A few days ago, Sarah Zama at The Old Shelter tagged me for the 777 Challenge. I hesitated as I was not sure which WIP was my current one. Is it the one with the beta-readers – “Storms Compass” – or the one I am re-writing with a new protagonist and a new location – “Fates Maelstrom”?

The 777 challenge requires you go to Page 7 of your work-in-progress, scroll down to Line 7 and share the next 7 sentences in a blog post. Once you have done this, you can tag 7 other bloggers to do the same with their work-in-progress.

I decided to let the ‘excerpts’ go head to head, just like my work has to do each day – which one is more pressing/tempting/ready. There was a clear winner as the excerpt from “Fates Maelstrom” is due to be radically changed.

So here is my excerpt from “Storms Compass” which was written as Book 1 of “Gossamer Flames”:

8

Smiling again, she [Arat] strides forward. Out of the gloom the shadows form into neem trees shrouding a solitary house, a survivor of the last earthquake. At the screen, lowered voices talking Kachhi make her fears vanish into the night.

Breathing more easily, she steps into the low-ceilinged room, which is bare of furnishings. Five men sit cross-legged on the earth floor, in the low light of two oil lamps, sipping chai from a brass urn in one corner. As Chatur embraces them, Arati raises her palmed hands to her chest in an anjali mudra greeting, retaining her distance.

Let the men embrace. I need to remain serene.

*

Does that sound interesting, or just confusing? At this stage, I am not sure how “Storms Compass” will be released. There is a chance that I may work on Book 2, called “Blood Tapestry”, and work together some existing stories into a seamless plot. The resulting novel would be released, and then “Storms Compass” as the prequel setting up the main novel. Or the individual stories that make up “Storms Compass” would be released.

But I’m getting side-tracked.

Back to the 777 Challenge. So who am I going to tag? I have a feeling that this challenge has done the rounds in some form or another, so I will start with volunteers. All those that can’t do it because of a good reason, step forward now.

Just remember, we do challenges to have fun. Please enjoy yourselves, and write crazy.

Photo of a cloud illuminated by sunlight. ~ by Ibrahim Iujaz from Rep. Of Maldives

After months of thinking, writing, editing, and re-writing, my post-apocalyptic novel, “Storms Compass“, is almost ready for a publisher.

Well, I hope that the manuscript is ready, now that I have integrated the comments and corrections from my kind and brave beta readers, plus from my tireless editor.

Barring a few dotted ‘t’s and crossed ‘i’s, the novel is ready to face a few more brave souls. However, this time I am looking for readers rather than writers.

No writing qualifications required, just the ability to read and know whether the story works. And if it doesn’t, where have I strayed, what is missing, who did you ‘love’ or ‘hate’?

I need to discover if this manuscript is good enough to be a published book.

And if you read historical romance, don’t worry, as it’s good to have readers from outside my genres.

Hoping to hear from you, and all the best, my faithful followers.

I may not blog often but there are days when I have to… or I’d never have any friends pointing a ray-gun at my head. But today I’m just having fun before I plot another murder. Anyway, my writer friend Milo James Fowler is a prolific short story writer and now he touches the stars with his anticipated first novel. So read on…

Every Day Novels is proud to announce the release of Milo James Fowler’s first serialized novel:

Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the Space-Time Displacement Conundrum

16 weeks of serial chapters every weekday – that’s 80 exciting episodes of adventure aboard the Effervescent Magnitude for only $5 USD (includes an eBook edition following serialization). Don’t delay – Subscribe today!

Captain Quasar is out of time.

Pursued by vengeful Goobalob toll collectors, savage Arachnoid bounty hunters, and formidable Amazonians, Captain Bartholomew Quasar must do whatever he can to keep the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude out of harm’s way. All in a day’s work—except time is not on his side.

Torn from the present to relive his past, he vows to keep mistakes from occurring the second time around. But is he doomed to repeat history? Or can he erase his regrets?

Villains will be vanquished. Lives will be lost. Bonds will be betrayed. Heroes will be heroic.

Join the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude for a hilarious time-travel space adventure the likes of which you’ve never seen!

Now Available from Every Day Novels

Add Captain Quasar to your Goodreads bookshelf

Prologue

Jaw muscle twitching at untimed intervals, Captain Bartholomew Quasar gripped the armrests of his deluxe-model captain’s chair and narrowed his heroic gaze. The main viewscreen on the bridge of the Effervescent Magnitude radiated with white-hot streaks blurring in elongated trajectories as his star cruiser plunged into the depths of space at something near the speed of light.

Quasar could feel the tension in the air. It was palpable and tasted like sweat—mostly his own. The members of his bridge crew remained silent, standing at their stations and staring at the viewscreen. Many forgot to blink as their insides trembled, recoiling with a nameless fear.

They had never moved so fast in their lives.

This was the Magnitude‘s maiden voyage into deep space utilizing the recently installed cold fusion near-lightspeed reactor—an experimental propulsion system they’d picked up on the planet Carpethria. One thing was readily apparent: it worked. But how long could the ship could maintain this incredible velocity without compromising hull integrity?

