SFFSat - June 01

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.

Well, I'm back. I took a much-needed break so I could sort through that old confounded WIP, Bengaria's War. I just completed the 4th draft (still not quite right) but it needs a little bit more with the beginning. Anyone up for a beta read?

Anyhoo...here's a snippet from it, in Chapter 25, where you have the Nezu Commander, Thrater, mulling over some pressing thoughts. (In case you're wondering, the Nezu are a race of people who separated from the rest of civilization because they're a disagreeable bunch to begin with, and in doing so, progressed and advanced in leaps and bounds. And now, Ryn as queen to one of the star systems, is trying to unite them with her lot since they have a common gripe with one person, Sibur, from another star system whose being the typical bully).

In this scene, Commander Thrater is with a rogue Nezu called Commander Risar, whom he refers to as the relic...

           

But this was the Nezu way, how it had always been. How they had always been.

The alliance would change all that, it would have to. They couldn’t be expected to hoard their knowledge; they would have to share. While it sounded good in theory, was it even practical in reality? With a sinking feeling, Thrater knew if he didn’t change his way of thinking, the alliance would never work.

And this relic from the past, who had had to live among the common people—Outsiders—had shown him this. How shameful. Risar and his rogues knew how to live among others; he had conformed to their ways, adapted. They had to in order to survive.

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!

5 Years, 4 Books, 3 Novellas, and some Shorts later...

Well, I couldn't let the year progress any further without some mention of where I am right now. Where? It's like the title to this post says and then some: 5 years writing, 2 publishers, 4 books, 3 novellas and some short stories later...and, wait for it...lots more to come since the ideas keep a-coming!

My journey began early 2008, with a promise to myself and a new year's resolution on the beach among friends. One insisted we write down a list of the 200 things we most wanted to do. Well, I couldn't think of 200 things - just the one thing, and that was to write. Write something, anything. That thought stayed with me like a kick in the ass for a few weeks. I waffled a bit, thinking how best to tackle this whole writing thing. So I wrote down notes on plots, ideas, tooled around with characters, and then I just pushed it aside and instead, ruminated with a few scenes that kept reoccurring in my head.

My mid-January, the very shaky beginnings of The Lancaster Rule formed, and by March, I was hacking out the beginning. By April, I was just about done. But I was far from done, and The Master Key, spewed out of me before I could even finish Lancaster. And shortly after, the seeds of The Eternal Knot germinated in my head. Within 2 years, The Lancaster Trilogy was complete and I was a published writer!

Then I discovered, I simply could not stop writing. Like breaking through a blockage and forging a new tributary to empty out into the vast river of creativeness, it seemed I'd found another outlet to 'vent' my thoughts out. It felt right.

Last year, out came my fourth novel, To Catch A Marlin, and I gained a new publisher game enough to take a chance on me. Shortly after, 3 novellas in the Marlin series. Rounding things off, I also completed a couple of short stories, still seeking their way to publication.

I've also got a collection of unfinished stories (well, one is done) that need to see their own 'the ends' in good time.

Then, after The Lancaster Rule was published, it received a Novel of the Year nomination from my publisher, Champagne Book Group. And then, The Eternal Knot was voted Best Book of the Month by Long and Short Reviews. (Check out the link and my interview with them). Soon after, it was up for nomination as Best Book of 2012. How cool was THAT?

So, not too shabby. These past five years have been busy and productive, filled with fantastic plot bubbles and adventures that have taken me 300 years into the futures as well as traipsing about the depths of space. Heh, and I didn't even have to leave the comfort of my home. Isn't writing fun!

Cheers!

What's Up With Me...

So, it's occurred to me that I haven't really posted anything lately. Other than the usual SFFSat snippets, which are always fun!

To be perfectly honest, I've retreated back to myself. Okay, that sounds odd, right? Hehe, what I mean is, I've dived back into writing after a few months (well, on and off since the beginning of the year, really) where I've been in been tying up loose ends (the roll over stuff from last year) on various writing projects. It's been a bog-down of getting short story anthologies ready, Marlin shorts edited and lined up for release, and various other things that involve writing including offering the Saturday snippets.

