Wednesday, January 15, 2014

A preview of EEG: Secotr 8

This is taken from the first draft of The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Glactica: Sector 8 (Althani Space):


Gliese 832: 16.1 ly M1.5v
The star in this system may be small, but the trouble in this system is anything but.  More than a century ago, the Althani colonized a moon around the largest gas giant in the system.  The colony, called Menk, is currently home to more than three billion Althani, and they’ve transformed the atmosphere to a point that they can breathe the air without suits and breathers.  The majority of the inhabitants are military or corps employees.
The colony on Menk is not the problem.  There is a smallish terrestrial planet about .5 AU from Gliese 832, and this planet and its moon have been colonized by humans.  The colonization took place 30 years ago, and there are already one billion humans inhabiting the planet (New New York) and the moon (New Buffalo).  Humans can breathe on the planet, but they need suits to walk on the surface of the moon, which is why the colony is built completely underground.  Many of the humans work for the human corps, but a number of them work for the military, and it’s believed that many of those are working for covert branches of the military.
The humans have argued that Gliese 832 should actually be considered a part of their sector, but the Althani have been here for quite a bit longer.  The Althani don’t take well to others infringing on their space, and there have been several battles fought in this system.  So far, both species’ governments have refused to get involved, instead allowing the military forces assigned to these colonies to battle it out.  So far, things have stayed at a level of a few ships fighting at a time, but there is always a chance, and it’s a good chance, that things will boil over and all-out war will break out in the system.


Gliese 902: 37.1 ly K3V
Although this system has a planet that could be colonized by humans and a planet that could be colonized by the Culthan, the Althani have refused to allow outsiders into the system.  Their main reason for this is that there’s a large moon orbiting the largest gas giant in the system.  And on this moon is an Althani prison colony called Ten-pa.  The colony has four large opaque domes, one in each hemisphere (northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest), under which they house some of the most violent criminals, and while most of them are Althani, there are prisoners from the other species here as well.  The atmosphere outside of the domes is highly toxic to any sentient species, with much of the atmosphere made up of methane and cyanogen.  The surface also has winds that typically blow at over 100 kph, and often gust to 300 kph.  Each of the domes is so far apart that there is no way anyone could walk to one of the other domes, even with a suit.
No one in their right mind would even try to survive on the surface, and to date, no one has ever escaped from Ten-pa.  A few have gotten out of the domes, but no further.  Ten-pa also has a highly advanced satellite system that will shoot down any ship that doesn’t have clearance to be close, and if a ship does go down, there will be no effort made to try to rescue the crew.  Instead, they’ll be left to the atmosphere of the planet, and if they happen to be close enough to a dome that they might be able to get to it, they’ll be shot before they can get inside.  There are no visiting hours at Ten-pa.

 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

A new collection

I've just learned that Alban Lake Publishing will be releasing a new short story collection of mine.  These are previously published stories about space exploration.  It will have stuff from early in my career all the way up to some more recent stuff.
Now, the big question is: What am I going to call this thing?
So far, I haven't come up with a title, but I'm working on it...

Friday, January 10, 2014

EEG Sector 8

I've just finished the first draft of The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sector Eight (Althani Space.)  This is the second volume in the Encyclopedia, the second of what will probably be many.  I'm hoping that if I can arrange the time, that I'll have this ready for players and game masters by the end of next weekend.
So, stay tuned!

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

New Year, New Game

The folks over at DriveThruRPG are having a sale to encourage people to try new games. So, for the next few days, you can pick up the core rulebook for Ephemeris for just $3.98...not a bad deal.
The special sale can be found at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/63664/Ephemeris?filters=0_0_0_0_0_44298.

Monday, January 06, 2014

Alexis' surgery

I've had several people ask me about the surgery that Alexis is going to have to have, so I figured I'd just answer everything here.  The ENT found a Thyroglossal cyst, which apparently formed in utero, because the Throglossal duct did not close as it was supposed to.  The cyst itself is not dangerous, but if it becomes infected, it can have some nasty side effects.
The procedure they're going to be doing is called the Sistrunk Procedure, and it involves removing the cyst, and if the duct is still present, they'll take that out as well, which involves removing part of the hyoid bone.  If you want the details, which I don't like thinking about, you can find them at http://www.ent-surgery.com.au/thyroid/thyroglossal-duct-cyst-surgery-sistrunk-procedure.


