Writing Rob's Rebellion
Rob's Rebellion is the fourth novel in the Novels
of Aleyne series. It follows after the
action in Broken Bonds. Although Broken Bonds is the
second novel in the series, chronologically it follows Geek Games, book
three, rather than preceeding it.
I never intended to write a series. In fact, when I started Relocated,
the first novel in the series, for 2010 NaNo (National Novel Writing
Month), my intent was only to overcome my phobia about science fiction
writing. I am a long-time fan of the
genre – in fact, I selected Robert A. Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky for
my tenth birthday – but up until September of 2010, I hadn't written any. For
some reason, in the moddle of September, I decided to devote NANO to writing a
sci fi novel, and, contrary to the advice I'd been given, spent most of my time
before it started on the world creation. Then I signed up for an editing
workshop, and, to make a long story short, submitted it for publication.
But I still never intended to write a series. Still, I wrote
two more novels in 2011. Broken Bonds grew out of a question I asked my
self about what happened to the partners of Ardaval, one of the major
characters in Relocated, and Geek Games because I decided to
flesh out some oth er loose ends.
But what about Rob's Rebellion? Rob, the main
character, appears briefly in Broken Bonds when he s(spoiler alert)
arrests Brad or treason, and, as usual,
he poked at me, encouraging me to tell his story. I'd written a couple
of scenes with Rob and his wives, Carol alnd Laura, and one or two with Reuben
Tyler, Rob's best friend, and one with Tom Cromwell, the brother of another
character who appears in the novel, but the were scattered. At some point, I
sketched out the whole novel and started writing.
I don't plan my novels in detail. I know the characters,
setting, beginning, major plot points, and the ending. I may even have scetched
in the first couple of chapters in a bit more detail. What I don't know – and
never seem to – is how it's going to come about. Usually I don't know
that until I'm actually writing it, and I find myself as surprised as anyone at
the clever ways my characters manage to get themselves in and out of trouble.
Blurb
Colonel Rob Walker always does his duty, even when it means
risking shaky relationship with his family. When he's ordered to bring
the treaty negotiations between the Terran Federation and the Aleyni to a
successful conclusion, he's determined to do just that, even when both sides
would rather he fail. How can Rob pull off a miracle and avoid a war, one where
both sides could be destroyed?
Trailer:
Excerpt:
"Laura? Carol? Where is everybody?" Rob drew in a deep
breath.
Footsteps clattered on the fake wood floors. "Carol took
the children to Fellowship. I didn't want to go." Tear streaks marked the
dust accumulated on Laura's face. "I want to go home. I don't want to live
in this dump."
"This is home," Rob grumbled. "I'm commander of
this base. This is my posting. Why would you expect me to take us back to New
Oregon?"
"You might have refused the posting." Laura's mouth
formed a straight line in her oval face. "You can resign from the
Federation Guard."
"Resign? What would I do then? Come on, Laura, be
realistic. I've got two wives and four children to support. We wouldn't even
have the price of tickets home for us on a commercial star ship" What the
blazes would become of his career if he quit? His father's sneering face rose
in his mind. His father continued to predict Rob's career would crash and burn.
He clenched his fist. He'd do anything to prove his father wrong.
"Surely you can find other work." Laura swiped a hand
across her eyes. "Everyone here hates us."
"For God's sake, Laurie, I'm a fifty year old career
colonel. The Guard is my life. My career. What else would I do?" Rob
stomped into the living area and over to a small section devoted to cooking.
"What the hell is there to eat around here?"
Laura shrugged and dropped into a chair at a small table.
"Check for yourself." She glared at Rob, her arms crossed over her
chest. "You can starve for all I care."
Rob pulled out another chair and sat opposite her. "We're
not going home, er, back to New Oregon, and that's final. Relations between the
base and the Aleyni are touchy enough. They liked Reynolds, and I arrested him
for treason. The treaty with the Federation is up for renegotiation. If the
Guard sent the wrong officer, the Aleyni could refuse negotiation altogether.
I'm not going to be the one who is responsible for starting a war." He was
sick of defending himself for doing his duty. He was a soldier, blast it. He
might not be much of a commander, but no one was going to fault him for
shirking his duty.
"You're being melodramatic," Laura protested.
"Maybe, but we're staying here." Rob stood and jerked
open the cold store, which held nothing but some juice. "Come on, we're
going to the market. We'll find someplace to eat." He extended a hand to
Laura and pulled her to her feet.
"There's nothing here and nowhere to go."
"Not on the base, but in Aleyne City." Rob pulled out
his pocket comp and began searching for Restaurants, Aleyne City.
"Not until I wash up." Laura glared at him and stumped
off down the hall.
Rob sighed and lowered himself into a chair to wait
Bio:
Born and raised in New York City, Margaret Fieland has been
around art and music all her life. Her poems and stories have appeared in
journals such as Turbulence Magazine, Front Range Review, and All Rights
Reserved. She is one of the Poetic Muselings. Their poetry anthology,
Lifelines, was published by Inkspotter Publishing in November, 2011. She
is the author of Relocated, Geek Games, Broken Bonds, and Rob's
Rebellion published by MuseItUp Publishing , and of Sand in the Desert, a
collection of science fiction persona poems. A chapter book is due out later
this year.
Links:
Rob's Rebellion on Amazon:
Rob's Rebellion on publisher's website:
My Website:
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Margaret - that excerpt is an attention getter! Thanks so much for being my guest today!
ReplyDeletePenny, thanks so much for having me!
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I'm so happy to hear you don't always know the outcome of a book until you've finished it. Me too. So many things happen from the first chapter until the end and so many decisions to make on how to wrap it all up. I thought it was interesting you never intended to makeit a series! Best wishes on the series!
ReplyDelete