Dan Moren

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  • Giveaway for a good cause

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    The Aleph Extraction

    Friends, it’s rough out there right now. You all know this. But even as the darkness is encroaching, we can fight back by bringing light to the world. I’m always in awe of my pals over at Relay FM for the work they do every fall to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This year is no exception: as of this writing, they’ve already raised more than $170,000, and that’s even before they kick off what’s sure to be a legendary livestream for this year’s Podcastathon.

    If you’re not familiar with St. Jude, its mission is to provide treatment and care for children with cancer. Most importantly, it doesn’t send bills to the families of those kids it treats, which is why donations are so important.

    As a host of Clockwise over at Relay FM, I wanted to lend my support, so in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, I’m giving away five signed paperback copies of my latest book, The Aleph Extraction, to people who have donated. Here’s how it’s going to work.

    To enter, all you need to do is send a receipt (screenshot or photo) of your donation to St. Jude for the Relay FM fundraiser to contest [at] dmoren.com with the subject “Contest Entry”. Make sure you send it from, or supply, an email address at which you can be reached.

    On September 18th, at 9 a.m. Eastern, I’ll do a random drawing from those who have entered. Each winner will get a signed and—if desired—personalized copy of The Aleph Extraction paperback.

    Official Rules

    • Entrants must be over 18 and live in the US. (Sorry, international folks, but that’s the way it is. You can always request a free signed bookplate though!)
    • If you’re a family member or personal friend of the author, you’re ineligible for this giveaway.
    • This giveaway is not directly affiliated with or supported by St. Jude or Relay FM.
    • Enter by sending a copy of the receipt for your donation to contest [at] dmoren.com with the subject “Contest Entry”. One entry per person! Your email will be used only for notification purposes related to the giveaway and will be discarded after the giveaway has concluded, unless you have opted to subscribe to my newsletter.
    • Giveaway begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Friday September 11 and runs until 8:59 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Friday September 18th.
    • At the close of the giveaway, random numbers will be generated by random.org for each prize to be given away. The corresponding number in the spreadsheet of entries will be declared the winner. Only one prize per person, so if the same number comes up again, a new number will be generated.
    • Odds of winning depends on the number of entries.
    • Once contacted, winners have 48 hours to claim their prizes or a replacement winner will be picked. And so on, until winners are found for all the prizes.
    • VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

  • Awards eligibility, 2019

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    Seems like at the end of the year, it never rains but it pours. In addition to everything else going on, it is that fickle beast known as awards season. So this is my opportunity to say that if you’ve liked my work from this year, you might consider nominating it for an award. What kind of award? Well, there’s the Nebulas, which are open for nominations as of this writing to members of the Science-Fiction Writers of America. The Locus awards and the Hugos are coming up as well. There’s always the 2019 Upgradies. Or you might just want to accord my work a place of honor in your household—that’s great too! I recommend a plinth with some sort of engraving.

    Anyway, what have I written that’s eligible for awards this year? Well, hard as it is to believe, my second novel, The Bayern Agenda, just came out back in March. I know, in this world we live in, every week seems like a decade, so March must have been back in, what, ancient Roman times? But nope, it was still 2019.1 That means it’s eligible for any Best Novel category for 2019, or perhaps Best Sci-Fi Spy Novel With a Red/Yellow Cover. Lot of competition for that one.

    That’s it for this year—it’s been pretty busy on other fronts, so one book will have to do. I hope you enjoyed it, perhaps even enough to throw its hat in the ring for an award. (Do books have hats?) Thanks for reading!

    1. I literally checked, myself, just to be sure.↩

  • Shirts happen!

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    Just in time for the holiday season, both Commonwealth of Independent Systems AND Illyrican Empire shirts are back at Cotton Bureau. Available in tri-blend and 100% cotton options, as well as a variety of colors.

    Just a reminder that, as per campaigns over there, we need to hit a minimum of 12 orders in order for that shirt to get printed. So order early and if you know anybody who’s on the fence, give ’em a little nudge.

    And if t-shirts just aren’t your thing because you’re a dapper suit-wearing professional, the Commonwealth insignia lapel pin is always available to compliment your personal style.1

    1. Also perfect for the pin-adorned messenger bag.↩

  • Now hear this: The Bayern Agenda audiobook is available for pre-order!

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    I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the audiobook version of The Bayern Agenda, and I’m delighted to let you all know that a) there will be an audiobook version, b) it’s now up for pre-order on Amazon (and hopefully soon to follow on the Apple Book Store and elsewhere), and c) it should arrive on the same day as the print copy!

    The audiobook is being produced by Audible Studios and narrated by Victor Bevine, whose dulcet tones you may have heard on the likes of Michael Lewis’s The Fifth Risk and many books in R.A. Salvatore’s oeuvre, which is some truly illustrious company.

    So if you’ve been waiting for a version of the book you can read with your ears, well, there’s no reason left to wait.

  • Join the Commonwealth of Pin-dependent Systems

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    As promised, you can now get yourself a fancy—dare I say schmancy—Commonwealth of Independent Systems insignia pin via the fine folks at the Cotton Bureau.1 It’s suitable for lapel-wearing, putting on your bag, or wearing on a jean jacket in the 1980s.

    Unlike the Commonwealth and Illyrican t-shirts which are only available for a limited time (including now, as of the writing of this post!), the pins are available until my supply of them runs out. They should also arrive by Christmas, if you’re looking for a good stocking stuffer. (Please do not stuff any stockings that are currently being worn by anybody else.)

