Hyper By: John A. Autero

Hyper

By: John A. Autero

Right on the front cover this book states: “Evil doesn’t have a problem finding the middle of nowhere.”

Charlie Kennedy is in outer space on Decontamination Depot 315. And wouldn’t you know it, while he is stationed here, people are being brutally murdered. And the icing on the cake? Some set the self-destruct to go off. 

There is a goody-two-shoes from Kansas who seems like he wants to be everyone’s friends, and a Russian soldier type, Crime Syndicate, as well as a prisoner who came to visit the depot, who has been convicted of many murders, who could be likely suspects. 

But then again, who knows, because in this book, one minute you think it’s one person, and the next, you think it’s another. And we all know mankind is the ultimate evil. But just when you think you have the mystery solved, there is another twist thrown at you that will make your head spin.

This book will keep you guessing, and questioning yourself, all the while rooting for Charlie to save the day. An extremely entertaining space mystery that will keep you on your toes every step of the way. Worthy of five-stars, and more! You will want to read it, and will be truly impressed with this story, I promise you. It is unlike any sci-fi story you have read, a true edge of seat mystery with non-stop action! I loved it all the way to the end!

Here are my questions for John:

1. What made you decide to write this and how long did it take you?

About four years ago, I was chatting with a person about reviewing one of my earlier books called “Footprints”. We were discussing different types of novel genres and the classic, who-done-it was brought up in conversation. It was as if a bolt of lightning shot through my body and I knew I had to write one. It took about two years to write “HYPER”.

2. Did you do any special research for this novel?

A little. I wanted the technical aspect of the story to be fairly accurate even though it takes place in the future. I read about the element hydrogen and infused some of its technical specifications into the story. (most abundant element in the universe, harvesting it from space to use as fuel, it will ignite with as low as four percent diluted in the atmosphere) I also read some interesting facts about Mars, which has a prominent place in the book, even though we never get a chance to visit there. Did you know, the length of an Earth day and a Martian day is almost the same? (23:56:04 for Earth vs 24:39:35 for Mars)

3. Who designed the cover of Hyper?

I wanted to improve the cover design of HYPER as compared to my first two books. So, I sought out a professional designer (one I could afford) but he seemed to be very “uneasy” to work with. I had a look and feel in mind and he wasn’t interested and wanted to go in a different direction. So, I decided not to employ him. What I ended up doing is purchasing a picture from Shutterstock and a custom font and making it myself. The picture on the cover is depicting Decontamination Depot 315, which is a space craft refueling station (a gas station so to speak). I thought the pods and the green and red indicator lights seemed very appropriate. I think it came out good and unless I get hired by some enormous publishing company, I plan to keep doing them myself. (One side note: On the back cover of the paperback, as well as the copy right page inside the book, I mention the cover was designed by “Oscar A. Wiggy Imagination Company”. Oscar A. Wiggy was my nick name in high school and all of my schoolmates still call me either Oscar or Wiggy when I see them.)

4. What are you working on now?

I’m working on a follow up to “The Scorpion”. Bruce gets involved in a second adventure that gets him mixed up with a government coverup to hide information pertaining to the “NASA - landing on the moon project”. It doesn’t follow the common “The moon shot was a hoax” conspiracy that has already been beat to death. It takes it in a different direction, I’m hoping one that everybody will find interesting. Release date is probably in 2019.

5. How long have you been a writer and what made you want to be a writer when-- (I mean if) you grew up? LOL

6. Have you ever had writers block and if so what is a good remedy for it? If not- same thing though... 🙃 

When I started to write my current book, (It has a Working Name of “Moonshot”, but I highly doubt that’s what it will be called… anyways, the follow up to “The Scorpion”) I felt a little lost at first. I had my story mapped out well and my main characters developed, but it just didn’t seem to click with me. So, I let it sit for a few weeks while I worked on getting “HYPER” loaded up on Goodreads and Amazon. When I picked it up again, I started by reviewing my story map. I had tossed around some ideas in my head during the two-week period and I incorporated them into the plot. I love misdirection, and I feel the new ideas did a really good job of “pointing to one thing, while a second is happening behind your back”. When I got back to writing, my heart was racing and my fingers flying with new enthusiasm.

7. What are your hobbies?

I like to dabble in lots of things. I like baseball cards. I like classic cars. I have a 1970 El Camino I play around with now and again. I like drag racing (check out my author pic). I love fire arms. I love the mechanics of how they work and the power you feel when shooting one. (I guess it’s similar to stomping on the gas pedal in the El Camino.) I was born a Cubs fan (thanks Dad) which had been kind of a curse until 2016. I cried when they won, because my dad wasn’t around to see it. I like heavy rock and metal. I still go to concerts (Iron Maiden, KISS, Testament), and I went to see Def Leppard last year. I think it keeps me young. I also have a dog and cat, which I guess isn’t really a hobby since they are a part of the family. Daisy is my puppy (even though she just turned eight) and Taz is my cat.

