WiP: The Social Club – 90,800 words

Work in Progress

¦ dialling in from Sky Bunker ¦

90,000 words on the Social Club. Layers of the onion are being peeled away. Senior verifier Jadon Purgo is starting to see the big truth at the heart of it all. The thick plottens!  Time for a Da Vinci break (15 minute power snooze).

1 hour Later…

90,800. And there ends the night. 9pm rule. No computer work after nine o’clock. And I can start to see the end in sight. Maybe another 10,000 words? Excitement threaded through with the frustration and impatience of just wanting it to be done. Which misses the whole point of writing: it’s the “doing” that is the pleasure.  Because once you finish the book, wrap-up the proofing and editing and set the thing to sail into the marketplace, you never get to spend quality time with those characters again. Those friends inside the mind that have shared the long hours and sacrifices that brings them out of the darkness of subconscious and into the daylight of reality.  Blech! Waffling. You get the point. :o)

The Social Club will be the third novel set in the post-apocalyptic survival horror universe of Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur; it follows Dog Eat Dog and The Black Lake (which recently received critical review in the Guardian newspaper website UK) – all three of which are separate stories but sharing the one universe.  Another five novels exist taking place in this shared universe before Yellow Dawn wrecked such global havoc and devastation, you can view all of these novels here. 

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WiP: The Social Club – 87,000 words

Work in Progress

¦ dialling in from Sky Bunker ¦

Had an absolutely epic writing session this weekend. Two solid days of it. Made great progress with the new book. Senior Verifier Jadon Purgo is now coming out of a decade-old shell. He’s seeing London, or rather the Settlement (what’s left of the city since Yellow Dawn happened and the Group took control) in a wholly new light and he is not liking what he sees. So now the figure of authority is seeking a way out, a way to get past the checkpoints and militia and flamethrowers that aren’t just there to keep out the Infected.  He’s seeing now how they’re also there to prevent anybody who learns the truth about the Settlement (and its true origins) from revealing such knowledge to the rest of the global survivor community.

Also managed to weave-in the cyborg characters I fleshed out for the (post-Yellow Dawn) novel called Dawn of the Iconoclast; a book that’s not yet been written but has a full plotmap ready to roll.  Nice to drop them in with a sort of cameo-role.

The Social Club will be the third novel set in the post-apocalyptic survival horror universe of Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur; it follows Dog Eat Dog and The Black Lake (which recently received critical review in the Guardian newspaper website UK) – all three of which are separate stories but sharing the one universe.  Another five novels exist taking place in this shared universe before Yellow Dawn wrecked such global havoc and devastation, you can view all of these novels here. 

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Sci-Fi Cyberpunk Today: Pop Video from an Orbital Platform Hanging in Space

20 minutes into the Future

Commander Chris Hadfield creates a revised version of  David Bowie’s Space Oddity on board the International Space Station.

Cyberpunks in Space

Picture it. The latest rendition of a zombagirl funk track by the Iron Maidens – with a fully animated “living” and decidedly non-breathing, female version of the mummified Eddie, grown from synthetic biology, cavorting with the all-female (some transsexual) members of the band.  Broadcast in ultra-definition, colour corrected (superrealistic) and enhanced with trend-mapping audience-response edits, split and channelled via separate geographic consumer territories, that allow the video to shift through the diverse moods and tolerances of a global market.  The band members rotate through a low-G manoeuvre, pseudo-fornication designed to a “young-adult” theme; everything in perfect sync despite the random chaos of limbs and instruments, and there, in the background, Mother Earth, a blue giant orb streaked with swirls of white, visible through a large hull plate of transparent carboplastic.

All very entertaining, but the first in the historical line of these now familiar media events was a Canadian astronaut with a rather dapper moustache and acoustic guitar.  Commander Chris Hadfield.  This video is fantastic for lots of reasons. The concordance between lyrics and visuals just beautiful. And profoundly thought-provoking. Could David Bowie have ever imagined, really, when first performing this song, that it would be adjusted and re-performed like this, in such a seemingly science-fiction context?  This in the same year that a corporation has stated its aim to send human colonists to Mars in 2023.  Space, at least for now, seems like a viable frontier again.

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Available in Paperback or Kindle

Paperback : from LULU & Kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

GOD SEED { novel } For acclaimed documentary film-maker, Adam Kyle, this was going to be another feather in his cap. Embedded within a team of highly trained corporate mercenaries, he was covering the start of an operation in England. But when the operation goes terribly wrong, Kyle finds himself battling for his life, his sanity, and maybe even his very soul as a new and dramatic story unfolds, dragging him across the globe…and beyond. It isn’t just his documentary that is at stake, but the fate of every living thing in the Universe. David J Rodger delivers a gut-wrenching and epic journey in a novel that plunges deep into the crawling chaos and takes you to the edge of the membrane of human existence.

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Back of Book Blurb – Bane of a Writer’s Life

One Upon a Time…

It’s the thing I really dislike. You’ve sweated for weeks and months over something that’s 70,000 or more words in length.  Punchy start that launches well-crafted characters out across story arcs that see them rising, falling, crashing, burning, surviving or dying, and ultimately succeeding or failing as all the threads come together.  And then you have to take all that work and condense it down into a few lines that don’t just read like the contents of a tin of dog food. You’ve got to couch it in terms so compelling that a person might even consider eating that tin of dog food because you’ve made it sound so good.

I’m about to go through an overhaul of all my novel cover designs (bloody 7 of them!), either going for a much muted, graphic template approach or just some typographical first-aid to what I’ve currently got (create a more consistent feeling to show they’re all unique, independent stories, but all part of the same universe).  Working with a freelance designer on this.

But it’s made me review the back of book blurb’s I’m currently using and there is much nose wrinkling on my part. Don’t like what I’ve got. So, I’m in the process of re-writing them. Cue pained expression and a face like a dog chewing on a thistle.

Here’s five of them:

God Seed

God Seed { novel } For acclaimed documentary film-maker, Adam Kyle, this was going to be another feather in his cap. Embedded within a team of highly trained corporate mercenaries, he was covering the start of an operation in England. But when the operation goes terribly wrong, Kyle finds himself battling for his life, his sanity, and maybe even his very soul as a new and dramatic story unfolds, dragging him across the globe…and beyond. It isn’t just his documentary that is at stake, but the fate of every living thing in the Universe. David J Rodger delivers a gut-wrenching and epic journey in a novel that plunges deep into the crawling chaos and takes you to the edge of the membrane of human existence.

