Almost there...

Book 22 of Forgotten Worlds is nearly finished.

I am at the climax and have just a couple of chapters to go, maybe 5K words max. It's currently at 40K, the minimum for novel length, so this is perfect. It will be right in the target length that I set for these books. Some have grown longer, but most are around 45-50K words in length.

This is just the first draft, so the word count will change a bit, and I'm guesstimating on the final word count of the first draft as it is. If I can get 1000 words/day in for the rest of the month, I'll be right around hitting my goal of finishing by the end of June. Then, I'll jump into editing Book 20, DARKEST DEPTHS and aim to publish that by the end of July, a bit over four months after Book 19 was released.

I've had some issues with writing Book 22, but those were resolved with amazing insights. It turned into another great addition to this series, although I notice L'NI kind of taking over. It makes sense, given his involvement with Nya and his past as one of the enemy, but Nya kind of took a side seat to his presence. She still gets her main story, however.

After I finish this book, the work will only get more difficult--putting it all together for a series finale that makes the wait and dedication to reading it all completely satisfying. The final three books will be the toughest to plan out and write. I know the ending. I just am not quite sure of the details to get there, but that's not unusual. I'll figure it out.

It's been quite a journey writing this series and even more fun re-reading it all, but in another year or a bit more (depending on the lengths of the final three books and the planning and issues that might come up in the first drafts), I'll be done with writing Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. The final few books will see plenty of editing before they're ready. With Book 25, it's done, and I have the title for that. The two before that, I don't know yet.

I can't believe I'm so close to finishing. This has been a HUGE project for me. When I started writing, I never planned a series, and certainly never one like this; but readers asked for more in the Starfire Angels universe, and I loved what I had created, so I continued with it. It has become something I never would have thought possible but a project that I've loved for over seventeen years so far, since the first spark hit me for an angel story like none other at the time. By the time I'm done, it'll be a good chunk of my life devoted to this universe.

Lastly, and back to the update, I want to see if I can do something better for the cover image of Book 22. The more I look at it, the less happy I am with how that image turned out. The general theme is good, but the overall style of the ruins, not so much.

So, that's what's coming up. I'm excited to finish this and present Book 20 to you when it's ready.

Thanks for reading!

Sacred Music artist exposes Hollywood Soundtracks (video title)

Very interesting, and be sure to watch until the end if you like science fiction. 😏

Symbols of Tolkien's faith within Lord of the Rings

Something many readers either don't understand or choose to ignore is that John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He incorporated that into Lord of the Rings. I once read that when the Novus Ordo mass became the main format (versus the Traditional Latin Mass), he continued to respond in the Latin responses (instead of English).

In this video is an interesting discussion about the ways that aspects of Tolkien's faith are incorporated into LOTR and some of the deeper symbolisms we don't necessarily think about when enjoying the story.

I write Starfire Angels, especially Forgotten Worlds, from the perspective of my own Catholic faith. I have a special affinity for angels and all that they do for us, especially our guardian angels. Like Padre Pio suggested, I thank my angel every day for taking care of me and helping me. In my deepening faith, I've developed an ability to hear him more clearly, and the outcome of obeying God's will as shared by one's guardian angel (whose job is to bring us to God) is far more rewarding than ignoring Him. (I'm not talking about earthly rewards but spiritual benefits, although often there are more tangible benefits in our lives too.)

The Starfire entities in my Starfire Angels are much like our real guardian angels, the reason they are alternatively known as Guardians. They only provide what is needed when it's needed. This helps the story but it is also based on the Keeper needing to have faith and obeying the Starfire. Keepers have to give up themselves in order to serve the will of the Starfire, like we are asked to give up our free will to love God by complete obedience through the virtues, especially faith, hope, and charity (divine virtues) and the many other virtues He expects from us (which counter sin).

We can choose not to obey, but that way lies damnation and slavery, as described in the discussion in the video above. There is freedom in virtues and absence of sin, which is obedience to God - "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Like only those souls who perfect the virtues will be allowed in the presence of God (no stain of the least sin is allowed, the reason for spending time purging ourselves of the stain of sin before entering heaven), so too will only those Keepers who are virtuous be accepted to bear the power and responsibility of the Starfire shards. The Starfire entities (Guardians) have been known to destroy worlds where evil is too entrenched, just as God throughout the Bible and events since the last letter of the Bible and continuing throughout history has unleashed punishments when humanity has become so evil that a chastisement is necessary.

