Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

October 2019 Promotions

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It’s been a crazy month and it’s only halfway over. The Clearing launched last week. If you haven’t snagged your copy, be sure to snag it while you can for only $0.99!

Last Saturday was Indie Author Day. I want to thank the Buffalo Central Library for hosting the event for myself and over 100 other local authors. It was nice to talk to my table-mates about craft and publishing opportunities.

So what else is coming this month?

October Promotions

SFF Book Bonanza is always the best place to find the latest and greatest in sci-fi and fantasy. Head over there to find out the newest releases ranging from urban fantasy to space opera. Find your next favorite author now!

 

Patty Jensen is an incredible talent. She is constantly producing incredible tales and now she’s put together a fantastic sci-fi sale this month. There are dozens of books on sale for under a buck to be found here.

 

If you’re more a fan of fantasy than sci-fi, head over to Jason Hamilton’s sale on Bookfunnel. There are a ton of heavily discounted books to be found here.

Don’t forget to see me this Saturday at the Buffalo Comicon!

Queen City Bookstore is hosting the Buffalo Comicon on Saturday! I will have advance copies of Promethean on sale at the show. Signed by yours truly to really make it special. It runs from 10am to 5pm and I hope to see you there!

Hammer and Anvil

Hammer and Anvil arrives on October 24th.

You can still pre-order your copy of the book for only $0.99!

The paperback is available now!

I think it might be my favorite Soriya Greystone adventure yet. I’m a little biased but each books in the series seems to come a little more natural to me. As if she was always meant to be in the world.

The Gifts of Kali is coming along and I’ve started piecing together how the trilogy ends. After that? Well, there’s still Greystone Books 6 through 10 to work on…

Lots more Soriya and Loren to come in the future. I hope you enjoy the start of this new adventure.

Is that it?

Yeah. I think it is for this month. Next month, there will be a free book promo and a couple local appearances. I’ll be talking about these in the Writing Update later this month!

Happy Reading!

The Clearing is out now! The DSA starts here!

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And so it begins! The DSA starts here with The Clearing, on sale now!

The residents of Bellbrook, Ohio have vanished.

Seven thousand people in a four-mile radius disappeared overnight. A dead zone remains, no outgoing signals emanating from the ghost town.

Ben Riley, framed for a crime he never committed, is the latest recruit to the Department of Special Assignments—a secret agency handling unsolved cases, those with open questions and unexplainable circumstances. Unsure what to expect or whether or not he deserves this second chance, Ben is thrust into a bizarre case of science gone wrong.

Now, Ben and the rest of the field team must find out what happened to the residents of Bellbrook…before it happens to them.

Welcome to The DSA, an episodic journey told in a seasonal structure. Six episodes make up each season, creating an immersive experience for the reader.

Available now both digitally and in paperback!

I’m really proud of how the paperback turned out. MiblArt killed it on the cover and the design of the series. I did all right on the formatting side of things. I think it’s going to look amazing on the bookshelf.

I’m really excited that I was able to price the paperback at only $9.99. That for me was one of the main reasons behind telling the story in this episodic fashion. I hate the way Greystone is priced at almost $15 for a paperback. Hate it. This way, if there is someone who loves the feel of the book in their hands it is much more economically-friendly.

You can order your paperback copy of The Clearing at the following:

Amazon – US, UK, CA

Barnes and Noble – Right now, Barnes and Noble is only charging $6.99 for a copy!!

More retailers coming soon for the paperback!

The book can be found digitally through the Books2Read link, which will take you to your favorite retailer. Whether you prefer the Kindle store or the Google Play store, Books2Read has every retailer you could want. I love their service and hope you find it user-friendly.

The DSA continues in Promethean… on sale now!

What is the Promethean Project?

On the hunt for a lead from the Bellbrook affair, Ben Riley and Morgan Dunleavy discover a dead body and a growing conspiracy. The only clue left behind? A handprint burned into the bone of the victim.

Not everything is what it seems as Connor Hendricks, their FBI liaison, connects this latest death with a series of lab-related arsons.

Caught in a web of lies and illicit drug trials, Ben and Morgan must learn to trust each other or be the next victims of an elusive pyrokinetic.

But is he the killer or merely another victim caught up in a larger game?

Promethean is up for pre-order digitally.

Can’t wait until November 13th to read this one? Don’t! The paperback in ON SALE NOW!

Amazon – US, UK, CA

More retailers coming soon!

