The Magnificent Minister (of Chance) is BACK!

The Minister of Chance is at it again. I can NEVER say enough good things about this exciting, well-done, audio space-opera series. The characters and settings are limited only by your imagination. The sound effects and acting are superb! If you love Dr. Who, you'll love the Minister, too. If you don't love Dr. Who, well, I guess you'll also not get half my jokes. Use the Google search engine on the right if you haven't read all my reviews of this fabulous series. There are also quite a few interview videos posted here as well.

graphic by Radio Static/Lee Sullivan

The Minister of Chance

starring Julian Wadham,  Jenny Agutter,  Gethin Anthony, Lauren Crace,  Paul Darrow,  Beth Goddard,  Tamsin Greig,  Sylvester McCoy,  Paul McGann

NEWS RELEASE -November 22, 2012

The response to our crowd-funding campaign for Episode 4 of the Minister of Chance was incredible and we were able to greenlight it entirely based on fan support.  However, as you may have already heard if you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, we then had to delay its recording because Lauren Crace, our lovely 'Kitty',  had a baby!  He's very beautiful and we're very excited to be starting recording in a couple of weeks time.

We've used the waiting time to get the Episode 5 script ready for pre-production too  -  and this would be the final one in the first season.  In an attempt to get straight onto that after Ep 4  we are therefore starting the crowd- funding campaign for Episode 5 on 23rd of November and it will run for one month until 23rd December with a host of new perks.

We are always overwhelmed by the support of our fanbase and from so many of you, and we really, really appreciate every posting, every retweet and every Facebook mention.

NEWS RELEASE -December 3, 2012

More exciting casting news for The Minister of Chance: Mad Dogs and Life on Mars star Philip Glenister joins the production for Episode 5!  Philip comes fresh from the National Theatre stage where he has been appearing in the sell-out show THIS HOUSE, which also starred the Minister of Chance's Julian Wadham. Phil is looking forward to the opportunity to play another role opposite his cast-mate. He'll play The Summer King opposite The Minister in an episode which will also include The Hobbit's Jed Brophy as The Pilot.

Episode 4 of the series starts recording this week, financed entirely by its fanbase, and a crowd-funding campaign for Episode 5 is currently underway. Fans can grab a variety of exclusive perks ranging from cast-signed art to limited-edition mugs, caps and tees..

The first three episodes and a prologue for this epic sonic movie are available as a free download from www.ministerofchance.com

Photo by Ian Nolan

Sylvester McCoy
at recording of Episode 3 

Our pals over at Phoenix (www.PPickings.com) have another free ebook for you...
L. Neil Smith’s The Venus Belt. December’s code is  9991305 and will be good through December 31.

The Host released a new trailer. Looks very exciting, but I kept thinking "V". I guess there really are no new plots.

And in the age of Indie Films and Kickstarter crowd-funding, there's always some new flick or the beginnings of one to share. Check it out and let him know what you think.

PROSPECT: Concept Reel from Shep Films on Vimeo.

Rate Me Red worth being read

Rate Me Red
Richie Chevat
Self-pub (2009)

Reviewed by Clare Deming

In Rate Me Red, by Richie Chevat, it is 2043, and reality television, social media, and online shopping have united into the VidNet. Anyone can host a VidNet show, and the popularity of the show is one factor that determines each individual's rating. In this exaggerated social future, your rating on the VidNet determines where you can live, who your friends are, and which modes of transportation are available. The scale ranges from Blue to Red, with the Blues living as near-outcasts, and everyone in-between aspiring to become Red. This is all sorted out by the VidNet computer system, which displays your color rating on a button, worn at all times.

Amid this setting, Gordy is an average-Joe Yellow who works at VidNet headquarters. His girlfriend, Poppy, is also Yellow, and has a moderately popular VidNet show. Gordy and Poppy love each other, but have never met in REALITY(TM). Aspiring to ascend the color rating ladder, Poppy proposes something daring. She asks Gordy (live on her VidNet show) to meet up with her to have sex in REALITY(TM). Gordy cannot refuse (and why would he?) because his rating would suffer, and they begin to make arrangements for a lunch date. While his morning passes with excitement and anxiety, Gordy cannot help but wonder - if Poppy will break up with him if her rating rises to Orange as a result of their date in REALITY(TM).