Sunday, January 05, 2014

The Nomadic Delirium Press Bookstore

Nomadic Delirium Press now has a bookstore.  You can find all of their print and e-books there, including a number of titles that I've written or edited.
Please check it out at http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/shop.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sector Three (Melanathee Space)

The new supplement for the Ephemeris RPG with the very long name is now available.  This started out as a very daunting task, but once I started working on it, I found it to be a lot of fun, and the creativity just flowed...so it's available a lot earlier than we'd expected.
Here's what you can expect:
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sector Three (Melanathee Space) is now available at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/124640/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sector-Three-%28Melanathee-Space%29.
The Melanathee are the oldest of the six major species in the Ephemeris universe. Now you can learn about their sector of space. Learn about the planets they've colonized, the systems they battle to try to control, and the systems that even they fear to enter.
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica will be a multi-volume collection looking at each sector of space. You can start with Sector Three (Melanathee Space).

Friday, January 03, 2014

A glimpse of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica

I've been working on the first volume of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica for a bit now, and I'm happy to say that in the next few days, players and game masters will be able to get their hands on it.
What can they expect from it?
Here's a glimpse of a couple of the entries.  Keep in mind, these were taken from the first draft of the supplement, and they have changed slightly, but hopefully they'll be enough of a tease...

Gliese 317: 29 ly, M3.5
The Gliese 317 system is a system of potential conflict. Although there have been small skirmishes, nothing too serious has happened yet. For more than a century, the Melanathee have had a colony on a moon orbiting a gas giant that sits just under one A.U. from the red dwarf. Three decades ago, Humans moved into the system, colonizing two other moons of the same gas giant. Even though Humans and Melanathee do not breathe the same types of atmosphere, there have been debates over who should control the space around the gas giant. The Melanathee argue that they have been here longer, but the humans argue that they actually occupy two moons in the system. The other species have chosen to stay out of this one for now.
TolENtaMe is a small gaseous moon inhabited by the Melanathee. There are currently more than one million of them living on the moon. The settlement started out as a scientific colony, but has since expanded into a full colony, and because of the presence of humans in the system, there is a fairly large military base on the moon. The atmosphere is breathable for the Melanathee, although some of the less healthy will have trouble with it.
Ardith is the largest moon, and is currently occupied by a quarter of a million humans. The Earth military originally set up the colony, and even though they keep a large presence on the moon in order to protect the inhabitants, most of the planet is run by ExploraCorp, an Earth-based corporation with the mission of exploring and colonizing as much of near space as possible, and of course making a lot of money in the process. Although the actual air of the moon is dangerous for humans to breathe, the atmosphere is at a pressure and temperature that humans can walk on the surface with only breathers.
Rowena is a small moon with roughly 1,000 humans living on it. The moon has been set up as a research base to explore the weak star at the center of the system. The surface has no atmosphere, and the entire colony has been built underground.

69 G Carinae: 53 ly G2V
From the outside, this star system looks perfect for colonization, but there is something very wrong in the 69 G Carinae system. The Melanathee, the Arbonix, and the Humans have all tried to establish colonies in this system. All of those colonies have been destroyed, and no one has been able to figure out why. There are rumors of angry cyber wizards, some unknown civilization, quantum instabilities, hyperspace intrusions, and thousands of other less likely reasons. Not only have the colonies been destroyed, but most ships passing through this system are destroyed. Some of the ones that have made it through the system have reported strange lights, problems with their engines, and all kinds of system malfunctions.
At the moment, there are no sentients living in the system…at least that we know of.

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The year in review

2013 is about to end, and like every year, this has been a year of ups and downs.  The biggest downs we saw were the passing of my grandmother towards the beginning of the year, and then the passing of my brother-in-law Chris, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, just before Christmas.
Another big down we faced, and will continue to face in the year to come is the fact that our three year old Alexis will need surgery some time early in the year.  It's not a major surgery, but any time they're going to cut into your child, especially a small child, is quite scary.
The year was also filled with quite a few ups.  The biggest being our decision for me to leave my "real" job, and go back to working at home.  Even though it has put a huge financial strain on us, it has been good in every other way.  I no longer bring home the stress of being the "store bitch," which is basically what I'd become.  I also have more time to write, edit, and create games, and I also have more time for the kids.  We're already starting to see a change in their behaviors now that there's a little consistency as to who they're going to be seeing each day at home.  My staying at home also takes a lot of stress off of Rebecca.  She can now focus on just working, while I take care of the cooking and cleaning at home.  Some people might say that being a stay-at-home dad is not manly, but if you ask me, there's nothing more manly than doing what's best for your wife and kids.
Some other big ups are that I'm starting to write a lot more and I'm having a lot of time to develop supplements for the Ephemeris RPG.  I've also started working hard on getting Nomadic Delirium Press up off of the ground, and we're starting to see an increase in sales and submissions to the various publications.
As always, it's been a mixed year, but I'm looking forward to 2014.  I have a good feeling for the year to come...I just hope I'm right.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

