Marching on the Grinder

When I was in Navy Boot Camp in 2005, our Recruit Commanders referred to the parking lots outside the barracks as the "Grinders." For the first couple weeks, I always wondered why that was. Perhaps it was because they were in poor repair, and the gravel ground up tires? I soon learned they were so named because they actually ground down recruits' morale. The Grinders were where the divisions of recruits practiced their marching skills. Over and over and over again. It didn't matter how hard we practiced or how well we did, it was never quite good enough.

Working a full time job that keeps me away from home five days out of the week (sometimes more if days off are cancelled) is kind of like the Grinder. It doesn't matter how hard I try or how determined I am to get some writing time in, it's just not going to happen as often as I'd like. And even if I do get a chance to sit down and start up the laptop, I'm constantly interrupted and distracted, and the writing I do get done is usually sub par.

But the secret to success on the Grinder in Great Lakes was to not let the less-than-perfect performance get you down. You just had to keep marching, work on making that about-face smoother, practice the left and right faces until they were sharp enough to make civilians think you knew what you were doing. And then, at the end of the day, you got the satisfaction of knowing you were going to beat the socks off the divisions who didn't practice on the Grinder every day.

Writing is kind of like that. Sometimes, I'm not going to write as well as I want to. Sometimes I'm not going to be able to write as long as I want to. Sometimes I won't be able to write at all. But that's not the point. The point is to keep doing my best to make the time, and when I write, to write as well as I can. At the end of the day, I'll have the satisfaction of knowing I made some progress and that my writing will benefit because of it. And that's about the best a writer can hope for anyway.

Over the past week, I made some more progress on Kricket's Song. Chapter 12 is done, and Chapter 13 will see our characters leaving Gryphon's Reach and heading for Amberford - the Headquarters of the Guv Navy. Yes - it's about to get crazy.

I also did an hour-long brainstorming session for The Serenity Solution. That proved to be a bit more complicated than I'd originally planned. Mostly I was focused on the motivations of the shadowy group of bad guys who wanted to take over Serenity. The original draft of the manuscript gave the indication that they wanted power over Serenity for the sake of power. That's all well and good, and indeed, real life often happens that way. But it honestly doesn't make for a very interesting story. So I was working on the motivations for such a hostile takeover, and with every idea I came up with for that, I was forced to consider and modify major plot elements and motivations for the individual characters. Definitely tricky business. But, I think I've come up with some fresh ideas that will prove interesting and possibly very far-reaching for any books that come after the first one. Time will tell.

That's about all for now. Thanks for reading!

Soldiering On

This last week has been a little difficult for me in a couple of ways. It started out with the news that "Exequies" had absolute no success in the Writers of the Future Contest. A nice little one line e-mail dashed all hopes with that. I'm not sure which market I'll be looking at next for it. Honestly, anything related to short stories is pretty low on my list of priorities right now. If something comes up regarding "Exequies," I'll let you know.

The second thing that's been difficult is trying to find the energy and motivation to write after coming home from 9 hour work day (I get an hour lunch, but in this line of work, you're lucky if you actually get 30 minutes) that is both mentally and physically challenging. On top of the hours I actually spend at work, I've got to spend time learning material for the job I'm picking up after the summer, which further eats away at my time and energy.

So I'll be honest, Kricket's Song made very little progress this last week, and the rewrite for The Serenity Solution made absolute no progress. I did get lots of inspiration from music that I've come to associate with Kricket's Song over the past couple months, but inspiration isn't words on the page, not yet. I still plan on taking my laptop to the fire guard station I'll be living at for most of the week, and hopefully I'll make some progress on my projects after business hours.

We'll see.

Maintaining Momentum

As I briefly mentioned in my last post, I did get a job in Southern Nevada, and now my summer job fighting wildfires has started. The temptation for me (and, I suspect, for many writers) would be to say "Well, I'm busy now, I guess I'll just have to write on my days off." The problem with a job like wild land firefighting is that there's no guarantee I'll get my days off. And even if I did, that's only two days out of the week for writing. And let's face it, that sort of progress would be dismally slow if I'm serious about getting books published.

