It’s mid-September already! The last eight to ten weeks have been super crazy with work, but I’m finally at the precipice of a well-earned vacation. I plan to relax and disconnect as much as possible. I’ll be recharging by diving in to some books, comics, manga, anime, movies, tv shows, and whatever else sparks my interest. It’s time to refresh and reboot my creative juices so I can get back to Mechhaven Book 5 in earnest this autumn.
If you’ve been reading or watching anything that’s really good, let me know!
Mechhaven Missives
- I’m not sure if it is the cooler weather or the sun setting earlier, but I’ve always found this time of year to be conducive to creative endeavors. Ideas seem to pop into my head for current and even future projects. These ideas are always enticing, but it’s important to stay focused on the current goal, wrapping up Mechhaven.
- Over the last two weeks, I went back through the manuscript of Book 5, rereading some early chapters to make sure I’ve set up everything I need for the final sequences. I actually found a subplot that needs expanding when I go back through my editing pass, as it will impact scenes throughout the rest of the story.
- Appearances! Here are my current planned appearances (more details later):
San Diego Comic Fest-Carlsbad, CA – October 26-27, 2024 (Confirmed)
Pasadena Comic Con-Pasadena, CA – January 26, 2025 (Planned)
WonderCon-Anaheim, CA – March 28-30, 2025 (Planned/Applied)
Comic Con Revolution-Ontario, CA-May 17-18 (Confirmed)
Mech of the Month-Special Edition
After a bit of hiatus, “Mech of the Month” is back with a BANG for a special edition. This time Gurren Lagann grabs the title!
I’ll be honest, I started this about a year ago, but it didn’t grab my attention, so I moved on to something else. Recently, my son and I had finished watching Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Excellent, BTW) and needed a new show to watch. We each proposed one to watch. The choices were Gurren Lagann and Fire Force. We then played the opening sequences, and using the criteria of best animation and best theme song, decide which we’d watch. Gurren Lagann won, so we dived in. And I’m glad we did!
Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional future where the Spiral King, Lordgenome, rules Earth and forces mankind to live in isolated subterranean villages. The plot focuses on two teenagers, Simon and Kamina, who live in a subterranean village and wish to go to the surface. Using a mecha known as Lagann, they reach the surface and start fighting alongside other humans against Lordgenome’s forces before fighting the forces of their true enemy.
First airing in 2007 and running for 27 episodes, Gurren Lagann packs a lot of story into a short amount of time. The first fourteen episodes focus on world building and the burgeoning rebellion led by Simon and Kamina. The second group of 13 episodes deals with the consequences of victory. This was an interesting transition into the story that I wasn’t expecting and created a lot of compelling moments.
It wouldn’t be Mech of the Month without discussing the “Mech”. Gurren Lagann does something interesting with its technology. The first mech isn’t very impressive. It resembles a giant head with stubby arms and legs, but when it combines with another mech, it transforms into the cooler looking mech shown above. One of the unique aspects to the show is how the mech keeps merging with other technologies and incorporating them to create new, more interesting, and often larger forms!
Between the cool use of mecha technology and the surprisingly compelling story, I highly recommend Gurren Lagann. My only complaint is I wish there were more episodes!
Featured Authors
I don’t have any group promotions to share this week, but I have a plethora of authors! This week’s featured authors are Adrian Murphy, ZZ Adams, Jaxon Reed, K. E. Brungardt, and Jack Shilkaitis. Please take a look and support them if you can!
by
Adrian Murphy
An abandoned military base on a remote asteroid. All is not as it seems…
Captain Jack Grady feels his new mission is a waste of time. He and his ragtag crew of the spacecraft Adventurer are assigned to escort archeologists seeking mysterious artifacts in the tunnels beneath an abandoned military base on a remote asteroid. But is the complex as deserted as it looks?
When dangerous forces awaken to fulfill a monstrous purpose, the subterranean passages echo to the rasp of weapons fire as Grady struggles to survive.
Can he fight his way out of a deadly trap, one where even death itself would be a welcome release?
by
ZZ Adams
The distance from hero to monster will be counted in corpses…
Millicent Cuff leads a regular teenage life. She hikes in the hills, obsesses over boys and is desperate to leave a good impression at her upcoming birthday celebration. When an experimental aircraft crashes close to her village, she recovers a strange broken sphere from the wreckage. The life she knew will be forever changed when an army places her village under siege and comes for her.
Hellinix, a shadowy multinational corporation, wants their artifact back and will stop at nothing to get it, even if that means threatening her friends and family. But they hadn’t counted on the other village secret: that Millicent’s father and his closest friends are some of the hardest men on the planet—retired SAS commandos.
by
Jaxon Reed
On a frontier planet, land is cheap. So is your life.
Tom Savage is intent on homesteading, and Phaethon is the newest planet open for colonization. Here, technology is lacking in many places. And for 200 credits, anyone can claim one square kilometer of prime farmland.
But Tom has a secret or two. He is not interested in farming crops, at least not at first. Tom wants to harvest pieces of Phaethon’s sun.
To do so will mean first reaching his stake out near the desert, surviving human predators along the way, bringing fugitives to justice, and dealing with the resident sand dragon population.
by
K. E. Brungardt
Shapeshifting is impossible.
(It’s not my only secret.)
About to embark on a two-week journey to a far-off planet to become an exchange student at an alien university. I’m honored and thrilled to be chosen for this first-of-a-kind adventure.. But seconds before departing, Mom tasks me with uncovering the truth of how my brother, Devon, died on the same starship many years before.
I’m not a detective but Mom’s desperate. I have very little to go on except an illegal copy of her memories that she pressed into my hand at the last second. How she expects me to find the answer all these years later baffles me, but, hey, it’s Mom so I’ll try in spite of the danger.
by
Jack Shilkaitis
Five years before Bad Bishop…
Commander Jerald Norim has always been ready for a challenge, but when a sudden attack forces him into command of the CSS Intrepid, he’s faced with the ultimate test of leadership.
As enemy forces threaten the stability of his ship, Jerald must confront not only his enemies but also his own inner demons and the ghosts of his past.
Until next time, have fun and read a lot of books!
Greg Sorber