8. Please share with us your social media and book links:::

Goodreads – HYPER –

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34628731-hyper

Goodreads – Author –

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8112669.John_A_Autero

Amazon –

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XR3KKLW/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B06XR3KKLW&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Twitter –

https://twitter.com/JohnAAutero

9. Anything to add?

Deneale – Thank you very much for reviewing my book and allowing me the chance to promote HYPER and talk about some topics on your website. If you have any ideas on how I can improve my writing, I would love to hear them. I am trying to build my writing skills with each book I write, so I would love to hear your thoughts. If you have any words of wisdom as far as promotion goes, I would be interested to hear those as well. Services and websites like yours seem to be few and far between.

Hyper by John A. Autero
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Right on the front cover this book states: “Evil doesn’t have a problem finding the middle of nowhere.”

Charlie Kennedy is in outer space on Decontamination Depot 315. And wouldn’t you know it, while he is stationed here, people are being brutally murdered. And the icing on the cake? Some set the self-destruct to go off.

There is a goody-two-shoes from Kansas who seems like he wants to be everyone’s friends, and a Russian soldier type, Crime Syndicate, as well as a prisoner who came to visit the depot, who has been convicted of many murders, who could be likely suspects.


But then again, who knows, because in this book, one minute you think it’s one person, and the next, you think it’s another. And we all know mankind is the ultimate evil. But just when you think you have the mystery solved, there is another twist thrown at you that will make your head spin.

This book will keep you guessing, and questioning yourself, all the while rooting for Charlie to save the day. An extremely entertaining space mystery that will keep you on your toes every step of the way. Worthy of five-stars, and more! You will want to read it, and will be truly impressed with this story, I promise you. It is unlike any sci-fi story you have read, a true edge of seat mystery with non-stop action! I loved it all the way to the end!



View all my reviews

 

Chaser by Fred T. Kerns

Chaser

By Fred T. Kerns

Can you imagine having a day where everything that could go wrong does? What’s even worse, is that it’s your first day on the job. Yep, this is the kind of luck Boiler has. What could get worse? Yeah you’re not supposed to ask that!

Now Boiler has been targeted by a local crime lord- yep that’s worse! Now she isn’t even safe on Earth. This is not something Boiler is used to, she is usually the one doing to the hunting, not the hunted. 

You see, that was what Boiler job entailed, she is a bounty hunter. Always has been, and is usually damn good at her job. Well, at least until she has a bad day….

Upon realizing she is no longer safe on Earth, Boiler decides to make a safer heading elsewhere. She heads to a starship construction station, where she hopes to remain safely, until everything clears up.

In the meantime, while there, Boiler finds her place on the stations security team. Here she makes some new friends, and even better, a new boy friend and girl friend. Now she hopes to make a better start, and feel safe, and enable everyone else's safety at the same time.

In the meantime, will the crime lord find her again? Is she really safe? What do you think could happen? You need to read to find out!

This is an extremely fun book, that will keep you on the tip of your chair. You are truly worried about Boiler and what will become of her. Boiler has a great personality, and you will enjoy her. Therefore I give this book, Chaser five stars. Fred has entertained me once again! I feel he will do the same to you, so give his book a look, see! You will be glad you did!

My questions for Fred!

1. What made you write this book?

​ As usual, it started with a number of little things gradually coming together in my head​. I'd already introduced Boiler as a supporting character in my first novel, Load. She, her younger brother, and a friend had used an alien device to travel several decades into the past to escape someone who was pursuing them and to try to prevent a catastrophe that wiped out the whole city in 2075. (Can't tell any more about it. As River Song likes to say ... "Spoilers!") Boiler was also pretty prominent in the sequel, Fifteen Minutes, and had her own plot going at the same time as the three main characters, and both stories converged in the last few chapters. I found Boiler such a fun character to write that I wanted to do more with her, and after a while I started getting ideas for a story that focused entirely on her and how she got started in her career as a bounty hunter.

2. How long did it take you to write this book?

​It took several years to change and grow through quite a few different drafts. 

​It 

started off as a short story

​ in 2006, if I remember correctly​

, and was considerably different from the final draft of the novel. Originally, the story had a crime lord kidnap her little brother and force her to make a sadistic choice -- save his life, or save the lives of several hundred innocent people. She had time to stop one bomb from going off, but not both, and each was miles apart. She chose to save her brother, and had to live with all those other deaths while going after the villain, intending to punish him for what he did. 

