Today is the release of Dreams and Stars and Lies. This collection features five short science fiction stories. They are all unrelated but two take place in far flung corners of the greater Narvan universe, though also not directly related to the series.
Last year, when I received the news that Caffeinated Press was closing and the first rights for Sipper would be returned to me, I decided to pull this book together. Sipper had been contracted for an anthology so this seemed an appropriate new home. Destiny Pills and Space Wizards, my first short story collection, features more lighthearted YA-friendly stories. With Dreams of Stars and Lies, I focus on deeper plots and longer stories more intended for an adult audience.
The cover features Sipper, one of the two anchor stories of the collection.
Poverty has shaped Tia’s life since childhood, labeling her a roach. A day without hunger pains or despising looks is pure fantasy until she accepts a job offer to explore a wondrous deserted city on a distant world. All she can think about is the life-altering payout she’ll receive in six months.
A hundred roaches are set free in the city of crystal spires. Their mission: To learn what they can about the previous occupants and to verify that the place is habitable for the host of wealthy future occupants waiting in orbit.
Well-provisioned, Tia and her fellow roaches scatter to explore the dunes and spires. Then people start to disappear. Are they being picked off to lessen the payout or is there a killer among them? All the credits in the world won’t matter if she’s dead.
What are readers saying?
“Davis shows us a new frontier of space discovery, but there is no rover facing the space dust. We are the guinea pigs, and that adventure is not for the meek."
- Stella Telleria author of Across The Wire
”Jean Davis speculates on a future that seems all too believable. Her stories will entertain, and they will make you think. Don't look in Dreams of Stars and Lies for easy solutions.”
- Joan H. Young author of Accidentally Yours
$9.99 print / $1.99 ebook. Want it free? Review any of my other books on Amazon, let me know when your review has posted, and I'll send you a free ebook of Dreams of Stars and Lies.
Dreams of Stars and Lies can be found in both print and ebook on Amazon and in ebook through Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo and more.
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This month's ISWG question: There have been many industry changes in the last decade, so what are some changes you would like to see happen in the next decade?
I would love to see either Amazon playing nice with other online book sales outlets or the other way around. Mostly, if they could all just get along, that would be super helpful and make things easier for authors when publishing their books. I get that many readers don't want to feed the Amazon beast, but Amazon does make it very simple for authors to publish through them. Other places are getting better, but they don't like Amazon, which means if we want to sell elsewhere, we have to publish in multiple places and that often means setting up separate files (because the publishing specifications are different), tracking sales in multiple places, and can cause problems if you want to run a sale.
On a related note, I wish IngramSpark would reduce or do away with their charge per publishing platform because at least they are a one-stop place to publish. If you don't mind paying for it or if you're lucky and happen to have a promo code to bypass the charge.
On a related note, I wish IngramSpark would reduce or do away with their charge per publishing platform because at least they are a one-stop place to publish. If you don't mind paying for it or if you're lucky and happen to have a promo code to bypass the charge.
