Robert Jenkins escaped The Wastelands, but he feels that the best part of him has been left in that horrible place. Now, with the help of unexpected friends, Robert has to decide if he goes back to save the love of his life, or enjoy his new life in The Rocky Mountain States of America.
The Dustbin by Tyree Campbell: Tyree Campbell is one of my favorite authors. Enjoyed this story for Nomadic Delirium’s “Divided States of America” series.
The Wall is Beautiful by Mike Morgan: Another good story from Mike Morgan.
What Lies in the Wastelands by Ian Brazee-Cannon: It’s incredible how the author is able to succinctly develop well-rounded characters and quite vividly describe the world they live in.
Can’t Go Home Again by Ian Brazee-Cannon: This is an excellent continuation of a minor character in his previous story. Looking forward to more in the series!
Fight or Flight by J Alan Erwine: I always enjoy reading anything by J Alan Erwine. Wish this one was longer. (Special note: A sequel is coming.)
Tested by Lorelei Suzanne: A very touching story about a Mother’s love for her daughter. Marvelous.
BKX: Tuskegee: This was a great quick read for anyone who is interested in science fiction of sorts. It can truly be expanded upon and made in to a full novel.
Check out the entire series at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HLWYBT9
DriveThruRPG is currently running their annual GM's Day Sale, and you can save on Ephemeris and Battle for Turtle Island titles. So, now is a great time to stock up on titles you need. Go to https://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_gmsday.php?manufacturers_id=2805 and download everything you need today.
Download today at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/388306
For the record, I believe this is the longest period of time that I've ever had a title on their bestsellers list. Let's see if we can make this one the Dark Side of the Moon of the science fiction world.
For the next week, you can save 25% off of many of my titles during the Smashwords Read an ebook week sale. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaerwine and start downloading some or all of my titles today!
From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
We’ve streamlined our Ephemeris titles to make it easier for you to get
the titles you really want, and for a limited time, you can save 40% off
of all of the Ephemeris titles. Finish your collection today at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2805
Humanity's first contact with an alien species, the Lemec, is complicated by the fact that the aliens don't use an entirely verbal language...not only that, but the other aliens in their "domain" seem to worship the Lemec as some type of gods, and as they seem to anticipate every move that Captain Shiro Takahashi and his crew make, humanity begins to think that maybe the other aliens know something that they don't.
Order today at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1010399
If you do like plays, then I invite you to read my one-act play Climbing the Hill with Sisyphus. This is not a genre piece, but rather a mainstream piece that I wrote when I was in college. I always liked the play, and I would love to see it performed at some point.
Eric is a teen with troubles, the biggest of which is his alcoholic father. This one-act play uses a split-stage, showing Eric talking to his therapist on one side of the stage, while we get to see flashbacks to the last couple of troubled years on the other side of the stage.
Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1084996
Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095BZYVS5
As I type this, my Tales of Space Exploration and Discovery is currently ranked as the #13 bestseller at DriveThruFiction. Can we push it higher?
Buy it today at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/top_100.php
Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1134741
Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L59F9RZ
Order from DriveThruFiction: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/388306
More sellers will be carrying it in the days to come.
The paperback and hardcover versions are still available from Amazon.
Over the years, we’ve released individual supplements for each of the character classes in Ephemeris. Now we’ve combined all of those supplements into one book, which is available from all of the usual sources.
Order from DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/388254
Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TG29ZGP
Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1134658
Seven stories from award winning science fiction author J Alan Erwine that explore the future of both the Earth and the Moon.
Stranded
astronauts, intelligent dolphins being used by the government, a
soldier struggling with orders he knows he shouldn’t have followed,
lovers waiting for the end of the world, politics even dirtier than what
we’re seeing in the modern world (maybe), a man resurrected because he
wanted to see the future, but now feeling very much alone, and
manipulation on the moon.
These are the stories that are waiting for you in this collection.
I've been away for a bit, as the whole family contracted COVID. The youngest came home on Friday the 28th not feeling good. By Sunday, Rebecca was feeling really bad, so on Monday the 31st, she had herself tested. We got the results the next day that she was positive, so we all went into quarantine.
I never got really sick. I felt like I had a head cold, but I had a fever that I just couldn't break and I felt exhausted all the time. Rebecca got quite sick, and there were a few times I thought she might need to be hospitalized. The kids were sick, but never really bad. I returned to work last Saturday and Rebecca returned today. We're both still feeling the effects. Once I start moving too much at work, I feel like I'm going to drop, so I guess it's a long recovery process.
I have returned, so you can expect me to start annoying you about sales and everything else very soon.
