William Altmann's Blog: Between Dreams and Reality

3-Day Sci-Fi Sale

Come visit IndieOrbital for the 3-day sale (Sept. 6-9) of independent authors' science fiction works. I have two books there: the first two volumes in my series "Merimnae Saga": Merimnae: Outbound and Merimnae: Inbound.

Science Fiction

2021 has been a year of more writing for me, but experimenting in a new genre. I have always loved science fiction, particularly hard sci-fi, ever since I was a young boy. Maybe it started with the Tom Swift and His Flying Lab series (have them all, more than 20!). It continued through high school and college with Clarke, Heinlein, Pournelle, Forward, Blish... I tried "soft sci-fi", but it didn't excite my imagination.
So, I thought I'd try it myself!
I wrote In On a Comet as a kind of tribute to H. G. Wells. Then I embarked on an interstellar, human story which I titled Merimnae: Outbound: Book 1, Merimnae: Inbound, and Merimnae: Unbound. (You'll have to read the books to learn why this word for a title.) It has been a load of fun to write!
I have published a trilogy, in paperback and eBook, and it's received great reviews so far. It's been encouraging enough that I'm working on a fourth volume. How's that for a teaser? I'm hoping to finish in early Spring 2022.

Vocal.Media

I discovered this web site when my daughter suggested I enter one of its "Challenges" for prize money. I jumped at the chance, as I'd been considering writing short stories to add that genre to my repertoire.

See my list at Vocal.Media/William Altmann.

In just the last week, I've written and uploaded four or five tales. Then, today, I added a couple which I wrote ten of fifteen years ago in a burst of creativity.

Sometimes I think that the creativity comes out most strongly when life is stressed. These days it's been COVID. Last week it was the ice and snow storm here in Central Texas. I honestly don't remember what lead me to write 10-15 years ago. But it's in the past now.

Enjoy! Let me know.

Distressed with Dystopias?

I don't know about you, but I am tired, very tired, of the dystopian views of our future. Driven by disunity or politics or global warming or whichever plague you choose, it seems that we all ought to look into moving to northern Canada!

So, what have I done? Written books!

I created "Emperor First" to tell a tale of a dysfunctional President in the midst of a tight, tumultuous turn at re-election. I write it in May 2020. Sound familiar? Prophetic?

Then I followed with "Emperor Second", "Emperor Third" and the conclusion - "Emperor Fourth". These take an optimistic turn at tackling our circumstances as challenges instead of obstacles.

I hope you take the time to enjoy them in series. See them on Apple Books, Kindle, or paperback large print on Amazon.

Senioritis

I have found a way to combine the struggles of the real with the adventures of the adventurous in my series titled "Mary Jane Gang". It centers on a group of friends, or residents, or inmates -- depending on your mood -- in a senior living facility set in Phoenix.

The series begins with a couple of tales which take place during the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down. I have it on good authority that it is possible to survive in an old folks' home with a good attitude. Lest this be deemed unbelievable, I have set up a challenge in each story, a challenge taken up by the central characters.

By the end of the first story, The Rendezvous, you will know why the series is the "Mary Jane Gang". By the end of the second story, Heart of Gold, you will see a more complex mix of truth and fiction, history and imagination.

This is the stuff we're surviving on these days. Take a deep draught, and enjoy the feeling.