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.

Content Ratings for Books

A couple of weeks ago, there was a discussion on The Passive Voice blog about trigger warnings and how they are destroying literature. The post spawned a discussion that went on for 240 comments before Passive Guy closed it (probably because we got too political), but it ended up being very insightful.

Laying aside any issues of politics social justice, the fact exists that there is simply not a standard content rating system for books. We have rating systems for movies (MPAA is the main one here in the US) and video games (ESRB), but the majority of books are published without any sort of rating at all.

Is this a bad thing? Personally, I don’t think so, but I know that it matters to others. Last year, there was a big kerfluffle in the book world over an app called Clean Reader that screened objectionable content based on a number of user-controlled filters. It seems that there is an unmet need for some sort of system to help readers avoid offensive content.

That was why the discussion on TPV was so fascinating to me. Between the cries of “censorship!” and “triggering!” there were some very interesting points brought up. Yes, there are politically-motivated people who use “trigger warnings” as a means of advancing the political correctness regime, but there are also sensative readers who appreciate that sort of thing. When I first published Bringing Stella Home, I put a warning on it that stated “if this were a movie, it would be rated PG-13,” and at least one reviewer really appreciated that.

It’s a little bit ridiculous to equate trigger warnings with censorship, though both may be found on the same slippery slope. Still, there are places that scan your metadata and block you from publishing based not on the actual content, but your description of the content. Erotica writers know far more about navigating this maze than I do, though I have experienced it with books like Sholpan. Ironically, adding a content warning to the book description can sometimes get your book blocked altogether, even though the content is far tamer than some of the books on the site from traditional publishers.

So what’s an indie author to do? The commenters at TPV mentioned a site called AO3, or Archive of Our Own, as a place to check out. It’s a massive repository of fanfiction with a very refined system of filters and tags, along with a rating system that seems to work really well.

Since I really don’t want to reinvent the square wheel, I decided to check it out and see if this was the sort of thing I could apply to my own original books. I’ve never been a big reader of fanfiction, but I know that many of my readers are, so adapting the AO3 system seemed like a good way to present them with a system that felt intuitive and familiar.

The AO3 content ratings system has four components: content ratings, pairings/orientations, content warnings, and finished/unfinished. Obviously, the last one really doesn’t apply, since anything I publish commercially is going to be a finished work. The pairings/orientations component also seems unnecessary, since in a book where romance is a major plot driver, the reader should be able to gather from the book description whether it’s M/F, M/M, F/F, or whatever. Also, fanfic readers tend to read for that sort of thing, while general readers do not.

That means that the relevant part of the system is the content rating and the content warnings. I looked for a more detailed official explanation, but it really does seem like ultimate discretion is left to the writers.

There are four countent ratings: G, T, M, and E. If you’re more familiar with AO3 than I am, please correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that the equivalent MPAA ratings are as follows:

G: General Audiences.
T: PG and PG-13.
M: Restricted.
E: NC-17.

Of course, it’s virtually impossible to avoid some degree of subjectivity with these sorts of things. What is the threshold between a T and an M? I’m not sure, but I think it lies somewhere between an implied sex scene and one that describes the actual act, or violence that advances thea plot versus violence that IS the plot. There’s also the threshold between an M and an E, but I’m less concerned about that because my books don’t tend to be that extreme.

The key part of the AO3 system, which also removes a great deal of ambiguity, is the content warnings:

The key part here is the ! tag, since the last two obviously don’t apply and the ?! tag is too purposefully ambiguous to be useful. The ! tag very clearly states that one of the following things will be true:

A major character will die, OR
The descriptions of violence will be graphic, OR
There will be rape or non-consensual sex, OR
The sex will involve minors.

In other words, the ! tag indicates a trigger warning. A book rated T, for example, may have some non-triggering crude or obscene language, but a book rated T! is going to have something that would trigger, say, a rape victim, or a victim of child abuse. Obviously, some readers won’t be triggered as much as others, but adding a warning tag makes it easier for readers to use their own discretion.

Again, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that this is the best way to adapt the AO3 system. Towards that end, I’ve added a rating to all of my books, so that if you’re familiar with the AO3 content rating system, you should be able to tell pretty easily where each of my books rate. Unless something drastic changes, I expect to use this system to rate all my books in the future.

