Discover New Worlds
Ray Bradbury (AUG 22, 1920 – JUN 5, 2012) was a prolific author who is credited with writing 27 novels and over 600 short stories, in addition to writing several film and television screenplays. His work helped shape the burgeoning genre of science fiction. He was awarded a Pulitzer Citation in 2007 for his “distinguished, prolific, and deeply influential career as an unmatched author of science fiction and fantasy.”
As always, there’s a lot of exciting things going on in the B.K. Laboratory. I wanted to share a little of what is planned for the rest of the year and beyond, and some news about a change in direction for me as an author.
Before we get into what’s coming next, I think it would be best to take a quick look at what has come before. Last year I was plugging away at what should be a fairly long science fiction novel. I decided one weekend to take a break to avoid burnout, and wrote a dark fantasy novella.
Then I wrote another, and another, and an anthology, and a cyberpunk novella, and a heroic fantasy novella…. In the meantime, I had also started up a company and began a career as a publisher, not to mention launching my own literary magazine with the help of my business partners.
So, that weekend off turned into a year of crazy levels of productivity, but alas my novel was still simmering on the back-burner. I think this was the best thing for it, since I’ve learned lot about writing and editing over the course of the last year.
Which bring us to now. After receiving reviews of my various novellas, there’s been one common trend:
My biggest critique? I wanted more.
I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for part 2.
I wish the next book was out already.
I look forward to Book 2 of the trilogy!
My only complaint is born merely of anticipation. I want more!
As much as I love being able to tell all these different stories, it is important to me that my readers be happy too! In the interest of that, I’ve rearranged my commitment to the publishing company to free up more writing time, and will be shifting my focus away from novellas and to full-length novels.
This first brings us back to the science fiction novel on the back burner: What Once Was Home. I’ll be committing most of April to finishing this manuscript and hope to have the revised draft to my editor by mid-May.
Find out more about What Once was Home here!
The other big change coming from this is that the project I was currently focused on – Parting the Veil – is going to be delayed. It was coming out this summer, but it will now have a release in the fall. This is not only because of the time being spent on What Once Was Home, but also because I’ll be making Parting the Veil a novel instead of a novella! The outline for the story already has a lot going on, and as a novella it was going to have to be a very streamlined plot that didn’t delve too deeply into certain things. The potential for a novel-length story is definitely there, so I’m going to make that happen.
Find out more about Parting the Veil here!
Now, there were quotes up there from readers anticipating the next book in a series or trilogy. Not to worry! Between these other projects, and contiguous with them, I’ll still be working on my novellas. The focus will be on delivering highly anticipated sequels, and I will not be starting any new series until these are out there. Among these projects are Companions of the Stone Road, the sequel to Warriors of Understone; and Night Life, the sequel to Night Shift.
All of these projects and more should be completed before the end of this year, and I’m looking forward to many more exciting things in 2020!
I sat down with Hanson Oak of Deadwood Interviews recently for his inaugural podcast episode. We discussed publishing, writing, and why social media is a dumpster fire. Don’t miss this!
Deadwood Interviews: Episode 1 – B.K. Bass (Kyanite Publishing)
When an average office drone’s Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder leads to an odd malady, he undergoes a physical and psychological metamorphosis.
Molting Season is an original new psychological horror short story that can be found on the Kyanite Press Online.
Warning: This story is not for the squeamish!
My latest interview with J.D. Kellner of The Wet Ink Project is online!
Find out more about the creative process and inspiration behind The Ravencrest Chronicles, Warriors of Understone, and some deep philosophical questions such as “Who would win in a fight between Legolas and Gimli?”
I have added to bkbass.com a page with a list of all the awards and contest wins I have won so far an an author. You can find this page in the main menu under the ‘About’ drop-down menu or follow the link HERE.
The wonderful folks over at World Anvil hosted a new competition in the month of January titled “A Family Affair.” The goal of this challenge was to write an article focusing on an important family for our worldbuilding projects.
World Anvil is a worldbuilding tool for Authors,
worldanvil.com
Storytellers and worldbuilding lovers.
