Spinward Fringe: Things are happening...

Spinward Fringe: Fracture is on its way to the editors and I'll soon hear back on the worthiness of the book.

I enjoyed writing the piece and I'm looking forward to working on the next one after any required polishing or massaging on Fracture is finished.

The first part of the Dark Arts series is finished, but that doesn't mean that Tuesday won't be free content day on this site for a while. There's a scene that didn't fit into Spinward Fringe Frontline or Fracture, and it involves a character that will eventually become closely involved with big picture events. I'll be making this scene available on www.spinwardfringe.com for free on Teusday, August 25.

There are two other Spinward Fringe segments planned for release after the first. To be honest, I don't have any other free releases planned after, that, but you never know.

As for Dark Arts, so far I've recieved a little positive feedback, sold three copies of the eBook and received a donation of $5.00. Thank you very much for your support on this very little known piece. At this point I'm starting to consider expanding the piece into a full length novel but there's very little chance of continued serialization unless support picks up. It was a fantastic experiment and I've learned a lot from the feedback and other results I've seen. It seems the readers have spoken, and though a few people were well entertained, you all seem to prefer science fiction.

I'm looking forward to releasing the Spinward Fringe free content and to the release of Spinward Fringe Fracture. I'll announce the release date of Fracture as soon as I can reliably establish one. I'm enjoying the Fringe these days, and more people are joining the crew every day.

It's a good time to be a Fringer...

RL

Spinward Fringe: Fracture - Early Editing

I've begun my editorial pass / possible final draft on Spinward Fringe: Fracture and it occurs to me that there are a few very important things about this book that I didn't mention before.

It's a shorter book than Spinward Fringe Frontline. I decided that instead of taking eight or so months to release a large book, I'd split the story into three acts and write a trilogy.

The book also takes elements of the early Spinward Fringe series (Resurrection / Awakening), and fuses them with the First Light Chronicles setting and character style. Two days pass in this book, the story pace is faster than ever, I find the dialog pops more in this book than in Frontline, and I get to tell this story from many angles and explore the experiences of characters that I think more readers will be able to relate to more easily.

There's also special attention paid to how certain characters react to what they may have gained or lost over the last few months (since page 1 of Spinward Fringe Resurrection), and I've made a great effort to keep the story from getting bogged down with constant flashbacks to moments we've seen before. Instead, I try to keep building a few characters by reviewing bits of their past and emotions in the present that I haven't had a chance to examine in detail.

I've also returned to a kind of story telling that had the tendency to evoke a lot more emotion from me. I wrote a new prologue for this book that nearly had me in tears. Normally I'd be patting myself on the back and hoping that all that emotion survives my edit, but in this case I was left wondering if I made everyone around me uncomfortable at the writing jam I was attending. [A writing jam is when a group of writers get together in a cafe or someone's home and spend time working together or on their own projects.]

There's one more thing I'd like to mention before I get back to work. Editing this book is fun. Editing Frontline was a bit of a chore at times because of its sheer size and the characters spent a lot of time in a setting I no longer enjoyed imagining because it was an awful place, I wouldn't want to find myself in the same situation that the characters are in for most of that book. Don't get me wrong, the setting was great for the story, I had just spent days imagining it already at that point.

So far, editing Spinward Fringe Fracture has been very rewarding. I'm finding a lot of places where I'm smoothing out some rough edges, which is normal, and a few places were I get sucked in by the scenes and the story so well that I forget to edit. It happened with Frontline as well, but only after the first edit was completed and I had to go back to the beginning for another pass.

If my editor and beta readers approve this edit when I'm finished, you can look forward to Spinward Fringe: Fracture at the end of August.

Gotta love being independent, this stuff happens fast!

RL

[Do you prefer shorter books and a release every 2-3 months or longer books and releases every 9 months? Please comment below!]

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!]

Spinward Fringe: Celebrating Seven Books

The other day I was thinking over the whole of the First Light Chronicles and Spinward Fringe Series all the way up to Frontline and couldn't help but smile.

A number of things have happened since the first copy of the First Light Chronicles Omnibus sold from Mobipocket. My writing has gotten better (though I'm told Omnibus is still a fantastic read), and thanks to the support shown for this series the depth of storytelling in the Spinward Fringe Series has improved a great deal.