So now, perhaps more than ever, it's time for me to get serious and put the writer's age-old adage into practice: "If you want to write, you've got to MAKE the time to write."

I'll be pulling eight hour days, five days a week, and if there are fires going on, I could be working as much as sixteen hours a day. In addition, I'll be spending all of my work days out in the woods in a cabin where there is no internet and the electricity is less than stable. My intent is to take my laptop out there with me and to keep working on Kricket and TSS, regardless of the situation. I plan on writing at least 1,000 words a day, except maybe on those 16-hour days (I'll need that sleep if I'm actively fighting fires). Now, planning is all well and good, but only time will tell if I can maintain my current momentum (which actually isn't all that fast right now). It's time to test my dedication to writing.

Once I transition to the other job in Southern Nevada after the fire season, I will have more regular days off (possibly as many as three a week), and it should be easier to maintain a writing schedule. Again, time will tell.

For now, Kricket's Song is progressing nicely. I reached the official 1/3 complete mark a couple of days ago. I believe it's turning out to be a fairly clean manuscript, which means at this point I don't see myself having to go back and do a lot of rewrites on it. But, that may change once I get the first draft completed and some beta readers get their hooks into it. Right now, I'm just taking it one thing at a time, and I have to get the first draft finished first. I started Chapter 11 last night; I don't know how many chapters there will end up being, but I've been pleased with the progress, especially considering all the traveling I've been doing on top of looking for work and graduating college.

As for The Serenity Solution, I've finally got a bit of progress to report on that. Following what seems to be the very successful formula for Kricket, I wrote out some detailed biographies for the main and major secondary characters for the book, just so that I have them firmly in mind when I start the rewrite. The next step is to outline the overall plot, and hopefully keep it from being too ambitious as was the last attempt. Then I'll start doing detailed outlines of a couple of chapters at a time, and it will then be time to actually start writing. I know it seems like a very structured system, but so far, that seems to be the way I work best. Once I get my skills polished up a lot more, maybe I can be more lax on the structure.

For "Exequies" and the Writers of the Future Contest, I honestly have no idea what's going on. I thought they were judging Q2 for 2011 in which the story was entered, but looking at their site, it would appear they have just finished awarding the winners for Q1. So...who knows when something will happen with that. It appears they may be a bit behind schedule right now. That's fine, I've got plenty of other stuff to be working on with Kricket and TSS.

That's about it for now. Thanks for reading!

The Kricket Project, Part 3

Well, here we are again for the continuation of the introductions to the major characters of The Kricket's Song.

I'd just like to say that I appreciate the response to the project so far. Several people seem to have been reading the posts, and some have left a comment, which I always enjoy. Please do comment if you read the post, as it lets me know it's not just bots phishing for information or something. And of course, if you just can't live without the updates from my blog, click the follow button on the left-hand side. Thanks!

But I digress. Characters!

Ayemdhi: Kricket's first mate. Ayemdhi (pronounced ay-em-dee) has been Skip's best friend since before she came to own the ship. Ayemdhi is a silent fellow; he never talks. No one even knows if he can, or if he just doesn't feel the need to. He communicates just fine, though, and the huge automatic mass driver that he carries around as his weapon of choice ensures no one crosses him. He's loyal to Skip and the Kricket's crew, to the death. Despite his silence, he exudes wisdom and experience, and when he does seem to offer an opinion on something (usually through expressions or hand gestures), it's wise to listen to him.

Ayemdhi's motivations are, in large part, Skip's. He often treats her like a daughter, but she's also his boss, and what she says, he does. His job is to keep Kricket flying and her crew as safe as possible. Nothing is out of bounds when it comes to accomplishing that mission.

Blazer (Blaze): Kricket's gunner. Blazer is a bit of an enigmatic fellow. He doesn't share much about his background at all, but his mannerisms and knowledge of weaponry indicate some sort of formal training in the past, possibly with the Guv Navy itself. He was recruited by Skip and Ayemdhi shortly after they got Kricket up and running. He's generally a quiet sort, and despite the fact that he enjoys blowing things up with the biggest weaponry possible, he likes to have a good reason for doing so. He's definitely not the average weapons tech.

