Tag Archives: empire of dust

How to Write a Speculative Fiction Book

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Jacey Bedford

I’m not going to be able to teach you how to write a book in the twelve hundred or so words in this blog post – even presuming I have the skills. Yes I’ve written books, seven published so far … Continue reading →

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Space Opera

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Jacey Bedford

I write science fiction. I’m pretty sure my sub-genre is (so far) space opera. I’m happy with that definition. I grew up reading my dad’s Lensman books and the distinctive Gollancz yellow jacketed SF which (sadly) I only have a … Continue reading →

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Flashing Back

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Jacey Bedford

It’s generally easier to start writing a book at the beginning, keep on going until you reach the end, and then stop. A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Sequential storytelling mirrors the world we experience on … Continue reading →

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Building a Universe – Law and Order in The Psi-Tech Novels

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Jacey Bedford

More about the universe in which the Psi-Tech books are set. The Monitors – Galactic PolicingFormed in 2391, the Monitors are an interstellar policing force largely concerned with providing law in the space-lanes and for those newly established colonies that … Continue reading →

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Building a Universe – Folding Space – The Psi-Tech Novels.

Posted on February 9, 2021 by Jacey Bedford

Early Space ExplorationHumans established several stations on the moon, and a joint scientific facility on Mars by 2050. At the same time commerical expeditions to mine the Kuiper Belt proved successful, and, following a twenty year scientific study, shipyards were … Continue reading →

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Building a Universe – The Psi-Techs

Posted on January 26, 2021 by Jacey Bedford

My Psi-Tech Universe has implant-enhanced humans who have telepathy to a greater or lesser extent, combined with other psi talents. My main characters, Cara and Ben are psi-techs. Cara is a top class telepath with a side order of empathy, … Continue reading →

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Building a Universe – Power Structures and Personal Stories.

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Jacey Bedford

When I started to write Empire of Dust I didn’t really know much about my setting. I didn’t build my universe first and then people is and dream up stories. The people came first, and along with them a predicament. … Continue reading →

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The Geography of Words

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Jacey Bedford

Writing science fiction and fantasy involves worldbuilding. Sometimes we take a concept, strip it right down to basics and invent a planet where the sea is pink, the sky is upside down and the dominant life form has seven tentacles … Continue reading →

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An interview first published in SF Signal

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Jacey Bedford

I like doing interviews, especially when the questions are both thoughtful and taxing. Carl Slaughter presented me with an intriguing set of questions way back in 2016. I thought I’d revisit them. CS: Your first series is cyberpunk space opera. … Continue reading →

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Quantifying Success

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Jacey Bedford

A few years ago, Chuck Wendig posted to his Terrible Minds blog saying: ‘It Only Gets Harder Once You’re Published’. (http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/08/19/it-only-gets-harder-once-youre-published/) How true. That article really resonated with me. I wonder if authors ever get over the self-doubt thing. When … Continue reading →

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My Other Journal in a Galaxy Far far Away

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Jacey Bedford

In 2008 I started a blog on LiveJornal (and later moved everything over to Dreamwidth, but that’s another story). These days I mostly keep Dreamwidth for book and movie reviews, but in those early days my blogs were much more … Continue reading →

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The Long Haul

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Jacey Bedford

Now, here’s the thing… when you write a trilogy you are in it for the long haul. To all those people who write a single book, I salute you. It’s not easy. It takes dedication and effort. Now imagine you … Continue reading →

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Jacey’s Quick Book Links

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Jacey Bedford

With the publication of Rowankind just a few days away (27th November), I thought I’d post links to all my books. Obviously the (not-so-hidden) subtext is, go out and buy them, but seriously folks, those advance orders for a new … Continue reading →

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Character self-determination

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Jacey Bedford

There’s one of those little graphics floating around Facebook that says: Main Characters: You do everything you can to raise them right, and as soon as they hit the page they do any damn thing they please. Yes, fellow writers, … Continue reading →

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The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Jacey Bedford

My first book, Empire of Dust, launched on 4th November 2014 from DAW and, boy, was I excited. I’d waited a long time for that moment. When I got the first review , from Publishers’ Weekly, no less, I read … Continue reading →

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What’s the Psi-Tech trilogy about?

