Ray Strong's Blog, page 6
May 4, 2016
Home: Interstellar - Free May 4 and 5
A two day promotion is set for today and tomorrow only ...
** Free ** May 4 and 5 only:
Home: Interstellar - Merchant Princess "Hard sci-fi with a heart...complex, compelling tale of galactic intrigue." --Kirkus Reviews.
"In Home: Interstellar by Ray Strong we are presented with a strong blending of genres, a science fiction tale that reads like a pilgrimage with a haunted and haunting female character who combines strength and grace in a way that instantly wins the reader over to her perspective and her values, her every cause. ... The characters here are fully realized, vivid and alive, and often do surprising things - or do / say things that are very human, which can be rare. I especially like Meriel, who wins the reader over early and often and seems fully realized on the page, alive and breathing..." -- Writer's Digest.
Finalist: Writers Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards, Genre Fiction.
The happy life of twelve-year-old spacer Meriel Hope, her sister, and friends are torn apart when pirates attack their home – the merchant ship Princess – and slaughter their parents. Ten years of drugs, separation, and fear later, the galaxy has forgotten about the attack. But Meriel still searches for the reason why. When she finds the reason, she and the orphans become targets for the conspirators again who fear what they might remember and who they could implicate.
Follow the adventures of Meriel Hope and her fight for survival in an unforgiving universe.
** Free ** May 4 and 5 only:
Home: Interstellar - Merchant Princess "Hard sci-fi with a heart...complex, compelling tale of galactic intrigue." --Kirkus Reviews.
"In Home: Interstellar by Ray Strong we are presented with a strong blending of genres, a science fiction tale that reads like a pilgrimage with a haunted and haunting female character who combines strength and grace in a way that instantly wins the reader over to her perspective and her values, her every cause. ... The characters here are fully realized, vivid and alive, and often do surprising things - or do / say things that are very human, which can be rare. I especially like Meriel, who wins the reader over early and often and seems fully realized on the page, alive and breathing..." -- Writer's Digest.
Finalist: Writers Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards, Genre Fiction.
The happy life of twelve-year-old spacer Meriel Hope, her sister, and friends are torn apart when pirates attack their home – the merchant ship Princess – and slaughter their parents. Ten years of drugs, separation, and fear later, the galaxy has forgotten about the attack. But Meriel still searches for the reason why. When she finds the reason, she and the orphans become targets for the conspirators again who fear what they might remember and who they could implicate.
Follow the adventures of Meriel Hope and her fight for survival in an unforgiving universe.
March 24, 2016
There was a history before History ...
“...There was a history before History, Of a time before we wandered the land like beasts,Before we descended into chaos,When Juro wore our civilization like a crownAnd women flew like birds;A time when we knew the ages of the stars,Before we forgot who we were.
"It is our task to remember,If not what we once knew, At least to remember that we once knew itAnd to remind others so that we will Not descend so deeply into chaos again."
This is a passage from the convocation ceremony of the College of Singers. On this day, Astrid became a Journeyman and took her stage name as Singer.
March 12, 2016
Grace ...
Here's another excerpt from de Merlner's Diary. From The Diary of Neuchar de Merlner, Europa, 2112
Verse 57: Nova Conta, Section 6La grâce (Grace)
God offers us all redemption without condition and the peace that comes from it. But we have no proof of this peace if it is offered only in heaven and only after we die. If we have no proof in this life, then why should we bother with God?
We bother because the peace that is offered is the peace during our life, not peace in heaven: redemption occurs here while you breathe and forgiveness comes from God.
It is beyond mere mortals made of heart and flesh to forgive the callous murder of the innocent. And it is beyond us to forgive ourselves for those deepest of sins, those acts of knowing cruelty that warp the skeletons of our adulthood with guilt. But God can forgive and will if you ask. That is why it is called God’s grace, and why it is a miracle.
And granted that miracle we may live our lives again and benefit others, not to seek forgiveness, but because we’ve been blessed.
