Update on New Website
February 5, 2015
I ran into some major issues with the new website back around Christmas time. After much debate, I bit the bullet and had the sysadmin wipe out the database so I could start over. The second generation is now up and running. In the near future, I have a lot more content to add, but it appears to be functional. I’d appreciate comments either good or bad.
The new site can be found at: http://postorbitallibrary.com/
A New Website is Born!
August 17, 2014
This has been a long time coming. I’ve been working on a new website for the past month, and although it is nowhere near done yet, it is ready for testing. The idea for this project has been percolating for the past few years.
There are free stories, tutorials, and paper models.
At this point, I think it is time for some serious BETA testing. So I’m asking folks to take a look and if you see anything that doesn’t make sense or is obviously broken, please let me know.
Over the next few weeks, I anticipate making many changes, updates, and additions to the new pages. I hope you’ll enjoy following the developments.
The new site is: http://postorbitallibrary.com/
Review: Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase
April 2, 2013
Foreword by Tome Wilson
Tome is the founder of the web’s largest and most active dieselpunk community. The dieselpunks website provides a home for most anyone with an artistic bent that enjoy working the era between the world wars.
Tales of the Aether Age
by Grant Gardner
This is an all-too-short ride through an alternate history where the Great Depression triggered a rather nasty breakup of the United States. Rather than the simplicity of the civil war, a new series of alliances and power brokers established a half-dozen industrial city-states.
The tale is told from the viewpoint of a pair of minor gangster who run in a film noir Chicago of prohibition and flappers. It’s a fun ride and I’m looking forward to more from Mr. Gardner’s keyboard.
Pandora Driver: Who are the People in Your Neighborhood
Created by John Picha
A beautiful woman hiding behind a mask and driving an indestructable car. A midwestern city in nineteen forty provides the backdrop and John Picha’s knack of filling his tales with the speech and mannerisms of a forgotten time.
The world of Pandora Driver gets better with each new read.
Me? I love the cars.
The Troubleshooter: What the Wise Man Says
Created by Bard Constantine
“After the Cataclysm nearly wiped out humanity, the remnants of mankind survived in Havens: city-sized constructs built to reboot society and usher in a new age of mankind.”
That is how the Bard starts this tale. As the story unfolds, the reader comes to understand this isn’t so much a pre-WWII world as the current day, complete with computers and modern radios. The difference is the corruption and dark under belly of the Haven. Mick Trubble is a man who has lost his memory and becomes The Troubleshooter.
The World of Mañana: A Friend of Spirits
by Jack Philpott
Mr. Philpott has taken notes from various native American tribes as well as current political intrigue to weave a masterful tale of dedication and betrayal. This glimpse of the world of Mañana promises other dark tales. It is well worth the read.
Old City, New Blood
February 11, 2013
The convention was a lot of fun. I want to thank Jennifer Morris for putting on a great first-time event. Just in case you think it is all fun and games, this is what a convention looks like three hours before registration.
The sun was setting as a bevy of beauties headed over to attend the Meet-n-Greet.
The Meet-n-Greet on Friday evening was a great chance to network with some marvelous people.
Here’s a shot from the first panel, on Saturday morning:
Since meeting these ladies, my TBR pile has grown by more than a dozen books. I would highly recommend you take a peek at their websites.
http://jennabennett.com/
http://www.luciennediver.com/
http://www.nancyhaddock.com/
http://jesshaines.com/
I was too busy to take as many shots as I usually do, but will share some more over the next day or so.
An Author’s Journey: Part Five – Self Publishing
December 10, 2012
A few years back a good friend patiently explained something to me. “There are two parts to becoming a published author. One is the craft of writing and the other is the business of writing. They are two entirely different skillsets.” He was quite right.
These days, the business of self publishing not only includes reading the fine print, but also preparing your book so that it can be easily read on multiple devices. The problem is that authors are the unwilling pawns in a war between the media distribution giants. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and other companies require totally different formats for their books. The reasoning is simple. They want to be your only source for new reading matter on their proprietary devices.
If you are going to self publish, then you will need to convert your original document into four or five totally different formats. While this can seem intimidating, it’s really not that difficult.
Review: Beginner Mind
November 30, 2012
Beginner Mind is a collection of six short stories and some free-form poetry by a new author. It opens with a tale that leaves the reader with vivid imagery of a string of post-pubescent mistakes and just gets better.
