STARCHILD DUEL UPDATE

Status: Doing some writing on Starchild Duel. Chapter 147.

Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)

Watching: Nothing at the moment.

Listening to: "I Walk The Line"--By Alien Sex Fiend; "Database"--by PTI; "Recoil"--by Fleshfield

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 404.

STAR TREK-THE NEXT GENERATION: WAR DRUMS. Page 78.

STAR TREK-NEW EARTH: BOOK 5 OF 6-THIN AIR. Page 45.

TOPIC: BOOK UPDATE!

I just want to let everyone know that I've begun writing in earnest once more on Starchild Duel. I think I'm a little bit more emotionally stable to continue writing--until I get word on the outcome of my hearing.

Don't blame me. This is how I've always been.

I've spent last night working on Chapter 147 of the book and then revising it until about 2:45 in the morning.

The title for this section of the book (on page 1,304) is called "Dark Despair"; drawing on the theme of failure and hopelessness wrought forth by the latest battle between Talia and Isis McGowan, and Cara Hastings (under the thrall of Nemesis).

None of the involved parties were able to claim a solid victory over the other (as Isis and Talia have teamed up against Cara to stop her destructive rampage)--and a good portion of Shark's Bay has been left in ruins as a result of the battle. (Isis's Viper X-1 auto-frame is now a memory.)

The race track where the Desert Storm was supposed to have played out was completely destroyed in the fight--and a lot of people and auto-frame pilots were killed in the process.

The primary players have retreated for the moment; each licking their respective wounds from the ongoing conflict.

Talia has finally relented to go back to Jonas's underground auto-frame hanger to find Jonas himself--at the request of his current girlfriend, Sara Braihteen. (Jonas likely filed for divorce against his estranged wife--Rayna Hastings--5 years previous. But there is nothing on what happened between the events surrounding The Starchild and Starchild Duel.)

But the 16-year-old stranded super heroine from the alternate universe is none too happy about doing this.

However, she has no other choice in the matter. With her sister (the other Isis McGowan) dead from wounds suffered at the hands of Nemesis on her world, the girl is literally on her own, and is still struggling to adapt and change to the universe she now lives in.

Isis McGowan is still out cold from being subjected to absolute zero temperatures elicited on top of a 5-mile free fall (after being cocooned in a block of ice) expose--and it doesn't like she's going to be much help to anyone presently, until she has time to recover from a combination of steep exhaustion and her sustained injuries in her fight against Nemesis.

Pulver has taken Bayen prisoner where he's going to be tortured and interrogated by the Praetorial Guard--while the rest of the rescued party returns to Fran's workshop to plan for his release--and any ideas on how to confront and contain Nemesis's destructive onslaught against the surface dwellers residing on the desert Earth.

Or the population of sky dancers living on the orbiting space complex of Stratos City itself.

But--as before--none of the ideas look doable or even the least bit attractive.

So...no immediate resolution to the problems at hand. (But you don't think that I don't have my own bag of tricks up my sleeve--now do you? lol

Trust me: I've been in tighter spots than this--with my writing. It's all a part of the job-description.)

THURSDAY'S MUSINGS

Status: Writing on Starchild Duel. Chapter 146.

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails.

Watching: Nothing at the moment.

Listening to: Dance Rush-1997; Disc 1. (Some old favorites--including the "Macarena")

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 252.

TOPIC: SNEAK PEEK INTO STARCHILD DUEL.

This may be jumping out a little--far ahead as a matter of fact--of what's been written so far in the book, but I wanted to show my readers some up and coming action from the sequel to The Starchild.

Enjoy!

***


Talia charged into the storm itself–not caring of the danger that it truly presented itself–even as the winds roared, howled, or screamed at her in earnest.

She didn’t care.

Nemesis was as good as dead–once she found her!

But minutes of searching in this blind soup produced nothing–and so the stranded Starchild of Ancient Lore tried another tact.

Believing she had escaped.

Gathering herself up for the chase, the teenager rocketed up towards the heavens themselves for the next twenty seconds–encountering huge pockets of air turbulence in the process–but hitting past Mach 5 all the same.

Her own speed was producing shockwaves of its own–which sought out the air turbulence and crushed it.

The storm’s fury increased as a result of her meddling–and sheet lightning raced about in a gloriously blinding display of awe-inspiring motion and dazzling pyrotechnics.

Peals of thunder followed suit–wracking the stranded Starchild’s hearing as she continued to her ascent–but couldn’t quite reach her.

None of it could reach her!

But as fast as the storm was, Talia was going much faster.

Mach 7.

