By my count, (it’s a little hazy), last week I passed the milestone of one thousand copies sold.
The number of paperbacks I’ve sold in person is approximate (I was literally drunk for some sales!), but last week 65 sales were made during Kindle discount week, which will have definitely pushed me over the line.
To commemorate this event, I made up a new banner image to show all four covers together.
To celebrate the upcoming release of the latest book in the Infinite Void series, I’ve released new Bonus Content to everyone who’s a member of my newsletter group.
This includes an audio drama of ‘That Which You Seek’, taken from the anthology Inhuman Pressure.
To access the bonus content, join up to the Newsletter here, and check the Welcome email you’ll be immediately sent. Contact me if you have any issues!
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This audio drama has been produced and edited for me by the great Peter Rivard, and I’m very grateful for his work. He’s added music and sound effects, as well as his own acting talents, so this is a very special piece, and also a complete story. I highly recommend you take some time to enjoy it as much as I have.
People have very consistently requesting audio books for my series for a while, so hopefully this pleases everyone who’s been holding out for this!
In addition, the Bonus Content artwork including new art for The Survivors.
Thoughts on science fiction, creative writing, media and philosophy.
Richard Rimington is a British writer living in Hong Kong, and the author of the Infinite Void series.
Join our Newsletter to receive THE SURVIVORS – a short story prequel to the first Infinite Void novel.
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I have now relocated from Hong Kong to Kolkata – The City of Joy. This is temporary for now, but it’s very nice to have a real office set up in India.
Here’s my India work station. I miss having the big PC and multiple screens, but I can’t argue with the extra leg room.
There is a desk that I sometimes use too, but it’s a little smaller than I’m used to.
Kolkata is a city full of fascinating historical culture. Here’s a picture of the guru Lokenath Baba that always impresses me with the intense charisma of his eyes.
Thoughts on science fiction, creative writing, media and philosophy.
Richard Rimington is a British writer living in Hong Kong, and the author of the Infinite Void series.
Join our Newsletter to receive THE SURVIVORS – a short story prequel to the first Infinite Void novel.
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Updates – The final line edit on Defiant Systems is 30% of the way through. When it’s complete, Advance Review Copies will be sent out.
For today, I’ve been asked where this new book fits in with what’s been released so far. It’s understandable point, as I’ve changed which book is labelled ‘Book One’ over the past year, so I’ll clarify now.
There are novels, and there are anthologies.
First is The Survivors, a short story that acts as an optional prologue to the first novel, Defiant Space. Anyone who signs up to my newsletter gains free access to this story, find it here.
Next, the main story begins with the first novel, Defiant Space. This introduces the characters and the starship Fidelity, and starts their journey.
After that is the upcoming release, Defiant Systems. This continues the journey to its next stage, and takes the starship to more dangerous realms.
Book Three and Book Four in the series will come in the next six months and one year respectively, depending on writing times.
There are also anthologies. These are collections of short stories that take place in the same Infinite Void universe, some of which have links to characters in the novels. These can be read in any order! No spoilers will be revealed that would compromise any other book.
The first anthology is Inhuman Pressure, which is the first book I ever released (the original ‘Book One’).
The second anthology is Recurrent Immortality, which contains some of my favourite stories, and is currently my highest reviewed on Amazon.
Simple version – Read the novels in numerical order, read the anthologies however you want!
To join the early review group for Defiant Systems (Book Two), get in contact here and I’ll add you to the list.
Line editing for Defiant Systems is well underway – I’m exactly 25% through the final edit of the text.
The book is on schedule for August release.
Here’s the music I’m listening to, another outstanding (but intense) album from Carpenter Brut, please support the artist on Bandcamp
When all the line editing is done, early review copies of Defiant Systems will be offered to everyone who’s interested in being part of the early review group. I’ll send out emails confirming this in about two weeks!
To join the early review group for Defiant Systems (book 2), get in contact here and I’ll add you to the list.
