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It’s a blustery day here. Overcast and occasionally really windy. Occasionally we’re getting some rain, but fortunately, it’s warm enough that at this point, it isn’t snowing. We’ve had flurries and a touch of snow this past week, but it hasn’t been too bad and the snow hasn’t been sticking. Yay.
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Today, as it’s the fourth week of the month, I’m going to talk about one of my books, the one that came out this week, Alien War. (My books always release to the general public on the 21st of the month. They’re available on the store on the 10th.)
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This is the fourth (and final) book in the Live Alien Contact series. Don’t think it’s really any surprise that the humans not only find aliens but end up fighting them.
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However, I want to talk about one of my favorite characters from this series: Dennis, the AI who runs Rosey’s ship.
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Despite the fact that Dennis is a ship, he is also a frustrated interior decorator. OMG does he have Voice and Opinion about everything.
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Originally, when I was conceptualizing this series, I wasn’t planning on having any POVs from Dennis because I didn’t think he was going to have a character arc. And while he was terrific fun to think about, I want all my characters to have the chance to change and grow.
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The reason why I created Dennis in the first place was because I wanted each of the main characters to have a foil, as it were, someone they would regularly banter with. Dennis was just supposed to be Rosey’s foil. (As Sano is for Jun.)
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But my husband insisted that Dennis needed to have his own POV. And he was right. Dennis was so much fun, as well as so easy to write. However, in addition to that, writer brain managed to give Dennis a character arc.
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One of the marvelous things about Dennis is that he is very much the hero of his own story. No matter how minor of a character he might be to the plot of the series: he is the STAR, at least in his own head. Savior to the Galaxy and whatnot.
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I frequently try to practice different techniques as I’m writing. (The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom is a good example of me practicing cliffhangers.) For the novels in this series, I worked on having tighter pacing, keeping the books more tense, as well as making sure that every single character wasn’t just a hanger-on, that they had their own agency and were, indeed, the star of the show.
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As I said, the entire series is now finished. I made the decision to release the omnibus of the series when the final book came out. The ebook of the omnibus is available only on the Knotted Road Press store, while the paperback is available everywhere.
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In other news, one of my favorite birds has returned. No, not the silly robins who came back WAY too early this year. (Seriously, guys, you shouldn’t be here yet. The weather might have been warm and mild but it’s still going to get cold again. False spring and all that.)
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No, it’s a towhee. Now, how do I know that it’s the same bird? I don’t, not for certain. However, I suspect it’s the same bird because of his behavior.
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Generally speaking, towhees are ground feeders. They don’t feed from any of the feeders. I’ve been feeding birds out here for years. And for years, I never saw any towhees up on the feeder.
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How did this towhee learn to eat from the feeder? By watching the stellar jays, A.K.A., the goofballs.
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How did the goofballs learn to eat from the feeder? By watching the northern flickers.
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I know this because I got to see it happen.
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It was at least five years ago when the goofballs learned to eat from the feeders. One of them sat on the ground and watched a northern flicker hop onto the suet feeder and start eating. It was so funny watching the goofball trying to figure this out. He knew there was food there. At first, he’d jump up and just try to grab it. Then he did his best hummingbird impression, trying (unsuccessfully) to hover. (I will admit I laughed. A lot.)
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Eventually, he figured out how to land on the suet feeder, then how to eat from it.
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Of course, then the northern flicker had to show off. He jumped onto the suet feeder, then he hopped around the outside of it, moving from where he’d landed on the feeder to the other side while the stellar jay was on the ground, watching.
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I could practically hear the eye roll the stellar jay gave the northern flicker for this maneuver. However, eventually, the goofball mastered that as well.
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Not all of the stellar jays can eat at the suet feeder. Some can. A couple always feed from the ground. I’ve watched them trying to land on the feeder but they fail and they don’t appear to have the patience to learn.
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The towhee watched the stellar jays eating from the feeder and decided that he could do that too. Took him a while, but now he regularly flies up and eats from the feeder. He’s the only one who does that, though. None of the other towhees (as far as I can tell) will feed from the feeder.
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I don’t have any pictures of the towhee. I grabbed this from the internet, the CC license letting me post it without attribution.
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And that’s it from me today. What silliness have you been watching recently?
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Daring starship captain? Check.
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Best friend/deadly assassin? Check.
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Though it was never Rosey’s dream to make first contact with living aliens, she seems to have stumbled into it.
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Which side do the Humans get involved with? Can they avoid this conflict all together? Or is their introduction to alien politics going to involve space fleets and battles?
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Alien War—the last of the Live Alien Contact series—brings all the conflicts, cons, villains, and good guys to a final resting place. Dreams are fulfilled, romance blooms, and oh, yeah, the bad guys finally get their comeuppance.
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If you need to catch up, we're putting the Jessica Keller Starter Kit on sale for just $2.99. If you've already read it, consider gifting it to a friend. Purchase the books, email info@knottedroadpress.com with your friend's email address and we'll send it to them.
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Begin your adventures with Jessica Keller and the Alexandria Station universe in this epic, military space opera box set.
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This box set is available ONLY on Knotted Road Press.
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Jessica Keller could win the war--if only they'd let her!
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“Edge of the seat excitement...a wonderful tale.”—Philadelphia Weekly Press
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Contains the following complete novels:
Auberon
Queen of the Pirates
Last of the Immortals
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