Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction books, including the Star Wanderers and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus. He claims Utah as his home.
So one of my goals this summer is to release POD (print-on-demand) editions for the three novels I currently have up as ebooks (Genesis Earth, Bringing Stella Home, and Desert Stars). I started with Genesis Earth a couple of days ago, and wow! I had no idea that getting a book ready for print could be so much fun!
I just finished formatting and typesetting the interior today, and it looks pretty awesome! Drop caps, chapter headings, page numbers, a pleasingly arranged text–there’s something immensely satisfying about paper, an experience that ebooks (as awesome as they are) just don’t quite capture. If I weren’t a writer, I’d be a typesetter–but because I’m an indie, I can be both!
As with ebooks, the learning curve for print formatting is pretty steep, but I think I’ve got the hang of it. The guys over at Kindle Boards gave me a lot of helpful advice, and sent me a really awesome POD guide that’s been a lifesaver. My editor (who’s also trained in typesetting) gave it a once over too, so I think we’re in good shape.
Barring any unforeseen complications, the print version of Genesis Earth should be up in a couple of weeks. The cover art is more or less done–I just need to revise the blurb, send the PDFs out to CreateSpace, and wait for the proof to come in the mail.
One thing I’m wondering is whether to go with the free ISBN (which will list CreateSpace as the publisher) or to spend $10 and go with my own imprint. My gut tells me to go with the free option–not because it’s cheap so much as because it’s less complicated–but I wonder if there might be some advantages down the road to taking the other.
ISBNs, imprints, and distribution channels, oh my…I’ll have to save that for another post a little later. 🙂
When it comes to weddings, most of us like to plan things out in advance. It’s not uncommon for couples to spend years figuring each other out before they finally tie the knot. So what happens when you wake up one morning and find yourself married by accident to a complete and total stranger?
This trope generally comes in two forms:
Situational: Two people from the same culture end up in a comedic situation where, quite unintentionally, they end up marrying each other. Often takes place in Las Vegas and/or involves some form of intoxication. Usually, neither of them has a clue what they’re getting into until it’s too late.
Cross-Cultural: While traveling in a foreign land, the hero unwittingly marries the chieftain’s daughter through a hilarious cultural misunderstanding. Typically, the guy is the oblivious one, while the girl knows exactly what’s she’s doing, though the gender roles do occasionally get reversed.
The characters are never the kind of people who would just up and leave their spouse, though–that would ruin the story. For that reason, they’re usually both decent, likable people, at least at first. But even if they decide to stick together, they usually have to work through a ton of (often hilarious) challenges first.
When part of the main storyline, this trope is often used as the setup for a romantic comedy (since the alternative is, well, kind of a downer). When done well, it combines the awkwardness of a blind date with all of the angst and anticipation that comes along with wedding and marriage. There’s a variety of ways that the situation can be resolved, and the longer things drag out, the more reasons the couple finds for sticking things out.
That’s not always the case, of course. In the “Our Mrs. Reynolds” episode of Firefly, what starts out as an accidental marriage between Mal and Saffron turns into…well, something else.
Within science fiction & fantasy, this is probably the most prominent example of this trope. The first half of the episode plays it straight, with Mal participating in a ceremony that seems innocent enough, but later turns out to be a marriage. At first, he tries to get out of it, but one thing leads to another, and…well, go rewatch the episode!
Another good example of this is found in the movie Jeremiah Johnson. The titular character, a former confederate soldier turned mountain man, finds himself a guest of the Flathead Indians. The chief asks about a number of horses and scalps he acquired, and Jeremiah, who never wanted them in the first place, gives them to the chief as a gift. Moments later, he realizes his mistake: the Flatheads have a custom of exchanging gifts of equal or greater value, and if they cannot reciprocate, they consider it an insult worthy of death. Fortunately for Jeremiah, the chief finds a solution: he gives him his daughter.
