Spinward Fringe Triton and Frontline: The Soundtrack

It's no mystery that I write to music. What a lot of people don't know is that I tend to assign characters and certain scenes (or chapters), themes. The music provides a touch stone for me to go back to, an easier way to get in the mood to write for a certain character or in a certain imaginary environment.

As of yet there haven't been any (serious) offers to put Spinward Fringe on the telly or silver screen, but if they ever did I'd hope that they'd take a look at this list of songs that I've attached to characters and scenes. I thought you'd enjoy a musical tour of these two books. While vastly different, I'm fiercely proud of both of them, especially Frontline right now since it's turning out so well.

Below is a list of the tunes and a very brief description of where they fit (roughly). Since I'm avoiding spoilers here some of the descriptions are pretty vague and they're in no particular order. Enjoy!

Pandemonium - Apocalyptica: Opening Theme
Ion - Apocalyptica: Triton Space Combat
Burn - Apocalyptica: Gunfight on the ship!
Toreador II - Apocalyptica: Starfighter combat sequence
Stroke - Apocalyptica: Jake's in trouble! (Again)
Faraway - Apocalyptica: Ayan and Jonas' theme
Whistling in the Dark - They Might Be Giants: Spinward Fringe Triton Epilogue
Seven Lives - Enigma: Hyperspace trouble!
Fata Morgana - Enigma: The ship gets ready / training.
The Alchemist - Enigma: The ship gets ready / training.
Darkest Before Dawn - Enigma: Decisions are made / Captain's Office.
Goodbye Milky Way - Enigma: Funeral / Bound for the nebula.
Following the Sun - Enigma: Agameg Price adds to the Big Surprise.
Damascus - Conjure One: Planet Pandem
Center of the Sun - Conjure One: Peering into Eternity (Chapter name)
Premonition - Conjuer One: The wreckage of war (Chapter name)
Redemption - Conjure One: A trip planetside.
The Messenger - The Tea Party: Lead singer of Stonemark strums an acoustic in the park.
Stargazer, Requiem, Paint it Black - The Tea Party: Stonemark's on stage set.
Welcome to the Machine - Queensryche (cover): The View From The Top to Lucius Agrippa Wheeler (Chapter names)
Hang 'em High - My Chemical Romance: Oz picks a gunfight!
Venom - My Chemical Romance: Frost runs for his life!
1st Person - Stone Sour: Ship combat (Frontline).
Rough Boy - ZZ Top: The Night Watch (Chapter) and Samson Crew love song.
La Grange - ZZ Top: Frost's drunk (again).
Spring III - Vivaldi: Ayan's sleeping.
Nightbreed Title Tracks - Danny Elfman for the Clive Barker Film: Nightbreed: Meunez meets Collins
So Ha - Splashdown: Stephanie can't stop laughing.
Sugar High - Splashdown: Ashley's Theme
Halfworld - Splashdown: Alice and the Clever Dream
Lighthouse - Hope: A new life aboard.
Faraway (Radio Edit) - Apocalyptica: Spinward Fringe Triton End Credits
Following the Sun - Enigma: Spinward Fringe Frontline End Credits.

A special thanks to Elizabeth Mock who pointed out the site that made the playlist at the top of this post possible. I'd also like to thank all the musicians who wrote and performed this music, please don't sue me!

Oh, and work on Spinward Fringe Frontline is going magnificently well. You'll see more news from me on that and other developments very soon!

RL

Spinward Fringe Frontline: The Space Opera Series Goes Epic

Space Opera.

There was a time when just hearing the phrase would conjure up films like Star Wars, Star Trek (I'm thinking of The Wrath of Kahn and The Search For Spock as well as whole sections of the Generations television series), Battlestar Galactica, or a small number of other films that writers, directors, actors and everyone else in between managed to infuse with compelling stories and dramatic performances.

When I started writing the Spinward Fringe series I realized that I was setting the stage for something different, something I had never written or seen anywhere before. That's the kind of thing I live for.

Resurrection and Awakening happened, they told a lot of the story very quickly and through a few twists and turns everyone who read those books knew what they had to in order to experience Triton.

Then I started Triton. It was a much greater undertaking than I had ever attempted before and that includes Fate Cycle: Sins of the Past, a 360 page epic fantasy novel I took the better part of two years to write some time before. Spinward Fringe Triton was larger than Resurrection and Awakening combined, had a few very clear plotlines, developed the universe in a greater sense and more than anything: it contained more than one love story. One begins and comes to a tentative conclusion while the others go on their merry little ways complicating the lives of many characters. Again, Triton forced me to write in ways that I hadn't before, to face challenges I hadn't overcome.

After many emails and messages through other delivery systems I've found that my risk taking paid off. It's a good thing too, because I was proud of Triton even before I gave it to my editor, before I was sure all of its parts made a worthwhile hole.

Now I'm right in the middle of Spinward Fringe Frontline. I can't go into details, and I can't even begin to describe Fronline without explaining what comes to mind when someone mentions the term Space Opera

When I see those words (Space Opera), I think; this is a story where one or more characters are searching for something, wherein a quest for love, success, honor or even the greater good is undertaken. To me a true Space Opera always includes a story that you could express in song, perhaps a romantic tune, a dark dirge, or heart breaking melody that tells us of the sacrifice our heroes are making for the greater good. Space Operas, to me, often tell us about something a character wants or needs but the quest for it isn't easy. Sometimes they have to sacrifice thier precious few opportunities to satisfy their emotional needs for the greater good or timing and circumstance doesn't allow them to fulfill their dreams. All the while every character has a song to sing. From the heart one will croon woefully, looking to the stars in hopes that their heart's desire is singing the opposite part of thier unfulfilled duet.