My entry into the contest was “The House of Leopold“, detailing the ruling family of the Kingdom of Brisland. This is part of the world of Istaria, which I am developing for a future epic fantasy series tentatively called The Eternity War. I’m proud to announce that this article was chosen as the winner of the Premier League of the competition!
(All past competition winners during the year compete in a separate league so that more writers have an opportunity to win.)
There were a lot of wonderful entries, and in reviewing the other competitors during the month I honestly did not think I was going to win this one. I’d like to give everybody who entered the contest a hearty congratulations for all of the fine work that was done. I read about many amazing families throughout the month and was amazed at the quality of the articles produced.
So as to not hog the spotlight, I’d also like to help spread the word about all of the other awards and accolades announced for A Family Affair.
Most Likes: “The Gershorio Family“
Best Layout: “The Aslann Family”
Technical Achievement: “House Pentiwichen”
Regular League Winner: “The Gershorio Family”
Premier League Winner: “The House of Leopold”
Regular League Runner-up: “The Aslann Family“
Premier League Runner-up: “Jo’oo Clan”
Again, congratulations to everyone who won one of the above awards, made the short-lists for consideration, and to the writers of every entry for putting the work into creating something new and amazing to share with the world. As far as I’m concerned, you are all winners too because you’ve made progress on your projects.
Today was the official awards ceremony from World Anvil for their annual World Ember event (see my article on this here.) My own work in the challenge was in the short-lists for seven different categories, and I placed in four of them! I’d like to share the results here, along with links to the articles so you can head over and take a look.
(You do not have to be a member of World Anvil to view the content, but membership is free if you think you’d be interested in using the service! Affordable Guild Memberships provide additional benefits, as well! I’m a proud Guild Member!)
The settlement template on World Anvil is used for creating anything from a small village to a bustling city, or even a planetary colony!
My article about the city of Northampton won first place in the Settlement category! This is part of my Istaria setting – being developed for an upcoming epic fantasy series called The Faewylde War.
The city of Northampton is the capitol of the Duchy of Northampton and one of four major cities in the Kingdom of Brisland. Of the four, Northampton is the youngest. At the time of the Unification, it was actually the smallest as well. Currently, the city stands with a population of around 15,000 – made up mostly of peasant craftsmen – above average for a city of its stature.
You can find the article HERE!
The Organization template on World Anvil can be used for anything from a family to a governmental structure. I have used this quite a bit for kingdoms and religious organizations.
My article describing the Kingdom of Brisland was awarded second place in the Organization category. This is also part of Istaria, and a key part of The Faewylde War.
Brisland is a mostly agrarian kingdom that lies on the southern coast in the east of Istaria. It is bordered by Remaria to the West, Teugoras to the East, and Argastilan to the North. Protected to the north and west by mountain ranges and thick forests, Brisland enjoys a geographic isolation despite sharing its borders with three other nations.
You can find the article HERE!
The vehicle template on World Anvil might seem self-explanatory, but I’ve seen everything from wagons to spaceships, and even living creatures!
My K.O.B.O.L.D. article took second place in the Vehicle category. This is part of a DieselPunk project that I am co-authoring with Enkelli Arn Robertson, and will soon be presented in an anthology of short stories and novelettes called Tales From the Breach.
The Ko.B.O.L.D. (Korvonium-powered Battle Ordinance Load Distribution) series of Powered Armour was developed at the Peren City Institute of technology in response to the creation of the Operator Guided Robotic Engine (O.G.R.E.) by the Tannenholtz Empire. The KOBOLD armor consists of a core exoskeleton powered by a Sky Crystal-enhanced diesel engine.
You can find the article HERE!
World Anvil’s Technology template allows one to explore any sort of artifice from smelting iron to faster than light travel.
This article detailing sleeper ships – or interstellar ships where the crew and passengers are put into hibernation during a long journey – took second place in the Technology category.
To avoid the problems of having a crew spending fifteen years or more on a ship – which include psychological repercussions, needs for habitation space, and systems for renewable supplies of food and water – systems of chemically induced hibernation were developed. With these methods, the crew might pass the years as if one were passing an afternoon with a short nap. Naturally, the process and physical results were much more dramatic than this entails; but the passage of felt as instantaneous as this analogy implies.
