Category: Writing

  • Where Did the Idea Come From?: Shallow Trenches/Open Skies

    Where Did the Idea Come From?: Shallow Trenches/Open Skies

    I often struggle with coming up with blog topics, so I’m constantly on the hunt for interesting ideas. This week’s comes from a suggestion I found on Goodreads: Where did you get the idea for your most recent book? The path to the idea that sparked Shallow Trenches/Open Skies is…

  • My (Round-About) Path to Publishing

    My (Round-About) Path to Publishing

    With Gas Giant Gambit officially out in the world, and with big news pending on that front, I feel that it’s a good time to talk about how this all happened in the first place. I think it’s important to stress that there is no “right way” to get your…

  • Guest Takeover: Blazing the Space-Western Frontier with E.S. Raye

    Guest Takeover: Blazing the Space-Western Frontier with E.S. Raye

    This week’s blog comes to you from the Alex Parker Publishing website, we’re I’m in the middle of something of a takeover this Gas Giant Gambit release week! # Hi! I’m E.S. Raye, and my debut novel, Gas Giant Gambit: A Tall Tale From Beyond the Cygnus Rift, came out on…

  • Gas Giant Gambit: Ray

    Gas Giant Gambit: Ray

    When I’m figuring out my main characters, I like to fall back on one trope in particular: the Freudian Trio. Once you’re aware of this trope, you start to see it everywhere, but perhaps the best example of it is Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy. McCoy is the…

  • Gas Giant Gambit: Kirkus Review

    Gas Giant Gambit: Kirkus Review

    If you follow me on my various social media platforms, you may already be aware of today’s topic–but my book is coming out in ten weeks, and this counts as marketing, so you’ll just have to bear with me! On July 1st, I got an email from my publisher letting…

  • Why I’m Publishing Gas Giant Gambit Traditionally

    Why I’m Publishing Gas Giant Gambit Traditionally

    One of the things I dislike about the writing community is the negative discourse regarding trad vs self-publishing. We’re all writers, are we not? Of course, I can see where the soreness comes from on both sides, but I think it’s all noise, really. In my opinion, neither traditional nor…

  • Gas Giant Gambit: The Arm

    Gas Giant Gambit: The Arm

    About eighteen months ago, I shared a post about the main setting of Gas Giant Gambit: Las Ráfagas, the fuel mining outpost where all the action takes place. Now I want to pull back a bit, and introduce you to the larger world, in which Las Ráfagas is just an…

  • Gas Giant Gambit: Moe

    Gas Giant Gambit: Moe

    Way back in November of 2023, I wrote a little bit about the protagonist of Gas Giant Gambit, Gus. Now, with the release date coming in hot (September 16, 2025!), I feel it’s time to get back to that topic, and introduce you to a few more characters, starting with…

  • Book Research

    Book Research

    One of the things I love most about being an author is the research. That may sound boring to many, but I have a passion for learning. I love that “aha!” feeling when you understand a new concept or learn some interesting or fundamental factoid. If I could have remained…

  • General Writing Update

    General Writing Update

    I’m a day late with this week’s blog due to some household hectic-ness over the first half of the week, but this are slowly returning to normal. A lot has happened in the last little while, so I thought I’d share some general updates. Buckle up! Gas Giant Gambit Let’s…