Glynn Stewart's Blog, page 6
June 21, 2023
Glynn is Guest of Honor at Archon St. Louis This Fall
We’re pleased to announce that Glynn will be the guest of honor at Archon 46, the American Midwest’s premier science fiction convention.
The convention takes place from September 29 to Oct 1 and is hosted by St. Louis Science Fiction in Collinsville, Illinois.
Glynn will be signing and participating in panels, and he looks forward to seeing you there!
Click here to register for Archon 46.
The post Glynn is Guest of Honor at Archon St. Louis This Fall appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
Raven’s Peace 99¢ in the US and UK
You can start the Peacekeepers of Sol series today. Raven’s Peace is 99¢ in US and and UK Amazon stores. The Countdown Deal ends June 26.
Raven’s Peace: US Store | UK Store
The post Raven’s Peace 99¢ in the US and UK appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
June 20, 2023
Absolution, the Finale of Scattered Stars: Evasion, Available Now
Evridiki “EB” Bardacki and the crew of the cargo ship Evasion have always tried to chart their own course. Under his leadership, the crew has thwarted gangsters and human traffickers. But now, EB has to make a deal with the devil in order save hundreds of innocents who have been kidnapped and sold into slavery like his adopted daughter Trace once was.
Will EB find the hidden base with innocents in cryogenic suspension, or will the remnants of a brutal criminal empire get there first?
Get Absolution, Scattered Stars: Evasion Book 3, on Amazon now! The audiobook is coming July 11th.
Here’s more about the book:
A homeworld is not always home.
Family is not always blood.
Enemies are not always who you expect.
Captain Evridiki “EB” Bardacki wants nothing more than to quietly ride off into the sunset with his fiancé, his crew, and his adopted daughter, Trace. But when a strange message brings them all to Trace’s home star system of Icem, it turns out the fragments of the crime syndicate that kidnapped her have one last trick to play.
An old enemy has betrayed their former compatriots and set into motion events that may allow EB to save hundreds of children like his daughter from the traffickers who stole them away. When that enemy shows up dead, the crew of Evasion must decide whether to chase the leads left by a dead monster or protect themselves.
Those leads will take EB and Trace into the dens of crime lords, the homes of judges, the hearts of secret bases—and the presence of the foster parent Trace ran away from at the beginning of everything…
The post Absolution, the Finale of Scattered Stars: Evasion, Available Now appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
June 16, 2023
Seven Questions About Unbroken Faith, Part 2
Glynn is currently writing the sequel to To Stand Defiant , the next book in the Dakotan Confederacy series, which is set within the Castle Federation universe. Here are seven more questions he recently answered about his work in progress. Click here to read part 1. Click here to read part two, and click here to read part 3.
Q: How are weddings celebrated in your WIP world?
That’s…a big question given the scale of the setting of the Castle Federation books. Between the assorted star-nations, there are about twelve hundred major star systems and roughly 1.5 trillion human beings in the 28th Century. So weddings are celebrated at least twelve hundred and probably more like twelve million different ways. But at the heart: people swear oaths to each other in the presence of family and friends.
The example in the book is James Tecumseh’s own wedding to Abey Todacheeney, a small ceremony of about a dozen participants…surrounded by bodyguards, in a hand-built plaza in the shade of the largest and holiest tree on the planet. After processions through the surrounding city attended by tens of thousands of well-wishers.
He is, after all, The Admiral of the Confederacy Navy and SHE is the head of the planetary government!
The ceremony itself is conducted by the President of the Dakotan Interstellar Confederacy and takes about fifteen minutes. Just getting in to the ceremony site through the surrounding park takes them more than fifteen minutes!
Do natural calamities play a role in your story?
Not really. This particular series is very much about a massive human-made calamity and the recovery from it (and what it did to the apparently monolithic superpower it was aimed at).
Q: How would you describe your story?
Unbroken Faith is James Tecumseh struggling with the fact that the nation he served is dead, but it’s member star systems and ideals are still alive. It’s about what the end of the collapse and the beginning of stabilization of a fallen empire looks like from the inside at the moment. It’s about what faith those successor states can still have in their shared ideals – and in each other. And it’s about standing for those ideals.
Q: How do you feel about killing characters?
It’s a necessary part of the business. I mostly write military science fiction, and I have to agree with a comment made by David Weber in an interview a long time ago (paraphrased, I can’t find the exact quote): “If you are writing military fiction where there are no consequences, no costs, and none of the “good guys” die, you aren’t writing military fiction. You are writing military pornography.”
Q: How does your MC feel about marriage?
Well, James Tecumseh figured he was married to the Navy for most of his life. Then he met Abey Todacheeney. In the initial chaos, she was planning to seduce him to have some level of control if he went warlord with the local fleet. By the time she succeeded, she knew that wasn’t going to be a problem.
