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The Book Bazaar / GroundTies: definitely not WYSIWYG Science Fiction
« on: April 04, 2011, 09:48:57 am »
I didn't realize there was a place to post our books! Yippee! Thanks, KB!
GroundTies was my first novel. It's available for the first time in years on Kindle and in multiple DRM-free formats at http://www.closed-circle.net/WhereItsAt
GroundTies is the first of three books which provide the core of my future history. They first came out from Warner/Questar in the early 90's, but have held up remarkably well, especially considering that the core of the society revolves around an interstellar internet! More to the point, it's underlying messages of self-acceptance, tolerance, communication, education, and ecology have never been more relevant than they are now.
The story is hard SF in that it's environment is based on technological extrapolation of today's world, but the characters drive it. Their motivations, their dreams, their loves and their enemies. The basic story is simple: The ComNet that binds the Alliance together is losing data, something that is, supposedly, impossible. If the trend continues, all of civilized space could be at risk. A young academy graduate has brought top level attention to a paper which might shed light on the problem. That electronic paper trail leads to a planet on the edge of ComNet space where both the young graduate and the crew who delivered him find just a bit more than they bargained for. The basic story is simple, but it's the hidden elements, not to mention the characters themselves which add the layers of complexity that turned it into a three-book series, spawned a prequel and at least one more story arc before it's complete.
GroundTies is one of those many books that has a badly screwed up publishing history. It never had a ghost of a chance of reaching its market and when Warner/Questar went under, no other publisher wanted another publisher's midlist leftovers. I went on to write other books, but I've never given up on this one. I believe in the series and owe the characters conclusions to their stories. On one publisher's suggestion, I wrote a prequel (which I think is the best thing I've ever written) and rewrote the original series as new editions, adding the nuance that comes from the insight of writing a prequel. Then, the market changed, thanks in no small part to ebooks, and the publisher pulled back. So...now it's in my hands.
The only difference between the Warner book and the Kindle version are my cover, the front and back matter (including an introduction by C. J. Cherryh) and the lack of typos within the text!
Since posting the book on Kindle last month, I've been completely humbled by some absolutely beautiful reviews and even the handful of negative ones are well-considered and respectful. One complaint, that the story is incomplete, is absolutely legitimate. Warner's one editorial input was to tell me to make it shorter. Not because it needed to be shorter but because Warner wouldn't publish a first novel that long. Ultimately, the only way to do that was to split it in half. UpLink, the missing half has just been published to Kindle. I'll be giving it its own page in a couple of days, once it actually is available. The third book, Harmonies of the 'Net, will be out later this month, and the prequel and new editions will be out this summer....after I get my other backlist up.
If you like complex, multilayered stories, I'd like to encourage you to give GroundTies a try. At $.99, how can you lose?
GroundTies was my first novel. It's available for the first time in years on Kindle and in multiple DRM-free formats at http://www.closed-circle.net/WhereItsAt
GroundTies is the first of three books which provide the core of my future history. They first came out from Warner/Questar in the early 90's, but have held up remarkably well, especially considering that the core of the society revolves around an interstellar internet! More to the point, it's underlying messages of self-acceptance, tolerance, communication, education, and ecology have never been more relevant than they are now.
The story is hard SF in that it's environment is based on technological extrapolation of today's world, but the characters drive it. Their motivations, their dreams, their loves and their enemies. The basic story is simple: The ComNet that binds the Alliance together is losing data, something that is, supposedly, impossible. If the trend continues, all of civilized space could be at risk. A young academy graduate has brought top level attention to a paper which might shed light on the problem. That electronic paper trail leads to a planet on the edge of ComNet space where both the young graduate and the crew who delivered him find just a bit more than they bargained for. The basic story is simple, but it's the hidden elements, not to mention the characters themselves which add the layers of complexity that turned it into a three-book series, spawned a prequel and at least one more story arc before it's complete.
GroundTies is one of those many books that has a badly screwed up publishing history. It never had a ghost of a chance of reaching its market and when Warner/Questar went under, no other publisher wanted another publisher's midlist leftovers. I went on to write other books, but I've never given up on this one. I believe in the series and owe the characters conclusions to their stories. On one publisher's suggestion, I wrote a prequel (which I think is the best thing I've ever written) and rewrote the original series as new editions, adding the nuance that comes from the insight of writing a prequel. Then, the market changed, thanks in no small part to ebooks, and the publisher pulled back. So...now it's in my hands.
The only difference between the Warner book and the Kindle version are my cover, the front and back matter (including an introduction by C. J. Cherryh) and the lack of typos within the text!
Since posting the book on Kindle last month, I've been completely humbled by some absolutely beautiful reviews and even the handful of negative ones are well-considered and respectful. One complaint, that the story is incomplete, is absolutely legitimate. Warner's one editorial input was to tell me to make it shorter. Not because it needed to be shorter but because Warner wouldn't publish a first novel that long. Ultimately, the only way to do that was to split it in half. UpLink, the missing half has just been published to Kindle. I'll be giving it its own page in a couple of days, once it actually is available. The third book, Harmonies of the 'Net, will be out later this month, and the prequel and new editions will be out this summer....after I get my other backlist up.
If you like complex, multilayered stories, I'd like to encourage you to give GroundTies a try. At $.99, how can you lose?
That needs to be reconsidered! 
But when it occurs, it's pointed and shocking and for a definite reason. Again...not something that I think about as I write, but in that series, when it occurs, I stop right there and ask Why? Only because it is that rare. The "lesser" terms have their place and curses are much more specific to the culture. I see the 'NetWalkers universe as a direct extrapolation of our own and basic cursing hasn't changed much in a loooooong time! 
I see someone has rotating images. That's kinda cool! Would you mind passing on that code? Before the year's out, I'm going to have all my extant ebooks up on Kindle and that will be eight...a bit to many to string!