Of pioneers and politics

Today is Pioneer Day here in Utah, where we celebrate the achievements and heritage of the Mormon Pioneers. One hundred and sixty-eight years ago today, Brigham Young looked over the Salt Lake Valley (a barely hospitable desert at the time) and declared “this is the place.”

I feel a great deal of pride for my pioneer heritage. My ancestors walked across the plains in the Willie Handcart Company, they organized one of the most successful cooperatives of the United Order, they fought in the Utah Wars, and they built numerous cities across the Intermountain West. Before the pioneer exodus, they built and later abandoned the Nauvoo Temple, endured the horrible conditions at Winter Quarters, and left trails of bloody footprints as they fled their homes and lands during the Missouri persecutions.

One of my direct-line ancestors was Lyman Wight, leader of the Mormon Militia. When the Missouri mobs captured the Mormon leadership and a kangaroo court sentenced them all to death, Lyman Wight’s reputation was so fierce that the mob hesitated to execute him. They offered to let him free if he would renounce Joseph Smith.

Lyman Wight looked the Missourians in the eye and said “Joseph Smith is the best friend you ever had.”

The leaders of the mob asked him why he said that.

He told them: “if it weren’t for Joseph Smith, I would have slit all your throats years ago.”

The mob then threatened to execute him. Lyman Wight answered without hesitation:

“Shoot, and be damned.”

None of the members of the mob dared to execute him, fearing that his ghost would haunt them to the end of their days.

There are tons and tons of stories like that in my family, and even more that belong to my friends. History is alive here in Utah, where monuments to our pioneer heritage are scattered throughout the state.

The Mormon corridor has a very unique subculture compared to the rest of the United States. It’s a unique and sometimes paradoxical blend of individualism and collectivism, of self-reliance and communal spirit, of libertarian ideals and obedience to moral authority. To an outsider, I’m sure it must be extremely perplexing, but there’s nowhere else in the United States where I feel so totally at home. These are my people. This is my home.

That’s why I found this map of the “eleven American nations” so fascinating. According to the corresponding Washington Post article, almost all of the battles in the culture wars can be explained by the lines on this map. Furthermore, the mobility of American society is causing these regional differences to grow sharper as Americans pick up and move to the places where the dominant culture best suits them.

A further explanation can be found here, where the author of the map (and the book American Nations) states:

The borders of my eleven American nations are reflected in many different types of maps—including maps showing the distribution of linguistic dialects, the spread of cultural artifacts, the prevalence of different religious denominations, and the county-by-county breakdown of voting in virtually every hotly contested presidential race in our history. Our continent’s famed mobility has been reinforcing, not dissolving, regional differences, as people increasingly sort themselves into like-minded communities, a phenomenon analyzed by Bill Bishop and Robert Cushing in The Big Sort (2008). Even waves of immigrants did not fundamentally alter these nations, because the children and grandchildren of immigrants assimilated into whichever culture surrounded them.

The thing that I find most fascinating about this map is how closely the borders of the Far West “nation” parallel the State of Deseret, first proposed by Brigham Young and the Mormon pioneers. The Mormons didn’t get along very well with Congress, and the territory was eventually pared down to the current boundaries of the state of Utah (the name “Deseret” was also replaced). But cultural boundaries cannot be declared by presidents or kings.

According to the author, the development of this region “was largely directed by corporations headquartered in distant New York, Boston, Chicago, or San Francisco, or by the federal government, which controlled much of the land.” I’m not so sure that’s the case, however. Corporations certainly became important players after the railroads crossed the country, but culturally, I would argue the pioneers had a much deeper and more lasting impact.

The Intermountain West is remarkably conservative, with Utah ranking as one of the reddest states in the nation. With the government expansion under President Obama and the Tea Party revolt in the Republican party, the politics in this part of the country have taken a decidedly libertarian turn. As issues like healthcare, gun control, gay marriage, and late-term abortion have each swept the nation in turn, my positions have changed to reflect the libertarian attitudes of the culture in which I live.