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Jacey Bedford

Nimbus, the final book in my Psi-Tech trilogy, is out now.  Who-hoo, I have five books out and this is the first complete trilogy. Sometimes big ideas start with a bang and arrive fully formed, sometimes they start small and … Continue reading →

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Happy Book Day To Me!

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Jacey Bedford

My new book, NIMBUS, is out today. Let me say that again because it never gets old. My new book, NIMBUS, is out today! It’s my fifth published book, and the third in my Psi-Tech universe. It represents a milestone … Continue reading →

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IAm/Am Not a Word Machine

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Jacey Bedford

A reprint from a blog I did for Emerald Musings back in February 2017 – with updates. Douglas Adams famously said: ‘I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.’ That may have worked for … Continue reading →

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Due Process

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Jacey Bedford

My publishing process goes like this: The publisher offers a contract (negotiated by my agent) which may be for one, two or three books, and on signing I get half the advance. My agent takes the agreed cut and I … Continue reading →

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Worldbuilding for a Series

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Jacey Bedford

In the last blog I talked about Committing Trilogy, but glossed over the worldbuilding aspects so I could talk about them in this blog entry. I’m going to (mostly) talk about the worldbuilding involved in my futuristic SF trilogy, though … Continue reading →

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Ten Quick Tips for Writers

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Jacey Bedford

Here are ten quick tips for writers (not necessarily in order of usefulness and not necessarily complete). Feel free to ignore what doesn’t work for you. Remember: ‘Follow no rule off a cliff.’ – C.J. Cherryh. Besides these are not … Continue reading →

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Overnight Success in Only Sixteen Years

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Jacey Bedford

The beginning of my writerly story is lost in the mists of my childhood. I struggled with writing at school because, being a fluent reader (but not a writer) by the age of five, I was put into a class … Continue reading →

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Pitfalls of Publishing, or Lest I Forget

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Jacey Bedford

I’m now in the fortunate position of having three books published by DAW, with two more due out in January 2017 and October 2017, but achieving a novel publishing deal took years from my first short story sale to a … Continue reading →

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Gotten, Tannoy, and Trug

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Jacey Bedford

Another milestone. I just hit send and emailed the manuscript for my fourth book to my editor. It’s 134,200 words long which is roughly the same size as Winterwood. Silverwolf is scheduled for publication on Tuesday 3rd January 2017. It’s … Continue reading →

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New Two-Book Deal

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Jacey Bedford

With Crossways less than 2 weeks away from publication I just got the go-ahead from my lovely agent (Amy Boggs of Donald Maass Literary) to announce this. I have a new contract with DAW for another two books to follow … Continue reading →

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Book Cover: Crossways

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Jacey Bedford

Crossways, my follow up to Empire of Dust, is due out on 4th August, so with only a few weeks to go I thought I’d delve a little deeper into the cover art by Stephan Martiniere. Stephan did the gorgeous … Continue reading →

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On Delivering the Second Book

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Jacey Bedford

Empire of Dust came out in November 2014 and yesterday I delivered the final version of Crossways. Second books are difficult, mind bogglingly, scarily difficult. For starters, you never quite know how much backstory to filter in from the first … Continue reading →

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Listen to Good Advice, but Trust Yourself

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Jacey Bedford

I’m a great advocate of writers’ critique groups, either face to face or online, but every person you show your writing to will have a different opinion: “You over-explain.” “I don’t understand X, could you unpack it a little more?” … Continue reading →

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2014 – Looking Backwards and Forwards – 2015

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Jacey Bedford

Looking back to 2014 2014 is the year I achieved my ambition and officially became a novelist with the publication of Empire of Dust in November. I’m still slightly surprised – even though I’ve known since mid 2013 that it … Continue reading →

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Guest Blogs Roundup

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

25th November 2014 SF Signal’s Mind Meld http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2014/11/mind-meld-the-best-book-openings/ 16th November 2014 Guest Interview on Chuck Wendig’s Diabolical Plots http://www.diabolicalplots.com/?p=12558 Review on Jaine Fenn’s Tales from the Garrett. http://www.jainefenn.com/2014/11/review-empire-dust/ 6th November 2014 Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds blog – Five Things I … Continue reading →

