Things Are Cooking Here

Hidey Ho!

Summer is in full swing. As I write this, I am preparing to go camping in the North Georgia Mountains. I love it up there. We will spend the long holiday weekend in the woods in the middle of nowhere. It’s the kind of thing that recharges me. One of my favorite things to do is pack up the camper, grab the dogs, and go on a hiking adventure in the mountains.

I am currently reviewing the Amazon Audible version of Dead Station. It’s freaking cool to take in the story in a whole different way. Anthony has done a fantastic job. If you have listened to 'VEHO: A Backstory,' it was he and his wife, Lauri, who did that one as well. They are back again for Dead Station. I am thrilled about the release. I was hoping to include that release in this email, but I wanted to ensure I had the time to review it and confirm it was ready first. So, with that being said, you will be hearing from me very soon on that. I will pop out another email as soon as it is available.

I am well into book two now. The words have been flowing pretty well lately, and it’s exciting to see the story unfold. I have also spent some time exploring book cover concepts, but it's way too early for that right now. It's more of a creative distraction that I enjoy playing with when I need to step away from writing.

Something that seemed crazy to me was that, in the first book, I had an outline as I was writing. In my process, the outline serves as waypoints that I want to hit along the way in telling the story. What was so shocking was that even with that guidepost to follow, the story surprised even me as it moved from my mind to the manuscript. I was shocked when it was apparent that someone was about to die, and I was even a little emotional about it. Each time it happened, I was surprised by it.

Now, as I write this second installment of the story, I am experiencing much of that same surprise as the story unfolds. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this lately. Why is this so surprising to me as I write the story and it unfolds? My outline this time is tighter so far in the process than it was last time. I didn’t have much of a point of reference in my previous book, as it was my first time writing. This time, I focused on what major points I wanted to hit along the storyline. One would think that being a little tighter in the process and outline wouldn’t be so surprising as the story unfolds, but here we are. I'll literally write something and think to myself, 'No freaking way!' Followed by, How the hell did that just happen? It’s nuts.

I get so much joy out of writing. It’s so much fun to tell these stories and experience them as they come to life. Later, it's so much fun to talk to someone who has read it and listen to their thoughts on the same experience.

One thing that has come up recently when discussing the story with readers is the technology used in it. Some have asked why they don’t have “lasers” or “phasers” instead of the bullets they are using in Dead Station. To be honest, I never really wanted it to look like that. That doesn’t mean there won’t be something like that in future installments, but I wanted it to feel more real and relatable to people who have experienced combat. One of my major complaints about science fiction is when technology gets in the way of the story. I hated it when a Star Trek episode would end in some random technological solution that saved the day. It always felt like a letdown to me. Especially when it involved some space-time continuum crap. I also feel like as technology advances, so does counter technology. Right now, when we look at the battlefields of today, we see tons of drone use. This is a whole new era in warfighting right now. I also know it comes with an entire effort to reduce that advantage. How do we bring drones down before they can reach us is a significant initiative right now for the people who are shaping the battlefields of today.

What if we reached a point where we moved past many of the warfighting technology's initial advantages? What if we had entire civilizations that fought wars between drones and robots, and they all figured out how to render them inert or worthless? Then, they had to figure out how to get back in it, get their hands dirty, and fight again. They had to remember that war is brutal and scary. That may be what I'm aiming for in my work. It may be because I grew up on stuff like Aliens and Dune, and it's what I enjoy dreaming and writing about. I don’t know if I have those answers, but I am okay with that. I hope it doesn’t bother you that my work is not set in complex technologies and is more focused on the situation's intensity and how people are navigating it.

Anyway, I hope you are having a great summer!

Shamon