Characters from The Judas Syndrome trilogy - Joel

18 years old. Lean muscular build, 6' tall. Dirty blonde hair frames his handsome face as though worked into place.

His style mirrors a favorite band, unkempt, with clean lines. Outwardly his mood reflects that of his deceased father, calm. But this calm he recognizes as little more than a mirage, his mother’s anxious nature prevalent in the back of his mind. A quiet intelligence radiates from him, he wins friends easily with little effort, a skill or trait not learned but rather something he’d been born with. He couldn’t recall a time where he made the first gesture of friendship. It went that way with girls as well. Joel had been single a total of 6 months throughout his high school career.

He finds himself the center of attention in many situations, not the least of which is making choices for his friends. He’d rather be the one making the decisions than following someone else’s anyways, and if his decisions and opinions could be projected onto his friends favorably, what’s the harm.

Joel is a compassionate person, focusing mainly on those who seemingly cannot help themselves. He feels a responsibility toward them, to help them, protect them, and is likely one of the reasons people are drawn to him.

Anxiety occasionally overwhelms him, the physical stress of it at times paralyzing him. It comes without warning, his pulse quickens, pins and needles attacking his extremities, a numbness in his face and finally the frightening certainty that death lurks around the corner. Though undiagnosed he is very aware of this flaw in himself, and manages it as best he can, alone.

Though this dark secret he carries plagues him regularly, he keeps it from his mother, not to worry her, keeps it from his doctor and friends and buries it deep within himself, controlling the outbursts by self medicating with drugs and alcohol. Careful not to become dependent on the lifestyle, he practices deep breathing and daydreaming to calm the symptoms.

Regardless of the loss of his father and his anxiety disorder, Joel is a remarkably active and vibrant person, enjoying life as it comes and where it lulls, making something from nothing. He has never allowed his dark side to completely overwhelm his life, his motto, ‘shit happens, when you get a lemon, make lemonade’ has served him well through his high school career, and he is ever hopeful it will serve him well into adulthood.

For more character sketches of characters fromThe Judas Syndrome visit this link.

Michael Poeltl

Author Interview with Michael poeltl - Dystopian fiction

Book three of the popular post-apocalyptic trilogy The Judas Syndrome is now available, and to accompany the books release is a new interview by Catherine Sword of WhiStle Radio, 102.7 on your FM dial. In this most recent interview, Michael Poeltl gives insights into the book (and series)creation, the process and answers question about the trilogy's look at destiny, free will and how spirituality plays a powerful role in the character's day to day. Also Ppoeltl offers three readings from the third book, Revelation.
The interview is in two parts and can be found on Youtube
1.) http://youtu.be/YKPcrZfH8bM
2.) http://youtu.be/fK5s1TvUx4Q

Michael Poeltl

Dystopian fiction for men - it's not all about the girls

With so many dystopic and post-apocalyptic series coming out the past few years that cast female leads like Divergent and the Hunger Games, it's difficult to find popular books for the boys. Though the stats have it that girls and women read a LOT more than the opposite sex, we guys that like our fiction dark need a few books that we can relate to as well!

That being said, The Maze Runner series offers just that. With a strong lead that is very identifiable to teenage boys and adults alike. Another dark trilogy is The Judas Syndrome, whose main character is a teen boy in book one, and book three. Faced with a dark premonition in book one, Joel, who narrates the book in first person is a care free teen waiting out the summer with his friends before heading off to college. Then a great evil shrouds the world in darkness and he and his friends have to navigate a post apocalyptic present without the aid or guidance of their families.

In book three, Lief, the son of Joel is faced with a similar premonition in the aftermath of his father's apocalypse and all at once struggles with his destiny and humanity. A lot to put on a kid of eighteen, but definitely books the boys can sink their teeth into.

Michael Poeltl

SPIKE TV IS GIVING YOU THE CHANCE TO WIN AN UNDERGROUND SHELTER FOR YOUR FAMILY

PR from SPIKE TV

Are you a survivor? Are you prepared?

Nuclear war, terrorism, pole shifting, killer comets and tsunamis all have the potential to cause national or worldwide disaster. Some people think the Mayan Calendar predicts the end of the world on December 21, 2012.

If you've always wanted to secure lifetime access to a well-protected, underground shelter for you and your immediate family in case of a global emergency, then this is your chance.

SPIKE TV and Vivos Shelters (www.terravivos.com) are seeking a handful of lucky people to compete on a new TV show for the chance to own shares in a state-of-the-art, community underground shelter for up to 6 family members.