Already, the ship was creaking and groaning in protest, and the helmsman—a very hairy, four-armed Carpethrian who resembled something between a sloth and an overweight orangutan—had begun to grumble that the reactor really should have been tested before this full-speed leap into the black.

But there had been no other choice. Their options at the time were either flight (and survival) or fight (and undoubtedly be destroyed). Vicious Arachnoid bounty hunters were on their tail, and Arachnoids tended to be a very hungry lot—often foregoing payment for their illicit services in favor of a fresh kill.

The Magnitude‘s first officer, Commander Selene Wan, wasn’t keen on the idea of allowing a Carpethrian to man the helm of their freshly minted star cruiser. But no one else on board knew how to navigate at near-lightspeed, and it took all four of the alien’s hands to do the job—something two humans would have had to coordinate in tandem. And that could have gotten awkward.

“Steady as she goes.” Quasar smoothed down his close-cropped blond hair and cringed as the ship released a moan that didn’t sound good at all—something akin to a whale giving birth. “How are we doing, Hank?”

“Haven’t run into anything yet,” grunted the very hairy helmsman, hands flying across the controls.

“Status report?” Quasar half-turned to regard his first officer with a confidently raised eyebrow.

Commander Wan, a tall, slim Eurasian with impeccable posture, kept her attention riveted on her console. “Proximity scanners are offline.” She swayed on her feet with the rocking movements of the ship, her sleek black hair swinging across her shoulders. “Artificial gravity is holding. Life support remains functional.” A sudden frown creased her usually furrow-free forehead. “But the reactor, sir… We may have a serious problem.”

“Elaborate.”

“It’s overheating, Captain. If we don’t decelerate, it may—” She swallowed. “Explode.”

That wouldn’t be good at all. The folks back home were depending on Captain Quasar and company to bring back loads of quartz necessary for virtually every form of technology and transportation on Earth, not to mention haute vintage time pieces. The Magnitude could not possibly be allowed to blow up.

“Hank?” Quasar faced the shaggy helmsman. “Could we possibly slow down a bit?”

The Carpethrian grunted something intelligible, followed by, “Commencing deceleration sequence.”

“Very good.” The captain nodded, glancing over his shoulder at his first officer. Everything was under control. “Status?”

She shook her head without a word. Quasar checked the console on his armrest. The Arachnoid ship was nowhere in sight, and the Magnitude had begun to slow down, but only by an infinitesimal fraction of its near-lightspeed velocity.

“Uh-Hank? About that deceleration sequence…” Quasar cleared his throat.

“It will take thirty minutes, Captain. Any sudden downshift in speed would tear the ship apart.”

Quasar maintained a brave façade for the sake of his crew. Such was expected from starship captains, after all. Clenching his jaw, he leaned toward Wan and whispered, “Do we have thirty minutes?”

She met his gaze, and he didn’t like what he saw in her eyes—something she hadn’t shown before when they’d dealt with the horrible Goobalobs or the savage Arachnoids:

Terror.

But now it’s time to get to know the man behind the book:

1. When did you start seriously pursuing writing as a career?

I’ve been writing since I was 12, but I started submitting my work for publication in the summer of 2009. I’d always thought I would pursue publication at some point—probably after I retired from teaching or turned 40. My first story was published in January 2010, and I’ve had over a hundred others accepted for publication since then. I won’t turn 40 for another year, and I’m still teaching full-time. Doesn’t look like I’ll be retiring anytime soon!

2. How did you create the character Bartholomew Quasar?

When I came up with Captain Bartholomew Quasar back in the spring of 2010, I was going for a mash-up between William Shatner’s James T. Kirk and Dudley Do-Right from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (but in Quasar’s case, things seldom ever go right). He’s one of those classic pulp heroes with a heart of gold whose narcissistic tendencies often land him in hot water. I hope readers can laugh at Bartholomew Quasar and root for him at the same time. He’s ridiculous, but there’s something about his fallible nature that most of us can relate to on some level.

3. Are you working on more Captain Quasar stories?

I’ve written over 20 Captain Quasar tales so far, many of which are out on the submission circuit, looking for good homes. “Captain Quasar and the Ghosts of Space Command” will be published in the next issue of Perihelion Science Fiction. “Captain Quasar and the Carpethrian Call of the Wild” will be included in the B is for Broken anthology, and “Captain Quasar and the Devious Powers of Persuasion” will be in the Geminid Press space opera anthology. I’m in the middle of edits on a novella-length adventure I plan to submit for publication soon. My collection of 15 Quasar tales Starfaring Adentures…in SPACE is available everywhere eBooks are sold—and free for the taking, last time I checked.

Author Bio: 

Milo James Fowler is a teacher by day, speculative fictioneer by night, and an active SFWA member. When he’s not grading papers, he’s imagining what the world might be like in a dozen alternate realities. In the past 5 years, his short fiction has appeared in more than 100 publications, including AE SciFi, Cosmos, Daily Science Fiction, Nature, Shimmer, and the Wastelands 2 anthology. Find his work wherever books are sold.

Visit www.milojamesfowler.com and join The Crew for news and updates.