Extra Stuff! Pure Red Sand Returns

Hey folks, welcome to October. I hope everyone is looking forward to a great fall or spring. Just a couple of notes before I drop in the fun extras. I’ll be making my last planned in-person appearance this year at the Can-Con book room in Ottawa from the 13-15 this month. I hope you’re able to drop in and say hello. I’ll also be releasing my latest book, Terran B and the Asteroid Belt, on Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 1pm in Salon D at the Sheraton. Join me with my lastest adventure! If you want an online release for the book as well, please let me know!

Here’s the first of the promised extras. Big spoilers so go no further if you dislike spoilers and haven’t read the trilogy. Got questions, send me a message here or via email at m.negrijn (at) gmail dot com

In Uncomfortable Truths, Nadine comes to Earth to investigate who was responsible for the hospital deaths. This is a conversation between Rory Hershell (one of the masterminds behind the abandonment of Mars) and Lorne Michaels (Sven’s father) after Nadine and Sven reunite. With Nadine’s arrival, their solid plans are starting to crumble.

Lorne Michaels took a deep breath and followed his wife into the entrance of the club. They both spotted the figure at the same them and her could feel Edith tense through the hand on her lower back. “Go on in to the dining room. We’ll join you shortly.”

“It’s our anniversary, darling. Surely we can eat alone.”

“Go inside, I said. We’ll never ignore good friends, no matter what the event.” She sighed and did what she was told. Despite her recent concerns, she was coming back into line nicely. Lorne stepped to his friend’s side. “Rory, it’s good to see you, man. It’s been too long. What brings you to the club?”

The red haired man seemed unusually concerned. “Ah Lorne, it’s good to see you too.” They were joined by a younger woman from the washrooms. “You remember my wife, Patricia?”

“Of course.” He kissed the woman’s hand. “How are you, my dear? Rory, will you join myself and Edith for dinner?”

“It would be a pleasure. Why don’t you go ahead and join Edith, Patricia I just need to talk business for a moment…” She nodded and left them alone in the hallway.

“What’s going on, Rory? I thought things were all settled? Howard’s not a problem again is he?” Venshultz always seemed to need something else these days.

“No, no. He’s been taken care of. No, I’m having some issues with closing the Mars portfolio.”

“I’m not surprised. If the damned profits weren’t so good, I’d have been out of there long ago. What’s the trouble now?”

“It’s that stupid excuse for self-government.”

“I thought we had someone in there?”

“It fell through. The man couldn’t see the larger picture. Now that girl is making trouble. She’s here asking questions about the hospital.”

“On Earth? I thought that was all taken care of.”

“Yes, I know but there’s too many people involved now. It’s out of my hands and they’ve had two years to enjoy their silence.”

“So? Send your boys to deal with it.”

“I did. She’s keeping quiet but they tell me some big blonde guy was seen with her. They brought me a picture.”

“Sven.” Lorne gritted his teeth. His eldest son was the largest problem in his life.

“You can’t be linked to this, Lorne. We both know that. You need to get control of your son before he gets too close. I can take care of the girl but you know I won’t do anything with him around.”

“Appreciated. Things were easier before.” He heaved a deep sigh. “It’s going to be tricky. She’s still damned important with all that public opinion in her favour right now. It’s taking forever to die down. There aren’t even scandals around about her. There’s no fucking leverage. I can’t even get the police to watch her.”

“Don’t be getting the police involved, Lorne. Too much risk.” Rory looked around. “Just get him out quick before he leads people back to you.”

“I’ll take care of it but careful with the girl. Nothing can happen here in the city. It’s too dangerous.”

“Don’t worry. I know how to take care of her. Just be patient and get Sven out.”

“It would be good to have her out of the way. She’s the backbone of the council and there’s projects I’d like to move on that they’re holding back.”

“Exactly. Focus on the future and stop worrying over this. Once Sven is gone, I’ll take care of the rest. But in the meantime, we’d better join our wives.” He led them into the dining room and Lorne was reassured that he’d soon have Sven back home and Nadine would just be an unpleasant memory for everyone.

Let’s go skimming! This was an early plan for how they were making money off the colony on Mars before the abandonment.