A nimbus of energy formed around her as she ripped right into the upper limits of the atmosphere–leaving a glowing trail behind her as a result of intense friction.

Weightlessness greeted her soon after, but Talia didn’t care.

She was on the hunt.

“Where are you, Nemesis?!” She called out into the thin air of the ionosphere itself. “In the name of Taro Aii–where did you fucking go?!?”

Endless emptiness greeted her in reply.

Talia smashed her fist and open palm together in outright frustration.

“Fine. You want to play games? So can I…” She whispered in deadly earnest. “Let’s see how you like this one.”

The girl dived towards Earth once more, breaking open the sound barrier in less than a millisecond. But she wasn’t finished. Not by a long shot.

With each passing second, she was nothing but a blur of speed built on two emotions: Anger and…love.

But only one would win out.

* * *

Isis fell back into the soft embrace of the sandy ground beneath her–digging up a couple of nice furrows in the process.

“Ooof!” She croaked–after feeling the wind being knocked out of her. “Who in the world–?”

“That would be me, you pedantic fool. Or have you forgotten all about me…already?” Nemesis’s cold voice cut through the storm’s wrath.

The Starchild wiped the back of her mouth gingerly–feeling what she thought was nothing more than drool; turned out to be nothing more than her own blood.

Isis grunted to herself.

“Nice shot. I didn’t think you had much left in you–after the pounding Talia gave you earlier.”

Nemesis laughed.

“That little mouse? Oh, how she does try to overcome me! But with each passing second, with each passing injury, I just grow stronger and stronger. Her hits on me have become more of an annoyance than anything else.” She stepped closer to the downed protector of the known universe.

“And what about you? Do you seem to be up to the challenge, my little herald of Chaos? Perhaps you and I can exchange blows at our true power levels…?”

Isis’s eyes glued shut for a moment–as she instantly recalled what she told Calis.

“The planet would never withstand that kind of leveled energy release–even for a picosecond. You know that as well as I, Nemesis.” She said matter-of-factly.

More laughter soon followed.

“Do you think I really care about this little sphere? I could care less if it was destroyed in the process! I only want you!”

Isis McGowan shook her head in bewilderment.

“This isn’t a date, Nemesis.” Then she smiled. “And besides–you’re not even my type.”

Nemesis’s emerald green eyes glowed brightly for a second–piercing the storm’s choking sand veil.

“Oh, so we have a comedian in the midst, do we?”

Isis got to her feet–staggering just a bit–but stood and faced Nemesis without any recourse.

“Laugh this one off–if you can.”

The Starchild vanished in a blur of motion–catching Nemesis with a solid punch to the face; staggering her smartly. The woman delivered a reverse punch on the follow up strike–throwing her off balance even more, and then reached around her hunched over body–grabbing her firmly by the middle–and finally pivoting around on one foot with her burden.

“You always were too full of yourself, Nemesis.” Isis said under no certain terms, before slamming her sideways right into the ground with brute force.
Geysers of broken earth shot upwards as a result of the ensuing impact, but the Starchild of Ancient Lore wasn’t finished with her just yet.

“Time to take out the trash!" She announced with unmistakable glee–reaching down and grabbed Nemesis by her legs–tearing the woman out from the desert confines of her own partially embossed earthly tomb.

Raising her up with one hand–with shivers of sand and rock debris cascaded off of the bruised Daughter of Chaos–Isis McGowan simply shook her head; having zero sympathy for someone who didn’t share in the greater respect for life in general.

“Believe me when I say this, Nemesis: You’re going to wish that you have never met me after this day.” And with that, she spun herself around in a tight arc and launched her most hated adversary straight up into the storm-laden skies.

* * *

Approaching speeds measuring upwards of Mach 15-Talia McGowan saw Nemesis coming up at her with such force that it literally surprised her.

But that emotion came and went, as the teenager pounced on a glorious opportunity without hesitation.

“Surprise!” She crowed with grand maliciousness–and jack-hammered Nemesis right back to Earth with overpowering results–sending her earthward at an astonishing 34,600 miles per hour.

A caterwauling peal of sound rippled right across the desert, across Shark’s Bay–as Nemesis’s body screamed through space and thundered right into the Earth without mercy; cutting right into it like a hot knife through butter.

But Talia was right behind her–separated only by several seconds. The girl righted herself at the last moment, and dropped right into the gaping hole made by the impact–feet first.

The whole Pit area imploded with a savage intensity–with most of the auto-frames tossed about like toys in an instant.

Some of the more unfortunate ones lit off in quick succession due to the mounting compression waves subjected against them at close range. Still…others managed to escape the onslaught with varying degrees of damage.

