Chris Hechtl's Blog, page 48

The world lost a great clown...

   Words fail to describe how I am feeling. On the one hand, I am grateful my dad is celebrating his 64rth birthday, but on the other, his favorite comedian and one of mine has died.

    I can't remember the number of times you made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants. You had a magic mania about you, zany antics that touched our hearts and our spirits.
  We lost you before your time Robin, the world still needed you, perhaps now more than ever. You will be missed, greatly.
 "You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."  I'll remember that Robin, that and other nuggets of wisdom you passed on.

To Touch the Stars snippet

Okay, the second one.
FYI
1: The following is raw, I haven't even spell checked it. (again, lazy)
2: I haven't incorporated Darion's corrections yet. (See above excuse)
3: I check to see if there are 10 reviews on the weekends...

To Touch the StarsFounding of the Federation book 2
Prologue:
 
Little 3 and a half year old Hannah Anne Castill looked up to the night stars with her father as she sat in his lap. Her tiny hand pointed up, she asked what a big light was. Her hazel eyes studied the light with an intensity that amused her father.
He wrapped his arms around the kid. She was a wonder, just like his son, a genius. She had an edict memory and a brain with an astronomical IQ. That still didn't stop him from treating her like a little girl and teasing her whenever he could though. “What do you think it is, a flying teddy bear? A unicorn?” He joked.
“No fair,” she mock pouted, jutting out her bottom lip in a cute face that tore at his heart.
“Well,” he drawled, “I told you honey, I work for Lagroose industries,” he explained, nodding his chin over his shoulder to the faded sign painted on the side of one of the out buildings. She nodded dutifully. It was all there for her to access, in fact she had accessed some of it, but she didn't understand it all.
“Some of those are satellites,” he said. “Some are stations and junk. Not a lot of junk, companies have been cleaning up the orbitals for the past couple of decades now,” he said.
Bret explained the history of the initial space program, how the Irons had worked with the government to kick start colonization of Mars and then gone private when the funding had dried up. He used his tablet to point out various projects in space including Mars. “Mars is a planet, I know you know that,” he said as she made a face at him. “But right from the beginning they set on it being terraformed. Luigi Irons hit it with an asteroid right after the first group got there I think. I'm not sure about the timing,” he said.
“I'll look it up,” Hannah said, not wanting her dad to get distracted by a tangent. He nodded.
“You can look up the whole Mars program. It's neat, and it's visual. Real visuals, even three D stuff,” he said. She wrinkled her pert nose at him but then nodded. He looked up once again. “To be there when they were doing that. It must have really been something,” he whispered.
There were 15 billion people on Earth, another 5 and a half million people in space and on Mars. The Earth's climate change had accelerated despite last minute desperate efforts to halt it. Too late those that had refused to listen saw the melting ice from the poles as a threat. Despite that, billions of dollars had been spent on trying to protect the cities on the coasts. Not much could be done, some areas like India, Florida, and parts of Africa were under water.
Some of the populations had abandoned the efforts and moved further inland, swarming inland cities which caused a refugee crisis for decades. They did start up new cities on higher ground. But the real estate wasn't ideal, they had to fight over the dwindling natural resources as well as the land.
The Earth plainly sucked he thought. His blue thoughts were yanked back to the present by a tug on his arm to get his attention.
“I thought Lagroose just did communications?” Hannah asked, waving to the antenna farm on the hills beyond their trailer. “Cyber stuff? Software?”
Bret looked over his shoulder to the communication equipment and smiled ruefully. “Not quite kiddo,” he said. “I'm a communication's engineer. I service this stuff, it's all tracking, telemetry feeds, that sort of thing. We're out here in the boonies because I want to be.”
“Oh,” Hannah said, blinking at him.
“Trust me dear, you don't want to be in a big city. Here you can breathe and see,” he said, waving a hand to indicate the Yukon. It was one of the few last bastions of untamed wilderness left in North America. Man had encroached just about everywhere else, even the parks they'd set aside were being pressured to fold.
She nodded dutifully as she nestled into the blanket she had wrapped around her small frame. It was cold out in the Canadian outback, but beautiful. She loved seeing the trees, she'd heard they were rare in parts of America. “So what else do they do?”
“Oh a lot kiddo,” her father laughed. He pulled out his tablet and then pulled up the company website. He scrolled through it, narrating softly as he pointed out the various projects the company had going on.