Seven stories from award winning science fiction author J Alan Erwine that explore the future of both the Earth and the Moon.
Stranded
astronauts, intelligent dolphins being used by the government, a
soldier struggling with orders he knows he shouldn’t have followed,
lovers waiting for the end of the world, politics even dirtier than what
we’re seeing in the modern world (maybe), a man resurrected because he
wanted to see the future, but now feeling very much alone, and
manipulation on the moon.
These are the stories that are waiting for you in this collection.
Download it today at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/641482
We’ve come to the final book of the weekend, and this weekend, we’re offering J Alan Erwine’s One More Good Trade for just $2.24.
Download it today at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1095949
Your name is Anthony Jones. You’re a Human free Trader. Your ship is called The Longest Night, and you have two crewmates, Tora-no, a four-armed Althani Soldier and Creeoona, a Tulmath Cyber Wizard. Three adventures lie open to you, which one will you pick, and what will happen along the way? You get to decide what happens in this story, as you pick your way through various plot twists.
So, if you're looking for a new game, now's the time to start playing. Go to https://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_newyear.php?manufacturers_id=2805&filters=0_0_0_0_0_44298#selectpub, and start playing today.
From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
Now that the Smashword’s End of the Year sale is over, we’re going to get back to our last couple of weekend specials.
This weekend’s book is The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica. You can download the entire volume for 25% off, which translates into $14.99 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1080614Are you ready to embark on your largest Ephemeris adventure ever?
Now,
in one massive tome, all 61 sectors of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia
Galactica. Explore Colonized Space, Near Space, Unexplored Space, and
Deep Space all from one book.
The settings and the adventures are as expansive as the galaxy itself.
For decades, J Alan Erwine has been writing stories about space
exploration and discovery...now all of those stories are gathered into
one massive tome. Travel the far reaches of space, or explore the solar
system with him. Some of the stories are dark, some are optimistic, but
all of them are uniquely his.
This collection also features the first four stories in Erwine's Solar Federation Series.
Please keep in mind as we go into a new year that you can still support my work at Patreon by going to https://www.patreon.com/jalanerwine
During the month of January, you can get five of my stories for just $3. You get one of my Divided States of America stories, Frozen Ambitions, you also get one of my Solar Federation stories, Greenie. In addition, you get three of my other stories...Entropy, Hunted, and Seas of Red.
All five of these stories are only $3 at https://jalanerwine.gumroad.com/l/hqeuq
Thanks!
You can get five of my short stories for just $3 at Gumroad. You get "It's in the Water," "Mission Unknown," "On the Word of Ancients," "Lost in the Dark," and "The Least Practical of Jokes." Download them today at https://jalanerwine.gumroad.com/l/loWkE
And if you're an Amazon Unlimited member, you can read "One More Good Trade" for free at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FYHCNBN
In this package, you get "It's in the Water," my first Divided States of America story, "Mission Unknown," my first Solar Federation story, "On the Word of Ancients," "Lost in the Dark," and "The Least Practical of Jokes." Basically, that's five stories for the price of 3, and that deals on available through Gumroad.
So, download all five stories today at https://jalanerwine.gumroad.com/l/loWkE
And be sure to follow me while you're there, for future special deals that will only be available for followers.
Through Cyber Monday, you can save 20% on a variety of my titles at DriveThruRPG. I'm not sure how they chose the titles, but some of them are available for 20% off at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/16618
Let this weekend be criminal...with Future Syndicate II for just $2.24.
Many would like to think that as our species evolves, crime will disappear, but most know this is not true. Crime has always been with us, and it always will. Future Syndicate II features stories told from the point of view of the criminals, sometimes bad people, sometimes people forced to make bad decisions, but always, in the eyes of society, criminals.
Download from Smashwords at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1000060
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L59F9RZ
For decades, J Alan Erwine has been writing stories about space
exploration and discovery...now all of those stories are gathered into
one massive tome. Travel the far reaches of space, or explore the solar
system with him. Some of the stories are dark, some are optimistic, but
all of them are uniquely his.
This collection also features the first four stories in Erwine's Solar Federation Series.
Head on over now, and buy something, or follow...or better yet, do both! https://app.gumroad.com/jalanerwine?sort=price_desc
This weekend, let’s look at a possible future for the United States with The Divided States of America Volume 1…
No one can say with any reasonable certainty when the United States of America began to fall apart. Many point to the presidential election of 2016, but most believe the breakup started long before this. Now, in the year 2110, the former United States is made up of 13 nation-states and The Wastelands. Some of the nation-states have prospered under self-rule, while others have declined. Some nation-states are very accepting of outsiders, while others trust no one…sometimes not even their fellow citizens. There is chaos in some places, and order in others…sometimes too much order.
