No, I'm not doing Nano

 

I recall about a decade ago asking a fellow author who'd been doing the rounds longer than me what this Nanowrimo thing was all about? She patted me gently on the head and explained that it was a thing one did in November, writing as a kind of group activity - inasmuch as writing can ever be a group activity. The aim is fifty thousand words in a month. Spit it out as fast as you can, then edit your little heart out in December.

I tried it once. I tried Camp Nano, too. Camp Nano was useful because I had a good start to a novel but I'd been busy practicing procrastination - and I was good at it. Being in a group, having to report in on daily progress was an incentive and I finished that book. Yay Me.

But really, the way I write doesn't suit the Nano process. I'm not one of these people who writes fast, gets it all down and edits later. I'll write one thousand or so words in a day and the next day, I go back over what I've written and fix it up before proceeding. And in order to be able to proceed, I need a clear vision of what I'm going to write. Sort of practiced the words in my head. So I might not write every day because the words haven't spoken to me.

Actually, in this year of plague I haven't been terribly motivated to write. Some people have shut the real world out and lived in their own creation. I envy them. However, I have made a start on a project, title unknown. And I did a little course in plotting a romance which was great because it forced me to produce detailed outlines of the characters in the book. It was amazing how that brought out ideas and coalesced the plot. So, after I get a little milestone out of the way, I'll go back to it and have a novel out next year.

2021. It's got to be better, doesn't it? 

The book I finished in Camp Nano? That was Retribution.

Tensions simmer on a world where Humans blame Yrmaks for their defeat in a recent war. For Celia Whitley, former head of Imperial Security and director of Humans First, it’s a great place to incite an interspecies war. All it takes is money and weapons – and she can organize both. Revenge over the Yrmaks who murdered her husband will be hers.

Imperial agent Tian Axmar wants Whitley dead – but her boss insists the woman be brought back to face justice. Whitley’s trail had gone cold until Tian, partner Brent Walker, and auralfang, Puss, learn of a stolen cargo of heavy weapons.

Tian and Brent scramble to prevent a war on one world from spilling over to engulf the Empire. But interspecies war is not the only vengeance Whitley wants. Tian, Brent and Puss will need all of their cyborg abilities to prevent the cruelest blow of all.

This novel is the third story starring Brent Walker and Tian Axmar. Like the other Dryden books, it’s a space opera full of action and adventure. And of course it includes Puss.

If you’d like to read a bit more about Princess Amira and Admiral Ul-Mellor, take a look at A Matter of Trust. How Tian and Brent got together is the story in Eye of the Mother. And we first meet Puss in For the Greater Good.

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Puss is back

Celia Whitley, formerly head of Imperial Security, escapes facing court on a technicality. But Celia's no fool. She knows perfectly well that Imperial agents will be following her every move. The thing is, she has been an Imperial agent herself. She knows all the moves, she has powerful contacts, and she has planned her disappearance for years. It's going to take all of Tian and Brent's cyborg smarts to catch up with her. And even then, they might need some help from their cyborg friend, auralfang, Puss.

Here's an excerpt. Brent, Tian, and Puss are on Whitley's trail.

Brent followed a couple of steps behind Tian as she returned to the ship. The set of her shoulders was enough to signal she was angry, in case he hadn't realized it after they'd left Ul-Mellor's office. Inside Chaser's common room she grabbed a cleaning kit from a cupboard, dropped down onto a seat and started the routine of cleaning her pistol with short, precise motions.

The weapon didn't need cleaning. Tian carried out that task immediately she'd finished with it, every time. Brent shot a glance at Puss, who had leapt onto the table and was busy cleaning her ears. They probably didn't need cleaning, either. No help from there, then. Well, he might as well get it out. He couldn't let it simmer. That was exactly what she looked like – a kettle on a simmer.

"What's up?"

Tian stared up at him. "Up?"

"You're steaming."

She forced an unconvincing grin. "I'm not. I'm cleaning my pistol." She returned to cleaning the weapon's sensors, bent over so he couldn't see her face.

"It doesn't need cleaning."

She didn't look up, but her hand paused for a millisecond.

"Come on, Babe. Ul-Mellor upset you. Spit it out."

That did it. She slapped the pistol down on the bench, staring at him with a fury he'd rarely seen but her voice remained steady, low-pitched. "We have to catch her. Find out what she's doing. Bring her back."

"Yes."

"And you're okay with that?"

Her anger coursed over him, a hot wave. Puss felt it, too, stopping her ablutions and broadcasting her own muted yellow.

"Those are our orders," he said.

"You can stop with the soothing waves, Puss. It won't work." Tian rose to her feet, her fists clenched. "It's stupid. We should just find her, take the bitch out. She doesn't deserve to live." She looked away for a moment, licking her lips, then turned back. "She tried to kill us, Brent. Both of us. With that… that slayer."

The trachymex. How could he ever forget? If they'd been Human, they'd surely be dead. Even with their cyborg strength, they'd only just escaped.

Tian stood in front of him, gazing up at him. "And that's not all. She tried to kill me before, when she captured me and sent me to that brothel. I was meant to die there. And you think she deserves justice?"

There was that, Brent knew. Whitley had done those things, had been part of the plot to kill Ul-Mellor and all those other dignitaries at the university. And unleash war between Yrmaks and Humans. Now he counted it up, she deserved to die. And it would be much easier than bringing her back alive. And yet Ul-Mellor was definite.

"He wants to put Whitley in front of a court and in the news so that people know what Humans First is capable of." It made sense to him, but Tian was in no mood to listen to logic.

She tossed her head and scowled. "And what'll that do? Her hot-shot lawyer will probably get her off on another technicality. I still don't think the admiral will get enough evidence to convict. Not based on what we know."

"There must be enough to cause her to disappear."

"She might just be sick of the constant surveillance. And she knows… she KNOWS… that we know. I'd be running, too, if I were her." Tian had cooled off enough to hide her fury. She went over to Puss and ruffled the Auralfang's ears. "Well, Puss. Whatever else we do, we'll have to find the bitch first. Won't we?"

Somehow Brent didn't think that was going to be the end of the argument but it was a start. "So… where do we go first?"

Tian shrugged. "Last known location. And that will be New Haven."

Tensions simmer on a world where Humans blame Yrmaks for their defeat in a recent war. It's a perfect environment for Celia Whitley, former head of Imperial Security and director of Humans First, to stir the pot. All it takes to brew an interspecies war is money and weapons – and she can organize both. Revenge over Yrmaks, who murdered her husband, will be hers.

Imperial agent Tian Axmar wants Whitley dead – but her boss insists the woman be brought back to face justice. Whitley's trail had gone cold until Tian, partner Brent Walker, and auralfang, Puss, learn of a stolen cargo of heavy weapons.

Tian and Brent scramble to prevent a war on one world from spilling over to engulf the Empire. But interspecies war is not the only vengeance Whitley wants. Tian, Brent and Puss will need all of their cyborg abilities to prevent the cruelest blow of all.

This is the third Brent and Tian Imperial agents book. Like the other two, EYE OF THE MOTHER and FOR THE GREATER GOOD, it's a stand-alone story, but it helps if you've read the other two because it provides background. RETRIBUTION starts off pretty much after FOR THE GREATER GOOD finished.

Buy the book at Amazon B&N Kobo iBooks GooglePlay

Or buy from Payhip and get 20% off. Use coupon code G4U677DOVK