The Expendable Few Briefly Explained

The reason why I started writing Expendable Few was because I wanted to write (in short form), what's been going on with Freeground since our heroes left.

After about 2,000 words of transcribing the timeline that's been in my head for a couple years, I decided that it made sense to write a novella instead of a document that no one would ever see as a whole. There are plans for an encyclopaedia to be released that should also serve as a tabletop role playing game setting book, but much of the timeline for Freeground wouldn't be useful to that kind of text.

Clark Patterson, Mary Reed and the others were born. The Expendable Few novella also serves as connective tissue between the Origins trilogy and the last book in this part of the series - Broadcast 7: Framework. It has become a challenge that, I believe, will affect all my future work, regardless of genre.

It is in first person perspective, and told in the present tense. Imagine you're reviewing a document put together by Freeground Intelligence that is made to explain certain events using forensic analysis, personal logs, and other data. The person central to this is Freeground Fleet Commander Clark Patterson, who happens to have a near obsession with the First Light crew. The book begins months after the last of the command team from that ship have gone, and a political body called the Puritan Party have taken control of Freeground. They see the adventures of the First Light as a warning, and are doing everything in their power to isolate and control the people of Freeground Nation. Clark Patterson finds himself thrust into the absolute centre of this political struggle while retracing the footsteps of the First Light Crew under the instruction of Fleet Intelligence. The Expendable Few fits before and during Broadcast 7 on the timeline.

The feedback from Test Readers has been good so far, and they've already made important suggestions for improvement that have been implemented. Expendable Few has been a great guinea pig.

In the end, the Expendable Few will be a stand alone Spinward Fringe novella that one doesn't have to read to understand Broadcast 7. Judging from the feedback, I don't think anyone who is already reading the series will want to miss it, however. Especially since it'll be available for free on Smashwords and for 99 cents on Amazon.com.

RL

[Thanks to Dorian for asking a question on the Facebook Page that became a blog post.]

Now Available At Smashwords: Spinward Fringe Frontline!

Writing Spinward Fringe Frontline was the greatest writing challenge I've ever undertaken. It's the longest book I've ever written, weighing in at over two hundred thousand words, and the story's layers functioned in a way that closed out a few old plotlines and blew a few new ones wide open.

To date I've never written a more complex book that makes no compromises for the plight of the characters. They get into trouble, they stay in trouble, it's not fun, swashbuckling trouble either and I try my best to drag the reader down into the character's problems (physical and mental). According to a few readers I actually succeeded, while others have enjoyed it as a space opera novel with a much more serious voice than the ones that came before it.

I'm proud to present Spinward Fringe Frontline on Smashcovers today, and I hope you enjoy it.

Here's the synopsis:

Captain Valance and his crew are finally learning to work as a unit. Oblivious to the grander designs of the Order of Eden, they are drawn into a brutal conflict over a planet the Order is depopulating so they can use it for themselves. Who will survive the Frontline?

Smashwords is offering Spinward Fringe: Frontline in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)

This weekend I'll be posting an extensive article here talking about what's going on with the next book in the Spinward Fringe Series: Rogue Element and I'll be talking about the future of the series. It'll be worth checking in for!

RL

[I'm looking for a few readers to post reviews on Amazon.com and Smashwords. Please send me an email after you've posted your review, there will be a free eBook in it for you!]

Now Available At Smashwords: Spinward Fringe Triton

Of all the books in the Spinward Fringe series so far, Triton has generated the most email responses. People seemed to enjoy Resurrection and Awakening, but they absolutely absorbed, read, and re-read Triton.

To be honest it was a book with a soul of its own, writing it felt very different from the others. Spinward Fringe Frontline is again very different (Broadcast 4), and it's getting quite a few emails as well, but there will always be something special about Resurrection and Triton.

When I think of Spinward Fringe, those two books are certainly touch stones, they represent the core of the series in some very important ways.

That's why I'm very pleased to present Spinward Fringe Triton on Smashwords, my new iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony Reader, and general distributor. They seem to be able to provide for practically any modern format.

