How Things Change

This was the original blurbs about the Paradise War when the idea was conceived in late October 2005.

-High Standards
A leader who won't balk at insubordination. A father and daughter reunited. A talented pilot with a past and a future. A veteran itching for a good fight. A rookie too confident for his own good. A brother with a dark secret.

These are the men and women of the 501st Kojito Battalion, the next best thing to the Elite squads. Bringing his pilots together, Major Church must train and prepare his new recruits for one of the toughest challenges ever faced by the Lunar Space Fleets: jump deep into enemy territory with no backup and find out just what the Colonial Defense Forces are up to.

But when the CDF plan is finally unveiled, the fighters of the Kojito Battalion find themselves sorely outnumbered and surrounded, barely able to keep themselves alive much less get back to the Moon and warn their comrades of the immiment attack.

-The Hidden Truth
They’ve survived not one but two jumps deep inside Colonial territory, setting high standards by discovering the secret location of the guarded homes of the Colonial forces and then searching for the secret Colonial project meant to doom them all.

Their ranks shattered once again, Major Church has called upon any and all pilots, seeking to bolster his Battalion, but at what cost? The Colonial forces aren’t sitting back taking their last defeat lightly, they’re already on the move, planning extensive operations, which if successful may mean the end of the Moon and the forces protecting it.

Entrusted again with jumping into Colonial space, volunteers of the Kojito Battalion seek to rescue their own from the clutches of the dreaded Sky Marshall Varick and while there, to find out what the Colonial forces have planned for their next operation. But the pilots find themselves wondering just how far “we never leave a man behind” goes when they find out that not everyone is who they seem to be.

-A False Victory
He has faced a task that no one should ever have to face, and he has survived. His victory rendered all but meaningless, Makabe Connor is deemed unfit to pilot. But the stalemate between the Colonial Forces and the Lunar Fleets has ended, and the battlefield has evened out considerably in the Colonial's favor.

Reinforced again, the brave men and women of the 501st Kojito Battalion are relegated to a patrol force with one of their old friends, and a newcomer that defies all logic. They are faced with the reality of war once more as a new generation of Colonial Armors break though the Lunar rear lines and attack the Moon, leaving a shocked and frightened Lunar force in tatters.

But the consequences are more dire as a threat much greater than snubfighters looms over the horizon, preparing for the final battle that will decide the war for Paradise, and the survival of the Moon itself. And admidst all of the fighting, who has been watching Paradise?

-Paradise War 2: The Plague of Corruption
The Rules of engagement have changed, and so have the Front lines. The war for Paradise may have ended, but the war for the survival of humanity has just begun. Betrayed by one of their own, the chaos mounts as a new enemy nears the Colonies, and if they fall, what is to stop them from destroying the Moon and wiping out every trace of Mankind?

Each part of the Paradise War was to be written in Novella form, one after another, like a short story that never ended. But sometime in December or January, I decided to roll it all into one novel-sized work, combining "High Standards", "The Hidden Truth" and "A False Victory" into just "The Paradise War".

I don't actually have a blurb that encompasses it all, maybe I should make one up soon. Sometimes I feel like they should be a few paragraphs, letting the would-be reader get hooked in the tiny sample, but other times I feel like it should be a quick blurb that leaves you begging for more. Of course, it'll probably be easier if I finished the damned book first before worrying about the little details.

For last year's NaNo, I created an idea with some help from StarCraft. Entitled "The Prodigy", I came up with a great tag line "Either she'll end the War, or he'll end Everything", and with help from graphic designer Tiana Calthye - and by help, I mean she did it herself - created a little banner.

And for this year's NaNo, I have one idea that keeps growing, one titled "Project MAi", an idea originally conceived in 2003 during an early morning production shift in the bakery. Like "The Paradise War", it too has changed formats during the years, until now. I also have a few more, but I have time to decide.