Nova Sol

Everything in my writing career starts with Nova Sol, which is the first book in my first series. After finishing “A Brief History of Humankind” (Nova Sol, Remnant Species, Altered Earth) I didn’t think I’d write another series ever again. My wife has a picture of me the day I put Altered Earth up in the kindle store. I’m submerged in a hot tub with only my face showing. It was a moment of tremendous relief and accomplishment. Over the course of fifteen months, I wrote those three books. They poured out of me. They were (technically) the third, fourth and fifth book I’d ever written. But they were the first ones I ever published. I really had no idea what I was doing. I was following the guidance of my muse, my creative impulses and putting it all down in sentences as fast as I could which was a bit slow as I was at the novice hunting and pecking stage of typing back then. Now, I’d estimate that I’m at the expert level. And very proud of it.

“Brief History” is about going home. It starts with a solar system light years away from Earth, one that is colonized by humans. Unfortunately, the colonized planets have been cut off from Earth for twenty years. All of a sudden, there is an opportunity to contact Earth again. The series takes off from there. I wanted to write a story that started with humans out in the galaxy and then worked it so they ended up back on Earth. How, why and when that happens are the fun details contained in the series. I’ll be honest, at this point, there are great chunks of that series that, since I’ve written so many books after those ones, I’d struggle to recall now. I’d have to go back and look at my cast of characters (there are a great many characters) to remember everyone. But I’m sure they’d all come rushing back if I thought about them for a little bit.