Blazer tries to keep out of things that don't pertain to him. His job is to make sure Kricket "has the teeth to fight with the big dogs" if and when it comes to that. He's loyal to Skip and her objectives, but he's been known to voice opposition on rare occasions, usually with good reason.

Shove: Kricket's stoker. Kricket is a steam-powered airship, and that means she needs coal. Shove is the man that makes sure her fires are hot and her full steam capabilities available for Skip's command. Shove is the newest member of the crew, recruited about two years ago. He's outgoing and friendly, and enjoys sharing stories of his life in plying the trade lanes of the skies. His open and carefree demeanor is good at getting people to open up to him.

Although Shove appears to be a loyal member of the crew, he always seems to be missing at certain critical times. Is he everything he claims to be? Or is he even more?

Well that's it on characters for this week. More next week, working our way down from most important to least important, at least as things stand with the story right now. It's always evolving.

In other news, I finally graduated from college today, with a B.A. in English Language and Literature, "Cum Laude." Somehow, a two-hour ceremony seems anti-climatic for four years of work (spread out over nine years with a stint in the Navy in between), but I'm glad to be done. Time to move on and try to get that next awesome job that will not only be fun, but perhaps educate me and inspire me for my writing.

The next few weeks are going to be a bit crazy, as I've mentioned in previous posts. I start my journey on Friday, and it'll take me around a week to get home, as I've got a stop along the way. I'll perhaps try to post before the trip starts, otherwise I'll probably miss posting over the weekend. However, I'll keep writing, and I will update this blog as best I can until things settle down again.

Comments are welcome, and so are followers! Thanks!

Edited to Add: Beta reading on the first draft of The Serenity Solution is complete! Although The Kricket's Song is going to be occupying most of my time for now, I will be starting to brainstorm and plan for the new, rewritten version of TSS. Using what I've learned from the first draft and aborted rewrite, as well as with what I've been learning on my latest projects, I think I can keep the spirit of the story and characters, but make it much more powerful and hard-hitting. And hopefully not take 179K words to do it! Keep watching for new information regarding The Serenity Solution Project soon!

I R Lerning

At least as far as my writing goes, it's been a rather eventful week. I'm still not sure where exactly it's all going to end up, so I won't get into too many details at the moment, but here's a brief overview of what I've been up to.

The new project I mentioned last week has started progressing nicely. After a week of brainstorming and jotting down notes (about 11 pages of them) as well as 7 pages of character bios, I finally started writing the manuscript last Sunday. So far, I've written almost 9,000 words on the project, tentatively called The Kricket's Song. Considering that prior to that I was lucky to get 2,000 words a week, that's a huge jump in activity for me. I likely won't be able to sustain that in the coming weeks, simply because I'll be so busy graduating from school, traveling, and working on that job opportunity I mentioned a few weeks back. But I'm hoping that I can make good progress on it. I've mapped out the major details of the books plot, and I'm aiming for it to be a lot shorter than The Serenity Solution was; thus, hopefully it won't take me two whole years to write it. Look for some Kricket's Song Project posts - much like I did with TSS - in the coming weeks for character information and plot teasers.

The encouraging thing about Kricket is that I seem to have learned a great deal from the debacle with TSS. I was able to get the action in the story going a lot faster, characters seem to be connecting better, and I wasn't as overly ambitious with the plot this time around. I submitted my first chapter for critiquing on Absolute Write and learned that, although I still have plenty of areas to improve, I also did a lot better this time around - at least in my opinion. So I've learned something anyway.

As for short stories, yes, I'm still stumbling through with "The Abyss." Made a little bit of progress on it this last week. I think once I finish it, I'll probably be done with shorts for a little while as I focus on Kricket and start planning and preparing for the TSS rewrite. I'll probably be doing both simultaneously, just because I don't want TSS to sit around for a year with no progress. I've learned a lot regarding how to write novels since I last tried to submit TSS to an agent, so here's hoping it will be several times better this time.