Spread the word!

I hope you enjoy this new adventure. I’m excited to hear your thoughts on the series and where you think it’s heading.

Thanks for reading!

The Story of the DSA

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This month marks the beginning of a new adventure. The DSA launches on October 9th with The Clearing. It has been one of the most challenging projects of my life. There have been times when I’ve thought about shelving it indefinitely and times when I’ve been so excited about where the series is heading that I couldn’t sleep for days.

What is the DSA?

The DSA is a covert agency within our government. They are known as the Department of Special Assignments in government circles but once upon a time, agents who worked outside the law on their own time took to calling it the Department of Scientific Anomalies.

They deal in science gone wrong, in the strange and bizarre.

More than that, hidden beneath the surface, they are looking at something that has infiltrated the very fabric of our existence. Something that will come to light by the end of the first season of the series. There is a larger game afoot, more than the everyday leaps and bounds humanity appears to be making technologically.

There is a reason behind it all and the DSA finds itself at the heart of the mystery. Why has humanity made such advancements in the last century? What changed and how did it truly come to pass? These are only a few of the questions being asked with each book in the series.

Serial storytelling

Each book is standalone. I made a promise to myself when I was putting together the plot outline to make each book stand on its own in terms of a main plot. It always bothered me to read other serialized stories and have it clearly intended to be part of a larger work.

I don’t like telling half-stories. I want there to be a sense of completion with each installment. Very much like the television shows I used to enjoy, there will be subplots that string the books together. You’ll see that more with Book 2, Promethean, where certain cast members head in one direction and others in another, more subdued role until the next book when they break out into the main plot.

Dangling mysteries

That’s the fun of a series like this, isn’t it? Well, fun for me at any rate.

The Clearing introduces a certain mystery but it doesn’t provide every answer. It is one piece of a larger puzzle and I’ve been very careful about making sure every potential mystery, every conceivable threat to our heroes, gets some face time each season. I don’t want to leave anything hanging, but I also want to explore more through these characters.

Episodic

I love breaking down a series on television. I love the ebb and flow the medium creates with each episode. I’ve tried to bring that to the DSA. It opens with a larger plot for the pilot, introducing all the major players to the reader. From there, the stories get more intimate, focusing in on the characters. It circles back for the season finale where all kinds of things go kablooey and sets up the second season.

You can read it in a chunk. You can read it as they release. I want it to feel big, with larger than life stakes, but also a real study of these flawed characters.

October 9th

The Clearing arrives in ebook.  It’s only $0.99 for a limited time!

Paperback fans will be surprised to know the book is out now! It’s only $9.99 and it looks gorgeous.

I really hope you like the series. It’s been a labor of love and I can’t wait for you to see where things are heading.

Writing Update – September 24, 2019

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Another month has somehow slipped by! So much going on so let’s get to the writing update.

Writing Update

The DSA Season One

The first three books are live on retail sites. There is even a series page on Amazon. So cool.

The first two books have been submitted for proofs. I just received my copy of The Clearing and it looks fantastic. Love the job KDP did with the printing. It should be finalized tomorrow and on sale by the end of the week!

On the edit front, I finished up a massive overhaul of Book 5 last week. Tomorrow I start in on Book 6.

Hammer and Anvil

Last Saturday was a very busy day. Instead of enjoying the 80-degree weather, I did a final readthrough of the newest Greystone book. I think it might be my favorite novel yet. I really like the way the story came together.

It’s been submitted for a paperback proof and should be here Thursday! Expect to see it live on Amazon next week!

Gifts of Kali

I marked it on my calendar. Next week, I start the draft for Greystone-in-Training Book 2. I haven’t been sleeping well of late and I think it might because this one has been screaming for release.

Local Appearance Schedule

I’ve been reaching out to venues to spread the word about the releases coming out.

October 12th – Central Library in downtown Buffalo is hosting Indie Author Day. I’ll be there signing books and promoting both The Clearing as well as Hammer and Anvil. It runs from 11am to 2pm.

October 19th – Buffalo Comicon is back! Queen City Bookstore is hosting another fantastic show at the Buffalo Marriott. Tons of guests and free comics. It starts at 10am and goes until 5pm. I might even have copies of Promethean ready for some lucky readers. Order your ticket now!

November 2nd – The Buffalo Book Club Expo. There is a fantastic local author network building in Buffalo. A group of 15 of some of Buffalo’s most talented are coming together to promote their work at the Expo Market. Stay tuned for more details as I get them.

