Today I am so pleased to welcome Don Allmon to Joyfully Jay. Don has come to talk to us about his latest release, Apocalypse Alley (second in the Blue Unicorn series). He has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Don a big welcome!

Apocalypse Alley Tour Banner

When I die, Please Delete My Browser History, Part 2

Thanks for having me! For Book One of the BLUE UNICORN series, THE GLAMOUR THIEVES, I made of list of things I’d researched, so figured I’d do the same for APOCALYPSE ALLEY.

Some folks think that just because it’s science fiction and filled with killer robots, psychic spiders, and cannibals, I can make stuff up out of whole cloth. But even the craziest bits need to be grounded in some real tech. Also, since Buzz, my hacker, has a starring role in this book I couldn’t hand-wave as much of the technology and had to learn my stuff. So here’s the mundane list:

  • The speeds of various motorcycles, cars, rollercoasters and falcons (not the Millennium; that one I already knew).
  • The number, size, and weight of the stones in Stonehenge.
  • The noise made by battery-powered motorcycles.
  • The use of Bluetooth connections to sense tire pressure.
  • How to spoof GPS locations and how to detect a spoof.
  • Gene replacement therapy and its… ahem… cosmetic applications.

Yeah, all pretty dull, I admit. But then there’s the most important and timeless question asked in this book:

Can you have sex on a motorcycle without it falling over?

I spent an awful lot of time on this. After screening innumerable porn scenes depicting motorcycle sex—I don’t know, a hundred or so, innumerable anyway because I was too busy to count—I still wasn’t convinced that what I was seeing wasn’t some kind of movie-magic. I asked around, but no one would loan me their motorcycle so that I could try it myself. Maybe I should have lied about my intent. So I ended up canvassing my friends, all of whom apparently have more interesting sex lives than me. I still think they’re lying, but it’s in the book now and it’s too late to change it, so there.

And just to whet your whistle for the future, here are a few of the things I researched in anticipation of Book 3, THE BURNING MAGUS (out in May):

  • All kinds of fun security-related things like vault doors, mantraps, and TEMPEST rooms and how to bypass them.
  • The viability of drone-delivery in urban areas, and the associated crime.
  • I read a lot of tentacle porn. But you can’t really call that research. I just call it “Monday.”
  • And of course the all-important question: How much does JT’s penis weigh anyway?

Blurb

Apocalypse AlleyHome from a six-month assignment to war-torn East Asia, genetically engineered supersoldier Noah “Comet” Wu just wants to kick back, share a beer, and talk shit with his best friend, JT. But JT’s home has been shot up like a war zone, and his friend has gone missing.

Comet’s only lead is a smart-mouthed criminal he finds amid the mess. His name’s Buzz Howdy. He’s a con man and a hacker and deserves to be in jail. Or in handcuffs, at least. The only thing the two have in common is JT. Unless you count the steamy glances they’re sneaking at one another. They have those in common too. But that just makes Comet all the more wary.

Despite their mutual distrust, they’ll have to work together to rescue JT before a cyborg assassin gets to him first. Racing down a miserable stretch of road called Apocalypse Alley, they must dodge radioactive spiders, a killer Buick, and rampaging cannibals. They also try to dodge each other. That last bit doesn’t work out so well.


Bio

In his night job, Don Allmon writes science fiction, fantasy, and romance. In his day job, he’s an IT drone. He holds a master of arts in English literature from the University of Kansas and wrote his thesis on the influence of royal hunting culture on medieval werewolf stories. He’s a fan of role-playing games, both video and tabletop. He has lived all over from New York to San Francisco, but currently lives on the prairies of Kansas with many animals.

Connect with Don:


Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Apocalypse Alley, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on March 2, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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