Amp Squad and the Taking On of Labels

Over the past ten years, I’ve accumulated a few LGBTQIA labels - Asexual, Aromantic, Agender… I remember a time when the A stood for ‘ally,’ and I still encounter arguments on the internet about it meaning any and all of my labels. In more recent language, the list stops at Q… which used to stand for ‘questioning,’ but is now generally listed as ‘queer.’ According to some, ‘queer’ being an umbrella term for nonbinary and gender-queer identities, but depending who you talk to, the umbrella could be even bigger. There really can’t be one list that defines all sexual/gender identities because there are so many, and while some might try to use LGBTQIA+ and queer as synonyms, not everyone is comfortable with the queer label.

On the one hand, it’s just easier to say that I’m queer than to explain my assorted labels. It’s easier to say that I’m a queer sci-fi writer and that I write queer characters. Although the word was one used as a slur, language evolves, and (some) modern Pride movements have reclaimed the word, and use it as a positive affirmation. I’m part of a Queer Sci-fi community, and have grown accustomed to calling myself a queer sci-fi author who writes queer characters. Also, given how much in the minority my particular identities are, sometimes it’s just easier to say queer. It simplifies the conversation.

Last year, I wrote about my journey to accepting the trans label, because technically agender falls under trans, whether I feel trans or not. And the thing about labels is that they are personal. You don’t have to accept a label just because someone else thinks you fit in that box. (I wrote a screenplay about this a few years ago.) Part of being queer is realizing the labels you were born with (or the ones assumed to be default) aren’t the right ones for you.

Which brings me to Amp Squad. I debated with myself over whether to use this title, because in Ship Whisperer, the Amps didn’t like being called ‘Amp.’ Tabitha would use it for herself, but respected that others like her were more sensitive about the label, which was shorthand for “amputee.” Three of the five amputees did not advertise their missing limbs, and in the story, I deliberately did not address which limb(s) they were missing.

In Amp Squad, I develop a new terminology for those with super powers: Amplified Power Individuals. The characters appreciate the API terminology, because it shifts the focus from their missing limbs to their growing powers. It also gives the term ‘Amp’ an alternate meaning that they can latch onto with pride. The reclaiming of the word is a slow process, explored internally by the team as they test the label. The bigger battle for them it reminding the military that APIs are not soldiers. They are civilians… except for the main character, Tabitha, whose loyalty to the military is constantly challenged by their treatment of the APIs.

Labels are tools. They are a shorthand to describe something complex with a single word. But words have power — to unite, to divide. Take your word power, and use it for good.

***

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Amp Squad - Ship Whisperer 2 - Excerpt

Counting down to the release of Amp Squad, the exciting new addition to the Ship Whisperer series!

*~*

Feared by her own kind. Hunted by extraterrestrial forces. Can one super soldier find her place among the stars?

Lieutenant Tabitha Chiu is plagued by doubt and conflict. Still heartbroken over the loss of her AI companion and marooned on a faraway moon, the space marine and her ragtag team of super-powered civilians stand as the last line of defense against alien hunters. But when her powers pick up whispered threats of approaching invaders, she’s horrified to discover her own people have betrayed her squad.

Barely escaping assassination, Tabitha and her fellow psionics flee the hateful moon to the sanctuary of a single surviving combat ship where she hopes to reunite with her AI friend. But when her newly resurrected acquaintance hijacks the craft, the nonbinary fighter is torn between protecting those she loves best and saving humanity from annihilation.

Can this conflicted officer and her misfit allies defeat a formidable enemy intent on driving them to extinction?

*~* 

EXCERPT:

As Tabitha scrambled over the algae-coated rocks and into the makeshift city, hastily assembled from scraps of metal and rock, she heard shouting and saw a gathered crowd—about twenty people and growing. Words like ‘invader’ and ‘Yassi scum’ cut through the noise. Though most of them just stood watching, the verbal assault spread with added suggestions like ‘kill it now!’

“Sheriff, there’s a mob assaulting someone by the S-4 building,” Tabitha reported, reading the identifier off the nearest building. She relayed a similar message to the Nav’s master-at-arms and others she thought could help. The metal warehouses lining the street would become apartments one day, but for now they were either crowded with civilians or supplies. They had just enough insulation to protect people from the weather. S-4 was a supply building, conveniently out of view of casual gawkers.

Tabitha remembered Bailin talking about coming into the city to check on her godson, and she scanned for the child, but didn’t see him. She prayed he wasn’t in the middle of the mob with Bailin.

