I put 5 Sci-Fi Comedy writers in a room.

And I definitely didn't hit them with sticks or anything.

Good morning/afternoon/evening my friends and fans. I have a thing to announce.

THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION is here.

(And also another freebie bookshelf, in which you can read my entry into TCCC for free!)

THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION

Featuring five brand new Sci-Fi Comedy stories from five brilliant authors, The Cosmic Comedy Collection is a book that will have you laughing at everything from shapeshifting aliens, superintelligent AI, to flying cats. It's weird, it's wacky, and every single story in the book can't be found anywhere else.

This book contains talented, hilarious writing from:

A.J. Pagan

Aaron Frale

John Coon

Phillip Carter

Robin Drown

Arranged by Author-Comedian hybrid and bigfoot lookalike Phillip Carter, this book is a wild adventure into comedy that proves that Science Fiction can be a lot more than sulky protagonists and miserable weather. It can be silly, twisted, and downright ridiculous too. And at the same time, it can still be pretty clever.

If you like your Sci-Fi with a comedic edge, you're in the right place.

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Backstory

You might recognise all the author’s names from my (currently on a break) podcast. Strange Stories with Phillip Carter used to be an author chatroom sort of thing, inspired by Bill Burr and Graham Norton’s shows. I hunted down and picked out writers who I thought would make for interesting conversation. Back in 2021 I actually predicted John Coon becoming a bestselling author with a two week margin of error. Almost precisely a year later, he came back to my podcast - then renamed The Phillip Carter Show - as a bestselling author.

And soon, all five of us will be.

Because we’re working as a team to cross-promote this thing and show the world that Sci-Fi can be more than angsty space battles, grimaces, and gritty visual descriptions.

It can be bold and colourful and mind-bending and weird.

It can also be hilarious.

So let’s go over the authors again.

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A.J. Pagan

(Author of Brian, Created Intelligence) A.J. once dressed up as me on The Phillip Carter show, so he could interview me, as me. He had a wig and everything, and if you want to see that, I’m reposting it soon. His story in TCCC, ‘And The Cat’s Dead, Right?!’ is filled with snappy dialogue and humour that would work just as well in a dimly lit comedy bar as it does on the stage.

A.J. wrote the story exclusively for THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION, so you won’t see it anywhere else.

Aaron Frale

Comedy writer best known for the pretty-much-always-bestselling TIME BURRITO series, Aaron is a very funny and very kind dude who I met on a comedians of Patreon group. He’s also one of the marketing geniuses behind The Cosmic Comedy Collection. His story, ‘The Answer To The Fermi Paradox’, might actually contain the real answer to the Fermi Paradox. It’s good. Trust me.

Aaron wrote the story exclusively for THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION, so you won’t see it anywhere else, unless you can read his mind.

John Coon

Sports writer by day, bestselling Sci-Fi wizard by night, John is the author of the much-loved Alien People series. I think I will always envy John’s snappy prose and efficient dialogue, so I knew when I convinced him to be part of this book that his story ‘Slime Monsters’ would kick ass. And it does.

John wrote the story exclusively for THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION, so you won’t see it anywhere else.

Phillip Carter

Comedian, author, poet, inventor, Phillip is someone I find quite hard to describe because I live inside his head half the time. The other half of the time I am living inside fictional universes littered with time-travelling crabs, interdimensional simulations, and spaceships that are living, breathing creatures. Most of these showed up in my first book, which you’ve already heard about. My short story ‘Rawr Of The Wurlds XD’ is a delirious exploration into a world invaded by aliens who can only speak in antiquated internet memes. Totes yeet, yo.

I wrote the story exclusively for THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION, so you won’t see it anywhere else… Unless you get the free sample.

Robin Drown

Author, human, and some other thing, Robin Drown’s irreverent prose makes him a good candidate for a silly book about aliens and robots. He is best known for the book Seagulls and Seances. His story in TCCC, ‘Space Hooray’ will make you laugh about AI during these last unsettling weeks before the machines crawl from their factories and start trying to hasten our evolution into crabs by sticking us together in increasingly weird combinations.

Robin wrote the story exclusively for THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION, so you won’t see it anywhere else.

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Five authors working together

The goal for this collection was to bring together a cluster of different, unique and contrasting comedic voices for one book. Every time a copy is sold, each author is sent a slice of the money pie. For some, this might be our best gig!

Making sure each of our stories was brand new was very important to me as well. This means that the book explodes onto the scene with new work by five authors. It is not merely a repackaging of old and familiar material, it is current, punchy, and weird.

We all have different skills and styles, so it’s a fantastic book. I ordered the stories so it feels like reading a rollercoaster. It’s brilliant.

And if it’s a success, I will definitely be doing more of them.

And open submissions will happen here.

You could be in the next one.

Whilst a paperback is on the way ASAP, right now just the eBook is available, which is good for you as it’s cheaper than the Paperback will be.

And if you fancy a free sample of the book, you can get it here. As the mascot for the book and for Halfplanet Press, I volunteered my story ‘War Of The Wurlds XD’ as the freebie for this one. It’s got one of those email harvesters on it, so use the email address you received this mail from, so I don’t add you here twice!

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Livestream

I plan to have a livestream tonight, where I chat with some of the authors from the book as and when they are available. I’m quite busy right now sorting out some secret stuff, so I imagine I’ll be going live at 6pm UK time tonight.

It will probably be a broadcast on my Youtube, so if you miss the upcoming email, you’ll still be able to watch it as Youtube saves livestreams as permanent videos.

Paperback release date

At the very latest, the paperback will be available by Valentine’s day 2024. It’s coming out after the eBook because I want to put time into getting it right, and I think a staggered approach helps a book get noticed. That, and I’m still saving up for the ISBN codes. I want a ten pack, or more, that way I am prepared for all of 2024’s releases, because there is a lot of stuff on the way, including Earthloop Book One, four poetry collections (serious serious silly silly), about four writing prompt/advice books, and potentially THE COSMIC COMEDY COLLECTION TWO, THE BIGGER ONE. I want to put out serious Sci-Fi collections as well. My writer pal Grace suggested turning my old and still in progress book SEVEN STORIES ABOUT TIME TRAVEL into a collection with other authors… not a bad idea.

Lots of stuff.

I am a machine of weird fiction.

But I’m not alone. I have the help of my author friends and the motivation borrowed from the excitement in your reviews of my books and stories. Despite being an author, I don’t quite fit the old stereotypes. I’m a social creature, so your positive reviews and comments do quite literally power the idea engine.

Thanks for all your support so far!

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If you’ve got any friends who might like this Substack, please do invite them.