Science Fiction Adventure Storybundle, Out Now!

Hey Party People! Want a huge collection of amazing Science Fiction ebooks? I've got you covered.

Until Thursday, 9 February, Storybundle is hosting a selection of Science Fiction Adventure novels from some of the greatest SFF indie writers today. Curator, Joseph R. Lallo, has this to say about the collection:

“This is one of the biggest and best bundles we've ever put together. Oasis by New York Times Bestseller Dima Zales will blur the line of utopia and dystopia. The complete Big Sigma Series will take you blazing through the galaxy with a desperate race pilot and a quirky AI. Cyborg Legacy, the latest from the prolific and talented Lindsay Buroker is available for the first time anywhere in this bundle. Tim Ward takes the world of Hugh Howey's Sand in cinematic and thrilling new directions with Scavenger: Evolution. Tammy Salyer assembles a rugged team of space marines in Contract of Defiance and Contract of Betrayal. Geoffrey Morrison returns to his deep-sea world of devastation and decay with Undersea Atrophia, and that still only scratches the surface. We've got brilliant series-starters by Patty Jansen, M. Pax, and Joe Vasicek that are sure to hook you from the first page and never let you go. All told, that's fifteen titles from nine authors in one colossal bundle.

Every title is a cunningly woven tale of sci-fi mastery. We've got aquatic wastelands and complex time loops. There are hard-edge military stories and tales of the struggle to survive. The triumph of the human spirit, the fall of civilizations, and everything in between can all be yours. Just name your own price and dive into the action!”

The initial titles in the Sci-Fi Adventure Bundle (minimum $5 to purchase) are:

Cyborg Legacy by Lindsay Buroker

The Big Sigma Collection Volume 1 by Joseph R. Lallo

Undersea by Geoffrey Morrison

Contract of Defiance: The Spectras Arise Trilogy Book 1 by me

Shifting Reality by Patty Jansen

If you pay more than the bonus price of just $15, you get all five of the regular titles, plus EIGHT more!

Bringing Stella Home by Joe Vasicek

Temporal Contingency by Joseph R. Lallo

Undersea Atrophia by Geoffrey Morrison

Oasis by Dima Zales

Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge by M. Pax

Ambassador 1A: The Sahara Conspiracy by Patty Jansen

Contract of Betrayal: The Spectras Arise Trilogy Book 2 by me again

Scavenger: Evolution by Timothy C. Ward

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!For $5-$15, you can pick up over a dozen flights of fancy and lose yourself for hours.

The bundle ends 9 February, so only a few days left to pick it up, either for yourself or to gift to someone else! Just click here. Who knows, you could find your next favorite author.

Lastly, I just happen to have two free bundle download codes that I’m giving away to the first two people who can tell me the first name of my buff-as-f*ck weapons guru known in the Spectras series as Desto. If you know, shoot me an email at tammy (at) inspiredinkediting (dot) com and I’ll send you your very own free download code.

Happy reading!

Get Your Read On!

Yo Bloggolicious! Just wanted to let you know about a couple of opportunities to get your hard-core SF/F read on for zero to almost zero pennies over the next couple of days. First off, author Patty Jansen is hosting a list of over NINETY SF/F novels, of which Conviction is one, by a huge range of terrific writers. Do yourself a favor and take a look. I’m betting you’ll find so much to love you’ll be stuck in your reading nook for decades! (That’s a good thing, btw. Just make sure you bring snacks.)

And secondly, my friend and recent collaborator onForged From the Stars, G. J. Jennsen released her latest book today, Dissonance, Book 5 of the tremendously popular Aurora Rhapsody series. It’s a special day for G. S., who is one of the nicest authors I know—her birthday! Help her make it a fabulous one and buy yourself the series as a birthday present to yourself. Weird how that works, huh? I call it a win-win.

Happy reading, Bloggolites! Feel free to share the news or this post with your word-lovin' friends.

Enjoy what you've seen so far? Bonus snark goes out to my newsletter tribe. Join to get novel news, including the first look at new stories, and invitations to contests and giveaways.

File Under "Fury"

Yesterday was a “free” day in my life where I was way ahead on work projects and needed a break from my writing projects, so I spent the day indulging in a long run, then relaxed on the couch with my laptop ditzing around in cyberspace with movies rolling in the background. I ended up playing Mad Max: Fury Road and Aliens back to back, and it struck me how completely these two movies have embedded themselves into the deep recesses of my psyche. I’ve said many times that Aliens is my all-time favorite movie; the character of Ripley is just such a fundamental symbol of human indomitability. I didn’t expect to like Fury Road as much as I do, but after watching it again yesterday (for the *clears throat* time), it finally dawned on my that there is something unquestionably different in the making of that film that sets it apart from the usual post-apocalyptic and big-explosions fare. If the original Maxes were cult classics, Fury Road has redefined and relaunched the entire notion of what a cult classic should look like. Seriously, what an imaginative and heavy story.

And it got me to thinking about the movies that have stuck deepest and stayed longest in my brain. For the most part, they’ve all been women-led films: Aliens, Terminator 1 & 2, Fury Road, Doomsday; with a couple of outliers that include major character arcs for the female characters, even if the main role was played by a male, like: Firefly, Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick, Guardians of the Galaxy. (Then there are those favorites of mine that are utterly male-centric: Fight Club, There Will Be Blood, Ravenous.)

Because I have an (entirely too) orderly brain, I got to thinking: Aliens and T1 were 1986 and 1984, T2 hit in 1991, Doomsday came along in 2000, and it took till 2015 for Fury Road. That is ENTIRELY TOO FEW kickass big-screen women in over thirty years. Of course, in that time, we’ve also had Alice in Resident Evil, Selene in Underworld, but is that it?

So readers, who am I missing? What other big-screen SF/F leading ladies do I need to sink my eyeballs into to reach maximum estrogen-blasting immersion? Who are your favorites?

Enjoy what you've seen so far? Bonus snark goes out to my newsletter tribe. Join to get novel news, including the first look at new stories, and invitations to contests and giveaways.

New Release: Forged From The Stars, a sweeping three-book science fiction collection

Greetings Blogtastics! It's my pleasure to tell you of a new Science Fiction Adventure collection from three authors (at least one of whom you already know *wink-nudge*) out TODAY!

Announcing

FORGED FROM THE STARS

Brought to you by best-selling science fiction series authors G. S. Jennsen, E. J. Fisch, and me.

Collection Includes:

FOREWORD: S. E. Lehenbauer from

The Novel Commentary

STARSHINE: AURORA RISING BOOK ONE (Aurora Rhapsody 1) by G. S. Jennsen

DAKITI: ZIVA PAYVAN BOOK 1 by E. J. Fisch

CONTRACT OF DEFIANCE: SPECTRAS ARISE TRILOGY, BOOK 1 by Tammy Salyer

At

Amazon for Kindle

with a limited-time special release price of 99¢.

SOME WOMEN ARE CONSUMED BY THE FIRE.

SOME

BECOME

THE FIRE.

An elite operative. A war-hardened soldier. A daring explorer. One strikes from the shadows to protect a deadly secret. One strives to reclaim what was taken from her. One searches the void for the answers denied her.Their stories are their own, but they share a gritty determination to fight for what they believe in and an unwavering conviction that they can and will do whatever is necessary to save themselves, those they hold dear and, if worse comes to worst (as it always does), civilization itself.FORGED FROM THE STARS brings you the first books in three exciting, original space opera adventure series, Ziva Payvan, Spectras Arise, and Aurora Rising. These epic tales feature empires that stretch across the vastness of space, suspenseful action as new worlds are discovered and old ones destroyed, thrilling interstellar warfare and deadly conspiracies that promise to reshape galaxies.At the heart of the storm stand three women: Ziva Payvan. Aly Erikson. Alexis Solovy. Forged from the stars, in the face of overwhelming odds they will bend those stars to their will—or die trying.

