Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Health, Fantasy,sword And Sorcery
Website: Alex Lukeman
Author's Blog: Alex Lukeman - Heroes Don't Always Fight in the Light
Twitter: @Alexlukeman
E-Mail: alex@alexlukeman.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Author Description:
I've been writing since I was twelve. I've done a lot of traveling and been in a lot of strange situations. I was in the Marines and spent years on the road as a professional folk singer. You could say that I bring a varied life experience to my writing.
I live in Northern California in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. I like riding old, fast motorcycles, sipping Barbados rum and playing guitar, usually not at the same time.
SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
Congratulations on your book: The Eye of Shiva. Rumor has it that you have another book on the horizon called Black Rose. Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?
Black Rose was just released. (see details below)
It stands alone but continues the story of the Project's struggle with AEON, a centuries old conspiracy of powerful men bent on dominating the world. AEON has gotten their hands on a terrible plague, resurrected from the dead by the North Koreans who have developed it for their bio warfare arsenal. It's up to Nick, Selena and the others to stop AEON before the plague is unleashed upon the world…
You have a good following on twitter. Since you started before the social media buzz, what impact has social media relationships had on your current success? How did you build your following in your niche? How much has it changed your book launch process?
That's a good question. I don't work at it much as it can be a terrible time consumer with unknown results. I do acknowledge new follows and I like to announce things or share progress on Facebook. The following grows on its own. As to a book launch, I announce it on FB and Twitter and send out an email flyer.
Do you maintain a reader list? What are the methods you use to find your readers and create the list and the relationship? Do you use social media, forums, newsletters and/or support groups to build your list?
I have an opt-in mailing list. Each book has a link for readers to sign up for my newsletter. For me, that's the best way. Sometimes people email me and request inclusion. I limit mailings to announcements of new releases, rarely anything else. Nobody has time to read all the stuff that comes in, so I avoid spamming people with needless info.
You have great covers. They carry a theme and your brand with them. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?
I have a great cover designer, Neil Jackson. He's a joy to work with. When he sends me a concept, I generally post it on Facebook and ask for feedback. I tell Neil the basic plot and suggest key images.
You have a couple great book trailers. (See links below.) They look very professional. Do you know how much impact they have had on your book’s success?
Thanks for noticing. I like these a lot. They're fun, but I don't think they've made any difference. It's hard to know, though.
Several of you novels have been converted into audio books. What has been the impact on your regular sales? Has the audio books gained a new audience?
I don't know, but I don't think it's had any impact on sales. It's possible the audio books have brought in new readers. The problem with them is that there is no real venue out there for Indies to promote them. Nothing like Book Bub, for example. Someone ought to do that, because there are a lot of Indie audio books languishing for lack of promotion. I'd sign up…
What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?
Free promos have worked extremely well for me. I've given away somewhere around 200,000 books over the past few years. Sales always spike after a freebie. The key is to get listed on one of the major sites like Book Bub. They're the king at the moment.
How do you manage your plots, characters and timelines to keep your stories going? Do you use any software to keep track of your books?
No software, I find it distracting. Because I write a complex, ongoing series, I sometimes need to review previous books to make sure I'm consistent, but I keep track of it all in my head. The timeline is always roughly the present. The plots are based on contemporary events, discoveries, science, politics and world threats. Everything I write is based on fact in some way and often on historical research, though I've been accused of creating impossible weapons or situations. Sorry, but the weapons exist or are in development, or are a logical outcome of present day science. The Project combats threats that are very real in our world, although it is fiction.
What is the objective for your newsletter? Do you try to build a list of readers? Do you see a carryover to the sales of your novels?
The purpose of the newsletter is to announce new releases and any significant developments. I think it helps launch a new release.
What is your method of getting reviews for your novels? Do you seek professional reviews, use social media or do you rely on your reading audience to supply them?
I rely on the reading audience. I do not buy reviews or swap them, nor do I seek professional reviews, though they would be welcome. I trust that readers will let me know what they think. I've been fortunate in that most seem to like my books a lot. I do appreciate it when a reader takes the trouble to leave a review.
