Saturday, October 31, 2009

Earthbound Opening Chapter Sample

Thought I'd post this sample of Earthbound up here. This is from the middle of the 1st chapter. Take a peek at our introduction to Serafina.

“Stop!” One of her pursuers called. She didn’t have to look back to know he was the one with the beautiful eyes, the features so statuesque that they could have been carved from marble. She’d seen him before in the Court of Furled Wings. Only a few years older than her, he was still a boy, really. Aleron, she thought his name was, the Captain of the Guard. That they had sent him spoke of the Emperor’s desire to have her captured.

“Surrender yourself now. Your father has already been captured. It’s over!” His voice was imploring, but she wouldn’t listen. She folded both pairs of her wings and dove, dropping like a stone. Calls of alarm met her ears, but she knew that Aleron and his fellows wouldn’t follow her so deep into the storm. It was suicide to do so.

There was no telling how close she was to the ground in this thick of cloud cover. She could hardly see more than a few feet ahead of her, so, as she fell, she drew her sword from her chest, a spirit-blade forged in the fires of her soul. The firelight of her blade lit the way as she went deeper into the smoke, fighting the noxious fumes that choked breath from her mouth and nostrils.

With sweat beading thickly on her brow and her lungs feeling like they would burst from want of air, she continued her nauseating plummet. Spots danced before her eyes and she let in a choking half-breath that nearly caused her to go into a coughing fit, but even with her eyes watering, she could still see it ahead: the pylon.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Serafina & Robert

Inspired by all the teen drama/romance/fantasy out there, I'm writing earthbound, a story about a girl that seems to be an angel that has come from another world to escape her life there. Robert, a young guy who just wants to finish school so he can start his real life, happens to rescue her from a burning crater in the woods when she falls to earth near where he was driving. So starts a strange chapter in Rob's life.

The character of Robert is actually named and based off of one of my real life friends, Rob Dunn. He found the whole premise hilarious and exciting, and said I could do whatever I wanted, so long as I didn't make his fictional counterpart 'have a small weiner.' So far, that hasn't happened, so he seems pretty supportive.

This actually isn't my first time writing drama. I wrote a novella several years ago called 'The Keys to Soul' - a drama about a teenage girl that falls for an older piano player. I also wrote a more lighthearted comedy novella called 'Imagine That' - a story about a teenage boy who has no control over his mouth and finds his secrets and thoughts are actually involuntarily spoken aloud for everyone to hear until he loses his virginity (that's the real storyline, honestly). There are a couple others, too, but not necessarily so long.

This is my first real attempt at modern fantasy/sci-fi set in our world. It might not rival twilight or other popular series, but give it a read and see. I'll post some samples next time around. If you're curious about those other stories, they're available on my website. Check the links beside the post.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Merchandising Extravaganza

I spent the better part of the morning and afternoon designing some pretty neat logos and such for some apparel on cafepress. I know they're not always the cheapest, but they do good work, and some of the options they have are pretty darn spiffy.

So i've got clothes, stationery, bags, clocks, doggie t's, magnets, buttons, calendars, and a pile of other stuff on there (including those really nice maps to accompany my Perennials and Sworn Lands books). There's a lot of stuff for In-Roam, Equinox, and Earthbound, but a few from Pancake & Hen, Afterlives, and a few other series, too.

Take a peek over at: http://www.cafepress.com/underspace/

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Been a couple days...

I've been keeping busy at work, also with coming up with ways to revamp my existing writing site, so I don't have to rebuild from the ground up. Looking at it seriously, I didn't like the hard-to-read menu bar, and the oversized banner bar, all with too little screen getting used up. I reshaped and resized, then cleaned up the graphics, redid some bland spots, and added a few little things here and there. Also, added a sharethis button to both of my main sites (this one already has one). In general, it should just be a little more interactive and cleaner, which is always nice.

In non site-related news, working on both Earthbound and In-Roam 2 right now. It's the first time I've ever tried writing 2 novels simultaneously, though I will admit that Earthbound has more of my attention. In-Roam 2 will be worked on with less focus, but not because of a lower importance, but rather to encourage my cowriter, who goes by Justice now, to offer his input more often.

