Organic

Devils Rising is in beta and cover art stages, Marshal is in my copyeditor’s hands, and I’m faced with an exciting opportunity – what should I start now? The answer is something new! Right now I’m calling it Organic, but I don’t expect that to last. I’ve also toyed around with a title like Biomech.

Or maybe instead of babbling about all that you want to know what the heck I’m talking about? Well, it’s my latest attempt to capture mass market appeal. Developing a dystopian society in a futuristic setting, complete with future soldiers, tanks, aircraft, and biomechs.

I’ve said that word ‘Biomech’ twice now. What the heck am I talking about? First let’s take the traditional concept of a mech. For sci-fi aficionados, that’s a simple task. Think Robotech, Battletech, Mechwarrior, Transformers, Pacific Rim, or just about anything involving giant fighting robots. As Pacific Rim showed us, no matter how cheesy the plot and acting, there’s almost nothing cooler than giant robots beating the crap out just about anything.

To introduce a little more science to the fiction, imagine how complicated creating a robot on that scale and making it able to move and balance, let alone fight. Yikes! Super advanced articulation in the joints and the means of moving said limbs and joints are required. Far beyond our ability to manufacture and design. So that’s where the bio comes in.

This is the future, so let’s merge man and machine in ways not often considered. The musculature needed to move these robots? Grown from organic tissue and grafted to the metal structure. That eliminates the need for a massive engine to move the robot, but puts in a complicated plumbing system for flushing the organic tissue with a replacement blood. Cooling, heating, oxygenation, nutrients – it does it all!

And what’s needed to drive one of these metal monsters? A person, jacked in directly to their central nervous system. A computer will handle the balancing and autonomous commands such as how to do what the driver wants, but the driver provides the true skill behind it all.

But yeah, as cool as that sounds, that’s not going to be what the stories center on. This is about human interest. I’m looking at it as a cross between a lot of successful projects, from (insert giant robot franchise here) to (insert dystopian society being rebelled against) to (insert underdog complicated love story). And I’m writing it Vitalis style, meaning fast paced and fun!

Before I go, let me toss out a tiny snippet of what I’ve been working on so far…

“Krys curled up in a ball in his tiny hollow and let the tears fall. He had no idea why, but something terrible was happening. His friends were dead and for all he knew, his mom and dad were next. And he was trapped beneath a fallen tree in the woods. As much as his dad loved to  tell him that crying wouldn’t do him any good, it was the only thing he could manage.”

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

Glass Jaw

I’ve been a fan of the Rocky franchise since I first became aware of it in my childhood days. Who hasn’t? It’s a classic underdog story with truly likeable characters – even Carl Weathers in spite of his arrogance. And yes, I even enjoyed Rocky V and I’ll admit it. Balboa, Rocky VI, continued this life and times of Rocky Balboa for me in continued excellence. As far as I’m concerned Silvester Stallone proved that he’s still got it and I don’t give a damn if he pops HGH and other chemicals to keep himself in performing shape. And yes, I enjoyed his final Rambo movie too, although I don’t understand his fascination with taking a bow and arrow up against assault rifles.

But this isn’t a movie review, this is far deeper and more personal. I mention the Balboa because in it Rocky makes a statement that I’ve long held true to, though I’d never heard it so succinctly spoken. In it Rocky tells his son (and later himself when he’s having the tar beaten out of him in the ring), “It don’t matter how hard you hit. What matters how hard you can be hit.” For those unfamiliar with the movie or story, it serves both as a reminder of how Rocky Balboa has succeeded in the ring and how he has succeeded in life. I think it rings true for everybody, and it served as a great reminder to me.

I’ve long had a determined goal to write full time. Well as of Friday morning that opportunity presented itself for me. Unfortunately, I’m not at the point yet where it is self-sustaining. Suffice to say over the past couple of years the situation finally reached a point where I was forced into parting ways with my day job. I’d love to dish out a lot more dirt on it, but that’s the red skinned devil on my shoulder talking and my professionalism will allow me to say no more of it.

What I will say is that I’ve been more or less actively looking for another primary income for several months now. My greatest frustration over this issue is that I wasn’t the one who originated the separation. I confess I laughed at one point during the meeting and smiled at many other points. My immediate reaction that one of incredible relief. I know, crazy. But the stress that lifted off of my shoulders was unbelievable!

So now I’m writing like crazy with my extra time, in between hunting for a new day job. Anybody looking for a DOTNET or SQL developer, SQL DBA, or IT Manager / Director feel free to give me a shout. I’ve got some very exciting prospects already lined up, one as soon as this coming week. Or feel free to make my real dream come true and go and buy up as many of my books as you can. Don’t hesitate to leave reviews heaping praise on them while you’re at it. I figure a couple of books that pull in 30 to 50 sales in a single day and a reasonable amount of reviews in the very near future after those sales should boost me up into some of Amazon’s algorithms to make things really take off. The problem, as always, is getting into those areas in the first place to achieve visibility. I personally recommend Child of Fate, the Vitalis Omnibus, or Voidhawk – The Elder Race (the first one is just titled Voidhawk and it’s free, but I don’t get any appreciable credit for that). Or if you’re up for something else, I’ve got lots to choose from, just check out the covers on the right and click on one to be taken to the Amazon page for it.

Or if the status quo continues don’t worry. I can take a punch, a knife, a concussion from slamming into a dumpster at a high speed, or a car hitting me. I come out stronger every time and this one will be no exception to that rule.

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.