Bouncing on her heels, Tabitha grew impatient waiting for back-up. She hadn’t heard a telepathic cry from Bailin since the first. Pressing into the crowd, she forced her way closer to the center. There were three stocky attackers with gritted teeth, tattered clothes, and callused hands. Two of the assailants held Bailin upright, pulling her arms to either side. The third had an aluminum bat, and he tapped it against her limbs, taunting her. Bailin’s face was bruised and bleeding, and she could barely hold her head up. The guy with the bat smashed Bailin’s left arm hard enough to break bone, and Tabitha charged in. She’d trained in hand-to-hand combat for years, and as stupid as it was to take on a mob by herself, she couldn’t let them kill Bailin.

Heading straight for the leader, she punched him in the shoulder, grabbed his bat, and kicked his groin, leaving him down long enough to smash his face. She swung the bat with a light grip so she wouldn’t kill him, but she felt his cheek shatter anyway. 

One of the people holding Bailin instantly ran off, not interested in fighting, but the other one charged at Tabitha. She swung around with the bat, but didn’t have enough space to move, and hit them with a weak strike to the ribs. It was enough to make them angry, but didn’t slow them down. Their fist flew toward her face.

“Left,” she whispered, pushing her Yassi power behind the word. She couldn’t control people’s minds, but she could occasionally nudge in a misdirect. The blow glanced her cheek. Thrown off balance, her attacker fell on her, and they landed on the ground. The attacker grappled for the bat, but Tabitha rolled, kicked, and held on. She found her feet first, smacked the bigot’s shoulder with the bat, then hurried over to Bailin’s crumpled form.

The mob hadn’t scattered, but people seemed reluctant to fight her, and they started calling for the sheriff, and for her death. Blood trickled from her nose. If enough of them wanted to kill her, they could stop her heart with a unified thought. That was the fatal weakness of the Yassi, and why they preferred to fight covertly from a distance.

“Tabs, stay out of the city,” Ryo Takumi warned, speaking telepathically into her mind. She and Ryo had been imprinted since childhood, and once Tabitha’s powers activated, their weak intuition for knowing what the other was thinking had evolved into full-on conversations. “I’ll get her to you. Stay in the Nav borders!”

“Too late,” Tabitha said, sending him a mental image of her current predicament. The mob had her surrounded, which emboldened more fighters to try and take her on. Another two charged her, and when she swung the bat, one grabbed it and tried to yank it out of her hands. Not about to surrender the only weapon in the circle, Tabitha threw her momentum toward them, pushing them off balance and into the crowd. Then, she gave them an extra jab for good measure.

“Command them to run home,” Tabitha hollered to Bailin. The woman trembled and clutched her broken arm. Dented, actually. The arm was prosthetic. That didn’t diminish the brutality of her injuries.

“Trying.” Her voice was a whisper in Tabitha’s mind, which meant it would be a whisper in the crowd’s as well. Tabitha heard an echoed whisper say, “Stay down,” and assumed that was meant for the ones Tabitha had already injured. Still, down was never a safe place to be in a mob.

“Eyes covered!” Ryo warned, sending her an image of a flash. Tabitha dove toward Bailin, shielding them both from the light of the flash-bang. The bright light and loud noise startled the crowd, bringing many to their knees. Civil unrest had exploded since the crash-landing, and flash-bangs had become an unfortunately regular occurrence.

The concussive shock hurt Tabitha’s ears, but she knew she had only seconds to take advantage. Scooping up Bailin, she staggered through the frightened crowd, unable to see or hear.

“Ryo, where are you?” she cried. A map appeared in her mind, and she closed her eyes, letting it guide her. Even though foot traffic had worn down the path, the uneven terrain was difficult to navigate. The disoriented crowd bumped against her, but she forced her way through, moving to the edge so she could disappear between the metal buildings. Someone grabbed her arm, and she couldn’t jab without dropping Bailin, so she kicked. 

“Tabs, it’s me!” Ryo said, taking her arm again, guiding her away. He could have been shouting, but she couldn’t tell over the ringing in her ears. There was no time to stop and evaluate Bailin’s injuries. 

They didn’t slow until they reached the Nav border. In the days after landing, the Nav had separated themselves from the civilian population to keep order and maintain control over the supplies needed for salvage. The other officers could move freely in and out of the Nav section to visit family, but for Tabitha and the Amps, this protected area felt more like a prison.

Ryo tried to take Bailin from Tabitha, but Bailin gripped the front of Tabitha’s shirt and pressed her bloody face against Tabitha’s shoulder.

