Sarah Ettritch

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Mystery Writer

Their Last Hope Cover Reveal

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I’m in the middle of preparing Their Last Hope for publication. Every book needs a cover, and for Their Last Hope, I used a new cover designer. She came up with a fantastic cover.

Their Last Hope is a standalone science fiction novel about an AI specialist and sentient androids. When I started writing it, I thought that maybe it would fall into the cyberpunk genre. It doesn’t. It’s more a visionary/dystopian novel.

Here’s the blurb:

AI specialist Liz Price is determined to see sentient androids in her lifetime, but then she’s diagnosed with terminal cancer. Hoping that her dream will be realized in the future, she arranges to be cryogenically frozen upon her death.

When Liz is revived years later, she expects to be cured. But sentient androids are taking humans and killing them for some unknown reason. They control the medical system, and they don’t treat serious illnesses.

A resistance group wants Liz to turn the androids back into mindless machines. They tell her that’s the only way to stop the androids, and the only way she’ll be cured.

Liz wants to live, so she agrees to work with the resistance. She secretly hopes she can reason with the androids, but then she finds out why they’re taking humans.

The story has received an enthusiastic response from everyone who has read it. My usual editor said that out of everything I’ve written, it’s her favourite story, and she has read everything, from the Rymellan Series to the Daros Chronicles.

Their Last Hope has the dubious distinction of spending the most time on my hard drive between completion of the first draft and publication. I put it aside several times to finish the Daros Chronicles. I’m pleased that it’ll finally go out into the world.

Instead of publishing the eBook and then doing print, I’m doing what I used to do and publishing both versions at around the same time. Once I’ve approved the print proof, I’ll upload the eBook to the bookstores. The proof is on its way, so it’s just a matter of when it will arrive and whether it passes muster.

Enjoy your weekend!

Writing Plans for 2018

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Happy 2018! Long time no talk. I just checked, and I last posted to the blog on September 1. I’ve been busy, but that was 2017.

So what’s happened since then, and what’s coming down the pipe?

Facing a Crossroads

In May, I started to work on a programming course for an online course platform. After completing it, I created another course. All told, I spent May to November working on the two courses.

It was a great experience, and when the instructor I worked with contacted me about doing another course, I agreed to discuss it in early January.

But here’s the thing: when I was working on the courses, I had to put everything else aside, including writing. I didn’t write at all, and I missed it. I also couldn’t spend any time promoting my books. To get the courses done, I had to focus on them exclusively.

In December, I realized that if I created more courses, everything else would continue to take a backseat.

I wouldn’t say the courses are easy money. Creating a course is a ton of work, hence having to put everything else aside. But a programming course is guaranteed income. Coding is hot these days, and many people are turning to online courses, rather than going to university.

Writing, on the other hand, is about as risky as you can get when it comes to income. You can spend months, even years, writing a book, and then make peanuts when it’s released.

I had a decision to make: go for something I don’t mind doing that’s guaranteed to make me money, or go for something I love doing that might end up making me only enough money to buy a cup of tea and a pastry at the local coffee shop. So it came down to creating courses or writing.

I’ve chosen writing.

If I were younger, I’d go for the courses and squeeze in writing and publishing when I can. But at this stage in my life, I’m not interested in working 12 hour days. My partner is retired. Spending time with family and friends is important to me. And as you get older, it’s important to mind your health. You also want to spend your time doing stuff you really enjoy, because you’re aware that time is slipping through your fingers.

So I contacted the instructor and told him I’d decided not to do any more courses.

Does that mean I’ll be releasing more books than usual this year? Maybe, but it’s going to be a bit of a crazy year. We’re leaving Toronto. We have to declutter our house, do a major renovation and lots of touch-ups, stage the house, and sell it. Assuming it sells, we’ll then have to find somewhere to live in the destination city, pack, and move. So it’ll be busy.

2018 Releases

I’m only committing to releasing one book in 2018. I’ll release the standalone science fiction novel I’ve mentioned previously. It’s called THEIR LAST HOPE, and it’s almost ready to go. The book should be available by the end of this month.

The Deiform Fellowship Five is on hold for now. Before I’d put it aside for the courses, I’d written about 30,000 words, but I wasn’t happy with the way the story was going. I’d decided to throw a lot of it away and take it in a different direction. Now that I’m back to writing, I want to give the story more time to percolate in my subconscious before I try again.

