Science Fiction Book Tour: The Enclave by H.M. Clarke 7/22/14 – 7/29/14

Virtual Book Tour Dates: 7/22/14 – 7/29/14

Genres: Science Fiction

Blurb:

Katherine Kirk lived only for vengeance.

Vengeance against the man who destroyed her home, her family and her life.

Sent on a babysitting mission to Junter 3, RAN officer Katherine Kirk, finds herself quickly embroiled in the politics between the New Holland Government and the Val Myran refugees claiming asylum.

After an Alliance attack Kirk and her team hunt the enemy down and discover that they have finally found the lair of the man they have been searching for…

And the captive who has been waiting patiently for rescue.

“What would you do to the man who destroyed every important person in your life?”

Excerpt:

Gunfire flew from the cars behind and Katherine turned tail and leapt up the stairs.  Joshua was crouched waiting at the top of the last tier and had managed to get hold of a pistol.  Around them the NHSIO security from the front foyer was now positioned around the portico columns and returning fire to the attackers below.   The defenders controlled the high ground and the people in those cars had no hope of getting them now.

So why were they still attacking?

Katherine dragged Josh away from the stairs back into the foyer as more security personnel streamed past them.  No one spared them much of a glance but Katherine did not care.  Something was not right.  Inexperience (or stupidity), would be the only reason someone would even consider committing to a frontal assault on Federation House.  The place was just too well protected.

“Are they Alliance Katherine?” Josh asked as she checked the magazine on her pistol.  Thirty HC rounds remaining.  Hopefully it would do.

“The Alliance isn’t this stupid,” she shouted over the sound of fresh gunfire.  But I would bet a year’s pay that they are involved somehow.  “Whoever they are; I think we should retreat back to my brother’s office.  At least I can guarantee that we’ll be well defended there if anything untoward happens.”

Joshua nodded.  Katherine then noted the ease with which he held his weapon.  “You’ve had weapons training?”

“I served with the Alliance Infantry.  Every citizen owes three years service.”

Katherine nodded impressed.  Leading families were known for finding loopholes to stop their members from meeting their obligations.  Nice to see the Val Myrans did not use it.  “Then you can cover my back.”

Both entered the stairwell at a run; taking the lifts would have been risky if the power went; and climbed several flights before Katherine was sure they were on the right floor.  As they climbed Katherine open a comm link to the Adelaide.  

“Adelaide do you read me?” no one answered her and Katherine repeated herself another three times.  “Come on damn you – somebody talk to me!” she half shouted as they reached the landing she wanted.

“Skipper?”  A burst of static broke over the comm unit.

“Sue, is that you?”  Abruptly the static disappeared and the musical voice of Susan Mayer came over the wire.  

“-interference is shocking, like someone is jamming-”

“Sue, is Steve on the bridge?”  Katherine cut across her.

“Yes Ma’am.”

There was a click and then Steven Tran’s voice came over the link.

“Skipper?”

“Steve, I want you and two squads to suit up and get your arses over to Federation House ASAP.  We are under heavy fire and I think the idiots outside will break off if they see some extra persuasion coming up behind them.”

There was a pause and then, “Yes Ma’am,” and the link went silent as Steve cut his connection.  “Sue, has Tom returned to the ship?” Katherine asked hoping for an affirmative but knowing that not enough time had gone by since he had left from lunch.

“No ma’am”

“Katherine?” A new voice cut into the line.

“Richard?  I thought you were taking shore leave – it doesn’t matter.  We’ve got an incident here and I’m afraid that it might splash over to the Adelaide.  Steve is bringing two squads here to me and I want whatever personnel remaining on board to protect the ship and the port in that order.”

“How bad is it Kath?” Richard asked.

“Ask me again in another hour, I might have an answer by then.”  She cut the connection and turned to Joshua.  She may be overreacting but there was something in her gut telling her that she was right.  But first they both had to get back to John’s office.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”  Joshua’s voice was firm and there was a look in his eyes that Katherine recognized, she had seen it enough times in her own crew when the situation was tight.

She palmed the stairwell door open and checked that the corridor was clear, then she and Joshua came out, pistols raised to line of sight.  They moved down the empty corridors seeing nothing out of place except for the obvious signs of a hurried evacuation of office personnel.

“They wouldn’t be able to penetrate this far into the building?” Joshua flexed his fingers over the grip on his handgun.

“Not from the frontal assault, but I have a bad feel-”

Katherine stopped speaking as the sounds of gunfire echoed down the corridor ahead of them.

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About the Author:

In a former life, H.M. Clarke has been a Console Operator, Public Servant, ICT Project Manager, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)

She also has a degree in how to blow things up and then write about why it blew up. In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, read and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.

She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Chocolate Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she is an Aussie in Ohio and dreams about being warm…

• When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always been a writer. Even before I went to school, I used to fill up notebooks by writing the letter H continuously (it was the only letter I knew how to draw), and then pretend to read any story I wanted from it.

• Can you tell us some about the writer behind the books?

I’m an Australian now living in the US and I write under my maiden name. For most of my working life in Australia I was a very hard-working Public Servant and closet writer. I like cooking, reading, snow, hot dry days and copious amounts of coca cola and chocolate!

