busy"The Space Traders"
The Lacuna has cut itself free
from the Carinan and Orion armies,
cutting off its supply lines in the process.
What remains are the freelancers,
space traders near enough to pirates,
the ones who count the whole galaxy home
so long as they have a ship to sail
through the endless night.
There is Short John
who deals primarily in drugs,
some with legitimate medicinal uses,
and related supplies for keeping people alive.
He is self-conscious about his stature,
always yearning toward normal
even though it recedes like a mirage
the more he chases it;
he doesn't fit in any better here
than he did planetside,
but that doesn't stop him from trading.
There is Anne Goede,
a smuggler given to luxuries,
who is happy enough to traffic
food and seeds and garden supplies
once she stops laughing over the request.
She is tall and graceful and dangerous,
and she never gave a damn about fitting in,
except now she suddenly does.
She just wants to expand her shipping potential
and the secessionists are glad to help with that
if she can get them the things they need.
The Lacuna has its share of wanderers too,
people who liked the military because it took them places,
only now there is no military and a shortage
of going anywhere at all.
A few of them ship out with the merchants,
and that's all right with everyone,
because there are immigrants
filtering in slowly from outside
and new traders already sniffing around the edges.
These paths, too,
are made by traveling them.
January 20 2015, 16:33:05 UTC 6 years ago
It shows your ability to tackle a wide variety of genres. You keep coming up with new and different situations to put your characters in--makes it a pleasure to read your work.
Best of all--your work is distinctive. It's not the cookie-cutter adventure stuff that has been standard fare for the past 70-80 years now.
:^}
Thank you!
January 20 2015, 19:30:44 UTC 6 years ago
I'm happy to hear that.
>> It shows your ability to tackle a wide variety of genres. You keep coming up with new and different situations to put your characters in--makes it a pleasure to read your work. <<
I can write darn near anything. What becomes a series, or a long and popular one, depends on my readers. You-all buy a LOT of fantasy, occasional science fiction and mundane lit, and seem to have minimal interest in horror. Dark fantasy, no problem; dark SF, only a little, but the creepier it gets the less popular it is with my current audience. So I'm pleased to see a science fiction series developing a following, because the diversity helps me reach more readers.
As for situations, well, my characters are very good at getting themselves into trouble without any help from me! So of course the trouble they get into is based on their different personalities and opportunities.
>> Best of all--your work is distinctive. It's not the cookie-cutter adventure stuff that has been standard fare for the past 70-80 years now.
:^} <<
Yay! A key reason why I write is because so much of the mainstream frankly bores me. I like a far wider range of challenges in literature than are typically offered. Part of the credit goes to my audience, though -- you folks ask me for some things I would never have thought of. For characters that aren't a direct match for my personal experience in this like, like the neurovariant ones in this series, I can rely on research (the results of which were only so-so early on) or fan input (the results of which have been spectacular).