Lots of Alien Skill News!
Dear friends,
First things first. How are you?
What's happening on your side of the world? Are you and your loved ones self-isolating? Is everyone healthy and safe?
I'm sure we're all affected by COVID-19 in some way or another. Maybe you've lost your job, your school is closed, you're worried about your grandparents, or you can't see your friends. Maybe you're self-isolating on your own, your immune system is compromised, or your fridge is running low on food.
Maybe some of you think this whole COVID-19 thing is exaggerated. You go out and party with your friends, have family over for your birthday, spend the day at the beach...
Please take this seriously! Listen to the experts, the scientists, the doctors. The World Health Organization has plenty of good advice.
We are navigating in uncharted waters, which is scary to say the least.
But remember, we are all in this together. It will take our combined effort to beat this virus. Self-isolate, keep your distance and wash your hands until knowledgeable authorities tell you otherwise. That's all you need to do!
And if you don't do it for yourself, then do it for your elderly aunt or for your cousin who has asthma. Things will get back to normal eventually. In the meantime, make the most of being at home.
Don't pressure yourself, it's ok if you feel overwhelmed sometimes. If you can finally take those virtual piano lessons, start those yoga classes, or learn that foreign language, then go for it! But it's also ok to sit back and relax. Slow down and spend quality time with your family, chat online with your friends. Paint, read, watch a funny movie, meditate, exercise, write a journal for posterity... When things become too hard, stop, breathe, go back to basics. Simplify. Don't try to do it all. These are extraordinary times - it's ok not to have a grasp on it all.
Maybe it's not really my place to talk about things that aren't related to The Alien Skill (which, I take it, is why you are here), but this situation needed special attention.
I'd love to hear from you. Tell me how you are doing: raeknightly@gmail.com
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Now let's get back to the reason why you're here. You want to know about The Alien Skill Series, right? Well, I've got so much news to share that I had to break it down:
1. Ben Archer and the Cosmic Fall wins The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 - SILVER MEDAL !
2. Everything you need to know about Ben Archer and the World Beyond
- Publishing date
- Book cover contest
- Editing process
- Message for ARC-readers
- Where can I get The World Beyond ?
- SPECIAL OFFERS!
3. The Alien Skill Series is going WIDE !
4. What's up in the neighbourhood ?
5. April 2020 Reading List
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1. The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 - SILVER MEDAL
To begin with, I am proud to announce that Ben Archer and the Cosmic Fall is a SILVER MEDAL winner of The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019, category Teenagers!
The book was among 31 finalists, which were read and judged by children in 8 UK primary and secondary schools.
You can discover all the winners in the different categories here: https://www.thewsa.co.
The Cosmic Fall is currently #6800 in the overall Amazon ranking and is chilling with Brandon Sanderson's Skyward, Stephen King's The Mist and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.
How cool is that? :)
2. Everything you need to know about Ben Archer and the World Beyond (The Alien Skill Series, Book 4)
- Publishing date
You know what's coming on April 9, 2020, right? RIIIGHT?
Ok, if you ran away to Antarctica and have zero internet access, I forgive you. Let me fill you in.
April 9, 2020 is the publishing date for Ben Archer and the World Beyond (The Alien Skill Series, Book 4).
THAT'S NEXT WEEK, PEOPLE!
- Book cover contest
The book cover for The World Beyond raked 191 votes in the AllAuthor book cover of the month contest.
'Big bare-chested dude' won the contest, but that's ok, I really appreciate everyone's voting efforts! We'll beat 'big bare-chested dude' next time! LOL
- Editing process
If you're an aspiring writer and if you're interested in the editing process of a book, I suggest you visit the website 1st 5 pages.
I submitted the first chapter of The World Beyond and received precious feedback from knowledgeable authors on how to write the best first pages to capture the reader's attention.
