Don't Get Lost

So I've been a busy little bee. While getting the novella ready for editing and writing another (long) short story, I've also been working on an idea that I've been mulling over for the last few months.

This idea stemmed from all the cool sourcebooks and technical readouts (TROs) that are produced by the crew over at Battletech. I've been a Battletech fan for over thirteen years now (damn, I feel old...). The amazing stories of 'Mech combat in the 31st Century, along with the awesome BattleMechs, Battle Armor, Aerofighters, and so much more are the leading material that has inspired my writing. I love how vast and diverse the BattleTech universe is, and how detailed authors of both novels/short stories and of sourcebooks get into the technology, history, and politics of the universe.

This level of detail is what I'm searching for when I write in the Post-Earth universe I've created. I want to capture the details, the people, the cultures, the politics, history, and wars. I want the reader to see, smell, and feel the worlds and ships I throw them into.

With this desire in mind I am working on a daunting, but awesome project: A TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM: A POST-EARTH SOURCEBOOK.

Written from the perspective of an academic from Elysium on Mars, A TRAVELER'S GUID TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM with delve into the history that led to the death of Earth, and the solar system that Peter Drexel and his crew live in. Below I have included the rough outline, but note that this is just a draft. I plan to have full faction sections replete with pictures, military unit dossiers, and company and personnel profiles. When all said and done this sourcebook will be 250+ pages of COMPLETELY AWESOME! You can also see on the PRODUCTS SECTION of the website where I've added a block for the sourcebook.

Enjoy my notes! Until next time. . .

A Traveler’s Guide to the Solar System: A Post-Earth Sourcebook

·      Credits

·      Intro

o   About the book

·      “Letter” from an Elysian Historian (2306)

·      That Final Frontier (2012 to 2032)

o   When Dreams Come True (2012)

o   Cornering the Bear (2015)

§  [The Legacy of the CIS]

o   They All Fall Down (2015-2018)

§  Scandinavia Rising

§  Iron Cross

§  Federation

§  Restless Dragon

§  Brasilia

o   Digging In (2018)

§  [4 Vesta]

o   How Many Companies Does It Take to Colonize Luna? (2019)

o   God of War (2026)

§  [Ancestors of Olympus]

§  [Kangaroo Lovers]

o   Unlocking Venus (2030)

§  The Russo-Brazilian Pact

o   Go to Jupiter, Young Man (2032)

·      A Series of Unfortunate Events (2032 to 2062)

o   Free Luna! (2034)

§  [Irony]

o   Titan (2036)

o   Hot Feet (2036)

o   The Bear Strikes Back (2038)

o   The Bear, The Dragon, and The Eagle (2039)

§  Playing All Sides: Brazil’s Involvement

o   Land Grab (2040)

·      Exodus (2062 to 2092)

o   One Way Ticket (2062-2063)

o   Shattered Moon (2064)

o   Battlefield: Space (2063)

§  [A Primer to Space Combat]

o   Chinese New Year (2065)

o   Learning to Love the Bomb (2067)

§  Bye Bye Pakistan

§  More Problems Than Solutions

o   Ring of Fire (2067-2071)

o   Flexing the Muscles (2070-2075)

o   Resource Wars (2074-2092)

§  Dry At the Pumps

§  If I Can’t Have It, No One Can

§  The Failure of Alternative Energy

§  Falsely Entitled

§  Opening Shots: The Eagle Strikes the Bear, The Dragon Sleeps (2085-2086)

§  The Dragon’s Share (2086-2087)

§  Raging Bear (2087)

§  Vikings and Huns (2087-2090)

§  CIS Wall (2087-2090)

§  Caught in the Middle (2087-2090)

§  Total War (2090-2092)

§  [Silence in the Land of the Rising Sun]

·      Apocalypse (2092 to 2095)

o   Last Ditch Efforts (2092-2094)

§  Make Peace, Not War

§  Massacre

o   If the World Dies And No One Is Around, Does It Make A Sound? (2095)

§  [The Mystery of Earth’s Demise]

·      Dark Age (2095 to 2230)

o   Let the Solar System Burn!

