My newest Star Trek Adventures product is out, and it’s free!
Star Trek Adventures Mission Briefs: Ancient Civilizations
The Galaxy is ancient beyond easy comprehension – on the order of a million times older than Human civilization. Uncounted civilizations have risen and fallen before the dawn of recorded history of any Federation world. While most of their remains have long since vanished, many have left ruins or artifacts that endure to the present. Other ancient societies live on, wielding technologies or mental abilities vastly beyond our own, though not always in a form recognizable to us. The discovery of these ancient civilizations, or their remains, offers immense potential for advancing Federation knowledge, but comes with great peril as well.
This packet presents ten detailed mission briefs you can modify for use as adventures in your Star Trek Adventures campaigns set during the original series or any other era of play with minor modifications. Each mission brief is designed to stand alone, though several are presented with a loose connecting story arc that may be used or disregarded at the gamemaster’s discretion. They may be added to an existing campaign with minor modifications.
These Mission Briefs are a different type of campaign, short, one-page summaries that gamemasters can flesh out on their own. If you’ve bought my previous few STA adventures, you’ve seen Mission Briefs appended to them as suggested followups. Ancient Civilizations is a set of ten such briefs.
Even though the briefs are, well, brief, this was one of my most challenging STA assignments, because I had to come up with ten different adventure ideas, and ideas have always been the hardest part for me. I discuss my creative process on the Modiphius Blog:
I apologize for the delay in sending out the first batch of autographed books from my book sale, but they’re now at the post office, beginning their journey to their buyers. I optimistically say “first batch,” since there are still plenty more books available! Find the full list here:
It’s been three years since my last autographed book sale, since I kind of got out of the habit during the pandemic, and I’ve been pretty busy the past couple of years with writing projects such as the Tangent Knights trilogy. But I’m not too busy right now, since I have very little work lined up at the moment, and I’m still waiting for answers on various feelers I’ve put out. Which means I need to raise funds however I can to help tide me over.
With three years gone by, I now have several books to offer for the first time, including my two most recent Star Trek novels, my Arachne duology, and even my Hub collections, of which I now finally have a handful of print copies to offer. I’m afraid I’m out of nearly all my older mass-market paperback stock. I wish I could offer signed copies of Tangent Knights, but the CD versions are only available as print-on-demand.
Since I hardly have any specific projects lined up, it wouldn’t be feasible to offer a Tuckerization reward like I did the last couple of times, so I’ll just have to hope the signed books themselves are enough of an enticement. But you could always help me out with donations through PayPal, or better yet, by subscribing to my Patreon, where you can read a variety of exclusive short fiction (and a couple of reprints) and behind-the-scenes notes, as well as my ongoing TV and movie reviews, which mostly cover vintage TV, though I’m currently reviewing The Orville. (Indexes: Fiction, Reviews.) I’m also working on something big for the Fiction tier, so now (or soon) would be a good time to subscribe.
You can buy books or donate by clicking on the PayPal “Donate” button on the right-hand side of my blog page. If you’re seeing this on Goodreads, click on the “View more” link below to go to my main blog and you’ll see the button. All book buyers, let me know who to make out the autograph to.
As always, I’ll try to keep this list updated with regard to availability, but if you have doubts (particularly with the single copies), query first. For buyers in the US, add $4.00 postage per book. For buyers outside the US, pay the book price and I’ll bill you for postage separately once I determine the amount.
If you have a PayPal account of your own, please pay through that instead of a credit card. PayPal charges a fee for credit card use, so if you do use a credit card, I have to ask for an additional $0.50 per book.
This sale will continue as long as I have books in stock, and the call for donations is always open. I hope we can help each other out.
Here’s the list of books:
Arachne’s Crime — $15.00: 8 available
Is this a dream… or a nightmare?
The crew of the interstellar colony vessel Arachne is roused from artificial hibernation to face a horrific reality, as an alien boarding party takes them into custody to answer for the deaths of tens of thousands of sentient beings.
But there is more to their trial than meets the eye, and the threads of intrigue weave a tight web as crewmates and friends are divided between those who feel they owe restitution for the actions of the ship’s AI in their defense, and those who refuse to bow down to a judgment they see as persecution.
What future can they hope to build among aliens who see them as mass murderers… presuming they have a future at all?
Arachne’s Exile — $15.00: 8 available
What a tangled web…
When the colony starship Arachne unwttingly destroyed a deep-space habitat of the Chirrn, her crew committed themselves to a lifetime of penance to repay their debt. But a brutal act of vengeance has now forced them into exile in a distant part of the galaxy.
Drawn into a cosmic conspiracy spanning millennia, the colonists learn that the Chirrn’s ancient choices have exacted a terrible toll on human history. Now, their only way to win true freedom may be to carry out a perilous theft aboard an extraordinary megastructure orbiting a neutron star.
Will Arachne and her crew pull off the heist of the millennium? Or are they being manipulated into committing a far more awful crime… one for which all humanity could pay the price?
The Arachne Omnibus trade paperback — $30.00 ($2 off current list price): 9 available
Deluxe trade paperback volume containing:
“Comfort Zones” prequel story (first time in print)
Arachne’s Crime
Arachne’s Exile
“The Weight of Silence” (connected story)
“Among the Wild Cybers of Cybele” (connected story)
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Only Superhuman — $20.00 (20% off!): 14 13 available
In the future, genetically engineered superhumans, inspired by classic Earth comic book heroes, fight to keep the peace in the wild and wooly space habitats of the Asteroid Belt
2107 AD: Generations ago, Earth and the cislunar colonies banned genetic and cybernetic modifications. But out in the Asteroid Belt, anything goes. Dozens of flourishing space habitats are spawning exotic new societies and strange new varieties of humans. It’s a volatile situation that threatens the peace and stability of the entire solar system.
Emerald Blair is a Troubleshooter. Inspired by the classic superhero comics of the twentieth century, she’s joined with other mods to try to police the unruly Asteroid Belt. But her loyalties are tested when she finds herself torn between rival factions of superhumans with very different agendas. Emerald wants to put her special abilities to good use and atone for her scandalous past, but what do you do when you can’t tell the heroes from the villains?
Only Superhuman is a rollicking hard-sf adventure set in a complex and fascinating future.
Library Journal‘s SF/Fantasy Debut of the Month for October 2012!
Among the Wild Cybers: Tales Beyond the Superhuman — $12.00 (20% off!): 2 available
When the line between life and technology blurs, humanity must adjust its understanding of the universe. From bestselling author Christopher L. Bennett comes Among the Wild Cybers, eight tales portraying a future of challenge and conflict, but also of hope born from the courage and idealism of those heroes willing to stand up for what is right.
An intrepid naturalist risks her future to save a new form of life that few consider worth saving.
An apprentice superhero must stand alone against an insane superintelligence to earn her name.
A cybernetic slave fights to save her kind from a liberation not of their choosing.
A seasoned diplomat and mother must out-negotiate fearsome alien traders to save a colony’s children.
A homicide detective serves in a world where curing death has only made murder more baffling.
These and other heroes strive to make their corners of the universe better—no matter how much the odds are stacked against them.
Includes the brand-new tale, Aspiring to Be Angels, prequel to the novel Only Superhuman.
Footprints in the Stars — $12.00 (20% off!): 3 available
To follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before, first we must find them.
Dreaded hope settles over mankind as we stare into the heavens, looking for a sign we are not alone. Fearing we will find it, puzzled when we don’t.