BUY > paperback : from LULU
BUY > kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

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Dante’s Fool

Dante’s Fool { novel } Detective Sergeant Louis Cloud is a hard-boiled cop hungry for power and promotion, and he’ll do anything to get it. When a courier descends from orbit and is murdered by an armed gang who rob him of precious gemstones, DS Cloud sets eagerly upon their trail, but he quickly learns there are other forces out there – and things from other realms of reality – that will also stop at nothing to get what they want. DS Cloud’s life is literally torn apart as he plunges headlong towards a terrifying confrontation with one of the sub-princes of Hell. Thrown into this violent mix of corporate corruption and demonism is Natalya Dorganskya; previously the adorable daughter of a now deceased movie-megastar, she has turned to crime to give her the kicks she once got from a borrowed fame and fortune. Once a world-class pilot, her neural network ravaged by custom drugs, can she overcome the torments of her past to defeat the horrors of her immediate future? Non-human things that have come stalking through time and space to take back what she and her compatriots stole from the courier. David J Rodger delivers a dark and edgy vision of the near-future in a novel that reveals the boundaries between the Satanism and the Cthulhu Mythos.

BUY > paperback : from LULU

BUY > kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

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Iron Man Project

Iron Man Project { novel } Former special-forces operative, Vincent Brent, is tough, ruthless and highly trained; he’s now using his skills for whoever will pay him without cashing in the bounty on his head. In this world of the near future, the UN has failed. Wars are fought in boardrooms through attorneys and politics, and on our streets with private armies of military or criminal assets. In Sicily, Jean-Luc Korda, the Chief of Security for one such corporate alliance struggles to survive as hidden forces attempt to manipulate him for their own ends. Both these men find their fates intertwined. In the cross-hairs of powerful adversaries, they must both make decisions of life and death in a choice between command and conscience. David J Rodger delivers a palm-sweating ride in a complex novel that will keep you turning pages until the end.

BUY > paperback : from LULU
BUY > kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

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EDGE

EDGE { novel } Ethan Carmichael, technical wizard and prolific inventor is close to burn out. Taking time out at a luxury snowboarding resort in New Zealand seems like the perfect opportunity to refresh his mind and spirit. But the mountain is a gateway to something much older than humankind, a malign and alien force that even now is oozing back into our reality, hungry for flesh and fear. On the other side of the world, Halo Santana, an unscrupulous concept scout scrambles onto the trail of a new technology that has vanished from a corporate R&D lab. Quickly out of his depth, he enters a frantic race to track down the missing components to save his life. Both men find their fates tangled in a deadly web of lies, treachery and a cosmic horror that comes from beyond the stars. David J Rodger delivers relentless narrative pace in a tense action-packed novel.

BUY > paperback : from LULU

BUY > kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

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Dog Eat Dog

Dog Eat Dog { novel } Ten years after the Earth has been devastated by a viral pathogen seventy per cent of the population is dead and only a handful of cities survive intact. The majority of urban spaces have been abandoned to the Infected, creatures that were once human.  Whilst above, the orbital colonies spin within their artificial gravity wells, helpless observers to the shocking events below.  Mikhail Drobná and Carlos Revira.  Two survivors, both hungry for money and power, and fuelled by a desire to carve their names onto this new world.  One provides services of violence and protection for powerful corporate criminals in New York; the other is a renegade intelligence agent forever running from the demons of his past. Strangers, until events conspire to bring them together. There’s a complex and deadly political power play in progress. Private armies. Corruption and murder on a massive scale.  Both men seek to seize their opportunity at whatever personal cost.  But a cosmic Evil has infiltrated the remote corners of these brutalised lands and it has its own plans. Will these men work as one to defeat it or will their bitter rivalry bring about their destruction. In the end, who will devour who?  David J Rodger delivers a novel of epic vision, character depth and nerve-popping tension.

BUY > paperback : from LULU
BUY > kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

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YOU CAN SEE MORE OF MY SCI-FI DARK FANTASY WORK ON MY OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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20% discount on sci-fi dark fantasy paperbacks from David J Rodger until 2nd May

Special Offer

David J Rodger is a British science-fiction and dark fantasy author with seven novels under his belt. LULU have all of them available to purchase in paperback via their online store.

- The Guardian called his work “Atmospheric and Creepy”

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LULU are offering a tasty 20% discount

on paperbacks purchased through their online portal

For any order

Just use coupon code SILEO at checkout

(code is case sensitive)

Offer Ends 2nd May 2013

This is a great opportunity to grab any of my 7 novels, anthology of short stories, RPG work and any other authors who publish through LULU – in one awesome literary grab.

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If you’re a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos then why not try my latest novel: The Black Lake.

A novel

“The Black Lake: where only death survives.”

Order a bookstore quality paperback from LULU with 20% discount.

Full description & customer reviews on official website

The Earth has been ravaged by an event known as Yellow Dawn. Ten years later, survivors are putting lives back together and probing the frontiers of a new Wilderness; whilst overhead the orbital colonies slide across the sky, removed and unaffected. Five men leave the fortress island of Malta on an expedition to the sub-Arctic waters above Scotland. They intend to undertake scientific observations of an alien meteorological phenomenon that has followed the apocalyptic event. What they find is a cosmic horror that seethes amongst the shadows of a shattered Earth. It is a story of escape and wonder, of madness and terror.

BUY THE BLACK LAKE TODAY

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Go back to the start

Alternatively, if you’re interested in my first novel you could try God Seed.

View on Lulu

“Mankind will be judged, and smitten and cleansed”

Order a bookstore quality paperback from LULUwith 20% discount.

Full description & customer reviews on official website

I wrote God Seed in 1996: it is a tense, tightly packed thriller following a documentary film-maker as he tries to complete a new project: filming corporate mercenaries operating in western Europe. What starts as an action-packed campaign quickly descends into horror and madness as the film-maker is drawn into a conspiracy that goes far beyond the political, religious and ideological boundaries of neo-Nazis and Islamic fundamentalists, propelling him out beyond Earth, into the very heart of darkness.

BUY GOD SEED TODAY

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An entire universe to discover:

In between God Seed and The Black Lake are a number of novels that share and create a common universe for your imagination to roam, enjoy and find new thrills and terrors within. You can find a complete list of my work, including précis and customer reviews, on my official website.

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Click to browse paperbacks on LULU storefront

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Got Kindle?

If you’re keen to try these novels in digital format then you can buy all these titles at Amazon with a choice of currencies, $ US Dollars; or £ GB Pounds, or the Euro.

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Slotting back into a creative groove: a writing month approaches

¦ dialling in from sky bunker ¦

Feels like an age since I just spilled out my thoughts onto a screen without needing to think about structure or any particular angle (marketing).

April was a no-writing month. And I’ve taken the opportunity to devour books.

Finished The Night Circus  http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0099554798  Erin Morgenstern  (incredible!) whilst listening to Foals – Holy Fire. Then did a lastpass proofreading of The Trellborg Monstrosities by John Houlihan, a novella that will also become a scenario for the epic and exciting kickstarter project Achtung! Cthulhu. They very kindly asked me to write an endorsement for the work. I’m flattered.  Take diesel punk and set fire to the world whilst the mad chaos of the Mythos swirls in through the cracks in this reality illusion. Soundtrack was Welcome To Oblivion by How to Destroy Angels.  Which also became the soundtrack for reading the mind-blowing Tau Zero by Poul Anderson. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zero-S-F-MASTERWORKS-Poul-Anderson/dp/0575077328/  Talk about torturing your characters! My guts were twisted up and my heart was in my mouth for the days I spent reading (and suffering) it. Certainly a must-read for fans of hard science fiction.