The first volme of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica

I've just put the finishing touches on the first draft of the first volume of the Encyclopedia.  There's still a lot of work to be done, however.  The goal of this draft was to just get the very basics down for each star system.  Now I'll have to go through and expand on what's already there, and put in some rule notes so that game masters can better tie the information into their games.
No matter what, anyone that is interested in the Melanathee from the Ephemeris RPG should really enjoy this, as it will give them a much better idea of what to do with their sector of space.

The Nomadic Delirium blog

Nomadic Delirium Press now has a blog.  There you'll be able to learn about publications that are planned, publications that have been released, and whatever else they feel like posting.
You can find it at http://nomadicdelirium.wordpress.com/.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Working on the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica

I'm having a blast working on the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica.  When I first conceived of the idea, I wasn't sure if it was going to be as much fun as I hoped it would...but it is.  When I first came up with the idea for the Ephemeris RPG, I wanted to make it as hard SF as I could.  Granted, I had to use hyperspace to make it playable, but for the most part, I wanted things to be based on real science, or at least conceivable science.
When I started working on this project, I wanted to continue that.  So all of the star systems that will be listed in the Encyclopedia are real star systems.  And when possible, I've tried to use real planets that we know are there.  Even when I've introduced something that is out of the ordinary, I've tried basing it in science.
To me, this makes the game that much more fun.  I may be alone in that feeling, but I've always liked science fiction over science fantasy.  When I designed the game, I didn't want it to be Dungeons & Dragons in space...and I hope I've succeeded in that.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

I love these productive days

Days like today are what make me happy that I left my "real" job.  I just about finished up an editing project for a publisher that I'm working with for the first time.  In addition, I reworked the short story I finished a few days ago.  I think it still needs a little more work, but I hope to have it done very soon.  As if that wasn't enough, I added many pages of research to the first volume of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica, and I'm now ready to sit down and actually start writing the thing.
Yes, it was a very productive day.  I'm hoping to have many more like this in the days to come,

Saturday, December 14, 2013

The Nomadic Delirium Press 12 Days of Christmas

Nomadic Delirium Press is running specials on their titles during the 12 days of Christmas.  Each day, a different tile will be on sale.  Some of these will be books I've written, magazines I've edited, or RPGs I've designed.  Others will be from other authors and editors.
For updates, you just need to go to their Facebook page.
Check back every day for that day's sale.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

A new story

I just finished the rough draft of a new story.  This is the first unsolicited short story that I've written in quite a while, so it's a very good feeling.  My skills are still a bit rusty, so it will take several re-writes, but I'm fairly happy with the way this one turned out, even if it went a completely different direction than I'd expected.  A lot of times, however, some of my best stories actually are the ones that seem to have a mind of their own.
I hope to have it ready to go, and actually start submitting it before Christmas.
Now for the next story...


Sunday, December 08, 2013

The words are starting to flow

Three weeks after escaping the "real" work world, the words are really starting to flow for me.  I'm not quite back to the point where I could sit down and crank out 5,000 words in one session, but they are flowing the best that they have in many years.
Right now, I'm focusing on cranking out some short stories to kind of get my chops tuned back up, but then I hope to get back into the novels, while still keeping the short stories going.
No matter what, it's a good feeling, and I think once the holiday season is over, things will start to flow even more.

