Hello, dreamers.

I can’t put into words how fulfilling working with The Pioneers has been. This book is the fulfillment of a dream for me, and it’s been fun. However, with the novel finally moving into the editing phase the time has come to find a new work-in-progress. And I couldn’t be happier to announce that, starting next week, I will begin work on the sequel to The Pioneers: Rise of the Pioneers.

Rise of the Pioneers

Set 33 years after the events of The Pioneers, the story picks up with Randall Holmes returning to Samarkand (now known as Denali). Most of the story will deal with the efforts of colonial leaders to unite the disparate settlements of the Ursa Major Moving Group.

This is a very different story, featuring more space travel, multiple planets, and giving the reader their first glimpse of Earth in the 22nd century. The story will begin with several of the major characters separated, and will introduce new characters, among them:

Russel Coyate: A biologist and conservationist, Coyate is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, having left Earth with many of his brethren to seek a new home among the stars. His introduction to the story ties into the introduction of the First Nation: a group of Native American tribes who ultimately migrate to the Ursa Group colonies. Coyate was named for Russell Means, the late Lakota rights activist.

T.R. Weiss: a prominent political figure in the colonies, Weiss was born Theodore Reginald Madiba. While his parents were both Kenyan, they emigrated to Wenbani, the primary world of the Rasalhague Colony, before he was born. As such, Weiss identifies as “Rasalian”.

I’m already hard at work on background for the story, having largely completed my setting treatments. Starting tomorrow I’ll be working on design and character indexes, all leading up to the start of principal writing this weekend.

It’s going to be another wild autumn, but I can’t wait to see what this new story has in store for me. So keep reading, and dare to dream. – MK