The Spinward Fringe Podcast Broadcast 24: The One For Everyone Who Read Broadcast 7

This broadcast is all about Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework. Sylvie and I delve as deeply as we can into the book, discuss some controversial parts, and answer many, many questions directly from readers.

There are also a few serious behind the scene moments, and tales of scenes that were cut entirely. The best thing about this episode? You guys. This episode exists because there was a serious demand for it, and you gave us some fantastic questions. 

So many, in fact, that we'll do another Q&A about Broadcast 7 if we get a few more. 

MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework, then you're going to want to skip this episode entirely. We take the gloves off and get right into the details.

Thank you for supporting this book, and for listening to Crewcast Radio. We're having so much fun, and there's so much more to come!

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Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: We Have A Final Draft!

My editor and I still have editing work to do, but yesterday, I completed the final draft of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework.

That means the story in this novel is complete, and all the necessary scenes are written. The ending of the book caps off the series in a way I find satisfying, in some ways, most of the book is made up of mini-endings that pop up throughout.

A lot of what you'll find between the covers will be unexpected, and I'm fairly proud of that. After two and a half years, scrapping one draft entirely, and re-writing, I'm happier than I can say that I have something I can call complete and final.

Here's some extra info on the book:

181,388 Words (Almost as long as The Fellowship Of The Ring).

56 Chapters

Will be available in print, then in eBook form.

Editing is expected to take two weeks, and it began months ago while writing was under way.
This book brings the series to a total word count of over 1,069,500 words.

I'm afraid there won't be a preview of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 8 at the end of Broadcast 7, because I'm developing Spinward Fringe Broadcasts 8, 9, and 10 together. They will be smaller books, that's all I can say about that for now.

Once we're almost finished editing, I'll submit to my eBook formatting partners for a work date to find out when they can format the book. After I have that date, I'll be able to announce a release date, and I'm really looking forward to it!

The major work is done, and I'm very happy with the story and characters. I hope to have this in front of you soon, so you can enjoy this conclusion of Spinward Fringe season one. For some of you, this will be the conclusion of the series. I hope it's very satisfying.

RL

[Addendum: For other readers who aren't looking for a conclusive end to the entire series, Broadcast 7 is only the end of the first section of the series. The second section, or 'season' will begin with Broadcast 8, which exists in notes at the moment.]

The Spinward Fringe Podcast Broadcast 22: That First Season Finale

This is the good stuff! Things start off with a Broadcast 7 update Sylvie and I (Randolph Lalonde), talk about finishing Broadcast 7 and some of the notes that typically get passed between a writer and their editor near the end of a project.

We also discuss some of Jacob Valance's journey from Broadcast 1 to Broadcast 7 (without spoiling anything in Broadcast 7). We shed a little light on which characters are largely focused on in this book, and discuss some of the benefits of writing a series, as well as final polishing required to finish Broadcast 7 off.

We take a moment to answer the question; "Do I need to read the Expendable Few to know what's going on in Broadcast 7?" and we continue on to talk about the language and style in that book.

The topic of the discarded draft of Broadcast 7 comes up right before we talk about National Novel Writing Month a little. There are a few nuggets in here, and some insider peeks at what writing this book was like.

The ending of this podcast is rounded out with a short discussion of hype, and what to expect from Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework.

Everything in this podcast is accomplished without dropping spoilers, which is something we're very proud of!

Thank you so much for listening, the new season of The Spinward Fringe Podcast will begin as soon as the release date for Broadcst 7 can be announced, so keep an eye on this feed!

RL

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The Spinward Fringe Podcast Broadcast 21: The One With All The Updates!

In this, the last solo episode of the first season of the Spinward Fringe Podcast, I take you through updates on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework, the Spinward Fringe Role Playing Game, The Sons Of Brightwill, future Spinward Fringe Broadcasts, what I think about starting a completely different series of books in another genre, re-edits and so much more! I also talk about seeking an agent, and getting a TV show on the air.

Thank you for listening!

Links to things I mentioned: Horns, by Joe Hill. and Old Man's War and Redshirts by John Scalzi. The Facebook Page, and The Spinward Fringe Group on Goodreads.

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The Spinward Fringe Podcast Broadcast 20: The One With Two Dateless Writers.

Sylvie and I dig into the nitty gritty of our work on The Expendable Few and Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework after I provide a fairly significant update on the progress. There's still no release date, but we're closer.

Next we get into questions from email and from the Facebook Page, where I answer questions about Alice, her role in Broadcast 7, and Sylvie answers questions about her own writing. There's new stuff you've never heard before in this episode, and the Spinward Fringe community played a big part in determining what content ended up in this broadcast.

This week we play Dragonfly by Universal Hall Pass, please check them out if you like what you hear.

Other links from this Broadcast include: Neil Gaiman's post about Entitlement Issues post, Iron Sky, the official Spinward Fringe Facebook Page, and the Goodreads Forum. 

Thank you for listening!

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Expendable Few Facts

As I come to the last writing on the final draft of the Expendable Few, there are finally a number of certainties surrounding the book, its release, and how it fits into the Spinward Fringe series. Here's a list!

Facts about Expendable Few:

Expendable Few is currently 31 chapters +1 Epilogue. That's after cutting / substituting 9 chapters and taking 5 cracks at the epilogue.