Spectators in the stands next door scattered about like scared mice–while the participating pilots in the Desert Storm had caught the tail end of the conflict. As a result, most of the auto-frames were badly affected by the shockwaves from the terrific impact.

A great many of them on the outside track were picked up and shoved 1,200 yards out further from the starting line–only to rain back down in crushed heaps of metal, plastic, and power cores. Those closer to the grandstands were crushed against one another. Some explosions were seen dotting the lineup, while the fresh screams of tortured metal and sharp exclamations over the open comm net filled the air.

“Don’t think I’m done with you yet–Nemesis!” Talia declared with burning indignation. “I still have something to give to you–from my sister–you uncaring bitch!”

Then she transformed right then and there–the whole area being wiped away in an instant by a searing white light–and became an awesome release of energy and unfathomable power.

VACATION OVER--WORK BEGINS ANEW

Status: On vacation (One day left)

Doing: Writing this blog; recovering from being sick.

Watching: Nothing. (Seeing how the Mariners got spanked last night by Tampa Bay. I was passed out yesterday night--so I didn't see the actual end to the game.)

Listening to: Some old Electrobox taped music from C-89.5

Reading: Resistance by J.M. Dillard (ST-TNG)

TOPIC: STARCHILD DUEL AND THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

The week starts anew with a revival of both Starchild Duel and The Price of Freedom.

The plan is to complete the last three chapters to Duel before the final battle between Cara Hastings and Isis McGowan--and go from there.

The intrasystem fight between the two combatants is going to take a more integrated and complex approach.

I could most likely start the fight off by a brief tussle over the Moon before both jump towards Mars via a hyperspace conduit. (These are short jump methods of travel used by the Starchild of Ancient Lore. For long-distances, a hypergate bypass conduit is more favorable.)

I'm still not sure if Talia McGowan is going to want to remain behind. Since Jalen Osoro of Pasik III merged her spirit with the stranded Starchild of Ancient Lore.

I don't think that Tarnek is going to be able to stop her from leaving anyway.

And as soon as Isis gets done playing her role as the 'human ice cube'...?

She's going to have her hands full as it is.

So the novel is sitting at 291,504 words with 144 chapters in play.

As for The Price of Freedom...?

Things couldn't anymore dicier for Kenneth Sparks and Kayla Sorenson.

The shit's flying in the fan as reinforcements from Wynne show up on the heels of an Neos strike force.

Having switched sides, Timothy Caldwell, Kim Sanders, and Anna Ellison join in the fight--and eventually the journey to Jonesboro, Arkansas.

But old scores between them have to be settled first--and that's provided they can survive the Neos as well.

Previously, the 101st Combat Division; 13th Reconnaissance Unit had been partly massacred by another Neos incursion--short of Wynne itself--and at the hands of Kayla herself; when she had been transformed by one of Mother's Seeker units.

The survivors were taken hostage by Susan Meyers people in Wynne and tortured for information and other things--as per Neos sympathizers.

Kayla was left inert and in a stasis lock, while Kenneth Sparks spent 17 days as the female overseer's prisoner and personal sex toy.

This aspect of the storyline took 208 pages to flesh out.

The book so far sits on 174 chapters with 295,656 words.

EARLY MORNING INTERVIEW RUN (Part 1)

Status: On vacation

Doing: Writing this blog; finished shopping; taking the dogs out; fed the animals

Watching: Tavis Smiley

Listening to: Ian Van Dahl; Icon of Coil; INXS


TOPIC: AUTHOR MARKETING AND ADVERTISING THROUGH INTERVIEWS


Yeah, yeah...

We've heard this one before many of times:

"How do you advertise and market your book?"

>hits the snooze alarm<

Here's a simpler approach to doing it: Take all the guesswork there is to advertising and marketing and pitch what you want about the book and yourself as its author, and creator.

Keep it simple, neat, and clean. You don't want anything more complex than that.

So let's role play an interview on the following book and see how well things turn out, okay?

***

What is the name of your book?

It is called The Starchild.

What is the book about?

The novel is about a 14-year-old girl given the mantle of the legendary Starchild of Ancient Lore.

How many pages is it?

Roughly 1,273 pages. (1,250 after editing--maybe. It depends on what Linda decides.)

What audience are you targeting?

Anyone who likes a good science-fiction and fantasy read. I'm not all that interested in the usual play-by-play demographics. If you like this kind of genre, then the book may interest you. If not, that's fine. I'm not looking to play favorites here.

I'm just the book's author, not a referee.

When will the book be available? And what format?

Hopefully by the middle of 2009. I'm still waiting on the editing process. But it's a slow go, which is okay with me.

