Chris’s Comments (group member since Nov 04, 2015)

Chris’s comments from the Science Fiction Microstory Contest group.

Paula wrote: "Powerful and professionally done story, Chris!"

Thanks, Paula!

Tom wrote: "Congratulations, Chris - well done."
Thanks, Tom!

Jot wrote: "Well, at least I get to send an email to the 100 or so in the group to let them know about your win and what next month's theme is"

Thanks for everything you do to moderate this group, Jot!

Jot wrote: "Nice theme! And congrats of course. Tried twice to post a congrats thread, but it doesn't show up. Guess Goodreads is deleting these."

Thanks, Jot. No worries on posting a congrats thread. I enjoy this contest for the fun of it more than anything.

Jack wrote: "Congrats, Chris!"

Thanks, Jack!

Justin wrote: "Yes, great story Chris! Very creative and really drew you in."

Thanks, Justin! I'm just glad I was able to pull it off with that pesky 750 word limit - lol.

Theme: An Abandoned Outpost

Element: Ancient Technology

Theme: An Abandoned Outpost

Element: Ancient Technology

Theme: An Abandoned Outpost

Element: Ancient Technology

Nice! I was wondering about whether I'd edited too much out of my story for it to be effective. Looks like it still worked!

Justin wrote: "Chris, it was a very clever story! Great idea!

Jack, great story. Loved it.

All very interesting and the alien worlds felt very unique and fantastic.

Nicely done!"

Thanks, Justin!

Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Mines up, though I hope while trimming it from about 1200 words to 750 my story didn't lose some of its effect - lol."

It was very entertaining, Chris. Good pace and atmosphere."

Thanks, Tom. I was worried about that because I trimmed about 40% of it away.

Mines up, though I hope while trimming it from about 1200 words to 750 my story didn't lose some of its effect - lol.

Tiki


“That’s a curious thing,” I remarked, picking the 6-inch figurine from amongst a table of otherworldly collectibles. Touring the streets of Orvilon, I’d stumbled upon a local bazaar, and the packed alien flea-market was exactly what I was looking for on holiday.

I turned the statuette over, studying its craftmanship - like a little tiki man, only from outer space. A pearlescent grimace glaring over four arms tucked tightly into its chest, two obsidian eyes stared back at me. “How much?” I asked.

“Huh,” the alien vendor huffed, snatching it away. “Don’t remember this one.” Adjusting his optics, he explained, “I’m not sure I can part with such an exquisite item, unless...”

“Unless the price is right,” I knew.

“You Earthers are smarted than you look,” he winked, handing the item back. “20,000 tekgulies.”

About seventy-five bucks. “Sold,” I agreed, and he wrapped it in paper and twine.

Continuing down the aisle, I heard, “We need to leave,” whispered from behind me. Not thinking much of it, I skirted past a group of Enforcers – the planet’s cybernetic lawmen. They stood motionlessly in a circle, silently exchanging information. Then, I heard again, “We really need to go,” this time more desperately.

Suddenly, the area’s lighting shifted red, a booming mechanical voice announcing, “Zonal lockdown. Proceed to the nearest checkpoint for inspection.”

“Great,” the mysterious voice lamented.

“What is that?” I questioned, glancing all around. “Where are you?”

“In your pack, useless Earther.”

Dozens of hovering probes dropped into the crowd, slender arms projecting a virtual image that looked almost exactly like the little tiki I’d bought earlier. Below its likeness, scrolled, “Wanted – Microassassination Thrall – Series Theta – For the unlawful termination of the Omaj of Reltan.”

“Is…is that you?” I marveled, turning the nearest corner into the shadows. Pulling the object I’d bought from my bag, I unwrapped and set the thing down upon a nearby ledge. Legs and arms extended, transforming into a far more slender, almost gracile little white robot. “Did you kill someone?”

“I merely fulfilled the contact as agreed,” it answered. “The Omaj of Reltan was a ruthless despot who had enslaved countless billions.”

“And that makes it okay?”

“Okay is irrelevant,” the robot replied. “He was in violation of his agreement, which compelled me to obey my programming.”

