One Year Ago, I Was At Dragonsteel 2023 Launching My Noir Science Fiction Debut Novel COLOR OF A MIRROR.
One year ago, I was at Dragonsteel 2023 launching my noir science fiction debut novel COLOR OF A MIRROR.
Such a fun time, and I met so many cool people there. Crazy to think it’s already been a year.
Thank you to everyone who’s purchased a copy of the book, listened to the soundtrack, or left a review or a kind word somewhere. The support has been felt and much appreciated, and I love seeing other people enjoying this unconventional story!
It’s been a great first year, and I’m going to keep pushing to try and get the book out there through the coming months.
Also Book 2 🤐 Still a ways off on that, but it’s cooking. Can’t wait to share more!
-Dan
More Posts from Artificelux and Others
Golden Kill
Visual artists do sketches... I'll sometimes sketch scenes. This is just a rough something I came up with today...
A pair of cool blue dots lit up on the bracelet about her wrist, mirroring the pair of lights just above the trigger on the gun. Just as she’d ordered it… the weapon recognized her touch. Only her touch, as it were. She could almost feel the life beneath her finger, coursing through the palm of her hand, urging her to squeeze the trigger. If anyone else tried to wield the heavy-automatic rifle, the chamber feed would seize, effectively locking all function of the gun until an authorized user attempted to use it. But for her…
Carefully, she set it back on the table, and both pairs of lights were extinguished. The bracelet was just a bracelet again, and the gun was now little better than a heavy club. For a moment, she considered how effective the vastly expensive hunk of metal would be as a simple blunt force weapon.
She looked up and across the table. “You do impressive work… for a doctor, that is.”
“You are pleased, then?”
Her silence was as much confirmation as if she’d actually spoken. If she’d been displeased, she would have been sure to let him know, and in none-too-eloquent of language.
Yes, silence was good.
“About payment, then…” he began.
She held up a bullet, one that glimmered in the dim light like gold. In fact, it was gold, solid all the way through. “Do you know how much this is worth?” she asked. She tossed it to him, allowing him to weigh it speculatively in his hands.
“Maybe ten-thousand? At the shiest mark, at least… it could be even more.”
“Exactly,” she said. “That’s more than half your fare.”
“What about the…?”
Before he had even able to finish, she had whipped a small, silenced pistol from the small of her back, and fired a second bullet straight through the man’s forehead. “There’s the other half,” she growled. “Plus a little extra.” As he slumped forward over the table, blood leaking down between his eyes, she stood to leave. “Keep the change,” she tossed over her shoulder.
The lights on her personalized rifle were already lit as she exited the back room of the bar, the live weapon nestled in the crook of her arm.
Maybe silence wasn't so good after all.
O/– (Neutronium Reactor)
Winter Cabin in the Dark of Night.
So, I posted a version of this before, thinking it was as done as it could be. And then, as so often happens, I realized it could be a whole lot better. Haha.
This, however, is the final version of my Tonic promo (all kitted out in her glam punk concert attire). So stoked with this visualization of her.
In other fun news... I got another critic review, and this time the book received the distinction of Editor's Pick (!!) from BookLife Reviews (which is the indie-specific branch of Publisher's Weekly). It's a really lovely review, and as always, it's such a pleasure to have someone resonate with what I love about this story.
"...Sensory-rich prose vividly brings to life the sights, sounds, and emotions experienced through Tonic's visor." -BookLife Reviews
Thank you to BookLife for taking the time to review it!
As always, if you're interested in this noir science fiction story and its accompanying dark ambient soundtrack, you can check it out here.
Back with another look at the soundtrack! This time featuring “Closer to the Dead” (as always, by ultra-talented Josh McCausland)!
The video on this one is a little different than those that have come before… still abstract, but really hinting at certain elements of the book as well. Secrets abound…
There’s still time to back the Kickstarter for the exclusive vinyl release of the soundtrack, and the deluxe-hardcover novel, all with designs by me. There are other rewards (including digital copies and softcover) as well, so hopefully a little something for everyone!
It’s gonna take a big push this final week to get it over the line, but I’m holding out hope it can happen. Every little bit helps, so if you’re interested, I’d be thrilled for you to check out the link below:
All Knotted Up.