JT still isn’t entirely sure how he feels about marriage in general, but he is MARRIED now and figures that was the right call.
Q: Is there a corruption arc in your story? If not, speak about any other arc.
I’m not sure I would necessarily describe it as a corruption arc so much as a window into the mind of someone who has already fallen. We spend a lot of time in the head of Imperator James Calvin Walkingstick. At no point is the story justifying what he has done and who he has become. But that only means his internal monologue and staff discussions are working OVERTIME to justify it to HIM.
Q: What’s your setting: urban, rural, natural, something else?
We’re in space, maaaaan.In this series, activities take place either aboard starships, on space stations, or (occasionally) in the halls of power, which tend to be in cities.I mean, one of said cities is intentionally half trees, but I think it still counts as urban for this…
And a bonus question not specifically about the WIP…
Q: What kinds of character arcs do you like writing?
Not my usual perspective. Hrm.
Most of my characters would understand the whole Captain America concept of “No. YOU move.” This is rarely an entirely good thing and learning the find the right level of compromise is key.
The arcs I enjoy the most, though, are the fluffy parts, to be honest. The soft personal moments amidst the chaos and the violence. See Henry and Sylvia taking three books to work it out.
Unbroken Faith, the next book in the Dakotan Confederacy is coming November 2023.
The post Seven Questions About Unbroken Faith, Part 2 appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
Seven Questions about Glynn’s Work in Progress, Part 2
Glynn is currently writing the sequel to To Stand Defiant , the next book in the Dakotan Confederacy series, which is set within the Castle Federation universe. Here are seven more questions he recently answered about his work in progress. Click here to read the answers to the first seven questions.
Q: How are weddings celebrated in your WIP world?
That’s…a big question given the scale of the setting of the Castle Federation books. Between the assorted star-nations, there are about twelve hundred major star systems and roughly 1.5 trillion human beings in the 28th Century. So weddings are celebrated at least twelve hundred and probably more like twelve million different ways. But at the heart: people swear oaths to each other in the presence of family and friends.
The example in the book is James Tecumseh’s own wedding to Abey Todacheeney, a small ceremony of about a dozen participants…surrounded by bodyguards, in a hand-built plaza in the shade of the largest and holiest tree on the planet. After processions through the surrounding city attended by tens of thousands of well-wishers.
He is, after all, The Admiral of the Confederacy Navy and SHE is the head of the planetary government!
The ceremony itself is conducted by the President of the Dakotan Interstellar Confederacy and takes about fifteen minutes. Just getting in to the ceremony site through the surrounding park takes them more than fifteen minutes!
Do natural calamities play a role in your story?
Not really. This particular series is very much about a massive human-made calamity and the recovery from it (and what it did to the apparently monolithic superpower it was aimed at).
Q: How would you describe your story?
Unbroken Faith is James Tecumseh struggling with the fact that the nation he served is dead, but it’s member star systems and ideals are still alive. It’s about what the end of the collapse and the beginning of stabilization of a fallen empire looks like from the inside at the moment. It’s about what faith those successor states can still have in their shared ideals – and in each other. And it’s about standing for those ideals.
Q: How do you feel about killing characters?
It’s a necessary part of the business. I mostly write military science fiction, and I have to agree with a comment made by David Weber in an interview a long time ago (paraphrased, I can’t find the exact quote): “If you are writing military fiction where there are no consequences, no costs, and none of the “good guys” die, you aren’t writing military fiction. You are writing military pornography.”
Q: How does your MC feel about marriage?
Well, James Tecumseh figured he was married to the Navy for most of his life. Then he met Abey Todacheeney. In the initial chaos, she was planning to seduce him to have some level of control if he went warlord with the local fleet. By the time she succeeded, she knew that wasn’t going to be a problem.
JT still isn’t entirely sure how he feels about marriage in general, but he is MARRIED now and figures that was the right call.
Q: Is there a corruption arc in your story? If not, speak about any other arc.
I’m not sure I would necessarily describe it as a corruption arc so much as a window into the mind of someone who has already fallen. We spend a lot of time in the head of Imperator James Calvin Walkingstick. At no point is the story justifying what he has done and who he has become. But that only means his internal monologue and staff discussions are working OVERTIME to justify it to HIM.
Q: What’s your setting: urban, rural, natural, something else?
We’re in space, maaaaan.In this series, activities take place either aboard starships, on space stations, or (occasionally) in the halls of power, which tend to be in cities.I mean, one of said cities is intentionally half trees, but I think it still counts as urban for this…
And a bonus question not specifically about the WIP…
Q: What kinds of character arcs do you like writing?
Not my usual perspective. Hrm.
Most of my characters would understand the whole Captain America concept of “No. YOU move.” This is rarely an entirely good thing and learning the find the right level of compromise is key.