Sunday, December 01, 2013

November recap

It seems like I've started posting more now that I'm no longer trapped in a dismal "real" job.  Look for even more posts in the month to come...
I have some big news
The big news
Happy third birthday!
I'm free!
Keeping myself busy
Submitting reprints
Holiday deals featuring my stuff

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Holiday deals featuring my stuff

There are two e-book deals from Nomadic Delirium that feature some of my work.  First of all, there's the fiction bundle, which has one of my novels, two short story collections, and three titles that I edited.  In total, you get 10 titles for $10.  Simply go to http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/65958/2013-NDP-Holiday-fiction-special-%5BBUNDLE%5D?manufacturers_id=2805.
Secondly, you can get e-book versions of both of the RPGS that I created for just $6.50.  That's Ephemeris and The Battle for Turtle Island.  Just go to http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/122758/2013-NDP-Holiday-gaming-special-%5BBUNDLE%5D.
Both of these deals last through Cyber Monday.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Submitting reprints

As I'm slowly getting back into the swing of working at home, I've started researching markets that accept reprints.  I've found a few that are actually open to submissions, so I sent off some stories yesterday.  It felt good.  I haven't submitted an un-solicted story in quite some time, so it was nice to get back to it.
Hopefully once Thanksgiving is over, I'll be throwing myself into writing some short stories I've been thinking about, and also get to work on one of the novels I've started.
Overall, working at home is MUCH better than working in the "real" world.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Keeping myself busy

Now that I'm free of the "real" world work, and working at home, I'm keeping myself quite busy.  I've started on a series of supplements for the Ephemeris game that will focus on the sectors of space used by each of the species.  I'm tentatively calling it the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica.  I've also been doing a lot of editing, and formatting of zines and books.  I'm working on some new ideas that I might use for books or magazines for Nomadic Delirium Press, and I'm even doing some writing.
I'm also loving having time with the kids and Rebecca.  The little one has been so thrilled to have me home with her every day.
Now, I need to get back to work.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

I'm free!

Today was my last day at the "real" job, and it couldn't have come soon enough.  I was really tired of people not doing their share of the work, and then catching crap from so called "superiors" when I busted my ass day in and day out.
Hopefully this will work out for us, but I suppose I'd better get to writing...

Friday, November 08, 2013

Happy third birthday

Today is Alexis' third birthday.  It's hard to believe that she's turning three.  In some ways it seems like she's been with us for so long, but in other ways, it seems like she was just born yesterday.
It's amazing what a little person she's become.  She's already trying to read (although with no success), and she often seems desperate to learn everything.  There are so many things about her that remind me of myself, and there are also so many things that remind me of my wonderful wife.
We're so happy to have her in our life, and we're looking forward to seeing how much she grows over the year to come.

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

The big news

Given the wild speculation going on on Facebook, perhaps this news isn't as big as I'd originally thought.  No, we are not expecting.  The no-longer-not-so-big-news is that I gave my two weeks notice at my "real" job.  I was pretty much tired of having to do extra work because others were either lazy or incompetent, and I was also tired of catching hell for things not being done, when I was busting my butt.  So, we talked it over, and I decided to leave.
I will be working as a stay at home dad now, while I'm also working on writing, editing, and publishing.  Money is going to be much tighter for us, but we're going to do everything we can to save every penny and try to make this work.
Other than the loss of money, everything else about this arrangement will work out better for us.  So, hopefully I will be writing some stories and books that will bring in a lot of money, and hopefully Nomadic Delirium Press will be publishing stories and books that will do the same...

Saturday, November 02, 2013

I have some big news...

...but I'm not going to share it until next week...

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Lunatic Fringe

As you may remember, I did a panel at MileHiCon about science in science fiction called Lunatic Fringe.  There was a review article posted about it at Sciencefiction.com.  You can read it at http://sciencefiction.com/2013/10/29/much-science-science-fiction/.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Having a blast

Towards the beginning of the year, I left my position with Sam's Dot (as taken over by White Cat), and started focusing on editorial duties for Nomadic Delirium Press, and I'd have to say that I'm having a blast.  I like this whole working for myself.  I've created a couple of anthologies that I'm now reading for, and I'm even thinking about starting a new webzine.  We're beginning to see an increase in readership and the zines are filling up faster than they have in a while.  It would seem that people like the direction I'm taking NDP...or at least I hope they do.
No matter what, it really is a lot of fun to be an editor and a publisher, and I'd love to make it a full time thing...we'll have to see...

