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Bill McSciFi's Blog

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I’m McBack Babies!

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Tue, January 26, 2021 08:46:55

Apparently, for the last couple of weeks, my e-blasts have been sent out from an alien email address and gone straight to spam for most people. It also meant I didn’t know a bunch of new people had signed up to revel in the coo coo coolness which is McSciFi since I didn’t have access to this alien address. That’s all been fixed now and this baby’s purring like the naughty kitten it is.

Also, welcome aboard newcomers! You’re cooler than your neighbors just by being here.

So, for those who missed it, SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGIY was nominated, by a person who bought the book, for a Readers’ Poll Award at Critters which is a website run by people who used to run the Nebula Awards. Much to my surprise (as in this never happens to me), fans shared links, told each other what an awesome hunk of man meat I am, and, honest to God, I WON! SPLICE was voted the Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel of 2020 by people who’ve read it. What’s even cooler is the announcement led to a spike in sales so more people are discovering what an incredible read SPLICE is.

Currently available at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Legends Parallel and Hybrid Zero are in the Top 12 comics distributed by Nerdanatix and continue to garner new fans every week. The ‘Rated “M” for Mature’ comics continue to get more rave reviews. Read the latest ones for Legends Parallel and Hybrid Zero: Juggernaut via the links. People really dig these titles.

Goptri of the Mists: Kitaab Ek is out and inspiring cult-like devotion. While it’s the prequel / sequel to The Brittle Riders some people are enjoying it on its own. Which is fine, if confusing. The only negative thing I’ve seen so far was a reader who was sad there wasn’t more tentacle sex. I reassured him Book 2 would address that lack and he seemed happy. Otherwise he enjoyed it.

While not all commerical sites post reviews, even if you leave one, you can always go to my Good Reads page and leave reviews for the appropriate book(s) there.

That’s enough for one day. Until next week stay safe, sane, and inside.



More McFun Than Many Can Handle!

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Tue, January 12, 2021 08:00:13

Last week I was proud as a peacock overdosing on cherry flavored pride pills to announce SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY was in the running for a Critter award as best sci-fi novel of 2020. If you click that link you can still vote up to January 14th.

The cool thing about a Critter award is that selections are nominated by fans and members and then voted on by readers like you. Think of them like The People’s Choice Awards for indie sci-fi.

In other SPLICE related news, The Independent Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors is doing a cool promotion for military Sci-Fi, much of SPLICE happens while he’s a Marine, so, for a very limited time, you can get a, Kindle, version of the novel for free.

The final bit of SPLICE news is that I’ve been reading segments on McSciFi TV on YouTube. I will be having surgery this week to repair my knee so I can stand and walk again. But, until then, I wanted to share snippets from this amazing book.

Moving on, Goptri of the Mists: Kitaab Ek launched last week and people seem well pleased with that development. It has truly been a labor of love on my part. While, officially, the prequel / sequel to the The Brittle Riders many beta-readers found they could follow along without having read the original series. Publishers love to hear stuff like that.

Unlike traditional works Goptri has two timelines happening. One is hundreds of years in the past of the events in The Brittle Riders and the other stumbles into being shortly thereafter.

One fun part of this was coming up with a villain who would justify world wars and endless terror. According to beta readers, I nailed it. Or, as one said in a phone call (remember when people talked on phones?), “No, hell no, are you … oh my God, fuck, what did you do?” I get that a lot. Anyway, she later finished it and told me she loved it. So there’s that.

There’s a lot going on so I’ll leave you to it. Until next week, stay safe, sane, and inside. If you must go out just, please, wear a mask.



Please Vote for McSciFi

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Tue, January 05, 2021 07:00:38
Welcome back one and all. I hope your holiday was as happy and blessed as mine. We didn’t do gifts this year, saving that for a time when we can actually be in a room with other people. But Kim and I did spend some quality time with each other, share ZOOM calls with family, and eat too much. Way too much.

But, enough about that, let’s get down to the really exciting stuff that happened over the holidays. I mean so exciting that the soft-launch of Goptri of the Mists doesn’t even begin to make the cut.

Critters, a non-profit literary site run by readers for readers for the last twenty-five years, is once again running their annual “best of” contest. The Critters award is one sci-fi writers, like me, take seriously. It is overseen by people who used to award the Nebula awards.

