Battlespace Anthology Vol 1 for Charity with my Story: The First Mission of Lt. Seth-7

                “Emotion can’t be a strength,” Lt. Seth-7 said. He bandaged his punctured leg then sealed the hole in his suit. The wound would heal in a day. He ignored the pain piercing through the bone.

            “It is the only strength we have,” 1st Tech Sun said, breathing hard into the comm from running.

            The four of them darted down the lower corridor. Two more marines had fallen prey to the beasties. They’d paused to enjoy their meal, giving the remaining company time.

            “Perhaps it would be better if I remained a machine.”

--First Mission of Lt. Seth-7 in Battlespace Vol 1 by T. Fox Dunham

BATTLESPACE VOL 1 -- GET ME @ AMAZON.COM

Battlespace Vol 1—an anthology of sci-fi & military themed stories set in space—is now available. It features my story The First Mission of Lt. Seth-7, a story in my Seth-7 series. The character and his universe were first featured as an audio play on Beam Me Up Live Radio and Podcasts, and I plan to write more stories to the series.

 Below is an interview with Keith Houin, one of the editors.

Seth-7 is a synthetic man, built of metal and gear and cog. His mind is pure energy, a woven electro-magnetic field that transfers and processes without a circuit of matter. His mind was sown on the quantum level. The story is set in future where humankind has settled the stars, building a galactic civilization. Born from the darkness of space and the human spirit comes a reaper, a dark entity that harvests the dead, building new weapons to consume. This Preacher—an archetype villain I name in many of my stories—obsesses over remaking creation with no regard for the soul. The human race plunges into a war lasting centuries for its survival, fighting genocide. Each time a veteran warrior perishes, the experience lost cannot be replaced, so they implant their soldiers with neural devices to record the experiences and minds. When a soldier dies, it is downloaded. The Paladins are created. They’re synthetic warriors who then have the experiences of the best warriors woven into their minds. The spiritual question of Seth-7 is about the soul:

What does it mean to have a soul? Where does the soul exist, and does Seth-7 possess it?

This is a charity anthology, created by the editors at The Sci-Fi show, a popular broadcast of sci-fi audio stories. All the money made from sales goes to benefit the Warrior Cry Music Project. Warrior Cry is a group of volunteers who work with wounded soldiers at bases around the country. They provide the soldiers with musical instruments and then teach them to play. Hit the link to learn more.

CLICK ME -- WARRIOR CRY WEBSITE

It was an honor to write a story to support this organization, and I was pleased and fulfilled in my work as a Bard when they accepted my story. The work they do is aligned to my Bardic goals. A Bard heals through creation of art. This motivates me to write, laboring to improve and assuage, to scribe salubrious stories to ease pain and heal damage to the body, mind and soul. A Bard heals through the Awen. The Awen is difficult to translate into English, a Welsh word, one of the six subdialects of Gaelic. It’s best compared to an organ of the spirit, a special soul where creative energies generate and apply. The Awen must be taken care of, exercised, fed and used to keep it vibrant and fecund. The Awen is my Bardic heart and a powerful tool to heal.

INTERVIEW WITH KEITH HOUIN:

This week, I sent Keith Houin, one of the editors, a few questions about the anthology and Warrior Cry.

Fox: Why did you choose the Warrior Cry Music Project to benefit by donations from the sale of Battlespace Vol 1?

Keith: It really was a tough choice. There are a lot of great organizations supporting wounded warriors around the world. We were sort of picky. We felt we needed a group that not only supported the wounded, but kind of matched up with us and our aspirations. Warrior Cry helps the wounded to be creative through music. We’re a bunch of creative guys that love music and talk about it often on our show. And yes, sometimes we attempt to play guitar and sing – not good playing or singing though.

Fox: Could you tell my foxes more about the Warrior Cry Music Project?

Keith: I’ll stick with their company line for this, but add one thing. A good friend who does lots of charity work with the wounded warriors connected me with them. The recommendation came with the highest honors from a guy who has committed his entire life to helping others. Warrior Cry is a group of volunteers who work with wounded soldiers at bases around the country. They provide the soldiers with musical instruments and then teach them to play. Music is a great form of physical and mental therapy. Working closely with therapists to create a positive educational and therapeutic music program, Warrior Cry gives wounded soldiers something positive to work toward and helps to get their minds off of their injuries. Music also helps get our wounded soldiers out of their shell and interested in socializing with others. Warrior Cry works with other groups and non-profits to help better the lives of soldiers that were wounded in battle.

