Mostly I’m blogging here about my writing, but from time to time, there’s a little music happening. Kendall, of decembernightskies, and I have a new ambient EP out on Bandcamp. Slow sweeps and occasional unexpected moments. Listen on low volume. Stream for free or buy for a couple of bucks. Link below:
Wildest Skies – new novella out now in the November/December issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction
I have a new novella out in the latest issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction – “Wildest Skies”. A survival story set on a distant planet. Another of my sci-fi adventure stories. Nice to be in Asimov’s again. I’m always really honored and humbled.
There’s a whole lot going on around the novella – specifically and mainly, a series of other stories with the same characters – check out the page at www.wildestskies.com
Also, I’ve done a little interview for Asimov’s about the writing of the novella. You can see that here at From the Earth to the Stars.
More soon. Thanks for reading.
Wildest Skies Survival Kit
It’s been quiet here for a while now. My great intentions to post more frequently vanished into the world of just writing more and tinkering with the business side of writing as I work on learning. Mostly the business side. More coming on that at some point, but it’s been figuring out things like Shopify, a mailing list, Bookfunnel, Kickstarter and others.
One thing was moving the main website seanmonaghan.com over to Shopify, and grabbing the new url seanmonaghan.blog for this site. With Shopify I can sell my books directly to readers without Amazon or the others stores in between, though of course my books are still available on all of those. Got to make it as easy as possible to find the books, right?
Now, a little more immediate news. To do with the mission patch right there.
My novella “Wildest Skies” will appear in the November/ December issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction – “Our November/December 2024 issue ends the year under Sean Monaghan’s “Wildest Skies.” This thrilling novella is filled with adventures on a dangerous and deadly alien planet.”
“Wildest Skies” was a fun story to write, and it was great to stretch my legs a bit. I’ve had other stories in Asimov’s, but this is the longest yet. Longer even than my well-received “Goldie” from the January/February 2022 issue. I’m always a little stunned to appear in those esteemed pages.
When I was working on the novella, I realized there were other stories to tell in that universe. Ed Linklater was an intriguing character and, well, I’d tossed him into one adventure so why not see how he did with other adventures. Right now, there’s one story available – “Spindle Shatters” – set in the lead up to the main mission. A prequel, I suppose.
All of this will appear on the Wildest Skies Survival Kit Page – www.wildestskies.com
Spindle Shatters
A Wildest Skies story.
Preparing for the deep space mission on the interstellar ship Cumberland Ed Linklater and the crew run through batteries of trials and drills.
A grueling schedule.
When trouble with the training centrifuge proves almost catastrophic, Ed must face alterations to the mission profile that test him in whole new ways.
Alterations that shake him to his emotional core.
With the future in the balance of not only his career but the mission itself, Ed faces whole new challenges.
More stories coming. There will be at least five. At least, that’s how many I’ve written so far (well, I’m well into writing the fifth one now, so not far away). So far they’re all prequels. I think this my subconscious’s way of avoiding letting out spoilers about the novella. Have I ever ranted here about spoilers? Not a fan. Maybe after “Wildest Skies” is out in the world there will be some sequels.
What’s up, you ask, with the heading here? Well, “Wildest Skies” is a survival story (is that a spoiler?), and I figure survival takes a little gear. Coming soon on the page will be handy things from the Deep Space Vessel Cumberland’s inventory. Plans are afoot for a satchel, a water bottle, a towel, a cap, a windbreaker. Maybe more. Right now I’m waiting on samples. from Printful to check the quality of the items themselves and how my designs look.
Here’s one, for the windbreaker, on one of the Printful models. Still just a draft, though. More news soon.
Another story, Shards of Tempered Glass will be out soon too.
Ed Linklater discovers cracked glass on one of the deep space vessel Cumberland’s tender craft. The damage jeopardizes the entire mission.
Light years from Earth, Ed and crew must figure out a solution. With limited resources and no way to contact home, it takes everything they have.
And then some.
A prequel story to the novella “Wildest Skies”.
Thanks for reading. Stay in touch!
New Short Story – Everyday Moon Landings
I have a new short story up and available finally. “Everyday Moon Landings” which was fun to write, and perhaps the closest I have come to straddling my literary side with my science fiction side. Some of my SF stories, I like to think, have some literary bent, but I think fewer of my literary stories have any SF bent, if that makes sense.
A story of family and relationships and fatherhood.
Everyday Moon Landings
Tobias’s room smells of him.
But Tobias is gone. What can a father do when he loses his child?
Finding the courage to finally enter Tobias’s room, Peter Treuer faces things he might rather not know.
In the process, though, he might find some truths are better not hidden away.
A contemporary story with a heart, from the author of “Single Branch With Blossom.”
$2.99 for the ebook, available directly from the website, and also through the regular channels.
