Category: Epsilon

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Prompt for January 25, 2014 – Day 25

Happy Saturday!

Today brings a new prompt type (a character–specifically, your antagonist/villain–development prompt) and this one’s got a little bit of a backstory.

When I wrote the original (and I mean the original original) draft of what became the main line of the Epsilon universe (the stories with Aaron Taylor and Caren Flannery), I had put together a really awful villain.  The only thing interesting about him was that he was Aaron Taylor’s father and Aaron hated him with every fiber of his being.  He was a cardboard cutout of a mustache-twirling villain you see in parodies and bad B-movies.  As I matured as a writer (and an individual), I got to thinking: how the hell did Aaron Taylor’s sweet, loving mother end up having her son with a man that turned out to be some kind of monster by the end of my original story?  The more I thought about it, the deeper I had to climb into Daniel Taylor’s head–and the more I learned about my “villain.”  As it turns out, everything Daniel does is motivated by love.

I had a similar arc in developing the Drilin Imperium for the same universe.  The more I explored their history and development and moved away from the simple “evil empire” concept, the more I began to realize what motivated the people at the very highest levels of power and the deepest levels of conspiracy inside of what used to be the Earth Federation.  E-Fed was transformed from a Federation of worlds to a shell of its former self because of simple fear.

These types of thought processes bring me to today’s prompt, which is designed to help you develop your antagonists/villains for your own novels and stories.

 

Prompt Type: Character Development

Prompt:  Think about your antagonist/villain and what motivates them.  Boil it down to one vice or virtue–love, greed, envy, fear, hope, etc.–that drives what they do.

Now change it up.  How would your villain be different if love motivated them?  Write a character sketch or scene detailing how love motivates the actions of your antagonist/villain.

Got a suggestion for a prompt? Contact Erin at emklitzke (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Epsilon Universe extra – Wil and Ren

Epsilon: War Stories coverFor NaNoWriMo 2013, I started working on a collection of stories and scenes out of the Epsilon Universe entitled Epsilon: War Stories.  In the midst of working on this project, I ended up writing some scenes that take place during the same period as Epsilon: Redeemer that might never make it into anything else.

The following scene is from Ren’s point of view, and it’s a pivotal point in the evolution of her relationship with Wil after the events of Epsilon: Broken Stars, so if you don’t want spoilers of any flavor for Broken Stars or Redeemer, don’t click below the break.

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Current projects and ramblings

Well, November’s over and we’re now well into December and I’ve been busy the past few months, as I’m sure folks have noticed.  My updates for Ashes to Ashes and Awakenings have been shorter than usual for the past few months, for which I whole-heartedly apologize!  I’ve been spending some time recharging my batteries the past few weeks and prior to that was knee-deep in some plotting with a few friends for some potential collaborations (in a new fantasy universe, the science fiction universe of The General’s Lady, and in the UNSETIC/Lost Angels universe), but now I’m getting back on track with my own work and I’m loving every minute of it.

I spent my November getting deeply reacquainted with my Epsilon universe and of my NaNoWriMo work, folks may be seeing some short works about General Jackson “Longshot” Hunter, JJ Collins, and perhaps a few others that have been mentioned in Broken Stars and Falling Stars only briefly. Stay tuned for updates on that front.

More recently, I have begun to work on edits and reviews for the special edition of War Drums and the (somewhat belated) release of Awakenings book three, Omens and Echoes.  As a result, Phelan O’Credne has decided to take up residence in a warm corner of my brain and is rocking back and forth, hoping I don’t do some of the awful things I’m pondering for the universe going forward (I’m currently writing and posting book four at awakenings.embklitzke.com).  More updates on that coming soon.

It’s shaping up to be a fun end of year for me, both as a writer and as a crafter (I got a new sewing machine and have been using it to make wonderful things lately).  The new year promises to bring new goals and a niece for me to spoil rotten.

There will be some changes and new weekly features coming in the next few weeks, so check back often!

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Snippet Sunday: Epsilon Broken Stars

This week’s snip is from Epsilon: Broken Stars–a bit of prose in which Aaron Taylor thinks of his beloved mother, Madeline, dead for several years by the time the story begins.Broken Stars cover - take two

In a universe where the fate of free worlds hangs in the balance, can one man make a difference?

The Resistance is a thin line of defense for the free planets of the Borderworlds.  The strip of former colonies forms a shrinking boundary between the Earth-controlled Drilin Imperium and the Epsilon Alliance, superpowers locked in a cold war a hundred years old.  It’s a no-man’s land home to billions living under the constant threat of Imperium invasion, a place where the Alliance dares not intercede for fear of sparking all-out war.

Aaron Taylor knows what’s at stake when he volunteers to join the Resistance.  The son of an Imperium general, the Alliance-trained military spy’s existence can be officially disavowed at a moment’s notice.  It’s work that’s already cost him everything he holds dear–including his beloved partner of seven years.

He joins the Resistance as a man with nothing left to lose at a time when the Resistance needs men like him the most.  It’s far from the disorganized rabble both the Alliance and the Imperium think it is, but without more able hands, the Borderworlds are doomed.  Soon, he begins to believe as they do–that there’s no hope for humanity without the men and women willing to fight and die for their homes on the border.

Torn between duty to both, when the chips are down, which will Taylor choose: the Alliance that made him, or the Resistance that made him its own?

Snippet below the break.

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Snippet Sunday: Epsilon Universe extra

This week’s snippet is from the Epsilon universe.

Sam Cooper is Lucas Ross’s second in the Resistance.  Mac Desantis is Aaron Taylor’s pilot and temporary partner while he’s assigned to the Borderworlds, doing what the regular military can’t–supporting the Resistance in their bid to keep the Borderworlds free from the Imperium.

A funny thing happened when Sam met Mac.

They fell in love.

This never-before-seen scene is an imagining of a could be scenario that doesn’t fit into the current scheme of projects in the universe but I can’t help but share.

Snippet below the break.

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Snippet Sunday – Epsilon: Redeemer snippet

I’ll be trying something new around here and that’s something that we’re going to call “Snippet Sunday”–when I reveal a snippet of something I’m working on or have already released, depending on the mood.

For the inaugural Snippet Sunday, we’ll be paying a visit to the universe of Falling Stars and Epsilon: Broken Stars with this bit from the current draft of Epsilon: Redeemer.

Excerpt is after the break.

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