P.C. Haring's Blog, page 7

A Brand New Day – June 21, 2021

Greetings everyone!   

Today I’m launching a walk-n-talk podcast that I’m entitling “A Brand New Day”

Inspired by Nathan Lowel’s “Talking on my Morning Walk” (https://www.nathanlowell.com/tommw/) and Dave Robison’s “North Pond Monologues (https://butterymanvoice.com/npm/ ) I’m starting my own waling podcast.

Every weekday you can expect to see a 15-20 minute chat from me wherein I share my thoughts with you… as they come to me.  This will be un-edited, unproduced and what you hear… is what you get.

I hope you enjoy.  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments as they come to you and I’ll try and respond to them on future walks.

Enjoy!

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

Due to Inclement weather, the office will be…

[image error]From my phone’s weather widget…

If you’re reading this on or around the time, I’m posting
this, you’re likely already aware of the polar vortex currently turning the Midwest
into an inhospitably cold ice ball that rivals the planet Hoth.    Schools
all over the Chicago area are closed for the day.   Businesses are closing left and right.   Even the Post Office has suspended mail
delivery today due to the cold weather.  Yeah,
it’s *that* bad.

I find it odd to say this, but I feel grateful that my
office has chosen to close today.  While
it might seem like a no-brainer that everything should just shut down and let people
hibernate through insane days like today, the same can not be said for everyone
in my family.

So yes, I am grateful that my day job is closed today.   Because of this development I’ve got a free
day and the writing desk is open.   I
haven’t been able to take a full writing day since the summer and I’m very much
looking forward to it.  

Today’s tasks will focus mostly on development of my story
bible

Check back this weekend for my progress report.  

On the reading list

So, it would seem that I’m a day or two late for what I intend to be my weekly Sunday news update.   I apologize for that.  It’s going to take me a little time still to get into the groove and the habit and I beg your indulgence.   Also, I’m searching for post topics that are fun and more than just a weekly roundup.  If you have any suggestions or requests for topics, please feel free to leave me a note and I’ll do what I can to accommodate.

For this week, I’ve decided to share with you a title from my reading list – The Ghost Rebellion.  This is the 5th book in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series by co-authors Philippa Ballantine & Tee Morris. It continues the adventures of Ministry Agents Books and Braun as they race across England, and indeed the world on madcap adventures of Daring-do!

As a writer of Sci-Fi, I never considered myself a steampunk fan. To a degree I still do not and I admit that I first got into this series as a courtesy to the authors who I know personally. In hindsight, I got into the series for the wrong reason and should have, instead, looked at it as an opportunity to stretch myself as a reader and challenge myself to read something outside of my preferred genre. For whatever reason I chose to dig into this series, however, I am glad that I did

As this is book 5 of 6, it’s not the best place to jump in if you’re looking to get into the series. For that you’ll have to start with Phoenix Rising, and it is for this reason that I am not going to go into a plot synopsis beyond what you’ll find at the book’s Amazon page:

The chase is on! After rescuing Queen Victoria from the clutches of the Maestro, Agents Eliza D Braun and Wellington Books are in hot pursuit of Dr Henry Jekyll. While he continues his experiments on the aristocracy of Europe, he leaves a trail of chaos and despair in his wake. However when Eliza and Wellington run him to ground in India, they are forced to come face to face with ghosts from the past, and the realities of empire.

Meanwhile Ministry agents Brandon Hill and Bruce Campbell travel deep into Russia hunting down a rare ingredient to save Queen Victoria’s life. Amid the cold they uncover a threat from the revitalized House of Usher that comes directly from their new Chairman.

All in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences will find their allegiances in question, and their mettle tested as a new dastardly era of international intrigue dawns.

From Ghost Rebellion’s Amazon.com listing

All that being said, I am enjoying this book as much as I’ve enjoyed the rest of the series and while I am less than halfway through it at this point, I look forward to seeing where things go as this builds out to the final installment in the saga.

I’ll have much more to say on this after I finish it. For now, I hope you enjoyed this introduction. More to come!