HELP US GET THE WORD OUT

If you've already read any of the novels in the collection, then you know what a terrific set of books this is. Why not help us get the word out by:

1. Sending a Tweet or ten. Here's one you can cut and paste: Three Warriors. Three Missions. Three Novels. FORGED FROM THE STARS. http://amzn.to/1nVMNIo By @EJFisch @GSJennsen @TammySalyer #scifi

2. Leaving a review on the collection for whichever among the novels you've already read. (For instance, if you read CONTRACT OF DEFIANCE, all you have to do is cut and paste your review to the FORGED FROM THE STARS page. Easy breezy.)

3. Sharing it on Facebook.

4. And, obviously, getting your own copy here! http://amzn.to/1nVMNIo

Thanks Blogtastics! You're going to love this. And the best thing about it is, each of these novels is merely the first of a series.

To continue E. J. Fisch's Ziva Payvan series, pick up:

To continue G. S. Jennsen's Aurora Rising series, pick up:

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO

Writing. Yep, I know it's hard to believe, given how long it's been since I dropped another book. But I wrote one, and now I'm rewriting it. Because—OCD word-nerd perfectionism. I also spoke on a writing panel last weekend at the Orange County branch of the California Writers Club, and, as usual, had a blast. If you're in the SoCal region and want to have me speak for an event, I'm all over it. Just shoot me an email and we'll set it up.

Enjoy what you've seen so far? Bonus snark goes out to my newsletter tribe. Join to get novel news, including the first look at new stories, and invitations to contests and giveaways.

The Omnibus Has Landed

Spectras Arise Trilogy: Omnibus Edition

The trilogy became Amazon's #1 best-seller in Science Fiction Military over Memorial Day weekend. Not bad for a story that began as a humble firefight in my head while out on a run in Oregon's pouring rain about seven years ago. Thanks to all my readers who made these books a success (and who put me on the same Science Fiction best-seller page as one of my all-time favorite authors, Neal Stephenson).

Enjoy what you've seen so far? Bonus snark goes out to my newsletter tribe. Join to get novel news, including the first look at new stories, and invitations to contests and giveaways.

Live Chat Tonight: Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing podcast

UPDATE: It was a great show! Thanks for tuning in. Here's the link if you happen onto this post later.

* * *

Greets Bloggalotics. Tonight I'm joining the cadre of wildly successful indie authors Joseph R. Lallo, Lindsay Buroker, and Jeffrey Poole on their Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing podcast to discuss the sacred power and responsibility that is editing. Live at 6 p.m. PST. Stop by with your questions and to share your thoughts if you can.

The Best I Read In 2014

Bloggdorites! I have been so super busy as the year ends with working and doing this simple little, totally mundane, non-time-consuming thing known as "writing a book or two"—you probably know what I mean—that I haven't had time to do any blogging. I'd love to share all the incredible books I've read this year with you all, but instead, let me just borrow this list from the great speculative fiction author Scott Whitmore. And by the way, his 2014 novella Green Zulu Five One is DEFINITELY one of the best I read this year. Check out my review, and enjoy this list of greats!

Book Review: Green Zulu Five One and other stories from the Vyptellian War

Green Zulu Five One and other stories from the Vyptellian War by Scott WhitmoreMy rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you want the short version of my review, here it is: I loved this story.

Now for more: The first line of Green Zulu 51’s jacket copy is “A war of millions is fought by individuals,” and this gets right to the center of the brilliance that is speculative fiction author and former US Navy officer Scott Whitmore’s military science fiction novella. I enjoy a good space battle—with fighters contesting not only enemies, sometimes aliens, and incredible futuristic weapons, but also the zero-g properties of outer space, the distance scales that ensure rescue from outside could never happen, and the uncertainties and unknowabilities of things like dark matter and wormholes—as much as the next person, but at the end of the day, no story can really keep my imagination occupied for long if the people living that story aren’t interesting, authentic, and "real." Whitmore is a master at painting the stories he tells with vivid clarity and attention to every little detail, as well as bringing the people within them to dramatic life. The characters in GZ51 are all people you'll feel like buying a drink for and spending hours with just listening to their war stories. They are each unique, interesting, surprising, and deeply substantive, which is a pleasant turn for a story that isn’t quite novel length about an intergalactic war.

GZ51 is told in a style that puts readers directly inside the minds and boots of its main characters, a hotshot fighter pilot who isn’t even old enough to drink legally, a grizzled war veteran with more survival instinct in her little finger than most platoons have in their full ranks, and a tired administrative clerk who faces a losing battle that has nothing to do with guns and tactics. Whitmore engages all the senses and brings his battle scenes flying off the page, while skillfully weaving in the psychology and histories of his characters, leaving readers feeling almost as if they’ve been there, done that right beside each of them.

For such a relatively short tale, GZ51 leaves no stone unturned in exposing the intricacies of war from its zoomed-out view of historical, political, and cultural genesis, to the zoomed-in and intimate view of the goals, hopes, and fears of each of its characters, who must fight it in their own ways. Incredibly entertaining and highly recommended. I wish I could give it 10 stars.

Side note: The Devil’s Harvest, the author's alternate steampunk history—with zombies!—of WWI is equally brilliant and a rollicking good read! And bonus, here's an interview I did of Scott talking about writing in steampunk and paranormal genres a while back, too.

View all my reviews

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2014 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved.

The New Meta Edda

Confession time. I didn’t read a lot of science fiction growing up. I was a horror geek through and through. Barker, Koontz, King, Rice, McCammon, other books I remember by authors I don’t; I swilled them all down like a gore addict on day three of a two-week bender, voraciously and unstoppably. After I’d read everything by King twice, I branched out into other genres, mainstream and classic literature like Watership Down and everything by Orwell, as well as fantasy, like Tolkien, The Mists of Avalon, A Wizard of Earthsea, everything by Tom Robbins, and numerous others. (My one regret, actually, is that I’ve never read The Dragonriders of Pern. Anyone have a copy they could lend me?) I even went on a Louis L’Amour kick for about a year.

But science fiction itself remained an unturned stone. My favorite movies were all sci-fi based, Terminator, Aliens (ET and The Black Hole before that), but even most of those later childhood favorites had a horror subtheme. So what in the world made me write a space-opera action story for my first full-length published novel, then a full trilogy?

Let me digress for a second before answering that. I’m going to share something about authors that many of us would probably hesitate before admitting publicly, for fear of being locked into the loony bin. We are all possessed. Or maybe you’d call it schizophrenia. The fact is, we are 100 percent inhabited by legions of other people. And they control us to greater and lesser degrees. For me, that possession came in the form of my trilogy’s main character, a Corps-deserter and tougher-than-titanium anti-hero Aly Erikson. To make a long story short, I was out on a run through the Oregon rain one day, and she popped into my head nearly fully formed on a very intense flight from danger of her own aboard a space station in the Algol triple-star system. It was December 2005, and this character was born. Her story was as real in my head as my own life story, and I had to tell it. Hence, science fiction.

