tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26487319422344138922024-03-13T06:47:26.299-07:00Not Quite as Strange as RealityElliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-41498664237481790992015-06-11T15:36:00.001-07:002015-06-11T15:36:46.651-07:00New Author Site: Elliottkay.comI have moved on to a new website! Having outgrown blogspot here, <a href="http://www.elliottkay.com/" target="_blank">elliottkay.com</a> will now be my official blog/repository of awesome. Still working on transferring comments from this blog, but pretty much everything else is on the new site with a much cleaner look.<div>
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If you came here looking for news, go to elliottkay.com now -- there's new content there that you'll want to see!</div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-14085640975367431302015-04-22T09:43:00.003-07:002015-04-22T09:43:44.931-07:00Something for Good Intentions FansI don't want anyone thinking that I've forgotten about my other series.<div>
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Yeah, I know, its' not a short story or anything, but haven't you always wanted to see what Molly and Onyx look like?</div>
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This one was done on commission by <a href="http://scarypet.deviantart.com/gallery/" target="_blank">scarypet on DeviantArt</a>, whose stuff is gorgeous.</div>
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At some point, I think these two really need their own book.</div>
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Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-11938644960751944072015-04-07T11:47:00.001-07:002015-04-07T13:29:37.803-07:00Writing Military Fiction: ResourcesThis weekend at <a href="http://www.norwescon.org/" target="_blank">Norwescon</a> in Seattle turned out to be one of the most mind-blowing weekends of my life. I went to my first SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America) meeting, hung out with my regular cover artist <a href="http://www.leemoyer.com/" target="_blank">Lee Moyer</a> and his assistant Venetia, and got to meet the incredible <a href="http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/" target="_blank">Cat Rambo</a> and Hugo-winning artist <a href="http://www.juliedillonart.com/" target="_blank">Julie Dillon</a>. <a href="http://www.jenniferbrozek.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Brozek</a> was super gracious and offered a lot of great advice to me about being on panels. Honestly, I could go on with the shout-out-fest until it just got ridiculous (<a href="https://overactive.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Annie Bellet</a>! Erik Scott de Bie! See what I mean?)<br />
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This was my first time as an "attending pro." I've never had an interaction with a pro at Norwescon where I didn't feel completely welcome and appreciated, but being a fellow pro does bring a new context to it. This weekend was something I've wanted for years.<br />
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Part of that was the chance to be one of the folks up at the table of panelists. The panel on writing steamy fic (and fanfic, as if that's any different) was such a riot that my face hurt at the end. The panel that made me want to come home and share things on my blog, though, was the one on Writing About the Military. I felt privileged to be on it, and I made sure to put together a list of resources for attendees that I wanted to share here.<br />
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These are all resources I use in my writing, or books & authors whose influence I continue to feel while writing even if I don't reach for them.<br />
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The biggest influence in my writing is, of course, my prior military experience. Four years in uniform will teach you an awful lot, and everyone on that panel, male and female, was a veteran. A couple of them were combat vets, who will tell you that you really can't understand combat unless and until you've been there. Obviously, there's a lot of truth to that, but it shouldn't hold you back in your writing. A good writer should make <i>every reasonable effort </i>to speak with people who've been in (or at least close to) the situations they want to write about, though.<br />
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As an important aside to that: I've had a number of military vets, including combat vets, write to me privately or leave reviews to say that I have really nailed combat in my books. I've had others say that I'm on crack and that my protagonists wouldn't last two minutes in real combat. <i>I fully believe that both of these reactions are true.</i> Mileage always varies. Those two different reactions come from very different places, but they are both real and legitimate places deserving of respect.<br />
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At any rate: my list of links and books that will hopefully be helpful to other writers out there.<br />
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LINKS<br />
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<a href="http://www.navy.mil/tools/view_styleguide_all.asp" target="_blank">US Navy Style Guide</a>: <span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Short,
easy reference for modern military writing grammar, mechanics, etc. Obviously I don't follow this to 100% accuracy in my books, but then, I <i>am </i>writing about a futuristic space navy.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://goatlocker.org/resources/nav/navyslang.pdf" target="_blank">Dictionary of Navy Slang</a>: Accurate, explicit and often very amusing. It goes on, and on, and on.<br />
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<a href="http://www.armypubs.army.mil/" target="_blank">Official Department of the Army Publications and Forms</a>: It's just plain stunning how much material the US military offers for free. Manuals, tech documents...if you wonder how something works, this is a great place to start digging.<br />
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<a href="http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-archive.php" target="_blank">Medal of Honor Society</a> Archive: Every medal comes with a citation explaining why it was awarded. This site collects most if not all of the citations for the Medal of Honor. If you're wondering whether or not your protagonist's battlefield heroics are over the top, check here for the real thing. Fair warning, though: some of this stuff is just as unbelievable as anything you'll see in fiction. If you want to take it that far, you need to earn it with your readers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/victoria-cross-registers.htm" target="_blank">Victoria Cross Registers</a>: Offers much the same benefits as the MoH link above, but with a different country's perspective -- and with fascinating scans of primary source documents. I'm a history nerd. I think this is amazing.<br />
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<a href="http://fas.org/irp/doddir/navy/rfs/part01.htm" target="_blank">Basics of Shipboard Life</a>: Honestly, I lean more on personal experience and my old Coastie's manual, but this is a good online resource for people who don't have such things handy.<br />
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<a href="http://www.usna.edu/Academics/Majors-and-Courses/index.php" target="_blank">US Naval Academy</a> Because your space captain probably learned <i>something</i> in school, right?<br />
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<a href="http://www.terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/10/14/things-you-should-know-when-writing-about-guns/" target="_blank">This blog post by Chuck Wendig about GUNS GUNS GUNS is super useful.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/policy/army/fm/fm34-52/app-h.htm" target="_blank">Interrogations</a>: If there's one thing I would point to about how Hollywood consistently Gets It Wrong, it's interrogations -- in cop shows, in espionage dramas, and in military fic. Yes, abuse and torture happen. They happen all too often. In addition to being morally wrong, though, it's stupid. Hurting your prisoner/suspect doesn't get him to tell you the truth. It gets him to tell you <i>whatever you want to hear in order to stop the pain</i>, and that's a very, very different thing from <i>truth</i>.<br />
Forget about <i>24. </i>The Commandant of West Point arranged a meeting with that show's producers to explain to them how they were quite literally hurting our military with their product. The show's top dog <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/02/19/whatever-it-takes" target="_blank">didn't even have it in him to make the meeting.</a><br />
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An even better resource than the article above is the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Army-Intelligence-Interrogation-Handbook/dp/1592287174" target="_blank">US Army Intelligence and Interrogation Handbook</a>. Again, I'm not saying violence, torture and abuse don't happen. I am, however, saying that writing that into fiction as effective and justifiable methods is inexcusably lazy and stupid. There are better techniques and experts have explained how they work. Use them. Be unique. Don't be lazy. Don't be Hollywood.<br />
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BOOKS<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated-ebook/dp/B003XRDBJY" target="_blank">WAR IS A RACKET</a> by Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler, USMC (ret). This should be <i>required reading in our high schools</i>, or at least for anyone considering a military career. It's a product of its time, and Butler's voice is more than a little quirky, but to me that just makes it all the more engaging. Butler warns of the military-industrial complex years before Eisenhower's farewell address. This is not a book about writing on life within the military, but if you're going to write such a tale, you <i>need </i>this perspective.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Like-War-Karl-Marlantes-ebook/dp/B005FFPVCM" target="_blank">WHAT IT IS LIKE TO GO TO WAR </a> by Karl Marlantes is just flat-out amazing. I can't think of a non-fiction work that I have read that is more painfully honest. Marlantes is a decorated former Marine officer who offers the sort of war stories that you don't expect: the failures, the missteps, the rash actions that may have been why some comrades didn't come home alive. He also talks about both the awful feelings that go with combat--fear, guilt, doubt--and, perhaps more importantly, the feelings of excitement and even joy that he experienced. As Marlantes relates, one of the greatest problems for vets is that nobody back home wants to hear about that latter half of the experience. Civilians are often eager to pat a veteran's hand sympathetically while hearing about how awful it was, but very few want to hear anything about pride or a sense of triumph if it's going to include any ugly details. There's not a lot of closure for anyone who only gets to explain half of their experiences.<br />
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If I have one caveat to offer about this book, it is that it's severely gendered. His book frequently talks about war being a masculine enterprise and only offers up childbirth as a parallel crucible for women, which grates on me. He doesn't say it with malice or disdain. I'm not calling him a sexist so much as I'm saying there's a blind spot. To be fair, the book is grounded in his experience, which was entirely concerned with his masculine viewpoint--but that blind spot is there. Only at the very end did I find any acknowledgement of American women serving in combat. If you can forgive that blind spot, it's a great book. If you can't, you may want to leave it aside...and if you're strongly of that mindset yourself, I'm not sure how you wound up following me as a writer. :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/MAKING-LEGIONNAIRE-FOREIGN-PARACHUTE-REGIMENT/dp/0297846167" target="_blank">The Making of a Legionnaire</a> by Bill Parris and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-French-Foreign-Legion-Expect/dp/1555716334" target="_blank">Life in the French Foreign Legion</a> by Evan McGorman, because you shouldn't limit yourself to just the US military. I've always been fascinated by the Legion. They're about as different as you can get while still being a modern "Western" military. They pick up recruits from all over the world. Melding different regional cultures together in the US military is enough of a trick, but what the Legion pulls off with global cultures is just amazing, and I've heard nothing but firm endorsements of the Legion's capabilities from military professionals who have worked with them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Leaders-Field-Guide-13th/dp/0811731952" target="_blank">The Combat Leader's Field Guide</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Ranger-Handbook-Department-Defense-ebook/dp/B0058I3ZOC" target="_blank">The Ranger Handbook</a>. So many straightforward nuts-and-bolts explanations and diagrams. These are extremely useful. Even when you're not writing about things "by the book," they are wonderful for helping you keep perspective.Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-69252011564965208112015-03-30T12:57:00.002-07:002015-03-30T12:57:34.844-07:00My Favorite Bad Habit: Art CommissionsAs I've mentioned before, my favorite new hobby is all about commissioning artists to create illustrations of characters from my books. I love seeing what different artists will do with the information and ideas I give them. Part of it is a matter of developing some concept art, because even I'm not 100% sure what the futuristic setting of <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> looks like. I've been working on that, though (or, more accurately, I've had some artists working on it), and here's what I've got so far:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qq5wnFBuBfs/VRmktXTNXFI/AAAAAAAAASg/7YQUifBWkTI/s1600/Knife%2Bfight%2B001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qq5wnFBuBfs/VRmktXTNXFI/AAAAAAAAASg/7YQUifBWkTI/s1600/Knife%2Bfight%2B001.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a></div>
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Russel Roehling put together this piece and delivered it for me at Emerald City Comic Con this past weekend. His stuff is gorgeous! The slight blurring effect at the bottom happened because the picture doesn't quite fit into my scanner, but you're not missing anything for it. I love how much energy Russ puts into his art. A lot of artists I talk to are happy to do relatively still portraits, but Russ is more than happy to put some action into his work. I'll be going back to him for more!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p_Xh6nyxl5o/VRmkpJIdAZI/AAAAAAAAASY/4cHuYnI5BxI/s1600/Cinderella%2BDie%2BHard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p_Xh6nyxl5o/VRmkpJIdAZI/AAAAAAAAASY/4cHuYnI5BxI/s1600/Cinderella%2BDie%2BHard.jpg" height="640" width="380" /></a></div>
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This one was done by <a href="http://chuck-piresart.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Chuck Pires</a>, who I found on DeviantArt. I offered him a couple of different concepts, but in the end, the thought of highlighting the "Cinderella In Space" aspect of <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> kinda won us both over. He offered a quick escalation of poses from "tired and miserable" to "seriously irritated" and finally the full FML treatment above, which makes me very happy.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FVpuXaDqrM/VRmk0nJZPJI/AAAAAAAAASo/z7DuUFUYyXg/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FVpuXaDqrM/VRmk0nJZPJI/AAAAAAAAASo/z7DuUFUYyXg/s1600/1.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></div>
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I've shown this one before: Alicia and Janeka, as drawn by <a href="http://lelia.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Lelia</a>, another artist I found through DeviantArt. Feels like it should make a second appearance here with the others, y'know? This one came to me without as many step-by-step check-ins as I've had with other art, so when I saw the final product I was really thrilled.</div>
