Get ready for the special edition of this gritty, action-packed thriller served with a chilling side of revenge. For fans of The Blacklist, Blindspot and Ready Player One.
Login to a gritty techno thriller from the author of The Echo.
Vlad – gamer, hacker, scourge… Angel of Death.
Vlad's parents died in a car accident; she can still feel the flames licking her skin, smell the burning batteries and fire-retardant. Except it wasn’t an accident, someone made it happen.
She's has spent the last nine years tracking those responsible; planning, plotting.Â
She’s almost done.
When the last move is over, her opponent will wish they never played with the Angel of Death.
Get ready to jack in and play along as Crawford masterfully weaves a complex, action-packed tale of virtual reality and revenge.
Gamer is available in book ebook and special edition paperback formats.
Gamer is complete, edited and ready to send to the printer! You'll receive your ebooks shortly after the campaign ends and physical copies in the New Year!
Number of books: 1
Age range: 15+
Genre: near future sci-fi, thriller, mystery, revenge
Page count: 393 pages
Trim: 5.5" x 8.5"
Format: paperback, ebook (ePub & mobi) and (if we hit the stretch goal!) hardback.
Check out that sexy sprayed edge with its secret message.
Gamer is sci-fi thriller with a hefty dose of virtual reality, about a woman out to get revenge for her murdered parents. If you're a fan of The Blacklist, Blindspot or How To Get Away With Murder but wished they'd thrown in a little Ready Player One action, you're gonna love it.
It's also a sneaky origin story for two major characters in my I Am Maggie series, one of whom has hidden a message on this page. Can you find it?
What makes the Special Edition so special?
You will not find the Gamer Special Edition in stores! The paperback features a foil cover, sprayed edges (printed with a secret message) and is hand-signed and numbered by me.
Together, Shawn and I are bringing you 6 oracle cards as a bonus reward for supporting both of our projects. These oracle cards are exclusive to this year's Booktopia.
The Gamer oracle cards, exclusive to Booktopia!
If you support both Gamer and my buddy's awesome sci-book, The Bright Spot, at any physical reward level and we both reach 100% funding, you'll get 6 oracle cards as a special bonus. That's 3 Gamer oracle cards and 3 The Bright Spot cards!
In the not-too-distant future, Annihilation—an online multiplayer role-playing game—obsesses the globe, sucking in kids and dollars as easily as it consumes the lives of adults and dominates the media. This global addiction is as much a product of the game as the conglomerates who own a piece of it.
More than just a game though, Annihilation is a test-bed for the very latest in network and AI technology and all the money that comes with it. From professional video gaming leagues, to keyboards, virtual reality rigs and medical breakthroughs, the game and the intricate networks that feed on it, are a cash cow.
Online she's known only as Samael, the dark-robed Angel of Death. In the virtual world of Annihilation, she is a Scourge, a hacker-gamer playing on the raggedy edge of legal, breaking boundaries and diving into the deep, dark loopholes of the online networks, to push computer and AI technology to places no one thought it would go.
In the real world, she is Vlad Tong and she watched her parents die.Â
Before the accident, ballet had been her life and after… After it, she turned herself into the perfect instrument for revenge.
I’m Belinda Crawford. Physics makes my brain hurt while quadratics cause my eyes to cross and any mention of probability equations will have me running for the door. Nonetheless, I love watching documentaries about the natural world, biology, space, history and technology.
I’m also a sucker for a fast horse, a faster computer and superhero movies. When I’m not doing the horse, computer or superhero thing, I write sci-fi and fantasy for readers who like their fiction action-packed, with diverse characters, butt-kicking heroines and complex worlds.Â
Gamer is a sneaky origin story for two major characters in I Am Maggie.
For Early Birds: Back within the first 48 hours (5–6 September) and score a BONUS ultra-early eARC of I Am Maggie Volume 1. This book isn't due for release until 2025 but you'll get it shortly after the campaign ends.
Bet you didn't know it, but Gamer is a sneaky origin story for two major characters in I Am Maggie.
Short Bits 5 includes a brand new Maggie story!
Returning backers: Backers who've supported one of my past campaigns will also get an early ebook copy of Short Bits Volume 5! This latest volume includes 5 original short stories including a brand new Maggie story not included in I Am Maggie Volume 1.
I’ve backed a few crowdfunding campaigns and sometimes deciding what level to back at can be daunting, which is why I’ve separated the pledges into two tracks, Digital and Physical.
The Digital track is for eBook lovers and those who want to give Gamer a try before plunging into these crazy waters.
The Physical track is for people who like to feel the weight of a book in their hands, to indulge themselves with the scent of paper and the quiet shwip of a turning page.
The Gamer Special Edition paperback features a foil cover, sprayed edges, gorgeous title pages and is hand-signed and numbered by me.
Physical tiers do not include postage. Please check the SHIPPING section below for more information and pricing.
The Gamer digital campaign badge.
Every pledge comes with the exclusive Gamer digital campaign badge, and at the Just the eBook all of the digital extras unlocked via stretch goals.
No matter which track you choose, you'll have access to awesome add-ons and campaign updates.