I’d love to see you at these shows. Be sure to stop and say hello!

October is going to be a huge month. A ton of promotions coming up. Keep an eye here and on social media for more updates.

Happy Reading!

Finding a Character’s Voice

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There is this little exercise I like to do when I’m first putting pen to paper on a book. I like to put each character through different scenarios to see how they tick, to get a feel for who they are, and most importantly, to figure out a character’s voice.

It’s nothing unique. Many writers do the same. My approach is to carry a character with me throughout my day. As I work through chores, grocery shop, the morning commute, dealing with kids. Everything is a situation where this character has a chance to breathe, to grow into something more than just my inner-neuroses coming out on the page. (Though there is some of that too. Absolutely.)

Will they be snarky? Will they be sincere? Are they genuinely good or is there some selfishness in there as well? This is just exploration for how they evolve into a living, breathing character in your writing.

Does it work?

Most of the time. The more you can think about a character’s motivations, about their background–from family situation to marital status–everything adds to the ultimate voice that comes out on the page.

A character’s voice is the lifeblood of a novel. I’ve come to realize this even more as I’ve edited DSA this month. Whenever there is a change to dialogue recommended by my editor, I come back to who is speaking and why it sounds the way it does. Ben Riley, the lead in DSA, tends to be sarcastic and offers up inane and very long-winded ways to respond to simple questions. It’s who he is. He likes the sound of his own voice because if the only other option is silence it isn’t going to work for him. Ever.

Get a feel for your character’s voice. Let it drive their narrative.

I just finished reading Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers run this month. For those who don’t know, Bendis was one of my favorite writers from about 2000 to 2012. I’m a big dialogue guy so whenever I needed to hear a voice, to get that conversational rhythm of a piece, I would break out a Bendis book to read.

Bendis wrote the Avengers from 2004 – 2013. Over 200 issues. From a storytelling point of view, the run is fantastic. It truly represents the best of what Marvel Comics was publishing during those years.

From a dialogue standpoint?

Everyone sounds the same. It’s sad to read it again and realize there are only a few characters that stand on their own–that have something unique about their voice. Spider-Man is one. He nails Spider-Man so well in this run. But if you look at Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist and a dozen others, there is no difference between any of them. I could read the dialogue to you and you would never know who said it.

That’s a weakness I’ve been trying to avoid. Is it an easy trap to fall into? Definitely. But if you take the time to really pull your character’s apart to find that unique voice, your writing will be stronger for it.

Guaranteed.

DSA Cover Reveals

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It’s a crazy week at the writing desk. I’m finishing up on The Clearing and getting it ready for publication. Hammer and Anvil is going through one more round of edits before the final readthrough. The October releases are coming together nicely.

Are you ready for what comes next?

Cover Reveal Time!

Promethean

What is the Promethean Project?

On the hunt for a lead from the Bellbrook affair, Ben Riley and Morgan Dunleavy discover a dead body and a growing conspiracy. The only clue left behind? A handprint burned into the bone of the victim.

Not everything is what it seems as Connor Hendricks, their FBI liaison, connects this latest death with a series of lab-related arsons.

Caught in a web of lies and illicit drug trials, Ben and Morgan must learn to trust each other or be the next victims of an elusive pyrokinetic.

But is he the killer or merely another victim caught up in a larger game?

DSA Season One, Book Two arrives November 13th but you can pre-order your copy today!

The Bridge

A sniper’s bullet changed Lincoln MacKenzie’s life forever.

Lincoln has been tasked with a mission: to hunt down the Witness—the enigmatic man behind the tragedy in Bellbrook.

Present and past entwine as Lincoln is forced to make a choice between ending the life of the Witness or saving him from a far more dangerous threat.

Will Lincoln’s desire for revenge outweigh his need for the truth?

Meanwhile, Ben Riley is caught in the middle of a political game as his assessment begins before the Inter-Agency Council. But is the purpose behind his questioning only the opening gambit of a larger plot against not only the Director of the DSA, but the agency itself?

The DSA starts to crumble with this crucial chapter of the series.

DSA Season One, Book Three hits shelves on December 11th. You can pre-order your digital copy now!

Praise for MiblArt

I can’t say enough good things about MiblArt. They came in and helped me out of a real jam in putting these covers together. I absolutely love the look of the series and can’t wait to see them in paperback.

 

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