In my mind, she is one part Carolyn Fry from Pitch Black, one part Dizzy from the 1997 film adaptation of Starship Troopers, and the rest of her comprises numerous positive and, yes, negative characteristics derived from the heroes from all my favorite books and movies. And after writing her story through three books and one novella (accidentally—I never intended her to span so many words), I think I may be done with her for a while. She had a good ride; she grew, experienced much, and lived through a lot more than she had any right to, and I don’t think she has much story left to tell in her current iteration.

So what’s next? Based on the subjects of my youth, I should be ready to wander the halls of horror, one would think. Strangely, though, that isn’t where my mind is veering these days. In fact, sometime during the writing of Contract of Defiance, I became enthralled by a story from Outside Magazine of a coyote hunting and killing a woman hiking through a park in Nova Scotia, behavior that for this particular animal is completely unheard of. And because, like most writers, bizarre tragedies tend to make my mind spin on surprising new ideas, this unlikely news story spun my brain toward the concoction of a new tale that spanned everything from the cultures of Vikings and Inuits, to ancient history and present times, to Greenland and Wisconsin, to B.A.S.E jumping and academia, to domestic violence and the loyalty of best friends. I spent months researching different facets of the story overtaking my thoughts and wrote several thousand words. Then…it died. The story simply languished as a new book in the Spectras Arise trilogy started to take shape, and I put it aside. When I dusted it off with all intent of resurrecting it, the whole concept had lost its luster. It was not a story I wanted to tell anymore.

But all was not lost (and can never be—if ideas were money, every writer would be captaining her or his own privately financed starship to the moon for a holiday) and the initial characters and bones of that old story squished like Play-Doh into something new. Something that still involves Vikings, but is now dense fantasy with a heavy dose of science fiction. Science fantasy fusion, anyone? Though I’m still in the early stages of writing and development, this new story is an ever-present mouth-breather that I can’t ignore for a second, and I can’t wait to write it!

In a well-timed happenstance, science fiction writer Dylan Hearn invited me to do this fun thing called the 7-7-7 challenge, where you go to the seventh page of your work-in-progress, go down to line seven, then publish the next seven lines. This new novel of mine is as yet untitled and so far from finished that these lines will hardly be the same when it is, but here goes:

If one were to hold a kaleidoscope to their eye and peer through it past reality’s veil to the place where the carnival-colored bits and baubles suspended within become part of the Great Cosmos, they might discover one very unique new reality. The one called Heartovingia. It is a circular belt comprised of a seemingly desolate amalgam of rocks, metals, and ice spinning eternally around the watery, storm-tossed planet called Vann. The light from this asteroid field’s star would be diffuse, bouncing weakly from the multi-elemental belt of particles and giving it a reddish cast, like that of a heart. A heart whose center is chaos and cold sea.

Looking deeper into the kaleidoscope, one would notice that these long-turning stones are not as desolate as one might have thought. In fact, many of these spaceborne satellites appear to be quite large and are encircled by glasslike domes.

As you can see so far, it has a great deal more epic-ocity than my first-person-told trilogy. We’ll see how it goes. You’re welcome and invited to stay tuned and enjoy the lunatic rantings of its progress as my brainmeats suffer through new-series growing pains. And now it’s your turn, all my writer friends. Take the 7-7-7 challenge for yourself and link back here so we can read what you’re up to. Because after all, crazy loves company!

Also, for sci-fi and intrigue fans, be sure to check out Dylan’s new release coming out November 28. Absent Souls (The Transcendence Trilogy: Book 2).

Veterans Day Blowout!

Greets Bloggorites! Forgive the schmaltzy blog post title; I couldn't help myself, but how many businesses are advertising a Veterans Day sale this week? I have to say, though, this announcement-slash-sale is way more thrilling and blow-y out-y than all those others. What better way to celebrate the holiday than to read something by those for whom the holiday was created?

Announcing:

Three New Releases from Three (old) Vets!

(Plus another awesome author!)

That's right. I (former army paratrooper) have a new one out in military science fiction, CONVICTION: A Spectras Arise Novella, as does the fantastic science fiction/steampunk author Scott Whitmore (former naval officer), GREEN ZULU FIVE ONE: and other stories from the Vyptellian War. I have read this novella and promise you, it's amazing.CONVICTIONTRUSTING OTHERS IS YOUR FIRST MISTAKE.If Corps Tech Sergeant Aly Erikson wants to survive another day, she will have to give up everything: her identity, her rank, her attachment to her brothers-in-arms, and most of all, her guilt.After doing her duty as a member of a ground infantry squad tasked with “neutralizing” an insurrection by non-citizens on a mining planet, Erikson realizes that everything she thought the Corps stood for, thought she stood for, is crumbling away. Where is the honor, the justice, the spirit of law? When the enemies are nothing more than outclassed and outgunned dregs of the Algol System’s forgotten people, being part of their execution squad has put her as far from the ideals of justice as Erikson can imagine. Haunted by their ghosts, she struggles to maintain her military bearing until even that is suddenly ripped away in an act of terrorism that sends her, her brother, Tech Sergeant David Erikson, and another Corpsmember, Rebecca Soltznin, on the run on a hostile planet. Forced for the first time in ten years to blend in with a civilian population, the three are faced with a single choice: regroup with their brothers-in-arms or become deserters. For Aly, it’s easy; why go back to being a cog in the death machine the Corps is becoming? But for the other two, the price for making the wrong decision may be higher than they’re willing to pay.On the run, under attack from the scavengers who plague the system, and out of options, the three face conflict from every direction. If they can’t find a way to fight together, their chances for survival are less than zero. And for one of them, the best solution may come down to one simple act: betrayal. In this prequel to the popular Spectras Arise Trilogy, readers get an intimate look into the events that led Aly and David Erikson on their path from decorated and dedicated soldiers to black-market arms smugglers, and ultimately, to rebels against the Political and Capital Administration of the Advanced Worlds.

Get it at AMAZON, B&N, APPLE, or KOBO, or join my newsletter tribe for a free review copy.

***

GREEN ZULU FIVE ONE

A war of millions is fought by individuals. For sixteen years humanity and the alien Vyptellians have battled in space and on hundreds of planets in a distant corner of the galaxy.

Tyko is a teenage space fighter pilot who has never known peace; insulated from the horrors of the battlefield, he’ll learn war isn’t a game. Sergeant Siengha is one of a handful to survive the war’s first battle; surrounded and vastly outnumbered by a merciless enemy, it takes everything she knows to keep those around her alive and fighting.

These are just two of the countless stories from the human side of the Vyptellian War. To those on the frontlines and their families at home, why the war began is unimportant, forgotten when the first shot was fired. What matters is the survival of the species.But after years of bloody conflict, the war’s end is closer than anyone realizes.

Get it at AMAZON and visit Scott at his blog for more of his marvelous missives.

***

And in science fiction/fantasy, check out these two new releases from David Bruns (another former naval officer):The science fantasy series, The Dream Guild Chronicles, tells a different kind of first contact story—one from the alien’s point of view.IRRADIANCE, Book One, imagines the kind of dystopian world you might get if you paired Big Brother from 1984 with A Wrinkle in Time. Maribel, a scientist, uncovers an ecological disaster that makes her reexamine everything she thought she knew about her Community. In desperation, Maribel flees her home world with her family and a few friendsIn SIGHT, Book Two, the storyline focuses on Sariah, Maribel’s daughter. Her parents are frantic to find her a new home safe from the long arm of the Community. But new worlds are fraught with new dangers, and SIGHT will keep you on the edge of your seat as you follow Sariah trying to navigate the superstitions of hunter-gatherer tribal culture.Imagine Lost in Space crash landing into an ancient Incan civilization and you have SACRIFICE, Book Three of The Dream Guild Chronicles.If crash landing isn’t bad enough, a crew member is taken captive by the natives. A rescue attempt, a firefight and one crewman is left for dead.But he’s very much alive.Alone, light-years from everyone who cares about him, Gideon navigates royal politics, tribal rituals, and ancient prophecies as he struggles to take back the artifact that will let him reconnect with his family.