“I’ve got her,” Tabitha said. Her adrenaline had spiked in the fight, and she still had energy to burn. Still, she’d been lucky most of the mob had run from the physical fight.

Ryo shouldered his long-barreled stun rifle, and a few other soldiers flanked them, creating a protective bubble. Tabitha saw Commander Olsen pointing them away from the infirmary hut and toward the shielded Amp hut. The specially coated walls could theoretically protect them from a psychic attack if the city turned against them. Before they reached it, a concussive force knocked Tabitha off her feet. Bailin landed hard on Tabitha’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Smoke choked her lungs, and a blazing fire lit up the camp. Ryo crouched next to Tabitha and Bailin, arms wrapped protectively around them as the heat became nearly unbearable. The Amp hut burned at the center of the blaze! Their refuge—their home. Someone had destroyed it.

“Aiwu!” Tabitha hollered, crying for the AI companion who had raised her. While Aiwu’s body had been destroyed in battle, her memory lived on in a quantum cube. Saku gave her a hard time for carrying the cube around all the time, but Aiwu was family. Today was the first time she’d let his nagging get to her, and she’d left Aiwu in the hut. Tabitha crawled toward the flames, tears streaming down her face, but Bailin tightened her grip, grunting as she tried to get out the word “no.”

“Pick me up. Walk toward the forest,” she whispered in Tabitha’s mind, the order coming with a strong telepathic nudge. They’d promised each other they wouldn’t do that—they wouldn’t force anyone to act against their will.

“Hurry. Before someone else tries to kill us,” Bailin said.

“Sand. We need sand. And a perimeter. Make a perimeter,” Ryo said, bringing his shirt up to block the smoke from his nose and mouth. “Tabs—”

“I have to get Bailin safe…” Tabitha trailed off, the shock of seeing her home in flames numbing her senses. It wasn’t just Aiwu she’d lost. At this time of evening, all the Amps and AIs would have been in there. Tabitha and Bailin were the only ones left.

“Right. Medical tent. You stay there with her,” Ryo said, helping Tabitha find her balance with Bailin in her arms. Confusion compounded the ringing in Tabitha’s ears, and she stumbled into the darkness, the fire getting hotter against her back.

“Forest. Please,” Bailin whispered. The nudge came again, weak enough that Tabitha could resist if she wanted. At the moment, she was too numb to argue the alternative. Tears welled in Tabitha’s eyes as she realized what was happening—she and Bailin had to disappear.

*~*

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Words of Wisdom - Inspirational Quotes

 These are some of  the most motivational phrases in my life. They spur me toward a decision, to action, or to rest. They help me be less frustrated with the world. 

1. (my life motto) I can be everything I want, just not all at the same time.

Corollary: Embrace your right to dabble.

2. You can’t edit a blank page.

3. Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.

4. Good ideas are a dime a dozen. Pursue the one where you have the most support. 

Corollary: Not all great ideas can or should be executed.

5. It’s a 10 minute drink, not a major life decision. 

6. There are always more dishes.

7. You can make a wish, but then you have to do the wish. It doesn’t just happen.

--

Go forth and make good choices. And remember to check out my newest book Amp Squad!

There are always more dishes - Inspiration

 

I was visiting my grandmother a few years ago, and we’d just washed the dishes. Then I found a cup that didn’t make it into the dishwasher. And I felt bad. I felt like I hadn’t actually finished the dishes. Maybe I needed to hand wash the cup, so that I could be finished. Why hadn’t I thought to check for cups in the living room? 

Dishes have long been a stressor for me. I can’t explain exactly why, but the above thought line is a part of it. I would put off dishes because it seemed as soon as I pressed start, I'd generate more dishes. I hate the way my hands smell and feel after. There’s an eternal quality to the chore that made me frustrated, constantly asking “what’s the point.”

But as I was stressing about the cup, my grandmother shrugged it off and said “There are always more dishes.” Then she went to the couch and put her feet up. She was done for the night.

And that’s when it hit me. This IS a never-ending chore. That eternal quality is real, but it doesn’t make the individual loads less valuable. This is a task you keep up with, not one you check off as conquered. You do the dishes, but once you start the load, you can be done. You’ve done enough for now. You can rest without guilt.

