Just to be clear, the Spinward Fringe series will be going on after Samurai Squadron III, but the trilogy nested within it will be wrapping up, to be followed by Broadcast 21.
I’ve finished the first half of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 20: Samurai Squadron III. This trilogy started with a smaller entry in the series, one that focused on Ronin, giving us a bit of an update on how he’s doing, and what he’s thinking. The second expanded the scope of the story, and the third does so again. We join Ronin again in Samurai Squadron III, but are treated to a story from Remmy’s point of view as well as another character who has become a favourite of mine.
So far, Samurai Squadron III is one of the most difficult novels to write since Broadcast 4: Frontline. While I was writing Frontline I hit a wall, a rare writer’s block that took me weeks to get over.
I haven’t suffered from writer’s block since then. The challenge comes in another form with Samurai Squadron III. Stories that started in Samurai Squadron II are continuing, and one of them goes to a very dark place that was essential to the book, but I wasn’t happy to go there (mentally).
Stephen King was the first writer that I’ve heard say that writing is a form of telepathy. I’d thought something similar years before, but it wasn’t quite as apt, or as complete. I believed that great writing could evoke specific emotions, and controversial ideas can surprise people as jarringly as finding someone in your closet after midnight.
All of those beliefs linger on in a simpler sentiment, summed up by Stephen King’s more well expressed quote. If I imagine a state of mind and a place well enough, there’s a chance that I can craft that experience for someone else. Telepathy including empathy. I enjoy writing. It’s what I want to do for the rest of my life, but there are scenes that aren’t as much of a pleasure to write. Thankfully, I derive a great deal of satisfaction when I finish writing one of those scenes in a dramatic way, and when I see that the story benefits as a whole.
Samurai Squadron III isn’t like many of the other books in the Spinward Fringe series. I’m always trying to evolve my style and try new things, and this book is no different. There is more than one story in the first half of the book, and they read in sequence instead of running concurrently. It’s the way it had to be this time. After looking at the character paths in my outline, it turned out that this was the only way to follow the main characters properly without turning the novel into a one thousand page tome. I know, some of you may be cheering for a book that’s four times as long as the average, but it’s easy for a novel to get weighed down by extra content that doesn’t measure up in importance or quality.
That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of quieter character moments. They need to come alive on the page, so they need a little room to breathe, time to show you how they live when they’re not busy fighting. I enjoy chapters like that. They allow for subtlety and more depth.
Now, for a little synopsis!
The Samurai Squadron and the Triton have a critical role to play in the war for the Rose System. Led by Ronin, the Squadron enters a new phase in the conflict as all sides look towards Planet Rodus for its secrets and strategic importance. Under the cover of conflict, the Raven, under the command of Captain Remmy Sands, leaves for Grace in search of help. The Order of Eden threatens liberty as the enigmatic insectoid Edxi are making another appearance after hiding, regrouping and planning. There will never be another war like it. The Triton and Samurai Squadron are right in the middle.
I’ve been serializing this on my Ream site, which is a Patreon like subscription service specifically made for writers and their readers. The halfway point is a big deal for me because it means I’ve told the first two stories featured in the book, which build up to the rest of the novel.
I’m having the most serious fun telling this story.
man in the dystopian city standing on building looking at the distant light circles, vector illustration
Happy 2024! I’d like to thank everyone who picked up the books I published in 2023 and anything that came before. I’d also like to show my gratitude to everyone who supported me on Patreon even if you didn’t follow me to my new subscription site, Ream. Self-publishing is an odd kind of career, where I get to release books faster but often have less support from partners and more responsibility. That might sound like I’m complaining but the bright side of that outshines any negatives is that I can write whatever I like, in this style that I prefer, and the timing of release is entirely up to me. Another thing to consider, something i often forget, is that self-publishing allows me to keep the lion’s share of whatever my books earn. Otherwise, I seriously doubt that I would be able to do this full-time.
2023 may have been a turnaround year. For the first time in quite a while, I looked back and saw a book that I wasn’t as happy with as I could have been. It felt like it was cut short, and i was determined to write Samurai Squadron II as a standout novel with a more complete story even though it was the middle book of a trilogy. I’m proud of the work I did on that book and now that someone can read Samurai Squadron one and two together, I’m happy with the first one in that trilogy. One was always meant to lead directly into the second where the story would be expanded, characters that were introduced would be more significant, and there would be more fulfilment at the end.
All of that led to my “break book,” Rogue: assembly. After involving her indirectly in Samurai Squadron Part One, the itch to write a book specifically about her was becoming severe. I’m happy with what I created there, and I do think it was worth delaying Samurai Squadron III for a month so I could get it right. Samurai Squadron II and Rogue: Assembly are both being well received and I’m extremely grateful for all of the reviews and ratings that you’ve left after reading them.
