People tell you that editing a book is harder than you think but I’ve found that isn’t true for me. It’s just a hard as I imagined. I officially started working on the second draft last week as April reared its head, and am inching my way towards the second draft. The timeline and new outline helped me realize that with the action and focus being on one character, some major changes needed to take place, such as completely...

It took longer than expected but I’ve completed the reread of the novel and I can honestly say I don’t hate it. Full disclosure I like the story itself but I can tell it needs a lot of repairs for consistency, voice, grammatical editing, and a number of other tweaks, manipulations and adjustments. These are expected; it is my freshman novel and it is, well, a novel. These things don’t magically come out perfect. I...

Thirty by thirty, with an inner ring taking up most of the space. Little to no light, save the soft blue of the birthing room’s floor. The midwives worked slowly, directly, moving from station to station and helping the little mothers bring to the world the new young. There are cries of bliss, joy, pain, and disappointment as the day continues. Each new life is given a quick rinse to clear it of the birthing. They are weighted,...

Raw vacuum pulled and twisted everything that wasn’t latched, bolted, or welded down in the docking bay as the Glorious Anger lifted into launch position. My grip tightened around the slightly rusty pipe, thank Gaia for that. Anything smoother wouldn’t have given me the anchor I needed to keep from being sucked into the big empty beyond the hanger doors. I gave a quick thank you for ineffective maintenance drones. It had been...

“Zero-point-zero-two metrics and closing,” the tower speakers sounded, only slightly louder than the exhaust from the galley. At the distance the ship was from port, the formality of giving the range to arrival was lost in a hurricane of wind. The harbor banked for a moment as it took on the extra weight of the transport, corrected itself, and the system went clear. With the ship’s bulk blocking the bay’s view, the travelers were...