Among the stars or in our own backyard, lose yourself in the wonder of these tales as we humbly posit mankind’s reaction to the awesome certainty that ‘they’ are out there…or at least, they were…
Footprints in the Stars
With stories by Gordon Linzner, Ian Randal Strock, Robert Greenberger, Dayton Ward, Aaron Rosenberg, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jody Lynn Nye, Christopher L. Bennett, James Chambers, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Russ Colchamiro, Judi Fleming, and Bryan J.L. Glass
Hub Space: Tales from the Greater Galaxy— $8.50 (15% off!): 4 available
The Hub is the most important place in the galaxy — the single point through which all interstellar travel must pass. Yet no one in the galaxy understands how it works. David LaMacchia, an unimportant man from an unimportant planet called Earth, is determined to change that. He’s got no qualifications and no skills. His only friends are a cynical, sharp-tongued space pilot named Nashira Wing and a smugly philanthropic alien named Rynyan, and they both think he’s crazy. On top of that, the powers that profit from the Hub might just be trying to kill him. Still, that won’t stop David from trying to prove that humanity can make a difference to the greater galaxy.
Now the tales of the Hub from the pages of Analog are collected for the first time in one volume, newly revised and expanded! Includes “The Hub of the Matter,” “Home is Where the Hub Is,” and “Make Hub, Not War,” plus exclusive bonus material!
(Note: Print edition has blank spine, as it’s just a bit too thin for spine text to fit)
Crimes of the Hub — $11.00 (~15% off!): 4 available
The hapless heroes of Hub Space return with new jobs, new allies, and new adventures at the heart of the galaxy, in a novel expanded and revised from stories originally appearing in Analog.
Just when cynical space pilot Nashira Wing has finally started to enjoy helping David LaMacchia with his clueless quest to crack the secrets of the Hub Network, he’s hijacked by a crew of kittenish thieves and trapped in the treasure vault of a far older civilization. What he finds there gives Nashira a shot at the score of a lifetime—but changes David’s life in ways that threaten their friendship. To keep the devious masters of the Hub from getting their tentacles on Nashira’s prize, she and David must mend frayed relationships and navigate new ones, all while facing adventures in larceny, sex, bureaucracy, hyperspatial geometry, and radical body modification. Can they come through it all with their hearts, their identities, and their dignity intact?
Star Trek: The Original Series — The Higher Frontier — $16.00: 8 available
An all-new Star Trek movie-era adventure featuring James T. Kirk!
Investigating the massacre of a telepathic minority, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise confront a terrifying new threat: faceless, armored hunters whose extradimensional technology makes them seemingly unstoppable. Kirk must team with the powerful telepath Miranda Jones and the enigmatic Medusans to take on these merciless killers in an epic battle that will reveal the true faces of both enemy and ally!
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Star Trek: The Original Series — Living Memory — $16.00: 8 6 available
An all-new Star Trek movie-era adventure!
While attempting to settle in as commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral James T. Kirk must suddenly contend with the controversial, turbulent integration of an alien warrior caste into the student body—and quickly becomes embroiled in conflict when the Academy controversy escalates to murder. Meanwhile, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise and Commander Pavel Chekov of the USS Reliant are investigating a series of powerful cosmic storms seemingly targeting Federation worlds—unstoppable outbursts emitting from the very fabric of space. Endeavoring to predict where the lethal storms will strike next, Spock and Chekov make the shocking discovery that the answer lies in Commander Nyota Uhura’s past—one that she no longer remembers….
Star Trek: The Original Series — The Captain’s Oath — $16.00: 5 4 available
The saga of James T. Kirk’s historic command of the U.S.S. Enterprise is known throughout the galaxy. But one part of the legend has barely been touched upon until now: the story of Kirk’s first starship command and the remarkable achievements by which Starfleet’s youngest captain earned the right to succeed Christopher Pike as the commander of the famous Enterprise.
From his early battles with the Klingons to the rescue of endangered civilizations, Kirk grapples with difficult questions: Is he a warrior or a peacemaker? Should he obey regulations or trust his instincts? This thrilling novel illustrates the events and choices that would shape James T. Kirk into one of the most renowned captains in Starfleet history.
Star Trek: Mirror Universe — Shards and Shadows — $12.00 (25% off!): 3 available
Fractured history. Broken lives. Splintered souls. Since the alternate universe was first glimpsed in the classic episode “Mirror, Mirror,” something about Star Trek’s dark side has beckoned us, called to us, tempted us — like forbidden fruit on the Tree of Knowledge. To taste it is to lose oneself in a world of startling familiarity and terrifying contradictions, where everything and everyone we knew is somehow disturbingly different, and where shocking secrets await their revelation.
What began in 2007 with Glass Empires and Obsidian Alliances — the first truly in-depth foray into the turbulent history of this other continuum — now continues in twelve new short tales that revisit and expand upon that so-called “Mirror Universe,” spanning all five of the core incarnations of Star Trek, as well as their literary offshoots, across more than two hundred years of divergent history, as chronicled by…
Christopher L. Bennett – Margaret Wander Bonanno – Peter David – Keith R.A. DeCandido – Michael Jan Friedman – Jim Johnson – Rudy Josephs – David Mack – Dave Stern – James Swallow – Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore – Susan Wright
Star Trek: Titan — Přes dravé moře (Czech translation of Over a Torrent Sea) — $12.50 (~20% off): 4 available
As the Federation recovers from the devastating events of Star Trek: Destiny, Captain William Riker and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan are ordered to resume their deep-space assignment, reaffirming Starfleet’s core principles of peaceful exploration. But even far from home on a mission of hope, the scars of the recent cataclysm remain with them as they slowly rebuild their lives.
The planet Droplet is a world made mostly of water without a speck of solid ground. Life should not exist here, yet it thrives. Aili Lavena, Titan‘s aquatic navigator, spearheads the exploration of this mysterious world, facing the dangers of the vast, wild ocean. When one native species proves to be sentient, Lavena finds herself immersed in a delicate contact situation, and Riker is called away from Deanna Troi at a critical moment in their marriage.
But when good intentions bring calamity, Lavena and Riker are cut off from the crew and feared lost. Troi must face a life-changing event without her husband, while the crew must brave the crushing pressures of the deep to undo the global chaos they have triggered. Stranded with her injured captain, Lavena must win the trust of the beings who control their fate — but the price for Riker’s survival may be the loss of everything he holds dear.
(Federace se pozvolna zotavuje z ničivých událostí popsaných v trilogii Volání osudu. U.S.S. Titan a jeho kapitán, William T. Riker, přebírají nové rozkazy – mají pokračovat v průzkumu hlubokého vesmíru, aby tak stvrdili, že mírové bádání je stále tím hlavním posláním Hvězdné flotily. Avšak utržené rány se nechtějí zhojit ani tak daleko od domova. Planeta třídy O, přezdívaná Kapka, je zcela pokryta vodní plochou – jediným velkým oceánem. Život by tu vůbec neměl existovat, přesto se mu až neobyčejně daří. Navigátorka Aili Lavena, sama vodního druhu, je ideální kandidátkou na průzkum tohoto ohromného a divokého moře. Když náhodou objeví jeden vnímavý druh, ocitá se na delikátní stezce k prvnímu kontaktu. Jak to tak často bývá, dobré úmysly však přivodí situaci, ze které se Lavena a Riker nemusejí vrátit. Posádka bez kapitána mezitím čelí drtivým tlakům temných hlubin, ve snaze odčinit globální chaos, který nedopatřením sami rozpoutali.)
