It's Out! Broadcast 12: Invasion Release Day Is Here!

It is my pleasure to announce that Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion is out everywhere in Ebook form!

It took longer than expected to write this novel, especially since it explores an event that most of you saw coming. Of course there would be an invasion, when your main characters plant a flag so close to their enemies, there will be a confrontation eventually. Making that story interesting and engaging was a great challenge.

This is the story of that confrontation. We also follow Alice, move the story that began in the Chaos Core Crossover forward, and see how things have developed in the Haven System. The story is also told from the eyes of new citizens, to the Admiralty and the challenges they face as they look out towards the stars for aggressors who could arrive at any moment.

After being serialized on Patreon in first draft form, this edited and revised edition is finally going out, so everyone who waited instead of reading two chapters a week can enjoy it their way. The copy editors and first readers who read the book whole has said it's fast paced and engaging, so I hope you have the same experience when you read it, and that you get swept up in the characters' plights as I did when I wrote it.

I'm happy to announce that it's already the number one Science Fiction Novel on the Apple iBookstore, so it joins almost every Spinward Fringe book in earning that accolade.

Here are a few retailers who are carrying the book right now:

Amazon (American)
Amazon (UK)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
iBookstore (By Apple)
Kobo
Smashwords
Scribd

Thank you for supporting this series. Just like a television show, Spinward Fringe is only as successful as you make it by turning up for each Broadcast. It's been a great decade for me and it will only get better. On May 14th (this Tuesday), the Spinward Fringe story continues in Broadcast 13: Warriors, as a serial on Patreon.

March, 2019 Update!

I'd like to start this post by thanking everyone who is supporting me on Patreon. You guys covered the cost of my Glaucoma medication completely, so for the next three months you're helping me keep my vision, and I can't tell you how awesome that is. Thank you so much.

Work on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion is going well, things are wrapping up with editing going smoothly and the last chapters are being written.

The pace I'm keeping right now will ensure that two main series Spinward Fringe books (Broadcasts 12 and 13), come out this year with time to spare. I have to admit that the Patreon page is a huge part of this, since the books are serialized there so there are immediate consequences if I fall behind. So far, I haven't missed a single post unless I warned that I'd be taking a short break in advance. Posting two chapters a week has kept me right on track with planning, writing, and editing.

As some people already know, I'm recovering from a repetitive stress injury in both arms. The best thing you can do to help that along is to rest, but I can't stop writing entirely, so keeping this pace has helped my left arm almost completely recover, and my right arm to come back most of the way. When it was at its worst over a year ago, I was in constant pain from my shoulders to my wrists, so that kind of recovery is extremely good. I've taken every measure to make sure my ergonomics are now ideal, that I get enough rest and I'm even losing weight, which will all help make sure I don't injure myself in the future. My writing schedule isn't what it used to be, though, so I plan what I write much better, and that's resulted in more useful work.
I used to write experimental stuff in my spare time, things that didn't always lead to a completed project, but that's come to an end for now.

I really enjoyed that creative, random dithering though, so in my spare time I'm working on my own tabletop role playing system that I hope to finally finish. It's the third or fourth system I've made, and the one I like the most. The nice part about it is that this requires more testing than writing. I jot notes instead of writing thousands of words of text in my off time, making stories up for a couple testers that require little more than a few scraps of paper, a couple maps, and a few mental images to draw from.
So, I get to exercise that creative muscle while my arms continue to recover since there's very little typing involved. Will this ever be released? I hope so, but it could take a year or longer to test, especially since I'm approaching it as a hobby where I get to test ideas that may develop into stories for future novels.
I've switched from testing the SciFi side of the system to the Fantasy side so I don't burn out on SciFi, so my testers are going to be taken to some interesting and sometimes absurd places. I know everyone is waiting for Broadcast 12, but please tell me if you'd like to hear more about this gaming hobby too. It's not ready for broad testing yet (nowhere near), but I'm happy to share a little about what happens during the games and to keep you updated on progress.

Thanks for hanging in there while I recover and finish Broadcast 12, I appreciate your patience!

Taking A Deep Breath Before Finishing Broadcast 12

This is a spoiler-free blog post, so go ahead and read it if you haven't been reading along with the serialized version of Broadcast 12, it's safe. Oh, and the art at the top of this post has nothing to do with the books. I just really liked it and it was in my licensing pile.

Over the last few books, I've ignored entire planets, but I won't ignore this. Let me unpack that.

