My Cover Art

THIS IS MY COMPLETED COVER ART FOR MY NOVELLA COMING OUT IN 2011~~!!!!! :D Yes, I was shouting...it's hard to talk quietly about something so exciting. *blushes*

Here's a link:

http://museituppublishing.blogspot.com/2010/09/space-station-murders-cover.html

And...have I mentioned that this is really exciting??? :-D

A City in Space

Perhaps in the future, space stations will be like cities in space….

The cosmopolitan future of life in space is one that many people have envisioned. It’s fascinating to think of regular people living regular lives in a different world—planet, spaceship, or space station. I think it’s especially fun to imagine an outer space place not controlled (or visited) only by the elite—government organizations and highly trained astronauts—but experienced by regular people like us.

If such a thing were true, it’s very likely we’d have many of the same problems that Earth cities do—crime, homelessness, poverty.

In an ideal, Star Trek space station like the one seen on Deep Space 9, we have a happy future where most people lead good lives. In a grungy future station, like “Babylon 5,” we have idealism and alien cultures mixed with grinding poverty, political refugees, clashing religions, powder keg politics, and plenty of crime.

In comparing the two, I think Babylon 5 has the more realistic view. It talks about more aspects of human reality—poverty, religion, politics, wars. But Deep Space 9’s hopeful future is a siren call for us to aim for, like a future model of the International Space Station, where ideally everyone will get along and work together for peace. (That was the purpose of Babylon 5, too—it just faced more challenges generally than did the station in the Star Trek universe.)

My latest story, “The Space Station Murders,” is set on a space station where grinding poverty and homelessness abound, where jobs are scarce and murders are going unsolved. It’s a ‘city in space’ with a veneer of respectability, without graffiti, and with beautification projects like public benches and artificial streams with bridges over them… but at night, homeless people fight over the benches and sleep under the bridges, and sometimes freeze to death when the heat gets turned down to save money.

All our fictional ideas about space stations are just models, of course. And I hope a real space station would be better than the one I imagined.

What would a real ‘city in space’ be like? One thing is for certain. We take our problems with us—even to the stars.

<<<>>>

keeping on...

I wish there was an easy way to reply to comments on blogger, like there is on LJ! I suppose you could just comment after the first comment?? (Yes, I've been on blogger for years but still don't have it completely figured out....)

My status bar now:

10000 / 30000 words. 33% done!

(If I keep going like this, I'll surpass my goal. Yay! Now if only some of what I write turns out to be any good. :P)

progress

I would like to write 30,000 words this month.

Here I am so far:

5000 / 30000 words. 17% done!

yo ho ho, writing's fun for me...not?

In retrospect, my blog's title is not the best.

For one thing, it makes it sound as though this writer thing is a bouncy, 'yo ho ho, let's-have-fun' journey. Of course writing is fun, at its best. But not all of the journey is fun. Some days you feel like a hack, can't bear to face the keyboard, and know you'll never have another story accepted.

Or maybe that's just me.

Right now, I'm trying to get together the promo stuff my publisher needs. I hope it doesn't all stink.

I got out an orphaned project this week and have been working on it. I'm really excited. I think I can finish it, if it doesn't have to fit the artificial rules I had for it previously--word count, market, etc. If I just follow where the story wants to go--and it's a really fun one for me--then I can almost certainly finish it. I'm really happy about that. :D

The truth is I have to force myself to share any personal information whatsoever online. But what else is a blog for? So here are three personal things I'm forcing myself to share:

I'm finally starting to feel physically better. Thank goodness.

I'm in worry mode. I hate that.

I'm trying to make decisions regarding my writing. And it's hard.

take care~

Alice

~Alice M. Roelke~ The Space Station Murders, May 2011

My writing blog: http://thewritinglifeforme.blogspot.com/

My publisher: http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/

Book review blog: http://theluminousrabbit.blogspot.com/

Writing credits: http://sites.google.com/site/aliceroelke/

My Publisher

I wanted to be published for so long—not just with short stories, but with “a real book.” And now I’m going to be. Well, my “real book” is a science fiction mystery e-book that's 20,000 words long. But still.