I’m now reading Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny.  www.amazon.co.uk/Lord-Light-MASTERWORKS-Roger-Zelazny/dp/0575094214  Wow!!! Cannot believe I’ve not read these wonderful creations before. So I guess you could say I’m having a bit of a personal sci-fi renaissance. This is all thanks to the horror I went through back in September to December last year; which is what led to me re-evaluating my priorities in life and ultimately to me deciding to switch my writing to one month on, one month off. These “off months” now let me have my life back. It’s amazing. I see my friends. I read books! I watch crappy movies. I almost feel normal.

April felt both long (enjoyable, savouring the absence from the obsession machine), and brief – as this weekend saw me dropping back into a creative groove. Yeah, I know, this weekend was April and technically part of the no-writing rules, but what are rules if you don’t bend or break them. Besides, May, supposedly dedicated to writing is more or less blasted into shreds and scraps of creative potential by the impending arrival of friends. A couple from Newcastle (my longest standing friend – since the age of 6 – and a truly positive human who just beat cancer, yay!!!). And my “younger brother” Sharky Bones McCoy who is bouncing over from Spain to escape the tensions of a long-term partner who is… getting over cancer.

Anybody who knows me will be aware of my penchant for dithering when I am confronted by two choices of equal appear. For example, this weekend should have been: okay, it’s April, I’m off writing, so I can wander into the city, drift around the harbour, find myself a sofa on the Grain Barge and waste several hours reading books, gazing out the wraparound wall of windows.  But no. The mental bear trap snapped shut on me. I stood on the edge of the harbour, having already walked towards the Grain Barge several times and then turned back towards where my car was parked… each time, the VOICE / TASK MASTER in my head saying: ah-uh! This is technically part of your writing phase so get the hell back home and work.

HE (it) won. I spent the weekend getting back into the current novel: The Social Club. Follow work in progress here.  Having not touched it for a month I was wary about how tough it would be to pick up the threads, especially as I’m now near the end of the first draft. But I’d left enough breadcrumbs “Djr: when you come back to this, this is where you were heading with Jadon Purgo” and naturally, the whole book is already mapped out with enough detail to give me the comfort of a supporting structure. I can navigate within the framework and find my character arcs within the waypoints of the plot.  Take note, David Bradley (0)(-)!

Soundtrack to these days is House of Gold and Bones part 1 by Stonesour. My new car has a freaking awesome stereo system with some very tasty bass. Now the sun is FINALLY showing her beautiful rays, I’m driving around with the roof down. Fun city. Goodbye BMW and hello my new plastic toy car roadster.

David J Rodger in his tea tray roadster powered by a knitting machine

What’s coming up? Well. I was aiming to finish the new novel,  The Social Club, in May but with the loss of my all important weekends it will probably not get finished until July.  I’m also planning to update all my novel covers over the next few weeks. Step away from the disparate mix I’ve patched together over the last few years and actually get a proper designer involved. Watch this space as I’ll be running some free giveaways to help raise their profile once the new covers are done.  Oh, I’m now on Goodreads.  Check out my profile  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1242730.David_J_Rodger  and add some (all?) my books to your WANT TO READ list. Ahem. :o)

Good news on the eternal struggle between spending time writing versus spending time marketing myself. I’ve now employed the time of a rather wonderful woman who runs community management services. Hopefully help push my profile out there a bit more and generate MORE SALES.  More news on that later.

Right, that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed my waffle. Nice to just cut loose and let it all out.

Djr

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Free Audio Book (short story): Masters of Chaos

MASTERS OF CHAOS

A Short Slab of Speculative Fiction written by British Sci-Fi Dark Fantasy Author David J Rodger
Audio Book narration by American Voice Talent Cody J Johnson

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-BLURB-
MASTERS OF CHAOS: {Speculative fiction} A man contemplates the world around him, taking seemingly meticulous notes of certain random but repeating events. Can he influence the world through such observations? And to what end? When unseen things are scratching at the doors of perception.

- BACKGROUND -
It’s 3,800 words, fairly meaty for a short story and uses an unusual style that, in my head at least, is based on the awesome narrative monologue method used in the film Pi by Darren Aronofsky. It charts the terrible fate hanging over the Earth during the esoteric experimentation by somebody who has stumbled onto (or been led into) the loathsome, diabolical and reality shattering concepts practiced by adepts of the Cthulhu Mythos (H.P.Lovecraft).

-COPY-
I’m in my apartment. It’s morning. I’m standing by the window looking down; dressed in a crumpled shirt, tie and suit trousers. In one hand is a bottle of expensive mineral water. In the other hand is an old-fashioned Dictaphone with a cable running up to an ear-piece and throat microphone.
My point of view: I’m looking out of the window down on a busy city street.
Picture it, a montage of ordinary people on their way to work.
Some years ago, in Argentina, an old woman decided to withdraw a little more money from her bank than usual. There was a small delay as she got her pesos. A minor cash flow problem for the bank. No harm done. Except, word of this problem got around, it echoed, and caused a run on the banks that led to the economic collapse of an entire country.
One little old lady.
One grain of sand bringing down a mountain.
It was the day I discovered I had a talent. But as with all of nature’s gifts there is need for a mentor, to nurture and guide.
I lift the Dictaphone a little even though there is no need:
8.10 – Look out apartment window.
I see a smartly dressed business woman stopping to cross a busy intersection. Her face shows she is a burns victim. She’s wearing red gloves and is holding a Starbucks.
I lick my lips and thumb record again:
8.12 – Girl A arrives on street corner, gloves, Starbucks coffee in her hand. She waits 43 seconds to cross road.
A few moments elapse and then I focus on a male student in a scuffed leather jacket, carrying a paperback novel.
8.13 – Man B appears on street corner. He is carrying a book in his hand.
I turn from the window, pull on a jacket, pocket the Dictaphone, and head outside.
Picture it. My journey to work. A sequence of images: waiting at bus stop, sitting on bus, walking through downtown city streets, walking into modern office building. A finance company.
Through all of this I appear detached and deep in thought.
8.15 – Left for work. It takes 45 minutes to get to there.

-MAKE A SMALL CONTRIBUTION-
Like the story? Share some wonga.  Make a small financial contribution (link takes you to my website, then PayPal).

-GET THE STORY AS A PDF-
Click this link for a free PDF copy of the short story Masters of Chaos.

Click to grab the PDF. Personal use only.

