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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taking A Deep Breath Before Finishing Broadcast 12

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion Release Date

Now that I'm getting closer to finishing this book and there's a set ending I know I can hit on time, I can reliably predict a release date!

The release date for iBooks (By Apple), Rakuten Kobo, Barnes & Noble Nook, Smashwords, Amazon and other quality ebook sellers is set for May 11, 2019. You can preorder using the links above, but not on Amazon, sorry. They're still doing preorders completely wrong, so they'll have it on May 11th. I've heard complaints from people that have noticed that this book is going to arrive a few months later than predicted, but there's nothing I can do. Creative projects take however long they take. Cutting writing and editing time down always results in a loss of quality, so I'm happy about this release date, it gives everyone the time they need to do some good work on the book.

With the release of this book on the horizon and more Spinward Fringe to follow, other projects will be delayed. This promises to be a very Science Fiction centric year, so fans of the Spinward Fringe series can celebrate. I'm happy to have a release date set for this book, because the events within have been long awaited and I love the plot lines that run through the novel. I can't wait to have the final, edited version of the book out there.

Anyone who is at the $7.00 level on my Patreon Site will get the book for free in all electronic formats, most likely a few days before the official release.

RL

[If you don't want to wait for the final version, the first draft of the book is being serialized on Patreon]

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion Is Coming To Patreon!

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

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

New For the 21st Century: The YouTube Moment

You remember just a few years ago people would see something endearing, adorable or humiliating and say; "That's a Kodak Moment." Well, it seems that we've tripped into a new age, where everyone with a cellular phone can take a video, often of questionable quality, of anything going on right in front of them and post it on YouTube, giving rise to 'The YouTube Moment'.

It's gone past pictures, past photo albums and completely around photo developing and the most amazing thing is that it's virtually free. Now you can take as many pictures or record as much video as your phone or inexpensive digital camera can carry and just upload it. YouTube, the most popular video hosting site, will make your video available to millions of users. This has proven an obvious truth: when you remove cost from the equation, you also remove taste. That's not true of all candid video on YouTube, but it's true of most. I'm not complaining, I find watching someone get whacked in the crotch by a T-Ball bat held by his five year old son as funny as the next guy even though I often pretend I'm above that kind of humor. The fact that everyone has video phones at the ready means that it could happen to you.

Imagine, you're just sitting there, minding your own business, a flock of birds fly overhead, you look up only to have one of them drop their cargo at the worst possible time. Someone happened to catch it on their cellphone camera and bam! It's on YouTube minutes later and going 'viral' spreading from one user to another, being sent around the globe. You're the famous 'Bird Crap Catcher.'

What's my point? Well, I think the digital revolution comes at a cost. Our privacy isn't at risk, it's under attack. If you're picture or video worthy, people are taking pictures and recording video of you unless you've found a nice secluded place in the mountains no where near the many resorts located in formerly secluded places in the mountains. There are other ways to hide, but I won't go through my list of hiding places because I'm afraid the next time I try to use one I'll find you there. I'm not paranoid, I'm just a private person, really.

YouTube has already been sued, so have their users for various violations of privacy and I think we're just at the beginning. There are new laws on this just waiting to be defined. Some will work for us and the preservation of our privacy, some will work against us. It'll be some time before the balance is found, possibly decades.

There's a brighter side to this as well, and it's important to remember that. There's nothing like typing a friend's name into Google and finding video of them falling down drunk or trying their hand as an amateur actor, or even being the victim of a practical joke. Some savvy couples have even posted wedding videos, baby's first steps, and other really legitimately touching moments that would be a lot harder to share if it weren't for something like YouTube. Those are YouTube moments, share them with your friends, their friends, and even post it on your blog. YouTube moments are made to be shared!

RL