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Hey everyone! Andrew here.
I’ve been working on a short story that I want to share a piece of with you today. So far I’m calling it “Card.” No AI has been used in the writing of this (sad that we even have to say that these days, but given what’s been happening to authors on Booktok and Goodreads lately, I’m going to keep adding that note going forward).
The excerpt is below. The story explores memory from a few different angles, among other things, and it’s set in a world where the flow of information itself has been cut off — which meant I couldn’t exactly research it on my laptop while writing it. Handy, that.
I mostly wrote it on a plane, which honestly might be my favorite place to write. No wifi, no email, nowhere to be. I used a notebook and pen — very retro of me. Unfortunately, my handwriting (combined with a healthy dose of turbulence) makes it “fun” to decrypt afterward. Future Andrew, typing it all back up, was not impressed with Plane Andrew’s penmanship. But I got a lot written, so I’ll take it.
What will I do with it? It’s nearly finished, and once Damian has had a chance to look it over, I’m planning to release it as a freebie for you all. Let me know what you think of the excerpt below, it helps to know if this one’s landing.
Other than that, work continues on The Bone Singer. It’s slow, but steady. I cannot wait to release that thing, it’s basically a doorstop at this point. I had an epiphany that one of the key POV storylines actually starts years earlier than the rest of the book, which has finally helped everything sync up properly in my head. Weird how that happens (and, as usual, it hit me in the shower). I should really take more showers…
Speaking of showers: on the way back from Okinawa I stopped over in a hotel with a hi-tech showerhead, and wow, I wanted it. So I looked it up. The brand is Mirable (no affiliation, it’s just an incredible and extremely overpriced product), and the showerhead alone runs over $400. I can’t even find it for sale on US Amazon. It’s not just a mist, you can actually wash yourself with it too, misty enough for your face but strong enough to wash your hair. Apparently it works using what the marketing copy calls “micro nano bubbles.” Sounds made up, but it works. Just not $400-worth of works for my wallet. Anyway, I learned something new and figured I’d pass it along.
That’s about it for this one. Let me know if you want to read more of Card, the pressure genuinely helps me finish things for some bizarre reason. Otherwise, I’ll see you next time!
All the best,
Andrew (ZZ)
Short Story Preview – “Card”
Day One
The trench was barely shoulder-width and reeked like swamp water. The bottom was covered in mangrove mud that sucked at the soles of his stiff Army-issued boots. His uniform clung wetly around his armpits, the material too thick to breathe in the muggy air.
“Why did I sign up for this?” he said, loud enough to be heard.
His escort, Paris, barely slowed. “Try to keep up, Card. As I recall, you volunteered.” A breath, then, “Asshole.”
That was before he knew he’d be knee-deep in mud in the middle of a croc-infested mangrove swamp. It annoyed him how judgmental she was. After all, she was just a revolutionary. A soldier, and from what he could tell, not a very good one. But she wasn’t all-the-way wrong. He had volunteered, but he wasn’t at peace with it, and he’d taken some convincing.
“The truth has to be told,” his editor had said, though Card had barely been able to hear her over the clack of the typewriter pool. The smooth stone walls of the bunker did nothing to rein in the echoes of hard carriage returns.
The Herald’s new headquarters was a restored Cold War construction of concrete and exposed wiring. The walls leaked, and a hundred oil lamps could not have kept the place fully lit. They barely had one per room, so everyone had gotten used to working in the dark. It didn’t matter. No one was buying newspapers anyway.
“No one cares,” Card said. He’d been trained as a journalist back before Starlight had revealed itself and taken the world offline, back when people still trusted what they read.
“It’s important,” his editor had insisted. “It’s a pact. The world needs this story told.”
“Why? To give us all something to cry about?”
“I shouldn’t have to tell you this, Card, but it’s your job. To report the News. To leave a record. Humanity may not know it, but it still needs us.”
“You tell that to Joyce.”
As predicted, that shut her up. No one wanted to think about what had happened to Joyce. But Card did. He thought about her every damn day.
That was six months ago. And now he was here, about to meet the Resistance.
What was left of them.
***
Every survivor knew a story about how Starlight began, but they were all different. Card knew more of them than most. He had written the first Herald piece himself, back when it still sounded like a hoax or something from the front page of a fringe zine. Everyone agreed on one point though, that Starlight had appeared one day out of the clear sky. Both figuratively and literally. There were plenty of arguments about other details, but not about that. Starlight was unprecedented, the result of a bizarre confluence of events that nobody had foreseen. That was just how it happened.
In seven locations around the planet, without warning, Starlight had released swarms of drones that spelled out its name, heralding it’s arrival in red bands of angry LEDs, before shutting off global communications for exactly eight hours.
No one had seen it coming.
Except that wasn’t true. Someone had seen it before everyone else. Joyce Cameron. Pulitzer-winning journo and mother of two boys he hadn’t heard from in months.
Card wiped his eyes with the back of his arm, snarling at the sight of the wet spots on the precious pages of his notebook. Moonlight reflected briefly in one of the droplets before he smudged it out of existence with a thumb.
Joyce. God, he missed her. Back before Starlight appeared and enslaved billions, before it had slaughtered anyone who stood against it, before Free humanity was driven underground to live like Stone Age mole rats, she’d also been his wife.