Still no word about "Exequies" with the WOTF Contest. First I was hearing that no news is good news as they send rejections out first. Now I'm hearing that they send out notification to people who got short-listed first and rejects get told about it... whenever. So now I'm confused and don't know what to think. Guess I'll just sit tight and wait till I know for sure, then go from there.

With all the ideas and projects I've got piling up right now, I need like a month off to do nothing but work on them...

Return of the Muse

I've often been complaining - to myself, anyway - that my muse abandoned me sometime ago, probably because most of my time was consumed with boring but necessary aspects of life. Like college. It was sort of a running joke with my friends from Absolute Write that my muse was AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave) and that if it ever came back, I'd shoot it for desertion. Well, it eventually did come back, at 6am on Monday morning, waking me out of a dead sleep. I was half asleep and so confused I couldn't do anything but start writing down notes.

I won't get into too much detail about the idea I've been developing over the past week. I want to make sure it actually goes somewhere and I start making some definite progress on it before I get everyone interested in a project that may or may not go anywhere. However, I will say that the ideas started clicking into place so well and so fast, that I spent two plus hours on Monday morning handwriting three pages of notes regarding characters and plot lines. I've since expanded the notes on characters into a seven page character bio file, which outlines background, personality, motivation, and physical appearance for each of the major characters, as well as a couple of the more minor ones. I've also done what I call some "setting teaser" pieces, bits of writing that may or may not be included in the actual manuscript itself, but help to establish the physical setting and the ambiance of the work for my own benefit. I will also say that right now, I plan on this being a novel-length work.

Furthermore, I will also say that this work seems to be falling into the genre of steampunk. I've never written anything steampunk-ish before, and I'm barely familiar with all the various details of the genre. I've decided that first and foremost, this work is going to be fun. I'm going to focus on making the storyline as awesome as possible, the characters as in-depth and three-dimensional as possible, and the world itself as interesting and amusing as possible. I'm going to be making a bit of a break with my tradition of having technology in my works be at least plausible or explainable, and just have fun with the airships, guns, and floating cities that will be in this project. Knowing me, it will end up being steampunk with strong elements of science fiction and fantasy thrown in.

Yes, I know, I've got a lot of other projects lined up right now. The Serenity Solution is still in the beta read phase. My beta reader just finished through Chapter 11 on it, and has requested the next several chapters. So progress is being made on that front, it's just taking time. I'm starting to get tidbits of ideas on how I want to go about rewriting it as well, once the time comes for that. Regarding the short stories I have going, yes I still plan on working on those as well. I'm hoping that with a variety of projects of varying genres going on, I'll be able to stay motivated and not get into a rut.

Speaking of projects that are lined up, and projects I've talked about on here that have yet to go anywhere, you may remember the few posts I made about the Bounty Hunter Quartet. Well, during Absolute Write's Flash Fiction Challenge last Sunday, I wrote a 1,900 word piece that is sort of an unofficial prelude to the first book. I'm not sure it will ever see the light of day, but it was good to get back into the fantasy genre a bit and work with a familiar character. Based on the prompt "the new job," the piece was a quick look at the events directly leading up to the start of the first book, which has been started and stopped three times now. And it's still in the brainstorming phase right now.

I will, of course, let you know when I've got more news regarding any of these projects. And I'm still waiting to hear from the Writer's of the Future Contest regarding "Exequies;" right now, no news is good news.

Progress Hurts

So as you've probably seen on my little project tracker down there, my short story hasn't gone anywhere. I try not to make excuses about how I don't have time for writing, but this time, I think I'm justified. Starting last week, I realized that I had four papers and two presentations due between then, and these upcoming two weeks. Most of my creative energy has been spent trying to make sure those projects are at least halfway decent.