Both of these examples involve variations of the cross-cultural type. A good example of a purely situational version of this trope is the webcome Marry Me. It starts with a philanthropist pop-star who’s suffering from burnout and on the verge of having a mental breakdown. While putting on a concert, she sees a guy in the front with a sign that says “marry me” and decides, on a whim, to bring him onstage and do just that.
The thing is, he was only holding the sign for a friend, who was taking a bathroom break at the time. He’s not even a fan of her music. As you might expect, hilarity ensues.
Finally, this trope plays a major role in my latest title, Star Wanderers. It starts off with a young single starfarer, who makes his living running the trade routes between stars. Without realizing it, he visits a station where the food production systems have just recently broken down, condemning everyone to die.
The station master pulls Jeremiah into his private quarters and makes him choose one of his daughters, presumably to save her. Jeremiah can’t really say no, so he chooses one, only to find himself holding hands with her while her father says a quick prayer. Moments later, they’re whisked away to his starship, where they have a long voyage alone together to look forward to.
As you might have guessed, I’m a big fan of this trope. When things work out, it can really make for a heartwarming story. But whether or not it does, the romantic tension is just delicious.
PS: Be sure to check out the “playing with” page for this trope–there’s a lot of interesting variations on the main theme! My favorite is the logical extreme, with the fertility dolls and the pie. Interesting stuff…maybe I’ll use that in a story of my own someday. 😉
That’s right–the first part of my novel Star Wanderers is now available on Kindle and Smashwords for $2.99! Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo editions should be coming out shortly (though I’m waiting for Kobo to launch their direct publishing platform, which may take a while).
This is the first part of a four part novel, but really it’s more of a series of short novellas since each part has its own distinct story arc with a beginning, middle, and end. This one is about 15,000 words (or 40-60 pages), and takes place in the Gaia Nova universe about a thousand years before the events of Bringing Stella Home. It’s about a boy and a girl who don’t speak the same language but find themselves alone on a starship together. Here’s the description:
HE WANDERS THE STARS IN SEARCH OF A HOME. INSTEAD, HE GOT A GIRL WITHOUT ONE.
When Jeremiah arrived at Megiddo Station, all he wanted was to make some trades and resupply his starship. He never thought he’d come away with a wife.
Before he knows it, he’s back on his ship, alone with his accidental bride. Since neither of them speak the same language, he has no way to tell her that there’s been a terrible mistake. And because of the deadly famine ravaging her home, there’s no going back. She’s entirely at his mercy, and that terrifies him more than anything.
Jeremiah isn’t ready to take responsibility for anyone. He’s a star wanderer, roaming the Outworld frontier in search of his fortune. Someday he’ll settle down, but for now, he just wants to drop the girl off at the next port and move on.
As he soon finds out, though, she has other plans.
Also, I’m happy to report that I finished the full-length version of Star Wanderers over the weekend, making it my seventh written novel! Here are the stats:
words: 68,367 chapters: 20 ms pages: 317 start date: 1 September 2011 end date: 1 July 2012
And some other stats, just for fun:
kilometers traveled: ~32,000 languages encountered: English, Georgian, Russian, Mingrelian, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, Polish, Slovakian, German, Armenian, Spanish, French, and Australian other books started before finishing: 4 other books finished before finishing: 2 other books published before finishing: 2
Part II is pretty close to publication, but Parts III and IV still need a bit of work. Since the rough draft is finished, though, it shouldn’t take too long to get everything else ready. If all goes well, I’ll publish Part II in August or September, and the other parts in two month intervals.
This novel was a lot of fun to write, in spite of how difficult it sometimes was. I always knew it was a story worth telling, and that gave me both the motivation to finish it and the courage to send it out into the world. I think you guys are really going to like it, especially if you’ve enjoyed my other sci fi romance stuff. As I said on Twitter back in 2011, girl + starship = WIN!
So yeah, check it out! And be sure to keep an eye out for Part II, which should be coming out in just a month or two!