There are more subtle aspects to the Starfire Angels universe that are based on Catholic theology, but the Pints with Aquinas video started me thinking about this aspect of my world.

God uses each of us to help others; we just need to listen and obey. This song has always been one of my favorites about angels and even describes how we need to be loving to one another, to be angels to others.

You don't have to be Catholic to enjoy it (just as you don't have to be Catholic to enjoy Lord of the Rings or Starfire Angels).

ps--In the Catholic church, October 2nd is the feast day to celebrate our guardian angels.

Forgotten Worlds format explanation

I have been wondering for some time if some readers may have an issue with some of the formatting styles chosen for the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds books. So, I thought I might make a quick post to explain some of the styles used for those who aren't certain or who believe those might be errors.

LANGUAGE

First off, because this series is multi-cultural and that involves many made-up languages, I had to find a way to designate when characters are speaking a different language, besides always saying it with every dialogue line. That could get very annoying.

Since the primary language is Standard (pretty cliche with science fiction), short for Standard Galactic Trading Language, I don't do anything special for that. That's your basic "English" language for the characters, because I'm an English-speaking author. However, if I had this translated into another language, Standard would be that language. You get the picture.

Second, in my Starfire Angels books, I have always used square brackets for the Inari language translation [], so I kept that.

Then, I added Ru'owa, the Feri language, so I had to designate that a different way, so I chose the fancy brackets or braces {}.

If I use a third language or don't use Inari, I may use the square brackets in that particular book but will state what language it is. Or I may use a different way to designate that language translation.

In general...

[] = Inari language dialogue

{} = Feri Ru'owa language dialogue

TELEPATHY AND THOUGHTS

This was a little tricky. Traditionally, thoughts were always put in italics and so was telepathy. I've also used quotes around telepathy to designate speech. However, since Nya isn't telepathic but her thoughts can be heard by telepaths and sometimes telepaths can block their thoughts, I felt that it was important to differentiate in a new way.

What I did was only put quotes around non-POV thoughts that the POV character can hear. All POV character thoughts are quote-less. This can also be helpful, if you see the pattern, to know from whose perspective a scene should be seen. Sometimes it gets a bit hazy when there aren't any or are few thoughts or a character is observing another only from the outside.

OTHER ITALICS USED

I also used italics for some non-Standard (aka alien) words and also for ship names. This helps you see that sometimes a word isn't translated in [] or {} dialogue or that a word is actually a ship name and not a word, besides being capitalized.

Another way I use italics in the series is with dreams or Starfire visions, to differentiate dreams or memories from the present or reality.

If I think of any other formatting styles I've used not mentioned here or someone leaves a question, I will edit this post. Otherwise, I hope this helps alleviate any confusion.

unraveling the explanations opens opportunities

I have a lot of fun figuring out the logical side of explaining my fictional worlds. I leave so much out of my books, although I try to offer some minimal explanations to at least give the reader a better understanding of what things are. That's the trick of making up science fiction and fantasy worlds--keeping the science/magic plausible, whether that involves ecosystems, governments, magic systems, or even the technology of a starship. The balancing act is not boring the readers.

I was just thinking about something today. I had already figured out how the shield systems worked on the starships and the limitations of those systems, but I hadn't quite unraveled how Vel and Shen are able to recalibrate the shields of the Iludrin to withstand more than their standard limitations. In THE DESTRUCTION OF WALLS, I came up with a way for them to hold out against the Issan, but I let the technical explanation go without too much thinking. I had a vague idea and didn't get into any great detail.

In book 12, they're at it again with shield systems. Again, I hadn't given it much consideration how. I just knew that these two--a skilled mechanic and an educated engineer (and expert in inter-dimensional physics)--would make it happen since they had already come up with the method in book 5.

Today, exactly how that worked opened to me. It was there but never fully realized until now. Learning this reminds me of how excited I was when I came up with the whole ecosystem of Inar'Ahben back when I was writing STARFIRE ANGELS, the very first book of the Starfire Angels series (or, rather, when I was writing its predecessor, which was rewritten into SA). Follow the logic and the answers will reveal themselves. It all makes perfect sense to me.