Bye for now, folks! ~M

Looking for a new book? (A Holiday Post)

Hello friends,

I’m hoping to post more in 2023 so please check back when you get a chance. This year, with absolutely no promotion or acknowledgement on my part (bad form), I released a collection of short stories called “It Was Supposed to be a Dream.” I had previously made this available as an in-person purchase at cons etc., but now it’s out there for everyone.

In this paranormal romance, Sara and Michael go searching for demons in a semi-modern landscape. She’s the only one who can find them and he’s the only one who can dispatch them. It’s a surreal poetic exploration of the theme of destiny and what love might look like in this unconventional relationship. It’s pretty close to my heart so I hope you will enjoy it. The ebook and paperback are currently only available from Amazon, but I can put it up on Kobo if there is interest.

With 2022 barrelling towards a close, I’m looking forward to the new year. Do you have any suggestions of what kind of offerings you would like from me next year? In person events or would you like to do more readings, Q&A etc. online? There is the potential for learning how to write a novel in the spring (for ON residents in-person). If there is interest, I could offer a live zoom version. I’m going to be releasing a fast-paced science fiction/speculative fiction novel called Terran B and the Asteroid Belt. Stay tuned for more details about that.

Thanks for reading!
M

What am I doing here? Forgetting important things and keeping notes

I had a really good idea for the blog this month. It came to me about a week and a half ago while I was driving. It was sunny and I remember thinking that’s a great idea for the April blog. I’ll write it down as soon as I get home and then I can write it when I get the chance. I’ll be on schedule this month! So here we are on the last day of the month and that idea vanished in the ether of good intentions.

Ideas, for me, have often come at odd moments, mostly when my body is occupied but my brain is free to ramble. Most of them are worth looking at, thinking about and letting go. But every now and then an idea becomes like a mosquito in a dark room. It just won’t go away and every time you look away, it dive bombs your head. Those ideas tend to linger and itch until I write them down.

Some people write a book from start to finish. Then they edit it or submit it and move on to their next project. I tend to have multiple projects on the go in various forms. That means multiple characters are living in my head at the same time. They all have personalities too so it can get a bit overwhelming. Add in the fact that I’m a little absent minded (partly being an artist and partly personality) and things can easily get out of control. There are times when I’m sitting, wondering how a character will react and how long she’s been experiencing something. There’s nothing akin to being knocked out of your flow by not being able to remember how long something has been going on or what exactly your character experienced as a child and when. Sometimes it almost brings me to tears.

So started taking notes. They were just occasional points, things I wanted to remember to include as I progressed with the book. But then they started changing. I was beginning to plot my book as I wrote it, keeping track of the backgrounds and where this information needs to be leaked out to the reader. How to do that without overwhelming them. Like a nectar of the gods that you want people to appreciate, not be knocked down by. I’ve been writing seriously for almost 25 years and I plan to go on until I die. I’m sure that my ways of writing and notes will change with time. But the importance of the story is paramount and it’s why I do all the background work. So that I know the story I bring to you will be the best I am capable of at this time. I know what comes next and I’m excited as a child with a secret to share it with you.

Arriving at A Family Affair

Hello lovely folks. As you can guess by the title, I’m here to talk about the last book in the Pure Red Sand trilogy. But before I wander into that topic, I’ve got some other wonderful things to share. First off, the boxed set of all three novels in the Nadine and Sven trilogy will release on July 28. They’ll be available on Amazon and Kobo. So if you’re thinking about picking up the series for a great price, now is the time. There will be a prequel and a related short story collection coming so you’d better catch up! In non-Mars news, my latest novel, Julianne, will release October 13. I’ll have a cover reveal and all the details in a special blog on July 25. And as if that wasn’t enough, I have a sneak peek of another great publication coming very soon. A Good Idea Publications will be releasing a young adult short story collection called The Red Rose Chronicles on July 28 too. This collection by Liz Smith is all about how love and art can redeem even the most lost of souls. More details to come soon!

Okay, but before we get all caught up in the new things coming, let’s look back at A Family Affair. If you remember the blog post I did about Uncomfortable Truths, you’ll know I wrote that one in a thirteen month marathon. After that I decided what I really needed was a break. Famous last words. About three weeks later I was outside, shovelling snow, when the beginning of the story accosted me. So I put the shovel in a snowbank and started typing ideas on my phone. As a writer, I don’t often get a say in when inspiration hits. I just have to go with it. So I did. This book was hard to write in a lot of ways. It was the first time I’d written a novel without an alpha reader for at least part of it. It was also a book that had A LOT of threads to tie up and I didn’t want to miss anything.

