08/07/10

Welcome to AU - OtherWorlds  

AU News

New Stories and Books

17Oct: Legacy continues with Amazon Imperative

10Sep: Legacy story line begins

26Aug: First Protector story line begins

14-May: New Story

8Apr06: New story

1Apr06: Happy Fool's Day

31Mar06: Continuation of Tales of a Valkyrie

29Mar06: A brief diversion... Trina

03Mar06: More of Kara returns

20Feb06: More of Kara Returns

05Feb06: Continuation of Kara Returns

19-Dec-05 A new story line begins called Kara Returns.

17-Oct-05 A new story of mine in the Other Velorians story arc called Blind Justice.

17-Oct-05  Brantley also has a new Other Velorians story up, his called The High Cruel Years, Part One. This is an elegant continuation and finish to a story I'd earlier run out of gas on. Bravo to Brantley.

31Aug05: The most perfect Velorian ever... see Photo Gallery - or direct link to Perfection

28Aug05: Rewrite of Alisa's Story

27Aug05: Continuation of Shore Leave.

13Aug05: A long delayed new story, this one self-contained and complete.

24Apr05: Two new stories. A rewrite of an old classic, Evana's Story, and a new story that takes place in the Other Velorians continuum.

27Mar05: Slow coming... but here. The next two episodes of Tales of the Valkyries, Hana's story.

13Feb05: Finally... an update! Sorry for the delay, but this three part novella about Valkyries is about 70% written, and I figured it was save to post Part 1 of 3. Part 2 is only a week or so away, and that will give you time to digest Part 1. Hopefully it will wet your appetite for what's coming next.
 

04Dec04: Small update... just an email from Rich. You'll get a kick out of it.

28Nov04: Lots of stories in the works... probably a couple of hundred pages that I haven't published yet. Most of it in parallel, which is why I haven't completed any of it. I took a couple of days out of all that to do a short story for a writing contest. Relic Hunter.

04Sep04: I've uploaded an illustrated document called AU_History. This is a working, living document that collects the wisdom, lore and history of the characters and places of our stories.

Get a jolt out of life...!

15Aug04: Finally, an update. Corrididor is finished. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

6Jun04: Three more chapters posted.

23May04: Two new stories.

06May04: Two more episodes of Earth 2050AD.

25Apr04: Overachieving again. Two new and involved chapters of 2050AD.

18Apr04: I know I promised one new chapter a week, but this week I'm putting two up. Hope you don't mind.

13Apr04: Earth2050AD series starts

4Apr04: New AU3-style story posted.

1Mar04: Alternate HTML version of Shore Leave is up... much smaller for those having trouble with large downloads

28Feb04: I'm hard at work on Episode Two of Shore Leave. It's going to be a merging of McCloud's Daughters and Shore Leave, Episode One. Hopefully with a surprise or two.

25Jan04: New story and pictures file uploaded

9Jan04: New story uploaded.

23Dec03: Major revision to Shore Leave.

08Dec03: Updated version of Alisa's Story is on the Writing page.

01Dec03: A new novella begins on the AUOW, part of Ordinary Velorians. Also, check out the Bright Empire for the earlier portions of the saga. And soon, later stories.

22Nov03: New short story -- lots of cool illustrations.

09Nov03: New story up on Writing page. This one was fun. I'm also part way through two other unique stories. One is part of Classic, the other OtherWorlds.

21Sep03: I don't have the new AUOW chapters ready yet, but I have uploaded a couple of short stories so you don't think I'm dead or anything.

New logo, courtesy of Rapid Ray.

13Jul03: A second review of Paix des Femmes, this one by Alternate Histories.

13Jul03: I've created a Yahoo Group to facilitate discusson of AU-Otherworlds writing, ideas, futures and pictures.

10Jul03: A review of the first chapters of Paix des Femmes by Brantley Thompson Elkins

06Jul03: AU-OtherWorlds is launched!

 

31Oct: Joe's Bar - 2am

The 21st century rendition of the comic book Supergirl isn't sweetness and spice like she was in the 20th century. She drinks, smokes pot, and hangs out with older men until all hours. But she's still a good girl at heart. This short story was stimulated by a piece of commissioned art that the artist Rocinate made, and is featured in this story.

17Sep: Legacy - Amazon Imperative, Part One

10Sep: Legacy

What if Lois Lane and Clark Kent had a daughter? An alternate universe story.

26Aug: First Protector

The dramatic story of the very first Protector to ever leave the Hall of Protectors.

14-May: First Blood

A story of the first encounter between Tset'lar and Saray'en.

8Apr06: Last Man

A short story set back in the early days of the Companions, depicting Velorians before the concept of the Enlightenment and Protectors were established in Velorian culture.

1Apr06: Fools Day 2006

A short little fantasy for the day.