Instead of writing a short novella, the Expendable Few has grown to the size of the average science fiction novel (about 85,000-100,000 words).

It'll be released on Smashwords first, and available for whatever people are willing to pay ($0.00 to $?.??)

A print version will be available within a month of the EBook's release.

30 days after the release on Smashwords, Expendable Few will appear on Amazon.com. Pricing will partially be dictated by Amazon. Within a few weeks of the book's appearance on Amazon it will pop up on Barnes and Noble, the iBookstore, Kobo and other retailers. It is important to mention that Smashwords will provide versions of the book for all readers, so no matter what you're using you can get the book on day one there.

Work on Broadcast 7 is starting back up as I work on the extra chapters in Expendable Few, no more material will be cut from EF, unless the editors require it.

I expect to have a release date for this book by Feb 14, hopefully MUCH earlier.

Our ebook formatting partner has been contacted, and they will be giving us a submission deadline today.

This book is experimental in every way, and unlike anything I've written in the genres of horror, fantasy, or science fiction, while drawing from all three genres.

It will read short - meaning that it is fast paced, and you'll be finished before you realize it.

All the central plotlines that begin in this book end in this book.

The book eventually connects to the Spinward Fringe series.

Expendable Few Draft Completion

The Expendable Few novella has become a small novel, and I'm finished drafting. I had several goals and a story to tell with this book, and I think I've accomplished what I set out to do.

Now I'm doing my last editorial pass, and sending chapters to both my editors as I finish polishing. The Expendable Few became a very difficult project. Some chapters took several weeks to think through, and I've never had a short work generate so much cut material. The cut material isn't the result of sloppy writing, most of it was experimental content that didn't work for the story, the characters, or it took the book in the wrong direction.

Like any experimental work, I was actually a little afraid to finish it, and I'm terrified to release it. History has shown me that, as long as my editor(s) sign off on the story, the book will do well, but the jury is still out.

I expect to finish my pass early this week, and the editors are already getting new chapters. Here's hoping that this book meets their standards. If it does, I may be looking at a release around Christmas Day. If the editors tell me it needs a little more work on my end, I expect it'll come out in late January or February.

After Expendable Few is finished I'm taking a month off to clear my head. For the last few months my brain has been occupied with the Expendable Few and Broadcast 7. I've taken some great notes that will help me finish 7,  but I want to clear my head before I sit down and edit what I have, then get to work on the second half of that book. I'm glad I wrote Expendable Few, it was instrumental in figuring out a few things for Broadcast 7 and beyond.

I'll share the editor's verdict once they share their thoughts.

Thank you for your patience,

RL

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7 & Expendable Few Update - September 2011

 The pressure to get a book out is beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Fortunately, I've experienced pressure before, so the previous statement is more an idle observation than it is any kind of complaint.

The absence of pressure would indicate a lack of demand. So, bring it on.

I can't provide a release date for The Expendable Few or Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework, but I will do the next best thing.

I've set a deadline for the completion of the Expendable Few. I will finish writing this book by October 7, and attempt to get it to the formatters by the end of that month. Test readers will see chapters during October as well.

The Expendable Few has hit more creative roadblocks and faced more in-process revision than anything I've ever written. In an effort to present a full fledged science fiction novel with all the trappings that I want for this story and the characters, I've increased the book's size to about 80,000 words, and drawn ideas I had reserved for other books in. The book needed it, and as for size, it might become even longer.

There was a time when I just wasn't satisfied with how the second half of this book was turning out, and I didn't know how to fix it. I'm past that now, and am writing the chapters that bring it up to snuff. There are ideas in this book that span politics, technology, character development, and take the book straight into strange fiction. Now it's something I know I'd enjoy as a reader.

There are at least a dozen chapters left, and there could be more. Getting this done before or on October 7 will be an interesting challenge.

What about Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7? It's about to enter its third and final draft. The existing 120,000 words are mostly going to remain the same, with a few additions and slight modifications - but that's what you do when you draft a book you've mostly been away from for a couple months. The work I'm doing on the  Expendable Few novel (formerly novella), has prompted me to up my game for Broadcast 7's last third. That's right, 120,000 words in I'm about two thirds done, so you can expect at least another forty thousand words in Broadcast 7.

Parts of Broadcast 8 may be pulled into 7 simply because there is no reason to keep a couple story lines in reserve. Without spoiling anything, there are whole sections of Broadcast 7 that introduce an entirely new side of the Spinward Fringe universe that I've been waiting to write about since The First Light Chronicles. Introducing that side of things is proving to be very important to the story, and to the development of several characters.

A few people have asked how tightly intertwined are the Expendable Few Novel and Broadcast 7 books? I can only say that you're going to want to read the Expendable Few before reading Broadcast 7. If you don't, you may not know you're missing something, but you will be. Since the Expendable Few is an unexpected novel, it'll be offered for free for all readers on Smashwords and for $0.99 on Amazon for the first month, possibly longer.

I'll be honest, I'm looking forward to finishing my work on the Expendable Few so I can get back to Broadcast 7. Everything is taking longer because I'm more interested in telling stories that best my previous work by far. The simple solutions, easy situations, vanilla characters and settings don't work for me regardless of how long or short they exist on the page. I'm also paying more attention to quality these days, in all aspects of what comes across my desk. So, sorry for the extended wait, I'll try to make it worth your while.

