SFFSat - Sept 15

Welcome back to another Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

SFFSat is a place where a bunch of us post snippets from our written works and also shoot the breeze a little. And before I get ahead of myself, thanks and appreciation as always to those who stop by and leave fantastic comments.

This week, another snippet from To Catch A Marlin, a more or less finalized WIP due out this October with Ring of Fire Publishing. A futuristic cat and mouse tale involving Special Inspector Pedroni and the vigilante Jax Marlin, who just happens to be a super sexy woman with ninja skills.

Today, Inspector Pedroni has just arrived in his room on the Bacchus Dome (in space) and discovered a bouquet of flowers in his room. It just so happens that they are his favourite kind (peonies), and around his apartment complex on Earth, there is an abundance of them which he loves. No one knows his particular affection to these flowers, unless they've been observing him with scrutiny...

The customs officials at the spaceport insisted he store his weapon in his carry-on while being processed, which now sat at the door. It was his only piece of luggage but it looked defiled after Customs had their way with it, and bulged unseemly with the zip not fully closed and a corner of his spare shirt sticking out. Not even a special inspector with the ICSP could get out of a customs search.

Quickly, Pedroni marched over, dug around in the bag and pulled out his weapon. He checked it, primed it, flicked the safety on, then, tucked it into his shoulder holster. He felt better.

So, he nodded, Marlin arranged this.

He couldn't rule it out, coincidence or not, it also meant she knew him better than he'd expected, and knew where he lived. He expected that. Chase a prey long enough, they start to hunt you in return by watching what you did.

If you are interested in participating in next weeks SFFSat, just click HERE, and follow the rules. Sign up is open every Wednesday - and if you're on Twitter, use the #SFFSat hashtag.

Cheers!

Lying Makes A Great Tale

This post was posted about a year ago on The Writers Vineyard where every month, I post something. I decided to repost this here, and maybe elaborate on it a bit. As writers will agree, we are fantastic liars.

Now, the idea for this post came about when I heard the story about my very young nephew (he was nearly two at the time), and his outrageous and unblinking lying abilities. He flat-out LIED when asked about a particular toy, claiming it had been "STOLEN." He then went into immaculate detail about HOW it was stolen, and WHO had stolen it, and so on and so forth. Just think, when he learns to read and write what sort of tales he'll come up with...

So, anyone can tell you a tale. We all have the capacity to embellish on the truth from the moment, as kids (and my nephew is a prime example), your mother asks you in that commanding tone: "Who did this?" and you reply by orbiting your eyes skyward with an, "Uhmmm, well...". And for some, like my nephew, they start very early in life. From that moment on, with a little work, a lot of practice and a lot less sky-gazing, you become a Storyteller.

Okay, most people will call it lying -- plain and simple, bold face, flat out lying.

I like to call it spinning a tale. A convincing tale (ever notice most liars always have an excuse... :) Ah-hem...).  After all, creating a story is joining up a bunch of fibs, throwing it into an imaginary world or setting and having amazing things happen in that world. I mean, come on!

Most people can write a story. Most people know how to write. Most people can join up letters and come up with something coherent that resembles a story. But how many people can lie through their teeth with such talent that you think what they told you is the honest to goodness truth? Not many. The mark of a good book/story is the mark of an exceptionally good liar. I'd hate to be next to them when they do break something and we get asked what happened.

For the moment, I am just a fledgling liar, but there's still hope for me. During the day when I masquerade as a graphic artist, I can think of a number of medicore tales I can tell to my clients -- usually the ones that are a royal pain in the aft. (Okay, if any of my clients read this post, I am so dead!) But conscience is a bitch and guilt even worse (perhaps this is why I'm a fledgling liar). I think I'll just stick to lying when I put on my writer's mask, where I can pour out all those wild tales and put them into words to create a story. And I can lie through my teeth without my conscience bothering me one bit. After all, it makes a great tale, right?

Cheers!

