Blog Archives
Rise Of The Omega Empress
Echoes For Celia follows a young woman who’s life changes forever when she learns about her destiny. What was the inspiration for the setup to this exciting novel?
As a person with a background in Astronomy and my keen interest in cosmology? Not believing Aliens yet believing we are not Alone I twisted theories of Ancient Aliens, and Ideas of Pyramids, Atlantis, coming up with the idea that maybe even first humans are not even us, so I in fact throw out the theory of Panspermia that our DNA came from another system in fact we are not even the first race inhabiting the Earth
Celia is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind her character development?
In the beginning, I wasn’t sure how to start than I thought to take a massive chance and go over the head over scientific society, and I’m sure if someday if this series of the book becomes best seller? I will have loads of questions from the scientific community! I decided to give her godlike power and without spoiling any read? Introduce Ancient beings that Mayans or Egyptian may have worshipped Eons ago around total Ice age of snowball Earth making them Type 6 civilization. Beings with far more abilities to Superman or even Q of Star trek to remind literary readers that if we get our acts together? We certainly can reach the same states. (I managed to talk with the Author (DAVID HATCHER CHILDRESS ON -CAMEO- ) Author of Ancient Mysteries and one of the researchers on Ancient Aliens was kind enough to give his opinion on sisters& Aliens. I uploaded on my YouTube.
What were some themes you wanted to focus on in this book?
Indirectly I referred to Earth & world were Ancient used to live long ago but they were far advance than any Atlantic civilization hance mentioning the Ice age. Without giving too much away. Plus I said the reason why there is two race of humans, what happened, i-e maybe build-up of pyramids. Those brightest should notice I did not write any historical romance and quickly find out the sister’s father sounds like which famous person in the world without referring. During my publication, I noticed that race and equality became an issue, and I strongly decided on the couple’s look and beauty in the book.
This is book one in your Rise of the Omega Empress series. What can readers expect in book two?
I’m happy to say that the second book already going through editorial soon. (The Rise of the Omega Empress) something entirely different, it may have romantic touch about it yes but more of techno-friendly and more diverse with all cultures, backgrounds, and those abilities or inability. This book you can expect to watch as a movie but leaving you sisters trying to protect the secret of life so no one can steal even with all their power, who is there amongst them friend or foe? Yet you got really on your powerful lion to save the godlike sister that can detect the spy? Oh, her name is NOVA.
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Series1
The Moral Dilemmas of a Character
HAWK: Hellfire follows a galactic mercenary who is searching for justice on a remote colony world. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling novel?
Many years ago I knew a returned soldier from Vietnam who often remarked on the regrets he had from his experiences. He had realized that the people who suffered the most from war were the innocents, the ones who neither wanted nor asked for it. When he came home he found it hard to put behind him, and found very little help to do so, and I always thought that would be a good basis for a story. My writing leans to Science Fiction and I found it easy to use that character in the Sci-Fi scenario. When I started writing Science Fiction I never intended to do Military Sci-Fi, but I seem to have lent that way. No other sub genre lends itself to exploring the moral dilemmas of a character as well.
Hawk is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind his character development?
Hawks journey is basically one to find his own moral foundation. From a wild childhood to the courts and then the military, he learns to become a supreme killer, at a time of life when he is ill prepared to deal with the moral and ethical consequences. There is war, and he simply does as he is commanded.
When the war is over, an older and wiser Hawk has time to look back at his life, and realizes the pain and suffering he and his kind have caused. He determines to change, but finds he cannot not escape his old self. The story follows his journey as he gradually begins to realize, identify with and respect the position of the unseen victims of war, and then divert his efforts to helping them improve their lot in the only way he knows how.
My driving force behind creating the character was very simple. Individuals like Hawk exist everywhere in the world today, and as long as wars persist and innocents die, they always will.
What were some themes that you wanted to explore in this book?
I wanted to explore the reality that war and drugs and the like affect innocent bystanders more than anyone else, and that the people behind those events, be they politicians or drug lords, don’t care.