I’ve started a new story…actually, I’ve started three. When I looked over my ideas file, three ideas jumped out at me. I couldn’t decide between them, so I started writing all three, figuring that one or two would fizzle out, or one would really take off. But so far, I’m happily writing all three! However, it’s early days. One or two will probably fall to the wayside.

So…THEIR LAST HOPE will definitely be released. I expect more to come out from me this year, but because of how busy we’ll be with the move, I don’t want to make any promises.

That’s it for now. I’m going to try to post to the blog a little more this year, but with everything else going on, I’ll see how it goes.

Wishing you a wonderful 2018 and a great weekend!  ?

Fate or Folly is Out

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Fate or Folly, the second book in the Daros Chronicles, is out. You can pick it up from your favourite online bookstore. Here’s the info:

Fate or Folly

Fate or Folly

Author:
Series: The Daros Chronicles, Book 2
Genre: Epic Fantasy

At the end of Pawns and Puzzles, Erryn comes face to face with a goddess, and Fi faces a life of humiliation and servitude. In Fate or Folly, both women must find a way to fulfill their destinies, but with Fi shackled and Erryn a hunted criminal, the fate of Daros and its people appears grim.

More info →
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This book concludes the story that began in Pawns and Puzzles.

My next release will most likely be in February, 2018. It’ll be the standalone sci-fi novel I’ve mentioned. If you’re on my mailing list, I offered a few more details in the Fate or Folly announcement email.

I was hoping to write another holiday story, but I’m not going to have the time. I’m busy preparing Their Last Hope (the sci-fi novel) for my editor, I’m creating another programming course, and I’m sifting through the story ideas I’ve saved (so far) and deciding which ones I’d like to move forward with at some point. Related to the latter, I’m doing a couple of writing workshops.

I’ll continue to add story ideas to my file. I just want to sort out the ones I already have. There are so many that it’s difficult for me to see at a glance what’s there. Some have been in the file for 5, 6, 7 years. If I haven’t written them yet, I’m not likely to, though there may be a couple that survive the cut.

The author Jae posted on Facebook that a reader had contacted her at some point to say that s/he (the reader) had a story idea, and if Jae wrote her idea, the reader would split the book royalties with her.

But here’s the thing: the idea is the easy part when it comes to writing a book. Ideas come easily to fiction writers. I can take a walk around the block and come home with 20 story ideas. It’s the research, the preparation, the sitting down at the desk and spending months, sometimes years, to write the first draft, the editing, the re-editing, reviewing feedback from beta readers and an editor, and then revising and editing again…that’s the tough part.

Of course, Jae declined the offer.

Have a great weekend. For those who celebrate Labour Day, enjoy your long weekend!

Books about Lesbians in the 1960s

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I was the guest poster on Women and Words yesterday. I talked about what books said about lesbians in the 1960s. We’ve come incredibly far in the past fifty years, but as one comment said, we still have a ways to go. You can read the post here:

When Others Spoke for Us

In other news, I’m busy reading the Kindle version of Fate or Folly (Daros Chronicles Volume Two). I expect to release the book by the end of August. Print versions of Volumes One and Two should be available by the end of September.

After that, I’ll turn my attention to the standalone sci-fi novel that I’ll release early next year.

Just a quick update for this holiday Monday in Ontario.

Pawns and Puzzles is Available

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I would have announced this yesterday, but it was Canada Day. I was out on a Toronto Heritage tour, and then we had friends over.

Pawns and Puzzles is out. It’s the first volume in the Daros Chronicles and contains all the installments published so far.

Two friends learn how quickly life can change when they go from living lives of luxury to being the most wanted fugitives in the land.

When assassins threaten Princess Fi’s life, her foster sister Erryn summons cursed beasts to save her. Branded a heathen, Erryn escapes the guards ordered to kill her and flees for her life. When she hears about a faraway temple that may reveal why she has summoning powers, she sets out on the long journey to reach it. But Erryn’s pampered life doesn’t serve her well in the wild. Bounty hunters and guards become the least of her worries.