I’m thrilled to announce that SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLGY has been chosen as one of the Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy books of 2020. You can help make it the best of the best when you CLICK HERE and vote for it.

And, if that isn’t cool enough, a magazine that has shown the good taste of printing my stories, Sci-Fi Lampoon, is up for Best e-Zine of 2020. While you’re there voting for SPLICE please take a moment to CLICK HERE and vote for them. They’ve only been around a year but already have rabid fans. And they deserve them. It is an incredibly well done magazine.

So, to recap, you’re going to CLICK HERE to vote for SPLICE, and then CLICK HERE to vote for Sci-Fi Lampoon.

I want to thank you for your continued support. Fun fact, since this email encourages people to do an activity indoors, for the most part, it qualifies as a COVID-19 update on Facebook. Don’t judge me.

Until next week, please stay safe, sane, and inside. If you do venture out, please wear a mask. Freedom comes with responsibilities. Being asked not to spread a lethal infection seems like an easy ask.



Happy McHolidays!

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Tue, December 15, 2020 08:33:49
Welcome one and welcome all. As always, if you got sucked up in the data tornado and find yourself resubscribed, you can simply CLICK HERE and unsubscribe. There’ll be no hard feelings

2020 has been a crap year, there’s no denying that. People like me, who rely on personal appearances and conventions to make a living, have been hit hardest. But, talking with my fellow creators I have learned they aren’t stupid. They’re not moving until there’s a vaccine.

Still, not everything sucked. SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY got picked up by Walmart and you can order it just by CLICKING HERE.

The movie, which is how this whole project got started, has been put on hold until the nice people at Watchdog Entertainment can ensure the safety of the cast and crew. That means it’s a matter of WHEN it will get made and not IF. Obviously, I’ll keep you updated.

One thing’s for sure, there are some anxious people bouncing on their toes wanting to see this film and find out what happens next. That’s not a bad problem for a writer to have.

How did a homeless black kid from Omaha become the world’s most feared supervillain? The world may never know, but you will.

A quick reminder, the nice people at Azoth Khem are giving away a free copy of my first novel, The Brittle Riders Book 1, until the end of the year. You’re welcome, and encouraged, to share that link with anyone you want.

If David Brin came off a three day tequila bender and dropped acid, he would have written THE BRITTLE RIDERS. After the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet things got a little weird. Apocalypses are funny that way.

Finally, a huge round of thanks to each and every one of you. So many of you joined this crazy train I was forced to get a new newsletter partner. The nice people at Morphy Mail turned a financial nightmare into a joy. I know, first world problems. Still, thanks to you, my publishers are happy, which makes my landlord happy, which makes me happy, which makes the world’s greatest fiancée, Kim, exuberant.

In all seriousness, you are appreciated. Without you none of this is possible. Until next year, which will be festooned with more McSciFi, on behalf of my family I wish you and yours a joyous holiday season. Please stay safe, sane, and inside and, if you can’t do that, wear the freaking mask.

God bless you all.


McFree Stuff 4 You!

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Tue, December 08, 2020 07:21:58
            First off, I have to toss out a quick thank you to Margret “Crashie” Treiber for helping me get the unsubscribe page working. 

          Now, welcome back to another exciting email. Since you’re such an amazing audience the nice people over at Azoth Khem Publishing have set up a lovely treat for you. Just CLICK HERE to get a free copy of Book One of The Brittle Riders. The story behind the book is almost as much fun as the book itself.

          Shortly after it was released on my birthday in 2016 it was bootlegged by a Russian website which proceeded to sell about 35,000 digital copies before we could get them to stop. Then things got odd. The Russian representative we talked to disavowed any knowledge of any wrongdoing, it’s Russia so that was expected, then noted that, since the book was in favor of equal rights, pro LGBTQIA+, anti-authoritarian, and so on, that I was in violation of Russian laws and customs and could face arrest if I ever set foot there.

          So I could go to jail for letting them steal my book. Sure, it fits my general world view. One more fun fact. They were selling their copies for $3.99 a crack when the legal version was $1.99 at that time. And, you knew this, we never saw a dime.

          Anyway, I’ve been to Russia already and have no need, or desire, to return. I can get vodka near me just fine. 

            Lord of the Rings meets Tank Girl – S. Shane Thomas. If David Brin came off a three day tequila bender and dropped acid, he would have written The Brittle Riders. After the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet things get a little weird. Apocalypses are funny that way. 

