Category Archives: Writing

December 2, 2013 · 9:51 am

Exploring the fuzzy spaces between subgenres

Today marks the unofficial start of launch week for The Gravity of the Affair, a novella set in the worlds of The Daedalus Incident which comes out on Friday in ebook and Audible audio. And to mark this auspiciousness, I have a guest post today over at The Qwillery, in which I talk about subgenres and labels and how certain books, mine included, can sometimes elude categorization.

I recognize that the Daedalus series can be difficult to describe, but there are a lot of books out there that don’t fit neatly into a subgenre. That’s a good thing, I believe, because for the adventurous reader, such books can provide entry into a wide variety of different stories.

Surf on over and check it out, and remember that Gravity is available for pre-order now on iTunes, Kobo and Google Play, and will hit Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Audible on Friday. Many thanks to The Qwillery for having me on!

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November 29, 2013 · 5:30 pm

One week until The Gravity of the Affair launches!

With the whole Thanksgiving thing going on, some Christmas shopping and assorted other things — including completing edits on The Enceladus Crisis — the upcoming launch of The Gravity of the Affair sort of sneaked up on me. But it’s coming, and it’s going to be cool.

By way of reminder, The Gravity of the Affair is a stand-alone novella set in the Known Worlds of The Daedalus Incident. It’s the tale of a very young post-captain named Horatio Nelson, who is destined to become England’s greatest naval hero. But here, in 1779, he’s a brash young officer in command of a veritable dinghy, the brig HMS Badger, assigned to the seas of Ganymede. When Nelson puts his ship and crew in peril, he must defend his actions in the face of a possible Court Martial.

There’s alchemy, sailing ships in space, feats of derring-do, and a courtroom drama on top of it all. Will Nelson’s career end before it begins? Will he learn to temper his brashness?

The Gravity of the Affair will be available in ebook on Dec. 6 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and as an ebook on Audlble.com. It’s also up for preorder today at Google Play, iTunes and Kobo. At roughly 52 pages, we’ve priced the ebook at $2.99. (No word on what Audible will charge yet.) If you enjoyed Daedalus, this gives you a bit more sailing-ships-in-space goodness before The Enceladus Crisis comes out in the spring. And if you’ve been on the fence about the Daedalus series, here’s your low-cost chance to give it a shot.

I’ll be doing some guest posts in the next week or two to help spread the word, and you’ll find links here as the posts go live. I’m excited about this little story, and I hope you enjoy it!

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November 19, 2013 · 6:00 pm

Daedalus reviewed in Amazing Stories

Very happy to see a good review for The Daedalus Incident out today in Amazing Stories magazine, courtesy of Matt Mitrovich. (Matt also runs the excellent Alternate History Weekly Update blog.) Matt gives a good synopsis of the book without giving away any spoilers, and goes on to say:

Although a part of me wonders whether Napoleonic history will give away the ending of the sequel, The Enceladus Crisis (due out next year), I still recommend this fun adventure story that was a solid debut for the author.

Now, for those who already read Daedalus, I’m aware there’s some history to contend with in the book’s last scene. But it’s no secret that The Enceladus Crisis is set firmly in the Napoleonic Era and will be informed by historical events. Rest assured, I’m giving nothing away there. The cool thing about writing historical fantasy is that there’s definitely a time and place for history to take a left turn.

Matt also mentions some unanswered questions about the Known Worlds setting, particularly around colonization and slavery. And yes, they’re unanswered for now. I like having some openings to explore different ideas, and I deliberately left some things unsettled in Daedalus. That doesn’t mean I’ll get around to answering everything in Enceladus or even in the as-yet-untitled third novel. But I have options.

Many thanks to Matt and Amazing Stories for the review!

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November 16, 2013 · 5:16 pm

Support for the Winter in the City Kickstarter

I mentioned briefly last week that I supported my first Kickstarter — an anthology of urban fantasy tales called Winter in the City. A couple days ago, the folks running the campaign announced I was one of the authors who agreed to submit something to the anthology. It’s something I’m incredibly excited about for a number of reasons, and I’m hoping the Kickstarter gets more backers soon.