RL

[Next on the blog: Cosmetic and systemic changes are coming.]

Progress Report: The Expendable Few & Broadcast 7: Framework

Chapters of Spinward Fringe: Expendable Few stopped being sent to test readers weeks ago when the novel had to be re-developed. That sounds like a negative thing, like I'm saying that the book ran into big problems. That isn't the case here.

Everything the test readers and what people read on the leak thread remains the same. A very large chunk of the book is finished, and other than a last polish, it doesn't need any work. The rest is being written, things are coming together in more interesting ways than were originally planned.

That's what failed here, the original plan. Expendable Few could have been a nice, short trip that explained a few things about what has been going on in the background with Freeground as well as a few characters that have been running around between Broadcasts. At this point the story is gotten a little broader and, while it does fulfill the original goals, it also tells a better tale.

The connection the Expendable Few makes to Broadcasts 6-8 is much stronger than originally planned as well. At the same time, if someone were to forget to read this book and just read all the Broadcasts, then they wouldn't lack crucial information. Expendable Few is a side trip that pays dividends. That book is currently over 55,000 words long and will end up being a little over novella length.

That brings me to my next important update: The status of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework. The development of this novel is ongoing, and I'm very happy with how things are turning out. The current manuscript is about 120,000 words long. I expect that there is about 30% - 40% left to write, and finishing Expendable Few will help a great deal in developing the last portion of the book properly. The ending is looking good so far, and so does the story behind Broadcast 8.

How closely are the books connected? I suggest everyone read Expendable Few before reading Broadcast 7. There will be some background there that will enrich the story. Will either book end in a cliffhanger? No.*

There are two other writing projects that are taking some time, but only a few minutes a day. One of them is directly connected to the Spinward Fringe series. I'm not ready to talk about it.

It's times like these that I really appreciate how difficult it is to be a regular reader, especially where series are concerned. Waiting for that next book is a pain. I especially feel that pain with George RR Martin's work. So, when someone asks; "When is Broadcast 7 coming out?" I have real sympathy, but I also work under the knowledge that writing a decent book takes time. Writing the last book in a series (or a major leg of a series), takes much more time. All I have to say about the big WHEN at the moment, is that I'll be able to offer a release date when my work on the final draft is done. I hope it's soon too. I've been working on these two books for a year now. That's a long time to hold in the details of Broadcast 7. Thank you for reading, and thank you for waiting.

RL

*Broadcast 7 will have a firm ending. It will also have the first chapter or two of Broadcast 8.

A Return to Freeground In The Expendable Few Novella

The story in Broadcast 7 outgrowing the confines of one book has become a calling to tell a story that was left out of the Spinward Fringe series. Normally, when I cut a story out of a book it's because the book is already dense enough, or that story wasn't good enough to run as a sub-plot.

When I cut this recent story out of Broadcast 7: Framework, I did so knowing that I would still have to tell it. I still had to develop that plot line. More importantly, I had to tell it before the current Spinward Fringe series came to an end.

That plot line has become the upcoming free novella called The Expendable Few. If there was to be a fourth book in the old First Light Chronicles Series, this would be it. For all the readers wondering whatever happened to Freeground, here are your answers. As a further nod to the three novellas that started it all, Freeground, Limbo and Starfree Port, the new novella - Expendable Few - will be free.

There is a testing group already mostly in place, the novella is half finished, and if I've done everything well enough, someone could read this book without reading the rest of the Spinward Fringe series. It's far more interesting if you read it as part of the series, particularly as Broadcast 6.5, however. I'm offering it for free, AND it will be included with Broadcast 7 when it is released.

Here's a brief synopsis for The Expendable Few:

Freeground has changed since the return of the First Light. Instead of re-integrating with the rest of humanity, the Freeground Nation has become more xenophobic and Isolated. The Puritan Party has assumed control. Censorship, social engineering, and xenophobia are even more common, and thousands of citizens who have the means and opportunity to leave are doing so. The dream of living in a secure and free culture hasn't died entirely, however.

A few Freeground Citizens opposed to the Puritan Party put plans into motion that will either bring liberty back to the Freeground Nation or send the entire culture into a downward spiral. This tale is told from the perspective of a politically contrary Fleet Commander, Clark Patterson, who is obsessed with the adventures, intrigues and antics of the First Light crew. He knows everything one can about their short service aboard, and has every piece of contraband footage of them after they departed. He's even investigated the terrorist, Jacob Valance, whose very name is a curse according to the Puritan Party. His life, his world and those he holds most dear are shaken when he has a direct run in with a West Keeper - a spy working for a galactic cult called the Order of Eden that is bent on controlling industry and the natural wonders with their reach and beyond.

--- Synopsis Ends ---

The real thrill for me in writing the first half of the novella was writing Freeground as it was originally conceived. I honestly didn't have the patience to demonstrate the xenophobia and censorship that surrounded the Freeground culture before. I was too excited about telling the Jonas story, and I don't regret it. I don't regret it because in The Expendable Few the problems of censorship, control and xenophobia drive the story in the first half of this novella. A return to first person perspective after a million words or more of writing is also very interesting to me.

How far away is the release of The Expendable Few? We're talking weeks if the test group enjoys it. Only two members of the test group have read the Spinward Fringe series, the rest are new to it, so it's getting a trail by fire.

