W. C. BAUERS
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In Which We Greet Death With a Kiss While Wearing Break-Bad Mechsuits

2/24/2018

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Author's note: I wrote this piece in 2016 for Tor.com, and revisited it this morning. Loss, death, and tragedy have been on my mind. Considering the news from Florida, how could it be otherwise? So, I decided it was time to pull this over to my blog, and share with you today.  
​
 
From 
Indomitable:

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? At best that was a hollowed-out truth. What failed to kill you still exacted its own pound of flesh, and not even sleep offered an escape. The nightmares were definitely getting worse.
​

Surely there was a gaping hole in her heart that must have turned black by now. Perhaps all that remained of it was a deathly hollow, carved out by the worst kind of flesh eater. Survivor’s guilt."



Death and Mechsuited Marines. Nothing wreaks havoc like them. Indomitable is as much about the one as it is the other. My protagonist, a young Marine named Promise, has a habit of storming into trouble. With the help of a plucky AI assist, she cuts a wide swath. Death’s her second shadow. But the fallout haunts her. And the pain slowly fades.   

Charles Dickens christened death “Our Mutual Friend.” It has certainly been for me. I’ve buried a sister and a daughter, all the grands, and a cousin of mine named Jack. Death reaped each of them at inconvenient times. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Absence has made a poor bedfellow.

Promise is no stranger to loss either. Her full name suggests as much and, for good or bad, it’s a bit on-the-nose. Promise. Paen. I’ve caught flak for her name. Flak flak (like the shells thrown by the German Flugabwehrkanone, or anti-aircraft cannon). When I named her I was playing with words, sure. But I also meant to convey something deeper…that life is dualistic…both tragic and hope-filled, like yin and yang. We will all be wounded by something and probably by many somethings in this life. Many someones too. Loss is unavoidable. Death has a habit of being on the nose. But life is always ahead. Hope is out front, out there. It has to be.  

Promise first came to me at age seventeen. Orphaned. Jaded. Congenial like a rusty bayonet. She was mad at the universe. She enlisted to start over, to slake the pain, and to maybe dish out some cold-served retribution as a mechsuited Marine. But war had other plans. It kept taking the people she loved from her. The pain only grew worse and to continue she had to turn and face it. What Promise didn’t anticipate was that she’d learn, while pivoting toward mortality, to care again and to let the women and men she served with scale her walls. Turns out death’s sting is not something to be shouldered like a rucksack, on a solitary march through life’s tempest. Death is our mutual friend. We’re meant to greet the reaper together.  
 

Sometimes we write for our lives. For me that’s involved marring my love (truth be told my guilty pleasure) for military fiction and mil-speced battle scenes with a need to draw out the deep waters of my soul. I had to crank the well-wheel to find out what was down there. Up came a traumatized character who talked with her deceased mother on a regular basis, a centuries-old, semi-automatic GLOCK named Janie, a suit of interlocking armor that begs for a 3D printed cosplay, and a veritable band of sisters and brothers as real as any family.

Up came the reaper too. He likes to howl and gnash his teeth. But I’ve seen the fear in his hollow point eyes. He has a spot at the table, over there, where he sulks while I share a meal with friends. The food is good. The company, better. Reap sulks because death doesn’t frighten me so much anymore.

(article originally posted at Tor.com, July 25th 2016)  
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RELEASE DAY, RESETS, AND THE RESURRECTION.  

4/11/2017

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NEW IN PAPERBACK - 4/12/2017
BUY NOW!

INDOMITABLE is finally out in paperback! It's a new book for new readers. 

The ebook is under $10. It's a new price point for budget-conscious buyers. 

Easter is this Sunday. Its a new beginning for weary souls.

My lawn is green. The eggs are coming. It's a new season. 

It's a new day folks. I'm excited. 

