Trip Hackett

‘Colonies Lost’ arrives on paperback!

July 6, 2018 by robmcclel Leave a Comment

Hey y’all.

Just wanted to give a quick heads up that Colonies Lost is now available in paperback. You can purchase your copy on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Colonies-Lost-Ian-J-Malone/dp/1948051125/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1530900004&sr=8-1

Also, please be sure to leave the book a brief four or five-star review afterward if you felt the story deserved as much. This is enormously helpful to me.

You can leave your review in seconds at https://www.amazon.com/Colonies-Lost-Ian-J-Malone/product-reviews/1948051125/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

Thank you as always, gang. Take care, and have a great weekend… Ian

Colonies Lost is available for pre-order!

May 21, 2018 by robmcclel Leave a Comment

Hey y’all, I’ve gotta keep this quick as I’m swamped with work today, but wanted to let you know that COLONIES LOST is now available for pre-order on Amazon. I say this for two reasons:

I know you guys have been waiting a while for your chance to score a copy, and
If you pre-order now, you get the book for the reduced into price of $2.99!

Ya’ll know me, man. I’m all about saving a buck where I can, and these days I figure a lot of you are in the same boat. I hope this helps.

Also, for those wanting a paperback, you’ll have to wait a bit longer there. COLONIES LOST is currently under consideration for a review by Publisher’s Weekly, which requires a delay of the print run. As soon as I have a release date for the dead tree version, I’ll let you know.

Gotta jet, gang.

Cheers, and talk soon.

Ian

COVER REVEAL: Colonies Lost

April 12, 2018 by robmcclel 1 Comment

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.

Colonies Lost hits the next phase

April 6, 2017 by robmcclel Leave a Comment

Hey y’all, just wanted to pop by and let you know that my family’s move into our new house is finally done, which puts me back on track in writing world.

HUZZAH!!!

The first COLONIES LOST beta manuscript has been finished and shipped off to my subject matter expert for “cop stuff” review. Ass mentioned before, this story does have something of a “who done it?” element, thus I felt it wise to let an actual cop give it a gander. Fortunately for me (and the story), one of my dearest friends in the world is a former detective, and he’s graciously agreed to help out.

I expect to have my friend’s notes back by the end of the month/first of May. After that, I’ll need a few weeks to make changes then it’s off to edit. As to how that’ll look, I’m not yet sure. I may well publish through my own press (Sharkflight Publishing), or I might go through one of a handful of small presses who’ve shown interest in the project.

Oh, and I’ve also queried a few agents, just for grins and giggles. Because, you know, why not?

Either way, barring a trip to NYC for meetings with major publishers (a fella can dream, right?), I expect COLONIES LOST to drop sometime this summer, as scheduled.

Peace for now, gang. Hope you’re staying dry (we’re getting pummeled with rain in Durham right now), and thanks as always for keeping tabs on my work.

Cheers,

IJM

Colonies Lost update, IJM joins an anthology in time for summer

February 21, 2017 by robmcclel Leave a Comment

Hey guys, apologies for the radio silence the last few months but life around the Malone house has been pretty hectic. Nevertheless, that’s still no excuse for the fact that I really do need to get better at writing these. So, expect to see more blog posts in 2017 and beyond.

Okay, let the news begin…

A new book looms on the horizon

For those who don’t know, my new book is tentatively titled Colonies Lost and will not be set in the Mako universe. It’s an entirely new story about a present-day U.S. Marshal from North Carolina (Trip Hackett) who finds himself on the outs with his agency and in need of work to support his family.

Enter the enigmatic “Mr. Smith.”

Smith seeks to enlist the aid of someone who specializes in finding people — specifically, his boss’s daughter who has mysteriously gone missing.

Trip takes the assignment, and so begins the inevitable trek down the rabbit hole. In the end, he’ll be asked to find the girl, stop a conflict that could trigger an interplanetary war, and while he’s at it, solve one of the greatest mysteries in American history.

(Hint to the Latter: Google The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island.)

I won’t lie to you, people. This has been a HUGE undertaking, and one far greater than I set out to tackle when I started this project. It’s taken a lot of research, and a crap-ton of worldbuilding, the likes of which I’ve never done before. Suffice it to say, though, I’m really happy with the direction this project has taken, and I’m almost ready to unveil it to the world.

Where do we stand?

