The last week of November

What does that mean?

For a number of people, it means that the Christmas Season is now in full swing. Congrats to all of y'all that have managed to finish your Christmas shopping before now. To the rest of us: good luck.

I have a few ideas as to what to get those special people in my life, but it always boils down to two things: money, and will they like it. I know that they will, but there is always that little bit of doubt back there, hiding behind all normal thoughts. No matter though. I know what I'm going to get. I just need to get it now.

NOVEL UPDATE: I've been working on Eugenic more. While nothing has gotten written out in a cohesive manner, I've been able to get important elements framed, so that should make things run a lot smoother. The semester is reaching that wind down/get crazy period, so writing will be sporadic at best.

As to the rest of my free time....I've been logging hours into Planetside 2. (www.planetside2.com)

This game is free-to-play, and Sony Online Entertainment has done a wonderful job with it. Sure, it has its issues, but they've done so much since I first entered Technical Test back at the beginning of the Summer that I am honestly impressed. The Devs are heavily devoted, and Smedley is also really into it. Great to see that.

If y'all happen to be interested in it, or perhaps you even play, you can run into me on Connery (US West) as a valiant member of the Vanu Sovereignty. I played them back in the original, so they've always had a special place in my heart. Things are rough for them right now, but we still manage to play to our strengths. On that server, I'm KellTainer.

Look me up sometime if you so desire.

Until later....

Boy how time flies....

I know. I have been extremely negligent in updating this. Well, more like I have updated at all. Sorry about that. :(

So, y'all are wondering what is going on, and with good reason. I haven't fallen off of the face of the planet; at least, i have yet to. Work has slowly progressed forward on Eugenic. It is going to be finished!!!

I can't promise when - I really wish I could - because my course load has been keeping me busier than I like. I am going to try my best to keep this thing up to date to allow y'all to see that I am not giving up on the series as well as other stuff I have in the works. Let's just say that I have some other intriguing stories to tell.

Now, what have I been up to? Well, classes picked up this semester and haven't slowed down. Taking 16 hours - 2 upper level math and 3 upper level physics - is pretty fine consuming i find myself on campus a good deal to be sure I am stating up with my work. I can think Linds for helping me stay here. We drive on campus together to save on gas and time. Her car is so much more efficient than my aging explorer. Carpooling is also the only way to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time in the morning here in Houston. The southwest freeway is murder in the morning. Thankfully, her classes when they meet are in the evening. No need to worry about the drive home - I swear it is worse going back home than it is coming onto campus.

Whenever I am at home, I find that I really don't want to do much of anything other than chill. My brain is running all day with class, I just need to unwind.  To that end, Let's say that I am a recovering hardcore gamer. I say recovering because Linds gets frustrated when I spend too much time on there.:-P I have the consoles, but I don't really play them except for major console only games. No, all of my gaming is on the computer.

My latest fare has been Mechwarrior Online (www.mwomerc.com it is free to play ). Any of y'all familiar with Battletech have already heard of it, but those that haven't should check it out. You get to fight people with giant walking machines of destruction. It enters open beta today at 1200 PDT.

Of course, I also play the single player games. XCOM, which just came out earlier this month, is pretty awesome. Many rookies have died to advance the cause of defending Earth at all costs. My first Classic Ironman run had me losing over 30 troops before the council told me to get lost. That's XCOM baby. :-P

Guess I better wrap this up. If y'all have any questions, please ask them! I am here. If y'all wanna hang out online in a game, shoot me a message. We'll work something out.

Till later...

Novel Teaser - Eugenic Reprisal

Here is a short teaser for the upcoming EUGENIC REPRISAL, book two of the Halcyon Gate series.

The last thing that I remember before waking up here was the same bright flash and loud crack. It was just like when we activated Project Halcyon, stepping through the Gate. I don't know if the same mistake happened, but something did go wrong. I can tell you that with certainty. Right before I blacked out, I remember feeling pain, intense pain. It coursed throughout my entire body, and then everything went black. When I finally regained consciousness, it was to total darkness. Mason was nowhere to be found; at least, he didn't respond to me, and I couldn't feel him nearby. What happened this time? Wait, what's that noise?