o   Mercury

o   Venus

o   Earth Orbit

§  A Fleet By Any Other Name

o   Luna

o   Mars

§  The Olympus Mons Technocracy

·      [The Yorks, The d’Helions and The d’Angers]

§  Elysium

§  Rivalry

o   The Asteroid Belt

o   Jupiter

§  Ganymede

§  Callisto

o   Titan

·      Getting Back Up (2230 to 2304)

o   Silence in the Void

o   Mercury

o   Venus

§  Lakshimi

o   Luna

o   The Star Folk

§  Community Fleet

§  The Council, or Keeping My Enemies Closer

§  Principalities

§  The Grounding Movement

o   Mars

§  The Olympus Mons Technocracy

§  Elysium

o   The Asteroid Belt

§  A Pirate’s Life For Me

o   Jupiter

§  Ganymede

§  Callisto

o   Titan

·      The Present (2304 to 2306)

o   Demons of Ancient Earth

o   A Wakening Olympus Mons

§  [A History of Polygamy]

o   Spreading Their Wings

o   [Martin: How A Single Ship Can Cause So Much Trouble]

o   Slowly Forming

§  Lunans: Wrong In The Head

§  Tharsis Tholus

§  Svol League

§  The Feng Business Consortium

·      Image Inserts

o   Maps

§  Mercury

§  Venus

·      Lakshimi

§  Luna

§  Mars

·      The Olympus Mons Technocracy

·      Elysium

§  Ganymede

§  Callisto

§  Titan

o   Venus

§  Lakshimi

·      Colette

·      King

·       

§  Novo Liberec

o   Mars

§  Olympus Mons Technocracy

·      Olympus Mons

·      Emperor Elect Edward York with four wives

·      Rickard d’Helion with three wives, and sister Celeste

·      Henry d’Angers with three wives

·      Giuseppe Della-Moretta, two wives, and sons Michael and Theodore

·      Samuel Drella, two wives, sons and daughters

·      Mary Cartwright and three husbands

·      Kraken, Lynx, and Spartan Colossi with Oracle surrounded by Titan- and Ranger-pattern power armor and Auxillia Infantry Combat Vehicles

§  Elysium

·      Elysium City overlooking the beach

·      Albor

·      President Sean McIntosh and parliament

·      Hecatus Tech Headquarters

·      Knight, Guardian, and Ferret Colossi, Champion MBTs, surrounded by Digger-pattern power armor and regular infantry with Heavy Wheeled APCs

§  Schmidt Principality

·      Schmidt (city)

·      Prince

·      Two Spartan Colossi with four tanks, surrounded by tracked APCs, and cold-weather gear equipped infantry

§  Sirenum – Nomads outside a walled city

o   Star Folk

§  Community Fleet with Midgard, Luebeck, and Dire Wolf at the center

§  Luebeck’s commercial district

§  Thiemmo Rautenstrauch von Midgard

§  Scion Brandt Krueger von Luedeker with wife Sophia, with von Luedeker crest

§  House von Sibenthal crest

§  House von Croy crest

§  Peter Drexel, Amelia Krueger von Luedeker, Balder Faltskog, Eyolf “The Wolf” Aune, Zoryn Revnik, and Maria Hannover

§  Renegade-, Hankyu-, and Ranger-pattern power armor suits each decorated differently (Renegade: All Black; Hankyu: Hessen Colors; Ranger: Brown with feathers, decorations, and Norse pagan fetishes)

§  House von Luedeker Guards in front of von Luedeker keep on the Dire Wolf

o   Jupiter

§  Ganymede

·      Ta-Urt

·      Dendera

§  Callisto

·      Doh – Feng Business Consortium

·      The Svol League

o   Skuld

o   Ieiwa

o   Nar

o   Saturn

§  Titan – The Principality of Haven Butte

Hunting for Ideas

Hello everyone! Did you miss me? :) What? You didn't? What a buncha-ANYhoo, I've been MIA for the last few weeks because I just purchased a house and have been trying to whip it into shape. Between that, work for my Master's Degree, my day job, and everything else (Lent is rough, dontcha know?) blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.

Well, now I'm back (in black)!

Today's fine topic: Idea Hunting.