The story follows a single day in Gordy's life, beginning in his bathroom, where he fends off dietary recommendations from his toilet and advertising from his toothbrush. As he arrives at work, Gordy chats with a friend over the VidNet, even though they are standing beside each other. Further details of this bizarre world are revealed in interactions with a Rejectionist and an AD, but it all follows logically from the initial premise.

On one level, this book is a light-hearted story of Gordy's misadventures in a strange world. Yet it is also a satire of our cultural obsession with reality television, consumerism and image. It made for a surprisingly effective novel on both levels. The message is clear without becoming preachy, and although certain aspects of the ending were predictable, Chevat brought all of the character arcs to a satisfying conclusion.

As a self-published book, Rate Me Red was well constructed. I'm easily irritated by typos, slipups in grammar and awkward writing. There were a few minor glitches in the beginning of the text, but after the first third of the book I don't remember noticing these errors. Gordy's plight became so engaging, that I was completely wound up in the story. The cover is simply designed with a pleasing graphic and clear fonts that do not detract from the book. The copy I received feels as substantial and well-bound as any book from a regular publisher.

This is a tough book to categorize and may not initially appeal to regular readers of science fiction and fantasy. However, I found it just as action-packed as a traditional space opera or sword and sorcery novel. The concept, characters, plot and writing all worked to make it a riveting experience. I'm not sure what else to even compare it to, except to say that I'm glad I read it, and I think it would appeal to pop culture's fans and critics alike.

Approaching Omega - familiar plot surprises in the end

Approaching Omega
Eric Brown
e-book, Infinity Plus (September 2011)
Novella, originally published in 2005 by Telos Publishing

Review by Lyda Morehouse

This novella length e-book by award-winning novelist Eric Brown tells the story of Ted Latimer, team leader of the maintenance crew of the Dauntless – a ship filled with thousands of cryogenically frozen colonists, headed to the first suitable Earth-like planet. Their mission: save humanity.

I could have saved Latimer some heartache. After all, cryogenic deep-freeze space travel rarely goes well in these sorts of stories, does it? No one ever wakes up, thousands of years later, arriving in paradise where everything is hunky-dory. Thus, rather predictably, Latimer and his crew are awoken early. First to a possible collision that’s left the ship massively damaged. After they set the autobots to fix things, they go back to sleep.

The second time they wake up, everything has gone from bad to worse – much, much worse.

The plot that follows reminded me a lot of the movie “Pandorum,” including the strangely up-beat ending. If you haven’t seen “Pandorum” (which many people likely haven’t), suffice to say that the autobots fixed a number of things that weren’t broken, including some of the colonists.

I’m a fan of science fiction horror, and Brown is certainly a skilled writer. Yet, for some reason, I never quite connected enough with the main character to get truly emotionally invested in his survival. Perhaps it was Brown’s stylistic choice to refer to the hero by his surname throughout the narrative that kept me at a distance. Or, maybe it was the sheer gruesomeness of the situation they woke up to the second time that left me certain that everyone left alive was utterly doomed that made it hard to connect. Strangely, I think it would have made a better movie in that way. The action was very gripping and well-rendered, but I tend to want something a touch meatier in my fiction.

None of that stopped me from reading all the way to the last page, however. The ending surprised me by pulling back from a full-on horror conclusion to something much more science fictional. Was it more satisfying? I found myself unsure. In some ways, a bleak ending is its own kind of satisfaction. On the flip-side, if you’ve been rooting for these people the whole time…

For the price (Kindle is offering it for $2.99), it may well be worth reading and deciding for yourself.

Heaven's Shadow is a thrill ride

Heaven's Shadow
David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt
Ace Penguin Hardback, July 2011

Reviewed by Ann Wilkes

Heaven's Shadow begins with quite a few familiar sci-fi elements: alien artifact, space exploration, first contact and pod people. But what David S. Goyer and Micahael Cassutt do with these still shiny plot elements is magic. In 2017, a Near Earth Object has come within the range of existing manned spacecraft. NASA and the Russian-Indian-Brazilian Coalition both divert manned missions to the moon to the NEO instead.