You can download it today from Smashwords for just $2.99 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/899361
I'm slowly starting to post some of my stories to Gumroad, so you can check them out at https://jalanerwine.gumroad.com/.
It will be a slow process, but I will be getting more posted.
Originally released only in hardback, my Tales of Space Exploration and Discovery is now available in paperback and as an e-book, and through Amazon, you can even read it for free if you're a Kindle Unlimited member.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L59F9RZ
For decades, J Alan Erwine has been writing stories about space
exploration and discovery...now all of those stories are gathered into
one massive tome. Travel the far reaches of space, or explore the solar
system with him. Some of the stories are dark, some are optimistic, but
all of them are uniquely his.
This collection also features the first four stories in Erwine's Solar Federation Series.
Humanity's first contact with an alien species, the Lemec, is complicated by the fact that the aliens don't use an entirely verbal language...not only that, but the other aliens in their "domain" seem to worship the Lemec as some type of gods, and as they seem to anticipate every move that Captain Shiro Takahashi and his crew make, humanity begins to think that maybe the other aliens know something that they don't.
From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
This week we’re going with the longest collection of fiction we’ve ever published…Manic Musings of a Maniacal Mind by J Alan Erwine.
For more than two decades, editors have been publishing the works of J
Alan Erwine, exposing you, the reader, to the dark recesses of the
author’s mind. Now, all of those stories have been combined together
into one massive tome.
Get a glimpse into Erwine’s grim view of the future, and explore the universe from his slightly off-kilter point of view.
Visit
the planets, the stars, the scary places in the human mind, but make
sure you’re wearing a seatbelt, because you never know where Erwine
might take you next…
I've added even more titles to my Gumroad account. You can find it at https://app.gumroad.com/jalanerwine?sort=price_desc.
You can find all of my novels, all of my short story collections, and the two RPGs I've created, as well as some of the supplements for those.
I'm still debating as to whether or not I want to upload my individual short stories. It's a lot of work, and I'm not yet sure of the payoff...but my longer stuff is all available for you to start downloading and enjoying...
Many of my books are now available through Gumroad, and I will be adding more titles as time allows. Feel free to start downloading any of my books at https://jalanerwine.gumroad.com/
Disharmony of the Spheres is our book of the weekend for this weekend…
Mental illness is very common in our society, but it’s also very
misunderstood. Many view those with mental illnesses as being weak, but
there is a great deal of strength in those that must battle their own
minds on a regular basis.
Disharmony of the Spheres focuses on
characters with mental illnesses that are still able to be successful.
They may not completely overcome their illnesses, but they are able to
beat them back and succeed.
In this volume, you will find the fiction
of Ian Brazee Cannon, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, MH Bonham, David Lee
Summers, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Kate Runnels, Michael Morgan, L.J.
Bonham, Carol Hightshoe, Francis W. Alexander, and Terrie Leigh Relf.
This
book is dedicated to all of the science fiction fans and writers that
must battle their own personal demons every day, and half of all of the
profits from this book will go to The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention
Organization, a group that battles teen suicide.
Download today for just $2.00 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/754728
From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
We set up an eight day sale which would allow you to save 30% on most of our RPG titles, without realizing that DriveThruRPG was also going to be running a small press sale...so as a result, you can save really BIG on our titles, including ALL of our Ephemeris titles. What do we mean by BIG savings? How does 60% off sound? Hurry and head over to https://www.drivethrurpg.com/sale.php?manufacturers_id=2805 and download everything you want now!
More than a decade ago, Sam’s Dot Publishing released a small anthology
titled Ecotastrophe that looked at the dangers posed by global climate
change.
Now, the planet seems in even greater peril, and maybe we are facing Ecotastrophe, but is there time to save ourselves.
Ecotastrophe
II features startling fiction from Tyree Campbell, Dan Rice, Melanie
Rees, Robert J. Mendenhall, Gustavo Bondoni, and Mike Adamson.
Download it today for just $2.99 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/735461
You still have one week left to save 25% on most of my titles through DriveThruFiction. Novels for just over $2. Collections for $2-3 and individual short stories for just 74 cents. This is a great opportunity to pick up titles that you haven't read yet, or if you've never read my work, now would be a great chance to introduce yourself...
Order today at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/16618
For two weeks only, you can save 25% off of most of my digital titles. You can find them at DriveThruFiction at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/16618.
This includes, novels and short stories...and some of the short stories are available for just 74 cents.
Be sure to tell your friends, and order often!