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More art is on the way. There's a piece with Casey in it that's so close to being finished I may just add it to this post as an edit. Another piece underway will be an ensemble of most of the pirates from <i>Vengeance. </i>That one's being done by Tadd Galusha, who recently did <a href="http://www.taddgalusha.com/?p=956" target="_blank">this glorious Ninja Turtles cover</a> for IDW. I've also got a lady in the Philippines working on a portrait of Molly & Onyx from <i>Good Intentions</i> that has me really excited -- I'm almost tempted to show the preliminary rough sketch, because it's awesome enough all by itself.</div>
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Again, if by any chance you'll be at Norwescon this coming weekend, I'll be there, too! Check my previous post for details.Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-87764395677480059132015-03-24T10:50:00.002-07:002015-03-24T10:50:40.280-07:00Conventions! Audiobooks! Exclamation Points!Gosh, it's been a while since I updated, huh? Guess I've been a bit busy! Lots of news to relate here.<div>
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First things first: If you're in the Seattle-ish area, I'll be making my first convention appearance as a panelist at <a href="http://www.norwescon.org/" target="_blank">Norwescon</a> from April 2 - 5. This year's Author Guest of Honor is kind of a big deal (George RR Martin), so it's looking to be a bigger-than-usual con. I'm told selection for panelists & such was pretty competitive this year, so I'm excited to have been chosen!<br /></div>
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My schedule for the con has me on the following panels:</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Name All the Things!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Thu 5:00pm-6:00pm</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> - Evergreen 1&2</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Dean Wells (M), Frances Pauli, Erik Scott de Bie, Brenda Carre, Elliott Kay</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">One-on-One Combat for Writers</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Fri 10:00am-11:00am - Evergreen 3&4</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">GregRobin Smith (M), Norman K. Moss, Bill Gruner, A.M. Brosius, Ogre Whiteside, Michael 'Tinker' Pearce, V Whitlock, Ann Schilling, Alan Paulsen</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">(I'm not on the published schedule for this one, but the track lead invited me this weekend and I jumped at the chance. This is a <i>great</i> panel.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing About the Military<br />Fri <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_72354118" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">4:00pm-5:00pm</span></span> - Cascade 7&8<br />Russell Ervin (M), Bart Kemper, S. A. Bolich, Jennifer Brozek, Joseph Malik, Elliott Kay<br /><br />Level Up Your Indie Skillset<br />Sat <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_72354119" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">6:00pm-7:00pm</span></span> - Cascade 9<br />Matt Youngmark (M), Annie Bellet, Luna Lindsey, Elliott Kay<br /><br />Beyond Insert Tab A Into Slot B<br />Sat <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_72354120" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">9:00pm-10:00pm</span></span> - Cascade 6<br />18+ Only, please<br /><br />Zap! Pow! Bam!<br />Sun <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_72354121" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">3:00pm-4:00pm</span></span> - Cascade 9<br />Grant Riddell (M), Elliott Kay, Erik Scott de Bie, Craig English</span><br /></div>
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Norwescon has been an annual event for me since I arrived in Seattle ten years ago. I've been a regular attendee, I've been a vendor('s boyfriend), I've found myself in after-hours room parties until far too late at night, and now I'm an attending pro! Hooray, progress!</div>
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But if you're on my blog here, you're probably wondering what I've been up to since my last update. I've been focused on my sci-fi books for the last couple of months. Some of my efforts have been drawn off by edits and proofreads of <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> and <i>Rich Man's War</i> in preparation for its publishing re-launch through Skyscape, but for the most part I've been hard at work writing the still-not-titled Book Three in the series. As I may have noted elsewhere, there's a lot of world-building to do for this one. Tanner is at the end of his enlistment term, with major decisions to face for his life while Archangel, the Kingdom of Hashem, the big corporations and the rest of the Union brawl their way toward a new status quo.</div>
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Additionally, I have some more good news if you're a lover of Audiobooks: Audible.com and I have reached a deal for producing audio versions of <i>Good Intentions, Natural Consequences</i> and <i>Days of High Adventure</i>! I can't offer much in the way of details there except for the fact that the papers are signed and I have received word from Audible that the process is underway. We don't have a narrator chosen or a release date yet, but I'm told it should all be a matter of just a few months.</div>
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I hope to have more news soon, and if you're at Norwescon, please come say hi!</div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-70339692990512580872015-01-28T10:11:00.000-08:002015-01-28T10:11:05.547-08:00Traditional Publishing: Achievement Unlocked! I'm Signed with Skyscape!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve been
holding out on my readers since about December 4<sup>th</sup>, and it’s time to
come clean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I really don’t
remember much about December 4<sup>th</sup>. The calendar says it was a
Thursday. I know that was a “stay at home and write” day, or at least it was
intended to be. Maybe I wrote. Maybe I didn’t. I don’t remember.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All I
remember is this email that turned up in my inbox, with the subject heading, “Hello
from Amazon Publishing!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kindle and
Amazon send out mass emails, of course. They happen. I didn’t expect this to be
anything different, but when I opened it up, I found this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hi Elliott,</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I hope you’re well!
I’m writing as an editor for Skyscape, Amazon’s traditional YA/new adult
publishing imprint. I encountered POOR MAN’S FIGHT while browsing the Kindle
store, and was instantly drawn in by your fantastic description. I purchased
the book immediately and read it over the course of one night…</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Have
you enjoyed your self-publishing experience? And have you ever considered
traditional publishing?</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I responded,
of course. I had some hopes. But I’ve also learned not to get my hopes up too
high since I first started writing these books. I have been contacted by agents
before, including agents from very big and reputable companies, and one time a
guy in Hollywood working for a yes-for-reals television agency inquired about
the rights for Poor Man’s Fight…but usually it’s just a very brief query that
doesn’t go far beyond that. So I responded, I mentioned it to some friends, and
my hopes perked up more when Miriam (the editor) and I arranged a phone call.
But again, I didn’t let those hopes run away with me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As it turned
out, Miriam said pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear: that Skyscape
wanted to take Poor Man’s Fight and Rich Man’s War under their label for
traditional publishing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The deal is
signed. We’re full speed ahead. I’m actually reviewing copyedits of Poor Man’s
Fight now, and I’ve just filled out the first little bits of paperwork for the
audio book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What does
all this mean for Poor Man’s Fight, Rich Man’s War, and the following book(s)?
Am I gonna have to Young Adult this thing up and take out all the swearing and
face-stabbing? Do I have to slap on a WB-style makeover for the characters and
set everything to a mopey emo soundtrack? WILL THERE BE HUGE CHANGES?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No. Well,
not HUGE changes. The one big change I’m looking at is a name change, because
let’s face it, I made a goof when I named Allison, Alicia and Andrea. That’s
one too many A-names to track, especially given what they have in common. Allison’s
now looking at a name change. Past that, we’re just looking at fixing some
editorial mistakes, and I’m very grateful for the help I’m receiving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">However, the
action is still there. The language is still there. Tanner is and will remain a
serial interstellar blasphemer. Casey is still Casey. Janeka is still Janeka. The
books will remain available on Amazon as they currently are until Skyscape
re-launches them, which at the moment looks like June of this year. And I’m extremely
happy about all of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My other
books, for the record, are untouched by the deal, and will remain as they are. I
don’t find that disappointing at all; I like them just fine as indie-published
works. My racy, not-for-kids urban fantasy line will continue. I need to finish
with Volume Three of <i>Well, That Escalated
Quickly: The Tanner Malone Story</i> (still no projected date on that yet!)<i>, </i>and then it will be time to assess
where I go next. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The only
real change I’m looking at here is the prospect of reaching many, many more
readers, and what writer doesn’t want that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">THANK YOU to
all my readers—to everyone who left reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, to
everyone who mentioned the book to a friend and who emailed me privately to
give their thoughts. This ride just keeps getting better, and I’m so truly
grateful for all the support!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-14582126377940671542015-01-23T22:48:00.002-08:002015-01-23T22:48:56.663-08:00It's like that joke about God sending boats to the dude in the flood...except totally not.<i>(This may well sound grumbly, but I swear things are going well for me overall.)</i><br />
<br />
Probably the first rule of becoming a writer is Don't Quit Your Day Job. If it's not, it should be.<br />
<br />
I have a day job. I've had the same day job for ten-ish years now. I won't tell you what it is, but it's one of those socially responsible jobs that our society desperately needs to function, and yet going into said job means you often won't be treated well...by society. The job has plenty of drawbacks. You tell people this is your job and they make a face and say, "Wow, I couldn't do that," but they know it needs doing. It's also the sort of job where you <i>need</i> a college degree, and then you need more college after that, but good luck paying it all off on the salary you'll probably make.<br />
<br />
For a long time, I liked the job, even though it could often be a drag. My actual time commitments were pretty malleable, though the low pay meant that I worked as often as I possibly could and still didn't really get far ahead. I tried to get more entrenched in my job, in the hopes of both professional growth and improving my economic standing (again, low pay, no benefits at all...not a lot of security). I didn't get very far. Part of that was the downturn in 2008; part of it was just the nature of my field; and, sure, sometimes I got beat out by better candidates. It happened.<br />
<br />
I never lacked for dedication, or talent, or diligence. It just didn't get me anywhere. It certainly didn't help my wallet. The truth of the American Dream is that it still involves a lot of luck. I think my favorite quote in the last ten years is from George Monbiot: <i>"<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire."</span></i><br />
<br />
Writing wasn't a thing I ever planned on doing for a living. It sounds like saying you're gonna grow up to play in the NFL or be a rock star. It doesn't seem practical. I wrote for fun, and things have sort of grown from there.<br />
<br />
I still have my day job, but I don't go in a whole lot anymore. That's a wonderful thing, too, because as the years went on and the growth never really happened, the day job became more of a drag than a calling. <i>Good Intentions</i> helped a lot when I went through a brief and entirely predictable bit of seasonal unemployment. <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> pretty much changed my life. Occasionally, a reader or a reviewer will say that Tanner is a bit too heroic, and I think, "Tanner bought me out of debt, paid for multiple book covers and my appendectomy and gave me the best summer vacation I've had in ten years. You're damn right he's a hero!"<br />
<br />
The thing is, I'm not what you'd call rich. I'm just finally making what a college-educated guy who just hit 40 should maybe make, contrasted against a pretty modest lifestyle developed from years of not making all that much money.<br />
<br />
Again, the rule is: Don't Quit Your Day Job. And I've more or less followed that. I've taken a lot of time off the day job to write, because I love writing and because the writing is demonstrably more profitable. But I haven't quit the day job...I just don't go in a lot anymore.<br />
<br />
I went in this week, partly by request. I drove to work today in the car that I bought this summer, the first new car I've ever owned, the car that I could only afford because so many people have been so good to me and my writing.<br />
<br />
...aaaaand I got rear-ended about a block away from the office. Trunk and bumper are just smashed. I'm okay, the other guy's okay. He got out of his van and passed along his insurance and he was cool, and given how common hit-and-runs seem to be in Seattle, I'll take that as a blessing. But still: I went in to work like a real person, and naturally my car took the hit.<br />
<br />
I think the universe is trying to tell me something.<br />
<br />
General updateness:<br />
<br />
<i>Tanner: Well, That Escalated Quickly (Book Three) </i>is currently at 33,000 words, and this week I managed to get over a particularly concerning plot point, so I feel like it'll keep rolling along well. I have no projections as to when it'll be done. I desperately WANT to be done by early summer. The last time I shot for that, however, it wound up being late August, which as it turns out isn't the best time to release a book.<br />
<br />
I've received confirmation that I'll be an attending pro at <a href="http://www.norwescon.org/" target="_blank">Norwescon</a> this year (April 2-5). As the website will tell you, it's the Pacific Northwest's Premiere Science Fiction and Fantasy convention. All these years of being a regular attendee, and now I'll be a panelist!<br />
<br />
I'm also working with a few different artists (mostly discovered at conventions or through DeviantArt) for some illustrations of Tanner, Casey & Co. that I'll share once I have them. I've wanted to get some more such pieces done for a while now. It's in the works. Hopefully we'll all like what we see.<br />
<br />
As it's a common question, I'll just state here again that yes, I will someday write another book in the <i>Good Intentions</i> series. Maybe after the current book is done, maybe not. I can't say. I love those characters. I feel like there's much more to do with them. But I'm sticking to one book at a time right now.<br />
<br />
There's other good news to relay, but I kinda need to keep it under my hat for a little longer just yet.<br />
<br />
Couple last bits: I've finally taken to Twitter and Tumblr. Not all that much on either yet, but if you follow those outlets, I'm @ElliottKaybooks on Twitter and I'm <a href="http://elliottkay.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">elliottkay.tumblr.com</a> on tumblr, obviously. Fair warning: I don't do a whole lot of advertising there. Just a little more of my regular voice getting out into the world.<br />
<br />
