A New Site

I supposed this is now officially the 'old' web site. I'm moving everything over here to the new carycaffrey.com.

NIGHT WITCH UPDATE:

I seriously need to thank everyone who picked up a copy of Codename: Night Witch (thank you!). Two years was an awful long time to make you wait, so I couldn't be more grateful to you for (remembering Sigrid) and for taking the time to grab a copy - and for reading it. 

And, thanks to all of you, Night Witch is now the fastest selling TGfA book yet. It's been an insane opening two weeks. The launch has gone well beyond my hopes or expectations. Night Witch hit several of the top ten best seller lists across Amazon, not to mention hitting No. 1 on charts for "Hot New Releases" in SciFi/Dystopian.

And it's all because of you!

I'm especially grateful for those of you who posted reviews and ratings on Amazon and Goodreads. Those stars mean a whole hell of a lot to us Indie writers (they're pretty much our front line marketing tools).

So cheers to you! You're the absolute best.

Codename: Night Witch

The Girls from Alcyone III

Now Available On Amazon

Codename: Night Witch, The Girls from Alcyone Book 3

Codename: Night Witch

The Girls from Alcyone III

Now Available On Amazon

The unthinkable has happened. Sigrid Novak—the most dangerous and wanted person in the history of the Federation of Corporate Enterprises—has been captured. For her sisters of New Alcyone, the people who love her, this is a staggering loss. For the Independents, the rebels who captured her, this is a boon beyond measure.

If they can finally figure out how to control her.

Now, six years have passed since the events of Bellatrix, and for six years Sigrid Novak has been gone, vanished, with no sign, no word and no trace. But all has not been quiet within the Federation. The Council for Trade and Finance has been murdered, assassinated, and the death toll among the Federation's ruling elite continues to rise.

With every corporate enclave that falls, the legend grows. They call her the Night Witch. A champion to some, a nightmare for others. Wherever she goes, death is soon to follow. 

Then, in an abandoned CTF research facility—and after so many years lost—a woman awakens. Her name is Sigrid Novak. And she is very, very angry.

Now Available On Amazon

TGfA 3 Gets A New Name

Updated Sept. 14, 2015

A New Name For The White Princess:

If you've been to my web site before then you might notice a slight change. For the last year and a half I've been calling TGfA III Codename: White Princess. Well, that's all changed. Say hello to the Night Witch.

On My Silence:

I've been silent on this book for a while. Too long, according to many of you, and I get that. This silence hasn't had anything to do with me not working on it. In fact, it's been quite the opposite. But the deeper I got into this book, the more I wanted to keep the lid on it. For a couple of reasons.

First, I decided to keep my mouth shut for fear of raising false expectations as to the release date. It seems every time I open my mouth, I say things like "It'll be done in two days!" or something equally nonsensical. These kinds of statements are always born out of my foolish excitement for wanting to finish and share it as soon as possible. I'm excited! I can't help it.

The second reason for my silence has been the simple fact that anything I say about this book will only end up being a HUGE spoiler. If you read Bellatrix, then I'm sure you'll get that. I left Sigrid in quite the bind. Even writing the synopsis for Night Witch has been a challenge, because I don't want to give anything away.

But the good news is, I'm ready to end the silence and open my mouth. Codename: Night Witch isn't finished yet (I'm writing the penultimate chapter as we speak), but this latest draft is all but done (with inevitable rewrites, additions and editing still to come).

But I have booked my editor for October. It's coming!

And if you just can't wait, you can grab a sneak peak here, as I've posted the prologue chapter, complete with typos..

Read a draft of the prologue here!

THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE III, Codename: White Princess

Posting from my WiP

THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE III:

Codename White Princess

The Girls From Alcyone is the continuing story of two very special young women who find themselves at the heart of a conflict spanning more than forty worlds.

It's been a long time since I've posted any snippets. The big problem with this book is finding snippets that don't act as complete spoilers. Many things have happened to Sigrid since we last saw her on Bellatrix. Here's a small sampling.

The thunderhawk was gone, disintegrated. The ground where it crashed was blackened and charred. Unspent fuel lay burning in wide puddles. Piles of burning wreckage lay strewn everywhere.

They were dead. All of them. Yet she had survived.

Sigrid understood. She was designed to survive—at all costs. The Kimura Corporation had made her this way. Her other memories might have been stolen, but this singular knowledge they had left with her: she was a killer, she was a weapon, and that was something they would never let her forget. 

Sigrid screamed, driving her fist into the ground. If they wanted killing, then she'd be more than happy to oblige. She would kill them all.

Don't forget to check out snippets from other SFFS authors here: scififansat.blogspot.ca! 

SciFi Fantasy Saturday is a web-ring of fab SciFi & Fantasy writers and posters. All are welcome to join and participate. In fact, join and participate! Fifteen sentences every Saturday is all it takes.