- LINKS -

WRITER
David J Rodger official website: http://www.davidjrodger.com
David J Rodger Twitter: @davidjrodger
David J Rodger Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-J-Rodger/10090348898

VOICE TALENT
Cody J Johnson on Voices (Talent Website): http://www.voices.com/people/codyjohnsonaudio
Cody J Johnson on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cody-Johnson/44537397887

SONGS OF SPHERES
Anthology of short sci-fi dark fantasy stories: Cyberpunk and Cthulhu Mythos.
The short story Masters of Chaos comes from an anthology of 15 shorts, available in paperback from LULU and from Amazon for Kindle.
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Available in paperback or Amazon Kindle

Paperback: LULU & Amazon Kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro), FR (Euro)

SONGS OF SPHERES: {short story collection} 15 short stories hand-picked by the author as his personal favourites and presented with a brief introduction to each story. There are monsters that squirm and slither through the dark spaces beneath our feet, our dead are like carrion to them; and us, the living, are often victims of their hunger for violence and their taste in blood and terror. There are men and women who prey on the predators – a rough justice or karma in action. Technology carries information beyond the wires but what else can ride the electromagnetic waves? Demonic forces that infiltrate the mind through the new technology implants of the cyberpunk era. In dream-like realms, brave souls adventure deep into the strange worlds conjured by far flung minds. What mysteries do they discover and what secrets do they bring back with them into physical flesh and the reality of Humankind? The King in Yellow regards Earth from behind a pallid mask of silk; reposed on a throne of madness, corruption and decay within the black tower that stands beyond Carcosa. Hastur – the Great Old One that must not be named – the bearer of the Yellow Sign, has been brought forth. In tales of Yellow Dawn the consequences are here for those who dare to see. WARNING: some of these stories contain scenes of a disturbing and sexual nature.

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Cyberpunk tech today: Flying drone built on concept of dragonfly – BionicOpter by German tech company Festo

Dragonfly Drone

Dragonfly Drone – BionicOpter by German tech company Festo – Click Full Size

Over a foot long (think of jumbo subway sandwich with wings) this drone is still in technical development but the glossy corporate promo material from German company Festo looks great. Right now it just flies around; no mean feat, this critter is demonstrating complex flight techniques comparable to nature. Despite its size and numerous hardware it’s remarkably light.  But skip not-too-long into the future, it’s not a vast leap of the imagination to see this thing equipped with sensory equipment to provide remote surveillance option.  Maybe even a stinger or aerosol spray device, with a payload containing vomiting, nerve-jangling or other non-lethal methods of incapacitation.  Find the perp. Bring the perp down. Pick the perp up and throw them in the meat wagon for processing. Next.

On an interesting side-note: in the U.S., the FAA are aiming to allow the use of various aerial drones in U.S. airspace, including public agencies and commercial purposes, by September 2015.  Not long now. Dark future ahead. Might be time to invest in the anti-drone hoodie designed by Adam Harvey.

Video: BionicOpter in action

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Technical data

From Festo PDF (click to grab copy)
Beat frequency:
Between 15 and 20 Hz
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Wingspan:
63 cm
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Body length:
44 cm
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Weight:
175 g
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Degrees of freedom:
13
•
Processor:
AMR microcontroller
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Motor:
1 brushless VS external rotor
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Wing actuation:
8 servo motors
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Head and body actuators:
4 shape memory alloys (SMAs)
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Sensors:
Inertia, acceleration and
position sensors
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Battery:
2 LiPo cells, 7,6 volts
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Wireless modules:
2.4 GHz spectrum
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Wireless remote control:
Smartphone or digital
spectrum transmitter
Materials used:
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Wing structure:
Carbon-fibre rod
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Wing surface:
Polyester membrane
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Housing and mechanical
system:
Aluminium, polyamide (sintered)
and terpolymer (deep-drawn ABS)

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Available in paperback or kindle

Paperback : LULU & Amazon Kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)
BUY > iBook : from iTunes Store

EDGE { novel } In the near future, a prolific inventor is close to burn out. Desperate for a break he grabs an opportunity to go snowboarding in New Zealand, thinking it will refresh his mind and spirit. But a malign and alien force is oozing back into our reality, older than humankind and growing strong as it emerges after centuries of absence. Zen Dow snowboarding and ski resort, perched in the foothills of the volcanic mountain Ruapehu, is about to experience mind-shredding consequences as one of the Great Old Ones returns. On the other side of the world, an unscrupulous concept scout scrambles onto the trail of a new technology that has vanished from the corporate R&D labs. Quickly out of his depth, it becomes a race to track down the missing components before competing corporate agents kill him. David J Rodger’s trademark relentless narrative pace is here in palm-sweating abundance, delivered in a tense action-packed novel that blends corporate espionage, with a creeping, spine-chilling horror.

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WiP: The Social Club – 77,000 words

Work in Progress

¦ dialling in from Sky Bunker ¦

The UK shut down for four days over the weekend. Easter Bank Holiday. I had the luxury of using three of those four days to sink deep into a creative groove with the new novel.  Here’s the updates I posted on Facebook during the period, with insights into the story and where I’m at with it:

• Current word count 64,000. It’s been slow progress this month for one reason or another and as we approach April, I’m coming to the start of a self-imposed “month off writing”. So I need to get as much done over the next three days as as I can.
• Yesterday was a wonderfully epic day of writing. I nailed 5,000 words. Aiming to attempt the same today – see how my brain fares. Now on 69,000 words. The bigger plot is starting to emerge as senior verifier Jadon Purgo is brought into the confidence of conspirators – and his “mission” becomes more of a personal desire to find the wider truth about London, and the Settlement, than solve the deaths of two high-ranking officials with the Power of Eight Group. See a tough character twist and buckle under brutal strains.
• 72,700 words. Jeepers my head feels like its had an accelerator pedal pressed down on it for a couple of days solid. Jadon Purgo is about to be taken into the Dead Zone outside London. Scary times for the man and chance to start weaving in some of the Mythos madness into this story.
• Now into my 3rd day of solid progress on the book. I’ve not left the house since Thursday night. Most of that time I’ve been up here in the Sky Bunker. Living on coffee and pasta, and until I shaved last night I looked like total bum. Love it though. 73,300 words right now. London Dead Zone ahead.
• 74,000 words. Engines close to failing. Risk of this bird going down into Dead Zone. Purgo terrified, naturally. Survive the crash and find himself surrounded by Infected
• 75,700. First sight of Infected swarming through dead city streets.
• 76,700 words. Dang! That’s nearly 13,000 since Friday. I’m super pleased and loving the visuals. This is what writing is all about. Living and working through the “movie” that is inside your head.

In the end I nailed 14,000 words in three days. Not bad as in the 3 months I’ve been working on the book (on and off since August 2012) I did 63,000 .  So it means in one long weekend I achieved what would normally take me 20 days. Heavy use of my “Da Vinci” method: polyphasic sleep, grabbing 15 minutes every 45 minutes, hour after hour. I highly recommend trying it if you’re a creative.