    This is an experiment on my part, so whether I do further Commonwealth pins (or additional designs) will largely depend on how this first batch fares. Or, in other words, get ‘em while they’re hot!

    1. No, the pin isn’t cotton. I asked.↩

  • Award season eligibility 2018

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    I’m not sure if it’s Duck Season or Rabbit Season, but apparently it is the time of year when people start nominating things from last year for awards. The nominees for the Nebulas recently came out, but there’s still time for a couple to nominate works for a couple other awards.

    And, hey, last year I had my first novel published. So if you enjoyed The Caledonian Gambit and would like to see it potentially win an award, well, that may be within your power. Here’s the details:

    First, the Locus awards are accepting nominations through April 15, 2018. Anybody can submit nominations, but if you’re a Locus subscriber, your votes count for double. The Caledonian Gambit would be a write-in vote, but it’s eligible for two separate categories: Best Novel and Best First Novel. You can actually even vote for it for both at the same time! It’s allowed!

    And, of course, the Hugos, for which nominations are open until 11:59pm PDT on March 16, 2018. You can nominate works if you’re a member of the 2017, 2018, or 2019 Worldcons as of December 31, 2017. The Caledonian Gambit is eligible for the Best Novel category, while yours truly is eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer.

    I’d be honored and humbled to be nominate for any of these awards, so if you find yourself so inclined, thanks.

  • Words and pictures

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    Since today is my birthday and since there’s less than one month until The Caledonian Gambit1 hits stores, it seems like a great time for a few quick updates—including a special present, oooooh.

    How to help

    A lot of folks have asked me what the best way is to support me and the book. That’s incredibly generous, and I really appreciate it. The short answer is: pre-order the book. My understanding is that pre-orders count as Week 1 sales, and that Week 1 sales are instrumental in determining the success of a book—and in helping ensure the existence of future books.2

    Some people ask if one format (ebook vs. paperback) or one vendor (iBooks vs. Amazon, say) is better than another, to which I’d say: whichever you prefer. Seriously, it’s all up to you. Buy the copy that you’ll get the most out of.3

    For those of you who’d prefer not to buy online, I totally dig it. I’m not sure yet how broad the paperback distribution will be, but if you want to support your local independent bookstore—and who doesn’t?—you can always ask them to order The Caledonian Gambit for you. They’ll do it! Honest!

    Beyond that, if you still want to help, tell other people about the book. Twitter, Facebook, carrier pigeon, “real life”, et cetera.

    And, hey, if you really want to go above and beyond, you can ask your local library to order a copy as well. You can certainly ask a librarian about the best way to do that4, but a lot of libraries now have pages on their websites for just such a purpose. For example, here’s the one for my local library in Somerville.

    A thousand words

    Hey, it’s my birthday! So I decided to get myself a little present—and fortunately, it’s a present that I can share with all of you.

    So, The Caledonian Gambit is set against the backdrop of a Galactic Cold War. On one side, the Commonwealth of Independent Systems, a confederation of worlds that have allied for the purposes of self-defense. Arrayed against them, the Illyrican Empire, a former colony of Earth’s long thought lost, but which returned with conquest on its mind.

    To me, those conjure specific images built up over the long period I’ve spent working on this book, but I realize that for most people, they don’t carry that kind of weight—you haven’t been living with this world in your head for over a decade. So I wanted to come up with some concrete imagery that I could share with all of you.

    Here’s the thing: words I can totally handle. But, as we’ve previously established, art is not my strong suit. So I got in touch with the mysterious Forgotten Towel, who you may know from such podcast logos as Liftoff, Lazy Doctor Who, and Relay FM (not to mention other fantastic designs like the PCalc icon), and I pitched him on an idea: creating the emblems for the Commonwealth and the Imperium.

    Let’s just say he succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I’m so psyched to share what he came up with. So let’s do this:

    Commonwealth of Independent Systems

    Illyrican Empire

    Pretty cool, right? Let’s just sit with those for a second. Really take ’em in. Bask in them. Gorgeous. I’m beyond thrilled with them, and, hey, if you need design work done, I cannot recommend Forgotten Towel enough.

    Anyway, I’ve got some exciting plans for these, which I’ll dish on a little closer to the book release.

    Mail call

    Finally, you might be wondering about the best way to keep up with me. You can always subscribe to this site, of course, and I’m still over on Twitter (though I understand that a lot gets lost in the shuffle over there these days). So I’ve set up a very low-volume mailing list to keep people apprised of updates like when the book gets released, my appearances, and other salient details. I’m going to say “low-volume” again just because I know I hate getting spammy emails, and that isn’t my intent here at all.

    I’m also plotting some exclusive things to share with people who sign up for the mailing list, but I haven’t quite worked out all the details yet. (If there are specific things that would encourage you to sign up, let me know! I’m open to suggestions.)

    Signing up is easy: there’s a form on the front page of the site, and hey, let’s drop one in right here to make it even easier.

    The form you have selected does not exist.

    Thanks again for all of your support. I quite literally could not do it without you. Now, let’s buckle down: Just three and a half weeks to go.

    1. You’ve put your pre-order in, right?↩

    2. I’d like to keep writing more books for you, so the better the sales, the more likely that is to happen!↩

    3. And, if you want to buy multiple formats, well, I am not going to stop you.↩

    4. Because librarians are awesome.↩