C...B: Blog

Almost exactly one year ago I finished posting to this site my first novel Make the Cut. It was received well, and I was proud of my efforts, especially for a debut work. I learned a great deal during that effort about all aspects of writing and publishing.

Over the next year I have written and published three follow-on novels in the same series and one new, unrelated Novella in a new one. All have been well received and I thank my readers.

My editors have noted that I have matured greatly as a writer during that time and if you have read my stories you may also have noticed changes. Hopefully they are for the better. There is still much that can be learned though and I expect my style will continue to evolve for as long as I continue to write.

December update:

Currently, I am wrapping up posting of book four Cut and Run. There are four chapters left and the book will be fully released around the New Years holiday.

What comes next? Well I wish I could say that book five is ready and waiting but that would be premature. I am nearing the two-thirds point in writing John's fifth novel and due to a slew of excuses, the writing is going slow. A career change in real life is the main culprit and has reduced my writing time to mainly just the weekends.

Still, I continue to make slow, steady progress and expect this to continue. I have sent the first part off to be looked at by my main editor and I've been told it's good, so there is that. With that said, I fully intend to complete and offer book five Cut to the Quick at some point in the next year. I have the full storyline charted and just need to commit it to the keyboard.

Writing for me still seems new. As I am doing it I can't help but wonder what the hell I am doing. But, later, when I re-read and refine what I have written I sometimes find myself wondering "Did I really write that? wow!" so there are rewards from the efforts... enough to keep slogging along writing more.

I also continue due to you, the reader. Without your support and comments I would probably give up and go back to my other, more solitary hobbies. Thank you for your support, both here and at the retail sites. Your support fills me with pride and I carry that with me in all that I do.

Have a good holiday and best wishes.

C. Brink

To thank my fans for this holiday week I've put the next chapter of Cut and Run in the queue for later tonight. Enjoy and have a happy Thanksgiving if you are celebrating it.

Make the Cut series book four "Cut and Run" continues to post weekly and is nearing the half-way point of the story. Thank you for reading it for those of you that have.

I've recently revised chapter 6 and re-posted it here to make it and the story hopefully less offensive to contemporary sensibilities. (now 6 percent more-woke) Sorry if I offended anyone, nothing was intended. The Bookapy version will be updated at some point soon.

Also, as the story nears the half-way point, it is also reaching a change point in the arc of the story. The first half has the mystery of John's current circumstances. The reasons for this are revealed in the next few chapters. The second half of the story looks less to the past and more to the future. I hope you like it.

As always, please leave votes (good is better), comments and reviews if possible. Also, the book is available on Bookapy if you want to support me in that way.

The previous three books in the series are on Bookapy as well and there are paperback versions available elsewhere (just email me for a link) if you like. Book 4 will be in paperback before the end of the year.

Book 5 is in progress with a solid third of the book in the can. I have a decent direction for the story's conclusion so it will contain at least 12% less 'filler' than the last book (thank you harsh_critic_87. you know who you are!). We'll see.

As always, I need to thank my editing and proofing team. I've lost a few and will need to add one or two more in the near future. If you have followed the story so far and like hard science fiction, drop me a note if you're interested.

And, in closing, thank you to my loyal fans! Your kind words are the tallow that keeps my candle flickering.

If you're not a fan, then why are you reading this blog!? go away now! (just kidding!)

I've gotten a ton of great feedback since my last blog post. Thank you!

If you've followed the last four books of Johns story you know that the scope of the story covers a long time period. Here is a portion o the timeline for your reference. I've left off the timeline after the story-in-progress so no spoilers. But, if you have not read the story then the following might contain spoilers.

Timeline:
4070 (BCE) -Assemblage starts migration effort
3550 (BCE) -Assemblage travel starts (.075C)
0669 (BCE) -Assemblage scout probe arrives Hemru system.
0070 (BCE) -Hemru world attack begins (similar to how the Earth was later attacked)
0904 - Assemblage scout probe arrives Earth system
1331 - Assemblage travels past Hemru system
1501 - Hemru sends virus laden transmission to Assemblage A.I. overseeing Earth invasion
1622 - Hemru rogue pair arrive on Earth and land in what is now Sri Lanka (June 4th)
1968 - John Abrams born. (Oct 2nd)

-Book 1-
2021 - End of the world. Date John enters Picket's bunker. 52 years old
2022 - Events in the side story shelter
2523 - John enters bio suspension in Tennessee base
2602 - John awakened in Tennessee to rescue Ana Branco

-Book 2-
2912 - John (Joan) awakens in Kings Bay, 944 years old (April 7th)
2912 - Expedition to Sri Lanka
2912 - Sri Lanka expedition explosion in bunker. (June 4th)

-Book 3-
2923 - Nine humans (and clones) revived from bunker suspension; 47 Template Colonies established.
2930 - John awakens at Galapagos Islands (Oct 6th)
2930 - Capture of Master AI's Baltra Island launch facility (end of Oct.)
2930 - Defeat Master AI at High Castle space station. (Dec 11th) - FV day (First Victory)
2930 - John goes to Peru to meet his second daughter (Dec 13th)
2930 - Abby Adams Branco awakens in Esperanza, Peru. (Dec 14th)
2931 - John and Uxe welcome the new year at the space station.
2931 - John and Uxe travel to former South Dakota acreage. (May 4th)

-Book 4-
2949 - Interstellar scout and colonizer Evadere launched
3060 - Charity Hope Abrams born
3103 - Accident in *redacted*.
3106 - Evadere enroute to Tau Ceti detects strange explosions. Activates E.M.A.
3112 - Events force John Prime to beg to be returned to his ancestral home. (Oct 2)
3112 - Unknown interstellar object does a fly-by of the Earth. (Oct 11)
3114 - Interstellar message arrives. SRP activated. (September 6th,)

-Future- (projected)
3224 - Assemblage ark ship passes through solar system - AA day (Assemblage Arrival)
3244 - Estimated arrival of scout and colonizer Evadere in Tau Ceti system.

Current release has lower scores than the last installment ... and far fewer emails and/or comments which might explain why! I have clearly peaked. I shall go into the west and diminish. I've never been Galadriel though, so I can't remain her.

In other news, (that actually matters) I've passed thirty-five thousand words on book five this morning. The story is fighting me (queue sweaty landing scene from Airplane) so the going is slow. But, despite the slow progress, it is steady so that means that it will eventually finish.