He judged Hannah was pretty close to understanding Lagroose and some of the current events. Jamey had picked it up around five. The kid had changed almost overnight when he'd started to look at current events, turning into a chipper child into a somber boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. It had given Bret a few sleepless nights. And when Jamey had announced he was going to follow in his father's footsteps, sign up with Lagroose and change the world, he'd had to wrestle with his own conscience over the idea.
Lagroose industries was a megacorp, one of the better ones in his opinion. They had went to space to mine and to settle the solar system in the early days of the Mars settlement program. They'd been one of a dozen start ups that had thrived on the new frontier, in no small part from the alliances Mister Jack Lagroose had forged with the Iron family of Mars fame.
Jack Lagroose was another child prodigy like Hannah and Jamey. He was now in his mid forties, but he'd done some astonishing things in the past three and a half decades. He'd overshadowed the Irons family and just about every inventor humanity had ever produced.
“Come on daddy, we don't have all night,” Hannah grumbled. “I've got to hit the sack soon, you know bedtime?” she asked.
Bret coughed, hiding a chuckle. He'd let Hannah stay up a few times and she'd been cranky the next morning. That had taught her it was important to get her sleep. When she'd looked into sleep and realized it was important for her development she'd gotten into insisting on getting her eight hours in. To Bret the reversal was comical sometimes.
He cleared his throat and then went on to explain how the company made space ships to carry people, goods, and food across the star system, and eventually beyond. “You're brother's going up there. He's at the Lagroose academy now.”
“I know,” Hannah nodded dutifully. “I remember. He's not the only one with an edict memory. I'm as smart as he is,” she said with a petulant airy sniff.
“You may be kiddo,” Bret said, ruffling her hair.
As a father he had some misgivings about sending his 14 year old son, however gifted, off on his own. But Jamey had proven himself, he'd graduated high school at age 11, gotten his bachelor's degree the following year and there was no holding the lad back. He refused to stand in the boy's way out of some misplaced tradition or conventional wisdom like his grandparents said. He'd been piloting the family plane since he could walk and he'd made it clear he was going up. Bret envied the lad for his courage and intelligence. Unlike his parents he refused to stand in his son's way.
Down here ground side was just filthy air and constant fighting. The world was weary of the scandals and fighting, but like a punch drunk fighter, they didn't know how to stop. There was also a fear of stopping and not being able to start again.
He closed his eyes briefly. He wanted better for his kids. There were millions who were expecting some sort of world war, a revolution or something to wipe the slate clean so they could start over. That expectation had been around for over a century now. Each year though... they teetered ever closer to the brink. Of course none expected they or their friends to be hurt by such matters. He wanted his kids safely away from that when it all came crashing down.
Already the luddites were screaming that the spacers were a major drain on the economy. The fact that the space program was self sustaining and paid for a lot of stuff ground side didn't matter. They just saw something to sap to feed the undying appetite of the machine.
“I'm old, but when you are old enough and on your own I'm going up if they'll have me,” he said. “I've been training for years,” he said.
She blinked at him. He nodded solemnly. He didn't tell her that he'd put his own dreams on hold to support his family. He didn't want to hurt her. He'd never get her advantages, or Jamey's, but he could get them off the rock with the right push. “Jamey's going to go up to orbit for the first time in a month,” he said.
“Really?” She practically squealed in envy. “That's so not fair! He always gets to be first!” She jutted her bottom lip out in a too cute pout.
“He's got the touch kiddo,” he said, ruffling her hair. “He's earned his shot.” He remembered his unenviable first and second runs on the vomit comet. Jamey'd handled it just fine. Of course the lad had loved roller coasters and thrill rides once he was tall enough to ride them. “He wants to see the stars up close. They are a lot prettier up there with no atmo and light pollution in the way,” he said. “Maybe he'll even name a world after one of us.”
“He....” His daughter stared at him in surprise.
“He could do it,” her father said with an earnest smile. “That's the great thing about being first. Now we've got a real chance to do it. People have been dreaming it for hundreds of years, but it's finally getting to where we can actually do it.”
The little girl's eyes lit with a fire. “I want to do that,” she said slowly as if coming to a weighty decision. “To see new worlds. To touch the stars too daddy.”
He looked at her and then hugged her close. “Eat all your peas and get good grades and keep your chin up and you just might.”
She grinned, then went on to ask about other stars in the night sky.
 

