Synchronicity by Michael E. Gonzales

I have been writing since before the turn of the century. My first manuscripts were saved on floppy disks (if you aren’t aware of 3.5-inch floppies, ask your parents).

I began writing after seeing a movie with my wife and commenting as we came out, “I believe I could have written a better story.”

She replied, “Yeah? Do it.”

After a time, wherein which I read a number of books on the art of writing, I came to enjoy the process. Exercising the mind, the imagination, even the research, editing, and rewriting.

As I look back to 2016, I marvel and my extreme good fortune to have been published.

Initially the thought of publishing my stories never even entered my mind. When my wife encouraged me to make the attempt, I did. Sending query letters to publishers throughout the US and several in the UK.

No one would have considered it possible that I would, through a pure act of synchronicity, find a publisher right here in Oklahoma City.

I cannot possibly explain the euphoria I felt when signing that first contract. Nor the incredulity of seeing my name on the cover of my first published book.

I’ll never know how many people have read my stories, but if one person truly enjoyed one of them then I am ecstatic. I am fortunate to have received reviews both on Amazon and via email from many happy readers. I know you are all aware what a great pleasure it is to receive these.

So, on this all hallows eve, I sit not with visions of vampires and monsters on my mind, rather I bask in the glow of my small success with my stories of…monsters and vampires. I dream yet of adventures in space, explorers on Mars,

great battles among the stars,

and of witches and warlocks battling for supremacy and falling in love for their troubles.

I have my wife to thank for pushing me. And Jef, Michelle, Jessica, Cheryl, and countless friends who cheered me on.

Before me there opens a dark passage with countless twists and turns. There are pitfalls too, but also stairwells that can lead one to the stars, and beyond.  

Into that yawning maw I will proceed. I trust that good fortune precedes me, luck accompanies me, and hope that Carl Jung was right!

Happy Halloween, everyone.

Mike

New Release -- The Vampires of Antyllus (The Unborn Galaxy Book 4) by Michael E. Gonzales #firestarpress #prairierosepubs #sciencefiction

A distant world in orbit around a binary red star set, light years away, holds the promise of humanity’s future. It also contains a deadly secret that unleashes the worst of all greed and the unthinkable—those who would kill for blood.

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?"

   

New Release -- ACROSS A SEA OF STARS (The Unborn Galaxy Book 3) by Michael E. Gonzales -- #firestarpress

Astronaut Cris Salazar is assigned to the Moon colony, JILL, for the study of an enigmatic singularity on the lunar surface. During an experiment within the crater Hohmann, Cris is captured in a peculiar gravitational field and is transported halfway across the universe.

His craft is wrecked in a strange world, and though he survives, he learns that his rough landing has accidently killed the son of the tyrannical ruler—and now, Cris must pay…or escape. But how can he leave innocents to face the chaos he’s inadvertently caused?

The inhabitants of this alien civilization come to Cris’s aid, and a wizard sets him on a quest that seems impossible to accomplish alone. But as he sets out on this dangerous mission, Cris is joined by a mystical and beautiful huntress, a near-giant, and a robotic intelligence.

Bloody battle and gut-wrenching loss in his own past have left Cris heartsore and reckless, but a journey that begins as a desperate bid for his own survival takes on new meaning as he finds something—and someone—to care about once more.

With billions of lives at stake—including those who have joined him in the deadly fight against advancing evil forces, Cris embraces a destiny he could never have anticipated from light years away ACROSS A SEA OF STARS...

EXCERPT:

     Cris dismounted his Eagle and had reached the side of the LPC, his internal coms set to the emergency freq. "Charlie, this is Eagle, I'm right outside—can you hear me?" There came no response. "Charlie, can you open the hatch? I'm right outside your hatch!"

     Cris saw the hatch quiver, and then it popped open a few centimeters at the top. This hatch was hinged at the bottom. Undamaged, this door would have come down and become a set of stairs allowing access to the interior, but the hull was now warped, jamming the hatch. Cris grabbed the door along the top and pulled with all his might. Inside, the one uninjured man and the wounded man with the still-intact suit were pushing with all their strength. The door held up well, but at last gave in and came crashing down to a surface now level with the bottom of the LPC.