I also have always had a problem with the way many veterans are treated when they return from war. In Australia (My home) soldiers returning from the Vietnam War were literally brought in the back door and never given the appreciation or help they deserved. They were trained to be killers (often against their will due to conscription) and were never ‘untrained’. Many of them found it hard to deal with life after war.
The human universe I created for Hawk to inhabit also gave me the chance to explore what I think the future will look like. I do not believe that our future will be a squeaky clean Galactic empire as in Asimov’s Foundation series. I expect that once we get out there, people will seek to take their own paths based on culture, religion, ethnicity and so on. The future human society will be just as fractured as it is now, sadly. However, this does give me the opportunity to create different societies on different worlds, and that is something I enjoy doing immensely.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am currently writing a sequel to my Book ‘Falcon’s Call’, which has won several awards. Falcon’s Call was originally intended to be a stand alone, one of, first contact story, but I have had so many requests for a sequel that I decided to bite the bullet and continue the story. The second book will be called ‘Falcon’s Ghost’ and is based on the main character, Joe Falcon, discovering that everything he thought he knew in the first book, is false, and the reality is far stranger and much more dangerous. I hope to follow this one up with a third book, ‘Falcon’s Bane’, to complete the trilogy. Falcon’s Ghost should be out by April this year, and hopefully, ‘Bane’ by Christmas next.
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Two thousand years after the Great Diaspora humanity has spread across the Orion Spur, the human domain fractured and diverse, divided into numerous small federations, empires, dictatorships and a thousand unaligned and lonely planets.
On one of those small worlds a plant grows, a weed that feeds the addiction of many and the greed and avarice of a few, and kills without favor.
Lazarus Hawk, ex-soldier and ex-mercenary, convicted of a crime of terror he did not commit, and sentenced to life on an airless prison moon from which there is no escape, has been offered a way out. It’s a chance. A good chance.
To accept the offer, all he has to do is die.
Forced to undertake a mission against his better judgment, Hawk finds himself teaming up with the locals of a small, backward world, and Abbie Renner, a young Guarda officer searching for the source of the drug Hellfire, and prepared to go to any lengths. This time she has gone too far. This time she needs help.
Can Hawk overcome the mistrust and reticence of a small colony world to accomplish the mission he has been forced to undertake in return for his life?
If you like great, classic science fiction, you will love this new work by multi-award-winning author Mike Waller, an action packed dive into the world of a galactic mercenary driven by the ghosts from his past. Grab a copy now and join Lazarus Hawk in his search for justice for a remote colony world.
Star Siren
In the Orbit of Sirens follows the remnants of the human race who are facing extinction and a deadly enemy. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling story?
This story had been cooking for a long time for me. When I was in third grade, I drew a comic book called Space Explorers that featured my friends and I going on various missions across the galaxy. It was fun and filled with lovely grammatical errors and copyright infringements that come with a child’s writings. I got a little older, and I tried my hand at making a new comic book in high school. I called it Star Siren, which featured a more cohesive story, but ultimately never got finished. After 10 years of working in the film industry on VFX heavy action scenes, I decided it was time to try again. I had a more extensive knowledge base and a matured outlook of the world, I was finally ready to tell a story of my own. So the short answer? I wrote this book to make that 3rd-grade version of myself happy.
Eliana and Denton are intriguing and well-developed characters. What were some driving ideals behind their character development?
Eliana and Denton are very dear to me. I wanted to show a contrast between two world outlooks. We have Eliana, a brilliant researcher, and doctor, who had options based on her skills and connections but is driven to help humanity any way she can. She fixes People. Then there’s Denton, a guy who had almost no options in life who grew up under domes doing whatever his ancestors before him had done because that’s all that’s available. He fixes Machines. The two ultimately come together after being stripped down to their core fundamentals. When humanity has its back to the wall, it will take them both to keep the human race from going extinct.
