When Lieutenant Colonel Kathy Selina is offered the choice to relocate to the Antyllus colony, she hardly has a choice. The military has not only training and time invested in her, but she’s also been given a new SUB body to defeat the deadly disease that would have killed her, as a human. Kathy, along with her executive officer, Major Dave Mitchel, a handful of SUBs, and the members of the Colony Defense Force, must pit their skills and abilities against the most malevolent enemy the universe has ever faced.
Failure will mean a terrible end for the planet’s native inhabitants, those who’ve come to colonize Antyllus, and certain death for the small cadre of defenders, as well. In a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, how can Kathy, Dave, and their band of soldiers defend an entire world against THE VAMPIRES OF ANTYLLUS?
EXCERPT
Kathy saw the net stop then zoomed in on Illat, who
yanked hard on the line. Illat could see the net was stuck so he wisely stopped
trying to pull it.
Kathy refocused on the net. Dave was ripping the top
of it apart with his one good hand. Then he jumped up and grabbed the vine just
as the net fell out from around him. Kathy was shocked. Had she been a breather,
she would have gasped. "Dave!" She cried out, knowing full well he
would not hear her at this distance with the river roaring below him.
She knew Dave was without the use of his right arm,
so she instantly understood what she had to do. Without hesitation, she leapt
up and grabbed the vine and started to hand over hand her way out to Dave as
fast as she could. The farther out she got, the more she had to slow down, her
movement was causing a wave affect in the vine that was bouncing Dave up and
down. She could not eliminate this effect but she could minimize it by slowing
down. As strong as Dave might be, he was still trying to maintain a grip on a
wet, swinging, bouncing vine.
When she finally got to him, she spoke first.
"Are you this much fun on every date?"
Mike, great stuff, as always! I always love to see what you come up with next for your characters. Now I'm anxious to get on to the next book and see what happens next. Keep writing!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cheryl. There is more instore for Antyllus.
DeleteGreat excerpt. Love that last line!
ReplyDeleteI truly believe you will love the entire story equally.
DeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteYou've built quite an involved and detailed universe foe your Unborn Galaxy stories. How do you keep track of your world-building? Do you have a specific method, such as a spreadsheet?
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DeleteKay,
DeleteNo spreadsheet, I keep all my notes in a file with my manuscript. And...it’s hard to explain, but I have the world, the creatures, and all the characters pictured in my mind. I can close my eyes and see Antyllus, I can walk her forests and valleys, I know each stone of the temples and other structures moldering in the forests. I know the caves, the mountains, the rivers and lakes...like I'm there.
The same is true of JILL, the Joint International Lunar Laboratory. I know the domes, the BSC, its hallways, rooms, and chambers.
I so studied the lunar topography that I became as familiar with the environs where I places the Moon base as my own front yard.
If I can’t visualize the worlds I create, I can’t write about them with any truth. They are real to me, and I want my readers to feel they are real too.
Yay!! Happy book birthday, Mike!!
ReplyDeleteIt was quite the adventure! :)
No, no, Michelle...I thank you!
DeleteI loved the last line in the excerpt. What is a "breather" or a non-breather in this case?
ReplyDeleteGood world building!
What attracted you to the sci-fi genre?
I like sci-fi because it often makes a statement about society and where we could be headed. It isn't easy to write and I have only attempted it once early in my career. It takes a special kind of writer to create a great piece of science fiction.
I wish you all the best, Michael.
Sarah,
DeleteIn my stories there are certain people with full body prosthetics, these people are called “SUBS,” which is a play on an acronym. They possess, as a result many enhanced capabilities. However, they don’t breathe, nor do they eat or drink or require sleep…they are…so much more.
Sci-Fi drew me in like a moth to a flame. I have always been drawn to science fiction movies and books.
And yes, they can, and often do, make a statement about the human condition. However, I dislike those that are overtly political. Such works, even those deemed “important” automatically turn off half your readership. And before long the story become obsolete, and in a few years readers will not know what you were trying to say, or become confused.
The best stories with a message are, in my opinion, subtle, in the back ground, requiring the reader to think, and draw their own conclusions.
A not so subtle element in my stories was brought about by the increased number of our veterans returning home, missing limbs, and being provided ever more sophisticated, robotic, replacements. And of course their acceptance back into society and the workforce.