Bootstrap Colony 2 Snippet

     Okay, when I made a social contract with the fans, I mean to keep it. So, every 10 reviews I'll post a snippet from one of the upcoming books. Sometimes it will be a chapter... and sometimes just a page or 2. They will be raw.
     I know Mighty Mike cheated and posted the To Touch the Stars snippet first. (cheater!) but I'll stick with BSC2 since it will be coming out hopefully by September. BSC2 has 2 short stories at the beginning before the main story picks up. Here is chapter 1 of the first story.

Oh, FYI here is the Facebook Group link again:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/582559128466667/

And with no further to do, here is the snippet of  BSC2... :)

A Fresh Start
Chapter 1
 
John Duster petted his partner, caressing his ears gently as he made the rounds with the dogs. He was a loner guy, living in Alaska wilderness on a nearly played out gold mine. To him it was living the dream, he had a nice cabin, a couple square miles of land to call his own, dogs to keep him company, and a bunch of industrial equipment to play with. Every guy loved playing in the dirt as a kid, Tonka trucks were a standard.
Here he was, living that dream as an adult, digging in the dirt as his own boss. Sure he paid his taxes, everyone did. And he put up with the occasional visit from Osha or some other meddlesome busybody. But he had it made, or so he thought.
Or had thought, he frowned thoughtfully. If they were right, he had a month, he thought darkly. He still wasn't sure if he'd dreamed the whole encounter up or not.
If they were right he was about to go on the journey of a life time, one to make any Sci-Fi buff green with envy. He was to be transported with one hundred other people of various ages and ethnicities by aliens. “Lucky me,” he muttered and then went back to the chores.
John was six foot nothing in his stocking feet, fair complexion despite being born on the west coast of America. He had sandy hair and wasn't much to look at other than his physique, he still kept in absolute tip top shape.
He owned just over twelve hundred acres of Alaskan wilderness. His slice of paradise was on a river, with a small mining claim and logging. He lived there year round, unlike most of his neighbors who were snowbirds. He had sled dogs, half wolves with him and a pair of hawks he rescued and nursed back to health. He hunted to supplement the stock of MRE's he had on hand.
Eleven months after his warning contact by the floating jellyfish he went into town, the third time that year. Even a self proscribed hermit needed social contact every once and a while, even if it was just to get the essential foods and fuel.
Everyone used that as an excuse of course. They all complained about the long trek in, how it took precious time from their homes. But humans were social creatures, they needed that time, even if it was momentary. Just hearing your own voice wasn't enough, nor was talking on the phone or internet. Someone to see, smell, feel. He pocketed the gold he'd carefully weighed out, grabbed his jacket, made certain the animals were okay, then was off.
He crunched through the gravel and dirt roads of town. Only main street was paved, mainly for the benefit of the tourists. The miners, drill riggers, and roughnecks in the area didn't care about pavement, nor did the mountains of snow that would turn the town into a ghost town come winter.
Parking was easy, most of the surrounding natives were on their claims and in the wild. Normally miners didn't come to town during the week unless it was an emergency anyway. He didn't even bother to lock the truck as he climbed out and headed to the assay office.
He turned in his two point four ounces of gold, enough to cover his taxes, bills, and bartab, with a little bit left over. He deposited the check, then checked his bank account before he headed off to the general store to purchase groceries and stuff he had on his list. He tossed in a couple snacks as a last minute thing, they always tripped him up at the register, then paid and left.
