Thank you, All-Silhouettes.com!

Posted on November 9, 2014 by BR

Loyalty to the Cause is really coming together! One of the last hurdles was obtaining permission to use some wonderfully designed starship silhouettes from All-Silhouettes.

When writing one of the novel’s major action sequences, I used the silhouettes to keep track of the rather complicated battle. Nothing is worse than having a ship be destroyed early in a battle, then lose track of that fact and have that (destroyed) ship magically reappear later in the fight. As I finished the battle, it occurred to me that my visual aid would actually be a very nice resource for the readers.

Fortunately, that is now possible thanks to the generosity of all-silhouettes. The website’s owner is tremendously supportive of independent authors such as myself and thanks to him, you and I both can enjoy the benefits of his hard work.  Here’s a sneak peek:

Sihoulettes blog

The website also does a lot of other work besides starship silhouettes. It’s certainly worth clicking the link and checking it out! There’s a good chance you’ll see the silhouettes that I’m using for Loyalty to the Cause.

Once again, a major shout-out and thanks to all-silhouettes for their generosity!

 

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Description for Loyalty to the Cause

Posted on November 2, 2014 by BR

Loyalty to the Cause is inching closer to release.  I have comments from beta readers back, and I’m in the process of incorporating their hard work into a near final draft.  After that, we’ll put the book into Kindle format for one more read through.  In the meantime, here is the description for Heskan’s next installment.  Fair Warning: At this point it’s hard to write a description that doesn’t spoil earlier events in the series, so if you aren’t caught up yet through Book 3, The Wrong Side of Space, you might not want to peek below.

Garrett Heskan and his Brevic officers have taken sixteen incarcerated pilots. The move was not only to save the aviators from their own government, it was the first step in a bold plan to keep Heskan’s promise to Isabella Lombardi and her captured Hollaran crew. Secretary Brewer and his Internal Security agents believe Jack Truesworth is the ringleader of the Brevic renegades, bent on revenge against Bree and Hollara alike. As agents try to locate the escapees, Heskan plays a dangerous game from inside Brewer’s circle, attempting to move Lombardi closer to freedom.

Securing Lombardi’s future is only half the responsibility that Commander Heskan has shouldered. Should Vernay, Selvaggio, Truesworth and the rest of his crew survive their run, they will need a safe haven outside the Republic. The Hollaran Commonwealth, Solarian Federation, and a myriad of corporate systems are among the options, but what is the best future for a wanted crew of Brevic military veterans who can never return home? Heskan owes his loyal followers that answer.

Loyalty to the Cause is Book 4 in the This Corner of the Universe series, continuing the story of Garrett Heskan and the original crew of Anelace.

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You’re Keeping Anelace Alive

Posted on October 23, 2014 by BR

At a pivotal moment of the final battle in This Corner of the Universe, Heskan tosses a compliment to Lieutenant Vernay.  Anelace had taken numerous losses as several missiles had slipped past the corvette’s point defenses yet Heskan attempts to boost the confidence of his weapons officer.

“Stacy,” Heskan said, “you tell your folks they’re doing great.  You forget about those near misses now; you’re keeping Ana alive—”

Not only is this consistent with Heskan’s personality, it was a homage to Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (ret).  When I attended Officer Training School, my class was fortunate enough to have General Moore speak to us as a guest.  At the time, I truly didn’t have a full understanding our how lucky we were, I just knew this gentleman was a retired general who served in Vietnam.  Much later, I would read his account of the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley which would, even later, be made into a movie starring Mel Gibson, “We Were Soldiers.”  Both are riveting even if the movie takes quite a few liberties with General Moore’s account of what really happened, especially at the end of the movie.

If you’ve read the book or seen the movie, you probably now recognize the homage to General Moore in TCOTU.  During some of the most desperate fighting at Ia Drang, General (then Lieutenant Colonel) Moore’s liaison with the Air Force (AF First Lieutenant Charlie Hastings) was coordinating multiple, near continuous close air support missions on the battlefield.  One such strike resulted in a horrible friendly fire incident (recounted in the movie and the book).  After witnessing the devastating results, you might expect Moore to have severely chastised Hastings but instead, Moore showed a tremendous understanding and encouraged Hastings to forget about the last strike and keep up his good work.

General Moore spoke of this event when addressing my OTS class.  He was, after all, lecturing a group of Air Force officer trainees.  What he said has stuck with me nearly twenty years later.

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