I'll try to put up a post about either or both of the projects soon, with a couple short samples...

Monday, October 19, 2009

In-Roam 2: Alive & Still Kickin'

Hudson Stiles is back. Yes, the brash, crude, foul-mouthed anti-hero returns for his second major foray into the universe of In-Roam. If you haven't read the 1st book, the biker from Chicago was dumped into a strange universe and woke up with a device known as a key tool strapped to his arm. The tool helped guide him through some of the universe's 500 worlds, where he met several other people that he tried to get back home with. There were gunfights, aliens, creatures, portal jumping, swearing, attempts at revenge, god-like beings, betrayals, and all manners of things between him and his destiny, but he took it all in stride, because that's who Hudson Stiles is.

In the lastest installment, he runs across a geeky kid who thinks the whole thing is a game. That's nothing Stiles and a very cruel look at reality won't cure him of. Problem is, the kid probably won't have what it takes to cut it in a place like In-Roam. What will Stiles have to say about that? I'm posting a sample for you, though I must warn it has been edited for language. The actual volume is quite a bit more graphic. It's teen and up audience.

"A sawed-off shotgun, two 8-bullet clips, a bionic hand, a big freaking knife, two tires on my bike in need of changing, enough spare change for a cheeseburger, and millions of lunatics who don’t know when to leave well enough alone. Oh, and did I forget a walking mushroom, a crazed scientist dwarf, and a dumbass kid who thinks this is a video game? That about sums it up. My life sucks right about now, and it’s going to get worse..."
Hope you enjoyed that little bit. It's the working intro to the book.

In other news, still working on Earthbound. I'm writing both books at the same time, but with the co-author having to edit or comment on every chapter between writings, I'm going to have to work on 2 projects to keep busy.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

ScienceNow.info

Just launched my site at www.sciencenow.info! It's the website for my Science Now - 9 Tales of Wonder and other teaching materials. I also just received my evaluation copies of the book from lulu, and they are dazzling. I am over the moon, if anyone says that anymore. They're just excellent. Loving them. Check out the site!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Earthbound

I'm still waiting on my evaluation copies of Science Now to arrive from lulu's printing presses, so I've continued work on Earthbound. It's pretty fun so far, because it doesn't really matter where it goes. A lot of times, it's when you force a story to have drama and work toward an end that it gets dull to write. Right now, I'm just having a good time imagining the interactions between the two main characters, Robert & Serafina. It should be pretty exciting for quite awhile (at least until editing).

In-Roam 2 is still continuing through development, too. I'm reading the 1st volume and surprising myself with how good it is. It's entertaining, exciting, and vulgar in just the right places. It's great. I'm getting all kinds of new ideas for the 2nd book just by reading the 1st again. More on that later.

Finally, Science Now should be launched on the new website by the end of the month. Keep an eye out for it...

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Science Now Website

Work continues on Science Now, mostly on the development of the website and graphics surrounding it. I'm trying to put together some of my best stuff to offer as free teaching materials, as well as some teasers to build interest in the book.

In other news, still working on Earthbound, albeit very slowly. This other thing takes precendence.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Science NOW - 9 Tales of Wonder

I just finished the rough draft of Science NOW - 9 Tales of Wonder. I ordered 3 copies off of lulu. I should get them in about a week. I'll review them and see about getting a website live ASAP. That's the next step. It'll be a bit of work, but it should be nice to see if educational stories are more lucrative than fiction. They certainly were fun and easy to write...

More on that later, but once that is out of the way, I'll keep promoting them and see about getting my other projects underway.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Almost Done!

I've been working pretty hard on this science book project lately. I'm trying to get it done before I really dedicate myself to another novel. I have one more short story to complete today, along with some educational activities to accompany it. Then, I'll work on the cover design and layout. I need to proofread the stories, as well. I expect to order the rough draft copy this week. It should be in full swing by the end of the month, along with a website launch to accompany it.

Once that is out of the way, I may have to spend time promoting the science book. It's going to be most useful before the statewide science test in March, so hopefully I can move a few units. Some parents might even want to use the book as a review and study piece over christmas break. Only time will tell how successful it is...

After the science book, it's back to sci-fi though. Promise you that.