Alan K. Dell
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alankdell.bsky.social
Alan K. Dell
@alankdell.bsky.social
2.7K followers 1.6K following 2.9K posts
Sci-Fi Author, SFINCS 1 Finalist, Book Blogger, Husband, Father, Photographer, Archer, Videogamer. He/Him.
No AI ❌
No unsolicited DMs ❌

Website & Blog: www.alankdell.co.uk
All Book Links: bio.site/alankdell
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alankdell.bsky.social
#AmWriting progress: Satisfaction. 777 words added to Legacy of the Gods, bringing the total to 111,111 words.

I mean. You just can't learn skills like that. That's all natural, baby 😎

💙📚🪐 #SFF
Screenshot from Word showing 111111 words.
November 19, 2025 at 12:21 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Convincing you to read my novel(ette) by the first sentence. Share yours if you want.

Here's the opening of THE GOD SUN
First page of THE GOD SUN It was late night when the signal came through. I remember it clearly. For years the International Space Administration had been watching the skies, hoping against hope to receive something from the ISF Althaemenes. The ship was supposed to have returned the same year it had launched. Just a quick three-month jaunt around Proxima Centauri and back again. But it had vanished, leaving only a fading trail from its faster-than-light Austinium drive in its wake. Four years of painful silence, finally broken. ‘Captain on deck!’ Commander Leonard Burcham cried, snapping the heels of his perfectly shined magboots to attention. Len was a bald, white guy almost twice my age, and a damned stickler for the rules. But he was dependable and experienced and made a great executive officer. We’d worked together for so long now our thoughts were pretty much in sync. It could be scary sometimes. The rest of the crew followed the commander’s
November 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Just 18 hours remain of the Continue the Adventure Bundle. 20 awesome second-in-series books for $19.

Give these books some much-needed love and slap your TBR upside the head.

itch.io/b/3359/conti...

🩵📚 | 📢📚🪐 | 📦📚 #BookSky
Continue the Adventure. Itch-io bundle of second-in-series books. November 5 to 10
November 9, 2025 at 11:59 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
At the archery club 🎯 today about to do a Frostbite 🥶 round. It would be more appropriate to the name if it was actually cold lmao 😂
Field with four archery targets set up, with a recurve bow on a stand, and blurry arrows
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Oh shit it's N7 day!? Forgot all about that; for shame.
November 7, 2025 at 8:48 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Don't forget to grab this awesome bundle of second-in-series books and Continue the Adventure!

20 books for just $19. Give those second
books the love they deserve. Available until 10 November. Help us meet our goal 🙏🏻

itch.io/b/3359/conti...

🩵📚 | 📢📚🪐 | 📦📚
Continue the Adventure. Itch-io bundle of second-in-series books. November 5 to 10
November 7, 2025 at 8:12 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
#AmWriting progress: Added 830 words to Legacy of the Gods today, continuing the scene from last time. Though, now I'm back in the major POV. I'm so close to 110,000 it's annoying.

I feel bad leaving you guys hanging for so long though, so have a funny #snippet. 🤪

💙📚🪐 #SFF
‘Dragon’s Run, this is, err, Shuttle Tydirium requesting docking access,’ Beckett said, flashing a grin back at a flustered Erin. ‘Oh for fuck’s sake,’ came the reply. ‘Where did you come from? And I swear to god you guys need to stop calling yourselves Shuttle fucking Tydirium. There’s, like, twenty of you. It’s getting ridiculous. Never should’ve let you idiots name your own transports.’ Erin shook herself out of her daze and watched in awe as Beckett effortlessly matched their contact’s energy. ‘Err, roger that, Dragon’s Run. We’ll take that under advisement. But you guys left us behind twice now. We’ve been bringing up the rear since Earth and we’ve only just caught up. So cut us a bit of slack, eh? Assholes.’ The man on the other end of the line groaned. ‘Fine. There’s some space in hangar two. It’s yours if you make it through the meat grinder. We’re bugging out in five, so hurry the fuck up. Dragon’s Run out.’ Rhys, Erin and Nate stared at Beckett as the line went dead and she s
November 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
New bookish mail 💌 📚

I recently received this really cool set of bookmarks and art cards from @jendiagammon.bsky.social related to the Amethyst Lantern series, which I have really enjoyed.