ST: ENT — Rise of the Federation: Patterns of Interference (Book 5) — $8.00: 3 2 available
The time has come to act. Following the destructive consequences of the Ware crisis, Admiral Jonathan Archer and Section 31 agent Trip Tucker both attempt to change their institutions to prevent further such tragedies. Archer pushes for a Starfleet directive of non-interference, but he faces opposition from allies within the fleet and unwelcome support from adversaries who wish to drive the Federation into complete isolationism. Meanwhile, Tucker plays a dangerous game against the corrupt leaders of Section 31, hoping to bring down their conspiracy once and for all. But is he willing to jeopardize Archer’s efforts—and perhaps the fate of an entire world—in order to win?
Less than two months after my previous Star Trek Adventures standalone campaign, Better Days, Modiphius has just released my latest campaign:
Star Trek Adventures: Native Soil
Assisting an archeological team on the planet Avalon leads to a shocking discovery and entangles the crew in a momentous cultural dilemma.
Your orders are to assist an archaeological team being led by an old friend of one of the ship’s command personnel. The planet’s original civilization was wiped out thousands of years ago by a radiation burst. Thankfully, the planet is no longer in danger and a new civilization has since flourished there.
The away team provides support at the digsite and are present when survivors of the original civilization are unearthed, held in stasis. This discovery will help answer a great archaeological puzzle, but poses an even greater challenge when the revived ancients make claims to the planet now inhabited by a new civilization.
Avalon is an independent colony and the Federation cannot dictate a solution, but the crew are invited to mediate in an attempt to relieve the impasse of ideals and demands. The away team’s advocates face difficult choices and protests from both sides–can they calm the situation and find a solution agreeable to all parties?
Although this is a standalone adventure, a one-page mission brief provides inspiration for continuing the mission.
This 22-page PDF adventure for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game is written by Christopher L. Bennett, and is set during The Next Generation era with the player characters being the crew of a Starfleet vessel. This adventure also contains advice on adaptation for use in campaigns based in other Star Trek eras.
This may be my newest release, but it’s one of my oldest story ideas, which I’ve reworked for various series over the years. I discuss its origins in my latest article for the Modiphius blog:
I’ve got two more STA projects written and waiting their turn, one approved and one still pending approval. They’re both interestingly different, and I look forward to announcing them.
It’s been a year and a half since my last Star Trek Adventures standalone campaign came out, but my latest one has finally been released! Here’s the official description:
Star Trek Adventures: Better Days
Complications suffered while traveling through the Bajoran Wormhole lead to a historically significant mission to Bajor itself.
Starfleet has directed your vessel to carry out a survey mission to the Gamma Quadrant. It should be a relatively simple exploratory mission but, having left Deep Space 9 behind, your passage through the Bajoran Wormhole causes some damage to the ship which forces you to return to the Alpha Quadrant. Further complications mean that you cannot seek help from Deep Space 9, so you must head to Bajor. But it is a very different Bajor than the one you were expecting to find.
The away team must locate the means to repair their ship, while delicately navigating the unexpected cultural situation on the planet. Difficult decisions need to be made regarding Starfleet directives and the future of the Bajor you find yourself upon. Will the crew be able to successfully infiltrate Bajoran society and find their way home without impacting the timeline?
Although this is a standalone adventure, a one-page mission brief provides inspiration for continuing the mission.
This 22-page PDF adventure for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game is written by Christopher L. Bennett, and is set during The Next Generation era with the player characters being the crew of a Starfleet vessel. This adventure also contains advice on adaptation for use in campaigns based in other Star Trek eras.
The summary is a bit circumspect about what’s going on in the game, but you can probably guess. I talk about it more openly in the behind-the-scenes blog article I wrote for Modiphius, which is here:
This month, Simon & Schuster’s Star Trek eBook Deals include my entire Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations series — both novels and all three e-novellas — for just 99 cents each, through September 4.
This means you can get the entire series for only about 5 dollars! Sounds like quite a deal.
Also on sale this month are Diane Carey’s classic George Kirk/Robert April novel Final Frontier, Christie Golden’s second post-finale Voyager novel The Farther Shore, Dayton Ward’s recent Original Series novel Agents of Influence, and Una McCormack’s Deep Space Nine: Hollow Men, a sequel to the episode “In the Pale Moonlight.”
I’m home at last, but the start of my trip today wasn’t quite as smooth as I hoped.
I got what counts as a decent night’s sleep for a motel, i.e. I woke up in the middle of the night, got up for a while, and eventually drifted off after who knows how long, only to wake up and find it was nearly 8 AM. That was good, since that was when the breakfast room opened. I expected I’d take something back to my room to eat, but the breakfast room was empty, so I had a quick bowl of cereal, coffee, and orange juice there, and also took a honey bun for later, which I completely forgot about until unpacking my food bag at home just now.
I asked the guy at the front desk where the nearest garage was, and he named one he’d frequented and thought well of, after steering me away from a closer auto parts place that didn’t do repairs. So I packed up my car and drove about a mile to that garage… and they told me they don’t do tires. Ack! I guess the motel guy never needed tire service from them.
So that garage’s guy directed me to a tire specialist about nine miles away, which meant, this being western Maryland, that it was across the border in West Virginia. They had an office on one side of the road and a garage on the other, which seems an odd setup. But they got a new tire on within about 15 minutes, for a bit under a hundred bucks, and I was on my way — after asking the woman in the office where the nearest place was to get coffee, since I’d forgotten to get a second cup from the motel before I left. That turned out to be a gas station mini-mart, which let me fill up (just over enough to get home) and get a deli sandwich for lunch and dinner. It was close to 10:30 by now, and I figured I needed both food and coffee to be fully alert, so I had half the sandwich right there.
Then I had to do a long, long drive through intermittently heavy rain. Remember how I estimated on the way out that there was a swath of about 2 hours between rest stops? Even though I was basically taking the same route in reverse, plus the ten or so miles from the gas station to the road, either I went much slower, the rest areas are asymmetrical, or I just underestimated it the first time. When I finally found a rest stop — after passing through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the northern skinny part of West Virginia and re-entering Ohio — I checked the time on my gas receipt and found I’d been driving nonstop for nearly four hours!
Well, at least that means I made good time, though I stopped more often on the Ohio part of the trip. That went about as usual, aside from several slowdowns due to construction and accidents. Or rather, due to most American drivers having no idea how to zipper merge, so they always create a bottleneck trying to crowd into a single lane. If they’d just slow down and allow room between cars, they could merge far more quickly. But in their selfish haste to get ahead rather than deferring to others, they make things slower for themselves as well as everyone else.
Also, of course, whenever someone’s going too slowly in the right lane and you try to pass them on the left, they inevitably speed up just then so you can’t pass them after all. And when you move back to the right lane behind them, they immediately slow down again.
So anyway, I initially put my phone away once I was on the last leg of I-71 and didn’t need directions. But then we hit another slowdown, and I realized I could still use the traffic info, so at a point when we stopped moving completely, I put the phone back in the clip and restarted Maps. I kept it going all the way home, and it was interesting to see the overhead map view of the route through Cincinnati that I know so well from ground level.
I was wary about getting home and finding it smelling of insecticide from the cockroach spraying, so I kept my mask on and vented out the place right away. But I saw or sensed no sign that anyone’s been in here since I left. I’d think they would’ve left a note if they’d sprayed, but there’s nothing. I guess I’ll ask tomorrow.
The phone clip is already half-broken, by the way. It still holds the phone, but one of the two springy rods that hold the movable part of the clip in place has already detached from that part. I guess that’s what I get for buying a cheap one.
And my right wrist still feels like I’m wearing the proof-of-vaccination wristband I wore all weekend, even though I tore it off more than a day ago.
Remember how ten years ago, on the way home from Shore Leave, I took too wide a turn into a driveway and gave myself two flat tires, so I had to stop for the night only a few hours into my trip home?
This time, at least it wasn’t my fault.
