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.]

The Minion

This is Sylvie. Sylvie is Randy's minion. She is also in his writing group. She has known Randy for a few years now, and had never read science-fiction until gave her a copy of the Omnibus. She has been a sci-fi junkie since, working her way through the whole Spinward Fringe series, all of Stargate SG-1 (that's right, all 10 seasons), all of Farscape, the original Star Wars trilogy (finally), Firefly/Serenity, all the new seasons of Doctor Who, all of Torchwood, and a few others. She is still getting caught up, much thanks to Randy.

She is a university student (some might say a professional student - she has been there for a really long time), currently working on her Master's Degree in Human Development. When she is not agonizing over writing her thesis, she is getting as much creative writing done as she can, in all kinds of genres. She is also, technically, writing about herself in the third person, as she is the voice of Lewis online (see, Randy wasn't lying when he said it wasn't him...).

Lately, she's been helping Randy with proofreading and troubleshooting on the novella, and annoying him until he gives her new pages. She's also keeping an eye on the online stuff, so that Randy does not have to worry about those things and can concentrate on writing and editing. If you are so inclined, you can follow her on Twitter, at the following link: https://twitter.com/#!/ever_light

If you have any questions/comments for her, feel free to send her an email at spinwardfringe@gmail.com (Randy can also be reached at this address).

Expendable Few: a Spinward Fringe Novella

I have "borrowed" the first two chapters of the novella from Randy's network, and am sharing it with all of you. I have put it up on the Goodreads forum, which can be found at the following link:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/41338.Spinward_Fringe_The_Official_Group

In case you are reticent to go, here is a teaser (if you want the rest, you will have to go to the forums).

FREEGROUND INTELLIGENCE PERSONNEL ONLY
This is a dramatized record of events surrounding Clark Patterson based on recordings made by his Command and Control Unit’s auto-logger, security records, neural captures, military files and action reports. For educational purposes only.
FREEGROUND INTELLIGENCE PERSONNEL ONLY


Chapter 1

Oldest Of Friends

“You’ve got to get rid of this contraband before they do a random inspection,” Mary tells me as she looks through three data chips that she knows are as dirty as they come. The small, light gold bits fit in the palm of her hand - easily hidden from anyone but a Freeground scanning crew.
I ship out in sixteen days. That’s why she’s worried; they always scan commanders’ quarters before you ship out. “Can’t believe that’s contraband now,” I tell her. “Especially at my pay grade.”
“Let’s see if I remember,” she says, holding the first of the chips up between us. She’s sitting cross legged on the floor, I’m stretched out on the sofa. “This one is your collection of Valance’s security footage.”