For now, I’m busy scrutinizing each and every sentence in the whole book. It’s looking good though – very happy with this story overall, and I’m excited to see what response it gets.
There’ll be more updates in the coming weeks as the book gets an official launch date and appears on Amazon.
The schedule on Rimmblog will increase as we get nearer to launch day – look for the grand book cover reveal in the coming week!
Today, I have the blurb for Defiant Systems to show. Here is the second Infinite Void novel:
One starship against endless empires.
The starship Fidelity arrives on the far side of the galaxy, without power or allies. A fiery interstellar conflict threatens to pull them in. Fidelity must find a way through the complex web of loyalties needed to survive on the frontlines of a warzone.
Cal is haunted by dreams of a ruthless ancient being that hunts them. His comrades, Rosco and Leda, must master the advanced technology around them, and begin a perilous journey down the path of cybernetic augmentation.
Only through their ingenuity and wit can the travellers from Vale Reach hope to defy the odds and achieve their impossible mission. War machines and horrors of titanic scale will rise against them in an epic confrontation as they draw nearer to the prize of securing protection for their homeworld.
Can the crew of Fidelity face the full onslaught of a hostile galaxy? Or will they become just another casualty in an endless struggle between empires?
This is the second novel in the Infinite Void Series.
About the Series: Infinite Void is a science fiction space-opera series, focused on a far future galaxy of cyberpunk worlds and frontier societies.
Thoughts on science fiction, creative writing, media and philosophy.
Richard Rimington is a British writer living in Hong Kong, and the author of the Infinite Void series.
Join our Newsletter to receive THE SURVIVORS – a short story prequel to the first Infinite Void novel.
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Also, Defiant Systems is being locked in as the title for the new book in the series.
Here’s some of my favorite Witch House genre music to set to cosmic tone….
I needed a week off to recover afterwards, I kinda burned out my brain on this one. I worked about 12 hours a day for 15 continuous days, no exaggeration. That’s essentially what a full review of a 67,000 word book looks like (maybe don’t pack it into 15 days…)
Should I have started a little earlier? Yes. Did I? No. But I am still alive, and I’m satisfied I achieved everything I wanted.
The content edit is like rewriting the book from the beginning, improving things like narrative flow, structure, character motivations, details that become relevant later, removing sections that become tedious. It’s a process of blending everything together and ensuring the whole book feels like one effective story.
It’s about looking at your first draft and asking “OK, what was it I meant to write…”
Sometimes I scream into the night sky, “Is this an arc??”. You have to be honest with yourself. There’s no point claiming everything is perfect.
Honestly though, I enjoy working in these extreme phases; they add seasonality to my life. It’s also the nature of project based work – a busy novel writing job moves in six month cycles, progressing from a more chilled brainstorming/inception phase to the intense final crunch period to get it all put together for public consumption.
Simultaneously with this, some versions of the book cover for Defiant Systems have arrived! They look fantastic. Here’s a small preview from a work in progress… stay tuned for the full reveal.
The eagle has landed. The content-edited manuscript is back in my inbox. Break period is over.
Now I need to make the most significant changes to the story. Anything is on the table, but obviously some ideas are much more complex to implement than others. Characters could live or die. The facts of reality are entirely fluid.
This is always a pretty scary point, in part because I’ve just received a professional document describing in great detail all the many things that are wrong or missing with the book I just wrote; a document I’ve paid a great deal of money to have produced.
So it’s daunting. Usually, some deep significant flaw is revealed, and for a brief moment it can feel like the whole enterprise is thrown into question. But this is just a period to get through. As I start brainstorming possible solutions, the situation quickly starts to seem much more manageable.
It’s also an exciting time, a period which sounds fun from the outside. You get to really ask yourself, ‘What kind of story do I want to tell?’ The problem is, that’s an extremely high pressure question – if you answer is not ‘right’, then the book will suffer, and could even be doomed. It’s a fun question… with extremely high stakes.
Science Fiction Writing and Culture 