So I got back to the States last night, after about forty six hours of travel (and only four or five hours of sleep). It’s good to be back, but I’m already missing Georgia and thinking about all the things I’ll do once I get back.
The weirdest thing about being back home so far is how non-stressful traveling is. I got to JFK, turned on my American cell phone and found out that the sim card is no longer recognized. My train ticket needed to be rescheduled, I didn’t know who was picking me up back home or when, didn’t know the New York subway system all that well…and yet instead of freaking out, I just shrugged and figured I’d solve all that later. Sure enough, Penn Station had wifi, so I instant messaged my brother in law and had him call my mom and work it out.
The lack of beggars in New York City was kind of strange. There was one kid on the Subway who announced (after apologizing for taking people’s time) that he was trying to make money by selling M&Ms, so I helped him out and bought one. In Tbilisi, some ten year old gypsy kid would fall on her knees and give a huge sob story, then walk through the car with her tin can (and would get more money from it than this kid did in New York).
So that was the first thing I ate when I got here. The second thing was a Jamba Juice. Next was a slice of American pizza–so much better than the stuff in Georgia–and then a bottle of root beer. Man, the soda over here is so disgustingly sweet! I was wide awake until the sugar hit my system, and then it was like taking a sledgehammer to the face.
I’m doing pretty well now, even though I woke up at about 3:30 and didn’t really go back to sleep. There’s not much happening this week, so I should be able to get over the jetlag fairly easily.
As far as Star Wanderers goes, I finished everything but the last scene and the epilogue, so I’ll wrap those up today and get ready to publish Part I. The last few chapters aren’t as awesome as I’d like them to be, but I should be able to work those out in subsequent drafts.
In other news, I recently did an interview on Scifinerdsare.us. It’s more geared towards writers than readers, but worth checking out. There seems to be a lot of polarization these days between writers who self publish and writers who follow the more traditional path, which is unfortunate. That said, indie publishing is definitely the best thing career-wise that’s happened to me.
Finally, I just watched a fascinating lecture by Douglas Rushkoff on the Occupy movement and a new cultural phase that he terms “presentism.” The most interesting thing for me is what he has to say about the way our democracy is evolving–basically, it’s becoming a little more like The Colony from Bringing Stella Home. So many story ideas to play with…
So I just got back from Racha this afternoon. It was a lot of fun! Saw Ambrolauri, Oni, and Shovi, only 20 km from the Russian border near Ossetia. Don’t worry, though, we were safe the whole time–though the home we stayed at had a wolf pelt hanging in the dining room!
This video should give you a pretty good idea what Racha is like. It’s part of a new ad campaign, and it does a good job capturing the feel of rural life in the region, as well as the blend of modern and traditional that you find throughout Georgia. The music is a combination of two famous Rachuli songs.
I went with a fellow TLG teacher from Slovakia named Tomas, and together we made a really good travel team. We met last week on the TLG excursion to Kakheti and hit it off right away, probably because I’m a quarter Czech. He speaks a bit of Russian, and I speak a bit of Georgian, so between the two of us we were able to manage quite well.
A rickety old bus crawling up the treacherous road from Kutaisi to Ambrolauri.The Rioni river near the Racha-Imereti border.
We took the Kutaisi-Ambrolauri bus up along the Rioni river. The road hasn’t been repaved since Soviet times, so it was quite treacherous, especially in places where the cliff had partially eroded. Spectacular views, though, especially once we crossed the border into Racha.
At Ambrolauri, we got out and hitched a ride to Oni. The local police actually flagged down a passing tour bus full of Israelis and had them take us. It was awkward at first, until we made friends with the guide–a veteran hitchhiker who has been everywhere from New Zealand to Mongolia to Turkey. When traveling to a country with a foreign language, the five phrases she always tries to learn are:
Please.
Thank you.
Hello.
I want.
