Sharing the sci-fi projects that I am writing and working on.
As a self-published author, I set a rather ambitious publishing schedule for 2021. Six novels total.
This weekend will see the publication of the 3rd novel in my Forgotten Fodder sci-fi series. One more to go for this plot, coming in November.
In October, I will be publishing the 4th novel in my Void Incursion sci-fi series. The series will be concluded with the 5th novel, which I’ll be publishing in 2022.
These sci-fi projects have been exciting on lots of levels. And I thought, hey, let me break them down and share them, as well as some insight into my planning, plotting, and overall writing/creation process.
Thus, without further ado:
The Forgotten Fodder series
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
No, scratch that. Sorry. Way back in 1977, I saw Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope) for the first time. When Obi-Wan tells Luke that he and his father had fought in the Clone Wars, I had this notion in my head of what that would look like: Two sides employing clones for combat with Jedi and their opposites in command.
Of course, years later, George Lucas shared this in the prequels – and it turned out to be clones versus droids.
Years later, watching the Clone Wars cartoon series, my mind again revisited my original thought on what the Clone Wars would look like. But then, I thought – what if both sides DID have clones – and when the war ended, they were discarded and left without anything to do?
That led to plotting out what would evolve into Forgotten Fodder. A sci-fi series that takes place 550 years in the future, across colonies humankind has moved out to, following a 20-year-long war fought by clones.
There were 12-14 “templates” used to make the clones, representing infantry, cavalry, pilots, medics, and so forth. The majority were the infantry – and at the end of the war, tens of thousands of clones remained.
Ten years later, clones live in slums outside cities where they fought, or in tenements along city outskirts. Jace Rojas, the main protagonist, lives in a derelict transport with two clone roommates.
Jace witnesses an execution-style murder – and the investigator (Marshal Onima Gwok) from the Confederation Bureau of Investigation (yes, an interplanetary FBI), learns that it was part of a far larger conspiracy.
The investigation spans 4 novels, lots of different planets and cities, and a cast of interesting characters.
The Forgotten Fodder projects’ planning and evolution
Forgotten Fodder was the first series I have ever planned out in detail in advance. Prior to this, I’ve written almost exclusively as a pantser (one who writes by the seat of their pants).
Before writing the first words of book 1, I laid out information about the doings of the human race in the year 2572, colonized exoplanets (several of which were terraformed), how faster-than-light travel works, and so on.
Then, I plotted each book chapter by chapter. While these are not lengthy novels, each book is a complete work in and of itself.
The characters and situations I created for the first four books are larger than life. And so, I am plotting another series to further follow the exploits of Jace, Onima, and the team on another convoluted investigation.
The nuances of this series, the social matters and politics, finances, and how the second-class citizenry of the clones impacts everyone has been fascinating to explore. One series of 4 books just isn’t enough – there is more to tell.
The story is told from one of two character perspectives – Jace or Onima.
Following this next four-book series, I have an idea for another plot/situation for the team. I think Forgotten Fodder could easily be from 8-12 books (two series of four, and another series of 2-4 books depending on how they plot out). Beginning with the next series, I will be adding a 3rd character’s perspective.
By planning this series, rather than stifling my creativity – it expanded it. This has been an incredible experience, and I am excited to share it all.
Now I need to begin writing the next conspiracy.
The Void Incursion series
In September of 2015, after years of wanting to write a sci-fi epic, an idea finally took root. One very simple concept inspired the notion – and before I knew it, I had begun what would evolve into the Void Incursion series.
In many respects, I wanted to smash through several of the known tropes of such stories. Hence, one of my main characters is a middle-aged lesbian, another is from a race with NO gender at all, and I am employing three different ideas for faster-than-light travel.
Like Star Wars, Void Incursion takes place in a galaxy far from our own. Humans did not originate on Earth. They and the many, varied races in this galaxy have been traversing space for hundreds of thousands of years.
My focal characters each get embroiled, in their own way, in the incursion from the void between galaxies on the part of an alien race. The incursion seems to have no rhyme or reason – and in time, another race not of the galaxy arrives with some answers, but also further mysteries.
The 4th novel in the series will be published in October. There will be one more novel – which will be published sometime in 2022.
The Void Incursion projects’ planning and evolution
I had an idea. I began to write. Void Incursion is one of those projects that was written by the seat of my pants.
Long ago, to avoid file corruption and massive data loss, I took to saving any project I am writing in approximately 50-60 page increments. Old habits die hard, so I still do this. Before long, Void Incursion was 7 files and counting.
Unlike my Source Chronicles series, I did not want the Void Incursion novels to be 400-600 pages. Going through the files, I was able to begin assembling individual novels under 300 pages. When I reached the end of the fourth novel – I was at the end of what I had written.
Rather than write the final novel as a pantser – I planned it. Chapter by chapter, the final Void Incursion novel is plotted. Work on writing it will be starting soon.
Because I wrote this as a pantser – the plot develops slowly. That’s the biggest problem, at least for me, writing as a pantser. Characters, scenes, concepts, places – those come easily. Overall story plot? Not so much.
I have, as such, written whole novels without finding the plot until the 2nd or 3rd book. Not bad stories or unreadable works – just a meandering that, while engaging, could have been lessened. It doesn’t detract from the story – it means that it’s more character-driven than plot-driven.
The story is told from multiple character perspectives. Three primary human characters, three primary non-human characters, and two or three others along the way.
Void Incursion is sci-fantasy rather than hard sci-fi. But I love this series – and look forward to releasing the next book and completing the overall story arc.
Future projects
In 2022, I will be publishing 2 novels for certain. The 5th and final Void Incursion book – Check and Mate; and the 3rd novel of my Source Chronicles fantasy series – Harbinger.
Probably, some, if not all, of the next books in the Forgotten Fodder series will also be published in 2022.
And I am working on another sci-fi series. Savagespace skirts the line between sci-fi and sci-fantasy in many ways – but what I have planned thus far is going to be a lot of fun to write.
Though I’m not ready to divulge details of the plot – I will share one thing. Though variations of elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, and other classic fantasy/Dungeons and Dragons creatures and monsters have been used as alien tropes – they have never been the aliens in any sci-fi series I’ve come across. So – I thought, why not make them alien races from other planets in a sci-fi setting?
I hope if you love to read sci-fi and fantasy, you will check out my ongoing and previous work. Sharing the sci-fi projects that I am writing and working on inspires me to keep going. I hope you will take a look at and read some of my fiction projects – if you’ve not already done so – and enjoy.
Thank you for being part of my ongoing journey, for joining me, and for inspiring me and my craft.
This is the one-hundred and twenty-third article exploring the ongoing creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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