Out here in the real world Mobipocket and other science fiction fans have been kind and appreciative enough to support me by buying the books and sending donations the help out with necessities. Others, like the Somacow crew, have been there when I needed help online with everything from spreading the word to saving my Wiki entry.

It's not easy being an independent author full time. When sales slumps hit the concern that my run as a full time writer could come to a quick end becomes very real. Many people assume an independent author is self publishing because a publisher won't pick up his work and I can tell you, that's not always true. I've turned down three bad offers from publishers who assume I'm so desperate to get my stuff on the shelves that I'm willing to sell the whole series and all rights (print, ebook, TV, film, international and merchandising), along with a future book for a handfull of magic beans. The last offer was for an advance of $1.00 and the terms only got worse from there, for example. They obviously consider the series worthy of publication, I'm just not willing to sell it all for a publishing credit only to find myself making so little on each sale that I have to go find another full time job, taking most of my time away from writing. It sort of defeats the purpose...

I enjoy being connected to my readers and fully accountable for my work. You good readers determine whether I can keep doing this full time by buying the books, spreading the word and bringing new readers into the fold if I've entertained them well. You guys also send me emails, post your opinions in this and other blogs and get others hooked on the series. Without you I wouldn't be doing this full time and I'm very greatful. Having said that, if a publisher makes me a reasonable offer on the printed rights in any country I'd be glad to accept and see copies on the shelves. After all, printed copies of my work are still difficult to obtain outside of the US and very few have been sold, less than fifty.

Story wise, much of what began with The First Light Chronicles Omnibus has come full circle. By the end of Spinward Fringe Frontline so many things have resolved. I couldn't be happier with the way things have turned out with the storyline.

Spinward Fringe Rogue Element is one of those very special books wherin I get to write a story I've been looking forward to since Spinward Fringe Resurrection was completed. The whole series has what I consider a solid foundation and vast potential and Rogue Element is where I start to take full advantage of the characters, their individual struggles, the micro storyline and the macro storyline. This is a faster work, it's taking a lot less time to pen. I'm also trying a different approach to novel writing that's working out exceptionally well.

People around the world have been simply amazing. I have to admit that part of this post was prompted by an email I received recently that asked if I was giving up Science Fiction for writing Horror. I can answer that in a word: no. The Dark Arts Horror Novella (which is being posted in serialized format right now), is something I completed over a space of four days. It resulted from a bunch of developmental writing I worked through to improve my writing skills, give my imagination a general workout and to clear my head after working on Frontline for six months solid. I've been working on Spinward Fringe Rogue element for almost three weeks now and am focusing all my writing efforts on science fiction. Will I cross over into other genres in the future? Sure!

However, as of this moment I have many stories left to tell in the Spinward Fringe Saga, and since readers are demanding more (Frontline has sold 150 copies so far depsite a brutal sales slump that's taking place right now), it looks like they want me to keep going. Science Fiction is a constant challenge, beyond any other I've faced. I'm heavily engaged in the characters and love the universe I'm building, so when I leave it's not for long.

There is SO MUCH going on with my work right now. For the next five weeks parts of the Dark Arts series will be posted. Add an upcoming event with The First Light Chronicles Omnibus and work on Spinward Fringe Rogue Element and you could say I'm very busy these days. Still, thinking over the past seven books (including the novellas in the First Light Chronicles Series), leaves me amazed. How far this has come and the support of the 300 or so readers who have jonied me is fantastic.

For anyone who isn't familiar, here's a list of the books I'm talking about:

First Light Chronicles Freeground
First Light Chronicles Limbo
First Light Chronicles Starfree Port
First Light Chronicles Omnibus (Contains all of the above)

Spinward Fringe Resurrection
Spinward Fringe Awakening
Spinward Fringe Triton
Spinward Fringe Frontline

I consider the First Light Chronicles books a part of the Spinward Fringe series simply because the storylines ended up being intertwined. Anyone who is looking at reading the Spinward Fringe series should begin with the First Light Chronicles Omnibus.

Look for frequent updates right here on what's happening in my little microcosm.

RL

On Friday I'll explain what the First Light Chronicles Omnibus Banner is all about. See you then!

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 5: Rogue Element

Spinward Fringe Frontline is the second best selling EBook on Mobipocket.com thanks to the seventy six people who have downloaded it so far. As some of you already know the ending of that book is unique to the series. Frontline was about things coming together under the worst of conditions.

