Eren had never seen snow on Akeso before. Ahead, the house was decked in an extravaganza of greenery and shining balls and red bows and bright artificial stars; the two largest trees situated off the porch bore matching attire.

“What is this?”

Alex appeared from his left as the wormhole faded away. “It’s Christmas.” She extended a hand to him. “Come inside.”

What in Athena’s name was ‘Christmas’? A quick query told him it was a Human holiday with religious roots that centered around gift-giving, decorating trees, singing carols, lighting things up, something about reindeer and…possibly snowball fights?

Proele.

The word whispered through her dream, carried along by an eerie, haunted wind. Wisps of fog obscured any details of where she was, but everywhere she turned, there was only the word.

Proele.

At the end of Requiem, I said ‘the story of Aurora has come to an end, but the story of Amaranthe is just beginning.’ I hope you knew I meant it.

If you’ve finished reading The Stars Like Gods, you know some of what I’m going to talk about—but stick around anyway, because there’s yet more. If you haven’t finished The Stars Like Gods, there’s a big surprise at the end of the book, and you’re about to find out what it is unless you avert your eyes right now. The choice is yours.

I’ll wait.

Okay, done waiting.

READ MORE

After more than a million words, how does one begin to capture the essence of the Aurora Rhapsody saga in a mere few hundred? Three years, 9 months and 10 days ago, I promised to the world that it would be "an epic tale of galaxy-spanning adventure, of the thrill of discovery and the unquenchable desire to reach ever farther into the unknown. It's a tale of humanity at its best and worst, of love and loss, of fear and heroism. It's the story of a woman who sought the stars and found more than anyone imagined possible." I hope it has become all those things and much more.

Aurora Rhapsody is science fiction, an imagined future, space opera, adventure, mystery, romance, action. It's exploration of space and exploration of what it means to be human. What it means to be alive. It's love and lasers, battles with the characters' internal demons and star-exploding space battles. It's an optimistic vision that dares to believe humanity will prove to be both stronger and better than we believe ourselves to be today. It is, I suspect, something different for each one of you. It can't be defined by numbers, but what the hell - I will anyway.

REQUIEM (noun):

1. A Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead.

2. A musical composition setting parts of a requiem Mass, or of a similar character.

3. An act or token of remembrance.

Origin: Latin, accusative singular of requiēs, meaning “rest” or “repose.”

I've always held a certain appreciation for the word “requiem.” It's lovely to the ear, conveying consequentiality and reverence without being overly long or convoluted. It's a musical term; the Requiem Mass has inspired hundreds if not thousands of musical compositions, including pieces by some of the greatest composers who have ever lived. It's fitting that the last novel in a saga called Aurora Rhapsody bear a title steeped in musical sentiment. And, yes, it is an appropos title for the book, but as has been common with my book titles, perhaps in some unexpected ways.

Re/Genesis: Schrödinger’s Cat and Sleights of Hand

Before I dive into Relativity’s secrets and grand reflections on this new trilogy, a few words on the Re/Genesis short story.

If you haven’t read Re/Genesis as part of the Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy’s Edge anthology, your excuses are now at an end. Re/Genesis is free on Amazon (in the U.S., possibly elsewhere), Nook, Google Play and Wattpad. You can also download a .mobi, .ePub or PDF version directly; you can even read the story right here on the website. It’s a quick read, yet so important. Get to it!

Much like Apogee did for Aurora Renegades, the events of Re/Genesis will play a vital role in the unfolding story of Aurora Resonant. It takes place concurrently with the end of Abysm, serving as a bridge between Abysm and Relativity in more ways than one. It zooms in to give us our first real glimpse of Amaranthe, seen through the eyes of someone who wants to blow it up (as it were).

Ah, yes, Eren. In Re/Genesis we meet Eren asi-Idoni—Anaden, anarchist and dashing rebel. He will play a huge role in Relativity and all of Resonant, and Re/Genesis provides quite the dramatic introduction for him.

We're going to mix things up a bit this time. As I mention below, Dissonance is a Pivot Point, and that means this is a great time to pause and take stock for a minute.

A mere two years ago, I wrote a little blog post called “Asking Less (and More) of Others.” (Aside: Best, most insane two years of my life). To all of you who arrived a little later as a result of promotion efforts, or simply because you found and enjoyed my novels, a most sincere welcome. I’m truly glad I deserved it.

You know what the most wonderful thing is, now, two years later?

The Author's Note in Sidespace got a shiny new coat of paint for Aurora Renegades. Among a few other things, in it I say the following:

Sidespace was an independently published novel, written by one person and worked on by a small team of colleagues. Right now there are thousands of writers out there chasing this same dream.