Once he loaded the truck up he went to the local run down bar. He was a teetotaler, he made a habit of not drinking, one close DUI was enough especially with his record, but just about everyone socialized in Malley's, making it the center of town. He ordered a coffee from Shelly the bartender and stirred creamer into it as it steamed. Shelly was good, she liked her coffee thick and strong, just the way he liked it.
He heard locals shoot the shit and joke about various Alaskan shows on TV. He turned and snorted. “Yeah, there at it again,” Shelly said, then went to answer the phone.
Gold Rush, Alaskan State Troopers, Bering sea gold, the crab show, Ice Road Truckers, the list went on and on and on. It seemed the lower forty eight just couldn't get enough of Alaska lately, and camera crews were crawling all over the place all the time. Of course not here, lightning hadn't been so fortunate, but from the sound of the local's chatter they were hopeful. After all, the film crews had to eat and spend their money, which meant money going into the local coffers. The current topic was how to entice a crew here in their tiny nowhere town.
John shook his head and turned most of it out, sipping his coffee. He nursed it, reading the paper someone had left on the bar. Then the news came on and people started talking about squid aliens. That interested John enough to look up in surprise.
He looked over his shoulder, but it was the usual crap, interviews with nut job people saying they had been abducted. He snorted, turning back to take another sip of coffee. But when two people said they were about to be abducted in a month, that got his attention again. John turned suddenly intent on listening, staring intently at the screen as a man told the viewers of his visit by squids and a warning. He was cut off though by the news anchor. They just let him do a sound bite, not the whole story, John thought. Figures, he thought darkly.
“We haven't seen you in a bit,” the bartender told him, wiping the bar with a rag. She turned to clean glasses.
John grunted, paying attention to the news. He'd normally be all eyes and ears for Shelly, she was a nice woman, but now... he had to think. If this was true... he thought furiously. He'd all but screwed himself, he thought. He should have planned, done something, not put it out of his head. The news broke to a commercial. He turned back to her. “Sorry, woolgathering,” he muttered.
She nodded in understanding. “Lot of that going around,” she said in amusement. “Strange things going on in the lower forty eight and abroad,” she said.
“Not just there,” John muttered, looking into his coffee.
“Hey John, long time no see! I'm wondering now, didn't I see lights out your way last year?” Benny asked, noticing John at the bar.
“Yeah. and yeah, I saw them aliens too,” John admitted. The bartender blinked at him. Carefully she set the glass she'd been cleaning down slowly.
Benny stared at him, mouth gaping. It wasn't like someone would admit to something like that easily, it was pure nut job stuff. Loony tunes.
“Why didn't you say so?” Benny asked finally, licking his lips.
“That's 'cause I thought it was a dream. Now I'm not sure,” he said with a shrug.
“What were they like?” the bartender asked, loud enough for others to hear. The room grew quiet as one by one people poked others and then subtly pointed or nodded their chin in his direction.
John shook his head, now uncomfortable about being put on the spot. He wished he'd blown it off, or just shrugged it off. Definitely kept his mouth shut. But it was out now, so maybe some good would come of it. Besides, they'd said others had seen it, and Benny was his witness.. “They aren't squids, jellyfish. Glowing ones that can fly. They changed colors too, and were all sizes, big to truck size,” He said, indicating the room. “They said the world's coming to an end in a few years,” he said. She blinked at him. “Said something about an asteroid. The one I talked to said they'll be back in one year to pick me and my stuff up. That's...” he frowned thoughtfully. In a month I reckon.” He paused, cocking his head. “Thirty three days from now,” he said finally.
