|
www.BillSmithBooks.com Outlaw Galaxy Books Outlaw Galaxy Stories Order Books The Tip Jar Newsletter www.BillSmithBlog.com Bill's Bio Bill's Star Wars Books FAQs Links Privacy Policy
Get
Bill's
FREE
newsletter: Just email bill@billlsmithbooks.com
and type "subscribe." Thank you for
supporting an independent author! The Tip
Jar
Email
comments & questions: Bill
Smith
Books BillSmithBooks, Outlaw Galaxy, Outlaw Galaxy Tales and Imagination Forge are trademarks of Bill Smith. © 2009 by Bill Smith.
|
It
is a time of
legends and
myths, of
technology and magic, of epic struggles and
journeys to the stars…
A time when great heroes confront the forces of darkness… A time when adventure beckons across the Billion Worlds of Outlaw Galaxy! Outlaw Galaxy 3: Hunter's Truth and Other Tales Sample by
Bill Smith
www.BillSmithBooks.com, www.OutlawGalaxy.com To order this ebook
-- only $2!! Order.
See the Author's Note following this story to find out about other books in the Outlaw Galaxy series or to get Bill Smith's newsletter. Introduction
“Let me tell you a story.” To me, there are no more magical worlds in the universe. (Save, perhaps, “I love you” or “let me do you a favor” or “you’ve just won the lottery,” all of which come with their own unique complications and challenges.) In the stories that follow, the complications and challenges consist of aliens, starships, blasters, and adventure for all. Most readers are familiar with Outlaw Galaxy through the stories of Benjamin “Trip” Trippany, but there’s much more to this setting than the tales of a pre-angsty, somewhat clever, and oh-so-earnest teenager determined to right wrongs and look out for his friends. I started writing stories back when I was a child. Even then I knew that my fiction would always be set in a space fantasy universe. No offense to more conventional writers, but I find “realistic” stories set on our world rather dull compared to the sense of wonder to be offered in a setting where amazing worlds lie just a hyperspace jump away, where history is measured in millennia instead of decades, and where fantastic technology, even if drab and dirty and quite banged-up, is complemented by a current of magic. But most of all, I believe in science fiction, even when dosed with a good measure of fantasy, as this saga is. Science fiction is a literature of optimism. Its mere existence suggests that there will be a future. Perhaps not one as grand and glorious as the future of our dreams…but certainly not as dreary and dismal and frightening as the nightmares some of our contemporaries would have us believe in. And so, here is Outlaw Galaxy 3: Hunter’s Truth and Other Tales. The seven short stories in this collection offer brief glimpses of some of the worlds and characters that populate this universe. Most of the stories are set in the Trishellian Frontier, the loosely organized pocket of space that’s home to Karrison, Trip’s home planet. It’s a sleepy little corner of the galaxy where not much of interest happens at all…or so we’ve been told. But Trip, Diamond Black Joe and the other folks populating this book would beg to differ. The stories here were picked from a collection of over one hundred short stories I’ve written in the past few years. Some are introductions to characters you’ll no doubt become more familiar with in the future. Some feature new faces that you may not see again. But all of these stories highlight the action and wonder and swashbuckling adventure that is the essence of the Outlaw Galaxy setting. So sit back and enjoy. If you like what you read, tell your friends. Let me know what you think by stopping by at www.BillSmithBooks.com or drop me a line at bill@billsmithbooks.com To the Stars! Bill Smith January 26, 2009 To order this ebook: Outlaw Galaxy 3
is available as an ebook for only $1 (US funds). Visa,
Mastercard and other credit/debit card orders
are processed
through
PayPal.
To
Pay by
Cash, Check or
Money Order. Send $1 (US funds)
and a note saying "Order Outlaw
Galaxy 3." You must
provide
your email address. Mail to: Bill Smith Books PO
Box
124 Ebooks will be
emailed to you as attachments. My ebooks are simple HTML files that may be read in any web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. They are DRM-free, so you may save them to your computer, make backup copies, print, reformat and even share with friends. For full details, see About My Ebooks. Thank you for supporting an independent author!AUTHOR'S
NOTE
As an independent writer and publisher, I take great pride in being able to share my stories directly with readers. Thank you for reading! Be sure to visit www.BillSmithBooks.com or www.OutlawGalaxy.com to find out about the latest Outlaw Galaxy short stories, ebooks and novels. If you enjoy this Outlaw
Galaxy adventure, I'd ask you to consider purchasing one of the
other Outlaw Galaxy ebooks
or
novels at BillSmithBooks.com.
