Wednesday, July 31, 2024

New releases and new books!

The biggest news in this post is the upcoming release of a new entry in the FitzDuncan series. Before I get to that, I want to attend to the publication schedule of new and upcoming books in chronological order. Scroll down for more details. 

The first book in the Mercenary Navy series from AethonBooks released on July 23. Early reviews are positive, and I am happy it is being well received. If you would like to read it, the link to amazon is: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D33VGXRJ


The first of a new series, Burden, will arrive on August 15. Burden is a swashbuckling adventure set in a fictional medieval world. To read Burden please go to: https://www.amazon.com/Burden-John-Spearman-ebook/dp/B0D9HVBVCW/

Swiftsure Ascendant is the second book in the Mercenary Navy series from AethonBooks. It is scheduled to be published on August 20. You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Swiftsure-Ascendant-Mercenary-Navy-Book-ebook/dp/B0D98S5BBK/

Now, the newest entry in the FitzDuncan series, FitzDuncan's Peril. The book takes up where FitzDuncan's Navy left us. I finished writing FitzDuncan's Beginning before completing Peril, but decided that it makes more sense to push Beginning back (since it is a prequel) and publish Peril sooner. The cover for Peril is being designed by the extremely talented Thea Magerand but since I just asked her to do it yesterday, it's not ready.  As soon as she supplies me a cover, I'll put up it for presale on amazon. I am hoping the publication date will be September 15.

Finally, there is FitzDuncan's Beginning.  I pushed the release date for Beginning back to October 15. You can find it on amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/FitzDuncans-Beginning-FitzDuncan-John-Spearman-ebook/dp/B0D9MSVM36/












Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Something new, and something completely different (well, maybe not completely)

We are approaching the release date for Rawlins' Redemption, July 16. This is the first book in the Cliff Rawlins series and the first book of mine to be published by Aethon Books. I am excited to see how the book is received, and what effect the partnership with Aethon Books has in terms of reaching a broader audience. Here is the link to pre-order: https://www.amazon.com/Rawlins-Redemption-Cliff-Book-ebook/dp/B0D33VGXRJ


Speaking of reaching a broader audience, the good folks at Interfleet Broadcasting were kind enough to have me on their show June 13. The link to it is: https://www.youtube.com/live/9m0oUcu0-FY?si=W69EgOiP_7FdFtfm

The actual interview begins around the 43:00 mark. Great guys--I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. 


The last item for this post is some news about a new book I just turned over to my editor. When I say "new," the term is relative. It really goes back more than twenty years—when I was still in the corporate world. My very good friend (who has since passed from a brain tumor) urged me to begin writing. 

What I wrote was an adventure story. I shared it with him, and he enjoyed it. Then, work commanded my full attention, and I set it aside, not knowing how to proceed (the publishing world was very different then). Other complications and challenges in my life followed, and I mostly forgot about the book. My friend, one of the best people I will ever know, succumbed to cancer.

In 2016, I finished reading a science fiction novel that I will charitably describe as mediocre. When I claimed I could do a better job, my wife challenged me to prove it. The result of that was Gallantry in Action. When, to my pleasant amazement, Gallantry found an audience, I remembered the book I had written years before and tried to find it.

Sadly, over the years, the original manuscript was lost due to multiple computer crashes and changes in email providers. I asked the son of my late friend to see if he could somehow access his father's old emails, but that proved to be a dead end after so long. Nonetheless, I tried to recreate what I wrote years before. 

As I started to write, I kept the basic premise but I changed what I thought were some of the weaker plot points. I reached a point where inspiration began to fade, and the idea of writing the next book in the Halberd series (In Harm's Way) seized my focus. True Allegiance and Surrender Demand followed. The Halberd books found an audience, and I learned a great deal about the business of self-publishing. 

My focus then turned to putting what I learned as a result of the Halberd books into a new series. The first, Pike's Potential, and the second, Pike's Passage, were far more successful in terms of sales and readership than the Halberd books. I took the royalties from the Pike books and poured them back into paying for new covers and editing of the Halberd books. 

While writing Pike's Progress, inspiration dried up and Casimir FitzDuncan popped into my head. Then came Perseverance Andrews, and, most recently, Cliff Rawlins. At the moment, I am working on the third book in the Rawlins series, and books nine and ten in the FitzDuncan series (one a continuation, the other a prequel). 

For whatever reason, Cliff and Fitz didn't seem interested in communicating with me. Something possessed me to go back to the story I started writing more than twenty years ago, then rebooted six years ago and shelved. Ideas flowed, and I quickly reached a point where I wanted to end book one, with the rest of the story to be concluded in book two. 

What's it about? Like the FitzDuncan books, it is set in a fictional medieval world—pre-industrial and pre-gunpowder. Unlike FitzDuncan, there is no supernatural element--just swashbuckling derring-do. There is an assassination. You'll also find nefarious plots, thrilling escapes, romance, and intrigue.

Look for this book, tentatively titled Burden, to appear on Amazon soon. The extremely talented Thea Magerand is working on a cover. I expect to release it in mid-August to early September unless my editor uncovers major problems I need to address.

As always, thank you for reading. 

