Category: Gunslinger to the Stars

Cover reveal for my next big novel!

Wow, it’s been forever since I posted anything on this blog. I’ve definitely been busy, but haven’t been as good at keeping up with it here. That’s definitely going to change.

For those of you reading the Sons of the Starfarers series, I’m only about a chapter away from finishing the first draft of Captives in Obscurity. If all goes well, that one should be out sometime in December/January. There’s a huge, game-changing shift that takes the story in a completely unexpected direction—one that’s going to be really fun to tie in with everything else that’s going on. It should also answer some of the wider questions about the Gaia Nova universe, and set things up for the book where they rediscover Earth (or at least attempt to).

I’m also working on a fun shoot ’em up sci-fi adventure novel with the working title Gunslinger to the Stars. It’s kind of like a mash-up of Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Monster Hunter International. The main character is Sam Kletchka, a gunslinger / man of fortune from New Texas, one of the Gliese colonies near Earth. He sets out for adventure with his arsenal of firearms (affectionately named Mercy, Faithfulness, Righteousness, Judgment, Preservation, Love, Kindness, and Trust), and hilarity ensues, along with lots and lots of explosions.

In the meantime, though, I have some really, really awesome news! On November 21st, the weekend before Thanksgiving, the fourth novel in the Gaia Nova series will be coming out! Here is the cover and book description (the artist is Hideyoshi, who also did the covers for the other Gaia Nova books):HOTN (cover)

THEY LOST THE WAR, BUT WINNING THE PEACE IS STILL WITHIN THEIR GRASP.

Five years have passed since the Hameji conquered James McCoy’s homeworld, all but enslaving his people. Now, the occupation threatens to destroy them.

Deep in the heart of the Good Hope nebula, there is a place where they can start over. But it will take a strong leader to get them there, and the temptation to trade freedom for security has never been greater. Even if they manage to escape from the Hameji, the greatest threat to their future may come from within.

James once gave everything to save the ones he loved. This time, his sacrifice could make him a legend.

Heart of the Nebula is a direct sequel to Bringing Stella Home. Like all the other books in the Gaia Nova series, however, it can be read as a standalone book. A lot of characters from the other books come back for this one: James of course, but also Stella, Abaqa, Lars, and many other people from The Colony. There are also a lot of new characters.

This may be the most important book of my career to date. I started it almost five years ago, and have been working on-and-off on it ever since. In that time, I’ve really poured a lot of myself into it, perhaps more than any other book I’ve written.

If all goes well, it should go up for pre-order by the end of the week. The print version will come out with the ebook. Once Heart of the Nebula is up for pre-order, I’ll set Bringing Stella Home to free until November, and probably organize a blog tour for the book release. If you’re interested in having me guest post on your blog, shoot me an email at joseph.vasicek@gmail.com!

 

Update from Cape Cod

Wow, it has been forever since the last time I blogged.

So I’m at Cape Cod right now, vacationing with family for the next full week. Since my parents are moving from Massachusetts from Iowa, this will probably be the last time that we come up here, at least for a very long while. I’m doing my best to enjoy it, which means that I’m not doing much writing at all.

However, I have a lot of things in the pipeline to come out soon. At the end of this month, A Hill on Which to Die will be out not only on Amazon, but all the other retailers as well. And after nearly five years of work, I’m finally getting Heart of the Nebula ready for publication. If all goes well, that should be out over Thanksgiving.

Lots of other stuff going on behind the scenes, too. When I get back, I’m going to finish writing Captives in Obscurity (Sons of the Starfarers: Book V), which I started back in June. I hit a block midway through, but after taking a break to let the ideas percolate, I think I can jump back in and finish it before the end of September.

There are a few other projects on my mind too, including one with the working title Gunslinger to the Stars that’s a bit of a mash-up between Firefly, Monster Hunter International, and Guardians of the Galaxy. That one is going to be a lot of fun to write. Then there’s The Sord Keeper, which I hope to finish (finally!) before the end of the year.

As for the vacation, it’s been pretty fun so far. My sisters are all here with their families, and it’s been good to catch up with them and their kids. We’ve all mellowed out a bit over the past decade, so it’s not nearly as stressful to be around each other as it was when we were all teenagers. We can actually play a full game of Shanghai without someone rage-quitting midway through! Okay, okay, usually it was me doing the rage-quitting, but still…

Cape Cod is a nice place, but I have to admit, I kind of miss Utah. I’ve lived ten years of my life in New England and another ten years in the Intermountain West, and I have to admit, Utah feels a lot more like home. When my parents move, I won’t have any roots to pull me back to this part of the country, and I don’t anticipate ever coming back except to visit.

I used to say that Cape Cod was my favorite place in the world. It’s definitely still up in the top ten, but it’s not at the top anymore. If you asked me which place was, though, I honestly wouldn’t have an answer. It’s been almost three years since I did any serious traveling, and I’m starting to get antsy to get out there again. We’ll see what the future brings.