J.F. Holmes Author Page

28/07/2024

Looking for some great adventure? Cannon Audio has got listens for you!

- Post Apocalypse
- Alien Invasion
- Military Fantasy
- Spy Thrillers
- Space Opera

28/07/2024

Preorder Today: https://amzn.to/3A3cstK

When nine out of ten people in the world have died in a brutal plague, what do those who remain do to pick up the pieces? Does the creed, "Duty, Honor, Country" have a place anymore if there's no country left?

On his way across the devastated remains of Texas, Marine Corps veteran and survivor Eric Marten rescues a young woman from a vicious attack by men who have turned into savages. As Dani slowly learns to trust him, they try to stay alive in the deathlands that America has become, using all their wits to survive a post-apocalyptic nightmare.

A thrilling new series from author Al Hagan.

When nine out of ten people in the world have died in a brutal plague, what do those who remain do to pick up the pieces? Does the creed, "Duty, Honor, Country" have a place any more if there's no country left? On his way across the devastated remains of Texas, Marine Corps veteran and survivor E...

25/07/2024

Looking for short stories and full manuscripts. Email [email protected]

17/07/2024

Hey guys, short notice, but here are the Dragon Award nominees for Cannon for 2024. Deadline is the 19th. Go to the website and submit; the more votes we get the better chance one of us will get picked up as a finalist!

Best Science Fiction Novel
Path to Glory
James Copley

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
Chosen By The Sword
Charles Hackney

Best Horror Novel
Dead Storm Rising
Shane Gries

Welcome to the annual Dragon Awards! A way to recognize excellence in all the fun things we follow at Dragon Con. These awards are by the fans, for the fans, and are your chance to reward those who have made real contributions to books, games, comics, movies and shows. There is no qualification for....

09/07/2024

Five days until Tactical Romance hits!

Two souls collide in the middle of a deadly war.

Sylvie Lyons, of Her Majesties' Royal Engineers, had joined the Army to follow in the footsteps of her granddad, despite everything the old man had warned her about. Now a Sergeant, she promised herself as she sat in her truck and sweated in the heat of an Afghanistan summer, she would pay more attention to his advice. Being in some politicians' bright idea of an experimental unit didn't mean a bloody thing when an IED went off or an RPG decided that it had your number.

Sergeant Hondo Cassidy, United States Marine Corps, loved his job as an artilleryman. Nothing in life is better than throwing hate at the Taliban, along with anybody else who wants to buy in for a whipping. He was, however, looking forward to heading out of the sandbox, as the Marines called anything in the Middle East, shortly. When the word came down that Cassidy's platoon was being kept in Afghanistan to provide security for Lyons' engineers, he was more than a bit ticked off, but orders were orders.

Of course, the Marine artillery platoon was all male. And the British Engineer unit was all female. Putting so many young men and women together in a dangerous situation has been a recipe for both love and disaster since the beginning of time. Throw in an aggressive enemy with a passionate hatred for the foreign infidels and the action becomes non-stop. Along the way Hondo and Sylvie learn the hard lessons of leadership, of death of brothers and sisters in combat, the sometimes futility of their mission, and maybe, just maybe, how to make something more: A life together.

If they can survive.

Hell's Belles: Love and War Downrange

01/07/2024

Shane Gries' newest Line book is out! If you can't wait for IST volume 5, here's your next action fix!

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Dead-One-Line-Book-ebook/dp/B0D5Q4FZCJ

29/06/2024

From our Miltiary Non-Fiction Editor, Shane Gries.

Cannon Publishing is branching out into non-fiction military history and I will be the senior editor for that work. We are looking to document the history of military operations from 1989 to present, primarily through the lens of personal stories and accounts. If you have a personal anecdote that you would like to have published, or even full-length book, please contact me. We are looking to publish a collection of short personal stories as well as full-length books about recent military operations.

We're not necessarily concerned about whether these things occurred in combat. We are looking for interesting experiences from peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance missions too. If it happened to military servicemembers, we're interested. These can be your own personal experiences, or from interviews or unit daily reports.
The military exploits of the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers have been well documented (and rightfully so). It's time for us to write about Generation X so that future generations can learn of their service and sacrifice.

You can reach out to me at: [email protected]
Thanks in advance!

16/06/2024

Congratulations to Charles Hackney for cracking the top 20 in new releases for contemporay fantasy!

Have you picked up your copy yet?

09/06/2024

Up for pre-sale now, drops June 15th!

There are some things a PhD doesn’t prepare you for, like running two feet of steel through the guts of a flesh-eating monster straight out of a nightmare, while ducking razor sharp claws. Or having the sword critique your fighting style while you do it.

Dave Howard had a problem. Last week, he was out looking for a teaching job in the middle of a wrecked job market. This week he was neck deep in green blood and hellfire. Dragged into it by the very sword, his grandfathers’ mysterious possessed blade, that was now walking him through hacking up a ghoul without getting his own head cut off. This wasn’t exactly what he had gone to school for, and the University he had just taken a job with seemed to be anything BUT an academic institution. More like some kind of monster hunting bunch of weirdo nerds. Maybe his degree in Personality Psychology might be useful there, at least. The fighting though … as he dodged another swipe of claws and awkwardly tried to follow the instructions the sword was screaming at him, he shot back at it, "Hell, I'm Canadian! Swordplay isn't in my cultural DNA!"

