Science Fiction

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Cross-Country Journeys, Chicken Scratch & Bossy Characters

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Cross-Country Journeys, Chicken Scratch & Bossy Characters

The other day I was cleaning out my notebook collection (which is shockingly extensive, considering I use a PC/tablet/phone for nearly everything). In checking the contents of each notebook before sorting it into the “keep” or “toss” pile, I was surprised to discover pages and pages of handwritten notes in one innocuous looking little notebook. It took me a moment to realize that this was the notebook I took on our cross-country drive from Colorado to Georgia in 2014 for Thanksgiving.*

The drive where Aurora Renegades and Aurora Resonant came to life.

November 2014 places this drive two months after Vertigo was released, which means I was heavy into writing Transcendence. I’d had the broad brush-strokes of the full 9-book saga in place from the very beginning (yes, including the ending!), but up until this point I’d forced myself to focus on Aurora Rising—because if Rising wasn’t a success, there would likely be no 2nd and 3rd trilogies. But by November, Starshine had taken off and Vertigo was doing very well; I was collecting an enthusiastic fan base, and I had started to accept the notion that this writing gig was something I could do. As in, forever.

So it was time to get serious about the rest of the story.

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Introducing Asterion Noir

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Introducing Asterion Noir

When man and machine are one and the same, there are many crimes but only one sin: psyche-wipe. The secrets it has buried could lead to a civilization's salvation, or to its doom.

The Asterion Dominion is at peace with its neighbors and itself. Its citizens enjoy great freedoms and all the luxuries their biosynthetic minds can imagine, design and create. But beneath the idyllic veneer, something is going wrong. People are going wrong, driven to commit inexplicable crimes without motive or purpose. And once imprisoned for those crimes, they simply vanish.

Psyche-wiped and dumped in an alley 5 years ago, awakened into a culture where ancestral memories stretch back for millennia, Nika Tescarav's past is a blank canvas. But if whoever erased her did so in the hope of silencing her, they should have tried harder.

Someone must speak for the lost.

Someone must uncover how and why they became lost.

Someone must find the lost.

Nika is that someone.

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Aurora Rhapsody In Numbers & Pictures

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Aurora Rhapsody In Numbers & Pictures

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.

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A Word About A Word

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A Word About A Word

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.

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Resonant, Relativity, Re/Genesis and Other Musings On The Letter ‘R’

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Resonant, Relativity, Re/Genesis and Other Musings On The Letter ‘R’

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.

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Behind the Scenes With This Writer, Aurora Rhapsody - and DISSONANCE

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Behind the Scenes With This Writer, Aurora Rhapsody - and DISSONANCE

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?