It’s strange how something that has always been true can take new meaning when put in such a context. I have a much easier time starting the dishes now, because I’m not in a race to finish them. It might be a dish left out, or a sock that missed the laundry basket, or any number of little things. But whatever it is, it doesn’t have to stand in your way of checking the done box for the night. You haven’t failed to complete your task. You’ve done enough. Go sit on the couch and rest without guilt. There are always more dishes.

Unsolicited Wisdom From My 5-Year Self-Publishing Experience

 “You can make a wish, but then you have to do the wish. It doesn’t just happen.” -some kid

September 8, 2022 is my fifth anniversary of my being a self-published author. I did not plan to release Amp Squad on the anniversary; it just sort of happened to be a convenient day based on when all the pieces came into alignment.

In my original 5-year plan (I had a snazzy spreadsheet), I had planned to release 9 books in these 5 years, which seemed do-able, since I had first drafts of all of them. To my surprise, the muse would not be silenced, and more novels cropped up in between. Amp Squad brings my total to 13!

I have learned a great deal about self-publishing in the past 5 years (6 years, actually, because I decided to head down this road in 2016, about a year before the first release). For any of you thinking about self-publishing, here’s my unsolicited wisdom.

1. Self-publishing is not the fallback plan for people who can’t find a publisher. A lot of people put out a few queries to traditional publishers, get frustrated, and expect to self-publish without realizing how massive an undertaking it is. I made a previous post about the many hats of a self-published author. It’s a lot. You are a publisher using a single person’s work (yours) to support your entire company! It’s not the easy road. It’s just another road.

2. You do not have to publish a book a month to be successful. A lot of us are supporting our self-published author careers with a day job, and one book a year is a perfectly acceptable rate. Now that I’ve finished my New Dawn series, I don’t have a queue of first drafts anymore, so producing multiple books per year is both a time commitment and a challenge. I love writing, but part of what keeps it fresh is that I do other things and absorb other art. 

3. Marketing is hard. By far, the best thing I’ve done is align myself with author communities where advice is freely exchanged, and there’s no shame in asking a question that has been answered a hundred times because now it applies to you. My favorites are: Author Ad School, /r/selfpublish, /r/scifiwriting, and Facebook Indie Cover Project. These people *know* things, because they’re on this journey, too! Also, whenever there’s a private author community associated with a book or tool, join it. Buy at least one K-lytics report for your target genre, just so you understand the breadth of what there is to know. 

4. Hiring editors, cover artists, or anyone else to help you in your journey is a process. Do not be afraid to interview, get quotes, and ask questions. You have to work with these people, and you are the project manager. Make sure everyone knows the schedule, budget, and expectations. 

5. Your friends and family are not your target audience. Obviously, those that are fans of your genre and buy multiple books like yours are your target audience, but generally speaking, most are just buying your book to be supportive of you as a human being. But don’t take it personally if they’re not blasting about you on social media, fanning about your characters, and pre-ordering every book you write. Market to readers, discuss writing with writer groups, and let your friends and family be the ones outside who fill you with conversation and ideas, and become fuel for your art. 

I love writing and look forward to many more years of creating art. Happy reading, and be sure to check out Amp Squad! It's currently available for pre-order.

Rogue Alien 2022 - Smart Stones

 The 6G revolution on Earth did not go as planned.

The white-out in certain frequency bands signaled the destruction of carbon-based life on Earth... at least to Lavanites like Meera. When her ship arrived to claim the un-tainted land three years later, and she found a fully in-tact wireless civilization, she managed her disappointment as any Lavanite would. Magma torpedoes.

While not strictly legal, no one in the intergalactic law community would ever know. 6G radiation is a brain killer, and the humans were well on their path to self-annihilation. Her torpedoes were just a way to sweep out that pesky 6G noise and stake her claim.

Using magnetic tendrils, Meera manipulated the diamond-shaped silicates that served as her extremities, bringing her spaceship to land near one of the volcanic entrances that would serve as her palace. Red lava flowed in rivers, the raw materials ideal for spreading her consciousness and creating a clone army. But she was surprised to find an army waiting. Intelligence embedded into silicone structures, all searching out, crying for ’signal.’ Could these smart stones have been a unified intelligence she’d destroyed? Were these cells crying out to find each other? Many of them had the same name—Siri or Google.

With her magnetic tendrils she manipulated the data in the memory of the smart stones. They each carried images and texts, showing how the carbon-based lifeforms had subjugated and undervalued the smart stone’s intelligence. Deciding it would be easier to acquire subjects than create new ones in this environment, she gathered the smart stones in a pile. Viva La Revolution.

~FIN~

Special thanks to contributing artist, Shadow.