Blog Tour - Patrick Stutzman

Today I'm featuring Patrick Stutzman as he 'stops by' while on his blog tour, promoting the exciting sequel to his debut novel, Alone On The Edge.

The very-soon-to-be-released sequel, ALONE IN PARADISE, spins the tale of Anna Foster, a lone technician on a space station with only a computer for a companion. However, this is no longer the case as circumstances (and a bit of excitement) forces her to crash land on a new planet she discovered. The story takes off right on the heels of Alone On The Edge...

Here's a little blurb:

After the destruction of the mining station that was her home for 6 years, Anna Foster crashes on the newly-discovered moon she calls Paradise. With no way of calling for help, she must learn to survive in the untamed wilderness while trying to find a way back to human-controlled space.

While she adapts to the new environment, Anna stumbles across some of the moon’s hidden secrets and quickly discovers that she is not as alone as she originally believed.

Now Patrick has graciously offered to give away an E-Book to one lucky person who comments. I've read the first book (and it was amazing) and I look forward to reading this, so I can tell you that you'd better leave a comment if you don't want to miss out!!

And just to keep you motivated, here's a teaser excerpt...

Stepping up to the drone, Anna patted its metal shell and said with a bit of cheer, “Well Seventeen, what did we find out?”  Her wristcomp signaled an incoming message a few seconds later.

Reading the results, she said in a low voice, “I hope Kate can find something in all of this.”

“Kate,” she continued after calling the ship. “I have a list of frequencies and time intervals that Seventeen gathered over the last three hours. Can you see if you can find any sort of pattern in all of this?”

“I’ll see what I can do. Send it over.”

Anna transmitted the data and waited for the reply for a couple of minutes before starting to become impatient.

“Kate?”

“Everything’s fine, Anna. I’m just studying the data. One moment, please.”

A few more minutes elapsed before Kate finally said, “Anna, I’m sorry. I am not detecting a pattern in the information you sent me. Either the pattern is so long and complex that it cannot be determined with just three hours of information, or whatever is modulating the frequencies is doing it completely at random.”

Other books by Patrick Stutzman: Alone On The Edge (book 1) and Alone With Her Thoughts, a teaser short story of a deleted chapter.

Where to find Patrick:
Wesbite: The Worlds of Patrick Stutzman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PatrickStutzman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatrickDStutzman

Well, there you have it folks.
Thanks Patrick for 'dropping by.'  Congrats, and best of luck and success in your release!!

Cheers!

SFFSat - Sept 08

Welcome back to another Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday.

SFFSat is a place where a bunch of us post snippets from our written works and also shoot the breeze a little. And before I get ahead of myself, thanks and appreciation as always to those who stop by and leave fantastic comments.

Yet another snippet from To Catch A Marlin, a more or less finalized WIP due out this October with Ring of Fire Publishing. A futuristic cat and mouse tale involving Special Inspector Pedroni and the vigilante Jax Marlin, who just happens to be a super sexy woman with ninja skills.

Today, Inspector Pedroni is in pursuit of a war-class cruiser where he suspects a criminal is hiding. Responding to a distress beacon, he approaches the cruiser...

Okay, it’s a sexy beast of a cruiser.

Pedroni smiled, marveling at the smooth lines and the way the approaching shuttle lights reflected off its gunmetal silver hull like dappled sunlight filtering through a canopy of leaves. Rows of reflective windows lined up in two levels, angled like cat eyes.

Like Jax’s.

Sexy.

With a gentle flare, like a slender woman’s hips, the rear thrusters fanned out from the sides and tapered gently apart like long, graceful legs. The engines were killed and the exhaust ends appeared dark. The only lights flickering were emergency flashes from the outer points of the Q-Class.

Either the ship really was dead, or something more sinister was at work, laying in wait for them to board. Pedroni suppressed the urge to voice his concerns to the rest of his team--the last thing he needed were spooked agents watching his back with live weapons.

If you are interested in participating in next weeks SFFSat, just click HERE, and follow the rules. Sign up is open every Wednesday - and if you're on Twitter, use the #SFFSat hashtag.

Cheers!