The support of the community that’s grown on Facebook and on Ream, formerly Patreon, can’t be overlooked. I’ve been able to share more of my life this year and have enjoyed moments of levity as well as your assistance in 2023. There are many traditionally published authors that may have more readers and sell more books, but they don’t have the kind of active, tight community that I’m so proud to be a part of.
In the coming year, I’m going to share more of my personal journey, maintain my increased focus on writing, and start offering tips for writers who want to finish their books and begin self-publishing. With so many technical advancements becoming useful at the same time and a marketplace that is about to be flooded by low-grade content, I would like to help artists stand out and get their work seen. I’ve been proud to mentor excellent writers over the last decade, and doing so one-on-one is very rewarding. I think now is the time to offer some of my best advice to anyone who can put it to good use so I can help in a broader way and learn from the experience.
After fifteen years of self-publishing and writing full-time, I still enjoy creating and can still find excitement in discovering interesting stories, developing worlds, as well as living with characters new and old. I think I enjoy interacting with you more than ever too. My main focus will be on writing great books, and I believe that most of this year will be dedicated to Spinward Fringe because I’d like to finish Rogue’s first trilogy, Samurai Squadron III and Spinward Fringe: broadcast 21.
If all goes well I’ll be able to return to fantasy and even horror from time to time. Now that I’m involved with Ream I can also more comfortably offer short stories to my subscribers there. One or two from the old days will be popping up soon, they’re just waiting for cover treatments and a little editing love.
I believe that there’s real value and doing something yourself. That’s why I won’t be using artificial intelligence to assist with my writing other than checking spelling and simple grammar. That last bit is practically unavoidable because AI is working its way into all of the spellcheckers, but I can keep it out of the creative process. I realize that using artificial intelligence to assist me would allow me to put out more books, and I might be able to quadruple my income, but I would rather challenge myself to be creative and to tell quality stories about characters that I enjoy spending time with than cheat. There are people who don’t believe that using AI with respect to crafting novels is cheating, you are welcome to your opinion, but mine won’t be changing in the foreseeable future.
I have great optimism for 2024 with regards to my career and I’m looking forward to writing these stories for myself and for you. I hope everyone has a great year, and that you manage to ignore the people who expect 2024 to be a raging dumpster fire. I plan on concentrating on the people I love, the things that satisfy me most, and on treating people as well as I can whenever I can. Every new year brings potential, and I plan on doing my best to work and flourish with that in mind.
Tomorrow Samurai Squadron 3: Spinward Fringe broadcast 20 continues on Ream, the Patreon-like subscription site made specifically for authors and their readers. I love starting a new year with a new project, and I’ve been looking forward to this one for quite a while. There’s nothing like the ending of a trilogy, especially when it stars Remmy Sands and Minh-Chu.
Like the headline says, Rogue’s first book, set in the Spinward Fringe Universe, will be out on all major ebook sellers on December 14th. A release in print will follow on Amazon shortly after. Most of the book is already available in the Ream Library if you’re subscribed at any level other than free. (Ream is like Patreon, only it’s designed for writers and their readers).
Now, more about the book. This was originally a way for me to tell stories about gunslingers in space. As I considered what I wanted to write about in the Spinward Fringe Universe but hadn’t yet, a very long list of things and stories along with locations and events started to form. I considered my main character, Rogue, and what might challenge her, give her a chance to succeed, fail, and grow. After that I looked back at the list and picked a few things to start with, planting my main character in New Zero, a city with as much potential as Rogue.
Before I knew it I was writing from her perspective, inviting you in using her voice and enjoying the adventure. For people new to the Spinward Fringe Universe, Rogue is a character with a pragmatic origin.
During a tricky situation Alice Valent, a soldier who was trying to save her allies, created a decoy using an android. It had to be perfectly convincing and powerful enough to carry out an important mission so she was built using the most advanced technology on hand. They copied Alice’s consciousness into the machine and sent it off as part of a hostage trade.
It worked, but while the android decoy was on its mission, something awakened, adding a unique factor to Alice’s consciousness. Rogue was born. Alice let her leave so she could begin a life of her own after the mission was complete.
This is where Rogue starts walking along a path that will challenge her, introduce her to new friends, locations, and characters that range from the familiar to new. Searching for a solution to a new problem, she has to return to civilization after spending time in the wastelands of Tabrus, a world in the midst of a new boom time. Bounty hunters, cyborgs, new friends and an old acquaintance from Alice’s life await in New Zero, an expansive city that promises refuge as well as danger.