Until next time!

A Slow But Meaningful Start to the New Year

If I could have added a fourth word to the three-word exercise
I posted about last time, it would be ‘balance’.  Last year found myself in a balance that I was
not happy with and, at the same time, I felt unable to break out of that
mold.   I’m not sure what ticked over in
my brain space, but I’m glad it did and a new sense of balance seems to be
taking hold.   Some of the recreational
things I typically do on a near daily basis somehow found its way to being
weekend only indulgences.   This was not
by choice, but rather necessity as my wife and I spent most of our weekday
nights during the holidays either getting ready, or cleaning up in the
aftermath.  

That is complete for now, and whereas in the past I would have
gone back to the recreational things to fill up my evening.  Now, I’m finding more drive to spend those
evening hours at the laptop and working.  
This is a good thing.

Balance is an ongoing challenge in anyone’s life and the
scales will continue to lean one way or another.   But so far, I’m happy with where things
are.   I’ve dug back into a fairly complex
project in my world building and, over the course of the past few days have
managed to finish it and free up my mind to work other aspects.  

So, it’s taken a little time to get up to speed and I’m not
there yet.   But the momentum is building,
items are falling off the ever-growing to-do list, and I’m looking forward to
what’s to come.

Thanks for
reading.  If you’re interested in more in depth and behind the scenes
updates and would like to help support me and my work as a writer, please check
out my Patreon over at https://www.patreon.com/pcharing and consider signing on for a monthly
contribution.  Right now I’m working on a post for backers
that will focus a bit more heavily on the world building project I referenced
above.

Until next time!

Organization and a clear mind

It’s been a slow
week at the writing desk as 2019 starts up. 
With the holidays in the rear view mirror and the day job work schedule
slowly returning to normal, the focus has turned to clean up and a return to
the routine.  Oh how nice it was to have
a four day weekend for two weeks in a row.  
Ah well..  On to 2019

Like many families
who celebrate the Christmas holiday, my wife and I spent a good portion of this
past weekend taking down our decorations, packing them away, re-organizing what
we had and condensing them into fewer, and dedicated boxes.   We also spent a bit of time cleaning up in
our basement so that we could actually walk down there once again.  The results were magical.  

No I’m not about to
burst into song about how to make chores into a game or the like.  

We both noticed that
as we de-cluttered the basement, we felt as though our minds were also
decluttering.  Some of that can easily be
attributed to the fact that after a few hours of hauling heavy boxes up and
down stairs, shuffling things from point A to point B and more, that we had
become too tired to give a damn about anything, and while that is certainly
true, it is not the only outcome.  

I woke up this
morning feeling far more energized than I would have expected.   There was a certain ‘weight’ that had
disappeared while I slept and it’s leaving me mentally freer to concentrate on
other things.   If this is the result of
a few hours each day of work to organize an area of the house that is unused
other than as storage, I can’t wait to see how things feel as we progress
through the rest of the week and catch up the other needed areas.     I’ll keep you informed. 

Thanks for
reading.  If you’re interested in more in
depth and behind the scenes updates and would like to help support me and my
work as a writer, please check out my Patreon over at https://www.patreon.com/pcharing
and consider signing on for a monthly contribution.  

Until next time!

-PC

2018 Round up and 3 words for 2019

I don’t want to talk about 2018.

But I’m going to try.   2018 was a very rough year in both my professional and personal worlds.  The year started out mediocre and over the next eight and a half months only got worse.   It started an upturn in September that has thankfully carried through the end of the year, but the weight of the first two thirds has been so heavy that as I look back on it, I now realize the toll it took on my health and how much of the last few months have been spent trying to put everything into a context that makes sense.   This is still a work in process, but it feels as though the worst of it is over and the rest will sort itself in time.

Despite my best efforts, 2018 was hardly as productive as I would have liked.   Some of that is attributable to the goings on in my life that made the year as rocky as it did.  But it also speaks to a clear lack of discipline on my part and as I have taken a closer and harder look at how this year unfolded, I see many valuable lessons this year has tried to teach me.  I am not going to go into detail on these matters.  They are both private and personal.

