Yes, I am shameless… Buy my new scifi book! (…Pretty please!)

So this is releasing in a couple of months (March 26th to be exact (yep, on my birthday!!!!))!

Yes! It’s true! Besides being skilled at writing pro-cabbage and anti-salad diatribes, I have for the last 4-5 years been trying my hand at writing novels, particularly science fiction novels. This is my latest one set to be released through Kristell Ink:

This is actually a book I wrote almost 4 years ago, but it’s coming out now given the nature of the publishing industry and also that my publisher is a micropress. By the way, I have nothing but good things to say about my publisher, Kristell Ink. They’ve been super supportive the entire way through, and contrary to my first publishing experience, they worked very closely with me for the cover design, the edits, and the general preparation of the book. I highly encourage you to check out the rest of their titles if you like science fiction, fantasy, or horror.

What’s this book about? In a very nominal sense, it’s about an asteroid threatening to destroy the planet, but the thing is that it’s not a natural asteroid, but an artificial one that was constructed many years ago and filled with very valuable rare earths that will make whoever can control it very wealthy, meaning that everyone who’s anyone is trying to take control of the asteroid.

Really though, the story is about a super-soldier assassin slowly going mad from PTSD, a Chinese-American “banana” trying to find his place in the world, and a Haitian-Quebecois woman trying to regain her family’s wealth and dignity. Of course, these three people each play a critical role in controlling the asteroid, and their story lines eventually weave together in the end.

Here’s a tidbit of info you may be interested in: you may not be that surprised to know that I modeled a lot of the Chinese-American’s (Eric Lin) experiences on some of my own. So not surprisingly, Eric does face a lot of racism, both the overt and the ever-popular passive-aggressive variety. What I found the most entertaining (and therapeutic) to write was a few moments taken from a fairly bad past relationship of mine. Ye gods, was she a horrible person, if not to say a straight-up bitch. And that’s being tactful. The birthday incident in the book is sadly not at all far from the truth. I’m no longer in touch with her, but I do secretly hope that she’ll read this book!

Besides that though, I’m also proud to say that one of the characters (Manon Fontaine) is proudly Québécoise-Haïtienne and she employs a band of mercenaries called the Pure Laines. Loved those guys. I was quite sad when a few them ended up having to die. The third character is Ann Wilson, and she’s my attempt at writing about someone from both a traumatized and disadvantaged perspective. I hope I did her justice! In my later books, I think I did a little better with working and developing those perspectives.

Also, there’s a Monty Python joke in there!

Anyway, if you enjoy science fiction and/or if you think my writing is generally entertaining, please give my book a try!