The sexiest story I've ever written

 

 

When it comes down to it most novels, and especially romance novels, are about relationships between people. Girl meets boy, decides he's not suitable but that changes over time. My books are no exception – after all, the struggle is what makes it interesting. How does he convince her? How long does she defend?

But it's never that simple is it? Take Morgan Selwood, renegade Supertech. You could say she's a very human cyborg, able to interface with any computer, and prickly and difficult as far as most humans are concerned.

When she is rescued/captured by Admiral Ravindra, commander of an alien battlecruiser, Ravindra soon recognizes that this extraordinary woman could be a very useful military asset. And she is. But over time, she gets under his skin and he begins to see her as a desirable woman. For her part, as she gets to know Ravindra, she starts to see past the admiral's uniform to the man. When they're thrown into desperate danger with only each other to rely on they learn mutual respect, trust, and love.

All of that takes place in Morgan's Choice.

But then I felt the urge to write another part to the story, where it's all about the love part of the relationship. Morgan is a brilliant Supertech, a weapon in Ravindra's armoury, and she finds it difficult to get beyond that fact. Does he really care for her, or is it the supertech he wants?

A Victory Celebration is probably the sexiest story I've ever written/am likely to write. The events take place a short time after the end of Morgan's Choice. Morgan is on Ravindra's flagship as a member of his team. He's still very much a Manesai admiral in a patriarchal, regimented society so she's still something of an outsider with doubts about her position in his life. When Ravindra's fleet wins a decisive battle (with her help) it's time for the boys and girls to celebrate.

Here's a short excerpt:

Oh, bloody hell. I just can't concentrate.

The model hung in mid air, motionless. Morgan broke the connection to the data port, leaned back in the chair and flung the nearest object to hand across the room. "Shit."

"Morgan?" Leila Peris stared at her, a data cube in her raised hand.

Oh, shit. That must've been what she'd thrown. "You caught that?"

Leila nodded.

"Sorry." Morgan lifted a hand. "Just letting out some frustration. What are you doing here? I thought you were on leave?"

Leila put the data cube back on Morgan's desk, leaning forward so she could lower her voice. "I heard you were still on the ship. You won't be joining the admiral?"

Morgan glanced at the two techs. They were bent over their screens. Not that it mattered. The whole ship had to be aware that she and Ravindra were a bit more than friends.

"Not tonight. He'll be celebrating with his men."

"Aren’t you jealous?" Leila asked, propping a hip on the desk. They'd become friends, after a fashion. Leila was a promising engineer who had been involved in building and testing the model ship. She wasn't afraid to ask questions and wasn't afraid of Morgan.

Of course I'm not. "No. I’m not the only woman in his life; never was, never will be. That’s the way it is." Maybe a little bit jealous. But she was nothing if not pragmatic.

"Why don’t you come with us? Girls' night out? We're going out for a really expensive dinner and then maybe to a club to do some dancing. All the local girls will be off trying to latch on to a fleeter so there are plenty of local guys to dance with. And don't worry if you can't dance. We can teach you."

Female company, a good dinner, some dancing. Yes, better than working by herself, mooning about Ravindra. Dancing. Yes, she could dance. The memory made her smile. Would Ravindra mind? Then again, did she care if he did? A resounding ‘no’ to that one. He lived his life, she lived hers.

***

Or maybe not…

 A Victory Celebration is a long short story, a little under ten thousand words

What’s good for the gander has to be good for the goose … or so Morgan thinks. The fleet has won a major battle and Ravindra’s doing his celebratory thing with his officers. Morgan gets a rare invite for a girls’ night out.

Dinner, a little dancing, a little jealous pining… And a whole lot of trouble when Ravindra discovers his lady is out ‘n about… without protection. What started as an innocent night on the town turns into something very, very different.

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Before there were software engineers...

 

Before the term 'software engineer' was invented I used to be a computer programmer. I earned a living by building information systems and I loved my job. But I'd always had a hankering to be a writer and I'd dabbled in story telling more than once, with notable lack of success.

When I finally retired from the stress-filled rat race that was the IT industry in the mid-noughties I decided I'd finally write that book.

After a few weeks of writing, I threw my virtual manuscript at a virtual wall.

The problem was the main character who could interact with computers with her mind, sort of like… magic. With my IT background, that didn't really appeal. And I didn't like the setting. It was all too… fairy tale in space. And slow.