Still, while I appreciate the lessons, I am not sorry or sad to see this year pass into history.

 

With that said, on to 2019.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the “Just 3 Words” method is something I learned from Chris Brogan via Veronica Giguere.   Chris describes it better than I could on this blog post from 2014-  https://bit.ly/2LINMJr, but the TL:DR of it is to essentially boil your goals/resolutions into themes and then distill those themes into 3 words that you will use to guide you for the duration.  Without further delay…

 

Organize

I don’t think it’s fair to say I’m doing “too much”.  But it is certainly fair to say I’ve done a poor job of keeping track of it all.   Whether it’s writing projects in various stages (at this point I count half a dozen separate titles off the top of my head, NOT including random brainstorm ideas), work commitments, family/personal commitments, goals, and aspirations.   I’m very good and spouting these things off and then losing track of them.   The end of 2018 saw some improvements on this as I’ve added new tools to my arsenal to help keep me organized, but I’d like to see further development on this in 2019.

 

Plan

Over the past year and a half, I’ve lost more time than I care to admit jumping into something on a whim without taking the time to plan out the benchmarks or even visualize the final product.   The 5 failed drafts of “Hunter” stand out as the most glaring example and that rides on my back like an albatross.   It’s great to have all of these projects to work on and address, but without a proper plan or at least a framework I’ll do little more than spin my wheels.

 

Execute

All of the organization and planning in the world is useless if nothing gets done.   Heinlein says that a writer must write, that a writer must finish what they are writing, and that a writer must put that project out to the market, and then must start the next project.   As a framework, these rules fit for much more than just writing.  It is easy to sit, talk, and spout about all the ideas and plans one has.   But until those plans are executed, it’s just talk.

 

 

So, there they are.   3 words for 2019.  I thank you for reading this post and, as always, I welcome your constructive comments.   I invite you to check back here as I plan to keep you apprised of how things are going on these three words and about the goings on in my world as a whole.  One of the plans I intend to execute this year is a weekly post on Sunday that re-caps the week, addresses any thoughts I’m having about it, and previews the week to come.  Finally, if you’re interested in seeing more from me beyond just the weekly posting, I invite you to subscribe to my Patreon campaign over at https://www.patreon.com/pcharing.  There you’ll find additional content including but not limited to access to never before seen short stories and novellas, excerpts from my works in process, advance delivery of my published work, exclusive access behind the scenes, and more.

 

 

 

Announcing a new Patreon Campaign!

Can you believe it’s been seven and a half years since Cybrosis went live?  I know.  I can’t either.  So much has happened since then that as I look back, I almost don’t recognize myself.

Life has moved me in some very interesting, exciting and amazing ways over the years and while I don’t regret anything, the one thing I wish I would have been better at was asking for help.   I am an independently published author.   I have two novels to my name and part of the reason it has taken so long to get the second one out has been the age-old issue of time and money.

Time, I can manage.  If everything goes as I would like it to, the audio of Slipspace Harbinger will be available by the end of the year, the print of the next Slipspace will be available next spring, and the audio of THAT project will be in the summer of 2018.  I’ve been spending the past several months, lining up projects and streamlining the process to make that happen.  Time is easy.

Money, however, is not.   Money does flow to the author, but I am not only that.  I’m an indie publisher, which means there are costs – Professional editors, layout designers, cover artists, and yes, audio book narrators.  This is where I must ask for help.

So, with that in mind, I’m announcing the launch of my Patreon campaign.   For those of you who do not know, Patreon is an ongoing crowd funding site where patrons can support their favorite content creators.  It is like Kickstarter with two major differences.  First, the campaign is ongoing and donations are paid once a month.   Second, there are goals for certain milestones in pledges.

Right now, I’m offering contributions at the 1,5,10, 15 & 25 per month levels, with rewards at each level.  These include, access behind the paywall for exclusive content to publish at least once per month.  Other rewards include, free eBooks, ARC’s, print novels, and even the opportunity to be named in a story.