     Cris looked up to see one of the men collapse and the other bend down to aid him. Cris rushed in and grabbed the standing man. He looked up into Cris's face, fear written in his expression. "Can you hear me?" Cris asked, mouthing the words as he spoke aloud. The other man shook his head.

     Cris rushed in beyond these two in order to locate the man with the damaged suit. There he was, unconscious on the floor, an emergency suit repair applied to his right leg. There was also a good amount of blood frozen to the deck. Cris again grabbed the uninjured man, pointed at the unconscious man and the floor, held up one finger, and mouthed, "First." 

     The other man nodded. They both grabbed the injured man and headed for the Eagle. Once there, Cris opened the airlock, and together they got the unconscious fellow inside. He indicated to the other man to get into the airlock with the injured man in order to operate the mechanism. As the man started climbing aboard, Cris went back to gather the man on the floor who showed no obvious wound, but was nonetheless dazed. He put his arm around him and aided him back toward the Eagle.

     As the Eagle's airlock door was opening, a familiar and aggravated voice came over his coms. "Hatchling Three, this is Mother Bird, what's your status? Over." 

     "Mother Bird, I am engaged in a rescue operation, I have three survivors, two are wounded, one severely, please notify medical, I will be inbound to Hotel Sierra in five mikes with an ETA of forty mikes. Over."

     The tone of the voice changed dramatically. "Roger, Hatchling Three, wilco. Keep us advised. Out."

     

Research, by Mike Gonzales

Wow, we're about halfway through the year, already! Hard to believe. It seems just like yesterday that I was celebrating the release of my second novel, “The Battle of Broken Moon,” but that was back in March.

So far, I feel as if I’ve already packed a year into five months.

Recently, I have been giving thought, just for the purpose of experimentation, to writing outside my chosen genre. All my ideas and concepts always seem to come about, and morph into Sci-fi, and or, Fantasy.

Having an interest in the genre within which you write is, to my mind, paramount. I can’t imagine sitting down to write something for which I have no interest: stamp collecting, and golf, come to mind.

Now, it is not my intent to belittle either philately or the links, they just aren’t my cup of tea.

Regardless of how enthralled an author may be with the tome they are pouring their emotion into, there is always something that author must become more familiar with in order to give the story gravitas. Be it the right way to saddle a horse, the correct lay out of a long forgotten western town, or thrust to weight ratios.

I have learned a great deal in the researches I’ve done in support of my Sci-fi novels.

I’ve learned about new technologies that promise humanity a much faster ability to sail between the planets.

I’ve discovered the “multiverse”, the theory that points to an endless number of universes all around ours, like billions of soap bubbles crowding a child’s birthday party.

The possibility that there is a countless number of me out there, each making a different decision at every question; answer the phone or no, turn right, left, buy that house… each decision spiraling that other me into an entirely new future. It’s called, “string theory.”

I have come to understand that the universe is far stranger, and more complex than the human mind is capable of comprehending.

On a positive note, this means that no matter how outrageous, outlandish, weird, or bizarre an author paints his world, either in deep space, or on planet Earth…he can’t be wrong.

It’s all possible, in string theory.

          At night, as I gaze up into the heavens, I imagine my eyes as super powered light receptors. From beyond the Moon, beyond the Milky Way, past the stars in Orion’s belt, and the great Bootes Void, outside the realm of the visible universe come superluminal communications in data bursts too fast to be detected by poor terrestrial sensors.

Within these communications come stories of great daring, accomplished by individuals who reside on other planes of existence, some as far away as the Hercules Supercluster. Others from entire universes that exist all around us, in the same space, and others deep within a single fleck of dust now sitting atop a long forgotten book in your own library.

As the Bard speaketh, “There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio — than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Amen.   

  

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Escapism - by Michael E. Gonzales

     One of the definitions of Escapism is: “A mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an escape or dissociation from the perceived boring, arduous, scary, or banal aspects of daily life.”

     Undoubtedly, there is some truth to that, but I believe some of us just enjoy a good story!

The Great Hunt

     Humans have been telling stories to one another for time immemorial. Troglodytes once gathered around the fire in the safety of their caves to relate stories of the day's hunt. I have no doubt that the hunters would oft times exaggerate―and so, fiction was born!