There’s something special about knowing my story has a home, and I have a publisher who not only treats people kindly, is patient, and provides lots of marketing help, but also has made it clear that I’m welcome to send more stuff whenever I want—or not. I’ve been waiting for now—being cautious with my time and energy, making sure I don’t bite off more than I can chew. But I keep thinking of things I want to send them, or write for them.

For me, there’s a very different feeling about sending something out when you know the publisher is not going to scorn you, where even a rejection will be personal and appropriate—with editor’s notes, no less! It makes me feel like someone in the publishing industry actually…cares.

I don’t want to become overly Muse-dependent. I know some of my works might not fit there, and I need to pursue publishing elsewhere, too. But it is so comfortable to feel this way.

I have lots to learn and much to experience in the publishing process, even if my story is ‘only’ a 20,000 word novella. But I’m looking forward to it, and I hope I don’t let my publisher down.

“My publisher.” I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of saying that.

Well, if you’re a bit jealous, (and I’m really not trying to make anyone jealous, just tasting this good feeling), you can always check out my publisher, Muse It Up Publishing, and see what you think. Maybe you have (or can write) something that fits their guidelines.

Maybe soon you’ll be able to say “my publisher” too. :)

~Alice M. Roelke~ The Space Station Murders, May 2011

My writing blog: http://thewritinglifeforme.blogspot.com/

My publisher: http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/

Book review blog: http://theluminousrabbit.blogspot.com/

Writing credits: http://sites.google.com/site/aliceroelke/

wow!

Fred Warren mentioned me in his amazing interview with Marcher Lord Press.

http://bit.ly/dwl3mU
or
http://www.wherethemapends.com/Interviews/current_interview.htm

I'm still blushing. Thanks, Fred! :D



~Alice M. Roelke~
"The Space Station Murders," coming May 2011
My publisher: http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/
Book review blog: http://theluminousrabbit.blogspot.com/
Writing credits: http://sites.google.com/site/aliceroelke/

Aydin

The newest line from my publisher is in the Muse It Young division,
meaning books for kids. It's called "Aydin," after the deceased child of
one of our members. It was a tragedy for the family, and Lea wanted to
memorialize the young life of Aydin in a line of books about special
children.

Because my sister has Down Syndrome, that's something that strikes close to home for me…special children.

The books don't have to be about handicapped children, however. You can write a story about any child making a difference. These books should be fiction, and they're aimed towards children. (Guidelines for it and all the Muse It Young books are here:
http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/index.php?option=com_content&view=a
rticle&id=102&Itemid=93.)

I don't know yet if I'll be able write about someone like my sister. Sometimes the things that you're closest to are hardest to write about.

~Alice M. Roelke~
"The Space Station Murders," coming May 2011
My publisher: http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/
Book review blog: http://theluminousrabbit.blogspot.com/
Writing credits: http://sites.google.com/site/aliceroelke/

win free ebooks from my publisher :)

If you're interested in e-books, or my new publisher, Muse It Up Publishing, here's your chance to find out more. You could join the Readers' Yahoo group for MIUP. They'll be raffling e-books every month, on the first (beginning in October).

The rules are "participate and you can win." Well, it sounds simple. Here's the link if you're interested:

http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/MusePub_Readers/

There are other prizes, like a grand prize of a year's worth of ebooks. You can read more here, on the MIUP blog:
http://museituppublishing.blogspot.com/2010/09/goodies-for-readers.html

P.S. My e-book won't be released until next year, so you can't win that yet. I'm sure you were all *dying* to read it! ;)

-Alice M.

my book review blog :)

I've started updating my book review blog again. So far, it has one follower (my mother). I started it in 2008, and didn't update again until just last month.

They're just short reviews, about a variety of different kinds of books. (I thought I'd be able to stick to a theme when I started, but so far I haven't.)

Anyway, here's the link, for those who are interested:

http://theluminousrabbit.blogspot.com/