I need.
Pretty sound advice. The numbers should come pretty soon after that, along with “how much” and “what price.” “No” is definitely important too.
Oni, a beautiful Georgian town nestled inside the Caucasus Mountains.
At Oni, we spent a couple of hours shopping around the local homestays before settling on Family Hostel, a bed-and-breakfast type place with some really nice accommodations. It was a little pricier than we were hoping, but was definitely worth it. The food was great, and the dad showed us a bunch of interesting sites the next day.
The Rioni headwaters, up near Shovi. Russian North Ossetia lies on the other side of that mountain.One of many mineral water springs in Racha.
We headed up to Shovi with another tourist from the hotel: an 80 year old Turkish man named Adnan. He’s a big time hiker/trekker, and showed us a bunch of photos from his hike up Mount Ararat. He also made us Turkish coffee when we stopped for lunch up in the forest.
Shovi is an awesome rustic resort way up near the Russian border. It’s on the other side of Mount Shota, which is about as high and as steep as Mount Timpanogos in Utah. Maybe I’ll come back and hike it sometime. Anyways, Shovi was pretty cool–definitely worth coming back for a camping trip, or perhaps for a couple of nights in the cabins.
The most interesting thing, though, was how many springs were in the region. Seriously, we stopped almost half a dozen times at places just like the one pictured above, with so much water bubbling up that it almost seems like someone forgot to turn off the faucet. It’s all natural, though, and comes out carbonated and infused with all sorts of minerals. Tastes just like the sparkling mineral water from Borjomi or Nabeghlavi–the locals come up quite frequently to refill their jugs and bottles with the stuff. You can drink it straight from the spring, without any need for purification.
Back at Oni, we had a fun time hanging out with the family and seeing the dad’s furniture-making shop. They’re good people, and we were really fortunate to find them. Showed them some photos of my family, and by the end, I think the mom had half a mind to set me up with a Georgian girl. To be honest, the longer I stay in this country, the more inclined I am to accept…
The next day, we took off with the 19 year-old son on the bus to Tbilisi. He was heading out for his final exams–he’s hoping to study law and tourism, to come back and help the family business. We came down past Shaori Lake through Tkbuli. One of the back tires blew out near the Kutaisi-Tbilisi road, but we made it out in one piece. Tomas continued up toward Zestaponi, while I got out to catch a bus heading back to Kutaisi.
Four months ago, I would have felt totally lost, but I’ve been around Georgia so much by now that it was a piece of cake. Went into town for some lunch, then came back for a much-needed shower.
So that was the trip! It was amazing–I definitely recommend heading up that way for anyone who has a chance. There’s a lot of beautiful country up this way, as well as some genuinely good people. The best sights in Georgia can be a little hidden, and Racha is full of them.
So I finally got an email from the Writers of the Future contest. It reads:
Dear Entrant,
Your story has now been judged and did not win or place in the 1st quarter. Even though you have never had to wait for results in order to submit for the next quarter, this hopefully gives you incentive to submit again. The more often you enter, the better chance you have of winning, and improving your skills.
I do urge you to join our forum if you have not already, or subscribe to our judge, David Farland’s newsletter. Lots of great tips at both locations to help you.
I do hope you are already working on that next story and do let me know that you did get this e-mail.
Best regards,
Joni Labaqui
I’m not going to lie: it’s a pretty disappointing way to end an 8+ month wait. But when you’re a writer, rejection is just a normal part of the business. I was hoping to get at least an honorable mention, but oh well.
Stories are fundamentally subjective: what might work really well for one reader might not for another. The important thing is to write the best stories that you can, and to send them out into the world until they grow into their audience. I still feel confident that Star Wanderers represents some of my best work to date, so I plan to make it available as soon as I can.
I’m flying back to the States on Friday, but Part I is already edited and formatted, so I’ll probably publish it over the weekend. In the meantime, I’ll finish the first draft of the complete novel somewhere between Tbilisi and New York. That’s one good thing about the long wait–it helped me to finish the story and work out some of the kinks before publishing it.