The Social Club will be the third novel set in the post-apocalyptic survival horror universe of Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur; it follows Dog Eat Dog and The Black Lake (which recently received critical review in the Guardian newspaper website UK) – all three of which are separate stories but sharing the one universe.  Another five novels exist taking place in this shared universe before Yellow Dawn wrecked such global havoc and devastation, you can view all of these novels here. 

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WiP: The Social Club – 58,500 words

Work in Progress

¦ dialling in from Sky Bunker ¦

A Thursday night. I’ve had several good evenings this week. Managed to press deep into the new book despite losing Tuesday night to a mini-session of Yellow Dawn (RPG); no bad thing. :o)

So currently at 58,500 words on The Social Club and have found a groove where the words are tumbling out and the visuals are carrying me through scenes with that euphoric bliss that makes the process of “writing” what it’s all about.

#  # #

Monday 18th March and another week “lost” to other things. Important things but mildly frustrating to be unable to press ahead with the writing. Got an arctic road trip mapped out for later in the year; most of the transportation booked. A few final arrangements to make. Back in Bristol now after several days away. Working on The Social Club tonight. 55,000 words in.

3rd March

Work in progress: The Social Club. It’s been a very productive weekend so far and it ain’t over yet. 48,000 words and counting for this new novel. Time for a Da Vinci break (I use polyphasic sleep routine) and another mug of coffee.

2nd March

March… means I’m back into writing after taking February “off” from the insane creative drive of the last 3 years – and following on from the three months I took off between September and December when everything in my world seemed so… dark.

Taking February off wasn’t easy to do by the way; almost had fights with myself first weekend of Feb when I headed into town to relax — whilst some other part of my brain was scowling, “what are you doing? Get back home. You should be writing!”Anyhow, I really enjoyed Feb. Managed to do a lot of social things and other bits and pieces that would normally be considered “getting in the way” of the creative process. Have I found balance? Who knows. I’ve now got to cold-start the engine and see if the words will flow — or if I splutter and cough dank fetid fumes from lack of use. Whatever, I’m now back into The Social Club – novel #8 – picking up where I left off: Senior Verifier Jadon Purgo in trouble with the Power of Eight Group in a post-apocalyptic version of London, ten years after the event known as Yellow Dawn struck the Earth.

The Social Club will be the third novel set in the post-apocalyptic survival horror universe of Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur; it follows Dog Eat Dog and The Black Lake (which recently received critical review in the Guardian newspaper website UK) – all three of which are separate stories but sharing the one universe.  Another five novels exist taking place in this shared universe before Yellow Dawn wrecked such global havoc and devastation, you can view all of these novels here. 

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Dark Lens photos by Cédric Delsaux – where the urban landscape meets Star Wars

Boba Fett shootout

Boba Fett shoots it out with Stormtrooper – Dark Lens photos by Cédric Delsaux – All rights reserved

Part of a series of images from the liquid metal, carbo-plastic, hydrogel and permacrete core of visual creators on the Internet.  Images that stir my senses and evoke plots and concepts for what I’d like to see (or fear) in the future.

When French photographer Cédric Delsaux began snapping up what he calls “the peripheral zones” of urban landscapes, his creative instinct rebelled and demanded he infuse something else into the imagery.  Something was missing, he felt.  Passionate about Star Wars, Delsaux realised that a lot of the modern scenery suited itself well to the almost dystopian vision of the future that George Lucas created in his early movies.  So with a little trickery and Photoshop pokery, Delsaux has combined fact and fiction into a fusion of humour and hyper-realism.

Excellent work.

You should take a peek at the photographer’s official website  for more.

Or find yourself a copy of the book, Dark Lens, that celebrates these images in glorious glossy hardcopy format.

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Getting back into a creative groove

¦ dialling in from the Sky Bunker ¦

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March. Means I’m back into writing after taking February “off” from the insane creative drive of the last 3 years – and following on from the three months I took off between September and December when everything in my world seemed so… dark.

David J Rodger working on new novel set in post-apocalyptic London

Taking February off wasn’t easy to do by the way; almost had fights with myself first weekend of Feb when I headed down to the harbour to relax — whilst some other part of my brain was scowling, “what are you doing? Get back home. You should be writing!”  This is the voice that’s been whip-lashing me all these years.  It’s been highly productive.  Four novels, one RPG (plus a complete re-write for version 2.5) and a major campaign book (Shadows of the Quantinex) since 2007.  But there comes a point when you look at the things you’re not doing with your life whilst focussing so much energy in just one area…

Anyhow, I really enjoyed Feb. Managed to do a lot of social things and other bits and pieces that would normally be considered “getting in the way” of the creative process. Have I found balance? Who knows. I’ve now got to cold-start the engine and see if the words will flow — or if I splutter and cough dank fetid fumes from lack of use. Whatever, I’m now back into The Social Club – novel #8 – picking up where I left off: Senior Verifier Jadon Purgo in trouble with the Power of Eight Group in a post-apocalyptic version of London, ten years after the event known as Yellow Dawn struck the Earth.

You can eyeball my previous novels here: Science Fiction Dark Fantasy by David J Rodger.

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Interview with Julian Darius, founder of Sequart and Martian Lit: an insight into success whilst operating from the fringes

Interview with a publisher

Julian Darius publisher and founder of Sequart and Martian Lit

Julian Darius. American. Logophile.  Founder of Sequart (advancing comics as art) and Martian Lit (offbeat and smart works in all genres and media).There’s something of the English author Will Self in his ways. And he is most certainly one of the web’s more interesting and enlightened characters.  Sometimes sardonic in humour, his personality packs a punch and may leave you reeling.  But in the movie-motif of Edward Norton as “narrator” in Fight Club, you may want to rub your jaw with a slick, spittle and blood smeared chin and say: hit me again.

It was Martian Lit that snagged my interest and a desire to talk to Julian about his personal philosophy and goals (for world domination?).

He has very kindly agreed to invest some of his time to place a few words here.

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Rumors we seek your planet’s humiliation are somewhat exaggerated

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DJR: Martian Lit was founded in 2011. Described as publishing odd and aggressive literature, non-fiction, art, poetry, and other material.  Was its creation an inevitable evolution from Sequart’s much more niche (high-brow) profile? Or something else?

This is going to be a way longer and more personal answer than you want, but I don’t know how to explain it any other way.

I’ve actually been a fiction writer much longer than a comics historian and critic. I read comics in childhood, and I thought about them, but I didn’t write about them. I did, however, write fiction, even as a little boy. I wrote my first novel, which was sci-fi, as a freshman in high school. It wasn’t a bad concept, but I still cringe remembering some of the bad sentences. By the time I left for college, I’d written most of another sci-fi novel, most of a vampire novel, a screenplay about a serial killer, and lots of odds and ends.

