Posts Tagged ‘strandline’

Time to wake up, Tori.

// January 24th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Blog

Sunset over the Charles River, Boston area. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jainsama/5351160288/

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jainsama/5351160288/

Tori and her fellow characters in the paranormal thriller Tori’s Row have had a long, long nap. That’s because life intervened for MCM and me, so the 18 chapters we’d written have been waiting for an ending.

At long last MCM and I are banging out the last nine chapters. We plan to have them ready in early March. For now you may want to check out the first two-thirds of Tori’s Row. It’s free! Here’s the blurb.

Tori McNulty has problems. As she’s putting her life back together, she’s attacked in Boston’s South End. She doesn’t remember much: mostly blood-drenched pavement and the crumpled body of her assailant. The good news is that she’s uninjured and not a murder suspect. The bad news is the obnoxious young man in 18th century dress shadowing her and confusing, violent flashbacks. Tori must figure out what happened that night before her stalker gets to her or she goes completely mad.

If you’d like a little more of a taste, check out this short bit of flash fiction I wrote last year. It’s a teeny bit spoilery.

Since this is just barely Tori’s Row-related, I’ll take this opportunity to pimp the most recent Strandline episode. It’s related because I’m taking a brief break from Strandline to finish up Tori’s Row. Episode 19 of Strandline will go live on February 4th.

Anyhoo, episode 18 of Strandline begins thusly.

The schooner’s patchwork sails marked it as one of the Greenmen’s ships just as much as the green man stenciled on the prow. Although Petra had no idea why Naveen was sprinting straight toward it, letting him get near a crew of witches couldn’t end well. Without breaking stride she hurled a verbal and psychic command at him: “Naveen, sleep!”

Naveen slowed, shook his head, then kept running. He was closing on the ship’s gangplank fast.

Read the rest, or start with episode 1.

Of Strandline and coelacanths

// January 14th, 2011 // No Comments » // Blog

Two sugar gliders, straight up. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27229185@N05/3848744983/

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27229185@N05/3848744983/

The only thing the topics of this post have in common is the date they appeared on the interwebs. :)

First, some self-pimpage: “Braindive,” episode 17 of my free sci-fi/action serial Strandline, is up. Petra and Kristin rummage around Naveen’s head, and boy is it messy in there.

Why do I torture my characters so? (Because it’s fun.)

On a completely different note, here’s the quote of the day, brought to you by Chuck Wendig of Terrible Minds.

“This is the Year of the Sugar Glider. Next year will be the Year of the Two-Cocked Coelacanth!”

Anyone who can use “sugar glider” and “coelacanth” in the same paragraph has my undying love.

Strandline earns a four-star review!

// January 9th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Blog

A strandline in Australia Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/4729836979/

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/4729836979/

Gavin Williams posted a glowing review of my sci-fi/action serial Strandline on Web Fiction Guide. Thanks, Gavin! He wrote:

“Strandline” features a futuristic world where the United States no longer exists, but the west coast features a Western Coalition. There’s a Republic and also independent states like Strandline, a man made island in the Gyre of the Pacific. One of the most interesting things about the way “Strandline” is written is that the details are naturally brought up in the interactions of characters, instead of in big expository info-dumps. So I’m not sure geographically where the Republic might be (I’m guessing China?) but I like how the characters act like real people.

The story revolves around nictans who can teleport over vast distances, and apparently some (or all?) are telepathic. Kristin, raised in the Coalition, doesn’t know much about nictans, but has recently learned that she has the same abilities. What little exposition there is comes from her encountering new ideas, and readjusting her world view.

There is apparently some conflict between the different political groups, with Greenmen attacking ships. They apparently have different powers than what the nictans have shown so far, as one seemed to have energy or telekinetic powers, manipulating oil and sea water.

There are plenty of creative details to enjoy, and lots of geo-political intrigue developing, along with the focus on Kristin and her experiences as she learns about herself and her place in the world. All kinds of opportunities for interesting suspense and conflict, and lots of room for character development. This story has tons of potential and it will be interesting to see where it leads.

The “Republic” is the Republic of Hawaii. The Hawaii part isn’t mentioned until the fifth or sixth episode. I try to write natural-sounding dialog, and I didn’t think that the characters would use the country’s full name in the earlier conversations. Anyhoo, there are two Strandline world maps on the media page. I have to check them from time to time to remember which countries still exist. :)

If Strandline sounds like your sort of story, please give it a try. New episodes are posted every Friday. You can get updates by email or by RSS.