So, I dreamed up a new backstory. Imagine something not unlike the machine wars in Terminator has destroyed the fabric of the first world planets. Human kind has fought back and re-established itself. The Cyber Wars are now centuries in the past. But the lesson had been learned. Sophisticated society needs computers but there would be no artificial intelligence that could repeat the previous destruction. To make sure nothing like that could ever happen again, specially modified humans were used to act as an artificial intelligence but in a limited, strictly controlled way. These Supertechs created all the apps in the Confederacy's systems and kept the Fleet's warship systems going.

Meet Morgan Selwood. A supercomputer was embedded in her brain at birth and a few other modifications were made to make her a Supertech whether she liked it or not. Supertechs were supposed to be subservient, obedient individuals who did what they were told. If they strayed from the path – well – they were exterminated. After all, mistakes DO happen, but not tolerated.

Morgan was a mistake.

She's feisty and difficult and exceptionally good at what she does. She also hates, loathes, and detests Authority – especially admirals.

I wrote a short story about Morgan's first posting after she scraped through her Fleet Academy training. It's called Supertech. 

 

She’s a Supertech, bioengineered from birth, fresh out of the Academy and tasked with designing a control system for an experimental fighter. Morgan’s up for the challenge but there’s more to the job than meets the eye. The Fleet invested in her education but did they train her for … this?

Ensign Morgan Selwood was almost too good at her job and far too casual about Fleet rules and regulations. Tasked with designing a control system for an untested attack fighter seemed like a dream come true and a real career booster. But the specs and modules tell only part of the story—what Morgan discovers can put not just her career, but lives at risk.

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Or use coupon code RYIE5BBQZT at Payhip and get it for FREE. This offer expires on 30th April.

Then I got to work on her main story – Morgan's Choice. The book's name has changed several times, Morgan's name has changed several times, and the story has changed, too. Given the current penchant for titles like 'The Alien Admiral's captive' and such, perhaps I should have called the book "The Alien Admiral's Cyborg". But it was always going to be about Morgan going far beyond her own world to undiscovered parts, where she would have her adventures, and meet a man who could match her.

Oh - that story I flung at the virtual wall? After a few revisions and rewrites it was finally published as The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy.

 

The evolution of a character

I used to be a computer programmer. That was before the much sexier vocation, 'software engineer' entered the vernacular. Whatever. I earned a living by building information systems. But I'd always had a penchant for writing and making up stories. I have a BA(Hons) in history, earned back when a BA still had some value and I enjoyed writing.

When I finally retired from the stress-filled rat race I decided I'd write a book. Because I have that sort of mind set, I wanted to learn how before I started. I came across a course that both taught and offered a level of mentoring – during the course, you'd write your own book submitting some chapters for evaluation. It sounded perfect to me so I enrolled.

After a few weeks of working through the course, I threw the virtual manuscript at a virtual wall.

The problem was the protagonist, a woman who could interact with computers with her mind, sort of like… magic. With my IT background, that didn't really appeal. And I didn't like the setting. It was all too… fairy tale in space. And slow.

I set about creating a cyborg – although I didn't know it at the time. Her name was Morgan and she had a supercomputer in her head. She was feisty and difficult and exceptionally good at what she did. She also hated, loathed, and detested Authority – especially admirals. She hadn't been asked about that computer in her head, or the (slightly faulty) artificial eyes that allowed her to see like a human (and more) and interface with a computer. (They're silvery, unlike her peers, who have ordinary, human-looking eyes) She was a supertech, whether she liked it or not, modified at birth, and dragooned into the Confederacy Fleet's academy. Supertechs created all the apps in her universe and kept the Fleet's warship systems going. They themselves were strictly controlled so that never again would artificial intelligences threaten humanity. For that reason, Supertechs were supposed to be subservient, obedient individuals who did what they were told. If they strayed from the path – well – they were exterminated.

That was the beginning of Morgan Selwood. I wrote a short story about Morgan's first posting after she scraped through her academy training. It's called Supertech.

Then I got to work on her main story – Morgan's Choice. The book's name has changed several times, Morgan's name has changed several times, and the story has changed, too. But it was always going to be about Morgan going far beyond her own world to undiscovered parts, where she would have her adventures, and meet a man who could match her.

Morgan's Choice ended up being the first of five books set in her universe. You'll find them all here, along with three short stories.

 Here's the blurb:

Somewhere out in space, humanity’s past is about to catch up with its future.

When Morgan Selwood’s spaceship is stranded in unknown space she is relieved to be rescued by humanoid aliens. But her unusual appearance and her extraordinary technical abilities mean that everybody wants a piece of her. Who’s it to be? Autocratic Admiral Ravindra, who press-gangs her to help against a shadowy threat from the stars, or the freedom fighters who think she’s a legend reincarnated, returned to help them throw off the yoke of oppression? Stay safe everyone. These days in America it means more than wearing a mask and washing your hands.

