Lifeliners by Stefan Vucak - Book Tour + Giveaway
Lifeliners
by Stefan Vucak
Genre:
Science Fiction
Science Fiction
When everybody is against them, it is tough being a lifeliner, as Nash
Bannon found out. Lifeliners are ordinary people…almost. They can
draw energy from another person; they live longer and are smarter.
Scientists claim that Western high-pressure living and growing
sterility in developed countries has triggered the rise of
lifeliners, and homo sapiens will replaced by homo renata within ten
generations. So, what’s not to like about lifeliners? Protest
marches by extremist groups, riots, attacks against lifeliners,
repressive laws enacted by governments everywhere, were portents of a
dark future. Young, successful, Nash Bannon did not like what was
going on, but he thought he had the world at his feet and life in
Australia was good, provided no one found out he was a lifeliner. A
chance encounter with Cariana during a lunchbreak develops into
something he considered important. The Australian government calls a
snap election, and Nash stands as a Senate candidate on the Lifeliner
Party ticket. Unless lifeliners rise up and fight for their rights,
they can expect sterilization, incarceration, and possible
extermination as democracies everywhere turn into autocracies.
To survive, the Lifeliner Party must employ the same dirty tricks the
government used against them, but they were not prepared for what awaited them.
Bannon found out. Lifeliners are ordinary people…almost. They can
draw energy from another person; they live longer and are smarter.
Scientists claim that Western high-pressure living and growing
sterility in developed countries has triggered the rise of
lifeliners, and homo sapiens will replaced by homo renata within ten
generations. So, what’s not to like about lifeliners? Protest
marches by extremist groups, riots, attacks against lifeliners,
repressive laws enacted by governments everywhere, were portents of a
dark future. Young, successful, Nash Bannon did not like what was
going on, but he thought he had the world at his feet and life in
Australia was good, provided no one found out he was a lifeliner. A
chance encounter with Cariana during a lunchbreak develops into
something he considered important. The Australian government calls a
snap election, and Nash stands as a Senate candidate on the Lifeliner
Party ticket. Unless lifeliners rise up and fight for their rights,
they can expect sterilization, incarceration, and possible
extermination as democracies everywhere turn into autocracies.
To survive, the Lifeliner Party must employ the same dirty tricks the
government used against them, but they were not prepared for what awaited them.
The last scene is written, the last piece of dialogue done … and it is finished! After slaving over the damned thing for seven months, I can sit back, heave a huge sigh of relief, and toast myself with a nice tumbler of bourbon. Another novel done and dusted.
Well, not quite.
The cursor is blinking, daring me to change a
word, sentence, or paragraph. Glass in hand, I stare at the last page, replaying
the book in my mind, savouring the good parts, mulling over the bits that could
stand some polishing. Not just yet, my dear characters! I have to finish my
bourbon first, and then do some basic maintenance.
First, I make a copy of the manuscript on my
internal and external backup drive. If my primary drive packs it in, I haven’t
lost anything. I wince at the number of times I read tales of woe on LinkedIn
and Facebook where authors have not done ongoing backups as they write. The
computer fails and … well, you know what happens: tears, gnashing of teeth,
tearing of hair. Not nice. Lesson? Always do backups as you write!
With the book done, it is not ready for
publishing, not by a long shot! As I write a section, I always do an edit
before moving on to the next bit. After some twenty or thirty pages, I print
them out and proofread the stuff. I am always amazed at things I missed editing
online. The human mind is tricky, and it will sometimes fool you, automatically
correcting errors your eyes pick up. Reading a printed page tends to give a
more accurate world view to the brain, enabling me to correct the little
bloopers that managed to avoid online obliteration.
Learning to be a stern, objective self-editor
takes time and perseverance. Writers can become possessive about their
creations, unwilling to admit that the product of their genius could possibly
have punctuation, grammar, or word usage errors. Cut out that word or sentence?
Cut off my hand instead! But cutting out that word or sentences is exactly what
every writer must be prepared to do. Not only cut out that sentence, but a
paragraph or page. Every piece of freshly finished writing must be viewed
critically and any rough elements polished off. How much polishing is required
depends on how good a writer is at writing.
It takes time to go over several hundred pages
of manuscript, pen savagely attacking everything out of place, then updating
the computer version. Done, ready to be released on unsuspecting readers!
Again, not quite. Even though I don’t do a bad job editing my stuff, I am sure
there is a little blooper or two grinning with glee that has managed to escape
my eyes. To make sure the manuscript is as clean as possible, I send it off to
a proofreader to kill off those wayward bloopers. When I get the thing back,
sure enough, dead bloopers. After applying the corrections, I print out the
whole thing again and, you guessed it, I do a final proofread. As you might
expect, by the time it is all finished, I am heartily sick and tired of the book!
Anyway, I can now confidently publish the
masterpiece! Confidently? There is never a perfectly finished book. After
rereading some of my old novels, I invariably spot a word or phrase that should
be cut or changed. I could keep polishing a novel forever, which would mean I
would never get around to writing a new one. At some point, I have to let go
and let the novel face critical readers and their reviews. Writing a novel is
like rearing a child. From initial toddler paragraphs, to developing middle teens,
and finally a finished manuscript. Once done, you have to let it make its own
way in the world, maybe with a sniff or two.
The final step? Publish, of course!
Well, that is not really the final step. There
is the ongoing marketing, but I have suffered enough pain for the moment. Let
me recover a bit, okay?
All right, I have finished the novel, the
damned thing is published, I push it along with some marketing, and then what?
I don’t know about you, but I usually take some time off to clear my head and
perhaps start tossing ideas for the next novel. I have several ideas on tap,
and it takes a bit of time to sift through them, and nurture an idea that can
be developed into a novel, or perhaps a short story. With a short story, I can
get stuck into it fairly quickly. For a novel, that takes considerably more
effort…and several glasses of bourbon.
You may want to check out the following article
on planning a novel.
https://www.stefanvucak.com/planning-and-writing-your-novel/
Stefan Vucak has written eight Shadow Gods Saga sci-fi novels and six
contemporary thrillers. He started writing science fiction while
still in college, but didn't get published until 2001. His Cry of
Eagles won the coveted Readers' Favorite silver medal award, and his
All the Evils was the prestigious Eric Hoffer contest finalist and
Readers' Favorite silver medal winner. Strike for Honor won the gold medal.
contemporary thrillers. He started writing science fiction while
still in college, but didn't get published until 2001. His Cry of
Eagles won the coveted Readers' Favorite silver medal award, and his
All the Evils was the prestigious Eric Hoffer contest finalist and
Readers' Favorite silver medal winner. Strike for Honor won the gold medal.
Stefan leveraged a successful career in the Information Technology industry,
which took him to the Middle East working on cellphone systems. He
applied his IT discipline to create realistic storylines for his
books. Writing has been a road of discovery, helping him broaden his
horizons. He also spends time as an editor and book reviewer. Stefan
lives in Melbourne, Australia.
which took him to the Middle East working on cellphone systems. He
applied his IT discipline to create realistic storylines for his
books. Writing has been a road of discovery, helping him broaden his
horizons. He also spends time as an editor and book reviewer. Stefan
lives in Melbourne, Australia.
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