Astrid Maxxim and her Undersea Dome is now available for the nook and nook apps. You can get it now at Barnes and Noble for 99 cents by following the link.
Girl inventor Astrid Maxxim and her friends are back. This time Astrid is building an observation dome beneath the sea. Will she complete her amazing construction project, or will she be sidetracked by underwater monsters, the evil organization known as the Black Hand, or her snotty cousin Gloria?
I decided to go back and read through the first few chapters of The Sorceress and her Lovers last night, having not worked on them for a few weeks. I’m reading along through chapter two and… wait a second… it just ends. I know I wrote the rest of this chapter. I remember that I had a meeting here with three more characters, and the scene ends just before that starts. Did I just think them and not actually write them? No! I know I wrote them.
So I sat down and began sifting through all my backups. Not there. How about my thumb drive? Then it hits me. I know what happened. I wrote the chapter at work while having my lunch, and then I came home. I forgot to synch my documents and then started working on the version at home. Then when I eventually did synch the drives, the last version I worked on overwrote the other, longer version. Boy, that sucks.
Of course, I remember basically what happened, but I don’t remember all the details and I don’t remember the lizzie names I had created. What a bummer. Oh, well…
Before she could make any further protests, Astrid was pulled quickly onto the bus by Christopher and Denise. The vehicle made a single stop at a gate guarded by military police and then it was out onto the Queen Liliuokalani Freeway. From there it was a remarkably short trip across the island to Kailua. Less than an hour after arriving in Hawaii, Astrid and the others stepped off the bus in front of the palatial beachfront property owned by Maxxim Industries.
The estate had been created years before when Mrs. Maxxim had purchased seven properties and combined them. The original houses, which had been in bad repair, had been removed and five lovely multi-level modern homes had been built, interspersed with gardens and common areas.
“Where’s the swimming pool?” asked Denise as soon as she stepped out of the bus.
“We’re a hundred yards away from the most beautiful beach in the world,” said her brother, “and you want a swimming pool?”
“I don’t swim in the ocean with Astrid anymore.”
“There are three swimming pools,” said Astrid. “You can swim in all three of them.”
“After we get settled,” interjected Mr. Brown. “Do you know where we’re staying, Astrid?”
“Hold on,” replied the girl inventor, pulling out her tablet and flipping her fingers across the screen. “My mom gave me the arrangements. You and Denise are staying at Orchid House, and Dennis too of course. The Harrises are at Plumeria House. The Diazes are at Antherium House. And Toby and Mr. Bundersmith are at Chrysanthemum House.”
“What about me?” asked Austin.
“Oh, um… you’re with Toby and his dad. And I’ll be at Gardenia House.”
Carrying their luggage with them, the travelers from Maxxim City split up and headed in small groups toward each of the assigned houses. Astrid all alone, walked down the sidewalk and up the steps to the front door of Gardenia House, pulling her suitcase along on its wheels. It was a medium-sized home, far smaller than the Maxxim Mansion, but quite striking. A central portion rose up into two stories plus a loft, while wings on either side were a single level. The gently sloping roof and the coral façade fit perfectly with the tropical plants that filled carefully arranged flowerbeds all around the perimeter. The front door accepted Astrid’s thumbprint and she stepped inside.
Walking through the foyer and into the kitchen, Astrid opened the refrigerator to find an apple, which she washed in the sink before taking a bite. The interior of the house was beautifully furnished and spotlessly kept; not surprising since it was used only a few weeks a year. Opening the patio door, the fourteen year-old breathed in the floral scent that floated on the gentle breeze. She could hear the ocean waves crashing against the nearby beach with an irregular rhythm.
Astrid sat down in one of the heavy wooden patio chairs as the breeze whipped up slightly around her. It was pleasantly warm and neither the small cloud that moved over her head, nor the scattered drops that fell from it detracted the feeling that the entire island was giving her one big hug. She finished her apple and walked back inside, dropping the core in the recycle bin before taking her suitcase to the bedroom she had used when she had stayed in the house the previous summer. She had just started unpacking when she received a text.
“ß already at the pool,” said Denise’s text, pointing at her name.
“How’s the water?” typed Astrid.
“Not in water. Laying out… duh.”
Astrid texted back. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
She had barely finished typing when another text arrived, this one from Valerie.
“We’re here! See you in an hour.”
“Wonderful.”
Astrid sat her phone, her tablet, and her MX-360 on the nightstand and then quickly unpacked her suitcase, placing her clothes in the dresser drawers. The exception was her pink and yellow swimsuit. It wasn’t so much that she wanted to lay out by the pool, she told herself, so much as she needed to keep an eye on Denise to see that she properly protected her skin. Decked out in her bikini and her matching flip-flops, she skipped out the bedroom door and into the hallway to come face to face with two strange men.
