Tuesday, February 16, 2016

A book idea - Space Opera

   I'm thinking of something kind of like a space opera, with an odd twist. I'm assuming it'll count under that genre, but let's talk about this some more first. There are varying degrees of science fiction, from Hard sci-fi such as Poul Anderson wrote to almost pure fiction like Star Trek. The difference is known science, or what we know to be likely as possible, to the made up science (I don't know how to stop them, Captain, but if we use the deflector dish somehow it MUST work!) found in some books. Les Johnson edited an anthology called Going Interstellar, worth reading if you haven't (I've got mine SIGNED!), that has several hard sci-fi stories followed by a science article on the science related to the short, if I remember properly. I haven't read it in a few years, but I may read it again.

   So what is the difference between Space Opera and various science fiction novels? Well, technically nothing. All Space Opera is sci-fi, though not all sci-fi is Space Opera. Who knew it was used in a negative fashion? Essentially, it's a grand adventure that takes place, for the most part, in space. Well, that's what I'm thinking about writing, so that works for me. I've decided to stay away from hard sci-fi. I'm just not that good at science. Oh, I'll research, but aside from that I've got nothing. Well, something, artificial gravity verses the whole spinning section of the ship to get a kind of gravity... I'll think about it.

   So, here is my idea. I'm going to create a good man, a captain, and he's going to be on patrol with the flagship of their fleet, their best vessel ever, designed to fight pirates. Only, the new ship has been sabotaged and will blow in the first fight, designed to leave the captain as a scape goat. He's going to either fix it or find another ship and will save his planet from an invasion force, then get kicked out of their system by the ungrateful government. I'm debating making him either a privateer/pirate, or a lone policeman. Thoughts?

Monday, February 1, 2016

BAEN Fantasy Contest!

It's another year, and Baen books is hosting another fantasy award contest. The rules are available in the link at the bottom of this post, just copy it from me and paste it in your browser. While I know the link to be safe, it is up to you to double check these things. Look, I know I'm honest, but you probably don't know me. I'm not asking you to cry stranger danger at me, only that you should always be wary of trusting strangers. In this case the link is legit, but good on you for googling "Baen Fantasy Award 2016" and finding the below link.

This is the year! I've got it ready, but there's a bloody CATCH! The word limit is 8K and I'm almost 3K words over. I think if I cut the prologue out completely, and do some editing, I can cut it down... After all the trouble of GETTING to 12K total words (I kept writing after the end, I want to see where it goes) I'm cutting it down. Ay de mi! But what can you do? Well, I'm going to get it done, and done right!

Okay, so what is it about? My fans know a bit about Eandyil Nathar, my elven name that I've used everywhere from Everquest to EVE Online to World of Warcraft. He's guiding a couple of troubled kids, Chase the son of a Guard and Rhian the daughter of a local noble, on a journey to save the world... only they don't know that part yet. For them, it's just about surviving. They don't want to suffer a fate worse than death. What can you do? Flee, of course, which brings us back to Ean and his mission. I'll tell you how I do.

Are you going to enter? I say, "Go for it!" It doesn't increase my chances if you do, and if you win (and I take second) I'll kick myself for it, but if you are that blamed good, or even if you are just curious, you owe it to yourself to try. I'll send well wishes and the best of luck to you! You get them tiger, you can do it! I'll meet you on the field of battle: I'll be the one wearing Elven Steel. Until then, ciao!

That link: https://www.baen.com/baenfantasyaward2016