​ I was pretty happy with the way the story turned out, submitted it to a bunch of magazines over the next year or so, but it didn't sell. Later on, I decided to flesh it out and expand it into a full-length novel. I dropped the sadistic choice angle, but kept the villain and changed a few of the details of the conflict between him and Boiler. I added more stuff with her parents, brother, and some of their friends, and also added some developments that sent them to a space station orbiting Io so I could play around with some new ideas I'd had along the way.

I think it took a year or two to write the first draft. Another change I made was to write the book in first-person, after writing all of my other stories in third-person. The story hadn't quite gelled for me, but when I made that change, the character and her story really came to life. It also helped set this book apart from Load and Fifteen Minutes, since it wasn't part of that series. This book is kind of its own little thing. I submitted it to different publishers over the next few years, but no one was interested in it. Then a friend suggested I try sending it to her publisher, so I gave it a shot, and it was accepted a few weeks after I moved to Tucson from the Oregon coast.

3. Do you have any photos or descriptions of these characters? Especially Boiler?

I just have a few sketches of Boiler that one of my friends drew way back in 1999 or 2000 or so. I'd been using the character in some stories that I ended up abandoning, but liked her so much that I made a few adjustments and put her in my novels. Here's my favorite of those sketches.

​4. How do you come up with the ideas for these awesome sci fi books?

​ Aww, thanks. :D Well, the ideas come from pretty much anywhere and everywhere. You never know when a little thing you see on the way to the grocery store, or something that happens at work, or a line of a conversation you overhear somewhere, or something you see on TV, will generate the seed of an idea that will grow until it's ready to be used for a story or a character. As an example, when I started writing Load​

, I started the protagonist off in a job he hated passionately. I decided to use my own job at the time, which I was absolutely miserable in, so I took some of the customers and situations from my own experience and used them as inspiration for this character's last night on his job.

​ I also used a couple of things from another job as inspiration for some stuff in Fifteen Minutes. And in Chaser, Boiler makes a few comments about those sorts of situations.

​ For another example, little things I see in videos on YouTube will often give me ideas for bits of business here and there, like when characters are bonding over a video game. Seeing gameplay videos by some of the people working at Rooster Teeth, in particular, gave me the idea of characters taking some time off to just goof around and have some fun in between clashes with villains. (This is one of my favorites, as well as this one.) ​Also, things that happen when I'm playing a game will often give me ideas, such as the trouble I had driving a street sweeper in Saints Row: The Third inspiring a bit of humor in my novel Project Revenant. Then there's the game's opening scenes, which has several action bits so over the top that I wish I'd thought of them myself, especially the skydiving-through-an-airplane sequence. But next time something I'm writing needs a scene with elements similar to those, I now have something I can try to top, haha.

Speaking of writing action, I got a lot of ideas (and learned how to think about these kinds of scenes in ways I'd never previously considered) from the fight choreography in the Red vs. Blue web series. For instance, it probably never would've occurred to me that characters fighting in zero gravity could be so dynamic if I hadn't seen this.

Anyway, various little things I put in my books are inspired by all sorts of things. Just catching a glimpse of a woman with a scarred face in one of the trailers for Borderlands gave me the idea for a new character and led to my first officially published short story, Mission to Bellatrix. The basic plots, on the other hand ... well, Load started with a single character coming together in my head, then his girlfriend and their roommate, followed by building the kind of world these characters would inhabit and then finding various kinds of trouble for them to get into. The act of writing the book gave me ideas for more books, and as mentioned above, Boiler really became fun to write and that made me want to focus a whole story on her. And it just kind of built up from there over time.

5. What do you have in store for us next?

​ I'm working on a campaign to get Project Revenant published on Inkshares, and thinking over ideas for the sequel. I've got a fairly solid idea for what the basic plot will be, plus there are several threads from the previous books to continue developing. Aside from that, I've got a couple other works in progress, Freelancers and Harbinger, which I'll be adding new chapters to ASAP.​

​ Freelancers is frequently quite action-packed and also has a lot of humor coming from the smartass characters, and while Harbinger (and the previous stories, Game-Changer, Rematch, and Enemy of my Enemy)​ is filled with action and humor, it's an ongoing romance at its heart. There's also A Personal War, which is kind of a sneak peek at a story arc I've been planning for Freelancers but haven't kicked off yet, that I wrote as a big, epic action set-piece. It's about an elite soldier whose husband, parents, and siblings have been abducted by an old enemy, and her single-handed assault on the mercenary's compound to rescue them. I'm planning to really flesh that out when I get to that point in Freelancers, delving into her relationship with her parents and some conflicts they've got going, plus rounding out the villain a little more so he isn't just a target for her to take out.

But my main project right now is fleshing out the short story Mission to Bellatrix and expanding it into a full-length novel, Uncharted Territory. That's the one I'm most eager to finish.