Meanwhile there are dark goings on, the same melody is played by villains, only it's twisted and sinister as they scheme and consort in the shadows. Thier desires, though counter to the greater good, may still be worthy of song especially since the real villains don't see their quests as wrong but take great pleasure in using nefarious methods to accomplish them.

Therin lies the true foundation of the Space Opera. Like many Operas before there is a greater good to serve, a reason for our heroes to stop singing their duet parts and join in on the thematic chorus that will temporarily replace the longing in their hearts with bravery and give them the strength they need to make choices that serve the greater good.

We in the audience know that when devilish villains take the stage a sacrifice may be required before the heroes can finally defeat them.

The Opera plays on and as the heroic chorus is countered by the villainous theme sung in Diabolus in Musica tones we sit white knuckled, chewing fingernails and gripping our partner's arm waiting to find out which character will think up the perfect trick, out sing our villain or make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good. All the while we're hoping to hear that romantic theme triumphant, signifying that the golden pair have found their way to each other, praying to hear the heroic chorus sung thundrously high over the defeated villain and desperately trying to avoid thinking back to that dark middle act wherin nothing was won, hope seemed impossible and the villain had his day. We wonder before the end if the villain or hero will have the swan song as they are killed or sacrificed and find it hard to watch as those final moments play out.

That, to me is Space Opera. To elaborate a little more, I think that's a quick and dirty guide to Epic Space Opera.

More specifically, that's what I'm doing in Spinward Fringe Frontline.

The stage is set, the players are all in costume, the audience has returned from the first intermission and now I go to write that dark, sinister second act.

RL

Farewell 2008, Helloooo 2009!

On January 1, 2008 I resolved that I would write every day of that year. I only missed sixteen days and the results of putting the work and time into my craft are beyond what I could have imagined.

I started with Freeground on January 1, and I had no idea what I started. Five and a half more science fiction novellas/novels followed along with a non-fiction self help, two other books that will go unpublished as well as the full outline and treatment for a horror novel/screenplay that you'll most likely see this year.

My writing has improved, my plot craft has gotten sharper and I've fallen head over heels with the universe I've created over the last 365 days as well as the characters dwelling within. The Spinward Fringe universe is something that will persist whether people are interested or not. The good news is that interest is growing and Spinward Fringe is actually putting bread on the table and a roof over my head.

In August I launched the First Light Chronicles Omnibus and the first Spinward Fringe novella (Resurrection), on MobiPocket and the few people who had purchased them through Lulu.com were kind enough to post reviews there. The growing interest there since has shown me not only where my audience is but that there's actually a demand for what I'm doing. I love to entertain, I could easily say that it's one of my primary reasons for being and it seems the British love what I'm doing. Not to diminish my other readers, I appreciate everyone, but over 70% of my readers live in Britain. If this keeps up I'll have to make the trip to meet a few, but I'm still a little under funded for that I'm afraid.

Since then there have been rumors of a television series, another rumor that the whole book series has been put on hold because I've been picked up by a publisher and yet another rumor that I'm giving up Science Fiction for Horror. Well, none of those are true. If there's a television series coming (and I'd love it if there were), no one told me. I haven't been picked up by a publisher, but two agents have passed on me since I'm self published and I'm certainly NOT giving up Science Fiction.

It's true that I'll be writing a horror novel after Spinward Fringe Frontline, but only one and it's already fully outlined so it won't take very long. There are plenty of Spinward Fringe books waiting to be written and you'll see a few of them in 2009.

Here's something else that's true: I'm just a hair away from making a real living at this. No side jobs, no extra work here and there, just writing full time. Complete independence is a dream that not only my characters lust after, but something I've sought out my entire life and thanks to all of you I may be able to attain that goal. I'll have the opportunity to entertain with the written word a hell of a lot longer, hopefully for the rest of my life. In the meantime my primary donator and a couple much smaller ones have filled in financial gaps that I would have had to pick up a part time job to cover, I have to thank you especially. Just the fact that people are buying and enjoying my work is amazing, that someone actually invests a little (or a lot), more so I can keep producing is just incredible.

To think back to a time when I thought few (if any), people would be interested in what I was writing but I kept inventing and typing anyway really shows me how suddenly and surprisingly things have developed. I wrote for the enjoyment back then, and to be completely honest, writing is still a selfish act for me for one simple reason: I love what I'm doing. If I don't enjoy writing something, I simply don't do it. The fact that others are entertained by what I'm doing just makes me want to create better, more surprising and engaging fiction, thus increasing my enjoyment. It's a mental exersion that its own reward and I couldn't stop if I tried. Having said that, any movie, book, television or puppet show is always a lot better when you've shared it with a friend. So I'm truly fortunate to have a few hundred friends to share my favorite books with. When you have a cinema running in your brain 98% of the time it helps to have a few bodies in the seats.

Thank you all, I truly owe so much to everyone who has purchased one of my books, clicked on the donation button or passed the word.
You'll see some amazing, horrifying, and interesting things in 2009. After all, 2008 was just about getting started and 2009 will be all about making things bigger, brighter, bolder.

You ain't seen nothin' yet.

RL

Happy new year!