Help Publish Redimere Revealed!
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to look at my project.
My name is Andrew Ross, and I completed my first novel, Redimere Revealed, about two years ago. I am now looking to publish.
At one point in this process, I had elaborated a great deal about the woes of attempting to go from an unknown to being a published author. Instead, I believe I'll let a portion of my writing do the talking.
Before we get to that, however, allow me to summarize what this novel is about. It follows the journey of a brother and sister from one galaxy to another where they discover an old world, new alliances, and the roots of an increasingly powerful enemy. Their odyssey reveals previously unknown aspects of themselves, as well as the previously forgotten history of the human race.
This novel will appeal to anyone who likes adventure, romance, intrigue, science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, renaissance, and a great deal more.
Now for the promised excerpt!
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Jason woke in utter darkness, trying to remember what had happened. He seemed to recall being thrown from his feet. Then he remembered the earthquake and Holly screaming. Energized by the memory, he reached out to pull himself up. Finding nothing with his left, he reached around with his right hand and found a handhold. Working as best he could, he moved through the cave-in to the outdoors.
Stars greeted him, burning high above the cold plain the planet had become. Unable to stand, he crawled toward the ship. Though it seemed much closer than he remembered, the cold invaded his body rapidly. Soon, his energy was sapped, and he could do nothing but shiver, hoping death would come quickly.
In the heart of the ship, a light began blinking. A subsystem came to life, and something began moving through the empty ship toward the main hatch, and the cold planet outside.
Holly was desperately searching for her brother. When she’d contacted him, he’d looked fine, but all of that had changed in an instant. She watched as two stones hit him simultaneously, literally snapping off a leg and stunning him with a blow to the head. The Lisi Amnelle had initiated its terrestrial disaster protocol, and hovered until the shaking had ceased. Holly had lost two hours, and now, with night at her back and unknown passages before her, she felt almost sick.
She’d focused her initial search around the front of the caves, then the mouths themselves. One had caved in, but she’d been able to find another that connected with the tunnel system. Right now, she was attempting to chart her way to Jason’s last known location, using his partially uploaded map and her own logic. Unfortunately, the map he’d uploaded had been interrupted, and the quake had changed some of the layout.
Frustrated, Holly let out a yell, and let it repeat back to her. She’d expected that echo; had actually desired it. It helped her determine which passages were open, which were closed, and which may be impassable.
What she did not expect was a return call...from behind her.
Cautiously, Holly moved into the deep shadows and turned off her light. There, she strained against the darkness, waiting to see what was coming. As her ocular implants adjusted, she could make out the form of a man, holding his arm and hobbling. Is that Jason? She thought. Stepping from the cover of the boulder, she began to approach the figure and got clubbed from behind.
As she lost consciousness, she caught a glimpse of the man, now much closer. His eyes were opaque off-white orbs with a large gray center. His ears were large, thin flaps placed too high on his skull, and his body was deformed and covered with a course, wiry pelt. Its appearance reminded her of a rat. His arm, the one he’d been cradling, was a misshapen mass of bone and muscle. He grinned down at her, revealing more than one row of jagged, pointed teeth. His breath was septic, and the stench worked quickly on Holly’s last will to remain awake.
Finally, it was too much. She passed out.
Jason woke on a table, held down by the restraints he quickly saw were attached to the slab itself. Looking down, he saw the table was firmly attached to the metallic floor. He forced himself to relax and glance around. Presently he began to recognize the room as the MedLab of the Lisi Amnelle. Try as he might, though, he could not remember how he had gotten there. He called for Holly, but got no response. He called again, this time shouting. In the distance, a pleasant voice responded.
“Good morning, sir! Are you operational?”
Jason had no idea how to respond, so he just asked simply, “Who’s out there?”
The voice chuckled. “Oh, forgive me, sir. I nearly forgot. You were not informed of my presence aboard this vessel. My name is Zed, sir, Zed Rilus, and I will be happy to fill in all of the blanks for you!”
“Blanks?” Jason had not known about a ship medic. Where had this guy been when he had broken his arm?
“Certainly! In addition to the massive trauma to your right femur, the damage done to your left knee and femur, and your left arm; I believe the blow to your head may have caused a significant concussion, resulting in gaps on your memory. Ergo, blanks. That is the proper phraseology, is it not?”
Jason was about to ask just where this guy came from when he emerged. He was dark skinned, and appeared to be an average male. He was about six feet tall, approximately two hundred pounds, and had a clean-shaven square jaw. His eyes were blue, and peered out from beneath a pair of normal eyebrows. His black hair was cut in a high and tight style, and reminded Jason of the military style popular with mid-level officers. His smile was jovial, revealing perfectly straight, brilliantly white teeth. He was slim, yet obviously muscular, and his walk and air of authority left little doubt of his ability to defend himself.
Jason’s eyes were not fixed on any of these features, however. They were looking at the man’s left arm; it ended not with a human hand, but a large, chrome, two-pronged claw! He was carrying a prosthetic leg in the pincer, while wiping it down carefully with his right hand. Seemingly unaware of the mental stir he was causing, Zed continued to “fill in the blanks.”
“I’ve replaced your left arm with a prosthetic limb of my own design. If my calculations are correct, you will not even know the difference.” He stopped and blinked owlishly a few times, then continued with an abashed smile. “Of course, you know now because I’ve just told you. Silly me! Still, I suppose I would have had to mention it; otherwise, you might have been rather surprised to see your hand take the form of whatever tool you needed at that time.” Jason’s jaw went slack and Zed smiled broadly. “Go on.Try it! I’ve been hoping to run a few preliminary tests anyway.”