In 2008, I considered myself “agnostic” as far as politics were concerned. Perhaps there was a greater truth out there as far as politics were concerned, but I wanted nothing to do with it. Now, however, I believe very strongly that individuals and families should be free to live their lives as they see fit, without being subject to Leftist schemes to redistribute their wealth or bloated, self-serving government that overreaches its constitutional bounds.

I think this view would resonate very deeply with the pioneers. They came to the West to practice their religion freely, and emphasized self-reliance and thrift. Their industriousness was a means of guarding their independence from the governments that had oppressed them in the east, and continued to oppress them as they sought to build their Zion. Though they could be quite collectivist at times, it was local and voluntary, a far cry from State-enforced socialism. And while they cared for the poor and needy, they did all they could to keep them from becoming dependent on welfare.

These are interesting times we live in, and interesting cultures we hail from as well. As I look back on my own pioneer heritage, I can’t help but look forward as well. The “shoot and be damned” independent streak of my ancestors is still with me today, and I have no doubt that pioneer spirit will continue to guide me in the future.

Genesis Earth re-release!

A lot has changed since I published my first novel, Genesis Earth. I’ve put out a lot of other books, improved the way I formatted them, changed the links and metadata, and made a number of other changes under the proverbial hood. Throughout all this time, the files that I put together for that first novel have remained more or less unchanged.

Well, I’ve been gradually going through my backlist and updating those files, and last week I finally got around to updating Genesis Earth. The actual book content is unchanged, but it has a new cover, new blurb, better formatting, and links to my email list sign-up and other books now.

To celebrate the re-release, I’ve dropped the price down to $2.99 until the end of July. If you’ve read and enjoyed my other books but haven’t gotten to this one yet, now is a great time to pick it up. It’s a standalone novel, though at some point in the future, I’d like to expand it into a trilogy.

Thanks for reading!

CLICK HERE TO BUY GENESIS EARTH

THE ULTIMATE VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY ENDS WHEN YOU LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT YOURSELF.

Michael Anderson never thought he would set foot on a world like Earth. Born and raised in a science colony on the farthest edge of the solar system, he only studied planets from afar. But when his parents build mankind’s first wormhole and discover a world emitting a mysterious artificial signal, Michael is the only qualified planetologist young enough to travel to the alien star.

He is not alone on this voyage of discovery. Terra, his sole mission partner, is no more an adult than he is. Soon after their arrival, however, she begins acting strangely—as if she’s keeping secrets from him. And her darkest secret is one that Michael already knows.

Twenty light-years from the nearest human being, they must learn to work together if they’re ever going to survive. And what they discover on the alien planet forces them to re-examine their deepest, most unquestioned beliefs about the universe—and about what it means to be human.

Why I stopped watching House of Cards

I started watching House of Cards a couple of weeks ago, and really got into it for a while. As longtime readers of this blog will remember, I spent a semester in DC at a high-powered K street internship, and was thoroughly disgusted by what I found there. House of Cards is all about the sleazy back-room political machinations of scrupulously ambitious people, so it gave me a lot of satisfaction to watch them all screw with each other.

Kevin Spacey’s performance in particular is absolutely fantastic. Periodically throughout the show, he breaks the fourth wall and turns toward the camera to give a monologue about the nature of political power. It’s such a characteristic part of the show that they spoofed it at the 2013 Grammys.

By the start of the third season, though, I started to have some misgivings. At various points in the show, I asked myself who my favorite character was, as a way of analyzing the writing. In the first season, I had several favorites. In the second season, those characters either died or did things that made me hate them. By the start of the third season, I didn’t like any of the characters—I only hated them in varying degrees.

The only potential exception to that was Senator Mendoza, the main antagonist of the third season who sets himself up as the Republican nominee for president. While all of the main characters consider him an asshole, that’s mostly because he doesn’t honor any of the back-room deals and secret combinations that they do. But since the story was setting him up to go head-to-head with Frank Underwood, I could tell early on that things wouldn’t end well for him.

The main reason I stopped watching, though, was because of all the gratuitous sex. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not one of those people who throws a book across the room the moment sex is acknowledged as part of the human experience. I’ve read and enjoyed (and even written) plenty of books where sex is an important part of the story. But when it becomes gratuitous—in other words, when it no longer serves the story—that’s when I get tired of it.