I actually wrote a Star Trek: The Next Generation script and submitted it. They rejected it because I hadn’t followed the rules — I’d created an alien species for the plot, and only staff writers were allowed to do that. I think I figured I’d break the rules intelligently and get away with it. Didn’t work out in that case, although they were very nice and praised the writing itself. By the time I got that rejection I’d plotted out several seasons of the show, which would have slowly shifted it into something of the kind of continuing storyline you now see, in the wake of the revived Battlestar Galactica or even post-Bablylon 5. It was great stuff.

Work in progress: Audio Book of Short Story: Masters of Chaos

MASTERS OF CHAOS

A Short Slab of Speculative Fiction written by British Sci-Fi Dark Fantasy Author David J Rodger
Audio Book narration by American Voice Talent Cody J Johnson

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This is work in progress of an audio book of the short story Masters of Chaos.

-BLURB-
MASTERS OF CHAOS: {Speculative fiction} A man contemplates the world around him, taking seemingly meticulous notes of certain random but repeating events. Can he influence the world through such observations? And to what end? When unseen things are scratching at the doors of perception.

- BACKGROUND -
It’s 3,800 words, fairly meaty for a short story and uses an unusual style that, in my head at least, is based on  the awesome narrative monologue method used in the film Pi by Darren Aronofsky. It charts the terrible fate hanging over the Earth during the esoteric experimentation by somebody who has stumbled onto (or been led into) the loathsome, diabolical and reality shattering concepts practiced by adepts of the Cthulhu Mythos (H.P.Lovecraft).

David J Rodger and Cody J Johnson are collaborating to produce a complete audio book version of the short story.  Rodger is intending to seek submissions from illustrators and graphic artists who want to win a commission to provide visuals (static or otherwise) to accompany the finished product on YouTube.  Follow David J Rodger’s blog or Twitter – links below – to keep informed of this when the invitation goes out.

-COPY-
I’m in my apartment.  It’s morning.  I’m standing by the window looking down; dressed in a crumpled shirt, tie and suit trousers. In one hand is a bottle of expensive mineral water. In the other hand is an old-fashioned Dictaphone with a cable running up to an ear-piece and throat microphone.
My point of view: I’m looking out of the window down on a busy city street.
Picture it, a montage of ordinary people on their way to work.
Some years ago, in Argentina, an old woman decided to withdraw a little more money from her bank than usual. There was a small delay as she got her pesos. A minor cash flow problem for the bank. No harm done. Except, word of this problem got around, it echoed, and caused a run on the banks that led to the economic collapse of an entire country.
One little old lady.
One grain of sand bringing down a mountain.
It was the day I discovered I had a talent.  But as with all of nature’s gifts there is need for a mentor, to nurture and guide.
I lift the Dictaphone a little even though there is no need:
8.10 – Look out apartment window.
I see a smartly dressed business woman stopping to cross a busy intersection.  Her face shows she is a burns victim. She’s wearing red gloves and is holding a Starbucks.
I lick my lips and thumb record again:
8.12 – Girl A arrives on street corner, gloves, Starbucks coffee in her hand.  She waits 43 seconds to cross road.
A few moments elapse and then I focus on a male student in a scuffed leather jacket, carrying a paperback novel.
8.13 – Man B appears on street corner.  He is carrying a book in his hand.
I turn from the window, pull on a jacket, pocket the Dictaphone, and head outside.
Picture it.  My journey to work. A sequence of images: waiting at bus stop, sitting on bus, walking through downtown city streets, walking into modern office building. A finance company.
Through all of this I appear detached and deep in thought.
8.15 – Left for work.  It takes 45 minutes to get to there.

-GET THE WHOLE STORY-
A PDF version is available free.
http://davidjrodger.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/free-short-story-sci-fi-dark-fantasy-tale-masters-of-chaos-retweet-or-share-and-its-yours/

Click here and share the link to get a free copy of the complete short story (PDF)

- LINKS -

WRITER
David J Rodger official website: http://www.davidjrodger.com
David J Rodger Twitter: @davidjrodger
David J Rodger Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-J-Rodger/10090348898

VOICE TALENT
Cody J Johnson on Voices (Talent Website): http://www.voices.com/people/codyjohnsonaudio
Cody J Johnson on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cody-Johnson/44537397887

SONGS OF SPHERES
Anthology of short sci-fi dark fantasy stories: Cyberpunk and Cthulhu Mythos.
The short story Masters of Chaos comes from an anthology of 15 shorts, available in paperback from LULU and from Amazon for Kindle.
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Available in paperback or Amazon Kindle

Paperback: LULU & Amazon Kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro), FR (Euro)

SONGS OF SPHERES: {short story collection} 15 short stories hand-picked by the author as his personal favourites and presented with a brief introduction to each story. There are monsters that squirm and slither through the dark spaces beneath our feet, our dead are like carrion to them; and us, the living, are often victims of their hunger for violence and their taste in blood and terror. There are men and women who prey on the predators – a rough justice or karma in action. Technology carries information beyond the wires but what else can ride the electromagnetic waves? Demonic forces that infiltrate the mind through the new technology implants of the cyberpunk era. In dream-like realms, brave souls adventure deep into the strange worlds conjured by far flung minds. What mysteries do they discover and what secrets do they bring back with them into physical flesh and the reality of Humankind? The King in Yellow regards Earth from behind a pallid mask of silk; reposed on a throne of madness, corruption and decay within the black tower that stands beyond Carcosa. Hastur – the Great Old One that must not be named – the bearer of the Yellow Sign, has been brought forth. In tales of Yellow Dawn the consequences are here for those who dare to see. WARNING: some of these stories contain scenes of a disturbing and sexual nature.

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Photography: Ethereal Being – angel, demon or the mythos in disguise – Kristian Schuller

Ethereal Being

Photography Ethereal Being: Image by Kristian Schuller – All Rights Reserved – Click Full Size

Ghostly light and shimmering golden skin, this apparition of a human male form could be mistaken for an Angel or the seductive beauty of the creature, Lucifer.

Romanian born fashion photographer Kristian Schuller has crafted this shot with a more sombre hand, angling away from his usual flare for vibrant colours and dramatic form.  It’s a stunningly simple effect. A male face, in thoughtful repose or slumbering.  But the concept leaps towards the super-human… or non-human in a bipedal, mammalian guise.

The Cthulhu Mythos is riddled with non-human species that have adopted the human form. British science fiction and dark fantasy author, David J Rodger has added to this pantheon with several of his own creations.  Things that walk shoulder to shoulder alongside the creaking, arthritic, nefarious and polymorphic creations of H.P.Lovecraft.

Most hideous of these new additions are the Grom crabs.  Parasites, a little smaller than a human fist, they resemble a translucent grey crab, with horribly long spider-like legs, a segmented carapace with hard black chitinous pincers.  They wield a Nerve Sting attack, effected by a set of “semi-visible” tendrils that can lash out up to 6 metres; made of an alien matter that can slice through flesh, bone, clothing and armour to reach into the nervous system of any living thing and deliver a crippling, paralysing attack. Any living organism can be affected. And the effects are instant; the target becomes paralysed, all muscles cease to function. The primary use of this attack is to allow the Grom crab to crawl into any cavity near the brain (usually the mouth), and burrow into a suitable resting place, from which to occupy and control the host. Highly intelligent, the Grom roam different worlds, taking control of hosts – including human victims – and building empires.

