!!!! Credit where it's due: this mobile version of Mel Keegan OnLine was created by my old friend, editor and cover artist, Jade. Questions and comments regarding these pages should be directed to her as Webmistress. Be aware, I'm not merely thoroughly illiterate when it comes to the code that makes these things work, I'm comprehensively dyslexic into the bargain! (Questions and comments regarding the books should, of course, be referred to me.) Click here for Contact information. Best regards -- MK
Most of the content of the original site -- and all the core material -- is online here. There's more on the main site, of course. When you have the opportunity to touch down on Mel Keegan Online Full Site via your laptop or desktop, you'll find it a rewarding experience, complete with free downloads and rafts of art. But if you're on your small-screen device, trying to navigate the website is an exercise in frustration. So here is everything in one handy package, accessible from this page, right here. Welcome, enjoy ... and now, the Menu:
- HOME PAGE: you are here
- Books in Print
- About Mel and DreamCraft
- Your privacy is important
- Contact Mel, and the newsletter
- The NARC Series
- The Hellgate Series
- Historical Novels
- Fantasy Titles
- Science Fiction Titles
- Contemporary Tales
- The Sea Stories
- Vampyre, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
- Shorter Works
- What's New? Scroll down!
Credit for this mobile-friendly site goes to Jade, who conceived of it, designed it, uploaded it and will be tending it as "webmaster." I'd asked for a mobile website solution that didn't cost an arm and a leg, didn't pivot on annual subscriptions (yes, I looked at Word Press Pro), nor rely on inexpensive third-party add-ons which, when they go down, will take you with them. Not wanting to pay a small fortune to a studio, or invest four-figures in software and then have to spend months trying to learn it, I ran into a wall. Jade to the rescue -- again.
This mirror site was designed and uploaded while I was thinking about how it might work. If you have technical questions, refer them to Jade, the webmaster, (or mistress, or whatever the PC term is these days!), and if you have questions regarding the books, by all means contact me. Bear in mind, you're not approaching a fully-staffed office, much less a service with 24/7 tech support, but that email box is checked regularly, and all is answered.
What an enormous pleasure to be able to report that XENO has uploaded to both Kindle and Smashwords as of this date. It'll filter through to Barnes & Noble, iBooks and so forth in a few days -- and work begins on formatting the paperback later this week, so we're well on pace to have the physical version out in October.
I need to offer enormous thanks to Jade right here: she untangled this website yet again when the redoubtable AG discovered that virtually all of the Amazon paperback links had gone belly-up, heaven only knows how long ago. It's the last thing in the world I'd have thought to look at, because Amazon pledged that they would honor the old CreateSpace links when they absorbed CS, so all the old links were "grandfathered in." What a joke. Ten months later, the old links produce "fraudulent site" warnings from the really good browsers, like Opera. Thanks to AG's sharp eyes, and Jade devoting most of a day to the work, the website is in good shape again. But you could be forgiven for being steaming mad.
Worse yet, one of the paperbacks -- Storm Tide -- vanished into the aether during the move from CreateSpace to Amazon's new paperback platform. It's GONE. All I have left is a link to nowhere. Search Amazon for the DreamCraft edition, and you won't find it. The book is not there. *Sigh* It's still available through Lulu, and copies of the original GMP edition are circulating at decent prices, so it's no immediate crisis. Just infuriating.
Thanks also to the four wonderful guys who proofread XENO. The book is in fantastic shape as it goes to press. I'm sure you all value your privacy, so I'll say, "Thanks to AR, TR, AG and MA," and also to Jade, who somehow found a couple of days to edit before the proofing process began. Not to mention painting a killer cover.
I hope you'll enjoy this "Golden Age" romp ... and I'm begging for reviews, folks. If you could spare a few moments to upload a few words to Amazon or Goodreads, that would be fantastic. Thanks in advance!
That's all for this "post" ... I'll post again when the paperback ships.