6. What was your favorite book to write?

​ I had a blast writing Chaser, and also really enjoyed writing Fifteen Minutes and Project Revenant. But right now, I think my favorite so far is turning out to be Uncharted Territory, because I'm playing around with new characters and a new setting that I haven't been writing for over a decade, so it's something fresh and new and exciting. I've always been a sucker for space opera-type stuff -- Star Trek and Star Wars, of course, and also Doctor Who and my all-time favorite, Babylon 5 -- so I'm having a lot of fun with it. My other books, while they're in a futuristic setting​, are still set entirely on Earth (with the exception of Chaser), so writing about space travel and long-lost spaceships and aliens and mysterious ruins on dead planets is a whole new kind of fun. Plus, the character of Kolya Mason has really taken root in my head the same way Boiler did all those years ago.

7. What is your favorite type of book to read?

​ Sci-fi (what a shock, huh?) and a bit of nonfiction every now and then. My library includes books by Alan Dean Foster, William Gibson, Allen Steele, and many others. I kind of lean toward harder SF and cyberpunk (or post-cyberpunk) most of the time​. On the nonfiction side, I'm usually reading books on astronomy and related subjects, by Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Phil Plait, and others. I've even developed a tendency to name spaceships in my books after astronomers and astronauts, due to my enjoyment of space and astronomy. Game Over and Mission to Bellatrix/Uncharted Territory, for example, feature a research and exploration ship named after astronaut Mae Jemison, and Chaser has several mentions of an explorer ship named after Carl Sagan, one of my childhood heroes.

8. Seriously- you're a GTA addict?! LOL

​ Heh. Yeah, right now, that's my go-to game when I need to unwind after work or just take a break from whatever's going on. Before that, it was Star Trek Online for a while (until the gameplay became too frustrating). Before that, it was the last couple of Saints Row games that I just couldn't get enough of. And before that, for several years, I was addicted to Mass Effect 2. Just for fun, here's a few pictures of my GTA Online character, her bitchin' car, and her minigun. :D 

When Chaser was published, I even used GTA Online for a video to introduce and talk about the book, by riding around on a bike just so there would be something interesting on the screen, since I'm not entirely comfortable being on-camera, myself.

​

9. How long have you been playing GTA?

​ I started with GTA III a few years after it was released (once the price dropped enough for me to afford it, haha). I've played the major entries in the series over the years (Vice City, San Andreas, IV, and now V), but haven't played the console-exclusive ones. I'm strictly a PC gamer. These games are just so much fun, especially the most recent ones, since the setting is so huge and you can just explore and goof around.

​

10. Please provide for us your links to follow you & your work:

​ My website and blog have links to just about everything I'm up to online, including links to my Goodreads and Amazon author pages, plus individual links to my books and stories:

Site: http://fredtkerns.weebly.com/

Blog: http://fredtkerns.blogspot.com/​

​

11. Any last words:

​ Thank you again for the review and for giving me an opportunity to talk about Chaser, my other books, and just generally talk about stuff I'm interested in. I hope you and your readers enjoyed reading this, and I hope you all check out my other books. I had a great time with this. :D

From Deneale I hafta share this, because it is posted by Fred, but it is also about me. It made me smile. (Yes I am lame!)

One of the things I honestly like about Fred, is the guy is very human. He calls 'em like he see's them and pulls no punches. I truly enjoy his company. If you don't have Fred as a friend, you are missing a damn cool guy!


As posted on Goodreads:

Chaser by Fred T. Kerns
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can you imagine having a day where everything that could go wrong does? What’s even worse, is that it’s your first day on the job. Yep, this is the kind of luck Boiler has. What could get worse? Yeah you’re not supposed to ask that!

Now Boiler has been targeted by a local crime lord- yep that’s worse! Now she isn’t even safe on Earth. This is not something Boiler is used to, she is usually the one doing to the hunting, not the hunted.

You see, that was what Boiler job entailed, she is a bounty hunter. Always has been, and is usually damn good at her job. Well, at least until she has a bad day….

Upon realizing she is no longer safe on Earth, Boiler decides to make a safer heading elsewhere. She heads to a starship construction station, where she hopes to remain safely, until everything clears up.

In the meantime, while there, Boiler finds her place on the stations security team. Here she makes some new friends, and even better, a new boy friend and girl friend. Now she hopes to make a better start, and feel safe, and enable everyone else's safety at the same time.

In the meantime, will the crime lord find her again? Is she really safe? What do you think could happen? You need to read to find out!

This is an extremely fun book, that will keep you on the tip of your chair. You are truly worried about Boiler and what will become of her. Boiler has a great personality, and you will enjoy her. Therefore I give this book, Chaser five stars. Fred has entertained me once again! I feel he will do the same to you, so give his book a look, see! You will be glad you did!

View all my reviews