There’s a fair dose of comedy in this adventure too because it fit really well along with the fast paced adventure at the core of the novel. The book is shorter than regular Spinward Fringe novels (and cheaper!), because they’re written like feature films or double episodes of an hour long television series. Regardless of length, there’s a very firm beginning, middle and ending that is satisfying on its own.
I don’t actually know if this will become a series, but I plan on repeating that pattern if it does. Whether or not there are more of these will be up to you, and I’ve planned ahead just in case there’s a demand. I may write another one or two either way, because working on this was so much fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
And now for a bonus. While I was writing this short novel (it’s about 63,000 words), a friend of mine, Patrick D Emond who is a talented composer, released a fantastic track called Migration. I must have listened to it dozens of times while writing sections of this book, so give it a listen. Youtube Link
Before I get into the reasons why, I have to thank everyone who made the switch with me from Patreon to Ream. This could have easily been a disaster, and it wasn’t because of you taking the time to move over. The Ream Migration Team has been a great help too. I’m happy to be on Ream and am working to make it worth it for everyone.
What is Ream?
Ream is a Patreon-like subscriber page where you can support me and get some great content in exchange before anyone else sees it. For example, Rogue: Assembly, a brand new book, is serializing right now. Over a month before anyone could see it in the completed ebook form, people were reading the first three chapters. Now it’s almost finished.
What’s next? Samurai Squadron III: Broadcast 20 will begin serializing as soon as Rogue: Assembly is finished.
Sorry, the $1.00 tier that was once on Patreon is forever gone because a lot of that gets eaten by fees and the minimum tier on Ream is $3.00. My goal is to make every tier worth your while. If you want to see the subscription levels, take a look at my main page here. If you can’t reach it, please clear your browser’s cookies. The favourite tier overall is the Library Access! level. I love the library, which has almost every book I’ve ever published. All the Spinward Fringe and Fantasy work is there along with the fresh serialized stuff and I’m working on getting older stuff in along with short stories along with other things I’m not talking about yet.
Now, for anyone who is curious, here’s why I switched from Patreon to Ream.
Patreon is a great site, I don’t want to fling anything negative in their direction. It’s just not for me anymore. After they finished a major update to their platform I saw that it’s a place more well-suited to people who produce videos and podcasts. There’s also a much more corporate feeling there, which is great for increasing confidence in the site.
Sadly, only one feature I was hoping for was implemented in the form of Collections. That definitely doesn’t meet the requirements I’ve had for years. It seems that Patreon would never be the place for me. That’s why I switched to Ream, which is designed by writers for writers.
Ream is ready for use, meaning that it has all the most important bits finished and pretty polished. The developers are busy at work, adding features and refining what they have. The customer service is far more personal and very quick, so I’m quite happy. The few road bumps I’ve run into happened mostly behind the scenes and were smoothed out rapidly. I’m enjoying it there, and, as I’ve said before, I love the library. They have an app that you can download here and that will allow you to read the serials at any subscription tier. If you’re a member of the Library Access! Tier or higher, you can also read anything in the library as well.
Why am I using a subscriber platform at all?
Well, there are two main answers at this point.
It keeps me writing at a good pace. I love writing, and I love it as a job, but sometimes the pace of work can slow down if I get too distracted by research or developing parts of a book when I don’t necessarily have to. If I’m releasing two chapters a week most of the time, I’ll spend some of my personal time on unnecessary stuff instead of diving into a rabbit hole professionally. If I need a break, I’ll take one, but they last a few days instead of weeks like they used to. The pace is good, and I enjoy having a required number of chapters to complete every week. It keeps me focused on one project at a time too.
It promises to stabilise my income. There have been times when I had to strain to buy medication (I have glaucoma as well as Type 2 Diabetes and no coverage for meds), and cover the bills. My subscribers have saved my butt multiple times. Book releases pay the rent at the moment, but even with good reviews very few independent authors can make what they used to, myself included. I hope that I can eventually earn enough Ream Subscribers to make publishing secondary and have a very stable income from that. Many people who use Patreon get there.
My plan is to continue releasing quality fiction that doesn’t simply reflect what you can find on television or in movies right now so you can have amazing experiences when you read my work. I’m also going to be adding support documents, like Guides that I wouldn’t publish, but exist on Ream, where they can be added to and refined over time. A Guide will be a kind of Encyclopedia that anyone can use to look up characters, places, timelines and key events. There will also be short stories and some other stuff.
