Author of THE UNITY SEQUENCE. Doing the right thing for Alderaan reasons since 2012.
Tor.com consistently post excellent short stories. I highly recommend reading ‘Foundation‘. It’s by Ann Aguirre.
‘In Ann Aguirre’s award-winning novel, Enclave, humans have taken refuge in colonies below ground. “Foundation” is the story of what drove them there, told through the eyes of a teen who would later have vast influence over the fate of many, and who gave his heart to the one person who needed him most.‘
And in a couple of weeks, I will be! This afternoon I uploaded the paperback version of ASCENSION POINT to Createspace, which means in the not-too-distant future it’ll be on Amazon alongside the e-book version.
The most exciting part of the whole process for me? Getting the final version of the paperback cover from my designer, the wonderful Stephanie Mooney. And here it is…
I’m ecstatic to report that my first novel, ASCENSION POINT, is now available! You can find it on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and on Smashwords.
To everyone who has followed my journey from blank page to publication, I want to thank you – for your comments, feedback, support and congratulations at every milestone along the way. It was really appreciated.
And if you pick up a copy of the book, let me know what you think! 🙂
There’s a lovely fantasy short on Tor. com here. It’s written by Marie Rutkoski, who I didn’t know of before reading this; I like her style a lot.
Here’s a snippet:
“Not that Zephyr felt it. That would require skin. It was a good thing she didn’t have any at the moment. If she had, she would have been sweltering along with the humans. If she had a face, her expression would have shown what she thought of them.
Their parents or grandparents had burned Chicago down in 1874. Now, five decades later, their reborn city was an ugly thing, with straight streets and right angles, full of humans who drank and laughed and had no idea that they were living their lives in a space hollowed out by the murder of a people better than them in every way, in every thought and intention.
Namely, creatures like herself.
Zephyr floated, invisible, into an alleyway snaking out of the club’s side entrance. She was nothing, a wisp of air.
Then her body molded into being and she became a girl.”
There seems to be a pattern emerging.
When I was about a third of the way through the draft of ASCENSION POINT, I started to find myself daydreaming about ideas for new stories. Some were vague and insubstantial, and didn’t come to much; for a couple I jotted down the basic, high-level premise to come back to later; and one really caught my imagination and quickly turned into the outline for the book I’m writing now, ROGUE.
Now that I’m about five chapters into the draft of ROGUE, the same thing’s happened again. It’s as if, with the WIP’s outline in place* and the story and character arcs plotted, my ‘big picture’ creative juices need something to do. So they wander off and think up new things.
Which is why I got out of bed at 4am last night to write down–before I forgot them–the notes which now make up the broad-strokes outline of what will end up being my third book. Tentative title: BODIES IN MOTION.
The story’s actually not entirely new: it’s a fleshing out of one of those basic, high-level premises I dreamed up last year. Now there’s some meat on the skeletal plot bones, and I’m really excited to start writing it!
But… Oh yeah.
I just need to write the other 55,000 words of ROGUE first.
(* Work in progress, for anyone unfamiliar with the acronym :))
I’ve finalised the back blurb for ASCENSION POINT. This will adorn the back cover of the paperback version, and double as the book description for the eBook on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, etc. So without further ado…
Titan. A genetically engineered warrior for whom going home means a death sentence…
Commonwealth. A powerful politician chasing a legend from her family’s past…
Seryn. A young girl seeking adventure and hiding more power than even she knows…
Collective. A synthetically augmented scientist whose singular nature makes him an exile…
Representatives from each of humanity’s four feuding factions, each offered the chance to see the legendary Book of Ascension—an ancient artefact that might hold the key to immortality. The four form an uneasy alliance before discovering they have been misled: Before they can see the Book, they must find a mythical deity, protect the galaxy from an ancient evil—and save humanity’s future.
I’ll have another post in a day or two, as I’m nearing the end of the editing process. EXCITING TIMES.
Interesting piece at The Atlantic here about how a group of scientists are hoping to find alien life by first finding Dyson Spheres–the power sources that Freeman Dyson posited would likely power advanced civilisations.
For some reason, I found this quote really funny:
‘”More than once some inexplicable object has been discovered that looked like aliens, and then slowly it became clear that it was a very interesting, but totally natural, phenomenon,” he said. Indeed, Nikolai Kardashev once thought he’d identified several good candidates for Type III civilizations, which operate on a galactic scale. But in the end, they turned out to be quasars.’
Writing SF is making my sense of humour weird.
Twenty-three chapters edited. 618 comments addressed. Several thousand words rearranged, deleted or replaced with better words. A manuscript that’s never been slimmer or more beach-beautiful.
Back to Misti it goes.
We’re getting close, people.
I’m ten chapters of twenty-three through Misti’s edit of ASCENSION POINT, and loving it. Every comment and suggestion makes sentences, scenes, chapters just so much… tighter. The story is getting leaner and meaner by the minute.
Less:
More:
(Caveat: Book is not as funny as Jonah Hill.)
I’m super-excited about getting the edits finished this week, and I’ve got plenty of time on my hands to do it as lovely wife is in New York for a conference. Once I’m done, it’s back to Misti for an edit of my changes, then back to me, back to her, etc. until THE CHANGES ARE NO MORE. And then, oh boy.
Publishing time.
DAN HARRIS: 10% SCI, 90% FI 