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

MileHiCon recap

We've been back for a few days from the Con, but this is the first time I've had enough down time to really sit down and write this blog.  As always, we ran around like crazy, trying to do as much promotion of my stuff as we could, while still making sure that the kids got to do a lot of fun stuff.
Friday we had a panel about Mars, which started off a bit slow because most of the panelists didn't know the answers to the first couple of questions, but once we got past that, we had a really great panel with a lot of good conversation about the future of Mars exploration.  That night we did autograph alley, which didn't seem to have as much traffic as usual, but still managed to sell one book, while talking with some old friends.
Saturday started out with a signing.  During that time, there must have been some great things going on because traffic was very slow, and I've never seen so few people roaming around.  That afternoon, I did the Lunatic Fringe panel about science in science fiction.  This was one of the best panels I've ever done.  We managed to get a lot of information out, while we had a blast.  I don't think I've ever been on a panel with such "colorful" guests.  A really great time seemed to be had by all.
Sunday started with a reading, which was pretty well attended.  I just read a portion of the first chapter of A Problem in Translation as anything I'm working on is still too rough to share.  That afternoon I did a panel about the new era of publishing.  This was another great panel.  There were four self-published authors, and me as a publisher.  Again, we shared a lot of great information, and had a great time.
These were some of the best attended panels and reading that I've done.  I had to admit that when I saw the panels I was scheduled for, I didn't think they'd be that great, but they were really were.
As an author I didn't feel this was that successful of a con, but for Nomadic Delirium Press, I think this was a very successful con.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

My final MileHiCon schedule

Here's my final schedule, with rooms and panel descriptions:

Friday:
3:00 p.m. Grand Mesa A Dreams of Red

The Dutch organization Mars One says its wants to put humans on the surface in 2023. The Inspiration Mars Foundation plans to fly astronauts to Mars and back on a 500-day mission in 2018. And of course, science fiction writers have been dreaming of a visit to the Red Planet for centuries. But how does fantasy stack up to reality? 

8:00 p.m. Atrium Autograph Alley

Saturday:
1:00 p.m. 2nd Floor near Art Show Signing

2:00 p.m. Grand Mesa B&C Lunatic Fringe

How fuzzy can the science be and still be believable?  

Sunday:
11:00 a.m. Mesa Verde C Reading

3:00 p.m. Wind River A New Era of Publishing: Good, Bad, & Ugly

What does it mean for both readers and writers? Good as in new professional markets like 47North and more choices for authors as well as the fact that books stay available as e-books, so readers don't have to worry about book one in a series being out of print when they discover book three, as well as more books coming back into print because authors have the rights and are publishing their back lists. Bad as in mountains of garbage that gets dumped on Amazon and Smashwords, and what that means for readers—how do you find the good stuff and avoid the garbage? The Ugly: the widening rift between indie and traditional publishing and those who try to bridge that gap with a foot in both camps (hybrid) and why it shouldn't matter because readers just want good books. And the online distribution stampede, with prices set by the distributors.   

Sunday, October 06, 2013

A new novel

Although I'm still toying with the YA novel I started, I broke ground on a new novel today, and this one certainly won't be YA.  Yes, I'm back to writing dystopic fiction.  The new novel is once again about an oppressive government and the struggles of the individual to not only survive amidst the oppression, but to actually attempt to overcome it.
I've had the idea for a while, and I even knew a little about the main character, but I wasn't entirely sure who he was until I wrote the first 1000 words of the novel today.  Now I have a much better idea of who he is, what he wants, and what he might be capable of, so now I can sit down and at least put a loose outline together, so that I don't get lost in the rest of the novel.
Life is still very hectic, and the "real" job is still wearing me out, so I have no idea how long it might take me to write this book, but I'm pretty excited about it, so I'm hoping it will flow quickly.

Saturday, October 05, 2013

Tantrums

Imagine someone sitting in a corner, fingers in their ears, crying because they can't have their way.  Imagine someone throwing themselves to the floor and kicking their legs and flailing their arms wildly because they can't have their way.
Am I talking about my almost three year old?  No.  I'm talking about these so-called leaders that we elected to Congress.  Get over yourselves ladies and gentlemen, and get down to what we are paying you to do...work.  Govern as we tell you you should.  It's not government by the few, it's government by the people.  You, you selfish jerks, work for us.  You have no right to hold us hostage, so get over yourselves and do your jobs.
As long as I'm still paying taxes for my government to work for ME, you damn well better work for me.
Rant over.  I have work to do...

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

My MileHiCon 45 schedule

It isn't set in stone yet, as I'm hoping to add a singing, but here's my schedule for MileHiCon 45 as of now:

Friday 3:00 p.m.: Dreams of Red
Friday 8:00 p.m.: Autograph Alley
Saturday 2:00 p.m.: Lunatic Fringe
Sunday 11:00 a.m.: Reading
Sunday 3:00 p.m.: New Era of Publishing: Good, Bad, & Ugly

I'll post more details about each of the panels in a few days.  Hope to see some of you there...