Take care, everyone!Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-67180844933329085912015-01-15T14:39:00.001-08:002015-01-15T14:39:22.088-08:00Good News, for a ChangeNot exactly a serious blog post. Book Three is progressing for Tanner. Not much more to tell on that score right now.<br />
<br />
But I feel like this should be shouted out from rooftops:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0109/In-a-US-first-New-Orleans-finds-homes-for-all-its-homeless-veterans" target="_blank">Christian Science Monitor: In a US first, New Orleans finds homes for all its homeless veterans</a>.<br />
<br />
I'm sure the program will have its flaws. I have no doubt that some vets will slip through the cracks. But the fact that this effort is being made and is having genuinely good effects is wonderful.<br />
<br />
Like pretty much anyone, I want to see homelessness ended, for everyone, period. Veterans or not. <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/184017/city-came-simple-solution-homelessness-housing" target="_blank">Salt Lake City is apparently doing great things in that regard.</a> But just from the standpoint of having to start somewhere, this is a beautiful thing.<br />
<br />
I drive past homeless people all the time in Seattle. Sometimes I give to panhandlers. Sometimes I don't. But it kills me every time. And I know that Seattle isn't exactly doing nothing, but...I'm so glad to see cities making progress. Here's hoping it spreads.Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-46070737483420967012014-12-25T22:47:00.003-08:002014-12-25T22:52:00.137-08:00Best Christmas Gift EverI read the news and watch my usual internet haunts and I keep thinking what a crummy year 2014 has been for a whole lot of people.<br />
<br />
I could go off about Gamergate and racism and political paralysis and torture, but I sort of doubt I'm going to add anything to those subjects that hasn't been seen elsewhere. I don't think anyone would be shocked to find where I stand. Not if you've read my blog before now, at least.<br />
<br />
So, yeah. Ugly year. There were also <a href="http://rameznaam.com/2014/12/21/2014-was-a-good-year-better-than-you-remember/" target="_blank">some good things that might easily go unnoticed</a>, but good news doesn't often make the biggest headlines.<br />
<br />
And yet, 2014 was a great year for me on a personal level.<br />
<br />
I've had some wonderful developments that I'm not ready to talk about just yet. I can say that I'm hard at work on Book Three for Tanner and Co., and I have more good news to share on the horizon. But for now, I just wanted to share this, because it arrived just in time for Christmas. It's pretty much the best thing I've ever received at Christmas time.<br />
<br />
Dear readers, I did <a href="http://elliottkay.blogspot.com/2014/07/rich-mans-war-is-out.html" target="_blank">exactly as I promised</a> with <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> profits after <i>Rich Man's War</i> came out. Thank you so, so much for all your support. I realize it's all just fun and silliness and space pirates most of the time, and usually that's all I'm after -- but I'm so glad that we could turn some of the profits from all this popcorn into something worthwhile. The letter below is the result of a whole lot of people giving me a shot, and for that, I'm eternally grateful.<br />
<br />
Thank you. Happy holidays, and I hope 2015 is a good year for everyone!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nx8GREG-Se4/VJ0CWUJqTMI/AAAAAAAAAQk/5IU-dQBqDac/s1600/IAVA%2Bblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nx8GREG-Se4/VJ0CWUJqTMI/AAAAAAAAAQk/5IU-dQBqDac/s1600/IAVA%2Bblog.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-53709990879123296112014-11-20T17:55:00.000-08:002014-11-20T17:55:27.589-08:00Casting Call, Part II -- And Info on Paperbacks!First things first: paperbacks for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Mans-War-Elliott-Kay-ebook/dp/B00M0W6ZCS" target="_blank">Rich Man's War</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Consequences-Elliott-Kay-ebook/dp/B00EENE9G0" target="_blank">Natural Consequences</a> are now available through Amazon! I apologize for the wait on NatCon -- to be completely honest, I got very focused on putting RMW together and so that project languished despite my having a printed proof to work with for a good long while. At any rate, if anyone's looking for, oh, holiday gifts or whatnot, I've got four books to offer... :)<br />
<br />
On to sillier business!<br />
<br />
I wanted to let the "casting call" question hang for a bit to see if I'd get any bites on it, and I got a few. I'll confess that I did this in part because I wanted to hear some ideas, and I found a few in the comments that I found intriguing.<br />
<br />
This question <i>kicked my ass</i> for two reasons: First, I just plain don't watch all that much television or film. I'm very often That Guy Who Hasn't Seen That Thing (OMG!), and often I'm still not interested no matter how many people tell me I <i>totally have to watch/see/read this</i>. If the dust jacket or the preview or the Netflix descriptor doesn't interest me, I can be very hard to motivate. The second, perhaps more interesting reason that this question was tough for me is that a great many of my characters are drawn from people I know. Rachel and Wade from <i>Good Intentions</i>, Gunny Janeka, Cpl. Brent Collins and a great many others from <i>Poor Man's Fight</i>--these are all based heavily on people I know or have known in the past, and that's part of how I bring them to life.<br />
<br />
But I'm gonna go ahead and try to come up with more recognizable options for this.<br />
<br />
Also, for what it's worth, we have to remember that actors get older, but we don't necessarily remember that because we think of work they did ten or twenty years ago. A lot of the characters in both my series are pretty young people, making them tough to cast. Hell, it's even tougher when you consider the longevity treatments that keep people younger longer in PMF/RMW; remember, Andrea is supposed to be in her early sixties, but she only looks twenty-five or so.<br />
<br />
So here goes:<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>Poor Man's Fight / Rich Man's War</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b>Tanner Malone</b> -- Argh. That's a problem right out of the gate for me. My gut answer is "go for an unknown, maybe Latino, maybe Caucasian." The role would require a serious tan; Tanner is literally tanner than most of the people around him. But my first choice would be a young Shane Taylor, who played <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqzYjR7lRi4" target="_blank">Eugene "Doc" Roe in Band of Brothers</a>. Beat up, demoralized, almost empty inside but still moving and still feeling...if I can get that performance into my books at any point, I'll have won at writing.<br />
<br />
Someone suggested Anton Yelchin (Chekov in the new Star Trek films) for Jason from <i>Good Intentions</i>, and I honestly think it might be interesting to get him a good tan, buzz down that hair and see how he'd do.<br />
<br />
He's not named for the tan, btw; that's just a happy accident. Tanner is named for a Harry Chapin song I heard years ago called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo-tCNtFI10" target="_blank">Mr. Tanner</a>. It's about a man whose talents don't match his passions. And I can more or less promise you that I'll never write anything as sad as a Harry Chapin song, but the name stuck with me!<br />
<br />
<b>Casey</b> -- Wow, so the James Spader suggestions really surprised me. I haven't seen his more recent stuff, though. It's certainly an interesting thought. From the beginning, though, I always envisioned Casey as a blend of Ian McShane as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vop90IY6Bk" target="_blank">Al Swearengen</a> (NSFW!!) from Deadwood and Michael Wincott's Top Dollar in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_NS0vAYGVk" target="_blank">The Crow</a>. (Also NSFW, really) Either one would make me really happy.<br />
<br />
<b>Lauren Williams</b> -- Uma Thurman. Versatile actress who can convey confident experience and is clearly comfortable with a stabby role.<br />
<br />
Also, at least one of the pirate ensemble would have to be played by Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. Because why wouldn't he? Hell, he could just be there as himself. He's Lemmy. Needs no other explanation.<br />
<br />
<b>Darren Mills</b> -- James Franco. Heh.<br />
<br />
<b>Gunny Janeka</b> -- My first thought is Angela Bassett, because her performance as Tina Turner really blew me away. However, the suggestion of Jada Pinkett Smith also works pretty solidly for me.<br />
<br />
<b>Chief Everett</b> -- A somewhat younger Bruce Greenwood (Capt. Pike in the new Star Trek films) would kick ass in this role, but to be honest, he's one of the best parts of those films. He may just kick ass at everything.<br />
<br />
<b>Admiral Yeoh</b> -- She's straight-up named for Michelle Yeoh. That one was set in stone in my head the moment I started writing her.<br />
<br />
<b>Allison</b> -- Eliza Dushku, maybe? This one's still somewhat open for me because I see someone I knew years ago.<br />
<br />
<b>Andrea Bennett</b> -- Eva Green. Done.<br />
<br />
<b>President Aguirre</b> -- Mark Consuelos, maybe aged up a bit. (btw, if you have Amazon Prime and you're not watching Alpha House, you're missing out. It's amazingly funny.)<br />
<br />
<b>Vanessa Rios </b>-- Rosario Dawson or Michelle Rodriguez.<br />
<br />
<b>Einstein</b> -- Um. Honestly, I'm at a loss on this one. Damn.<br />
<br />
<b>Alicia Wong</b> -- I wince while I write this, but I really think of Rinko Kikuchi. That bothers me a little bit because Rinko is Japanese, while "Wong" is a pretty clearly Chinese name, and I don't want to sound like I don't know the difference...but if you saw Pacific Rim and didn't absolutely fall in love with Rinko, I feel you may need to take your soul in for a diagnostic. Hell, maybe Alicia has some blended Chinese & Japanese ancestry. Who knows? It's never been spelled out... :)<br />
<br />
<b>Sanjay</b> -- Inspired by Sanjay Seran, vocalist for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAxAhUh_9yM" target="_blank">Delhi 2 Dublin</a> -- an <i>amazing</i> band to see live. I kinda doubt the guy does any acting, but that's who I see in my head.<br />
<br />
<b>Booker</b> -- Oh, man, can we get Anthony Mackie? I thought everyone in Captain America 2 was amazeballs, but Mackie just stole scene after scene that I thought had already been stolen by somebody else.<br />
<br />
<b>Lt. Kelly</b> -- Here's where my West Wing fanboy comes out (you'll see plenty of it). I'd want Allison Smith in her earliest days as Mallory (Leo McGarry's daughter). I haven't seen any of True Blood, but I liked the suggestion of Deborah Ann Woll, too. She's definitely got the look.<br />
<br />
<b>Harris</b> -- Brian Bloom (Pike from the ridiculously fun A-Team film)<br />
<br />
<b>Jesse (Jessica) Baldwin</b> -- I like the Ellen Page suggestion, but I also think of Kat Dennings.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>Good Intentions / Natural Consequences</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Again, we run into the youth thing here. Also, this is a much racier story. I have no clue if any of these actors & actresses would want in on such roles. But, to my thinking, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUBiOOx0Pxw" target="_blank">It's Not Porn. It's HBO.</a> (NSFW language and goddamn hilarious.)<br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b>Alex Carlisle</b> -- As with Tanner, I'd be happy to go with a young unknown. Otherwise...if we could get a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I think we'd be set.<br />
<br />
<b>Lorelei</b> -- Changed in my head so many times while writing those books I can't even articulate it. One minute she was Sophia Loren, the next minute she was Morena Baccarin. But in the end, the voice that came through strongest for me and kept selling it over and over again was Claudia Black. I also think that Polly Walker (Atia from HBO's Rome) would knock this out of the park.<br />
<br />
<b>Rachel </b>-- Another one that is basically someone I know. However...Emily Procter, who played <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlnwzU9y1A" target="_blank">Ainsley Hayes</a> on the West Wing could totally have fit this role. My other thought would be: get Taylor Swift and have her do her Kesha impression. Done.<br />
<br />
<b>Drew Jones</b> -- Dulé Hill. Done. (My West Wing fanboyness coming out again.)<br />
<br />
<b>Wade Reinhardt</b> -- Again, I already know him, but you don't. My girlfriend recently got watching Supernatural, which I'd (amazingly) never watched despite the things I write. Having seen some of that over her shoulder, I think Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) would be great in that role if we could, y'know, roll back the clock about fifteen years on him.<br />
<br />
<b>Jason Cohen</b> -- I'm kinda back to the Anton Yelchin suggestion here.<br />
<br />
<b>Taylor</b> -- Summer Glau.<br />
<br />
<b>Onyx</b> -- Kat Dennings.<br />
<br />
<b>Molly</b> -- Natalie Dormer (as suggested). I don't watch GoT, but I've seen the pics, and I remember her brief moment in Captain America. She'd be great.<br />
<br />
<b>Vincent</b> -- Kevin McKidd (If I'm not mistaken, he's already played one angel...)<br />
<br />
<br />
I think that's all I can handle of this for now. At any rate, Book Three for Tanner's story is in the works! I'm only recently through with the prologue & pushing on through Chapter One, but I wanted people to know that I'm not wasting a whole lot of time there.<br />
<br />
Talk to you again soon!Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-8501528574785926882014-11-12T17:54:00.002-08:002014-11-12T17:54:39.000-08:00Casting Call?In a comment on my last post, Sean asked,<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Kind of off topic for this post, but if you could cast both of your series as movies, who would you choose for the main characters? (no budgetary constraints, it's perfectly okay to choose all A-listers) </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">...and I'm absolutely interested in hearing what anyone else would have to say!</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">I'll come up with my own answers here tomorrow-ish. But feel free to throw out ideas!</span></span>Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-66366622231694839172014-10-22T00:03:00.002-07:002014-10-22T00:03:27.557-07:00Inclusion By the NumbersAs I noted in a previous post about "Milestones and Principles," my third rule for Tanner's world is that it is not all that white. I never set down a ratio formula or anything like that, nor did I go through the text and start changing names or inserting descriptors for the sake of diversity. I just tried to keep diversity in mind as I wrote, but I also knew that on some level I'd be doing this out of habit. There are three reasons for this. One is that I grew up in Phoenix and Los Angeles, so I'm used to diversity to begin with. Second is that I can't look at things like global population growth and think that the future will look anything like it does on American television. The third factor, though, is that I genuinely believe inclusion matters. It matters a lot. And it doesn't come without a healthy, sometimes jarring bit of introspection.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, yeah. No statistical formulas or anything. Just a general principle that I wanted to include as I wrote. I don't plan on establishing any sort of ratios in the future, either, but lately I've done some small bit of unscientific analysis of my work and seen room for improvement on this score.<br /><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's worth noting that a great many readers (certainly American readers, at least) will presume that characters are white unless shown otherwise through descriptors or names with obvious ethnic origins. It's easy to assume that Joe Smith is a white guy, when of course he could be anything (or maybe even a she), but it's also pretty reasonable to assume that Takashi is probably Japanese. Yet sometimes readers will even assume whiteness when told otherwise, as was the case with <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/white-until-proven-black-imagining-race-in-hunger-games" target="_blank">Rue from The Hunger Games</a>. (I still haven't read the books or seen the movies. Yes, I know that's a crime. I'll get to 'em. I hear nothing but good things.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's also worth noting that a lot of writers have <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/if-white-characters-were-described-like-people-of-color-in-l#2ojn1r7" target="_blank">unfortunate habits in describing people of color</a>. I don't claim to be free of this myself. I know I've used "mocha" to describe skin at least once, probably more.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Recently, I've completed a project of going through <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> and <i>Rich Man's War</i> to draw up a continuity database (technically a spreadsheet, but whatever). The primary purpose of this was, as noted, continuity: I didn't want to lose track of who had red hair or a scar on their cheek or who hadn't survived from one book to the next. It might be a bit embarrassing for someone who died in <i>Rich Man's War</i> to show up alive and well in my next novel. I also needed to make sure I was keeping track of names, lest I use one repeatedly for different characters (and I've caught myself doing it once already).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The exercise gave me a chance to tally up some numbers on that concern for inclusion, just to see how I'm doing for myself. I shared this with friends. I figured I'd share it here, too. These numbers, by the way, come mainly from me staring at my database and counting out loud. I don't have fields for gender or ethnicity. I just try to keep track of that through names and by writing down physical descriptions when they appear (again, I wanted to keep things like hair color consistent).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To offer a quick but very important caveat: MANY names in these two books are only names thrown out a couple times over the course of the book. Things like ethnicity and gender are never really specified, and left open to interpretation. In my head, a lot of characters are of mixed-race backgrounds -- it's a couple hundred years in the future, after all -- but if it's not specified, I believe the default assumption many readers will make is that these are all white males, which I think is worth remembering when looking at the numbers.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #141823;"><i>Poor Man's Fight</i> has 138 named characters.<br />