             If the FREE COPY of Book One doesn’t seem like it’s enough to sate your voracious literary appetite, you can always CLICK HERE and get the entire omnibus. Of course, you have to pay for that.

            BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

             If you want the entire trilogy, but not the omnibus, Amazon has you covered. Kind of. You can order it that way only if you live in Japan. Yes, clicking that link will take you to Amazon Japan and you can buy the trilogy with one click. Of course shipping’s going to kill you so you probably don’t want to do that.

            Because of the amount of world building in The Brittle Riders I was invited to participate in a conference about creating alternative economies. Since the conference had city planners, economics professors, government economists, and so on, they were looking for real world solutions for our world. Using science fiction writers to help achieve that goal isn’t as odd as you might think. 

            In The Brittle Riders I created two parallel, yet symbiotic, economies. A global gold standard for businesses and such, and a barter based one for local use. It’s not all boobs and bombs in my world, I do some of that thinking stuff too.

            If you’d like to dive into this some more, head over to Edge Ryders and start clicking. There are some very smart people hoping to make the world a better place.

            Don’t forget, if you or someone you loved wants McSciFi gear, we now offer over one hundred and thirty items for each design ranging from infant wear all the way up to artisan aprons. If you CLICK HERE to place an order delivery by Christmas is guaranteed. 

            Finally, I know you’re all tired of your spouses making Greek/Asian fusion dinners or whipping up a casual flaming duck l’orange. Sometimes you just need a little something that’ll keep your insides warm and your mouth happy.

            Chili McSciFi

1 lb Ground Beef (80/20)
15.5 oz Kidney beans (drained)
15.5 oz Black beans (drained)
15.5 oz Chili beans
14.5 oz Diced Tomatoes (juice included)
6 oz Tomato paste
3.75 oz Red Onion (diced small)
3 oz Mushroom (ripped small)
2 oz Min-sweet peppers (diced small)
1.5 oz diced garlic
1.25 oz Stone Mill Hot Chili Powder
2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
2 tbsp A1 (Bold and Spicy)
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Lime juice
1 tbp Chili habanero sauce
1 tbsp Habanero Chula

You can add a diced Habaneo or 2 if you wish extra heat.

All in a single pan.

Drain and rinse all the beans except the chilis. Sautee the vegetables over a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add in all the hot sauces and spices and stir thoroughly. Then add in the meat, Worcestershire , A1, and lime, cover, stir well and let cook for another 10 minutes. Add in the beans, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir well, cover, and let simmer over a low/medium heat for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Pairs well with any alcohol, croutons, and shredded cheddar.

Until next week, stay safe, sane, and inside.



McCool News!

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Tue, December 01, 2020 06:00:20
        Good morning! Due to the long holiday weekend my lazy butt didn’t get around to fixing the unsubscribe page. If you want off this crazy thing just reply to this email and let me know or reach me directly at BillMcSciFi@gmail.com and I’ll make sure you get removed.

          All that being said, welcome back to the wonderful world of McSciFi. My apologies if you got a version of the last email that looked more like braille than useful text. There were some seriously large letters. We’re pretty sure the problem’s fixed, so here we go.

        Today I’m just going to dive right in since there’s a lot to share and all of it’s cool.

          My latest novel, SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY has been picked up by Walmart. That adds them to Barnes and Noble as well as Amazon as another major retailer carrying this title.

          SPLICE is a non-stop thrill ride, taking the reader on an edge-of-your-seat experience through the military and organized crime worlds. Bill McCormick absolutely captures the senses of the military and combat from sight to sound to smell and leaves you only wanting more at the turn of every page. This book gets it right and keeps it coming!

        Josh Grenard
        Former Infantry Captain/Combat Veteran
        U.S. Army

        Due to the pandemic, as well as the holiday season, it won’t be placed in stores until after the first of the year. However, you can order now and have copies in time for the holidays.

          In related news, my dystopian trilogy, The Brittle Riders, has been added to the Bement Public Library system, in Central Illinois, which means I’m ending the year by adding a new library system every month to my tool-belt.

          If you’re a librarian and would like to add any of my novels, just contact Nancy Chandler at Azoth Khem.

          One fun, and interesting, tangent; due to a confluence of related events, people have been buying The Brittle Riders trilogy instead of the omnibus. A lot of that has to do with Amazon’s search algorithms. Book one of the trilogy has been out since 2016 and each subsequent release supported its predecessor. All of that has led Amazon to suggest to all potential buyers that they bundle the whole thing together.