March 10, 2016
A bit about Neuchar de Merlner ...
I thought you might want to know more about Neuchar de Merlner. Exerpts from de Merlner's books and diaries are
included here and in the H:I series because Meriel's family, including her mother's friend, Teddy, sometimes sought guidance in his thoughts. Included to the right is "As If By God's Hand." Others excerpts will follow.
"Neuchar de Merlner taught philosophy at the University of Europa, Martinsburg, during the twenty-second century. His early treatises on epistemology and hermeneutics focused on observation and validation. Though well regarded, his brethren considered him too grounded in science for their lofty speculations. De Merlner is much better known for his less rigorous works such as the aphorisms published in his Diary. Considered a post-modern ecstatic philosopher, de Merlner incorporated the Greek ‘anima’ and the spiritual into his writings to comment upon the existential human experience. As such, he was deeply loved or hated depending upon the religious convictions of the reader."
(ref. Galactipedia)
included here and in the H:I series because Meriel's family, including her mother's friend, Teddy, sometimes sought guidance in his thoughts. Included to the right is "As If By God's Hand." Others excerpts will follow.
"Neuchar de Merlner taught philosophy at the University of Europa, Martinsburg, during the twenty-second century. His early treatises on epistemology and hermeneutics focused on observation and validation. Though well regarded, his brethren considered him too grounded in science for their lofty speculations. De Merlner is much better known for his less rigorous works such as the aphorisms published in his Diary. Considered a post-modern ecstatic philosopher, de Merlner incorporated the Greek ‘anima’ and the spiritual into his writings to comment upon the existential human experience. As such, he was deeply loved or hated depending upon the religious convictions of the reader."
(ref. Galactipedia)
March 9, 2016
The Arc of History
... one of the lighter aphorisms of de Merlner.
Verse 63: Nova Conta, Section 8
L'arc de l'histoire (The Arc of History)
History is not geology or astronomy… it is human history: the decisions, hopes, and desires, translated into passionate actions by humans, therefore its trajectory is not written in stone or the stars.
For the wheel of history traces not a cycloid, or a disembodied moral arc leading us back to Eden or toward utopia, but the vector sum of the actions of individual humans, and therefore is not inevitable.
Verse 63: Nova Conta, Section 8
L'arc de l'histoire (The Arc of History)
History is not geology or astronomy… it is human history: the decisions, hopes, and desires, translated into passionate actions by humans, therefore its trajectory is not written in stone or the stars.
For the wheel of history traces not a cycloid, or a disembodied moral arc leading us back to Eden or toward utopia, but the vector sum of the actions of individual humans, and therefore is not inevitable.
A bit about Neuchar de Merlner ,,,
I thought you might want to know more about Neuchar de Merlner. Exerpts from de Merlner's books and diaries are referenced in the H:I series, such as "As If By God's Hand" (included to the right). I'll post another quote of his soon. This is from the Galactipedia often used by Meriel.
"Neuchar de Merlner (ref. Galactipedia) taught philosophy at the University of Europa, Martinsburg, during the twenty-second century. His early treatises on epistemology and hermeneutics focused on observation and validation. Though well regarded, his brethren considered him too grounded in science for their lofty speculations. De Merlner is much better known for his less rigorous works such as the aphorisms of the Diary. Considered a post-modern ecstatic philosopher, de Merlner incorporated the Greek ‘anima’ and the spiritual into his writings to comment upon the existential human experience. As such, he was deeply loved or hated depending upon the religious convictions of the reader."
"Neuchar de Merlner (ref. Galactipedia) taught philosophy at the University of Europa, Martinsburg, during the twenty-second century. His early treatises on epistemology and hermeneutics focused on observation and validation. Though well regarded, his brethren considered him too grounded in science for their lofty speculations. De Merlner is much better known for his less rigorous works such as the aphorisms of the Diary. Considered a post-modern ecstatic philosopher, de Merlner incorporated the Greek ‘anima’ and the spiritual into his writings to comment upon the existential human experience. As such, he was deeply loved or hated depending upon the religious convictions of the reader."