Producers are looking for outgoing, competitive PAIRS of immediate family members (husband and wife, father and son, siblings...) to represent their family household on national television in a series of fun and exciting challenges. This is your opportunity to PROVE that you have what it takes to join a community of people who can survive global disaster!

APPLY TODAY!
 Send an email to LastFamilyCasting@gmail.com with the following:
 1. Your name and the name of at least one family member who could be your teammate
 2. Your phone numbers
 3. Your city/state (same household or neighborhood preferred)
 4. Recent photos of each of you
 5. A brief explanation of why you want to win this show AND what skills you and your family can offer a community of survivors.

Deadline to apply is JUNE 20, 2012! Producers are waiting to hear from you!

* To compete on the show, you must be a legal U.S. resident and at least 18 years of age. (Note: Family members of any age are eligible for a place in the shelter. Conditions and restrictions for shelter co-ownership apply.) For more information, visit www.pilgrimstudios.com/casting/LastFamilyOnEarth
www.the-judas-syndrome.com

Michael Poeltl

The art of the book cover

Originally, when I first created The Judas Syndrome cover art in 2009, it was meant to portray the catalyst of the apocalypse in a more painterly style.

Then as the book became a series I realized the cover art wouldn't lend itself to  branding three books. So I came up with the stark graphic image in 2010 which lent itself perfectly to using a symbol for each book,  yet carrying over the same look and feel.

Then in 2012 I decided I'd make a compilation of all three books into one trilogy and designed the current cover.  Then decided I could use this new cover for each of the books and just replace the secondary name  and include the original symbols from the 2010 design.

I think the cover has come a long way and feel this may be its last incarnation. The point is, cover design is a tricky business. You don't want to jump into it like I did and keep changing it. I was lucky enough that the books didn't really get selling until I had my second design in place and since it pretty closely resembles the current cover art, I think people will still relate them to the series, but offers them more 'curb appeal'. After all, most people do still judge a book by its cover, and so, as indy authors, we need to step it up a notch and have professional looking cover art for our indy marketed books.

Michael Poeltl

Post Apocalyptic Earth Blog: Revolution

Post Apocalyptic Earth Blog: Revolution: There is gonna be a new show on NBC "Revolution". "Our entire way of life depends on electricity. So what would happen if it just stopped...

Marketing your trilogy for the Indy author

As an independent author, I understand the limited reach I have against traditionally published books or series. So, as such, you have to think outside the box.

Have you writ en a trilogy or series? Have you created a website? Have you marketed yourself on all of the important social networks? The Facebooks and Twitters, Goodreads and linked In? Did you place your book on Amazon and Smashwords in digital formats to meet all potential e-readers like the kindle, nook, kobo, Sony and ipad? Have you joined forums like Kindle boards and mobile reads to promote your work? Have you approached bloggers and reviewers of your genre?

Good, then you have taken your future and the future of your books into your own hands. Regardless of whether you've been traditionally published or going it on your own, marketing is always going to be on you, the author.

So, you've built your name and your brand and your series. What's next? Freebies! And which book should you offer as a freebie? Think about it now... why give away book one? "Well, it's the first of the series" is your argument. But think about it. If you give away book 1 there is no guarantee they'll move on and buy book 2. You're assuming they'll love book one and have to know what happens next. But that may not be the case. So, you've potentially lost a sale for every free book you've handed out. Now, if you were to give away book 2 of the series or trilogy, then you're going to receive potential sales for book 1 right away, as many people won't want to start in the middle of a trilogy, but because the book is free, will give it a shot!

Now, you can go a little further and up the price of book one (which i didn't do) or up the price of book three (which I did do). Once you've read two of three books in a series, and even only liked them and didn't love them, you're in the author's world now, so you're likely to buy book three  - especially if left with a cliff-hanger in book two. So, are you getting my point? People love free books. People love a trilogy. People have a hard time coming into a trilogy in the middle. So people buy book one because they got book two for free. They purchase book one and read one and two, then they purchase book three. If you gave away a thousand copies of book 2, you can potentially sell 2000 more copies. Then there is word of mouth, the reviews, the tweets, the 'likes', the bloggers and the potential that someone with some real influence has now read your series and is interested in traditionally publishing it with the promise of another two or three book deal worth 7 digits.

That's pretty exciting. I know I'm excited for my own success in having recently done just that with my trilogy The Judas Syndrome. I expect within a month's time I will be very grateful for the idea and I hope I can encourage other Indy writers to do the same with their books and realize a similar success.

Michael Poeltl