The arcs I enjoy the most, though, are the fluffy parts, to be honest. The soft personal moments amidst the chaos and the violence. See Henry and Sylvia taking three books to work it out.
Unbroken Faith, the next book in the Dakotan Confederacy is coming November 2023.
The post Seven Questions about Glynn’s Work in Progress, Part 2 appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
June 9, 2023
Seven Questions About Unbroken Faith, Part 1
Glynn is currently writing the sequel to To Stand Defiant , the next book in the Dakotan Confederacy series, which is set within the Castle Federation universe. Here are some questions he recently answered about his work in progress.
Q: You’re transported into your WIP world, where is the first place you’re going? Why?
Given the current state of the Castle Federation universe, the first place I am going is as far away from the Terran Commonwealth as I possibly can.
Because they’ve got past the initial “fracturing into successor states” stage and are starting the “violent consolidation” stage…
Q: Were any of your fictional settings inspired by real-world locations?
All of the urban fantasy takes place in real world places, often using Google maps to not be too wrong (but man are people confused that there’s a major city called Portland on the East Coast!)
A lot of my SF settings include planets/cultures that are…uh…basically founded by cultural appropriation cosplayers.(They wanted to set up a specific culture so they stole a bunch of stuff from the past)
Q: Share art, pics, and/or mood boards of your WIP world.
Huh. Currently embedded in Dakota Confederacy, so let’s see…
Q: When was the last time the MC in your WIP travelled? Why?
Well, all three of the viewpoint characters just upped and took entire fleets across most of the former Terran Commonwealth.When warlords try to set the tone of the Successor State era, well, it’s time to stand together.(And in one case, to convince people to sign back up to the Commonwealth…or else)
Q: What is the meaning of your MC’s name? Does it fit their personality?
James Tecumseh – “Replacer” and “Shooting Star”
For a military officer who looks up to his famous namesake (intentionally unclear whether JT is actually related to Chief Tecumseh) and ends up challenging a nation built on Manifest Destiny…yeah, it probably fits.
(Of course, said nation was originally HIS nation, but that’s another issue entirely…)
Q: Does your MC have any nicknames? If so, how’d they come by them?
Answering all of these for Dakotan Confederacy subseries of Castle Federation, so the MC in question is James Tecumseh.James, unlike his counterpart Kyle Roberts in the original series, has not suffered the indignities of an adoring media.
He is, however, slowly realizing that when ANYONE in the newborn Dakotan Confederacy says “The Admiral” they only ever mean one person…
Q: Where is one place in the setting your MC is trying to avoid?
In James Tecumseh’s case, probably the entire Solar System and most of the “Rump Commonwealth” that still proclaims loyalty to Sol.Pretty much no matter what goes down politically over this book or even the next few years of the setting, it will be a LONG time before setting foot in the Rump isn’t going to see him immediately arrested for treason.
Unbroken Faith, the next book in the Dakotan Confederacy is coming November 2023.
The post Seven Questions About Unbroken Faith, Part 1 appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
Seven Questions With Glynn About His Work in Progress
Glynn is currently writing the sequel to To Stand Defiant , the next book in the Dakotan Confederacy series, which is set within the Castle Federation universe. Here are some questions he recently answered about his work in progress.
Q: You’re transported into your WIP world, where is the first place you’re going? Why?
Given the current state of the Castle Federation universe, the first place I am going is as far away from the Terran Commonwealth as I possibly can.
Because they’ve got past the initial “fracturing into successor states” stage and are starting the “violent consolidation” stage…
Q: Were any of your fictional settings inspired by real-world locations?
All of the urban fantasy takes place in real world places, often using Google maps to not be too wrong (but man are people confused that there’s a major city called Portland on the East Coast!)
A lot of my SF settings include planets/cultures that are…uh…basically founded by cultural appropriation cosplayers.(They wanted to set up a specific culture so they stole a bunch of stuff from the past)
Q: Share art, pics, and/or mood boards of your WIP world.
Huh. Currently embedded in Dakota Confederacy, so let’s see…
Q: When was the last time the MC in your WIP travelled? Why?
Well, all three of the viewpoint characters just upped and took entire fleets across most of the former Terran Commonwealth.When warlords try to set the tone of the Successor State era, well, it’s time to stand together.(And in one case, to convince people to sign back up to the Commonwealth…or else)
Q: What is the meaning of your MC’s name? Does it fit their personality?
James Tecumseh – “Replacer” and “Shooting Star”
For a military officer who looks up to his famous namesake (intentionally unclear whether JT is actually related to Chief Tecumseh) and ends up challenging a nation built on Manifest Destiny…yeah, it probably fits.