I thank you for reading this far, for picking up my work and supporting me. I hope to see you on Ream, but make no mistake, I’m grateful to everyone who buys my books normally too. I like publishing too, so I won’t be stopping that anytime soon.
Rogue emerged from the last pages of Hunters: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 16. Having said that, her premiere novella isn’t just written for long-time readers. Just like The Expendable Few, Carnie’s Tale, and the Chaos Core series, you don’t have to read any other part of the series to jump in.
Now, more about Rogue. She’s an android who was originally created as a decoy for Alice Valent, but found true sentience as she was conducting her mission. I wanted to write a few adventures for her, and I was excited to see that readers were curious about her too. A cameo was planned for the Samurai Squadron novels, but she would have distracted from the main stories too much. Instead of putting her off for a time when she could appear in the Spinward Fringe Unlimited Series, I took a good look at the character and what I had her doing in the background. I realized she was really busy, and it was exactly the right time for her to have her own novella.
Before I told anyone what I was doing, I wrote the first two chapters. I thought they were pretty good, but gave them a rest for a few days and re-wrote them. The second attempt was so much better that I went right on to finish the third chapter, and I knew this novella was on its feet.
While that was going on the opportunity to switch from Patreon to Ream Stories came up, and I decided to make Rogue: Assembly the title I would launch my new Ream Site with. I knew I really enjoyed Rogue’s first novella, but I didn’t have any feedback, so I did my best to edit it and launched it on Ream, asking for early feedback after a few chapters. Thankfully, the character is coming across well, and even though it’s not what people expected the reception has been positive.
I hope you enjoy Rogue: Assembly too. Right now it’s a Ream Stories exclusive and about half of it is already online with two chapters a week coming out until it’s finished. Here’s an early synopsis!
Rogue the android was never meant to last. Originally intended as a decoy for Alice Valent, Rogue surpassed her programming and left everything behind. Now she’s having trouble balancing the personality she’s been given with a colder, digital version of herself that’s soulless and prone to violence. Looking for help will introduce her to a cyborg blood sport, crooked corporations and an inherited grudge. Will she find balance, and who will she be if she does?
You can download Samurai Squadron II: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 19 now. If you’re a member of the $7.00 or higher Patreon Tier, you can get it for free here. Otherwise, you can buy it directly from my store here. The novel will begin rolling out to other retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords and others on November 7, 2023.
I was surprised to find that very little needed to be changed after the serialized version of this book was converted to a full-featured ebook. That, and the help you provided by pointing out typos and a few other things helped get Samurai Squadron II into shape early. There was also a proofreader in the shadows who added a final touch. I’ll be forever grateful for all the help I received on polishing this up.
Middle books can become nightmarishly draggy in trilogies, but I really enjoyed writing this one. Remmy’s adventure along with the continuation of the Triton’s journey made this a pleasure to write. Minh-Chu was still the main character for roughly half the book, and I found myself wanting to go back to him more as the story went on.
This, even more than Broadcast 18, fits the vision I’ve wanted to realize for the main Spinward Fringe series. I feel that I accomplished something with Vollis and Remmy (that I can’t talk about more), and that they’ve come to their own temporary resting points by the end of the novel. I won’t go into more details, because I don’t want to spoil anything.
I hope you enjoy Samurai Squadron II: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 19, I enjoyed writing it.
Man jumping between rocks. Overcome a problem, challenge, and hope for a better future. 3D illustration
This was originally released on Patreon during the Samurai Squadron serial. It’s a little piece about what it was like to write from Minh-Chu’s perspective. For the curious ones only, enjoy!
Minh-Chu is a complex character who is much more charming than I am. That’s not really the problem with writing his character though. I can consider what he says for a lot longer than it takes to type it, hours if I have to, so I can try to be Minh-Chu charming.
The biggest problem with writing a character like Minh-Chu is that he’s been a favourite in relatively low doses for many books. I haven’t written from his perspective in about a decade. Coming back to the character means that I have to write what he thinks and how he feels between those quotable moments and weighty conversations. So far I’ve enjoyed putting him at the centre of this book, but it hasn’t been easy.
I”ve been writing him a certain way, as someone who carefully chooses when to speak and how. This is why.
There are three things that are key to this novel and don’t worry, I won’t spoil the story for you. The first is family. That is made more difficult because Ayan, Little Laura, and Minh-Chu’s sister are all absent. It’s made easier because the extended family is established and interesting. The second key is the establishments. The Rebel Captains, Haven Nation’s expansion through the Nodes and Privateering Initiative, and the Order of Eden. The third key is conflict. Minh-Chu is the character who will see all of these things. That is the point of his story in the first part of this season of the series. So, he’s watching and performing what he sees as his duty right now.
