Good news first, my girlfriend and I are going to Malaysia from the 5th of July to the 23rd. I’ll post updates on Facebook (assuming that anyone actually cares, LOL) if I have the chance. It’s going to be a new experience for me, so I am looking forward to the trip a lot. Obviously, I won’t be posting while I’m gone. I think I should have the first draft of The Forgotten finished by the time I leave, so comments would be welcome… After that, I think I’m going to write The Cross-Time Road Trip, now that I have a working and fairly coherent plot. Well, it’s meant to be a humorous story as much as anything else, so any real science and suchlike is solely due to the laxity and carelessness of the writer. And after that? Truthfully, I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about a space opera set in roughly 2900, after the early days of spaceflight produced a new breed of humanity, The Quantum Children. The idea is that the Talented upset our society – how does a society based around equality cope when it has members who are, demonstratively, superior? At least some of the Talented have been covertly running the Greater Commonwealth – solely for humanity’s own good, of course – and the lid is about to be blown open. A second space opera series is a return to two old ideas of mine; All The Marbles: First Conflict and Inverse Shadows. Both of them featured an ultra-advanced post-scarcity society that found itself forced to fight against alien invaders, the latter featuring aliens from an alternate dimension that were completely unlike humanity. I was thinking that pushing them together might be interesting. I’ve also been considering a rewrite of Invasion. Basically, Invasion2 would feature the Earth being attacked by aliens who (unlike us) actually pushed into space in a big way. Their society would be more advanced than ours in some respects (space travel) and less advanced than us in others (computers). Continuing in the alien invasion theme, I have a V-inspired idea where the friendly aliens from the Galactic Federation turn up to help Earth into the Federation. Naturally, the aliens are actually softening us up for invasion… leaving a motley crew of renegades to uncover the truth before it is too late. I’ve also got a major disaster story, set in a future where the sun has flared and wrecked the solar system. I’ve also got a space opera story featuring a Captain who got her position several years in advance because of her father’s influence, leaving her as an uncertain commander and suspected by her peers because of how she got the post. (Weber fans can think of Pavel Young, except this girl is actually reasonably competent – if inexperienced). And she’s on the frontlines of an interstellar war against an extremely dangerous alien race. On the space war theme, I have one in which the Chinese accidentally blunder into war with an advanced alien race, so the rest of humanity sends a ship on a peace mission, hoping to prevent a war. But the aliens have their own factions and one wants to fight a war against the human race… I’m also seriously considering a rewrite of The War After Roswell. The basic background was that a UFO actually did crash at <st1:City><st1lace>Roswell</st1lace></st1:City>, and became public shortly afterwards, changing the course of history as the <st1:country-region><st1lace>US</st1lace></st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region><st1lace>USSR</st1lace></st1:country-region> allied against the alien threat. But then the aliens never arrived and that uneasy alliance is breaking down, just in time for the aliens to return… Let me know which one you would like – I’m also open to cameos…I always need more victims (sorry, did I say victims? I meant valued characters…yes, that sounds convincing.) Still, I’m going to be away for nearly three weeks. I’m looking forward to it Chris.
Enjoy the trip, but I have to say that getting there is not half the fun. If you get the chance, drop down to Johor Baru and cross into Singapore, take the gf to Orchard Road and let her shop a bit, then hit Sentosa. Follow Sentosa with an evening on Boat Quay (but take money, it's designed to reduce the weight of tourist wallets. So is Raffles, home of the world's longest bar, they say. I disagree --. But split an original Singapore Sling with gf if you go there.) Take cabs everywhere in Sp, cheap and easy to find at any time if night or day. While in M'sia, go to the Genting Highlands and have a go at the slots. Stay well clear of the Thai border, things are a mite tense up that way these days. Write 'em all, and we don't care what order they come, just keep 'em coming.
I hope you have a great trip! Thanks again for posting your stories here first. It is really cool to be able to read a chapter as soon as it is written...
Chris you will be missed. Here is some advice as well. I have traveled to Philippines several times in the last few years and while most speak English not all do. Take a camera with you and take pics of signs,hotels, restaurants that you want to eat at. Take pics of the cabbies license plate as well in case they try and rip you on a fair or drop you off in the wrong place. Also get some business cards from your hotel to give to a cabbie when you get in. Allot easier for them and you. I saw something similar posted about this last week on survival blog. It's a good read on things you might not think about while traveling. Good luck on your trip...
Oh yeah Chris, I am also looking forward to seeing what happens in The Cross-Time Road Trip!!! You have a great start there.
I forgot to add: And there’s the story of Merlin’s Legacy, in which the devil’s son rules a kingdom for a thousand years...but what happens after he dies?
Enjoy your trip to Malaysia Have a nice time Chris. Recharge those creative juices for more output when you get back. Cheers from Chello
My last post for three weeks! Let me know what story you want next, OK? Anyone who wants a cameo can post here too. Chris