It's an enormous pleasure to be able to report a new book in pre-press. XENO has just gone out for proofreading, and will be uploading to Amazon, B&N, iBooks and Smashwords in September. For a long time I've wanted to write a "Golden Age" science fiction novel ... a romp for the fun of it, rather than a dark and moody tale. NARC and Hellgate are complete -- and they did get very dark, very moody, which "added to their addictive allure," in the words of one fan. But this time I wanted to write something lighter, brighter, upbeat and for want of a better word, "joyous." Which isn't to say XENO doesn't have its dark side: it does. But it's an adventure, romance, mystery and thriller where the novel's whole reason for being is fun.
I want to thank the kind folks who wrote to me after the conclusion of the NARC series: thanks, guys. It's great to know it was enjoyed. I'd also like to thank Jade for the glorious cover art for XENO. That is exactly what had been in my imagination. Best I could do was a stick figure sketch, but she invited me to browse around the astonishing cast of characters she's created over the years, and I chose this one to play the human hero. The picture "happened" and I was immediately thrilled, right down to the colors. No need to make adjustments. Done.
I'll be working to get XENO formatted for Kindle, epub, pdf and mobi during the next couple of weeks. The paperback will follow in due course: remember to add enough time for a proof to be delivered around the world. It'll be something like 300pp, since this is a large book, at 155,000 words, and I imagine the price will be somewhere around $18.99 or so. I'll update these pages when it's available -- and dispatch a newsletter. See the flyer right here...
November 20, 2018
Launching today ... a new major novel which marks Mel's return to contemporary fiction, and non-series-related work. FALCONSTONE introduces an Aussie hero, a wild British location, a thousand year old mystery, "bags of panic and blue lights" as we delve into an occult and dangerous world -- the "shadowlands" realm between our reality and the next.
Here's the haunted house story to end 'em all: a supernatural mystery romance which begins with ordinary events and grows rapidly into a nail-biting finale. The work was deeply researched and is set in real-world locations. Where is the fine line where reality ends and the supernatural begins? We'll leave you to be the judge!
Click here for the flyer, and the links to Amazon, Kindle and Smashwords, where you'll find the ebook in a wide variety of formats, plus paperback via Amazon. You can also track the ebook down at iBooks and B&N, or buy direct from the Smashwords store, via the pages here, if you prefer.
New in ebook in October, and new on paper in November ... for the first time in paperback under one cover, WINDRAGE, TIGER, TIGER, CALLISTO SWITCH, with the anthology title of FUTURE IMPERFECT. And -- as a bonus in the ebook (not the paperback, folks!) you get AQUAMARINE as a freebie in the same volume.
In fact, this is the first time Callisto Switch has ever been issued on paper, and the first time in over a decade that Windrage has been on paper.
If you've been interested in these shorter works, but were hoping for a 'bundle,' you're in luck. The whole quartet, in ebook form, will set you back only $7.99, which adds up to a saving of $13 or so, over the full price of all four.
Meanwhile, the paperback comprises Windrage, Tiger, Tiger and Callisto Switch ... that's over 110k words, in a 276pp book, priced at $16.99. With Christmas galloping towards us -- well, there's a great gift idea!
October 29, 2018
At last -- and you'd have been wondering how long it would take me to get around to it! -- the older paperbacks have been repriced (in good time for Christmas. Ahem). The magic of the situation is that now DreamCraft is operated by Me, Myself and I, there's the potential to cut the price of these short-run indie titles to bring them into line with the mass market. I've been intending to do this for a long while, but only recently have I been able to get to it, and here we are.
A dozen older titles have been slashed back to very attractive and competitive prices; and this isn't a sale. There are regular prices: Fortunes of War, The Deceivers, The Swordsman, The Lords of Harbendane, Twilight and Aquamarine are now $17.99, for books ranged between 125,000 and 155,000 words. Then, Ice, Wind and Fire, Storm Tide and Mindspace are $15.99, for reads ranging between 85,000 and 100,000 words. Ground Zero is now $16.99 ... and the super-long, "thick" titles, Nocturne and Dangerous Moonlight, are now $18.99.
Been wanting to do this for eons, and with the impending release of the Future Imperfect Omnibus, the time was right. Nice! Please do tell your friends. I'll be working on getting the pricing changed over on the main website, but rest assured, these prices are already in place on Amazon.