Fox: What do you hope to accomplish with the anthology?

Keith: The ultimate goal is to help change a life. It’s really that simple. I would love to reach a thousand dollars or more in donations a month, but I would be satisfied with buying a single guitar for a veteran’s hospital music room, or providing lessons for a single soldier during rehab.

Keith: My second goal is to promote some new writers. There are so many great stories out there that never get seen, because the publishing world is just a tough gig. If we can help one writer gain an audience that would be a gift in itself.


Fox: What are some of your favorite stories in the book, the ones that had
you all giddy and running to play with your Star Wars action figures?

Keith: Well I have to love mine. Seriously. Stefan Alford’s, The Code, had me right away. We’re old friends and I’m reading his book The Unveiling so I might be a little bias, but putting on the editor’s hat and picking apart every line, it was still hard to find something I didn’t like. It’s not a completely new premise, but he really did it well. You asked for favorites. I don’t think you have space for all of them, Cliff Gilmore and his Faitheaters story, William R.D. Wood with And Kill Them. You’re asking a lot with that question. I’ll have to go back and read them all again. Really. There were so many stories that struck me. It was kind of like reliving all my years of reading scifi. My taste has changed over the years, but I think all my taste of writing styles was covered. With the exception of comic books.

Fox: And how is the book doing?

Keith: The best way to say this is probably steadily moving along. Some days it's one sale. Some days five. We need everyone to help support and promote it. Every dime we pay for advertising is a dime that could have went to a wounded vet. What I have found so far is that sales directly from me and my box of print copies make my day. People think it’s great you have a book out. When they find out where the money goes they want three copies signed with a message to a friend or loved one.

Keith contact info: keith@myscifishow.com or press@myscifishow.com
Facebook: Battlespace Anthology on Facebook

I thank you Keith Houin for being interviewed.

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Fox Updates:

So it’s been a good month. After the completion of New World, my first complete novella, I have been taking it a bit easier, having some rest, and writing shorter fiction. I'm dealing with a nasty cardiac issue, a post chemo problem, and it's proving dangerous. So once again, I'm dancing madly on the edge of a cliff. The only piece of long fiction I finished this month, Their Last Dance in the Rain, was just accepted by Firbolg Publishing for their new anthology. I’ve been focusing on literary fiction mostly, having burned out somewhat on horror and requiring some rest.

New World, my zombie novella about a cancer patient who decides to go a on a road trip to Florida to be with his online girlfriend during the last days of civilization, has been well received by the editor. She’s excited to have it, and we’re talking about a series. I will be writing the introduction to May December Publishing’s charity zombie anthology, The Sick & the Dead. It will benefit the V Foundation for Cancer Research. I’ll be posting a link below for any author who would like more information.

CLICK ME --> SICK & THE DEAD SUBMISSIONS -- MAY DEC PUBLISHING

Also, my dear friend Morning Star has been busy drawing her favorite character from my Ragtime Cycles, Poison Sumac. This is her latest portrait of the drag queen owner of the Pink Gopher, where she distributes the narcotic of mind, body and soul, Ragtime.

“A strange man comes to see this Lady in the night, when men rip apart men to ribbons and shreds, burning flesh with burning oil while they cry out to a deaf god. How it turns this Lady on.”

--Ragtime Ascension by T. Fox Dunham

--Artwork by Sara Lewis, known as the Artist Morning Starr

Sara has a unique perception of beauty, skewed from popular concepts, which is why she was perfect to draw my nihilist goddess, the drag-queen Poison Sumac. Sara adores Sumac. I also semi-based the steampunk warrior protagonist Starbat from the Tick-Tock Heart of StarBat on her spirit and name.

I am currently working on the fourth story in the Ragtime Cycles—Ragtime Schism—and developing the novel, which I plan to develop into a screenplay for a noir anime.

Ragtime can be read at the following links:

Ragtime at Doctor Fantasque's Show of Wonders:

READ ME @ DOCTOR FANTASQUE'S

Ragtime Ascension in A Clockwork Orchard Rivets & Rain by May December Publishing:

CLICK TO BUY ME @ AMAZON

Ticktock Heart of Starbat at Jake's Anthologies:

BUY ME @ Smashwords for 99 Cents!

I thank you for reading my recent updates on my blog. Please follow me on Twitter for all the latest Fox News. Thank Foxy Blokes and Birds!

TWITTER: @TFox Dunham