Tag: Maverick Heart

Some News!

Posted on by Stephen

So. It has been a long time since I posted here. But I have some news and some updates.

What with the pandemic rearranging my life completely, it was hard to stay focussed and write, let alone talk about what has been going on. But over the three years of various lockdowns and such, I did manage to write the next book in the Maverick Heart Cycle, titled The Infinite Heist. And on Friday, I signed the contract with my publisher to release it in 2025. Feels like forever away, but at the same time I know that it will pass in a flash.

Earlier this year, I was also inspired to write a collections of essays, just thoughts about my life and about the world. It came really easily, and after some feedback from beta readers and some revisions, I submitted it to Renaissance on Friday as well. I’ll keep you posted about that one too.

And finally, I have started work on the next book as well, this one titled Into Thieves’ Rift. It’s early days, but the ideas are coming. I’m finding the world had to cope with these days, which is making it hard to create. But I believe in the story, so I know it will come when it’s ready.

Anatomy of a Character: Lexa-Blue

Posted on by Stephen

So, the name came to me long before the character actually did. I just wrote it down somewhere and meant to come back to it at some point, because I thought it sounded cool.

Then, around the time I was writing the very first draft of what eventually became Soul’s Blood, I got into a comic called, of all things, Atari Force. It was one of those marketing deals between big companies, but it ended up being fun Space Opera, and far better than I expected. There was a character in the series named Dart, a mercenary of prodigious skill and coolness. As the novel idea developed, Lexa-Blue became character in that mold.
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The second element of who she became was the scar on her eye, replacing the facial tattoos that Dart had. This piece came from the Legion of Super-Heroes, another far future comic that I loved. At one point, Keith Giffen did an arc called Five Years Later. In it, after a time jump, we saw that much of what had been familiar had been shattered. One of the characters, Shrinking Violet, had been injured in a war between her world and the planet of one of her best friends from the Legion, Cosmic Boy. She was left with the scar bisecting her eye. Another element fell into place.
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The final piece for me was an actress I liked back then, one who had made her career in daytime and night time soaps, as well as in miniseries, which were big at the time. Her name is Terri Garber and there was something I really liked about her. She went from good girl to vixen, and then seemed to have found her niche as the conniving bad girl. She had an interesting mix of vulnerability, humour, and smartass that resonated with me and, at the time, felt like the energy I wanted the character to have.
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So, Lexa-Blue became a combination of Dart’s competence and formidable fighting skills, with a scar and black artificial eye, with the cropped, dark haired personality that I could imagine Terri Garber portraying. And she just grew from there. With a healthy dose of my own snark and smart mouth for good measure.

Ghost Light Burn: Coming Soon!

Posted on by Stephen

With all that’s been going on in the world, I have been understandably distracted. And as such, I forgot to share the good news that the latest installment of the Maverick Heart Cycle will be coming your way next year from Renaissance Press. It’s been a hard year, and it sure feels great to know that the adventures of Keene, Lexa-Blue, Ember and Vrick will continue a while longer!

Overture (Part Three of Three)

Posted on by Stephen

Galactum Year 143

*Where did you find this guy? He’s a complete nil.* She was using the node far more easily now, and though it, ey could tell that the thought of having a bioware link to Know-It-All embedded in her brain no longer made her skin crawl. Still, it made it easier for them to communicate until ey decided the time was right to reveal es true nature.

*Now, now, Meat. You weren’t much better yourself the first time you walked through that hatch. Give him a chance.*

The subject of their scrutiny, completely unaware of their opinions of his skills and personality, lay on the deck, his torso and head buried deep in the access panel. Continue reading “Overture (Part Three of Three)” →

Overture (Part Two of Three)

Posted on by Stephen

Galactum Year 139

She didn’t reach the landing pad until almost dusk, having had to wait at the placement office all day or risk losing her spot in the rota for a new temp assignment. As much as she hoped this new ship would be the one, she couldn’t risk missing out on further short term placements if it didn’t work out. Thankfully, the captain had understood and accommodated her schedule.

Despite the late hour, the day’s heat still lay heavy over her as she stepped down from the tram onto the landing pad’s apron. In the distance, the sun dipped low toward the horizon, lighting the sky with the colours of flame. She felt a tickle of sweat down her back under the starched, formal shirt, but she knew it had nothing to do with the heat. The back of her neck itched where her hair had been freshly shorn down to the skin. She fought the urge to touch the place where the braid she had grown since childhood no longer lay. Continue reading “Overture (Part Two of Three)” →

Overture (Part One of Three)

Posted on by Stephen

Galactum Year 138

Jaim Somro’s life ended in the burnt, angry glare of a dying star, the ship his only companion.

The Maverick Heart hung in the fading light of the aged sun, as close to the raging shockwaves and radiation as ey could without risk, held there by constant adjustments to es drive field. Waiting for the end to finally come.

Meanwhile, the human lay small and frail on one of the couches, wrapped in a well-worn blanket, waxen skin bathed in ruddy light. Each breath the man took ever more laboured.

The ship remembered that blanket and the world it had come from in perfect detail. Ey remembered the moment the human had picked it up in the shop, remembered knowing the moment he had decided to buy it. Continue reading “Overture (Part One of Three)” →