Denton is also based on me in some ways, but not all. I don’t know a thing about fixing machines (besides what I researched to write the book), but I know what it’s like to leave your home behind to go somewhere new and strange. I grew up in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles when I was twenty-three to pursue my career in the film industry. Denton moves from Ganymede to Kamaria and deals with some similar feelings that I had once. Write what you know, they say.
What were some themes you wanted to focus on in this book?
One of the main themes I focused on in this novel is “What comes after loss.” If you look back, everyone loses something and copes with it in different ways. To keep it spoiler-free—Eliana loses her family. Denton loses his path. Roelin loses his soul, and Nhymn loses her purpose. There’s a journey in a loss that defines who we really are.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I am currently in the beta reading stages of the sequel to In the Orbit of Sirens (title currently unannounced) and finishing the outline to the end of the Song of Kamaria trilogy. I hope to release Book 2 sometime early to mid next year, with the trilogy completing sometime after depending on the writing process. Dare I say the end of next year or early 2022? When it is ready, I will have more concrete answers.
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When starship mechanic, Denton Castus, is caught in the destructive path of a devastating war, he abandons his home and seeks refuge on a distant planet. However, this new safe haven has undiscovered threats of its own. Eliana Veston, a scout preparing the planet for the refugees, struggles with a deadly pandemic that is killing off colonists. The hunt for a cure unleashes a new threat to humanity-the Sirens-mysterious beings with incredible powers and a deep hatred for invaders.
Homecoming (Projects Book 2)
![Homecoming (Projects Book 2) by [Jude Austin]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51QG-Fr87nL.jpg)
A sequel to the gripping action-thriller Project Tau, Jude Austin’s Homecoming traces the journeys of Tau and Kata, right after they’ve managed to escape from GenTech. Struggling to fit into the world, they realize that their lives aren’t free from imminent dangers. Not just GenTech, but other enemies are lurking in the dark to capture and utilize them to fulfill their own selfish needs. Kata desperately wishes to return to Trandellia and to forget the trauma they had just experienced. The tussle between remembrance and an earnest attempt to find a way to liberation infuses a tragic tone into the work. At a crucial moment in the story, Kata has to decide who he should trust. Will he be able to save himself and Tau from the clutches of slavery, torture, maltreatment, and death?
The ending is unexpected and unpredictable, and that’s what makes the novel quite an interesting read. In a world full of super heroes, Austin offers a breath of fresh air to readers. The language is simple, and it goes well with the rawness of the plot. A little refinement would have been better, without a doubt, but the author manages to hold on to the reader’s attention with a strong grip. The plot focuses on the perspectives of different people, putting together a rounded view. The book is highly engaging, but the recurring plot twists sometimes become difficult to follow. Nonetheless, the storyline has seen a great deal of improvement from the previous book, with this one being more thoughtfully executed. Due to the treatment of issues such as slavery, physical torture, and the use of crude language, this one is not suitable for young readers. The story not only narrates an intergalactic adventure but also addresses dire issues that have been plaguing humanity since time immemorial. Trauma induced by slavery, and a lack of empathy towards others take the center stage as the two try to leave behind their painful past to start afresh. The selfishness of the ones who plan to use Tau and Kata as powerful weapons reflect the world that we live in, where the powerful oppresses the marginalized and dehumanizes them to serve their personal vendetta.
Homecoming (Projects Book 2) is for readers that are fond of science-fiction, thrillers, and space adventures. This is a highly enjoyable read, but to understand the nuances of the novel better, I would highly recommend you to read Project Tau before you dive into this one.
Pages: 398 | ASIN: B085VFRSD6
He Might Be Still On Mars – Trailer
He Might Be Still On Mars is a thriller set in the latter years of the 26th Century. Mankind has spread out into the rocky planets of the Solar System and the rocky moons of the Gas Giants such as Jupiter and Saturn. Despite light speed and near light speed travel, the number of people emigrating to these new worlds is in the doldrums.