But now, I have to switch it off and jump back into finalizing, once and for all, Bengaria's War. Looking at the original file, I started this book in 2011. It has gone through four betas in all, four drafts, multiple changes to the beginning, reverting back to the original, going back to the changed version, many head-scratching and screeching moments from me, and two short stories spawning off it that, honestly, have been very satisfying in allowing me to see which direction the beginning should go. Actually getting that done is the main problem.

Phew. And I'm still not happy with the beginning and may even brutally hack it to pieces and start wham-bam in the middle of an action scene and work my way backwards in short recollections (without it being an info dump). The rest of the story is fine...just that irritating beginning bit. I somehow see a 5th draft emerging from this all.

The idea of splitting this book into two also looms before me. Of course, I really did not want to do that but already, it spreads way past the 110K mark. Oiy! I'd thought my long rambling tales had ended with the Lancaster Trilogy...but, I guess not. For now, I've decided not to even think of the word count, and just finalize it and get it to a satisfactory point.

Anyways, moving along... I've many more Marlin shorts to write, they are still only exist in note form and in my head in brief flashes of scenes. Meanwhile, a brand new story about a generation ship has also spawned but I've had to set that aside to tidy up Bengaria's War. Also set aside, is Time Fracture, something I'm working on with my brother, and a spin-off from the Lancaster world, The Grosjean Chronicles. For the moment, those two are way, way back on the burner.

And now we get to personal stuff. Starting the year out with the plague is not the most conducive way to do it. The ick left me drained both mentally and physically and took me well over three weeks to fully recover (I'm positive a new germ warfare virus has been developed!) So, my entire January went down with the snot rags and phlegm. Lovely, right? But with looming writing deadlines and commitments, it's hard to loll back and chill and be 100%. So, bring on February where I sorted out my projects in chronological order.

Aside from the ick-plague, family issues (MIL had a tumble and for a while, things were suspended as we rallied around her), day-job, dog issues (he needed a behavioural adjustment in the form of a de-balling operation), then social activities that could not be avoided if one still wants to be part of the human race and maintain friends, there finally came a much needed lull. And my thoughts and brain could finally get back into proper gear and get back into the writing groove.

So, that's it. I'm trotting along in the writing saddle right now. Keeping my head down, listening to my writing tunes, and getting this effing Bengaria's War done! 

Cheers!

SFFSat - April 06

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.

Still featuring my new WIP (and this may be the last one from it for a bit). I've asked for title suggestions last week, and we've narrowed it down to two: LOST LEGACY, and THE ACQUISITION OF THE LEVI. (Gotta say, I'm liking the latter...)

A little preamble (sorry for the repetition)...The story is about a young woman, Ranger Serafina Derwynde, who works for the Acquisition Guild - an agency that procures and retrieves items of historical and human interest. Sort of like an official treasure hunting agency, with training and university studies specifically targeted to such items of interest and their historical background. Not to mention ways and means to successfully procure them - by whatever means (force) necessary.

Last week, Serafina and her annoying AI, Bertram, after discovering an old ship, were trying to determine whether or not it was, in fact, a generation ship - the Levi, thought to have been lost for millennia. We move along a little bit, after they've argued some, Serafina decides to get a closer look and gets into an exploration pod. (And in case you forgot, 'solam' is a word I created since it just sounded cooler than kilometers or whatever-meters. You'll see the distance parameters explained in the snippet).

           

In all her ten years at the Guild, four of them in intense and grueling training at the Academy, boarding and acquisitioning a generation ship had never been covered. Not even in theory. She’d be the first one to do so.

Bertram’s voice piped through the onboard communications interface. “Shida Class ships span roughly eight hundred by a thousand pre-Migration kilometers, which is our current point eight by one solam, with a capacity to sustain three to five million souls for several generations.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Markings indicate it as the ancient ship, the Levi.”

Pay dirt. The bounty on a find this big would definitely ensure her retirement; she’d be the youngest Guild member to retire. “Hail it.”

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!