Michael G. Munz

The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz

Working on Book 3 (aka Book 5)

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It feels strange to be picking up with a series I’d more or less stopped writing years ago. I’m officially working on book 3 of the New Aeneid Cycle. There, I said it.

I hadn’t expected to be doing so, quite honestly. As you can see from the left column over there (to the left, as you can probably imagine), the series consists thus far of A Shadow in the Flames and A Memory in the Black. I first published ASITF in late 2007 in paperback, mostly just to be able to get it out of my mind so I could move on to writing other books. Yet in the time since, people would often ask, upon hearing I’d published a novel, “Can I get it on Kindle?” I’d gotten tired of telling them no, so last June saw the release of the revised version for Kindle.

It’s a different publishing world than it was in 2007. (Strange how only half a decade can bring so much change!) My experience with getting ASITF to Kindle went so smoothly that I decided to finally release A Memory in the Black. After all, it was mostly finished already. I’d simply not bothered to release it for logistical reasons which, these days, are moot. With a bit of final polishing and a cover design by Amalia Chitulescu, it came to Kindle on August 20th. To date, there have been over 2,000 downloads and the average Amazon review is 4.5 stars!

And so, with what appears to be a growing audience for the series (and some plans of mine to further widen that audience) coupled with some troubles at getting a different manuscript project past the outlining stage, I decided that, hey, I should write book #3! So far, it’s a bit of a challenge picking up where I left off. The act of getting AMITB ready for publication did help me re-acquaint myself with the characters, and I do know where I want things to end up by the end of book 3 (this is a trilogy, by the way), but I don’t yet know quite how to get there, each character’s part, or how to put it all together. I’m having to re-evaluate some long-held ideas for book 3, but I’m also finding new and more interesting options.

But it’s still in the early stages. For those of you who’ve finished book 2, however, I can tell you: I DO know what’s going to happen with the, um… Well, you’ve read it. You can probably guess to what I’m referring. The working title for book 3? Here Be Dragons.

So why do I call it book 5 in the title? After writing AMITB, I wrote two other manuscripts: a comedic contemporary fantasy titled Murdering Zeus for Fun and Prophet and a more serious contemporary fantasy titled A Memory of Dragons. (Okay, so I have a thing for memory and dragons.) I’ve not forgotten about these! But that’s all I’ll say about them in this entry…

Incidentally, watch this blog and my Twitter feed for more news about A Shadow in the Flames in a little while…

A Memory in the Black: Free Sept 9th & 10th!

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If you haven’t snagged your copy of A Memory in the Black, now’s your chance! (I won’t say “There’s never been a better time…” because I absolutely loathe that particular marketing phrase, but it IS accurate in this case…) Or, rather, now is your chance if it’s currently September 9th or 10th–but I’m being pedantic. The point I’m trying to make here is:

A Memory in the Black is FREE for Kindle on Sept 9th & 10th!

Free for a limited time!

“A great read! I’m definitely hooked on this series and the author.”
“Great book! I couldn’t stop reading.”

“Left me wanting more in the best sort of way.”

A Memory in the Black: Now Available!

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Well, it’s been a number of years since the original edition of A Shadow in the Flames was published. Two and a half months ago I posted the revised Kindle edition as my first experiment into the world of eBooks. As you likely know if you’ve been here before, that experiment led me to publish the ASITF sequel as an eBook as well.

Today’s the big day. I’m pleased to announce that A Memory in the Black, the sequel to A Shadow in the Flames, has been released!

$3.99 for Kindle!

The thing I love most about A Memory in the Black is how much more deeply I was able to explore the characters after establishing them in the first book. As is the case with much of life, events from A Shadow in the Flames continue to affect them, and will lead some of them to go further than they might have thought possible. You’ll also see into the minds of Diomedes and Caitlin for the first time. (Ever wondered how Diomedes got the way he was?) And, of course, Gideon has been seen alive…

I must warn you, however: not everyone is back. Brian does not appear in this book. (I’m sure that’s a great disappointment to the 2% of readers who didn’t think he was a putz.) There wasn’t any purpose for him in the story, and, frankly, I’m in the implied 98% myself. There are, of course, new characters…

So why not give it a try? You can even read the first 10% on Amazon by clicking the “look inside!” on the book’s cover image.

The book is dedicated to everyone who wanted to know what happened next, and I’m sorry for making you all wait so long. I do hope you’ll find it worth the wait.

Save humanity from itself. It is the goal of the worldwide conspiracy known as the Agents of Aeneas. For months they have struggled to unlock the secrets of an alien spacecraft buried on the Moon. Now word of that craft has leaked, and multiple groups plot to seize it for themselves.