This lack of enthusiasm is driven primarily by the savagery of raids by pirate chief, Wilson Black. Powerful politician and scientist, Stella Ling, sends Owen Bone and his Synthetic partner Sandi Shaw on a manhunt for an absconded husband, Freddie Ling. This is camouflage for a plan to eliminate Wilson Black. Owen and Sandi are subject to terrifying injuries and stresses that test what it means to be human and Synth. In overcoming these challenges, they find help in the most unlikely places, leading to a showdown with Black in the frozen remote taiga forest of Siberia.
In The Orbit Of Sirens
![In the Orbit of Sirens (the Song of Kamaria Book 1) by [T. A. Bruno]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41AvX-j+OCL.jpg)
In the Orbit of Sirens by T.A. Bruno is a bone-chilling science-fiction thriller that warps fiction, fantasy, and reality in wonderful and scary ways. It begins when humanity is left stranded after a starship destroys the Sol-System. They head to Kamaria where an intriguing and deadly alien species is also in competition with them. The main characters of this book are Denton and Eliana, both of them intelligent and resilient people who go on an action-filled adventure to save their world. There are also flashbacks used to make a more detailed and well-drawn world, but these are well-written and only add to the non-stop momentum of the plot. It’s hard not to get sucked in from the get-go as fantasy and science mix to create a delightfully balanced and quick-paced story.
One of the author’s main skills is his ability to write a creepily believable alternate universe. Kamaria, the Earth-like planet, for example has many elements reminiscent of Earth but there’s just a few things that are off that make it a scary and seemingly hostile place. The mountains and rivers are strange and dreamlike, with strange arches and technicolor waters. And of course, the airborne bacteria causing the “lung-lock” affliction. Which is terrifying at any point of time, but especially when our own world is in a pandemic. It might be a little too close to home for people in search of pure, unadulterated escapism, but I personally enjoyed it and thought this plot element was woven in perfectly with the rest.
Eliana and Denton were endearing characters, both in how they were smart yet grounded and practical. I was on edge while waiting for their paths to finally cross. Although the story is broader than just their relationship, I found I was rooting for them two and found a lot of joy in their interactions. There’s a lot of creativity in the storytelling, both in the non-linear timeline and the way the worlds are built: with horrific aliens and the transmuting Undriel. It is a violent story without being nonsensical or gratuitous.
Ultimately, In the Orbit of Sirens is a story about humanity’s ability to fight the odds till the end and emerge stronger, if not victorious. I was grateful for the ending as I was definitely in need of such a sentiment, and I’m sure many people are too. Although it is a dark and atmospheric story, I think it ultimately shows the best in its characters and humanity in general, so it’s perfect for anyone who has even a little bit of interest in the science-fiction genre.
Pages: 516 | ASIN: B08L1BT3QS
No Matter How Difficult the Journey is
Journey to the Hopewell Star follows young Sam on an adventure across the stars to save a dying alien planet. What was the inspiration for the setup to this exciting story?
The inspiration came from a combination of different sources. I started writing the story when my husband and I moved from Ontario to the East Coast. Along with the excitement, there was also some uncertainty about the move and what to expect in terms of the transition. Without the long commute, I’d found I had more time in the evenings to explore creative pursuits, and with the new setting, the friendly community, and the beautiful landscape, I felt inspired and compelled to start this new project.
Using my imagination and writing in the fantasy/science fiction genre was the perfect outlet. I wanted to write a story about a strong female character who was thrust on a journey of self-discovery, but I also wanted to make the stakes high, the plot complex, and present her with several obstacles to see what she could handle. I wanted to make it accessible to a young adult audience, hoping it might resonate with others who were going through trying times, with the main message being to never give up, no matter how difficult the journey is.
Sam is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind her character development?
Sam has a lot of qualities that reflect the strong women in my life and the women whom I admire. I wanted to bring to light a character who was empathetic, introverted at times, but also persistent and sometimes bold and outspoken, who had different layers and complexities. Sam has a willingness to expand her boundaries, to question conventional beliefs and to be open to other possibilities. She loves to question things, and this helps her grow and transform as a character.