$6.99 for the little print book, available from Amazon
New Free Story – Else:Run – a little sci-fi / cyberpunk action flick
I have a new story out, and a new way of posting it free for readers. As I’m moving away from WordPress and over to Shopify and Bookfunnel, I’m taking advantage of Shopify/Bookfunnel’s ability to deliver ebooks and the like. It’s a little more flexible than just posting it on the website here.
Elise watches a girl thieving a bracelet from a spinner display, right near a store’s entry. And Elise finds herself weighing up whether to turn the girl in.
After all, Elise’s days of thievery are far behind her.
But when the whole situation changes fast, Elise finds herself in a race against an enemy she thought long forgotten. And facing a haunting past.
A pacey sci-fi tale that asks the question, can we ever truly know ourselves?
Link to the whole story free here: Else:Run – just add it to your cart and it will give you the choice to download as an ebook, .pdf, or just read it in the browser right there. Bookfunnel will email you a link with with all those choices.
No, I’m not collecting your email – that’s all Bookfunnel so they can deliver you your choice of how you’d like to read it.
Else:Run is also available as a paperback from Amazon for $6.99 here. The ebook is not available elsewhere for the moment
Waxing Xebec, blog changes and bitsy bits
I’ve had lots going on lately, working on setting up a new site, and exploring new ways of getting my books out and about. You might have noticed that the website here has changed to seanmonaghan.blog, from seanmonaghan.com. Fear not, seanmonaghan.com is still registered to me and will reappear on my shopify site which is currently the slightly unweildy seanmonaghan.myshopify.com.
You might see at the top of this page that my renewal for the site is turned off and an invitation from WordPress to ‘gift’ me the subscription. Please don’t. I’m downgrading, from the business plan, and the only way to do that is to turn off renewals, but WordPress won’t allow me to sign up on the new plan until after the expiry date. Frankly I’ve become a little disillusioned with WordPress over the last few years, and it amuses me that as I’m in the process of changing, they’re being kind of passive-agressive about it. Kind of helps confirm that shifting around is a good idea.
More soon when Shopify is up and running.
Waxing Xebec, book 11 in the Karnish River Navigations series, is out on preorder now.
When pirates kidnap boat builder Clemens DuToit he expects ransom demands. But the ruthless crew insist on something else. Something unique. Something different.
Racing in, investigators Flis and Grae discover the issues run deep. History reveals old scars. Scars that tear into the very heart of piracy on the River Haxley.
A Karnish River Navigations novel that pits tough characters against desperate situations, in a tantalizing, intense mystery. A must for fans, and a great place to jump into the series for new readers.
$5.99 ebook. $16.99 in print – universal book link here. Due out on May 20th.
Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts
It’s cool when I have a new story come out, especially when it’s in Analog Science Fiction and Fact. There is always the little glitch of living halfway across the world and finally receiving my subscription and contributor’s copies after some time has passed, but still, here it is. The March/April 2024 issue, just in my. letterbox this week, with my story “Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts” inside.
Accompanied by a cute image of Daisy and Maisie, and astronaut Chuck Grimshaw by K.A. Teryna. Chuck’s in a bad spot, but maybe Daisy and Maisie can help out.
Another cool fact about this issue, you’ll find a story, “Enough” by Nebula Award Winner William Ledbetter. I was fortunate enough to enjoy Bill’s company over a few days some years back in L.A. at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference. Bill administers the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award contest, and the award is given at the conference. After all these years. I think this is the first time we’ve actually shared a table of contents.
While I’m mentioning Analog, I’ll highlight that I have another story, “Float Where We Will” coming in the next issue, May/June, which I think is probably already on the magazine racks in the U.S.
It’s fun being in Analog, but amazing to be in back to back issues. I imagine my copy will arrive in six weeks or so. Expect another post then.
Goldie shows up again
My novella “Goldie”, which was the cover story in Asimov’s January/February 2022 has been reprinted, again, this time in Neil Clarke‘s Forever Magazine.
This is its second reprint outing, following an appearance in Allan Kaster’s The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 7 last year.
This is a great opportunity to pick up the story, along with “Jaunt” by Ken Liu, and “The Empty” by Ray Nayler. Man, I’m humbled by that company that’s for sure. The excellent cover art is by Ron Guyatt. At $2.99 for the ebook of the issue, it’s an awesome deal.
While I’m mentioning the story, I’ll note that it placed second in Asimov’s annual readers’ poll. Who remembers the second place getter, right? So I’ll mention that first place went to Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who is pretty much the champion of science fiction novellas. See her (now completed) Novella Kickstarter here – which funded tremenously well and pretty quickly. Yeah, she really knows her stuff with novellas.
Goldie has always been close to my heart, so it’s great to see her out and about strutting her stuff once again.