Format? E-book first for $7.50. But I am tinkering with a 2 for 1 special idea. I'm most interested to see how many people would be receptive to that marketing pitch.

Until I can get better established, I'm holding off the limited print edition for a couple of years. But for those who are interested, I am planning on breaking the novel into a serial.

Hopefully, that will happen within the first six months after the book's initial release date.

However, a lot what I am planning now depends on how well the e-book sells. So it's important that I keep getting the word out--whichever way possible.

Are you afraid of failing?

If I wasn't afraid, I wouldn't be here--tempting something mighty risqué. (laughs)

Failure for me is something that I am quite used to. I would be more worried about succeeding 90% of the time and having little in the ways of setbacks and of course--failures.

And if your book were to fail? What then?

If my book were to fail, it's only because I didn't put a whole lot of effort into it. That's the only reason why it would fail outright.

When you put out a product, you're expected to put out your best work. Not something that's half-assed done and skating on thin ice. People are simply not going to give you a second glance at what you have to offer--if you choose the quick and easy path.

Despite all my obstacles and opposition to this novel, I didn't buckle under the pressure. I simply changed the rules.

Changed the rules? What do you mean by that?

Changing the rules by doing things differently. We all learn by doing. But many people are still stuck on the old ways of accomplishing their goals. That's sooo 20th century! (chuckling)

You don't get much done by following everyone else and doing what they do. Believe me, I speak from experience. Once I found a better way, I went and did it--contrary to what others told me not to do.

Yes, it irritated them. Pissed them off even. But I did it because I felt it was the right thing to do.

So with writing my books, I adopted a similar stance. My position garnered a lot of flak--but only because I was still dealing with an obsolete mechanism which had yet to catch up with the rest of the everchanging world.

For example: I had people tell me that first-time writers shouldn't be writing large tomes like The Starchild. But I did it anyways because I couldn't be held back.

My imagination couldn't be held back.

Then I got people telling me that I won't be published because of it.

My response? "It won't stop me from writing them."

Then--as a last ditch attempt--some people suggested that my novel would bankrupt the book industry. (shakes head)

I ask them, "When was the last time an e-book bankrupted a $20B+/year enterprise?"

Seriously, I would like to see that happen! If it does? I'm going to take a bow as being the only author on record to accomplish such a feat!

What would you like to see come out of people reading The Starchild?

I would like people to see the possibilities that exist in their own world--by opening up their minds to ideas and dreams that once existed in the realm of science-fiction and fantasy.

By embracing change, we have less to fear from our fellow man. The Starchild has a lot of what I call 'reality anchors'--which ties the world we live in to the one that my heroine--Isis McGowan--lives in 10,000 years down the road.

Much of it has a lot of bearing on how we have treated ourselves in the past--only to be faced with such a bleak and uncaring future. Is it an omen of things to come?

I don't know. But by giving Isis the power to either save the world or destroy it--as she sees fit--it says a lot about the human equation for unlimited potential.

Why 10,000 years in the future? Why not in the present?

The Starchild was a culmination of 13 years of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. In all that time, I had to juggle many different draft prototypes. Many of which landed me in the middle of a theological nightmare.

I'm not religious. Not by a long shot. I stopped believing in God and religion because the answers contained in either--didn't hold water in the face of reality. In other words, I was lied to.

Once I saw how fake many of our religions were--based more so on politics and power--than faith and beliefs--I started to ask myself more questions about the origins of our own universe and existance. Putting forth science and hard evidence--rather than attaching some spiritual connotation to the problem at hand.

I think so many people miss out on the awe and wonder of our own world--that they forget one important thing: If god were to truly exist, we wouldn't be such a poor and decrepit society in the first place.

We would be everlasting and in perfect harmony with one another.

But past histories have shown that man was always at war with one another. And where was God--I ask you?

Nowhere to be seen, felt, or heard.

The ugly truth is that god never existed--except in the minds of man. That in turn allowed him to use religion as a weapon against his fellow man--to get what he wants.

But never used for the good of the many.

I stopped using theology heavily in The Starchild's final draft because I wanted to show that both God and religion were the works of men and women who wanted nothing more than to covet power and greed; while using religion as a crutch.

By showing the reader what a future without a base religion looked like--maybe people in the here and now could understand that our own religions are nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Our faiths are born out of something which has been proven time and again to be non-existent.

And while this may seem like an attack on people's individual faiths, it's simply how I've viewed the world's source of religion. And presently, it's being used to wage countless wars against other people and their countries.

That's why I can't subscribe to it. It would put me right in the middle of one big hypocritical quagmire. I do respect people's right to having their own beliefs and religions, but that doesn't mean I have to participate in them.