Get it at AMAZON and visit David at his blog for more on his wordly adventures.

BONUS STORYErik Wecks, author of the sweeping Pax Imperium series, has also released a new serial story in the last couple of weeks that you all will enjoy, and it's free! Gravlander, Episode 1.

Book Review: Rogue Genesis by Ceri London

Rogue Genesis by Ceri LondonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rogue Genesis, the first novel in Ceri London's Shimmer in the Dark series, is an intricate and visionary science fiction novel that resembles a mash-up of notables like David Weber's Honor Harrington series and Peter Hamilton's The Dreaming Void. With a grand scope and intimate storytelling style, Rogue follows one man, a highly decorated and successful US special forces soldier, as he tries to save not only his family from a malevolent secret society of psychics, but also an entire alien civilization from the devastating cosmic forces that are set to destroy their home world.

Weaving political intrigue, scientific exploration, and elements of fantasy into a suspenseful narrative, London's story is highly ambitious in its vision, and she pulls it off with the kind of necessary plausibility that will appeal to many hard SF fans along with a look inside the intimacies of human nature and relationships that will appeal to those who prefer more character-driven novels.

Though the novel's initial pace is leisurely, London enhances long moments of slow narrative with superbly executed and exciting action that will definitely get your heart racing and your fingers turning the page. Rogue is a novel that is best consumed in large chunks, as its meandering and subtle reveals require a high level of concentration to fully grasp. It is the perfect novel for a weekend spent relaxing beachside or for filling time during a long overseas flight.

View all my reviews

New Release: The Far Bank of the Rubicon by Erik Wecks

Bloggolites! It's very exciting to be able to tell you about my friend and fellow science fiction author Erik Weck's newest release today, The Far Bank of the Rubicon. You may recall, Erik was on here a few months ago to talk about his novel Aetna Adrift and his writing inspirations, motivations, and successes. Please welcome him and go and check out this new fast-paced science fiction book ASAP. And congratulations on your new release, Erik!

THE FAR BANK OF THE RUBICON

For three hundred years, the Pax Imperium secured peace throughout the galaxy. Now the empire teeters on the brink of collapse.

As war brews, the House of Athena expects Jonas to enlist. Unable to escape his gilded cage, the young prince accepts his fate. But when the factions come to blows, his secret affair with the daughter of a rival becomes a liability. As territory falls, Athena lays impossible demands on Jonas, and he is forced to choose between love and the ideals his family fights to preserve.

The Far Bank of the Rubicon is super-charged, adult science fiction from Erik Wecks, creator of the Pax Imperium and author of the critically acclaimed Aetna Adrift.

The Far Bank of the Rubicon begins a three-book series that picks up right where Aetna Adrift left off. This military space opera starts with a bang and keeps building tension until it explodes into an action-driven second half that will keep readers glued to their seats. It features Wecks’s trademark action scenes with characters who aren’t simply cardboard cutouts. They make mistakes, and those mistakes have consequences, not only for themselves but for the galaxy as a whole.

Wecks is perhaps most excited that in The Far Bank of the Rubicon he can finally begin to bring readers into the depth and width of the Pax Imperium. “The Pax is a huge sandbox with hundreds of tales waiting to be unearthed,” says Wecks. In conjunction with The Far Bank of the Rubicon, Wecks will release a Pax Imperium short story collection, Unconquered (August 23, 2014). All of the stories in the collection tie in with The Far Bank of the Rubicon in some way. Three of the stories in the collection have been previously released: Brody: Hope Unconquered, He Dug the Grave Himself, and Taylor’s Watch. A fourth, Rena’s Song, will be offered exclusively in the collected book.

Find Erik at all the following.

Amazon

Twitter

Facebook

Website

WAR IS CHEAP!

What’s it like for a writer to finish their latest novel, especially when it’s the last book in a trilogy? Is it an occasion for joy, or is it an occasion to shed tears of sadness and separation, the same kind you feel when you finish reading a great novel? Does it feel like a triumph, or does it bring on more of a sense of being lost and confused, kind of like a puppy that has misplaced her favorite shoe?

I suspect the answer to this is different for every writer. Absurdly, the book I’m releasing today is called Contract of War and is a study of postwar behavior in a formerly oligarchical society. And yet I surreptitiously blinked away a couple of tears in a subdued cathartic expulsion of all of the above when I wrote the final words a few months ago. Then, upon having my little moment, I tapped command-S, followed by command-N, and started a new story. Now if that isn’t a little weird, a little different, a little, I don’t know, disturbing—but that’s what writing is like. All writers, from Huxley to Bacigalupi, from McCaffrey to Lackey, from PKD to Priest and so on, create and destroy on such a continuous basis that redefining the range of normal human emotions becomes an unintended side effect of our profession.

And we love it.

We love the words, we love the process, and we love the long hours spent in a seat or standing at a table pouring our brainmeats into bits on a box so that we can take ourselves, and if we’re very, very lucky, other readers, on journeys so bizarre, so enlightening, so frightening, so fundamentally, heart-stoppingly exciting that we can’t sleep at night because of how much fun we’re all having. We often cackle, we frequently weep, and more than Robert DeNiro in Awakenings, we stare off into space looking like androids with drained batteries while the world spins unnoticed around us. So in a roundabout way, we love what we do because it makes us seem to others a little like drooling idiots.

And we are comfortable with that, because we do it for another reason. We do it for days like today when for once our natural introvertedness gets shaken inside out and we get to tell the world about our latest brainbaby. And today is that day for me. So without further ramblingly obtuse ado, I introduce to you, Contract of War, the final book in my military science fiction/action-adventure series, the Spectras Arise Trilogy.

Contract of War

Unification or tyranny. The only difference is the body count.

In the aftermath of a system-wide war between the Admin and Corp Loyalists and the non-citizen population of the Algols, everything once resembling order has been leveled. Scattered enclaves of survivors dot the worlds, living, however they can, in snarled lawlessness. Aly Erikson and her crew have carved out a niche of relative peace, doing their best to go on with their lives through salvaging, scavenging, and stealing. But with no force left to keep the lid on the pot, the pressures of chaos and discord soon cause conflicts to boil over. As enemies close in from all directions, even, sometimes, from within, the crew once again must fight—not just for survival, not just for their way of life, but this time for a future that can finally lay to rest the system’s bloody and savage past.The Spectras Arise Trilogy

Contract of Defiance, Contract of Betrayal, and Contract of War follow heroine Aly Erikson and her crew of anti-Admin smugglers through an ever-escalating glut of life-and-death adventures and the trials of living on the side of liberty and freedom—whether they agree with the law or not—in the far future of the Algol star system. As former Corps members, most are no strangers to fighting and dissent, but more than anything, they want to spend their lives flying under the radar without control or interference from the system’s central government, The Political and Capital Administration of the Advanced Worlds. But the Admin's greed-drenched dualism of power and corruption has other plans, and throughout the series, Aly and her crew are reminded of one lesson time and again: when all other options run out, never let go of your gun.

