Mark Laporta's Blog, page 24
February 24, 2019
February 15, 2019
February 7, 2019
January 30, 2019
January 21, 2019
New at @HeartofEarthScifi
Short Fiction for Sci-fi Fans
For a quick hit of alien intrigue, adventure and the odd bit of romance, stop by Heart of Earth: the Science Fiction Website every week.
The latest series features a cosmic entity whose interest in the fate of humanity is just as mysterious as its origins. What does The Setrillren have in store — and will the humans like the outcome?
You can catch the first chapter at tinyurl.com/setrillren
And read Chapter Two at tinyurl.com/setrillren2
If you've ever wondered what forces shape our destiny, you may soon wish the Cosmos would do us a favor and leave us alone. Enjoy!
For a quick hit of alien intrigue, adventure and the odd bit of romance, stop by Heart of Earth: the Science Fiction Website every week.
The latest series features a cosmic entity whose interest in the fate of humanity is just as mysterious as its origins. What does The Setrillren have in store — and will the humans like the outcome?
You can catch the first chapter at tinyurl.com/setrillren
And read Chapter Two at tinyurl.com/setrillren2
If you've ever wondered what forces shape our destiny, you may soon wish the Cosmos would do us a favor and leave us alone. Enjoy!
October 6, 2018
Radio Interview: Probability Shadow
On Tuesday, October 2, I chatted with syndicated radio host Patzi Gil ("Joy on Paper") about Probability Shadow,, the first book of my new sci-fi trilogy, Against the Glare of Darkness.
We talked about the book's themes and its main characters, my outlook on science fiction in general and my approach to writing. Hear it now on YouTube.
Probability Shadow is available at Amazon.com and your local bookstore.
We talked about the book's themes and its main characters, my outlook on science fiction in general and my approach to writing. Hear it now on YouTube.
Probability Shadow is available at Amazon.com and your local bookstore.
September 16, 2018
Probability Shadow: Upcoming Events and Reviews
As I've already noted, my new science fiction novel for adults, Probability Shadow, will be published by Chickadee Prince Books on October 1, 2018. It’s the first volume of my new series Against the Glare of Darknessand it's already available for pre-order in trade paperback and Kindle on Amazon. It’s also available at any bookstore in America.
On October 2, I’ll sit down for an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Patzi Gill (“Joy on Paper”) that will air later this year. I’ll also mark the publication of my novel the weekend before (September 28–30), with an appearance at Capclave 2018 in Rockville, MD. I’ll participate in panel discussions, give a reading and, if you’re so inclined, sell you an autographed copy of Probability Shadow ahead of publication. I’d love to see you there.
The early response to Probability Shadow has been really gratifying:
Publishers Weekly , the leading publishing magazine, writes,
“[T]he characters are solid and appealing, the time-displaced enemy is a constant looming shadow, and the common mistrust and its deadly consequences are frustratingly believable. Laporta's strength is weaving those plots into a complexity that isn't confusing, particularly when the species (including humans) are manipulated into damaging themselves. This is a good series opener for speculative readers who like tangled story lines in which solved problems reveal even greater challenges,"
and Tay Laroi a contributor to Cheapreads.com and the author of Portraits of a Faerie Queen, writes:
"Everything that Laporta did right in Changing Hearts of Ixdahan Daherek gets amped up this first installment of his first adult space opera. The world is vivid, creative and fun to explore, the plot is exciting, with plenty of twists and turns, and the characters are memorable and surprisingly human, despite being from the farthest regions of the universe and Laporta’s imagination…. Diverse casts can be done organically, they should be done, and they should be celebrated.... [A]s always, Laporta’s new title is out-of-this-world good."
By the way, if you do pre-order the book on Amazon, you may receive a message from Amazon saying the book is unavailable and asking you if you want to cancel — please don’t! This happens if they get too a lot of orders at once, and it’s good news. It means a lot of people are buying it! The publisher assures me the book will be shipped on time.