Along the way, I hope to do him justice. I have to write Minh-Chu as he is after experiencing so much since we were last in his head. He’s been a Wing Commander for a while now, and he’s settled into a relationship with Ashley who has discovered that she has a sister of a kind. How he gets along with and views Jake and his other close friends have evolved as well, so showing that takes time and has to be done right. I hope that I’ve gone some distance towards accomplishing that because most of the book is written now. Thankfully, he’ll be in the middle of the next novel.
The last important thing about Minh-Chu in this volume is simple and incredibly important. By the end of the book, he’ll have something to say about what he’s seen. I hope you’re looking forward to it. What did you think of this non-spoiler peek behind-the-scenes?
Sci-fi space background – two planets in space, glowing mysterious nebula in universe. Elements of this image furnished by NASA nasa.gov
Whenever I’m about to, or am writing a book, I always do some kind fo research. You’d think that after about fifteen years I wouldn’t have to do any preparation for a book in the Spinward Fringe universe, but that’s absolutely not true. In the following piece that was first relased on Patreon some time ago, I describe and discuss what some of that research was. Strictly for the curious, enjoy!
Cult Research
First of all, I’m done. Every year part of prepping for most of the Spinward Fringe books has included about 10-20 hours of research on cults. Sometimes it spills over into more because I find the topic interesting, but when I was getting ready to work on Samurai Squadron I went deeper into the topic than ever. I wanted the ultimate answer to; “Why do people join?”
I had a lot of information already, but I had to find accounts from reformed members, read a few biographies and watch specific documentaries that focus on the topic of leaving organizations. Finally, a former cult member and well-known de-programmer’s interviews and book brought all the information together so I could finish constructing the anatomy of the Order of Eden as a cult. The experience that Minh-Chu had in the last section of the novel was a very shortened tour through the early introduction (indoctrination) that the Order is trying to put into play across the Rose System and beyond was meant to show a different ruthless side of the organization. It was also there to deliver a simple point so the Order might seem more personally dangerous to him and perhaps the reader: There is a cult for everyone.
Now, after over a decade, I’m finished researching the topic. I don’t know everything there is to know about it, not even close, but I have what I need to write the final structure for the Order and get on with the bigger story that the work is meant to support.
Researching Fighter Pilots
Over two years ago now, I started thinking that I’d like to write at least one book that focused more on Samurai Squadron. I started looking for biographies from modern pilots and found one from Robin Olds along with several others. That amazing bio about a pilot who flew in World War II as well as Vietnam was a great start. It started me on a reading and documentary binge that changed my preconceptions and led me back to one question. Who would my main character be for Samurai Squadron? The answer seemed obvious, Minh-Chu, but I hadn’t extensively written from his perspective for a decade and there’s a rule with including too much of a favourite character in a book. Don’t do it. Some characters are amazing in small doses, but spoiled when you get a good look at their troubles and more serious side.
Before I started work on Broadcast 17, I had an idea that led to the Bullet Chasers, and I took the opportunity to write Breaker, a new pilot who might become a main character for Samurai Squadron. I liked him, and I still do, but when it came to actually writing Broadcast 18, I knew I had to centre the book on Minh-Chu, even if it meant ruining the character and killing the series. I was hoping that all the research I’d done would pay off because after reading the biographies of three Wing Commanders, I realized that they all had a sort of swagger about them, but I could include a kind of sensitivity that suited Minh-Chu perfectly.
He is not the kind of person who includes himself in everyone’s lives unless something is going terribly wrong or he’s invited. He also enjoys challenging people and providing mentorship, even if it’s simply by being an example. Some of the best leaders I read about were very much like that, so I felt I could extend his character. There was also a long arc I could embark on with him.
I’m thankful that so many service people put the time and work into talking about and writing about their experiences. I’m grateful for their service as well.
Researching Spinward Fringe
That’s right. Spinward Fringe is over two million words long now. I was a different person in many ways when I wrote Broadcast 0, Broadcast 6.5, and Broadcast 16. I’m not saying that I’m a walking whirlwind of change, but I know a lot more about writing than I did fifteen years ago, and I’ve had a few more experiences.
As I started writing Broadcast 17: Clash I was wrapping up a complete re-read of the series. I was also listening to the audiobooks, which I’m starting again as I write Broadcast 19. In my opinion, my favourite books in the first half of the series are in the Rogue Element Trilogy: Broadcasts 5, 6, and 7. The drama of the characters fighting for the Triton, the Victory Machine, and finding a new home come together in a way that I’m pretty proud of. That got me thinking.