Work on Broadcast 7 continues, and that book will only be delayed for a couple of weeks because of The Expendable Few. I believe this is a necessary book to developing the final act in Broadcast 7, however. I'd much rather write the Expendable Few in its entirety rather than write it up as twenty pages of developmental notes and shut them away after Broadcast 7 is finished.

I hope you agree.

RL

[If you have no idea what I'm talking about in this post, then you should go download a copy of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins. It's free, and the download links are on the right hand side of this page.]

Framework Update - Because So Many People Are Asking

Five emails, a Facebook message, three private Twitter messages, several replies scattered across blog posts and now the pizza guy. That's how many (and how) people asked me when Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework will be finished since yesterday evening. At least the pizza guy didn't ask me to sign my receipt then run off with it this time. That was a good laugh.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that interest in the series has gone up, and I'm glad people want to know how this story ends (until it starts again in Broadcast 8). I just thought I'd answer the burning question in one place so I could refer everyone to this post.

Here's how long I expect things to take and why:

I'm hoping to finish writing my last draft of Broadcast 7: Framework by the end of March.

After a week or three of looking it over and making sure everything is as I'd like. I'll be collaborating with a second and third pair of eyes who will make sure I'm saying what I mean and really mean what I say. Also, they'll smack me upside the head if I've done something completely unrealistic or stupid. Tweaks will be made, the telling of the tale will be tightened.

When that's finished I'll be sending it off to a company that takes care of line editing for indie authors as well as larger publishing houses. I've seen their work and trust the author who recommended them. I also read what they did to his manuscript - top work.  It'll take about a month to get the work back from them, and another week or two for me and a couple other people to look over the final manuscript. Why add another six or more weeks to the wait? Editing has been the achilles heel of the series because I haven't been able to afford professional line editors until recently. Also, I've been impatient and rushed in the past. I'm told I have to stop that.

The final manuscript will go to a formatting house, where they'll make magically perfect versions of the book ready for Kindle, and all the EPub readers on the planet. That'll take one to two weeks.

So, that's how long it'll take and why - if everything goes as predicted. There's always a chance that the book will be longer than expected and I'll need a couple extra weeks, or a group of ninja assassins will seek out and kill everyone I'm planning to work with. The good news is that I haven't been working on any other writing project, I've barely been thinking about anything else, to be honest. The dishes and laundry are piling up!

I love writing this series, and in all honesty I'd write this book if there was no one waiting for it. I am doing my last draft very differently as well. It is taking longer, but the results are much more to my liking. I've learned my lesson from rushing previous Broadcasts and will continue to pay the price (literally and figuratively), for the foreseeable future when I take another pass on Broadcasts 0-6 then pay for an editing team to give them a final polish. That comes after Broadcast 7 is on the digital shelves.

I thank you for your patience, am really happy you've enjoyed the ride so far, and hope you stick around.

Addendum: I'm reminded by another author (who has a lot more experience than I), that most books aren't released for between 6-18 months after they've been written. To be honest, that makes me feel much better about the time frame I'm working on. Thanks Kim!

RL

[Anyone have any paper plates?]

Spinward Fringe Is Set To Grow In 2011

Interest in the Spinward Fringe series is growing so fast right now that it got a little harder to concentrate on Broadcast 7 for about a week. It feels like I'm living in dog years sometimes. In the space of a day I often write for several hours, take care of business for an hour or two - for several hours a day recently - and I spend a lot of my time every day looking to the future if I don't have to deal with other mundane stuff. That doesn't include all the time I spend looking after the back catalog of Spinward Fringe books and the extra writing I'm doing on the encyclopedia, interactive concepts and grabbing a few minutes of silence just to clear my head. Often that's when the best ideas strike.

My job is to entertain you. That's how I see it. I don't do it for free, but I come pretty cheap. Lately I've been thinking about how I go about that.

For the most part I think I'm on the right course. I think and write my way through each novel until it's complete, try to improve the story and editing quality with each release, and make sure it's where you can find it at a fair price. Included in that price is an unspoken membership with a group of people who know all about Spinward Fringe, and I'm beside myself with joy at the sight of so many of you turning up on the Goodreads forum. Why? It's simple, I watch that board because it's there as a safety net suspended between book releases. I can keep in touch, read about your thoughts, and answer questions at length - I do tend to go on.

I think the Goodreads board is the best thing I've done since making Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins free. What's my next move? I'm going to continue developing the online store. It's important because there are a few people eager to get their hands on signed copies of the books or other objects, props especially. I'll be the first customer for most of the items you see, the second customers will be the drawing winners.

Despite these exterior things, which are more like a part time job, I'm continuing work on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework. Why is it taking so long? The persistent need to write this book to my best ability, while pulling the trigger on everything I've been planning since Freeground (the first novella in Broadcast 0), has driven me to do extra research, an extra draft and behave as though this is the last book I'll ever write. Therefore, it has to be the best. Imagine setting up a field of fireworks. In the daylight it looks like you're planting rows of tubes and wires. Once you're finished and the sun goes down all that work pays off when the atmosphere is filled with a spectacular, explosive frenzy of light. That's what I'm going for with this book, and so far I'm pleased with what I have.