“Um...”
“I didn't believe it then. Thought I'd dreamed it all or something. Oops.”
“Yeah, oops!” Benny said. “Can I come too?”
John shook his head. “The aliens said me and what I own.” He looked up, now thoughtful as the implications set in. “Yeah. I guess I should pack,” he said as he snorted. He downed his coffee, paid the bar tab and paid for rounds for the house and left. Everyone in the building watched him go, not one person said a word. When he walked away he saw a few rise to look at him out the window.
John lifted his chin, hell if he was going to hunch his shoulders and slink around. No, if they were right, he was in trouble, he'd find a way out. Time to take it seriously, he thought. He went back to the general store and cleaned out his account stocking up on anything he could think of. He picked up an old beat up tow trailer and towed it loaded with stuff home.
~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~
John looked up when the dogs whined and growled. He frowned as he heard the familiar mechanical sound of an approaching vehicle. “Great, tourists,” he muttered. It had been three days since he'd been in town, probably about right for word to get around, he thought. Hopefully not a news crew, that was all he didn't need.
He frowned when he recognized Sheriff Milt's black and white police SUV. He was visited by a harassed social worker, the amused sheriff, and other authorities. John was annoyed by the distraction and intrusion, so he brushed their questions off. “What? I paid my taxes,” John said. “I don't want any trouble here folks, you can go on your way,” he said, busy restacking a pile of wood.
“Neither do we, but we've got to follow orders,” the Sheriff said. “Since you're an old hand at visits like this...” the Sheriff said, one hand on his gun belt. “You won't mind me looking around,” he said. “For my own safety,” he pointed out.
“I'm not on Probation Milt,” John said stiffly. “But go on, be my guest. Get it out of your system. My rifle and other weapons are in the usual places. One's above the door, and yeah, it's loaded. Bear, you know how it is. Got a rubber bullet in the spout.”
“Okay,” Sheriff Milt said, nodding. “If you answer their questions we'll be out of your hair faster than you know it,” he suggested.
John snorted. “Not soon enough,” he grumbled, as the fat guy, balding guy, and woman in a daisy dress stood in a row in front of the truck. “Fine, what's your pleasure?” he demanded as the Sheriff checked him over, then went on to check the property. He checked the inside of the cabin over, then went over to the dogs. They gave him a sniff down as he listened to the social worker interview John. The guy in the rumpled suit with the busy body social worker just listened, clearly bored. He rubbed his chin as John went through his story again.
“Well, I think we've heard enough,” Milt said, brushing his hands off as he got to his feet. The sheriff noted nothing he said or was doing was wrong. He poked around, then tipped his hat and waved the others to leave.
John watched them go, then went back to work. He was glad Milt was an understanding sort, some Sheriffs were prickly about a con owning a gun. Of course everyone in the outback had to have one, you didn't live in bear country without some sort of protection.
He packed, then wrote a will, leaving everything to the Tony, a teenager who was stupid enough to buy a nearly played out mine in the back of nowhere nearby. The kid was barely eighteen, but he had one hell of a lot of grit. He had to admire the kid's spunk.
He ordered stuff online and paid through the nose for overnight shipping. Anything that can't be delivered in twenty nine days he skipped. Unfortunately being in Alaska in early spring that was a problem. Fortunately the fuel trucks were still making rounds. He used a siphon to pump what fuel he had into spare barrels, cans, and every fuel tank he had, then had them deliver fuel, topping everything off. He tipped the driver to come back the night before he left if he could.
