BLOG

COVER REVEAL: Temporary Planets for Transitory Days

Cover Reveal for Albert Wendland’s Temporary Planets for Transitory Days Poetry Collection

Raw Dog Screaming Press (RDSP) is excited to show off this vibrant and beautiful cover by artist Bradley Sharp for author Albert Wendland’s debut poetry collection Temporary Planets for Transitory Days.

PRE-ORDER HERE

Wendland is the author of two other science fiction adventure books under their imprint Dog Star Books, The Man Who Loved Alien Landscapes and In a Suspect Universe. Both books are book one and two of a series which features the same protagonist, Mykol Ranglen, a space explorer. This collection is based on a journal full of poems this Ranglen has left behind so to speak, published now for the first time.

Albert Wendland science fiction author“I loved the cover,” said Wendland. “It tops even the other two that Brad has done for my books—and I liked those so much already! He really outdid himself this time. The attention to detail comes across so well. I’ve found in all his covers little things appearing here and there that amaze me.”

Wendland went on to say, for example, that “a major poem in the book is called ‘Touching the Night Sky.’ And the title is captured perfectly in the image of the man reaching skyward. The fingertips touching the rim of the first world, and then the shadows of those fingers passing onto the next world, is an exact visual depiction of what my words were trying to convey. Brad captures not only physical objects well, but also the idea or emotion behind them—the mood, the longing.”

“The succession of different colored worlds draws the viewer off into space, and the green color chosen for the largest world is ideal, because it contrasts so vividly with the purples and pinks of the background,” Wendland said. “Also, the icebound landscape suggests accurately the setting of another poem in the collection, ‘As It Fell.’  This poem describes a scene taken from my earlier novel In a Suspect Universe, and yet Brad obviously consulted the description from that book to capture the exact setting for the poem in this book.”

Readers will see the grand vistas and galaxy-wide subjects of science fiction described from a personal point of view, through the eyes of a character who’s lived through two novels already (and who will appear in at least two more). These poems link to his deep past, to old planet Earth and the worlds of his present, to the stories we’ve seen and the stories yet to be told. Secrets are revealed, known characters explored, settings opened, and mysteries explained or made more complex.

In the introduction to the collection, Wendland wrote about the poems and author but he’s staged it as penned by a faux editor of his creation as part of the project, a character that’s a publisher who’s had a chance meeting with Ranglen. The character of Ranglen supposedly hands him his notebook filled with handwritten poems. He never saw him again (only working through an agent).

“Bradley Sharp makes writing a book and having it published all the more thrilling because he can gift-wrap it so well,” Wendland said. “I feel very lucky.”

Temporary Planets for Transitory Days is coming Summer of 2020. Media should contact publicist Erin Al-Mehairi at hookofabook@hotmail.comfor information.

About Temporary Planets for Transitory Days –

Mykol Ranglen, the space explorer from In a Suspect Universe and The Man Who Loved Alien Landscapes, has always written poetry—about his adventures, the worlds he’s visited, the people he’s loved, the ancient races that warred in his galaxy. His most private poems he’s kept to himself. But they are published here for the first time—and they show a man we’ve never met before.

Discover the fascination of what Ranglen has lived: mysteries of the planet Alchera, dreams of Old Earth, secrets and mistakes of the alien Airafane and their enemies the Moyocks, relationships that still haunt him (past lovers, and an unknown child), hints of a strange Deep Story—litanies of worlds, legends of space, triumphs, sorrows, regrets, joys, and the sheer wonder and terror of his universe.

Praise for Temporary Planets for Transitory Days –

“Adding layers of sublime romance, poetic whimsy and uncanny speculation to his already-amazing series of adventurous SF novels, Albert Wendland has given his fans the ultimate gift: a collection of awe-inspiring, chin-dropping SF poems, ostensibly produced by ‘Mykol Ranglen’ the title character of his other book, The Man Who Loved Alien Landscapes. If you’ve read his other books, you know Wendland’s masterful style has the ability to paint amazing pictures in your mind, and you already want to read these poems to discover more secrets lurking in the crannies of the astounding worlds he’s already created.

“But you really don’t need to be familiar with the Wendland Universe to enjoy Temporary Planets—you’ll just need a transitory day or two to escape from the real world to relish and savor them. And what a delight it is to read!  There are some poems in this book that are so lyrically good you’ll want to recite them out loud to your loved ones—and others that stun the mind so intensely you’ll want to study them closely to be wowed over and over again. Temporary Planets is a one-of-a-kind book that is everything genre poetry should be—which is to say, like an alien ‘clip,’ something transcendent!  — Michael Arnzen, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Gorelets Omnibus

Praise for Wendland’s Ranglen Series –

“In Wendland’s intricately plotted, character-driven debut, pulp exploration meets philosophical speculation, and a moralistic sensibility is fused with Philip K. Dick’s paranoid fantasies and Ray Bradbury’s awe of alien encounters.…Impending doom pervades ripping action scenes, the Lovecraftian theme of ancient warring aliens lends cosmic menace and authenticity to a grandiose mystery…deeply absorbing.”—Publishers Weekly starred review

“…shows a narrative energy and enthusiasm for the genre…there is an intriguing mystery subplot, and when the action picks up, readers will want to stay for the final act.”—Library Journal

“Inside are alien worlds and titanic space habitats and a brilliant and paranoid hero, all skillfully blended together with long-vanished galactic secrets.”—William H. Keith, New York Times Best Selling Author

Albert Wendland, Biography –

Albert Wendland has made a career out of his life-long interests in science fiction—and photography, art, film, and travel.  He teaches popular fiction, literature, and writing at Seton Hill University, where he has been director of its MFA in Writing Popular Fiction (the program famous for its exclusive attention to genre writing). His SF novel, The Man Who Loved Alien Landscapes, was a starred pick-of-the-week by Publisher’s Weekly, and the prequel, In a Suspect Universe, was published in 2018, describing a story from the protagonist’s past. He’s also written and published a book-length study of science fiction, a chapter in Many Genres, One Craft, a poem in Drawn to Marvel: Poems from the Comic Books, and several articles on SF and writing. He enjoys landscape photography, astronomy, graphic novels, and the “sublime.”

About Raw Dog Screaming Press –

RDSP has been publishing “fiction that foams at the mouth” for over 15 years and was recently awarded the Specialty Press Award by the Horror Writers Association. With releases that combine and cross genres including horror, literary, science-fiction, experimental, and bizarro RDSP continues to bring you the best that fringe fiction has to offer. Their imprints include Dog Star Books which focuses on science fiction adventure, Guide Dog Books for cultural studies and criticism, Anti-Oedipus Press for avant garde works, and Imaginary Books for young readers.

2019 Highlights

December 31, 2019 7:15 pm

We accepted the Specialty Press award from the HWA during StokerCon(easily the highlight of our year!) We partnered with Night... View Article

Ambasadora Limited Edition

July 31, 2019 11:13 am

Unboxing the Ambasadora Limited Edition for PulpFest We are celebrating the Ambasadora-verse at PulpFest with the release of a special... View Article