Now, I know exactly what Vel and Shen are doing. It's pretty detailed and I may use it one day if Vel ever feels like divulging that in thoughts or dialogue, but for now, It's a nice chunk of page in my growing Forgotten Worlds wiki file. Someday, I may reveal that too, but for now, it's my series bible with everything I need to know about characters, species, worlds, technology, ships, history, militaries, events, and even synopses for the books to come, as well as other details and clips from what is already written. (I'm always updating it.)

With half the series now written, it's a lot of detail to track and the document is only going to grow. (48 pages total with 29 pages of detailed references of this universe, and counting. The other pages are the synopses of books to come, some rather lengthy, or ideas not fully developed.)

I now have a deeper understanding of how shield systems work in my FW universe, one more logical explanation so that I can keep the tech consistent throughout the series. And I may use what I've developed to create another problem for the characters at some point. (Cue the maniacal laughter of a writer enjoying the creation of difficulties for their characters.)

The better that you can logically explain things, the more plausible the situations of the characters in that setting will be. Also, you'll have far more tools at your disposal to create challenges for your characters to overcome, and isn't that the fun of reading--to cheer on your favorite characters to success over whatever challenges or conflicts they face?

I now have a better understanding of what can go wrong when shield systems are tampered with, and that is giving me ideas... 😈

Dragon and Fury

I haven't been posting much here and have had some distractions, but I have finished the rough draft of Book 10 of Forgotten Worlds. Right now, I have a title but no cover. I have not found the right image for this one and am hoping to work with an artist to create the right image to suit this.

If you go back to the end scene of Book 5, you'll see mention of the Hormaki Battle Games. Well, this is just one of the many tournaments of Battle Games in this series. Ann is a fan, so I'll just say it was fun to "watch" it unfold. The Battle Games are little American Gladiator and a little UFC with weapons and only two rules really--no killing and no outside weapons allowed. It's a gladiator sport without the intentional killing, although broken bones, cuts, falls, etc. can happen and some fighters have died. It's brutal but there are also some areas of the arena with obstacles, and different weapons are available. This is what I would like to have on the cover, but since it's pretty specific, I can't find a stock image to match.

Now that I'm giving it a run-through post finish, it's fun to watch that whole part of the book unfold. I say watch because I can sit back and enjoy the show. It doesn't feel like reading but like I'm in the arena watching the exciting fight. I'm done with the first round of writing but am rewriting anything that stands out. The purpose in this is to get an idea of how it flows to determine what major rewrites may be needed. I will then go on to editing book 8, RACING THE ORAST BELT, after this round on book 10 and set up the pre-order for that. I'll return to book 10 again before moving on. I am still developing the story line for book 11.

And, as the subject line of this post states, the title of Forgotten Worlds #10 is DRAGON AND FURY.

Ann's plan to escape from her Paxon responsibilities presents some difficulties. And there are risks that endanger the intrepid group of friends helping Nik to finally meet the woman of his dreams.

If you are interested in the series, you can find more information on this blog under the "Forgotten Worlds" tab or visit your preferred ebook retailer online and search for M.A. Nilles.

1/28/21 edit: I have found an image that is suitable for this, although not what I would prefer with custom art to really capture the idea behind this. It is hard to find the right artist and my usual go-to cover artist is busy.

truth and science fiction

Classical science fiction is my first love of reading. Anything from its early days, especially the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. They told stories of adventure in settings that were not possible, at least not at the times in which they lived. I also have enjoyed Poul Anderson, Andre Norton, Michael Crichton, and many others, for their imaginative and fantastic stories. I've also grown up with much in terms of visual storytelling (tv and movies) with Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Babylon 5, Stargate, etc.

However, the fantastic worlds and beings are not the full picture of why science fiction is my first love. The real appeal is in stories that present a view of the human condition using the science fiction settings, especially alien worlds and cultures.

