Sunday, December 28, 2014

Reading the First Chapter of Embassy

I'm trying something new out, and step one of that trying something new was to read the first chapter of Embassy for you all, for free, on YouTube! It starts exactly one minute in. You'll get to hear all of my pronunciations and what not.

So without further ado...enjoy!



As always, go ahead and purchase your own copy! Ebooks are $2.99 and paperbacks are $12.50-ish.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Blast from the Past

I was rearranging my bookshelves today (cleaning them, more like, because they were a mess of all sorts of things) and I came across a huge reminder of my childhood: a magazine I picked up way back in 2001 at the old grocery store in my hometown. To put it in perspective, the original iPod came out AFTER this magazine.

Needless to say, the grocery store doesn't exist anymore.

Anyway, take a look at this magazine. I did every single activity in this thing, front to back. Took every quiz inside it, still have the posters that were in it. Everything. Gah. I love my childhood.


They were so young. We all were, for that matter (I was 8 at the time...almost 9. Now I'm 22. Wut.)

Does anybody have their own blast from the past moment? Share it in the comments!


Monday, December 22, 2014

RESONANCE Update


Hey there! About an hour ago, I finished the first draft revisions of RESONANCE :D (I call them FDRs hehe). Let me tell you, Part 3 is gonna be quite the fixer-upper. It has almost all the stuff I want...but most of it's summarized of not expanded as much as I want it to be (I could definitely tell I was getting burned-out during the last chapter).

The climax, however, was fantastic. I know how I want to enhance it, too, so I'm looking forward to returning to those chapters.



Remember to grab you copy of Embassy if you haven't already done so. It's great for young adults, adults, and those awkward in-betweeners (the New Adult crowd).

Friday, December 19, 2014

Astronomy Image of the Day

Since I'm a science-fiction writer, I figured what better thing to do than start posting astronomy and space exploration pictures alongside my writing updates and tips?

So here's to inspiration.

This picture is of a rocket launching from Earth, as seen from Earth's orbit. Incredible, huh?


Keep posted! I have more news coming soon!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Part 2 First Draft Revisions in RESONANCE

Well, today I completed the first draft revisions for "Part 2: The Island World" in Resonance. Toiled over these bad boys for a solid week. I can say that I am extremely pleased with Part 2. It's so different from Part 1. The pacing levels out and the world-building just explodes into a whole new level.

So I'm 183 pages through Resonance revisions. Only 67 more to go! I expect to add lots of scenes to the end, though, because while I was writing, I kind of summarized the ending rather than writing it all out (similar to how I wrote the first draft of Embassy).

Part 2 of Resonance
That doesn't go without saying that there are definitely plenty of things I need to concentrate on when I get to typing these revisions and working on future revisions. So what do I need to work on when I get to that?

Here's a list:


  • Characterization -- I need to solidify the main group of characters. Arman, Glacia, Officer Remmit and some others are pretty good....but there are characters I definitely need to tighten up and at least give a little identifiable personalities to.
  • Additional Scenes -- going through this, I found many parts where I thought, "Hey, I could totally stretch this and make it work into characterizing somebody!" or "This would be cool. Let's do it." There are also some parts that I just need to put in to keep the consistency of the story smooth.
  • Physics/Astronomy Concepts -- I threw down my pen at one part. Literally threw it down. Why? Because I blew my mind with how focused some of the details were during some scenes with real-life physics. I need to tweak some things here and there, but for the most part, I amazed myself.
Those are the big things. A ton fewer things to focus on than in Part 1, right? Geez. *happy sigh* I should finish Part 3 by the end of the week.

Make sure you get your friends and family a copy of Embassy for Christmas!

Friday, December 12, 2014

Wanderers

This is a short science film that became an internet sensation about a week ago. I've watched at least a dozen times, because it's such an inspiring, visually awesome film about humanity's journey. It's such an inspiring vision of the future.

One of my goals in writing Embassy and Resonance and the rest of the Recovery Series is to inspire a love for space exploration, and this film truly captures the spirit of that endeavor.


Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Revisions for RESONANCE

This weekend I revised the entire PART ONE of Resonance, and today I reached Chapter 20, meaning I'm a little less than halfway through revisions!...in the course of about 5 days.

Wut.

Part 1 of Resonance

Things I've noticed I need to adjust:


  • Chapters 1-6 and Chapters 16-18, I need to slow the pace down. Things fly by (or maybe I'm just reading really fast). No, I think the story is just hopping and skipping during these parts and not taking the time to develop. So I need to fix those up.
  • The Archives Program is a bit shaky in terms of what the new program ACTUALLY does. I toss in all this jargon, but I feel like there still isn't a clear sense of why they need to revamp the program.
  • Conferences and interviews for the archives program. Stuff happens -- important stuff -- but again, it flies by and isn't totally clear. I need to slow some of that down and let the program develop.
  • Characters. Some new characters are introduced!....but I think the pacing forces them to run across the stage and say goodbye in the blink of an eye, particularly in Chapter 3. I'll be working on that.
  • Personalities. Lon, Lon, Lon. He switched personalities halfway through the story, so I need to get him back on the original track. Gah. I hate when I mix characters' personalities up.

Those are the biggest things I've noticed revision-wise so far. I should knock out another few chapters tomorrow, hopefully hit the end of Part 2 before Friday. I'm loving it! But I also need to work on those few things....

Make sure you grab your copy of Embassy! Read, review, and share it with friends! Resonance will be available December 2015 or January 2016, so mark your calendars. You'll be able to pre-order during the summer.