In order to do sex well, I think it needs to 1) convey an important facet of someone’s character (for example, Kirk in Star Trek), 2) serve an important plot point, or 3) impact the character arc in some important way. If the story can hold together just fine without the sex, then the sex is actually a sign of weak writing. Throwing it in just to titilate or hook the audience is like using adverbs to convey emotion: if the writing was strong enough to begin with, you wouldn’t have to do that.

So without getting into spoilers, that’s why I checked out of House of Cards. I hated all the characters, the writing was getting weaker, and the sex was too gratuitous.

Streamlining

About a month ago, I decided to make some changes to my writing process. I’d noticed that a lot of time was passing between book releases, and that even though I was writing almost every day, there wasn’t much to show for it.

My old process tended to go in one of two ways:

ONE

“I have the coolest idea for a story! Ima drop everything and write it now!”

Writes the first chapter.

“Okay, it’s not quite as cool as I’d imagined, but I can work with this.”

Writes another chapter or two.

“Hmm, this story is starting to have issues. Maybe it’s not as cool as I thought it was.”

Gets writer’s block for a couple of days. Struggles to do anything productive.

“Dammit, why isn’t this story coming together? I should be doing 2k words a day, but I can barely manage 500. If this story is really that bad, then maybe it’s not the project I should be focusing on right now. Maybe I shouldn’t even be writing it at all.”

Gets discouraged and takes off a couple of days.

“I have the coolest idea for a totally different story! Ima drop everything and write it now!”

TWO

“It’s been forever since I actually finished anything, so I am going to stick with this project until it is DONE.”

Writes productively for a week or two.

“Yes! The story is coming together just like I knew it would!”

Reaches a difficult scene.

“Why am I not as productive as I was last week? I can do better than this! Words, dammit! Words!”

Struggles to finish the difficult scene. Loses all momentum and enthusiasm.

“Okay, that was pretty tough, but at least it’s finished. I am really, really, really excited about this random shiny story idea that came to me yesterday, but I have to stick with my current work in progress until it is DONE.”

Procrastinates for hours every day. Watches in dismay as productivity falls.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME??”

Tries for weeks to regain enthusiasm for the project. Invariably fails.

“Maybe I should work on something else.”

It went on like this for the better part of a year, which is why I haven’t published anything for the last six months (until Friends in Command, that is). And honestly, it’s not a lot of fun. When you feel like you should be more productive but don’t seem to really be getting anywhere, it’s very easy to lose touch with the passion that made you want to be a writer in the first place.

So back in May, while hiking in the mountains, I thought about it for a while and asked myself: what is the 20% of what I do that produces 80% of the results?

The answer, interestingly enough, wasn’t “butt in chair, hands on keyboard.” I’d been doing that for months, and all I had was a dozen unfinished projects to show for it. For me at least, merely showing up to work is not enough to produce results.

In 2014, one of my resolutions was to publish a new release every six weeks. I didn’t keep that resolution perfectly, but I did keep a regular release schedule right up to the holiday season. At that point, I ran into some troubles with Friends in Command and pushed the publication date back (which in retrospect was definitely the right thing to do). I abandoned my release schedule (which was not the right thing to do) and fell into the traps I mentioned above.

When I write without a goal beyond a daily word count, I tend to spin my wheels. In contrast, when I write with a set of goals for a project timeline, such as deadlines for finishing the first draft, sending it out to first readers, making revisions, and preparing the finished project for publication, I tend to get stuff done.

So I streamlined my writing process by giving myself more structure: a WIP log with writing deadlines and publishing schedules. And this is how it works now:

ONE

“I’m really excited about my next project! I’ve been thinking about it for weeks, ever since I put it on the schedule, and now I can finally work on it! Yay!”

Writes for a week. Gets the coolest idea for a totally different story.

“I have the coolest idea for a totally different story! Ima put it in the WIP log and schedule it for… let’s see… two months from now. That should give me something to write while I’m getting project X ready for publication.”

Continues to work on current WIP.

TWO

“It’s time to finally finish this thing so that I can publish it six months from now.”

Writes productively for a week or two. Reaches a difficult scene.