SPOILERS THIS WAY BE.

Okay, you were warned and we’re off. I could have made this a duology. After all, at the end of Uncomfortable Truths, both Nadine and Sven escaped persecution on Earth and fled back to Mars, together once more. Yay happy ending, right? Well, no. Because no one knew who had killed the people in the hospital, there were ruffians (my term) at large and I guess, for me, justice had not been served. I hate when people get away with things and one of the perks of writing the story is you can nudge it in the direction of fairness.

That brings us to the Michaels family. After Sven burned part of their house down in the last book, he thought he was rid of them. Families are complicated though and you never really escape. I’ll talk a bit about what Lorne brought on himself a bit later but Edith, his wife, was another story. I didn’t support what his parents were doing. One of my earlier alpha readers even wanted to drop something heavy on the whole family (I was in support of this plan). But through the second book, she seemed to be more than just a secondary character. She had a secret. It was only once she revealed that she was from Mars that things began to make sense (to me). Her background gets explored in a short story eventually. I could see how a mother who grew up in a difficult place would want something better for her son. I tried to channel those feelings about Edith. It also gave me a chance to give Sven back some of his biological family. He had a found family from the beginning. After all, that’s what the book is really about.

Couldn’t really leave Nadine hanging without some answers either. Especially considering what I did to her in the trilogy. At one point I was worried that I might have gone too far so I asked some fellow writers and they assured me that there was enough good to outweigh the bad. So I sent her off to be kidnapped and stranded in the desert, grisly grave discovery and all. I really can be cruel to my characters. I think it put some things to rest for Nadine. She’d dreamed of the romance of a long desert walk, the peace of the wind in her ears. Then she was actually presented with that option and realized there was no peace in the desert, just a lonely and miserable death. I think that was when she really chose to live. Then she found out she was pregnant and from that moment on, there was no question. Laying things to rest is why I found her father in the mass grave she discovered. I think there was a happier period in Nadine’s life, before he died, and I wanted the chance to show that it all hadn’t been hardship. Her mother had been happy once too. Decisions are never easy and sometimes we make the wrong ones when we’re scared or in pain.

In the same vein of family, Hans decided to speak up. That was not planned. He and Robin weren’t really supposed to have a part in this book, except peripherally. But like many other characters, they didn’t agree. We finally saw some of the insidious politics of Statlear and Michstad through him. The idea that a company would control all aspects of a population is not a new one. While I can’t confirm it, I suspect some germ of the idea came from learning about merchants and fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador. We knew what had happened to Hans and Robin and Tim then and exactly what they had survived before they even reached Statlear in An Expensive Retreat. Their story gets fleshed out a bit more in the prequel which should (I hope) be coming out in the next couple of years. (So much to write and so little time.)

As I said before, assured that I hadn’t been too cruel, I sent Nadine off to be kidnapped. One of the first things I learned when I began to write seriously (I was very young) was that someone can’t just be bad for the sake of it. It was before I learned about the effects of mental illness and abuse. I still think the most insidious evil comes from people who think they are doing something for the greater good, true believers in their actions. I tried to create some of those feelings in the ‘bad guys’ you finally see in this book. Lorne Michaels did it because he was greedy, as was his son Jasper. But the people who kidnapped Nadine truly thought they were doing something good for Mars. I’m still glad they were punished (as if I was never in control).

Now we come to Lorne Michaels. He and Hershell were the two main evil men in this trilogy. Greed and corruption was their bread and butter throughout. I had to sit down at one point and sketch it all out, their schemes with the company, city and public services. It just grew and grew. Impressive in a kind of sickening way but I am still sort of, kind of, in charge so they were justly punished. I’m still not sure Hershell really feels sorry but at least he’s less able to hurt anyone else. As for Lorne Michaels, I would like to think he learned a lesson even though I have little hope. He’s in jail. Jasper fled with his fortune, learning greed from his father. His wife divorced him and left the planet and his eldest son walked away from everything he built for a different life (a better one in my opinion). I’m not sure I could have done much worse but I’m also not sure it would have made much of a difference. People are finicky that way.