One man has plumbed its depths and returned alive. While Agent Michael Flynn protects him from those who believe that he knows too much, together they must find a demon from Michael’s past: the freelancer Diomedes. Michael’s violent ex-mentor, Diomedes murdered a man at the heart of the spacecraft’s discovery. They must learn why.

Meanwhile the vigilante Gideon, slain by Diomedes six months ago, has been seen alive in the city of Northgate. His baffling return will draw two women into dangers far beyond those that lurk in the city.

Memories that haunt them all will entangle their fates as one in the blackness.

Don’t have a Kindle? You can still read Kindle books on your computer, tablet, or smartphone with the free Kindle app!

Capital Gamer: Book Review: A Shadow in the Flames

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Blogger Aithne just posted a review of A Shadow in the Flames and called it “well-written, entertaining, and a great read for anyone who is a fan of the genre!” Click on the link below to read more!

Capital Gamer: Book Review: A Shadow in the Flames:

I recently had the opportunity to read A Shadow in the Flames , the first novel by Seattle-based sci-fi/fantasy writer Michael G. Munz. A near-future science fiction adventure/thriller, the story follows a colorful cast of characters… (more)

A Memory in the Black: Coming August 20th!

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A Memory in the Black, the long-awaited sequel to A Shadow in the Flames, will be coming to Kindle on Tuesday, August 20th:

Save humanity from itself. It is the goal of the worldwide conspiracy known as the Agents of Aeneas. For months they have struggled to unlock the secrets of an alien spacecraft buried on the Moon. Now word of that craft has leaked, and multiple groups plot to seize it for themselves.

One man has plumbed its depths and returned alive. While Agent Michael Flynn protects him from those who believe that he knows too much, together they must find a demon from Michael’s past: the freelancer Diomedes. Michael’s violent ex-mentor, Diomedes murdered a man at the heart of the spacecraft’s discovery. They must learn why.

Meanwhile the vigilante Gideon, slain by Diomedes six months ago, has been seen alive in the city of Northgate. His baffling return will draw two women into dangers far beyond those that lurk in the city.

Memories that haunt them all will entangle their fates as one in the blackness.

Coming August 20, 2013.

Don’t have a Kindle? You can still read Kindle books on your computer, tablet, or smartphone with the free Kindle app!

Final cover design for A Memory in the Black

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As I mentioned a few days ago, I now have an official cover design for A Memory in the Black, the sequel to A Shadow in the Flames. It’s now been finalized, and so I now present it to you:

(Design by Amalia Chitulescu.)

I expect to have it published on Kindle in mid-August. Watch this blog, or follow my Twitter feed, for updates…

A Shadow in the Flames price drop

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A few novel announcements…

Now 99 cents!

#1: The revised edition of A Shadow in the Flames is now just $.99 on Kindle, and will be staying at that price for some time in honor of the upcoming Kindle release of the sequel, A Memory in the Black.

#2: Speaking of A Memory in the Black, I’ve just picked a cover design from my design contest on 99Designs. The winning designer is Amalia Chitulescu (link goes to her Facebook profile). I’ll be posting a look at her winning design here soon, once everything is officially official.

For those of you who haven’t heard of 99Designs (and I hadn’t heard of it myself until quite recently), it’s essentially a crowdsourcing website where you submit a design need and put up a sum of money as a prize for the best design. Then designers look at your request and begin submitting designs for you to rate, comment on, and request changes for. I started my contest about a week and a half ago, and I spent about 2 hours each day just going through designs and giving my feedback. Over the course of the contest, I wound up getting 320 total designs from 36 designers. (Of course, some of those 320 were adjustments to already submitted designs that I’d requested, but I still got a LOT of variety.) All of the designers were responsive and helpful in trying to meet my needs.

After four days of open submissions, the contest moves to a “final” stage, wherein I had to pick 6 designers to continue on and work with me for another 3 days to create their final submission. Just narrowing it down to 6 was difficult. When the final stage was over and it was time to pick a winner, that was an even harder choice. I spent three days agonizing over my options, going back and forth, and trying to choose from 6 final (and unique) choices, some of which had multiple versions for me to decide on.

But hey, now I’ve got a great, professional looking cover.

Most of the designs I received were combinations of photographic images – there wasn’t too much in the way of painted artwork, though there was some. I think if I were doing a fantasy book cover, I’d either go elsewhere or create a contest with a higher reward (you can increase the amount you’re offering, which I’m told brings in even more, and possibly better, designers). But I’m more than happy with my results here.