Author's Book List
Black Rose
- The Project Book 9A lethal plague resurrected from the bones of the dead is stolen from a secret biological warfare lab hidden in the mountains of North Korea. There's no cure and it's one hundred percent fatal. If it gets loose, millions will die. The men who have it want to reduce the world's population and bring down the global economy as part of a plan to establish world dominance.
Nick Carter and Selena Connor of the Project are up against their old nemesis, a centuries old conspiracy called AEON. This time, Director Elizabeth Harker is determined to eliminate AEON once and for all. It's touch and go as events build toward the final confrontation, with no certainty that things will turn out well. Along the way, dark secrets from Selena's past come to light. The Project team takes on another dangerous mission, with no guarantee that any of them will survive.
Order the Book From: Amazon
The Eye of Shiva
- The Project Book 8On a mission to the Philippines Nick Carter of the Project finds ancient gold coins in a terrorist stronghold. The terrorists have been using the gold to buy weapons. Where did the coins come from? The discovery sets the Project team on a collision course with a ruthless terrorist who dreams of an Islamic Caliphate in India and a dying spy from India's CIA seeking revenge for the murder of his wife and son. All the while, a secret global conspiracy is manipulating events from behind the scenes. The conspirators want to provoke war between Pakistan and India and launch a nuclear missile at China.
Clues hint that the gold coins are part of a legendary treasure looted from India in the 18th century by a Persian King. Among the stolen artifacts is a mystical jewel known as the Eye of Shiva. One man is obsessed with finding it and fulfilling a prophecy predicting the destruction of India's enemies.
Nick and his lover Selena struggle with their doubts about each other even as they risk their lives against murderous enemies. As the war drums grow louder and tensions rise on the sub-continent, Nick and Selena are caught in a race against time to stop a nuclear war that will devastate China, Pakistan and India.
The Eye of Shiva is a fast moving story of love, revenge and intrigue, guaranteed to keep you turning pages.
Order the Book From: Amazon
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The Ajax Protocol
- The Project Book 7The Project is a Black Ops intelligence unit reporting only to the President of the United States. When an assassination attempt takes the President out of commission, the Project is caught up in a conspiracy that threatens to spark a world war and runs a lot deeper than just trying to kill the leader of the free world.
Led by Director Elizabeth Harker, the Project team discovers a cold-hearted plot to turn America into a totalitarian police state. Betrayed by powerful enemies at home and forced to rely on doubtful allies abroad, Harker and her team are driven underground. With time running out, they must stop the conspirators before they destroy everything America stands for. At the same time team leader Nick Carter and his lover, Selena Connor, struggle to commit to each other in a covert world where love and compassion are in short supply and enemies lie in wait at every turn.
The Ajax Protocol could be taken from tomorrow's headlines. It will disturb you and keep you turning pages to the end.
Order the Book From: Amazon
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The Nostradamus File
- The Project Book 6The murder of a Paris bookseller who has discovered a lost manuscript of prophecies by Nostradamus sends Nick Carter, Selena Connor and the Project on a global hunt for the fabled Ark of the Covenant. The prophecies lead them to the Holy Land and deep into the secrets of the ancient Order of the Knights Templar.
The Ark is part of a plan to trigger war and a new Crusade in the Middle East. The men behind the plot have no problem killing anyone who gets in the way, including Nick and Selena. At the same time that people are doing their best to kill him and he's trying to stay alive, Nick is struggling with his PTSD. He'll lose Selena if he doesn't find a way to handle it. But how can he find time to sort out his personal life when he's caught up in one of the most dangerous missions of his career?
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The Tesla Secret
- The Project Book 5Lost plans for a terrifying weapon designed by Nikola Tesla fall into the hands of a centuries-old conspiracy bent on world domination. Powerful men will stop at nothing to use the weapon to achieve their goal, even at the risk of nuclear war.
Director Elizabeth Harker runs the Project, the secret hand of the US President. Nick Carter heads up the Project team in the field. Selena Connor is his teammate and lover. Together they pursue a twisted trail of clues that tests their relationship to the breaking point.
From the cobbled streets of Prague to the jungles of Mexico, from the ancient countryside of Tuscany to the barren plains of Central Russia, the story moves with relentless pace toward a final, explosive confrontation that will determine the future of humanity.