Milestone goals are set at $150 in total donations where, my ‘infrequent audio updates’ will turn into a once monthly podcast available exclusively for Patrons.   At $300 per month, all patrons will receive an early release of my audio fiction in its entirety before it goes live on any other public paid or free platform.   That’s right… you’ll know how the story ends before ANYONE else will hear it begin!

So please give it some thought.   I’d love to have your support if you’re able.  If you can’t, I fully understand.   Please pass the word to your friends and others who might be interested.

You can find the campaign at My Patreon Page   There’s also a link over to the right of the blog.

Comments are open, so please feel free to send me any questions you may have.  I’m happy to address and discuss!

Slipspace Harbinger IS RELEASED!!

At long long last, Slipspace: Harbinger is now available exclusively at Amazon.com  This has been a labor of love, blood, sweat, and tears and I am very excited to finally bring this title to you!   So to help celebrate, I will be dropping a series of three linked excerpts.  You’ll find the first one right here and now.  But the other’s you’ll have to find in the coming days when they go up.  I’ll tell you where to find them… after the break.

[image error]September 30, 2832

21:30

Lumo

With each step, Nira Fen squeezed the powdery white sand between her toes.  The tide rushed up against the shore line, splashing at her feet and soaking the fringe of her sarong. The wind picked up and she brushed her golden-brown hair out of her eyes and behind her ear. Her fingers slid past the flower in her hair and down the length of her hair to just below her shoulder blades. ‘Long walks on the beach’ seemed cliché but the opportunity to spend a few nights at Lumo’s Zarthine shores was far too tempting to pass up, even if she would be spending it alone.

Another cool breeze blew inland, sending a chill across her bare arms.

She continued walking, knowing she could not blame Cody.  Business was business. She wouldn’t hold it against him if the Alliance had him out on a recruiting job despite the approved leave time. She sighed and looked out to the horizon over the sea. This far from any major city or settlement, there were no lights to dilute the beautiful starscape in the night sky.  She craned her head upward, taking in a deeper view of the universe above her.

She watched as a stray meteor streaked across her field of view and followed it as it fell and burned out.  Her eyes rose once more, moving from star to star.  Cody was out there on one of those planets, orbiting one of those stars.  Maybe, even now, he was looking up at his night sky toward the Lumir system, toward her as she looked upwards toward him in return.  Perhaps their star-crossed gazes transcended time and space, meeting each other and warming the cold void.

With a smile, she continued her way down the beach.  Her villa was just ahead, and the thought of getting some real sleep was very enticing.  She closed the door behind her and entered a locking code. The door clicked.  Nira stepped into the bedroom, pulling the sarong off her waist as she walked and let it drop to the floor.  The swimsuit halter top came off with ease and she slipped the bottom off her hips and let it slide down her legs to rest.  She left the flower in her hair.  As she climbed into bed, the cool sheets slid smoothly across her bare skin. She pulled the blanket over her chest, turned out the lights, rolled onto her side and with thoughts of her husband, fell asleep.

The soft touch of the flower’s petals brushed past her cheeks and instinctively, Nira brushed it away as she slowly rose back into consciousness. Her eyes opened and focused on the bouquet of roses sitting on the dresser.

Cody sat at the foot of the bed watching her, a smile dashing across his face.  He leaned forward and drew her to him as they kissed. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he said, after their lips parted.

“Hey,” she cooed. “I thought you were on business.”

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck, keeping him at arm’s length so she could see him. He rubbed her arm and slid her hand off his shoulder, bringing it up to his lips to kiss once again as he looked her in her magenta eyes.

“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

“How did you get in? Did I forget to secure the door?”

“One, zero, zero, one, two, eight, two, seven. The code was pretty easy to guess.” he said, quoting the date of their wedding. “Give me a little more credit than that. Happy Anniversary.”

“To you, too,” she said, pulling him down on top of her.

Instead of kissing her again, Cody slipped from her grasp and rose to his feet. Nira sat up in her bed, allowing the rose petals and bed sheets to fall off her body.  He produced a large box he had been hiding and handed it to her.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“Just a little something for you.”