Here's the synopsis:

After narrowly escaping a brush with an old enemy Captain Valance and his crew reach out to their allies for help. Meanwhile, allies and enemies from his past are set to reveal themselves in unexpected ways, changing his life and the galaxy forever.

Smashwords is offering Spinward Fringe: Triton in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)

Friday Spinward Fringe Frontline will launch on the site. I hope this helps everyone out there who have been trying to get access to my work but couldn't do so conveniently because they use an iPhone, iPod Touch or Sony Reader. I'm glad I could finally entertain you. You can download your copy from the Smashwords site or use your Stanza reader and the Smashwords ebook store.

RL

[I'm looking for a few readers to post reviews on Amazon.com and Smashwords. Please send me an email if you're interested, there will be a free eBook in it for you!]

Spinward Fringe Resurrection and Awakening: Now Available At Smashwords

The Smashwords release parade continues.

Today I'm proud to present (not for the first time), Spinward Fringe Resurrection and Awakening combined in one digital file. This is the last collected science fiction book I'll be offering. Resurrection and Awakening were both on the small side, so it made sense to combine them for the Smashwords release. They are available separately as well if you prefer.

I'm glad to see it finally available for the iPhone through the Stanza reader. There's a Sony Reader format version as well.

Here's the synopsis for Spinward Fringe Resurrection:

Captain Jacob Valance has no memory of his past. Left on a strange ship in an unfamiliar sector of the galaxy, he was forced to begin a new life.

Years pass and after much hard work he's earned a reputation as a man who can recover lost property, hunt down hardened criminals and go where others fear to tread.

All the while he's been searching for clues to his past and a better method of making his way through the galaxy for himself and his ragtag crew. Little does he know great change and the path to his past lay before him.

Here's the synopsis for Spinward Fringe Awakening:

The crew of the Samson are caught up in the problems of their Captain as his past starts to catch up with him. Just as new allies start to fall in line old enemies come creeping out of the shadows, putting everyone at risk.

While the crew struggles to deal with their own problems, Regent Galactic begins putting a plan in motion that will bring about the fourth fall of man and position their Corporation as the sole savior of the civilized outer fringe of space. Their ambition and greed spell disaster for the bulk of mankind.

The threads of Jake Valance's past start to come together in this, the second part of the Spinward Fringe series. He's at the same time to be the benefactor and victim of a personal history he knows nothing about.

Smashwords is offering Spinward Fringe: Resurrection and Awakening in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)


Writing the Spinward Fringe series has been at the same time my greatest writing challenge and a purely enjoyable experience. I've been fortunate enough to have a number of readers (mostly Mobipocket users), who enjoy the series. I hope this fortune continues with Smashwords so I can entertain a broader audience.

RL

[If you're looking for the printed edition of this book, you can find it at Amazon.com]

First Light Chronicles Omnibus: Now Available At Smashwords

Yesterday I released the First Light Chronicles: Freeground free eBook on Smashwords. Today it's the First Light Chronicles Omnibus, which contains the entire trilogy: Freeground, Limbo and Starfree port.

It's finally available for the iPhone (through Stanza, just browse to the Smashwords store), the Sony Reader and any other reader you could imagine.

When will the Spinward Fringe Series appear? Soon. In fact, some of them may already be there.

To celebrate its release to the iPhone and iPod touch I'm offering a 25% discount code [NK87H] until August 7th.

Here's the synopsis:

In the middle of the darkest region of explored space sits one bright beacon; Freeground Station. Serving as a supply and trading post it is home to a select number of human beings that will take an unlikely chance to make a difference in their end of the galaxy.

Jonas and his friends spent their spare time in tactical simulations and drew the attention of Freeground Fleet Command when they hacked into restricted combat scenarios for elite trainees and defeated all comers.

Instead of punishing Jonas and his friends they offered them an opportunity to undertake a dangerous and exciting mission. They were to go out into the Galaxy and acquire any advantages that would improve life for Freegrounders.

This series is about their first voyage together, the challenges they face, and the relationships they forge with each other and the beings they meet along the way.