I read about the The Idea Hunter on the Forbes website. The book, written by Bill Fischer, Andy Boyton, and William Bole, is about the literal and figurative hunt for ideas. They talk finding your gig - what you want to do - and then actively searching for ideas from numerous different areas, especially areas that aren't even related to what you want to do. The book is based around their I-D-E-A model: Interested, Diverse, Exercised, and Agile. Throughout the book they give numerous examples, from Thomas Edison and Walt Disney, to Steve Jobs. It's a very quick read (and only took up about four pages, front and back, in my personal notebook), and, while it doesn't give you all the answers, it does help the reader form a rough framework from which they can work on discovering ideas.

I'd like to note here that the previous paragraph is a very brief, bare-bones synopsis of the book and I highly recommend reading it to get the full effect. It's $12.99 in the Kindle store.

The Idea Hunt isn't just for businesses, which the book is more geared toward. The authors say that this can be used for anything you're trying to do.

And what are we trying to do here, more often than not? Well I'm here to write...and make money. But mostly write (money is nice, too).

So where am I going with this? And why don't I have any pants on? Well I can't explain the lack of pants (or why I feel groggy, or why I'm bruised all over). The point is that the Idea Hunt is perfect for we writers. Some writers may already have this down pat. Think of all the writers that want to write about something and do endless research...that leads to research in another area, which leads to research in five other areas. But for us normal types - we self-supporting, hard working, bronze skinned, chissled muscle, self-published writers! - it can be an uncultivated art.

For example, say you're writing a sci-fi novel (NO WAI! you say. WAI! I say.), and say you wish to mirror Heinlein in that all space technology is founded deeply in fact, or clearly proveable theory. A good start would be to research how rockets work. And you want your rocket to go somewhere, right? So you'll have to research the bodies within our solar system and how they work.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Now that you're researching the rocket and planets, you research engine types and fuels, which leads you to researching a lot of science. This could bring an idea for characters! Maybe a rocket engineer chief. And how does the piloting of that rocket change when landing on, say Mars? Or Titan? Or on an asteroid? How are the fuel and components of the rocket affected on different planets and moons?
Or how is the rocket built? Who builds it? What's the process that organization has to go through to liscence, build, and sell/operate that rocket? What departments and individuals within and outside the organization are involved? What are the roles and responsibilities of their jobs? How and do they all interact in a business sense?

See all that? That's the beginning of ideas flowing. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. As you write MORE ideas will come to you, and MORE research will have to be done.

So where do I get MY ideas?

Robert A. Heinlein, for one. He is, without a doubt, my favorite author with all perpatuity throughout the universe. His sci-fi, specifically, is what pushed me to get serious about writing sci-fi.
BattleTech was next. BattleTech is the epitome of giant robot/power armor future combat. The stories and the tabletop game started swirling ideas into my head since I was 13.
Aliens (note the "s") with its colonial marines. Warhammer and Warhmmer 40K (BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! I mean...yeah!). StarCraft, WarCraft, Command and Conquer.

Real life is a HUGE influence on my ideas. SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and other private space companies make me very hopeful for a future where humanity lives and operates throughout the solar system, and I hope more private space companies enter the market...and take me to the Moon and Mars. Many of the ideas coming out of this rising industry fuel my ideas for what I write, even if it is just hyper-ventalating optimism.

But there are a lot of non-space and -science related sources I draw from, too.

The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fortune, Inc. Magazine, and other business sources that I use to augment my day job and help increase my personal knowledge add to my writing. Some of the ideas expressed in the Harvard Business Review had directly impacted how I'm shaping the Olympus Mons Technocracy for the next novel (DUN DUN DUN! Spoilers!).

Finally, personal experience and learning go into a lot of what I write. My experience in contracting and purchasing influences how I write about deals (see DER STERNVOLKER). And the education I'm going through now - my Master's degree and soon-to-be studying for my Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) from the Institute for Supply Management - influences me in what professions I write my characters into and how they interact (such as in the upcoming FREE short story RUN).

The point is to look everywhere for ideas, both in writing and in whatever your industry is. Search for ideas in other, non-related areas that could give you new insights and inspire new ways of doing things in your writing or job. And I recommend The Idea Hunter for everyone.

Until next time...