A Quick Note

 I was a little quick to say that my blog was back, etc.

It is, but I need to take the time to properly consider and curate some content!

So please bear with me as I accumulate some interesting content and write some original content for my little corner of the internet. I'm already working on it, so stay tuned for new stuff, and especially more on the Titan Run Universe, including more about the new trilogy that I hope to release late next year (your interest / support / cajoling will go a long way to keeping that project on track, haha - no seriously).

Contextualizing the Titan Run Universe

 We live in a world of IPs and shared universes and series. Some people love that, others decry the ills and narrative laziness or naked profiteering that too often rides alongside these concepts. I like to hope that the Titan Run Universe is a little different.

I set out with an idea - "The deadliest catch, in space." Where I ended up remains true to that elevator pitch, but is more. I made a huge found family from the characters that populate that first trilogy. Those characters will form the foundation for the stories I will continue to tell in that universe, because I love them and I love this world I've created.

As much as Outer Space is dispassionately murderous to human existence, the ships that fly between worlds in my stories are oases of humanity. They are home for the people inside their bulkheads, and whether you're on a BPOE vessel with military discipline or a mining vessel with a much looser hierarchy the range of human drama is on display for you, the reader. It's cozy SciFi, people. Cozy SciFi where the real bad guy is the abyss never more than a few meters of alloys, carbon fiber, and ceramic composites away.

Another reason why I stay within the same universe is because I'm exploring it as much as my characters are. Sure I had the rough ideas sketched out in my head, but the trilogy only needed to stay consistent within itself; anything else was needless shackling that might get in the way of me telling a good story. As I said in my last post, I wrote down an abbreviated history of the TRU in only the past few weeks. I'll be semi-canonizing it on this site. 

As the TRU grows I want to solidify the broad strokes of their past and make sure that everything works together. Nothing irks a SciFi fan more than when continuity is ignored. As a fan myself, I'd rather the writer(s) spent a few extra minutes figuring out a way to make the story work within the constraints of what came before. In this scenario *I* am the writer. I promise to do my best. Keep me honest.

Happy Friday, everyone. By the way, when I said "daily" in my last post, I obviously meant weekdays. You knew that, right? I figured you did. Clever you.

I'll leave you with this, the work-in-progress updated tagline for Krakken and Phoenix:

Outrunning your past sometimes means falling headlong into danger.

Which we all have to admit is WAY BETTER than what's there now:

When we last saw our crews...

It's like I wasn't even trying. Anyway, have a lovely weekend everyone.

Take n: Let's Try This Again

Welcome ... back?

Given that I last posted anything to this site well over a year ago, I'll be surprised if there's anyone still out there paying attention. Which is fine! Because I'm going to try again. And I hope you enjoy the ride with me.

This time I'm going to focus on blogging about my Science Fiction writing; that is, my process, drafts of things I'm working on, context for the Titan Run Universe* (TRU), that sort of thing. In fact I dashed off 3 pages yesterday of an abbreviated history of the TRU between now and roughly the beginning of Breaking Orbit. That said, I may take digressions into my other interests: Reading Science Fiction, Watching Science Fiction, Gardening, and Decorative Yard Inflatables. But seriously, The History of the TRU will become a series here, now that the initial thought is out of my head.

I'm currently working on a fresh novel trilogy set 20 years after the original Titan Run Trilogy, and I promise I have at least a dozen ideas for other stories set in this universe where all the characters you got to know before you'll get to know even better! Look for more about this new trilogy in the coming says, weeks, and months. I'm hoping to get the first book out in late 2024. Your aggregated cajoling will go a long way in keeping me on target.

I'm also still tinkering with the ephemera and meta-content for the original Titan Run Trilogy. I updated the cover art for all 3 books earlier this year and I'm currently tinkering with an updated back cover / Amazon page blurb for each book.

Here's Breaking Orbit's pending new blurb:

Life is what happens when you’re busy making dinner plans.

Hugh Saracen thinks he has it all: A fulfilling career, a loving husband, and PTSD after losing his lab partner in a field accident on the surface of Mars. When Hugh’s husband Dalton receives a promotion, the cracks in that perfect life become impossible to ignore.

On the far side of the red planet, Ann Bell lives a life deferred as she cares for her dying mother. A moment of compassion from Ann forces her to abandon everything she’s ever known to preserve her freedom.

Two people with nothing in common beyond the world they both call home. Two people with their own agendas. Two people leaving everything behind to do the deadliest job in the Solar System: The Titan Run.

For reference, here's the existing blurb:

Hugh Saracen is a scientist whose perfect life on Mars is suddenly turned upside down.

Ann Bell left a promising career to care for her ailing mother.

MEANWHILE, CAPTAIN DB ZHONG IS FACING A TIGHT DEPARTURE DEADLINE AND IS DOWN TWO CREW MEMBERS.

The Phoenix is the BPOE's latest explorer/patrol ship. Newly-minted captain Dalton Simmons is facing his own pressures to launch his experimental ship and prove that his design is the future for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Explorers, mappers and guardians of the Solar System's space lanes. Accident, circumstance, and a little luck (you decide which kind), see two crews breaking orbit for the far flung depths of our Solar System, hundred of years in the future. Join Hugh, Ann, Captains Zhong and Simmons, and their crews as they begin their work to leave everything behind.

But, to quote one of the best hours of SciFi television ever produced, What do YOU think?

I'll do my best to post at least a few times a week. The history of the blog at this URL has been fairly haphazard but this time I have a plan, folks. Stick around and see if I'm up to the task.

*The Titan Run Universe is the world I created with the Titan Run Trilogy, a future where humanity has mostly got things figured out and is settling our Solar System.