So, what are you waiting for? Head over to Amazon and order your copy now... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GJJ11Q7
We hadn't realized that "Choose Your Own Adventure" was trademarked, and we never meant to infringe on that trademark, so we have dropped the subtitle from "One More Good Trade." Unfortunately, Amazon does not allow us to change titles, so we had to delete the old one, and upload everything all over again. So, if you would like to order "One More Good Trade," simply go to: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FYHCNBN
The print version should be available very soon as well.
From the Nomadic Delirium Press Blog:
For the next two weeks, all of our titles are available for 25% off at DriveThruFiction, this means you can download some titles for as little as 74 cents…so check out the sale today at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/2805/
This includes many books that I've edited. Plus some of my short story collections and my Divided States of America stories...and of course, it includes One More Good Trade.
Taurin Tales is a shared world anthology featuring some of the top names
in small press science fiction. The Taurins were created by science
fiction writer, editor, and game designer J Alan Erwine. Once he had
created them, he invited some of his favorite writers to play in the
universe, and further flesh out these new aliens. Thus was born Taurin
Tales.
The stories in this collection cover a large aspect of Taurin
life…grand space adventures, small character studies, the tackling of
difficult social issues, the past and the future of the Taurins.
Included
in this collection, you’ll find David Lee Summers, D. Moonfire, Ian
Brazee-Cannon, Tyree Campbell, Anna Paradox, Laura Givens, and Rick
Novy.
Order today for just $2.99 from Smashwords at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/472428
As work progresses on our third RPG, let’s go back to our very first RPG, and still our most successful title, Ephemeris.
The year is 2185. The human race has gone to the stars, and found that they’re not alone. Local space is teeming with civilizations, some hostile, some friendly, and some indifferent. This is the universe of Ephemeris.
Ephemeris is a game of galactic trade and galactic conquest; of
inter-species conflict and cooperation. Ephemeris is a science fiction
role playing game. Here you will be able to take on the role of your
favorite alien species and your favorite class. You will be able to
trade, fight, negotiate, conquer, whatever you’d like to do with your
fellow players. You can play the role of an Althani Trader, or maybe an
Arbonix Cyber Wizard, or maybe even a Human Nanist. You can create a
party made up entirely of one species and set out to upset the trade
routes of a rival species. Or maybe you want to create a party with a
variety of species that preys upon the trading routes of the various
civilizations. Or maybe you want to explore the ancient ruins on long
dead planets, ruins that clearly show that there were other species
roaming the spaceways in the past…but where are they now? You can fight
in great wars, negotiate grand peace treaties, and explore sections of
the galaxy that no sentient has ever explored. Or maybe your party has
joined with one of the interplanetary corporations; corporations whose
motives are never entirely clear. These are just some of the
possibilities open to you.
The universe of Ephemeris is yours to do
with as you please. What you now hold in your hands are the basic
guidelines for the games. Here you’ll find the races, classes,
abilities, skills, weapons, and ships that allow you to create your own
Ephemeris universe.
Now, step inside for the greatest science fiction adventure you’ve ever been on…
Now available at Smashwords for 25% off ($3.74) at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/83508
From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
For the next few days, DriveThruRPG is having a 25% off sale on a selection of their titles, which includes some of ours. You can order and download them at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2805
This includes my new Ephemeris RPG choose your own adventure story, One More Good Trade.
I'm not quite sure how DriveThruFiction selected the titles for their latest sale, but some (not all) of my titles are available for 25% off at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/16618
You'll have to do some searching, but there are some great deals...like individual stories for 74 cents and the first four Solar Federation stories available as a bundle for just $3.
Happy shopping.
For the post-apocalyptic RPG I'm creating, I'm considering the title Rocks on the Other Side. I'm not sure if many people will get this reference...I'm also not sure that it really jumps off the page, making people want to buy it. I think it's a great title for a story, but I'm not sure it's a great title for a game.
Thoughts?
If we’re going to start a featured book of the weekend, then we might as well start with where it all started for us…Seedlings on the Solar Winds by J Alan Erwine.
America as a fascist state, soldiers driven to terrorism, insane computers, insane humans, insane aliens, these are just some of the things waiting for readers in the pages of this new short story collection from prize winning science fiction author J Alan Erwine.
Available for 25% off at Smashwords this weekend only: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16551
I know that many of you buy your e-books through iBooks, so I thought I'd post a link to make it easier for you to buy some of my books... https://books.apple.com/us/author/j-alan-erwine/id380447524#see-all/books
Christmas in July has arrived at DriveThruFiction. You can save 25% off of my titles, this even includes the individual short stories. This sale ends soon, so shop today at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/16618
From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
We've combined all of the Ephemeris titles into one bundle. It features all of the large collections like The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica, and such, but it leaves off the individual titles that are included in those larger collections, so that it's easier for you to get everything without having to try to figure out what's in each collection...and the best part, it's all available for only $40.