What were some themes that were important for you to focus on in this book?
I wanted to incorporate themes that interested me and that had timely, urgent implications, such as concern for the environment, problems with inequality and corporate greed, and the risks of unmonitored technological development. I thought it would be interesting to see some of today’s issues from both human and otherworldly perspectives, to look at some of the similarities and differences that played out across galaxies, and explore whether we would have common goals.
Other themes that I wanted to explore to make it more relatable to the young adult audience included anti-bullying, friendship, dealing with anxiety, overcoming obstacles, and believing in oneself.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m working on a sequel to Journey to the Hopewell Star that will take Sam and her friends on another journey, but the tone will be somewhat darker than in the first book. I’m also working on a dystopian story that has been simmering in the back of my mind for a while, in which the theme of gender will play a major role. There are no scheduled dates for their releases yet.
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With little direction and no training manual, her mission is to find the elusive Hopewell Star to save a dying planet. But with time running out, a destructive business mogul tracking her every move, and deadly disasters threatening her community, she’ll have to rely on her wits, courage, and friends to make things right and restore peace to both worlds…all while surviving seventh grade.
Science and Speculative Fiction
Looking for Life is a collection of thought-provoking and fun science fiction stories. What was the inspiration behind this collection of stories?
Imagining universal situations and populating them with fascinating characters, usually with a dilemma to solve—now that’s an infinite depository of inspiration. After all, the stories may all be true, or become true in the future [or is it the past?
The size of this universe, the possibility of other universes and dimensions; they are all a source of wonder to me. They are also a cradle of countless possible happenings—just by the act of being there. It’s a challenge, yes, but it’s also a load of fun. And if you can make ends meet, so to speak, there’s a wonderful sense of satisfaction in completing a short story; any story really.
My favorite story from the collection is ‘Looking for Life’. Do you have a favorite or stand out story from the collection?
That’s a bit like asking a parent to choose a favorite child. ‘Looking for Life’ covers many facets of science and speculative fiction, but if you twisted my arm it would be a battle between ‘Desperate Times’ and ‘Looking for Life’ and ‘Mother’. And it would be a prolonged battle with no outright winner.
Did you write these stories for this collection or did you write them separately over time?
I certainly didn’t compile the stories one after the other with a view to hurriedly compiling a collection. I write a short story when an idea surfaces, and it may lie fallow for a quite a while before it clamours to join the nest of possible publications. I would say the majority of these stories were written over the past two or three years. But they are well-loved creations and never leave my mind.
Do you have plans to publish more works of short stories? Or possibly expand on a short story?
‘Looking for Life’ follows on from my first collection of short tales ‘Silently in the Night’, which was published in 2018. I guess that means I enjoy writing them. In between, I have also written three novels, so they are a love also. Currently my prime focus is writing the third book in the ‘Milijun’ series.
I often get reviewers or team members asking about expanding a short story into a novel, one particularly in ‘Looking for Life’ was ‘Mother’, which may very well suit that scenario. I think that ‘Worthy of Consideration’ would also fall into the basket.
However, I have never done it yet, but I guess it would be a new challenge. It’s nice to know something is there that readers appreciate and could serve as an inspiration for future tales.
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From a stranded alien comedian to the darkest depths of the human psyche; from a mind-blowing galactic adventure to clandestine extraterrestrial behaviour on Earth. They’re all here in this spell-binding collection of short stories to keep you guessing at every turn.
With tales of alien invasion, deep space mystery, time travel, and dystopian future Earths, this is a collection which takes inspiration from the much respected ‘old masters’ of Science Fiction. Here be new realms to explore—can you cross the void and challenge your dreams?
Explore Looking for Life and escape to strange and wonderful new worlds. From the author of Milijun, Amidst Alien Stars, Saving Paludis, and Silently in the Night.
LITERARY TITAN 