The timeline choice was a concience one. I didn't want to have to deal with the vulgarities of the present and have to have a superhero mixed up in today's world--especially when she's not ready for it.

So I shunted everything forward about 10,000 years, added a ruined society, and the rest--as they say--is history.

So there is no God or Christianity in The Starchild?

No. Not in the religious sense. And my characters don't seem to miss that fact. They live their lives how they see fit--which does disturb Keron Sogi'kiagta. She can't understand how people can live without a source of faith or religion.

Bayen Yelou remarked on how it almost destroyed the planet in the past. Once the God of Insanity came, religion and God basically had no basis in their reality.

Are you afraid that people will call you out on your beliefs?

The way I see it, we can either be afraid of something that has no basis in our reality, or we can be afraid of ourselves, and each other.

People can call me what they will, but it won't change me or my own beliefs in life.

So you aren't a religious person by choice. But what about spiritually?

Spiritually, I have a higher sense of awareness. Of the world around me and the universe in general. That's what I use to guide me. It doesn't have a name, it doesn't have a religion, it doesn't have anything which mankind has pinned itself down with.

And I am comfortable with that.

What about your book do you think readers will like the most?

How much the storyline ties in with their own lives growing up.

Like what?

Being a teenager. Growing up without one parent or both. But in Isis's case, it was her father. Kelin was jailed for something which wasn't entirely his fault.

Other things which cropped up was Isis's fierce streak of independence and cavalier attitude towards things. It reminded me of the days when I acted out in such a fashion.

And of course, Isis's perchance for not being a morning person. This tied in nicely with me--because I never liked getting up earlier either.

I'm sure that most of my readers will agree with that.

If you could, what book would The Starchild be comparable to?

Unfortunately, my exhaustive research over the last decade has pointed to the fact that there is not one single book out there upon which my book could be related to.

I realize that this is critical to good book placement with the mainstream--but if your book (like mine) doesn't have a home, what chance will it have being sold successfully at the chain stores?

So are you saying that you're hosting a lost cause then?

No.

The problem with the mainstream is that they are too rigid and inflexible with their views of what a book should be and what it shouldn't. It used to be that a lot of new books popped up which defied description--and many found homes within the industry itself.

The problem is that even though The Starchild is primarily science-fiction/fantasy, the novel itself is completely alien to the mainstream. It does not fit anything that is--or was--on the market today.

So in other words, this book is so far outside the mainstream, the chances of it being picked up is extremely remote.

Have you tried to write other novels?

(chuckling)

Yes. I've written my fair share of books. But the majority still fall outside the mainstream.

Why is that? Is following the crowd not important? How else are you expecting to become successful?

To answer your first question: I don't write mainstream. I read it. To me, mainstream novels are my source of personal escape. But that's all. I have no desire to copy or emulate them.

The only thing I did was study some earlier published novels for pointers--grammar, spelling, punctuation. But I did not actively seek to follow in their footsteps.

It just wasn't my style.

Second question: Following the crowd is like seeking others' approval for what you are about to do in life. You need their permission before embarking on a new venture.

What's wrong with going at it alone? Find out what works best for you? I certainly found more joy in my writings, then I did if I were to try and emulate someone else by doing it their way.

And--as I found out--doing it their way didn't spell immediate success or instant gratification.

And that left me quite stymied. I was like, Why isn't this working?

Then I realized, "Because agents and publishers have been expecting this."

It's easy to copy and emulate something else without having a full understanding of it. But these agents and publishers are professionals. They are going to see right through your charade like it were nothing.

So I went back to what worked best for me. Does it matter if it will bring me a ton of money and such?

Not anymore. I've looked past the innate desire for money, wealth, and name recognition. It's not important.

As for your third question, success can't be measured by how much money you make or how well known you are. It's primarily by how much of an impact you have on people's lives--both directly and indirectly.

If you like helping people out like I do--than you're a success. If you can write and finish a book, then you are a success.

But writers will be writers. And they will always tie their books to how successful they will eventually become.

Sadly, not many make it. A lot of them burn out trying to be so successful--that they become more of a liability than anything else.

Success for me is measured by the fruits of my labor. Not by how much money I plan on making, how many people I can get to buy my books and so forth.

I've lived an impoverished lifestyle growing up. I still do--despite my best efforts to change it. But everything I've done points to the varying degrees of success I've tallied up.

Despite all the disabilities I have, I was known to never quit--no matter what the circumstances. The mainstream may have shut me out of a promising career as a published author, but it doesn't mean I have to give up my career as a promising writer.

That's success in my book. That's what success means to me.