31Mar06: Hana's story, Part Four

Hana's story continues in Part Four as Rob and Bryn go into Iran to try and find her daughter and husband. Lots of action as Bryn proves what a real Valkyrie is capable of. Meanwhile, Hana, spirited away to Germany and under the influence of the Diaboli is induced into performing a heinous act of terrorism.

Since its been a year since I posted Part 3, and that many of the story links to Part 4 actually come from Part 2, you may need to reread these if you want to come up to speed. Or just read the brief synopsis at the front of Part 4 if you still remember this series.

Here are the links to the earlier parts:

Part One (PDF)

Part Two (PDF)

Part Three (PDF)

 

 

29Mar06: For the love of Trina

Not everyone thinks Velorians wear white hats and Arions wear black. War respects only death. Love is where you find it. This short story is about love, death, good guys and bad, but not necessarily in the usual order.

For the love of Trina (PDF)

For the love of Trina (HTML)

 

3Mar06: Kara Returns, Book05 is available for download. Based on negative feedback on PDF formats, I've gone back to PDF. An HTML of Book04 is available on the Writing page.

20Feb06: Kara Returns, Book04 is available for download. Note I've changed to PDF format for those who require email copies.

05Feb06: Kara Returns, Book03 is available for download. Story continues as the plot thickens and we see Zyara in all her glory. She's not a nice girl at all, despite the airs she puts on. (Some of you might have read the first half of this in a pre-release copy, and if so, then look halfway down for Chapter 19 and 20.)

19-Dec-05: Kara Returns - A Tribute with a Twist

What if the original Kara Zor-El of Krypton was revived from the dead after twenty-one years, her body preserved all this time by hard vacuum, absolute zero, the invigorating radiation of Sol and her natural invulnerability? Now healed, the shattered parts of her body regenerated, her only weakness is some mild memory loss as she returns to the Earth of 2005, a world where Superman and other characters of the DC Universe still live.

This is my retelling of an old tale, the story distinctly R-rated and lavishly illustrated, but with my personal spin on the legend. I've taken many, many liberties with Kryptonian history and DC Comics lore, yet you will see many hooks into the stories I fondly remember from the 70' and 80's. 

But that's what makes it fun for me, and hopefully for you.

Find all the chapters on the Writing page.

17-Oct-05: In a story inspired by the Chronicles of Riddick, Blind Justice pits Naomi Kim'Vallara, Velorian Ambassador to Reigel Five against an escaped convict from a penal mining colony. Given that he's human and she's a Velorian Matra, you'd think this would be an easy fight. Instead, the story depicts one of the worst moments of her life. A time when she could not save the humans in her charge from the most evil of creatures.

28Aug05: A rewrite of Alisa's Story

Alisa's Story - Introductions  HTML with pictures

Brantley and I have rewritten Alisa's Story to match it up to Shore Leave, Episode Two - Primal War. This short story forms the introduction to the pivotal character in the Other Velorian continuum. I've also added some very HQ picts, one's you haven't seen before, features Kristanna Loken as the model for Alisa.

27Aug05: Shore Leave, Episode Two - Primal War

(HTML version - 550K bytes) - includes pictures

The story continues with some fearsome battles between Durgin's Marines, their bodies augmented by the latest in exoskeletons, as they face off against two Primes. We learn more about Lara, and Alisa and Durgin undergo a true change of life.

13Aug05: I've published a new story called Scrumbles, part of the Ordinary Velorians timeline and series. It's a self-contained story of about 100 pages that details a particularly interesting phase in Ben Shaffer's life.

Ben Shaffer is simultaneously the luckiest, most frustrated and down-on-his luck guy around. But luck changes. Sometimes dramatically.

Tales of the Golden Planet - Scrumbles

24Apr05: While waiting for Part Four of Hana to be ready, I decided to publish a couple of shorter works.

The first is totally new, Encounter at Westfold (PDF). It's set in the OV continuum, but takes place a fair bit into the future. I've also included an image gallery that goes with it.

The second is an older story, one that Brantley reminded me of the other day. I've revamped it and published as Evan'ya's Story (PDF). There is also an image gallery that goes with this as well.

27Mar05: The long awaited continuation of Hana's story.

Tales of the Valkyries, Hana Part One

Tales of the Valkyries, Hana Part Two

Tales of the Valkyries, Hana Part Three

13Feb05: Tales of the Valkyries, Hana Part One is up and ready for your reading. You can check out the Writing page for a brief blurb or just jump into the link above. It's available only in PDF format at this time.

04Dec04: All Supremis Team

Some jobs are more interesting than others.

