Mark Henwick's Blog
November 13, 2021
SF/Space opera offer
2 free books! Full novels from The Long Way Home, my serial Science Fiction story.
Their war has just ended. Their struggle has just begun.
Finally discharged from the military, Jan and Bjorn must fight to get life-saving technology across the entire width of human space, back to their remote and isolated home planet before it’s too late and the colony dies.
Everything and everyone seem to be against them. They have to overcome betrayal, corruption, greed … and pirates … on The Long Way Home.
Reader feedback:
“I adore the Firefly/space Western vibe…”
Book1 The Dark Takes Fools : https://dl.bookfunnel.com/t084dkxws1
Book 2 Out of the Dark : https://dl.bookfunnel.com/hfbl9m9fjy
More info :
https://henwick.wordpress.com/2021/11...
The two books above are for anyone to download at the moment. If you've signed up to my newsletter, here is the link for the episodes which form the start of Book 3:
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/38rklkoxdz
Their war has just ended. Their struggle has just begun.
Finally discharged from the military, Jan and Bjorn must fight to get life-saving technology across the entire width of human space, back to their remote and isolated home planet before it’s too late and the colony dies.
Everything and everyone seem to be against them. They have to overcome betrayal, corruption, greed … and pirates … on The Long Way Home.
Reader feedback:
“I adore the Firefly/space Western vibe…”
Book1 The Dark Takes Fools : https://dl.bookfunnel.com/t084dkxws1
Book 2 Out of the Dark : https://dl.bookfunnel.com/hfbl9m9fjy
More info :
https://henwick.wordpress.com/2021/11...
The two books above are for anyone to download at the moment. If you've signed up to my newsletter, here is the link for the episodes which form the start of Book 3:
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/38rklkoxdz
January 25, 2021
Promo price box sets
Promotional 99c/99p pricing on box sets for the launch of Bite Back Book 7, Queen of Diamonds. (Links at the bottom)
“Some of the best the field has to offer” – Charles de Lint, Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Take a white-knuckle ride with Amber Farrell, ex-Special Forces, now private investigator, and discover a lethal paranormal war in the shadows that threatens the whole world.
"The politics of the Athanate (vampires), the hair-trigger passions of the Were, the awesome powers of the Adepts... Henwick takes UF tropes and gives them a fresh twist in an intriguing saga."
Launch into this immersive series and savor the intense storylines, fully developed, realistic characters and exceptional world building.
Promotional pricing on box sets in advance of the publication of book 7 in the Bite Back series, Queen of Diamonds on January 28. Normal pricing resumes afterwards :-)
Get started now!
Box set 1 (books 1-3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZM5HNK2/
Box set 2 (books 4-6)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQM2RZ5/
Book 7, Queen of Diamonds
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCHB272
“Some of the best the field has to offer” – Charles de Lint, Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Take a white-knuckle ride with Amber Farrell, ex-Special Forces, now private investigator, and discover a lethal paranormal war in the shadows that threatens the whole world.
"The politics of the Athanate (vampires), the hair-trigger passions of the Were, the awesome powers of the Adepts... Henwick takes UF tropes and gives them a fresh twist in an intriguing saga."
Launch into this immersive series and savor the intense storylines, fully developed, realistic characters and exceptional world building.
Promotional pricing on box sets in advance of the publication of book 7 in the Bite Back series, Queen of Diamonds on January 28. Normal pricing resumes afterwards :-)
Get started now!
Box set 1 (books 1-3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZM5HNK2/
Box set 2 (books 4-6)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQM2RZ5/
Book 7, Queen of Diamonds
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCHB272
October 1, 2020
Mark Henwick Newsletter!
I'm producing a free monthly newsletter to attract new readers and as a thank-you for my existing readers.
Here's the signup link:
https://mailchi.mp/27afed3e7c0c/mark-...