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Black Harvest
- The Project Book 4Three world experts on crop disease discover a secret from the time of Alexander the Great and are brutally murdered...
A centuries old conspiracy plots to destroy much of the world's food supply as part of a plan for world domination...
The PROJECT team must stop a traitor and prevent a world-wide disaster...
The hunt for answers leads Nick Carter and Selena Connor to Greece, Bulgaria and the United States. In a series of life and death confrontations they encounter unlikely allies, an ancient legacy of bio-warfare and a cover up with ominous implications for freedom.
James Campbell is a world expert in crop viruses. He discovers nine clay tablets from ancient Persia containing a clue to the location of a golden urn marked with the curse of a Greek goddess, part of treasure seized by Alexander the Great during the fall of Babylon. Then he's horribly murdered, along with two of his colleagues. Campbell has been working on a secret bio-warfare program for the Pentagon. The murders get the attention of Elizabeth Harker, Director of a covert intelligence unit called the Project.
Nick Carter is Harker's team leader. He struggles with old injuries and PTSD from his years as a combat Marine. Nick is deeply conflicted about his lover and teammate, Selena Connor. Selena's been with the Project for less than a year. She's having a hard time dealing with the mayhem that goes with her job and her feelings about Nick.
Nick and Selena follow a bloody trail through Greece, Bulgaria and America, uncovering a heartless plan to destroy half the world's food supply, part of a strategy by a centuries-old conspiracy to achieve world domination. It will kill millions if it succeeds and time's running out--it's set to happen soon.
Harker is forced to make an unheard of alliance to try and stop the plot and avoid possible war with Russia. All the while, a high-placed traitor does his best to sabotage the Project at every turn. The surprise ending foreshadows the next book in the series.
BLACK HARVEST is a contemporary international thriller of intrigue, patriotism, romance and treachery.
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The Seventh Pillar
- The Project Book 3A fanatical terrorist has visions commanding him to begin the Apocalypse and bring about the End of Days...
An ancient brotherhood of assassins hidden for centuries reappears...
A truck carrying a terrible weapon leaves Sudan for the lawless mountains of Algeria and an unknown destination...
The PROJECT sends Nick Carter and Selena Connor to the burning wastelands of Western Africa, the back streets of San Diego and the bitter mountains of the Hindu Kush, before a final confrontation that will decide the future of Western civilization.
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The Lance
- The Project Book 2In the frozen wastes of Antarctica the Lance, an ancient weapon of unthinkable power--once lost and legendary--has been recovered. In the terrorized streets of Jerusalem, devastation is unleashed upon the eve of international peace. In the halls of power of Washington, D.C. a desperate plot set in motion during the final days of World War II has begun to unfold. Now Nick Carter and his team of deep black operatives from the PROJECT must race against time to stop events that will lead to the next World War. But to do that they must first stop those who already wield the Lance.
Book Trailer: The Lance
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White Jade
- The PROJECT: Book OneBook One in the PROJECT Series
WHITE JADE spins a web of deceit and murder across the globe, against the backdrop of a deadly international power game. Nick Carter is a man with a dark history of emotional and physical scars. He works for the PROJECT, a covert intelligence unit reporting to the President.
Selena Connor is an expert in ancient languages. When her wealthy uncle is murdered by someone looking for a 2000 year old book about the elixir of immortality, she's thrown into Nick's dangerous world. Nick is assigned to protect Selena and help her recover the missing text. It's the beginning of a life and death adventure reaching from San Francisco to Beijing, from Washington to the high mountains of Tibet. Someone is determined to take over China and attack America--and Nick and Selena are right in the line of fire.
International intrigue, terrorist acts and the threat of nuclear war form the core of this fast-paced thriller, the first volume in a series featuring Nick, Selena and the PROJECT.
An Amazon Best Seller.
Book Trailer: White Jade
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What Your Dreams Can Teach You
What Your Dreams Can Teach You is a complete, do-it-yourself manual for understanding and correctly interpreting your dreams. As much as any book can, this will guide you through the process. Not a dream dictionary, it provides worksheets and practical, proven tools for understanding dreams. If you are interested in really knowing what your dreams are about, this book is for you!
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