Happy New Year, everybody!
To launch what will hopefully be a more enjoyable and successful year for all than the one just past, I present as this week's tune Better Days, by the Goo Goo Dolls (Usual copyrights apply; I own nothing!). I first heard this song almost ten years ago, as part of the background music to an episode of the (outstanding) post-apoc TV show Jericho, and picked it up shortly afterward when putting together my Random Mix playlist; the section of the list where the song falls has many others from the series, too. Since that first listen, this song has struck me as both one of the best responses to the runaway consumerism that overshadows so much this time of year ("Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in string / And designer love and empty things"), and an ideal tune to listen to when you want hope or renewal, in your life or the world in general ("Cause tonight's the night the world begins again"). Doesn't have to be New Year's for this to happen, either; (cue the New Agey-tinged advice :)) in a sense, every night is a chance to find some kind of peace after a tiring or brutal day, and to restart the world tomorrow. I've gone through my share of both kinds of days the past year, often back-to-back or for weeks at a time, and can't wait to put them behind me in the hope of better ones coming my way in 2018. Here's hoping it's the same for all of you!
For those who haven't seen the news on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, my Alternate History novel Red Delta is now available in ebook form on Kindle, and will soon be out in paperback through Createspace! As mentioned before, this is my FIRST novel-length work to be published anywhere, so I'm eager to get any sort of feedback and advice for future works, including Discarded; check it out at the link below--and consider a pledge here while you're browsing!
My dystopia short story Full Stomach is also finally available for FREE on my Wordpress blog, under the "Writing Sample" section; I've included the link at the bottom as well. I have some notions of writing a sequel to this work (maybe more than one), so I await any critiques you may have! I've also begun the first year's work (the latest--and LAST--round of edits and gap-filling on a sci-fi/Alternate History draft that's been moved between front and back burner more times than I can recall), and have tentative plans of publishing it by early spring. Stay tuned here and on my various writing pages for more news, and don't forget to share, comment and review!
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Delta-Novel-Alternate-History-ebook/dp/B078NRSN9B/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
https://markaciccone.wordpress.com/writing-sample/