I hope I did right by everyone in the end. The ‘good guys’ all had a say in their futures and I think I left the city with hope for a different future. It was about ten years of my life invested in these books and I’m just hoping I did them justice. As a writer, I always feel like I could do a better job if I just edited once more or just rewrote something one more time. But at some point, you have to entrust your creation to the world. That’s what I did with Nadine and Sven and I hope you grew or grow to love them as much as I always will.

I haven’t left Mars entirely. There’s at least one full length novel left to complete. This will tell the story of Robin and Hans and Tim (Title TBD). I don’t want to give away too much but it takes place a couple of years before the events of An Expensive Retreat. There is also a collection of short stories set throughout the Mars timeline I created. Tales of an Immigration is still in process but I know I’ll release it in time.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me here or via email at m.negrijn(at)gmail.com I’ll leave you with a picture of the new boxed set and my best wishes.

Uncovering Uncomfortable Truths

“I hate her because it’s her damned revolution that took everything from us, reduced us to comparative poverty. You know how carefully everything has to be watched now, both here and on Mars…And she took my son…She ruined everything.”

-Lorne Michaels, Uncomfortable Truths

“Strength means blessed with an enemy…”

-Sara Bareilles

In An Expensive Retreat, I had to build a world that could encompass all my characters, whether they were intentional or made themselves known. But once I got to Uncomfortable Truths, that world was built for the most part so I could just run with the story. This book is a fast-paced plot compared to An Expensive Retreat and the writing of it was just as fast. I completed the first draft of this book in 13 months. There were stumbling moments of course. I remember one discussion with a former office colleague in which she assured me that some people could never get enough money. So yes, greed was always an option for why a person could become a “bad guy.” Okay, so let’s go deeper into this book.

SPOILER ALERT

There is A LOT going on in the background of this novel. I had to figure out a lot of things before I could make sure that everything was happening in the right order and at the right time. Sometimes I still slipped. When looking through my notes for this blog entry, I found an email I’d received from one of my best friends that pointed out a slip in the timeline. No, I could not kill Louise, have a wake and funeral and bury her all in an afternoon. Yeah, that got fixed pretty fast. It’s part of why I really like having an alpha reader when I’m writing the first draft. They tend to be just enough outside of the story to catch stupid things while my brain is too caught up in trying to remember all the moving pieces. You can see some of the background planning that went into this book in this image:

I always thought it would be fun to rerelease these books with bonus content from all the behind the scenes work I did. At one point I even designed a flag for the city of Statlear. This is what comes of writing in this universe for the better part of ten years before I ever considered putting it out into the real world.

To do something for the greater good seems to be a theme over and over in politics. I understand it, even while I don’t agree with it. That brought me to one of the first issues Nadine experiences in this book. How to get someone with experience to come to a remote job. I’m sure anyone who has ever lived and worked in a small community knows this struggle. So they do what they had to in order to move forward. But that’s what they did about the dead in the hospital in An Expensive Retreat (AER). They moved forward for the greater good. But it really pisses me off when people get away with doing bad things. One of the perks to being a writer is that you can do something about that. So I sent Nadine off to Earth to investigate. By the end of the trilogy, they all had to pay for their decisions. (The way it should be, no matter how powerful/rich you are.)

Now the side bonus to this is Sven. I wasn’t very nice to him at the end of AER and I left a lot of people wondering what had happened. (My deepest apologies to those who had to wait a year for the release of this book in 2018 but I hope it was worth it) When things are going really badly in your life, it makes a huge difference when you have a purpose. Doing things for the greater good came up here again. I don’t support what the Michaels did to Sven but I wanted to at least give it the veneer of logic (being afraid for your child). I feel like giving Sven a purpose was a way to help him through what his family did. At least he had the interviews, the dream that he could escape the monitors and eventually get back to Mars. It was also a big step forward for Nadine when they were reunited. Then they’re off and looking for the person who made the decisions. But here’s where Nadine’s focus, honed over two years as the governor, comes to the front. She’s absolutely determined to find the “big bad guy” no matter what it takes. But when the quest continues to risk their lives and safety, it’s Sven that talks her into coming back in a formal way. I think they made a good pair.