     Likewise, cave drawing, and hieroglyphics painted inside ancient tombs, told stories―stories of the pharaohs’ great victories in war, or of the mass sacrifices the Maya and Aztec made to their various gods.

     The Sumerian ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ was first written down somewhere between 2150–2000 B.C.!

The Epic of Gilgamesh 

     Along came paper, bound together, and books were invented. It really wasn’t until the invention of the printing press that books became available to the masses―well, the masses who could afford them.

     Then, in the 18^th century, there began to appear books delving into topics other than religion, science, and poetry. Stories of romance, and then adventure. Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, was published in 1719. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, was written by English author Mary Shelley, and published in 1818.

Frankenstein and his monster

     Then came the grandfather of modern science-fiction, Jules Verne,

Verne's Nautilus

whose stories of great adventure and scientific achievement began in 1862. Of course, he had his contemporaries: Camille Flammarion, and Edward Bulwer-Lytton to name a couple. But no author reached the level of Verne until…H.G. Wells.

HG Wells

     Wells's stories use science fiction devices that both entertain and make points about the society in which he lived. In The Time Machine, published in 1895, the technical details of the machine are quickly glossed over, so that the Time Traveler can tell a story that criticizes the stratification of English society. In The War of the Worlds, published in 1898, the Martians' technology is not explained, as it would have been in a Verne story, and the story is resolved by a deus ex machina, albeit a scientifically explainable one.

     The differences between Verne and Wells highlight a tension that exist in science fiction to this day. The question of whether to present realistic technology, or to focus on characters and ideas. 

Thus, the difference between science fiction, and what is called, hard science fiction.

     An author must decide whether to write an exciting story, and make only a passing reference to science, or write a story that adheres strictly to the science behind the story.

Then the author must decide if his story is going to make an obvious or an underlying didactic point. In our modern age of heightened sensitivities, this can be a very dangerous thing to do, as someone is likely to be offended. This could mean the alienation of a segment of your market, and even result in "bad press" on social media. However, as a wise man once said, “All press is good press.”

     I don’t know that any author attempting to be a futurist can write anything that does not make a political statement. The most benign description of a future culture or civilization can’t help but exclaim the form of government that the author sees surviving the test of time.

     Here, the author must walk a thin line. Should the author, in his/her attempt to be educational and moralistic, be perceived as "preachy" they may very well drive readers away.

     It is, I think, important that fiction―all fiction―should make a statement about the human condition. But to do so too loudly will remove the author’s work from the genre, “escapism.”

     Every author’s work I cited above made a point about humanity. The author entertained us, and left the thinker with something to chew on. The best authors’ stories, and messages, have transcended time.

Look for book III of the Unborn Galaxy series, "Across a Sea of Stars," coming out soon.

Visit my page, Michael Gonzales, fictionist: http://www.mikegonzalesauthor.com/home.html

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The journey continues, by Michael E. Gonzales.

In Book one, Dark Moon Rising, of the The Unborn Galaxy series, you were introduced to JILL, the Joint International Lunar laboratory, on the Moon’s near side, setting inside Mare Insularum, the Sea of Islands. Here you witnessed the horrific and unprecedented lunar quake that sent one of the habitats, and eight humans, plummeting into a sub-lunar world fraught with danger, and complicated by the gambit of human emotions, frailties, and lusts, all seeming to conspire to end their lives. And then they encountered the lost alien colony.

  

In my second book, The battle of Broken Moon, you watched as the survivors of the quake fought to stay alive and evacuate the base. You saw their efforts thwarted by traitors, and an invading force from space.

In the coming third book, look for some subtle clues that will point toward the series finale.

The third story in the series starts on JILL, with a mystery that dates back to the Apollo 15 Moon mission of 1971, and the mysterious photographs of what appeared to be a large cylindrical shaped spacecraft, lodged in a crater on the far side of the moon.

Then came the top-secret Apollo 20 mission which took place in August of 1976. The Apollo 20 mission objective, according to Mission Commander William Rutledge, was to land in proximity to the cigar shaped alien craft, spotted by Apollo 15, and then conduct a detailed survey and exploration.

A Saturn V rocket was the launch vehicle, and the Apollo space craft made the trip, and landed on the far side of the moon where two of the three astronauts, one American, and one Soviet, explored the massive alien craft before returning to Earth.