There has been progress with The Serenity Solution, although I'd have to say overall, it's been less than pleasant. I knew there would be problems, which is why I asked some people to beta read it for me. Of course, I had hoped they would really turn out to be minor, and it would just be a matter of hacking out all the unnecessary words I'd filled the manuscript with. Alas, it's not going to be that simple. It seems most of my first chapters probably shouldn't be there at all. I take way too long to get the ball rolling on the major action, and I use way too many words to describe simple things. The rewrite of the book I had started seemed to take care of many of the slow parts in the original manuscript, but I felt it was lacking the flair and style which made the project unique to me to begin with. So now, it looks like another rewrite is going to be coming up, with some sort of balance between the two being struck. I may well have to fully rework the plot as well, in order to have everything fit together.

The encouraging thing is, most other writers have to go through this process. There comes a point when your level of writing skill becomes professional enough to be publishable, and most writers are cranking out pages and pages of manuscripts years before they reach that level. It's not a waste of time, or effort. The only way you can learn about writing and get better at it is to, well, write. So, hopefully, my apprenticeship is nearing and end, and I may soon be able to call myself a journeyman, if I can maybe start cranking out some publishable works.

I still haven't heard anything back from the magazine I sent "Exequies" to. That's not surprising at all, considering they are overseas, and things move slowly in the publishing world. Of course, you will hear about any news here first.

Yes, Progress

Well, it turns out I wasn't getting ahead of myself when I predicted that maybe I would start making progress now. It hasn't exactly been mind-numbing progress, but it IS progress.

As you can see on my new "Active Project" gizmo, "The Unfound" is slowly making headway. I have a sneaking suspicion this story may not actually go anywhere. At least not as a short story. Were I to expand it into a book, I might have something. Or, I may have to rework the idea in order to keep it as a short story. But, writing is writing, and right now my main concern is just to get the rust off my writing skills.

Progress is also being made on The Serenity Solution. My beta readers have gotten into the first chapter, and suggested some ways on how I could cut it back. I was surprised to see I was using a lot of words to describe something, when I really only needed a few. Of course, most of the original manuscript was written before I went through a creative writing class at school that taught me how to be more economical with words. Waxing eloquent is still a habit I have problems with. Initial predictions show that as many as 1,000 words will be cut out of the first chapter alone. If that can be done for each chapter, my 179,000 word monster will be more like 147,000 words. That's still too big, but at least it's manageable.

TSS is bound to be a slow process though, so in the meantime I'm going to keep working on short fiction, trying to get my name out there a bit. I'll also be polishing ideas for future novels. I still haven't decided if I want to do another military science-fiction novel, or try my hand at some of the fantasy ideas I've got floating around. The success or failure of TSS will probably have a bit part to play in that decision.

More as it happens.

Exequies

If you're like me, you probably have no idea what the title of this post means. It's Latin for "funeral rites" or "burial of the dead." Why the heck would I name a blog post "Exequies?" Well, even though I missed last week's blog post and I haven't been doing too much writing, I haven't been completely inactive. I've written and polished a 4,200 word short story entitled "Exequies." As for why I named it that, you'll have to read it, if I can ever get it published. It was one of those rare projects that sort of fell together perfectly after about half an hour of brainstorming and planning, and it only took me two nights to write it and a couple more to polish it up. So anyway, now it's done and I'm looking for a market for it.

In other news, last week was a crazy week for me, which is one reason why I missed my blog post. I fully intended to make it, but then I discovered that a 10-page paper I thought was due on November 30th was actually due November 11th, which at that point was only 4 days away. And I hadn't even started research on it. Plus, I had a presentation to give also on the 11th, which was as yet barely started at that point. So, any inclination I had to make posts was gone at that point. However, I made it through the week.

The worst of the semester is over for me, I think. I still have one serious paper left to write, as well as a presentation which should be given this week. Then it's just finals. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to working on The Serenity Solution before I head home for the Christmas holiday. I'd hoped to have the rewrite at least halfway done by then, but I hadn't anticipated how hard these last few weeks were going to be. But now that those are out of the way, I'm looking forward to doing some writing again.

When You Realize You Goofed...

...You have to face it. It's no good trying to patch the problem up. You have to stop pushing forward, and fix the problem at its source.