So yeah, the WOTF rejection is a bit of a setback, but at the same time, it’s also quite liberating. All I really wanted was to get this story out to the readers, and now I can finally do that! If you like my other stories, I think this is one you’re really going to enjoy.
So I think I’ve clocked in about 1,000 kilometers this past week, mostly between Kutaisi and Tbilisi. Seen some interesting things, met a lot of interesting people, made some good memories, and thought a lot of deep and poignant thoughts.
Unfortunately, all this travel isn’t conducive to blogging. I’ve got five days before I fly back to the States, and updates are probably going to be sparse until then. If you were wondering what happened to the Trope Tuesday posts, don’t worry, I plan to get back to them (and hopefully pulling in some guest bloggers) after this week.
Tomorrow, I’ll head out to Racha, one of the more remote areas in Georgia. It should be interesting. Here’s a video with some photos of the region (and traditional music):
I have no idea what we’ll find there, but it’s definitely going to be an adventure.
As far as the writing goes, I’ll probably finish Star Wanderers somewhere between here and New York City, and publish part I in July after I’m a little more settled. Didn’t finish it this weekend, but I’m only two scenes and an epilogue from the end, so if all else fails I’ll just finish it on the airplane.
As for the next project…you know, I’m not even going to try and look that far ahead. I’ve got plenty of ideas tugging on my brain and I’m sure the next story will more or less write itself, so long as I don’t get in the way. Instead, I’ll leave you with this:
It’s an interesting piece of Soviet-era art on the side of a factory in Zestaponi. When I come back in September, I’ll have to do a post on all the crazy-cool Soviet-era stuff that’s still around. The USA wasn’t the only country that made it into space–or even really the first!
So the finalists for the first quarter Writers of the Future have been announced, but there hasn’t been any word on semi-finalists or silver HMs and probably won’t be until the winners are announced. I can’t really publish part I of Star Wanderers until I hear back, so that means more waiting. Grrr…
In the meantime, I’ve been finishing up the rough draft of the full-length novel. I’m currently on the last chapter, probably about 2k words from the end. Maybe I’ll finish it tonight…who knows? I’m currently in Tbilisi, traveling over the weekend, but I’ll see what I can do.
This will be the seventh novel I’ve completed, including one that I trunked and two that I haven’t published yet. There’s a weird sort of feeling when you get to this stage, like coming to a turning point in your life as one phase ends and another begins…it’s difficult to describe. Since I really am at a turning point like that in my life, perhaps my view is a little bit biased, but I do feel like finishing this novel is having something of an influence.
I could ramble on for a while, but I think this is as good a place as any to stop. Besides, I want to get some writing in. I’ll leave you with this photograph:
This was when I knew I’d fallen in love with Georgia.
Taken today on the train ride from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. These are the Lesser Caucasus Mountains…I’m not sure what the name of the river is here (there are maybe half a dozen of them) but the view is pretty awesome. Seriously, it’s like a thickly forested version of Glenwood Canyon from the States.
Good stuff. More on Georgia later–but first, I have a novel to write.
So the first quarter finalists for the Writers of the Future contest were finally announced (finally!), and I wasn’t among them. Oh well. But the good news is that I can move ahead now to publish part 1 of Star Wanderers!
First, though, I need to work out a killer blurb. This is what I’ve got so far:
When Jeremiah arrived at Megiddo Station, all he wanted was to make some trades and resupply his starship. He never thought he’d come away from the frontier outpost with a wife.
Before he knows it, he’s back on his ship again, alone with his accidental bride. Since neither of them speak the same language, he has no way to tell her that there’s been a terrible mistake. And because of the deadly famine that has ravaged her home, there’s no going back either. The only way forward lies across a dozen parsecs of cold, empty space.