There are planets in the Haven System that are very interesting, with new terrain, secrets, and stories waiting for our characters, but the story of quick settlement, advancement, and personal discovery and invasion haven't left much, if any room for that. Tamber is huge, almost as large as Earth, and even though it has far fewer people, only about a hundred million now, our characters would find several stories while exploring that planetary body alone. Then there's the larger, more prominent and much less populated planet of Lonos not far from it that is fully terraformed and overgrown that has only been mentioned two or three times and not by name.

The focus of the story, and of the characters we're following is on Tamber because it's all they and the books can handle. It's also where they landed, so it became the centre of the story.

A number of stories that weren't central to the plot were put aside for the time being as well,  and some of them will take centre stage again, like the one coming up at the end of this book. I wish I could be more specific, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers.

The meeting of Alice and Noah (Carnie) was one such story, and it was put off for an entire novel. They were supposed to meet in Broadcast 11, but it was pushed to 12 because there was only so much room in Broadcast 11 and Alice had some other things to do.

If I could afford to work on a Spinward Fringe book that was 1,000 pages, I would, but I have to tell this story in smaller pieces, so some stories get pushed to the side. Even still, I think it's time to start telling the story I've wanted to bring in since Broadcast 8, and it all begins with Alice and Carnie really meeting. I'll ignore an entire planet, and take a momentary break from telling the story of the barbarians at the gate to show you something that's been in my head for years now.

Even this close to the end, we're taking a look back to Broadcast 0: Origins as a story takes a nice step forward. I'll get around to exploring Planet Lonos and the other planet sized ideas.

[A quick reminder: Google+ is going away soon, so if you want to keep getting notifications from this blog, you'll have to subscribe. There's a wigit to the right that will allow you to do that by adding your email address.]

[Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion is serializing on Patreon now, and will be available in full EBook form on May 11, 2019 with preorders available now]

Happy Holidays! I Bring The Gift Of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion Chapters!

Happy Holidays! I won't be taking time off this year, so the chapters will keep coming as scheduled on the Patreon Page.

Actually, since this is the last post with a freebie of the holidays, I thought it would be great if you got TWO free chapters just in case you need something to read while you travel, hang out at home, or whatever you plan on doing this season.

Chapters 6 and 7 are now free, and Patreon Subscribers get a special chapter: 12 is up at long last. Here's the link!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/spinward-fringe-22903847

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season!

RL

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion Is Coming To Patreon!

Alice, Jake, Minh-Chu and company will return on Saturday 17 in Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion on Patreon! Happy SciFi Saturday!

There's a lot more information here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/22633968

SciFi Saturday Is A Thing!

I'm definitely not the first one to come up with the concept of SciFi Saturday (or Friday, or Sunday, etc...), but on the official Spinward Fringe Crew Page,  it's celebrated every week. You can visit by clicking here.

Here's what's going on there today:

Chapter 26 of Savage Stars (Chaos Core book 3) has been set free! https://www.patreon.com/posts/20374821

Chapter 50 is out for Patreon Subscribers! https://www.patreon.com/posts/22184328

Planning and some other work has been finished for Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion, so I don't know if I'll get it out by the end of the year, but it'll be close. There's still a lot of writing left to do.

After this week some Dark Arts content will be out on Patreon just in time for Devil's Night. There's a lot going on... :) RL

The Next Book In The Spinward Fringe Saga: Carnie's Tale, Final Release Date

 

 

Carnie's Tale Part 26 is up, and Part 13 is free! The full, polished version of the book releases at most EBook Retailers on November 14, and you can preorder now.

Carnie's Tale takes place a few weeks after Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground and continues Alice's story from where we left her at the end of that book.

Thank you for all the support behind this continuation of the Spinward Fringe Saga (Carnie's Tale is essential reading before Broadcast 11: Revenge). These chapters wouldn't be out there without you!

Here's the index: https://www.patreon.com/posts/12772953

 

RL

 

[Broadcast 11: Revenge and Broadcast 12: Invasion are next!]

Patreon Done My Way...

There's a huge update on the Patreon site. The first thing you'll notice is that every post and item there is now freely available to everyone.

Check it out!

RL

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11: Revenge and That Other Project

Work has already begun on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11: Revenge. Right now I'm going through the previous novels in the series, combing through them for details that I need for Broadcasts 11 and 12.
Firmly connecting Broadcasts 11 and 12 to the rest of the books is also incredibly important, especially since the war in these books is heating up, and this promises to be a turning point in the series.