The newsletter will mainly be episodes of two serial novels I'm writing, one Science Fiction space opera adventure (The Long Way Home), and one Urban Fantasy paranormal romance (Stand Up). These episodes aren't going to be available from anywhere else, except the first episode of The Long Way Home, which has to be obtained from purchasing The Great Beyond Anthology where it's the lead story.
The Long Way Home (Think of Firefly with a mission arc):
Their war has just ended. Their struggles have just begun.
A pair of ex-soldiers, weary of a war that went on too long, and desperate to take essential technology back to save their remote colony planet, have to overcome treachery, injustice, corruption, greed... and pirates...
on The Long Way Home.
(The Long Way Home is set in the same universe as my Among the Stars series, but several hundred years before, and does not require those books to be read)
Stand Up
Carla is a young standup comedienne with a dying act in New York's tough gig circuit, and a personal life that's coming to pieces. She needs some new inspiration, something edgy, something she can really get into. Something different...
Katja is a world-weary vampire, presenting herself as a bright, shining lie to the world, but struggling to overcome crippling grief, and in potentially lethal trouble with her community for her unorthodox behavior. She needs something safe for her fragile heart, something ordinary, something her community will regard as unexceptional...
They are both absolutely the last thing the other needs or wants.
(Stand Up is part of my Athanate paranormal world, and integrates into the Bite Back series, but does not require any of the other books to be read)
Here's the signup link:
https://mailchi.mp/27afed3e7c0c/mark-...
The newsletter will mainly be episodes of two serial novels I'm writing, one Science Fiction space opera adventure (The Long Way Home), and one Urban Fantasy paranormal romance (Stand Up). These episodes aren't going to be available from anywhere else, except the first episode of The Long Way Home, which has to be obtained from purchasing The Great Beyond Anthology where it's the lead story.
The Long Way Home (Think of Firefly with a mission arc):
Their war has just ended. Their struggles have just begun.
A pair of ex-soldiers, weary of a war that went on too long, and desperate to take essential technology back to save their remote colony planet, have to overcome treachery, injustice, corruption, greed... and pirates...
on The Long Way Home.
(The Long Way Home is set in the same universe as my Among the Stars series, but several hundred years before, and does not require those books to be read)
Stand Up
Carla is a young standup comedienne with a dying act in New York's tough gig circuit, and a personal life that's coming to pieces. She needs some new inspiration, something edgy, something she can really get into. Something different...
Katja is a world-weary vampire, presenting herself as a bright, shining lie to the world, but struggling to overcome crippling grief, and in potentially lethal trouble with her community for her unorthodox behavior. She needs something safe for her fragile heart, something ordinary, something her community will regard as unexceptional...
They are both absolutely the last thing the other needs or wants.
(Stand Up is part of my Athanate paranormal world, and integrates into the Bite Back series, but does not require any of the other books to be read)
October 31, 2019
Book 6 in Bite Back series
An outcast Athanate House with rebel Adept kin plead for sanctuary.
Amber's decision throws her into the terrifying world of the most secretive of paranormal races - the Adepts.
Will she risk everything, even her own soul, to save the world?
Another white-knuckle ride on Amazon at
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Amber's decision throws her into the terrifying world of the most secretive of paranormal races - the Adepts.
Will she risk everything, even her own soul, to save the world?
Another white-knuckle ride on Amazon at
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
January 9, 2019
New SF book
Following the success of A Name Among the Stars, I have released a sequel called A Threat Among the Stars.
A Name Among the Stars leaves Zara happily married with adopted daughters on Kernow, believing her warnings to the Terran Council will result in the Terran Navy defeating the evil Hajnal conspiracy.
Alas, her illusions are shattered by a visit from a Terran naval cruiser.
At the same time she learns an awful truth from her former home world.
She faces a terrible test, and a horrific dilemma. What does it truly mean to be A Name Among the Stars?
A Threat Among the Stars
A Name Among the Stars leaves Zara happily married with adopted daughters on Kernow, believing her warnings to the Terran Council will result in the Terran Navy defeating the evil Hajnal conspiracy.