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Mind melding

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

In which I take part in SF Signal’s Mind Meld on The Best Book openings. I’m in great company with other writers and readers. http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2014/11/mind-meld-the-best-book-openings/

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Guest Interview on Diabolical plots

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

There’s a guest interview with me on the Diabolocal Plots Website which hosts the excellent Submission Grinder story nmarkets discovery tool. http://www.diabolicalplots.com/?p=12558

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The Three Letter Word

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

My son congratulated me on getting my three book publishing deal and we talked about the first book, Empire of Dust. He was interested in word counts, outlining and revision – the writing process in general. He’s in the middle … Continue reading →

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Guest Post on Book View Cafe

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

So pleased to have the opportunity to answer Nancy Jane Moore’s interview questions on the ever-wonderful Book View Cafe blog. Here’s the piece: Whatever Makes You Weird.

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Guest Post on Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds Blog

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

I’m delighted to be on Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds blog in his series: Five Things I learned While Writing… In this case it’s Five Things I learned while Writing Empire of Dust, and here it is: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/11/06/jacey-bedford-five-things-i-learned-writing-empire-of-dust/ Thanks, Chuck, much … Continue reading →

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Guest Post on Anne Lyle’s Blog

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

World Building From the Coffee Up is my new guest post on Anne Lyles’ blog here: http://annelyle.com/blog/2014/11/04/worldbuilding-from-the-coffee-up-a-guest-post-by-jacey-bedford/ Thanks for hosting me, Anne. And there’s a new review of Empire of Dust on Jaine Fenn’s Tales from the Garrett. Also – … Continue reading →

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My Guest Post on Ben Jeapes’ Blog

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

Ben Jeapes did an excellent gust post here on my Live Journal blog a few months ago and now he’d invited me to guest on his blog. Here’s my post – about the value of critique groups. http://www.benjeapes.com/index.php/2014/10/everyones-a-critic/ Ben and … Continue reading →

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It’s real

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

Though the official publication day isn’t until 4th November a box of advance promo copies of Empire of Dust arrived this morning. Five hundred and thirty two pages of papery goodness in my hot little hands at last. I can’t … Continue reading →

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Why I love my cover for Empire of Dust

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

When my editor, Sheila Gilbert at DAW, said she was planning to get Stephan Martiniere  to do the illustration for the cover of Empire of Dust I confess it was a name I didn’t know. Turns out I was showing … Continue reading →

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Editing and Time Travel

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

Editing one book while writing the first draft of the sequel is as close as I will ever come to time travel. My first book, Empire of Dust, is due out from DAW on November 4th and while waiting for … Continue reading →

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How long is a novel?

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

As aspiring novellists we always receive conflicting pieces of advice. ‘A book should be as long as it needs to be,’ is always a good one, but it’s also generally sound advice that, ‘first time novellists should aim for a … Continue reading →

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Empire of Dust

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

Empire of Dust – a Psi-Tech Novel, by Jacey Bedford, DAW 4th November 2014

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Amazin’ Amazon

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

Empire of Dust – A Psi-Tech Novel by Jacey BedfordDAW, 4th November 2014 Whoo-hoo… really jazzed to discover that my upcoming novel (sans cover illustration unfortunately) is already up at Amazon for pre order. It’s not out until 4th November, … Continue reading →

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Scrivening

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

Jaine Fenn’s blog about Scrivener over at http://www.jainefenn.com/2014/03/scrive/ has prompted me to do a blog post about editing with Scrivener. I love Scrivener with a deep love. Karen Traviss recommended it at the beginning of last year and I thought … Continue reading →

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Thinking about Images

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Jacey Bedford

Great news. My debut novel is now scheduled for publication by DAW in November 2014. At the moment it’s called ‘Empire of Dust’, but that’s a working title and likely to change. My editor emailed last week and asked me … Continue reading →

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Editor Talk

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Jacey Bedford

A long chat with my editor on the phone yesterday to glean the changes she would like to Novel Number One – currently called Empire of Dust, but that’s likely to change. It’s mostly adding more worldbuilding information, dripfeeding in … Continue reading →

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