Thursday 19 July 2012

Space Opera Character Profile of Davi Rhii from The Returning by Bryan Thomas Schmidt


Character Profile: Davi Rhii with Excerpt

Davi Rhii, our protagonist, is the former prince of the Boralian Empire whose adoptive grandfather and Uncle Xalivar helped enslave their ancient Earthen enemies, the Vertullians, the people group in which Davi was born. Secretly adopted by Xalivar’s sister, Miri, when Davi’s discovery of his true genetic background is revealed, he goes from Xalivar’s adored heir to hated enemy and his life is turned upside down.

A talented officer and pilot, Davi has been raised by Miri with the best private education and opportunity her family’s power could buy and also, unlike many, he was raised to question and think for himself. This continues to get him into trouble, not just with friends and family, but with his fiancée and his superiors. Yet Davi’s skills helped win the Vertullians their freedom and now he’s tasked with finding out who is trying to take that freedom away.

Davi’s days of special treatment as royal heir are long past. He can’t get by on his status or family name. Instead, he has to earn his way and it’s harder than he expected. Especially when it comes to his family, friends, and Tela, the love of his life.

In the trilogy’s second novel, The Returning, new challenges arise as Davi Rhii’s rival Bordox and his uncle, Xalivar, seek revenge for his actions in The Worker Prince, putting his life and those of his friends and family in constant danger. Meanwhile, politics as usual has the Borali Alliance split apart over questions of citizenship and freedom for the former slaves. Someone’s even killing them off. Davi’s involvement in the investigation turns his life upside down, including his relationship with his fiancée, Tela. The answers are not easy with his whole world at stake.

Here’s an excerpt from The Returning with Davi in action.




Davi and Uzah headed for the commissary at a casual pace. As they turned a corner, someone pushed between them roughly, in a hurry to pass. Davi recognized the Major from the meeting. Davi exchanged a look with Uzah as the major spun around.

“Sorry, sir,” he nodded to Uzah, but his sneer was anything but apologetic. His eyes turned toward Davi’s glare. “Did you want something, Captain?” He pronounced Davi’s rank as if it were poison.

“No, sir,” Davi answered, continuing to walk as their eyes met.

“Let me inspect your weapon, Captain.”

Davi stopped, Uzah beside him. They exchanged a look. Davi didn’t know whether to comply. What was the Major after? He couldn’t shake the feeling they’d met in the past. Uzah motioned for him to hand over his weapon.

Davi pulled his blaster from the holster and grabbed it by the firing tube, offering it handle-first to the major. Officers were allowed to make flash inspections of their inferiors at any time. The major tore it from Davi’s hand and looked it over carefully. “Are you fully trained in its use, Captain?”

“A crack shot, sir,” Davi answered with a smile.

“You’d better be.” The Major frowned. “If one of my men dies because you can’t pull your weight, I’ll have you up on charges.”

Davi frowned, fighting the urge to snap back. “If you make one more such comment, Major, I’ll have you up on charges,” Uzah said, his voice rising in anger.

The Major merely glared as he offered Davi back the blaster, ignoring safety protocols and holding it out firing tube-first. Davi grabbed it angrily, and the Major turned without a word and started back down the corridor.

Davi pulled the trigger and a laser beam charred the floor between the Major’s boot heels. The Major spun angrily around, raising a hand in accusation.

“Ooops. You handed it to me the wrong way, sir. It accidentally went off as I tried to holster it.”

The Major looked at Uzah, who kept a straight face despite the sparkle in his eyes. Davi holstered the weapon and stood at attention. The Major’s eyes met Davi in a warning before he turned again and headed back up the corridor at an even quicker pace.

Davi waited until he’d turned the corner then laughed as Uzah shook his head. “He could charge you with insubordination.”

“You could charge him with harassment.”

“Officers can inspect weapons of anyone they outrank with a moment’s notice. Be careful, Davi. We have enough against us already. We don’t need to make enemies.”

Davi bristled. Why was Uzah taking the idiot’s side? “Sorry, General.”

Uzah smiled. “At least he knows you’re a damn good shot.” They both laughed as Uzah clapped him on the back and they started down the corridor again toward the commissary.



Bryan Thomas Schmidt is the author of the space opera novels The Worker Prince, a Barnes & Noble Book Clubs Year’s Best SF Releases of 2011 Honorable Mention, and The Returning, the collection The North Star Serial, Part 1, and several short stories featured in anthologies and magazines. He edited the anthology Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 for Flying Pen Press, headlined by Mike Resnick. As a freelance editor, he’s edited a novels and nonfiction. He’s also the host of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Chat every Wednesday at 9 pm EST on Twitter under the hashtag #sffwrtcht. A frequent contributor to Adventures In SF Publishing, Grasping For The Wind and SFSignal,