The following story is called “Pistol Grip” and it blurs the line between murder and mistake.
I really enjoyed tale number three, “Evan’s Dilemma”, tale four, “Mending Fences”, and tale six, “The Unfiltered Spectra of the Deep”. Any one of them is well worth savouring and leaves the reader with some wonderful scenes.
And finally, I can’t help but think the poetry is like a fine desert offered after a satisfying meal.
Pick up a copy of this fine work. You’ll thank me.
Beginner Mind by Matthew Davies
Five stars
An Author’s Journey – Part Three
November 17, 2012
Space Travel
Fair Warning: This segment and the next one of An Author’s Journey are going to wax a bit technical.
Robert A. Heinlein stated that “Once you reach Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO), you are halfway to any place else in our solar system.
Jerry Pournelle goes into much more detail on why this is a truism with his page on Getting to Space. http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/gettospace.html
An Author’s Journey – Part Two
November 10, 2012
Multiplarity
The famous science fiction author, Vernor Vinge’ has been credited with originating the term singularity.
From Wikipedia, we have this, “…his 1993 essay “The Coming Technological Singularity”, in which he argues that the creation of superhuman artificial intelligence will mark the point at which “the human era will be ended,” such that no current models of reality are sufficient to predict beyond it.”
Both the term and related concepts have been further advanced with a series of books and lectures by Ray Kurzweil.
Although I believe this rapture of the nerds will occur, I don’t think it will be the all-encompassing revolution that these futurists predict. As my friends and fans know, I’m a history buff, and this allows one to take a wider view of things.
Just as today, there are those of you, reading this on some sort of screen that is driven with micro-electronics, at this same instant, at other places around the world, there are semi-literate people who’s very existence depends on herding animals. A deeper search can still reveal naked humans, armed with blowguns and arrows, living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that would have been familiar to a Neanderthal.
Just as we have very intelligent and well-read people in the United States that are totally aware of the benefits of high-technology and yet choose a simpler lifestyle, I believe the future will not be a singularity, but rather, a multiplarity.
That is the universe I have depicted in the Multiplarity Trilogy. The first book sets the stage when humans finally break the tyranny of disease and death itself. As one would imagine, this sudden change in the way we view ourselves isn’t painless. But it does show a way around some of our current issues. Unfortunately, every solution comes with a brand-new set of problems.
The second book, Selenaphiles, deals with some of the basic problems of establishing an off-Earth colony. This became much more of a world-building exercise than I had originally planned. I’m a bit picky about the technological items in my stories. They all have to have some basis in current scientific research and prototypes. The inflatable structures of Bigelow Aerospace that I’ve described in both Omniphage and Selenaphiles, are in fact quite real and are undergoing orbital testing at this time.
Next week, we’ll take a look at some of the space travel hardware described in the Multiplarity Trilogy.
An Author’s Journey – Part One
November 3, 2012
Although I’ve written and published more than a dozen urban fantasy titles over the past six years, the core elements of the Multiplarity Space Opera Trilogy has been more than ten years in the making. I think the time has come to document at least part of this journey, keeping in mind the old adage, if you can’t serve as an good example, perhaps you’ll do as a warning. We shall start with the first book, Omniphage.
In the Beginning
Several of the core concepts have been bouncing around the back of my head for many years. It wasn’t until about four years ago, that they started to come together. Like many of my longer works, I began with a short story that was, inspired by a photograph or a fantasy image I saw online. Steven Stahlberg is an incredible 2D and 3D artist. Check out some of his work at: http://www.androidblues.com
He also has a FaceBook presence. https://www.facebook.com/steven.stahlberg.7
Several of his images stick in my mind, but one of his old 2D drawings of a Cat and Mouse in a film noir setting, got me thinking. http://www.androidblues.com/gallery/catandmouse.jpg
What if they were real people in our modern society? What would cause them to look like that?
About the same time, I read about some genetics research that was experimenting with nanotechnology in the search for a cancer cure. I had to start writing.
Omniphage Cover Art
October 14, 2012
We are getting ready to release Omniphage, the first novel in a science fiction trilogy. I’m proud to present the front and back cover art.
This is what will show as both an eBook and trade paperback front cover.
The lower image will be the back cover for the trade paperback release.
I want to thank my critique crew for a lot of valuable feedback. The cover art has gone through a lot of changes since the first concepts arose, more than a year ago.
For the record, this was developed using Inkscape and GIMP.