I was just over a hundred miles out from the convention, on I-70 just a few miles short of taking the exit to I-68, when I noticed something a bit wonky with my steering. I figured it was probably just the vagaries of the roadway, but then I started to hear an increasingly loud groaning sound. I vainly hoped it might just be the engine of the semi behind me, but the truck wasn’t that close. From the car’s performance, I realized I must have a flat. I kept going slowly forward in hopes of reaching the next exit, but I realized it was on the left and I couldn’t get over there. Plus I was starting to smell burning rubber (or maybe I just noticed that after I stopped and am rewriting the narrative in my head). I had no choice but to pull over to the shoulder, which seemed alarmingly narrow. I didn’t feel safe getting out to try to fix a flat on the driver side of the car, with other vehicles racing past behind me at 70 MPH or more. (It was a 70 MPH limit on that road, but of course, many freeway drivers interpret speed limits as lower limits.)
Feeling stuck in the car, I tried phoning my insurance agent, but it was after 5 PM on a Sunday, and their voice menu advised calling 911 in an emergency. I wasn’t sure mine was enough of an emergency to warrant 911, but I didn’t know what other options I had. The 911 operator directed me to the state police, who called a tow service for me.
As it happened, while I was waiting for the tow, a good samaritan (and a former Saturn owner, so I guess he felt a connection) pulled over and offered to help me put on the spare. He didn’t get too far before the tow service guy came along, and basically the latter guy just contributed his superior jack to make it go faster, and the good samaritan kept working on the tire until the small spare tire was in place. I guess that’s why the tow guy didn’t charge me. He was on his way before I even got to ask the question.
But I did ask how long the spare would last me, and he advised it was no good for more than 30 miles. It was also raining, another good reason to stop early. The tow guy told me of a motel a few miles away, which I then confirmed on GPS.
I’m typing this from my room there, which looks nice and clean even though the motel seems unimpressive on the outside. Still, I opened the window to let it air out before taking my mask off.
I was hoping the motel might be in the book of coupons I picked up from a rest area on the way out, something I always do in case of emergencies like this. But I couldn’t find it in the book. Still, the price isn’t bad, considering. I just hope the nearby garage doesn’t charge me too much tomorrow for a new tire.
The thing is, I asked the garage back home to check my tires before the trip, and they said they looked good. Still, the last entry I have in my computer for a new tire purchase is seven years ago. I was a bit concerned about their age before I left, and I guess it was warranted.
Still, all things considered, I got lucky. I had a tire blowout at 70 MPH on the freeway, and the car and I are otherwise whole and unhurt. I guess I’m lucky it was a rear tire on a front-wheel drive car. Otherwise, who knows? In any case, I’m grateful to the gentleman who stopped to help a stranded motorist. Thank you, sir, whoever you are.
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So anyway, the last day of Shore Leave went about as I expected. I got a pretty good night’s sleep, thanks to remembering to sleep on the folded-over comforter. Being stuffed from Andy Nelson’s BBQ and a slice of chocolate cake the evening before probably helped. Still, I hung out in my room all morning, getting in a bit of writing and getting ready to go, and I got my leftover BBQ sandwich and carrot sticks out of the room fridge for lunch. Then I went and got some ice to preserve the second half of the chicken sandwich I bought yesterday, which I was saving for dinner. I checked out before my noon stint in the “writer’s chimney,” but hit a bit of a snag when they disabled my room key early and I still had two bags in my room, since I was taking two trips to the car. So I had to go to the desk and ask them to reauthorize a key for me for the few minutes it took to get my bags out.
Things were slow at the author chimney, and I only sold one book. I only sold three in total this year, all Star Trek, even though I brought a bunch of my original books to sell. Still, I got to finish off with a nice panel talking about Sherlock Holmes. And I got to have some informative conversations with other writer guests, a couple of which might lead to new work opportunities. Here’s hoping.
And then I hit the road and drove for a while, and stopped at a rest area to have the chicken sandwich and some trail mix as an early dinner. Then I hit the road again with the goal of trying to make it at least halfway home before stopping. So much for that idea.
I guess now I should rest, recover, and count my blessings. Hopefully I’ll get a new tire pretty quickly in the morning and get home without further incident.
But wow, two post-Shore Leave flat tire events ten years apart. I’d better be careful after Shore Leave in 2032…
It’s Saturday night, I’m worn out and recovering in my hotel room, and it’s too soon after eating for me to lie down (I get heartburn), so I’m going to try to put together some coherent summary of the past few days.
The drive out was fortunately unremarkable. The car seemed to get pretty good mileage. My new phone clip helped a lot, making it easier to see the GPS screen, though it took some trial and error to find the best place for it. (I initially had it so the phone covered the car clock, so I moved it to the right vent. I tried using gorilla tape to hold the vent in place so it wouldn’t sag under the weight, but that tape’s stretchy, so I’m still working on that issue.) I took the most fuel-efficient route, which has a long swath in the middle of about 2 hours between rest stops, which wasn’t ideal. But the plus side was that I made it to Cousin Barb’s just before sunset, so I didn’t have to navigate a particularly tricky road in the dark. (I keep wanting to get in the left lane early for my turn, but I forget that road has a number of places where the left lane is turn-only.)
The main glitch I had was that night; I forgot my suitcase zipper had a damaged end, so the slider got stuck and I had to force the teeth open manually, making it impossible to close again. The next morning, I borrowed some scissors and cut the zipper so I could put the slider back on and close it for the trip, but the cut’s position means I can’t open it again without the slider coming loose again. I guess that suitcase is effectively a loss now. I can use it until I get home, but then I should probably replace it by next time.
I got some good news Friday morning, though. While I was doing some writing at Barb’s before going in to the con, I got an acceptance letter for a novelette I submitted a while back. I’ll talk more about that in a later post, since I like to wait until the contract’s signed. But it’s very good news. I think this is the second time I’ve gotten a story acceptance e-mail while writing at Barb’s kitchen table. I guess it’s good luck.
So I made a couple of sandwiches, ate one for lunch, and packed the other in my insulated bag of cold stuff. I figured I’d transfer it to my hotel room fridge and save it for dinner. I got into the hotel in the early afternoon, and I got my green wristband saying I confirmed my vaccination status, which everyone at the con needs. But the hotel was having computer problems and the check-in line wasn’t moving at all. I couldn’t handle the stress of being in a noisy, crowded lobby for an indefinite time, so I got out of there, walked around the grounds for a while, then went to the car and had the sandwich early, not wanting to leave it in the hot car too long even in a chilled bag. I finally went back and found the line still glacial, but at least moving a nonzero amount. I missed half my 4 PM panel because of it, but it was just talking about our new projects, so I got to do a bit of that once I showed up. I don’t have that much to talk about anyway, other than Tangent Knights and the recent Arachne duology.
Later that night, I had another panel, then the usual Meet the Pros signing event at 10 to midnight, which usually consists mostly of interacting with the fans in the first hour and mingling with other writers in the second. I had a bunch of books out to sell, lugged in a heavy double grocery bag, but I only sold two. It’s the first convention back; I guess things are slow.
I didn’t sleep well last night, because I forgot how firm the mattresses are here. I belatedly remembered my hack to fold the comforter over double and sleep atop it, for the extra cushioning. Hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight.
This morning, I had a makeshift breakfast in my room, then went across the street to the local grocery store on the theory that I could get a deli sandwich there for lunch cheaper than at the hotel cafe. It turned out that it actually cost more — oops. Well, at least I got my exercise in for the day.
I had a couple of interesting panels this afternoon, about worldbuilding and creating truly alien species. Then there was a “What’s New in Trek Literature” panel where we couldn’t really say much, because things have slowed down so much with Trek Lit these days. All I have upcoming are a few things for Star Trek Adventures. Later on, I joined a panel about what eSpec Books is doing, where we talked a bit about the Arachne duology.
