Announcing "The Weight of Stars"

Since I launched The Inheritance of Dust last July I've focused my creative efforts on two things: the merger and final editing required to get Our Once Warm Earth and Inheritance of Dust back to the single novel they were originally meant to be; and finishing a new prequel short story based on the deleted scene that I previously published here as Antoniadi Two.

I'm happy to say The Severed Sky is nearly ready for production, and I have—just in the last few weeks—put the finishing touches on The Weight of Stars, which will stand alongside the previous short-short Weekending as an enticement for new subscribers.

The deleted scene that The Weight of Stars is built upon was one of my favorite scenes that befell the editor's pen during the major restructuring of the novel a few years ago. It's such a favorite, in fact, that I have now resurrected it twice! This new short-short story features the confrontation between Paul Robinson, friend of Leana and Luis, and Mission Commander of Antoniadi One; and the narcissistic ne'er-do-well Charles Durbin—a confrontation that sets the stage for events that take place on Mars in Inheritance of Dust and the soon-to-come The Severed Sky.

Putting this prequel together has been a blast, as I've gotten to exercise all the creative writing skills and tools I've been building up over the last several years of work on The Severed Sky. And also because it's given me the chance to fill in some backstory on the contentious history between Paul and Durbin that finds its way into the novel.