New RAoF novel?

The age of the super-hero has all but passed.  

In the course of more than two decades, their limitations were eventually revealed.  Even with purer waters, clearer skies and renewed soil, the generations of prior neglect were difficult to overcome.  

The planet itself was now pristine.  Yet it wasn't enough.

The Gods had once again retreated to the glorious confines of Olympus, this time for good.  They had experienced humanity's restlessness and dissatisfaction before, at the heights of prior civilizations such as Athens and Rome, finding themselves fading into oblivion in eras long ago.  They departed before they were forced to go.      

Even with all the dictators removed, the swords of several wars blunted, the overt sources of lies and deceit driven underground, Oculus could foresee that he and his fellow mortal heroes could not eradicate all of the baser urges of humankind.

After the plague had devastated the populations for so many endless months and was not yet finished, some source had to be blamed.  Mercuria and her beloved companion finally moved on and back out into the stars from whence they arrived years before.  The planetary Alliance--with the Rainbow Arc of Fire at its core--was now a part of history.

No matter how uniquely powerful, what does a team of almost boundless talent and insight do when fellow citizens willingly elect charlatans and knaves?  When the lies the populations believe become persistent and outsized?  When the structures and laws of governments and societies are themselves undemocratic, even moribund in a more modern age?  

These are not children to be educated and carefully trained from birth to reject false narratives, to decisively cull the slivers of pure truth from out of so many waves of propaganda.

At what point does one find himself and herself fighting against so many forms of that basic of human need, freedom, and wonder how much fight is too much?  That one cannot vaccinate the population against its own willfulness where "Give me liberty or give me death" has been a shining hallmark of progressiveness?        

"...if I die before I wake..."

A couple of pics from Comic Con Special Edition 2021

 First day of Comic-Con Special Edition.

Buying books on amazon

Long before kindle versions of books existed, and well before the print-on-demand option, amazon had the Advantage program.  If a person ordered my books on amazon, amazon notified me that I had an order for specific titles of the series.  I would go to the boxes of individual books that I had gotten from my publisher that I kept in my condo, gathered up the title or titles ordered, packaged them for shipment, drove to the post office, paid the postage, and off the books went to the reader.  (Amazon did maintain for a few years a small stash of my books in one or more of their warehouses, but then they decided they did not want to do that for book titles that they did not sell in large quantities.  They returned to me most of the stock they had.)   It wasn't particularly efficient, but it was the only option.  Besides, I was getting most of my sales through Category Six bookstore in Denver, CO, and a few sales through some book signings I did around the country:  Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Phoenix.  And, of course, the two SDCCs that I attended in 2004-5. 

But then the gay bookstores such as Category Six and others around the country closed.  As I mentioned, amazon did not want to maintain any small stock in their warehouses.  Gay publications ceased to exist so there was no easy way to announce or publicize new titles in the series.  Things looked mighty bleak for Rainbow Arc of Fire.

However, with the arrival of kindle versions of the series, I was able to publish the final two volumes in the series that way.  People seemed enamored of digital copies of everything such as books and music.  The sales of physical books of RAoF pretty much died, but digital copies did maintain a small market for some time.

Mark and I moved to Indio in 2016, hauling dozens of remaining cases of paperback copies of the series with us.  There were four small comic book conventions in the Coachella Valley, primarily in Palm Springs during 2017-2018.  In 2018 and 2019, we were able to be a part of Prism Comics at SDCC.  So rather than maintain a huge stash of my own books when readers could finally, and more easily, buy print-on-demand copies, I started giving away hundreds of books at the various Cons.  A MILE-HIGH SAGA (red) and AUTUMN SAGA (orange) were gone by the end of the Palm Springs Comic Convention.   SOULS WITHIN STONE (yellow) and WORLDS BENEATH US (green) are now almost gone after SDCC Special Edition 2021.  Maybe a couple dozen copies remain of each title, if that.  I may have a case or two of SLIGHT OF MIND (blue) and HARMONY OF SPHERES (purple) left to give away.  There are 3-5 cases each of WHO HAS DOMINION? (fuchsia) and A HOUSE DIVIDED (turquoise) remaining.  (SHATTERED DAWN and OLIVE BRANCH never had paperback copies from my previous printer.)

Unfortunately, I was notified this morning that someone has been able to order copies of the series using the old amazon Advantage program.  And I cannot, even with some help from amazon, access my Advantage account.  I have followed directions to delete cache, changed my password more than once, use Firefox instead of Explorer, whatever.  Nothing works.  I have sent a note up the chain of amazon help but have heard nothing yet.  And, as I have described, I have no copies of the first two books to sell.  I figured the print-on-demand option and kindle editions were the only two types left for readers to acquire books in the series if I did not give, or sell, them personally at a convention.  Oh, well, we shall see what someone is trying to order if I am ever able to access my old Advantage account.