Minh-Chu has been on the sidelines for so long that I could almost re-introduce him as a new character, extending his arc over three books. My research showed me that turning it into a tutorial on “how to be an effective Wing Commander” would be a terrible idea. I’ve never been one. I shouldn’t even try flying a plane because I have compromised vision! The best I could do is write about what it’s like to be Minh-Chu the person and I could layer in detail about his job later. I’ve done this before with Jake and Alice, holding back detail on the inner workings of the military by focusing on what interested them, and the adventure.
So, the plan became apparent. start with light detail in the first book. I wanted to show everyone what a briefing is like in general because Minh-Chu has been a part of hundreds of them, it’s a regular part of his life. How he used the new technology in his fighter was important, but we could get to the deck crew who maintains it later. This, like the first novella in the entire series, Freeground, and like the first part of the Rogue Element Trilogy, Fracture, would be short and fast-paced.
He’s not alone, either, so I had to make room for Ashley. Their relationship has calmed down, so she’s as much a best friend as a lover. I wanted to have her presence there but since it was the first book in this new trilogy, I intended to keep it light. Later she was included in the mission to Gold Haf Station because she was actually well suited for it. I also wanted to include her as a fighter pilot one more time, even if there wasn’t a lot of detail in that battle. It was new territory for me in a way since there’s almost no real-life account of someone flying with their girlfriend in the same fighter squadron in the real world. I might explore that a little more, but I don’t know if I’ll use Minh-Chu and Ashley.
So, I’ve rambled a while, thank you for reading. I’m realizing that there are other topics of research that I’m always checking in on. Space exploration, technology, storytelling techniques, life and the universe. I could go on for another three thousand words, but I should save something for later since I like writing these little features.
Since I’m going into more detail about Minh-Chu’s life and times in this book, I’d like to end with a question: What did you think of how Minh-Chu was depicted in Broadcast 18: Samurai Squadron?
In three months I’ll be celebrating fifteen years of writing novels for a living. I was very fortunate to make my second attempt at publishing ebooks right near the beginning of the ebook boom. I had completed novels before, and sold my first ebook in 2004 but I didn’t sell another one until 2008, when I released the Spinward Fringe novel, Freeground. Back then the series was called The First Light Chronicles, but that had to change because there was another fantasy series with a little more popularity using the same name. These days that kind of road bump could completely derail a career, but it barely had an effect back then.
After wracking my brain for over a month, I came up with a new name for the series: Spinward Fringe. I also decided that it was a good time to take the series in an new direction. Advance many years and twenty or so novels in and related to the series and we arrive at Samurai Squadron: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 18.
The book has been out for about two weeks on Amazon and in my personal store. The reception so far has been more positive than I expected and I’m grateful for every rating and review, thank you so much for taking the time to write something about it. I wasn’t afraid that I wrote a bad book, in fact I was fairly confident after I was finished with the expection of one major thing. This novel is meant to lead direclty into the next.
It’s sort of like telling a story, then after you know you have enveryone’s attention and they’re fully invested, you ask them to wait three months for them to start the next one. My solution for that is to serialize the books on my Patreon site. The third chapter of Broadcast 19, the next book, will be appearing tomorrow morning. What the previous book set up is starting to pay off, and I’m so excited for people to see it. Everyone who doesn’t like reading the novel serialized will have to wait. I never liked waiting, so I can relate to any frustration you’re feeling right now.
What I’m really here to say is that I’d like to thank everyone who supported me on Patreon or picked up Samurai Squadron: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 18, no matter which retailer you found it at. The release is going well enough for me to continue doing this for a living which is nothing short of wonderful. I can’t tell you what I have planned for Broadcast 19 exactly, but I’ve rarely been this enthusiastic about writing, which is really saying something.
Thanks to the success of this book I’ll be able to write Broadcast 19 at the same pace, meaning that it’ll be released this year. I have you to thank, and if you liked the last one, you’ll love what comes next.
If you would like to read the serialized version of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 19, and have a chance to vote on its name and at least one event in the novel, you can subscribe to my Patreon Page by clicking here.
This was originally posted before the book was finished on my Patreon Site.If you haven’t read Spinward Fringe Broadcast 17: Clash, then you should stop here. There are some major spoilers ahead. You can find the Audiobook and EBook versions of the novel in this blog post. enjoy! Now let’s get on with the show!
Image courtesy of Adobestock. Elements of this image furnished by NASA
In this new series of posts, I’m going to give some patrons a peek behind the scenes. I wish I had the time to record these as podcasts, and that may come in the future, but I take way too long editing each one – about two hours for every hour of recording, so I won’t be getting back to that until I have more time.