44 of those named characters are explicitly killed by book's end.<br />
7 more (named character) deaths are strongly implied, but not explicit.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #141823; line-height: 14.5pt;">18 named characters are (explicitly) women. Almost all of them
speak and most play significant or major roles. PMF passes the Bechdel Test, though it could've done better there.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt;">
<span style="color: #141823;">The cast includes only one named character whose homosexuality is explicitly referenced. The character
is of great significance, while his sexuality is pretty much irrelevant to the story.
This is by design -- I wanted to establish that these things are not such huge issues in Tanner's day as they are in current society, but it is also how I originally imagined that character. Nobody is a "token" representative of anything. 1 other major character (female) is hinted to be either bisexual or
homosexual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt;">
<span style="color: #141823;">Only 2 characters (Gunny Janeka and Ravenell) are specified as
black. Several others were black in my head but it's not explicit in the text.<br />
19 names are Hispanic (including Gomez and Other Gomez). Obviously there's some
potential crossover there between Latino and European Spanish, but in my head
they're overwhelmingly Latino.<br />
18 names are East Asian.<br />
5 names are South Asian (Indian, etc).<br />
11 names are Arabic/Middle Eastern.<br />
3 characters are known by nicknames without ethnic details, though easily
inferred to be white males. (1 is Latino, actually, but I never made that
explicit.)<br />
...aaaand 74 names are presumptive white Europeans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt;">
<span style="color: #141823;">6 characters are straight-up Tuckers (people I actually know
inserted into the book).<br />
16 other characters are strongly based on people from my past, including the
entire crew of St. Jude (minus the protagonist).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Rich Man's War</i> adds 111 named characters, bringing the total to 249.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">30
characters who appeared in RMW are explicitly dead by book’s end, along with 6
deaths of characters who first appeared in PMF.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">RMW
has a far bigger body count in unnamed “on-screen” deaths, and then there are a
couple little matters of planetary bombardments/invasions, but do those really
count? </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Additions by gender and ethnicity:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RMW adds
15 women, along with giving a female face/identity to a character mentioned
only by name in PMF. RMW passes Bechdel
repeatedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Still
only 1 (explicitly-noted) homosexual character, but he appears again in this
book, along with the 1 strongly-hinted bisexual character from PMF. RMW
also features a prominent bisexual male character, which becomes a point of
conversation and an opportunity for the protagonist to stick his foot way, way
down his own throat. Of all the books I’ve written, RMW places the least
attention/relevance on sex and sexuality. <i>No time for love, Dr. Jones!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Black
characters: Both from PMF return in RMW to greater prominence. RMW introduces
at least three characters whom I imagine as black but whom I left
un-specified (Lt. Booker being the biggest example), but only one new character
(not of those three) is specifically described as black (Capt. Bernard).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">16
new names are Hispanic/Latino.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">5
names are East Asian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">5 new
names are South Asian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1
name is Arabic/Middle Eastern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">9
characters are Tuckers (people I actually know whom I made into characters),
though two are just name call-outs. There are 2 other semi-Tuckers, in that I
cast them in my head as people I know, but changed either the first or last
name because reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So as
for inclusion: There’s a definite downturn in overall numbers in RMW compared to PMF, but it’s masked in part by how many of the women, people of color and
gay/bi characters return from PMF. This also doesn't reflect the attention placed on those characters over the course of the narrative, which goes well beyond what those numbers show. Still, I definitely feel like I could do better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Also, for what it's worth, Tanner Malone himself isn't entirely white European by descent, either. That's something I've known from the beginning, but it hasn't worked its way into the narrative yet. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-40997464137961622562014-10-01T15:52:00.001-07:002014-10-01T15:52:01.911-07:00Numbers!<div class="MsoNormal">
This post has been a long time coming. Sorry for anyone who
was waiting to hear these details. Partly, I’ve been easily distracted lately,
and in part I also just haven’t been quite sure how to compose it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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As noted earlier, I’m donating everything I made off of Poor
Man’s Fight from 7/22/14 – 8/31/14 to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America. Again, that’s not an endorsement from them or anything; it’s just
something I’ve decided to do to support their cause.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sales of PMF for that time period juuuust cracked over 4,900
copies. After the vendors’ cut of the royalties and after withholding for
Federal taxes (I’m just gonna go ahead and eat the state taxes), this comes to
$6667.57 – which I’m gonna go ahead and round up to a full $7,000!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not giving them the money just yet, ‘cause in the
immortal words of Han Solo, “I don’t have the money WITH me…” Those payments
should roll in at the end of October, though, and at that point I’ll happily
post a picture of the check (or a screenshot or whatever) of the donation,
along with a follow-up of whatever documentation I get from the IAVA.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As an aside, if anyone really wants the boring nuts and
bolts accounting of these numbers, just let me know and I’ll be happy to
provide it. I’ll admit that the data I see from my vendors like Amazon can be a
little difficult to follow, which is why I’m rounding up on my donation rather
than sticking to the specific numbers that arrived. I’d rather overshoot than
get all miserly over a good cause.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In other news, paperback copies of Rich Man’s War should be
available really soon. I already have a physical proof on the way. I’m thrilled
with the reception that book has enjoyed. Thank you again to everyone who left
a review or who recommended the book to friends. All of things matter a great
deal and help keep me going!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Currently, I’m working up a character continuity database
for PMF & RMW, just to make sure I don’t have any awkward moments of “Wait,
isn’t he dead?” in the next novel. I just finished the PMF portion of that,
with RMW left to go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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From there, my *plan* is to continue on to the next book for
Tanner. I say that because there’s always a chance I’ll get something else done
first – I’m toying with the idea of a collection of short stories for the Good
Intentions crowd, but many of those are already written or partially-finished.
Tanner holds top priority, but I haven’t forgotten about Alex & Co. They’ll
get another book some day!<o:p></o:p></div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-20967441834499937632014-08-24T16:37:00.002-07:002014-08-24T16:37:55.721-07:00Happy News!Hey all,<br />
<br />
So it turns out that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Mans-War-Elliott-Kay-ebook/dp/B00M0W6ZCS" target="_blank">Rich Man's War</a> is doing awesome -- been at #1 in Kindle Military Sci-Fi repeatedly, with generally awesome reviews and a nice buzz. Thank you so much to everyone who picked up the book, and doubly so to anyone who left a review! They truly do make a difference, and I'm really grateful.<br />
<br />
But in slightly awesomer news (yes, I called it that), my decision to put all of my profits from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poor-Mans-Fight-Elliott-Kay-ebook/dp/B00B3WZ4VY" target="_blank">Poor Man's Fight</a> (from RMW's release date of 8/22 through the end of August) to the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America has already shown me a tally of over <b>$5,000!</b> That's far more money than I realistically expected. I can't tell you how good that feels...although I imagine I'll feel better once I've actually gotten that money from Amazon, Smashwords, etc. and I can write the check to the IAVA.<br />
<br />
That's just about all for now--but once again, I found someone on DeviantArt whose style I love and who was open for commissions, and I thought, "You know who needs some attention? Alicia and Janeka." Here's the results. I think they look pretty good!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3_Z42q_TQoM/U_pGGk3rSGI/AAAAAAAAAPs/BR5N55mS1yg/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3_Z42q_TQoM/U_pGGk3rSGI/AAAAAAAAAPs/BR5N55mS1yg/s1600/1.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
<br />
That artist, by the way, is <a href="http://lelia.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Lelia</a> on Deviant Art.Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-10585722916845773332014-07-31T15:46:00.000-07:002014-10-29T17:19:03.509-07:00Milestones and PrinciplesHi all,<br />
<br />
I figured that today would be a good day for a slight progress report given that it's the end of the month, and maybe a little insight into the rules I've set for myself regarding my sci-fi.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Mans-War-Elliott-Kay-ebook/dp/B00M0W6ZCS" target="_blank">Rich Man's War</a> is #1 in military sci-fi and #5 in sci-fi adventure on Amazon as of this writing, which is super exciting and very gratifying to me. Those stats may well change quickly--they can rise and fall on an hourly basis sometimes--but it hit those numbers yesterday, and that made me feel good.<br />
<br />
Per my announcement when RMW was released, anything I make off of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poor-Mans-Fight-Elliott-Kay-ebook/dp/B00B3WZ4VY" target="_blank">Poor Man's Fight</a> from 7/22 through the end of August will be donated to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Again, that's not an endorsement from them (we've had no contact) and that's after Amazon gets its share of royalties & after taxes...but I'm pleased to say that as of this writing, I am now on the hook for about $528 there (assuming I can do math), and I sincerely hope it keeps growing!<br />
<br />
So I figured, for anyone who might be interested in things like "world-building," that I might share something I wrote up for the PMF setting a few weeks ago. As some people may have noticed, I try to avoid lengthy third-person info-dumping in my stories. Sometimes a little of that is necessary, but I find that it's best to keep it to a bare minimum. But in getting into the climactic battle at the end, I decided it might be time to maybe write these things down in a single list just to help me keep them straight. Obviously not all this is technical or historical; some of it is the make-believe space opera physics of the setting, but some of it is thematic. I thought, just for the hell of it, that I would share it for the sake of anyone who might be interested.<br />
<br />
Also, please note: very little of this is truly set in stone. One of the guiding philosophies in my books is, as a college professor once told me, "Change is the only constant." Tech moves on. Cultures change. People really do change, though not as deliberately as they would like. But here, as the world of Tanner and Janeka and Alicia and Casey stands, are The Rules:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The Rules<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Everyone thinks they’re the good guys. Every
crime, every lie, every act of oppression comes with a justification or at
least an excuse.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">People can always be lazy, careless, irritable,
backstabby, selfish and well-meaning but ignorant, even in space.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The future is not all that white. Unless a
character appears in my head fully formed including an ethnicity, the character
will likely have a name that is Chinese, Indian, Latino or from sub-Saharan
Africa. In any case, many people are of mixed heritage regardless.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Union of Humanity binds humans to a common
defense and diplomacy vis-à-vis alien powers. It maintains a Union fleet with
funding quotas for member worlds, standardizes weights and measures and basic
regulations for interstellar travel… and that’s IT. There is NO universal
standard for human rights, no supreme court, no common process for
extraditions, no common currency and no prohibition against member states going
to war against one another. It’s the best anyone could manage. The Union is a
confederacy. Hah.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Aliens are really, really alien. You don’t hang
out with them in bars. The most powerful aliens think “economics” is a stupid
concept. The two known alien civilizations keep their distance and don’t trust
humanity because they aren’t stupid.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Combining #4 and #5: neither alien civilization
enters many binding agreements with humanity, because experience has shown that
the right hand of humanity has no real control over the left.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Faster Than Light travel requires an FTL engine.
