My battered faith meets the Bible Belt

As I continue my trek around America, I find it to be a land of friends and faith. Faith is a beautiful concept, but not always easy to process by one who's been through spiritual abuse. I blogged about that a few years ago and you can read some of the details here. If you haven't read that, please do so now. I'll wait right here.

Symptoms I’m still dealing with years later: an inability to pray sincerely or at all, including over food; a restlessness in church services, or skipping them entirely; I can't sing most songs in church because I don't mean the words or I dislike that they are not my own.

If I seem to avoid spiritual topics, prayer, etc., please understand that these areas are painful for me to this day. I am forever changed, but I am not dissatisfied.

Not that I hate God or Christians. I mean, I think I still am one, given the fairly reliable report that Jesus doesn't go away unless you tell him to. Let's remember that. What, really, does Jesus in me have to do with any visible religious behaviour? I want to BE like him, not be bound to DO the things his followers have decided are standard for the faith. Make sense?

Groping for ground zero, for a foundation on which to build, I am most comforted by friends who allow me space. Who don't ask me to pray, who don't assume I want to go to church, and if I do go, who won't look askance at me for remaining seated during the singing and scribbling wildly in a small notebook the entire time. In fact, you may have trouble getting me to stop the flow of story in order to get up and leave afterwards. To me, that is a highly spiritual experience and I know dang well where it comes from.

Don't get me wrong - I'm loving my journey here! But please, if I am going to see you soon, I would love for you to understand where I'm coming from on this. And if you forget, and ask me to pray, I'll likely decline. It's nothing personal - just where I am right now. Thank you for extending grace to me.

On the road - exhausted but NOT bored!

Be forewarned: this is going to be a bit rambly-random. My brains are kinda scrambled, you see.

I'm in North Carolina, my 5th stop of 20 (see the 3rd-last post) and this week is one of the most intense of the whole trip as I visit Bethany School with Ann and do the equivalent of a full day's work interacting with students all day (and getting up at 6am, bleh!) - it's certainly fun, but full-on. I am at school until Thursday afternoon and then after midnight I get on a train to Atlanta to go to DragonCon. Yes, crazy.

The book publishing continues more or less as normal or even a little faster. Currently I'm doing final edits on the Avenir Eclectia collection and you are going to hear a lot more about that in a few short weeks. I'm very excited about this project!

I found a scribbled piece in my journal the other day, something I wrote a few months back - of how I wished for real life friends, people I could look in the eyes, kindred spirits who are in front of me and not just on the internet. Well, I've been enjoying just that since coming on the road - sure, only one set of people at a time, but they're real and here and with me and it's amazing. Of course, the goodbyes tend to get to me as well, because who knows when the next time will be? But it's so worth it.

I feel so lucky to be doing this. It is a strange old life I've chosen: hermit-like and solo at home for the most part, with occasional crazy trips to fill up on people and remind myself that all this is real and truly not just virtual.

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,

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:

http://frederation.wordpress.com/

http://caprice.splashdownbooks.com/

http://www.pabaines.com/page8.htm

http://travissbigidea.blogspot.com/

http://blog.rlcopple.com

http://www.kevennewsome.com

http://www.katheckenbach.com/

http://www.egrabow.com/rm.php?e=Prime

http://dianemgraham.com/blog/

http://ranunculusturtle.blogspot.com/

http://blog.frankcreed.com/

Find Greg:

Website: http://www.thecomingevil.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thecomingevil

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TCEauthor

To order Rift Jump: http://www.splashdownbooks.com/darkwater/rift-jump

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:

Website: http://www.thecomingevil.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thecomingevil

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TCEauthor

To order Rift Jump: http://www.splashdownbooks.com/darkwater/rift-jump

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/

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!)


View 2012 in a larger map

I'm in a Space Battle!

Just a few months ago my story Never Look Back was selected to appear in the anthology "Space Battles" - and now here we are almost published! I'm excited about being in such good company and the process has been thoroughly enjoyable. Here's the details:

Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6
Edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Flying Pen Press, 264 pp., $16.95, April 18, 2012

Red Alert! Red Alert!
This is not a drill…
Anna Paradox’s “Between The Rocks”: The Courtly Vizier, a
utility truck, renders aid to a colony ship but when they return to their
asteroid home from supply runs to mines on Old Lumpy from Jupiter’s atmosphere, the colony ship they once helped attacks them. But the situation is not what it seems, and strange circumstances are at hand.
David Lee Summers’ “Jump Point Blockade”: While pirating a mine on an asteroid, Captain Ellison Firebrandt and the crew of the Legacy find themselves forced into battle by Captain Stewart of the New New Jersey, serving as shields against the Alpha Comas at a jump point to Rd’dyggia. But instead of obeying Captain Steward, Firebrandt has plans of his own.
Jean Johnson’s “Joystick War”: Scavenging a storage bunker for salvage, Scott Grayson and Rrenn F’sauu stumble onto mint condition Targeting Drone A.I.’s, joystick controlled combat suits and can’t resist taking them for a test run. Then an old enemy, the Salik turn up, and instead of joy rides, they’re fighting for their lives and their people...
Mike Resnick & Brad Torgersen’s “Guard Dog”: Watchfleet sentinel Chang leads a lonely life of extended, dream-filled sleeps in between frenetic, life-or-death battles. The Sortu had almost defeated humanity and the lives of everyone, including his wife and son, depend on men like him. Then, called to battle again, he finds himself up against the last opponent he’d ever expected...

These and more stories await inside…

All personnel,
report to battle stations!

Contents:
9 Introduction – Bryan Thomas Schmidt
13 Acknowledgements
15 Dedication
17 Between the Rocks – Anna Paradox
29 The Thirteens – Gene Mederos
45 Like So Much Refuse – Simon C. Larter
61 Jump Point Blockade – David Lee Summers
73 First Contact – Patrick Hester
83 Isis – Dana Bell
95 The Book of Enoch – Matthew Cook
113 The Joystick War – Jean Johnson
133 Never Look Back – Grace Bridges
147 The Gammi Experiment – Sarah Hendrix
161 Space Battle of the Bands – C.J. Henderson
175 A Battle for Parantwer – Anthony Cardno
187 With All Due Respect – Johne Cook
209 Final Defense – Selene O’Rourke
219 Bait and Switch – Jaleta Clegg
227 The Hand of God (A Davi Rhii Story) – Bryan Thomas Schmidt
245 Guard Dog – Mike Resnick and Brad R. Torgersen
255 About the Authors