In between, I got to talk to fellow writers and editors and do a bit of networking, which hopefully will lead to some new writing opportunities. So that made it a productive day.
Then there was the annual writers’ dinner, which we used to hold at Andy Nelson’s BBQ, but this time (like the last time pre-COVID), we had it catered in from there to the hotel. This was the one time I’d be in a group without my mask on, so I was hoping we’d have it outdoors for the ventilation, but stormy weather kept it inside. I know everyone there was vaccinated, so I just hope that was protection enough. Still, it was worth it for the food. And then they brought out chocolate cake for someone’s birthday, and I couldn’t pass that up despite being full and tired and wanting to call it a day. It was very good cake, but I am so stuffed now.
So that’s my past few days. Tomorrow, I’ll be signing books in the “author chimney” at the book vendor table downstairs, from 12-12:30. Then I have a 1 PM panel on Sherlock Holmes. After that, I’ll set out for home, since Cousin Barb and I agree it’s best if I don’t risk exposing her after the con. I’ll have to stay at a motel overnight, but I’ll stay masked and keep to myself.
Oh, and I don’t know yet if they sprayed my apartment for cockroaches while I was out. I guess I’ll find out once I’m home. Oh yes, and then I’ll have to see about getting a new microwave…
As I mentioned in my Shore Leave post earlier today, I dropped off my car this morning for the electrical repair work I needed done. The guy at my regular garage, which is about a one-mile walk from home, told me that they couldn’t identify the problem there, so they recommended that I take it to a shop about four miles away, a bit harder to get to, but a few minutes’ walk from a bus route. I’d been hesitant because I was reluctant to take the bus during the pandemic, but I finally had to get around to it to be ready for Shore Leave.
As it happened, I just missed the bus I should’ve taken and caught another one that used to go the same way past the university, but it turned out it actually goes a different way now. But the point where it diverged, a bit over halfway to home, was within what I consider manageable walking distance, past Burnet Woods and through the university. So I got off at that corner and walked the rest of the way. Two weeks ago, it might’ve been harder, since it’s uphill nearly all the way. But I’ve been taking pretty much daily walks lately and I’m feeling more fit.
I’d been worried that the electrical problem would be some complicated thing that they needed time to fix, or that there’d be a big backlog, given that I needed days’ advance notice to schedule the dropoff. I hoped it wouldn’t take so long that I’d be late for the trip. But as it turned out, they called me less than four hours after I dropped it off and told me they’d already fixed it, and done the basic maintenance and safety checks I asked for too!
Apparently they did a point-by-point inspection of the electrical system to try to identify where the fault was, and didn’t find an answer, which I guess is as far as my regular garage got. But then they looked a little deeper and found that there was simply a fuse missing! Apparently it’s so elementary that they didn’t think to look for it at first.
So it was an easy fix, but it left me with the need to travel to that garage twice in one day. I rested up a bit more, then tried to walk as far as I could. If it had been my only walk that day, I could’ve probably made it the whole way. But I only made it about a third of the way, maybe, before my knees advised me they’d had enough. So I sat and waited and took the bus the rest of the way, though I had a fair walk from the bus stop to the garage, this time through unfamiliar territory (though I had a map printout to follow).
So that went fine, except that on the drive back, the GPS tried to make me turn onto a closed road, and I had to do some awkward circling to try to get out of it. A police car went right by me while I was veering around confusedly, but fortunately didn’t seem to think it looked as dangerous as it felt to me, because they went right by. Oh, yes, and when I was nearly home, a cement truck blocked the intersection I had to pass through, but fortunately I was able to make a right turn to squeeze past it and then go left onto a parallel road… which was blocked by a delivery truck, so I made another left and a right to get back onto the intended road.
But now my car is back, and it’s fixed, and that’s one major thing off my pre-Shore Leave checklist.
I’ve signed up for a fair number of panels on Friday and Saturday, assuming everything goes smoothly with my car repair and travel. (I dropped off the car a bit over an hour ago, and they said they didn’t think it would take too long to fix — I hope they’re right. I tried out the car clip for my phone, and it worked okay, making it somewhat easier to see the GPS screen. I discovered I could use an elastic hair band over the clip ends from behind to hold the phone in the clip a bit more snugly. The drawback of the vent clip is that I’m not supposed to use it when the car heater is on, but that won’t be an issue until winter.)
Here’s where you’ll hopefully see me this weekend:
Friday, July 15
4pm, Salon F: The Latest and Greatest
David Mack, Richard C. White, Russ Colchamiro, Sherri Cook Woosley, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Heather E. Hutsell, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christopher L. Bennett, Christopher D. Abbott
Come find out what our authors have been working on! Hear about their newest books—and their next ones.
8pm, Salon E: Kick-Ass Heroes Who Don’t Kick Ass
Rigel Ailur, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christopher L. Bennett, Susan Olesen, TJ Perkins
What heroes triumph using brilliance, smarts, cleverness, guile, etc., instead of violence? The Doctor comes to mind, as do some iterations of Wonder Woman. Who else? Does that aspect of their character get overlooked too often and not receive the credit it deserves?
10pm-Midnight, Hunt-Valley Hallway: Meet The Pros
Meet your favorite Author and buy your favorite books from our Bookseller.
Saturday, July 16
12pm, Derby: Worldbuilding & the Star Trek Universe
Encompassing all of what’s new in Trek, from the shows to Star Trek Online to tie-in properties like comics, novels, and other media, this IP is expanding, with new creators and production designers bringing fresh perspectives.
2pm, Derby: Truly Alien Beings
Rigel Ailur, CLB, David Mack, Laura Ware
When have Star Trek and other franchises done uniquely different entities really well, and when not so well? Is this different from the fantastical—but not alien—creatures in Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Doctor Who? If so, how?
UPDATE: 5pm, Belmont: eSpec Books Presents
Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Aaron Rosenberg, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Russ Colchamiro, Mike McPhail, Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg, Hildy Silverman, Christopher L. Bennett
The newest from eSpec Books
Sunday, July 17
1pm, Salon F: The Game Is Afoot!
Michael Jan Friedman, Mary Fan, Roberto Rogow, Christopher D. Abbot, CLB
Sherlock Holmes never goes out of style, yet the famed sleuth is seeing renewed life with various stories, novellas, and two rumored series in the works with Robert Downey, Jr. Why does the man from Baker Street endure after all these years?
It seems I don’t really have any new or recent Star Trek projects to talk about, since there doesn’t appear to be a Star Trek Adventures panel this year. But I’ll be able to talk about my Arachne novels and Tangent Knights, and my past couple of Trek novels might come up somewhere.
We’re only five days from Shore Leave now, so only four days before I head out. I’ve been taking a few steps to get ready.
For one thing, I decided it was finally time to buy one of those things that lets you mount your smartphone in your car. For years now, I’ve just kept the phone in the cup holder between seats when I used GPS, which meant I had to look pretty far down to see the screen, which is less than ideal. Since I’m concerned with safety after being out of practice with long drives, I figured a phone mount would be a real help.
I couldn’t afford one of those elaborate stem-and-base ones that mount atop the dashboard, but I went looking at local stores for one of those little clips that you stick onto the air vent slats, which generally sell for only a few dollars. I didn’t find anything suitable at the stores I checked, but I did pick up some iced coffee and trail mix for the trip.