Thanks so much for sending these! 💙📚
Set of two character art cards, three printed bookmarks, and two handmade bookmarks featuring characters and iconography from Jendia Gammon's Amethyst Lantern series.
November 7, 2025 at 9:44 AM
alankdell.bsky.social
Heh heh heh
November 6, 2025 at 7:42 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
🚨 New Itch-io Bundle 🚨

Continue your adventure with this bundle of second-in-series books. This follows on from August's Start Your Adventure Bundle, so if you grabbed that, this is your next stop!

20 books, $19 including The Shadow of Arcadia!

itch.io/b/3359/conti...
📦📚🩵 | 📢📚🪐
Continue the Adventure Itch-io bundle of second in series books. November 5–10
November 5, 2025 at 8:35 AM
alankdell.bsky.social
Nominations are open for this year's #IndieInkAwards until the end of November.

Please nominate books from The Augment Saga!

Just go to indiestorygeek.com/u..., click on the book you want to nominate (you do have to make a free Indie Story Geek account).

📢📚🪐 💙📚 #SFF
1/2
Indie Ink Award Nominations Open! Nominate books from the Augment Saga. IndieStoryGeek.com/user/alankdell Four book cover paperback mockups for The Re-Emergence, From the Grave of the Gods, The Flight of the Aurora, and The Shadow of Arcadia, on a Mars background.
November 4, 2025 at 1:43 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Today's the last day of the #Halloween Sale, and the last chance to get The God Sun for 99p or equivalent on Amazon or Itch-io.

Get it while you can 🙏🏻

mybook.to/godsun
alankdell.itch.io/th...

📢📚🪐 | 🩸📚 #BookSky 🤏📚
Tablet mockup of The God Sun on the right in front of a space background of an ominous red dwarf star. On the right are selected review extracts. The text reads: “Brutal, bloody, and disturbing”, “Brilliant read. Well written. 100% recommended”, and “It had that creeping discomfort I’ve come to expect from space sci-fi stories that lean towards the dark side”. Underneath the book, the text reads: “Available widely. Books2read.com/thegodsun.”
November 4, 2025 at 8:57 AM
alankdell.bsky.social
Halloween may be over, but the spooky sales are still going. The God Sun is still just 99p everywhere until the end of Tuesday.

Today is KDP reset day. Buy my books so I won't have to look at all those nasty zeroes 🙏🏻

books2read.com/thego...
alankdell.itch.io/th...

📢📚🪐 | 🤏📚 |🩸📚 #BookSky
In the centre of the image is a tablet mockup of the book cover for The God Sun. The cover features bold distressed title text in orange and red overlaid on a fiery image of a red dwarf star, with tendrils of stellar matter spiralling outward. Between the words “god” and “sun” is a slender silhouette of a spaceship. The book is on a background of a more saturated version of the red dwarf star, and is surrounded by arrows and text about the book. The text reads: Quick read (under 50 pages), doomed rescue mission, malevolent cosmic entity, grisly murders, space madness, cosmic horror, stranded spaceship, space exploration, lost alien civilisation, ancient artefact, and violent cultists.
November 1, 2025 at 3:53 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
#AmWriting progress: 572 words added to Legacy of the Gods. I'm at the start of Chapter 25, and my outline seems too vague. If I followed it slavishly, it would be far too short.

First off, pantsing.
And then Let there be dung.

106,850 words total.
A knight standing in front of a skeleton in a dank corridor. The message reads: "Don't give up, skeleton!"
October 31, 2025 at 11:08 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
My #Halloween plans: The kids have a party to go to, so after that we'll get a takeaway, and then I'm gonna play some Luigi's Mansion since it dropped onto the NSO GameCube app.

Might listen to some Ghost, too. I'm already correctly apparelled. It's the night of the witch, tonight.
Bearded man in a Ghost t-shirt sitting in a chair
October 31, 2025 at 2:19 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
🚨New Itch-io Bundle Alert🚨

The Halloween Flash Sale is live! Get 28 spooky books—including The God Sun—for just $9.99 (regularly $85) in this utterly terrifying deal.

itch.io/b/3311/hallo...

🩸📚 | 📢📚🪐 | 📦📚 | 🤏📚 #BookSky
Happy Halloween Flash Sale $9.99 graphic with book covers for all 28 books, lightning, and a pumpkin
October 30, 2025 at 3:39 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
I have this. I've used it as a reference book more times than I can count. It's got a lot of great stuff in it that was really helpful for me early on being self-taught.
Book cover for Graphic Design Rules
October 30, 2025 at 12:22 AM
alankdell.bsky.social
Cosmic horror for #SpookySeason 🎃

A rescue mission to a stranded starship turns into a nightmare for Helene Cross and her crew when their minds are ensnared by an entity from beyond the stars.