You can see the editing process in 3 stages here:
- first draft (1st 5 Page March Workshop - Knightly),
- revision 1 (Knightly Rev 1) ,
- revision 2.(Knightly Rev 2) - Big hint! This is where you can read the first edited chapter of The World Beyond. :)
So far, 10 fantastic beta readers have read the complete book and given their feedback. Next, my lovely editor/author/teacher and friend Cristy Watson gave me her prized input. Not to mention a handful of other authors who have given me their insights into several aspects of the story that needed special attention. Then, I went through hours of editing, formatting, resizing, weeding out spelling and grammar errors, re-edit, re-read, repeat etc.
- ARC-readers
Submissions to become an ARC-reader for Ben Archer and the World Beyond are now closed.
ARC-readers, please watch your inbox for an email from me on Friday, April 3rd. You will find your free copy of The World Beyond attached. Sorry for the delay, but the-virus-which-shall-not-be-
- Where can I get Ben Archer and the World Beyond?
Paperback*: https://www.amazon.com/dp/
Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/
*NOTE: Amazon may experience delivery delays.
- SPECIAL OFFERS!
- For the duration of the COVID-19 lockdown, The Cosmic Fall will be $0.99.
- The World Beyond will launch at $4.99. However, I will do a $0.99 sale on April 18-19 (this is a heads up for my newsletter subscribers only).
- Those of you who BUY a copy of The World Beyond, you will get a special surprise at the back of the book (hint, hint... book 5...)
3. Going WIDE
Do you remember when I told you I wanted to GO WIDE?
The Alien Skill Series is available for purchase on the Amazon website ONLY. But sometime around April/May, I will release a NEW PAPERBACK AND HARDCOVER FORMAT that will allow me to sell the series at all major brick-and-mortar stores worldwide.
This has been a huge undertaking with countless hours of reformatting.
I am telling you this because the paperback version of The World Beyond is already in the new format. It is smaller and easier to carry around in your backpack/handbag.
I wanted to keep the same format as the first 3 books, but the other platforms didn't have the same size. It's the kind of glitch you have to deal with when you're self-publishing and no-one is there to hold your hand while you go through the process.
Still, I absolutely love the new format and hope you will, too.
4. What's up in the neighbourhood ?
Crazy! Crazy things!
British Columbia went into lockdown on March 14th, right on time for Spring Break. The grocery stores ran out of toilet paper and hand sanitizers. Pasta, rice, tuna, milk and eggs have vanished from store shelves. Parks, lakes and playgrounds are shut to the public. Parents were (gently) told to mentally prepare to homeschool their children because the lockdown could last for weeks or months.
And in the middle of this, my husband started his chemotherapy treatment! How's that for timing?
But, in spite of everything, we consider ourselves extremely lucky: we have a yard, we can go for walks in the area, we have food in the fridge, we mostly work from home and, most importantly, my husband is still getting treated. We have come to the conclusion that our little family will be hibernating for the next 6 months until my husband gets his immune system back.
Will that mean more Ben Archer books? Hm, not necessarily. I haven't wrapped my head around homeschooling yet and staying physically and mentally healthy will be our priority, so I'm not going to pressure myself too much.
In the meantime, we're making pancakes and puzzles, planting veggies in the yard, drawing on the sidewalk and watching spring unfold.
5. April 2020 reading list (click on image to read)
Dear Jane by Marina DelVecchio
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 - GOLD MEDAL
Kit Kat was born in Athens, Greece. Her mother was a prostitute, and their protector was a pimp. After an early childhood marked by violence, homelessness, and time in an orphanage, a Greek-American woman adopted her and moved her to New York. Kit Kat was eight years old, with a new name, a new country, and a new mother who tried to silence her memories and experiences. She sought refuge in books, and after a failed suicide attempt at the age of thirteen, she discovered Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This book saved her life, and at fifteen, Kit Kat begins to write letters to Jane Eyre as a means of surviving a childhood she still remembers, the family she left behind, and the new mother that refuses to acknowledge her past.
Kit Kat’s letters to Jane Eyre demonstrate the resilience and power that she derives from Jane's own dark narrative and the parallels between their lives that include being neglected, unloved, poor, orphaned, and almost destroyed by the madwoman in their lives. This coming of age and semi-autobiographical novel is about family, loss, forgiveness, and the power of a good book.