I’m on track to have the initial beta manuscript done by the first week in March. From there, it’ll go to a cop friend of mine for subject matter proofing (Trip’s a U.S. Marshal, not a pizza guy. He has to read like it). Once my subject matter guy is finished, I’ll make changes and be ready to roll for editor submissions.

Ah, but here’s the rub…

Before I go to press with my company, Sharkflight Publishing, I want to give this book a pass through a handful of agents and some larger publishers. I do this because I think this story has real potential to strike. That said, I won’t sit on it long, nor will I sell it to just anyone. If I get a reputable bite, so be it. We’ll talk. If not, I’ll go to press with Sharkflight after two months or so.

If Colonies Lost sells, I don’t know when it’ll release as that would be dictated by the publisher. If, on the other hand, I publish it myself, expect it to hit sometime this summer.

But wait! There’s more!

Not only am I working on content for my own projects, but in very short order I’ll be developing content for others. I’ve been asked by Amazon bestselling Military SF authors Chris Kennedy and Mark H. Wandrey to pen a short story for the second of two anthology books due out later this year.

The anthologies will be set in the duo’s Four Horsemen universe, and boy is it a doozy (see books cited below for more info).

In addition to myself, Kennedy, and Wandrey, here are some of the other authors who’ll be involved in this project:

Nick Cole
Christopher Nuttall
Doug Dandridge
Brad R. Torgersen
Sarah Hoyt

Oh, and the foreword is being written by NYT bestseller and Baen Books stalwart Chuck Gannon, so there’s that.

The first anthology is titled Fistful of Credits (frickin’ love that), and is slated for release later this spring. Anthology two (the one I’m in) should arrive this summer. In the meantime, readers can bone up on all things Horsemen with Cartwright’s Cavaliers and Asbaran Solutions, books one and two of The Revelations Cycle series.

So there ya have it, folks — the latest and greatest from yours truly, Ian Jazner Malone. As always, stay tuned here as news unfolds, and email me anytime if you’ve got questions.

Cheers, and talk then.

IJM

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Trip Hackett update + events abound in NC!

October 22, 2016 by robmcclel Leave a Comment

Hey folks, what’s the good word?

It’s been a while since I’ve written, so I thought I’d take a few minutes and bring you up to speed on what’s been happening.

Work on Trip Hackett continues

I’m deep into editing on the second draft of my next book, THE NEW WORD: A TRIP HACKETT NOVEL. All and all, I’m really happy with the way it’s going, though it has been somewhat of a learning experience (aren’t they all?). It’s a very different kind of book for me. Yes, it’s still sci-fi. But Trip is a very different character than the Renegades, with a very different skillset. It also bears mentioning that the world I’m dropping him into (named Sunoro) is quite different than those of Aura and Alystier in that it’s much more grass roots. Think the Industrial Revolution with alien tech.

My goal is to be ready for an editor by Christmas for a late-spring, early-summer release in 2017. Stay tuned for more details as they come.

Spend Halloween weekend with me at HonorCon in Raleigh

Halloween weekend marks the return of HonorCon to the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown, and I’m “honored” as always to have been invited back as a panelist. This is a great event, no matter what strand of the SF&F genre you’re into. Of course there’s military SF (It’s the official con of the HONOR HARRINGTON series… duh!). There also loads of venders, panels, guests, and workshops to attend.

This year’s guest of honor is actress and writer Claudia Christian. Christian is best known for her role as Commander Susan Ivanova on the hit television series Babylon 5.

Other guests include the following authors:

David Weber
Chris Kennedy
Greg Cox
Christopher Nuttall
Marko Kloos

As for me, I’ll be in Authors Alley and on several panels. Hope to see you there!

For more information, or to register for the convention, visit HonorCon online.

The NC Writers Network fall conference

If you miss me at HonorCon, you can also find me the following weekend at the annual fall conference for the North Carolina Writers Network. I’ll be teaching a class that Sunday, titled “Beyond Vanity: How Indie Publishing Builds Professional Writers.” Come say hi and check out the class. If you’ve ever had interest in publishing a book, it’s my hope that these contents will put you on a path to making that happen.

Plus, who knows? Maybe one of the myriad publishers/agents in attendance meets you in the crowd and offers you a contract. Stranger things have happened, right?

The conference will be held at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley, Nov. 4-6. Visit the event’s official webpage for more details.

