Evolved
by Archer
Miller
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GENRE: Science
Fiction
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BLURB:
Humanity has spread to the far reaches of space with The Golden Door, a
planetary colonization monopoly, selling off every desirable and not so
desirable planet to desperate settlers.
Each new
world comes with new challenges, and to meet that challenge the children are
evolving.
When
Pieter, and other gifted children like him, become the target of government
research they must fight not only for their lives but the future of their kind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: The book is
on sale for $0.99.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Pieter’s eyes opened, but it was an exercise in
futility. There was nothing but darkness for him to see. He knew he was awake
because of the lancing pain running down his back and across his chest; the
cover on his head was stifling and smelled of sweat and blood. He was upright
in some sort of chair but he was unable to move. The back of the chair was
straight and hard, and he was bound to it with his arms pinned behind his back.
He struggled to breathe. His chest was stretched as his shoulders pressed into
the chair behind him. A cry of pain rose in his throat, but he clamped his
mouth tight to hold it prisoner.
As he gasped for air and strained to ease the pain
in his chest and back, a voice from beyond the pain alerted him to another
presence.
“Suka is awake.”
“Good. I want this suka blyad to remember this.”
With no way of knowing or seeing its approach a
hand struck his face, slamming the back of his head against the hard chair. He
could stop the scream, but not the tears that rained from his eyes.
“Little boy want to play,” the voice taunted him.
Something hard crashed into his stomach, forcing
the air from his lungs. He tried to breathe, but was unable. What do they want
from me?
A second fist slammed into the side of his face,
whipping his head to the right.
“Don’t kill him,” the first voice warned.
“I won’t. But he’ll wish I had.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I asked Archer how do you do your world building? Here is his answer.
I begin any project like this with research. I
like to keep my science fiction rooted in actual science as much as possible.
My worlds happen to be actual worlds in space as opposed to alternate versions
of Earth.
I started with a study on exoplanets. What's
actually out there; like Kepler-16 which is actually mentioned in my book. The
major location I made up is called Valhalla. It was named for a character who
made the ultimate sacrifice. I created a world far out from galactic center and
in the calm zone between the spiral arms. I wanted to make a place that had
near Earth gravity, a similar length year and similar length day. Water is a
must for life so Valhalla is water rich as well. It's the life forms that stir
my imagination. I was determined to create animals that evolved to fill
specific habitats.
There are avians who evolved with crystals
instead of feathers. They have four wings similar to dragonflies. Another
interesting creature are the ursines. They are similar to our bears but bigger.
They are adapted for living and hunting on open grasslands. They have striped
camouflage as well as long hair on their backs that mimic the look and motion
of tall grass. I created a tree living cat that is adapted to arboreal life
with adaptive coloration and an extra set of limbs.
The secret to creation is to study how it
happened here and apply it there. Change to environment and you change the
rules. A cold iron core gives a planet much higher gravity. Make your world
colder, warmer, wetter, dryer and then let the creation begin.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Archer
Miller emerged from the East Texas hill country and set his sights on finding
the life of which few of his contemporaries dreamed. In 1974, he migrated to
Boulder, Colorado to enroll at the Naropa Institute – now known as the Naropa
University, a tiny Liberal Arts college founded by the renowned Tibetan
Buddhist scholar and lineage holder, the Ven. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
(1940-1987). Rinpoche was enormously influential in spreading the teachings of
Tibetan Buddhism to the West.
Archer
earned a degree in herbs and creative writing. He was a four-year Letterman on
the Varsity Competitive Meditation Team.
After
graduating in 1978, he took a year off to hike the Jack Kerouac literary trail.
He became a top freelance gun-for-hire with dozens of ad agencies across the
south and southwest. As a way to deal with the proliferation of Disco, he took
up Zen Archery.
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Archer Miller will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly
drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the excerpt, thank you!
ReplyDeleteGood to have you here today.
ReplyDeleteGreat post - thanks for sharing the excerpt!
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