“This story is not coming together, and my deadline is coming up. I don’t know if I’ll reach my deadline. I’d better swap places with this and project Y in the publishing schedule to make sure I have something to publish.”

Keeps writing anyway. Begins to lose momentum and enthusiasm.

“Well, I’m not going to finish this project by my deadline. However, I have enough time that I can take another shot at it six weeks from now, after finishing project Z. I’ll write what I can by the deadline, then box it up so that I can approach it with fresh eyes when the time comes.

Writes until the deadline and sets unfinished project aside. Starts next project with renewed enthusiasm.

In June, I spent most of my time working on Captives in Obscurity (Sons of the Starfarers: Book V). I hoped to finish the project by the first week in July, but I hit a really difficult scene about midway through. Instead of forcing myself to stick with it, though, I pushed on until the deadline and left it unfinished so that I could pick up the next WIP on the schedule.

I think that was the right thing to do, because changing it up has helped to keep things fresh, both for Captives in Obscurity and my current WIP, Heart of the Nebula. Instead of bringing heaps of baggage to the next project, I’m starting clean, and things are going quite well. With luck, Heart of the Nebula should be up for pre-order in September and published over Thanksgiving week. As for Captives, I’ll come back to it in September with fresh eyes, which will not only help me to fix what was broken, but finish the first draft in a few weeks, rather than taking months to agonize over it.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. Hopefully it will lead to lots and lots of books in the coming months and years!

Friends in Command — excerpt 9

Friends in Command (Sons of the Starfarers: Book IV) goes live tomorrow! Yay!

This is the final excerpt I’m going to post. If you’ve enjoyed it so far, be sure to pre-order it now or pick it up when it goes live. And as always, thanks for reading!

==========

“Hey,” said Mara, putting a hand on his arm. “At least you were already an officer when they promoted you. How do you think it is for me, commissioned an officer and promoted to lieutenant commander all in one go?”

Aaron’s smile returned, though subdued. “Yes, well, when they asked who I wanted as my executive officer, there was never any question. Besides, it shouldn’t be too much different from what you’ve done taking over for Lieutenant Castor over in the platoon.”

Mara smiled. “Thank you, Aaron.” You have a lot more confidence in me than I have in myself.

“Don’t mention it. Here, let me show you our new ship.”

The Merope-7 was a short tram ride away. Designed by a Tajji shipwright and built in the shipyards of New Sirius three light-years from Tajjur itself, she measured two hundred meters from bow to stern—only a tenth of the length of the captured Imperial battleship GIS Starfire. Still, as they admired her through the windows of the docking node, Mara had to admit that she cut an impressive sight.

Her hull was long and smooth, widening near the middle and tapering toward the front where the guns were placed. The only breaks in the hull were the bridge, protruding from the topside just in front of the airlock, and a row of narrow portholes running lengthwise on either side. The wings were angled forward, ending in the massive engine nacelles. Put together, both nacelles were almost the size of the whole ship.

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” said Aaron, a boyish grin plastered across his face. There wasn’t any gravity in the docking arm, so he gripped the railing with one foot hooked under a hand-hold.

“Let’s go,” said Mara.

Friends in Command

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

The Imperials are back, and this time, a ragtag flotilla isn't going to stop them. But they aren't the only enemies of the new Outworld Confederacy. Together, Aaron and Mara must face a threat from within.

Order Now!

About the Book

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

The war for the Outworlds is on. The Imperials may have lost the first round, but they’re back—and this time, a ragtag flotilla isn’t going to stop them.

When Aaron recieves a captain’s commission in the new Outworld Confederacy, Mara is his natural choice for second in command. But Mara never expected to live past the first few battles. She only joined the resistance to avenge her father, and fears the monster she’s starting to become. The only thing she has left to live for now is her friends.

The Imperials aren’t the only enemy in this war, though. The friends must face a threat from within in

SONS OF THE STARFARERS
BOOK IV: FRIENDS IN COMMAND

Details

Author: Joe Vasicek
Series: Sons of the Starfarers, Book 4
Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera
Tag: 2015 Release
Publication Year: July 2015
Length: short novel
List Price: $9.99
eBook Price: $2.99

Order Now

$1 off the ebook with coupon code: BUY DIRECT

FREE ebook when you buy the audiobook direct!

