Chuck Finley Has A Book Out · 7:27pm Jun 28th, 2016
Faster-Than-Light technology has stopped. Every advanced artificial intelligence has disappeared. Eight-hundred-million lives teeter on the edge, a fortnight from starvation. In the midst of it all, Detective Marion Clay is hunting for a psychic terrorist, a being so dangerous that her colleagues aren't even allowed to know they exist. She has sixty hours. No leads, no description, and no air conditioning.
At least it's not retirement.
I have a book out! Company Town is a hard sci-fi novella about an overworked detective in a world on the brink, it’s part of MrNumber’s forthcoming science-fiction shared universe, edited by the wonderful MaskedFerret and Scarlet, and without a doubt it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written.
It is currently available for purchase on Amazon as an ebook for about the price of a Starbucks latte. Here is the Amazon USA link! Here is the Amazon UK link! If there’s a different country you want to purchase it from, hit me up!
You have questions? Of course! Allow me to answer them:
Q: So, what’s this book then?
A: See the quote at the top of the page.
Q: No, you cheeky sod, what’s it like? Why should we read it? What’s the appeal?
A: If you’re following me, and you’re not a dedicated and disciplined hate-follower, you know I can write. That right there should be a tick in the ‘pro’ column for deciding whether to pick up a copy of Company Town.
You should also get it because it blends the best aspects of my best works. Do you like the intrigue and tradecraft of The Quiet Equestrian and Banishment Decree? It’s got that in spades. The futuristic oddness of Luna, Princess of Space? That too. Wry humor of my various Gilda & Trixie team-ups? Wouldn’t be me without it.
It also runs at a squinch under 90 pages, for that perfect mixture of big enough to get absorbed in and fast enough that you won’t put it down and forget it for three months.
Q: Wait, this is like, an actual story? I thought you were just a hack smut peddler?
A: A common misconception! I’ve done a whole bunch of non-porn stuff, I got my start on FIMFic from safe-for-work stories, and my SFW stuff probably outweighs my NSFW stuff in terms of wordcount. I’ve been in the Royal Canterlot Library, I’ve apparently produced a fandom classic, and I’ve been featured on Equestria Daily several times, both in the old era where they’d let any old story in, and in the new era where nobody pays any attention to Equestria Daily because everyone gets their pony fanfic fix from FIMfic instead.
Q: I am a low-income millennial. New books are like, expensive, aren’t they?
A: Ah-ha! While a new paperback can run into double-digit money (and new hardbacks can match the price of a few sticks of RAM), this is an ebook, self-pubbed no less! It’s $3.99, or £2.99, and a similar ballpark in euro if you’re on the continent. That’s the price of a fancy coffee, as mentioned earlier, for a debut novella from a damn good writer. Half an hour’s work at minimum wage for my book, that’s a fuckin’ bargain!
Q: I really, really want to read it, but I genuinely cannot spare the money for even one single overpriced latte. Can’t we work something out?
A: Yes! If you truly can’t afford it but still want to read it, leave a nice long comment on one of my fics and PM me with an email address, and I’ll send you a copy for your enthusiasm. Or even just send me a PM with, like, your three favorite quotes from my FIMFic stuff!
Q: Huh. So we should just do that, then.
A: If you can spare the cost of a damned cup of coffee, you should pay the fucking writer. However, if you cannot, I will magnanimously trade my words for your enthusiasm!
Q: Wait, is your real name Edward Pink?
A: That is very close to my real name, close enough in fact that if you knew a few details about me and spent an hour or two wrangling around on Friendbook or somesuch, you could probably find me and cause me no end of grief by linking my Real Life to my Internet Stuff. Please don’t!
Q: What’s this thing about a shared sci-fi universe from MrNumbers?
A: A universe where Faster-Than-Light travel and sufficiently-advanced artificial intelligence suddenly ceases to function. He’s got his own book in the works, and he’s putting together an anthology of short stories for the universe. If you think you’ve got what it takes to join the anthology team, or pitch a full-length book of your own, hit him up.
Q: I read the thing and spotted a typo, you fucking hack.
A: My apologies. Next time I will avoid editing on blind determination and no sleep. Anyone who PMs me with any spotted mistakes will have my gratitude.
Q: Hey, speaking of The Quiet Equestrian/The Fading World/Banishment Decree....
A: I’M GETTING TO IT! After I finish my commissions. I’ve been saying this for a while, but I’ve finally hit the sweet spot where my ADHD meds and my new writing patterns meld together. Over the last week, I’ve written 2400 words per day on average, and I’ve broken my record for most words written in a single day. To put this in perspective, my normal writing average for the past five years has stayed at around 340 words per day. Once the commissions are out of the way, I’m going to go finish those three, finishing one entirely before moving to the next. It’ll be TQE, then TFW, then BD, if you’re curious.
Q: Speaking of commissions...
A: Smashing through Spamotron’s twin TwiLuna fics at the moment, and then some stuff for Technophile34 and Archonix. After those, there’s a few more requests in my PM folder, which I’ll negotiate with once my current batch of commissioners are satisfied.
Q: If I read your book, can I leave a review on Amazon?
A: Please do! I’d be pleased as punch if you reviewed my book, and doubly so if you reviewed it somewhere else as well.
Q: Even if I think it sucks ass?
