IE Reviews: Delirium: Debt Collector 1

Lately it is incredibly rare for me to find a book that captivates me so much that I cannot put it down. I'm picky, I admit it. Which is why I don't do a lot of reviews. It takes something special. This is something very special. Susan Kaye Quinn's The Debt Collector just released. It is a new future-noir serial for adults (no not that kind of adult book). People, it is BEYOND amazing. The first episode, Delirium, launched  on 3/20.

My official review:

"Utterly captivating and completely amazing from the first word to the last. This is science fiction at its forward-thinking best. Delirium is the first in a serial about a man who collects people's life force when their time is up and they have ceased to be a productive member of society with a valuable future. It promises to be an outstanding series, one that I will be waiting on with bated breath. This is everything the movie 'In Time' should have been, and then some. It would not surprise me in the least if Hollywood comes calling Susan on this one."

Yes really, it was that good. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment in the serial, which is coming out soon! Here is more about it:

What’s your life worth on the open market?

A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He’s just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja’s sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane… until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn’t what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone—a dark pit he’s not sure he’ll be able to climb out of again.

Contains mature content and themes. For YA-appropriate thrills, see Susan’s Mindjack series.

Delirium is approximately 12,000 words or 48 pages and is one of nine episodes in the first season of The Debt Collector serial (how cool is that?!). This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. You can find out more about the series at the Debt Collector website and facebook page. The Debt Collector newsletter is a special list just for episode releases.

Early Praise

 “The street-smart science of LOOPER meets the cold, just-the-facts voice of DOUBLE INDEMNITY in this edgy, future-noir thriller that will have you holding your breath, looking over your shoulder, and begging for more.” —Leigh Talbert Moore, author of The Truth About Faking, The Truth About Letting Go, and Rouge

“Do you owe more than your life is worth? No worries. A more deserving person than you can benefit from that excess life—and someone else will get paid with it. Enter the Debt Collector.” —Dianne Salerni, author of We Hear the Dead, The Caged Graves, and The Eighth Day (HarperCollins 2014)

The first three episodes of Debt Collector will be released a week apart, starting Wednesday 3/20. The remaining episodes will release every two weeks. Delirium can be found on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, iTunes, Kobo. Or add it to your TBR on Goodreads.

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling YA SF Mindjack series. Debt Collector is her more grown-up SF. Her steampunk fantasy romance is temporarily on hold while she madly writes episodes to keep Lirium happy. Plus she needs to leave time to play on Facebook. Susan has a lot of degrees in engineering, which come in handy when dreaming up dangerous mind powers, future dystopias, and slightly plausible steampunk inventions. Mostly she sits around in her pajamas in awe that she gets make stuff up full-time. 

Writing A Serial

The advent of ebooks and indie publishing has allowed the revival of a form with a storied history, but not many tales in the recent past: the serial. This may conjure visions of old-fashioned cliff-hangers and pulp novels... and you wouldn't be far wrong. But Great Expectations by Charles Dickens was written as a serial, releasing two chapters a week for nine months! Dickens self-published the serial version of Great Expectations in his own literary magazine, All the Year Round, in an attempt to keep the publication afloat. Once it was complete, the works were republished in three volumes/novels. Dickens, being the accomplished writer he was, managed to create self-contained "novellas" (each about 6k words) that progressed like a novel, no small feat (he also outlined). Today, there's a myriad of serials being written and published, with indie authors experimenting like crazy with form, length, and time-between-publication. The stories are anywhere from 6k to 40k. Some are prewritten, some are written-as-you-go. Some are true novellas (individual stories), some are chapters from a serialized novel. The ease of indie publishing, plus the inexpensive distribution of ebooks, has allowed for all kinds of experimentation. I'm experimenting with serialization myself, quite by accident. A story grabbed hold of me and demanded to be written, so I forced it to be a novella, because I didn't have time to write a novel. :) Turns out the story isn't letting go, but it's also the kind that lends itself to episodic storytelling, so I'm going to turn it into a series of novellas. Because I'm an indie author, and I can. :)

The real question is: do readers read these serialized stories? I think the answer is Yes and No. Just because you write a serial is no guarantee you will have readers, just as is true for any indie story. Plus you're hampered with the fact that most reviewers won't review short form works, and many promotion sites won't promote unless you meet a minimum workcount. But if you write something readers are clamoring to read? The answer is a resounding YES.