IGIST: New Stars by L.S. Larson
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 - SILVER MEDAL
Ever since her mother disappeared, Emi was a light sleeper. Most nights she lay awake, wondering when the plague would strike. It had ruined most of the planet, leaving the Bygones on Earth restless and without hope. There has to be a way, her father had promised her. A way to escape Earth and observe the wonders of space. A way to defeat the plague and save the Bygones. A way to advance science like her mother and achieve her dream of joining the best and brightest inventors in the universe at the Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology, or IGIST. As old stars die, new stars are born.
IGIST: New Stars is the first book in the Young Adult Science Fiction adventure series with over 75,000 readers in over 40 countries. Beloved by fans and critics for its strong, smart heroine and colorful cast of half-human-half-animal misfits, dynamic droids, tenacious Martians, tycoons from the Asteroid Belt, and holographic deep-space scouts, IGIST: New Stars not only enthralls its audience with an otherworldly adventure, but also inspires them to build the future that they want to live in.
Battle Ground by Rachel Churcher
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 - BRONZE MEDAL
Sixteen-year-old Bex Ellman has been drafted into an army she doesn't support and a cause she doesn't believe in. Her plan is to keep her head down, and keep herself and her friends safe – until she witnesses an atrocity she can't ignore, and a government conspiracy that threatens lives all over the UK. With her loyalties challenged, Bex must decide who to fight for – and who to leave behind.
The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.
Taelstone by (Stones of the Azuri Book 1)
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 - BRONZE MEDAL
Ash isn't the Chosen One — he isn’t even supposed to learn the Song. And he’s certainly no hero - he’s just a kitchen slave. But when the Malshorne appears in Mildaresh, everything changes. First Ash gets caught up in the mysterious quest, then an awful series of events leaves him no choice but to act. He’s terrified, but he’s made an oath, and he can’t abandon his spirited friend Kep to her dreadful fate. Together, the teenagers flee Mildaresh. But can they really outrun the most ruthless tracker in the city, with his orders to kill? Haunted by the Song, and strange visions of the past, the unlikely friends are swept into a world of peril and adventure. Wild beasts and bounty hunters are the least of their troubles as ancient history collides with the present, revealing fearful secrets. What strange destiny lies in wait as they journey onwards? And what is the mystery of the Taelstone? An exciting debut novel from a fresh voice in the fantasy genre, this heartwarming story is sure to delight. With engaging characters and interesting themes, this ripping adventure is full of mystery, twists and surprising revelations.
The Wolf and the Rain by Tanya Lee
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 - BRONZE MEDAL
Global warming has divided the continent. Samarra, a soldier from the barren, authoritarian South, has fled to the Barrow, a northern city where the only things growing faster than the city’s piles of garbage are extremist cults and violent gangs. Her sole objective is survival: to stay hidden and stay safe.
With jobs in short supply, Samarra counts herself lucky to find work with the Vauns, one of the Barrow’s most powerful and dangerous families. As she learns to navigate the beauty, the horror, and the magic of the lawless city, she finds herself living in the shadow of a missing woman—the beautiful and mysterious Raina, who worked for the Vauns before her. When the trail, long thought cold, heats up, Samarra must decide whether her newly gained chance at freedom is worth sacrificing for a ghost.
The Eye of Ra by Ben Gartner
Exploring a mysterious cave in the mountains behind their house, John and his sister Sarah are shocked to discover they’ve time traveled to ancient Egypt!
Now they must work together to find a way back home from an ancient civilization of golden desert sand and a towering new pyramid, without parents to save them. The adventures abound—cobras, scorpions, a tomb robber, and more! The two kids have to trust each other, make friends who can help, and survive the challenges thrown at them . . . or be stuck in ancient Egypt forever.
For readers graduating from the Magic Tree House series and ready for intense action, dive into this middle grade novel rich with meticulous historical detail.
Stay safe and read on, my friends...
Rae Knightly