Sunday, March 31, 2024

FitzDuncan's Navy release, new look to website, and first look at the cover of "Rawlins' Redemption"

 

Just a reminder, FitzDuncan's Navy, the eighth book in the series, publishes on April 1. The FitzDuncan series was recently named a Finalist in the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

I recently had my website redesigned to give it a bit more sizzle. Feel free to check it out: johnjspearmanauthor,com.

Last but not least, here is a look at the first draft of the cover of the new series I am creating that will be published by Aethon Books. I am excited to see this book launch!



Sunday, March 10, 2024

Latest Awards, FitzDuncan's Navy available for pre-order

 

I am very excited to share that TWO of my book series were selected as Finalists in the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBA). The FitzDuncan series of novels was selected as a Finalist in CIBA's Ozma category, covering Fantasy Fiction. The Jonah Halberd series was selected in the Cygnus category, covering Science Fiction.
What does this mean? In order to reach this stage, the books in the series survived four rounds of judging. Both are eligible to be named as the First Place Winner in each category, and as the overall CIBA Grand Prize Winner. Regardless of what happens next, it is gratifying to see that independent, objective judges enjoy my work. 

Speaking of the FitzDuncan series, the eighth book, FitzDuncan's Navy, is scheduled to release on April 1. You can pre-order it now on amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVN9K1KY)

The Halberd series is also available on amazon, beginning with the first book, Gallantry in Action (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0743MGN5R). I invite you to check these books out.





Monday, January 29, 2024

New Developments, New Books

 2024 is off to a rip-roaring start. The first and biggest development is the publishing contract I signed with Aethon Books (https://aethonbooks.com/). They will be publishing a new military science fiction/space opera series I have begun writing. The new books feature a protagonist named Cliff Rawlins, and are set in a new universe. 

The series will include at least three books. The first book, Rawlins's Redemption, is already being edited. As soon as I have a better idea of when Aethon would like to release it, I will share the news.

In addition to Rawlins's Redemption, I also just finished writing the eighth FitzDuncan adventure, FitzDuncan's Navy. That is also in the process of being edited. The extremely talented Thea Magerand has already designed the cover, and I think it's the best one yet.  For the first time, readers will get to see what Fenwick looks like.


Next, I was just informed that The Courage of the Commonwealth was named as a Finalist in the 2024 Feathered Quill Awards. 

Finally, the audiobook version of The Resolve of the Commonwealth is available for pre-order right now on audible. Alex Picard has done a marvelous job of bringing my characters to life. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Awards and more awards

In the last week, I was excited to learn that some of my books were chosen for a couple of awards. I can't lie--validation like this is food for my soul. When complete strangers pick your work out of hundreds of entries as something worthy of recognition, it's a nice feeling.

The two different organizations that contacted me are the Best Book Awards (BBA), and indieBRAG (Book Readers Appreciation Group). I urge you to visit their websites to find other award-winning books (http://americanbookfest.com/2023bbafullresults.html and https://www.bragmedallion.com/). Here are the books that they honored:

The 20th Annual "Best Book" Awards
Sponsored by American Book Fest™




The Defense of the Commonwealth by John J. Spearman

Independently Published

Finalist

Fiction: Science Fiction

FitzDuncan by John J. Spearman

Independently Published

Finalist
Fiction: Fantasy

B.R.A.G. Medallion Honorees



We are proud to announce that THE DEFENSE OF THE COMMONWEALTH by John Spearman has been honored with the B.R.A.G. Medallion (Book Readers Appreciation Group). It now joins the very select award-winning, reader-recommended books at indieBRAG.

We are proud to announce that PIKE'S POTENTIAL (Sandy Pike #1) by John Spearman has been honored with the B.R.A.G. Medallion (Book Readers Appreciation Group). It now joins the very select award-winning, reader-recommended books at indieBRAG.


We are proud to announce that FITZDUNCAN (FitzDuncan #1) by John Spearman has been honored with the B.R.A.G. Medallion (Book Readers Appreciation Group). It now joins the very select award-winning, reader-recommended books at indieBRAG.






Sunday, October 22, 2023

Releases and Pre-Orders

 

Releases and Pre-Orders!

The Resolve of the Commonwealth (Book 3 of the Perseverance Andrews series) publishes on 1-November. The audiobook version of The Defense of the Commonwealth releases on 24-October, and the audiobook version of The Courage of the Commonwealth is available for pre-order now.

The Resolve of the Commonwealth, the third and final book of the Perseverance Andrews series, publishes on 1-November. It is currently available for pre-order on amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFG4B36W).

The audiobook version of The Defense of the Commonwealth releases on 24-October. I was privileged to be given an advance “listen” and I am thrilled with the narration by Alex Picard. Alex brings Perseverance Andrews to life! To purchase, please go to: https://podiumaudio.com/audio-book/the-defense-of-the-commonwealth/

The audiobook version of the second book in the Perseverance Andrews series, The Courage of the Commonwealth, is now available for pre-order (https://podiumaudio.com/audio-book/the-courage-of-the-commonwealth/). The audiobook is scheduled for release on 21-November. Having heard Alex Picard’s narration of the first book, I can hardly wait to hear her reading of the second!

The last item in this update is confirmation of the scheduled publication of Pike’s Purpose, the fourth and final book in the Sandy Pike series. Pike’s Purpose is now available for pre-order at amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHPKGY7X). The publication date is 1-January, 2024.