So if the peripheral things slow down for a while as I finish Broadcast 7 (the blog, Twitter, the store, etc...), then it's because I'm doubling and tripling the time I spend writing for weeks at a time. Broadcast 7 is rolling like a film in my head at this point, and I'm just trying to keep up.

One thing I forget while I'm working away is that few people see progress. I may have been developing the store for months now, but it's still not ready for launch, so there's nowhere to show what's been done so far. I've been working even harder on Broadcast 7 while taking notes on Broadcast 8 & 9 for about a year and nothing is ready for release. While that's completely normal for a novel, it also doesn't show progress. Two years ago I started work on The Sons Of Brightwill, and aside from a couple pictures popping up of the cover, fewer than half a dozen people have read any part of the book. Experiments in CGI have led to some good formative work and concept proofs in still images, but no one has seen those either since they're not quite there yet.

Other projects in early development include an encyclopedia, a side novel in the Spinward Fringe universe, two horror novels, a comedy, a small production company (budget permitting), and other boring legal stuff I have to take care of, but once that's out of the way, there's even more potential. It's what's hidden behind the scenes that tells me that 2011 will be a big year for Spinward Fringe and other creative pursuits.

Most of these projects are in their final stages or rolling on their own momentum, so you can expect the fruits of many labours. It was inevitable. As long as I keep working, various projects will mature until they're ready to see the light of day. I can't wait.

RL

[Thank you for accepting the Spinward Fringe series into your imaginations and bookshelves - be they digital or physical. Happy 2011!]

Store Will Not Be Ready For The Holidays & Other News

I was honestly hoping to keep things on track while I moved and get all the editing for the final revision of Broadcast 0 done in time, but it wasn't to be. It didn't help that moving was a bit more expensive than expected either.

The only failure here is the impossibility of getting things up and running in time to ship items for the Holiday Season, however. The timeline has slipped into January / February, but the details of the store itself haven't changed. Rushing into things with this would be a mistake, not to mention it would take the focus away from writing. By taking more time to set things up I know I can get things right the first time and keep things easy so it doesn't take much effort to run. I speak from experience, having years invested in retail at the management level and below.

In better news, the editing on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins is complete, and it'll be available for free from Smashwords in the next few days. I'm also awaiting the delivery of product samples from Mongolia (silk manufacturer), and looks like local T-Shirt printers will be able to supply the styles I'm looking for. There are other positive developments, but everything is moving a little slower than expected. Instead of forcing things and rushing for the Holidays, I'm going to let them happen at their own pace and turn my attention to working on Broadcast 7.

How is work on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework going? I'm on the second draft, and I don't think there will be a third. I'm very happy with how things are turning out even though I had to cut two plot lines so I wouldn't still be working on this a year from now. There is a lot of milage left in the Spinward Fringe series, that's more obvious now than ever.

As a side note, I'm almost finished working on an early test image for a 3D rendered version of Spinward Fringe, and I hope to show it to a few long time readers soon. It's heavily stylized but medium detail, so it wouldn't cost a fortune to render scenes in the future - funding permitting.

It looks like 2011 will be a year of writing, fund raising (through the store, mostly), and contact cultivation. I'll be looking for industry contacts to start looking at the logistics of expanding the Spinward Fringe universe into a visual medium. Developing something like this takes years, so the sooner I start the better.

RL

[A special thanks goes out to Jason Black from Plot to Punctuation for his editing services.]

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework Is The End

Exercise and manual labour are good for a writer. To many of us that's the simple truth and as I've been packing with more and more urgency as my moving date (15th of November!), draws closer, a few things about Broadcast 7 have come into clearer focus.

In Broadcast 5 I introduced two minor characters that are slaves in one respect or another. In a way, slavery and mastery are very important to the whole Rogue Element Trilogy. Now that I've written a great deal of material for Broadcast 7 and had some time away from it to think about it for a couple days, I'm realizing that those themes actually support the entire trilogy and will be crucial to delivering the ending.

Writing is going pretty well on Broadcast 7. If I were writing without paying any attention to theme, or with no interest of providing a real ending to the entire series, then I would be finished by now. Everyone would have 120,000 words in hand and after a bit of reading they'd finish. A few things would be resolved, a couple characters would have developed in interesting ways, (I hope), and everyone would look forward to Broadcast 8 (again, I hope).

That's not the book I'm writing, however.

Broadcast 7 is the end. If you're one of the readers screaming for me to just come to a conclusion, well, here it is. For all intents and purposes, there doesn't ever have to be another Spinward Fringe novel after Broadcast 7. Many of the characters you've been rooting for will arrive at some meaningful place in their lives, questions will be answered, and you will finally understand what motivates some characters (*cough* Hampon *cough*), and why others are so screwed up (*hiccup* Eve *hiccup*).

Other plot lines will come to a close as well, I'll leave you to guess. The book will come to a thunderous close that will hopefully surpass everything I've done before. To this day I receive more email about the end of the First Light Chronicles Trilogy than any other book. When I wrote the ending for that trilogy I knew it was one of the best things I'd ever done. It delivered the point I was trying to make with that trilogy: Jonas entered as an individual who primarily only cared about himself, and by the end he'd grown into a man who was concerned about his entire crew. Jonas' journey was always intended as a journey from the selfish to the selfless. That's why it was written in first person perspective, and that's why I knew the First Light Chronicles had to end and change into Spinward Fringe. It took a serious plot shake up to bring that on, and, while the ending of Broadcast 7 won't resemble the ending of Starfree Port, I'm hoping to arrive at a similar magnitude.