Spinward Fringe reinvents itself every few books. The living situations and status of the characters have been evolving fairly quickly, and that’s been a good thing. That was, until about a year ago. A change in direction was needed, but it would have to stick this time. Let me explain.
There aren’t many series in any genre that has gone as long as Spinward Fringe, and as I was doing a re-read of the entire thing I started looking back at what was left behind as the characters moved forward. While I enjoy how the Alice story has unfolded, I started seeing that a feeling of disconnection was starting to set in. It felt like she was drifting too far away from some of the original main characters, and something that compounded that was how difficult it was becoming to write Jacob Valent.
When a character becomes too loaded or complex, it can be good to give them a rest, which usually means making them a secondary or even tertiary character who doesn’t come up as often for a while. It also seemed like he was struggling less. He would be justified in thinking that he’d found his place and that what he had to do next would be predictable.
Jake is in his thirties, slowly approaching the same age I was when I started writing this series. Back then I was definitely not where Jake was at the end of Broadcast 16. I felt like I’d barely earned my place in the world, and I had a lot to work for. My career prospects were narrowing while my employment situation was absolutely terrible. I’ve made great strides since then, but my situation is arguably more precarious in most ways.
That was why I couldn’t easily relate to Jake anymore. His struggle against the Order of Eden remained, and he was getting used to being part of an expanded family, but he seemed pretty secure in himself and sure of his path. Something had to change if I was going to write him as the main character again, and I definitely wanted him to be in the spotlight.
So there we have two big problems. Alice and her friends were disconnected from the original main characters of the series, removing a sense of familiarity from future books. Jake, a character I still enjoyed, was too uncomplicated in a bad way. He was in a situation I couldn’t relate to.
As I realized these problems had to be solved, I was fulfilling another promise to the very few people who read my fantasy novels. NEM: Awakening ends on a sort of cliffhanger, with the core group formed through trial and trouble, but looking to the future after a very rough encounter. When I released Awakening I promised that there would be a much more definitive ending coming soon, so I got to work on NEM: Crimson Shores soon after Broadcast 16 was finished. After that, I followed my muse to Psycho Electric, which was a space opera cyberpunk novel that I’d been piecing together for about ten years. A three-week or so fling with The Last Of The Bullet Chaserf followed as I frantically worked out what would happen to Jake at the beginning of Broadcast 17. I apologize to everyone who expected Broadcast 17 sooner. I had to take a side trip or two to clear my head, learn a few new things about writing, and expand the Spinward Fringe Universe with books that would invite new readers into the fold. I also had to prove something to myself as a writer, which I’ll talk more about in another episode.
The idea that Jake would be punished for unleashing an unrestrained artificial intelligence virus (again) came to me as I was doing my read-through of the entire Spinward Fringe series. I was also about a third of the way through writing Psycho Electric, and I realized that I had the thing that would give me everything I needed for my old main character.
This idea would also facilitate the return of the British Alliance along with Lorander and the Mergillians. More importantly, they could re-establish themselves as the good guys. There would be reparations made by the British Alliance for what the previous government did, but the three allies would demand something first. Haven Fleet would have to clean house in order to show that they were playing by the same rule book. Jake’s removal from the Fleet would bring Alice and all the other original main characters to his side, and he could make a deal that would ensure a good sense of familiarity going forward. He could get the Triton back.
I thought it was a pretty good way to go, so I wrote a few outlines with Jake on trial. The first thing I saw was that I would have a lot of research to do if I went in that direction. The second thing I realized was that, unless I could get John Grisham as a guest writer, it would be pretty boring. Trials are long, testimony is often drawn out, and truncated, abridged versions of them can seem fake. I put the outlines away for a week, then came back to them and realized that I overlooked one very important question: “What would Jake do?” The answer came right away. He’d make a deal. In my opinion, that fixed it. As long as I was clear about what Jake’s deal was, why he was being punished, and that I provided all the details by the end of the book, I could start Broadcast 17 at the end of the legal stuff. Alice wouldn’t know anything about it, that way readers could find out with her.
On to the next thing that big shift would bring in. Jake needed a way to continue fighting, a reason for him to take the Triton back.
One of my favourite unpursued storylines was the Privateering idea, and since Jake would have access to a share of resources and wealth from the Haven System, he could afford to hire a crew and a fighter squadron. The Defence Minister would allow him to hire out of his old unit to prevent a split in the military. To many, Jake is seen as one of the founders of the whole thing, so Oz’s hope was to prevent a massive crisis using this strategy. There’s more to it, but that will come later on.