This was a really interesting book to write and I’m glad I had the opportunity. It did leave a lot of strings hanging though that all had to be tied up in A Family Affair. But I had the time. I was going to take a little break before I started the next book. Three weeks later…

In June, we’ll take a look at A Family Affair. Hope to see you then. Have questions about Uncomfortable Truths or An Expensive Retreat? Please send them to m.negrijn at gmail.com and I’ll put them in the next blog post in June. See you then!

Looking to buy Uncomfortable Truths? You can find it at Amazon here. It’ll be back on the Kobo site by the end of the month so check Facebook for that update.

Assessing An Expensive Retreat

When I was in junior high and high school, I wrote a series of stories that I submitted to a local competition. But despite their incompatibility with what I now term “good fiction,” there was something there. That’s why I try and avoid throwing anything away. It might be awful but there’s sometimes a little gem inside.

In the summer of 2007, with the writing of ‘Julianne’ (my first novel, an early iteration of the current piece) just a fond memory and the labour involved forgotten, I thought it would be a good idea to take on another writing project. But since I’m a devout follower of the schools of thought of “if it doesn’t hurt, you’re not doing it right” and “it seemed like a good idea at the time,” I decided I’d write a trilogy! To continue with the trite sayings, “go big or go home” and I was living on a tiny island so I certainly couldn’t go home. So Nadine was reborn as a tough but reluctant anti-hero in the community I’d set on Mars. It bears only a transient likeness to the short story, but the essence is there. This was the beginning of what would turn out to be An Expensive Retreat. 

SPOILER ALERT

I had this image of Nadine in my head. She was tougher than me, would make the decisions I wouldn’t dare and then come to take actions I didn’t agree with. But she was very loosely based on a wonderful childhood friend. It turns out that Anna was based on that friend’s sister in a lot of ways. Neither was a replica but there were enough traits borrowed that I recognize them in my characters.

I knew Nadine was educated, had a job and it was my responsibility to be absolutely horrible to her and then drop in this Sven guy as an extra complication. There’s a lot of implicit in a short story. The reader is willing to let a lot of questions go because they know they’re only getting a glimpse of a wider world. But that luxury vanished as soon as I decided to turn the story into a novel. So I wrote a few chapters and then realized that I needed to develop the world I was living in. Well, they were living in but I was basically there and haven’t really left. So I had to draw sketches and plan out what Nadine’s house looked like. Heck, I even had to decide how I was going to deal with the sewage. So the stage was set.

The hospital. The scene there was born of a desire to really emphasize the horror of their abandonment. It was meant to be a shock and a horror to Nadine and the others. But slowly it grew to become the mystery backbone of the trilogy. I write as a mix of a planner and a pantser. This was definitely a pantser moment that became something I planned around.

Let’s talk about Sven. Initially he was written as a character who was supposed to challenge Nadine even as he loved and supported her. He was meant to be an important secondary character, much like Anna. Ah, the dreams of a writer. Foiled again by the reader. Once I’d written the second novel, I gave them both to a friend to read. She devoured the second one in a staggering 18 hours. At least I was staggered. But the biggest piece of feedback she had was that hearing Sven’s side of the story made for a better book. Then she dropped the bombshell. An Expensive Retreat would be a better book if I wrote both perspectives. Of course I said absolutely not. There was no way I was going back to the book I’d rewritten multiple times. No dice. Not happening. I digress. At least I did for about three hours. Then I calmed the hell down and realized she was right. Back to the computer I went.

I was getting closer to writing the end of the book and I had no idea how to end it. I knew I had to send Sven back to Earth. I knew I was going to separate them and make sure he didn’t return, no matter what he promised her. But what I couldn’t figure out was how she was going to come out a hero. And not did I think hard. But I gradually realized it would be more formative for her if she was only painted as a hero even as all her efforts and losses were in vain. I told you I was terribly cruel. I forced her to go on without her home, lover and then stripped her of all the glory of a traditional ending. Instead she becomes a bureaucrat and puts her nose to the grindstone for a Mars she believes in, even if no one else does.

