M Pax: You Can't Take the Sky From Me

I was one of the few original watchers of Firefly when it aired on Fox ten years ago. The first episode they aired was Train Robbery. It caught my attention with a vengeance, and I was devastated when the series was cancelled. Unshiny. Very unshiny, Fox.

Like Star Trek [the original], the mix of trying to survive on a new frontier with the awesomeness of exploring space, is a match most space opera fans can’t resist. At least, I can’t. I aimed to capture that same spirit when creating my universe. So, The Backworlds was born.

Like Firefly, my characters are at the edge of the galactic frontier. There are thugs, thieves, mercenaries, and scam artists. The Firefly characters often swayed between what was morally right, what they needed to survive, and their own goals. My characters often battle similar dilemmas. They’re far from perfect, but they are redeemable. Just like the beloved crew of Serenity.

Life isn’t shiny and perfect in Firefly. It’s raw survival and gritty, ripe with an atmosphere I did intend to capture. Maybe I didn’t, but I know the Backworlds aren’t shiny and perfect.

I couldn’t copy Firefly exactly, because it’s just not my style. I like to be somewhat original and need to do my own thing. [That belief may be a delusion] So my humans have been genetically engineered to deal with less ideal environments on flawed worlds.

I figure it’d be easier to change ourselves to suit less ideal planets than to change entire worlds to fit our needs. And sooner or later, if we intend to survive, we must figure out how to leave Earth and establish humanities on new homes.

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You can try the first in the series, The Backworlds, for free. It’s available for all ereaders. LINKS. It’s also available in paperback for not free from Amazon.

Boomtown Craze is the latest release and the 3rd book in the series.

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe.

To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted by a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.

Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from his and Craze’s budding prospects. The mind-control weapon Talos uses against them is wearing thin, and his next move may be his last.

Will Craze and Talos’s efforts bring about a grand new age of boom or damn them to forever struggle in the dust?

Available in ebook at:

AmazonUS / AmazonUK / B&N / Smashwords

MPAX

M. Pax is a Browncoat and SG fan, she’s also slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. In the summers she docents as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory where the other astronomers now believe she has the most extensive collection of moon photos in existence. No fear, there will be more next summer. She lives in stunning Central Oregon with the Husband Unit and two lovely, spoiled cats.

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