After both vehicles touch down, NASA suffers a casualty when an astronaut is thrown by what they believed to be the venting of a volcano. The home team, headed by Harley Drake, discovers that the "ventings" aren't random, but have served to park the NEO in a stable orbit. The X2016 K1 NEO, dubbed Keanu (yeah, that didn't thrill me either), is actually an alien space ship. The Coalition team helps to get the injured astronaut to safety and then members from each team explore the vent together.



Zack didn't have to ask any of them to take pictures, or do a radar scan. Lucas, Natalia and Pogo swarmed the marker, recording every possible angle. Lucas had hauled a new camera from the sled, bulkier and less finished-looking than the other instruments. "What's a Zeiss MKK?" Zack said.

At that moment, Pogo noted a wisp of vapor on the leg of the commander's suit. "Boss," he said, suddenly worried, pointing. "Check your pressure."

But Zack didn't seem worried. "This chamber is pressurized. Look at the ground..."

Pogo did, and saw a puddle. "Zack," he said.

"I think its water," the commander said quickly. "It appeared to be melt from my boots. Yours, too, I'm guessing."

Natalia disagreed. "There's more here than we were carrying."

Then Lucas said, "I hear something."

And Pogo realized he'd been hearing it, too. "Is that wind?"

"What the hell is going on?" Natalia said. She sounded nervous. Pogo couldn't blame her. Puddles of liquid? Air pressure? Wind? Some of those conditions could exist on the surface of Mars, so it wasn't unthinkable.

But on a NEO – inside a NEO?


Commander Zack Stewart must keep control of a mission that has taken a serious left turn into unexpected first contact and is further complicated with an injured comrade, the death of another ... and then there's the appearance of his undead wife.

Heaven's Shadow is a thrill ride from start to finish with exciting action back on Earth as well. Zack's friend, Harley Drake, in addition to his regular NASA Home Team duties, is tasked with keeping track of Zack's teenage daughter while she's there in the visitor area. Things get really interesting for Rachel when she's able to talk to someone who claims to be the mother she lost two years before. And Harley is then tapped as point person and team leader of the “48 Committee” which is the pre-designated term for experts assembled for any possible alien contact situation.

The book is first in a series. I'm sorry I have to wait a whole year to find out what happens next. Heaven's Shadow does have an ending of sorts. Much is resolved, though the journey has only just begun.

I appreciated the very human drama embedded in the science-laden, near future world. It's like space opera meets techno thriller. Heaven's Shadow is a must read – and soon to be a must see. Goyer is a screenwriter, comic book author, film producer and director. Cassutt is a screenwriter, American TV producer and author. They have been working on both the movie and the books. Look for Heaven's Shadow from Warner Bros., possibly as soon as July of 2012.

Read my interview with Goyer and Cassutt.

Oi! The Minister of Chance - more please!

The Minister of Chance
Radiophonic Serial
Writer, Producer, Director: Dan Freeman
Starring: Julian Wadham, Jenny Agutter, Lauren Crace (as Kitty), Paul Darrow, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann.

Radio shows rock! You don't think so? You haven't heard The Minister of Chance. It's not just visual sound effects that have come a long way. I got totally lost in the story like I was there. The Minister of Chance is a new British science fiction audio series which is sort of like Nazi Germany taking over a backward planet instead of France. But these invaders will politely send you to the dungeon or to the labor camp and wonder why you're not honored to do it. The invaders believe in magic, not science. Their leader is the Witch Prime and their standard salutation is "Happy Spells".



While smuggling food to a scientist who is part of the resistance, Kitty encounters the Minister of Chance. The atmosphere and humor will whisk you away to a world you've never imagined. You'll laugh at Kitty's protestations as she follows the Minister of Chance through a door that wasn't there a second ago and across the frost bridge into another realm. A far cry from slinging ales at the pub where she worked. The Cockney does get a bit thick at times for those unaccustomed to it, but it's so worth it for the flavor that it adds.