Why excited, you ask? (You didn’t, but I’ll assume as much on your behalf.)

For one, I have what I think is a pretty darn good idea for a submission. Yes, it’s urban fantasy and, no, it has nothing to do with the Known Worlds of the Daedalus series. It’s still going to have a historical bent to it, but the history will be much more recent. I also like the wintry theme of the anthology, as winter is one of my favorite seasons in general, and seems to be fertile ground for storytelling as well.

Plus, it’s a nice stretch for me. I’ve proven I can write a novel (well, two now) and I’ve written a novella as well. I’ve found short fiction to be generally more difficult, because there’s so much to get into a piece in a short amount of space. I started writing fiction in part to challenge myself, after all, so why shy away from another challenge?

And have you seen the list of writers who have agreed to participate? We’re talking some amazing folks here, like Mike Resnick, Kevin J. Anderson, Ken Liu, Nick Mamatas, Jack Skillingstead and the great Harry Turtledove (who is a fantastic guy in addition to pretty much owning alternate history fiction). I mean, seriously, there are too many great ones to list here. I totally want to be in an anthology with these people just to say I was, you know?

So here’s the deal. The campaign needs to raise $15,000 for the anthology to become a reality. Right now, they’ve raised just under $4,000. That means we’re looking at making up $11,000 in just 14 days. I’ve chipped in, and I’m hoping you’ll consider backing it as well. You’ll get a whole heap of excellent urban fantasy fiction from some of the best folks writing today (and, well, me). The reward tiers are also pretty cool, with lots of goodies for folks who chip in more.

If you’re so inclined, check out the Kickstarter campaign here and see if you’d like to chip in. I think it’s an exciting project, and I hope you do too.

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November 12, 2013 · 5:30 pm

New video review of The Daedalus Incident

The folks over at Club Fantasci, a book club for all things SF/F, recently took on The Daedalus Incident — and posted an hour-long video discussing the book.

Now, perhaps this is a self-deprecation thing, but I didn’t realize I had enough stuff in there for people to discuss for an hour. Apparently there is. The participants are all writerly folks, and they dig deep into the book’s character, setting, plot, point-of-view, voice, etc. Aside from a bit with an overly curious cat, there’s not a lot of fluff in the conversation. So to speak.

The best part, of course, is that they really liked the book. I didn’t transcribe anything, but words like “original” and “must read” were used. There were differing opinions of things that worked well, or didn’t, but overall, it was a really good showing for Daedalus. So thanks to Club Fantasci revierers Ciara Ballintyne, Melody Kaufmann and Dionne Lister for the review!

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November 7, 2013 · 10:00 am

Assorted tidbits: Podcasts, Kickstarters, auctions and art

So I’ve ended up with a bunch of little things I’ve wanted to blog about, and it’s gotten to the point where separate blog posts would be a pain. So here’s a bunch of cool stuff for you to check out, all in one handy post:

The Daedalus Incident got a pretty nifty plug from Renaissance man Michael Pusateri on the latest Gweek podcast over on BoingBoing.net. The book comes up at roughly the 42:00 mark in the conversation between Michael, technologist/hacker/writer Joshua Klein and host (and BoingBoing founder) Mark Frauenfelder. But hey, give the whole thing a listen. It’s a really smart, fascinating podcast. Thanks for the kind words, Michael!
I’ve backed my first Kickstarter — Winter in the City: A Collection of Urban Fantasy Tales, edited by fellow NIght Shade alum Marty Halpern. Marty’s put together an outstanding group of authors, and I may be submitting a story to the anthology as well in an attempt to spread my authorial wings a bit. They have 23 days left to get to their goal, so give it a read and, if you’re so inclined, lend a hand!
You have until midnight tonight to bid on my critique of your SF/F fiction — up to 10,000 words — at Kat Brauer’s Crits for Water charity blog. The proceeds go to help communities in India ensure fresh water and sanitation, and you get a fresh set of eyes on your writing. Go bid!
Having Daedalus as Tuesday’s SF/F Kindle Daily Deal was nothing short of awesome. The book topped out at #28 on the Kindle sales chart, and is at a very respectable #172 now (and still #16 on the SF/F chart). I’m grateful so many folks were introduced to the book.
Finally, awesome artist Sarah Bittel has done another bit of Daedalus-inspired fan art! (Check out her first one here.) Below are sketches of Lt. Thomas Weatherby, first lieutenant aboard HMS Daedalus, and another take on Lt. Shaila Jain of McAuliffe Base on Mars. Sarah did a great job with the period touches on Weatherby, and I think captured Shaila’s attitude well there. Thanks, Sarah!

