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December 2022

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Newsletter 2022-12-16: season's blues (flu), free audio book, book tip and music tip
by Koen Martens 16 Dec '22

16 Dec '22

Title 'Koen's Bi-montly Mailing' against backdrop of white binary digits on blue background Not showing correctly? Missing images? Click here for web version. <https://koenmartens.nl/20221216newsletter.html?mtm_campaign=nl&mtm_kwd=nl22…> Close-up of the moon's surfaceI got nothing Literally. I'm just coming out of a three-day flu-induced stupor, which messed up all plans I had for this week, including this newsletter. I was going to wax lyrically about humanity's return to the moon, with NASA's Artemis mission <https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/> in full swing. It has me excited, I was born just too late to witness the first moon landings, so looking forward to another chance. This bout of non-covid illness has put a dent in my revision schedule for /The Ein Particle/, my upcoming novel. I've processed a few chapters worth of feedback from my editor, but there's so much more and that's before I even scratch the surface of the more structural changes I'm going to want to make. Ah well, the holidays are coming up, so I've taken two weeks off from the day job to retreat back into my writer's den and edit hard. This is my final newsletter this year. Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who signed up this year and all of you who signed up before but decided not to unsubscribe. It means a lot to me! Have a jolly good time, if that's your thing, or enjoy the absence of distractions while you get some work done. In any case, see you next year! Blurred image of two people descending deep concrete stairs Forced to be Free audio book It is with great pleasure that I can finally announce the general availability of the audio book version of Forced to be Free <https://koenmartens.nl/pages/isolated-futures-1-forced-to-be-free.html?mtm_…>. You can find it on a whole bunch of sites and I expect it will become available on a whole bunch more. It's not expensive, but to my loyal newsletter subscribers it's of no cost at all! You can grab your copy directly from my site. Use the email address you used to sign up to this newsletter as the username. Your password is uopl129ac. Let me know what you think. Do you prefer audio books over print or ebooks? What do you think of the narration on this audio book? It's been a first for both me and Maja, the narrator, so we're eager to hear your feedback! Download the audio book. <https://koenmartens.nl/mlonly/Isolated_Futures_by_Koen_Martens_narrated_by_…> Image of jupiter with orbital insertion path drawn in white <https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/3f33d972-6a92-11ed-85e8-2716988a047c> Sapience Alexis Lantgen What kind of life will we find in the depths of Europa’s oceans? What kind of life will we allow an AI with human level intelligence? The ten stories in Sapience: A Collection of Science Fiction Short Stories explore these questions and many more. In the near future, humanity builds a colony on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. They tunnel into the ice to explore the dark oceans beneath the moon's surface, searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. What they find will change them forever, setting humanity on a path to the stars. But the old conflicts and hatreds of Earth are not so easily escaped. Will human colonists on distant planets and moons create a paradise or a horrifying dystopia? Get book! <https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/3f33d972-6a92-11ed-85e8-2716988a047c> Cropped image of Santa holding up a vinyl record <https://somafm.com/christmas/> SomaFM Christmas Lounge "Chilled holiday grooves and classic winter lounge tracks. (Kid and Parent safe!" This digital radio station is the perfect sound track for a relaxed Christmas. None of the commercial songs you were sick to death with a month ago already, but an eclectic mix of vintage and modern tracks inspired on the classics. Groovy, jazzy, it's just what you need to chill with some chocolate and a steaming mug of whatever hot beverage you prefer. Tune in to a groovy Christmas now <https://somafm.com/christmas/>. Find my book, the Isolated Futures Omnibus, on: Amazon <https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VYFJK15/>Kobo <https://www.kobo.com/ebook/isolated-futures>Barnes & Noble <https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=2940160945323>Google <https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=-yBlEAAAQBAJ>Apple <http://books.apple.com/us/book/id1615269317> Mastodon icon <https://hsnl.social/@gmc>Instagram icon <https://www.instagram.com/koenmartens_author/>Linkedin icon <https://www.linkedin.com/in/komartens/>Facebook icon <https://www.facebook.com/Koen-Martens-104281962311958>Email icon <mailto:in+newsletter@metro.cx>Link icon <https://www.koenmartens.nl/>RSS icon <https://koenmartens.nl/feeds/all.atom.xml>