February 24, 2016
Political Map of Juro
Our setting for the Singer Saga approximates the Middle-Ages in Europe - but with dragons!
January 28, 2016
Finalist! Writers Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards, Genre Fiction
Nice award and words from Writer's Digest ... "In Home: Interstellar by Ray Strong we are presented with a strong blending of genres, a science fiction tale that reads like a pilgrimage with a haunted and haunting female character who combines strength and grace in a way that instantly wins the reader over to her perspective and her values, her every cause. ... The characters here are fully realized, vivid and alive, and often do surprising things - or do / say things that are very human, which can be rare. I especially like Meriel, who wins the reader over early and often and seems fully realized on the page, alive and breathing..." -- Writer's Digest.
December 29, 2015
Recent 5 Star Reviews at Amazon ...
***** (5 stars) Riviting
I could not put this book down. M's search for answers to her past and desire to follow thru with her mother's last wish is humbling.
***** Five Stars
Easy to read, good story. ***** (5 stars) I read it in 2 sittings
I read it in 2 sittings. Strong characters, good story, good writing. Highly recommended.
***** (5 stars) Hart warming
A story of comment to self and to family, a unwavering goal to that comment. From hardship , partials , the path never faltered.***** (5 stars) Fantastic Book
I absolutely loved this book. I read it all night, and finished it a 7:00 a.m. the next morning. I could not put it down. Pirates in Space
If you are a fan of Ender's Game or anything with a combination of space, action and pirates than a great book is Home : Interstellar by Ray Strong. Read more Published 3 months ago by Stephanie Noel ,
***** (5 stars) No. I couldn't wait!I'm only a third of the way through this book and I could not hold back!
This is absolute comparable to the Greats. Like Heinlein, Bradbury,Norton! I'll just say this...If you don't read this terrific sci fi book....
You are missing out!
I could not put this book down. M's search for answers to her past and desire to follow thru with her mother's last wish is humbling.
***** Five Stars
Easy to read, good story. ***** (5 stars) I read it in 2 sittings
I read it in 2 sittings. Strong characters, good story, good writing. Highly recommended.
***** (5 stars) Hart warming
A story of comment to self and to family, a unwavering goal to that comment. From hardship , partials , the path never faltered.***** (5 stars) Fantastic Book
I absolutely loved this book. I read it all night, and finished it a 7:00 a.m. the next morning. I could not put it down. Pirates in Space
If you are a fan of Ender's Game or anything with a combination of space, action and pirates than a great book is Home : Interstellar by Ray Strong. Read more Published 3 months ago by Stephanie Noel ,
***** (5 stars) No. I couldn't wait!I'm only a third of the way through this book and I could not hold back!
This is absolute comparable to the Greats. Like Heinlein, Bradbury,Norton! I'll just say this...If you don't read this terrific sci fi book....
You are missing out!
December 22, 2015
Book 2 - Teaser: Sol System - Mars-6
Peach blossums drifted through the ivy covered gazebo to form a pink blanket on the wooden floor where Ellen Biadez paced. A pink petal drifted onto the shoulder of her iridescent white evening gown and she picked it up and crushed it without thinking. Like the petals, the gazebo’s isolation-blanket let music drift through, music from her first formal party since escaping the sanctuary her husband had arranged for them on Caliope to avoid prosecution in the Haven affair. She had been called from dinner to take an important phone call and brought a small porcelain dish of canapees with her. The thousands of guests would wait and she took another drag on her cigarette.
Leaning against the portal where the structure would still mask her voice, she looked out from the roof-top garden of the Septimus Hotel on Mars-6. The hotel had been built at enormous expense from natural woods, marbles, and plants smuggled from Earth to cover the concrete and steel made from natural Martian sources. It was hers, or rather a piece of it was hers, the rest owned by her silent partners: BioLuna and the ArchTrope of Caliope. She looked past the ivy and the reflecting pool that stretched to the edge of the dome, out onto the sinuous ridges of the Medusae Fossae on the Aeroeolis Plain. Imagining the pulsing capillaries of a heart, she reached out her hand and placed one of the capilarries between her thumb and forefinger and pinched it invisioning the agonizing death of a rival.
