The release of Merchant of Alyss, book 2 in my Legends of the Realm fantasy series, is January 5, 2016!
Here’s a sneak peek of one of the characters you’ll be getting to know in Merchant of Alyss. Captain Meda was also in book 1, Emissary, but in Merchant, she plays a prominent role.
Question for my readers:Do you enjoy strong female characters in the novels you read? Who’s your fave female?
Lots is going on in my writing life! The Emissary film project is ongoing, and I’ll share details about that as things unfold.
Merchant of Alyss, Book 2 in the Legends of the Realm series, comes out January 5, 2016. There will be at least one more book in the series, but I haven’t started writing it yet. The producers of the Emissary film project asked my publisher (Revell) if we could wait on book 3 until we have a clear sense of the timing of the film.
Earlier this week, I finished the edits to Flash Point, book 2 in my Fault Lines techno-thriller series. It’ll be out in August 2016 (Revell).
The first book in the series, Trial Run, was recently awarded a “Best Book of 2015” by Suspense Magazine.
I’m also working on another near-time sci-fi novel, Recruits, that will launch a new series with Revell in January 2017.
If you are a writer, what projects do you have underway? If you’re not a writer, I’d love to hear about important things that are happening in your life. Please share in the Comments!
Q: What keeps you sane in the middle of craziness? Hopeful in the middle of stress and life’s storms?
Thomas Locke: I am going to skip the two obvious answers, my faith and my wife. These are essential to me. The crux of this question is, what else offers these positive elements in hard times, that might benefit others?
The first for me is a positive mindset. Remaining anchored during harsh times begins when I lift my gaze above the elements that seek to bring me down, and search for that kernel of divine truth, the opportunity to serve.
Instead of becoming blinded by stress or hardship, I remind myself that God is there, and that God often speaks to us in the midst of the whirlwind, offering us an opportunity to turn this into an act of service. It is hard, but when I manage this, the outcome is a tremendous sense of accomplishment and hope through Him who strengthens us all.
What keeps you grounded in the middle of life’s unpredictable stresses and storms?
During December, I’m going to be giving away LOTS of books! This week, I’m giving away three 2-packs of the Legends of the Realm fantasy series:
Contest Rules
I’m already excited for the January release of Merchant of Alyss, book 2 in the Legends of the Realm fantasy series.
If you haven’t yet read Emissary (book 1), now’s the perfect time to get caught up so you’ll be ready for the next installment in the series.
The ebook version of Emissary is only $6.99 (or less!) through December 23, 2015. A Christmas gift, perhaps?
Here are some bookseller links to Emissary:
Amazon – currently $5.38 for Kindle
Barnes & Noble – currently not displaying a sale price for NOOK Book – the price of $0.00 is for “The Captive,” a free ebook short that features scenes from Emissary.
(Other online booksellers that stock the book are not yet showing the sale price.)
Watch the Emissary trailer
Encouraging words mean so much to authors!
I just returned from two very intense weeks in Singapore and Malaysia. Once every three years, there is a conference to help raise the quality of publishing, editing, and writing in the developing world.
This is the second time I’ve had the honor of participating as teacher of the writing track. It remains a highlight of my career. I had 92 students from 31 countries, and was assisted by five simultaneous translators, including Mandarin and Laotian.
Upon returning, I opened this lovely note from Mary Sivertsen, one of the readers who will be reviewing my upcoming fantasy novel, Merchant of Alyss. I cannot begin to say how much her encouragement means. Mary gave me permission to share her note with you:
“I received the ARC of Merchant of Alyss so I decided to re-read Emissary before feasting on the new book.
I just wanted to tell you that you are simply heads and tails above so many authors. I am always reading something and it’s so often the case where a story just disappears into the mass of other words read over time. It’s not easy to stand out in a world of prolific mediocrity, yet you do!
As I began reading Emissary, I sighed with deep satisfaction knowing I was going to be rewarded for my time with a story so real and characters so full of life, that the heroes feel like friends I would want in real life. I’m so looking forward to Merchant of Alyss.
Thank you for always giving your best and the hard work and effort it takes to create something of this caliber. It does not goes unnoticed. Please keep writing!!”
During this season of giving thanks, I encourage you to send an encouraging note to someone who has impacted your life.
I’ve received two spine-tingling bits of news about my new techno-thriller, Trial Run:
They’ll feature mini-interviews with the “Best of 2015” authors in their December 2015 issue.
About Trial RunTrial Run is book 1 in the Fault Lines techno-thriller series.
Reader Reviews:
Watch the trailer:
It’s always fun to reveal the cover of an upcoming novel. Thought I’d have a little fun with the “cover reveal” this time.
Below is a virtual jigsaw puzzle of the Merchant of Alyss cover. Merchant of Alyss releases January 5, 2016, and is book 2 in the Legends of the Realm series. (Emissary is book 1.)
Assemble the puzzle and see what the cover looks like! It’s an exceptionally cool, vivid cover; I think you’ll love it.
Let me know how long it takes you to assemble the puzzle, and what you think of the cover!
Click here for a sneak peek of the cover and to read Chapter 1.
Q: Do you think quantum mechanics will be the theoretical foundation for true Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Thomas Locke: Yes; there are two reasons why quantum mechanics will certainly play a great role, in my opinion.
First, the quantum world is an uncertain world. Just like with human consciousness, this uncertainty breeds an amazing amount of flexibility. There is no way to know in advance the many events that will impact a life, or emotions, or thoughts, or even the next hour. The quantum world is based upon making sense of these uncertainties.
Okay, okay. Making sense is not what most people would say about quantum anything. But still.
Second, there are so many issues about human consciousness that don’t become clear unless we look at it from the world of the impossible.
How is it that two people can experience the same event, and come up with two completely different responses?
For AI to be really artificial intelligence, it has to go beyond mere thought and actually respond with a sense of uniqueness. For the first time ever, we are looking at a mathematical structure that accepts this amazing component of human life. Our uniqueness.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Today I’m featuring excerpts from reader reviews of Trial Run. I encourage you to click on the link next to each reviewer’s name to read their full review.
“…How much is fiction and how much of this could be just around the corner – especially when politics gets into the mix?” –from Stephanie Herron’s Goodreads review
“There are two main groups involved in this book. They both want the same thing, sort of… Which team will be the first to succeed? If they die in “fake” time, will they live in “real” time?? Can they change the future?” –from Mary Arndt’s Goodreads review
“The back cover copy for the advanced reading copy of Trial Run doesn’t do justice to the book. Of course, I guess it isn’t fair to keep relying on the tried-and-true “Thrills, Chills, and On-the-Edge-of-Your-Seat Excitement!” blurb either. But Trial Run provides all that and more.
Thomas Locke has created a book that keeps the adrenalin pumped as the reader follows the characters on their journey into the known world of physics, algorithms, and quantum computing and the unknown world of ascends/transits. For those of us who do not read scientific or mathematics journals on a regular basis, the science is written at a level that any reader can understand and follow, and that is important if the reader is to become invested in the story.
Trial Run is compelling on several fronts. Remember “Limitless”? How about “Inception”? In a time when blockbuster action movies like “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Jurassic World” are hits at the box office, Trial Run provides plenty of cinema-worthy action and adventure and features real world technological thinking with a what-if-it-truly-works-in-this-way scenario.
There are also quiet moments where the reader gets to know the characters and their motivations (my personal favorite characters are Trent Major and Shane Schearer). There is a satisfying conclusion but the reader is also left with a cliffhanger and more to be explored in future volumes of the three-novel series.” –Kevin Denis’s Amazon review
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