Whether it involves humans or aliens, science fiction (and also fantasy) allows us to explore ideas that we can't in our real world. It provides a means of exploring other governments, cultures, and environmental settings that interact to create an alien race or alter the human race. The many sub-genres provide infinite possibilities, like the theory of alternate realities, where every decision branches off into a new reality. Whether time-travel, space opera, cyberpunk, thriller, monsters, and on and on, the broad scope of the science fiction genre offers us the opportunity to say "what if..." It is these explorations that add depth to our human consciousness and allow us to look at alternatives or a mirror into our present circumstances.

A writer sees through the lens of their experience and opinions. A good writer goes outside of themselves and creates situations, worlds, characters they don't necessarily like or agree with. It provides the opportunity to see a different perspective, but always it is filtered through the writer's own view. It can be difficult to set aside oneself to write from a different viewpoint, but in really getting outside of one's own perspectives, that character/culture/species can offer the writer and reader a contrast from which other characters/cultures/species can stand out. Depending on the purpose of the writer's vision, this can offer insights that one might not have otherwise considered. It's a matter of keeping an open mind on both the part of the writer and the reader.

And then there is the reader's perspective. A writer tries to portray a certain view, sometimes even changing theirs. (Stories that start out with well-thought and well-developed characters/cultures/etc. fall apart when a writer tries to force their hand into it and not let it develop more naturally from what was established up front.) A reader brings to a story their experience and opinions that color how they view a story and what they believe it should be. This may agree with or contradict the way the writer develops the story. But this is just a side note to where I'm going.

I love science fiction for its ability to explore anything, but I also love the science behind it. I love the logic and I love the ability to explore things that I couldn't in my life. I also love that science fiction can sometimes be more believable than real life.

One thing that has come to mind lately, which prompted this post, is an episode of Babylon 5 called "Infection". The episode is about an alien artifact that attaches to a man and transforms him into a killing machine intent on eliminating any being that wasn't "pure" of the species that created it. In the end, it was revealed that this symbiote destroyed the whole civilization, because no one was "pure". It seems almost prophetic to what we are seeing with cancel culture. Nothing is pure enough for them and as one set of opinions is wiped out, they go after the next, until there would be nothing left, because nothing is "pure" anything. It's all based on the individual's perspective, seen through the lens of their lives.

The episode is over 26 years old and had applied well to Hitler's vision for a "perfect" race, which I might assume to have influenced the idea. Here we are, decades later, and this episode is still relevant in our current cultural climate. It serves as a warning that if we don't change, our society is doomed to destroy itself. There has to be compromise and acceptance that nothing is perfect, nor will it be.

This is what I enjoy about science fiction--exploring the human condition by looking from outside out present circumstances to explore the many alternative possibilities of what may be. And in that, it speaks truth to our present condition.

The science in science fiction, and other world-building considerations

I love science! I've always loved science. But I got my degree in business administration. (There's something you might not have known about me.) Maybe that's why I've always been more drawn to science fiction than fantasy, although I do enjoy that too.

I love logic. I love to know the why's and how's of everything. I get a little high when I figure out a connection that's always consistent. I had a tough time in geometry when I first started learning proofs, but once I got it, the whole world made more sense to me. There are always steps that lead from one thing to another, and that actually works in writing a story too.

There's a certain logic to how things are connected. In world-building, you have to be able to see the broader picture of how things develop and why they are. In my Starfire Angels universe, I had to create a world where beings would develop wings, but more than that, I had to figure out an ecosystem that would make it plausible and lead to the society they have. To make them seem like angels to humans, I had to give them the powers described of angels and a history; that led to the Starfire crystal. Then, I had to figure out why that gave them powers and how those powers worked in very specific ways and where that crystal came from. It was all interlocking. I developed that while writing the young adult beginning of the series, Dark Angel Chronicles.

By the time I started writing the latest stage of this series, Forgotten Worlds, my Inari angels were fully developed, but I have had a LOT of new species to consider. I jumped into the deep end of the species creation pool while writing THE RULE OF YONDER. However, there are even more to come, and don't forget the main species (different races of humans, the Inari, and the Issan). By IN DARKNESS, LIGHT, I reveal the face of the bad guys, the Issan. I knew they had to be particularly tough, but I had to figure out why they were so powerful, and not just for their war machines and purpose. Outside their armor, they are as much of a threat as within it.