Alas, her illusions are shattered by a visit from a Terran naval cruiser.
At the same time she learns an awful truth from her former home world.
She faces a terrible test, and a horrific dilemma. What does it truly mean to be A Name Among the Stars?
A Threat Among the Stars
July 25, 2018
How they tie together!
I've been prompted by a discussion with a reader to explain the relationship between the novellas and the novels in the Athanate universe. Here goes!
The Bite Back series provides the main thread:
Sleight of Hand
Hidden Trump
Wild Card
Cool Hand
Angel Stakes
(Book 6 is being written now and is called Inside Straight)
The first two novellas, The Biting Cold and Winter's Kiss, form 2 parts of an expected 3 novella companion series. They follow a psychiatrist, Amanda Lloyd, from Detroit. The timeframe is actually the same as the last part of Angel Stakes, and mentions are made in Angel Stakes of matters happening in Michigan that directly affect what happens in LA.
SEMI SPOILER ALERT: Characters from this series turn up in Denver for the beginning of Inside Straight.
Now, you don't have to read these two novellas to understand what's going on in Inside Straight, but it will give background to those characters, and the response to the novellas has been good. They're short (20k and 40k words, as opposed to something like Sleight of Hand, which is 120k words).
The Biting Cold was written originally intending to be a stand-alone short story in the Athanate universe and also to be slightly more focused on the romantic aspect (hence the covers!), but there's action as well, certainly in Winter's Kiss.
The Biting Cold: An Athanate Novella
Winter's Kiss: An Athanate Novella
I am possibly going to write a 3rd novella in this series, which will provide Amanda's view, as opposed to Amber's, of some of the events of Inside Straight.
The third novella is Change of Regime. This is a different set of characters, set in New York as Skylur moves his mantle from Denver at the end of Angel Stakes. So the action takes place between the end of Angel Stakes and overlapping the beginning of Inside Straight. No characters (aside from Skylur) cross over, but things that are going in are commented on. The novella is 25k words long. I'm intending to write a follow-up to it called Rapture, and possibly another, but don't currently expect more characters to turn up in the main Bite Back series.
Change of Regime: An Athanate novella
The other novel series is a huge prequel to the Bite Back series, and that's Bian's Tale. Book 1, Harvest of Lies, is out and I hope to get book 2 done next year. I'm intending there will be about 5 of these, eash a bit shorter and simpler than the main Bite Back books. They cover the time from Bian's first encounters with the Athanate world in 1890 Saigon, to her becoming Diakon of House Altau, a few years before she meets Amber for the first time.
The Harvest of Lies: An Athanate Novel of Nineteenth Century Saigon
So... those are the novels and novellas that are linked together to produce the whole Bite Back world.
There is one other Athanate novella, which is a stand-alone, and which I *may* write a sequel to. That's Enzili (Enzili is a voodoo goddess). It's set in the West Indies, at the end of the 18th Century and I currently have no plans to integrate this into the Bite Back canon.
If you've read the novellas, I would very much appreciate feedback - a comment on here, or a review on GR or the 'Zon. :-)
The Bite Back series provides the main thread:
Sleight of Hand
Hidden Trump
Wild Card
Cool Hand
Angel Stakes
(Book 6 is being written now and is called Inside Straight)
The first two novellas, The Biting Cold and Winter's Kiss, form 2 parts of an expected 3 novella companion series. They follow a psychiatrist, Amanda Lloyd, from Detroit. The timeframe is actually the same as the last part of Angel Stakes, and mentions are made in Angel Stakes of matters happening in Michigan that directly affect what happens in LA.
SEMI SPOILER ALERT: Characters from this series turn up in Denver for the beginning of Inside Straight.
Now, you don't have to read these two novellas to understand what's going on in Inside Straight, but it will give background to those characters, and the response to the novellas has been good. They're short (20k and 40k words, as opposed to something like Sleight of Hand, which is 120k words).
