Science Fiction

Okay, so I suppose it’s time for one of those I’m still alive posts again. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet but there is quite a lot going on these days. (New book here if you want to skip this post!)

The last years have been hard on everyone, and that includes me. At first, the forced isolation seemed like a dream for us writer-types; just being locked in with nothing to do aside from writing. Well, for me that wasn’t the case at all. Not only did I bring a lot of baggage with me into the quarantine, but being holed up inside didn’t give me much in the way of inspiration. Me and my family already felt kind of dead in the water before the lockdown, and basically being stuck together for a year didn’t help matters much. So we got the hell out of dodge and moved halfway across the country, yay! I now reside just outside of Oslo, the capital of Norway, which after a year of isolation was a colossal system shock. Compared to any other town in the world it’s really not that big, but when comparing it to my hometown I might’ve just as well moved to Tokyo or New York. There’s people everywhere! And I love it! I think . . .

It’s gonna be fine . . .

So that’s the boring personal stuff out of the way: New place, new town, new job and new clothes. Same family, same stupid face and same imagination. (And lack thereof, occasionally.) I can’t guarantee anything when it comes to my writing, but I haven’t been completely out of it the past five years either, just way too lazy to post updates about it. So for the three or four people reading this, here’s a three-pronged update on my current projects! I shall call it Bishop’s Trident! Or not . . .

New book

This should’ve been its own post a million years ago! The book was more or less written in 2016 and 2017 I got it printed in 2018 but there were some issues with the cover and some scathing but very welcome feedback from a couple of early readers. I finally got around to editing everything and fixing it up in 2019 and then I just kind of released it into the wild without promoting it at all.

If you’re one of those promotional/self-publish/indie/marketing channels on social media you’re probably choking on your lunch right now. I got . . . sidetracked, okay?

Anyway, the book is called Empress, and is dedicated to an old colleague of mine. (It’s a little different than my other stuff, while still taking place in Noman.) It’s a great first foray into the Noman universe if you find Awakenings to be a little too massive. It’s on Amazon now both as paperback and on Kindle.

S’ilvia has given up hope long ago, certain her disease will be the end of her. She sets out to strike a final deal before that happens, to make sure her empire will survive. Her legate, however, still clings to the faint hope a cure can be procured. Rumor has it there’s one among the ancient ruins and choking humidity of Phran; a secluded H’arian city deep in the mystical jungles of Noman. But the shadows are long in The Wet, and according to the locals, they come alive at night. S’ilvia has to count on a lot more than words if she wants to earn their trust. She might even have to call on something from her dark past.
Robert Bishop – Empress

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So . . . I decided to try my hands on some science fiction. True to the genre, it quickly grew too big to contain and escaped its confines.

Although the two genres share many similarities, sci-fi is not quite the same as fantasy, and I’m well aware of – and partially in agreement with – the notion that one should stick to what one knows best. Jumping from fantasy to science fiction (albeit only for two novellas), isn’t quite the same as a basketball player wanting to play football, and expecting to be taken in by the national team; but it’s in the ballpark. (See what I did there?)

In any case, I’m the basketball player trying to play football in this metaphor, and I sincerely hope that even though I didn’t stick to ‘my genre’ this time, you’ll read (and hopefully enjoy) the first of my two sci-fi novellas. And let’s be honest: I’m not writing in the big leagues here, so it’s not like I’m trying to have my cake and eat it, too. (Though I do tend to eat the cakes that I have. It seems preferable to throwing them away.)

In any case, the story follows a young girl and her brother as they’re trying to get some information to K’hadmera – The world that floats. Someone wants to stop them before they get there, however, and are willing to spend an ungodly amount of money to stop them. Alexandra, the young girl, doesn’t quite know what that information is, but her brother seems convinced that it could very well save the entire known universe.

Or end it.