Upon arriving in a suitable location, they construct hive-like temples, dedicated to their god, Murg, incorporating the flakes of crystal they excrete through their appendage from time to time (Resonators). Grom themselves are
rarely encountered outside of a larger “host” creature; they are often accompanied and served by mutated-beings known as Groth.

In the post-apocalyptic “Mythos fiction” novel, Dog Eat Dog, the Grom are encountered by the main protagonists.  The encounter, sinister, brutal, and shocking in its climax reveals the silent incursion of alien horrors into the abandoned spaces of an Earth left ravaged by the event known as Yellow Dawn.

The photo by Kristian Schuller is more akin to the sublime and mysterious creatures known by erudite scholars as the “The Great Magi”. Formidable sorcerers from a time on Earth predating the evolution of Modern Man.  They are anthropomorphic, walking upright, with a humanoid head that resembles a cross between a chimpanzee and a cheetah.  However, they are renowned for their use of potent illusionary magick to walk amongst humans as if one of them. Often mesmerizing with the physical beauty and charm.

Skeletons of The Greta Magi have occasionally been discovered by scientists and mistaken as the “missing link”, these people are normally silenced and the evidence removed (by the Order of the Amber Eye) before the truth ever comes close to the surface. The Great Magi came to Earth after the Elder Things had retreated beneath the oceans and for a while came to dominate the proto-human savages that had evolved from the Elder Thing experiments. In their ancient culture they wore ceremonial robes and carried weapons (typically daggers). The Great Magi warred heavily with the far older race of Serpent People. Because of this war, only a few remain in existence at this time on Earth. The Order of the Amber Eye is based in a sandstone city on a remote planet, a temple held up by vast ape-like statues, surrounded by alien jungle; any Great Magi will have access to this place via a magical gateway.

Kristian Schuller has an incredible portfolio of imagery from his career in photography and fashion. You should certainly take a peek at his work on his website:

• Kristian Schuller website

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YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:

• More creations for the RPG Yellow Dawn in a free download called Monsters of the Mythos
• The Ninth Gate: occult and tarot-like symbolism in the engravings by Aristide Torchia and Lucifer, plus wider meanings of the movie

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Available in paperback or Amazon Kindle

Paperback: LULU & Amazon Kindle US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro), FR (Euro)

“Atmospheric and creepy” – The Guardian

THE BLACK LAKE: The Earth has been ravaged by an event known as Yellow Dawn. Ten years later, survivors are putting lives back together and probing the frontiers of a new Wilderness; whilst overhead the orbital colonies slide across the sky, removed and unaffected. Five men leave the fortress island of Malta on an expedition to the sub-Arctic waters above Scotland. They intend to undertake scientific observations of an alien meteorological phenomenon that has followed the apocalyptic event. What they find is a cosmic horror that seethes amongst the shadows of a shattered Earth. It is a story of escape and wonder, of madness and terror. David J Rodger’s trademark unforgiving rendering of harsh reality, and relentless narrative pace, are here in palm-sweating abundance, delivered in a novel that tears open a rent in the boundary of reality, providing a nerve-jarring glimpse of the Outer Chaos and the horrors that lurk just beyond the threshold of our fragile, human existence.

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August 1925 – popular science monthly magazine – how you may live and travel in the city of 1950

A vain hope against congestion

Interesting visualisation of a world only 25 years in the future from when the article was published. That’s an impressive faith in the ability of civil engineers.

Future city streets, says Mr Corbett, will be in four levels: The top level for pedestrians; the next lower level for slow motor traffic; the next for fast motor traffic, and the lowest for electric trains.  Great blocks of terraced skyscrapers half a mile high will house offices, schools, homes, and playgrounds in successive levels, while the roofs will be aircraft landing-fields….

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City of the Future – click full size

1925. The year this image came out was an interesting one.

The “International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts” opened in Paris. An exhibition that epitomized what came to be called “Art Deco” decades later – highlighting a  “modern” style characterized by  streamlined forms with a sleek, machine-age appearance; geometric and symmetric arrangements, and a prominence of motifs that celebrated athletic prowess, power and speed. Lightning flashes and “Aztec” styling infused surfaces that would ordinarily have been plain. Animal forms invited the viewer to feel a new energy and vibrance in their surroundings. A fusion of French Decorative Cubism, German Bauhaus, Italian Futurism, and Russian Constructivism.  All of which seems noticeably absent from the plain, conservative and almost utilitarian creation portrayed in this poster vision of the future.

1925 saw the first demonstration of radiovision! Pictures and sound transmitted five miles from Anacostia to Washington, DC.  In the same year Washington, DC saw 40,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. And biology teacher John Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution; found guilty he was fined $100, nearly half the cost of a Thompson submachine gun.

And 1925 saw New York City apparently become the largest city in the world, taking the lead from London – a significant portent of the waning British Empire following the ravages of conflict in the First World War.

New Tokyo – another “city of the future”:

In the novel, Iron Man Project – the main protagonist Jean-Luc Korda travels from the idyllic mountain mansion of the corporate Carthew family in Taormina, Italy, to the massive urban sprawl of New Tokyo in the former US state of Florida – sold by UTOC to a conglomerate of businesses involved in building the world’s largest space port.  It’s a city of contradictions; vast wealth and giant structures fusing organic design with technology, surrounded by rapidly decaying tenement slums as the boom bubble bursts.
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Available in paperback or kindle

Paperback : from LULU & kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

IRON MAN PROJECT { novel } Ex-special forces man, Vincent Brent, is tough, ruthless and highly trained; he’s now using his skills for whoever will pay him without cashing in the bounty on his head. In this world of the near future, the UN has failed. Wars are fought in boardrooms through attorneys and politics, and on our streets with private armies of military or criminal assets. In Sicily, the Chief of Security for one such corporate alliance struggles to survive as hidden forces attempt to manipulate him for their own ends. Both these men find their fates intertwined. In the cross-hairs of powerful adversaries, they must both make decisions of life and death in a choice between command and conscience. David J Rodger’s trademark unforgiving rendering of brutal reality, and relentless narrative pace, are here in palm-sweating abundance, delivered in a complex novel that will keep you turning pages until the end.

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Another 5 star review of EDGE: a sci-fi dark fantasy thriller with a lot of blood on the snow

Book Review

A Spanish fan has written-up a wonderful review of my 4th novel, EDGE, on Amazon.

Available in paperback, kindle and iBook

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Brilliant piece of Sci-Fi literature

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“I found out about David’s novels when I moved to Bristol a couple of years ago. As I needed to improve my English I thought I would give a chance to some local writer and after reading some reviews about David’s books I decided to buy ‘Edge’ from Amazon.

