Hey, an interview

Here's an interview with me over at Pine Reads Review!

On the writing front, still working on Snug Ship.  Everyone's deep in the bowels of a massive wrecked spaceship, trying to decide if virtual reality is all that fun after all.

Snug Ship has a slightly different take on the privacy concerns that Stray looked into - I think whenever you do some kind of connected future-tech you can't avoid privacy concerns.

I might - might - get a first draft done by the end of June.  Then it'll be editing.  I'm at least confident that it'll be out this year, anyway!  Then I'll be able to get on to working on Tangleways, which I'm really looking forward to.

Long-term plans for audiobooks

Audiobooks have been a not-infrequent request (particularly of the Touchstone Trilogy).  Smashwords has come out with a new audiobook model that seems accessible for Australians, and not too onerous for me to put together.  It's a big initial outlay of money, so I'll be saving up for it, but now have it on my more immediate to-do list (hopefully I'll get some tax back in July to fund at least the first book).

On the writing front, still plugging away with Snug Ship.  This is not a particularly long book, but it seems determined to progress slowly.

You'll notice the blog has been particularly quiet, and this is in part because I've been determined to get the first draft done (maybe six chapters to go [forty down - they're short chapters]), and have cut down drastically on other writing, gaming, etc.  I won't try to set a release date, since my estimates have been invariably wrong so far, but the end is at least in sight.

I like Snug Ship quite a lot, but it abandons some traditional structure concepts, so I'm not sure it will please everyone.

[I've been thinking about the concept of Chekov's Gun a fair bit, and how I prefer to make that gun barely noticeable, or leave it out altogether.  Sometimes the gun is necessary on that mantelpiece, and other times it spoils a story for me.]

Current Status

I'm writing very slowly this year (partly because I took up playing an MMO again in order to write my MMO novel, and spent rather a lot of time playing the MMO).

I don't think it's very likely I'll finish Snug Ship this year (though first quarter next year is likely).  And that will push Tangleways to the end of next year.

I am enjoying writing Snug Ship immensely, at least, though it's rather more complex than I anticipated (and at the same time has a non-typical story structure).  I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all!

Snug Ship on Book Smuggler's Kickstarter

The Book Smugglers are having a Kickstarter, and I've offered up a chance to name a (major) character in Snug Ship as one of the final hour rewards.  Hardly any time left, so jump on it if you're keen.

Covers: Snug Ship and Filigree

Whoo!  New covers!  I am now fully covered out for my writing expectations well into 2017 (possible short stories aside).  This is the start of a new series, and I'm hoping to establish a 'series' look.  The artist is Andres Parada,

The only thing bigger than the world's first full virtual reality game is the mystery surrounding its origins. Who is the hidden figure behind Ryzonart Games? How was such a huge advance in technology achieved?

All Taia de Haas is interested in is getting her own virtual spaceship, but the very core of the game leads her inexorably on a dangerous quest for answers. When she uncovers the truth, she will have no future outside the Singularity Game.

The second book, Filigree, doesn't have a blurb yet (my gosh, it's going to be hard to write one without massive spoilers!).

Here's a close up of her face (and the reason she ends up called Filigree). :)

Lots of writing to do.  Still working on The Sleeping Life in the mornings and Snug Ship in the afternoon.