Make Opinions, Not War

Hey there Bloggolotticans. The not-so-secret secret that I'm publishing my third novel in the Spectras Arise trilogy imminently (like July 21st, to be imminently exact) is sort of out. I'm putting together the final threads like now, and today is all about taglines. Funnily enough, I had a conversation with a fellow Twitterling  yesterday about how taglines are sometimes rather difficult to come up with. Because thousands of brains are better (or at the least, more entertaining) than one, I thought I'd throw out some ideas for taglines and get your thoughts on them.Here's the blurb for my new release, Contract of War. In the aftermath of a system-wide war between the Admin and Corp Loyalists and the non-citizen population of the Algols, everything once resembling order has been leveled. Scattered enclaves of survivors dot the worlds, living, however they can, in snarled lawlessness. Aly Erikson and her crew have carved out a niche of relative peace, doing their best to go on with their lives through salvaging, scavenging, and stealing. But with no force left to keep the lid on the pot, the pressures of chaos and discord soon cause conflicts to boil over. As enemies close in from all directions, even, sometimes, from within, the crew once again must fight—not just for survival, not just for their way of life, but this time for a future that can finally lay to rest the system’s bloody and savage past.

* * *

Given that, what are your thoughts on any of these taglines? Post comments below, and trust me, I know many of them are seriously cheese-puff. This is what happens when the brain is set to a task too early in the morning. I'm just hoping a couple of them will resonate. Cheers and thanks!Possible Taglines:At the banquet of war, tyranny feasts on power.When the fight is over, tyranny feasts on leftover scraps of power.The monster of tyranny feasts on power.In war, the weeds of tyranny choke the gardens of peace.Tyranny thrives where peace withers.Power is war's feast.Power feasts at war’s table.The cannibals of power feast at war’s table.Tyranny feasts at the table of power.Tyranny gorges at the table of power.Tyranny gorges at the banquet of power.The cannibal of tyranny gorges at the banquet of power.Unification and tyranny. Sometimes the difference isn’t clear.Power is the cannibal of war.War is the cannibal of power.After war, power cannibalizes itself.(After re-reading these, I'm noting I may have some kind of obsession with cannibalism. Ravenous is one of my all-time favorite films, after all. Don't judge.)

New Release: Sight: The Dream Guild Chronicles by David Bruns

Good Day, Bloggorites! On this happy Monday, it is my pleasure to introduce you to author David Bruns who has just released his second novel, Sight: The Dream Guild Chronicles, and is here to tell us about it.About David:I always knew I’d be a writer—someday.I grew up on a small farm in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. We didn’t have a TV, so my reading habit gradually grew into a reading obsession. After high school, I was accepted to the United States Naval Academy where I earned a Bachelors of Science in Honors English (That’s not a typo. I’m probably the only English major you’ll ever meet who had to take multiple semesters of calculus, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, naval architecture and weapons systems just so I could get to read some Shakespeare. It was totally worth it.)I spent six years as a commissioned officer in the nuclear-powered submarine force chasing Russian submarines. Then the Cold War ended and I became a civilian. For the next two decades, I schlepped my way around the globe as an itinerant executive in the high-tech sector, and even did a stint with a Silicon Valley startup.In 2013, I took a break from corporate life and wrote a book. I enjoyed it so much that I wrote another (better) book, the first in a series. For the writer in me, my “someday” is today.My wife and I are self-confessed travel junkies. We’re immensely proud of the fact that both our children had to get extra pages in their passports in order to fit all their visa stamps. Together, we’ve visited over two dozen different countries and almost all fifty states, but Minnesota is home.David's books:

Irradiance

“The Community is your first responsibility as a Citizen.” So says the First Edict of post-Reformation Sindra.Maribel is a new mother of twins in this bioengineered, telepathically networked society of comfort and safety, where the only relationship that matters is the one between a Citizen and her Community.But Maribel is also a scientist, and scientists follow facts—wherever they lead. Her search for the truth awakens emotions in her she never knew existed, uncovers ancient powers long hidden in Sindra’s history, and has the potential to destroy her Community.A dying planet . . .A desperate parent . . .A daring plan . . .Irradiance is the story of Maribel’s choice.Irradiance: The Dream Guild Chronicles – Book One, available on Amazon. 

Sight

In this exciting sequel to Irradiance, it’s been four months since the six refugees fled the dystopian Community of Sindra, and already the Joined adults are showing signs of sickness. In their search for a new home, time is not their ally.A routine planetary survey goes horribly wrong, leaving a native boy near death. In a desperate attempt to save his life, the boy is given a transfusion of Sariah’s blood—and the crew makes an amazing discovery.Sariah is adopted into the boy’s clan as the Fountain of Dreams, the mysterious girl from the stars who brought them the gift of dreams. But superstitions run deep in the clan and not everyone is happy with the new freedoms, especially Nisador, the tribe’s Sacred Mother.Sariah learns the ways of the clan are harsh—even deadly.Sight: The Dream Guild Chronicles – Book Two, available on Amazon.Where to find David:Website: http://davidbruns.com/Email: david@davidbruns.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidbrunswriterTwitter: http://twitter.com/brunsdavidGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7184882.David_BrunsEnjoy what you've seen so far? Subscribe by using the "Click to Follow" button or enter your email to the right and never miss a post. If you think others will enjoy this blog too, go ahead and share it using one of the social network buttons below.

