Startacus Member Ross Harrison on his new book- Acts of Violence
by Startacus Admin
We’d previously featured Ross Harrison back in June last year, when we chatted to him about his journey into Self-Publishing.
Ross Harrison is a writer and self-publisher of science fantasy books and ebooks and since he’s now a fully fledged Startacus member, and he’s just launched his latest ebook Acts of Violence, we thought it only right to find out more about his latest offering and to give his launch a little Startacus airtime. (We’re good to Startacus members like that you know!) Anyhow...over to Ross to find out more:
Ross, Tell us about the new book - what's it about?
Acts of Violence is a thriller with noir tones and a mild sci-fi backdrop. It recounts twenty-four hours in the life of Jack Mason.
Jack returns home one morning to find a girl dead and mutilated in his apartment. Everyone wants him for it. The investigating detective will stop at nothing to put him in the execution chamber, as he failed to do so ten years earlier for the same crime. The murder makes the city’s crime lord think Jack stole something vital to his operations. And he knows his son’s death was at Jack’s hands.
Nowhere is safe for Jack, and he only has until morning to prove his innocence and point the cops at something bigger: people trafficking. But he has more questions than answers, and all he has to go on is a name given to him by a homeless girl who doesn’t trust him.
Where can we buy it, apart from in "All good book shops" that is?!
To begin with at least, Acts of Violence will only be available as an e-book. From Monday 20 January, it will be available on Amazon Kindle, and all other e-formats through Smashwords. Soon after this, Smashwords will distribute it to a range of online retailers such as Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Waterstones, Sony, etc.
The Smashwords page is here
My Amazon author page is here
What's your favourite part of writing a book?
Starting. And finishing. And reading it in full for the first time.
I tend not to plan my books all that much, other than the important, pivotal parts, so I very much enjoy watching how things develop on their own. All I have to do is press the right keys on the keyboard and try not to annoy the characters.
When naming your characters, do you work out the meaning behind the names, or is it just what rings true?
I should probably pretend to put a lot of thought into my characters’ names, but…I don’t. Most come to me fairly easily, or I’ll have a few to mull over and choose the one that sounds best.
In my other books, many names I have to come up with are for aliens. With some of these, I start with a letter and then experiment one letter at a time until I have something resembling a name. Others, I choose a normal name and then through the magic of Z’s, X’s and K’z, mostly, I make them alien. Like ‘Zak’ – a good, old-fashioned alien name.
For Acts of Violence, the sci-fi aspect is heavily toned down, almost to the point of irrelevance. There are no aliens in the city. No weird names. Jack Mason, Detective Lawrence, Cole Webster. All normal names, each of which came to me easily rang true to the character.
Jack Mason was actually the name of another book’s protagonist. I intended to modify that book and make it bloom from the unfinished draft, but it quickly transformed into something completely different. Into Acts of Violence. But I kept the name.
What's next for Ross Harrison and how can other Startacus members (apart from via your Startacus profile) get in touch? Twitter? Blog?
I’m about to start working on a super-mega-ultra-secret project. I actually wrote what that was before remembering that it was super-mega-ultra-secret, and deleting it. So there’s that. I’m also about halfway through the third book in my main series, NEXUS, so I’ll be continuing on with that. Now that I’ve written a thriller, I’ve got a taste for it, and have written down plenty of ideas for other ones, so there’s always a chance I won’t be able to resist the urge to start one of those.
My various links are:
Website/Blog: http://www.ross-harrison.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StarWraith
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AuthoRoss
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5828926.Ross_Harrison
Perhaps it would be nice if you dropped Ross a message to wish him well - or at best give his book sales a little nudge and buy the e-book - We will be for sure.
If you are interested in becoming a writer yourself, you might like our previous guide on Self Publishing - the basics and if you’d like a little airtime on Startacus, firstly make sure you are a Startacus member (it’s free to join you know!) and give us a shout at editorial@startacus.net
Join Startacus - the Self Start Society!
If you like what you see here on Startacus, why not become a member of our growing community? It's free! And you'll get all this - exclusive access to our Business Toolkit, discounts and offers galore for your business via our member only business deals, the chance to network and connect with loads of fellow self-starters, and maybe even become our celebrated 'Self-Starter of the Week' and tell the world your startup tale! Join right here for free
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
The lowdown on Bidnamic, the startup that's combining advance machine learning with human expertise to help retailers to maximise revenue and profitability from Google Shopping.
Innovative Czech fintech startup 4Trans raises investment to expand first of its type AI driven factoring services across Europe.
Ethical Equity and Streets Consulting join forces to deliver Founder Workshop to help close the inequality gap in startup to scaleup funding.
Fancy being featured in this year’s SmallBiz100, which showcases the best of Britain’s vibrant small business community? There's just a couple of days left to do just that!
Screenloop secures major investment to support further development of its AI-driven recruitment platform that helps companies build the best teams and removes unconscious bias.
New research from School of Marketing reveals the impact that Covid-19 has had on key business sectors in the UK.
The lowdown on AllotMe and its garden-sharing marketplace that pairs people offering up garden space with people seeking garden space to grow their own.
Amazon Joins Forces with Celebrity Entrepreneurs to Host Interactive Livestream to Help Young, Budding Business Owners Grow Their Businesses.
.png)
Ethical Artisan Café Chain, Canteen Collective crowdfunding to support further growth and explore sustainable event catering and B2B solutions.
.jpg)
Want to revamp or improve your business? Here are some tips on how helping your staff to improve their knowledge and skills can be one of the best ways to do just that.
Published on: 22nd January 2014
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- How the pandemic affected each industry 27th Jun 2022 New research from School of Marketing reveals the impact that Covid-19 has had on key business sectors in the UK.
- The Finalists of DBACE 2022 are revealed 21st Jun 2022 The lowdown on the innovative young visionaries that are in the running for this year's Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs.
- OKAPI: Orbits raises €5.5m for Breakthrough Space Traffic Management Software 13th Jun 2022 Innovative German SaaS startup OKAPI:Orbits secures investment to support its mission of securing efficient and safe operations in space.
- Kita, the world's first carbon insurer, raises £350k in pre-seed round 9th Jun 2022 Innovative startup, Kita secures investment to support build and launch of its essential carbon insurance products.
