A Primer on the Races of Humanity – Arnam

by on April 25, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The Peloran were the Albion’s generalist supersoldier, but they could not do everything. That is why the Albion created numerous specialist races to fight in their war against the Ennead. The Arnam were based on the standard Peloran design, but modified for underwater use. Their most notable difference from the other Races of Humanity is their dark blue or purple skin. Designed to retain heat in often bitterly cold waters, the Arnam can easily survive at temperatures that would kill other humans in minutes, either above or below water. They don’t do nearly as well in hotter or drier climates though.

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The Gemini Affair on An Atlas to Time, Space, and Bonfires: A Sci-Fi Anthology

by on April 24, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Gemini Affair takes place a century after the main timeline I’ve been writing for Jack. The War is over, and Jack is wandering around and doing his thing. Enjoying retirement from the worlds and just doing what he wants. Then he runs into a clandestine rendezvous of ships that don’t appreciate being observed.

That sets up The Gemini Affair, a short story that will first appear in An Atlas to Time, Space, and Bonfires. It’s an anthology of a couple dozen short stories written by authors who just love sci-fi and want to support it. It has funded on kickstarter, and there are still a couple days left to get in on it. The stories are all written. The art has been created. I’ve seen the whole thing, and while its still in editing, it is a real deal. We’re not talking vaporware here. Backers can get exclusive digital art created for the anthology, full digital novels, signed physical art prints, a true dead tree version of the anthology ready to be placed on your bookshelf, and cool stuff like that.

I think it is a cool project, I’m happy to be part of it, and I’d like all of you to have a chance to get a piece of it as well. So…once more into the breech…here it is. 🙂

An Atlas to Time, Space, and Bonfires Kickstarter

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Daniel

by on April 23, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Daniel Freemon was far more courageous than even he knew. Few would have guessed it when he was the young and rebellious spawn of a once-great actor. But for all its horrors, The War gave many of us a chance to rewrite our futures. Both Daniel and his father took their chances and drove them all the way to the end of the line. His father reinvented Dixie into one of the primary military powers of the United States. Daniel reinvented himself into a man of profound courage in the face of the enemy who would have destroyed us all. And I would still say that about him even if he had not died saving hundreds of American sailors. They saved thousands more as The War went on, and went home to have their own families, all of whom owe their very existence to a man named Daniel Freemon.

High res version available for free on Patreon

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Grace

by on April 22, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Sometimes it seemed like Grace spent most of her time trying to teach her pilot how to act like he was the son of the president of Dixie. The problem was that he loved to party, and he loved to dance. And since Grace was born to complement him, so did she. Now when I say party, I mean serious dancing affairs with real live bands and some of the best Ozark beers I’ve ever tasted. And the dancing is the kind of stuff that would curl the toes of your typical Northern Minnesotan. I loved it. Daniel was a real good dancer, but Grace was a master. I could have watched her dance for hours. Come to think of it, I probably did. They ran a lot of really amazing parties during The War. To keep our morale up. Total mission accomplished there.

High res version available for free on Patreon

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Life Under Obamacare

by on April 21, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Some of you may remember that I had health insurance before Obamacare. It was 100 dollars a month, and paid for the first 1,000 dollars worth of treatment for each year. So I could do my yearly checkups and get any prescriptions the doctors said I needed. But it didn’t cover my absolute need to be protected from Ovarian cancer and all the other things Obamacare said had to be covered for males like me. Gender is fluid after all, and one never knows when I may decide to identify as female, so the plans that didn’t take that into account had to disappear. The replacement plan was three times as much, and lacked the 1,000 dollar a year coverage, so I did without.

Then last year my appendix exploded for some 40,000 dollars and some guy in a car pulled out in front of me on my motorcycle for another 20,000 in bills. His insurance paid for that, but I still had the other bill. After charity, I’m down to only paying 200 bucks a month on the loan to cover the medical care, and 50 bucks a month to Gold Cross Ambulance for taking me in.

At which time, I decided I had to get Obamacare. It didn’t matter how expensive it was, I had to find some way to afford it. The government wouldn’t let me sign up until the end of the year, which is why I didn’t have it when the accident hit me, but I did sign up in November when they finally graciously allowed me to sign up for the health care they were penalizing me for not having beforehand. The dozens of options from numerous insurance providers are gone now, replaced by three plans from one company. The one I picked was the 700 dollar a month plan. I could have gotten the 360 dollar a month plan, but that one is basically useless. And the other plan was over 1,000 dollars a month. So I got the 700 dollar plan, and set aside several thousand dollars of the accident settlement fund to allow me to pay for the plan. For a time.

And now I’ve been to the Mayo Clinic again for checkups and sleep tests and stuff like that. Seems they think I have a number of issues that need working on. And of course the new 700 dollar Obamacare plan doesn’t cover everything. Over 3,000 dollars of this year’s bills are uncovered, meaning I have to pay for them too. So I’m paying 100 dollars a month to work them down. On top of the 250 dollars a month for last year’s health care bills.

The total is more than my house payment. This is life under Obamacare. And this is why many of those in Washington are there. They were sent to fix the problem, and they need to. Because life under Obamacare is something that millions of my fellow citizens cannot endure. We either don’t have it all and are being penalized for it, or we are running our budgets deep into the red to get it. Either way, our money will soon run out. This is unbearable.

This is life under Obamacare.

And if the government we sent to Washington doesn’t fix the damage that Obamacare has done, we will send someone else to do the job.

Because we refuse to live a life under Obamacare.

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