The First Light Chronicles Omnibus contains the entire First Light Chronicles Trilogy. Freeground, Limbo and Starfree Port.

---End Synopsis---

Smashwords is offering the First Light Chronicles Omnibus in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)


I hope everyone enjoys this book as much as I enjoyed writing it over a year ago. My work on the Spinward Fringe Series (which follows this collection), continues and I have to say it's been a fantastic experience so far.

I'll be releasing books on Smashwords throughout the week. When I've finished them all I'll be providing a peek into the upcoming Spinward Fringe book: Rogue Element.

Enjoy!

RL

[If you're looking for the printed edition of this book, you can find it at Amazon.com Oh, and please ignore the signed editions on sale for over $40.00 there, they're all fakes.]

Freeground: Now Available For Everything, Even the iPhone

I've been trying to find a good distributor and conversion service for the ePub format. In doing so I may have found the ultimate distributor.

Mobipocket has been very kind to me, but since Amazon decided that their iPhone reader (said to have been completed in August 2008), would not be released people have been less and less interested. [EDIT: Amazon stopping Mobipocket from releasing their iPhone reader has not been confirmed by Mobipocket or Amazon, they're silent on the subject.]

Smashwords has provided a free conversion and distribution solution that's above and beyond what I could have expected.

That doesn't mean I'm abandoning the format, in fact, Mobipocket readers will always have access to my work at Mobipocket.com or from Smashword's site. There are differences between the two sources. Mobipocket's files come DRM protected and have an index. Smashwords books are not DRM protected but don't have an index. Smashwords is working on a good indexing system, and considering how quickly things are developing over there I'm sure it's coming soon. This is NOT me announcing a switch to Smashwords. All my work will continue to be available from Mobipocket, Amazon.com (printed and Kindle), and Lulu.com. I'm not dropping any distribution avenue, just adding a very good one.

I'll write more about Smashwords and what I'm doing there over the coming week.

For now, the free eBook that stands as the beginning of the First Light Chronicles and Spinward Fringe Series is available at Smashwords for free. You can access the book using your Stanza reader on your iPhone / iPod Touch, just head over to the Smashwords store and get your free copy.

Here's the synopsis:

Large enough to support an entire civilization, one of the last free ports all alone in the dark, Freeground Station is about to come under siege. Able to fight off periodical assaults and attempted takeovers in the past, they are losing ground technologically and with no nearby allies they find themselves resorting to unorthodox methods to improve their situation.

Jonas Valent, once a former engineer with the Freeground Fleet has been reduced to a trade and supply agent, a glorified port traffic director. In his spare time he and his friends engage in anonymous combat with anyone who opposes them in station wide simulations. Their success rate and original thinking have earned them a great deal of attention. Fleet Command has no choice but to send them on a very real, very dangerous mission: to go into the galaxy and acquire allies and technology on their behalf.

Smashwords is offering the First Light Chronicles: Freeground in:
Online HTML reader
Online Java reader
Kindle (mobi format)
Epub (Stanza, other)
PDF
LRF (Sony)
PDB (Palm)

Smashwords is a distributor made for indie writers and so far they've treated me extremely well while barely lifting a finger. I hope this makes for a good place for everyone to pick up my books and I'll announce the arrival of each one as they're adapted. Now is a great time to spread the word about the First Light Chronicles and the Spinward Fringe Series. I have to give everyone who reads my work credit, they've been very supportive and adept at making my work more well known.

More to come...

RL

[Meanwhie, work on Spinward Fringe Rogue Element continues!]

Somacow: The Spinward Fringe Resurrection Review

Geoff took the time to review Spinward Fringe Resurrection, the first book of that series. He and the other fellows at the Somacow Radio show (J and Ross), have already reviewed the First Light Chronicles series (Freeground, Limbo and Starfree Port), and did a good, entertaining job of it.

With the Spinward Fringe series going strong, I'm glad to see that the guys are interested and that Geoff is continuing with the reviews. Apparently, Geoff is very happy to continue them as well, give it a listen!