You cannot “see” or “hear” faster than light. If you want to contact someone on
another planet, you either suffer from transmission lag (Earth to Mars is two
minutes at their closest points), or you put your message on an FTL-capable
ship or drone and they get it when it gets there.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Because of FTL lag, electronic cash has returned
to prominence. Electronic bank transfers (a la ATM purchases) are only
practical on a planet’s surface or in large-scale matters of corporations or
government entities. Individual travelers rely mostly on some form of secured
electronic (or even physical) cash.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">FTL travel within a star system is exceedingly
dangerous, and therefore typically illegal. Travel too close to a gravity well
in FTL, or come out of FTL too close, and your ship is torn apart.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">An object in FTL undergoes funky changes in
mass; a dime fired at a planet at or near FTL speeds will not cause
catastrophic damage. However, it will suck for the dime and possibly the
immediate vicinity of its impact. This is narrative space magic counter to
real-world physics, and thus will not likely come up in the books.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A pretty hot-shit FTL starship can cover one
light year in two hours. (Sun to Alpha Centauri = nine-ish hours)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Maximum starship weapons range is 120,000 km.
Anything that moves fast enough to make space travel practical is an inherently
difficult target, even with computer assistance.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There are no energy shields. Spaceships and some
other objects can undergo electrostatic reinforcement—the molecules hold
together with greater strength, but that doesn’t make anything invulnerable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Interstellar economics is mostly about finished
goods and specialized services. There is some trade in rare raw materials, but
this is a minor factor in the overall scheme of things.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Most current human art forms are alive and well,
including specifically rock’n’roll music and cinema.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">To quote my real-life Chaplain in basic
training, “Nobody listens to the fucking Pope,” but there is still a Catholic
church, and it doesn’t give a damn about anyone’s sexuality. Islam is alive and
well, though life in the stars makes practices like the hajj and prayer toward
Mecca into complex issues, leading to new sectarian divisions.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">[Redacted--Tanner's love life] If I ever sell off film rights, this will be in the contract.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Tanner will always be a shitty pilot.</span></li>
</ol>
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Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-71490742948487777772014-07-22T19:53:00.001-07:002014-07-23T12:11:50.677-07:00RICH MAN'S WAR IS OUT!IT'S OUT!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3qMIxnA3Lhk/U88hJ6yAFxI/AAAAAAAAAPU/ePoX0fZadMk/s1600/RichMansWarAmazon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3qMIxnA3Lhk/U88hJ6yAFxI/AAAAAAAAAPU/ePoX0fZadMk/s1600/RichMansWarAmazon.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“They will never let you go…because
there’s no money in it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No one walks away from business with
the three biggest corporations in the Union of Humanity. Cutthroat trade deals,
relentless propaganda and bloody covert operations drive that point home as the
star system of Archangel slips further away from corporate dominance. Yet
despite all their power, the Big Three are more vulnerable than anyone knows—leaving
them desperate to make an example of Archangel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tanner Malone would gladly avoid such
struggles. He’d rather just run out the clock on his enlistment in the
Archangel Navy. Instead, he’s been ordered back into the front lines of a cold
war that quickly grows hot. He doesn’t know about his government’s shady deals,
or about the old enemies lurking in the shadows. All he knows is that the sky
is falling—and he’ll have to fight like hell if he doesn’t want to be crushed
beneath it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Mans-War-Elliott-Kay-ebook/dp/B00M0W6ZCS" target="_blank">Rich Man's War on Amazon</a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/460577" target="_blank">Rich Man's War on Smashwords</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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And yes, the paperback version is in the works!</div>
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<br /></div>
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AND IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS: All author profits from <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> for sales from today (7/22/14) through the end of August 2014 will be donated to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). This is, just to be clear, the author's portion only; Amazon and the other vendors still get their regular cut, and unfortunately I can't really afford to eat the taxes levied on my sales. However, experience has shown that I tend to see a sales bump in all my titles when a new book comes out, and I'd like to do something good with at least some of that money. Please note: this is NOT an endorsement from the IAVA. I have had no contact with them. Their website says that anyone doing a fundraiser for them can use their name, and so I have. But I don't want to go putting on any pretenses of affiliation or anything like that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Once I've received royalty payments from the vendors for sales covering the time period listed above, I will make the donation and post pictures or other proof of said donation here on my blog (sans personal info--yes, I write under a pen name).</div>
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<br /></div>
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As always, thank you so much for your interest and support! Remember, nothing helps me out like reader reviews--so when you're finished, a few words wherever you picked up this e-book would be much appreciated!</div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-48679501594971258192014-07-16T17:27:00.001-07:002014-07-16T17:27:26.219-07:00Release Date...ish!It's looking like sometime next week. Maybe Monday, in order to hopefully make someone's Monday less like a... well... like a Monday. :)<br />
<br />
I'm in the process of squeezing out unnecessary words. I am hoping to hear from a few more of my beta readers because I value their opinions, but I really want to get this book out soon.<br />
<br />
Here's hoping I didn't just jinx myself by making a prediction!Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-44945797979335796282014-07-07T23:26:00.001-07:002014-07-07T23:26:08.856-07:00Progress Report: Getting Closer!So as of this evening (Monday the 7th), the current draft of <i>Rich Man's War</i> is now in the hands of my trusty beta readers. I have seen a very recent version of the cover art, and I'm thrilled with the progress and excited to see the final product.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At this point, I know I'll need to do one last round of edits to squeeze out every last unnecessary word and to make sure I have all my punctuation straight, but it's looking like it won't be long now. That is, unless my beta readers all come back to me and tell me that these words I've been seeing on my computer screen are all just a giant incoherent illusion and really I've spent all this time mashing keys on my keyboard and telling myself it's a story.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This is always a weird feeling.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But on the bright side, the still-undetermined release date is now closer than it has ever been!!</div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-86641752717134446062014-06-17T14:08:00.002-07:002014-06-17T15:32:20.925-07:00Rich Man's War: PrologueI feel like I have money burning a hole in my pocket.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've wanted to share this for a while. I have often thought that having this piece available would propel me into getting the rest of the book done faster. But I wanted to make sure the biggest hurdle was cleared first, and that's the rough draft. That part is done now. I'm on to revisions. I do not know how long it will be before <i>Rich Man's War</i> is released, but I know that the hardest part is done and that I'm more excited about getting it out than anyone else could be about reading it.</div>
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For the record, the piece below may still be subject to slight changes and edits for the novel. Regardless, here it is: the prologue for <i>Rich Man's War.</i></div>
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<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
Prologue: Unfinished Business<o:p></o:p></h1>
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<i>“Everyone loves a good
hero story, okay?” said NorthStar’s Executive VP of Risk Management Maria
Pedroso. “But we shouldn’t let Archangel’s hype take us for a ride. That Malone kid
was rescued, just like everyone else, by a Union fleet battleship—not by Archangel
ships. And if Archangel had not unilaterally ended corporate security fleet
coverage, the whole incident wouldn’t have happened. Archangel simply doesn’t
have the wherewithal to fully protect itself and its interests across the
Union. They need us. It’s only a question of how long it will be before
Archangel realizes that, and how much harm the system does to itself in the
meantime.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<i>--“Archangel Sticks to Her Tiny Guns,” The Solar Herald, March 2276<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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“Archangel has not seceded from
the Union, nor will it. We have only withdrawn from a number of bad business
relationships… yet those businesses would have the Union believe this is no
different from secession.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“We remain committed to the
Union,” President Aguirre continued, expecting neither applause nor even
murmurs of agreement from his audience. He knew how many delegates to the Union
Assembly were bought and paid for—and how many others simply couldn’t afford to
risk the confrontation that Archangel now faced. “We support the common causes
of humanity, such as a unified diplomacy toward our alien neighbors and a
common defense. We also support the rule of law. We believe in paying for
services rendered. We also believe that when those services are not rendered,
as has been the case with NorthStar, with Lai Wa and the CDC, that no payment
is merited and further such services should not be pursued. The current
corporate educational regime has not served our young people well, and thus we
have decided to provide for our own educational needs. Our security contracts
have gone unfulfilled, as made plain by incidents reaching back as far as the
loss of the <i>Aphrodite</i> and the later
loss of—“<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Peanuts bounced against the flat
image of President Aguirre as he spoke. “I’d pay good money not to hear about
the fuckin’ <i>Aphrodite</i> ever again,”
grumbled Ranjan at the bar.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Shut up,” snapped the pirate
beside him. “I’m listening to this,” Trevor said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Ranjan glanced over his
shoulder to take a look around the dimly-lit dive bar. He saw little interest
in the news broadcast on the large screen behind the bar. He also saw little in
the way of customers other than his shipmates. “Yeah, you and all the other
political junkies in here. Just download this shit to your holocom and let’s
get the bartender to put on something interesting.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Baleful blue eyes looked up at
Ranjan from behind Trevor’s long blond hair. “I’m not payin’ six creds just to
watch the news when it’s on here for free.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“You don’t have a subscription
service?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Trevor made a face. “Do you?
What the hell do you put down in your subscriber info? You still have a bank
account?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Ranjan blinked. He glanced at his other
shipmates at the bar, feeling awkward. “No,” he lied. “Look, I’m just saying
I’m sick of hearing about <i>Aphrodite</i>.
We knocked over a fuckin’ <i>planet</i>, but
you don’t hear him—“<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“He just did, but you were
talking.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“And shut up about that,”
hissed a shipmate opposite Trevor. Shahal leaned in with a scowl. “We’re not on
Paradise anymore!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Have you seen a single badge
the entire time we’ve been on this rock?” Trevor asked, though he did lower his
voice. “We didn’t park the <i>Guillotine</i>
at the spaceport because of the tight security service. We could land here with
every gun turret popped out and showing and nobody’d bat an eye. And I’d be
happy if you’d both shut up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“As anyone might expect, these
changes have led to disagreements on all sides,” continued Aguirre in a calm,
reasoned tone. “We disagree on payment of primary debts and the terms of debts
owed by individual citizens. We disagree on compensation for the state takeover
of corporate property within Archangel territory, such as educational
facilities. Careers and lives have been disrupted. We do not dispute that these
changes are difficult matters for a great many people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Yet when the corporations
involved escalate to economic warfare—when they not only sever the ties of
interstellar commerce and communication, but indeed act to disrupt efforts for
Archangel to provide such services for itself—then matters go beyond simple business
relationships. At that point, the governments of the Union must ask, who really
governs the Union?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“He had to know they’d cut
Archangel off from their packet ship services,” Shahal noted.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“That’s not the point,” Trevor
said, shaking his head. “Did you listen? It’s not that they cut off service,
it’s that they’re putting up barriers to Archangel taking care of itself. It’s
one thing not to deliver the mail, but it’s another when you won’t even let a
guy pick it up himself.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Why do you care so much?” asked
Ranjan. “You aren’t even from there. None of us are.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“You don’t think this will wind
up affecting us?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 22.5pt;">
Ranjan frowned. “I don’t see
how.” His eyes drifted to the VIP room in the back, but almost as if he’d given
a cue, the door opened and Hannah Black walked out. The three pirates rose to
meet their ship’s elected captain. “How’d it go?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Well enough that I don’t want
to talk about it in here,” Hannah grunted. She took her pistol from Shahal as
he offered it and kept walking for the door with her long black coat billowing
in her wake. The other crewmembers present, some of them closer to the exit,
rose as soon as they saw her. By the time she stepped out into the night, her
pistol tucked safely in its underarm holster, the crew had formed a pack around
her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The planet Edison had been
settled early in the second wave of expansion from Earth. Though the world
enjoyed rapid growth, later expansion developments and the whims of the markets
left its economy crippled, leading to its current status as an urbanized
backwater. The spaceport city of Stilwell exemplified that demise, with its
miles of towers, bridges and highways now showing far more decay and vandalism
than its original ambitious beauty.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
At this hour, not too many
people roamed the streets. Even the homeless and the criminals had to sleep
sometime. One could see scattered pedestrians and vehicles here and there—people
did still live and work in this city, though not well—but Hannah and her crew
walked unimpeded. “We’ve got a lead on a target,” she said, “but I’m not sure
everyone’s going to like it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“What’s the trouble?” asked
Ranjan.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
He could see Hannah’s frown and
one blue eye looking at him from under her long black hair. “The info is an
astronavigation protocol, not an actual flight plan. We’ll have to park
ourselves in one of three locations and hope that we’ve picked the right one.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“One-in-three odds is still better
than roaming around aimlessly,” Shahal shrugged. “These are cargo ships, right?