For a while now, I've been toying with the idea of creating a new post-apocalyptic RPG. I have tons of ideas, but I'm curious to hear what people might want to see in a new RPG, and what kinds of things they think have been done to death.
Please feel free to comment and debate...politely...
Robert Jenkins cowered in the corner of the disheveled building, sweat pouring from every pore. His grungy clothes were even dirtier than normal as he desperately tried to catch his breath. The patrol had almost caught him, and he knew what would happen. If he was lucky, a life in a Rocky Mountain States of America prison, but if the patrol had been too busy, or didn’t feel like following the “rules,” he’d be just another dead kid from the Wastelands left on the side of a street in Campo, Colorado.
The Rocky Mountain States were supposed to be so great, at least that’s what he’d heard, but what he had seen so far in Campo, abandoned buildings, dust, and high winds, reminded him a lot of Boise City in what used to be Oklahoma, but that had been long before Robert had been born. Now Boise City was just a series of ruins run by various gangs. His, the Rose Clan, had sent him to Colorado. He was supposed to make his way to Springfield, where he was supposed to steal some resources. That had been the plan, anyway. That had been when there were four of them. Jackson got fried in an electric fence while crossing the border. Evans was shot dead by some random hunter who thought he was a dear, or some shit like that. And Billings got hit by a truck just outside of Campo. They hadn’t seen any traffic since they’d entered Colorado, so Billings had thought it would be safe to walk down the middle of what had been Highway 287…maybe it was still called that in Colorado. In what used to be Oklahoma, it was just called The Road, a place where the gangs could try to take out the occasional truck going between the Rocky Mountain States and Texas, and those were few and far between.
Billings had been walking down the middle of the Highway when the truck came out of nowhere and took him out at 200 miles per hour. Now Robert was left alone to complete a mission that would probably require at least two of them, but if he returned to the Rose Clan empty handed, Jim Bob, the head of his clan would probably have him killed.
“Talk about lose-lose,” he mumbled to himself, and then quickly put his hand over his mouth as he heard a noise outside the “door.” The boarded over relic of a door had offered no resistance to his entering, and he’d hoped that he’d put everything back into place so that no one would notice that there might be someone inside.
But now the movement had stopped right outside of the door. Robert thought he could hear breathing, but maybe it was just his own.
Read More at:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1093708
DriveThruFiction: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/363823
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0993ZZNHF
I recently finished the rough draft for an Ephemeris RPG choose your own adventure story. This was a very different writing experience for me. In order to write something like this, you have to be able to maintain multiple plot lines, and remember what you've said about your characters in one line that you might need to say in another because you can't just assume that your reader knows what you're talking about.
When you're writing a traditional story, you're able to plant a piece of information about your character, and assuming your reader isn't skipping parts of the story, they'll know about it...but in a choose your own adventure, an important character trait that is mentioned in plot line A may be important in plot line B, but you have to mention it again. Overall, it was a challenging experience, but I really enjoyed writing the story.
Look for it to be released by Nomadic Delirium Press sometime in the next couple of months...
Robert grew up in The Wastelands, where kids are forced to grow up fast, or they die. Now as a member of The Rose Clan, Robert finds himself on his first mission outside of The Wastelands…a raid into The Rocky Mountain States of America, but nothing has gone as planned, and now he finds himself on the verge of death…but he’s been there many times before, and maybe death isn’t as bad as going back to The Wastelands.
Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1093708
Order from DriveThruFiction: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/363823
Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0993ZZNHF
And the photo was taken by my amazingly talented photographer daughter, Juliah!
It's very hot where I am, so I know staying inside and reading is a wonderful thing, so how about picking up a few of my e-books from Smashwords during their annual Summer/Winter sale. You can save up to 50% off of a number of my titles...stories, novels, collections, anthologies, a one-act play, you name it, you can order it now at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaerwine
The site that hosts my website has recently made changes that only allow users to use templates. I code my own site, as you can probably tell since it's not really professional, but it's easy for me to make changes, so I like doing it that way. As a result of their changes, I can't update my site. I'm currently looking into whether or not I want to start using one of their templates, or move my site. Both are a pain, and I don't have a lot of time...but I'll keep you updated.
Through July 1st, Smashwords is running their annual Summer/Winter sale. This is a great chance to save on ebooks, and many of mine are listed at up to 50% off, so check out the sale today at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaerwine
Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1090588
Order from DriveThruFiction: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/361718
Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097NV2K9N