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November 6, 2013 · 7:19 am

I’m auctioning off a critique for charity! Bid now!

Fellow Nelson Literary Agency author and all-around good human Kat Brauer has been running her Crits for Water auctions a while now, and I’m honored to be able to participate this year.

So whether you’re doing NaNoWriMo or just need a fresh set of eyes on something, now’s your chance. Click here to bid on a critique, by me, of up to 10,000 words of your writing. I promise to be kind but thorough in whatever you send me.

Proceeds go to charity:water, which helps bring clean drinking water to folks around the world who need it most. Water is the most basic human need, after all. Kat’s specific fund drive will help 100 communities in India get the clean water and sanitation they need to survive and thrive.

Bidding runs through midnight tomorrow, Nov. 7. So get clicking!

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October 22, 2013 · 6:00 pm

Writing tip: Save everything!

There’s a binder stuck in a drawer with the first draft of what would ultimately become The Daedalus Incident. It’s covered in red copyedit marks and is altogether not-good. But I’m keeping it. And more importantly, I’ve kept every draft of everything I’ve written.

Why? Because even if the overall draft is bad, there may be parts in it that are good. I know this seems like common sense, but I think it’s worth mentioning.

There was a whole sequence of events in The Enceladus Crisis that ultimately didn’t work. The pacing was off, the timing was wrong, the characters just weren’t ready to go do what they were doing. But I knew there would be a time within the narrative where all that hard work, primarily in worldbuilding and plot, would be necessary. So I slapped it in another file and kept going.

And when I reached the point in the draft where that worldbuilding and plot came to the fore, I gleefully cannibalized that older version to suit my needs.

There’s a couple of scenes in the early Daedalus drafts that I’m keeping handy, just for that purpose. It’s highly unlikely they’ll be dropped straight into a future work, but there are writing lessons in there, and some ideas that may yet be used.

The point is, don’t overwrite your old files. Save them and store them. It’s not like Word (or Scrivener) files are that big, after all.

They say “kill your darlings,” and at times, that’s exactly the right thing to do. But be sure to keep the bodies handy. You never know.

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October 18, 2013 · 5:35 pm

The Daedalus Incident fan art!

Of all the authorial stuff I’ve enjoyed this past year, being able to show off some fan-made art inspired by The Daedalus Incident ranks right up there.

Below is an image of JSC astronaut Lt. Shaila Jain, as envisioned by Syracuse artist Sarah Bittel and posted to her Facebook account. (Hat tip to Kate for pointing it out to me!) Sarah says she was inspired by Indian actress Deepika Padukone and femShep from the videogame Mass Effect 3.

And her she is:

This is, of course, all kinds of awesome, and more than a little humbling. It’s really something else to see my writing inspire art. Sarah says she’s working on more, including a portrait of a young Royal Navy Lt. Thomas Weatherby. Her Shaila is fantastic, so I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

And if you want to check out Sarah’s portfolio of other work, surf on over to her DeviantArt page and her blog for more.

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October 16, 2013 · 6:00 pm

Mind Meld: SF/F in my life

Whenever Paul Weimer (a.k.a. @PrinceJvstin) asks me to do a Mind Meld over on SFSignal, I know it’s going to be a good one. And he didn’t disappoint this time.

Today I’m answering the question: “How has reading science fiction and fantasy changed you as a person or changed your life?” It was a great topic, allowing for some always-healthy introspection and thoughtfulness. And I’m joined by a lot of great writers, too. Surf on over and check it out.

And while we’re on the topic…how has SF/F affected your life? If you read this blog regularly, chances are you’re a SF/F fan. So throw some thoughts and introspection in the comment box below!

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