I've decided to continue with my original thought. There's going to be a space battle in the middle of an urban fantasy. Let's not prejudge, shall we? Besides, it just might turn out well.
Don't worry though. Parker won't be flying any spaceships...
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Whew...
It's been a difficult summer. The death of a close family member, then my own issues taking center stage...
I'm writing again, this time working on a different version of Jahannan's Children since the first one was too "science-fiction-y" (or so my editor says). I'm sure she's right, because when I re-read The Underground, I could see how a space battle might turn off readers who're into urban fantasy. On the other hand, they may not care. So I think I'll just continue on the path I'm on, and see what happens.
Thanks for reading while I think.
I'm writing again, this time working on a different version of Jahannan's Children since the first one was too "science-fiction-y" (or so my editor says). I'm sure she's right, because when I re-read The Underground, I could see how a space battle might turn off readers who're into urban fantasy. On the other hand, they may not care. So I think I'll just continue on the path I'm on, and see what happens.
Thanks for reading while I think.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Balticon 44
Hi, there...
Been a while, hasn't it? Well, sometimes life just bees that way.
I'm attending Balticon 44 of course, and I'm reading with the Broad Universe panel (in fact, I'm the moderator) but what's new is that I'll be on a panel entitled "Starship Troopers" (the book, not the movie) and its relevance to the world today. The panel is Sunday, May 30th at 11 AM. Stop on by and join the fun!
Been a while, hasn't it? Well, sometimes life just bees that way.
I'm attending Balticon 44 of course, and I'm reading with the Broad Universe panel (in fact, I'm the moderator) but what's new is that I'll be on a panel entitled "Starship Troopers" (the book, not the movie) and its relevance to the world today. The panel is Sunday, May 30th at 11 AM. Stop on by and join the fun!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Round One
The Underground made the first cut in the American Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest. On to the next!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Back in the Saddle
Or being dragged by the stirrups. Take your pick. Sometimes, its all the same to me. Well, wait...depends on who's doing the dragging.
Here's a breath of Jahannan's Children Chapter 4 for you.
Chapter 4
Melera Shen’zae had returned to Dirt.
Her space cruiser hovered before a barren rock mountain surrounded by an endless blue sea. The cz’ado—shadow—warrior, sitting in the bridge’s command chair, reached for the secondary instrument console above her and flipped a switch. As she watched, a huge section of the mountain’s exterior seemed to dissolve. It had, actually. The switch activated the disruptor, a device that temporarily scrambled the molecular structure of anything at which it was aimed, causing it to disappear. Once she was safely inside, that part of the mountain would rematerialize.
She slowly steered her spaceship through the opening. The mountain closed behind her. Hovering a few feet above the enormous, artificial cavern’s smooth floor, she carefully turned her craft around until it was parallel to her campsite situated about seven hundred feet away. Then, with her long, slender fingers, she drummed a tattoo on a dark square panel on the primary instrument console. About thirty seconds later, she heard the whine of the ship’s support pylons lowering into position. After making sure the supports had locked into place, she gently set her cruiser on the ground and then shut down its four drives.
“Kyle,” she said, her quintuple voices sounding peeved. “Those pylon motors—what’s going on with that? I thought I fixed them.”
“Yes, Shen’zae.” The five voices belonging to her cruiser’s artificial intelligence module filled the small bridge. “You did. But the tertiary relay has shorted out again.”
Melera frowned. “Was it me or the flow tubes Dqaarli’s sold me?”
“The flow tubes, Shen’zae.”
Her lips twisted into a grimace. “Jakkers,” she said.
Dqaarli was a small shipyard catering to starfarers like her who, for various reasons, couldn’t put in for repairs at a legitimate port. Because of that, the yard’s owners had no scruples about selling substandard parts and equipment at prices that were sheer robbery. They stayed in business because every outlaw in the Maqu galaxy knew that unlike shipyards servicing the legitimate ports, Dqaarli’s personnel asked no questions and knew how to keep their mouths shut.
Melera rose from the command chair and stretched, thinking about the Akkadian javelin—fighter—jockey that had turned her ship into a pile of space junk. “You’re a jakker too,” she muttered.
She turned and stepped onto the lift that would take her to the main deck and palmed the controls. With a jerk, the lift began to descend. She narrowed her golden, slit-pupiled eyes. Something was wrong. The lift shouldn’t have jerked like that. Her lip curled. Had to be the luckiest shot in the whole jakkin’ universe, she thought.
