Alex J. Cavanaugh's Taking the World by Storm Question Answered and My Writing Update: My Crazy Muse

I asked Alex, "What technology/abilities in your books would you like to see scientists discover and why?"

Alex said, "TELEPORTATION!!!!! I hate the commute to work and long days of travel. We need teleportation so we can avoid all that hassle. I just wouldn’t want to turn into a fly…"

Teleportation. Let's make it happen, people!

CassaStorm

By Alex J Cavanaugh

From the Amazon Best Selling Series!

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

“Cavanaugh has created wonderfully moving moments of great poignancy… CassaStorm could have been a dark story full of hardship and angst, but instead it's a cleverly balanced story about hope and triumph.”
- Lynda R. Young, author of Make Believe

"Cavanaugh makes world building on the galactic scale look easy. The stakes affect the entire known universe and yet Cavanaugh makes it intensely personal for our hero. The final installment of this series will break your heart and put it back together."
- Charity Bradford, science fantasy author of The Magic Wakes

Find CassaStorm: Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Amazon Kindle

 

Book trailer

$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera

Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019

$4.99 EBook available in all formats

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of the Amazon bestsellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

Website / Twitter / Goodreads

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Happy Wednesday!

First off, I wish to thank everyone for tweeting and posting messages on Facebook about The Nightmare Collection! Writers4Writers is definitely awesome! Keep up the great work, everyone!

As for my writing update, I got off to a slow start this month, but I'm picking up speed. I've been figuring out my map of Foxwick and its surrounding neighbors and hope to start drawing it this weekend. This week I'm working on "Mourner's Lament," and I might go ahead and start the other two short stories in Neighbors of Foxwick if I have time.

Unfortunately, my muse has been chucking ideas at me like crazy. My muse often acts up when I'm doing something hard. It tries to distract me. *sighs* Some days it's working too.

I originally planned to write The Loveless Princess after I finished with Reforged, but now I have an idea for not one tragic princess short novel but three: Loveless, Beautyless, and Dreamless. I was thinking of calling the series The Tragic Princesses. Not a very unique series title (I may come up with something better later on), but the stories have some twists of old fairy tales and would be set within my Foxwick world. Of course, if I keep up with the idea, then I'll need to put off writing The Loveless Princess, or now Loveless. I like to have first drafts written of all three before I publish the first one, especially if the second and third novels (featuring different MCs) don't work out.

Okay, so if I choose to put off writing Loveless, then what should be my fourth publication next year? Yes, my muse spoke up and has been telling me Reza's story. Reza is one of the queens of Amora (the world from The Fate Challenges but set 500 years before). She and the Phoenix Prophetess Brinlynn have quite a few challenges ahead of them. Brinlynn and Reza are both mentioned in Reborn too. The novel title will be Reigned, and I know it's a standalone book. It could fill the fourth slot in my publication schedule for 2014. That way I would have two Foxwick-related stories and two Amora-related stories out next year. I do like that idea.

And if that wasn't enough, I now have an idea for a serial futuristic sci-fi/dystopian story as a retelling of Homer's The Iliad. The serial would be in six parts (most likely), and right now the series title is The H.E.L.E.N. Wars. H.E.L.E.N. stands for "High Efficiency Level Electricity Network" or something like that. The idea is still in its infancy. My muse says it would be great for a 2015 publication slot, but we'll see if the idea pans out.

I keep telling my muse to be quiet for a little bit. After all, I have editing to do and stories to write. Has your muse ever gone on the fritz?

Friday Flash: Part II "S.S. Argonaut" and Cover Reveal of CassaStorm

 

Today's #fridayflash was actually a short story I wrote a long time ago. I've decided to break the story into three parts, so here is part two. Part I was up last Friday (February 15), and Part III will be up the Friday (March 1) after.

PART II, S.S. Argonaut 

Panic twirled from person to person as infectious as the flu. A scream here. A shove there. Mayhem reigned while compassion for fellow man halted. This very terror seized me by the throat. I twisted and pushed my way through the crowded hallways while attempting to contact Bethany and the kids with my wristscreen.

A hazy image appeared, but I couldn’t hear her tiny voice over the discord.

“I’m coming, sweetie, stay where you are.” I punched in a button for her location. A little red dot blinked in Sector C, Section 3. What was she doing in our room still?

I reversed course and jogged against the current heading toward Sector E.

Cruuunnch!

BANG!

When my feet left the floor, my first thought was someone deactivated the gravity sensors, but I was falling, not floating. My arm struck the wall, smashing my wristscreen. Instinctively, I grabbed hold of the man beside me, and we both tumbled, barely missing being squashed by three people.

The alarm faltered from wail to sickly whine. The lights stopped blinking. The dim glow of emergency lights was all we had left.

I scrambled to my feet. Pain spread from my wrist through my arm, but I clutched the appendage and continued toward Sector C.

When I arrived there, silence descended. A ghost town had sprung up in this residential corner of the spaceship. I listened for people as I raced toward Section 3. Turning a corner, I arrived there. A slow burning fire crackled from ripped wires. Smoke obscured my sight, and I felt my way towards our rooms.

A soft voice cried the word, “Mommy.”

I recognized that voice, and it clutched my heart in a vice.

“Jax,” I called to my son, shoved away a fallen panel, and entered our rooms.

The smoke was thicker in here, causing me to cough. I blinked back the tears when I saw Jax, Lara, and April huddling next to Bethany.

Dark blood oozed from a gash in her forehead. The sight stole my breath away, and I tumbled to her.

“Bethy, sweetheart,” I whispered, slowly checking to see whether or not she was alive.

She moaned and I could breathe again. I ripped a piece of table cloth and wrapped it around her head. Our children looked fine, scared, but fine. I lifted Bethany into my arms and looked at them.

“Jax, you and Lara hold April’s hands. We’re getting off the Argonaut.”

“What happened to mommy?” Lara asked, her eyes wide and pooling with unshed tears.

My heart ached for them. “She’ll be fine. We gotta go, though. Follow me.”

Seven-year-old Jax took three-year-old April’s hand and five-year-old Lara did the same. I ushered my three children out of Section 3 as we trekked toward Sector E.

And speaking of science fiction, have you seen the fantastic cover art of Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaStorm? If you haven't, then you don't have to wait any longer because it's here. *grins*

CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, his only struggles are occasional rogue pirate raids and endless government bureaucracies. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, shaking Bassan to the core and threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could be on its way back. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

Release date: September 17, 2013

Science Fiction - Space Opera/Adventure

Print ISBN 9781939844002

E-book ISBN 9781939844019