Jeremiah wasn’t looking for someone to keep him warm on the long voyages, and he certainly isn’t ready to settle down. He’s a star wanderer, roaming the Outworlds in search of his fortune. But there’s a dark side to his wandering–a loneliness that threatens to destroy him. His unexpected passenger may be willing to end that, but how can she when they barely understand each other?
So what do you think? Does it tickle your fancy? Are you intrigued to read more? Or are you thinking it’s kind of “meh”? Any feedback would be much appreciated, even if it’s just “this reminds me of _____.”
By the way, here’s the cover:
I’m experimenting a lot with this next novel. The plan is to release it in a serial format first, then publish the full-length novel once I’ve serialized the sequel (more of a parallax actually. The tentative title for that one is Star Home, and it’s the story from the girl’s perspective).
Here’s how I plan to publish it:
Release Part I for $2.99.
Give newsletter subscribers a two week coupon code on Smashwords to download Part I for free.
Release Part II for $2.99 and drop Part I to free.
Give newsletter subscribers a two week coupon code on Smashwords to download Part II for free.
Release Part III for $2.99 and drop Part II to $.99. Keep Part I at free.
Give newsletter subscribers a two week coupon code on Smashwords to download Part III for free.
Release Part IV for $2.99 and drop Part III to $.99. Keep Part II at $.99 and Part I at free.
Give newsletter subscribers a two week coupon code on Smashwords to download Part IV for free.
Publish the full-length novel at $4.95.
This way, no one has to pay more than five bucks for the whole thing, and people who subscribe to the newsletter get a really sweet deal. There shouldn’t be more than a month or two between release dates–Part II is almost ready to go, and I plan on finishing the complete first draft in the next couple of days.
So yeah, that’s the plan. I’m excited to finally get this story out to you! I really had a blast writing it, and I think you’ll enjoy reading it, especially if (like me!) you’re a fan of science fiction romance.
I just had an awesome weekend. Saw the most amazing cave complex of my life, toured Kakheti o a TLG excursion, met a bunch of really cool people, and hung out with them in Tbilisi for a while. I’ll have to save all that for another blog post, though, probably in a couple of days.
Rumor has it that the judging was finished for the first quarter Writers of the Future contest over the weekend, and all the finalists were contacted. I didn’t get a call or an email, so I’m probably not a finalist this time around. Oh well.
In any case, I’m very much looking forward to getting the results so that I can finally publish this dang story! It’s been way too long since I published anything, and while there have been reasons for that (moving to another country, starting a second career), I really need to be publishing new stuff more regularly.
Here’s what I want to publish before the end of the year:
First and second parts of Star Wanderers (my Writers of the Future story). This is a novel I plan to publish in four parts, with each part being its own self-contained story. I blogged about it a while ago…more on that later.
A companion novella to Desert Stars. This is still just in the planning stages, but there’s plenty of backstory to draw from, and I really would like to revisit that corner of the Gaia Nova universe.
Either Heart of the Nebula or Stars of Blood and Glory.
That last one is going to be an ambitious undertaking, since both of them are still in the alpha-reading phases right now. Also, I don’t now whether I’ll have regular access to a reliable source of electricity in the fall, which will further complicate things. However, I do believe it’s possible to put out one or the other before the end of the year, though probably not both.
All of this is still up in the air, though, and I can’t promise anything except to get Star Wanderers: Part I up as soon as the results come in for the Writers of the Future contest. It’s already formatted and ready to go, just need to fine tune the blurb and hit “publish.”
And of course, before I move on to any of these other projects, I have to finish the one I’m currently working on. So so long! I’m off to the library to write.
So one of my goals this summer is to release POD (print-on-demand) editions for the three novels I currently have up as ebooks (Genesis Earth, Bringing Stella Home, and Desert Stars). I started with Genesis Earth a couple of days ago, and wow! I had no idea that getting a book ready for print could be so much fun!
