So I’ve been working hard at Star Wanderers: Reproach (Part VII) these past few days, and I’m happy to say that it will be coming out sooner than I’d expected!  I finished a quick proofreading and touch up pass today, which mostly involved cutting some unnecessary paragraphs and rewording a few sentences here and there.  I also wrote the author’s note and acknowledgments, so all it needs is another proofreading pass and it should be good to go!

This story wasn’t quite as difficult as Sacrifice, but it certainly was a challenge, and I’m surprisingly pleased with the result.  Revisiting the Star Wanderers story from Mariya and Noemi’s points of view was a great experience, and I did my best to really get into their heads and show what they were thinking.  The themes are a bit unusual for a science fiction story, but if you’ve followed the Star Wanderers this far, it should be another fun and interesting ride!

I suppose this is where I should include an excerpt or something.  I’m not a fan of huge, unwieldy excerpts, so here’s a quickie:

The others laughed with her. As they returned to their work, however, a strange silence fell over them, as if some unspoken tension hung thick in the air. Mariya glanced nervously at her mother, making Noemi wonder if it was something between the two of them. But instead of speaking with Mariya, Salome turned to her.

“About Jerem-ahra,” she said. “He’s a good man, isn’t he?”

“Oh, yes,” said Noemi, slowing down a little as she folded the last of the clothes. “Why?”

“God knows there aren’t many good men where we’re going—the Far Outworlds, I mean.” Salome pulled the bed-sheet taught and tucked it expertly beneath the thin foam mattress. “Not many Deltans out there either. At Zarmina, we’ll be the only ones.”

Noemi frowned. She glanced at Mariya, who was watching her intently out of the corner of her eye. Something was going on here—she didn’t know what it was exactly, but it felt as if they were backing her into a corner.

“Really?” she asked, her arms growing tense. “Just the three of us?”

“And father too, of course,” Mariya interjected. “He wasn’t born Deltan, but he’s as good as one of us now.”

“And Jerem-ahra,” said Salome.

What are they trying to get at? Noemi wondered. Both of them were staring at her now, making her hands feel clammy. It was as if they expected an answer from her, but she didn’t even know what they were asking.

“J-Jeremahra hasn’t been baptized yet,” she said, her voice quavering. “I don’t know how to bring it up. We understand each other when it comes to little things, but—”

“I can talk with him!” Mariya said, smiling cheerily. “I can help translate almost anything for you. And even though he hasn’t been baptized yet, I’m sure he’ll come around eventually. When he married you, he practically married into it—just like daddy. For your sake, he’ll convert before too long.”

That’s odd, Noemi thought to herself. Back on Oriana Station, she did everything she could to avoid bringing up religion. It wasn’t like she’d stopped believing, though—just that she was nervous talking with people who didn’t share their faith. Considering all the anti-Deltan bigotry back on Oriana Station, Noemi didn’t blame her. But why was she so eager to see Jeremahra converted now?

“Let me put it this way,” said Salome. “Where we’re going, we need to stick together. And what’s a better way to do that than to become one family?”

Stars of Holy Earth, Noemi realized, they want Mariya to become his second wife. Her eyes widened, and an awful sinking feeling began to pull at her gut even as her legs turned to water.

I’m not sure whether to hire a proofreader or just proofread it myself.  I doubt I’ll find someone who can turn it around before the end of the week, but who knows?  The manuscript is pretty clean, though, so it shouldn’t take too much work to catch the last few typos–just a good eye.

In any case, I’ll leave you with the track I’m listening to right now.  It’s a great track by Paul van Dyk, Arty, and Sue McLaren, remixed by Pedro Del Mar.  Stuff like this really helps me to get in the zone.

Take care!