For the rest of the reviews you can check the links on the right (under Reviews and Interviews) and for more SomaCow as well as other radio shows on the network visit www.somacow.net To hear their show live, report to Ustream and do a search for Somacow between 1pm and 4pm on Saturdays. I'll invariably be in the chatroom unless I'm on a golden writing streak.

RL

Starfree Port: Under Serious Review

First Light Chronicles: Starfree Port is currently being reviewed by my editor from beginning to end. Within the next couple of days I'll know if this bird flies or if I just baked a great big turkey.

In the meantime, the editor for Fate Cycle Book I: Sins of the Past just finished a full review of the novel. That's right, I have a different editor for that series. After a minor clean up, it will be ready for a reprint through my more modern publisher who will be offering copies at a much more affordable price. I'll be glad to see that book find a new home. I will be working on the second (and final) book in that series later this year, and I'll most likely release it through the same publishing house.

One more thing about the First Light Series before I run off to work. I've enjoyed writing Starfree Port immensely and can't wait to hear my editor's opinion. I really don't have a really clear perspective on it's quality since there were three drafts in all, then a long editing process in which I removed an entire plotline. Technically, according to my own rule book of story telling, it offers everything I like in a science fiction novel. It's up to my editor to tell me if it's actually a fun read. You'll know what the verdict is moments after I do.

Just thought you'd all like an update.

RL

First Light Chronicles: Starfree Port [Editing]

Writing the third book in the First Light Chronicles series has been the biggest challenge I've taken on in years. There have been a number of interruptions in my life recently and that slowed things down. What's more important to this project is the fact that the events in this novel change a lot for how the series will manifest itself in the future.

After I finished the second book I knew that, regardless of size, the third book in this short series would be the last in this plot cycle and there would be a very firm ending. My approach is no different than if I were writing this as a television series. With the attitude of North American networks treating their shows like they're disposable, my approach towards writing for that medium is that every episode can be your last. As a result I write every book as though it will be my last. The biggest problem with that is the ending planned for this plot cycle has been very difficult to balance with the rest of the book. If this were a conventional book or television series from the 80's or mid 90's there would be several episodes before the events of this third book. Some would be filler, others would be used to develop characters and plot. I write at a different pace, however, and would rather not take more time than I have to on character development, especially since the style these books are written in determine a default focus on one character, a singular perspective.

I like moving things along faster under these circumstances, and writing filler is just cheating. I'm not after your money, so I'd rather write a short, exciting book and have you talk about it endlessly so I can get popular with your friends, who will hopefully spread the word just like you did. I write to entertain and excite and if I'm lucky these little books might just amount to a living, and then you'll see even more books that entertain, and the cycle continues.

Knowing that this is the last book in this plot cycle makes re-drafting and editing really picky and slow. The good news is that I'm about half way through my final edit now and enjoying the story as I go. After I've finished this edit I'll be forwarding it to my editor, who will do a grammatical pass and review the plot line. While he's busy working on that I'll design the cover and synopsis. After he's finished with the book I'll do another pass on it and post it online if it's ready. That whole process normally takes a week. Then I order printed proofs to make sure the non-digital cover came out properly.

All told, everyone waiting for an electronic version of this book has 2-3 weeks ahead of them at the most. Printed early copies (proofs), will be coming along in 3-4 weeks. That's not bad for a 240+ page book, it's actually pretty quick.

My major point with this post is that editing this is as much of a challenge as every other step. This is my last chance to reconsider plot decisions that will effect this series for the long run before I hand it over to someone else for final editing and review. It'll take more time, and I appreciate every one's patience. I'm doing my best to make sure this third part of the series is worth the wait.

RL

First Light Chronicles: Starfree Port

The first draft is finished.

I'm starting on the second draft and as I do so it's pretty plain that this book has gone from novella to novel. The only other thing I can tell you about the story is that there's an ending.

Does that mean that it's the end of the First Light Chronicles? No.

