Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Release Day for Trust: Book One of the Narvan and IWSG

Oh happiest of days! The much long awaited (for me, anyway) release of Trust is today! The earliest seed of this book came from a short story I wrote in the early eighties. Yes, you read that right. Roughly thirty-six years and countless entirely different versions of the story later, I can finally hold this book in my hands and share it with all of you. 

Trust is a space opera, and the first book of a series. Four books are currently written, the first three are under contract. What am I working on now? Putting the finishing touches on book two: Chains of Grey which is slated to be out before the end of the year.

War has torn Vayen Ta'set's homeworld apart. It took away his parents and then his brother, leaving him alone. He's spent his life training to join the fight, to do his part, to bring peace to Artor. But the war ends before he's able to join in, quietly brought about by a human, Anastassia Kazan. When she offers him a job as her bodyguard, he's sure he's finally found his place.


He's wrong. She's not who he thought she was. The peace she brought to Artor, to his entire star system, comes with a cost. One he's now helping her pay. There are bigger enemies out in the known universe than he ever imagined. Without Kazan, deals and truces will crumble. War is just a death away.


Neck deep in Kazan’s world of bribes, blackmail, and assassins, Vayen must eliminate the threats to his boss and his homeworld without becoming a target himself. It’s hard to make your mark on the universe if you’re dead.


Currently, the print copy is available through the publisher, Caffeinated Press. As is the e-book. Did you know that buying direct through the publisher or the author puts the most pay back in the author's hand? Don't want to pay shipping? I'll be all over Michigan this year with all of my books. Trust is available in all the usual places:

Amazon / and the rest that I'll put here when I have the links from the publisher.


Hey, look! It's the first Wednesday of the month and I'm remembering to post this time. I'll just be over here, patting myself on the head. Carry on.


If you're not familiar with 

This month's questions is: If you could use a wish to help you write just one scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be?


I'd use that wish to write a stellar first chapter that was both engaging and at the right darn place to start the story the first time around. If you've never written a story, you have no idea how hard that is and how much time, grief and grey hair that would save.

So where can I sign up for this wish? We won't dwell on how many beginnings Trust has had. I've lost count. At one point the working title of book was The Beginning. Which was horrible, but accurate for as many time as I rewrote the entire thing and started it in all different places until the story finally clicked into place. Wait. Does this mean I used my wish without knowing about it, all those years ago?

Opening chapters are hard. It seems to be a common thing we all complain about it. Finding the right scene, the right level of tension, of world building, the correct character to tell the story at that moment, all of that has to fall into place. I don't usually figure out where that is on the first draft. Or even on the second, on occasion. Sometimes it takes a critique partner to help pin down the right scene or even chapter to become the opening, someone not quite so close to all the precious words.

Which scene or chapter would you use your wish on?

8 comments:

  1. Jean, I agree with you, the first chapter has to grab onto the reader, especially the first paragraph where they want to read more. I hone those first three chapters, in hopes of catching their attention.

    Congrats on Trust!!! It sounds amazing!!!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, the first three seem to be a major focus and the story generally falls into place after that.

      Thanks!

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  2. Welcome from a fellow Michigander. Yes first chapters can be a real pain. I've redone mine a couple of times, and I'm still not sure I've got it right.

    I see that you might be stopping by Southfield in May. Maybe I'll drop by and say hello.

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    Replies
    1. That would be great. I'll be at Pengicon all weekend. Hope to see you there.

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  3. Hi Jean - congratulations on the release of the first of your series ... brilliant you've got three under contract ... and you are still writing other stories - all the best - cheers Hilary

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  4. Getting started on a project can be difficult for me which means the first chapter would be tough. Not that I've completely finished any novel yet. And actually once I got started with the writing the first chapters weren't so difficult. I tend to get stuck in the middle.

    Congratulations on your book release!

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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  5. Congrats on the release!

    And yes, first chapters are tough. They have to do so many contradictory things in such a short space of time, it's a balancing act between too much and too little, too fast, too slow ... enough to drive a writer to drink :)

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  6. I agree about first chapters. They need to capture the reader and make them read on. I think you've done a good job on TRUST's first chapter. I was drawn in from page one. Wishing you much success.

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