The Biting Cold was written originally intending to be a stand-alone short story in the Athanate universe and also to be slightly more focused on the romantic aspect (hence the covers!), but there's action as well, certainly in Winter's Kiss.
The Biting Cold: An Athanate Novella
Winter's Kiss: An Athanate Novella
I am possibly going to write a 3rd novella in this series, which will provide Amanda's view, as opposed to Amber's, of some of the events of Inside Straight.
The third novella is Change of Regime. This is a different set of characters, set in New York as Skylur moves his mantle from Denver at the end of Angel Stakes. So the action takes place between the end of Angel Stakes and overlapping the beginning of Inside Straight. No characters (aside from Skylur) cross over, but things that are going in are commented on. The novella is 25k words long. I'm intending to write a follow-up to it called Rapture, and possibly another, but don't currently expect more characters to turn up in the main Bite Back series.
Change of Regime: An Athanate novella
The other novel series is a huge prequel to the Bite Back series, and that's Bian's Tale. Book 1, Harvest of Lies, is out and I hope to get book 2 done next year. I'm intending there will be about 5 of these, eash a bit shorter and simpler than the main Bite Back books. They cover the time from Bian's first encounters with the Athanate world in 1890 Saigon, to her becoming Diakon of House Altau, a few years before she meets Amber for the first time.
The Harvest of Lies: An Athanate Novel of Nineteenth Century Saigon
So... those are the novels and novellas that are linked together to produce the whole Bite Back world.
There is one other Athanate novella, which is a stand-alone, and which I *may* write a sequel to. That's Enzili (Enzili is a voodoo goddess). It's set in the West Indies, at the end of the 18th Century and I currently have no plans to integrate this into the Bite Back canon.
If you've read the novellas, I would very much appreciate feedback - a comment on here, or a review on GR or the 'Zon. :-)
May 27, 2018
The Harvest of Lies - new book
The first book in the Bian's Tale series is out. This is a companion series to the main Bite Back books, and follows Bian from her early days as a child in nineteenth century Saigon, up to the point where she becomes Diakon of House Altau and meets Amber in Sleight of Hand.
The Harvest of Lies is the first step...
The Harvest of Lies: An Athanate Novel of Nineteenth Century Saigon
The Harvest of Lies is the first step...
The Harvest of Lies: An Athanate Novel of Nineteenth Century Saigon
May 10, 2018
New book...
A new book.
Only cheating a little. The book is So Many Doors. It's a murder mystery set in an isolated outpost in Northern Rhodesia during colonial times. It was written by my late mother, Eileen Marguerite Henwick, in 1964.
It wasn't previously published and came to us as typewritten foolscap pages in a green binder. My sister got it onto computer and I edited it.
It is the hardest writerly thing to edit someone else's work. Half the time, I wanted to take the story in my direction. Of course, that wasn't the purpose, so I reined that in. The other difficulty was that the language of the 1960s, and the structure of novels then, wasn't what it is now. So I culled some phrases and old-fashioned punctuation and broke the book up into smaller, single scene chapters.
I think I've done it justice, and it is a very good murder story, using the isolation of the small community to raise the stakes in the hunt for the real murderer.
Here's the link and blurb:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CXRLG6L/
It’s October, 1948. Northern Rhodesia.
Having displeased his superiors, colonial officer James Lancaster is sent to Feira in the sweltering Zambezi valley, where he’s to replace the outgoing District Commissioner, Barnaby Drayton.
He’s been warned to keep his reports dull and unexceptional if he habours any hope for a better posting. There seems little chance of that: he arrives on the day Drayton’s wife dies, and he finds a tiny community torn apart with suspicion and hate.
The thermometer keeps rising, the rains hold off, tempers flare.
Father Bravachko and the clinic nurse say Elizabeth Drayton died of natural causes. The drums, muttering in the fevered nights, speak of a witchdoctor’s revenge.
Or is there a cold-blooded murderer on this remote and isolated station?