“Kyle,” she said. “Find out what’s wrong with the lift and see if you can fix it.”
“Yes, Shen’zae.”
On the main deck, a few steps aft brought her to the ship’s airlock. She placed her hand on the controls and paused. “One more thing, Kyle. You can stop calling me Shen’zae. Xia’saan…home…” A look of anguish passed over her face. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried again. “Xia’saan is just an asteroid belt orbiting a binary star system,” she said, her quintuple voices sounding husky. “I’m the Shen’zae of nothing.”
“Yes, Shen’zae,” Kyle said.
Melera drew her brows together but relaxed once she understood the why of Kyle’s insubordination. She smiled and gave her head a small shake. Artificial intelligences were literal and for a solitary starfarer like her, it was easy to forget that an AI like Kyle was nothing more than an incredibly sophisticated computer program. Though sometimes I wonder about Kyle. She opened the airlock’s two hatches. Stepping through them, she exited the ship into the mammoth cavern.
Here's a breath of Jahannan's Children Chapter 4 for you.
Chapter 4
Melera Shen’zae had returned to Dirt.
Her space cruiser hovered before a barren rock mountain surrounded by an endless blue sea. The cz’ado—shadow—warrior, sitting in the bridge’s command chair, reached for the secondary instrument console above her and flipped a switch. As she watched, a huge section of the mountain’s exterior seemed to dissolve. It had, actually. The switch activated the disruptor, a device that temporarily scrambled the molecular structure of anything at which it was aimed, causing it to disappear. Once she was safely inside, that part of the mountain would rematerialize.
She slowly steered her spaceship through the opening. The mountain closed behind her. Hovering a few feet above the enormous, artificial cavern’s smooth floor, she carefully turned her craft around until it was parallel to her campsite situated about seven hundred feet away. Then, with her long, slender fingers, she drummed a tattoo on a dark square panel on the primary instrument console. About thirty seconds later, she heard the whine of the ship’s support pylons lowering into position. After making sure the supports had locked into place, she gently set her cruiser on the ground and then shut down its four drives.
“Kyle,” she said, her quintuple voices sounding peeved. “Those pylon motors—what’s going on with that? I thought I fixed them.”
“Yes, Shen’zae.” The five voices belonging to her cruiser’s artificial intelligence module filled the small bridge. “You did. But the tertiary relay has shorted out again.”
Melera frowned. “Was it me or the flow tubes Dqaarli’s sold me?”
“The flow tubes, Shen’zae.”
Her lips twisted into a grimace. “Jakkers,” she said.
Dqaarli was a small shipyard catering to starfarers like her who, for various reasons, couldn’t put in for repairs at a legitimate port. Because of that, the yard’s owners had no scruples about selling substandard parts and equipment at prices that were sheer robbery. They stayed in business because every outlaw in the Maqu galaxy knew that unlike shipyards servicing the legitimate ports, Dqaarli’s personnel asked no questions and knew how to keep their mouths shut.
Melera rose from the command chair and stretched, thinking about the Akkadian javelin—fighter—jockey that had turned her ship into a pile of space junk. “You’re a jakker too,” she muttered.
She turned and stepped onto the lift that would take her to the main deck and palmed the controls. With a jerk, the lift began to descend. She narrowed her golden, slit-pupiled eyes. Something was wrong. The lift shouldn’t have jerked like that. Her lip curled. Had to be the luckiest shot in the whole jakkin’ universe, she thought.
“Kyle,” she said. “Find out what’s wrong with the lift and see if you can fix it.”
“Yes, Shen’zae.”
On the main deck, a few steps aft brought her to the ship’s airlock. She placed her hand on the controls and paused. “One more thing, Kyle. You can stop calling me Shen’zae. Xia’saan…home…” A look of anguish passed over her face. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried again. “Xia’saan is just an asteroid belt orbiting a binary star system,” she said, her quintuple voices sounding husky. “I’m the Shen’zae of nothing.”
“Yes, Shen’zae,” Kyle said.
Melera drew her brows together but relaxed once she understood the why of Kyle’s insubordination. She smiled and gave her head a small shake. Artificial intelligences were literal and for a solitary starfarer like her, it was easy to forget that an AI like Kyle was nothing more than an incredibly sophisticated computer program. Though sometimes I wonder about Kyle. She opened the airlock’s two hatches. Stepping through them, she exited the ship into the mammoth cavern.
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