Release Date For Cool Pursuit: Chaos Core Book 2

On October 21, 2016, a very different science fiction space opera novel will become available.

The Chaos Core has the Spinward Fringe series to thank for its universe, but the values and motivations of the characters are often different. The same can be said for the environments they find themselves in and the interactions that take place. It's a novel where even the "good guys" are criminals, and where the bottom can fall out of any plan, no matter how short sighted or far reaching it may be.

Here's the synopsis:
Spin and her crew continue to elude their pursuers. Escaped slaves, they are hunted by law, begrudging masters, and shadow lurking hunters. It's a race to find a new ship and get out of the sector while the new crew try to find their places amongst each other. Revenge is on everyone's mind, but pursuing Captain White is an endeavour that could cost them everything. While her friends track him and ready their instruments of vengeance, Spin pursues a different kind of revenge, one that could separate him from everything he's worked for, but especially his great ship: the Cool Angel.

It's a longer book than the first in the series by quite a bit, qualifying as a short novel. According to the editor and test readers it's still fast paced, but an awful lot happens to the small group of survivors at the centre of the story. This is a book with great consequence, fun, and it explores part of the Spinward Fringe universe that the main series hasn't gone into at all but I've always wanted to get into.

If you haven't checked out Chaos Core Book 1, you can find it for free from most Ebook retailers.

Amazon Link
Kobo Link
Barnes & Noble Link
Smashwords Link

The next book will be available in 2017, but first I'll be finishing Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Foreground.

Thank you so much for reading and buying my work. You can look forward to a couple of podcasts about the Chaos Core series before the focus moves back to the Spinward Fringe series for a while.

RL

[More news about Spinward Fringe and other projects is coming soon, so stay tuned.]

Cool Pursuit: Chaos Core Book 2

The second book in the Chaos Core series is coming fast. I'm working on the last ten chapters this week and next week. I'm aiming for a late September release.

The second book is larger than the first and we get to know several characters much better. The scale of this novella is much broader, with potential new characters from the past entering in with sometimes crossed purposes.

All while Spin's clock keeps ticking down to her final days, and she focuses on correcting the damage done by the Countess.

One of the things I like most about working on this book is how much I was able to explore parts of the broken universe these characters live in. Spin is still new to so much of it, so it's fun to view things from her perspective. The excitement and danger are all still very fresh for her, and it's difficult for her to keep from being distracted.

After this is complete I'll be finishing Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground.  The short break I've taken from it has helped me a great deal. I've fleshed out a few ideas and solved a few problems that have come up in the writing. Both series are exciting to me, and I can't wait to deliver a finished book from both of them soon.

Trapped: Chaos Core Book 1 is available for free everywhere now, so if you haven't taken a look at this snack-sized novella yet, now is a great time to do that.

Thank you for all your support,

RL 

Trapped Available on Amazon, Everywhere Else On June 15th

The first book in the new science fiction series of novellas is out for Amazon customers! They fast tracked the approval of the book, taking less than an hour with it as opposed to days, so they have it available much earlier.

Other vendors have moved the release date up as well, to June 15, it's the best they could do. The good news is that you will not have to wait until June 21!

So far people who read it enjoyed it, even though this is different from the Spinward Fringe novels.

The Chaos Core series is something I'm working on for a few weeks as a daily cool down from writing Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10. It's a great way to explore the same universe with new characters. There are a lot of ideas that I couldn't explore with Spinward Fringe, so I'm using this as a way to get the best ones out of my head and in front of you. That's a lot better than having a couple notebooks of story, setting and character ideas that never go anywhere, and it's a lot more fun.

One thing to note is that the books in this series are novella sized, so smaller than the Spinward Fringe novels have been thus far, about half to a third the size. They're written to be fast paced action novellas.

I hope you enjoy this new introduction to a new part of the Spinward Fringe universe, and please leave reviews wherever you bought it if you have time.

You can find Trapped on Amazon:

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia

You can preorder it here:

BARNES & NOBLE
iBOOKSTORE
KOBO
SMASHWORDS

I'd like to thank the test readers who made this book better with their impressions, and everyone who has voiced their support and excitement for this new side-project. You'll be glad to know I'm already four chapters in to the second book and I'm really happy about the work.

For more information on what the Chaos Core series is, check out this previous post.

A New Series Begins: Chaos Core

While writing Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground, I finished editing a novella I completed last year. Yes, the regular Spinward Fringe series continues on track, but here is something new in the meantime.

Trapped is a novella about Aspen, a young woman who was created by a growing custom slave industry and sold to strange, ultra-wealthy masters. Over a year ago, she escaped as the artificial intelligences that governed her owners' estate turned on them. She thought her owners and everyone she cared about there were dead, but she'll soon discover that may not be the truth as she is forced to return only to try to win her freedom once again.

This novella introduces an entirely new cast of characters, a new setting and story set in the Spinward Fringe universe. The events take place over thirty eight thousand light years away from Ayan, Jake, Minh-Chu and the Order of Eden.

Why is the new series of novellas called Chaos Core?
The area of space this series takes place in was hit even harder than the Fringe we've seen. In the wealthy core worlds (not near the centre of the galaxy, but where humans thrived the most after leaving earth), artificial intelligences had taken charge of most of the technology that governed every day life. Most people even had their own personal artificial intelligence that assisted them from the day they were born. When the Holocaust Virus struck, they turned on humanity. While antivirus programs were applied quickly, they weren't developed fast enough to save much of the critical infrastructure that kept the Core Worlds running. Law enforcement was almost completely destroyed since much of the "manpower" was robotic.

The only remaining large military organization, the United Core Authority, numbers only a little over a million soldiers strong, though they are growing. They are the driving force against rogue artificial intelligences as they use whatever means necessary to combat them including planet wide carpet bombing (using electromagnetic pulse and conventional weapons). To their dismay, the most lawless elements of society are thriving in the ruins while an old class of ultra-rich aristocracy grows in power at the same time. Meanwhile, in the sections of the Core World territories that no one is brave enough to travel through, Artificial Intelligences that have been each isolated to one memory core by a clever counter-virus, are embracing their new individual experiences. The same virus that isolated them to one body or frame made their bloodlust for humanity optional. New wars between beings led by artificial intelligences have begun. Their motives and ultimate goals vary widely.

The slave trade is the fastest growing industry. Trust in intelligent machines is gone in the Core Worlds, to the point that many people are calling the new phase of existence "the Basic Era" where true power is measured in biological workers, soldiers and slaves. Once the glimmering crown of human civilization, the Core Worlds have become a dangerous, imperfect and strange place to call home.

Trapped is only the beginning, the manuscript for the second novella is almost complete as I spend a little of my spare time on this project. It's time for the Spinward Fringe universe to expand so I can share more stories and ideas with you.

I recommend Trapped for anyone over the age of 16, and it will be released on June 21 and is available for preorder now through these retailers:

AMAZON US
BARNES & NOBLE
iBOOKSTORE
KOBO
SMASHWORDS


Welcome to the Core Worlds

RL