August 18, 2018
With almost two weeks to spare before the end of August, the NARC books are live on the Amazon marketplace. You'll find shopping links on the pages for Scimitar, Basilisk and Endgame right here. Tip: consolidate to save a lot on shipping costs. I was very pleasantly surprised by the savings in getting the proofs to Australia.
The proofs arrived in ultra-fast time, and they look gorgeous. For the first time in living memory, Keegan is ahead of schedule. You're probably more amazed than I am.
What more can I say? Job done and dusted ... am on a break now, recovering from a major lung infection, which is no so good when one is sruggling to recover from VMC disease (Very Major Crap). When I come back from a short break to recharge the batteries, I'll be starting in on a new book. But I'm not going to say what or when. Lesson learned! Stay tuned.
July 23, 2018
Thank you, all! This is enormously encouraging to a writer, and it makes the fingertips itch to be writing.
My job for this afternoon is to figure out a mobile version of this website. Everything I've looked at so far either costs a fortune (not going there), or is cheap but they load you up with winking, blinking, dancing ads that would overpower the site (nope), or you promise with yoour hand on your heart that all content is family friendly. Hmm. Well, with the best will in the world, you won't find Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester and Tweetie on my pages, so ... we have a smll conundrum, which I'm going to dump into Jade's more than capable hands. As the long-time webmaster of this site, she'll figure a way around this, and we'll keep you informed.
July 21, 2018
Phew, what a job! today's news is that the whole NARC series is on its way to Barnes & Noble, iBooks and Kobo, and in the interim you can get the EPUB, PDF and three other file formats via the links on this website, which will take you to the relevant pages on the new file sever: Smashwords. It's been a huge job, but there's only one last thing to do. In the next few days we'll be working with the "Series Manager" for these retailers: basically, a system that ties together series for interested readers. No problem there. Also, Jade has produced the "series cover" art (right above here), and that looks great too. The big challenge is, I have to figure out how to "sell" a million-word series in 1,200 characters, including the spaces between words. Yep, you read that right: you're allowed about 200 words in which to sell an enormous series. In the case of Hellgate, that's 200 words to sell a 1.25m word series. Ouch. Anyway, that's a job for tomorrow -- and we're also ready to send out a newsletter. [Awards self pat on back.]
If you prefer to wait for the NARC books to show up in the retailer catalogs, give it up to a week. It all depends on the backlog of works headed there, of course, and with fairly major publishers (Such a the Britich scienc fiction manazine Interzone opting for Smashwords a the easiet way to get to the big stores, the channels can get somewhat clogged. But for self and Jade, we can just about say "Done and done!"
As I began: Phew, what a job!
July 7, 2018
It's official, NARC fans: THE ENDGAME OMBIBUS has been uploaded to Kindle at this time. Give it 72 hours or so to "go live," and -- it's yours: the whole final trilogy under one cover ... all 390,000 words of adventure, angst, the whole deal. The browser page is online right now, and instead of rambling on right here with the blurb, let me invite you to surf the ENDGAME OMNIBUS page and check it out. Phew!
This website has also had a long overdue overhaul. Very little work remains to be done on it, and can't be done until ten titles (including all of NARC, plus EVENT HORIZON) have been uploaded to Smashwords ... which has become necessary since the ARe/OmniLit ebook store collapsed. Last we heard, the folks behind that business were being investigated by the FBI for something along the lines of cyber crime! What it all meant for Mel was that a whole bunch of royalties didn't get paid (ouch!) and this site was suddenly littered with "404 errors" which were a bear to find and fix. Anyway, it's done now, and we'll be using the Smashwords file server for these items in future.
Next on the agenda: the paperbacks for SCIMITAR, BASILISK and ENDGAME. Jade will be doing the book packaging and covers next week, and we'll keep you up to date on their progress through the proofing process. They should be available in August.
So, if anyone is growling to you that NARC is not finished, tell 'em they're wrong. Tell 'em you've read the final trilogy! Yes -- trilogy, under one cover, three for the price of one ... $9.99 for three books. Not to shabby, and my was of saying "So sorry for the delay ... and, against the odds, I am actually still alive here!
