Science Fiction / Fantasy
Publisher: Space Wizard Science Fantasy
Date Published: November 2017
On a bright August day, the sun disappears.
Sam van Oen barely escapes freezing to death in his house, as his watch stops and fire ceases to burn. He is pulled into the Nether—a nexus between ten alien cultures—where he meets Rilan and Origon, two maji who can control the musical foundation of the universe. While coping with anxiety attacks prompted by his new surroundings, Sam must learn to hear and change the Symphony, and thus reality, in order to discover what happened to his home.
But more freezing voids like the one that started his journey are appearing, and Sam’s chances of getting back are fading. The Assembly of Species is threatening to dissolve and the maji are being attacked by those they protect, while rumors grow of an ancient, shape-changing species of assassins, returning to wage war.
The Dissolution is coming.
Support the Kickstarter
Guest Post:
Evolving as a
writer:
It’s
been said a writer needs to put about a million words to paper (or electronic
words to screen) before becoming a writer ready to publish. This estimate may
be slightly high, especially in today’s fast and varied book market, but the
idea is sound. Just as with any profession, you need to practice to get better.
I’ve
been writing consistently for about ten years now, and finally felt I was good
enough to self-publish last year. I put out two novellas, and this year I’m
Kickstarting a novel in the same universe, which contains music-based magic,
aliens, and a grand space opera. I would say it’s my “first” novel, except it’s
not. I’ve written about eight books so far, though not all of them are good
enough to see the light of day. Over that time I’ve changed as a writer, tackling
different and more challenging topics.
Meeting
more of my fellow writers has opened my eyes to a lot of different stories, as
well as a lot a different ways of living. I’ve started putting more female
leads in my writing, as well as making sure I have an even gender distribution.
I am also working on more inclusion of LGBT characters, and making sure their
stories are reflective of how people of differing sexual orientations see
themselves.
On
the prose side, I believe I’ve become a lot deeper and darker in what I write
as time goes on. I try to keep my stories generally lighthearted, but I’ve
started to see themes I didn’t pursue before that lead into very complex social
issues, like distribution of power, racial and gender relations, and the
definition of what we would call a villain. There is more gray, where there
used to be a lot of black and white.
The
way I write has changed as well. I still outline extensively before writing,
taking a few days to type out a bunch of connected thoughts about the story. Once
I hit a thread I really like, I’ll make a bulleted list of events or scenes,
then go back and forth until I have about nine to twelve pages of an outline.
However, now I spend more time in the revision stage than in the writing stage.
I’ve learned how to get the basic idea out relatively fast, then go back to add
in any beats I was missing, to get exactly the reader reaction I want. Usually
I have several major changes to the story during the first edit, and less
during the second and third.
Have
I hit a million words? Well, yes, I have. But I’m going to continue to improve
my craft, every time I sit down to write, because I only want to put out the
best works I can.
About the Author
William C. Tracy is a North Carolina native and a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy. He has two self-published novellas available: Tuning the Symphony, and Merchants and Maji, both set in his Dissolutionverse. The Kickstarter for the first novel, The Seeds of Dissolution, will run in August/September 2017.
He also has a masters in mechanical engineering, and has both designed and operated heavy construction machinery. He has trained in Wado-Ryu karate since 2003, and runs his own dojo in Raleigh. He is an avid video and board gamer, a reader, and of course, a writer. He and his wife also cosplay, and he has appeared as Tenzin, Jafar, and in several steampunk outfits.
In his spare time, he wrangles three cats and a bald guinea pig, and his wife wrangles him (not an easy task). They both enjoy putting their pets in cute little costumes and making them cosplay for the annual Christmas card.
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