He went to a local farm and bought animals, everything he could for what gold and money he had. The guy didn't quibble, but he didn't give John his best either. John didn't care, he needed them, even if the rooster kept him up half the damn night crowing, which set the dogs to howling. He lost a few loose chickens to Hanuk and his ilk, but he understood. They were part wild, and the chickens were too stupid to avoid the dogs. He rigged up pens for them until he could figure out a better arrangement.
~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~
Six days before D day John heard on the news that the some rich guy Mitch Chambers something or other had organized some sort of media outing to see him being taken. It had all gone off just as he'd predicted, and it had ignited one hell of a firestorm both in the media, and with the politicians. Some had said it was a stunt, even though the entire thing had been filmed live on worldwide news and even the military and FAA admitted something had happened.
Then a couple flights around California went missing. That really kicked up a storm of controversy. Some eggheads at NASA admitted there was a chance a rock the size of Texas was going to hit them. That sparked fear and unrest, which brought out the reserves to restore order.
The military was getting into the act too, they had to show the public that they were doing something positive, even though they had little they could do. And of course, vindication that the aliens were real had its own set of headaches for John. People came by to see him, see if he was telling the truth. He'd even been interviewed for the state and national news. Two days before he was due to depart a care package arrived, this one signed by that Chambers fellow's charity he'd set up for people going to be abducted. John checked it out, essential survival gear, most of what he already had. Still, waste not want not so he put it with his pile of gear.
He couldn't blame the media, it was a big thing. Not only finding out that humanity wasn't alone in the universe, but that yeah, aliens were visiting. Unfortunately that drowned out the vital message that the Earth was about to be hit by an asteroid. He tried to emphasize that in his interview, but of course they cut the doom and gloom bit out and made him sound like a nut. That just made him glad he was leaving.
On the night the aliens came his neighbors and others came out to see. It was one big send off party, a kegger. Some of the people joked, they razzed him, slapped him on the shoulder and were generally cruel about the whole thing. He remained stoic, working on his last minute preparations. He'd gotten his vehicles in order, and he'd even detached most of the buildings. He wasn't sure if they'd take them, but hell, he'd give it a shot.
But the jokes stopped when the aliens showed up, drifting downward through the clouds like jellyfish floating down from the surface of the ocean. “Well, I'll be doggone,” Tony said, hitching his hat up.
“Ayeup, I reckon it's about time,” John said. Benny nodded, shaking hands with him, then pulling him into a bear hug before gruffly letting him go. John nodded to Benny and his family. He patted Tony, the kid neighbor on the shoulder and handed him his will. “I'm leaving everything, the land and what they don't let me take to you kid. Take care of things,” John said gruffly.
Tony nodded, eyes wide. He was still staring off up at the glowing jellyfish as they began to swirl around John's pile of vehicles and stuff. The dogs howled or dived for cover. John snorted, and slapped his hands together. “Well folks, be seeing you. Nice knowing you,” he said, giving them a jaunty salute. Then there was a flash and he was speeding on to the adventure of a lifetime.
~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~
Hanuk and his ilk howled like banshees as they moved through some sort of vortex. John screwed his eyes tightly shut after the first glimpse of whirling lights and sky. He was getting nauseous, and knew better than to look. He gritted his teeth and did his best to ride it out.
 