        This is a story where old meets new, where religion meets science in an epic story of what happened ‘after’ our world changed. It is masterfully written with attention to detail and it sympathetically manages to bridge the gap between faith and technology.

        L. L. Thomsen

        Finally, as you’re reading this Hadithi Sambamba is beginning a national promotion to brick and mortar comic book stores for its two flagship titles, Legends Parallel and Hybrid Zero. The two, rated “M” for Mature, titles have been garnering fans and, now, with the addition of global digital distribution are poised to explode.

        Based on the current rate of interest, we should be carried in over 150 new stores by Spring of 2021. For indie titles, that’s an amazing total. 

        Until next week, stay safe, sane, and inside.


You’re All McAwesome!

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Tue, November 24, 2020 08:46:22

  Welcome humans and those who species identify as same. For those of you who’ve moved entire email lists, servers, and the rest to a new home, you know the many joys I’ve endured these last couple weeks and the many colorful words I’ve exclaimed. But, after priming the new sever, parsing out emails over a week instead of a day, ironing out the glitches that haunt any such endeavor, we’ve finally got this naughty kitty purring.

  And I have to admit, I am well pleased with it all.

  One fun glitch was that people who had previously unsubscribed from my email list were reactivated. That kerfuffle earned me a few interesting messages. However, I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten them all fixed now. If, at any time, you want off this ride, just reply to any of my emails and let me know. That method works one hundred percent of the time.

  Now, on to more positive news.

  Since I’ve been unable to attend any conventions in person due to current events, I set up an on-line store and put all my stock in my dining room. And, for quite a long time, it was a tranquil place to visit. Once in a while, when someone got a stimulus check, I’d sell something. But, for the most part, it was a nice place to collect dust.

  Then an odd series of events happened almost simultaneously. My fiancée posted a cute story about buying a baby Yoda doll for her niece and mentioned I wrote sci-fi and had a bunch of stuff cluttering up our home. The nice people on-line decided to help me clear the clutter. They did so by purchasing books and comics. Now, and this is a first world problem I’m fine with, most of my stuff is on backorder. 

  Meanwhile, while all that was happening, someone posted links to my novels in a political action group on Twitter and suddenly my on-line sales spiked. Enough that one of my publishers reached out to make sure I wasn’t now posthumously famous. 

  Just FYI, I’m still extant.

  On the advice of my publicist, I’m going to try and pretend I’m saner than an emu on acid. Part of the adulting I’m being tasked with is focusing on one thing. Not something I do well. So, today, I’m just going to promote one release. I’ll do a different one next week. And so on.

  Hybrid Zero is an NSFW multiverse that gets a little tricky to explain to newcomers, but I’m going to try. The main story, Juggernaut, revolves around a universe where consensual sex is lauded, violence is taboo, and a family of genetically modified assassins may be humanity’s only hope. 

  The other parts of the multiverse, Jungle Grrl, Cassandra and the Changeling Sword, and the forthcoming Neutrinos, are all stories happening in different parts of the multiverse and which will, one day, come together in one cohesive whole. Or so I keep telling myself. The stories are brain bending, the art by Cyril Brown is eye melting, and they all can be accessed via the Hybrid Zero website. 

  Memo to you, I’m not kidding about the whole NSFW part. But if you can handle it, it’s a rich tapestry worthy of your time.

  Since everyone’s probably stoked for the family ZOOM calls and eating dinner in their underwear, I’ll wrap this up now.

  If you want autographed stuff, just CLICK HERE and have fun.

  If you want digital comics delivered to your computer just CLICK HERE and enjoy.

  If you want to festoon your hot bod with McSciFi art, just CLICK HERE and have fun.

  Until next week, have a wonderful holiday and stay safe, sane, and inside.



McWelcome Book Fest Fans!

Newsletter Posted by Bill McCormickPosted on Thu, November 05, 2020 02:20:17
  There’s a lot going on right now, and it’s all good but it’s why I missed sending out a newsletter over the last two weeks. If anyone ever tells you about the joys of migrating thousands of email addresses, hundreds of HTML templates, and coding unique web pages just for an email to point to, you are free to beat them with a hammer. Nevertheless, I’m glad I did it.

