If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you’ve undoubtedly seen a few teasing posts about my next novel project. I’ve teased with a few hints, surprises, and more. Well the teasing can come to an end, I have decided to finally let the cat out of the bag.
My next novel, titled Volition Agent, is a fast paced SciFi Thriller set in the near future. The highly secretive Agency has a Volition program. They take everyday people who are physically fit and recruit them as Volition Agents. They are implanted with a control chip so that a highly trained “handler” can control their every action. If a Agent is captured the loss to the Agency in minimal. Agents are sent on missions from intelligence gatherings to assassinations. Volition Agent followed Lexia, one of the agents.
Here is a tentative blurb:
Lexia Santarelli is part of a top secret group of Volition Agents. These untrained, unremarkable, everyday people are recruited by the agency to be literally controlled by their “handler” through a device implanted in their necks. It is an exciting life, and despite some of the annoyances, Lexia enjoys it.
That is until the Agency decides to let Lexia take the fall for a mission gone wrong. Her link with her handler, Lance is severed. Suddenly Lexia finds herself alone, unprepared, and hunted by the very people she trusted.
With few clues, minimal training, and an unlikely ally Lexia sets out to discover what really happened on that botched assignment. Determined to set right the wrong she created, nothing can stand in her way. Not even the Agency itself.
I have some great cover art for this novel, and I can’t wait to share it with you all. So here it is:
Copyright 2013 Kristin Irons Photography
The cover art is shot and designed by Kristin Irons (website). I’ve worked with Kristin before, she designed the logo for Plasma Spyglass Press. Kristin is a very talented photographer and when I explained what I was looking for she said she had an idea. The next week was a bit of a whirlwind. Kristin found a model, the very beautiful and talented Joy Anna, to play Lexia in a photo shoot. She then teased me relentlessly with images from that photo shoot before showing me the image she had in mind for the cover art. I am a very picky and hard to work with person when it comes to cover art, but she kept taking my ideas and reworking them until we came up with the cover above. And I couldn’t be more thrilled by it.
Let me tell you why this cover is so special to me. This is the first time I’ve had anyone “play” one of my character in any way. Joy Anna, whose modeling pictures I had only seen briefly before this, jumped into this project head first. I understand they captured a ton of images and I’ve only seen a few of them. As a writer, I was excited to see what might come from this. I’ve never met, or even talked to Joy Anna but I thank her for her time because the results are absolutely amazing.
A big heartfelt thanks to Joy Anna, Kristin, and her assistant William Harris. So many folks use stock art, or stock photos to make custom cover art. But I have a real custom cover for this novel. Please take a moment to check out the people that helped with this cover, give them a like, follow, or whatever else to show them some support. Kristin Irons: Facebook, Twitter, Website Joy Anna: Facebook William Harris: Flickr
This is the first story I have written where it had a title before I ever wrote it. The whole idea came from hearing the word volition and it’s meaning; the ability to make a choice or decision. So Volition Agent was an easy enough title for me to come up with. I think it works well given the themes in this novel.
So when is the release date for Volition Agent? One hasn’t been set just yet. But I have a deadline of the first week of June 2013. So expect to see it no later than this. I hope to have it out a little sooner, but you can’t rush these things. I’ll be sending it out for Beta Readers in the first two weeks of April. Then my editor will get this. I’ll be working with a new editor this time, since Robert is booked up for the foreseeable future. As always, watch this blog, my Twitter and Facebook for updates.
I’ll leave you with a few other images from the photo shoot:
Copyright 2013 Kristin Irons
Copyright 2013 Kristin Irons
Copyright 2013 Kristin Irons