I got really gung-ho about this problem the other day for some reason, and after taking two separate walking trips to local stores with no result, I got caught up in trying to figure out some way to rig up a homemade phone mount. There are internet videos for such a thing, but I didn’t seem to have the appropriate parts. I realized, after experimenting a bit in the car, that the phone (in “widescreen” orientation) would fit neatly into the depression at the base of the ashtray/lighter compartment, which of course I never use anyway. (It’s a 2001 car, so it still had an ashtray/lighter.) That was only a little bit forward from the cup holder, but it might have given a somewhat better angle. It only fit in loosely, though, and might fall out from car vibrations. So I had the thought of creating some kind of lip around the depression to hold it in. I noticed I had some rope caulk lying around, and thought that might be worth a try.
I never got around to the attempt, though. Yesterday, it occurred to me belatedly that I should really get hold of some N95 masks. I picked up my allotted three free masks when the government handed them out months ago, and haven’t actually used any of them yet, but three isn’t enough, and the masks provided don’t seal well around my nose, so I don’t trust them not to fog my glasses. (Plus an imperfect seal defeats the purpose anyway.) So I did some research into what some of the best masks were, and ordered a set of 10 NIOSH-compliant masks from Amazon yesterday. While I was at it, I went ahead and bought a 6-dollar phone mount clip. However, since my previous Amazon order was delayed by a few days due to a delivery mixup, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I paid extra for one-day delivery.
As it happens, the Amazon driver was timely, but it’s fortunate that I was tracking the van on the site and was watching out from my balcony, since the driver left my delivery on the wrong doorstep, two doors down in my apartment complex, even though the building numbers are quite prominently displayed on the front windows. I didn’t have a chance to get out the front door and call to him before he was gone, but it was easy enough to pick up my items just after he left.
I promptly took the phone clip down to my car to see how it worked, and it took a little trial and error to determine that it needs to be mounted low on the vent grille, otherwise its weight tilts the vent downward. It also doesn’t clip the phone quite as firmly as I’d like, but I think I just need to make sure it’s fully inserted and completely flat against the back of the clip, since if it’s at an angle, the spring pressure pushes it out. I also have to clip the phone a bit below center to make sure the clip isn’t depressing the on/off button on the side. (Maybe I should put the clip around the phone first and then attach it to the vent.) Still, it looks like it should work adequately, and should be at least a somewhat better placement for the phone/GPS than the cup holder was, or the ashtray depression would’ve been.
As for the N95 masks, they’re still sealed in a bag, but they clearly have some pretty heavy, robust metal nose clips built in, so hopefully that means no fogged glasses.
Usually on my trips, I bring along a metal flask of filtered ice water, plus I put my 2-quart plastic jug of filtered water in the freezer overnight beforehand so I have replacement ice water all day. Now, in the past few years, I’ve started buying iced tea bags, the result of a grocery substitution mixup that turned out to my advantage. So it occurred to me that I could make a batch of iced tea, pour it into a washed-out empty 2-quart juice bottle, and freeze it overnight as well. That way I get a bit of extra caffeination on my drive.
The biggest thing I have yet to do is to take my car in for maintenance, which will be tomorrow morning. As I mentioned last time, I hope they can get it fixed promptly, since I’m cutting it kind of close.
In short, I’m spending a fair amount for this trip. Gas prices seem to be on the way down at last, but it seems unlikely that I’ll sell enough books at the con to turn a profit for the whole thing. As I mentioned before, though, readers can help me out through PayPal donations or Patreon subscriptions.
Well, it’s been a few years, but the Shore Leave convention in Baltimore is finally being held physically again, from July 15-17 at what’s now known as the Delta Hotels Baltimore Hunt Valley. I plan to attend.
I’m actually rather nervous about it, because the pandemic is still raging. But the convention’s COVID policy requires all attendees to be vaccinated, and I just got my second booster last week. I’m concerned that masks are encouraged but not required, but I’ll certainly be staying masked.
Honestly, I’ve been sorely tempted to cancel and just stay home. I’ve become quite a hermit since the pandemic started, and I have a strong urge just to remain here in my cocoon and not take any avoidable risks. It’s not just COVID; this will be my first long drive in three years, and not only are gas prices high due to the fuel companies’ price gouging, but I gather the rate of traffic accidents has risen sharply since the pandemic.
But I think the strength of the fear I’m feeling is exactly why I need to resist it and do this anyway. I can’t let myself be paralyzed by fear for the rest of my life. These are scary times, but life has to go on even in such times. I do miss seeing my writer friends, and Shore Leave can be an opportunity for networking, which is important as I seek to line up new work for the latter part of the year and beyond. Plus it’s my first chance to promote the Arachne duology and Tangent Knights in public, and sell signed copies of Arachne and my last couple of Star Trek books, which will hopefully let me turn a small profit from the trip (assuming gas and car maintenance don’t eat it all up). And with my vaccination freshly updated, I’m probably about as protected as I can be. Besides, if so many of my fellow writers feel it’s reasonably safe to do this, I guess I’m at no more risk than they are, and the only difference is whether I let my fear control me. Fear has held me back too often in my life, and I’ve regretted it too many times.
Indeed, these past few years have been a rough patch for me and I’ve been dealing with depression. If I backed out and missed the chance to see my friends and my readers for the first time in three years, I’d regret it and maybe sink deeper into depression. And that’s a health risk as much as COVID is. I need to take a chance on living my life again.
Anyway, I just did some browsing, and it looks like the traffic accident rate is in proportion to the number of miles driven, so maybe it’s not a real increase in danger, just a statistical artifact of people driving more (perhaps because they’re flying less?). It also seems to be linked largely to speeding and not wearing seatbelts, and I’m a pretty safe driver as a rule. I’ve been driving since 2008, and I’ve only been in one accident, on the way home from Shore Leave a decade ago, which only resulted in two flat tires and a cracked side mirror.
Still, my car is way overdue for maintenance and a significant electrical repair I’ve been putting off. I’m trying to schedule an appointment with the garage recommended for that repair by my usual garage, but apparently they can’t see me until next week, and I hope I haven’t put it off too long. I always procrastinate and cut things too close.
Anyway, hopefully I’ll get the car sorted and I won’t chicken out, and will see some of you (or at least the top halves of your faces) at Shore Leave a bit over a week from now.
And just a reminder, if anyone would like to help out with my transportation expenses, you can use the PayPal “Donate” button here on Written Worlds, or subscribe to my Patreon.
Happy anniversary! The Written Worlds blog debuted a dozen years ago today, on November 29, 2009. I was pretty prolific at the beginning, writing a half-dozen posts including introductory comments, an announcement of my 2009 Star Trek movie tie-in novel (which was later cancelled), some slice-of-life observations, and a book series review. I also wrote an introductory post summarizing the different fictional universes I’d written professionally up to that point, by way of explaining the blog title:
I always hoped that, in time, I’d be able to make a new, longer list of universes I’d gotten into print. I figure this is as good a time as any, though as it turns out, the list of universes is only slightly longer than it was a dozen years ago. Instead, it’s gotten deeper, and evolved in other ways.
Starting again with the licensed universes, which are the same ones as before:
Star Trek. This is the world that still constitutes the majority of my published prose work, though not quite as large a majority anymore. In the past dozen years, I’ve added 11 more novels and four e-novellas, nearly all of them in just three series: Department of Temporal Investigations, Enterprise: Rise of the Federation, and Original Series books set outside the TV series time frame (one before TOS, one between TOS & the Animated Series, two in the movie era). These still include two alternate timelines, the Mirror Universe and the timeline of Myriad Universes: Places of Exile, though the “Abramsverse”/Kelvin Timeline novel I wrote in 2009 ended up not getting published. I guess my post-Nemesis novels and e-novellas are now in an alternate timeline as well, for the novel continuity they were set in has now been contradicted by Star Trek: Picard, and the current Coda trilogy has reconciled the “Novelverse” as an alternate history. I’ve also contributed a number of game campaigns to Star Trek Adventures, whose continuity is distinct from that of the novels while borrowing some elements from them. Arguably those campaigns constitute an open-ended number of alternate worlds, a new one for each gaming group that plays them.
