Of Starships and Intergalactic Wars

Probably ten years ago, when the Internet was a younger space and podcasting and the concepts of web fiction and indie e-publishing were young, I ended up guesting on a podcast dedicated to web fiction, talking about Awakenings initially. The conversation with the host eventually drifted to my recently released book, Broken Stars, about which the host was duly enthused.

The universe of Broken Stars is in some ways more optimistic than the world of Awakenings—sure, the human race still has problems but the actual apocalypse hasn’t happened and hey, we’re in space. Sure, Earth is held by a galactic state that stands in opposition to our heroes in Broken Stars and there’s definitely a simmering conflict there, but we’ve managed to survive two wars of annihilation and enslavement by an alien race to get there.

More on that in a second.

The question—in the midst of this long-ago interview—that came up from the host, something that is probably the only thing that I remember from the whole interview, was the question whether or not Broken Stars would ever be released as web fiction, if anything in that universe would be released online as web fiction. I remember laughing and saying that I wasn’t sure it quite felt right to do it that way, that the format might not be right.

Fast forward to a pandemic, to another bachelor’s degree, to a much different point in my life than where I was in the days of that interview.

There has been an idea rolling around in my head for a little while now, suggesting that in addition to getting back to both Awakenings and at least the world of the Legacies of Lost Earth, perhaps there was hope for a web-facing taste of the Epsilon universe—of which Broken Stars is a major part.

The Preytax Wars are a historical event that takes place in the Epsilon universe, an event that planted the seeds for the status quo that exists in Broken Stars. Taking place in the 22nd century, several decades after humanity has made its way deeper and deeper into the stars (thanks to a bit of help from a few friendly alien races that made first contact in the later 21st century), the Preytax Wars represent humanity’s first encounter with a hostile alien race and two major conflicts with that race—both of which are generally characterized as life or death for humanity and human society on the whole.

Humanity won, but not without cost and not necessarily as decisively as anyone characterizing it as an existential conflict might have hoped—but no one actually thinks they’ll come back, right?

More on that to come in the future.

I have never been sure if I would actually write a full-blown book in the era of the Preytax Wars—I would have to write several, in fact, due to knowing who some of the important macro and micro stories live with. Something that I have been playing with is putting together a site that gathers fictional news reports, journal entries, sequences, etc. that would tell at least part of the story of the Preytax Wars. It’s been an idea that’s simmered for a little while now.

I suppose we’ll see what happens next.

Epsilon universe snippet – in the alley

                I felt the heat of the explosion almost before I heard it, saw the light of it.  I spun, swearing, not knowing what to think or where to run to until I saw the fire’s brightness not too far from me, down the street a little ways.

                I’d last seen Wil headed in that direction.

                “Wil!”

                Nothing–but if he’d been anywhere in the vicinity of that explosion, no doubt his ears were still ringing and ringing loud.  I gulped in a breath and ran in that direction, away from where I could see the lights of landers in the distance.

                When the Imperium had come to Caldin, they’d come in force, just like we feared they would.

                What the hell just happened there?  The Imperium wasn’t supposed to have made it this far into the city by now.  Nothing should have been exploding.

                Moving at a dead run, I almost tripped over him.  He choked back a moan as my foot banged into his in the darkness.  Backlit by the flames from across the street–the Alliance post was burning–I could see the blood on him.

                It was all over and it looked bad.

                “Wil!”

                “Get out of here,” he rasped.  “I’m fine, get out of here.”

                “Liar.”  I crashed to my knees, pulling his head and shoulders into my lap.  He hissed in pain, choking back a scream.

                “Ren–”

                “Shut up,” I snapped.  “What the hell did you do?”

                “My job.”  He squeezed his eyes shut, his breathing labored and shallow.  I swore heartily.

                I thumbed a mayday on my comm, knowing Luc wasn’t far.  He’d be here fast, I knew it.

                He’d better be.  We need him now.

                “Ren,” Wil breathed.  “Ren, please.”

                “No,” I said through gritted teeth.  “I am not leaving you, dammit.”  I caught a glimpse of Luc in the light of the burning building beyond the alleyway.  “Luc!  Luc, get over here, I need your help.”

                He pivoted and swore when he saw Wil, just like I had.  I couldn’t stop the tears anymore.

                “Please,” I begged in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.  “Please, help him.”

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.

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.

Continue reading “Epsilon Universe extra – Wil and Ren”

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.

Continue reading “Snippet Sunday – Epsilon: Redeemer snippet”