Examples: NYTimes Bestselling author Hugh Howey's meteoric career started with a 12k novella called Wool. But an even more recent (and astoundingly successful) example is fellow Indelible RaShelle Workman's Blood and Snow serial. Starting in June 2012, RaShelle has been pumping out her serial novellas every 2-4 weeks. She's currently up to volume 11, with all the individual novellas priced at 99cents and collections priced at $2.99. The novellas themselves are around 60 pages/12k. But do they sell? Oh yes. RaShelle's sold over 130,000 copies of her 99cent novellas to date. I don't expect that kind of success with my upcoming novella serial The Debt Collector, partly because it's not in the wildly popular paranormal romance genre. But, then again, Hugh Howey wrote a post-apoc SF novella that took him to the stars, so one never knows what will resonate with the reading public. But I love that indie publishing gives authors a chance to experiment and see what happens. Have you written a serial or have any plans to?

~Susan Kaye Quinn

 Susan Kaye Quinn is former rocket scientist and engineer, but now she writes novels because she loves writing even more than shiny tech gadgets. Susan is the author of the bestselling Mindjack Series, which includes three novels, three novellas, and a trailer. She's currently writing a steampunk fantasy romance, just for kicks. When that's out of her system, she has ambitious plans to embark on a series about the Singularity (the time when computers become more intelligent than humans) that should appeal to fans of the Mindjack novels. Unless she gets sidetracked by this new future-noir novella or spends too much time on Facebook. Could go either way.

Praise for Open Minds

If you haven't read Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn yet then there's no time like the present to jump on the ride and hang on! But you don't have to take my word for it. Tricia J. O'Brian over at Talespinning has given Open Minds a great review that will surely win you  over and make you want to spend some of that holiday gift money on a copy. Here is a bit of Tricia's review:

Tricia: "Susan deftly developed a captivating concept with solid world-building, comprehensible futuristic slang, and characters who matter... This is Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy, and I'm eager for more."

For the rest of Tricia's review go here and check it out, then be sure to check out Open Minds here and Susan's blog here.

Open Minds is a Bestseller in Germany

Huge congratulations are in order for Susan Kaye Quinn whose debut novel, Open Minds, just hit the Amazon bestseller list in Germany! Here's Susan's announcement regarding it on Twitter:

susankayequinn SusanKayeQuinn 

Open Minds is a bestseller in Germany! #paranormal #sciencefiction #youngadult #Kindle EUR 2,99amzn.to/BuyOMGermany

We're so excited for your Susan! And we're excited for our lovely reader friends in Germany who are enjoying Open Minds so much. Here's the listing on Amazon Germany. Not in Europe? Well you don't have to go all the way to the European continent to get a copy. You can check out Susan's site and get a signed copy right from her!

Review Of Open Minds In Prep For Launch Party

Time to pour the champagne and pull out the noise makers because the virtual launch party for Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn is almost here! In celebration we've brought you a fantastic review by our very own Heather McCorkle.

Heather's Review: Wow. It seems woefully inadequate, but that is the first word that comes to mind when I think of this book. I was blown away. This is one of those books readers devour and authors wish they had written.

Imagine a world where everyone can read each others minds. Being able to read minds and send thoughts is the norm. Gives you the shivers doesn't it? Kira is what is called a zero. She can't read minds or send thoughts which makes her an outcast, someone with no future. But it turns out Kira is something entirely different, and unexpected.

I inhaled this book. The writing is compelling and the world building is done so natural and seamless that I was immersed from the very first page. And the characters, both wonderful and flawed, drew me in the moment I met them. I can hardly wait for a sequel! This is on my list of best books of 2011. I hope you'll join us in celebration with Susan during the launch party which starts November 1st.

Fantastic Review of Open Minds

Mandyll over at TwiMom101 Book Blog has posted an excellent review of Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn. Here is an excerpt of the review:

Mandyll: Wow oh Wow! I just inhaled this book. Quinn is an amazing author with an even more amazing imagination. In some ways Kira reminds me a lot of Katniss from the Hunger Games series. She is forced out of her comfort zone in order to protect herself and her loved ones from those that only want to use her and her ability. Kira is a strong, well developed character that many will relate to. I am sure there has been a time in everyone's life where you felt like an outcast only wanting to fit in. And sometimes...

For the rest check out Mandy's fantastic book blog, TwiMom101 Book blog.