Marvel Comics. Still only two entries here, X-Men: Watchers on the Walls and Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder. The only change is that both now have audiobook adaptations, a single-narrator edition for WotW and a full-cast dramatized adaptation for DiT.
The list of my original universes is somewhat different, though:
Arachne/Troubleshooter Universe. The primary universe I’ve been developing for most of my life, an optimistic hard-SF future history spanning centuries. This was what I simply called my “Default” universe back in ’09, even though I only had two published novelettes in it at the time. By now, it encompasses the novels Only Superhuman, Arachne’s Crime, and Arachne’s Exile, plus about a dozen short stories. Its published entries to date basically break down into subgroups focused around two stages of the universe’s history: the Troubleshooter period, when genetically and bionically modified superheroes keep the peace in the Main Asteroid Belt, and the interstellar era centered around the Arachne duology or growing out of its events. I’d hoped this would be a significantly longer entry by now, but I’m glad to have made the progress I have. And hey, at least I finally have a name for the darn thing, albeit a bit of a cumbersome one.
The Hub. A hard-SF comedy universe revolving around the Hub, the one and only means of FTL travel and thus the nexus of all interstellar civilization, with humanity as a minor, backwards culture struggling to make a name for itself. This was just one story back in my original list; now it’s a series of six stories, basically two trilogies, collected in the volumes Hub Space: Tales from the Greater Galaxy and Crimes of the Hub, the latter of which has the length and structure to qualify as a short novel. I’m still hoping for more stories to follow.
Tangent Knights. This is the most significant addition to the list, an original series of dramatized full-cast audio novels from GraphicAudio, a hard-SF superhero narrative inspired by Japanese tokusatsu adventure series and built around unused comic-book premises and characters I created back in the 1990s. Only the first book, Caprice of Fate, is out as of this writing, but a whole trilogy has been written, and there’s a good chance there will be more. This could soon be my largest original written world. Or worlds, as it encompasses numerous parallel quantum realities.
Thayara. My first published stab at a fantasy universe, set in the early industrial era of an alternate Earth whose evolution and culture were shaped differently by the presence of the Wyrd, a magical force that resonates with sentient minds. It includes two stories so far, “The Science of Sacrifice” and “The Melody Lingers,” both of which are available on my Patreon page, though only “Melody” was previously published professionally.
Miscellaneous standalones. I now have a fair number of individual stories in their own distinct continuities, including the professionally published “No Dominion” (the “To Be Announced” entry in my 2009 post) and “Abductive Reasoning,” and seven of my self-published Patreon stories as of this writing. It’s conceivable that some of these standalones could share a universe with one another, but I’ve established no links between them as of yet. Some are pure one-shots, such as the comedies “Abductive Reasoning” and “Growth Industry,” but there are some set in universes that have potential for continuation in further stories:
“No Dominion”: A world where medical science has made death largely curable, creating new challenges.
“The Moving Finger Writes“: An interstellar future featuring an ancient network of time-travel wormholes.
“The Monsters We Make“: A hard-SF take on kaiju/giant monsters invading the Earth.
“What Slender Threads“: A multiverse premise of a different sort grounded in brane theory, an alternate approach to some of the ideas of Tangent Knights.
So in the past dozen years, I’ve gone from four original short stories set in three universes to at least six novels and over two dozen stories set in multiple different universes, at least four of which encompass multiple stories. That’s fairly significant progress, though still less than I’d hoped for.
Going forward, I think I’m likely to focus largely on expanding the universes I have. As you can see, my recent attempts at starting new short-fiction universes have largely gone unsold and had to end up on Patreon. Starting a new universe, at least the kind of worldbuilding-heavy universes I favor, is more suited to novels than short fiction. And I’m always interested in fleshing out my existing universes in more depth. But you never know. A new story idea might strike me that doesn’t fit any of my existing universes. Or, as with Tangent Knights, I might be offered an opportunity that requires creating something new.
So I wonder how this list will change over the next dozen years. Will the written worlds have increased more in number or in size and depth? Will I add more licensed universes? Will I finally have reached the point where my original fiction output surpasses my licensed output? Will I even have to wait another dozen years before this list deserves another update? Only time will tell.
Well, the good news is, I’ve now been paid for the concluding volume of the Tangent Knights trilogy. It was cutting it a bit close, which is my own fault for running behind, but the money’s in the bank at last. Also, with TK done, I had time to finally finish revising a couple more Star Trek Adventures standalone games, and I’m awaiting approval and payment on those. So I daresay I’m probably okay for the next half-year or so now, barring disasters.
Things are still a bit iffy going forward, though. I’ve already pitched an idea for more Tangent Knights novels, and I’ve got a couple of new things tentatively lined up with Star Trek Adventures, all of which I’m waiting to hear back on. I expect my projects with both publishers to go forward, but I’m not sure when they’d be likely to pay out. So my long-term prospects are a little uncertain right now, but at least I have time to try to line up some additional sources of income to bridge the gap, if it proves necessary.
You’re probably wondering about Star Trek novels. Let’s just say things are up in the air with those right now, and I’ve learned over the past few years that it was unwise to rely too heavily on them as my primary source of income, given the unexpected delays and slow periods that tend to crop up. So until I hear otherwise, my current priorities are elsewhere — Tangent, STA, my other original work as time allows, and whatever else I can line up over the months ahead. Ideally, I hope to find the time to start writing a third Arachne novel.
Gaining more Patreon subscribers would certainly help. I fell behind on preparing new Patreon content while I was writing TK3, but I’ve been trying to catch up. I’m currently 3/4 of the way through a review of the 8-episode Japanese miniseries Miss Sherlock, which reinvents Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as modern-day women in Tokyo. After that, starting on October 26, I’ll begin covering the mindbending 1998 cyberpunk anime series Serial Experiments Lain, in an edited repost of the detailed reviews I wrote in 2009 for a now-defunct incarnation of the ExIsle BBS, so they probably no longer exist online in their original form. That will carry my review series through to the end of the year, so I’ll hopefully have time to rebuild my inventory.
I’m also working on a new Patreon story that I hope to have ready by the end of October. It’s a character vignette (well, longer than a vignette) filling in a significant bit of overlooked backstory for one of my favorite characters from Arachne’s Crime. Some of it might find its way into the third Arachne novel if I ever get around to it, or at least it might help me flesh out ideas for that book.
Also, I now have an author copy of Tangent Knights 1: Caprice of Fate, so I’ll finally be able to do annotations, which I was waiting to do until I could hear the final version and get the timings for my notes. I want to get the Patreon story finished up before I tackle that, though.
I also have a new Troubleshooter story that I’ve been trying to sell, but a couple of the markets I was hoping to offer it to have dried up recently. If I run out of other options, it’ll end up on Patreon.
I’m wrestling with an idea for what might be a new Hub story. It’s a concept I’ve had in mind for years, a fairly dark comedy premise. I already tried writing it once as a standalone story, but I wasn’t satisfied with the result; it turned out less comedic than I intended. I have an idea for how to take another stab at the concept in the Hub setting, but I’m not sure if the plot specifics can really work there. So that’s still up in the air.
