Birthday Competition

Thirty-three years around the sun. Happy birthday to me! (And my Dad, coincidentally.)

I thought I’d do something special for my blog today. A competition. Well, two competitions, actually.

The first is to name a character in my current work-in-progress, Archivist series Book 2. Book one is coming back from the editor this week (exciting!) so I hope to be able to offer it up next year. Book two is about 25% written (thanks to NaNoWriMo). Here is a sneak peak at the blurb:

Cassia Tan is on a mission: ferry information carried by a secretive alien to their home planet, Lasca; save said planet from eco-destruction by a suspicious mining company; and somehow survive to get to her assigned job across the galaxy before her bosses bring her in for insubordination.

But nothing is ever easy, and secrets hiding on Lasca turn her world upside down. Will Cassia and her friends be able to overcome the rift that threatens to tear them apart? Or will she have to continue this journey of discovery on her own?

One thing is for sure: someone in the galaxy is playing a dangerous game, and they can’t wait for Cassia to join the table.

In Lascian Seas, book 2 of the Archivist series

The second competition is to receive one of my top three science fiction books this year named below.

Competition 1:

To offer a name for a character in Archivist Book 2: In Lascian Seas.

There are several characters as-yet unamed in this book, because I’m an unapologetic pantser. Two that I’m keen on having input for are:

Minister for Resources, Congregation Government. This ambitious character has a trick or two up their sleeve to gather mining resources wherever they can. If that includes massacring a peaceful species for their untapped irisidium* elements, so be it. After all, they rarely leave their home planet and the rest of the galaxy is happy to ignore them, too.

*Irisidium is the metal used for the multi-billion-credit research into quantum communications. Not to mention an essential component of data analysing implants, such as those used by Archivists.

A special pet. While I cannot reveal much about this pet’s origin or owner, suffice to say their presence will be an important plot point! I would like suggestions for the pet species as well as name. As exotic or mundane as you like. Pet’s qualities: intelligence, snark, quick to defend its master.

Enter in the comments below, and/or on Twitter, and/or on Facebook. Multiple entries accepted.

Entries close November 30th, 23:59pm AWST. Winners will be chosen by myself, subjectively, and all decisions are final. I will contact you if you are a winner using your profile information, and your name and winning entry will be published on a future blog post.

Winners will also receive a copy of the book when it comes out and your name in the acknowledgments.

Competition 2:

2020 has been… a year.

There are many, many books still on my to-be-read list. I can’t possibly list them all, and I am ashamed to say that many of the books claimed as ‘best science fiction of 2020’ are, as yet, unread by this writer.

However. I offer to you my three favourite sci-fi reads that I devoured this year.

Gideon the Ninth – The Locked Tomb 1 – by Tamsyn Muir

Aurora Rising – The Aurora Cycle 1 – by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

All Systems Red – The Murderbot Diaries 1 – by Martha Wells

All three are amazing. All have over 4/5 stars on Goodreads (and they deserve 5/5 imo). All are quite different. If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend. I will try to publish some book reviews for these soon.

And on that point: the competition. Enter in the comments below, or on Twitter or Facebook. Let me know which book you’d like. One entry per person per book, no matter which platform you enter on.

Entries close November 30th 23:59pm AWST. Winners will be chosen using random number generator and notified using the profile information provided when entering. Winners will also be published on a future blog post. I will then organise your free download of the book you have won. eBook formats acceptable for all countries as available; physical copies can be requested for Australia and New Zealand only due to postage costs.

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Thanks for stopping by. Good luck!