Keep an eye on the FB group...

NEWS: I sent Rea Bootstrap Colony 1 to be edited. (again)
Buutt, Goodlifeguide is on vacation until the end of this month. (I just found out yesterday) So, my carefully crafted plan to re-release Bootstrap Colony 1 quickly followed by Bootstrap Colony 2 went south. Expect them next month unless something changes. Sorry about that.

I finished roughing out Act 1 of To Touch the Stars. I am now on a mild hiatus to catch up on a few things (though I keep finding myself getting into Act 2) like the FB character contest and other things I've been neglecting/ putting off. (the dishwasher for one)
I sent Act 1 to Darion a few minutes ago... and accidentally to Mike too. lol oops?

Additional news/ heads up: I noted 14 new reviews at Amazon, and 6 at Barnes & Noble a few moments ago while chatting with Mike. So, keep an eye on the FB group for good things will be posted there first this weekend, then here soon afterward. Thank you!

Bootstrap Colony 2 Second Chances cover

   Okay, as most of you who read the comments know, I'm still sick. Ugh. I can't seem to shake this cold or bug or whatever. Over 2 weeks now, and it's still got me. (my mouth is all messed up with cold sores too) Dad's also slow on the recovery, but he was diagnosed with Pneumonia. Keeping the house going, feeding/medicating him and I, and trying to get better is a daily struggle. Sometimes all I want to do is sleep. You mom's who did this with kids are awe inspiring! :)

Anyway, here is the cover so far:
   You can't see the lay of the land well, but there is a moat on the other side of the concrete and fence. Then the plants and animals in the mid-ground, then a river then the hills with the saurapods under the text in the background. If you peek around the SE you'll see someone peeking back...

   I feel like Bob Ross and his painting. (yeah, I'm dating myself) All that detail, then "Get brave" With putting the text on top. (You should have heard me whimper!) It worked out okay though. I was tempted to move the Second Chances down above my name. lol (another couple of easter eggs there)

   I was going to try to paint in some more plants and use a crowd generator but I decided to just go with what I've got. :) I lost count of all the animals. lol

   Mike and Thomas have both finished reading the story and given me their feedback. I need to integrate it with what Poon has sent so far and then send it on to Tim and whoever else wants a crack at it. I'm still on track to publish it sometime in August... I think.

   Oh, forgot, I bought the Genesis Gorilla and started playing with it. I did 2 character pieces.
I'm hoping Rawart will do an update to his Ape kit someday so I can have more fun. Maybe I'll have a scene with the apes and the bruins play football or meet up for beers in a bar... hmmm...

   In other news, I started puttering around with To Touch the Stars. I've added my notes to the main manuscript and a couple scenes. I doubled the page count yesterday. The story plot is still soft, I need to go over the notes and outlined plot and integrate them with what I've got so far and where I want to take the story. Plus I've got all sorts of tie ins to the short stories to be aware of. That's always fun to try to keep in mind.

   And finally... I haven't forgotten the FB group Character Contest. I'm opening it up to the Beta's to help the judging even though there are only a couple of entries. We shall see how it goes.

Multiverse 1 to go live June 11 2014

   Ayup, I just got the manuscript back from Goodlifeguide. Shelley and crew did it again, delivering ahead of schedule. Awesome. It all looks good, I'm going to start uploading it tomorrow morning sometime. So, you can look for it tomorrow afternoon or Thursday . :D


Multiverse 1 is a collection of short stories (some very short) spanning Fantasy and Science Fiction.

    The fantasy stories are Magical Audit about a school of student wizards, and Portal, a story of a magical war that spills over to Earth.
In sci-fi there is The Cull, a story about an ancient evil techno-sorcerous... Then my Metalwar 2305 material, timeline, and stories Yo Ho Ho, Trapper, The Meat Grinder, To Roar and Soar, Sleigh Ride, Hunters, and Ambush. Also there is Survival of the Fittest, a Bootstrap Colony story. It will tie into the book I am currently working on.
   And finally there are 3 Federation stories, Higher for hire, (Founding time period) Siren Call, (just before the Gottenburg time period) and finally Bringer of Fire and Light. (Prometheus's first flight)

   That should be an interesting first outing for Multiverse 1. I've already got Multiverse 2 waiting in the wings for next year. (or this year if I decide to table Alive again)

    In other news I'm past the 400 page mark (412 as of a few minutes ago) with Bootstrap 2 Second Chances. I am still muddling along with it. If any Betas want a go at it, I can send you the first 2 parts like I did Jory. (I dunno if I sent it to Thomas or anyone else... did I? Brain faaarrt moment!)

   I'm still pumped over Multiverse 1. Tomorrow will be an interesting day. But for now, I need to get away from the PC before I overheat and go cross eyed permanently. lol

EDIT: I just finished uploading the manuscript to both B&N and Amazon. It should go live by the end of today or early tomorrow!