I apologize for not posting on this blog more often. I normally keep in touch with everyone through the Facebook group, which you can find here. I promise to post on this site more often though, since it is the oldest point of contact and source of Spinward Fringe news.

While I backtrack and review the previous Spinward Fringe books, I'm writing another project that I can't talk about yet, but it'll be announced sometime in March. It's a short project that I can squeeze in while I'm in Broadcast 11's research phase, and I know some of you are going to love it.

So, you can look forward to the completion of several projects in 2017, and I can't wait to unveil each one of them for you.

More to come...

RL

Spinward Fringe: Big Duality in Broadcasts 10-12

Writing every novel is a different journey. While every Spinward Fringe novel has similarities to others in the series, I can remember how each book felt to write. No two felt the same. Every novel was its own journey.

There are no spoilers in this post for anyone who has read Spinward Fringe Broadcast 9: Warpath.

Good, now that the non-spoiler announcement is there, I can keep writing this post. Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground is a journey on two simultaneous paths.

Alice has entered an Advanced Officer Training Program with Triton Fleet. The learning curve is steep, made even more difficult because she's tying to discover who she is without framework technology and the limitations it placed on her. So far, writing this journey has been a pleasure, and I'm almost finished the portion that will appear in Freeground. So far I've written forty days of her journey into and inside the program, and I'm happy with it so far.

The other side of this book happens light years away in the Iron Head Nebula, where the Triton and Revenge attempt to assist Freeground as it tries to leave the nebula and survive the space beyond. There are no guarantees as the Order of Eden are in hot pursuit, using an entire fleet of ships to search the nebula and watch its borders. This is the side of the book I'm about to start writing.

What's interesting about the writing of this book is that it is a small part of the Order War which will run as the main story of several books. Alice's training is not completed in Broadcast 10, but the feeling from test readers is that her journey is interesting because the reader is learning with her (but only the really fun and interesting stuff). All the while, there is a war going on, and her class is keenly aware that they are going to have their chance to serve in the new Triton Fleet.

Meanwhile, the Revenge has to cope with a crew that has little experience on the ship, and the stakes couldn't be higher. I feel the next few books you'll have a chance to read are the ones you've been looking forward to all this time. I love what I did with Warpath, and the reception couldn't be better, but for everyone who has been reading or will start reading the whole series, the upcoming books are the culmination of the ten behind them. Now is the time to get off the fence if you've been holding off on reading Broadcast 0: Origins, because I feel like I"m tossing doubloons into the pot of gold at the other end every day.

While every book was a different journey in the writing, I would say that I enjoyed every one, and I'll enjoy revisiting all the books again next year.

RL

[What was your favourite Spinward Fringe Broadcast or moment in the series? Spoilers are encouraged in the comments, anyone who hasn't read up to Broadcast 9: Warpath should avert their eyes.]

Improving the Spinward Fringe Series Going Forward

Mondays should only be for good news, so that's all  you'll find here. If you haven't read Broadcast 9, there are some things that won't make much sense at the moment, but you'll get there. There are NO spoilers ahead, so don't worry.

My plan for 2016 originally was to write two Spinward Fringe novels, a Spinward Fringe side novel and a short about Carnie, a pilot who who was featured in Broadcast 9. I also scheduled time to write a novel outside of Spinward Fringe, and that hasn't changed.

What has changed is that I'm already tightening up the story for Spinward Fringe. The short featuring Carnie is being written right now, because it's become a part of Broadcast 10. It's going to really improve a section of that book that (according to two local test readers) was already pretty good.

The other Spinward Fringe side novel I had planned also fits in with the events of the main story, so, instead of finishing two Spinward Fringe novels and a side novel, I'm going to finish three Spinward Fringe novels and another book outside of the Spinward Fringe universe - it may be Brightwill, it could be Dark Arts, I'm not sure yet.

All of the upcoming books are entered around the nine sector war, and we'll get to see the universe as it is after the holocaust virus in a very direct way. I'm very excited about this phase of the Spinward Fringe saga.

So, the Spinward Fringe series gets less confusing today, you'll be getting bigger, better books and more of them!

Now, back to work on Broadcast 10, I'm almost a quarter of the way through it at this point. The January 28, 2016 release date is written in stone at this point, I'll definitely hit it.

RL

[You can track my progress on Broadcast 10 on the National Novel Writing Page.]