Go to Amazon and surf until you find an author you like the sound of. Take a small chance with a few dollars and a few hours of your time. In doing so, you may be changing those authors’ lives by giving visibility to people who until recently were shut out of publishing, but who have something they need to say. It’s a revolution, and it’s waiting on you.

In the spirit of the Author's Note, Thanksgiving and the impending Christmas, Hannukah and New Years, I want to take the opportunity to express my thanks for the success I've enjoyed by spotlighting other authors.

Twice makes a routine (according to my dogs anyway). With the release of SIDESPACE: Aurora Renegades Book One coming up in one week, here’s a peek behind the scenes of the book – we’ve got facts and figures, trivia, musings, numerous awards, several secrets, and one tattoo.

Relatedly, be sure to check out the teaser quotes, which I'm sharing with increasing frequency as release day approaches. See them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and all the other social media sites. Also, I shared the back cover blurb in this news update.

Sidespace is divided into seven parts. Seven, you repeat, incredulous. But isn’t this book shorter than the first three, and they only had four parts each? Yep. Sidespace is structured a little differently than the previous books (more on this below); I think it enhances the storytelling, but you’ll have to tell me. So seven parts (plus a Coda!) titled and quoted thusly:

We're going to be visiting a lot of new worlds in Aurora Renegades. While we're by no means leaving the planets back home in Aurora behind, now that Aurora Rising is complete I thought I'd share some of the spacescapes and futuristic art* that I drew on for inspiration in imagining the varied colonized worlds visited in Aurora Rising - for your enjoyment and as a 'thank you' to the fantastic artists who help fuel my imagination.

The links go to Deviant Art pages (you don't need an account to view the images on DA), where you can see the pieces in gorgeous high resolution and learn more about their creation. If you particularly enjoy a piece and are a DA member, show your appreciation by favoriting it, following the artist, or even leaving a comment.

I am a bad person.

Now, hopefully this will come as a surprise to most of you. Some of you, perhaps not so much ;).

MY CONFESSION: After Starshine was published, amidst much angst over its cliffhanger ending, I said the following: “Aurora Rising is the story. Starshine represents Act I in what is, in effect, a 3-act play in novel form.”

It wasn’t a lie—but it also wasn’t the entirety of the truth. It was very important to me that Aurora Rising be a self-contained, fulfilling story that will forever stand on its own. Aside from the obvious reasons, early on I didn’t know if I’d have the time, finances or will to continue writing beyond it. But after a year and thanks to all you amazing people the three novels of the Aurora Rising trilogy have—from my perspective—done phenomenally well both in sales and in critical praise from the readers. By any standards I can find, Hypernova Publishing and the Aurora Rising trilogy are blockbusters in the indie publishing world and there is no way I am going to stop now.

So here’s the entirety of the truth.

SPOILERS FOR TRANSCENDENCE FOLLOW.

You have been warned.

***

DOWNTOWN SEATTLE, EARTH

One Month After the End of the Metigen War

Reporter: “Excuse me, gentlemen—excuse me. Do you have a moment to answer a few questions? For the public?”

(Caleb Marano glances over his shoulder as he and Noah Terrage pass the man on the street.)

Caleb: “Sorry, we’re in a hurry.”

Reporter: “Please, I’ll only take a minute of your time.”

(Caleb stops and turns around. With a visible sigh Noah joins him.)

Caleb: “All right—a minute. As in one.”

So, all the possible excerpts from Transcendence are spoilers - AND PAYOFFS. Even the first chapter, which is why it won’t be posted here until the book’s available. I am releasing teaser quotes, though, with increasing frequency as release day approaches. See them on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr or here on the site.

Behind the Scenes with Vertigo was a popular post, so I thought I’d reprise it for Transcendence, with some fresh twists. Facts, trivia and deep dark secrets follow.

*

Like Starshine and Vertigo, Transcendence will be divided into four parts, titled and quoted thusly:

I know you guys are sitting there looking at Transcendence’s full word meter and wondering why the heck the book isn't out yet—a perfectly valid and understandable question.*

So I thought it would be fun (for me, hopefully for you-I promise there is humor) to walk through how my books get from idea to publication. Every person’s process is different and intensely personal to them, but this one is my own.

1.  Outline the outlines (aka, make pretty graphs)

I spend a lot of time outlining, and in different ways:

• What happens in what order?
• What happens where in what order?
• What happens to whom in what order?