For me to really consider Spinward Fringe for adaptation into other formats I need to finish Broadcast 7. Broadcasts 1 - 7 are what I'd consider enough material for a 13 episode season. With a little extension and a few character expansion episodes there's enough material there for 22 episodes of 42 minute television. I'm not saying there's a TV deal in the works, there isn't. What I'm saying is that I need to demonstrate what an entire season of Spinward Fringe looks like on the page, then I can start really tracking how close your support gets me to creating Spinward Fringe in another form.

While television and film are fantastic mediums with vast potential and I like writing in a very visual style, it's also very important for Broadcast 7 to be an incredible experience as a novel. It's a monolithic milestone and I won't be satisfied until I can sit back and say; "this is the best work I've ever done." That's why the realizations I'm having now are so important. There have been subtle themes, important places and representations of humanity that took a great deal of work and research to present in the other books. It's Space Opera, so they're not as important as they would be in a "serious literary work" but they're there.

I believe that that kind of research makes the universe I'm writing in much more believable, the events truer to actual possibility and the characters easier to relate to, so I've been keeping it up in Broadcast 7. In fact, I'm using more research than ever for this book, and I doubt anyone will notice in the end, which, strangely, is my goal.

In short, work on Broadcast 7 is going well, you can look for it in the first few months of 2011 unless there's a hitch in editing or the book grows to over 200,000 words.

Here's good news for everyone who doesn't want the series to end - and I hear there are a couple of you out there. Broadcast 8 is the beginning of what I like to call Season Two. 

Broadcast 7 will resolve a great deal, but there is still so much I want to do with the characters and the universe. Planning for Broadcast 8 has already broken down because there was too much material for one book. I've had to separate the stories in that book into Broadcasts 8, 9 and 10. Things are a little different after Broadcast 7, especially since most of the books will be more self contained plot wise. There are some characters that people love (their words, not mine!) that I'll be going into a lot more depth with and I'm simply not finished developing the universe.

I also want to restructure the story telling to make these books a little easier to write. If I succeed it'll be easier to plan, draft and edit each book so I can start putting two or more Spinward Fringe books out every year even if I'm working on something else at the same time.

What does it all mean?

Well, people who stop reading the series at Broadcast 7 should be fairly satisfied, but they'll be missing out if they don't follow us to Broadcast 8.

RL

[Next on the blog: The big move and first official Red Lad Production Office]

Quietly Working Away...

So work on Broadcast 7 is underway and once again I'm at that awkward phase where I've said everything I can about it.

The problem with being a novelist with an active blog is that the life of the virtual space depends on updates, interesting information and a little humour if you can manage it. I'd love to indulge, to be honest I miss writing scathing movie reviews and poking fun at bad television. [I still dare anyone with a cast iron stomach or a touch of crazy to try the Secret Life Of The American Teenager drinking game].

Sadly, I just don't like splitting my writing time like that, and I'm sure many people who just finished reading Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6 would rather I spend more time writing Broadcast 7 than plonking away on the blog. Last year I actually spent way too much time playing around with social networking, enough to decide to ignore the whole time sucking vortex as much as possible. Thankfully, I can check things once every few days instead of every few hours like some people, and I have no interest in informing anyone that I'm taking a shower, eating a sandwich (with pictures), going for a walk, talking to someone on the phone, or watching television. Strangely, more than three quarters of all social networking statements consist of that kind of airy update, which are only really useful to burglars or stalkers. I couldn't care less about what Demi and Ashton are doing unless I'm sneaking into their living room to make off with their big screen, but I digress.

My point is, I'd rather not engage in distractions, and I'm pretty sure most self motivated people can understand. I write full time, and aside from a crowd of readers, I don't have a boss. That made it pretty easy to tab out of my word processor every half hour to check Twitter, or Facebook, (which I've come to call Wastebook), or to jot something on the blog. I discovered that, not only were those distractions bad for time wasting, they were making it pretty easy to repeatedly lose focus. I blame social media for a whole re-draft of Broadcast 6. The other two drafts were necessary, but there was a whole section of jumpy writing that was cut then rewritten from scratch - about thirty eight thousand words worth.

My old philosophy of not talking about a book I was working on and keeping distractions to a minimum is working at the moment, and considering I finished writing over half a dozen or so books before 2005, before the advent of social networking that way, I'm going to revert to that state of writing.

What does it all mean?

Well, it just means that this blog will be a little quiet, you won't see hourly Tweets, and I'll be checking Wastebook every couple of days, maybe a little less. It's a good thing, trust me. The less time I spend distracted by online life, the more time I'm spending writing. As a side note, I'd like to say that I do enjoy Emails, comments and other interactions with you guys, and I'm certainly not telling you to cut it out, I'm just saying that it may take an extra few hours, or an extra day for me to get back to you.

RL

[The Secret Life Of The American Teenager Drinking Game: Every time you hear someone repeat a word in the space of 5 seconds, take a shot. If it's a character's name, you can avoid taking a shot by shouting the name aloud and pointing to the person you want to see take your shot for you. If more than one person passes their shot onto one poor sucker this way, the sucker only has to take one shot even though many fingers may be wagging at them. Good luck, don't die.]