Now I'm working on Spinward Fringe Rogue Element. It's been a blast so far, with a definite shift in my writing style that is thanks to the pair of novellas I completed while Frontline was being edited.

The first sentences of this new work were written to the sounds of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Rogue Element marks the beginning of a new era in the Spinward Fringe series and the name refers to the ship and the crew we've all become so familliar with.

I can tell you for a certainty that this book won't take as long as Frontline. Why? Well, that's simple: the characters are all where I need them to be to tell this story. That will probably only make sense to people who have read the entirety of the series so far, Frontline included, and so be it.

I hope everyone is enjoying the journey thus far, keep inviting your friends and I might be able to keep doing this for a living! As long as there's a demand for Spinward Fringe books they'll be my primary focus. Even the work I did between Frontline and the one I'm starting now: Rogue Element was only undertaken to try a vastly different style, experiment with some character dynamics and now I'm back to writing science fiction, applying what I learned.

It's good to be back and I'm having so much fun writing Rogue Element that I'm having trouble sleeping and massive issues focusing on anything else for more than a few seconds at a time. I think I have a case of the Fringes... or something...

RL

Oh, and if you've never heard of this series and want to see where it all started you can either download The First Light Chronicles: Freeground for free (there's a link to the right), or you can purchase the First Light Chronicles Omnibus from Mobipocket or Amazon.com

First Light Chronicles and Spinward Fringe Take 5 Top 10 Spots

I have the readers to thank and as I've done before, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this display of patronage.

That's right, the First Light Omnibus remains at the number one spot in Science Fiction and Spinward Fringe Frontline has taken number two! Spinward Fringe Triton has placed third while Resurrection and Awakening take up the rear in seventh and eighth place. The First Light Omnibus is maintaining a spot in fourth place for site wide sales and Spinward Fringe Frontline has crept up to the sixth spot, almost trumping Dan Browning's Angels and Demons.

Considering the fact that I'm an independent author with no advertising and no budget, I find this pretty amazing. Mobipocket is a small site, selling far fewer books than say Amazon.com or Stanza and I think that's a pretty important factor in making this all possible.

Thanks to Mobipocket users I can write full time! Most authors with a couple published books can't and I've never met an independent author who has a large enough following to quit their job, so thanks to Mobipocket I can continue to stretch my imagination and entertain people around the world without having to beg an agent to pay attention to my work or answering to a publisher who takes most of the profits. If I had that kind of support on Amazon.com I could rule the world! Sadly I'd be too busy writing to handle that kind of administrative responsibility...

When I think of all the people who have supported me so far it boggles my brain. These are people who sent donations, posted five star reviews, spread the word to friends, relatives, ordered signed copies, sent emails, posted on forums I've never heard of and most of all bought the books. Without one of those points of assistance I believe I'd be stuck working at a call center, getting carpel tunnel syndrome for all the wrong reasons! You'd have four books to read instead of a staggering seven with another on the way.

I've been at this for eighteen months now.

It feels like the books in the First Light Chronicles are ancient history, like I spent three years working on Spinward Fringe Frontline (it was actually six months). On the other hand the time has flown by. There are still people just discovering the First Light Chronicles and the Spinward Fringe Series is spraining new thumbs every day as science fiction and general fiction fans keep advancing through the books on their cellphones. Only four hundred people (give or take a few), have purchased all the books leading up to Frontline and today the forty fifth copy of the latest Spinward Fringe book was sold.

From a publisher's perspective that's barely a handful of people. To me it's enough to keep a reasonably priced roof over my head and three square meals on the table. I couldn't imagine selling a million copies of anything, perhaps I never will. I'll tell you what I'd like to see though; a television show or well made film. A video game with all the fixin's of the Spinward Fringe universe would be fantastic too. In fact, that would be pretty amazing. Above all else I'd like to make a reasonable living off my writing alone so I can keep entertaining people for the rest of my life. That's the dream.

WAIT! I KNOW!

Does anyone still play Role Playing Games? I've written a few gaming systems and compendiums over the last twenty or so years, I wonder...

Anyway, those are dangerous, distracting thoughts. I'd rather finish what I'm working on now, the next Spinward Fringe book, Broadcast 5. All I can say about it right now is that it's different, it's fun and I'll be announcing the title on June 14th.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. I'm glad to see Frontline received well so far. See you back here soon!

RL

[Would you like to see a Spinward Fringe Tabletop Role Playing Game? Sound off in the Comments!]