HALTERES- TIME AND MOTION- BAD ASSTRONOMY

CHAPTER H: TIME AND MOTION

Sometime in the distant present, somewhere in the unknown universe, Halteres reigns at its center.  But aren’t we at the center of the universe?  Yes, we are.  So is everyone and everything else.  So let’s get past that and shed some light on Halteres as it relates to, of course, us.

Halteres is tucked away in the midsection of the Sculptor group of superclusters.  Here’s a hierarchical breakdown:

• Universe
• Sculptor Wall
• Glyptis supercluster
• Sympan Galaxy
• Hestia and its solar system
• Halteres

I can only estimate that the entire galactic realm of Halteres is between 100 and 200 million light years away.  You can’t really see it because it lies in the same plane as our galaxy.  It's out there nonetheless.  Don’t worry about the distance.  There are ways around that.  Let’s get to Halteres specifically.

Hestia lies in the belly of its spiral starburst galaxy.  It is a K-type main sequence star slightly smaller and younger than our own Sun.  Its temperature and magnitude are about 80% of the Sun’s.  Thus, its habitable zone is slightly tighter than our own solar system’s.  Are we ever going to get to Halteres?  Yes.  Yes we are.

• An astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun; about 93 million miles.  Halteres’ orbital distance from Hestia is 0.6881 AU, or 64 million miles.
• Halteres’ orbital circumference is about 402 million miles compared to Earth’s 584 million miles.
• Halteres’ orbital velocity is just a smidge over 80,000 miles per hour, Earth’s is just a smidge under 67,000 miles per hour.
• Halteres’ orbital period is 5003 hours, Earth’s is 8765 hours.
• Halteres’ rotational circumference is 55,000 miles (If this seems odd, you’re right.  If you think I’m going to tell you why it’s odd, you’re wrong.)  Earth’s is 24,900 miles.
• Halteres’ rotational velocity is 1,100 miles per hour, Earth’s is 1,040 miles per hour.
• Halteres’ rotational period is 50 hours, Earth’s is 23.9 hours.

So what?’ You might ask.  Well, shut up.  This is important.  This means something.  An interesting thing happens when you throw all these measurements together.  We find out that the most advanced minds on Halteres have devised a base ten, metric system of time.  It all fits.  Do the math.  See for yourself.

• The Etos- the Halteres year.  Halteres rotates 100 times during each complete orbit around Hestia.
• The Mera- the Halteres day.  There are 100 Mera in an Etos.  One Mera equals 2.1 Earth days.
• The Dra- the Halteres hour.  There are 10 Dra in a Mera.  One Dra equals 5 Earth hours.
• The Lepto- the Halteres minute.  There are 100 Lepto in a Dra.  One Lepto equals 3 Earth minutes.

So there you have it.  Now, go away.  I’m calculating a book.

HALTERES: FIRST LOOK- BAD ASS SCI FI SETTING AND CHARACTERS

Hey all!

Thanks to the request of my fabulous creative consultant, Ryan, I sketched my first complete map and did some concept art for Nyk and Brims.

Here's a map of Nyk's homeland region of Astir Espera.  He lives in Octor Sulcus.  The Foculus is a vast volcanic wasteland at the planet's end.  What is Cael?  Can't tell you yet!

 
Here's Nyk and Brims.  Their markings represent powers the Kynoi has bestowed upon them.



Hope you like!  Until next time: Keep it down up there!  I'm drawing a book!

HALTERES: BAD ASS SCIENCE FICTION OR BAD ASS FANTASY?

I'm a little bit sci-fi.

I'm a little bit fan-ta-sy








What makes Halteres science fiction?

Science fiction, tucked below the canopy of speculative fiction, is intended to offer scenarios that entice the reader to question the world around them through an alien lens.  Here's what Halteres offers:

*Halteres- A wholly unique terrestrial planet extensively researched and rendered with as much accuracy as possible in order to appropriately place it at the center of the story.  Halteres is the heart that pumps life into every element of the novel.  It is the construct that germinated creative life into the entire project.

*The Arca Trochia- Vast mycelial networks through which countless polar microbes flow.  Their potential to provide energy to a planet crippled by electromagnetic decimation has been oppressed by those who control the lands where it exists in situ.  It is supremely coveted by the main antagonist of the story; Archon.  The device through which Archon seeks power, the SCATHE, is powered largely through Arca Trochia.

*Three Sentient Hominoid Subspecies- The Haltierre, the Mendax, and the Ratnik comprise the majority of main characters in Halteres.  They are presumed to have arisen from an as yet unknown common ancestor through punctuated equilibrium at the beginning of the last epoch.  Their shared origin is a crucial plot element.

*Fascinating Flora and Fauna- Most biotic elements on Halteres are realized with the laws of nature kept firmly in mind.  Noctvyl, the primary non-hominoid beasts, have their construct borrowed largely from arthropoid and crustacean origins.  Mutualistic annelanche, chromatophoric rept-phibian xile, and lumbering vertebrate marsopods all draw from science fact.  Two primary species of flora, thigmotropic mongosas, and phototropic fungal zygoverts are similarly imagined.

*Dystopian Cultures and Their Rulers- The Fylax lead the Haltierre clan through oppression and imposed ignorance.  The EGOs lead the Ratnik by controlling their population and breeding through the Tri-Ball wars; endless intraspecies combat.  The OAs lead through the Failure Laws; a set of mandates that reassign first time offenders to Relegation in the wastelands of the Akros, and subject second time offenders to outright banishment as Cussus at the Fate Plateau.