I keep a list taped to my door of the projects I plan to tackle in a given year, and I usually end up disappointed by how few of them I actually get done. I suppose it’s not as bad as it looks, though, since I got most of the biggest things done, except for Arachne 3. The things I haven’t checked off are mostly outlines or tentative short story ideas. My problem is that it’s hard for me to focus on more than one thing at a time. If I were better at multitasking, I could get some of these smaller things done during breaks in the bigger things. But it’s hard for me to split my focus that way. Indeed, part of why I was late with TK3 is because I took a break from it to finish an STA game and it took longer than intended. But then, almost all my writing takes longer than intended.
Maybe I’d do better if I were more financially secure and less stressed. I’m somewhat better off in that regard than I was last year, thanks to GraphicAudio and Tangent Knights. But it’s not as much of an improvement as I’d hoped for, due to various delays. So I’m hanging on, but the long-term uncertainty remains.
A blog named Bad Girls, Good Guys, and Two-Fisted Action, the Writing Blog of Sean Taylor, is running a series of interviews with eSpec Books authors, and mine was posted today:
I talk about Star Trek: Living Memory and the Arachne duology, and also drop some hints about “the new project I can’t talk about,” which was actually Tangent Knights, since the interview was conducted before that project got announced. So it’s not as thorough an interview as I would’ve liked it to be, but it’s got some good stuff in it. So feel free to take a look!
Well, the second (and hopefully last) virtual Shore Leave weekend is over, and all the panels are viewable on Shore Leave’s YouTube channel. Here are the three I was part of:
Star Trek Adventures RPG Update
eSpec Books Presents
(Man, the screencap caught me at a bad moment there…)
What’s New in Star Trek Literature
I’m harder to see in the first panel because I hadn’t yet figured out how to frontlight myself decently at my desk. For the Sunday panels, I used the emergency flashlight in my portable car battery jumpstarter pack, resting on one of the shelves of my computer-desk hutch, with a sheet of tracing paper in front of it as a diffuser to soften the light and protect my eyes.
It was nice to see and hear from my writer friends and colleagues again, to talk about my own work and to hear what’s going on with my publishers’ upcoming projects. Hopefully some of what we talked about will lead to new projects for me in the future.
UPDATE: The Trek Literature panel has been moved from 10 AM Sunday to 3 PM Sunday (Eastern Time), for the convenience of our panelists who live further west. I’ve edited accordingly.
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I should’ve begun hyping this sooner, but the second virtual Shore Leave convention is being held online this weekend, July 10-11. (Hey, it’s not like you need to make travel plans.) The schedule has just gone online, and it looks like they’re organizing the Zoom panels into “rooms” corresponding to the usual panel rooms at the convention hotel, though I’m not quite sure how that will work. You can find the schedule here:
Modiphius Entertainment’s Star Trek Adventures RPG heads into its fifth year. Check in for the latest news on current and upcoming releases and Q&A with the STA project manager and several STA writers.
Sunday July 11, 11 AM
eSpec Books Presents: Tack
Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jenifer P. Rosenberg, Aaron Rosenberg, Hildy Silverman, Mary Fan, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Robert Greenberger, Russ Colchamiro, Christopher L. Bennett
eSpec Books shows off a wealth of new titles, including the brand-new Systema Paradoxa novella series featuring a whole host of cryptid creatures rarely seen before.
Sunday July 11, 3 PM
What’s new in Star Trek Literature: Salon D
Scott Pearson, Dayton Ward, John Jackson Miller, David Mack, Kirsten Beyer, Christopher L. Bennett
Some good things have been happening with writing projects these past few days, although I can’t go into specifics. I got a comfortably large check from the publisher of the big project that I hope will be announced soon, and there’s still one more installment to follow in another 2-3 months, so I should now be financially set through early next year at least. I’m happy with how promptly this publisher pays.
Meanwhile, a feeler I put out a while back to a different publisher unexpectedly bore fruit this week, when their editor reached out to ask about my interest in some upcoming projects they’re developing. As it happens, they have one thing in the works that’s a good fit for me, and they’ve asked me to work up a couple of pitch ideas for them. It means I’ll have to split my focus from my current project over the next few weeks, which should slow me down a bit, but I have enough of a cushion before my deadline that I should be able to pull it off. If they accept one of my pitches, that will be the next thing I tackle once the current project is done, and should keep me busy for the rest of the year. If not, I may get another chance with them in the future. It could be a pretty interesting project, and quite a change of pace from my current one. About the only thing they have in common is that I can’t say what they are.
Well, except that they aren’t Star Trek. I’ve been thinking for a long time that I needed to diversify my publishing connections beyond Trek and Gallery (formerly Pocket) Books, so I wouldn’t be in such a fix at the times the Trek work slows down for whatever reason. I’m glad that I’m finally managing to do that, with my Arachne duology from eSpec, my current secret project, and this new opportunity that’s just come along.
I guess the one good thing writing-wise that I can talk about in specific terms is that Star Trek: The Original Series — Living Memory has now been out for ten days and is getting mostly very good reviews so far, from what I’ve seen. Oh, and Analog‘s book reviewer, the late Don Sakers, covered Arachne’s Exile in his final review column and called it “a fun, exciting read.” So that’s bittersweet. (Here’s the link, but it’s a “current issue” link, so it should only work until the next issue comes out.)
One other good thing is that the Brood X cicadas seem to be gone already, a week or two ahead of predictions. So I should be able to resume normal outdoor activities at last, which means I can start taking more walks and get back into shape.
All in all, then, a fairly good week. Let’s hope it lasts…
I’m just back from another post-vaccination venture. I was out of a few grocery items, including sliced bread, since on my last pickup order, they substituted a smaller size than I wanted. I didn’t need enough to justify a whole pickup trip, and I was getting a little tired of not being in control of substitution choices, so I decided I’d make a quick in-person trip inside the store, for the first time in over a year.
It wasn’t as quick as I would’ve liked, though, since they’ve rearranged some things, and I’ve gotten rusty anyway. I had a hard time finding where they kept the mayonnaise now. Otherwise, though, it went pretty smoothly, aside from being fairly crowded. Most people were masked, at least; the one unmasked person I noticed was a guy who stood in the middle of the aisle and didn’t make way for me when I said “Excuse me.” Go figure.
I see that they’re phasing out disposable plastic bags in favor of reusable bags, due to a recent law banning the former. I guess that explains why I’ve stopped seeing those ubiquitous plastic bags in my pickup orders; now I get a more robust, theoretically reusable kind of plastic bag, though they’ve been piling up in my closet until my last grocery trip before this one, where I unloaded a bunch of them into the recycling bin inside the store foyer. The self-checkout thingy offered me the option to buy several reusable bags, but I was in too much of a hurry to figure out how that worked.
Honestly, I prefer the convenience of pickup — not having to negotiate crowds and search for items I don’t know where to find is a plus. The ideal would be to use that as my default and only make occasional side trips for things I didn’t get on pickup. But sooner or later, they’re going to reinstate the extra pickup fee that they’ve waived due to the pandemic, and at that point, I’ll probably have to go back to shopping the old-fashioned way.
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Another thing I meant to do on this trip was something very, very long overdue: mailing the last two autographed Star Trek novels that I sold last year but never got around to sending out, due to my reluctance to go into the post office and my lack of a working printer to print out postage labels for home pickup. Those aren’t issues anymore, so I’m finally ready to mail those books out at last. However, when I got to the post office, the parking lot was full, which meant it would’ve been quite busy inside, and I wasn’t comfortable doing both that and a grocery trip on the same day. Even with vaccines and masks, it’s best to avoid spending too much time in crowded indoor places. So I had to give the post office a miss today. I’ll try again tomorrow, hopefully at a less busy time. I’m really sorry to my buyers for the absurdly long wait, but it’s almost over now. (Andrew S., if you read this, please confirm you still have the same address as last year.)
Christopher L. Bennett: Written Worlds 
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