You can find the article HERE!
The Ethnicity template on world anvil provides the opportunity to define groups of people from all sorts of origins.
My article about the Bravani placed third in the Ethnicity category. This is another part of the Istaria project, to be featured in The Faewylde War series.
The Bravani are a nomadic people who live deep in the forests of Remaria. Their history is older than the Principality itself, and they lay claim to being the original inhabitants of the region. They live a simple life, travelling the forests and occassionally trading with those who live in the Remarian coastal plains.
You can find the article HERE!
Again, I would like to thank the team over at World Anvil for creating an amazing platform for the community to develop and share their worldbuilding. There is also a thriving Discord community, a YouTube channel, and weekly Twitch streams in addition to the website itself. World Anvil really is an amazing community on top of being an amazing creative platform. I highly recommend it to any worldbuilder, and even those who are just organizing thoughts for an upcoming RPG campaign or writing project. You may be surprised how much your imagination is sparked just by dipping your foot into the waters.
As December rolls up on us, I have a very exciting project that I am about to embark upon. World Anvil has a huge event this month called WorldEmber, and I’m setting a goal for myself of writing 50,000 words.
For those who don’t know, World Anvil is a worldbuilding site that provides a place to organize and display worldbuilding projects. It is geared towards both tabletop RPG gamers and authors. More than this, it is home to an amazingly welcoming and cooperative community.
Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe.
WorldEmber is the big worldbuilding event of the year, and can be compared to NaNoWriMo. It is a challenge to the entire community for each writer to produce 10,000 words in their worlds. In addition, there are stretch goals at 25K, 50K, 100K, 150K, and a whopping 200K!
There are also a number of prizes involved, totaling over $1,000 in value. I am proud to say that Kyanite Publishing and I are sponsors of the event; with two copies of The Ravencrest Chronicles: Omnibus One – Premium Hardcover Edition being offered as raffle prizes for those who meet the 10,000 word minimum.
Again, I will be participating in the challenge with a personal goal of 50,000 words, which meets the “Novel Achievement” goal for the event. I will be working on one world as a focus for the event, and am using this opportunity as motivation to work on a project i have had simmering in the idea fire for quite a while now.
The Eldaran and the Drakhari have been at war for eons. In a desperate gamble to turn the tide, a powerful Drakhari wizard develops a spell that can tear apart the very fabric of reality. In doing so – he also discovers a way to create passages from the Faewylde to the mortal realms.
Caught between these two armies of immortals is Liam, a simple city guardsman just hoping to make it through his mandatory years of service peacefully. When an Eldaran named Sira comes to him for help, he discovers how little he actually knew about not only his own world, but also himself!
This is just part of the world of Istaria, the setting for a project tentatively titled The Faewylde War. I am planning – at a minimum – a trilogy of full-length novels in this setting. This will be an epic medieval fantasy series with magical forces, political intrigue, personal moral dilemmas, and a number of other themes explored. This is my most ambitious project to date; and I am very happy to have World Anvil as a platform to not only assist me in organizing the development of this project, but to also share with you everything about the world as it grows! If you click on the map above or here, you will be taken to the home of this world and be able to watch it develop over the coming month.
Please be aware that while I will still be working full-time on my duties at Kyanite Publishing during this month with the usual level of maximum effort, I will be devoting more time to this project. Response times to messages, emails, or other requests may vary as I commit to blocks of writing time. I will still have regular dedicated office hours Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8am – 12pm CST, in addition to being available at many other times that will vary as the workflow demands.
I hope to see many new faces join us over at World Anvil. Don’t forget that the challenges are all based on page likes on that site, so be sure to sign up for a free account and hit the like and follow buttons if you think I’m doing a good job with Istaria!
Check out B.K. Bass’ latest editorial project: Remnants! Based on the world created by Stephen Coghlan, Remnants is a shared-world project with an open invitation for authors to submit their own stories to compile an anthology!
Find out more HERE!
B.K. Bass, Author and Editor 