“A Green Sun” up for sale on smashwords And now Kindle!

A Green Sun is now up for sale on Smashwords– the Kindle Store will likely be coming soon. The book is there now!  It’s 1.99 at either store, but I do tend to get more in the way of royalties from the Smashwords site, hint, hint.

A hard science fiction story, it is the first in the Fusion Age cycle, talking about the rise and aftermath of the development of cheap fusion power.  The consequences, both positive and negative for mankind will forever change the face of the earth– and beyond…

My first published story, beyond academic stuff that is best used for knocking you out before tooth procedures, and I’m both happy and scared, so here we are!

Prologue to Sea Hunters

June 5th, 2012. 

The USCG Williamson was a high endurance cutter, one of the few the Coast Guard had.  And Contrary to most Americans’ beliefs, often the Coast Guard was quite a bit away from the coast.

Like now for example.

“So the DEA is certain about this?”  Captain Jacobs asked.  After nearly 30 years in the Coast Guard, his face had the marks of years of exposure to everything from the inland rivers and lakes of America to the Persian Gulf when he and his ship had been involved in protecting the Navy from mines and suicide bombers alike.

And it would be nice if things were calmer back here but…  He shook his head.  Drug interdiction had made shipping by sea very difficult an achievement that was darkened by the fact that it did nothing to stop demand from the US and the change in routes had resulted in Mexico’s ongoing bloodbath.

“As certain as we can be. “  Agent Thomas Burles told him.  Burles was younger, but he’d worked with the Williamson before and had amassed quite a record of his own.

He also has a full head of hair. Jacobs thought.  His face wasn’t the only thing that years on the sea had left their mark on.

“Cindy’s Dream, is supposedly a freighter, registered to Panama… but the hard evidence we have is that she’s actually carrying about 30 tons worth of drugs…and a fair amount of weapons.”

“That’s a surprise.”  Jacobs muttered.

Bleh.

Computer problems. I should have an excerpt up in the next couple of days.

 

The Evil of Their.

It is true that the English language is an organic  and growing language.  Like nature however, sometimes we get things like the Platypus.  in this case, the “There/Their” problem.  One means possession the other defines a relation, and unfortunately, both look and sound the same, and most unfortunately, most grammar checkers will pass them.

So for myself, I must always go and hit: “Find all” for there and after that,  their, and go through them, word by word, all the while cursing the language that didn’t think that maybe they should have been a bit more different in tone.

 

Cursed English.

 

 

The Soapbox author

There is a category of author that uses his writing as a soapbox–whether it is to save the whales, capitalism, or the letter W, it is his “Cause” and everyone who is against it in the story is generally portrayed as kitten-eating evil.

Don’t be that person.

The fact is that such novels are boring, insulting to most readers and will create lots of people who will never read another thing you create.

Most importantly, while it’s not wrong to write about things you care about, you also have to think about your audience, who may not share your goals– and more importantly, may want a more nuanced view of things. Remember them when you’re writing….

 

And save the soapbox for your blog.

 

Prolog of a New Novel in the Works: Hunters

Hunters.

Prologue: Today

It’s dark out.  It’s always dark out here, Shelly thought.  The Shroud wasn’t noticeable everywhere, but where it was dominant, it turned even midday into a gloomy almost dark.  At night, it was dead black– not only did the Shroud block the stars and the moon, but it absorbed nearly all the light from below– instead of partially illuminating the ground, the city lights just vanished into the darkness.

And of course, that didn’t even count the fact that streetlights were the favorite target for the Nightcults and the Stalkers.

Oh, it wasn’t dark to her. She could see the thermal radiation coming off of the police crews, and her eyes collected more light than a cat, which is why sometimes they gleamed to those who were watching her closely.  Even so, she preferred the day. The day was the ally of man, and the people she was helping weren’t so frightened in the day.

“Are you certain you don’t need any escort?”  The police officer loomed over her slight frame, looking worried.  Shelly didn’t know if it was mainly over her, or the fact that it was night and they were still outside.

“No.”  She said, “Anyone else would just get in the way.”

“Well I’m not certain about that. Enough guns and even a V-”