Remember, you can get TIME JUMP here: http://twurl.nl/llo2t4

Just a quickie.....no not that kind!

Just got a quick little post that I am going to throw up here.

I got my first 4 star review! It's amazing! I am seeing that this dream can really come true!

"What starts as a simple mission through a newly formed time portal develops into a more complex situation as the story unfolds.


There are some thoughtful ideas within the story that are played out. Whilst at times it might seem a little slow paced and perhaps one of the main characters seems a bit underdeveloped or don't understand quite why that happened you find the reason why at the end which is an interesting twist.


Time is spent setting the scene/ exploring the characters/world where they came from and where they ended up after going through the portal but it still has a good amount of action and suspense in it ...... which is why I am trying to avoid giving too much of the plot away.


My only rant is that it is the first of what is likely to be a trilogy and it ends with only some of the questions answered ....something I would have liked to know before I started as I am impatient to know what happens next!" - Woody


Thanks, Woody!

New Book Released and stuff

So this past weekend I went ahead and released my first science fiction novel! Woot! With that, I am well on my way to becoming an author, right?

Well, not exactly. You see, there is this thing about getting out there and getting known. I am a new author, yes, so people don't have recognition for my name - obviously.

What's the purpose of this blog? Simply put, it's to help me get visibility as well as stay in contact with you, my readers. At least, hopefully you are one of my readers, or you will be one of my readers. Maybe you are an indifferent third party and just want to see what happens on my little journey. You know what? That's cool too!

As I was saying, I released my first novel this past weekend on the Kindle. It is enrolled in KDP Select, so for those of y'all who don't know, it means that if you are a Prime member, you can borrow the book for free! Isn't that awesome? Yeah, I thought so.

Anyways, if you would like to check out Time Jump, and even purchase it, give it a gander here




For those of y'all who would like to know more about what it is about, sure!

Time Jump is the first novel in the Halcyon Gate series. It follows Jacob Brown and Mason Smith on an epic undertaking to set foot through Project Halcyon. Little do they know, things are going to go horribly wrong, or do they go horribly right? All that they do know is that after they step through it, they are sent forth on a journey that neither of them expected.

And go ahead and leave your feedback here or shoot me a message on twitter or Facebook. I am more than excited to know what you think.

Twitter

Facebook

What it means for me to be an author...

What does it mean for me to be an author? That's a good question to start out with, I believe. For me, being an author is all about writing down a good story. Does it have to be grammatically correct and all that jazz? Yes, it does. That's part of being an author, but that is only part of being an author. I do enjoy writing, and I am told that I can write very well. That isn't why I do it though.

I do it for the story. That's the biggest part of being an author in my mind. I want to tell stories that light up a person's imagination and make them go "wow, that was cool." I want to put them in the action and have them feel for the characters.

Do I have a long way to go? You betcha. Am I going to do my best to get there? That's the plan. How long will it take? 

Well, that's another great question right there. It's going to take as long as it's going to take. I can't say anymore than that, but what I can tell you is that I will always find a way to improve myself. If I stop finding ways to improve myself, y'all can flog me. I mean it. Though, some of y'all would really love that. Hmm. Scary.

Anyways, enough of that tangent. Being an author is my dream. I guess it always has been, but I just didn't know it. I have always loved telling stories, but I never thought that I could actually get them out there to people to read. I see that I now have the opportunity to do that thanks to Amazon. Really, thank you Amazon. If anything, my stories get out there. Ideally, they make me a living - we've all got to pay our bills - but I'm happy just knowing that someone somewhere is going to enjoy them.

That's what it is all about isn't it. Being happy doing what you do. Through all of my searching and waffling over what to do, I have finally found what some would call my calling. That's being an author.

What does it mean for me to be an author? It means that I can bring a smile, or a tear, or a laugh to a person that might not have at that time. I can share my dreams and maybe even spark new dreams in someone else better able to complete them than me. If I can do just one of those things, I've honestly done a great thing in my eyes.