Cheers, Cary!

THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW

22 AUTHORS. 3 DYSTOPIAN BOXED SETS. 1 MASSIVE EVENT.

A virtual scavenger hunt through twenty-two fictional dystopias.

Friday, July 18 at 6:00pm _(EST) - Sunday, July 20 at 6:00pm _(EST).

Join THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW, an on-line scavenger hunt, and embark on a virtual odyssey through twenty-two dystopian futures. Become an intrepid scavenger and solve clues at each of the dystopian author stops as you navigate your way to the finish line where you’ll be entered into a random draw for the Grand Prize. For each correct answer collected along the way you’ll get an additional chance to win. During The Hunt, the authors will offer up their own exclusive material, sneak peeks, contests, and giveaways at their individual stops on The Hunt, giving all scavengers multiple chances to win bonus prizes.

The twenty-two participating indie authors include best-selling, award-winning and emerging writers from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom who all have books included in three dystopian boxed sets - - What Tomorrow May Bring, A Taste Of Tomorrow, and Shattered Worlds.

In a unique collaboration of story-telling, nineteen of the authors will write a progressive short story over nineteen days following The Hunt. The Grand Prize Winner of The Hunt For Tomorrow will name characters and contribute the title for this dystopian world, and all participants in The Hunt will receive an advance copy of the story for an exclusive period before it is made available as a free download. The Grand Prize also includes a signed copy of books included in the boxed sets, an ebook of all the boxed sets, and the first copy of this one-of-a-kind progressive story.

THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW begins at http://huntfortomorrow.blogspot.com on Friday, July 18 at 6:00pm _(EST) and ends on Sunday, July 20 at 6:00pm _(EST). The Hunt is on for one weekend only, although there is no time-limit for completing the course. The Hunt is open to scavengers around the world; there is no cost to enter and one grand prize winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries.

Go to THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW for details and the full list of participating authors.

JOIN THE HUNT. JULY 18-20.

Blast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 7/20/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the publisher. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WHAT TOMORROW MAY BRING BLOG SERIES: Q&A with Shelbi Wescott

Q&A Hot Seat

What Tomorrow May Bring

The YA Dystopian Box Set

available now for Kindle

For those following my blog, you might notice I've become involved with this anthology collection of dystopian science-fiction, What Tomorrow May Bring. Each week I'm featuring either a blog contribution or interview by each of the eleven authors from the anthology.

Today, author Shelbi Wescott, author of Virulent: The Release takes the hot seat for this Q&A . The questions were provided by Deborah Rix, author of  External Forces (and fellow contributor to What Tomorrow May Bring).

Enjoy!

WHAT IS THE FIRST SCIENCE FICTION BOOK YOU REMEMBER READING?

I remember reading The Boy Who Reversed Himself by William Sleator in 1989 during a cross-country road trip. We were driving from Oregon to Illinois and at the beginning of every driving day my mom gave me a new present to unwrap for that leg of the trip. While sitting in the parking lot of a hotel overrun with silverfish bugs in Keystone, South Dakota, I received Sleator’s book and devoured it by the time we arrived in Cedar Rapids.

Fourth dimensions, scary monsters, and something to do with ketchup as the best thing ever? I grew up in science-fiction loving house, but this is the first time I remember thinking of all the possibilities the genre offered—and it was a genuine way to escape the monotony of a drive through the Plains States.

ANY MOVIE, ANY BOOK…WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE ANTAGONIST?

This is such a fascinating question and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…I can’t limit it to one. So, here are my favorite antagonists, plural:

- Amon Goeth from Schindler’s List: Watching him on screen portrayed by Ralph Fiennes was the first time I had a visceral reaction to a person in a movie. He gave me a stomachache and I had to close my eyes; I was terrified of him, and even more sickened by the fact that he wasn’t an invention—this was a real man, a true monster.

- Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter: I’m big on justice and the INJUSTICE of her reign at Hogwarts sent me into a rage. I needed her to be a real person somewhere in the world, so I could travel there and punch here in the face.

- Honorable mentions: Johnny from Karate Kid; John Doe from Se7en; Mr. Burns from The Simpsons; Scar from the Lion King; Hans Grubar from Die Hard; Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life; Annie Wilkes from Misery.

IS THERE AN AUTHOR THAT YOU WOULD REALLY LIKE TO MEET?

I desperately want to have a lunch with Stephen King and Joe Hill. Actually, can it just be the whole family? I want to be invited to their Thanksgiving. Omg, can that happen? Can someone make that happen?

WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND WHERE DO YOU CALL HOME? WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE?

I was born in Portland, Oregon, and that is also where I currently call home. I’ve always had dreams of taking my writing life and heading off to a small, noisy apartment in NYC, but that feels like I’m cheating on my first love. (But I am taking my whole family there this summer…to write…in a noisy apartment on the Upper West Side. Then I get to come home to Oregon. So, it’s the best of both worlds.)

