After years of thinking about writing a "science-fiction" novel, I have finally gotten started. I am publishing the book chapter-by-chapter via a blog located at http://afterword-the-book.blogspot.com/. I have uploaded the first half of the preface today.

The book takes place in the future, set in the early 2220s. Rather than writing in the style of most science fiction stories, I am really trying to emulate historical fiction novels, only based on events that haven't happened yet The novel will cover the events of the Ionian War of Independence and the events that led up to it. It will also be told in a very..how should I put this...in a very blunt style, so some of the dialogue may be PG-13, particularly if you happen to be Mars or Europa fans.

I intend this to be a long novel in three parts. I've obviously never written anything as long as I intend this to be, so if you can be kind... Comments will be turned on so you can discuss the events of a particular chapter or ask me questions. You never know, you could influence the direction the story will go, though I got the general outline prepared.

Enjoy!

Congrats, VP, and best of luck!!!

I've been working on a novel myself off and on (hopefully more 'on' once my damn thesis is done). Not SF, but some horror elements; called The Land Doesn't Want Us Here set in my hometown of Butte, MT during the early 20th Century.

Some people might consider that a very apt title for novel set in Butte. I don't quite agree myself since I rather like Montana, but then I've only been there in summer!

good luck to the writers!

Oh, hey, I love MT as well, of course, as a native son; born & raised there. There is some sort of weird vibe when you're out in the middle of nowhere in that state, though, and it's unique; never felt it in Alaska, which is of course even emptier.

The title came from a conversation I had with a female co-worker in Washington state several years ago. When she & her family transited MT enroute to Tacoma, she was so freaked by whatever this feeling is that she only stopped for gas (more than a 500-mile drive); they spent the night in Idaho. In fact, now that I recall the conversation, she never even got out of the car until they were out of the state!

No mystical BS, here, BTW. I personally think that the vastness and relief of the landscape, combined with that deep blue, utterly haze-free sky and clouds that for some reason always look more three-dimensional (and huge) than anywhere else I've ever seen can make one feel quite insignificant and vulnerable indeed. It's as if you have inadvertently intruded onto the surface of the anvil on which the Universe was forged, a primordial place that never heard of or cared about human beings, and you're anxiously hoping that the blacksmith's hammer isn't on its way down...

Some people apparently find this quite unsettling. Me, I want to write about it...

Thanks VP, I guess it's kind of a first that an author ask "public" for comments! Congratulations
I wrote a book years ago (about my experience at Mont Blanc) and I know how hard it is and how much dedication you need. But it'll give you a LOT of sattisfactions.
All my thoughts, and I'll try to give comments...

This isn't quite a first. I know that publishing a novel via a blog certainly has precedent. I felt that as a first attempt at right a novel, particularly when I'm sure if I want to write more, I thought this might be a good way to go.