I’m getting ready to count up book sales for the month so far. Some books will have high sales numbers and some low numbers, but I don’t necessarily love my best-seller(s) the most. I have strong feelings for all of my books. After all, I wrote them because I wanted to write books that I would like to read. When some books that usually sell very few copies suddenly do well, even if it’s only a little bit, I feel a bit of pride.
Tesla’s Stepdaughters is one of those books. It’s really different from any other books I’ve written. Science fiction and fantasy are easy for me, but a mystery (such as it is) seems much harder, and I’m just proud to have come up with it.
When Eaglethorpe Buxton sells well, I’m similarly pleased. I suppose its a validation of myself as a humorist. I probably had more sheer fun writing EB than any other book.
I feel good when somebody buys (and reads) Princess of Amathar. It was my first book and took the longest to write (years and years).
Picking my favorite book or my favorite character really would be like picking my favorite child. I love them all. And just like my children, there is a little bit of me in each of them. Even the evil ones.
Well, I read chapter three to the Shared Word Writers Group last night, and as usual, they were very helpful. I’m pretty happy with the story as far as I’ve gotten. However, I find myself going back again and again to tweak certain parts. Sometimes by the time I finish a “first draft” of a story, I’ve actually revised the earlier portions at least a dozen times.
I’m almost done with Chapter Ten. As plotted now, there are 17 chapters total, but there are a couple of spots which might be expanded. This is a character driven story, so the characters have to be just right. It also probably has more dialog than any book I’ve written before. I think this is probably because I know these characters so well at this point.
Nine more days of school left for me, and my exams and lesson plans are written. I’m going to see how much I can get done before the end of the year, and then I’ll really take off.
“Don’t you think racing is a waste of time?” asked Robot Valerie. “These hoverbikes are all new and have the same internal workings. Won’t the winner just be the person who is lightest?”
“Yay, I win,” said Denise.
“Racing isn’t just about top speed,” said Austin. “It’s about skill and strategy and knowing when to accelerate and how to move into a turn. Didn’t you guys ever watch Cars? Besides, it’ll be fun.”
“Where do you want to race?” asked Christopher.
“Let’s race around that island,” replied Austin.
Two hundred yards from shore was a small island, little more than a bit of rock sticking up just above the surface, to which clung a bit of soil and a few weeds, along with a single yucca plant. It was so small that a single individual would have been hard-pressed to find a spot to sit down.
“You want to race over the water?” asked Denise.
“Sure, it’s better than racing around this desert,” he replied. “If we fall, we get wet. If we fell anywhere else, we’d be covered in cactus needles.”
“Valerie can’t race over the water,” said Denise. “What if she fell in?”
“She’d get wet,” said Austin.
“I mean Robot Valerie. She’s made of metal. She might rust.”
“I’m mostly plastic,” said Robot Valerie, defensively. “I still can’t race over the water though.”
“No you can’t,” said Astrid. “I’m surprised at you, Austin. That’s like asking you to fly over a pit of lava.”
The boy stuck out his lip and frowned. “I didn’t… I don’t want her to get hurt. It’s only I wanted to race.”
“Why don’t you three boys race,” said Astrid.
Christopher rolled his eyes, but then nodded and he and Toby walked to their hoverbikes and put on their helmets. Austin, anxious to get started before anyone had a chance to change his mind, was at the shoreline waiting for them. The four girls walked down to the lake’s edge to watch.
“All right,” said Toby. “Once around the island and back to this point. First one to cross the edge of the shore wins. Put your helmet on, Austin.”
The three boys lined up and got ready. Astrid held up her hand.
“Ready… steady… go!”
The three hoverbikes took off across the lake. Austin’s blue bike took the lead, skimming just feet from the water, leaving a path in the waves beneath him. Even from the shoreline, it was obvious that he was pushing the bike near its 40 mph top speed. Christopher was racing nearly as fast, though his green hoverbike was flying about twenty feet higher.
“Toby’s losing,” said Regular Valerie.
“He’s just letting Austin win,” said Astrid.
Austin, now firmly in the lead, leaned right and made the turn around the little island. He had just finished the maneuver, when suddenly something reached out of the water and hit the bottom of his bike. The sleek blue hoverbike flipped over end on end, tossing the boy into the lake.
Ten minutes later, the group arrived at Main Street and climbed aboard the monorail train that took them to school. Rachel Carson High School was a beautiful high-tech, three-story structure with its own internal monorail station on the top floor. The six young people stepped out of the train and started off toward their respective team rooms, where they could visit their lockers before class.
“Hello, Nerd,” said as voice behind Astrid, as she put her backpack on the top shelf in her locker.
