Monday, September 16, 2013

Dr. Who Meets CassaStorm!!

This week my long-time blog friend Alex Cavanaugh is having a blog party for the release of his third book, CassaStorm. As part of this event, Alex said he'd answer one unique question for each blogger who participated. So, this was my question:

The main character of your series, space adventurer Byron, meets Dr. Who - tell us about this encounter!
 
Alex's answer: Dr. Who pulls out his screwdriver and Byron perceives it as an aggressive act. He fires the lasers and takes out the Tardis. While the Doctor is distracted, Byron jumps his Cosbolt to safety. (Don’t hate me Dr. Who fans! But blowing up the Tardis was fun.)
 
No, not the Tardis!! But we'll forgive you, Alex. Plus Alex will bribe us with swag: comment on his blog this week for a chance to win a Cassa mug, mousepad, magnet, and swag!
 
And here's all the info about CassaStorm!
 
 
 CassaStorm
By Alex J Cavanaugh
 
From the Amazon Best Selling Series!
 
A storm gathers across the galaxy…
 
Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.
 
After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.
 
Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…
 
“Cavanaugh has created wonderfully moving moments of great poignancy… CassaStorm could have been a dark story full of hardship and angst, but instead it's a cleverly balanced story about hope and triumph.”

Lynda R. Young, author of Make Believe

"Cavanaugh makes world building on the galactic scale look easy. The stakes affect the entire known universe and yet Cavanaugh makes it intensely personal for our hero. The final installment of this series will break your heart and put it back together."

Charity Bradford, science fantasy author of The Magic Wakes


Watch the book trailer!

$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera
Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019
$4.99 EBook available in all formats
 
Find CassaStorm:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of the Amazon bestsellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.
 
 
I suspect the interwebs will be aflutter with talk of CassaStorm over the next few days, so enjoy the blog party and happy writing until we chat again!
 

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Idea Carousel

I find myself in a fun and unique position the last couple of days. I've finished major edits on two different books which I've been working on for the last year and a half or so. I'd work on one and then switch to the other. And while I started drafting a new book earlier this year, I didn't get very far before I got sucked into edits on these other two, after getting some good feedback from a couple agents.

But now I'm done - I can't think of another thing I could do to either book. I'm querying the one, and it'll either get picked up by an agent or not. I've gotten some lovely feedback on it, along the lines of "your writing is wonderful, but I have something too similar". It may be that the market is just not right for it now. Time will tell. I'm going to query the other one, but I don't want to query them both at the same time.

So now I'm in the position to start something completely brand new. I thought about going back to the one I started earlier this year, but I'm not sure if I want to right now. And I thought about going back to my very first completed novel and working on a rewrite of that, but I'm not sure I want to do that, either. What I need is to just write for the love of writing and not worry about a goal. That's something I seldom do - those of you who know me well know I am extremely goal and deadline driven. But I'm going to chill out for the time being and see what happens.

Now the idea carousel spins, as I go through all the ideas I've had over the last couple years. I have 19 folders in Word for different story ideas. Some of them pull at me and are more mentally plotted out than others. So yesterday I started writing one of the ones that's tugged pretty hard at me over the last year. And after that I wrote something that had only been a tiny, random spark of an idea, and all the sudden that one has stolen my muse away; snuck up and shoved all the more planned ideas in the closet. But I'm not committing yet. I'm going to play the field, and write a little of whichever idea I feel like until one of them claims me entirely. And I'm having a great deal of fun with that.

How about you guys? Any bright, shiny ideas luring you at the moment?