“So, you feel nothing about what you did?”

The little thing leaned in. “Do they not have robots on your world, useless Earther?”

“Of course they do,” I replied, “but our robots help us.”

“Like defending your planet and guarding your dignitaries?”

“Well, sure, but…”

“Sounds like they kill people to me.” A security probe passed the nearest intersection. “You need to smuggle me out.”

“I should turn you in.”

“Not if you value your life,” it remarked, and a chill ran down my spine. “Unfortunately, I’ll have to completely power down.”

“I could turn you in when you’re deactivated.”

“I would escape, as I always do, and my ‘no-loose-ends’ directive would immediately make you the next target on my list.” The thought was chilling, so I reluctantly agreed. As the bot tucked itself away, it said, “I’ll be seeing you.”

Nervously, I rewrapped my purchase, placing it back into my bag, before heading for one of the nearest checkpoints.

“Identity?” the Enforcer on point asked, scanning my visa-chip. “Peterson? What kind of name is that? Sounds made-up,” he chided. Next, a beam shot from his arm and inspected me fully. “No energy sources detected,” it noted. “What’s in the sack?”

“Just souvenirs.”

“Let’s see ‘em.” He dumped my bag onto a nearby table. Picking through it with a thin rod, he asked, “What’s this?” prodding the wrapped curiosity from my assortment.

“Back home, they call it a tiki. They’re supposed to be good luck.”

“Right,” The cyborg doubted, noting the line behind me growing. “Alright, get outta here,” he commanded, and I eagerly complied.

Several blocks away, opening my pack must have triggered a reactivation sequence. “Are we clear?” my package asked.

“Clear enough.”

“Excellent. I owe you a debt.”

“That’s not necessary.” I just wanted to be free of the thing.

“My programming compels it,” it explained. “For your service to me, I shall now be of service to you, until you regrettably reconsider this agreement. Besides, I no longer have a master for whom to serve.”

“What happened to him?”

“He died.”

“How?”

“Killed by an assassin droid.”

“Let me guess,” I grimaced, almost afraid of the answer.

“The Omaj of Reltan, of course.”

Congrats, Jack! Great story!

I also sent mine in.

J.F. wrote: "My two cents on publishing: for my novel, I generated a standard publishing format in Word following the Createspace (now "Kindlesomething") guidelines for margins, etc. That allowed me to use a la..."

J.F., thanks for the advice. I am definitely leaning toward creating my own cover. This might be a good resource for getting going.

Justin wrote: "Hi Chris,

Sorry to be late to the conversation. Work and life just keep dragging me along. I've only used Amazon and found it to be very easy. Just look at how long they get exclusivity for (I thi..."

Justin, I think Amazon seems to be the way to go, from my research. It looks like Kindle Direct Publishing has no exclusivity unless you enroll in their Select program, which requires 90 day exclusivity. So, I think I should be able to publish with KDP and also with other sources at the same time. According to KDP, they also allow you to edit your manuscript as much as you want for free after publishing, as long as the change doesn't exceed 10% of the word count.

Jeremy wrote: "Chris, I also use Amazon POD.

I put together everything in LibreOffice (Word also works!) using the page style formatting feature. I then export to PDF and it uploads to their system. For covers,..."

Awesome. Thanks so much Jeremy! Lots of great advice here.

Paula wrote: "Chris, you note "I've run across a few resources that have compiled some reviews on some of the publishing companies [so as to avoid the more sketchy companies]"; would you be willing to share link..."

Paula, I some of the things I've read are found on writing.com, published by others with experience in self-publishing. An example is this article here:

https://www.writing.com/main/books/ac...

Unfortunately, one of the better links I had, not from writing.com, was a list of reviews of dozens of self publishing companies, but it seems to be down or is not directing like it should. Sorry.

I've also checked general online reviews and have read a few things from the Alliance of Independent Authors, here:

https://selfpublishingadvice.org/about/

There is also some good information from Bowker Publishing Services, here:

https://www.myidentifiers.com/?gad_so...

Thanks for the advice as well.