Venus Inferno

Click cover for an Excerpt from Chapter One

Venus Inferno comes out very shortly and I'm very excited by it. It represents a couple of firsts for me and one second.

It is my very first - but probably not my last - novella. I rather enjoyed this shorter format, although at times it was difficult to restrain myself from dropping an element into the story that would come up later. There wasn't going to be a later so if I wanted to say something, I had to say it now. I also didn't get the chance to interweave very much social commentary into the story, which I missed more than the chance to expand on the storyline.

It is also the very first story I wrote in the first person, which was very usual. I'm used to the third person and being able to provide different vantage points to allow the reader insight into what is happening. It is also odd using the personal pronoun 'I' all the time. One can't help but to identify with the main character. Admittedly this is an occupational hazard for writers but even more so in this case.

Venus Inferno represents my second published work with Champagne books. Hopefully there will be many more but having a second story accepted and published make it seem all the more real.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about Venus Inferno was that all of the main technology there is real.

Ion drives are real. They are slow compared to chemical rockets but they do exist.

Tellurium is real. It really is one of the nine rarest minerals on earth and it really does fall as snow on Venus.

Thermoelectric Materials are also real. And tellurium - in the form of bismuth telluride and lead telluride - really is a working element of thermoelectric devices.

Who knows? Maybe one day in the future they will be as commonplace as they are in Venus Inferno.

Let's hope so.

Cheers

David

Posted by David Boultbee

Why Blunder Woman? Good Question.

“Blunder Woman” comes out on the 5^th of July and, of course, I’m really happy about that. I thought then in honor of the release date, I’d offer some vague information that may not even be interesting.

A note, then, about the title and the things that happen in the novel. First: Where did Blunder Woman come from? I’m honestly not sure. I think the idea came when I was drinking bad coffee out of my Wonder Woman coffee cup. It’s old-school Wonder Woman where she’s all busty in her outfit, reaching out to fight crime. In the morning, especially, I look more puffy than busty, and the only thing I want to reach out to is a donut. I thought “Man, I’m more of a blunder than a wonder.” Shazam. I did some research and while “Blunder Woman” is certainly out there, no one had written a character around the term. That seemed shocking to me. Chloe Knaggs seemed to start to form then. Hmmm. That sounds like she was born or something. She really is more of a clone. Except she’s younger than I am.

So then. Is this a true story or did I research it? I will admit to you that I have been in training as a Blunder Woman my entire life. I’m incredibly awkward. I run into things; I wear a new shirt and forget to take the L sticker off my boob; when I try to ask someone out I inevitably burp. I put makeup on and at the end of the day I realize I only put mascara on one eye so I look startled…or like that dude in Clockwork Orange.

Of course, the story itself is fiction, but there’s truth there too. I was in love with a guy who I thought was The One even though I never even kissed him. And he had a derby party which I went to. I have a crazy mom and a friend who keeps me in line, although if my mom practices tantric sex it’s her secret business. I refuse to discuss that with her. Like Chloe, I obsess, I worry, and I live a spirited life. In that way, Chloe Knaggs and I could be sisters. She learns from her mistakes, though. Not to say that I don’t…I’m just really slow to learn.

Even though “Blunder Woman” the novel is finished, Blunder Woman the writer keeps going. Sometimes Chloe still whispers to me. She’s hinting she’d like another book. There’s the Soup Man too, asking for stuff, and Megan grumbling about something. These are okay voices to hear. My therapist assures me most writers do. We’ll see what happens.

Until then…hope you enjoy the book.

Blunder on,

Tanya