Brian Burt's Blog: Work in Progress - Posts Tagged "blood-tide"

I'm thrilled to announce that the second novel in the Aquarius Rising trilogy, Aquarius Rising: Blood Tide, has been released by Double Dragon Publishing. This continues the cli-fi saga begun with Aquarius Rising: In the Tears of God, winner of the 2014 EPIC eBook Award for Science Fiction. In a nutshell:

Megalops is an Aquarian from one of the many reef-cities that thrive beneath the waves on an Earth transformed by climate change. Humans clinging to the barren lands blame Aquarius for their plight and unleashed the Medusa Plague that entombed Megalops's wife and daughter in stone. Tormented by that loss, Megalops swears to avenge his murdered family by unleashing a Vendetta Virus as cruel and lethal as Medusa. Ocypode the Atavism and his allies battle desperate odds to prevent Megalops from igniting global conflict. War demands sacrifice. If Mother Earth and Mother Ocean wage war against each other, will anyone survive?

I greatly enjoyed writing this and hope that comes through in the reading. I took a very different approach with this novel: Book 1 was pretty rigorously (okay, anally) plotted and planned in excruciating detail up-front; Book 2 was more loosely pre-planned so that the action could flow more organically in the direction dictated by the main characters. The story ultimately took a few twists I never envisioned at the start.

If you're interested in learning more, the publisher's book page for Blood Tide can be viewed here:

Blood Tide - Book Two Of The Aquarius Rising Trilogy

If you're a fan of climate fiction, or just good ol' science fiction, please check it out! (And if you're inclined to spread the word, I won't try to talk you out it... ;-)

#SFWApro

                        

For those of us who are "rookie" novelists working to build an audience, it can be a struggle to avoid a sense of desperation. There are so many new books published every year, competing for readers' attention, and so many other demands on people's time. I have quite a few friends who complain that they "never have time to read anymore." That just adds to the feeling that you, the unknown author, are standing at the base of a very steep, very tall mountain... and you forgot your climbing gear.

We all need reassurance from time to time, no matter how self-motivated we might claim to be. We all need the occasional ego boost to remind us that, yes, there really are some folks out there reading what we've written, and even enjoying it.

And so I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Readers' Favorite Book Award judges for 2016 for providing that spark of optimism. I recently found out that my second novel in the Aquarius Rising trilogy, Blood Tide, won the Gold Medal in the Science Fiction category. Woohoo!!! You can see the details, and view the winners in all categories, here:

Readers' Favorite - 2016 Award Contest Winners

I'm extremely grateful to Readers' Favorite, and encouraged. Since Book 1 of the trilogy, In the Tears of God, won EPIC's 2014 eBook Award for SF, I can honestly say with a straight face that the trilogy is "award-winning." It's not a bestseller... but I'm learning, improving, and I'll keep working at it. Book 3, The Price of Eden, will be released next year from Double Dragon, and I hope loyal readers of the first two books will find it to be a satisfying conclusion.

Writing is a solitary undertaking. I'm often reminded by the experts (whose advice I read diligently and covet) that writers need to craft their words for the joy of creating fictional worlds, not to seek wealth or glory that will almost certainly elude them. That's wise. I've sure got the "not seeking wealth" part nailed.

But, hey, now and then a tiny bit of glory doesn't hurt. ;-)

#SFWApro