Only cheating a little. The book is So Many Doors. It's a murder mystery set in an isolated outpost in Northern Rhodesia during colonial times. It was written by my late mother, Eileen Marguerite Henwick, in 1964.
It wasn't previously published and came to us as typewritten foolscap pages in a green binder. My sister got it onto computer and I edited it.
It is the hardest writerly thing to edit someone else's work. Half the time, I wanted to take the story in my direction. Of course, that wasn't the purpose, so I reined that in. The other difficulty was that the language of the 1960s, and the structure of novels then, wasn't what it is now. So I culled some phrases and old-fashioned punctuation and broke the book up into smaller, single scene chapters.
I think I've done it justice, and it is a very good murder story, using the isolation of the small community to raise the stakes in the hunt for the real murderer.
Here's the link and blurb:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CXRLG6L/
It’s October, 1948. Northern Rhodesia.
Having displeased his superiors, colonial officer James Lancaster is sent to Feira in the sweltering Zambezi valley, where he’s to replace the outgoing District Commissioner, Barnaby Drayton.
He’s been warned to keep his reports dull and unexceptional if he habours any hope for a better posting. There seems little chance of that: he arrives on the day Drayton’s wife dies, and he finds a tiny community torn apart with suspicion and hate.
The thermometer keeps rising, the rains hold off, tempers flare.
Father Bravachko and the clinic nurse say Elizabeth Drayton died of natural causes. The drums, muttering in the fevered nights, speak of a witchdoctor’s revenge.
Or is there a cold-blooded murderer on this remote and isolated station?
April 30, 2018
Book trailer and new serial
My famous daughter, Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist, Game of Thrones, Star Wars), has taken some time out from filming the second season of Iron Fist to produce a book trailer for me!
It's for A Name Among the Stars, a new adult Sci Fi Adventure Romance. Have a look ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGW45...
A Name Among The Stars
And there's a sequel to the book starting.
ANAtS was written as a serial novel appearing on my blog weekly. The new serial has just begun. It's called A Threat Among the Stars, and episodes (2-3 chapters) will be posted every week on Fridays.
https://henwick.wordpress.com/2018/04...
Blurb (spoilers if you haven't read A Name Among the Stars)
<spoiler>
Zara has returned to Kernow and is trying to get her head around the role and responsibilities of being Duchess Aguirre-Tremayne, thankfully leaving the resolution of the Hajnal Conspiracy to the Terran authorities. But a Terran warship en route to her old home planet of Newyan stops on a ‘courtesy call’ at Kernow, and Zara finds that the anticipated resolution is far from accomplished. She must visit Newyan, where the conspirators are still in power, and where she has serious charges laid against her. To survive, she will have to beg more assistance from Shohwa, putting the Xian Self Actuated Entity’s great secret at risk, which could in turn threaten the peace between the Xian Hegemony and the rest of humanity. Then, even before she has a chance to leave Kernow, an unexpected summons arrives. She can’t afford the diversion, but she owes her life to the mysterious beings that live in the oceans of Kernow, and she must honor their request for a meeting with her and Hwa, out in the deeps, where the Great Old Ones dream their strange and terrifying dreams…
</spoiler>
Enjoy!
It's for A Name Among the Stars, a new adult Sci Fi Adventure Romance. Have a look ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGW45...
A Name Among The Stars
And there's a sequel to the book starting.
ANAtS was written as a serial novel appearing on my blog weekly. The new serial has just begun. It's called A Threat Among the Stars, and episodes (2-3 chapters) will be posted every week on Fridays.
https://henwick.wordpress.com/2018/04...
