Category Archives: sci-fi
Challenge Update
Remember that Twitter challenge from my last post? I forgot about the Twitter part. Ha…
To be fair, I’ve been posting to Twitter almost every day I write. That hasn’t been every day, but it’s been a lot more than I was worried it would be!
As of today, my new story contains about 23,000 words. Woohoo! Not as many as I hoped, but who cares?? It’s 23,000 new words!
(Personal aside: This is me, on a challenge. Some people set rigid goals; I only look like I do. I told myself I wanted a whole novel done, but will I say, “Gosh, what an awful writer I am – I only wrote half a novel in six weeks!” ? Of course not. My goals are simply motivational tools so I shoot high and land higher than I would have without them. In fact, I purposely set goals I know are pretty much impossible. Maybe it’s the “gifted slacker” mentality I grew up with. Whatever it is, I’m not actually a goal-oriented person. I don’t need to beat records or show up other people or their expectations. It’s nice to engage in word sprints with other people and be named the winner, but…enh. I’m in it more for the camaraderie. I get my warm fuzzies from the journey, not the destination. So just remember that: I will never “win” a challenge I set for myself, but I only “lose” if I forget about it or give up. I find this is much more motivational for me than things like NaNoWriMo, which emphasize the finish line. That’s just me and the way I work; YMMV.)
It occurred to me as I sat down for today’s session that 23k is almost a novella. In fact, that’s about how much I have left to write on the next 13 Colonies story. And how cool would it be if I released “The Shot Heard ‘Round the Planet” on the same day as the actual shot heard ’round the world was fired? Pretty darn, at least for the history buff I am. 🙂
Granted, it’d be close. I’d have to upload it April 17th or 18th to ensure it went on sale the right day. I have exactly 6 weeks to finish the sandpaper draft, revise to rough, edit to beta, wait for beta response, edit to gamma, polish, format, and upload. As well as contract art to be finished in 2-3 weeks. That’s a pretty darn tight time frame.
But then, wasn’t that the whole point of the novella series to begin with, at least in part? To be able to release something new within my zany home schedule that won’t take an eon to create?
I say, let’s do this thing!
Now I just need to find my notes, import into Scrivener, and get a better handle on the plot so I can figure out what was wrong with the last scene that made me stop writing it. (I think it had something to do with the central character of the scene being a Person of Color and my getting bogged down in what message I wanted to convey with him. But that’s just a guess.)
Wish me luck!
Release Day: One For All!
The first novella in my Chronicles of the 13 Colonies series is out now!
When Talbot joined the top secret Agency to protect the welfare of Colony 3’s citizens, he dreamed of crushing the criminal element running her streets to pave the way for class equality. Now, several decades and countless apprentices later, social degradation continues as if his hard work meant nothing. Life may be beautiful in the skyrises, but between the neon and the gutter, drugs, gangs, and violence rule all.
He’s about ready to call it a wash and retire to one of the colony’s sprawling vignards when a routine trip to his favorite watering hole puts him on the scene – and in the way – of a high profile murder. With the limelight shining holes in his cultivated anonymity and his intuition counting down the days to something big and dark and dangerous, the last thing he expects to find is a new protégé. The last thing he needs is the danger she brings with her.
One final mission to the learn the truth. One last hope to save the cause. One way or another, Talbot will find out what’s going on in his city…even though it’s likely to get him killed. Because a life without a cause isn’t worth living, and besides…secret agents aren’t allowed to retire.
Grab it at:
Amazon
B&N
Coming Soon: 13 Colonies!
My first release date is less than a month away! It’s exciting! It’s nerve-wracking! It’s the Game of Words!
In all seriousness, this Independence Day is going to be a milestone for me. On July 4, my first novella will hit Amazon and B&N (assuming all goes to plan). I had originally intended to begin with the story of the first colony, “The Shot Heard ‘Round the Planet.” Now it looks like that will be coming out later in July. Life happened, and all that. Instead, my launch title will be “One For All,” a tale of Colony 3.
Here’s the (working) blurb:
Three hundred years after settlement, the third colony looks nothing like its original holdings. Oh, sure – the outlying hills still bear row after row of grape vines, and maybe the way they’re tended and processed remains the same, but inside the city, nothing is the way it used to be.
That’s exactly Talbot’s problem. When he joined a top secret agency to protect the welfare of the colony’s citizens, his intentions had been filled with heroics to wipe out the rising tide of crime. Now, several decades later, the degradation of the metaphorical streets continues as if his hard work meant nothing.
So when a routine trip to his favorite watering hole puts him on the scene of a murder and directly in the limelight, he jumps at the chance to uncover even the smallest shred of information that might shed light on the rising darkness consuming his city. Except he didn’t count on the girl, or what she might do to his carefully constructed world.
One final mission to learn the truth. One last hope to save the cause. One way or another, Talbot will find out what’s going on…even though it’s likely to get him killed. But what’s a life without a cause? And secret agents aren’t allowed to retire.
Hopefully my cover art, created by a wonderfully talented old friend, will be done early and I can show it off. If not, you’ll just have to wait for the awesomeness of it. I think it’ll be worth the wait!
Interested? Pop on over to my official sci-fi author site to sign up for my newsletter, and get a reminder on publication day in your inbox. 🙂
Between Worlds 