An exciting new series that dives into a hidden supernatural world that lies just outside our own.

Chosen by the Sword: An Urban Fantasy series (The Professor Howard Chronicles Book 1)

26/05/2024

I love the characters in these books. I wrote them when I was going through some difficult times, and they became almost old trusted friends who I could help solve their own difficult situations. A release, in a way, helping me feel like I could overcome my own problems.

Nick Agostine is me, in a way. My ideal self, I guess, projecting how I would react (maybe!) in a given situation. Brit is, well, Brit. Not my fantasy girl but rather a woman who could rely on herself, and in turn, eventually, someone the Team could rely on. So yes, my ideal. Jonesy and Doc were amalgamations of many of my friends in the military. Ziv is, well, Ziv. An elemental spirit of warfare and mayhem.

I've moved past them now, and in my Invasion series, the Team got some closure, though I can't stand that word. They also appeared in Under A Different Sun, one of my favorite books. Regardless, now matter what time or place thy're found, it's a great tale of men and women acting as a team in difficult circumstances.

Shane Gries is almost done with his third "Line" book, mechanized infantry combat in the same universe, and Jonathan Shuerger is working hard on the USMC point of view, in his debut Cannon novel, "Semper Die".

18/05/2024

Good Saturday Morning everyone!

I'm just going to throw out my own personal plug for James Copley's debut novel. If you're looking for some old school adventures in space, with a bit of a twist, well, this is it. As you all know, I like my books to be character driven, from my own writing to shows like Firefly and BSG, and this one has it. A likeable (and literally scruffy) captain leads a crew of misfits and unwanted, trying to survive in a hostile universe. I can give a big enough thumbs up to the world building and, like I said, the people in it. Red is good enough to ship out with Captain Mal.
~ J.F.

PATH TO FREEDOM
Nearly broken and at the end of his rope, former scout pilot and Prisoner of War, Rodrick “Red” Vulkeshson, a Fox-Kin, has finally accepted the inevitable. He has no future in the Human Confederation of Worlds. Helped by his friend, Goose, he flees the star nation of his birth to an alien world to chase the dream which once captured his soul; becoming the captain of his own ship.

📷
Joseph F. Collins
5.0 out of 5 stars A Lot More than I Expected!
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
The cover is gloriously beautiful, but I had a tiny bit of trepidation when I started reading this—what sort of direction would the author go. It could be awesome, or quickly become a disaster.

I was more than pleasantly surprised, and impressed! This is a hard SF book that doesn’t get mired in tiny details, and also has interesting, fully developed characters.

Add in an interesting storyline that goes off in unexpected directions—logically, but not randomly, and you end up with a delightful yarn.

A real treat, and highly recommended!

Not all paths are equal…especially the path of the Kin. Genetically engineered human - animal hybrids, the Kin are good enough to fight and die in Terra's wars, but not good enough to be full citizens or escape human racism. Nearly broken and at the end of his rope, former scout pilot and Prisone....

12/05/2024

What's everyone doing tonight?

07/05/2024

Have you picked up all four?

02/05/2024

Hit up the website!

28/04/2024

Cannon is stacking the deck before Libertycon.

15/04/2024

Live for pre-sale, drops May 1st! Book 4 of Irregular Scout Team One.

The world has fallen, swept away by plague and civil war. In a quiet corner of a what remains of the United States, former Scout Team leader Nick Agostine struggles to adjust to peace, wanting to raise corn and kids with his wife. He has a good crop of both growing when the reality of violent war shatters his precious peace.

Called back to active duty, Colonel Agostine is tasked with planning reconnaissance missions for the Scout Teams to take out the leadership of the rebellions Mountain Republic. A final strike to end the last war, but when nuclear weapons become involved, Irregular Scout Team One travels to Florida to in chase of a renegade traitor. Disaster overtakes the Team and Agostine sets out on desperate search to find his missing wife.

Through it all, the question runs, what price loyalty, and does the dream of America still live on in the hearts of men, or has it died in the ashes of barbarism?

The world has fallen, swept away by plague and civil war. In a quiet corner of a what remains of the United States, former Scout Team leader Nick Agostine struggles to adjust to peace, wanting to raise corn and kids with his wife. He has a good crop of both growing when the reality of violent war...

14/04/2024

Getting things done. Built the Indie Alliance website and got IST Book 4, Bad Company up for pre-sale on Amazon, drops May 1st.

03/03/2024

Hey Ian McMurtrie, the battle is on!!!!! And we're winning the fantasy category but trailing in Sci-Fi! It's Cannon Publishing vs. Raconteur Press neck and neck!

29/02/2024

The Cannon High Caliber Awards are an annual contest for new writers. In it we ask them to submit a novella length story of Science Fiction, Military or Fantasy genre to challenge their skills. Out of twenty seven entries we picked nine top ones and here they are!