Multiverse 1

   Rea at Goodlifeguide got the manuscript back to me yesterday. I poked around with it, added the missing bits, then a few minutes ago I pulled the trigger and sent it back to GLG for the final formatting. I expect it back in the next 7-10 business days, if not sooner!
 So, maybe this week... most definitely by next weekend! (the 14th)
EDIT: Oops! Shelley just corrected me and said "I've added the book to the que. You'll have it by or on the 17th". My bad. She's pretty good at getting it back quick though...  That is all... you can return to your regularly scheduled mayhem! :)

Bruins

   It's been a while since I've posted, I wanted to leave the news about J3's launch up as long as possible.
   I did this image back in the beginnings of this month when I picked up Rawart's latest version of his Genesis 2 bears. (2.0) I love it.
    The background is Stonemason's, set up by the Earthquake package. (lit too) The bot in the background is also Stonemason's. The bot in the foreground I'm not sure, it's from Daz though.
The bears are wearing gear from Ultimate Military Uniform and Hardcase, with accessories and weapons from various packages.
  
   I liked this so much I have the beginnings of a story in mind for them, though I'm not sure about the timeline. I'm leaning to the 1st AI war or 2nd, but I'm not sure. I've had input from the Beta's suggesting the current time period. lol
    BTW, the black bear on the left is a female. The Polar bear is the officer. Grizzly is heavy weapons.

    I'm also thinking about doing another squad, this one a mixed one of neo's and aliens like Jethro's squad. This one with a panda, tiger, Veraxin bug, Relgarth lizard, bird, ape, and some others... ;)

    I am hoping Rawart will come out with more packs, a revision of his ape pack (though I have a chimp head) and a revision of his dogs would be nice. But I can't find a contact method to pester him/her about it. lol
   I thought about buying the Genesis Gorilla for a neo image or 2 (or more) but decided to wait and see what Rawart comes up with.

   Oh, another BTW, Mechmaster liked the image enough to suggest basing a comic around it. lol Tempting, but not now unfortunately.

  Progress: I will hopefully get Multiverse 1 back from Rea and Goodlife sometime this weekend or next week. Once I get it back I get to go over it and approve of the changes (tedious) and then hand it back to Goodlife for the final format. (that takes a week to 10 days)
   Bootstrap 2 Second Chances is struggling along. I'm up to 335 pages so far, I'm creeping slowly to the end. I am a bit concerned, I'm still 1/3rd into act 3 (I'm taking a different approach, the 1st 2 acts are short stories) and I've almost got 2 books on my hands here. I'm not sure if I should split them up or not.
    I am also struggling with the cover art. It is the most ambitious I've ever done. A lot of Dinoraul dino's, with aliens and people and vehicles... yeah, I'm nuts, it probably is too ambitious. I'm also annoyed, I bought some stuff (like the new grass/stone pack at Daz) ... only to find out I can't use because they didn't work out. That's a waste of $$. Grrr. Sigh. Write off!
   I had hoped to have both the book and cover art done by the end of this month but nope, not going to happen. Too many distractions, and it's been hard to focus. And with the heat starting up and the brat pack out of school... ugh. Writing is extremely hard to do in summer. >:P

Jethro 3 No Place Like Home

Jethro 3 No Place Like Home:
   Fresh from the liberation of Antigua, Firefly is recalled to face a potential attack on their home system of Pyrax. Not only are many of their friends and family in danger, but everything they had built up in the navy yards and training centers is in danger.
The potential future of a return to civilization and the rebirth of the Federation is in jeopardy.
Marine Neo Panther Staff Sergeant Jethro has his hands full, dealing with a ship full of bored raw recruits and demands to prepare them for potential battle.
                    He's going to find out if there really is No Place Like Home...

The book has been uploaded to both Amazon and B&N so it should be available within 24 hours! Enjoy!

Jethro 3 immenent!

YUP!
I just got the word from Goodlifeguide.com that she's wrapping up the manuscript. As soon as I get it I'll start publishing it and post the synopses/cover art here again. Sooo... it should be out by Monday the 21st. 'Should.' Operative word there, should.