Just 99¢ until 4 November!

books2read.com/thego...
alankdell.itch.io/th...

📢📚 | 🩸📚🪐 | 🤏📚
The God Sun book cover tablet mockup in the middle on a background with a red dwarf star with a review quote underneath which reads: “[The God Sun] had that creeping discomfort I’ve come to expect from space sci-fi stories that lean towards the dark side. I was hooked!"
October 28, 2025 at 11:06 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Fear not! I have heard your resounding silence, and now The God Sun is down to 0.99¢ on Itch-io AND Amazon, the same as everywhere else.

Go wild.

books2read.com/thego...
alankdell.itch.io/th...
🩸📚🪐 #BookSky 🤏📚
The God Sun book cover tablet mockup in the middle on a background with a red dwarf star with a review quote underneath which reads: “[The God Sun] had that creeping discomfort I’ve come to expect from space sci-fi stories that lean towards the dark side. I was hooked!”
October 28, 2025 at 3:48 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
I am knackered. Spent the whole day driving home from Scunthorpe. We stopped at Sir Isaac Newton's house at Woolsthorpe Manor on the way home.

Took a photo of a tree, saw a hologram of an apple, and blinded Little Miss 7 with science 🌈
Apple on a gnarled apple tree Green hologram of an apple and Mr 10's hand appearing to hold it A rainbow across Little Miss 7's face
October 27, 2025 at 8:17 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Itch-io is having its Halloween sale, and The God Sun is participating! Get my Event Horizon inspired cosmic horror sci-fi novelette for 50% off until November 4.

alankdell.itch.io/th...

🩸📚🪐 #BookSky 🤏📚
In the centre of the image is a tablet mockup of the book cover for The God Sun. The cover features bold distressed title text in orange and red overlaid on a fiery image of a red dwarf star, with tendrils of stellar matter spiralling outward. Between the words “god” and “sun” is a slender silhouette of a spaceship. The book is on a background of a more saturated version of the red dwarf star, and is surrounded by arrows and text about the book. The text reads: Quick read (under 50 pages), doomed rescue mission, malevolent cosmic entity, grisly murders, space madness, cosmic horror, stranded spaceship, space exploration, lost alien civilisation, ancient artefact, and violent cultists.
October 27, 2025 at 6:57 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Thanks Rebecca!

After warning its makers of the return of a long-forgotten foe, an ancient satellite consciousness embarks on a galactic adventure when it is downloaded by the plucky crew of the imperial flagship.

THE RE-EMERGENCE
books2read.com/the-re-emerg...
alankdell.itch.io/the-re-emerg...
The Re-Emergence book cover in paperback, Kindle, and tablet in the middle on a starry backdrop with a review quote underneath which reads: "Man, no surprise it made it to the SFINCS finals. Had me at the edge of my seat!"
October 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Took the kids to Normanby Hall's Halloween fayre today since we're up near Scunthorpe for the weekend. They had a reptiles, spiders, and mini beasts presentation there.

Little Miss 7 really loved handling the Chilean rose tarantula 🕷️ And Mr 10 enjoyed holding the California rat snake 🐍
Little Miss 7 holding a Chilean rose tarantula Mr 7 holding a California rat snake
October 26, 2025 at 4:37 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
Afternoon Womble! I just finished The Black Hole yesterday. Surprised that it ended somewhat differently to the movie. Much more esoteric.

Now I've begun Children of Memory.
Paperback of Alan Dean Foster's novelisation of Disney's The Black Hole with Lego orchids next to it on the shelf Book cover for Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky
October 26, 2025 at 12:53 PM
alankdell.bsky.social
I know it's only Thursday but how about a new #scifi book for the weekend?

I've got your space operas, your space thrillers, your space horrors... Space enough to swing a cat, even.

Take your pick. Start a new adventure.
alankdell.itch.io
books2read.com/alank...

📢📚🪐 🩵📚🩸
Five tablet mock-ups of the augment saga books in a group (with SFINCS finalist badge attached to The Re-Emergence) with the series title above, and five stars plus a review quote below which reads: "I rarely find as successful a blend of science, intrigue, and mystery as I have with this series." The God Sun book cover tablet mockup in the middle on a background with a red dwarf star with a review quote underneath which reads: “[The God Sun] had that creeping discomfort I’ve come to expect from space sci-fi stories that lean towards the dark side. I was hooked!”
October 23, 2025 at 5:33 PM