Do you like your reading in bite-size chunks? Have you heard about Milo's latest novel, in serial form?
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| Author Milo J. Fowler, cover |
New Release:
CAPTAIN
BARTHOLOMEW QUASAR
and the
Space-Time Displacement Conundrum
published by
16 weeks of serial chapters every weekday
80
exciting episodes of adventure aboard the Effervescent Magnitude
Only $5 USD (includes an eBook edition following serialization)
Don't delay – Subscribe today!
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Captain
Quasar is out of time. . .
Pursued by vengeful Goobalob toll collectors, savage
Arachnoid bounty hunters, and formidable Amazonians, Captain Bartholomew Quasar
must do whatever he can to keep the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude
out of harm's way. All in a day's work—except time is not on his side.
Torn from the present to relive his past, he vows to
keep mistakes from occurring the second time around. But is he doomed to repeat
history? Or can he erase his regrets?
Villains will be vanquished. Lives will be lost. Bonds
will be betrayed. Heroes will be heroic.
Join the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude for
a hilarious time-travel space adventure the likes of which you've never seen!
Jaw muscle twitching at untimed
intervals, Captain Bartholomew Quasar gripped the armrests of his deluxe-model
captain's chair and narrowed his heroic gaze. The main viewscreen on the bridge
of the Effervescent Magnitude radiated with white-hot streaks blurring
in elongated trajectories as his star cruiser plunged into the depths of
space at something near the speed of light.
Quasar could feel the tension in
the air. It was palpable and tasted like sweat—mostly his own. The members of
his bridge crew remained silent, standing at their stations and staring at
the viewscreen. Many forgot to blink as their insides trembled, recoiling
with a nameless fear.
They had never moved so
fast in their lives.
This was the Magnitude's
maiden voyage into deep space utilizing the recently installed cold fusion
near-lightspeed reactor—an experimental propulsion system they'd picked up
on the planet Carpethria. One thing was readily apparent: it worked. But
how long could the ship could maintain this incredible velocity without
compromising hull integrity?
Already, the ship was creaking
and groaning in protest, and the helmsman—a very hairy, four-armed Carpethrian
who resembled something between a sloth and an overweight orangutan—had
begun to grumble that the reactor really should have been tested before this
full-speed leap into the black.
But there had been no other choice.
Their options at the time were either flight (and survival) or fight (and
undoubtedly be destroyed). Vicious Arachnoid bounty hunters were on their
tail, and Arachnoids tended to be a very hungry lot—often foregoing payment for
their illicit services in favor of a fresh kill.
The Magnitude's first
officer, Commander Selene Wan, wasn't keen on the idea of allowing a
Carpethrian to man the helm of their freshly minted star cruiser. But no one
else on board knew how to navigate at near-lightspeed, and it
took all four of the alien's hands to do the job—something two humans
would have had to coordinate in tandem. And that could have gotten awkward.
"Steady as she goes."
Quasar smoothed down his close-cropped blond hair and cringed as the ship
released a moan that didn't sound good at all—something akin to a whale giving
birth. "How are we doing, Hank?"
"Haven't run into anything
yet," grunted the very hairy helmsman, hands flying across the controls.
"Status report?" Quasar
half-turned to regard his first officer with a confidently raised eyebrow.
Commander Wan, a tall, slim
Eurasian with impeccable posture, kept her attention riveted on her console. "Proximity
scanners are offline." She swayed on her feet with the rocking movements
of the ship, her sleek black hair swinging across her shoulders. "Artificial
gravity is holding. Life support remains functional." A sudden frown
creased her usually furrow-free forehead. "But the reactor, sir… We may
have a serious problem."
"Elaborate."
"It's overheating, Captain. If
we don't decelerate, it may—" She swallowed. "Explode."
That wouldn't be good at all. The
folks back home were depending on Captain Quasar and company to bring back
loads of quartz necessary for virtually every form of technology and
transportation on Earth, not to mention haute vintage time pieces. The Magnitude
could not possibly be allowed to blow up.
"Hank?" Quasar faced the
shaggy helmsman. "Could we possibly slow down a bit?"
The Carpethrian grunted something
intelligible, followed by, "Commencing deceleration sequence."
"Very good." The captain
nodded, glancing over his shoulder at his first officer. Everything was
under control. "Status?"
She shook her head without a word.
Quasar checked the console on his armrest. The Arachnoid ship was nowhere
in sight, and the Magnitude had begun to slow down, but only by an
infinitesimal fraction of its near-lightspeed velocity.
"Uh-Hank? About that
deceleration sequence…" Quasar cleared his throat.
"It will take thirty minutes,
Captain. Any sudden downshift in speed would tear the ship apart."
Quasar maintained a brave façade
for the sake of his crew. Such was expected from starship captains, after all.
Clenching his jaw, he leaned toward Wan and whispered, "Do we have thirty
minutes?"
She met his gaze, and he didn't
like what he saw in her eyes—something she hadn't shown before when they'd
dealt with the horrible Goobalobs or the savage Arachnoids:
AND. . .
Get
to know the author, Milo:
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| Milo James Fowler, Author |
1. When did you start
seriously pursuing writing as a career?
I've been writing since I was 12, but I started
submitting my work for publication in the summer of 2009. I'd always thought I
would pursue publication at some point—probably after I retired from
teaching or turned 40. My first story was published in January 2010, and
I've had over a hundred others accepted for publication since then. I won't
turn 40 for another year, and I'm still teaching full-time. Doesn't look like
I'll be retiring anytime soon!
2. How did you create
the character Bartholomew Quasar?
When I came up with Captain Bartholomew Quasar back in the spring of
2010, I was going for a mash-up between William Shatner's James T. Kirk and
Dudley Do-Right from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (but in Quasar's
case, things seldom ever go right). He's one of those classic pulp
heroes with a heart of gold whose narcissistic tendencies often land him in hot
water. I hope readers can laugh at Bartholomew Quasar and root for him at the
same time. He's ridiculous, but there's something about his fallible nature
that most of us can relate to on some level.
3. Are you working on
more Captain Quasar stories?
I've written over 20 Captain
Quasar tales so far, many of which are out on the submission circuit, looking
for good homes. "Captain Quasar and the Ghosts of Space Command" will
be published in the next issue of Perihelion
Science Fiction. "Captain Quasar and the Carpethrian Call of the
Wild" will be included in the B is
for Broken anthology, and "Captain Quasar and the Devious Powers of
Persuasion" will be in the Geminid Press space opera anthology. I'm in the
middle of edits on a novella-length adventure I plan to submit for publication
soon. My collection of 15 Quasar tales Starfaring
Adentures…in SPACE is available everywhere eBooks are sold—and free for the
taking, last time I checked.
Milo
James Fowler is a teacher by day, speculative
fictioneer by night, and an active SFWA member. When he's not grading papers,
he's imagining what the world might be like in a dozen alternate realities. In
the past 5 years, his short fiction has appeared in more than 100 publications,
including AE SciFi, Cosmos, Daily Science Fiction, Nature,
Shimmer, and the Wastelands 2 anthology.
Visit www.milojamesfowler.com
and join The
Crew for updates about new releases.
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Have you read any of Milo's novels? Do you like his detective noir, weird westerns, or science fiction best?
Please leave a comment to let me know you were here, and I will respond. Thanks for dropping by, and don't forget to wish Milo Good Luck!! I might be able to get Milo to drop by for a few comments as well. My favourite is his detective noir work!
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