A Few Thoughts On Broadcast 7 & The Future

I apologize for the rash of late podcasts. Stephanie, Sylvie and I are taking turns getting sick, and we've all been very busy when we're not ill. It's nothing serious, just enough to keep us off the air for a while. That's why I'm not doing my Spinward Fringe Podcast tonight, I'm crushed under a heavy sinus cold. I'm hoping it doesn't last.

You're not going to walk away from this blog post with nothing though, I'll be happy to talk about Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework a little.

So, Framework has been out for twelve days, and it's officially a best selling EBook, reaching number one on Smashwords side-wide (not including XXX, erotica). The book made it to 19th place in the Science Fiction charts on Amazon.com, fourth on Amazon.co.uk, and put me in 12th place in the Science fiction author list on Amazon. Overall, Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework is averaging 4.5 stars out of 5 in reviews across the Internet.

I can only say thank you to everyone who bought, reviewed and hopefully enjoyed this novel. This release has been a great experience, and I hope to release a new book soon.

For the book I knew it was, these results are fantastic. I was aware that Broadcast 7 would be a controversial book, and for two people who loved it, there are two who are still digesting their experience, and one that simply disliked it. Broadcast 7 is a complex novel, and it took two attempts to get it ready to publish. I wrote the whole thing twice, and it took almost three years. The process also produced a side novel called the Expendable few, which features a story I just couldn't weave into Broadcast 7. There was no way to make that fit. Writing that extra novel did give me a chance to explore a differnet style as well, which is something I enjoyed and don't regret.

Everything in Broadcast 7 was carefully considered, especially the parts that survived the first draft. The Victory Machine story, the first flight of the Warlord and a third of the ending all survived from one draft to the next. Those parts were re-written and edited anyway, which made them fit with the rest of the book. The concepts driving this book were the same from one iteration to the next, that never changed. The theme of reunion, which is core to the third and final act in this book was new, it wsa what made the ending woorth reading as far as I'm concerned.

I'm actually glad Broadcast 7 is controversial. No novel of lsating significance is without controversy, and this book had a difficult mission statement. I had to reveal the motivations of several characters, and bring about the end of those stories while leaving an indellable mark on the series that suited the gravity of the story lines that were wrapped up. Why make sure that closing storylines had a lasting impression?

The series goes on, that's why.

In one of my first ever blog posts years ago, I said I'd write the Spinward Fringe series as long as 1) I had stories to tell in that universe, and 2) as long as there was an interest.

Through the sale results above and the way Broadcast 7 finally manifested, I know there's a demand and many stories yet. What kind of stories? Spinward Fringe is a series that can accomodate drama, action and especially adventure. I find that the drama statement is proven in Broadcast 7 more than in any other book in the series. I'm proud of that, but my true love in writing is adventure.

When one of the main characters in act 3 of Broadcast 7 asks Jason if adventure lies in her future, that was very much me asking myself what the next part of the series would look like. He had to tell her that, yes, there would absolutely be adventure. That's where Broadcast 8 is going, back to real adventure writing. My characters have their causes, they have a fresh chapter in their backstories thanks to Broadcast 7, and they have complex relationships that will either carry them through the challenges ahead or drag them back.

Broadcast 8 is the next book I'm working on, and I'm planning it with broadcast 9 and 10 so the three will all have an interesting interconnectivity, and so they can all be a lot of fun to write and read. I've already written an entire plan for Broadcsats 8 and 9, which I consider to be a lot like a bulletin point draft. I've found a way to scrap a lot of what simply doesn't have to be in there and keep all the interesting and fun bits, so I've already saved myself a whole heap of time.

I get giddy when I plan for these three books, that's why I'm putting the other writing I had planned off. I'm just too excited about Spinward Fringe.

When will you see Broadcast 8? I'll tell you when I have some idea, but it might be sooner than you think.

Again, thank you so much for a spectacular book release.

That release is ongoing, with Broadcast 7 on its way to Barnes & Noble, the iBookstore, Kobo and other outlets. If you simply cannot wait, you can get a copy of the book for any device by purchasing it through Smashwords here.




RL