Please spread the word to anyone you know, who loves exploring the uncharted realms of science fiction.
On October 2, I’ll sit down for an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Patzi Gill (“Joy on Paper”) that will air later this year. I’ll also mark the publication of my novel the weekend before (September 28–30), with an appearance at Capclave 2018 in Rockville, MD. I’ll participate in panel discussions, give a reading and, if you’re so inclined, sell you an autographed copy of Probability Shadow ahead of publication. I’d love to see you there.
The early response to Probability Shadow has been really gratifying:
Publishers Weekly , the leading publishing magazine, writes,
“[T]he characters are solid and appealing, the time-displaced enemy is a constant looming shadow, and the common mistrust and its deadly consequences are frustratingly believable. Laporta's strength is weaving those plots into a complexity that isn't confusing, particularly when the species (including humans) are manipulated into damaging themselves. This is a good series opener for speculative readers who like tangled story lines in which solved problems reveal even greater challenges,"
and Tay Laroi a contributor to Cheapreads.com and the author of Portraits of a Faerie Queen, writes:
"Everything that Laporta did right in Changing Hearts of Ixdahan Daherek gets amped up this first installment of his first adult space opera. The world is vivid, creative and fun to explore, the plot is exciting, with plenty of twists and turns, and the characters are memorable and surprisingly human, despite being from the farthest regions of the universe and Laporta’s imagination…. Diverse casts can be done organically, they should be done, and they should be celebrated.... [A]s always, Laporta’s new title is out-of-this-world good."
By the way, if you do pre-order the book on Amazon, you may receive a message from Amazon saying the book is unavailable and asking you if you want to cancel — please don’t! This happens if they get too a lot of orders at once, and it’s good news. It means a lot of people are buying it! The publisher assures me the book will be shipped on time.
Please spread the word to anyone you know, who loves exploring the uncharted realms of science fiction.
August 1, 2018
Publishers Weekly on Probability Shadow
My new sci-fi novel Probability Shadow will be published by Chickadee Prince Books on October 1, 2018.
According to an early review by Publishers Weekly:
This "first venture into adult SF [is a] tale of a well-intentioned alien ambassador. Several species, including humans and androids, refuse to cooperate even against a mutual threat. Ambassador Ungent of Grashard understands that they have little reason to trust one another, but it falls to him and Shol, his streetwise ward, to unite them as part of an unorthodox strategy for survival against an ancient enemy who would enslave them....
[T]he characters are solid and appealing, the time-displaced enemy is a constant looming shadow, and the common mistrust and its deadly consequences are frustratingly believable. Laporta’s strength is weaving those plots into a complexity that isn’t confusing, particularly when the species (including humans) are manipulated into damaging themselves. This is a good series opener for speculative readers who like tangled story lines in which solved problems reveal even greater challenges."
March 10, 2018
Introducing My Upcoming Sci-fi Series
Probability Shadow, Book 1 of “Against the Glare of Darkness,” is scheduled for release this fall, by Chickadee Prince Books. It’s a high stakes drama set in a far future, where an unspeakable threat changes the balance of power across an entire interstellar civilization.