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework - What To Expect

"Every few generations there is a leap in technology so drastic the conditions of living change. All your fears are justified."

That line was first seen in The First Light Chronicles Omnibus: Starfree Port (also known as Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins). The idea of framework technology started there, but has been one of the core fixtures of the series ever since. The primary reason why it's been in the books all along is simple; there's a point, a conclusion that delivers on Doctor Marcelles dark prediction. How? Well that will be told in Broadcast 7: Framework, which is also the third part of the Rogue Element Trilogy.

The Rogue Element Trilogy was always meant to be the season one finale, if you will, of the ongoing Spinward Fringe series. When I say I write this like a television series, I'm not kidding. The First Light Chronicles is like a TV movie or mini-series, while the Spinward Fringe series can be measured out in a longer, on going television series that's marked like seasons of television. How long is a season? After much consideration over the last two years, I've decided it's seven books long. Deconstructing the scenes and story lines neatly provide twenty one or twenty two episodes of television. My white board got a serious workout while I puzzled that together.

That brings me back to the Rogue Element Trilogy. Broadcast 5: Fracture was largely a wish fulfillment book for me. I wrote it as though it was in real time and directed like a film. Every perspective led easily into the next scene, joined by some kind of contact between characters whether one was thinking of the next, or they were communicating with each other, and then the baton would be passed. 

I also got to show a lot of the characters existing strengths. The crew were at their best, and in Broadcast 5 they had the opportunity to function in a challenging setting while trying to address some personal drama. We also got to see a couple characters at rest, Ashley in particular. She was our guide as we visited the bunks and the Pilot's Den, where we were reminded that the crew had lives off duty, and it wasn't so bad for some of them. She also added a little swagger and sauciness back into the book that I thought was missing in Spinward Fringe Broadcast 4: Frontline.

In Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments, the struggle is on, and many of the characters have to deal with situations that aren't easily resolved. A number of characters have to operate outside their regular skill set, and a few emotional challenges confront them along the way. I'm of the mind set that the second part of a trilogy should always be the most emotionally driven, and introduce intrigue that will be important in the final part of the trilogy. I also took the opportunity to introduce a type of setting that I've wanted since  Broadcast 2.

Waiting almost two years to introduce this setting has nearly driven me bibbildy bonkers, and I'm not even disappointed that very little of the research that went into it (over eighteen months worth), has been used yet. Anyone who has read Broadcast 6 should know which setting I'm writing about. Nothing is simple, to everything there is an impending cost, and you've only seen a glimpse of a few small patches of land. The characters that come along with this setting took a lot of doing as well, and they're as important as Cheshire in Alice in Wonderland. I had to get them right, and I had to make sure that they were interesting for different reasons. Why did I introduce a new setting that has a vast potential for milage? I'll need it. It'll be important in Broadcast 7 for a few reasons, and in future Broadcasts.

One more thing about Broadcast 6: the bad guys are back. The second part of the trilogy gives us the opportunity to learn more about many of the characters, including the ones who, while they may think they're on the right path, really stand to do more harm than good.

Broadcast 7: Framework is the book everyone has been waiting for. Unlike traditional science fiction season finales, most of the plot lines that have been running since Broadcast 0 and Broadcast 1 will come to a thunderous end. Loose strings? Most of them will be tied up. Questions left unanswered, and mysteries left unsolved? Broadcast 7 is the book of solutions. I'm not giving anything away here, the third part of a trilogy is traditionally about resolution.

Our favourite characters are in difficult situations thanks to the events in Broadcast 6, which did resolve a lot of the immediate problems that started in Broadcast 5 after a fashion, but they aren't operating on a stable foundation. Broadcast 7 is the third part of a trilogy, meaning that everything in the other two parts of the trilogy (Broadcast 5 and 6), should be dealt with, but it's also a coalescent book, meaning that our characters will find themselves facing greater challenges than ever as the drama, intrigue and momentum that has been generated since the very first novella, Freeground - comes crushing down on them.

Many of my readers are fairly new to long form serialization and I completely understand how frustrating it is to come to the end of one of the books, realizing that the ending to the whole thing remains elusive. In a way, Broadcast 7 is for you. While no one will ever see me write; "and they all lived happily ever after." this will be the closest thing you'll ever see in Spinward Fringe. The answers are here, and most of them don't lead to more questions.

While Broadcast 7 is the ending of a trilogy, and the first "Season" of Broadcasts, it's important to remember that, after all is said and done, you, the reader have been quite vocal about wanting more, so there will be indication of more to come at the end of Broadcast 7: Framework. While I will be releasing a horror and fantasy novel in 2011, I also plan on writing one or two new Broadcasts before 2012, not including Broadcast 7, because there are so many other stories left to tell.

Over two years ago I said that the readers would determine when I was finished with Spinward Fringe, effectively cancelling it by no longer offering support. The opposite has happened. There are more readers than ever, and I can't wait to finish Broadcast 7 so I can release it to the world.

Overall Broadcast 7 will contain almost all the ideas regarding the ongoing plot lines that I have been holding back. Those unanswered questions? I've been waiting to tell you the answers for years. There are scenes and character interactions I've been waiting to delve into as well, and while I may not get to all of them, you'll see the important bits. I can honestly say that I've taken myself completely off the map of what I know with some of the ideas I'll explore in this book, and that's where Science Fiction does its best work.