When you order your copy of INDOMITABLE (or UNBREAKABLE if you need to catch up), or if you already have, please tell your friends. When you do, whether it's a purchase or a post, email me at write(dot)wcbauers@gmail(dot)com with the subject line "RELEASE DAY!" and I'll throw your name in the hat for one of five Starbucks gift cards...so you can drink hot caf while you join Promise in her next adventure.
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March and Madness, Promise Paen, and Future Books   

3/29/2017

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This month passed as a blur of spinning kicks and late-night writing sessions, the sudden cancellation of a book contract, selling other author's books by day, travel to Boston (my largest sales account is just outside of "Beantown"), and too much hot caf. (more on the caffeine addicts survival guide below) 

Nathaniel earned his Blue Belt in Taekwondo and the award for best poomsae (form). 
​
More about Nate: 
  1. Code Name: Gator (because he likes alligators)
  2. Middle guy of three sons 
  3. Favorite kick: spinning roundhouse 
  4. Family comedian (I need to create a gif of Nate's "shifty-eyes") 
  5. Has never met a sport he doesn't like (except for gator wrestling - we watched a guy wrestle a gator in Florida and agreed that he was an idiot) 
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​Unexpectedly, my German publisher decided to exercise the "Kill Clause." That makes for a great title (it's mine - you may NOT have it). But, KC's don't work out so well for author royalties. Okay, so Unverwüstlich underperformed. It happens. Publishing is a tough business. That said, publishers have teeny tiny attention spans and even shorter time horizons. Publishing the translation of a book in September (in paper only), in a market where no one yet knows me, without publishing the e-book simultaneously, only to kill it five months later, seems ill-thought. Well, Auf Wiedersehen! Now I have the German rights back, which means I can sell them again. Time to make more schnitzel! 

Many of you have asked about future books. Thank you for your enthusiasm and support. You're a small cadre of Promise Paen evangelists...or literary shocktroopers. I thank God for you. The plan for now is as follows: 
  • INDOMITABLE releases in April in paperback.  Time to triple efforts to sell more of it and the first book, UNBREAKABLE 
  • I have Promise Paen #3 (UNCOMPROMISED) and #4 (NOT-YET-TITLED) plotted and waiting. (a 12-page script of each novel is in the can, and I've started writing #3) Neither is under contract, yet. Tor has passed for now. As sales compound, more doors will open. The self-publishing route is a possibility. But, I'd rather re-sign with a publisher and farm out the editing/design/marketing/publicity/distribution/sales to someone else. "Know thyself," comes to mind. I am not a one-man publishing maven. Considering the reviews and acclaim so far for the books, I have faith that opportunities will come in due time. Do it, defer it, or delegate it. My two cents: in publishing, whenever possible, do the later of the three (and get paid for it)​
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Picture Books? Yes, picture books. I'm developing two different series of books for young readers ages 0 - 5. The first series is of a religious nature. THE TINY BIBLE TALES feature Bible heroes in their littlest form. Three stories are written and five are under development. (more on those soonish)  The second series focuses upon our solar system. I don't have a perfect series name, but "PLANETS" will do for now. Written with Dr. Deborah Bauers (mom), SUN AND MOON and RED AND BLUE (Earth and Mars) are done and being shopped.  

As for more Science Fiction, yes, absolutely. SF is in my soul. Admittedly, the timing of the next novel is a bit up in the ether. I've made peace with W.C.'s production schedule. He may not write a novel a year. Some author's do. Some author's don't. With a busy, full-time job in publishing, and three young boys who need present, quantity time, I've had to reset my goals and expectations. Frankly, I'm happier for it.  

Now, as promised, the caffeine addict's survival guide: 
  • Antacids must always be at-the-ready
  • Drink water between cups of brew to stave off headaches and dehydration (happens fast in the Rockies - my home is at an elevation of 7000 feet) 
  • Drink caf on a full stomach 
  • Abstain after 7PM (even decaf will FUBAR your sleep schedule 
  • Avoid caf like the plague before workouts 

Blessings, 

- W. C. 


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New Year's Resolutions and the Myth of Perpetual Motion 

12/30/2016

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New Year's Resolutions are like Perpetual Motion Machines. Both sound great in theory, but they lack the warp and woof of reality. Put another way, resolutions and machines require a reliable energy source to work. Gas. Electricity. Reaction Mass. Commitment. Good habits plied across time. Hustle. Energy only shows up if we bring it to the party. So, why don't we dispense with NYRs and PMMs and instead sketch out several realistic goals, and then later allocate the time and resources to accomplish them. 

For starters, my first goal for 2017 is to write a monthly newsletter, which to this point I have not done, not once. Funny how my Mail Chimp account and auto-responder sat month after month, doing nothing for me. You signed up for my newsletter but you never got one. That's because I didn't add energy to the system to make it go-go-go. 