Their findings were so startling, so unnerving, so explosive, that the entire mission was buried, and both the Americans and the Soviets agreed to deny the mission ever existed.

But the films and photos remain on file, and on line, for any to see…to this day.

The story, the cover up, the controversy, the conspiracy had long been forgotten when a series of extraordinary events on the lunar surface caused a reexamination of the record.

Captain Cristóbal "Chris" Salazar, a career Air force officer, who had trained for years for the Mars mission suffers a devastating blow when he was passed over and thus prevented from joining the Mars crew. He is cast into a deep depression, but when offered a posting on the Moon…he grudgingly accepts.

Arriving on JILL almost a year after the great quake, Chris is made the pilot of a Lunar Eagle, a small low orbital vehicle designed for transport, and survey work.

When the “anomaly” begins, he is selected, because of his skill as a pilot, to fly an Eagle to the event site, and launch a probe.

The probe sends back telemetry and images that shock the scientific community.

As a result, the military want to destroy the anomaly. But instead another, more sophisticated, probe is ordered delivered into the mysterious event.

When asked, Chris volunteers for the dangerous return trip. This time the unimaginable happens. He is drawn into the event horizon and vanishes from sight, off sensors, and into an adventure both horrifying and wondrous. He will face great malevolence, monstrous creatures, zombie like humanoids, evil magic, and worse yet, his own demons.

Chris will also find a treasure worth more to him than even his life. To possess this paragon, he will forever sacrifice his chance to return home, Across a Sea of Stars.

(Take a look at the pictures and film footage of the alien craft by looking on YouTube for “Apollo 20 William Rutledge”)

Visit my page, Michael Gonzales, fictionist: 
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Happy New Year from the author of, "The Battle of Broken Moon."

JILL seen from the lunar surface.

2016 is in the archives. Frankly, I’m happy to see it go. Not that it didn’t have its high points.

My first novel was published in March, Dark Moon Rising. My second novel, The Battle of Broken Moon, was released in December. I can’t start to describe the rush that accompanies seeing your words in print! This, of course, is followed by the deep concern that readers will like what they read.

The series, “The Unborn Galaxy,” is made up of five separate stories, all taking place within the “Unborn Galaxy.” Two are published, the publisher has the third, the fourth was edited this past summer and I just got the fifth back from my editor.

Additionally, in the wings, is a separate story, a medieval adventure filled with mythical creatures, a beauteous young damsel as quick with her sword as she is with her wit. An elder knight who bears a great burden, and a malevolence to vile for even the most hated of mythical monsters. This story I call ― “The Witch of Vindemiatrix.”

Cliona

Another point of celebration; this past December 21^st of 2016 saw the one year anniversary of my wife’s survival after her heart attack. Additionally, her cardiologist has given her a clean bill of health. Nevertheless, she will remain a heart patient for the rest of her life.

 The event took place inside the VA hospital, where my wife took me for an examination. If you’re going to have a heart attack, have it in a hospital.

As a result, my family missed its traditional Christmas celebration in 2015. We made up for it Christmas of 16, however.

I have learned a lot about heart disease in general, and in women specifically. It is often called the silent killer of women, because, unlike in men where a sudden pain in the chest, arm and or leg signals the onset, in women it is far subtler.

And women suffer a disproportional number of heart attacks.

Ladies, if you’ve not been examined I cannot encourage, cajole, or warn you enough. There is no typical target for the disease. Young, old, tall, short, smoker, non-smoker, lite, or heavy.  My dear wife was the picture of health. Where I was taking a bevy of meds supplied by the VA, my wife took none. She had regular checkups, exercised, ate right, she was the archetype of what our doctors want us to be. Yet, on 21 December 2015 she was laid low by a near microscopic tear in the interior lining of a blood vessel on her heart, smaller than a strand of spaghetti.

This past Thanksgiving, and Christmas, we certainly thanked God for his blessings, and have been doing so every day since that dark date.

So, please, see your doctors, have your risk assessed, and your ticker scrutinized.

None can cheat death, but you can increase the distance from him―and it is not difficult at all.

So, as we enter a new year, let me wish you all a happy, prosperous, and healthy New Year. A year that can be made much more adventurous within the pages of Dark Moon Rising, and The Battle of Broken Moon.

Mike Gonzales

Atomic bombing of JILL

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