The best is yet to come.

RL

Now to get back to work on it.

Concentration

Today was spent on writing over 4,800 words and editing over 10,000. What I realized while working was how much I have left to do before I can hand the book over to my editor and the beta readers.

Broadcast 6 tells a broader story than Broadcast 5, and I'd have it no other way. What I'm doing now, during this preliminary editing phase, is writing in sections and cutting away others so every moment lives up to its full potential. Characters have to develop properly, the story has to be plausible and entertaining. The dialog must pop and flow. The book must feel whole. I'm adding entire chapters, and I've removed an entire perspective that was distracting and drew attention away from the important journeys taken by characters in this book.

Yes, that's a lot of work, but I'm really enjoying it and, more importantly, it must be done. This isn't a post about how this book will take longer than expected, however. No, we're finished with that. The final release date has been set, the link to it is at the end of this post.

In this post I'm telling you that I'm dropping off the radar while I concentrate on getting this done.

Some time while I was editing I realized how often I tabbed out to another program. Whether I was checking forum posts, Twitter or Facebook, they were all needless distractions, and my work flow will go much more smoothly without them. I'll get all this done on time, and I"ll be more focused so producing work I'm happy with earlier on will be easier.

So if you're wondering why my Twitter feed is dead, or my Facebook wall is bare over the next week or two, know that I'm doing something more important: putting my finishing touches on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments, getting it off to my editor and beta readers. Immediately following the completion of this book, I'll be getting to work on Broadcast 7.

The only thing I'll be watching other than my word processor, is the counter on the front page of this site.

RL

See you on the other side!

The Votes Keep Coming In...

It's pretty nice to hear that the majority of your readers prefer your main character. So far Jake (Jacob Valance), is the clear leader with over 40% of the votes. Lucious Wheeler, the most mentioned villain in the series, judging from what I read in emails, is the least favorite character.

Alice is in second with 21% of the votes, which is slightly surprising.

A few people have been asking why Ayan, Frost and Stephanie aren't listed in the favorite character poll. The answer is simple, really. Stephanie was a central character in Spinward Fringe Broadcast 3: Triton, and Ayan is at the center of the whole Rogue Element Trilogy (Broadcasts 5, 6 and 7). As for Frost, well, I thought about including him in the list, but I honestly don't think the world is ready for a book about Shamus Frost. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

So, what's going on with Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments? I'm drafting towards the end quickly, my editor can't wait to dig in, and I'm hoping to be at the end of this draft by the middle of next week. Editing and proofing will most likely take a month or longer, depending on notes from my editor.

I think it's turning out well, and things are looking good for Broadcast 7, even though whole chunks of that book have found their way into Broadcast 6. I'm really enjoying this final draft, and I can't wait to make it available. We're all working at a good pace to make that happen in June.

Until then, I hope the votes keep coming in, and there's another poll ready for when this one ends.

RL

[EDIT: My deadline for my first edit of this book has been pushed up to May 28. That means I have to have it in my editor's hands on that day. More info on that in a post this weekend.]

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments - What's Taking So Long?

That's what people are asking, and considering how long it's been since Broadcast 5 was released, it's the right question. Not many authors give people the the nitty gritty details on how a book is written, and in the next couple paragraphs you'll probably learn why.

Fragments has been the most challenging work I've ever engaged in. Before November, 2009 I scrapped the first half of the book, then I tried to start over during National Novel Writing Month. I did fairly well, completing more than half of the book again, but after much reworking and editing, I've scrapped that as well, keeping two concepts that are the core of what I'm doing now.

Why scrap the drafts? The first draft delivered something I feel has been seen in film, in this series already, and some of it felt like filler even though it wasn't. There wasn't a story worth telling there, it didn't have the punch and drive that I try to maintain in my work and it didn't even come close to surpassing the previous book.

The second draft has been scrapped for a broad variety of reasons, but something good happened while I was working on it, something important to the story and I'm carrying a few very important ideas forward. If I didn't do the work this book wouldn't be as well developed as it is now.

The mad thing about this is that the process I'm outlining here is something that happens all the time. Most books go through multiple drafts. Ideas get tossed aside while small details get brought to the foreground. What makes Fracture even more challenging is that it's the middle act of a trilogy and part of a major turning point in the entire series. Setting the stage for Broadcast 7 is important, but Fracture also has to have its own story, it has to be a worthwhile read on its own, and the version I'm working on now provides that, finally.

While hearing that I've scrapped two versions of this book is discouraging, I'm sure, there is a silver lining. The third version of this book, the one I'm working on now, is worth reading. It's the tense middle act of a three act play that presents drama on multiple levels, an interesting point of view, growth for more than one character, the products of over a year of geographical, government and warfare research. It's in there, and I finally feel like all these things fit together.

I'm writing the last 12 or so chapters and editing with hopes that I blow my editor's mind, then get it to all of you sometime before June. I'm not going to say for sure when this book will arrive simply because I've learned what happens when you rush a book out with the previous Broadcasts in the series. I'd rather take extra time and do it right the first time instead of being left with something I have to revise later because it needs polishing.

Thank you very much for hanging in there, if you liked what's come before, you're going to love this.

RL