“Too fucking sentimental,” he said softly. Everyone had lost someone. It was just that he’d lost three. That was a harsh thought. He hated himself a little more whenever he gave it space in his head. He should not be giving up on them. The boys could still be alive. Just because no one knew where they were didn’t mean…
“Go to sleep, Card.” Paris’ voice was a harsh whisper in the darkness. “If you slow me down tomorrow I swear I’ll leave you out here to rot.”
“Knock yourself out.” Card stared up at the moon, and sniffed. Joyce would have liked the Australian bush. Even at night it was never truly quiet. There were always insects and small marsupials hopping about. She’d always wanted to see kangaroos in the wild. They used to talk about it back when the future was all dreams and potential.
That’s who would inherit the Earth, in the end, he decided. The kangaroos.
[to be continued]
Zero-Point Awakening – The Complete Series Books 1-8
Twists, turns, different countries, different problems to solve so it really keeps you on your toes. convoluted plot. Captivating for everyone.
– Amazon 5 Star Review
Captain Jack Grady thinks his latest mission is a pointless escort job on a remote asteroid.
But the abandoned military base hides something deadly beneath its ruins.
Now Grady and his crew must fight their way out before the trap closes forever.
Jimi has seen what the Sasori can do, and the fear it left behind nearly destroyed him.
Now the alien is on the other side of the hatch.
To save the ship and reclaim everything he’s lost, he must face the terror that has ruled his life.
Torst Janssen has been hiding from the law on a distant planet for two decades.
When he finds out his health is failing and he only has a short time to live, he realizes he needs to right his old wrongs and recover the mysterious treasure he stole all those years ago.
In a neon-drenched city ruled by screens and surveillance, Jay’s glimpses of the future become impossible to ignore.
GEAR, the world’s most powerful tech corporation, claims to protect humanity.
To Jay and his friends, it’s the greatest threat they’ve ever faced.
In a world where all communication has gone dark, what’s the first thing you’d genuinely miss? My favorite people (family, friends, and that one person who always texts back) New books magically appearing on my device Music / entertainment on demand Honestly? The silence sounds kind of nice The ability to ask questions and get answers instantly Other (let us know your view by replying)
Survey Result
And now, let’s take a look at last week’s poll results. We asked, “You’re the only human who can save Earth. What’s your first reaction?“
Here are the results:
- There must be someone more qualified –> 38%
- Let’s do this! –> 21%
- Can I finish my coffee first? –>17%
- Other –> 13%
- I’m suddenly unavailable –> 9%
Andrew: Nearly 40% of you took one look at the fate of the planet and immediately tried to hand it off to someone else. hahahahah I love it! I think if aliens showed up at my door tomorrow demanding a hero, my first move would also be to slowly point at the person standing behind me. “There must be someone more qualified” winning by a mile tells me we’re a community of realists, not main characters, and I respect that.
I do love that “Let’s do this!” still pulled over a fifth of you though. Somebody has to save the world, and I’m glad a chunk of you are willing to at least consider it, ideally after finishing that coffee (17.3%).
That 13.5% “Other” bucket turned out to be the most interesting part, because a bunch of you wrote in with actual, fully developed takes rather than just picking a box (which as always, I love and thank you for!). See more of that below in the next section.
Your Thoughts
David L. Davis went above and beyond and sent through an entire taxonomy of hero arcs: the Unwitting Vessel, the Chosen One, the Coward, the True Hero/Martyr, and the Team Player, plus a sixth category of his own for stories where a character becomes “the Voice” delivering a message from a higher power (I need to think about that one a bit, David. It’s not something I have really noticed before to be honest, so I will need to think where that kind of “messenger” or “spokesperson” role appears and how it works with other story craft. Hmm). He also pointed out that my question needed more framing (fair) and gently suggested I call this thing a “Newsletter” instead of an “Issue,” which, yes, you’re right, and it only took me two years to land there. To be fair, I do call it a newsletter, but the problem is that its now every two weeks and I keep wanting to say “this week”. Fortnight is a good word, but not sure its universally loved, mores the pity.
Tim G. raised the excellent point that saving the planet, saving life on the planet, and saving humanity are three very different jobs with three very different answers, and that whichever one he picked, coffee (possibly from a thermos) and a hip flask would be non-negotiable. Can’t argue with the packing list except I’m not drinking any more due to my eye surgery. Sadness.
Norman went with “Oh sh*t! Then let’s do this,” which might be the most honest possible combination of two of my actual poll options, and I think we should have just let him write the whole poll. haha still laughing.
Ian simply replied “Again?” which, fair, apparently this isn’t Ian’s first apocalypse. 🙂
Ruth offered to kiss us all goodbye because she is “totally NOT up to the task,” which, same, Ruth, same. And on a sharper-eyed note, Eleanor caught that I’d written “this week” when I meant “this time” in the last one, continuing my ongoing struggle to figure out what to even call this newsletter now that it’s biweekly. See?? Between David’s “Newsletter” vote and Eleanor keeping me honest on my wording, I think you all are quietly co-editing this thing with me, and I appreciate it more than you know. Because as we all know, I need all the help I can get.
I super appreciate everyone who wrote in. I know I did not get to mention everyone, but it’s hard to do it all justice in a single newsletter.
**Please note: All links in this newsletter are affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
