Is this a point in favor of hard sci-fi, or against? Is it both?!
I just wrote the intro chapter to my first full-length novel. It's going to be a longer, more involved adventure of the Misevelin Salvage team, with a lot more characters and stuff going on. This is something I've been waiting to start on for a while, because I wanted to spend a little time working on short stories and novella-length works before diving into a full novel.
However, what I want to talk about in this post is how difficult it can be to write in a medium-hard or hard sci-fi system. I've already set up that there is no artificial gravity, and that most ships don't bother to install a rotating part, since most space flights are relatively short (due to Shelf space travel--FTL, basically).
VeeTwo held her gaze on the small concrete structure and visualized a trigger being pulled. A few seconds later, there was a flash of light, a plume of infrared emissions, and then it was over. The last human holdout, the final store of some fragment of their history, was destroyed. All that was left now were occasional small groups, limited to Bronze Age technology, at best. The Silicon Civilization had won.
That novella I was working on? It's a little later than I expected, but it's done and up at Smashwords! I'm quite satisfied with the result. It's a longer work using the character Lawrence G. Samson from Old Forests and Older Things Within. It's very pulpy. Basically, he's trying to chase down a parasitic plant that uses people to spread its pollen, thorns, and seeds. It's a bit of action, a bit of sci-fi, and a bit of detective work. Plus, I had an idea for how to expand that universe and add some more characters, which will help me make more complex and interesting stories in the setting from here on out.
Just finished the first draft of that Samson novella. I like the flow of the plot but I think the phrasing is going to need some tweaking before it's ready for prime time. Came out at about 20000 words. And of course I need to source a cover, and I'm having real trouble even figuring out what I think a good cover for this would be. The main story elements don't really jump out at me as suitable for a cover that will not be terribly misleading. Hmmm...
I'm making some fun progress on my new novella. I'm about 10k words in and really enjoying it. Lawrence George Samson is a character I introduced in my short story "Old Forests and Older Things Within," (also available at Smashwords for free in a variety of formats) and he's my take on a pulp hero. Forced into hiding after an incident that consumed the rest of his scientific team, he's put together a good suite of skills and technology to root out and extinguish all sorts of nasty creatures that threaten mankind.
0630 hrs (local time), March 19, 1968: I'm starting this journal without knowing exactly what will become of it. It may be destroyed, or I may be allowed to keep it, but I have had the habit for a long time, and my circumstances now suggest that recording these events may be advisable. I am sitting now in a dingy passenger cabin on a large cargo ship, having boarded yesterday under orders. The ship's name, painted on the front, is Cavalier, but it was obvious that this new name was recently painted on as I boarded. I am, or rather was, a communications officer at the U.S. Naval Station at Guam, under command of the Naval Forces Marianas. A few days ago, I and several other officers were ordered to prepare to change our station to a large cargo ship that had just arrived in port. We were not given many details, and the operation was treated with high secrecy, but not classified in any official manner, which is why I feel justified in keeping this journal. We are to set sail in about three hours, according to a schedule I have seen, but aside from that, I have no other details. We are apparently heading south. After we get underway, there is supposed to be a briefing for us. The crew seems to be a mix of Navy and civilian people, and I saw a large group of what looked like scientists housed near the aft of the ship.