From the beginning I wrote this series just like I would a television show. The first book, Freeground, was written like a television pilot. The second, Limbo, was written like a pair of episodes and if you read the book with that in mind you can even pick out where one episode ends and the second begins. The third book, Starfree Port, is written like three episodes. Put all three books together and you get a six part mini-series. Will I redraft all three into teleplays some day? Almost certainly, but only after I finish all the other books in the hopper (looks to the right of this post at the list of books to come...).

My point is that the third installment of the series; Starfree Port, certainly has an ending, an ending I love, an ending I wrote a dozen times in my head before I started typing the first book. This could have come at the end of this book, or it could have come at the end of the tenth book. As it turns out this ending fits right where it is, in the third book. I'm not going to tell you anything else about the plot, I just hope you all enjoy it as much as you have the first two.

Back to work I go!

RL

Go Gutsy Gibbon! Go!

Down with our oppressors!

It just felt good to say that, since I have completely rid my new laptop of all traces of Vista. I didn't install Windows XP either, I went straight for Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution and is free to anyone who wants it. They have very active forums that cater to experts as well as beginners such as myself. With a bit of help, a few hacks and no tutorials (though it's important that I did play with early distributions of Red Hat ages ago), I have my laptop working 100%. Go Gutsy Gibbon, go.

For anyone just looking at making the switch to Linux on a laptop, here are a few of the upsides I've found to Ubuntu:
,
There is no cost to this OS. They sent me the CD's free and you can download the most up to date version. All the software you want (except for most games), is on Ubuntu, and everything I'm running is free. It's stable (Vista crashed over a dozen times in less than twenty hours of use, bluescreen of death all over the place!). My wireless connections are more stable, networking is easier, and my battery somehow gained over half an hour of life since the switch. Ubuntu also requires less ram, less hard drive space, comes secure and loaded with Open Office (complete office software), Firefox, and all kinds of useful stuff. It can also look better than Vista. It also took 20 minutes to get the main OS installed.

Here are the downsides as far as I'm concerned:

Some of the drivers were hard to dig up, it took some Google searching and I had to read a couple dozen forum posts. Then I had to learn a few new things (GASP!), copy and paste some commands and install some software to get my earphone plug, graphics adapter and playing DVD's working. No biggie, took about an hour and a half for me to dig up what I needed and have it all working together. What I was missing the community already had, I just had to go find it.

Score one for everyone who hates Vista and wants to be free of Microsoft without having to pay through the nose for an Apple. This laptop is a joy to work on now that it's set up. I was looking at this laptop as a temporary solution until I could save up enough for my black mac, but I think I might just add 4GB of ram and keep it until I've worn out the keyboard.

You know, the Free Light Series is all about being independent of big corporate influence and fighting the ideals behind their actions. What's really funny to me is the fact that I'll be finishing the third book on this recently liberated laptop. *snicker

RL

PS: Everything that got soaked last week is dry and operational again, even the LCD monitor. I'd like this opportunity to thank all the guardian angels who watch over us nerds. Now, back to work on First Light Chronicles: Starfree Port.

All Is Well In Randyland

Well, the great flood of 2008 is finished. It taught me a valuable lesson that I had obviously forgotten somewhere along the way. Don't put all your eggs (or files) in one basket.

I went out and bought a full sized laptop, one of those desktop replacement thingies just in case my main computer ever went kaput for any reason. I feel much better now, secure even. Sadly I couldn't go with a little eeepc simply because it couldn't hope to replace a full on desktop in it's wildest miniaturized dreams. Perhaps I'll buy one when the 9" screen version is cheap.

My new Toshiba (which is made to look a bit like an expensive Macbook, a plus, but came loaded with Vista, a big minus, booooo!), is going through severe testing as I pound out the second half of First Light Chronicles: Starfree Port, listen to numerous mp3's, customize the shoddy OS (Vista has blue screened on me three times), and watch a couple videos. I even installed Ubuntu on it for a few hours only to discover that the drivers weren't available for this chipset just yet. I wouldn't really know how to install them if they were available, but I'd be willing to learn so I could avoid Vista!