Back at the castle, Fi tries to carry on with her life. But then her father is assassinated, and Fi is framed for the crime. With the help of those loyal to her, she escapes from prison and searches for Erryn, hoping to enlist her aid in reclaiming the throne. But the outside world isn’t kind to treacherous princesses. Fi’s quest to prove her innocence leads to another cage, one that has her wishing she was back in a prison cell.

 

 

Click here for more info

Volume Two is with my editor and will be released in late August/early September.

If you liked The Salbine Sisters, this book is in the same genre.

Canada’s 150th Birthday

Yesterday Canada celebrated its 150th birthday. We started the day by going on a tour with Heritage Toronto. It focused on citizenship and stopped at a few places downtown.

Here’s the Toronto sign that was placed in front of city hall for the Pan Am games. It has changed a bit since then. The maple leaf is newish.

 

Here’s Jen and me at the end of the tour.

 

After the tour, we had a couple of friends over for lunch. One of them baked a birthday cake. Unfortunately it was raining, so we couldn’t sit outside, but we did go out for a few minutes to take photos. Here’s a festive corner of our back deck.

I hope my fellow Canadians had a great Canada Day, and if you’re American, an early Happy Fourth of July to you! 🙂

The Daros Chronicles – On Its Way

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The Daros Chronicles is on its way! I’m just finishing my review of the ebook version of Pawns and Puzzles (Daros Chronicles Volume One). If it doesn’t show up in bookstores this coming week, it will be there the week after.

Fate or Folly (Daros Chronicles Volume Two) is with my editor. Barring any unforeseen problems, it should be available in August (September at the latest).

Those dates are for the ebook versions. The print versions always follow a few weeks (or a couple of months) later.

Fate or Folly concludes the story.

The individual installments are still available, but I’ll take them down at the end of July. If you started the Daros Chronicles and put it aside, intending to come back and finish it later, make sure you pick up the remaining installments before then.

My last post was about release dates. Daros Volumes One and Two are on track. But I shouldn’t tweak my nose at the Universe by announcing release dates too soon. Pretty much within a week after posting, an opportunity came my way related to my other life, that of a software developer. I was asked whether I’d be interested in teaching a programming course at an online school. I said yes.

First, it’s income. Second, I enjoy programming. I’ve picked up several new skills since leaving my last job, because I’m constantly tinkering with programming languages and frameworks. Lastly, I’ve taken courses at this online school. Out of the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of programming courses they offer, I’ve only ever come across two taught by female instructors.

When I was doing my Computer Science degree in the 1980s, men vastly outnumbered women. There were a handful of women in the first-year classes. By the final year, I was the only woman in some classes. Most of the other women had dropped out or changed their field of study.

Unfortunately, things haven’t changed much in the almost 30 (eek!) years since I graduated with my degree. In fact, a few years ago, I read that the enrollment of women in computer programs had gone down!

This is a shame, because it’s a great area to work in. It pays well, it’s in demand and will continue to be in demand, and there’s very little sexism. I can count on one hand the number of times I felt I was being spoken to or treated differently because I was a woman. Yes, it happened, but not more than 3-4 times.

If a woman came to me and said, “I don’t know what to do with my life. I’m open to anything,” I’d tell her to try computer programming. I’d say that whether she was 20 or 60 years old. These days, you can get a decent job without getting a degree, because there’s a shortage of programmers.

So part of the reason I agreed to do the course was because the school needs more female instructors. The people there are quite excited that I’ll be teaching a course. They know they need more women teaching tech.

The first course I’ll teach (I may do more) has a release date in August, because we want to time its release with the release of Android O. Because of that, I’m on a really tight timeline to create the course material. I’ve had to put everything else aside except editing and publishing the Daros Chronicles.

I’ve changed the editing date I’d arranged with my editor for the standalone sci-fi novel. Instead of September, it will go to my editor at the end of November, meaning it will only be released in January/February 2018. I’ve also had to put the Deiform Fellowship Five aside. I was hoping to finish the first draft by the end of the year, but that’s not going to happen.

If I do teach more courses, I won’t be on as tight a schedule, so I’ll be able to get back to writing/editing sometime in August. I figured putting everything except the Daros Chronicles aside for 2-3 months wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it does delay the release dates for everything but the Daros Chronicles.

Later.

Sarah Ettritch is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.