• What was the first story that you ever wrote?

The first story I ever wrote was for my primary school library. It was a story about Lassie rescuing some sheep. It was completely made and illustrated by myself and I still have it in a box somewhere in Australia.

• What is your writing process?

I do create an outline for my books – a rough outline anyway….well maybe more a guideline for where I want it to go. This is because (as is always the case), my characters like to run in all different directions, and really don’t like it when I try and lead them where I want them to go. In fact they rebel, or throw a hissy fit, and then storm off in the opposite direction to where I need them to be. Their way usually works out better, but I don’t tell them that…..

I always write my first drafts long hand. It’s easier for me that way to get my ideas on paper and to keep my sentence flow going. When I start the edit drafts, I type it up as I correct and change it. My thoughts seem to fly better with a pen rather than with keystrokes.

• How do you come up with the titles of your book?

The titles come from the book itself. My titles usually involve the main character somehow, or an event that happens in the story. I like to make my titles relevant to the story.

• How long does it take you to finish a novel?

It really depends on the novel – or more specifically, the subject matter. My shortest time to complete a project has been about 4 months; the longest has been around 2 years. The last time frame is for the ‘Way to Freedom’ series of which I have most of the books written.

• What are you favorite books and authors?

My favorite authors would be much easier to list. I love Harry Potter – so JK Rowling. I like anything by Stephen Donaldson and Anne McCaffrey. I also like the work of Sean Williams, Sara Douglass, Fiona MacIntosh, Trudi Canavan, Jennifer Fallon, Greg Bear and Joel Shepherd. Hmmm – these are all Sci Fi and Fantasy stuff. Other Genre Authors I like to read are Louis L’Amour , Ellis Peters, Alison Weir, John Birmingham and Matthew Riley.

• What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

The only real advice I can give is to write. And to read. Both are essential to making a career as an author. Also gaining life experience can benefit your writing as it can help characters and situations be more believable to the reader.

• How do you juggle writing with family time?

It is hard trying to juggle a full-time job along with writing. Then on top of that you have to spend time with your family so they still know what you look like and how you sound. You do need to have very good time management skills and also be flexible in your schedule.

We eat together every night as a family, and then I write while everyone is in bed. Then we pack most of the weekend with family outings and activities. I do get sleep, though it’s mostly on the weekends.

• Tell us one thing about you we wouldn’t know?

In Australia, I was very involved with my local writer’s center and the authors that were members there. I therefore know some well-known Aussie authors such as Sean Williams, Fiona MacIntosh, Tony Shillitoe and Joel Shepherd.

• Describe your desk

You really want to know about my desk? At the moment my desk is messy, with piles of paper and books everywhere - but I know where everything is located on my desk :) My usual workplace though is sitting on the couch with my laptop, notebook and pen, a much more comfortable option.

The Procrastinators Guide to Story avoidance 

 Nice catchy title, and oh so true in my case.  (Case in point – me writing this blog post is a good example – I should be finishing Howling Vengeance).

I also have a horrible habit of going off topic, (yet another symptom of procrastination), so I’ll try my hardest not to do this too much.

Let’s get straight to the point here.  Writers generally drop into procrastination mode when either of the following conditions occurs:

1. Coming up to the point in their story where there is a difficult scene to plot out and write
2. Characters write themselves into a situation that the author does not know how to get them out of
3. Your Manuscript is in the editing stages of the second and third drafts (and everyone definitely wants to avoid that)
4. Any other situation that a writer can find themselves in that makes doing the dishes right at that very moment a high priority task.

Now, this blog is supposed to be about story avoidance.  That means, whenever any of the above conditions occur, you must immediately go and find something as far away from the object of avoidance as possible. 

Avoidance strategies can be either very simple or extremely extravagant.  Strategies that I use regularly are:

1. House cleaning – it does help getting your mind off the hurdles in your writing and then gives you time to look at things from a fresh perspective and can actually be helpful in the long run.
2. Baking – This does the same thing as house cleaning except you get cakes, biscuits and cookies at the end of it.
3. Research – This can be anything ranging from historical to scientific or basically fact finding in general.  This again can be helpful in both finding plots and ideas for future stories, or for finding examples that can get you out of your writing quandary.
4. Taking the family on a day trip – This also does the same thing as house cleaning, except that you also get to exposure to daylight and spend quality time with your family.
5. Television – Um, television really is the procrastinators’ friend.  I never get anything useful done when the TV is on.  Unless I’m watching something in connection with point 3.
6. Internet – Same point as Television.  It is an incredible tool for procrastination.  But it can also help overcome your issues by going to relevant blogs, websites, and friendly communities that might help you by discussing issues or reviewing the piece of work or idea that is troubling you.  There are many of these writing communities around; it’s just a matter of finding one that suits you and your genre.  Also be aware when trying to find a writing community that there is a difference between constructive criticism and being downright mean. 

I could make this list a lot larger, but I think I have procrastinated long enough.  I hope that I have given some good tips to successful procrastination methods and I would love to hear what works well for you and what doesn’t.

Happy Procrastinating

-H. M. Clarke 

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