It's the lovable, adorable Miriam Solovy doing what she enjoys most, gabbing with the press and the public! *melts under Miriam's glare*

Kidding. But though I'm picking on her, Miriam has actually turned out to be one of the most popular characters in Aurora Rising, ranking as a strong reader favorite - after Alex and Caleb of course, and a smidge ahead of Noah. So enjoy Miriam at her finest (with a special guest appearance by Richard).

***

(This interview takes place immediately following the events of VERTIGO: Aurora Rising Book Two.)

I was honored to be invited to host an AMA on Reddit's /r/suggestmeabook and /r/sciencefiction last month. I had a terrific time chatting with everyone and hopefully provided some interesting answers to their questions.

In case you missed it, here is the transcript of the AMA, unaltered except for formatting and specific-to-Reddit details. It includes more details on my writing process, thoughts about writing and publishing, and juicy tidbits about Aurora Rising than I could ever consciously fit in one blog post, so I hope you enjoy!

In my last blog post, I mentioned there were Easter eggs (subtle nods or homages to geek/literary/pop culture) in both Starshine and Vertigo. I’m running a giveaway over on Goodreads for a couple of Vertigo paperbacks, but I wanted to reward you guys specifically, because you’re awesome for coming to the website and following me on this adventure. So I came up with a little contest which hopefully will be fun for everyone. Here’s how it's going to work:

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll remember that as Starshine neared completion I began posting little excerpts from it every couple of weeks. I haven’t done so with Vertigo, primarily because all the excerpts are spoilers. All of them. I mean it. I do hope to start releasing some quotes in the coming weeks, which are too short to be spoilers. Right?

(As an aside, one edit made last week was at the urging of my husband, who said, “This is the actual book, you are supposed to spoil them!”)

To try and make up for my overly secretive and neurotic fear of revealing too much too soon to you guys, I thought I would share some other details about Vertigo, both fun and legit.

The internet writing community is all aflutter this summer about business clashes between Amazon and the publishing companies – specifically Hachette (the smallest of the ‘Big 5’ publishers). There is also the breaking news that Amazon has rolled out a subscription service for books called Kindle Unlimited. The announcement of KU intersects and influences the previous debate and sets off new discussions about how and why people do and should be able to read books, treatment of and compensation for authors, indie vs. traditional publishing, book pricing, price fixing, antitrust and monopolies, capitalism and fairness.

Like many writers, I have thoughts and opinions on these issues, and I wanted to share them with you. In summary, they consist of:

VERTIGO

[Spoilers for STARSHINE follow. I'm just saying.]

***

Reporter:  I’m here today with Alexis Solovy and Caleb Marano. These two individuals have been at the center of a storm of recent events. Now, amid rumors of conspiracy, murder and even aliens, they’ve agreed to go on camera and answer our questions.

First things first—how did the two of you meet?

Caleb:  She shot me.

Alex:  I shot you down. Then I shot you.

Seven weeks after publication the craziness has started to settle down, and I’m finally getting used to a “new normal”—which means I’ve had the chance to muse a little on the whole experience.

In the tradition of the terrific (and irreverent) blogger and author Chuck Wendig’s series “Five Things I Learned Writing…”, I present five things I learned writing (and publishing) Starshine:

1.  Google will not send the FBI to your door if you spend six hours on the internet researching the fastest-acting deadly toxins.

Social issues and politics are nearly impossible for us to escape, even—or maybe especially—in entertainment. Even far-future singularity sci-fi and fantastical epic fantasy often contain overtones of commentary or condemnation on the state of modern society.

The science fiction writing community, like many professions, has struggled with issues of discrimination of late. The SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America) has spent the last year embroiled in controversy surrounding accusations of sexism, complete with resignations, protests, and internet petitions. There’s probably even a meme or two for it.

Starshine launched just over a week ago. Over the course of that first week, sales were somewhat better than I expected as a new and, let’s face it, unknown author who had just given her book away for free to everyone who did know of her. Sales varied from as many as 10 copies to as few as zero in a day. It popped up on the Amazon “Sci-Fi—Space Exploration” Bestseller list periodically, only to fall off again when sales lulled. Still, by the end of the first week I had sold 68 copies across all formats and platforms. “Not bad at all,” I said to myself.

Then yesterday happened.

Last year Mars One announced an ambitious plan to establish the first human colony on Mars by 2024. Though the website is quite detailed and professional, I have no idea whether they will accomplish their goal, in 2024 or a later date—that's not what this post will focus on.

Though in the news recently for somewhat dubious reasons, the initiative has sparked the imagination of scientists, researchers, adventurers and dreamers. More than 200,000 people signed up for the chance to go to Mars—and never return.