Should be a decent haul and not too much risk for the <i>Guillotine</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“No,” Hannah nodded, “but it’s
also a matter of what system it’s in. Like I said, not everyone’s going to like
it. And some people on the crew might like it too much.” She paused. “I don’t think
our seller was just out to make a profit on his shipping data. This smells like
someone pushing an agenda. He sold pretty cheap given what he had to offer, and
now that I know the location…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Where?” asked Ranjan. Hannah
didn’t often go for ominous hints.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
She held her hand up briefly,
though, nodding and looking forward as they entered a wide pedestrian tunnel
under one of the city’s major highways. A tall, young black man and a girl of
Asian descent approached from the opposite direction, walking close together
but not holding hands. Ranjan only thought about that point because the girl
was quite pretty and her tight pants and boots hinted at a great figure. The
other pirates began their inevitable catcalls and whistles.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
It hardly mattered if the girl
turned away or walked in silence, or if she responded with a rude word or
gesture, or if she politely asked to be left alone. The pirates would do
whatever they felt like doing; that was the nature of being a pirate.
Unfortunately, she made the worst of her possible choices: she smiled nervously
and made eye contact as she passed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Trevor let out a whoop and reached
for her ass as she came within reach. Other men let out further catcalls. The
girl slapped Trevor’s hand down but turned as she kept going in the same
direction, walking backward to keep her eyes on the pirates. The tall black
youth with her scowled, of course, but he didn’t put up any sort of fight. Like
his girlfriend, he just kept moving.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Ranjan nudged Hannah as the two
strangers passed by their crew. “Hannah, what’s the deal?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Again, the captain shook her
head and nodded forward. Ranjan looked. Yet another pedestrian approached on
the bridge, this one a black woman wrapped up in a large grey overcoat. Ranjan
paid her no mind. She’d inevitably step to the side. Anyone with sense would
want to be on the outside of such a rough-looking group as theirs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Fuckin’ random pedestrians,
who cares?” Ranjan muttered. He glanced over his shoulder. The young couple was
already at the end of the pack of pirates.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“I’m of a mind to be careful
right now,” Hannah replied quietly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Why?” he asked. “What’s the
deal?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Fuming, Hannah looked to Ranjan
and hissed, “Our contact had NorthStar Risk Management written all over him, okay? The coordinates he sold are in Archangel space.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“What?” Ranjan blinked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“They want us to do their dirty
work for them. Now shut up and we’ll talk about it on the ship.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
He turned back to Hannah and
then caught sight of the black woman again in his peripheral vision. She hadn’t
made a course correction. She walked between the pair of pirates ahead of them,
directly into Ranjan’s path.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Ranjan tried to say something,
but the woman’s elbow went right into his throat. Hard.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
At the back of the group of
pirates, Alicia Wong saw Janeka’s first blow all but lift her target off the
ground. The big overcoat practically flew off of the gunnery sergeant’s
shoulders as she turned on her next opponent with a roundhouse kick, but Alicia
had no time to watch. She and Ravenell had jobs to do—quickly and quietly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A knife take-down from behind
was easier for Ravenell, given his height. The last two pirates in the group
never saw him coming, having discounted him as a wuss for not defending his
girl and now distracted by Janeka. Ravenell’s big hand wrapped around his
target’s mouth from the left while his knife plunged into the side of the man’s
neck from the right, then punched straight out in a rough, ugly and
well-practiced motion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Alicia didn’t have Ravenell’s
stature to work with, but size rarely held her back. Given an unaware target, she
had no reason not to commit her full power to her first move. Alicia drew the
blade from the left sleeve of her jacket, raised it to the base of her target’s
skull and then yanked back on the man’s hair to pull him onto the thermal dagger.
Precision and six inches of strong, laser-hot metal made for an effective job.
Alicia tugged to the right and then left to jerk her sizzling weapon free. She
had her sights on the blond bastard just beyond him before her first target hit
the ground.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The blond pirate’s first
reaction when violence erupted in front of him was to go for his gun without
looking behind. As with her first victim, Alicia tugged back fiercely on the
man’s conveniently long hair. Taken by surprise, he staggered backward as she
planned. Alicia brought her blade around his chest and slashed upward, slicing
his neck open in a vicious arc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
She spared no time for grace.
These people were all mass-murderers; Alicia had to break each man and move on
to the next as quickly as possible, especially before anyone could fire off a
gun or make other attention-grabbing noise. The next pirate up recognized the
threat in time to meet her approach, but not quickly enough to do much about
it. The young woman didn’t try to dodge his meaty fist. Instead, she stepped in
close enough to stomp on his foot and throw him off balance. Alicia endured his
awkward but heavy punch; the pirate took a blade up under his ribcage and into
his lung.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Bracing with both feet and
twisting hard, Alicia flung her third victim to the ground. He had just enough
fight left in him to break her grip on the dagger as he fell. With her targets
down, her eyes quickly swept the field for another.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Ravenell’s second target had
reacted quickly enough to put up a fight, but Ravenell seemed to have the upper
hand. The pirate leader, Hannah Black according to the briefing, staggered back
away from a kick from Janeka as the gunny turned to deal with the last of the
men standing nearest to her. Hannah reached inside her long coat, clearly going
for a gun in a shoulder holster.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Alicia grabbed at Hannah’s
wrist and pulled. She slammed her free hand against the pistol. The
push-and-pull motion had Hannah’s arm going one way with the gun going another,
breaking her grip on the weapon at her thumb and sending it tumbling away.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Hannah got one solid shot in
across Alicia’s eye with her left hand. The pirate captain knew how to throw a
punch, but Alicia had endured much worse. Tangled together in a standing
grapple, both women struggled to apply the right footwork to throw the other
off-balance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The contest was never in doubt,
though Hannah couldn’t have known it. They had a moment to lock eyes as they
struggled. Alicia saw rage and a rising sense of panic. All Hannah saw was
controlled ferocity. Then Hannah’s whole world spun as Alicia got her leg
around the back of Hannah’s and shoved the pirate into the wall beside them. The
back of Hannah’s head hit hard against unyielding concrete. She blacked even out
before Alicia’s knee came into her groin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Alicia surveyed the field
again. She saw Janeka’s heel come down on a man’s neck and saw Ravenell rise
from the body of his defeated opponent. Alicia did a quick body count: the
three she took out, plus the captain, Ravenell’s two, and the three men lying
at Janeka’s feet. They’d made a clean sweep of their enemy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“You’re both okay,” observed
the gunnery sergeant, receiving nods of confirmation in return.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“I got the captain,” huffed
Alicia.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Is she dead?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Shouldn’t be,” replied the
younger woman, kneeling down to check. “No, she’s still good. Dunno if she’ll
be up for answering questions right away, though.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Doesn’t need to answer
anything yet. We just need her warm and breathing in case we need her
biometrics. And her holocom. See if you can find it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The order wasn’t necessary.
Alicia had already turned to searching their captive. “Wow, I am never wearing
my hair long again after this,” she said, still rocky with adrenaline.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Take a couple deep breaths,”
said Janeka. “Shake it off. Stay focused.” As the gunnery sergeant spoke, she
slid one finger over the holocom riding her wrist and then tapped it twice to
signal the rest of their team.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Ravenell, watch the entrance,”
Janeka instructed, waving toward the closer opening of the pedestrian tunnel.
They knew they had at least a few moments clear of traffic from the way in
which they came. “Stay calm, you got me? Breathe. Focus. Get over there, stop
and breathe again, then watch. Understand?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“On it,” Ravenell nodded and
hustled off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Got a couple of data chips
here,” Alicia announced quietly, stuffing her pockets with items taken from her
unconscious captive. She kept patting Hannah down until her fingers touched the
pirate captain’s earrings. One of them let out a beep. “Got it,” she said, and
then worked to unclasp the large, fake jewel that held Hannah’s personal
holocom. “Pretty sweet miniaturization here. These are expensive.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Lotta money to be made in her
trade, I guess,” Janeka muttered. Her attention was focused on a small black
orb in her hands. It projected a small screen of orange light, into which the
gunnery sergeant waved her fingers. The lights quickly went out with a beep. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Anything else we should grab?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Just collect the guns. I’ve
got the bag. We’ve gotta get gone.” She knelt beside the dead man at her feet
and placed the orb in his pocket. Inevitably, some random passerby would
discover the bodies. That person would likely then try to call for help with a
holocom, but the orb would jam signals going out of the tunnel. It would buy at
least another minute or two for their getaway.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“I’ll take her,” said Janeka,
stepping up to Alicia and her captive. She grabbed the unconscious woman’s
wrists. “You’re on point. Head out and let’s get to the car.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Spaceport security and control
varied dramatically from one planet to the next. Some worlds could afford tight
restrictions and offered considerable equipment and infrastructure. Planets
with sparse settlements sometimes had no control over interstellar traffic at
all, and an incoming vessel could land practically wherever the crew pleased.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Edison fell somewhere in the
middle. All of the heavy lifting to create the spaceport’s infrastructure had
been done long ago, but the planetary government couldn’t afford to keep its
systems modern and up to date. The scanners and chem-sniffers were easily
spoofed. Sparsely-allocated guards and other personnel could be bought. Alicia
found it all mind-boggling, especially in light of what their captive and their
remaining targets had done on Qal’at Khalil.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<i>Targets</i>, she thought, crouched in the shadows with the other
plainclothes Archangel marines and their intelligence service “liasons.” That’s
what those people were now. They had to be. If she stopped to think of the
bastards as people, she might hesitate. She couldn’t have that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<i>Fuckers didn’t hesitate to drop a fuel-cell bomb on a city</i>, she
reminded herself once again. Nor did these pirates, to be more specific,
hesitate to hose down a spaceport with their ship’s illegal weaponry.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Nor had anyone else done
anything about these particular pirates until now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The spaceport berth was little
more than a circular wall. Earlier reconnaissance revealed that the retractable
roof was open and possibly inoperable. Inside the berth sat the <i>Guillotine</i> and her remaining crew,
estimated to be around eighteen or so in total.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
After the fight in the tunnel,
it didn’t sound like such bad odds. Alicia wondered if perhaps the quick and
dirty skirmish had made her cocky, but now she was willing to take eight
against eighteen, especially if the snipers—<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Corporal Wong?” said Agent Willis,
interrupting her thoughts. “Sorry, I mean Lance Corporal, right? Looks like
we’re partners for this one. You ready?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Alicia blinked. The
intelligence service agent hadn’t spoken to her much during the mission, but he
hadn’t been standoffish, either. He interfaced mostly with the higher-ranked
marines. “I thought you were with the gunny?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Willis shook his head. “Doesn’t
fit with the layout. We need her in the middle guiding the operation with
Lieutenant Crowder.” He smiled a bit. “Don’t worry, I’ve been through most of
the same training you have.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Though she kept her thoughts to
herself, Alicia’s eyes flicked over to Ravenell and Janeka. For all the agent’s
training, she doubted he had run nearly as many mock boardings on as many
different spacecraft as they had. Still, Alicia nodded, and when her holocom
buzzed with a final check-in signal, she tapped it to confirm her readiness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Sound-suppressed rifles coughed
up above her on the wall of the spaceport berth. Knowing his cue, Ravenell
activated the electromagnetic breaching pads on the nearby bay doors, forcing
them open. “Go,” ordered Janeka. Alicia and three others rushed through the
entrance, weapons out and ready.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Though barely longer than a
corvette, the <i>Guillotine</i> offered a
broader profile to allow for extra space and comfort. She’d been a luxury yacht
when first put into service, but now bristled with hidden weaponry and
military-quality upgrades. Her crew, however, was not up to military grade
service, demonstrated by the way her entry ramp was still down and extended.