July 1, 2018
Yes, I know -- it's been an eternity since I posted. In fact, there hasn't been any news to post, short of that annoying practice of issuing stuff saying "Hi, remember me? I'm a writer, buy my books," which is something I don't -- wont -- do (if it annoys me, it's bound to annoy you, right?). However --
Now there's excellent reason to be posting.
How long have you waited for THE END OF THE NARC SERIES? You know how long you've waited. You may also be aware that my health has been so poor, I now know more about hospitals than I ever wanted to. Only a couple of people sent "hate mail" (along the lines of, "I don't care how close to death you are, you should have finished the series or "unpublished" the whole thing"). Still, I'm keenly aware that it's been a long road, and many readers may have simply lost interest in the Jarrat and Stone saga. I understand this, I really do. I hope some old readers will rediscover Jarrat and Stone now, because --
It's done. The end of the series is a monster trilogy. It was a fair bet that if I issued it book by book, some readers would say, "Yeah, right, I'll believe it when I see it -- I'll get back into it when Keegan finishes it." So that's what I did.
SCIMITAR - BASILISK - ENDGAME is a single story in three parts, running a whisker under 400,000 words (no, that ain't a typo). I wrote the whole thing before issuing so much as a word of news. It's right now being packaged for Kindle, also for paperback, so it's time to let readers know the good news.
My way of saying "Sorry about the delay" is to make the trilogy available as ONE VOLUME via Kindle, at the same price as any ordinary book. In July 2018 you'll be reading the whole thing on your device for a penny under ten bucks. If you want the paperbacks, you'll have to wait till August, due to the time it takes proofs to be delivered to Australia; and alas the trilogy will of course be three paperbacks, because it's far too large to fit under one cover.
(The largest book I ever issued was the final Hellgate volume, at 640pp. It's borderline too large: so heavy, it actually hurts your wrists to hold it for long. Now, SCIMITAR - BASILISK - ENDGAME would be around 800pp., and though some of the print on demand companies go to this length, it's not feasible, first because of the shocking weight of the book in your hands, second because of the prohibitive cost of manufacture, even before you get to the post office. So -- one Kindle book for ten bucks, but -- sorry -- three paperbacks. It's huge.)
So --
Find out how far Aphelion really extends, in space and time (tying off all threads originating in APHELION). See what happens when the surviving brains behind Death's Head rise like the phoenix from their own ashes (closing out the thread begun in STOPOVER). Witness the horrifying results when the Sorenson Bill is passed in the homeworlds and colonial cities erupt. Sit in on the explosive legal wrangle when Governor Cassius Brand takes on Starfleet, over the Mostov Incident (resolving the thread begun in SCORPIO). Find out what becomes of Stone's old sparring partner, Colonel Jack Brogan -- and what's waiting for the newly promoted Captain Petrov, not to mention the newly launched carrier Huntress. Shake hands with the last of the Angel empires, a nasty called Basilisk -- and hang onto your hats, because hell busts loose. Literally. And what of NARC itself, in a political environment going haywire while the new colonial "super-sleeper" ship, flying the revolutionary Weimann Drive, is opening up a new colony so far beyond the frontier, it looks like the promised land -- but when did anything ever work out that way? Then there's the last of the monsters, Angeliberty, leading to an endgame that will change everything.
One massive story. Done, finished, being packaged for Amazon Kindle at this time. Due in July, 2018, with the paperbacks to follow in August. Jade has prepared a fantastic cover for the Kindle one-volume edition, and we already have a mockup for the SCIMITAR paperback cover, with two more due to be assembled in the next few weeks.
I'll "ping" the old mailing list when the books go on release, and for now I'll just say, "Sorry about the delay." But I really did finish the whole thing before saying a word of this on the interwebs: the least I could do -- that, and give you the whole thing, three for the price of one. Thanks for your patience, guys -- I appreciate it.
Older news is archived on the main website. When you're on your desktop or laptop, visit Mel Keegan Online - Full Site for the "rich" experience, with the free downloads, art galleries, feature articles and the graphics-heavy pages which don't work well on mobile sites.
This mobile friendly version of MEL KEEGAN ONLINE created and posted by webmaster JADE.
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