I have another thriller for you guys! This time, it’s got a sci fi setting. Brian H. Roberts is one of my author clients over at BookMojo and his latest installment in the EPSILON Sci Fi Thrillers came out Monday. To celebrate the release, we’ve got a giveaway, a short excerpt, and a Q&A with the author. Scroll down and one-click your hearts out!
Happy reading!
DALLAS GORDON STANDS ALONE BETWEEN EMPEROR ZHANG’S MILITARY AND THE LOSS OF AMERICA’S LUNAR BASE. CAN HE RALLY THE RESISTANCE BEFORE EPSILON AND THE AMERICANS ARE SWEPT OFF THE MOON?
Dallas Gordon has returned to Earth from Mars, leaving the Prospector mission in the hands of his replacement, Commander Genady Antonov. But unrest among the mining crew threatens the viability of the new permanent mining colony, Epsilon City.
Meanwhile, General Zhang Aiguo conspires to lead a new Chinese dynasty that rules the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. He signs a treaty with the remnant communist Chinese government, but plots to take over mainland China and the South China Sea. He also sets up Colonel Song Dajing to command China’s lunar base.
After a well-deserved rest, Dallas is assigned to EPSILON’s wing of the American lunar base. As events unfold on both the Earth and Moon, he finds himself opposing Song Dajing and the utter destruction of the American lunar base and the lives within it.
If Song gains mastery of the Moon, the domination of Mars and Epsilon City’s divided occupants are next.
BLOOD MOON, the third novel in the EPSILON SciFi Thrillers series by Brian H. Roberts.
BLOOD MOON
An EPSILON Sci Fi Thrillers Novel
© 2022 Brian H. Roberts
Dallas lifted off. Unlike on Earth, the sand and dust sprayed radially away from his thrusters but didn’t billow. As weak as it was, the moon’s gravity quickly pulled the particles back to the ground, where they settled. Dallas rose to his maximum hundred-meter cruising altitude. Then he called up his helmet navigation and found the bearing to the crash site.
Sighting down the red navigation line, he recognized that the nearby rise in terrain and the more distant mountain range were actually the near and far walls of a crater—Shackleton Crater—home of the now-Confederated China lunar base. Like Shoemaker Crater, the floor there experienced eternal night. At fifteen kilometers, Dallas could make out a cluster of lights at what he presumed was the base of the wall. Concluding that whatever the object was had likely landed within that crater and out of sight, he spun around and headed back to the American base.
CONTINUE READING…
💜 Have you ever gone on a trip specifically for writing research or writing education? If so, where did you go?
✍ No. At least not yet. But I intend to visit Trinidad and the southern Caribbean to support the prequel to the EPSILON SciFi Thriller series (to be written after I complete the fourth book).
💜 What do you feel is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?
✍ There are a lot of so-called publishers out there that prey on eager novice writers. In exchange for promises of publishing fame and fortune, they charge these authors for the publishing services that a reputable publisher provides at no cost. The end result? The fake publisher either delivers a shoddy product that nobody buys, or they close up shop and reopen under a different name to repeat their scam. And the author? They get no royalties, and the publisher holds their copyright, preventing them from pursuing a legitimate publishing contract or even self-publishing.
💜 Do long writing sessions energize or exhaust you?
✍ I’m more of a tortoise than a hare. I’ll write for two or three hours and generally produce a thousand to fifteen hundred words. I’ll write six or seven days a week, racking up about 30,000 words per month. I usually complete a first draft within three months. Then the real work begins.
💜 Does a big ego help or hurt writers?
✍ I’d say it probably hurts. Even though I’m an independent writer, I still work with a team of editors and others to produce a book. Big egos are murder on teams and team cohesion. In then end, the project would suffer, resulting in an inferior book.
It probably makes marketing problematic. If an author is a jerk, their egregious behavior is bound to go viral on social media. They may be able to overcome the negative publicity, but at the cost of higher marketing expenses. If not, book sales will certainly be much lower.
💜 Have you ever experienced writer’s block?
✍ (Knock on wood) So far no. But that’s probably due to my writing process. Before I ever put fingertip to keyboard, I spend a great deal of time working out the plot and a chapter outline. By the time I start writing, I already have a pretty good idea about the content of each chapter. So my task is just to express that in a way that’s entertaining and moves the story line along.
💜 Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
✍ I did. Let’s face it, “Brian” and “Roberts” are pretty common. There are lots of Facebook accounts with variations of my name. But in the end, I just felt it was more authentic to use my real name. I explored several versions: Brian Roberts, B. H. Roberts, etc. I finally settled on Brian H. Roberts. My middle name is my late Dad’s name, Harold. And I’m proud to carry his name forward.
In his first life, BRIAN H. ROBERTS worked as a contractor and civil engineer in bustling Seattle. In his spare time he read novels by the greatest names in science fiction: Andy Weir, Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and so many others. Whenever he read these authors, he often dreamt, “I’d love to write Sci-Fi Thrillers, something as engaging and entertaining as this.”
As with so many of us, life intervened. Raising a family, work, remarriage and finally retirement all placed demands on his time. Desiring a change – and time to write – he and his wife traded big city life for the outdoor adventures of Central Oregon. His writing draws deeply on his lifelong loves of science/technology and adventure sports. Crimson Lucre is his first novel.