It’s also the story of singular characters, whose cozy assumptions are shattered for good. Among the major players in the drama are:
THE QUISHIKS — multidimensional beings, whose utter control over the force of Probability itself enables them to reshape reality. Existing outside of time, they draw strength by draining the mental energy from every sentient being in their path. As Probability Shadow gets underway, they’ve just escaped from their prison inside the Fremdel event horizon. Soon their deadly scheming sets the stage for a massive interstellar conflict. Their adversaries include:
UNGENT DRAAF — of the Grashard Sidereal Caucus. A distinguished crustacean, Ungent is Ambassador to the enigmatic Dralein, a species of sentient rodent with highly unusual minds. His original mission on Bledraun, the Dralein homeworld, is simple. But soon the Quishiks’ meddling leads him to discover their deadly purpose. With the help of YALDRINT, his trusted AI, he dedicates himself to defeating the Quishiks, by allying himself with an unlikely army of misfits, including:
SHOL — a Krezovic teenager who, until recently, has lived on the streets of a dozen minor planets. When a string of hard luck lands him on Bledraun, he becomes Ungent’s reluctant student and unflinching ally. As a member of a genetically engineered human subspecies, he has no love for the established order. Unknown to him, his fellow Krezovics, GRAUTH and DROLET conspire with dark forces to further destabilize local politics. During Shol’s stay on Bledraun, he meets:
TRINITY HUDSON — the teenage daughter of a prominent member of the human delegation to Bledraun. Her budding relationship with Shol is a joy, but as the story unfolds, Trinity must confront the biases of her culture. It’s a culture she shares with two other members of the Terran Protectorate:
CAPTAIN HARLAN MARS and COMMANDER GILLIAN CAVENDISH — of the Terran Protectorate ship Sweet Chariot. Harlan, an old acquaintance of Ungent, is career military personnel but, like Gillian, looks askance at the Protectorate’s rapacious empire-building. Charged at first with ferrying the human delegation to Bledraun, Harlan and Gillian are drawn into the political crisis fomented by the Quishiks. Like every operative in the Terran Protectorate, they are under the heel of the ANN COMMISSION, a confederation of artificial intelligences who control the flow of data throughout the human empire and skillfully exploit it to increase their influence.
To coordinate their military strategy on Bledraun, Harlan and Gillian must rely on:
EUCH-CHAUDRON DRASHNA and DVER-CHAUDRON DADREN — leaders of the Bledraun world government. Lately, Dadren has been forced to take full responsibility, as Drashna is preoccupied with her critically ill child, Caronya. Drashna’s concern for her daughter has led her to form an unethical alliance with a consortium of shadowy symbiotes, who alone hold the cure to Caronya’s illness. Drashna’s contact among the symbiotes is:
WARVHEX — head of Stealth Ops for the symbiotes, who pursues a double agenda. She hopes to defeat the Quishiks on her own, then use her victory as a bargaining chip to further the symbiote cause. Long dispised as mere parasites, the symbiotes crave full recognition as a sovereign power by the Interstellar Council. When her assault on the Quishiks fails. she’s forced to reach out to an unlikely partner, the biomechanoid captain of the Terran Protectorate probe ship Mighty Fortress — who has recently discovered the Quishik’s appearance at the edge of the Fremdel event horizon:
CAPTAIN/27/ENOS/EXPLORATORY — the impossibly handsome biomechanoid captain who deduces the presence of the Quishiks by analyzing unusual energy readings emanating from the Fremdel event horizon. He later develops a “doomsday” weapon to eliminate the Quishiks which promises to exact horrific damage on local space-time. Throughout, he’s both abetted and distracted by:
LIEUTENANT CRICKET ANDERSEN — his chief navigator, whose amorous interest in Captain Enos begins a cascading rewrite of his core programming. Unknown to her, she’s about to become the pawn of a vast intergalactic force:
THE OOTRAY — a vanished civilization. Their AI remnants on Bledraun believe Cricket has a critical role to play in defeating the Quishiks. Accordingly, they fill her mind with visions of her childhood homeworld and lure her down to Bledraun, where she meets Ungent. From that point on the action takes a series of surprising twists.
You’re invited to see this story unfold in print and e-book when Probability Shadow appears on October 1, 2018.