DIGITAL TRACK
$2 – Your name in the Acknowledgements + Exclusive campaign badge
$10 – Gamer ebook
$40 – Gamer + the first book in each of Belinda's series, as ebooks
$60 – Gamer + Belinda's entire digital catalog
PHYSICAL TRACK (does NOT include postage. See the SHIPPING section below)
$50 – Gamer special edition paperback
$100 – Gamer special edition paperback + the first book in each of Belinda's series
$150 – Gamer special edition paperback + your name in Gamer!
Shipping is not included in the price of the physical tiers and will be charged at campaign’s end.Â
Check below for shipping costs, if your location isn’t listed, shoot me a message or leave a comment and we’ll get it sorted.
*All prices are based on Australian dollars; USD, British Pound and Euro conversions are approximate.
Why is shipping so pricey? Because these books are coming to you all the way from the Land of Oz, and there’s a lot of air between the Downunder and the rest of the world.
If that’s the case, why not drop ship the books? Because my printer is in Australia too! Kaligraphic Print is an awesome, family-run printing company who specialise in making very pretty books, with foil covers and sprayed edges and all the good things! You should totally check out their Instagram page.
Shipping for Pledges with bundled books & Add-ons
Backers outside of Australia & New Zealand: To keep shipping costs as reasonable as possible, if you select a pledge level that includes a physical book bundle (such as The Starter Set or The Whole Freakin (Paper) Shebang), or choose to add a physical book in the Add-ons section, the additional books will be drop-shipped. Please check the FAQs for costs.
Australian & New Zealand backers: Bundled books and add-ons will come directly from me and will incur additional shipping. Please check the FAQs for costs.
Once you back the campaign, you’ll have the option to customise your pledge with a number of optional add-ons, such as books and swag from my other series.
For Digital backers, you can choose ebooks from The Hero Rebellion and Echo series as well as the Short Bits short story collections.
Physical backers will be able to add-on paperbacks from Short Bits, The Hero Rebellion, The Echo and Demons & Battleskirts series.
Everyone will receive an exclusive digital wallpaper. Physical backers will also get the campaign badge as temporary tattoo.
🔓UNLOCKED! GOAL 3 – Book bag + Digital bookmark!
Physical backers will receive a sexy little bag to carry their sexy Special Edition paperback in. Can't scratch that cover! Everyone will receive an exclusive digital, print-at-home bookmark.
GOAL 4 – A Gamer shorty!
We're getting serious now. If we hit this goal, I will write a brand new Gamer short story, and you all get to help.
It's the one you've been waiting for! It's time to unleash the hardback!!! Hitting this goal means we unlock the Gamer Collectors Edition Hardback, a sexy beast with foil cover, sprayed edges and printed endpapers, hand-signed and individually numbered by me.
If you've backed at a Physical tier that includes a bundle (such as The Whole Shebang or Written In) you'll have the option to upgrade your pledge via Add-ons.
Once you select a pledge level, you’ll have the option to add extras, ranging from ebooks to paperbacks and collectors edition hardbacks.Â
THE HERO REBELLION
The Hero Rebellion is more of the same action-packed sci-fi goodness, featuring psychic mutant animal companions, illegal street races and a butt-kicking, computer hacking heroine who doesn't take "no" for an answer.
Hero Rebellion add-ons include ebooks and paperbacks.
THE ECHO
Set just over 200 years after The Hero Rebellion, The Echo trilogy is an epic sci-fi series. With aliens, spaceships, big arse mechs and an LGBTQI+ hero having a REALLY bad day, it's perfect for fans of The Expanse, Murderbot and Alien.Â
The Echo add-ons include ebooks and paperbacks.
DEMONS & BATTLESKIRTS
This one is a little different. Demons & Battleskirts is a dark urban fantasy series with reincarnated superheroines, inter-dimensional demons and immortal enemies. A darkness is coming and the only thing standing between it and victory are Byrne, her sisters and the lies tearing them apart.
Demons & Battleskirts add-ons include ebooks and paperbacks.
SHORT BITS
Short Bits is an eclectic collection of short stories. They're written for the fun of it and published here because otherwise they'll sit in a drawer, and where's the fun in that?
Short Bits add-ons include ebooks, paperbacks and the collectors edition hardback (stock limited).
This year, as part of BackerKit's inaugural Booktopia event I and 17 other creators are partnering to bring you an exclusive oracle card deck!Â
To get the full deck, all you need to do is back each of the projects in the Oracle Deck Collection (linked below) at a physical tier, and if all the projects reach 100% funding the deck is yours! How easy is that?!
📚 Welcome to Booktopia — a celebration of creativity and collaboration from a vibrant collective of writers, authors and artists collectively running crowdfunding projects from September 5th -September 26th.
🔥 Limited Cross-Collaboration Freebies — All 50+ Booktopia creators have paired up with a fellow participant to create two unique and limited freebies together. If BOTH projects successfully fund, backers who support BOTH will get the TWO [2] cross-collab freebies listed on their campaign page, one will ship from each creator. The more pairs of Booktopia creators you support, the more freebies you will earn ✨
🧧 1 FREE Limited Edition Booktopia 2024 reward if you back FIVE [5] or more projects. Exclusive reward for Booktopia - Black Metal Bookmark (*design coming)
