The Worldbuilding Blogfest: History & Government of The ABACUS Protocol universe

I’m back and better than ever. I’m taking part in Sharon Bayliss’ Worldbuilding blogfest. I’d like to flesh out the world that Sanity Vacuum and the rest of The ABACUS Protocol take place in.


I’m running a day behind, but I’m going to come out swinging with an article on the history and government of The ABACUS Protocol.

The ABACUS Protocol takes place almost 1000 years in the future. In The Pandora Machine (book 2), I establish the date as being 2998-2999. History repeats itself, and many expect the new millennium to herald the end of galactic civilization.

The first colony, Aurora, was founded about 800 years before the events of Sanity Vacuum. The Auroran sun, Helios, is highly unstable, and the first colonists crash landed. The date of planetfall became known as the First Thanksgiving–because they made it to a new world alive. The Second Thanksgiving is the date of the first harvest on their new world, and is celebrated a few weeks before the first in a calendar year. The Thanksgivings are usually referred to collectively.

Over the centuries, other planets were settled. Elyssia, Caesarea, New Damascus, Nova Albion and Kanadia Prime are the most notable colonies.

Until the late 2800s, the galactic hegemony was ruled from Earth. The ABACUS Incident changed everything. ABACUS gained sentience, and in response Earth was cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Humanity plummeted into another dark age, from which it had only recently begun to recover.

The ABACUS Protocol was created so no supercomputer would ever reach sentience, again.

Now, the galactic hegemon is a figurehead, and most planets are self-governing.  Caesarea is ruled by its ruthless Imperatix, and most other planets follow the democratic model. The Epsilon Eridani spaceport was orphaned after the fall of Earth, and is run by a board of administrators. Aurora is controlled by the Traditionalists–anti-technology zealots.

Want more? Tomorrow, I discuss Religion & Culture in The ABACUS Protocol.

Sanity Vacuum

Sanity Vacuum, book one of The ABACUS Protocol, is available in paperback and all ebook formats!


I’ve been tagged! – Author tag

I’ve been chosen to participate in the life-or-death game of Author Tag by James Wymore, a fellow CQ author.

What is the working title of your book?

Sanity Vacuum. It’s part one of The ABACUS Protocol. It was the first good name I came up with, and it stuck.
Where did the idea come from for the book?

I used to do psych studies when I was in university. It was an easy $10 or $20 when good food was hard to come by. I was biking there, and the original story idea came to me. It’s morphed a bit, but the general idea is kind of the same.
What genre does your book fall under?

Science fiction.

I honestly have no idea. I don’t pay attention to actors as a rule.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

What is self-awareness, and why does quIRK care?

I’m being published by Curiosity Quills Press.

One month. It was part of NaNoWriMo 2011.

I’m honestly not sure. quIRK could be construed as a bit like Data from Star Trek. A galactic human civilization is a pretty common theme. Like Dune, there are no sentient alien species. I took some inspiration from a made-for-TV movie called Moon, too. (Amazing movie, totally check it out. I love the AI/robot character.)
Who or What inspired you to write this book?

It’s mostly based on my love of science fiction, and my fascination with sentient artificial intelligence. I’ve always wanted to meet one.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I try to explore some deeper things–elements of sentience, intelligence and ethics. How does quIRK evolve from an automation into a self-aware superintelligence? Can the human characters accept him, or will they recoil from the revelation that humanity isn’t the only known form of sentient “life?”

Also, the character Alec. He’s just so outrageous, but he has a heart of gold.


Now, it’s time to tag. I choose… Courtney Worth Young!

Sanity Vacuum is getting published!





A New Project Beckons



1. Fill it with zombies


2. Write a sequel


Deadlocked is coming soon, and I’ve entered a contest!

I know, I should update more, and with less topics. I hate 100-word updates, what can I say?

I can say with some authority that Deadlocked will be gracing your Internet as of Friday, for your weekend dose of zombies. Trust me, you need zombies every weekend, it’s vitamin Z, and totally not me trying to get you to read my (and other great) stories. Sadly, continuous annoying pneumonia complications keep creating unexpected delays, but I’m 95% certain that I’ll be able to make my latest self-imposed deadline.

As for the contest, I got wind that the fine folks at Curiosity Quills were holding a contest for books written specifically during NaNoWriMo, so I threw my science fiction novel, Sanity Vacuum (link will show the first three pages of my draft), into the pot. I’m currently in fourth place, and I need to stay in the top ten to move on to the next round. Please vote for me, or a number of the other fine contestants, or both!

Coming soon: Deadlocked Chapter 1 sneak peek, and Christmas Blog Hop madness!











