Ray Strong's Blog, page 9

Where did the idea originate for Home: Interstellar?

The idea for Home began as a story I told my niece. She was having trouble with bullies at school (*), bullies that she thought overwhelming. She said she was just a little kid and the school did not help. She felt helpless and sad and wished she were a superhero. I told her not to let bullies stop her from doing what she wanted because there will always be bullies, at school, at work, and in the world. I told her bullies always want you to feel alone and helpless, so don’t be alone. I also wanted her to learn to defend herself: I’ve been bullied too, and I know they don’t stop unless they are stopped by someone. When you resist bullies, you are not just fighting for yourself and what you care about, but you are helping all the other victims of bullies.
We’re not superheroes, but they’re not supervillains either, and we should not be afraid to defend ourselves. So I made up a story to illustrate.
The short story was of a child freezing in the hold of a starship, hiding from pirates, too small to defend herself and the other children on her ship from armed and ruthless villains. A decade later those same pirates came after her again. But she wasn’t a child any longer and had ten years to prepare just in case. It was not easy: she had to train hard, overcome her own fears, and then rally others the help her. But she did it. Her bullies turned out not to be just pirates, but a whole conspiracy of galactic bad guys and she was just in the way. But she never stopped fighting for what she cared about.
Side note: my niece is a black belt TaiKwonDo now. Her mom was the real hero of that story.

Positive Reviews at Goodreads

Some positive reviews at Goodreads here.

Cannot post reviews on Amazon until it's released which will be in just a few days (Sept. 4).

Don't forget to preorder ...

Don't wait. Preorders help the sales figures a lot. Links to Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Kobo are below.

Book covers and publishing ...

A few lessons learned ...

1. Get a pro.
They need not be expensive. 99Designs, CreateSpace, and others can help.

2. Check the licenses before you distribute the cover.
Covers include art from the cover designer from whom you need a license agreement to distribute the cover. You probably know that already. However, the covers may also contain modified images from many sources: pixabay, shutterstock, dollar photo club, deviant art, turbosquid (yeah, you heard that right), ... and sites from around the world. That's because it's much easier to modify images and assemble them than it is to generate new art - by easier I mean weeks sooner and thousands of dollars cheaper. But artists are artists and licenses are not where they 'live.'

To distribute the composite work on the book cover, the publisher needs licenses for each of the images used. A few great image sources, like NASA are free. Some images at other sources have a Creative Commons license, which is free, but requires acknowledgement. Many sources of the best images require a nominal payment or subscription and may have limitations as to the number of copies that can be made (i.e., eBooks downloaded). The publisher (author/distributor, aka you) needs to access/check/procure licenses for each of the constituent images used. If the designer has these licenses in their pocket, that's great - but it's up to te publisher to check them. It's important to have these licenses in hand before the designer completes the work (i.e., you pay them) or you may be stuck with a beautiful cover you cannot distribute. It can take days to do this, so leave time.

As you can see, I changed the book cover.This cover more ...

As you can see, I changed the book cover.

This cover more closely matches Meriel's personality - hopeful, open hearted, and dreaming of the future after recovering from her childhood tragedy. It's closer to the first half of the book - before the hammer falls on her for the second time. The other cover - the kick-ass girl defending her home against overwhelming odds - portrays the second half of the book where Meriel refuses to roll over for galactic thugs.

The Fountains of Paradise

For those of us who read Arthur C. Clarke's "The Fountains of Paradise" as SciFi, someone has patented the idea. The plan for this one is 20,000 feet (eventually) which is only 1/2 of Clarke's height. Clarke's material was artificial spider silk, but that was before buckytubes and limpet teeth.

Review for Starstruck..

I typically do not write reviews, but I've loved this graphic novel since the days of Heavy Metal Magazine. You can read it at Amazon here.

Next installment ... Chapter 3 - Lander Station

I just posted Chapter 3 of the story to the right.

On Lander Station, Meriel meets with her lawyer and her Aunt Teddy to figure out what to do to save the Princess, from the scrap heap. John helps her defend against thugs, and she learns more about John and his home colony. Her crew gets tangled up in a bar fight with a rival crew and Meriel needs to bail them out. On leaving Lander, Teddy sends Meriel a book that once belonged to Meriel's grandmother...



“Once in an age, the forces of darkness align to bend the arc of history.
“And once in an age, the arc of history bends around the wheel of one committed person who, acting from his or her own virtuous interests, changes the course of history: the child who raises the flag above the barricades; the mother who thrusts the picture of her murdered child before the dead eyes of the tyrant; the girl who refuses to deny her love for God while her flesh burns at the stake—individuals who grip a shred of civilization with both hands and will not give it up…”

Link to Kobo listing is here.

Link to Kobo listing is here.

Just added .... iTunes listing i...

Just added ....  
   iTunes listing is here.

   Barnes and Noble listing is here.