a standard tweet, released at 9pm EST last evening.

Just so we’re clear, math lovers, that’s a savings of $5 to my already anorexic marketing budget. Is that a lot? No, but every little bit counts when you’re an indie.

So, Timmy. What did we learn from this little marketing experiment?

  1. Facebook Ads are still northing more than Mark Zuckerberg’s way of printing money for his shareholders.
  2. Twitter will ALWAYS be cooler than Facebook.

Here end of the rant. I’ll have some news next week on Colonies Lost (new novel, due this summer) as well as a short story I’m working on in the Four Horsemen universe from Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey (Military SF).

Cheers, y’all.

Ian

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SHOW YOUR SUPPORT, REVIEW AN IJM BOOK TODAY!

Customer reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others are vital to the success of independently published works like those of Ian J. Malone. As such, if you enjoy his books, please consider leaving them a brief review on the retailer of your choice. (One or two sentences will do wonderfully.)

Please Note: Clicking “yes” on the “Did you find this review helpful?” line for other four and five-star reviews is also extremely helpful.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter. It is much, much appreciated.

Giving the boot to movie reboots

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Hey guys, IJM here.

So, I inadvertently found myself watching the trailer for the new Lethal Weapon TV show the other day, and walked away from it totally pissed. Can somebody please tell me why we need this?

Lethal Weapon

Before I go any further, it should be stated that Hollywood has every right to do whatever they want with their properties. As a rights-holder myself, I firmly believe that. Heck, they could reboot Casablanca if they wanted. That doesn’t mean I, as a consumer, have to support it with my hard-earned ticket money.

It should also be noted that I have zero issue with sequels. None. I don’t care if it’s the eighth one in a series, i.e. the forthcoming Fast 8. If it’s a good script, set in a world I know with characters I like, then bring the noise and let’s see what you’ve got. After all, that is, by definition, a new story.

Reboots, on the other hand, annoy me. They’re essentially a studio saying, “Hey, we need a quick cash infusion. Somebody paid a lot of money for this once. Let’s remake it with young faces and today’s technology, and maybe they’ll buy it again.”

Enter this television show.

Newsflash, people: Lethal Weapon was a great franchise, with innovative, fun stories played out by world-class actors. Could I have done without the fourth one? Sure, but that’s a different discussion for a different blog.

Back to the reboot. Say what you will for Mel Gibson, the man was, and forever will be, Martin Riggs. Just like Danny Glover will always be Roger Murtaugh, Joe Pesci will always be Leo Getz, and Gary Busey will always be nuts. It’s the way of the universe. To bring in an all new cast for a modernized spin on the same stories — on the small screen, no less — just feels cheap.

What’s next? We gonna pull some kid from Glee, give him a Glock, a wife-beater, and bare feet then call him John McClane for a CW Die Hard series? Gimme a flippin’ break.

This is why I had no interest in seeing the Robocop reboot a few years back. It was nothing personal against the cast or crew. I just didn’t care. I’ve seen that film, I’ve heard that story, and it’s one of my all-time favorites. Any Robocop film that doesn’t even acknowledge what came before feels like a store-brand knockoff, and Alex Murphy deserves better.

I felt the same way about the Footloose reboot, the Point Break reboot, and yes… the Ghostbusters reboot. I’m also not going to see Ben Hur.

Oh, and FYI? Apparently lots of other fans agree with me because every one of those films tanked at the box office.

In closing, I will make an exception to the no-fly reboot rule for comic book films. In many instances, these are stories that’ve existed since the early twentieth century, and they’ve been reinvented a thousand times over in print. So there’s a certain expectation among genre fans that they’ll be handled the same way in film.

Thanks for letting me rant, folks. I feel better. And for those who’ve never seen Lethal Weapon, do yourselves a favor. Don’t watch the TV series. Find the original online, pop some popcorn, crack a beer, and get ready to remember why the 1980s reign supreme as the greatest action generation of all-time.

*Drops the mic*

Cheers,

IJM

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Customer reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others are vital to the success of independently published works like those of Ian J. Malone. As such, if you enjoy his books, please consider leaving them a brief review on the retailer of your choice. (One or two sentences will do wonderfully.)

Please Note: Clicking “yes” on the “Did you find this review helpful?” line for other four and five-star reviews is also extremely helpful.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter. It is much, much appreciated.

Curtain falls on bar buddies in space with final book in ‘Mako Saga’

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ACE Promo Cover

— For immediate release.

DURHAM, N.C. – In 2013, science fiction fans welcomed the release of MAKO, the debut novel from author Ian J. Malone about five college friends, dubbed “The Renegades,” who become intergalactic war heroes by way of a videogame. The book met immediate success, rising to fourth on Kindle’s Military Science Fiction list, and eventually spawned a sequel, 2015’s RED SKY DAWNING.

Now, one year later, the curtain falls on sci-fi’s most beloved band of bar buddies in AT CIRCLE’S END, the third and final stanza of Malone’s MAKO SAGA.

Story Synopsis — (spoilers ahead for Red Sky Dawning)

In the months since his disappearance, Danny Tucker has retreated to the darkest corners of Alystierian space in search of intelligence on the empire’s new chancellor, Alec Masterson. Backed by a crew of outcasts and fighting from the shadows as the enigmatic Rogue centurion, Danny will stop at nothing to achieve his mission: absolute vengeance for Masterson’s now infamous “Return to Fear” demonstration.

Still, try as he might, Danny can’t remain underground, and with sightings of the Rogue growing more frequent, Lee Summerston won’t rest until the lost Renegade is found. Meanwhile, in the core, Aura stands on the brink of annihilation as imperial forces, aided by an ancient enemy, draw ever closer to her shores.

In the end, scores will be settled, and brothers will rise united… or they’ll all burn together.

“This is very much a story about loyalty,” said Malone, a native Floridian now living in Durham, North Carolina. “At their core, these books have always been about family. That’s why book two was so hard to write, because in a lot of ways it saw that spirit fractured. In this story, we see the family come back to each other, and that was a really cool ride to take.”

While THE MAKO SAGA is unquestionably sci-fi, evidenced by soaring starfighter battles and high-precision tech, fans of the series laud its use of other genre elements such as romance and political intrigue to tell its story. Even still, its success is and has always been irrevocably tied to its six main characters.

“There’s a lot of nostalgia in this one,” Malone said of the saga’s finale, “for the characters, the fans, and for me as a writer. This time we all got to go home.”

AT CIRCLE’S END is now available in ebook and paperback on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the iBookstore. The audiobook will arrive in early-summer on Audible and iTunes.

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SHOW YOUR SUPPORT, REVIEW AN IJM BOOK TODAY!

Customer reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others are vital to the success of independently published works like those of Ian J. Malone. As such, if you enjoy his books, please consider leaving them a brief review on the retailer of your choice. (One or two sentences will do wonderfully.)

Please Note: Clicking “yes” on the “Did you find this review helpful?” line for other four and five-star reviews is also extremely helpful.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter. It is much, much appreciated.