Sunday 15 July 2012

Another Taste of Rift Jump

In the midst of the multiverse, Michael saw something else. No, not saw. Felt. Sensed. A
presence there, dark and undulating, worming its way through the layers of Creation.
And, in one terrible moment, the presence saw him too.
Michael…the Black called out to him, beckoning him. Michael
“No,” he whispered, twisting in the nothingness, trying to swim or fly away. But there
was nowhere to go. There was nothing. Yet, in the nothingness, the presence slithered for
him, caressing his soul, whispering to every cell in his body.
Welcome back

Read more in Rift Jump by Greg Mitchell, out now from Splashdown Darkwater. You can also find more tidbits, excerpts and interviews, at these participating blogs:




Find Greg:

Monday 9 July 2012

Splashdown Tour - Rift Jump by Greg Mitchell

The day Michael Morrison died was the day his life began.
A sinister threat is growing in the void between realities, and Michael has been recruited to stop it. Ripped from his own violent life, he is sent rift jumping to other worlds seeking out the agents of the Dark and putting them to an end by any means necessary. The love of his life, Sara, joins him as he battles Civil War space ships, sea serpents, superpowered humans, and even his own duplicate from a parallel timeline.
But the darkness he fights is growing within him too, calling him to the same destiny as every other Michael from every other world. If he is to change his fate, he must learn to love, to forgive, to trust, and to let the man in the Stetson guide him to become the warrior of the Light he was always meant to be.

Mini-Interview with Greg Mitchell

What was the first book you ever wrote?
Ever? My first book was a Gifted and Talented Program project in the fifth grade, I think. We typed our own pages, drew illustrations, then bound them together with rubber cement. Mine was about a team of superheroes with such sterling names as Candy Man, Lasso Man, Diaper Man (threw dirty diapers, naturally), and Meat Man. They fought off a guy named Mr. Bad, I believe, and, once defeated, they realized they had vanquished all evil everywhere and were out of jobs. Then they retired. And that was the first book I ever wrote.

Hm. Well, is your latest novel any better?
I hope so! My new book is Rift Jump. It’s a hodge podge of everything I love—monsters, aliens, horror, light-hearted adventure, heart-pumping action, and a thrilling teen angst-ridden romance! It’s about a young man named Michael Morrison who travels the multiverse, pounding evildoers and righting wrongs. At his side is the love of his life, Sara. But rift jumping is not all sunshine and roses. A dark thing in between the worlds has it out for Michael and wants to recruit him to Evil’s cause. Can Michael resist or will he succumb to the killer inside him? Find out in the pages of Rift Jump—now on sale!

Greg Mitchell can be found at:

Visit the following blogs on this Splashdown Blog Tour for Rift Jump by Greg Mitchell.
Grace Bridges             http://grace.splashdownbooks.com
Fred Warren               http://frederation.wordpress.com/
Caprice Hokstad         http://caprice.splashdownbooks.com/
Paul Baines                 http://www.pabaines.com/
Travis Perry                http://travissbigidea.blogspot.com/
R. L. Copple               http://blog.rlcopple.com
Keven Newsome         http://www.kevennewsome.com
Kat Heckenbach         http://www.katheckenbach.com/
Ryan Grabow              http://www.egrabow.com/rm.php?e=Prime
Diane M. Graham       http://dianemgraham.com/blog/
Robynn Tolbert          http://ranunculusturtle.blogspot.com/
Frank Creed                http://blog.frankcreed.com/



Thursday 5 July 2012

THE PLAN

So I'm heading for America in early August. I'm posting my general itinerary here, so that you, my friends, can figure out if I'll be near you. Here goes...

01 - 08 August - Rural British Columbia
09 - 16 August - Rural Manitoba
16 - 19 August - Hamilton, Ontario
19 - 23 August - Butler, PA (near Pittsburgh)
23 - 30 August - Winston-Salem, NC
31 August - 3 September - DragonCon, Atlanta, GA
03 - 11 September - Valrico, FL (near Tampa)
11 - 16 September - New Orleans, LA
16 - 19 September - Paragould, AR
19 - 23 September - ACFW conference, Dallas, TX
23 - 30 September - Rural Oklahoma
30 September - 12 October - Colorado Springs, CO
12 - 18 October - Rural Illinois (near St. Louis)
18 October - 15 November - Rural Iowa (near Cedar Rapids) (including 8 - 10 Nov HACWN conference)
15 - 18 November - Lincoln, NE
18 - 21 November - Lenexa, KS (near KC)
21 - 26 November - Topeka, KS
26 - 30 November - Layton, UT
30 November - 3 December - Boise, ID
03 - 07 December - Portland, OR
07 - 11 December - Escondido, CA

Things might change a little bit here and there, but I already have most of my tickets. Get in touch if you're nearby and want to meet up! Or if you have a writers' group I am able to run seminars on a couple of different topics - Indie Publishing 101, and Cliché Man to the Rescue!

See you round?

(Drag the map to see it better, sorry about the off-centre thing!)


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