The bodies of two sentries, shot by the snipers on the walls, lay to either
side.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The <i>Guillotine</i> didn’t take up the full space offered by the landing
berth, which left the marine assault team a few uncomfortable yards to run out
in the open before they came under her hull. They’d been trained for actions
like this. The team knew how to stack up, how to cover one another upon entry
and how to pick targets. They also knew not to squander the element of surprise
early, moving inside aggressively and gunning down the first handful of pirates
they found with their pulse lasers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Ravenell’s team, leapfrogging
Alicia’s, broke off to head for engineering. Alicia followed Agent Willis
through the passageways, eyes sweeping this way and that for targets as shouts
and gunshots rang out. A tattooed, scraggly-haired man at the bottom of the
steps leading to the next deck up had his weapon out as Willis and Alicia
appeared. His panicked shots hit neither of them before they both put him down
with quiet blasts of blue light that burned through his torso.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Willis ran for the stairwell.
Alicia followed, then felt her heart stop when he yelled, “Grenade!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
She saw the little orb clatter
down onto the base of the ladder in front of them. Willis jumped to the side.
Alicia grabbed the body of the man they’d just killed and heaved it over the
grenade before jumping back and away to curl up in a ball on the deck.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Despite the body smothering the
grenade, the explosion still shook the passageway. Alicia felt bits of debris and
gore strike against her body. Something burned her leg, but she knew right away
that it wasn’t serious. When she raised her head, she found that Willis had
recovered a heartbeat faster than she had, and now hurled his own grenade up
the ladder at the next deck up. Unlike the pirates, Willis knew how to time his
before throwing, thereby leaving the enemy less of a chance to react.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
They heard screams amid the
boom of the grenade. A bloody, smoldering woman fell dead through the ladder well.
Willis covered the opening with his pulse laser while Alicia got to her feet
and followed up with a second grenade, this one built to stun with flashing
light and booming sound. As soon as it was out of her hand, Willis followed up
after it. Alicia stuck close to him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The pair did everything right,
yet it still cost them. Training and teamwork couldn’t grant immunity to
gunfire. As expected, they found the bridge locked up tight. Alicia set up the
breaching kit while Willis shouted, “Surrender now and you’ll live through
this!” By the time they were ready, other marines had caught up to them. Perhaps
two minutes had passed since the first sniper shots took out the sentries
outside.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The team stacked up at the
hatch. Alicia got behind Willis, passed the breaching activator to the marine
behind her and held her weapon ready. As soon as the breaching unit went off, Willis
and Alicia opened up with their guns, but that didn’t preempt the pirates. Blind
fire from within still caught Willis in the face. He went down in front of
Alicia, who immediately cut down one of the three remaining pirates on the
bridge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Lasers and bullets flashed by
her in both directions. Alicia looked for targets and fired. Another gun went
off beside her, almost right next to her head, thankfully firing lasers rather
than solid shells that would have deafened her despite the miniature baffles
plugged in her ears. Someone else on her side screamed. She stepped into the
bridge, got behind a console as cover and forced herself to aim before shooting
lest she wreck vital controls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Again, the laser rifle beside
her flashed distractingly close to her head. It cut down the last of the
pirates, ending the fight. “Clear,” Gunny Janeka announced, placing her hand on
Alicia’s shoulder.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The younger marine swallowed
hard. “Clear,” she replied, and looked back at the others. She didn’t know when
Janeka got there. Of the three men who’d breached the bridge with her, only one
still stood. Willis lay dead in the entryway. Another marine slumped against
the wall, clutching a wound on his arm that wouldn’t likely be fatal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Breathe,” said Janeka once
more, looking each of her marines in the eye. “Stop and breathe.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The pause lasted only a moment,
but it made all the difference. “Wong, take the helm. Fire it up. Lieutenant
Crowder, do you copy?” she asked over her holocom link. She glanced at the
wounded marine, who winced but nodded. Then she grabbed the hatch to the bridge
and pulled it shut again, setting the magnetic locks to reboot.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Lieutenant Crowder took a
pretty bad hit, Gunny,” reported another voice. “We’re working on him, but I
don’t know if he’s gonna make it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Engineering is secure,” added
Ravenell. “Not much damage. Primary systems were kept warm. Life support looks
good. We put down a bunch of targets in the galley, too.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Exterior remains secure,”
reported one of the snipers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Then I’m assuming command,”
said Janeka. “Everyone get on the ship and secure for lift-off. We are
extracting immediately.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
She sat down beside Alicia, who
dutifully had her station powered up, but her eyes were turned toward the
closed hatch. Agent Willis lay dead on the other side. He wasn’t alone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Wong. Listen to me. Breathe.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“I’m breathing,” Alicia said,
nodding and turning back to her work. She checked the skies and traffic above
them and started up the systems diagnostic. “Are you breathing?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Breathing is for lesser
mortals,” said Janeka, her hands moving over the controls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Alicia froze. She blinked and
turned to Janeka. “Okay, now I know I’m too ramped up, because I’m not
laughing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“You did good,” Janeka told her.
“Real good, like I knew you would. You fought like a marine and now you’re
gonna run the helm like a navy crewman, just like you were taught. We’re gonna
make our rendezvous and FTL it straight back to Archangel and we’ll be back on
the <i>Los Angeles</i> in a week.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Alicia nodded. She turned back
to her controls and watched the condition tracks run up toward full readiness.
“Gunny, thanks. For picking me for this, I mean. Not ‘cause I enjoyed the
fight, but…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“I knew you had what it took.
That’s why I picked you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Again, Alicia nodded. She
glanced once at the gunny, then away, and then something jerked her attention
back to the older woman. “Did you just smile?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“I did not smile, marine. <i>I do not smile</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Right. Understood,” said
Alicia, turning her face dutifully back to the controls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“You’re bleeding from your leg,
marine,” Janeka observed without looking. “Tend to it when we get clear. I’ve
gotta look after Hernandez over there.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Alicia looked down at her
thigh. Sure enough, she had taken a bit of shrapnel from something—probably the
grenade on the lower deck—and hadn’t even noticed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Janeka rose from her station to
see to the other wounded marine. As she passed, she laid a hand on Alicia’s
shoulder and gave a single, warm squeeze.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
It occurred to Alicia that it
was just as well that this whole op was covert and classified. No one would
ever believe that Janeka would ever show such affection anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Tight-beam transmission from <i>Guillotine</i>, sir,” announced the comms
tech. He read from a screen at his station, not turning around to view the
ship’s captain or first officer. A navigational display nearby the tech showed
the former yacht passing by. Both ships were just outside the two light-minute
safe navigation zone around Edison.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“How’d it go?” asked the
gravelly voice of the captain. He stood from his chair to walk over to the
comms station. His first officer, Aaron Hawkins, stuck close to his side.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“<i>Guillotine’s</i> captain is in custody, all other hostiles KIA. Three
friendly casualties including Agent In Charge. Marine team leader also
seriously wounded.” He paused and then looked over his shoulder. “The acting
mission leader is asking to speak to the captain.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Hawkins opened his mouth to
speak, but the captain cut him off before it was necessary. “The captain is
unavailable,” said the captain. “Acknowledge their report and tell them to hold
to the original plan. They jump to FTL as soon as they’re outside Edison’s gravity
well.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Aye, aye, sir,” said the tech,
turning back to his work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Hawkins eyed the ship’s
captain. Though officially the first officer, Hawkins had much more of a
background in intelligence and covert operations than most ships’ officers. Few
first officers had to keep their captains completely restricted to the ship. “Looks
like all the intel on where we’d find the <i>Guillotine</i>
and her crew was right on the money,” said Hawkins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Yeah, what a shock,” came the
somewhat annoyed reply. Casey looked his personal watchdog in the eye before
passing him on the way back to his captain’s chair. “Can’t imagine who gave
them all that great intel.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Yup. Request denied, hold to
the original plan.” Alicia looked over to the gunny. She’d known Janeka long
enough to learn the nuances within Janeka’s repertoire of expressions of
displeasure. “Is that dodgy?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Janeka glared at the large ship
on the holographic display of <i>Guillotine’s</i>
immediate sensor contacts. “Only because the captain of that ship never met
with the lieutenant, either,” she frowned. “Or Willis.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“That’s weird?” asked Alicia.
She, too, now looked more at the sensor display than her own control panel.
Their course was locked in. Janeka and the computer had done most of the work.
Alicia gave the ship on the screen another look. Her recruit company received
more than a little training in ship recognition from Janeka and Chief Everett,
but the vessel on the display didn’t look familiar to her at all. It looked
like it might have been a passenger liner once upon a time, but had clearly
been through considerable modification.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“At your rank, it wouldn’t be
weird for you not to meet with a ship’s captain, no,” explained Janeka. “At my
level, one would at least expect a handshake. But this ship brings us into a
sovereign system for a covert op and the captain doesn’t want to meet anyone in
charge? That’s dodgy, yes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Considering it further, Alicia
suggested, “Maybe that’s for the sake of deniability?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Janeka shook her head. “No. A ship’s
captain doesn’t get to play dumb. He has to know everything that happens on his
ship. Doesn’t matter if he’s military or civilian. Doubly so when it’s
something risky like we just did. They hung around to monitor, too, not just
drop us off and go on their way.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“FTL jump in sixty seconds,”
Alicia noted. They wouldn’t be outside Edison’s legal FTL line for it, but that
paled in comparison to the other laws they’d just broken. Alicia dutifully
announced the countdown as <i>Guillotine</i>
passed out of the gravity wells of Edison and its moons. As soon as the ship
was clear enough for a safe jump, Janeka input the commands to execute.
Everyone on the ship felt the lurch as the ship transitioned from well below
light speed to something far beyond it, but the lurch was much less pronounced
than on most other vessels. It was a reminder of <i>Guillotine’s</i> original purpose; once upon a time, she’d been a
luxury yacht built for a smooth and pleasant ride.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
That thought pushed Janeka out
of her seat once she was satisfied with immediate responsibilities. “Keep
everything under control here,” she said. “I’m gonna make the rounds.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Aye, aye, captain,” Alicia
responded with a bit of a grin. She even dared a wink when Janeka looked back
at her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
The gunnery sergeant looked in
on the wounded. She checked with engineering and made sure someone was already
dealing with the dead pirates left strewn about the ship. She gave instructions
to collect all the small arms on board. These were all necessary steps, but she
had one other duty to fulfill here. For that, she retrieved the big grey
overcoat that she had ditched just inside the ship’s entryway upon boarding.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
She found Hannah Black in a
chair in the ship’s galley. The pirate captain had her hands and feet tied to
the chair, which was itself securely bolted to the floor. Awake and aware of
her surroundings, Hannah watched everything that occurred but said nothing
until Janeka stepped up to her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“You’re military,” said Hannah.
“Whose?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“You’ll figure it out before
too long.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Hannah scowled and spit on the
deck. She noted the look in Janeka’s eyes. “Have we met?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
“Not personally, no,” said
Janeka. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time, though.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Hannah didn’t respond. She just
watched and waited.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .25in;">
Janeka reached into her coat.