Morgan doesn’t much care which it is until the uprising and the atrocities start. While civil war rages across the planet the shadowy threat from the stars emerges as an implacable killer bent on destroying all intelligent life. Morgan will need every bit of her superhuman, bio-engineered intelligence to save the man she has come to love and his people from annihilation. And spare a little to save herself.

For the month of June only, you'll be able to pick up Morgan's Choice at 30% off the retail price. It's one of a ten-book SFR bundle being offered through Book Funnel – and you'll need to be willing to buy with Paypal.

 Stay safe everyone. These days in America it means more than wearing a mask and washing your hands.

 

No writing is ever wasted

Last week at Spacefreighters I explained where the Dryden Universe came from - basically a bit of discarded writing - something I'd written years ago. Morgan's Choice arrived in a very different way. Actually, that's an interesting story – to me, anyway.

I'd been writing for a long time, in fits and starts, between jobs. I even took a few writing courses, but they were aimed more at copywriting, short stories for magazines and the like, not novels. Even so, I'd played with some ideas, most of them derivative and pretty awful, including some fan fic. It wasn't great fan fic, mind, but it was better than a lot I'd read.

When I finally retired from the stress-filled rat race I decided I'd write a book. Because I have that sort of mind set, I wanted to learn how before I started. I came across a course that both taught and offered a level of mentoring – during the course, you'd write your own book submitting some chapters for evaluation. It sounded perfect to me so I enrolled.

After a few weeks of business, I threw the virtual manuscript at a virtual wall. "This is rubbish. Who's going to want to read this?"

The problem was the protagonist, a woman who could interact with computers with her mind, sort of like… magic. And I didn't like the setting. It was all too… fairy tale in space. And slow.

I set about creating a cyborg – although I didn't know it at the time. Her name was Morgan and she had a supercomputer in her head. She was feisty and difficult and exceptionally good at what she did. She also hated, loathed, and detested Authority. She hadn't been asked about that computer in her head, or the (slightly faulty) artificial eyes that allowed her to see like a human (and more) and interface with a computer. (They're silvery, unlike her peers, who have ordinary, human-looking eyes) She was a supertech, whether she liked it or not, modified at birth. Supertechs created all the apps in her universe. They themselves were strictly controlled so that never again would artificial intelligences threaten humanity. For that reason, Supertechs were supposed to be subservient, obedient individuals who did what they were told. If they strayed from the path – well – they were exterminated.

That was the beginning of Morgan Selwood. I wrote a short story about Morgan's first posting after she scraped through her training. It's called Supertech.

Then I got to work on her main story – Morgan's Choice. The book's name has changed several times, Morgan's name has changed several times, and the story has changed, too. But it was always going to be about Morgan going far beyond her own world to undiscovered parts, where she would have her adventures, and meet a man who could match her.

That other fairy tale I threw at the virtual wall? Over time and many iterations, it became the Iron Admiral books. Which does goes to prove, no writing is ever wasted.

Here's a little snippet from Supertech to give you an idea.

Morgan slapped her hand on the panel that opened the door to the broom cupboard also known as her office. Lights flickered on as she entered. She really must bring in a broom and a bucket to finish the look. Another day in paradise. She flung her bag into its usual corner and sagged onto the chair. What riveting task would Cam have found for her today?

Concentrating on the dataport, she flicked the mental switch in her implant to meld with the base’s computer system. The impersonal lens became a coloured highway, transporting packets of data back and forth. Morgan sent her ID, which she’d long since changed to system administrator, and looked around for changes.

Ah. A new frigate up on Gens Brasna Two, the larger of the maintenance base’s two orbital space stations. She sighed. Dead boring. Routine annual checkout and recalibration. They wouldn’t even ask her to move her backside out of her chair for that. Nothing in her in-tray. She’d finished this week’s work yesterday morning. Oh, well. Might as well play with the simulators.

She browsed the list of simulator scenarios for a star destroyer, meant for Fleet engineers, navigators or officers on advanced training. This one sounded good; Star destroyer in orbit around a planet, main drives failed, orbit decaying.

She’d barely started diagnosis when Commander Campbell’s voice jolted her out of the system.

"Morgan. ENSIGN SELWOOD."

There are four books in the Morgan Selwood series and three short stories. You'll find them all on the Morgan Selwood page of my website.

And to finish, here's a nice sunrise from a stretch of beach near where I live.