The reality is Portland is a creative town with such amazing talent and a thriving arts community. I’m immensely proud of my city.

DO YOU EVER WRITE IN YOUR PJ’S?

There are people who don’t write in their PJS? Shameful.

WHAT TALENT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE?

I’d always like to be a better writer—I read such talented stories and I’m insanely jealous of their wordsmithing abilities. But beyond that: I was fired by my piano teacher when I was eight or nine. She actually fired me and sat me on the porch to wait for my mom. So, I wish I could play the piano.

WHAT ARE YOUR PET PEEVES?

People who talk during movies; loud eaters; people who are rude to workers in service industries; bad tippers.

IF YOU HAD A SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? AND IF YOU HAD TO GIVE IT UP TO SAVE NEW JERSY, HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN TO NEW JERSEY THEY WERE GOING TO DIE?

I want the super power from that TV show “Out of this World”: to stop time by touching my fingers. Just…pause! Unpause. Pause. Unpause. And, I would definitely avoid saying anything to anyone, and just slowly back away pretending like I didn’t understand. “What? New Jersey? Can’t hear you…”

WHY DIDN’T HURLEY LOSE ANY WEIGHT WHILE ON THE ISLAND?

Can we just pretend that this is the only thing that doesn’t make sense about that show? Because I was a LOST devotee (I had a Dharma Initiative party and replaced all the labels on the food with Dharma labels) and it’s too soon to talk about. Too soon.

ABOUT THE BOOK

HOW IMPORTANT ARE NAMES TO YOU IN THIS BOOK. DID YOU CHOOSE THEM BASED ON SOUND OR MEANING?

My names are important because I name characters after my students as classroom management rewards. Is that strange? Like, “Hey. Stop talking during this quiz or I’m finding/replacing your character from this book. Don’t make me erase you.” Works like a charm.

WHERE DID YOUR TOMORROW SPRING FROM? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CRAZY WORLD?

There is a reservoir in Portland that is just open to the elements…recently a man peed in there and they had to drain the whole thing. (ADDENDUM: Last week’s Portland Must Boil Water fiasco because they found e-coli in the water? Same reservoir.) And it’s where a big chunk of Portland’s water comes from…so, this idea stemmed from a single thought, “How easy would it be…if a group was vast enough…to wipe out civilization by targeting water and air with bioterrorism?” From there, I had to invent and discuss the why. Why would someone want to do that? And then I thought of Noah and how the story there is that God wiped out the world to start over because people were awful. So, give someone a God complex, who wants to decide who is worthy to survive, and have him kill off the world? That is how Virulent took shape.

JUST HOW FAR IN THE FUTURE IS YOUR TOMORROW?

Tomorrow. Like…literally tomorrow. Today. Now. My book develops into a dystopian over the story arc. It starts as a post-apocalyptic tale that shows how our world could fall. I wanted it to feel realistic and scary.

DID YOU DO ANY SPECIFIC OR UNUSUAL RESEARCH FOR THIS BOOK?

Over the course of the trilogy, I have had to do some crazy research (firearms, bombs, bioterrorism). I’m on NSA lists. They don’t know what to make of me based on my Internet searches. 

QUOTE A CHARACTER, ANY CHARACTER.

"Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads."

Oh! You mean one of my characters?

Ms. Johnston says, “Hasn’t anyone told you? It’s the assholes who inherit the earth.”

WHO SHOULD NOT READ YOUR BOOK?

People who have rosy outlooks on human behavior in time of crisis. Seriously? You think everyone is going to band together and become instant do-gooders? I love people, but I don’t have a shred of faith in human nature when SHTF.

ARE ANY OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS FROM THE LGBT (LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER) COMMUNITY.

Absolutely. Actually, I got a one-star review because a reviewer didn’t want her pre-teen daughter reading about a woman who had a wife. [Insert eye-roll here] I like to wear that review like a badge of honor. So…we could add that into the “people who shouldn’t read my book” answer, too. If reading about humansbothers you…don’t read this book.

GIVE YOUR BOOK THE BECHDEL TEST

1. IT HAS TO HAVE AT LEAST TWO (NAMED) WOMEN IN IT

2. WHO TALK TO EACH OTHER

3. ABOUT SOMETHING BESIDES A MAN

My books (especially the trilogy as a whole) passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors. But I personally think the test should be harder to pass…let’s raise the bar!

WHAT SORT OF BODY COUNT ARE WE TALKING HERE?

Oh, wow. Yeah. Um. Seven billion people…

For more on the What Tomorrow May Bring box set, please visit us on Facebook, and  (of course!) check us out on Amazon where you can download your free sample to get reading.

And please visit the talented Deborah Rix (a fellow Canadian to boot).