What can I say about it, not only is a brilliant piece of Sci Fi literature but a fabulous way for someone like me to learn new vocabulary and expressions. The richness of the descriptions and characters make you get into the story so much that you don’t want the book to have an end. You can’t help but to get attached to Ethan and his geekiness or Samson and his magnetic personality, even feeling some sympathy for Halo and his sick mind.

I don’t want to spoil anyone’s experience with this book so I’ll just say that really bad things happen, is not a love story so some blood must be expected ;)

I can’t wait to put my hands on another of David’s novels and same will happen to you if you give ‘Edge’ a well deserved chance!”

- By Sergio (source)

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• BUY > paperback : from LULU
• BUY > kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)
• BUY > iBook : from iTunes Store

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#Free RPG Download: Monsters of the Mythos – New Outer Gods, Great Old Ones and Non-Human Species

Cthulhu Mythos

This supplement has been written as part of the post-apocalyptic survivor horror RPG: Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur. It expands upon the concept of the Cthulhu Mythos, introducing a raft of new Great Old Ones, Outer Gods and non-human species for characters to encounter.

If you’re more into narrative than rule systems, you can enjoy new flavours of the Cthulhu Mythos in the novels, EDGE, Dog Eat Dog and The Black Lake.

Click to download the free PDF

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Available from LULU

YELLOW DAWN – THE AGE OF HASTUR: The Earth has been ravaged by viral pathogens, the death of billions observed by the orbital colonies and deep-space habitats that were largely unaffected by the Outbreak. Terrified of infection, nobody came to help. Less than 30 percent survived the first few weeks. Then came the 2nd Wave of infection, spreading steadily outwards from the impact points, and that was when the horror really began…

This book is crammed with everything you will need to create characters, run scenarios and experience horror and adventure in the fictional world of David J Rodger.

FEATURES: Narrative examples of key themes • The Influence of Hastur • Medical theories on the Infection • Zombie surges • Dead Cities • Wilderness survival • Comprehensive scavenging system and how to repair or build things with resources • Backgrounds and motivations of government bodies and corporations • Computer hacking and drug abuse • High-tech immortality options • Non-human characters • Enhancements through cyberware and bioware • Weaponry, equipment and armour • Complete character generation and development system • Complex political, corporate and quasi-religious tensions • Schools of Elemental Magick, occultism, demonology, and the alien horrors of the Outer Chaos – the Cthulhu Mythos. Purchase via LULU.

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#Free short story: Sci-Fi Dark Fantasy tale Masters of Chaos- retweet or share and it’s yours

RETWEET & ENJOY A FREE SHORT STORY

A Science Fiction Dark Fantasy Short

Science Fiction Dark Fantasy author David J Rodger is giving away a copy of his short story “Masters of Chaos” to anybody who retweets or shares this post on a social network. No reason other than the search for more publicity and exposure of his work to a wider audience.

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MASTERS OF CHAOS: {Speculative fiction} A man contemplates the world around him, taking seemingly meticulous notes of certain random but repeating events. Can he influence the world through such observations? And to what end? When unseen things are scratching at the doors of perception.

It’s 3,800 words, fairly meaty for a short story and uses an unusual style that, in my head at least, is based on  the awesome narrative monologue method used in the film Pi by Darren Aronofsky. It charts the terrible fate hanging over the Earth during the esoteric experimentation by somebody who has stumbled onto (or been led into) the loathsome, diabolical and reality shattering concepts practiced by adepts of the Cthulhu Mythos (H.P.Lovecraft).

Retweet me

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Retweet this today and it’s yours to enjoy

You may also like to:

•     Join my Facebook Fan Page: (Click here) >> say hello on my wall and I’ll ping you a private message with a copy of the story
•     Subscribe to this blog: (details are top left of this page) >> leave a comment using your email address and I’ll send you the story via email.

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Available in paperback or Amazon Kindle

Paperback: LULU & Amazon Kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro), FR (Euro)

SONGS OF SPHERES: {short story collection}  15 short stories hand-picked by the author as his personal favourites and presented with a brief introduction to each story. There are monsters that squirm and slither through the dark spaces beneath our feet, our dead are like carrion to them; and us, the living, are often victims of their hunger for violence and their taste in blood and terror. There are men and women who prey on the predators – a rough justice or karma in action. Technology carries information beyond the wires but what else can ride the electromagnetic waves? Demonic forces that infiltrate the mind through the new technology implants of the cyberpunk era. In dream-like realms, brave souls adventure deep into the strange worlds conjured by far flung minds. What mysteries do they discover and what secrets do they bring back with them into physical flesh and the reality of Humankind? The King in Yellow regards Earth from behind a pallid mask of silk; reposed on a throne of madness, corruption and decay within the black tower that stands beyond Carcosa. Hastur – the Great Old One that must not be named – the bearer of the Yellow Sign, has been brought forth. In tales of Yellow Dawn the consequences are here for those who dare to see. WARNING: some of these stories contain scenes of a disturbing and sexual nature.

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Music – Comfortable Void by SYNC24 – Electronica for Sci-Fi Dark Fantasy Creatives and Fans

Music for Cyberpunks

– click full size -

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Available to stream (free) or purchase via Ultimae on Bandcamp - CLICK HERE

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Comfortable Void by SYNC24:

Yet another audio gem from Ultimae on Bandcamp. It’s given me a creative injection as I trudge through the N-th week of chapter 8 of my latest piece of work – The Social Club.  It’s a proper detective novel but one set in the post-apocalyptic universe of Yellow Dawn – in London, taken over by the Power of Eight (a Business Cult that first raises its head in the pre-Yellow Dawn novel Iron Man Project).  I’m loving the visuals and the opportunity to write something “Orwellian”.  This piece of music has lifted me up into a new level of creative flow.  Like popping a cap on a stim-pipe and biting down for the thrill of the first neurochemical rush.  Stunning soundscapes, from shadowy moods that range through the tension of uncertain threats and out into the bass-thumping, adrenaline pumping energy of action scenes.

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Available in paperback or kindle

Paperback : from LULU & kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

IRON MAN PROJECT { novel } Ex-special forces man, Vincent Brent, is tough, ruthless and highly trained; he’s now using his skills for whoever will pay him without cashing in the bounty on his head. In this world of the near future, the UN has failed. Wars are fought in boardrooms through attorneys and politics, and on our streets with private armies of military or criminal assets. In Sicily, the Chief of Security for one such corporate alliance struggles to survive as hidden forces attempt to manipulate him for their own ends. Both these men find their fates intertwined. In the cross-hairs of powerful adversaries, they must both make decisions of life and death in a choice between command and conscience. David J Rodger’s trademark unforgiving rendering of brutal reality, and relentless narrative pace, are here in palm-sweating abundance, delivered in a complex novel that will keep you turning pages until the end.

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David J Rodger – DATA

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