Or, you can show your support by tossing some spare change into the Tip
Jar (see below). Remember, I'm just a small, independent publisher. For me, every single reader and every single sale really matters. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING
AN
INDEPENDENT AUTHOR! Each issue of my newsletter includes news and previews of upcoming Outlaw Galaxy books. Read my newsletter at www.BillSmithBooks.com/newsletter.htm. OUTLAW GALAXY BOOKS Read the latest adventures in the Outlaw Galaxy saga! Outlaw Galaxy 2: Fugitive Among the Stars and Outlaw Galaxy 3: Hunter's Truth and Other Tales are now available. To learn more or read sample chapters. Outlaw Galaxy 3: Hunter's Truth and Other Tales. Seven short stories filled with the adventure and wonder of the Outlaw Galaxy universe. (24,000 words.) Order the Ebook (HTML file): Just $1. Outlaw Galaxy 2: Fugitive Among the Stars. Trip and his friends are planning a simple vacation in the wilderness of Karrison, but they are caught in a life and death battle against the hired guns of gangster Croll Weixx! (72,500 words.) Order the Ebook (HTML file): Just $2. Outlaw Galaxy 1: Trip and the Space Pirates. Trip dreams of someday traveling to the stars...but he never imagined that he'd be kidnapped and forced to join Diamond Black Joe's pirate gang! (69,000 words) Order the Printed Version: $4.00! Read the ebook online for free--donations to the Tip Jar cheerfully accepted! To order: Visa, Mastercard and other credit/debit card orders are processed through PayPal. * Go to www.PayPal.com: * "Send Money" (in the correct amount) to bill@billsmithbooks.com * In the message fields, be sure to list the items, price and quantity ordered. For ebooks, please provide your email address. For printed books, please provide your name and physical address. To Pay by Cash, Check or Money Order. Mail to: Bill Smith Books PO Box 124 Malone, NY 12953 All prices are in US funds. For all orders, be sure to list the items, price and quantity ordered. Ebooks: Pricing is good around the world (PayPal has a currency conversion calculator so you can conveniently pay the US equivalent in your home currency). Ebooks will be emailed to you as attachments. Be sure to provide your email address with your order. Printed Books: All prices are per copy and include applicable sales tax, postage, shipping and handling to U.S. addresses. Printed books will be autographed upon request. Be sure to include your name and mailing address with your order. International Orders: For printed books to be mailed outside the U.S., please email bill@billsmithbooks.com for pricing details. Outlaw Galaxy ebooks are simple HTML files that may be read in any web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. They have no DRM (Digital Rights Management), so you may save them to your computer, make backup copies, print, reformat and even share with friends. (More details below.) THE TIP JAR If you enjoyed these Outlaw Galaxy stories, any contribution to the Tip Jar is welcome, whether it’s a dime or a quarter for a short story or a buck or two for a novel. Your support and encouragement is greatly appreciated and enables me to keep on writing and publishing Outlaw Galaxy stories. Thank you! To toss into the Tip Jar via credit card or PayPal, go to www.PayPal.com and "Send Money" to: bill@billsmithbooks.com. To contribute via cash, check, or money order, mail to: Bill Smith Books PO Box 124 Malone, NY 12953 OUTLAW GALAXY EBOOKS Outlaw Galaxy ebooks are affordable and easy to use. They're in HTML, a "universal format" that can be read by any web browser, including Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer. No special software, no conversions, no encryption--just click on the file (or open with Firefox) and start reading. These ebooks and stories are formatted to reduce eyestrain while reading onscreen, but you can adjust your browser's settings to suit your tastes. Go to "View," drop down to "Text Size" and increase or decrease as desired. You can also change your browser's font and color settings. You can print directly from this file. If you wish to reformat the story, "Save as" to .txt format (plain text) or highlight the text and paste it into a word processor (such as AbiWord) and then apply whatever formatting you prefer. You can convert this story to PDF format with any of the free PDF convertors, such as PrimoPDF or the FoxIt PDF Editor (FoxItSoftware.com). All of the major ebook reading devices can read either HTML, .txt or PDF files, but there are many free programs to convert files into specialty ebook formats for use on your cellphone, PDA or other portable device. Why Pay? Some of you may be wondering why you should pay for an Outlaw Galaxy ebook. Here's my thinking: They're a dollar or two. Each book provides hours of entertainment. And Outlaw Galaxy ebooks are customer friendly, so you can use the ebook the way you want to. Compare that to other items: Novels run about $8 these days. Comic books are $3-4 an issue. Don't get me started on the price of gas or a movie. As for other publishers' ebooks? Many come with DRM to prevent you from making backup copies or printing. There are format issues: Will this ebook work on my computer or portable device? Not to mention that many publishers' ebooks are much more expensive. But if a buck or two is over your budget, get some friends to chip in. Have them to toss in a dime or a quarter...it adds up. Then read and share. These ebooks are shipped without any form of DRM, so you can make backup copies, print, and reformat for other devices such as PDAs and cell phones. And I think it's cool if you want to share them with a few friends. You don't see movie studios or record labels doing that, do you? No. They sue people (even little old ladies who don't actually own computers). They treat their customers like criminals. They secretly install spyware and rootkits that can destroy your computer. They tell you that you're not allowed to make back-up copies of stuff you've already paid for. They want to make "piracy" a crime punishable with enormous fines and jail time. Me? I'm trying to be reasonable. I offer Outlaw Galaxy ebooks at a fair price, in an easy-to-use HTML format that can be read by any web browser, and with no DRM. I expressly give you permission to print them, make backup-copies, and format them for use on other devices. And I think it's cool if you share them with a few friends. I discovered most of my favorite authors by word-of-mouth from friends or by borrowing from libraries, so it's okay with me if you slip a few copies to other people who'll enjoy these Outlaw Galaxy stories. Just don't sell these stories, make any changes or post them on other websites. So if you like these stories and want to see more, please consider showing some support with a purchase or by tossing something into the Tip Jar. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK: I love to hear from my readers. Send comments and questions to bill@billsmithbooks.com To the Stars! -- Bill Smith COPYRIGHT NOTICE: © 2009 by Bill Smith. Permission granted to copy this story for personal use and limited sharing as outlined in this Author's Note. This work may not be altered, resold, or reposted on other websites without the author's permission. Author reserves all other rights, including (but not limited to) derivative works, adaptations, dramatizations, licensing, merchandise, and subsequent stories in any form using Outlaw Galaxy characters and situations. For further information or commercial permissions, contact the author at bill@billsmithbooks.com. END AUTHOR'S NOTE |
