Scott Sigler’s “Pandemic” (read it!)

Scott Sigler is an author’s author worth painting my face for (actually, Alison painted it). Why? Because I’m Infected with Contagious enthusiasm for all of his creative content, and ready for his Pandemic to be released on Super Bowl Sunday. S-O B-E P-R-E-P-A-R-E-D. The triangle on my face is the alien infection that threatens the world in escalating levels of obliteration.

Here’s what you need to know about Scott. Pandemic is his newest book, it is going to be a hot new release, and I’m more than happy to help promote it. First, I’ve mentioned that he is an author’s author, like John Wayne was a man’s man. Scott has 13 books going to print in 2014. How is this even possible? One of them is Pandemic, the third book in the Infected series. A few other new releases are anthologies where Scott has contributed a story. But the truth is that Scott writes at an unprecedented and prolific level. He tried to write 1,000,000 words in a year. Did he fail that goal? Well, yes, but just attempting it was inhuman (a label I’m sure he would relish). I once completed NaNoWriMo and wrote 50,000 words during the month of October. That meant producing six new pages of prose everyday for thirty days without a break. Scott would have needed to write one and a half times that already insane level, for twelve straight months, in order to meet his impossible objective. Kudos to the man who is so dedicated to creative writing that he even considered that endeavor.

So, you don’t want to jump right into the third book of a trilogy? What’s the matter, are you one of those logical thinker types? No worries. You can catch up to this third book by listening to his first two books Infected and Contagious for FREE before Pandemic is released. Did I say free? I did. Scott is the undisputed podcast king, and he releases all of his amazing work (and I will be listing a lot more of it so you can check it all out, so keep reading) in podcast form where he has been building his audience (that he affectionately calls his Junkies) since 2006. Even my podcasting hero Seth Harwood (Jack Palms Trilogy, A Long Way From Disney collection, In Broad Daylight, and his CrimeWAV podcast that I occasionally guest host) turned me on to Scott who posts a new episode of his latest work every Sunday, and has for over eight years now.

I listen to Scott’s weekly podcasts religiously, and as I wrote this announcement, Episode 11 of Nocturnal was just posted. You can subscribe on iTunes>Podcasts (worth mentioning again, for FREE). Nocturnal is another of Scott’s best-selling books, and is listed as “a terrifying descent into a nightmarish underworld.” Until now, Scott has read all of his works himself, but in order to continue producing new material at a maximum rate, he has conspired with Phil Gigante to read Nocturnal, and future podcast books except the Galactic Football series (that Scott will continue to record). It has already been optioned for a potential TV series. Fingers crossed that the stars align to make that happen.

But back to the trilogy leading up to Pandemic; here is the synopsis for book 1 Infected from Scott’s website:

Perry Dawsey is 6-foot-5, 265 pounds of angry ex-linebacker. He knows all too well that if he doesn’t control his quick temper, people get hurt. Through constant focus, he has locked his violent past away in the deep dungeons of his mind.

The infection changes everything.

Strange microscopic parasites tap into Perry’s bloodstream like tiny little vampires. They start as bright orange blisters, but soon take the shape of triangular growths just beneath his skin. The “Triangles,” as Perry calls them, try to control their host by manipulating hormone levels and flooding his body with neurotransmitters — imbalances of which cause paranoia, schizophrenia and excessive aggression. As Perry begins a desperate battle to cut the Triangles out of his body before it’s too late, his self-control dissolves into raging, murderous madness.

As I briefly mentioned, Scott is also well known for his Galactic Football series. This is the story that first hooked me on his work. The first four of this seven-book series are already released as podcasts, audiobooks, paperbacks, and e-books. Scott recently finished the first draft of the fifth book that continues starring Quentin Barnes—quarterback for the Ionath Krakans. I am wearing a signed #10 Barnes jersey (signed by Scott, of course, not the fictional QB) that Alison bought for me (proving she knows me well enough to pick out such a cool gift). Here is Scott’s synopsis for The Rookie, book 1 of the series:

Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, The Rookie is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of “Any Given Sunday” with the space opera style of “Star Wars” and the criminal underworld of “The Godfather.”

Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.

Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he’ll wind up just another stat in the column marked “killed on the field.”

Even with a huge following, Scott truly cares about his readers and listeners (pronounced Junkies), and maintains an enormous social media presence. He not only promotes his new work, but he interacts with his Junkies—many who are also writers. Although I know many fellow authors personally, I have never met Scott. Nevertheless, both he and his right hand woman A Kovacs (proclaimed as Scott’s Creative Adjacent) both contributed recorded dialog for the audiobook version of my memoir 13,760 Feet—My Personal Hole in the Sky. Some of you know I have been recording and mixing this for months, infusing the 34 original companion songs into the 348 pages of narrative and dialog, and still have a few months to go. But with all that Scott and A have on their plates, they both still responded to my request for dialog assistance. He and A both care that much about their creative brethren, and they continue to impress me. In no small way I am envious that Scott has such a dedicated partner that works behind the scenes on all the business aspects of creative writing so Scott can focus on creating more material. But then again, he has been redefining his own success since 2006.

More of Scott’s best-selling books include Earthcore and Ancestor, plus the short story collections Bones are White and Blood Is Red. I’m sure I am just scratching the surface—by tomorrow, there could be three more. Many of his different stories inter lap, or over twine, and he keeps an active Siglerpedia of his fictional Universe for fans to follow. His writing is spreading like a Pandemic. Here’s how to catch it:

Scott Sigler’s Pandemic web link: Scottsigler.com/pandemic

YouTube (way cool) Pandemic Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rR5If3ldBk

Here are those social media thingies:

#pandemic

@scottsigler

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