Author Spotlight: Erik Wecks

Blogomites, it is my pleasure to have as a guest today Erik Wecks, author of the Pax Imperium novels and frequent contributor to GeekDad and LitReactor to share his wisdom on being a full-time writer, father, and self-publishing cognoscente.***First things first: tell us about you, why you write, and if it you regard writing generally to be a symptom of genius or insanity.Ha! Definitely insanity. Think about it, we spend all day in our heads imagining and pretending in worlds where we can make things just the way we want them. Worse, we are at our best when torturing the people we created in those worlds. Is it any wonder many writers struggle to deal with the reality? Seriously though, I have definitely come to be a more introverted person since taking up writing. I'm content with that, but it has been an interesting change. I think I would now describe myself as an outgoing introvert. In the past, I would have thought of myself as an extrovert.You have several novels and stories set in the PAX Imperium universe. That name is so intriguing! The layers of conflict within the title and the dichotomy between something that is peaceful and something that is imperious and has absolute dominion is juicy. Can you share what your vision for PAX is, why you’ve created it, and what kinds of stories readers can expect to find set there?I'm glad you like the name. The Pax really developed from the old historian in me. At one time, I was on my way toward a Ph.D. in European history. I didn't finish. This was back in the late nineties when things like the Balkan war and Kosovo were hot topics for discussion. One of the things I learned from a mentor was that dictators aren't always a bad thing. In a multi-ethnic empire, they have a way of sitting on conflict and keeping it from erupting into violence. In European history, the greatest empire was the Holy Roman Empire, which did a lot to keep conflict to a low simmer in Europe for hundreds of years, at least until the thirty years war in the seventeenth century. The Pax developed when I had the idea of taking the HRE and transporting it to a space opera universe.That said, I try to keep the politics in my books to a minimum. So far I've managed to avoid long-winded speeches about trade embargoes and boring diplomatic discussions in throne rooms. It's a concern for me. I don't want to read about Padme sitting around a throne room talking to people, and I assume my audience doesn't either. In my story, you don't even meet the Empress. I'd rather have you out there looking at the universe from the point of view of people within it, some of them important and some of them just average people trying to get by while it all falls apart around them. My tagline as an author is "character-rich science fiction for your Kindle with 'splosions—lots of explosions." I try to stick to that and leave out all the other boring bits.In my series of novels the Pax is definitely falling apart. Even an empire can only keep certain tensions on simmer for so long. There are four novels planned, Aetna Adrift is written and available, On the Far Bank of the Rubicon will come out later this winter or early in the spring. Currently, I am in the midst of writing the first of three big wars, one of which will take place in each book.You and I had a couple exchanges regarding your novel Aetna Adrift’s main character, Jack Halloway, being a womanizing antihero type. One of the things that’s been so interesting in regard to your decision to write this type of character, who some readers have mentioned was hard to connect with because of his somewhat negative ideas on femininity in general, is that you are actually quite an advocate for women’s social and economic parity. Tell us more about why you chose to create this character and what kind of message you hope readers take from your novels.Yeah, I knew that there was a risk that what I wrote would be misunderstood. I'm OK with that, as long as the reviewer doesn't get personal. When they start conflating Jack's views with my own, it gets under the skin. Also, when they assume that I wasn't being thoughtful in my choices and think that I just wrote things this way because I didn't know better, that bothers me. It shows the reviewer hasn't read anything that I wrote for GeekDad, where I have sometimes been called a feminist dad. Its a label, I will take, although I prefer humanist dad. I don't like the idea of equating a strong belief in parity with the feminine. I think its a tactical error in that it forever lets men off the hook from having to do their part to advocate for parity.As far as Jack goes, I guess I would start by saying, I like to write about broken people because I can relate to them. I think we're all imperfect, and I like putting that human imperfection into my stories. In Aetna Adrift, I wanted to write a story in which a misogynist grows up a little, and I wanted to make that character realistic. I didn't want him to have some sort of instant awakening which makes him better all at once, although there are moments which propel him forward. I wanted him to start by letting one woman past his defenses.I think I was only partly successful. One of the things I don't like is that it feels too much like romantic love is what changes Jack, and I am not a big fan of the "woman's sexuality will save a man" narrative. In my head, it's friendship which changes Jack, but I am not sure the came through clearly enough for my tastes. In Aetna Adrift, Jack finds himself looking at a woman as a partner and a person, instead of as a resource to be tapped in some way. To be fair to Jack, at the start of the book, he views everyone as a resource to be used. That's his journey, so it isn't just women, but he certainly reserves a special kind of disregard for women when the book begins.I don't think he's healthy by the end of the book either. If you listen to him carefully, you can see that he's still tends to see women as a means to an end. Jack still has some big blind spots when it comes to relationships in general and intimate relationships in particular. Those will come back to haunt him in book two in a big way. They will also take him a few more steps down the road, but that will take years. I don't think you get over misogyny overnight. I think looking at how do you help a misogynist grow up is an important question, particularly for men who are strong advocates for parity.You’re heavily ensconced in the parenting culture and have written numerous articles for GeekDad and LitReactor, an online writer’s water cooler. As a parent of three daughters, how do you make time to do all this writing?Two years ago I decided that I was never going to write unless I took the leap and started in full time. So writing is my job. I've always been a pretty self-motivated person. I try to write every day. Some days are better than others. I don't enjoy having someone looking over my shoulder and cracking the whip. I do that enough on my own, thank you very much.My wife works outside the home. I play the stay at home dad, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy raising my three daughters too much to give it up. I incorporate them into my writing as much as I can. I need to write a story for my seven year old yet, but my fourteen year old reads almost everything. She is one of my first line editors. She's pretty good at saying, "That sucks dad." It helps to hear it from someone you know cares.In the last month, I have been really excited to introduce my kids to Pathfinder (a Dungeons-and-Dragons-like game), which I see as a cooperative storytelling game. I started writing a YA-style adventure for them, and it has become a real joy to create simply for the enjoyment of my family. We play together each Friday night.What is your writing process? Are you a dedicated everyday writer, or catch-as-catch can? Do you have any special rituals or activities you do that help you prepare to write?As I said, I try to write every day. As far as rituals, I do have an interesting one. I have found that I write best without the internet available. I get too easily distracted messing with the music on Spotify or checking out how many people followed me on Twitter today. So I have my wife take the cable modem to work with her every day... I know it sounds ridiculous but it works. No internet=No distractions. It does make me a little slow at answering emails, however.Can you give us some insight on why you chose to go the indie publishing route, and what you’d do the same and differently if you were going to start again at the beginning of your writing career?For me being an indie has been purely a business decision. There is a much better opportunity to earn a small sustainable income as an indie than there is in the traditional world. In traditional world you either hit the lottery or make peanuts. I don't need to win the lottery. What I need is an income for my kids. I think the ebook ecosystem, and particularly Amazon, offers me a much better opportunity to earn that income. If the day comes that I am popular enough to command respect from one of the big six, I will listen, but only if I can truly negotiate on some of the more onerous parts of their contracts. Frankly, I don't expect that to happen, and I am content with that. I just want to make a modest living and bring a modest group of people real enjoyment from my work.What’s next on your writing agenda? Any new releases on the near horizon?As I said, I have a novel coming out later this winter, On the Far Bank of the Rubicon. I also have a short story or two in the works and a novella is rumbling around in my head. The novella is cathartic in nature, and I don't know if I am in the emotional place to tackle it right now, but I am thinking about it enough to know that it will come out someday. I also have a non-fiction project, I am cowriting with a couple of experts in the field on managing your HOA well. It's called Getting Beyond Paint Chips. It should be out in a few months.It seems as if you're heavily involved in organizing local writing conferences around your 'hood near Vancouver/Portland. What are your thoughts in general for other authors when it comes to attending writing conferences. Are they worth it? If so, why; and if not, why not?I think you can always learn something at a conference, but take everything you hear with a huge grain of salt. Much of the advice is just plain bad, so you have to sift through and find the truth for yourself. Also, don't use attending conferences as an excuse never to put your stuff out in front of an audience. Sometimes I think writers cling to the traditional publishing model simply because getting rejected means they never have to find out if an audience will like their work. Don't be that writer! With ebook publishing, you don't have an excuse any longer. Put your stuff out there and find your audience. If it's well edited and interesting, you will find readers.Anything else you want to mention or elaborate on?Hmmm... nothing comes to mind, except to tell readers that if they join my friends list, they will often get first crack at reading what I write. Last week I gave them all a copy of my short story "He Dug the Grave Himself," and right now if you sign up, you get a free copy of my Pax novella Brody: Hope Unconquered. You can find a sign up in the upper right corner of my website, www.erikwecks.com***Erik is a full time writer and blogger living in Vancouver, Washington. He writes both nonfiction and fiction and blogs and enjoys writing on a wide range of topics. When not waxing poetic on various aspects of fiscal responsibility, he tends toward the geeky.In the moments he is not poised over the keyboard, he loves to spend time with his family. He is married to an angel, Jaylene, who has taught him more than anyone else about true mercy and compassion. They are the parents of three wonderful girls. As a group they like swimming at the local pool, gardening, reading aloud, playing piano, and beating each other soundly at whatever table top game is handy.***Thank you so much for being here, Erik, and sharing your wide-scale industry knowledge and writerly wisdom. I am particularly inspired by your description of rolling your writing into your family life, and I look forward to reading Aetna Adrift, as well as the release of On the Far Bank of the Rubicon.