That was a lesson I learned this last week. It was a suspicion I'd had for some time, but without any hard facts, I thought it was just a fear without any reason behind it. Now I know for sure: The Serenity Solution in its current form is about 79,000 words too long for any self-respecting agent to even bother looking at it.

That's right, you can write a manuscript that is just too long to be marketable, especially if you're a beginning author, like me. I realized the manuscript was a little long, but I had no idea that it was way beyond the bounds of reasonable. Then I discovered that most agents look for a new writer's book to be somewhere between 80,000 to 100,000 words long. Anything much longer than that, and they start getting nervous. Why? Well, quite simply, you have yet to prove that you can deliver. The fear is, if your book is too long, it's possible that most of it is just a bunch of fluff, and attempt to shore up a weak plot or an inability to concisely describe what's going on with the action.

To be honest, I probably suffered a bit from both of those problems in the TSS manuscript. Thankfully, the error was pointed out to me by some good folks from the Absolute Write Water Cooler (see last week's post for link), before I scared off too many agents - hopefully.

Basically, I decided that if I really wanted to get this book on the market, I was going to have to rewrite it. Not an easy decision, seeing as I have already put 2 years into this project. But it was either that, or abandon it, which was absolutely out of the question. It seemed like an overwhelming project to rewrite something which I already thought was good; however, once I sat down to study the problem objectively, I discovered I had a few advantages.

1. The basic plot was sound. The excessive length in the manuscript was more a result of my being too ambitious in what I wanted to cover in the book, rather than a lot of fluff - although there was definitely some fluff that needs to go.
2. I already had the setting and back story well established. All I need to do is figure out how to work it into the action of the book.
3. Characters are already well established. I don't have to sit around and figure out how they're going to interact with each other, as that was already taken care of in the first write.
4. Some chapters and scenes are well written. Furthermore, beta readers have told me that hook at the end of the book is very well done. Because of this, some of the rewrite will be a simple copying of the good parts and pasting them into the rewrite, then polishing them to make sure they fit well.

So, that's where I'm at right now. I've stopped sending out query letters, since the manuscript is once again "incomplete." I've trimmed down the plot, and created a new outline. New target length for words is about 99,000, though I think it's going to end up significantly shorter than that, possibly as low as 90,000 words. I'll keep you updated.

"The Serenity Solution" Project, Part 4

One of the key aspects of any story is the setting. Sometimes the setting plays a major part in the plot of the book, while in other cases, it mostly stays in the background, simply providing a backdrop. One of the things I'm struggling with in marketing The Serenity Solution to agents is how much emphasis to put on the larger setting that the novel takes place in.

Here's a brief overview of the setting. Basically, around 150 years before the book takes place, World War III happened. Most of the planet got nuked and was turned into a wasteland. Over the decades since, various city-states were built in areas that were still inhabitable, and it is in these safe havens that the majority of humanity lives on.

Those of you who are well-read in science fiction literature are probably seeing where my dilemma starts to come in. The "post apocalyptic" setting - whether it was created by nuclear war, a plague, or even aliens - has been rather overdone. Movies and books both have beat this setting to death, and it would take an extremely unique and gripping plot to make another book in such a setting stand out.

The reason I chose a post-apocalyptic setting for my book was because it was the only one I could conceive of in which 1.) there are only a few city-states on the entire planet, and 2.) though some technology is much more advanced than we see today on Earth, a lot of it (primarily the weapons) remains similar to today's technology level. Furthermore, the plot of the book has almost nothing to do with the nuclear war or the wastelands that were the result of the devastation. All action in the plot takes place in a few of the city-states. However, I feel that making a note of the setting (including the nuclear war) is important to have at the beginning of the book; it's the foundation for why a lot of things in the plot are the way they are. It's true that setting can be integrated throughout the action of the book, rather than in a bulk paragraph at the introduction, but in the case of The Serenity Solution I feel this would leave readers in the dark for too long.