Joe Vasicek

Joe Vasicek fell in love with science fiction and fantasy when he read The Neverending Story as a child. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Genesis Earth, Gunslinger to the Stars, The Sword Keeper, and the Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic at Brigham Young University and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus Mountains. He lives in Utah with his wife and two apple trees.

Other Books in the "Sons of the Starfarers"

Brothers in Exile

Comrades in Hope

Strangers in Flight

Captives in Obscurity

Patriots in Retreat

A Queen in Hiding

An Empire in Disarray

Victors in Liberty

The Complete Sons of the Starfarers

Some of the links in the page above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. You will not receive any additional charge. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Friends in Command — excerpt 8

Two more days before Friends in Command (Sons of the Starfarers: Book IV) goes live! 😀 Here’s another excerpt:

==========

The ferry docked, and she disembarked with the rest of the passengers. The terminal was almost as crowded as the ferry, but she managed to elbow her way through.

Aaron was waiting near one of the large fishbowl windows that overlooked the fleet. As the view rotated due to the spinning of the station’s hab modules, the starlight glistened and twinkled off the surfaces of the new ships. He was so entranced by the sight that he didn’t notice her until she was standing right next to him.

“Oh! There you are, Mara. Good to see you!”

“You too, Aaron,” she said in their native Deltan. The place was so new and unfamiliar that it felt comforting to talk in the language she’d grown up speaking.

“Can you believe it? A whole fleet of brand new warships out there, and soon we’ll be commanding one of them!”

“You’re the one in command,” she said. “I’m just your executive officer.”

“Yeah, but still… Honestly, is this a dream? How did this happen? When Major Achilles called me in, I thought I was in trouble or something—I never thought it would be something like this.”

“Well, the Resistance is short on officers right now, and you really proved yourself in the last campaign.”

“I still can’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. “They made me captain. Captain. Skipped right over the lower ranks. I wonder what Isaac would think if he could see me now.”

His excitement dimmed, and his expression became clouded, making Mara frown. For the last two months, the two of them had scoured every database and ship log for information that would help him locate his brother, or at least find out what had happened. From the records at Colkhia, they’d discovered that the Medea had arrived at the system under the alias Medusa and had jumped out shortly after the battle had begun. But they hadn’t found anything else for the last two months, and Aaron was starting to get desperate.

Friends in Command

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

Order Now!

About the Book

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

The war for the Outworlds is on. The Imperials may have lost the first round, but they’re back—and this time, a ragtag flotilla isn’t going to stop them.

The Imperials aren’t the only enemy in this war, though. The friends must face a threat from within in

SONS OF THE STARFARERS
BOOK IV: FRIENDS IN COMMAND

Details

Author: Joe Vasicek
Series: Sons of the Starfarers, Book 4
Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera
Tag: 2015 Release
Publication Year: July 2015
Length: short novel
List Price: $9.99
eBook Price: $2.99

Order Now

$1 off the ebook with coupon code: BUY DIRECT

FREE ebook when you buy the audiobook direct!

Joe Vasicek

Other Books in the "Sons of the Starfarers"

Brothers in Exile

Comrades in Hope

Strangers in Flight

Captives in Obscurity

Patriots in Retreat

A Queen in Hiding

An Empire in Disarray

Victors in Liberty

The Complete Sons of the Starfarers

Friends in Command — excerpt 7

Mara didn’t know what to expect when she met back up with Aaron, now her commanding officer. She dressed in her crisp new uniform, ignoring the stiff starchiness of the fabric. She’d break it in with time, just like the war would break in the newly organized battle fleet.

The dockyards for the new starships were at a higher orbit than New Hope Station, so Mara had to take a shuttle ferry. The ride lasted a little over an hour, but the shuttle was crammed so full of people that felt more like ten. Fortunately, she had a window seat that gave her an excellent view. The darkness of deep space made it impossible to see the new ships until they were right on top of them, but by then, the sight was grand enough to make her gasp.