Nadine was complicated and grew more so as I went. She was young at the beginning, maybe a reflection of the hopeful young woman who initially created her. But tragedy struck and I had to mould her through that crisis. She’s a tough woman but poke her a bit and the soft centre seeps out. I wanted her to be tough but relatable. Hopefully I’ve done that. Maybe you can give me some feedback and let me know?

Next blog will talk about Uncomfortable Truths and we’ll go back to a future Earth together.

In the meantime, I’m finishing off the last details of Julianne. That book should release this fall. I’ve got a couple of other projects in the works but I’ll hold back on writing any more about them until I get Julianne on to its next stage and figure out my creative path.

In the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of freelance editing and got an advance copy of Susan Jenning’s newest book, Heart of Sophie’s War. You can check out her site here for more details about that book. If you or anyone you know is looking for some editing, let me know. I’ve got space coming up in late May. You can see all my details under “Editing Services” on this blog. Email me with any questions!

Look forward to “seeing” you all soon.

Discipline and the Art of Procrastination

I am a terrible procrastinator. That is something you should know, despite the multiple degrees and certificates and completed books. I just have the tendency to put things off as long as possible and then panic complete them at the last minute. In fact this blog post that I am doing at 10:30 in the morning because I completely forgot I was supposed to post today is a great example. Now, please note that I had great plans to write thoughtful blogs well in advance and plan their release. That, alas, did not happen. Some of it is that I take on way too many projects and then get slightly overwhelmed and watch TV instead. I doubt I’m the only one.

I haven’t been really writing in months. This isn’t something I was willing to admit to myself and now here I am, telling the world. But here it is. Now I’ve put in a few pages here and there, a paragraph or two. But I’m talking about that pure flow where you forget yourself and the body you inhabit and the words just pour out onto the paper or screen. That kind of writing felt elusive. I can’t not write. It’s like holding my breath. It might work for a little while but then I’ll grow uncomfortable and have to take a breath.

I’m trying something new this week. At least new to me. I’m giving myself a word count for each day (bad writing doesn’t count). So far, I have not made it every day. In fact, several days, I have done nothing. But I’m not considering this a failure. In fact I think of myself still clinging to the discipline train and absolutely determined to see where it takes me. I guess we’ll find out in time.

How is your creativity going? Are you knitting? Crocheting? Decorating cakes or doing interior design? I’d love to hear about your creative outlets if you’d like to leave a comment below. Wishing all of you the best in this difficult time.

Mobile Musings: Breaking Down the Impossible

Ever travel somewhere, whether just along the street or across a country, get totally lost in thought and then be not sure how you ended up there? Wow, I really hope it’s not just me. Yesterday I was trying to decide on what I’d write my blog on and thought maybe the subject would coalesce since so many ideas had been bouncing around all week. I had a good bike ride and I got some exercise but I was not INSPIRED. Mostly because so much of what I had been thinking about felt PERSONAL and no one wanted to read about that. But today, it feels like the right thing and time to share a little. So here goes.

Over the pandemic, I discovered that YouTube was good for more than watching my favourite nineties songs on repeat. I “discovered” sewing channels, specifically historical ones that fed my archaeological geekdom. It was a relaxing thing to listen to when I got stressed out too. [I also recently discovered the Great Canadian Baking Show. Equal parts relaxing and inspiring. I just want to sew and bake all the things now.] Binge watching Bernadette Banner led to this inspiring woman, Cathy Hay. She recently released one of those things that you know is going to be good for you even though you maybe try and avoid it. I lasted a week. I’ll put a link to it here. Now it did not have the result she talks about in her video. But what it did was give me the (gentle) push to take the first steps towards taking charge of my own life. Maybe she’ll help you too? If not, she has a soothing voice.

So there I was on my bike thinking about this video and thinking about my life. But this time, not what I don’t want, but what I do. If I can’t be specific, think big. So I did. Then I started writing those ideas down. The big giant life-long pursuits. Then came the big ugly things that might get me there. (Still scary). But then came the more doable things. I’m still working on this idea but I suddenly have faith that if I can break down all the impossible things that I want, then maybe everything is possible (given enough time). So I best not be wasting. Back to the drawing board or computer or notebook next to my bed…

In the meantime, like me, say hello to the cows and horses you pass on your journey and enjoy all those downhill rides with the wind in your face.