28Nov04: Relic Hunter

A fan fiction story regarding Lara Croft, written as part of a writing contest that dealt with 'ordinary' heroines suddenly gaining unusual abilities and facing new challenges. In this story, I've blended the Lara Croft heritage with a Kryptonian story line. Kal El has married a Velorian Protector, and they have a teenage daughter. His cousin Kara Zor-el also appears. Think of it as Lara Croft meets Superman's family, but all told from an AU perspective. Which means it has a bit of spice, and some great picts.

15Aug04: Corrididor

This is my first complete novella, and it's distinctly differently than my other work, in that it has both a beginning and an ending. Twenty-nine chapters in eight parts to make it easier to read, and illustrated with my visioning of my characters as per usual.

This is the story of the most ordinary of Velorians, a B-class maintenance technician working a dead-end job on Velor, a girl who used to ride with a flitter-bike gang, outlaws who dealt drugs and wandered aimlessly about Velor. But Vera has one unique talent, and because of that she gets her big shot: a chance to go off-world. To escape the gold field of Velor to repair the dying reactor on a distant mining asteroid named Corrididor.

She arrives to find that Corrididor is both her worst nightmare and her fondest dream. Obstacles lie in her way, not the least an Arion who's intent on destroying her and a reactor that threatens to go super-critical, but the story ends with Vera finding that thing we  are all searching for: That one true place in the universe where we belong.

6Jun04:

Earth2050, 1-9

Fred and Lucia work together to take out some Arions, and a new alliance is born of those desperate to escape Mandi. Admiral Sadler has to accept the truth about Azriel... that she's not nearly as human as he'd dreamed.

Earth2050, 1-10

Eric makes the mistake of getting drunk with Andrea, and gets more than he asked for in the bargain. Kitja makes a move, but the object of her fancy turns out to be a big surprise.

Earth2050, 1-11

Kitja decides to pay Kerry back for humiliating her, and comes face to face with a Tset'lar in the process. When the dust settles, she's not quite the girl she was before.

23May04: Feline Imperative III: Kara finds out how kinky at Scalantran big shot can be; Sharon takes the first step toward her marketing career; and the Betans show off. Note: Setting is present time, about four decades earlier than 2050AD storyline.

Earth2050AD, Part Eight. The adventure continues, with Crystal and Fred finding themselves well off the beaten track.

06May04: Things are really heating up as Kitja hits a patch of relationship reality, and Mandi travels to the depths of space (and almost doesn't return) to get a most unusual weapon. And Kara has to knock off a bunch of Arions and then help avoid a hostile takeover at her company.  Lots more going on as well.

25Apr04: Mandi makes a powerful group inside the US Government an offer they can't refuse. Then we are introduced to Kitja Best, Sharon's daughter. Fred and Tami Walters, his friend from Omega, begun hunting down Sharon so as to use to to go after Mandi. They find her in Boulder, only to be trapped at her mountain home by a blizzard.

18Apr04: Two new chapters of Earth2050, both longer and more detailed than the first one. Lots of pictures, some my own enhances, others from the venerable Down&Out, whoever he is. I moved the 2050 story line to the top of the Writing page.

13Apr04: I've moved the old KaraZ story line to the year 2050, and changed a few things around to make room for a new series. Some retconning has been done, so don't get too weird if there are inconsistencies from where Dani's Outing left off. The series is called Earth - 2050AD. Extremes, posted last week, was an exploratory piece for this series and will fit into a slot a few weeks or months later than the series opener, which is now posted here.

4Apr04: I've written a new story named Extremes that is set back in the AU3 era. It deals with the Banks family and Xara's (Dani's) boyfriend Neil during a particularly pivotal moment in their evolving relationship. Plenty of Arion action too, as Dani steps into her mother's shoes and shows the Arions that she's more than ready to fight for Earth, just like her mother. Look for it at the bottom of the Writing page.

28Feb04: In preparation for Episode Two of Shore Leave, I've made some updates in Episode One, including a lot of imagery of the characters. It's a big PDF though.

 

 

Photo News

07Jul03: Minor tweak to split the characters into Book 1 and Book 2.

Favorite Links

06Jul03: Author's final photos of Paix Femmes characters are up.

 

1Jul03: Initial list of my favorite links are up
 
    What it's all about...

This, the fourth incarnation of the Aurora Universe, AU4, allows me to share the old stuff I still like, and continue writing fresh, new stuff.

What's different from AU3? Well, for one, its mostly new writing. A portion of it continues some old AU3 stories, mainly Other Velorians and Shore Leave, collaborations with Brantley, and Earth2050AD. This type of writing will be familiar to lovers of the old AU.

Beyond that, I'm working on a completely different timeline that shows up in Paix des Femmes. That one is set in the distant future. It's a vision of a darker future, but one where the the struggle to define our humanity continues.

Thus, the stories of old struggles continue and new challenges emerge. The clash of human and superhuman is revealed in all its myriad ways.

     

This site was last updated 08/07/10