Engine in the Sky - SOLD!

Engine in the Sky, my newest sci-fi novel, will be published by Mocha Memoirs Press! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see this story told. This was one of those stories I wrote for the fun of it because I wanted to "retell" history, so to speak.

This story came about when I was watching the movie Hidden Figures--IMHO one of the best space movies, ever--and couldn't remember how the space program started. I had read somewhere that when JFK started the program, he had two options: either push to be the first man on the moon or build a space station. In our case, he wanted the us to have the first man on the moon. But...what if he had chosen the latter? How would that have affected our program today? That's where my idea grew into this beast of an idea.

Check out the synopsis below.

Engine in the Sky takes place a few years into the future, in an alternate universe, where the Gateway station is getting ready to venture out into the solar system to perform a terraforming experiment on one of Jupiter's moons. Before it can leave the Earth's orbit, a malfunction onboard makes it impossible for the Gateway to maneuver behind the moon to avoid a massive solar storm. When the storm hits, an explosion sends the station hurling not only out of time, but into another alternate dimension where Earth is not the same one they left behind.

Half of the crew survives and Prof. Meridia Vail is the last of the American crew to awaken from a five-year, "stasis-type" coma. All of her friends from the U.S., Canada, West Canada (yes, there is a West), India, Australia, Korea (no North or South), Russia, Venezuela, England, Scotland, Japan, Hungary, China, etc. have all been sent back to respective countries. That alone has Meridia and her crew on edge with regards to their newfound surroundings. These "New Earthers" are nowhere near the technological advances that the Gateway crew is used to, so that means one thing. They want to steal their technology. Using the excuse that the Gateway is in a decaying orbit doesn't inspire confidence when it's to the benefit of these people to figure out how it works so they can stop it.

When Meridia gets a chance to break out of her "guest" confinement, she goes into this New Earth to find answers to why her crew is where they are and what happened on the Gateway? More important, is there a way for them to return to their own space-time dimension? Can anyone outside the government be trusted to help? One thing is certain. If Meridia and the rest of the Gateway crew can't convince the New Earthers' that it's in their best interest for all of them to work together, the dinosaurs won't be the only things that are extinct.

At this point, the release date is sometime in 2022. As soon as I know more, so will you. In the meantime, continue to watch this space because you know a blurb will be coming at some point. ;-)

My Contribution to SLAY

In case I haven't mentioned it before, my story in SLAY is call Message in a Vessel. Being who I am, I went all sci-fi on this one. But you're probably wondering why a vampire story.

The first thing that hit me with this anthology was the cover. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words. I needed to come up with 5,000 and I wasn't sure if I could do it. I'll be honest, vampires are not my favorite preternatural creatures. I like the ones that a less known (i.e. Project Solstice series). This cover screams of bad ass, so I couldn't resist.

The second thing that hit me about this was the timing. I had nothing better to do during the Covid-19 era other than revise, revise, and revise. I needed something new. Something that was more of a challenge. Tackling vampires was it for me.

The third thing that hit me was the types of stories they were looking for. Not only did they want stories from the African diaspora, all genres were accepted. All? REALLY? Okay then, sci-fi it is. But do I really want to do vampires in space or the whole vampires as aliens? Of course not. That's the easy way out. I wanted something different. I wanted my vampires as "natural" to our planet as possible. With that being said, there was only one way to make sure it wasn't a feeding frenzy and that was to make everyone on the planet vampires. A disease from space, perhaps? No. I wanted it specific to our planet. Low and behold, we have been surrounded by Covid-19, so why not make it evolutionary?

Ah, a story is forming! Yes!!

But with all things, we always have to be number one or we overdo it. We always seem to look down on other people whether it's intentional or not. I wanted to weave these themes into Message in a Vessel, keep it as escapist fun while still making you think about which side of "right" you want to be on. when doomsday comes. And trust me...it's coming.

Overall, I had fun writing Message in a Vessel, and I hope you have just as much fund reading it, too.

Coming October 13th. Get your pre-order copy today!