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Newsletter 2022-12-02: Editor feedback, short story tip and punk's not dead!
by Koen Martens 02 Dec '22

02 Dec '22

Title 'Koen's Bi-montly Mailing' against backdrop of white binary digits on blue background Not showing correctly? Missing images? Click here for web version. <https://koenmartens.nl/20221202newsletter.html?mtm_campaign=nl&mtm_kwd=nl22…> Close-up of fire in fireplaceAnd onwards! The construction crew has left, the central heating system is operational (albeit in need of some calibration), so time to relax! Not! Right as the installation was being finished, my editor came back to me with the first round of feedback on my current work in progress, The Ein Particle. She had some very good remarks that I now need to process. I have a hard time motivating myself though. It's not that I dread working on the manuscript, but more like Christmas is coming up, and I'm starting to feel like it's time for a holiday. I'll get on top of the work soon though, probably taking an extended leave from the day job over Christmas, new years eve and the week following. In the mean time, the audio book version of Forced to be Free <https://koenmartens.nl/pages/isolated-futures-1-forced-to-be-free.html> is almost ready to be published. The only thing that is holding us back right now, is that we need a cover art version specific for the audio book. Any day now, I expect this in my inbox so that I can upload and publish. Keep an eye on my Mastodon account <https://hsnl.social/@gmc> if you're eager to get your free version (exclusive for my newsletter subscribers). Book cover of All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Marth Wells: a masked figure in armor agains backdrop of dreary trees, all in a green-grayish monochrome. Review: All Systems Red Short but enjoyable, good world-building but an ending that felt rushed. Still, gave it 4 out of 5 on goodreads and have put the second part in the series on my to read list. Read the full review on my site. <https://koenmartens.nl/20221202-review-all-systems-red.html?mtm_campaign=nl…> Starship against backdrop of earth-like planet and moon <https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/d99e46ce-7077-11ed-8037-c350f7163e69> Matriculation S.V. Farnsworth Zin Yarl has worked her whole life to make something of herself, and today she's finally done it. She's graduating from the Space Academy with top honors. Just her luck, pirates kidnap her and ruin all her plans. How can this possibly be a good thing? Get this short story for free! <https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/d99e46ce-7077-11ed-8037-c350f7163e69> Punk band against urban backdrop full of ghoulish humanoid figures <https://open.spotify.com/album/5Fdeu9x15r5y4ddHWEClu1?si=2bhFiZ7sR_C8u7kVqc…> Troops of Tomorrow The Exploited A classic this time, this early 80's punk-rock album from The Exploited contains a good number of excellent songs. The title song is brilliant, with a gloomy intro that has you picturing an army of zombies marching towards destruction. Mind you, this is not at all a happy album. It's aggressive, immediate and raw, evoking a mood that has me wanting to trash the place. Not surprisingly: the band is known for vandalising hotels on tour, inciting riots at concerts and fighting among each other on stage. But hey, what can I say. Sometimes, with all the shit going on in the world, a bit of 'fuck it, burn it all down' is just what you need to relieve some of the pressure. Just remember to exercise enough self restraint to not actually trash your place, that might become expensive. Check it out on Spotify <https://open.spotify.com/album/5Fdeu9x15r5y4ddHWEClu1?si=2bhFiZ7sR_C8u7kVqc…>. Find my book, the Isolated Futures Omnibus, on: Amazon <https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VYFJK15/>Kobo <https://www.kobo.com/ebook/isolated-futures>Barnes & Noble <https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=2940160945323>Google <https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=-yBlEAAAQBAJ>Apple <http://books.apple.com/us/book/id1615269317> Mastodon icon <https://hsnl.social/@gmc>Instagram icon <https://www.instagram.com/koenmartens_author/>Linkedin icon <https://www.linkedin.com/in/komartens/>Facebook icon <https://www.facebook.com/Koen-Martens-104281962311958>Email icon <mailto:in+newsletter@metro.cx>Link icon <https://www.koenmartens.nl/>RSS icon <https://koenmartens.nl/feeds/all.atom.xml>

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