Jason looked at his left arm. The medic had been correct. He couldn’t tell the difference. As the ship doctor removed the restraints, he felt pinpricks run through his arm, almost as if it had been asleep. He moved his fingers and felt them move. He made a fist, and watched the muscles contract with the motion, and then expand as he loosened his grip.
He looked at Zed, astounded. “Where do I stop and where does it begin?”
“You mean, where did I attach the arm?” Zed queried. After getting a nod from Jason, he smiled, though sadly this time. “I could save nothing of your original limb. The damage was far too extensive, even for me. This arm is attached at the shoulder.” Rushing on to a new topic, Zed encouraged, “Let’s try the morphological functionality, shall we?”
Jason looked at him blankly. “The what now?”
“Morphological functionality: the ability of your artificial limb to take the form and function of whatever tool you have need of at the time you need it.”
“How does that work?”
“Rather simply, though you may need to practice to master the process. I assume by now you’re aware of the new circuitry connected to your cranial implants?”
Jason nodded. The moment he’d moved his arm, he’d been notified. The implants operated much like extra hard drives for his brain, allowing him to store and process information with greater capacity and at higher rates of speed. They also helped him respond faster to external stimuli; though, apparently, that had not aided him in avoiding losing his legs and arm.
“Your implants were damaged in a prior head trauma, so I had to repair the neural net bridge and reload the framework. Your memory was easily restored.
“In the process, I was able to reconfigure the implant processers to store, examine and compute more information at a higher rate of speed. You’re now capable of three google computations in point zero zero one seconds. This was necessary to properly manage your new hardware with a one hundred percent success rate.
“To operate your arm, simply initiate command, ‘Function, Morph, Form,’ and input the object needed. You are only limited in two ways. First, you cannot form an object that ejects another object. For instance, you can easily morph a plasma torch or a cutting laser; however, you cannot form a blaster or a photon burst. Both require a core expulsion, and your arm is simply unable to do it; at least, not without massive damage to the arm itself.”
“What about pain?” Jason asked. “I can feel that pin you’ve been sticking me with, you know. How could I withstand the heat of a plasma torch?”
“Ah, yes. Well, the command line I gave you has an automated subroutine which allows the pain processor, as well as a few other functions, to switch off. Once your hand is returned to original form, there is a dispersion period before those processes are rebooted.”
“Oh. Okay then. What was the other limitation?”
“You must have accurate knowledge of the object needed. For example, let us say that you need a shovel. It seems simple enough. For the morph to work properly, however, you would need to know the size, shape, weight and strength of the shovel needed. You cannot just picture it in your mind.”
“So you’re saying I need a working knowledge of the technical schematics of every tool I may ever need?” Jason’s face showed his dismay as the full realization dawned on him. “That… That may not be so easy.”
“Ah, that is what I concluded as well. According to my calculations, at your original memory and processing power, it would have taken you approximately twenty-five years, seven months, two weeks, five days, ten hours and forty-seven minutes—with an error factor of two minutes and thirty seconds at peak performance. That is why I have uploaded a catalog of all you need to know to your new memory banks. It is customizable as well, should you run across anything new.”
“Uh- Thanks.”
Zed took the awkward gratitude in stride and beamed. “So...shall we practice?”
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It took some doing, but I found Inkwater Press. After reading through their testimonials and their business stories, I looked into their publishing packages and took the leap of faith: I submitted my manuscript for review and approval.
Sean Jones, the Acquisitions Director at Inkwater Press, had this to say about my manuscript (which he reviewed himself). He wrote:
"I finished reviewing your manuscript Redimere Revealed. The story is unique and inventive. I think you effectively pulled the mixing of genres, crossing science fiction with fantasy. Holly and Jason are strong characters that develop further as the story goes along. The variety of creatures and the back story of their existence made sense and added credibility to the story. I liked the twists and turns throughout. You are perfectly set up for the next in the series."
~Sean Jones, Acquisitions Director, Inkwater Press
What is the money being used for? Put simply, I examined the publishing packages and chose to go with the most comprehensive they had: The Professional Package. I chose this because a large percentage of new authors fail to achieve their goals due to a lack of exposure and forethought, and I do not wish to make the same mistakes.
The second book in this series is nearly finished, and all seven were outlined before they were ever written. Redimere Revealed has been well received at every turn, and I firmly believe that it is a best seller in the making. These novels also open a massive universe from which can spring multiple other stories, and the potential for video games, movies and television series is certainly viable as well. I have already had one independent filmmaker express his profound interest in creating a short based upon the stories.
Now, dear reader, comes the big question: Will you partner with me to make this a reality?
I will be listing all partners in a special thanks section in the very front of Redimere Revealed, and those partners who are able to donate $100 or more will find their names in each book of the series.
Moreover, for those able to give $500 or more, I would like to give the opportunity to become immortalized by naming a new character after them or a loved one.
Finally, there are some very special plans for those who can and do donate $1,000 or more to see Redimere Revealed take flight. These include a special appreciation section in each of the seven books, character and location naming, and more.
So now that all has been laid out, can I count on you, dear friends, to partner with me? Not only will you be making this hope a reality, but you will be making an investment in the intelligence and creativity of future generations. Books are in many ways magical things, capable of transporting us from the daily rigors of life into worlds far away; they help us to relax and destress; and they often carry valuable truths that we can bring back to our day to day lives.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this project, and may your day find you happy, healthy and well.