All along the long, narrow docking arm, dozens of sleek, silvery starships sat parked in perfectly aligned rows. Yellow light spilled out from the tiny portholes along their sides, illuminating their incredibly smooth hulls. Unlike the volunteer ships of the Flotilla, these Tajji warships were all new, without any pock-marks from micro-meteorites or darkening from long exposure to cosmic rays. They weren’t particularly large, but what they lacked in size they more than made up for in sleekness and form factor. The smaller ones were shaped like darts and missiles, the larger ones like elongated diamonds. The bulky engines were set off in nacelles, no doubt giving them extra maneuverability. Missile bays and weapons systems were tucked seamlessly inside the smooth, silvery hulls.

One of those ships is going to be my home for the next few years, Mara thought to herself. With twenty-four other people on board, the frigate was bound to be a little world all to itself. She just hoped that her old friends from Fourth Platoon would be a part of it.

Friends in Command

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

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About the Book

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

The war for the Outworlds is on. The Imperials may have lost the first round, but they’re back—and this time, a ragtag flotilla isn’t going to stop them.

The Imperials aren’t the only enemy in this war, though. The friends must face a threat from within in

SONS OF THE STARFARERS
BOOK IV: FRIENDS IN COMMAND

Details

Author: Joe Vasicek
Series: Sons of the Starfarers, Book 4
Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera
Tag: 2015 Release
Publication Year: July 2015
Length: short novel
List Price: $9.99
eBook Price: $2.99

Order Now

$1 off the ebook with coupon code: BUY DIRECT

FREE ebook when you buy the audiobook direct!

Joe Vasicek

Other Books in the "Sons of the Starfarers"

Brothers in Exile

Comrades in Hope

Strangers in Flight

Captives in Obscurity

Patriots in Retreat

A Queen in Hiding

An Empire in Disarray

Victors in Liberty

The Complete Sons of the Starfarers

Friends in Command — excerpt 6

“Deltana? Is that you?”

The nearest members of the platoon were looking at her, so she stood up and took her call to the corner. Besides, some of the equipment was fairly noisy. By covering one ear, though, she was able to hear him just fine.

“Yes, Mara, it is me,” said Aaron, speaking in Gaian. “I have some news!”

Whatever it was, he sounded excited.

“What is it?” Mara asked, switching to Gaian for the benefit of the rest of the platoon.

“They gave me a commission, just like you said! I’m going to command a small frigate, one of the new ones built by the Tajjis!”

His Gaian was surprisingly good—he must have been practicing. Mara smiled.

“That’s great, Aaron. I didn’t doubt you for a moment.”

“I have other news for Fourth Platoon, too.”

Her smile instantly fell as she steeled herself for the inevitable.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“High Command is dissolving Paladin wing. All of the platoons, including Fourth Platoon, are going to be disbanded.”

So it’s happening, Mara thought to herself. Her gut clenched, but she refused to let the news affect her. After all, she’d known it was coming.

“Thanks for the heads-up, Aaron. I appreciate it.”

“That’s not all, Mara. I have some very good news for you.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. When Major Achilles gave me the frigate commission, he asked me to name my officers and crew. It’s a small ship, so there’s only room for twenty-five of us, but guess who I named as my first officer?”

Mara’s heart skipped a beat. “No way. Don’t tell me you—”

“Yes, Mara. I want you to be my second-in-command.”

The shock of the news made her blink and go rigid. It took her brain a moment to process the information. At first, she almost panicked, but then she realized that it was a good surprise rather than a bad one.

“You—you want me as your XO?”

Friends in Command

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

Order Now!

About the Book

The future of the Outworlds now lies in uncertain hands.

The war for the Outworlds is on. The Imperials may have lost the first round, but they’re back—and this time, a ragtag flotilla isn’t going to stop them.

The Imperials aren’t the only enemy in this war, though. The friends must face a threat from within in

SONS OF THE STARFARERS
BOOK IV: FRIENDS IN COMMAND

Details

Author: Joe Vasicek
Series: Sons of the Starfarers, Book 4
Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera
Tag: 2015 Release
Publication Year: July 2015
Length: short novel
List Price: $9.99
eBook Price: $2.99

Order Now

$1 off the ebook with coupon code: BUY DIRECT

FREE ebook when you buy the audiobook direct!