eConscience Beta – Paperback Available + Author Updates

Earlier this month, I posted that my novel: eConscience Beta was available on Amazon! in ebook format.

It being a very hectic week, I managed to botch the announcement of the paperback’s release this week on this blog. I did announce it on Facebook in two places (which will get bumped again when I post this), but I completely forgot to say it here. So, here it is…

eConscience Beta: ALSO NOW IN PAPERBACK!

I thought I would also take the opportunity to update readers on what I’m currently working on in the writing arena. Well, it’s been mostly the publishing area lately, but part of this busy week was writing one short story. After a marathon session yesterday,

I managed to complete another short story for submission (7900 words) to the next in a series of anthologies called Planetary Fiction. I got it in on time, with a whole 45 minutes to spare! That one makes 3 short stories and 1 novella (50k words) that I have written this year in what I am calling my Horizon’s Unlimited Universe.

It started with a submission to Planetary Fiction: Mercury, which I’m proud to say was accepted. Quicksilver is scheduled to be published in January. It will be my first non-self published work.

The plan is to write one (or more if the muse takes me) story for each planet in the solar system, submitting them to the anthologies planned by Superversive Press. If they are accepted, great. If not, I will use them for my own Horizons Unlimited anthology next July.

The major precept of the H.U. universe is a future where matter to energy conversion technology has been made a reality. It is controlled by the Citizen Employees of the independent society of Atlantis, home of Horizons Unlimited, patent holder. They are the good guys, but they control their tech use with an iron hand… for the good of the world.

Anyway, I began writing for the Venus anthology in the early summer, but the story I started took on a life of it’s own and refused to be short. It turned into a 50,000 word novella (some would call it a novel, but Sci-Fi book tend to run 100k~120k-ish) so was not suitable. I’ve titled that one Escaping Aurora.

To fix my mistake of being long-winded, I came up with an alternate story that I submitted at the last minute (seeing a pattern yet?). That one I called 37 Shades of Yellow. Yes, I went there. Venus, Roman goddess of love… it matched the theme, OK? It’s still a sci-fi action story on another planet, just with a bit of romance. Anyway, I heard back that it might also be accepted for the Venus Anthology. It’s not 100% official, but I have high hopes. That was a welcome bit of news during a stressful week.

So now, I face a double-deadline for the Earth & Jupiter anthologies. Both are due by Dec 15th. *gulp* I started something for the Earth one a while back, but it keeps trying to turn into a novel. *headdesk* It’s the backstory’s fault. I actually had to create a timeline covering several hundred years into the future to keep things straight in my mind for what happens in the universe of Horizons Unlimited.

Anyway, as you can see, I’ve got plans. I’ve got ideas. What I always seem to be low on is time. I think that may have something to do with procrastination, but I’ll worry about that later.

Happy Reading, and stay tuned for further updates as I continue to try to figure out this whole writing thing!

Oh, and here’s the blurb for eConscience Beta again in case you missed it.

Peacekeeper Incorporated’s breakthrough nanotechnology could bring repeat offense crime to an end, freeing society from the need for criminal incarcerations. But first, they have to finish testing it. With funding on the line, and time to prove out the project getting short, the lead scientist must find a way speed things up. That’s unfortunate for his guinea pig, and anyone who would stand in his way.

Can the goal of ending most crime justify committing one… even a few?
And what happens when you conflate altruism with egotism?

Find out in eConscience Beta, where two lab techs and an uncouth petty criminal must outwit a brilliant but sociopathic scientist who’ll stop at nothing to establish his legacy as the man who ended crime.