Anyway, back to work I go, churning out what I think is the most interesting and exciting part of the First Light series. I just hope I don't lose anything because of Vista, the operating system that lives up to the dumb blond stereotype better than any blond I've met. It's pretty, it's even a little sexy, but it's as dumb as a fencepost and tends to slow everything down as it flourishes and poses during common, every day tasks.

If anyone happens to know how this Linux beginner can get his Toshiba A200 running without Microsoft, please drop me an email.

Back to work I go!

RL

And BAM! I'm Back In Business!

You know, there's this little monster that threatens to crush the hopes and dreams of every writer. It's name is writer's block. I haven't had it for more than a couple minutes at a time for as long as I could remember. Sure, I've written myself into corners, where the characters and story have no where interesting or worthwhile to do or go from where they are, that's not writer's block, that's just a major screw up. Normally it involves cutting about 20 pages and being forced to re-imagine that segment of story. That doesn't happen much either, but it does happen.

What happened to me the other day was what felt like the onset of full on writer's block. I was suddenly over come with whatdoIdo? wheredoIgo? Ican'tdothis! WhodoIthinkIam? JossWhedonorsomething? As I was fighting the panic, I said to myself; thaaaat's right! I'm Joss Whedon! What do I, Joss Whedon, do? I call creative partners, talk to my family, and speak with friends. I Go out into the world a little if I have to. So I called the people I always do when I look for guidance and comfort, my parents! I didn't talk to them about writing, just everything else, and like some kind of mamma's boy fanboy kismet when I hung up that phone my mp3 playlist had rolled on over to the Serenity soundtrack and there it was. The next three books in the First Light series had suddenly popped into my head, and I could see the last big damn scene running through the mad movie house that is my brain.

Thanks for the assist Mom, Dad, and Joss Whedon. No wonder he's a big damn star. I think I'll go buy another copy of Serenity but first, I'll finish the second draft of First Light Act 2 and maybe even come up with a permanent name for it.

R

First published book of the year

As a leap of faith and a trial for my new publisher, I've given them the go ahead to make my first Science Fiction novel in over fourteen years available for purchase. This is the advance edition of the book and will only be available for a few weeks, after that the final edit might go into print. I expect that there may be some changes in the final edit, how many? I'm not really sure at this point to be honest.

What is perfectly clear to me is how much fun I had writing this book. I've written nine full sized novels and a trunk full of novellas that will never see the light of day, a hand full will be published, and never have I enjoyed writing anything as much as I did this most recent work. I enjoyed it so much that keeping it out of print feels like I'm holding in this really juicy secret and my foolishly grinning head is about to explode!

I could write at least nine more. Seriously, I could write this story for the next five to ten years and most likely put out eight books this size per year. Hopefully someone out there has half as much fun reading it as I had writing it so I can have an audience for any future acts in this space opera.

It's an action adventure space opera with some romance, camaraderie, big fricken guns and people yelling "FIRE!!" and "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!".

Just what I always wanted.

Anyway, please order soon since this version of the book will probably be a short run and I'm trying to gauge interest. I hope this will be the beginning of a series that keeps me busy for years to come and I'm working on the next book right now.

Here is the link to buying the book online in print or as a download:

http://www.lulu.com/content/1993570

Thank you for reading the blog!

RL

The Sci Fi Novella...

So, on new year's eve I started writing a novella called Freeground and finished it fourteen days later. It took me one more day to edit it and I've never had more fun writing anything in my entire life. Is it any good? Normally I have some idea, but this time I honestly couldn't tell, what is a joy to the author is not always pleasing to the reader.

Freeground was written as though I were writing a two hour television pilot episode of a new space opera Sci-Fi series. If it's any good and worthy of publishing in print I'll continue writing in the same way. A few of the books might be a single episode each, and if I were to do this for a few years, I'd most likely put out one large book that would be written like a television movie or feature film. I like writing this way personally, even though I know that it is very, very unlikely anyone will ever see this on television, and unless the Freeground novella is really good it won't even see print.

I really hope this first novella is actually worth putting into print, my editor is reviewing it now. So we'll see in a few days, maybe a week or so.

RL