She turned around to come face to face with her cousin Gloria. She looked just as stunningly beautiful as she did on the hoverbike poster, but now she was wearing a Rachel Carson High blazer.
“What are you doing here?” asked Astrid.
“I’m going to school. Gee, aren’t you supposed to be some kind of genius? I would have thought that you could figure that out.”
“But you live in Socketburg and you can’t start school now anyway. It’s April, for crying out loud.”
“I’m on an extended study program. We have those at Tallulah Bankhead High. Don’t feel bad, but I probably won’t see much of you because I’m a sophomore and you’re just a freshman. Anyway, bye.”
Gloria walked off into the crowd of students, leaving Astrid standing open-mouthed in her wake.
Shark!
Denise Brown tapped frantically on her friend Astrid’s shoulder to get her attention. Astrid Maxxim’s focus, like the focus of her underwater camera, was fixed on the bright orange starfish, which rested on the top of the coral outcropping as if waiting for its picture to be taken. Astrid snapped a photo before turning to see what was agitating her dive partner. Denise pointed at the shark, and then to make sure that she was getting the message across, made a fin with her hand and put it on top of her head. Astrid held up her fingers about an inch apart in the universal symbol for small. Denise shook her head violently and shot up toward the surface.
In exasperation, Astrid blew out bubbles around her regulator, and then kicked her way back up to the surface of the Mediterranean. She spat out her mouthpiece and pulled the dive mask up onto her forehead.
“We’ve got fifteen minutes left before we’re done,” she said.
“Shark!” shouted Denise, scrambling up the ladder that hung from the side of the small boat.
“Shark?” said Toby Bundersmith, who was waiting topside. He threw aside his Batman comic and helped Denise up the ladder. “That’s lucky. I was hoping to see a shark when I was in the water, but I didn’t.”
“Come on, Denise,” called Astrid. “I still haven’t got a picture of a lobster yet.”
“There is a shark!”
“It’s only a little one,” said Astrid. “It is more afraid of you than you are of it.”
“That’s not possible,” said Denise. “And it wasn’t little. It was big—large, hefty, colossal, enormous, gigantic, mammoth, massive, oversized, tremendous, vast.”
Astrid tossed the camera up to Toby. “It was little—tiny, inconsequential, miniscule, petite, teeny, undersized, microscopic, miniature, did I say miniature already, no? runty, bitty, wee.”
“Come on,” said Toby, holding his hand down for Astrid. “I’m getting bored up here anyway. Let’s go in and have lunch.”
“Hurry up and get in the boat before that shark gets you,” said Denise, helping Astrid up.
“Honestly,” said Astrid. “It was the size of a dachshund.”
“I got bit by a wiener dog once and had to have five stitches,” replied Denise. “He didn’t have shark’s teeth either, just regular dog teeth.”
Toby helped as the girls, one after the other, removed their scuba tanks and stowed them in the aft rack. Then he went forward and took a seat behind the wheel. As Astrid and Denise sat down, the big inboard engine roared to life. Pulling back the throttle, Toby steered toward the dock in Cartagena as the two girls wrapped up in large, fluffy towels.
Astrid Maxxim was startlingly cute, with shoulder length strawberry blond hair and very large blue eyes. Already a world famous inventor, she was enjoying the relative anonymity that Cartagena, Spain offered. Denise had long blond hair and green eyes, and was a little on the skinny side. At five foot five, the two girls were exactly the same height, and had been best friends since they were in diapers. Toby Bundersmith was tall and muscular, with brown hair that hung down in bangs just above his hazel eyes. He turned and gave Astrid a broad smile.
Astrid Maxxim and her Undersea Dome is now available at Diesel Ebooks. Follow the link to find it for just 99 cents . But remember, you can still get it FREE from Smashwords. Just look back over the recent posts for details. Diesel Ebooks is an ebook agnostic store. You can get books for any device there, at competitive prices.
Whoop! Whoop! I have just 13 days of work left for the year and then the summertime is here. Just 11 of those are days with kids and 3 of them are half days for Exams. I still have a ton of stuff to do of course. We still have a yearbook party I have to plan. I still have to write semester exams. I still have to teach for about five more days. But then, I’m a full-time author.
I’ve been trying to catch up on my backlog and was doing pretty good at it for the past week or so, but then yesterday, I didn’t get anything written. Yesterday was the when we were supposed to reenact the Battle of Gettysburg at school and there was a ton of stuff to do for that. Then it ended up getting cancelled due to unhealthy air– smoke from California wild fires mostly. Anyway, I’m going to get back on track again this weekend.
I’m still shooting for the end of June for His Robot Wife: Patience is a Virtue. I’ll keep you updated here of course.
City of Amathar 