Hello again, dreamers.

Work on the revamped site, as well as my various other projects, continues apace. I have a lot on my plate right now, but I’m still committed to continuing the revamp, and providing new content. There’s a lot to come, so let’s get right to it:

New Content

New content is coming this week.

As I’ve said, I have several planned projects I’ll be posting here. Several of them were delayed by the ebook release last week, but I haven’t stopped working. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to meet my self-imposed deadline of posting a new short story before the end of the month. However, I will be posting short fiction for September. Later this week, keep an eye out for The Envoy: a story of Earth’s bizarre first encounter with an alien ambassador. I’ll also be posting at least one flash fiction piece before the end of the week, as well as my first installment of Science to Fiction, a planned ongoing series of blog posts about using emerging scientific research to write better sci-fi. The first piece will be about the latest developments in laser-inertial fusion.

Self-Published Works

While my new site content was back-burnered, I was not idle last week.

I’m pleased to report, for those who haven’t heard, the release of my first book on Amazon. Unrealized Realities is a collection of science fiction short stories previously posted on this site. These seven stories represent some of my finest work, and if you haven’t already, I strongly suggest downloading a copy. At $2.99 from Amazon Kindle, I dare say it’s a bargain, and makes for great end-of-summer reading.

I’ve also begun work on my next self-pub project. Wide Horizon is my first novel. A space opera set in the distant future, Wide Horizon follows the exploits of Braylen Roads: a starship captain who finds himself in charge of an audacious mission to rekindle the spirit of exploration in mankind. I am currently in the process of reformatting the novel for Amazon Kindle. It is a long book, and will likely take some time to convert properly. But, if all goes well, it should be available for pre-release by mid-September.

The Pioneers

With the release of Unrealized Realities complete, I can at last return my attention to The Pioneers. With manuscript conversion complete, I plan to conduct a final read-through on the MS this week as I rewrite my query letter and write my synopses. My goal is to begin querying in the coming month, and while I have a lot going on, I believe I can do it. Wish me luck.

The Pioneer Era

Now, to my work-in-progress.

With everything going on the past few weeks, I’ve yet to make my way back to The Pioneer Era, but that should change this week. As I’ve mentioned, some time ago I trashed most of what I’d written of the story, hoping to bring it back to my original concept. That said, it’s been nearly a year since I’ve even looked at it. My first order of business will be to review, revise, and expand my notes. Once that’s done, I plan to read through what I have currently, making sure everything aligns with the new direction, before reviewing all the cut material and determining what, if anything, can be salvaged. My current goal is to resume writing in earnest sometime in September, reaching the end of Phase 2 before pausing at the end of the month for an October hiatus (during which I will focus on my short fiction). Then, I will resume writing during NaNoWriMo in November, with the goal of finishing the first draft by the end of the year.

Everything Else

Unfortunately, one of the various ongoing projects back-burnered over the past week was my efforts to set up a mailing list. I’m still working on layouts for mail, but rest assured, the list will be up and running this month. With everything going on, I feel it’s more important than ever to have a more direct means of interacting with my readers.

I also have more planned for the site revamp. This includes a new page dedicated to my current work-in-progress and/or other ongoing projects, and a potential redesign of my blog page.

There’s still more to come. So keep reading, keep commenting, and as always, dare to dream. – MK