Movie Review: The World's End

Fans from all over the world flocked to theaters last weekend (or should have) to see the über-anticipated The World's End, the latest collaboration from trinitrin trio Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost. The well-rounded cast also included Rosamund Pike, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, and Eddie Marsan. I'm not a watcher of the new British TV series Sherlock Holmes, but as I understand it, Freeman is a much-loved Dr. Watson, and who could ever forget his role in Love Actually? And then there's Paddy Considine, a quite intriguing character actor, and always fun to watch. The most recent film I've seen him in was Blitz, actually an entertaining Jason Statham movie, smarter than most. Which isn't a high bar to set, admittedly.

Premise:

Five high school friends reunite after years of separation to conquer a pub crawl of epic proportions. Along the way, they are confronted by the realities of their lives, their mistakes, and their missed opportunities. But, even more surprisingly, they confront an alien invasion and must decide that all-important question: finish the pub crawl or not?

What I Loved:

• The smart, fun, and satirically cutting dialogue audiences know to expect from a Frost/Pegg movie was fully present. A sample:Martin's character: You do realize that the Three Musketeers is a fiction written by Alexandre Dumas?Pegg's character: A lot of people are saying that about the Bible these days.Considine's character: What, that it was written by Alexandre Dumas?Pegg: Don't be daft, Steve. It was written by Jesus.

• The "daily life of a middle-class Englishman turns utterly bizarre" twist. Also a commonality among the Frost/Pegg/Wright films.

• But most of all, there was a new and deeply poignant edge to the characters played by Frost and Pegg that audiences may not expect. This time, the troupe tackled aspects from the darker side of the human psyche, tossing them into audience's laps with a rawness and candor that may well make you reflect on things you'd rather not. Frost's character had a particular darkness to him that we've not seen before, but which he portrayed so convincingly that the usual instinct to laugh at his anticipated antics was utterly squelched (but in a good way, um…).

• The soundtrack, which was unbelievably awesome.

• The ending twist. I won't spoil it. But I will point you to a similar movie that I was reminded of (and equally enjoyed).

What I Didn't Love Much:

Can't think of a thing.Verdict: see this. You really can't be disappointed. It's everything you've come to love with this lovable group of thespians, and with a heart-warming takeaway message to boot. Kinda.Bechdel Test status: fail.

Movie Review: Elysium

Elysium, while visually and graphically fun, fell painfully far below the bar set by Neill Blomkamp's earlier masterpiece, District 9.The story is about Earth approximately 140 years in the future. Dirty, overcrowded, disease-ridden, and resource deficient, the planet has become a wastebasket for the have-nots of humanity. Elysium, a paragon of human engineering and sophistication, floats above the planet in pristine effulgence, homing only the most affluent and powerful people. The plot is simple: groups and individuals left behind to scratch out their lives in what meager options remain on Earth want, not access to Elysium and all its comforts, but really just access to the space station's atomic-reorganization technology that has the capacity to heal apparently any human disease—from cancer to having your entire face blown off. Pretty nifty. And no anesthetic required.Warning: Spoilers abound.Drop in Everyman, Max de Costa, played by Matt Damon. Max simply wants to live a law-abiding life, having learned from the crimes of his youth that being free, even in the unforgiving detritus that is 22nd-century Los Angeles, is still much better than whatever such a disrupted and disorganized society would have for a jail. But Max has a shitty day when the local robocops hassle him for no good reason, and to add insult to injury, not even Max's parole officer is human, all being merely droid facsimiles of a justice system (though, the movie never explains why they'd have robots doing these positions if there is such an overabundance of population. Viewers have to let this pass because there's, well, a LOT of important details the movie never explains).Thanks to the easy replacement of human laborers, Max's boss at the robot factory (the requisite evil corporation), in a throwback to 1800s anti-union industrialization, threatens Max with a loss of his job if he refuses to risk his life in a radiation chamber to fix a mechanical fault. Boom, zap, Max is cooked, and sent home by the company doctor (also a robot) with a "thanks for your service, you'll be dead in five days" announcement and a bottle of pills.But even radiation sickness is no big thang for the magical Med-Pods on Elysium, and desperation forces Max to seek out the one person he knows who can get him there. And here's the fun part. The King Hoodlum's name is Spider, which the Gibson-geek in me hopes is a nod by Blomkamp to Robert Blongo's and William Gibson's adaptation of Gibson's short story Johnny Mnemonic. If you saw the movie, you know the venerable Henry Rollins plays a doctor named Spider who is trying to help save the human race from a mysterious plague. In another couple of nods to Mnemonic, Blomkamp's movie relies on the use of data-storage devices that can be implanted in the human brain, and the cast includes a crazy, streetwalking freelance soldier (played brilliantly by the amazing Sharlto Copley) who has a striking resemblance and shares the psychotic personality of Mnemonic's murderous Street Preacher. Which takes us back to Elysium.In order to buy his trip to Elysium and be saved from radiation poisoning, Max makes a deal with Spider to retrieve a mass of data from the Big Corporate Kingpin (which will, of course, be stored in Max's brain implant) in exchange for the ride. Naturally, things go bad and adventures and explosions ensue.I'd like to say Elysium was visionary and unique, but giant gaping plot holes, an incredible lack of worldbuilding details or realism, and a total failure to keep major threads of the storyline both consistent and relevant (what was the point of writing in Max's childhood sweetheart, anyway?) really made the film suffer. If not for the over-the-top antics of Kruger, Sharlto Copley's character, and the subtle and heavy-hitting performance by Jodi Foster, the movie would have been less than ho-hum. Entertaining, but largely irritating. If you really want to be entertained, opt instead for Pacific Rim or the truly original District 9.Bechdel Test status: fail.

Writing for Recognition

Writers write for two reasons. (1) A thirst for recognition. (2) And to release the baying hounds of unchecked and untrained inspiration that run amok inside our brainmeats and threaten our (questionable) sanity.It was just under eight years ago that I stopped writing simply to release the hounds and gave more than a split self-effacing second of thought to the possibility that someone, somewhere might actually want to read what I have to say someday. That was the moment I started writing for recognition.Yet, after the first two novels began drowning in ever-expanding puddles of their own spilling and dissolving plots, I finally quit beating my head against the many questions that kept arising (no. 1 being: why is this so hard???), and decided to seek professional help. For the writing dilemmas I was facing, that is.Subsequently, I took a lot of creative writing and editing classes, read a few books on the subjects, and, most importantly, wrote a lot of ridiculous, often hilariously silly, prose. Still, recognizing the embedded lessons of even silly and ridiculous prose is to a writer's benefit, and makes that prose valuable.And now, two completed and three to six (but who's counting?) uncompleted novels and several short stories later, I'm penning the third book in my science fiction trilogy, and finally trying to do it in a logical, structured way. You'd think that someone who spent three years crawling through the mud under concertina wire and jumping out of olive-drab-painted cargo planes for the army would have the structure thing down, but, like most stubborn and willful children (even grown ones), I somehow aspired instead to reject everything the military required of me. Except for remaining fluent in acronymese.Which brings me to the current topic. Over the last few weeks, I've been bouncing around ideas for Contract of War's anchor scenes (and here's a great summary at From the Write Angle of what those are). This process, as many of you know, is an agonizing battle of generating wonderful plot ideas, which, after the requisite analysis, you realize aren't so wonderful and murder with shameless savagery. Because no idea is ever good enough until one IS.When my gray matter finally started to ooze with sweaty exhaustion even worse than Lawson Craddock felt at the recent Amgen Tour of California, I had a flash of inspiration that told me to step back and first figure out what the hell it is exactly that drives and motivates my characters. Perhaps knowing who they are will help me better know what story eventually needs to be told about them. The notes below are a result of this process and come from using writing techniques taught by the late Jack Bickham in Elements of Fiction Writing – Scene & Structure (and if you write novels and haven't read this book, I can't help but wonder if you also like to drive a car with your feet).SPOILER NOTE: As these are notes for Contract of War, it's safe to reason that these characters will all be featured in it. Some of the mischief they are planning will likely also be in the notes. So, if you don't want to know what may go down, best to just leave it at: there's a congregation of main characters (most you've met), and they be wantin' somethin'.