Here's to my maiden newsletter and the first goal of 2017 checked off a few days before the year begins. 

What else? 

Playing more. That's a great goal. 

 
Christmas at the beach with the boys ended with a crab broil feast. (Heather took the photos like she usually does) We don't have sand and surf in the Rocky Mountains. But we have copious mountains, and trails and untouched earth to trod. My dog's leash does a lot of hanging on the wall; I should really take it out, hook it to the dog once in a while, and make her earn her chow. The boys would love it. I would love it. The dog (Bailey) would love it. My waistline would love it.  

What else? Writing more is a good goal.  
Authors don't write more because they fear the blank page. I fear the blank page. It's BLANK. I have no idea what's supposed to go there. The truth is this: I don't need to know at first. That's pretty good advice. Maybe I should take it. Writing, like any artistic endeavor, is an exploration of the unknown. Really? My right brain doesn't believe my left. There's nothing so terrible as being double-minded. Ahem...foreknowledge is not a prerequisite for the creative enterprise. All creatives, including you and me, start with a canvas of sorts, and a subject matter, and perhaps some initial thoughts, or even a detailed synopsis, but what's there is still unknown. Art is built upon unknown unknowns. 

Why don't we celebrate our unknown unknowns this year. I bet you have your own blank page, whether it's a book to be written or a piece of furniture to be built or a model airplane to be glued, or even a relationship to be mended. Let's celebrate our unknown unknowns by diving in. Would you do that with me?

What else? This one is easy. I need to sell more books. Selling more books is a very good idea. 
Buy Now
Time for a reality check. 

My first two books received good review attention and sold between modestly and modestly well, depending upon your point of view. I'm pleased with the results so far. Here's a quick recap: 
  • Book one, in hardcover/ebook/audio has already sold enough copies to earn back my author's advance. In the biz that's called "earning out" the advance, and it's an important milestone in an author's career
  • Book one, UNBREAKABLE, was an Amazon and B&N, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, best-of-the-month pick
  • UNBREAKABLE, a debut, was published in hardcover AND downloadable audio read by the fabulous, Audie Award nominee Andi Arndt 
  • German language rights are sold and published (INDOMITABLE releases in Deutsch in February 2017) 
  • Book two, INDOMITABLE, was a B&N SF/F best-of pick, and twice an i09 best-of pick 
  • Many outlets praised the books including: RT Books; The Verge; Asimov's; Light Speed Magazine; for more see here
The "sold modestly well" part is where I'm stuck but only for the moment. In my book, "I'm stuck" is an opportunity for growth, not a final destination. Books three and four in the Chronicles of Promise Paen are plotted and waiting for the next yes. Even though books one and two were profitable, and well-reviewed, they didn't sell to Tor's expectations. For the present, Tor is taking a let's-wait-and-see approach, which is a polite way of saying "If you sell more, we will come." 

All to say...I need to sell more books. My first two books are no longer the latest volumes on the shelf. Publishing favors the new. But in a sense there's no such thing as an old book either. Books don't grow old so much as they become old when people stop reading them. My challenge is to find new readers. In the words of our first princess Carrie Fisher, "Instant gratification takes too long." Thank God. I've got time on my side. 
 

What else? I need more spiritual discipline like scramjets need oxygen. Prayer and practicing the presence of God are very good things. For me, this amounts to setting aside a daily time to pray and read my Bible. I don't do either enough. I'm a big believer in the inevitability of service. We all serve something or someone whether we like it or not. I've tried serving a career, and I've tried serving the opinions and cares of others. Both left me empty. Serving God is the one practice that's filled the void. 

So, that's a brief, 50,000-foot view of some goals for next year:
  • Play more
  • Write more
  • Sell more
  • Pray more
What are yours? Don't know yet? Take thirty minutes and jot them down. Use pen and ink. Yes, really. Crossing your own T makes all the difference.  

More to come. For now, I have a vacation to finish. Heather and I try to get to Florida once a year to see her folks (I'm blessed with great in-laws), and extended family (high caliber people), and the beach (who doesn't love surf and sand?). H is never in enough photos, which is something else to address next year.

 Peace,

 - W. C. 
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