She took another drag on her cigarette. When her necklace link buzzed, she tapped the pendant and dropped the cigarette onto the pink blossums leaving the cigarette to burn a scar in the priceless hardwood floor.
“You can talk freely,” she said.
“I tell you they will form a compact unless we intervene,” a man’s voice said.
“How do you know this?”
“EM traffic.”
“Who’s at the heart of it?”
“Enterprise Station and the Station Masters,” he said. “They suspect Earth will lock all the big hubs into the UNE by force using some pretext.”
Ellen shook her head. “Do we have a leak?”
“We don’t think so. No. We suspect a minimax theory prediction of the UNE’s moves, the least—”
“Spare me,” she said and rolled her eyes, not happy to hear her hard work and maneuvering reduced to a statistical probability.
“Sorry. The stations want to anchor their hubs to Haven and screw earth.”
“That’s bad,” she said knowing that fully on quarter of Earth’s raw materials come from the far stations. She lit another cigarette and crushed the peach petals under her feet. A sneer came across her face. “If they are afraid of a pretext, then we cannot wait any longer. Let’s see what that little bitch does with this. Initiate operation Sarajevo.”
“Ahhh… The repercussions of this will be enormous. Please confirm before—”
“Confirming.” She tapped her pendant again and strode back to the dining room. The orchestra began the fanfare as she passed and Ellen Biadez entered the room with a big smile and arms flung wide.
...to be continued ...(c) 2015 B. R. Strong, Jr.
Leaning against the portal where the structure would still mask her voice, she looked out from the roof-top garden of the Septimus Hotel on Mars-6. The hotel had been built at enormous expense from natural woods, marbles, and plants smuggled from Earth to cover the concrete and steel made from natural Martian sources. It was hers, or rather a piece of it was hers, the rest owned by her silent partners: BioLuna and the ArchTrope of Caliope. She looked past the ivy and the reflecting pool that stretched to the edge of the dome, out onto the sinuous ridges of the Medusae Fossae on the Aeroeolis Plain. Imagining the pulsing capillaries of a heart, she reached out her hand and placed one of the capilarries between her thumb and forefinger and pinched it invisioning the agonizing death of a rival.
She took another drag on her cigarette. When her necklace link buzzed, she tapped the pendant and dropped the cigarette onto the pink blossums leaving the cigarette to burn a scar in the priceless hardwood floor.
“You can talk freely,” she said.
“I tell you they will form a compact unless we intervene,” a man’s voice said.
“How do you know this?”
“EM traffic.”
“Who’s at the heart of it?”
“Enterprise Station and the Station Masters,” he said. “They suspect Earth will lock all the big hubs into the UNE by force using some pretext.”
Ellen shook her head. “Do we have a leak?”
“We don’t think so. No. We suspect a minimax theory prediction of the UNE’s moves, the least—”
“Spare me,” she said and rolled her eyes, not happy to hear her hard work and maneuvering reduced to a statistical probability.
“Sorry. The stations want to anchor their hubs to Haven and screw earth.”
“That’s bad,” she said knowing that fully on quarter of Earth’s raw materials come from the far stations. She lit another cigarette and crushed the peach petals under her feet. A sneer came across her face. “If they are afraid of a pretext, then we cannot wait any longer. Let’s see what that little bitch does with this. Initiate operation Sarajevo.”
“Ahhh… The repercussions of this will be enormous. Please confirm before—”
“Confirming.” She tapped her pendant again and strode back to the dining room. The orchestra began the fanfare as she passed and Ellen Biadez entered the room with a big smile and arms flung wide.
...to be continued ...(c) 2015 B. R. Strong, Jr.