The problem is, getting agents to see past that intro and get into the main part of the book. Part of the reason why I think my first couple submissions met with polite rejection is because I emphasized the "cataclysmic war" that led to the creation of the city-states a bit too much in my query letters. This latest round of submissions have included query letters and a synopsis that tone that down quite a bit, referring more to the action of the plot rather than the setting - which is something I should have been doing from the beginning. But, I'm learning as I go.

Now that I've shared the woes of this issue with you, let me provide a few more details of the actual settings of The Serenity Solution. Most of the plot takes place in three different city-states.

Serenity: Serenity is the home city of Captain Zakariah Atheeda, Sergeant Avery Halberd, Officer Amber Kynterle, and Officer Chrissa Maxwell. Ranked as the second-safest city on Earth (after Unity), Serenity hasn't been involved in a war for over forty years, and it enjoys a remarkably low crime rate. Its citizens are highly independent and proud of their ability to sustain themselves, adopting a nearly isolationist attitude. Because of their self reliance, the average citizen sees very little need for the art of Politics. Unfortunately, this attitude has rendered the general populace sadly naive about the world outside their own city, and they are generally unprepared for any sort of "foreign" threat. They rely heavily on their Police Department for safety, although they regard those same Officers with a great measure of suspicion and distaste. Serenity is a beautiful city. Its building are predominantly white, arranged in concentric circles, with the buildings at the center of the city being the tallest, and all other building gradually built lower as they get closer to the edge of the city. The city prefers to use blue and turquoise lighting, which makes the city sparkle like a sapphire at night.

Intensity: During the course of the plot, Zak and his team find themselves undercover in the city of Intensity. Intensity is the most dangerous of all the city-states. Law and order collapsed there over two decades ago, and some people believe that the Tribunal actually allowed this to happen, for reasons unknown. People are allowed to do whatever they can in order to get ahead in Intensity. Those with the most money fare the best, as they are able to hire mercenaries to defend their assets or attack and destroy those of their rivals. Life expectancy is extremely short in Intensity, as an unwary traveler can be shot simply for trying to help someone in distress. Corporations are the ruling force in the city, as they have the resources and the manpower to enforce their will. The city itself is huge, the largest on Earth, and it is a danger in and of itself. Building are constructed wherever open space can be found, often one right atop another. In most places of the city, the ground hasn't been visible for years. The various streets, walkways, and bridges form a warren in which even an experienced street dweller can get hopelessly lost.

Serendipity: Serendipity is a city-state which has been constructed in orbit over earth. It originally started as a large space station, but was gradually expanded over the years to become a full-fledged city. Though it takes up considerably less space, Serendipity hosts a population comparable to Serenity's. It is one of the richest city-states, home to several large corporations, and it is constantly expanding as more and more people move there. As home to the Tribunal, Serendipity sees itself as better than its Earth-bound sister cities, and its citizens have adopted a rather haughty attitude.

That's just a very basic overview of the settings in which the plot takes place.

In other news, I made another submission today, this time via e-mail. I included my rewritten, shortened synopsis, and the first two chapters of the book. Hopefully, I'll hear something back within the next two weeks. I still haven't heard back from my previous two submissions, but those could take up to another two months, as they were sent by regular mail. Here's hoping.

"The Serenity Solution" Project, Part 3

Following are the bios for the rest of the main characters.

Harmony - A mysterious woman representing the city of Intensity in trade talks with Serenity, Harmony uses only her pseudonym to protect her real identity. For all intents and purposes, she appears to be a simple diplomat, but she is working for a shady group of people which is trying to extend its control over the seven city-states. Despite her current affiliations, Harmony remains fiercely independent, and she uses her paramilitary and espionage backgrounds to catch her opponents off guard.

Master Chief Joseph Gates - As the Commanding Officer of the Serenity Police Department and a veteran of the streets himself, Gates finds himself in the unenviable position of balancing his Officers' needs with playing the political game his office requires. Generally good-natured and practical, Gates doesn't tolerate nonsense from anyone in his chain of command, either above or below his pay grade. Keeping Serenity and her citizens safe is his primary objective.