In IDL, I introduce a new character that intrigues Nik, the xenobiologist in my group of characters. Because the planet they are on has a lighter gravity, L'Ni's abilities go even further than they might on other worlds with heavier gravities. Lighter gravity also works to Nya's advantage with flight, although she doesn't always make the wisest of decisions. (Nobody is perfect, especially under pressure.) Nik's only explanation is one of biological facts that he understands of humanoid species, yet even he is perplexed by the greater density of tissues of L'Ni's species. He does in the end realize what L'Ni is, but not how he evolved that way.

(I know the answer, but I can't reveal that yet. It will come in time as the characters figure it out. I can't reveal everything up front!)

Language is another area that I know develops with culture and from culture. It is as intertwined as the environment and physical development of species. In fact, all of these are so intertwined that they cannot be separated. I had to figure out a way for all of these species to communicate and considered the many science fiction reasons of other series--translators, babel fish, etc.--and looked at our world. In our real world, we have to learn to communicate through a shared language, usually English, or through translators, although also with computers. In fact, we have computer programs that can translate statements from one language to another, but they need to "learn" the languages. Science fiction allows a little more advancement on this idea, limited only by one's imagination.

In this series, I use both mechanical translators and individuals with language skills to translate. Many of the species who interact with other species learn two or more languages. However, by far, the easiest method is to use one common language for all interactions, so I decided that they had developed the galactic standard trading language, or Standard for short. There are still species (ie Oolans) who have a hard time speaking it or simply can't be understood by many, and not every being has learned it.

Another factor of language development is that there may not be one language for a whole species. I haven't yet had a reason to explore that, but it could come up, just as on Earth we don't have one language but dozens. Also, language changes over time, as Nya has realized with the jewelry piece given to her on Yonder (which will be explained in a future book). The Inari may have been space-faring for a very long time (see CRYSTAL TOMB (Dark Angel Chronicles #3)), but they went through periods of change.

There are nuances to language that also must be kept in mind. I try to create expressions appropriate to the beings of this universe, some shared by those who get around the galaxy and some unique to species or specific groups based on cultural norms. They may not make sense to our real world experiences, but they do to the characters in their setting.

As the story goes on, you'll see a variety of known science touched on, as well as plausible explanations that aren't known science but are a part of this world-building (Starfire crystal and all that it brings to the story, for one). Everything here has a logical, plausible explanation in the setting of this world-building, even if it wouldn't be possible based on what our science understands. It is science "fiction", after all!

More Starfire Angels?

The Starfire Angels series has been my most popular series to date, and the one that I have enjoyed writing, except that the storyline grew difficult to keep up without ruining. I can get bored quickly when I want something fresh.

However, I've now branched off to express thoughts in other areas with new series and worlds and satisfied my need for something new; and I feel the pull to return to something familiar. Starfire Angels is like a bungie cord for me--always springing back after I've gone too far.

For the longest time, I didn't know how to get back into it. I tried with The Lereni Trade (Beyond Starfire Angels series) but didn't feel inspired to write more.

There may be another way to get back to our favorite angels. I came up with an idea today. I've had something rattling in my brain making noise for quite some time now. It wasn't clear but I knew something was trying to emerge. It always takes the right catalyst for the magic to happen.

That happened this afternoon. It pulled together Starfire Angels with my first novel (never published), thanks to watching Stargate SG-1 (rewatching the whole series lately). The first Starfire Angels was inspired by an anime show I enjoyed twelve years after writing a novelette in college. I've always felt that Starfire Angels could be something else, but it had to branch off, and SG-1 was always in the back of my mind with SA's possibilities. Now, I know what I'm going to do. I have a series title in mind, but I'm not revealing that until I have the first book written.

I'm planning on short novels rather than my usual big tomes. I'd like to get a five-six book series of short novels out over the course of 15-18 months, but we'll see how that works. It's a plan, anyway. I already have an outline and background and an established world from this spark of an idea today. Starfire Angels fans forced me to come up with new ideas to satisfy their hunger for the Dark Angel series. (Mostly because of their love of Elis, I think.) Those ideas have become springboards to others. SG-1 was merely a catalyst for putting it all together.

I know how I'm going to expand Starfire Angels into a new branch series. Follow this blog to learn more when I have it!

ps--It will not feature Elis and Raea but other characters who have grown important and also new characters who will be added.