Late in 2020, I was sitting around with the other authors at Stories Rule Press, coming up with production schedule ideas. Basically: “What shall we write next year?”
I don’t remember who’s idea it was, but someone suggested, half-joking, that I should write my new space opera series, which had eight books, in eight months. Just to show I could do it. Unless I thought I couldn’t…?
Now, a book a month is do-able for me. I write full time, and I can clear off the decks and get a lot of words written, when I have to.
But I would have to keep up that pace for eight whole months.
Yet there was that dangling, implied challenge: Could I do it?
What made me decide to go ahead and try it was thinking about all the SF series I’m in the middle of reading, from other authors, and the sensation I get at the end of the latest book, when I know the next book in the series is months, if not years away.
I thought about how cool it would be for readers to pick up the very next book next month. Then they wouldn’t have to reach too hard to remember who all the characters were, and what had happened to that point in the series.
And yeah, there was a bit of bravado mixed in, too. “So, you think I can’t do it, huh?”
So I accepted the challenge. Then they made the stakes serious: I had to put all the books on pre-order, right now. As there are serious consequences for missing a pre-order date (authors get banned from doing pre-orders for a year, if they do), putting all eight books up for pre-order made this a do-or-die challenge.
I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. And at first, it was fine. I was getting the books out. Only, with each book, I got a little more behind. COVID vaccinations wiped me out for a week. Twice. Family events, Christmas, and other unexpected stuff came up that kept chipping away a day here, a couple of days there….
By the time I got to book 8, Redline Rebels, I was seriously worried about my immovable deadline, which loomed closer and closer.
I made it by the skin of my teeth, and because the other SRP authors all rallied around and line edited and produced the book in a matter of days, instead of the weeks we usually take to produce new books.
The last few weeks have been a marathon sprint. That is, a sprint that never ended. But I finally got there. Phew!!
Redline Rebels was released early this morning, on all stores, everywhere, including the SRP store.
Danny and the Carinad worlds fight for survival.
The underdog Carinad forces face an enemy who knows nothing but war, whose culture is built upon the glory of battle. As the Slavers fall upon the vulnerable Carinad worlds, Danny and her allies work to find a way out of the no-win scenario they face…
Redline Rebels is the eighth and final book in the Iron Hammer space opera science fiction series by award-winning SF author Cameron Cooper. The Iron Hammer series is a spin off from the acclaimed Imperial Hammer series, and features many of the characters and situations from that series.
The Iron Hammer series:
1.0: Galactic Thunder
2.0: Stellar Storm
3.0: Planetary Parlay
4.0: Waxing War
5.0: Ruled Out
6.0: Stranger Stars
7.0: Federal Force
8.0: Redline Rebels
Space Opera Science Fiction Novel
Redline Rebels is available for pre-order everywhere. And don’t forget that if you preorder direct from me (on the Stories Rule Press site), then you get your copy of the book a week earlier. That is, next Thursday.
Enjoy!
