After months of work doing pre-recorded panels for LibertyCon 33, editing, scheduling, and in general doing a shit load of Cat herding, it is over and was gone in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
Now that it’s over, it’s time to get my ass back into gear and knock out some wordcount.
Next release
Starflight: Tales from the Starport Lounge is scheduled for release on July 15th.
Seventeen incredible authors. Seventeen amazing stories. One fantastic sci-fi universe, where the only limit is one’s imagination. Welcome to Starflight.
Based on the exploration-based Starflight video game series created by Greg Johnson and the Binary Systems team, the stories in Tales From the Starport Lounge flesh out and shine a light into the darkest corners of the known universe. Join the last vestiges of Humanity and their alien allies (the reptilian Thrynn, the insectoid Velox, and the plant-based Elowan) as they attempt to carve out their own territory in a sector of space filled with wondrous opportunity and deadly threats. Brave explorers seek out new worlds to colonize while merchants cruise from starport to starport, their holds laden with exotic goods.
Not all in this futuristic setting have noble intent. For every prospector and trader attempting to make a difference, a dozen pirates, smugglers, and mobsters engage in all manner of criminal enterprise. Gangs fill the underbellies of every major city and raid the trade routes between the stars, pushing the outnumbered and outgunned Interstel Police to their limit and forcing civilians to take matters into their own hands. It’s a rough and tumble universe, where one wrong move could spell doom for an expedition, or grant enough wealth to buy a planet.
Board your ship and set course for stars unknown! The universe awaits.
Stories include:
“Those Who Came Before” by Michael Gants
“Choices” by Christopher Woods
“Black Box Blues” by Philip K. Booker
“Rock of Truth” by Bart Kemper
“Obligations” by Marisa Wolf
“Hindsight” by R.J. Ladon
“Peacestone” by Brisco Woods
“Everyone Gets What They Have Coming” by D.J. Butler
“A New Beginning” by J.F. Posthumus
“Fire at Will” by Declan Finn
“Hiro of Arth” by David A. Tatum
“Rover Rescue” by Michael J. Allen
“Territory” by Nick Steverson
“Turn of Luck” by William Joseph Roberts
“Always on Duty” by Benjamin Tyler Smith
“To Cache a Killer” by Michael J. Ciaravella
“Through the Time Lens” by Robert Silverberg
Plus an introduction by Starflight creator, Greg Johnson
Next up on the writing to do list
Short stories for:
“It Came From the Trailer Park” Anthology
Salvage Universe
Last Brigade
“Give Me LibertyCon” Anthology
Once I can get these short stories knocked out, it’s back to work on a number of novels.
Wards of a Warrior
The Misadventures of Braxton Hicks: Carnies, Cash, and Cuts
Shepard’s Call (first of the BlackWish universe novels)
The Next Level: Newbs of Ravenmoore
Dogs of War
Smuggler’s Quest
fLUX Runners 2
It’s gonna be a long road the rest of the year, but It’ll be worth it to get these stories out of my head and move on to the next group.
Otherwise, I need to wrap up the chicken coop and get caught back up in the garden, which has boomed this year.
The current muse fuel
I’ve been seriously devouring Vietnam war era Rock, but I think it’s because I have a Vietnam vet in the current Braxton story that I’m working on.
Otherwise, time to get back to work.
Until next time, keep your heads up and your pens sharp
~WJR~