In other news, I have a new contemporary fantasy story out now – “Everything Has Cupboards”. A quirkly little piece that was fun to write and fun to put out. Here’s the Universal book link, though it may take a few days to populate.
Everything Has Cupboards
Learning her way around the office at her new job, Milly discovers a locked cupboard door. Well that just fascinates Milly. As a child she explored everything, and that desire stayed with her.
Sometimes her curiosity creates problems. Mostly, though it creates more curiosity.
This time, though, things might just get out of hand.
A simple, fantastical short story that asks: Do we really know ourselves?
As usual $2.99 for the ebook, and $6.99 for the print book. Drop me a line if you’d like a code for a free one (which will come from Bookfunnel, via Shopify).
Also, out just a few days back, book 11 in the Captain Arlon Stoddard Series Cradle Robbers.
Royd Melgrave slams himself into an emergency vacuum suit as klaxons blast around him. The refinery station seems doomed.
When Authority investigators Captain Arlon Stoddard and his crew arrive, the refinery wreck follows an erratic orbit and little evidence remains.
What they do find only raises more questions. Questions that might turn things inside out.
ebook for $5.99, and in print for $16.99
Thanks for reading. More news in a couple of weeks.
Sean
p.s. Goldie is named for her remarkable amber eyes (which Dominic Harmon captured so well in the original cover illustration), but also, as a nod to my New Zealand homeland, after C.F. Goldie, an artist of enduring renown.
Lake Summerfield Incident – new mystery story out
Another busy week getting some more writing under my belt. I have a themed anthology I’m writing another story for, and the story didn’t kind work out so well, so I wrote another. That got too long, and isn’t quite done yet. It should be finished in the morning, and then I’ll start in on my third crack at it.
Themed anthologies are fun – they get me writing outside what I’d normally try, so that’s a good thing. Stretching my writing muscles.
In the meantime, I have a new longish short story out. While I’ve been writing Cole Wright stories to go with the novels, I’ve also been trying my hand at some other mystery/crime stories. This is one of those.
Lake Summerfield Incident
Visiting the Lomax Jetty on Lake Summerfield, private invesigator Carey Mallick looks for clues. A missing teenager. Distraught parents.
Exactly Carey’s specialty.
But when the police step in, Carey risks jeopardizing the investigation. And her career.
A twisted mystery from the author of the Cole Wright thriller series.
The print book comes to 60 pages, the story is technically 8900 words (by comparison, my novels are 60,000).
Available for $2.99 ebook, and $6.99 for print. This is the Universal Book Link It may take a day or two to populate.
In the meantime, I’m making an ebook copy available free to readers of this blog through Shopify/Bookfunnel. No strings. I’m not harvesting emails. Just figuring those who’ve stuck around here for a while deserve a little thank you. Thanks.
Go to the Lake Summerfield Incident page on Shopify, add the book to your cart, apply the discount code LakeSummerfield (no space) and it will convert to free. Then you can pick your format through BookFunnel.
Cradle Robbers – Captain Arlon Stoddard Adventures book 11 – out now
Finally, finally, we have Cradle Robbers out in the world. Book number 11 in the series. That even surprises me, really. I have such fun writing these books, that I seem to have just continued writing more. As I post this, the 12th book – Margin Dwellers – has already been written and will soon enter the editing-proofing-preparation machine and should be out later in the year.
Cradle Robbers
Royd Melgrave slams himself into an emergency vacuum suit as klaxons blast around him. The refinery station seems doomed.
When Authority investigators Captain Arlon Stoddard and his crew arrive, the refinery wreck follows an erratic orbit and little evidence remains.
What they do find only raises more questions. Questions that might turn things inside out.
Can they figure it out before more the destruction of more installations?
All of the books are space adventures, but this one might just be the most space opera of them all.
Releasing on March 20th, Cradle Robbers is available for preorder from your favorite retailer through the Universal Book Link here. ebook $5.99, print $16.99.
But, as I’m working on developing direct sales through my own store, the ebook is available right now, directly from me through Shopify/Bookfunnel for the same price – $5.99.
Catch up with the rest of the series here on the Captain Arlon Stoddard page. The first three books, Asteroid Jumpers, Ice Hunters and Ship Tracers, remain at the special price of $3.99 to help readers get started. Eventually they will show up on the Sean Monaghan store as well.
You’ll notice that there are layout changes to the covers of the last two books. I’m working back through the inventory to update the look, but with several series, numerous standalone novels, and a whole bunch of short stories and novellas, this is taking a while. I’ll get to them as the process progresses.
Thanks for reading. More news soon. Yes, soon. I’ve neglected posting here, but plans are afoot to put something up on a more regular basis. Did you say weekly? Sure, why not?
Cheers, Sean
Sean Monaghan - Writer 