Blurb (spoilers if you haven't read A Name Among the Stars)
<spoiler>
Zara has returned to Kernow and is trying to get her head around the role and responsibilities of being Duchess Aguirre-Tremayne, thankfully leaving the resolution of the Hajnal Conspiracy to the Terran authorities. But a Terran warship en route to her old home planet of Newyan stops on a ‘courtesy call’ at Kernow, and Zara finds that the anticipated resolution is far from accomplished. She must visit Newyan, where the conspirators are still in power, and where she has serious charges laid against her. To survive, she will have to beg more assistance from Shohwa, putting the Xian Self Actuated Entity’s great secret at risk, which could in turn threaten the peace between the Xian Hegemony and the rest of humanity. Then, even before she has a chance to leave Kernow, an unexpected summons arrives. She can’t afford the diversion, but she owes her life to the mysterious beings that live in the oceans of Kernow, and she must honor their request for a meeting with her and Hwa, out in the deeps, where the Great Old Ones dream their strange and terrifying dreams…
</spoiler>
Enjoy!
December 2, 2017
Bian's Tale book 1 on the blog
Another 'serial' on the blog.
The last couple of experiments with writing serials on my blog were well received. The results are now available on Amazon:
Urban Fantasy Athanate novella (25k words) : Change of Regime
https://www.amazon.com/Change-Regime-...
SciFi Adventure/Romance novel (107k words) : A Name Among The Stars
https://www.amazon.com/Name-Among-Sta...
Both of these came about as experimental writing for the blog, and as such, I tended to end episodes on a cliffhanger, to encourage people to return the following week. This worked well! I've had to take the episodes off the blog to avoid falling foul of Amazon's rules, but I left the comments up, as they're fun to read. :-)
There have been calls for another serial, but I'm not quite ready. What I'm doing instead is releasing my current work-in-progress in 'episodes'. This novel has not been written for serialisation and so does not end every episode on a cliffhanger (though there are some). I'm releasing a couple of episodes every week at the moment and I'm hoping the episodes won't quite catch up with the final book being ready for publication.
The novel is called Saigon: The Reach of Lies. It's book 1 in Bian's Tale. Those of you already reading my Bite Back series will need no introduction to Bian. For others, this follows a young Vietnamese girl, Bian, from her early life in 1890 Saigon to her role as Diakon (second in command) of the leading Athanate House, Altau, in Denver, Colorado. (You call them vampires, they call themselves Athanate, and they're not at all what the legends suggest).
Bian's Tale is Dark Urban Fantasy, with historical beginnings, in the detailed Bite Back world. Here's a link to the first episode on the blog (others available through the 'next' button at the bottom of each post):
http://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/...
The last couple of experiments with writing serials on my blog were well received. The results are now available on Amazon:
Urban Fantasy Athanate novella (25k words) : Change of Regime
https://www.amazon.com/Change-Regime-...
SciFi Adventure/Romance novel (107k words) : A Name Among The Stars
https://www.amazon.com/Name-Among-Sta...
Both of these came about as experimental writing for the blog, and as such, I tended to end episodes on a cliffhanger, to encourage people to return the following week. This worked well! I've had to take the episodes off the blog to avoid falling foul of Amazon's rules, but I left the comments up, as they're fun to read. :-)
There have been calls for another serial, but I'm not quite ready. What I'm doing instead is releasing my current work-in-progress in 'episodes'. This novel has not been written for serialisation and so does not end every episode on a cliffhanger (though there are some). I'm releasing a couple of episodes every week at the moment and I'm hoping the episodes won't quite catch up with the final book being ready for publication.
The novel is called Saigon: The Reach of Lies. It's book 1 in Bian's Tale. Those of you already reading my Bite Back series will need no introduction to Bian. For others, this follows a young Vietnamese girl, Bian, from her early life in 1890 Saigon to her role as Diakon (second in command) of the leading Athanate House, Altau, in Denver, Colorado. (You call them vampires, they call themselves Athanate, and they're not at all what the legends suggest).
Bian's Tale is Dark Urban Fantasy, with historical beginnings, in the detailed Bite Back world. Here's a link to the first episode on the blog (others available through the 'next' button at the bottom of each post):
http://henwick.wordpress.com/2017/11/...