Character Self-Concept Files

What is each character’s self-concept, and what turns that on its head?1. AlyAly’s self-concept is that she is a woman of action; a doer and a survivor. She was inadvertently recruited as a medic during the war thanks to her affiliation with Vitruzzi. When she ends up still in that role at Broken City, it begins to chafe at her. Her natural cynicism starts to claw at her nerves. When Quantum and Vitruzzi/Brady’s fight for leadership starts to grow, it compounds her own restlessness. She is not a politician and simply wants a regular, 3 squares/day lifestyle where she and Karl can live in relative sanity and peace. If that can’t happen, then she wants to be busy and free from overt dictatorialism (not a real word, but it should be!).2. QuantumQuantum refuses the rule of law or rule of authority, or the idea that humanity is capable of order. He is both a technophile and a caveman. Broken City’s mini-government is getting under his skin because he believes it is just the seed for a new version of the Admin. He’s an interferer, but thinks of himself as proactive and a pragmatist about human nature. An egomaniac who thinks machines are better than people, thus machines should be the ultimate goal of people. When he perceives the colony regressing into an atavistic reinstatement of Admin control, he begins looking for ways to sabotage.– Incidentally, he and Aly share this concept of authority.3. VitruzziVitruzzi is a compassionate realist, leader, and reluctant about nothing that serves to keep peace and order. Unflappable and stern, she regards herself as levelheaded and a fair judge. It’s when her own decisions cause harm that she starts to lose touch.4. BradyNo nonsense, no passes, no breaks. He’s a bulldog and a humanitarian that treats any gray area as an outright enemy. The pain and losses he’s suffered have turned him hard, but the inner Brady is one hundred percent finest-quality human. He is loyal and just, but has a hard time admitting when he’s wrong. Stubborn, like Aly, he believes himself to be a guardian of what is right, but can be too quick to decide what that is.5. DavidDavid is a joker and a mediator who doesn’t like to fight, but can handle himself in any kind. He reasons lengthily before deciding on a course of action. His loyalty to his crew can be rigid to a fault. He’s quick to think the best of people, but still slow to embrace them in his inner circle or confidence.6. KarlLike Aly, Karl is a doer. Stoic and driven, his main goals include keeping his friends safe, keeping out of the way of trouble, and enjoying what life has to offer. Having been a soldier and wounded, most of his life experience has trained him to value rules and be realistic about consequences and avoiding recklessness. Yet he’ll turn himself inside out to come to the aid of those he is loyal to.The great news is, after doing this exercise, those anchor scenes are finally done!Anyone want to share some of the steps you undertake as part of your pre-writing process?

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

Author Spotlight: Jo Lallo on Science Fiction Inspirations

Today's treat, dear readers, is a little insight from the multi-talented, multi-genre author of Bypass Gemini and the Book of Deacon novels among others, Joseph Lallo. I asked him to visit my blog because I've been very impressed with his ability to juggle different genres and be quite successful in all, and he graciously agreed. Thanks, Jo, for sharing your time and inspirations with us!

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Not long ago, Tammy was nice enough to post a (very flattering) review of my first science fiction book, Bypass Gemini. Afterward she asked me if I would mind talking a little bit about what got me started in sci-fi. The simple answer is actually rather boring.

Back in late 2010 I'd finished writing Jade, a book in my fantasy series The Book of Deacon. At the time the fantasy books weren't terribly successful, so I asked my friends what they thought I should write next. My buddy Sean suggested I write some sci-fi. I have since discovered he was trying to trick me into writing a time travel story. It didn't work... yet. At any rate, I didn't have any better ideas, so I shrugged and got to work. Six months later Bypass Gemini was finished. Like I said, not a fascinating anecdote. I want to make sure that Tammy gets her money's worth out of this post (author's note: O/), though, so let's probe a little deeper.

I'd say a big reason that I agreed to write some sci-fi is that most of my education is in science. I've got a Master's Degree in Computer Engineering after all. Ostensibly this means I know an awful lot about technology. What it actually means is that I know enough of the fundamentals to convince people that I know an awful lot about technology. Higher education has more in common with a Jedi mind trick than most people would care to admit. (: waves hand: “I know what Nyquist Frequency means...”). While my day job and some hobby projects have allowed me to put my education to use in the past, writing sci-fi would finally allow me to flex my techno-bluffing skills. I'm drawn to any career that allows/requires me to dream up farfetched ideas and figure out how to make them work.

Another reason I took the plunge with a sci-fi novel was that, while I might not have had a plot in mind for one, I had no shortage of ideas. I don't know if this is how it works for everybody, in my case most of my stories start as a pile of scenes and ideas that have formed in my head or during conversation when I should have been doing more important things. Whenever anyone makes a comment that gets me thinking, I file it away for future reference. If one file of ideas starts to overflow, I start twisting and turning them until they form into a plot. Having exclusively written fantasy prior to Bypass Gemini, I had a long list of jotted-down musings that wouldn't really work in a fantasy setting. Pop culture references, for instance (though careful readers might notice some vague Monty Python references in the fantasy). I had also always considered fantasy to be rather solemn and serious in tone—prior to discovering Terry Pratchett, that is—so I looked at sci-fi as a good chance to try out some humor.

That takes us to the inspirations behind some of the characters. Trevor “Lex” Alexander, as is the case with all of my central characters, sprouted from the story itself out of necessity. “Let's see. I need someone with an exciting skill, a job that takes him across the galaxy, and enough bad luck to be desperate for cash.” Enter the down-on-his-luck racer-turned-courier. Once I had that scaffold to build upon, I started sticking on little details and foibles, most of which I just stole from my own life. (Yes, I have been known to use corn chips instead of a spoon when eating chili.) Karter the inventor is even more me, which in retrospect is a little disturbing since he's insane. Everything from his exclusive diet of beans and rice to his attitude regarding acceptable nicknames are based on claims/rants I've made over the last few years. He's basically Jo + Unlimited Resources – Fear of consequences. Ma, his AI, started out as a sarcastic doorbell gag that evolved as I realized what a fun concept it was to have a passive aggressive computer around. Finally there's Solby. One day I said, “Hey... a fox is smelly. And a skunk is smelly. If you combined them they would be a funk, and it would smell bad, so it would have a funk (author's note: according to Jo, the collecitve noun for funks is a parliament. True fact). It works on so many levels!” Three years later...

Solby the Funk by Bubble-Rhapsody

Merchandise based on an off-the-cuff pun. We live in an interesting time. And I guess it all comes down to that. We do live in an interesting time, and trying to figure out where all of it will lead is a tremendous amount of fun. The science fiction stories I write are a combination of things I think will happen, things I hope will happen, and thing's I'm afraid will happen. The rest is just a thread to string it all together.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.