The witty, sarcastic dialog and the acting are flawless. I should know. I've listened four times. :) It's space opera at its best. Right up there with Dr. Who. Jonathon Barnes recently interviewed Julian Wadham, who plays The Minister of Chance, over at his Pantisocracy blog.

You can download an MP3 of the first episode, "The Broken World", for £1.49 via credit card or paypal. And please tell your friends. This is a production of Radio Static and depends on your patronage, rather than, as their press release states, "the BBC, the Government, or any other criminal organization." Episode Two: "The Forest Shakes" will be released on April 14th. Can't wait!

Awesome Lavratt app, back surgery, pink slip and possibilities

Just a week after seeing another specialist, I'm having back surgery. It's scheduled for this coming Monday. I'm actually looking forward to it. Or at least looking forward to the relief I'll feel afterward. It's really the pits not being able to sit for more than 3 min. or stand more than 10 without pain. And I'll be able to sleep on either side again. And go places and do things. In short, I'll have my life back.

Unfortunately, I won't have a job to go back to. I work for a small magazine that can't carry on without me for that long (6 weeks recovery). I've already been out since the 30th of March.

So, Monday, May 3rd, which happens to be my 25th wedding anniversary, is the day I have surgery and am effectively unemployed.

I trust that God has everything well in hand, though. This might be just the opportunity I need to have affordable healthcare (subsidized COBRA) while working on my own fiction and freelancing. It will take a while, of course to build my client base, but jobs are not readily available in this economy anyway. Rather than bemoan my lack of employment I can focus on starting my own business and use the time to work on the novels that I've had to backburner while working full time.

Another bit of good news. AWESOME LAVRATT IS AVAILABLE FOR iPHONE!

Now you can read my tongue-in-cheek space opera on the go for only $4.99.

See the description to the right on this blog. You can read the first chapter on my website.

After reading Awesome Lavratt on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, please consider writing a review for the iTunes site. And tell your friends. Even the ones not normally into SF. Awesome Lavratt is soft sci-fi with humor. Here's an article on why science fiction is good for us, "In Defense of Science Fiction," at The Mark, a Canadian online publication. You'll be doing yourself and your friends a favor, not to mention helping a starving writer.

Stay tuned tomorrow for an interview with Greg Bear and a link to my review of City at the End of Time.



vote it up!

Awesome Lavratt news still pouring in...

The New Year, for me started with a review Awesome Lavratt from SFCrowsnest. :)

And the head cold that should have come BEFORE my bronchitis. UGH!

Thanks to Amazon tags, Awesome Lavratt is gaining all kinds of cyber space. 14 pages of Google search sites and counting.

And I've come up with a platform of sorts to help with marketing. Most exciting! Now it's back to my Toastmasters club to perfect my new speech topic: Control is just an illusion. Doesn't that just sum up Awesome Lavratt? And what a versatile speech topic that can go ANYWHERE!

It's time to vote for your favorite books over at Preditors and Editors. I'm in two anhthologies listed there. The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008 and This Ain't No Rodeo. And on the EDF front, my copies arrived on Wednesday. The cover is most impressive and sports a nice little snippet from a Wall Street Journal review. If you haven't purchased yours yet, they are still available at Every Day Fiction and Amazon.

Awesome Lavratt available now!

Lookie, lookie! Awesome Lavratt is at Amazon

Ask for it in your local book store. If you've read it, please give it a review. :)

In bed with a cold...more in a couple days.

Awesome news! Awesome Lavratt now available!

My book, Awesome Lavratt, is now available online through the publisher. Get yours now! This is a limited advanced edition. Tell your friends! A punny ride through the galaxy filled with mind control, passion and adventure.

Awesome Lavratt

Just received the galley today. And now I have to eat humble pie. I had one paragraph that contained the word "lake" four times! I can't wait for the real thing to come off the press. But on the other hand, some things can't be rushed. I'm on a mission to find every redundancy, typo, phraso and formatto that's there. Don't worry, I'm enlisting help. ;)