It’s also the story of singular characters, whose cozy assumptions are shattered for good. Among the major players in the drama are:
THE QUISHIKS — multidimensional beings, whose utter control over the force of Probability itself enables them to reshape reality. Existing outside of time, they draw strength by draining the mental energy from every sentient being in their path. As Probability Shadow gets underway, they’ve just escaped from their prison inside the Fremdel event horizon. Soon their deadly scheming sets the stage for a massive interstellar conflict. Their adversaries include:
UNGENT DRAAF — of the Grashard Sidereal Caucus. A distinguished crustacean, Ungent is Ambassador to the enigmatic Dralein, a species of sentient rodent with highly unusual minds. His original mission on Bledraun, the Dralein homeworld, is simple. But soon the Quishiks’ meddling leads him to discover their deadly purpose. With the help of YALDRINT, his trusted AI, he dedicates himself to defeating the Quishiks, by allying himself with an unlikely army of misfits, including:
SHOL — a Krezovic teenager who, until recently, has lived on the streets of a dozen minor planets. When a string of hard luck lands him on Bledraun, he becomes Ungent’s reluctant student and unflinching ally. As a member of a genetically engineered human subspecies, he has no love for the established order. Unknown to him, his fellow Krezovics, GRAUTH and DROLET conspire with dark forces to further destabilize local politics. During Shol’s stay on Bledraun, he meets:
TRINITY HUDSON — the teenage daughter of a prominent member of the human delegation to Bledraun. Her budding relationship with Shol is a joy, but as the story unfolds, Trinity must confront the biases of her culture. It’s a culture she shares with two other members of the Terran Protectorate:
CAPTAIN HARLAN MARS and COMMANDER GILLIAN CAVENDISH — of the Terran Protectorate ship Sweet Chariot. Harlan, an old acquaintance of Ungent, is career military personnel but, like Gillian, looks askance at the Protectorate’s rapacious empire-building. Charged at first with ferrying the human delegation to Bledraun, Harlan and Gillian are drawn into the political crisis fomented by the Quishiks. Like every operative in the Terran Protectorate, they are under the heel of the ANN COMMISSION, a confederation of artificial intelligences who control the flow of data throughout the human empire and skillfully exploit it to increase their influence.
To coordinate their military strategy on Bledraun, Harlan and Gillian must rely on:
EUCH-CHAUDRON DRASHNA and DVER-CHAUDRON DADREN — leaders of the Bledraun world government. Lately, Dadren has been forced to take full responsibility, as Drashna is preoccupied with her critically ill child, Caronya. Drashna’s concern for her daughter has led her to form an unethical alliance with a consortium of shadowy symbiotes, who alone hold the cure to Caronya’s illness. Drashna’s contact among the symbiotes is:
WARVHEX — head of Stealth Ops for the symbiotes, who pursues a double agenda. She hopes to defeat the Quishiks on her own, then use her victory as a bargaining chip to further the symbiote cause. Long dispised as mere parasites, the symbiotes crave full recognition as a sovereign power by the Interstellar Council. When her assault on the Quishiks fails. she’s forced to reach out to an unlikely partner, the biomechanoid captain of the Terran Protectorate probe ship Mighty Fortress — who has recently discovered the Quishik’s appearance at the edge of the Fremdel event horizon:
CAPTAIN/27/ENOS/EXPLORATORY — the impossibly handsome biomechanoid captain who deduces the presence of the Quishiks by analyzing unusual energy readings emanating from the Fremdel event horizon. He later develops a “doomsday” weapon to eliminate the Quishiks which promises to exact horrific damage on local space-time. Throughout, he’s both abetted and distracted by:
LIEUTENANT CRICKET ANDERSEN — his chief navigator, whose amorous interest in Captain Enos begins a cascading rewrite of his core programming. Unknown to her, she’s about to become the pawn of a vast intergalactic force:
THE OOTRAY — a vanished civilization. Their AI remnants on Bledraun believe Cricket has a critical role to play in defeating the Quishiks. Accordingly, they fill her mind with visions of her childhood homeworld and lure her down to Bledraun, where she meets Ungent. From that point on the action takes a series of surprising twists.
You’re invited to see this story unfold in print and e-book when Probability Shadow appears on October 1, 2018.
August 3, 2017
Radio Interview With PatZi of "Joy on Paper"
Earlier this summer, I had a great time chatting with PatZi Gil, host of the syndicated radio program "Joy on Paper. "
Listen to the complete interview now, if only for her infectious good cheer!
LISTEN
Listen to the complete interview now, if only for her infectious good cheer!
LISTEN
