My First (and Future) Novels · 11:47am Oct 15th, 2014

Hello all? How does this chill October morning find you? Over here at least there's certainly a nip in the air.

There's been some discussion in the Last Train From Oblivion comments regarding my e-novel Timewreck Titanic, which I published in 2012. I have been debating with myself over whether or not it would be self-serving to openly blog about it, and so have decided that while I will talk about the book here, I will not directly link to where it can be purchased. If anyone is interested in a copy, I suggest you google the title, or PM me for a link.

So...let me tell you a story.

It is a bitter April night in the year 1912. Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, an ocean liner charges east through the darkness, as her crew desperately swing out the lifeboats and prepare to receive additional passengers.

Her name is the Olympic, and somewhere, out in the night her sister ship, the largest vessel in the world, is sinking and in distress.

Then, the ship's crew and officers hear something above them...and the lookouts high upon the mast sound out the warning bell. They've spotted a vessel's navigation lights...

...but these lights are in the sky.

As Olympic's contingent watch in shock, a vast, four-engine aircraft comes into view, impossibly huge compared to the primative flying machines the Edwardian age is familiar with. It is crippled, with fire visible within two of the engines. Attempting an emergency landing it ditches itself in the ocean, alongside the stunned liner...

When recovered, the surviving crew tell a remarkable story. They are US Coast Guard aviators from the year 2012, somehow wrenched out of time, along with a number of ships that had gathered to commemorate the centenary of a historic disaster.

Dreading the answer, Olympic's captain asks what that disaster was, and his worst fears are concerned.

It is fated that tonight, Olympic's sister will indeed sink, with the loss of 1500 lives. It is the most famous shipwreck in the whole span of history: the sinking of the Titanic.

But history is even now being changed...

This was the first time ever that a sat down and forced myself to write something. It is, frankly, huge - over 220,000 words long. The fact that I wrote the bulk of it in three months never fails to stagger me.

The artwork itself is something remarkable. Through contacts, I was able to approach the local college, who thought that designing a cover would be an excellent challenge for their senior class that year.

The topmost image, by the talented Gwalchmai Doran, was the final winner, with the other two being the second and third best.

I am extremely proud of Timewreck Titanic. It is however, admittedly a bit of a mess. Having access to only my immediate friends and family as editors did cause some trouble in isolating grammar and spelling errors over the course of several hundred pages. I do think however that it has some merit, and the reviews I received to date have proved both positive, and helpful in developing myself as a writer (especial thanks to Fimfiction member JZ1, who contacted me out of the blue to announce that he had read and loved the book, and then provided me with a generous bounty of critical feedback - cheers man).

The question now is, where do I go from here?

What shall I write next. I am working on a big project with a friend, but collaborative works take time...

So, what will my next solo project be? I've got plently of ideas, but which one to develop?

To this end, I would like to pitch some vague ideas (please forgive me more keeping my cards close to my chest). Perhaps you guys can help me decide what kind of story would go down better.

CONTEMPLATION NUMBER ONE
The first outline I'm dabbling with can be considered a mix of fantasy and science fiction. The main character is a young girl, who one night washes up on a beach in America. She's lost much of her memory, and quickly finds the world is radically changed from what she does remember. Monsters roam the land, while everyone around her seems to demonstrate amazing abilities. Some can fly, others appear to weild magic, and some barely look human any more...

She is eventually rescued by a group of people who help her recover her bearings. Several years have passed since the last date she remembers. During that time, an unspecified event changed Earth and its people at a fundamental level, with the result that the myths, legends and stories held closest to mankind's hearts have begun coming true.

It is a new world, where science and sorcery collide on a daily basis, a world of superheroes and monsters, of magic and machinery. A world where government-backed superheroes clash frequently with privately-funded vigilante groups, and cabals of sinister intent lurk in the shadows.

Our main character suddenly finds herself a subject of intense attention, as 'returners' like her are rare, and extremely coveted. Cast back into this transformed world with no awareness of its workings, she consequently posesses immense potential for how she could be developed...depending on who gets to her first.

What is the destiny awaiting her, and in this world where stories are being woven into truth, what is the role that she will be cast to play?

Hero, villain, or victim?

CONTEMPLATION NUMBER TWO
A horror story saturated in Nightmare Fuel, which many reviewers for Last Train have suggested I have a knack for. It is set in the present day, aboard an oil tanker which is nearing the end of its journey.

Suddenly, as the ship approaches port, it suffers a catastrophic engine failure. Rather than run onto the rocks and rip open the hull (or worse yet, the oil tanks), the captain guides the ship out of the channel and grounds it on a sandbar. Now, they're stuck until they can float off on the next high-tide, in several days time. They are cruelly within sight of the shore, and able to signal to other ships, but for the moment are stranded.

At first, the crew are relaxed. Now they've got time to fix up the engines, and get themselves ready to go ashore...

But as night descends, the ship is blanketed in thick fog, a fog which refuses to lift. Cut off from the outside world, they slowly become paranoid and argumentative...some are particularly nervous, as they have secrets to hide...

...and then, somebody dies. And then another...and the crew begin to fall ill. The captain considers declaring a quarantine, which will keep them stuck outside of port for forty days, until this 'infection' can run its course.

No-one is happy to hear this. Paranoia descends into accusation, and violence breaks out. Exploration of the bowels of the tanker reveal grizzly human remains, and the unearthing of those secrets that some would rather have rather kept buried...

But there's worse at play...a dark force is aboard the ship with them, confined to this floating coffin of steel and black blood.

And it's ready to feed...

So which, of these two, would you guys rather read?

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