*Olys; The Emergent City- The Alaska-sized uber-city occupied by the Mendax and Archon has achieved emergence.  It builds and demolishes itself based on its own needs and resources.  It also autonomously adapts to threats.

*Bad Ass Weaponry, Vehicles, and Technology- The Proton Evaporator, the Battle Dozer, the Akros Perimeter Exile Stormer (APES), the Cry-Viscerator, the Quark Vault, Neural Innoculators, Skidders, Combat Carapaces, the Kynoi Cannon, the Omni-lect, the Wraith, Hover-liths, RATs, Plasma Rifles and Cannons, the Ribo-Rifle.

Until the next time; I'm writing a book and...

THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE (FICTION)- AKA Horror vacui

Falling through through space, I realize it's three dimensional.  There's a lot more room.  It's like, volume.  Matter disintegrates.  Plasma fills the void.  I cannot comprehend.  I check my work email.

khalteres@gmail.com

I'm to the point where the lack of response is encouraging.  Better than an outright form rejection...to me.

It motivates me.  Halteres is all I've got.  I'm not saying that to try and garner sympathy.  Halteres is all I want.

Nature abhors a vacuum.  My nature abhors the vacuum that fills the empty spaces between when I'm plugging my novel, writing about my novel, and waiting for people to respond.

There is No Providence Without Tribulation

Halteres is my providence.  The process is my tribulation.

Chew on them nuggets.  Til the flip: Go listen to some audio commentary; I'm writing a book.

THE KYNOI- THE POWER BEHIND MY BAD ASS SCI FI

Hopefully we're back on track.

I know how amazing you think my personal confessions are, but I'd also like to put some information here that might actually entice you to read the novel.  Did I mention it's some bad ass sci fi?  Is that not specific enough for you?  Would you like details?  Do you want it cut up into little pieces and served with milk?  Alright, here we go.

I explained that the planet is the main character.  It provides the main power in the novel a canvas on which to operate.

So, I was thinking.  Here's an entity.  It's larger and more powerful than all life on Halteres combined.  It's less than everything, yet more than all we know.  It endeavors to enter the realm of everything, and is using Halteres to prove itself worthy of perfection and omnipotence.

And the most important part...Oh, gotta go.

I'll be back soon, but until next time:  Please.  Leave me alone, I'm writing a book.

BAD ASS SCI FI DOT COM IS BORN!!!

Alright, it's getting real.  I got badassscifi.com.  Now I have to start living up to my domain's brand.  Don't expect a bunch of expletive laden rants or excessively sanguinary narratives.  I must maintain my unscrappable reputation.

Unfortunately, I usually do a bunch of stuff bass ackwards.  I have no idea how this new domain has affected my blog's searchability.  And isn't that the point?  Find me.  Read me.  Follow me.  Love me.  Love Halteres.  It's some bad ass sci fi!

Search engine optimization.  HTTPS availability.  Permalinks.  Technorati.  Edit HTML.  There is much to learn, but as I said before, you're never too old.

I have the most important part; some bad ass sci fi!  And every day it gets closer to being yours.

Let's see if this works.  HEY, GOOGLE!  GET ME UP ON THOSE RESULTS!

...Anything?  Soon.

Here's something else.  I promise anyone who follows me and gets on my mailing list free stuff!  Cool, huh?

So limp on over, and until the next time: Piss off; I'm writing a book.

HALTERES IS THE TRUTH!

I anticipate your trepidation.  You're about to put my thoughts into your mind.  You're about to experience the products of my soul's creativity.  It conjures; you imbibe.  How does it taste?  How does it make you feel?  Mitigate judgement and wash your self in the words.

Words are truth.  A word means what it means.  Therefore, Halteres is the truth.  You will read Halteres.  You will bask in its science fiction and sunbathe in its fantasy.  You will believe.

I promise its delivery.  The movement will begin shortly.  Stay tuned.  Summer is coming.

And as always: Secure the perimeter, I'm writing a book.

CONFIDENCE VS DELUSION

Hey All,

Halteres is waiting.  This is a science fiction/fantasy juggernaut of cosmic proportions.  A worldbuilding adventure that will captivate you from the very first page and not break its spell until long after you finish.  Get ready to be launched into a world so vividly realized you'll never want to leave.  Prepare to be introduced to characters so fascinating you'll want to invite them to your mom's house for dinner, then do some moonlight larping over a case of Olys (not Olys, but I digress).  Brace yourself for action that will leave your heart palpitating and your mind beaten to a bloody pulp.  Blockade your senses for the worldwide phenomenon that is...Halteres.

Am I overselling it?  Probably.  Am I misrepresenting it?  I don't think so.  I believe in this project.  I really, really believe this is one fantastic novel.  Believe me, I've spent so much time scrutinizing and doubting its merit to know.  It's good.

Yeah, I dream of movie rights and action figures and appearances at Comic-Con and a ranch with a Halteres-shaped mansion.  I also hope I get a reply back from an agent that's not a form rejection.

Of course I have confidence in my project.  I think it's 116,000 words of pure genius.  And yes, I occasionally slip into the realm of delusion, but I'm a true believer in small doses of fantasy.  In fact, that's why I love my novel so much.  It's a big, fat, juicy dose of escapism.  Mmm.

I'm going to stop here.  I know if my posts get to long, my hoards of followers will disengage.

So until the next time: F ; ) k off, I'm writing a book.