She cocked her head and opened the gift, shielding her eyes as the light in the room reflected off the bolts of ruby, emerald, and sapphire fabric in the box. She knew instantly.

“Halite Silk?” she gasped. “Cody…these are three bolts of Halite Silk. How did you get your hands on so much?”

Cody smiled. “I have my ways. I take it you like it?”

That’s an understatement. Thank you! I don’t know what I’ll do with it.”

“Whatever you’d like. I’m sure you’ve got a couple of projects.”

Nira closed the box and set it down beside her bed. “Care to join me?” she asked, sliding under the blankets.

Cody said nothing, but instead removed his shirt. “There’s more.”

She turned her back to him and nestled up against him as he extended his arm around her. “Oh?”

“There’s a new assignment. A ship.”

She turned towards him. “What ship?” she asked, not sure if she wanted the answer or not. But she already knew what he’d say. The sudden nature of the trip, the long hours he’d spent in and out of his office on various tasks, the pulling of nearly every officer record he had access to; all that fell into immediate context.

“It’s the new battleship. The Mjöllnir. It’s scheduled to launch in a couple of days and I’ve been given command. The trips I’ve been taking have been to find and line up division commanders.”

Nira smiled and rolled back into his arms. “Congratulations.”

He hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He offered her a soft smile.   “Nothing at all.   I want to ask if you would like to run the medical team as Chief of Staff.”

Nira tried to turn again, but Cody held her in place. “I don’t know what to say, Cody…”

“Say you’ll do it. I want a doctor aboard ship that I can trust.”

“Why me? I mean, I’m your wife. Is the Alliance going to permit me to serve with you?”

Cody sighed. He must have known this question was coming, as he did not waste any time in answering.

“After the war, Central had to make some concessions and allow officer families stay together in order to prevent a surge of retirements. People wanted to take the uniform off and enjoy life.  These days, as long as they’re not working in the same divisions, any officer can request a posting with his or her spouse or family member.  Hell, they even let me assign Cassie as first officer.”

“I thought the first officer reported directly to the commanding officer.  How does that fit into the family policy?”

“I asked Marr the same question when he gave me his recommendations.  Apparently, he thinks that our strained relationship is enough to overcome any conflict of interest we’d have towards each other as siblings.  And he wants her out of Central Command.”

“That’s hardly a ringing endorsement,” Nira replied. “You brought her on why?”

“She needs a fresh start.  The least I can do is give it to her.”  He kissed her neck.  “But back to you…”

“I come back to the same question.  I’d report to you, and how would that not violate standing policy?” she asked as she stretched her back and shifted to a better position.

“The Alliance Civilian government always used civilian medical staff.  They feel it keeps the military out of medical decisions and reduces the risk of compromising medical ethics.  As a civilian, you fall outside of my chain of command and would not report to me.  I still maintain final authority on matters of ship’s business, as would you on matters of medical protocol, but beyond that, consider yourself an independent contractor.  It’s simple, really.”

Nira sighed. “It’s never simple…” She paused as Cody began nibbling at her ear. “It’s never that simple, and you know it.”

“We can make it work. You’d be on board even if you didn’t take the job. But if you didn’t, you’d just be the Captain’s wife: a civilian with limited access to the ship. If you took the post you’d have something to do beyond just hosting dinner with the officers.” He nibbled a little more before he continued. “Your medical license is up to date. You’re qualified for xeno-medical practice and your genetic memory gives you a wealth of historical knowledge on which to draw.”

“All Lura have genetic memories, Cody.”

“That’s not the point,” he whispered as he held her close, his tongue flicking her earlobe.  “I don’t want just any doctor- Lura, Human, Inkar or otherwise. I want you. You’re up to date, qualified, vetted, and cleared.  And you’re at the top of every list I’ve seen.”

“How many of those lists did you write yourself?”

Cody gave no answer, his kisses making their way down her neck and chest.  The warmth inside her grew despite her best efforts to stay focused on the conversation.  There would be plenty of time for play later.  But Cody pressed on.