A: Absolutely. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and what you loathe in a book might be the very thing that causes another reader to pick it up. Feedback for a writer is like a vaccination: it might leave you sore, but it can make you stronger.
Q: Can you summarize everything you just said?
A: New book out on Amazon. Company Town, by Edward Pink. Sci-fi detective story. Part of a shared universe by MrNumbers. Pick up the ebook for $4, or £3 if you’re a fellow brit. Still got a bunch of stuff coming out on FIMfiction. All my fans rock.
Get Company Town (USA). Get Company Town (UK).
It’s a cover:
Hmm. Intriguing!
Huh, never picked you as a Brit with the username of an American characters alias. I kinda wanna check it out. Just hope it isn't relentlessly dark and dipressing.
Well, I needed to make an Amazon account because of a contest anyway. I can think of no better way to break it in than this.
Just... give me until tomorrow, due to technical issues.
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Not depressing at all, and about the same level of darkness as most of my Gilda/Trixie stuff. You get a free copy since you ordered a commission off me, PM me your email and I'll send you the ebook.
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It will be well worth the wait to see what you think of it :D
Fucking buying it. You're like on my top ten list of authors on this site in terms of writing capabilities. Don't even have to sell me on it.
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You're a star, and a cracking fan. Can't wait to hear your verdict.
What no credit for your hardworking editor? i'm hurt.
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ahem:
And bought it.
And does this mean The Quiet Equestian is likely to be finished before Demesne itself?
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You rock.
I think that depends how fast MrNumbers gets through The Mare Who Lived On The Moon, because when he's at his fastest, he's faster than me at my fastest. I'll race him!
Well, I do have some money from the Apple ebooks settlement thing so there no reason for me not to grab it.
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awesome! hope you love it!
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4054218 Bought it! Read the first chapter
Bought it.
So...
Edward Tink?
Insta-buy. Even if I hate the book, I owe you for the all the fanfic.
The pages have crazy margins on my kindle fire, though! Only three words wide in vertical orientation! Quite readable if I hold the thing sideways, though. I download, like, a billion books a day, and I've never seen anything like it. The preview on my desktop browser is fine, though!
But. I like it so far. Hilarious. Any book worth reading is worth reading sideways.
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What an odd name!
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Ack! Thanks for the heads up, I only tested it on my kindle touch and on my phone. Time to fix it!
That was a lot of fun. But then, I'm biased in favor of the subject for personal reasons.
Loved the paragraph just going through all Clay did the first day at Loc 242. Thought it covered what her methods are, what she's willing to do, where and with whom she works, all while keeping up a very fast pace and getting to just summarize the important outcomes.
The line "Completely illegal and totally legitimate" was great.
And I thought the start of the conversation with Aisha was hilarious.
Yay book!
Haven't read it quite yet, but I already know it'll be worth the time
So fucken humble.
I'll buy it eventually, got a lot of shit on my plate atm.
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False modesty is no virtue
Now purchased.
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I am honestly tingling like the other Chuck to know what you think about it
Hot damn, good to see a second Chuck make a go for the Tingle throne.
Always liked your writing, so you got yourself a sale mister.
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That. Was Amazing. The way the setting subtly built itself as the story went on, Clay's abrasively endearing nature, the ending... My only concern is that some idiot's going to kill the planet's only hope before she can do anything. (Jeffs, I'm looking at you.)
Thank you for this. I'll definitely have to keep an eye out for further contributions to the universe. I want to say I may even contribute something of my own, but I can't honestly say that with anything approaching certainty. Still, great work.
yet another gaylord makes the leap to respectable authorhood
good on you tbh
Have three of my English pounds
I loved this, definitely going to getting the next installment as soon as it's out. I really want this to go big.
if i hadn't seen MrNumbers blog post, i would have never known you released this.
you had me at Luna, Princess of Space
imgflip.com/s/meme/Shut-Up-And-Take-My-Money-Fry.jpg
I'm glad I knew it was short or I would have been making more incomprehensible noises that translate to "That's the end!?" than I did. I'll be keeping an eye out for when more books set in this universe are published.
As of this writing, $5.19 at Amazon Canada.
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Unfortunately, my copy seems determined to only display in a column seven characters wide in vertical orientation. Taking Captain_Hairballs advice, it's readable horizontally.
Very much enjoyed this—sorry for the delay, but I spend most of my life on this Apple tablet and I have an app-clutter aversion so I always went ENNNH when it came to installing Kindle.
Anyway, I eventually took the plunge and was gladder for it! I loved the gradual manipulation of audience participation as we watched a smart, cagey protagonist failing to understand what we ever-so gradually realized was nothing more than credit.
Though I'm not sure as to the survivability of that world, in the end. Agriculture takes time to implement even with a trained workforce, and none of these people would even know which end of a rake to hold. Add that to the fact that the planet is about three days away from food riots and I'm not certain all the high-minded new economic ideals in the world will save them. Maybe I overlooked something.
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They do have agriculture, fortunately! Most of the 'retirees' spend their working hours on the outlying fields, or in the hydroponics buildings.
They never really shipped in food from off-world, partly because it would be expensive as hell, and partly because it would violate the experiment - they already knew that you could keep a population subjugated by controlling access to food, they wanted to know if they could sustain that control through propaganda and indoctrination even if the population was essentially self sufficient.
Thanks for reading, too!
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My pleasure! Literally!