All right, gang, that’s gonna do it for this one. As you can see, I’ve got tons to do and not much time to do it. So back to the office I go.

Take care, stay warm, and see you around the inter-web thingy.

Cheers,

IJM

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New book, character sports allegiances, and early CFB thoughts

July 29, 2016 by robmcclel Leave a Comment

Greetings, all!

HOLY FREAKIN’ CRAP, IT’S HOT!!!

Moving on.

Update on the new book

I managed to bang out another thousand words this morning, thus bringing my total so far to just under 30k. At this rate, I’ll have a first draft by the end of September, and a beta manuscript by Christmas. I say that, mind you, as this story grows like a weed every time I sit down at my computer. Seriously, when I first started this project, I expected it to be a nice, compact little 300 page scifi/alt history adventure tale. But no, it’s gotta run off and get all complex and epic on me… stupid imagination. LOL

Back to the matter at hand: I will take a break from writing next weekend so the Mrs. and I can vacay in the Outer Banks (OBX) for a few days. I’m really excited about it, too. That’s a part of NC that I’ve yet to visit and I hear it’s gorgeous. It’s also loaded with American history, and I’ll need that as research material for my next book… more on that in later blogs. 😉

Oh, one other thing. I found out last night that Smalls and I are going hand-gliding in Kitty Hawk on Friday so keep an eye on my Facebook page for photos after.

Trip Hackett, sports enthusiast

As any reader of The Mako Saga knows, my characters tend to be sports fans. Shocker, I know. First there was Mac, the Yankees fan. Then came Link, the Bronco, Hamish the All Black, Danny, the Dolphin, and Lee, the Buccaneer — all of whom cheer for Florida State because, well, that’s what good guys do.

So, where are the allegiances of my new guy, Trip Hackett, native son of the Tar Heel state?

Drum roll please….

Yep. My man is a Braves fan.

I know, I know. Most locals from the OBX area tend to support Washington or Baltimore teams, but hear me out on this. Right out of the gate, I knew I wanted the All-American element of baseball in this story. Thematically, it just fits, and when you read it next year, you’ll understand why. That said, North Carolina has no MLB club, which leaves me with two options: the Nationals (aka the Montreal Expos prior to 2005) or the more likely choice, the Oriels.

There’s just one problem with the latter: While the Os were solid during Trip’s childhood in the mid-90s, they paled in comparison to the Braves who were at the peak of their popularity with guys like Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Chipper Jones. Add to that Atlanta’s accessibility back then (they were televised almost nightly on TBS) and LOTS of people outside of Fulton County, Georgia were Braves fans.

So, there you have it. My guy’s a Bravo.

Okay, so maybe there’s one more reason. *sigh* Fact is, a lot of my peeps back home still haven’t forgiven me for making Mac a Yankee. So there. We square now or what?

Ridiculously early thoughts on college football

With ACC and SEC Media Days having just ended, the time is almost upon us to start talking college football. It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? Like Christmas or Happy Hour or BOGO milkshake day at Cookout.

Coming out of ACC Kickoff, a lot of folks are picking Clemson to repeat as conference champs. And you know what? I’m good with that. They’ve got arguably the nation’s top player under center (Deshaun Watson) and a full arsenal of weapons at his disposal.

That’s the group, you’ll recall, that pushed Bama’s defense to the brink in last year’s national title game. They’re a great squad, deserving of all the accolades they’ve gotten.

Now, do I think they’ll be conference champs? No, I don’t. It’ll be Florida State, for three reasons.

Reason 1: The Tigers’ defense is poised to take a significant step back this season due to heavy losses in the draft and graduation.
Reason 2: Clemson will travel to Tallahassee this fall for what will likely be one of, if not the biggest game of the CFB season.
Reason 3: In addition to home field advantage, FSU has two other things going for it: a defense tat’s expected to be ferocious and a generational talent at running back who’s healthy for the first time in a year.

It’s the tried and true formula, folks — a running game that slashes and a defense that smashes. Advantage, Noles.

It’s also worth noting that Louisville could be decent, provided of course that Bobby Petrino can steer clear of mopeds and co-eds for the duration of the season.

As for the rest of the ACC… eh, we’ll see.

That’s it, people. I’m off to that place that gives me money to play on Twitter all day. (No really. I’m in charge of social media.) Take care, email me anytime if you’ve got questions, and for the love of Pete, STAY COOL!!!

Cheers,

Ian

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