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THE MAKING OF ‘THE STARS MY REDEMPTION’ PT. 3

You're in for a special treat today, blog-goers. A fellow Kindle All-Star and often frantic Twitter-mate, Tony Healey, aka the Fringe Scientist, has a new novel coming out. It's a science fiction piece that promises to be a great read. Tony's running around a few blogs talking about how the book came to be, and I was lucky enough to host Part 3. Enjoy!

Guest Post by Tony Healey

The Sci-Fi Adventure Novel ‘The Stars My Redemption’ is released June 1st in the Kindle Store.

At times in The Stars My Redemption there is a flashback within a flashback. Writing the book, I found it hard in deciding how to move from one flashback to another. On this one, I turned to Stephen King.

In ‘IT’, King uses the following technique to transition from one time to another.

(1985)

and then the writer transitioned from one time period to another. He picked up his pen and--

(1969)

--writes a cheque.

You see? It’s like in a movie, when someone thinks back to something that happened in the past. Sometimes the screens goes all wobbly, but in most modern films we just get a hard, clean cut to the past. I think that’s the best way. And although I know this device might throw a few readers off, I’m confident that most will get it. Look, if it worked for King in one of his most successful novels, I’m sure it will work for The Stars My Redemption.

I have used the flashbacks in the novel to show you what Abe has been upto. They give you a perspective on the character you wouldn’t have if the flashbacks weren’t present. And come the ending of the book, you will see how important those flashbacks really were. They are part of his arc as a character.

The quote from ‘Tiger’ by William Blake that appears at the beginning of the novel is a direct reference to the original title of The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. He was going to call the novel ‘Tiger! Tiger!’ and I almost considered the same at one point. But I thought it enough to include the quote only.

‘Tiger, Tiger,

Burning bright,

In the forests,

Of the night’

There are nods to Star Trek, Star Wars and other shows throughout the novel. There are also members of the Kindle All-Stars who have been written in. I couldn’t include everyone however, which is a shame. I’d have liked to have worked in all 30 members somehow. None of this was intentional, it just happened as I was writing.

When I thought about the character of Abe himself, I pictured a bald man with a white eye and a robotic arm that had seen more than his fair share of danger. I envisioned him covered in scars deep as tree bark and old tattoos from all four corners of the galaxy. A man who has literally been chewed to bits by the jaws of life. I thought that the uglier I made him outside, the more striking it would be to find that he still had a heart inside. As for his speech? He talks like some people I know or have come across. He’s a common man, and I wanted him to have that common flavour when he spoke.

I hope that readers enjoy The Stars My Redemption, and that they want more. I can’t say that there will be a sequel to the book. It’s a stand-alone novel in many ways. But I’ve left myself plenty of room for another novel set in the same universe, so maybe readers will be seeing more. As for Abe, I can tell you that there will be individual short stories featuring him. I might even write a prequel. He has a lot of history, and there are many adventures that are yet to be revealed. How did he become the most wanted man in the galaxy? I think he did something very very bad, and I think I have an idea what that might have been.

But you’ll have to wait to find out. My next novel is a thriller called ‘Adolf Hitler Must Die’. At the time of this writing I am halfway through it. I hope to publish it August 2012, all going well. I also have a collection of four horror stories I’m putting together called ‘At The Edge of Sleep’. And for years I’ve been filling notebooks with ideas for a Fantasy Series. Well, hopefully I’ll get the time this year to work on that too.

But after that all? Maybe I’ll look to the stars again. See what’s going on.

PART 1 appeared 05/25 at www.apiarysociety.com

PART 2 appeared 05/26 at www.davidhulegaard.com