Chief Bram Heisman - Heisman is the selfish, unscrupulous second-in-command of the Serenity Police Department, and also the leader of the city's Administration, the "watchdog" organization which controls nearly every aspect of the city. Although ostensibly operating under the orders of the Administration Directorate, which oversees each city's Administration, Heisman seems to have his own agenda.

Maxim - Operating as Serenity's representative opposing Harmony's position in the trade talks, Maxim also uses his pseudonym to protect his real identity. Maxim is a highly skilled player on the political field, and is more than capable of countering Harmony's arguments. Regardless of his personal feelings or belief's, his goal is to ensure Serenity comes out on top in any negotiations.

That's it for the main characters of the book. As always, comments are welcome.

"The Serenity Solution" Project, Part 2

Now that you've had a brief look at what The Serenity Solution is about, I'd like to give you a glimpse of the main characters in the book. These are the major players that will be driving the plot forward; there are other, more minor characters, but they don't figure as much into the grand scheme of things. They are listed in order of most important to the plot to least important.

Captain Zakariah Atheeda - Known as "Zak" to his friends, Captain Atheeda is a highly professional, highly dedicated Serenity Police Officer who believes in being prepared for the worst-case scenario. Even if it means breaking a few rules, his goal is to ensure his team will survive any challenge they may face on the streets. He takes his mission to protect and defend the citizens of Serenity very seriously.

Sergeant Avery Halberd - Called "Hal" by his teammates, Sergeant Halberd is Zak's second in command for the team; like Zak, he's a veteran of the SPD. He's easy-going and good-natured, but his Captain's word is law on the job. He's a little cynical about life as an Officer, but when it comes to protecting Serenity and her citizens, no sacrifice is too great.

Officer Amber Kynterle - Still considered a rookie in the Department, Kynterle's "new kid" mentality hasn't worn off. She's generally cheerful, lighthearted, and full of energy, which keeps her older male companions on their toes. Still a little naive, she starts every day looking forward to high speed chases and gun battles, without really understanding the kind of danger she's getting into every time she puts on her uniform.

Officer Chrissa Maxwell - As a brand new member on Zak's team, Maxwell is something of an unknown to the rest of her teammates. She has a cool, aristocratic manner, and remains aloof and impersonal with others around her. Although she seems exceptionally capable for a brand new Officer, she carefully guards her shadowy past and won't open up to those who would befriend her.

These are about half of the "main characters." In the interest of keeping posts to an easily readable length, I'll put up the second half in another post later on. Let me know what you think!

"The Serenity Solution" Project, Part 1

The posts of The Serenity Solution Project will explore the various aspects of my book, everything from the world in which it takes place, to the main characters, to discussions about the plot and where I hope to see the work go in the future. I'll be posting this in several parts, and I invite and questions, comments, and discussions on the topics.

For now, I thought I'd start out by providing a bit of a teaser, something similar to what you might see on the back cover of the book once it's published. Keep in mind, this is just my imagination at work. I'm not a marketing major, so I'm not sure exactly what a publisher would put on the back. Enjoy.

"God punishes the wicked and Nature destroys the unwary, but Mankind's greatest enemy has always been itself. A century and a half after an apocalyptic nuclear war, Humanity is struggling to build a utopian society in the form of seven city-states. But even as peace and order reach new heights, there are those who seek to incorporate the city-states into their own sinister plans.

Even while struggling to keep the peace, a team of Police Officers with the Serenity Police Department finds itself in the middle of a growing war which threatens to consume the city-state of Serenity. Undermined by his own chain of command and confronted by betrayal, Captain Zakariah Atheeda realizes he has to take his team outside the law if he wants to save his city and, somehow, get everyone home alive. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman known only as Harmony holds the lives of countless thousands in her hands as she navigates the political minefields of future Earth in an attempt to subjugate Serenity for 'the greater good.'

As plots with global consequences unfold, these opposing forces collide in a battle in which the weak are pawns and only the prepared have any chance of survival. Sacrifices will be required, loyalties will be tested, and alliances will be found in the most unlikely of places. Strap in, lock and load, because this is the dangerous reality of the future. This is the reality of The Serenity Solution."