The Triton makes a perfect mobile base. It truly is a character in this series, and there’s room for new friends as Alice’s story starts to merge with her father’s and we get to see what the honeymoon phase of her relationship with Noah looks like. That is until they have their first real fight, which had to happen in this novel. A relationship without stress isn’t worth reading about, and they had some unresolved issues. They still don’t have a perfect relationship, which is good.
So, Jake is the owner of the Triton again, but he’s free to do as he likes because he has Stephanie Vega in the captain’s seat. I regret that I haven’t been able to feature Frost on the Gunnery Deck in this book, but that’s coming. I brought Ayan aboard, but that’s temporary since we can’t leave Little Laura without her mum for too long.
The next book in the series, which I’ll be starting right after Broadcast 17, is called Samurai Squadron, so it was important to establish Minh-Chu, Ashley, Cooper, and a few others as important characters on the Triton. That group of characters will have a lot more time on the page since Samurai Squadron launches the first real trilogy in the series since Fracture, Fragments and Framework. The Squadron is at the core of the main story in each book.
There was still something missing.
The best Spinward Fringe novels arguably have one thing in common aside from characters we want to spend time with. New ideas. Whether it’s the proposal of new technologies, deadly trade-offs, or cunning enemies, I think new ideas are important in science fiction. They can challenge characters and sometimes make us think. The concept of the lost colony isn’t new, but it presents a massive challenge for Jake and his crew, especially since they’re freshly disassociated from the military.
To keep the story small so Broadcast 17 wouldn’t be 300,000 words long, I decided to focus on two brothers. Wish fulfilment and science fiction go well together, so the concept of Orner being disabled came in right at the beginning along with Moxa and Eve using him as an example for the miracles they could bring to the people of Tiy. The struggle was in keeping that story from overwhelming the book since it would seem so unfamiliar at a 1920’s technology level. Too much of a new thing can be bad too.
Now we’ve come to things that I haven’t released yet, so I have to stop talking about story. That is, other than to say that the end will lean right into Spinward Fringe Broadcast 18: Samurai Squadron in a way that I’ve been looking forward to for a while now. It’ll be the Twenty-First book in the Spinward Fringe Series, including full-length .5 editions like The Expendable Few and Carnie’s Tale. I may have to take a two or three-week break to make sure that Broadcast 17’s editing is properly wrapped up, but I’m already looking forward to posting chapters from 18 here.
Having said that, I should address the first point I raised in this rambling piece. Things changed in Spinward Fringe again. The shift is drastic, bringing some old ideas back with new character dynamics aboard, and one of those ideas looks as far back as Broadcast Two. Now we’re ready for the next phase, where the Triton will be at the very centre. I actually hope that doesn’t change for a long time, perhaps for the rest of the series. That is if the Triton survives what’s coming.
ADDENDUM: One More Thing…
When I wrote that there were still a number of unwritten chapters and the edit wasn’t locked in. There was even a proof reader who was yet to come on board, and she whacked over eighty typos while providing some good input. I hadn’t decided on a few important things either, and the ending was rewritten twice. Once on the whiteboards, once as it was released on Patreon, and then again for the final edit. Even then the final draft wasn’t locked. I looked back at the very beginning and realized I had a problem.
There was a Prologue that explained how the Haven Government had sent many Nodes into the galaxy that used new technology that made communication over many light years as good as instant. This came up in Psycho Electric and enabled a whole chunk of that book’s story. It would also come up later in the Spinward Fringe Series, but I realized that explaining its existence and significance in a prologue wasn’t only boring, but unnecessary. I also explained that Jake had been sort of missing for two weeks and that Alice had been assigned to the Cefa System for a little over three months.
I wonder if you’re thinking what I was after going over the book for the third time. “Wait. Why am I explaining all that in a prologue when we get to discover what happened to Jake along with Alice while she’s standing in the middle of a Palacial Garden? A place she’s been relocated to in order to use her empathic ability for a job that she didn’t choose or enjoy? Wouldn’t it be more effective and entertaining if we let her show us what was going on?”
The prologue served its purpose when I was still writing the book. It set up the starting point, but it wasn’t required anymore, so after talking to a couple of people who were involved with the final edit, I cut it. Now I know it was the right decision. If you want to see it, you can check it out here on Patreon, where it’ll exist in a rough form.
I’m starting work on Spinward Fringe Broadcast 18: Samurai Squadron this week. Years of work have gone into it. I’ll share more about it later on.
For now, I’d like to hear about the direction the series is taking. Don’t worry about spoilers since only people who have read or listened to the book should participate. So, what do you think of their new course?
Randolph Lalonde 
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