1st Prize: Kevin Harris – Mightier than the Pen
A retired soldier turned monk sets out to protect a book of his people’s history, dogged by barbarians intent on claiming the books’ magic. When it comes down to it though, is the pen he had taken up mightier than the sword he had put down?

2nd Prize: Sam Robb – Blue as Sky, Black as Sin
A young travelling judge on the road with an Imperial Magus struggles to keep his own magical talent hidden while investigating a series of crimes that look to be the work of a powerful necromancer.

3rd Prize: Brian Gifford – Specialist Lieu Saves the World
What’s an ordinary American grunt in power armor supposed to do when aliens drop into his battlefield and try to take over the Earth? Why, start laying down fire, kicking alien ass, and maybe just save the world.

4th Prize: SC Visel – Troll Hunt
Cullen was a young man tasked to defend his tribe against the raids of the trolls from across the way. Badly wounded in combat with one of the creatures, he leaves his village to rescue a friend who had been captured, risking his own life in the process..

And five more stories that earned honorable mention, from military thrillers to magical duels and far ranging adventure!

Link in the comments.

15/02/2024

Are you a Kindle Unlimited customer? Love to binge on some great literature?

01/02/2024

Being the captain of a privateer is hard work. Having your tough as nails but impulsive younger brother as the Master at Arms and trying to keep your ships' wizard from drinking himself to death is even harder. Having your long-lost royal love show up in a bo****lo when you're trying to get a little R & R after months at sea, and being attacked by mad cultist before you can even say her name? Hardest.

Brian Corel, former slave, gladiator, ex-fiance to an Empress, exiled Captain of the Taland Royal Guard and now owner of the Letter of Marque Widowmaker does the best he can to balance the lives of his crew with his own desire to live life as a free man. Skirting the border between being a privateer and an outright pirate, Corel stumbles into the middle of a religious cult intent on corrupting the kingdom of an old friend and has to set things right while grieving over his lost love. Along the way he signs a dragon into his crew and has to risk everything to rescue his brother from the grasp of a demon that has destroyed an entire continent.

An epic journey into a realm of fantasy and world building by two time Dragon finalist J.F. Holmes.

21/01/2024

16/01/2024

In July of 2016 a plague swept the world, and the civilization collapsed and fell. For a lone National Guard sergeant, a veteran of the wars overseas who had settled down to a new life, the nightmare began on a hot summer evening at the barricades. Orders and chaos, gunfire and being overrun, his unit dwindles away in the face of the infected.

Months later, living in the ruins, the thud of helicopter rotors followed by a crash and the rescue of a downed pilot leads Sergeant First Class Nick Agostine back into the arms of the US military. From his experience comes the idea of teams, military and civilians experienced in dealing with the undead and barbarism of the wilds. The first Irregular Scout Team leads the way for Task Force Liberty to advance down the Mohawk Valley in Upstate NY, making contact with survivors and clearing out the infected with stealth and firepower.

Visit Amazon's Irregular Scout Team One Page and shop for all Irregular Scout Team One books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of Irregular Scout Team One

06/01/2024

What's going on with Cannon, and more specifically my stuff:

I just got out of a certain contract that now allows me to publish all the IST-1 books in paperback. I'm going to look into getting them on Ingram Spark, also.

I'm also working on an anthology of my own work. Some new stuff, including a new IST story, excerpts from my novels and some stuff that isn't in print anymore.

Still workign on Fae Wars: Insurgent and Fallen Empire: Gallowglass.

01/01/2024

Coming at you in 2024! Look for our kikckstarter!

Have a Happy and SAFE New Years and a great 2024.

30/12/2023

My company (Cannon Publishing) is looking for a part time marketing person to work with developing our company brand and platforms. Prefer a marketing major who is just getting their feet wet, maybe still in school, who can devote a few paid hours a week to working on social media, branding, etc. Pay is $200 - $300 a month, (1099), full access to our advertising accounts with a budget, possibly profit sharing.

We have the books, product and authors. We need someone to grow with us and fill the marketing business skill gap.

Cannon is a pretty well selling military sci-fi, science fiction, fantasy and thriller indie publishing company, run by several veterans and with a growing author stable. I've been writing for more than ten years, and last year we started expanding. We're profitable but I'd like to take it up to the next level.

I'm NOT looking for someone to sell me a product, service or package. I'm looking for a contract employee to fill a niche, learn the publishing side of the house and grow with us. We'll probably be incorporating this year (currently my personal LLC) and it might be a chance to get in on the ground floor.

[email protected]
Email header: Advertising position
Include attached Resume and short intro about yourself.
Veteran status NOT necessary or even preferred.

26/12/2023

Our goal in 2024 is to double Cannon's readership. How can YOU help us do that?

26/12/2023

Present thread! What did you get?

21/12/2023

Well, received twenty four stories for the 2024 Cannon High Caliber Awards and, at first glance, it's going to be hard to pick out winners from such a talented pool. Good luck everyone!

21/12/2023

What's your favorite Cannon book?