“Say you’ll do it,” he said, placing each word between kisses.

Things were never as simple as they sounded, and this proposition was a big risk and gamble, but it was one she would take.  She felt her pulse quicken as Cody turned his attention to her breasts.  Her hand snaked up his back and closed around a tuft of hair which she used as leverage to lift his head so his eyes would meet hers.

“This, dear husband, will not stand.  Toying with me while asking me to make this decision is manipulation, to say the least,” she said, her voice darker and seductive.

“I know,” he teased as she released him.  He looked up to her.  “But you wouldn’t let me do this to you if you hadn’t already made up your mind, would you?”  To his credit, he stopped and let her think.

She should put on some clothes and sit down with him to discuss this.   The idea left a knot in her stomach.  She belonged in a hospital with solid ground beneath her, not up there on a drab warship.  But if she stayed on Lumo, she would be away from him and their plans for family and future would be put on hold.  That would not work for her.  She had to go with him.  They both knew that.  But she could do no one any good sitting in her quarters all day.   There was only one place where she could do what she did best and Cody was offering her the opportunity.

“Sign me up, my Captain.”

He kissed her again. “Glad to hear it. You’ll have to select staff and make sure that the medical inventory is up to par. Mjöllnir’s a big ship so I can’t imagine that…”

Nira cut him off, rolling to her right.  He fell off her and rolled onto his back as she found her new position on top of him. “I don’t care. All that can wait until tomorrow. But for now,” she tapped a playful rhythm on his chest.  “For right now, let’s leave the ship and the Alliance outside. It’s just the two of us on our anniversary. We should make the most of it.”

Cody looked up at his wife, his head resting on the pillow. He reached over to her side, grabbed a handful of rose petals and scattered them over her shoulders and back.  Without another word, she lowered herself down to kiss him.

***

I hope you enjoyed that!   There’s much more of the relationship between Cody and Nira Amado in Slipspace Harbinger, now available for sale for your Kindle at $4.99 or in print at $12.99, both from Amazon.com

If you’re looking for the next excerpt, then I highly suggest you keep an eye on the Fans of P.C. Haring Facebook Page.   That page is live, but part two is coming soon!

Slispspace: Harbinger – Cover art revealed!

Those of you who have been following me for a while know this has been a long time coming.   The early drafts of Slipspace: Harbinger date back farther than I care to remember.  It has seen numerous false starts, re-works, edits adjustments, and hiatuses and I can count several times when I wondered if the project would ever see the light of day.

But that day is coming and it is closer than ever.   Follow me across the break and be one of the first to see the cover!

 

[image error]

 

Needless to say, I am extremely happy with the work that Starla Huchton did on this project.  At first look it took my breath away and I have nothing but the highest of praise for Starla’s talent and artistic eye.  She taught me a few things I didn’t know that I didn’t know and I am very grateful for her work.  It has certainly been well worth the effort.

About the novel:

A fringe colony world has gone dark, and Captain Cody Amado and the crew of the ISPA’s newest battle cruiser, Mjöllnir, must respond and investigate. 

No one is prepared for the destruction that awaits them.  

Agendas collide as the bonds of duty, loyalty, and family are tested, and the major governments position themselves to prepare for what is to come next.

With interstellar tensions rising, the crew of the Mjöllnir race to discover the connection between the colony’s destruction, an alien society so reclusive it has only been rumored about, and an enemy that disappeared a decade prior.

Is this merely an isolated incident, or is this a harbinger of much darker things still to come?

 

The full details of the release are still being finalized.   But I can tell you this is the first book in my Slipspace series, which I describe as Star Trek meets Battlestar Galactica.   The exact dates are still to be determined, but I’m looking to a release in very early May.   The book will be available in both electronic format and print exclusively from Amazon, with an Audio version to follow later this year.

Stay tuned over the coming month!  As we roll ever closer to the release I’ll be sharing excerpts and other inside information about the book, the characters, and the universe as a whole.