(Of course, said nation was originally HIS nation, but that’s another issue entirely…)
Q: Does your MC have any nicknames? If so, how’d they come by them?
Answering all of these for Dakotan Confederacy subseries of Castle Federation, so the MC in question is James Tecumseh.James, unlike his counterpart Kyle Roberts in the original series, has not suffered the indignities of an adoring media.
He is, however, slowly realizing that when ANYONE in the newborn Dakotan Confederacy says “The Admiral” they only ever mean one person…
Q: Where is one place in the setting your MC is trying to avoid?
In James Tecumseh’s case, probably the entire Solar System and most of the “Rump Commonwealth” that still proclaims loyalty to Sol.Pretty much no matter what goes down politically over this book or even the next few years of the setting, it will be a LONG time before setting foot in the Rump isn’t going to see him immediately arrested for treason.
The next book in the Dakotan Confederacy is coming November 2023.
The post Seven Questions With Glynn About His Work in Progress appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
June 7, 2023
Evasion on Sale in the US and UK
You can now get started on Scattered Stars: Evasion before the final instalment of the trilogy Absolution comes out June 20th. You can start the trilogy now with Evasion for 99¢ in the US, 99p in the UK.
A captain on the run from the horrors of his past
A girl on the run from the trap of her present
A ship that will bring them together
Captain Evridiki “EB” Bardacki was once a nova fighter pilot for a nation he truly believed in. Betrayal and failure sent him into exile and flight. Now owner-operator of the freelance star freighter Evasion, he treks the edge of human space, taking cargos that lead him ever onward—but there are lines he will not cross.
When those lines are challenged, EB makes enemies of the most powerful crime syndicate for a hundred light-years. When one of their victims stows away on his ship, he finds himself pursued by an enemy with assets everywhere he turns.
Caught between the devil and the deep dark void, EB has run out of places to run—but in a child looking to him for salvation, he may have found something to fight for!
CONTENT WARNING: This novel deals with themes and details of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The post Evasion on Sale in the US and UK appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
June 6, 2023
EB Makes a Deal With the Devil in Absolution, the finale of Scattered Stars: Evasion
Evridiki “EB” Bardacki was once an elite fighter pilot for the star nation of Apollo. When treachery sends his squadron into exile, he chooses to keep running rather than join the newly-formed mercenary fleet led by Kira Demirici.
Despite his desire to run, his morals and principles draw him into conflict again and again to protect innocents. His desire to help the helpless earns him love, a family—and an adopted teenage daughter rescued from one of his many enemies.
When he discovers there are others who’ve been kidnapped and sold into slavery like his adopted daughter, he’s willing to make a deal with a devil to free hundreds of innocents held captive in a hidden pirate base.
Preorder Absolution, Scattered Stars: Evasion Book 3, on Amazon now!
The paperback will be available on release day.
The audiobook will be available on July 11.
Here’s more about the book:
A homeworld is not always home.
Family is not always blood.
Enemies are not always who you expect.
Captain Evridiki “EB” Bardacki wants nothing more than to quietly ride off into the sunset with his fiancé, his crew, and his adopted daughter, Trace. But when a strange message brings them all to Trace’s home star system of Icem, it turns out the fragments of the crime syndicate that kidnapped her have one last trick to play.
An old enemy has betrayed their former compatriots and set into motion events that may allow EB to save hundreds of children like his daughter from the traffickers who stole them away. When that enemy shows up dead, the crew of Evasion must decide whether to chase the leads left by a dead monster or protect themselves.
Those leads will take EB and Trace into the dens of crime lords, the homes of judges, the hearts of secret bases—and the presence of the foster parent Trace ran away from at the beginning of everything…
The post EB Makes a Deal With the Devil in Absolution, the finale of Scattered Stars: Evasion appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
May 24, 2023
Balefire, the Dark Fantasy Novella, on Sale for 99¢
“The only thing between the village and the fire is the man who may have to burn it.”
Balefire, Glynn Stewart’s dark fantasy novella, is on sale for 99¢ in the US/UK until Tuesday.
You can grab your copy here in the US and here in the UK.
Want to know more what it is about?
A demon born of human evil
A knight forged in holy fire
A town that he must either save…or destroy!
Alsan is a Paladin of the Intercessor, a holy warrior called to the village of Redgarton to investigate a demonic plague. Powerful magic of his fellow priests has sealed the village against the demon’s escape, and still more powerful magic awaits only his command to destroy demon and village alike.
To save the innocent, the knight must enter the village alone and learn what has unleashed the Abyss amongst them. If he can strike down the demon, his holy oath is sufficient to spare the town the balefire.
But the plague is spreading and the order he leaves behind is simple: come dawn, unleash the balefire.
The post Balefire, the Dark Fantasy Novella, on Sale for 99¢ appeared first on Glynn Stewart.