  I want to start by saying “Hello” and “Welcome” to the thousands of people who attended The Book Fest and spent time meeting new, as well as incredibly famous, authors. In case you missed the memo, I’m one of the new ones.

   For those of you who’ve been with this rodeo for a while you’re going to notice some changes. Chief among them is your weekly dose of McSciFi is now sponsored. There will be an ad for Morphy Mail at the bottom of each email and I hope you will check out and support them. This came about because I’m a petulant child and didn’t want to pay exorbitant monthly fees just to say hi to all of you. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease, other times it gets replaced. This time it worked out well for me.

  Also, you may have noticed a new “from” address. Please white-list it. The number of subscribers has grown far beyond the limits of Gmail. Now I have a dedicated server that does nothing but house and ship emails.

  I should note the tech behind this upgrade is all new to me. If something doesn’t work, please let me know by replying to this message. Thanks.

  By way of introduction, I’m a science fiction writer based in Chicago who, occasionally, dabbles in horror.  I again so dabbled on November 9 at Independence Con. When you click that link, and you will, you’ll be treated to a an incredible video of horror writers the world over sharing their stories, answering questions, and trying not to swear. You have to watch just so you don’t miss me in all my glory.

  Well, not all of it. I wore clothes. My fiancée would kill me if I didn’t. Otherwise I have the body modesty of a toddler.

  For those just joining me, I have four novels out. The first three comprise a trilogy called The Brittle Riders. It’s a fun filled dystopia which starts with the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet before chapter one. Apocalypses are funny that way.

  Just FYI, the trilogy, and now Omnibus, is actually a 310,000 word chapter. You should have been at the pitch meeting for that when I sold it.

  A beta reader said “If David Brin came off a three day tequila bender and dropped acid, he’d have written The Brittle Riders.” Another reviewer on Amazon noted “This is a story where old meets new, where religion meets science in an epic story of what happened ‘after’ our world changed. It is masterfully written with attention to detail and it sympathetically manages to bridge the gap between faith and technology.”

  My publisher, Azoth Khem, thought it might be fun to welcome the newcomers, and thank those who’ve been here all along, by giving away a free copy of The Brittle Riders: Book I. The file is a PDF and should be no problem to read on a mobile device or regular computer. For those who haven’t read it, it has been consistently lauded as a prime example of world building.

  The next one is called SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY. The story behind this is fun so I’ll share. I pitched Watchdog Entertainment an idea for a new comic book based on a character from their line of comics. After some back and forth I sold them a movie instead. Yeah, I know, first world problems. Nevertheless, after I wrote the movie I circled back to the comic book thinking it might make a nice property to support the movie. They thought a better way to support the movie was for me to write a novel. Which I did.

  So, either I’m the most successful pitch man in the universe for selling a movie and a novel, based on the same story, or I’m a complete failure for not selling the comic. I’ll leave that distinction to you.

  The story follows a young boy, abandoned in Omaha, who discovers he has an affinity for computers. One thing leads to another and he ends up joining a Mafia family in New York and, later, the Marines. When all is said and done, he’s become the world’s most famous super-villain and no one knows his name. How did he get here? Where did he come from? The world may never know, but you will.

  U.S. Army Cpt. Josh Grenard (Ret.) had this to say about it. “SPLICE is a non-stop thrill ride, taking the reader on an edge-of-your-seat experience through the military and organized crime worlds. Bill McCormick absolutely captures the senses of the military and combat from sight to sound to smell and leaves you only wanting more at the turn of every page. This book gets it right and keeps it coming!“

  One thing I should note is that my newest graphic novel, Legends Parallel: Meta Observable, just nailed another five star review from Sci-Fi Comic Nexus.

  There is much to ponder here in terms of thought-provoking issues of race, sexuality, culture and society’s attitudes to history and relationships.  

  You want anthropological context and sociological commentary?  This has jugs of it.

  But, yeah… BOOBS. 

  It’s rated “M” for Mature, and it isn’t lying about that.

  I’m also the assistant editor for ICC Magazine, have numerous other comic book series ongoing, appear in over twenty international anthologies, and write nonfiction based on science and pop culture for The World News Center which serves as the basis for my weekly radio appearance on The Big Wakeup Call with Ryan Gatenby.

  I hope you’ll take the time to visit my website, BillMcSciFi.com, and check everything out.

  Until next week, I thank you for joining in on the fun and hope you’ll stay safe, sane, and inside as much as possible.





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