She drew a soft, stained bit of comfort and warmth and put it on the table in
front of Hannah. Then she walked away, leaving Hannah under the lifeless stare
of an old, battered, bloody teddy bear.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-83289322754727494702014-06-15T14:38:00.000-07:002014-06-15T14:38:59.153-07:00Almost There (kinda)!An Update:<br />
<br />
This is all rough draft stuff, so please don't take this the wrong way.<br />
<br />
But.<br />
<br />
I got to the end of the last full chapter on <i>Rich Man's</i> War last night. That brings me to 140,021 words and only the epilogue left to go.<br />
<br />
Again. Rough draft. I still have to start from the beginning with revisions, and then when I'm done with that hand it to people and see what needs to be fixed before it's ready for prime time.<br />
<br />
If I haven't mentioned this before, <i>Rich Man's War</i> holds much more action than <i>Poor Man's Fight. </i>It's a bigger story on a bigger scale, and while Tanner is a very consequential figure in the scheme of it all, he's also just one more grunt in the middle of big events.<br />
<br />
When I have the epilogue finished, I will post the prologue here on my blog. I hope to have that done this week, mostly because I have family coming in to visit next weekend and that will surely derail me for a couple of days. So if you're really looking forward to <i>Rich Man's War</i>, watch this space!Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-66796165095298855772014-05-27T15:27:00.001-07:002014-05-27T15:52:20.555-07:00Loaded TermsOnce upon a time, when I was younger and I had trouble finding a romantic relationship, I used to say that I was often "friendzoned."<br />
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<br />
<br />
To me, that meant that this woman I liked -- usually already a friend at some level to begin with -- wasn't interested in being anything "more" than friends. It never, ever meant that I should resent her, or that she was a bitch or a whore, or that I should stop being her friend. Never once did that happen. Was I frustrated and disappointed? Sure. Finding a relationship can be hard. Dating can be hard. Sure was for me.<br />
<br />
Years later, I discovered that for most people, "friendzone" not only implied that the lady in question wasn't interested in a romantic or sexual relationship, <i>but also</i> that the guy in question turned into a raging, resentful douche about the whole thing. On a personal level, it bothered me a bit that this term, which I thought was a witty and chagrinned but otherwise good-natured note -- 'cause it means we're <i>actually still friends</i>, right? -- didn't mean for much of the world what it meant to me, and that if I kept using it I would effectively be saying something I didn't mean to say. On a broader level, though, was the far more unsettling fact that this was just one more note of all the utterly inexcusable bullshit that women have to deal with on a daily basis.<br />
<br />
Just one more drop of juvenile hassling in a sea of unfairness.<br />
<br />
So I dropped the use of that term. I didn't have much use for it, anyway, once I wound up on a path of serial long-term monogamy (and, for a significant stretch, polyamory). But I've found in recent years that "nice guy," which I'd always taken literally, also means "total creeper who claims to be a nice guy" for all too many other people. And that bothered me, because I'd gotten that label (with benevolent, literal intent) many times, and it was something that I more or less aspired to. But it has become something else. And thank god I was never big on wearing fedoras, because that's turned into something unpleasant, too.<br />
<br />
I write this in part because some readers have taken my urban fantasy books as a "sex fantasy for men" or what have you. Yeah, it's partially erotica, and yeah, I'm a guy and I'm writing from that perspective, but I never set out to write the Men's Sex Fantasy. I certainly hope men like my stories, and I obviously think that sexy stories are for men as much as for women. I also love it when I hear from women who read my stories, too. I want people to like my stories.<br />
<br />
I wrote a story that involved a lot of sex, and a lot of sexy women, but I wanted all those women to have agency, equality and independence. It bothered me that when the sequel came out and that degree of agency, equality and independence was even more evident than in the first book, a number of readers were turned off by it. I knew that would happen. I totally expected it. I wrote the story that I wanted to write anyway. There will be more of that, later down the line whenever I get back to Alex & Co., because in my mind the story was always going in that direction. I wasn't bothered that people didn't like that direction; you simply can't please everyone. But I was bothered by the notion that I might have set out to write a Men's Sex Fantasy, 'cause while I understood that some readers might view it that way, I'd never once set out with that as my goal.<br />
<br />
As much as I don't want to get super political on my blog here, I felt like talking about this in the wake of the #YesAllWomen hashtag and the responses it has gotten. A lot of the reactions have been angry or super defensive remarks from men. A lot of it has been a matter of trolling, and guys who think they're being funny by making domestic violence jokes or rape threats because, "Meh! It's the Internet!" but this is exactly what people talk about when they refer to "rape culture." It's not a culture that encourages all men to be rapists, or to be otherwise violent towards women -- it's a culture that minimizes the seriousness of that through a lot of "harmless" humor and apathy and bullshit, which in turn minimizes the actual seriousness of actual rape (as opposed to, say, that harmless internet comment).<br />
<br />
It's okay to know that #YesAllWomen isn't directed specifically at you if you, as a guy, aren't someone who harasses or degrades women. The point isn't AllMenDoThis. The point is that more than ENOUGH men do this stuff that Yes, All Women have to deal with it regularly.<br />
<br />
And it's bullshit. And it should stop. Turns out that whole culture hurts everyone -- men and yes, all women, too.Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-3469385684542830652014-05-11T22:55:00.002-07:002014-05-11T22:57:38.192-07:00Progress ReportThe rough draft for <i>Rich Man's War</i> just broke 110,000 words tonight. Thought some folks might want to know.<br />
<br />
It's a very rough draft. I'm gonna have to go through it again even before I put it in the hands of my trusty beta readers, so I'm not saying it'll be out next week or anything. (And yes, I have trusty beta readers... I hate to disappoint anyone who has or would have volunteered, but I'm much more comfortable with test readers when I can nag them for their opinions and input in person.)<br />
<br />
This is the first large-scale space battle sequence that I've ever written, making all the other battles in <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> small by comparison. I realized, when I started out, that I'd better just figure out names for all the ships involved ahead of time even though not even half will be named in the final product, because having to stop and make up a new name whenever I needed one would be aggravating as all hell. And that meant coming up with a naming scheme for each individual type of ship.<br />
<br />
I decided that all the corvettes on one side of this fight should be named after dog breeds. But even that isn't a random choice. Bulldog? Foxhound? Harrier? Excellent names for warships. Polish Lowland Sheepdog? Maybe not so much. :)Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-88061457146758163372014-04-29T10:15:00.001-07:002014-04-29T10:15:41.552-07:00Process StoriesWriting productivity comes and goes. By and large, I try to hold myself to at least 1000 words a day. If I can make it to that benchmark, I feel like I've been productive. Some days, I can even break 3000... though if one were to pay close attention to my word counts, it's obvious that I don't write every day. Life just doesn't allow for that, even if I'm not at a point where I need to step back and chew on the next step in the story. I also write much better if I have a nice long stretch of time ahead of me; knowing I'll be interrupted in two hours tends to put a damper on productivity.<br />
<br />
I'm currently at about 95,000 words on <i>Rich Man's War</i>. By comparison, <i>Poor Man's Fight</i> is at 141k-ish (I don't have it in front of me just now). The "middle" for this book turned out to be a little tougher for me than the middle sections of my previous works, but I'm finally happy with the rough draft and I can move on.<br />
<br />
I don't think I'm spoiling anything if I say that <i>Rich Man's War</i> ends with a whole lot of violence and screaming and probably someone's gonna get their feelings hurt. If anything, it will be a much bigger deal than the end of <i>Poor Man's Fight</i>. I'm on the cusp of writing that final arc... like the battle commences on my computer as soon as I have a good long stretch of writing time. (I'm actually away from my home computer as I write this, otherwise I'd be hard at work on it already.)<br />
<br />
The biggest difference between writing urban fantasy and sci-fi, at least for me, is the level of detail that needs to be invested in world-building. <i>Good Intentions</i> basically just takes place in modern-day Seattle. The only serious benchmarks that could "date" the story are the references to Facebook (already fading in popularity with younger people) and Wade's service in Afghanistan. Once the US makes a serious pullout from Afghanistan, there's a solid timeframe in which the story must take place, but until then it could be September of any year from 2008 - 2014 (and on). But I don't really have to describe cell phones, or streets, or clothes.<br />
<br />
<i>Rich Man's War</i> brings the setting into greater detail, and keeping that consistent is... well, more than a little work. I've tried to nail down a solid timeline, including establishing the year in which the story takes place, but that involved a lot of me wrestling with my own futuristic sensibilities. The biggest issue is the limits to Faster Than Light travel and communications, because that puts time delays on everything. This is all implied in <i>Poor Man's Fight</i>, of course, but in <i>Rich Man's War</i> it's much more of a factor. In Tanner's world, you can't put out a transmission that runs faster than the speed of light. This means that transmissions from one planet to the next within the same star system can have delays of several minutes or even much longer. The only way to speed it up is to put that message on something with an FTL engine and cover that distance... which happens regularly, and is the main method of interstellar communication. Yet even FTL-capable drones and starships have their limitations. For one thing, FTL travel through a significant gravity well like a moon or a planet is a serious risk; you won't really hurt the planet if you hit it (which, to be honest, goes against current scientific expectations), but you'll certainly shred your ship if you come too close.<br />
<br />
This means it's about a three-week lag in communications between Archangel and Earth, and communications between other locations naturally run on different timetables. I don't have an Excel sheet with planets and their relative distances or anything, as I don't have all <i>that</i> many locations set up yet. I will likely get to that point after three or four books in this setting, of course... but regardless, keeping things straight once you've set up this sort of condition can slow down the writing.<br />
<br />
The setting brings up other questions that I've only touched upon so far: people can live and retain their physical youth considerably longer in Tanner's world, so what effect does that have on a person's relationships? How about their career--when you workers are still young & spry even 30 years into a career, what effect does that have on advancement? This doesn't get a whole lot of attention in the current draft, and I don't believe it will be a center-stage issue even upon revision, but it's a genuine concern.<br />
<br />
There's also a certain amount of research to be done. As I've said elsewhere, I'm not writing hard sci-fi, and my urban fantasy stuff is also intentionally comedic, but I like to know how the real world works so that I go off the rails intentionally rather than doing it out of ignorance. <i>Natural Consequences</i> opens with some legal drama, and obviously the interaction between a supernatural world and a legal system is something an author has to make up through imagination, but even then I spoke with four lawyers and a judge. In <i>Rich Man's War</i>, the big corporations are not the same animal as one might find here in the real world, but I try to keep the conditions and decisions to a human level. Several things done by the corps in RMW are straight out of the financial collapse of 2008.<br />
<br />
I say none of this to make excuses, of course; the book will be ready when it's ready. But I know a few people were concerned when they saw <i>Days of High Adventure</i> come out and worried that I'm drifting away from Tanner, and that's just not the case. <i>Days</i> was written two years ago. I'm still crackin' on RMW.<br />
<br />
As for other future projects: I have a feeling that when RMW is done, I'm gonna have to go straight into the next installment, putting the <i>Good Intentions</i> crowd on hold for a while. Honestly, I first imagined that RMW would complete this story arc for Archangel, Tanner, Casey & all, but now that I'm here I've realized the only elegant way to handle it is to do it in three books rather than two. (That kinda screws up my play on the Civil War-era protest cry of "Rich man's war, poor man's fight!" because now I have to come up with a third title, but alas...) There absolutely will be more of the <i>Good Intentions</i> crew, because I love them dearly, but I've had this story arc in my head for about 15 years or so. It's time to get it nailed down and out there where people can read it all.<br />
<br />
I plan to post the prologue to <i>Rich Man's War</i> here on my blog as soon as I've got the rough done and I have my trusty beta readers going over it. I'm greatly looking forward to that... hell, I've wanted to do it for weeks, but I figure it's best to make sure the book really is "coming soon" rather than just being a horrible tease.<br />
<br />
Hope it's soon!Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-46965591738248673252014-04-21T15:21:00.003-07:002014-04-21T15:21:48.160-07:00Notifications?Hi all,<br />
<br />
I made a horrible discovery today while straightening out passwords. It turns out some requests sent to my email address to be added to my notifications list have gone into my spam folder... and that means I have no idea how many I might have lost over the last year.<br />
<br />
If you ever sent me a notification request and I didn't respond, you might want to send me a new one at bashfullyshameless@gmail.com. Of course, if you're reading my blog, that's probably not such a problem... but I figure I should let folks know.<br />
<br />
Not a lot to tell about Norwescon this year, though I met with Lee Moyer about the cover for Rich Man's War. He drew up a very, very rough concept sketch while we sat in the hotel restaurant talking, and so for the third time I now have to change something in the story because what he dreamed up for the cover is too cool NOT to do. It's funny how that can happen.<br />
<br />
That's all for the moment. Back to writing!Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648731942234413892.post-44470404800581025172014-04-14T14:31:00.004-07:002014-04-14T14:32:03.135-07:00Cliffhangers & Real-Life PlansI will be at NorWesCon this weekend! It's a great sci-fi/fantasy convention here in Seattle that I've been attending for years. I'm not doing any panels or anything... so basically I'll just be there as an ordinary attendee, but that has been fun enough for a while now.<br />
<br />
<i>Days of High Adventure</i> is doing quite nicely so far. It could use reviews if you are so inclined! Especially happy reviews, though I'm not one to tell people what to write!<br />
<br />
As for <i>Rich Man's War</i>: I recently passed the 90,000 word mark. It's currently at 91k. The "middle" of the book was a bit of a challenge for me, because I'm trying to keep the inherent time-lag of an interstellar society straight. Having established that it's more or less three weeks between Earth and Archangel, even by the standards of the fastest ship, makes for a couple of challenges in maintaining a narrative flow. Add in a couple more interstellar locations and it gets trickier.<br />
<br />
But it's coming along. I have pretty clear ideas for the rest of it. Although, I gotta say, now that the big climactic action-packed final arc is within sight and the book is already at 90k, I was just thinking... I could just finish it off at any point here with, "Dunh dunh DUUUNNNHHH!!!" and call it good, right?<br />
<br />
I mean, granted, I'd piss off pretty much every single reader and never sell a book again, but still... :)Elliott Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410000422472900663noreply@blogger.com7