It’s time for another installment of Indie Books. This week we have Kevin Long, who ran the site Republibot. Even though we often found ourselves on different ends of the political spectrum, I found Kevin’s take on nerd news really interesting and worth checking out. Even if he’s off the rails with Libertarianism, or whatever. He’s moved on to prose, though, and I asked him to come tell you about his stuff here in the Indie Books forum.
So, without further ado, here’s Kevin:
Hi, everyone! Thank you, Swank-mo-tron, for letting me prattle on about myself and my books.
My name is Kevin Long. I’m 45, was born and raised in Nebraska, and live their now, but I’ve lived a few other places besides. I’m happily married, and have kids, one of whom is ‘Special Needs.’ For five years, I was the head writer and editor of the “Republibot” website, where I wrote under the name “Republibot 3.0.” The website aimed at making Science Fiction seem accessible and non-threatening to political and social conservatives. Many in those groups feel the genre is entirely the purview of ‘The Left,’ or even that Science Fiction is inherently evil somehow. We tried to make them understand that simply wasn’t true, that SF is for everyone to enjoy.
I’ve recently turned my duties over to others and retired from Republibot to dedicate more time to my first love: Writing short stories. Most people prefer novels nowadays, I guess, but it’s what I grew up on, and it’s what I love. I used to tear through short stories by Philip K. Dick, and Larry Niven, and JG Ballard, and Thomas Disch, and Ray Bradbury and John Varley. I particularly liked “Future Histories” – stories that were more-or-less standalones, but which are nevertheless part of a larger, interlinked chronology and fictional universe.
I’ve got three anthologies of my own material in print. In order of publication:
“Ice Cream and Venom” – Six short stories and a vignette, each wildly different in style, ranging from comedy to gothic horror, with adventure, existential angst, and goofy parody as well. One of the stories from this collection, “The Man Who Would Not Be King, ” recently got a mention on TV Tropes as a prime example of a kind of Alternate History story
It’s available in E-book format from Amazon here and Smashwords here . Or, if you like to hold an actual physical book in your hand, rather than a kindle, you can get it in dead tree format here.
“The Undead at War (And Other Stories)” is my second book. Most of the stories in this collection are set in my two major ongoing fictional universes. Three are set in “The Undead” universe, which is my own personal take on Transhumanism. Larry Niven called it “Highly Entertaining.” The rest are set in “The Redneck Universe.” Those are all about how poor rural people from the American South, and Russia, and Western China, who perceive themselves to be trapped in their miserable lives, and despised by their own cultures, leave earth and attempt to make new lives for themselves in space, without the support of any government. As with the best of Heinlein and Niven’s future histories, it’s got a noteworthy Libertarian bent. This is probably the best book for readers to jump in with, and determine if they like my style or not.
You can buy E-copies of the book on Amazon or Smashwords. It’s also available in “Dead Tree” format here.
“It’s Not Rocket Science” is my third book. Eleven stories, including a couple set in the “Redneck Universe” and one set in my “Undead” universe. The rest are all standalones. My own personal favorite in this one is “When the World was Young and I was Old,” a very somber tale in which I was dealing with my father’s imminent passing.
You can buy this one in E-book format from Amazon or Smashwords.
Finally, you can HIRE me to write for you! Need an original short story fast and cheap? I’m yer boy! Just go to my “Will Write For You” website for details.
My personal website is here!
Mad love to Swank-mo-tron and Big Shiny Robot for letting me prattle on about myself, and thank you all for reading.
Sincerely,
Kevin Long
(The Artist Formerly Known As Republibot 3.0)
And, there you have it. If any of this stuff sounds like it’s your speed, check it out and review it for him.