Astronomicon: The Beginning FREE TODAY!

For two days (today and tomorrow) Astronomicon: The Beginning is available as a free download from your local Amazon. Don't miss out on this excellent offer!

If you do miss the free offer, don't forget that you can always check out the first six chapters for free any time, buy using Amazon's amazing Click to LOOK INSIDE. You can also have the free sample chapters sent to your Kindle or compatible device (Android, PC, MAC or iOS) - it doesn't get much easier than that!

Click here to download Astronomicon: The Beginning now.

3 Space craft, 240 colonists, 25 trillion miles and a discovery that changes everything.

Fans of science fiction will be pleased to get advanced warning that Astronomicon: The Beginning will be available as a completely free download from Amazon for Kindles and ALL compatibles (Android, PC, Mac & iOS) on 12th & 13th June 2013.

As you can tell from the title, this is the first book of the Astronomicon series. It will appeal to all fans of classic science-fiction, so don't miss out on this fantastic offer.
This first volume, over 125,000 words in total, introduces readers to mankind's first interstellar flights, the first colonisation of a planet around another star and a bizarre and unexpected discovery. It also covers dramatic events back in the solar system, including political changes, assassinations and the fight for Jovian independence.

Early views of Celtic Conveyor designs

Before writing any of the Astronomicon novels, I like to plan out the locations in great detail. It not only makes life easier for me during the writing, and improves continuity, but also throws up a lot of ideas which I might not otherwise think of. This can lead to some interesting ways of using the scenery.

Years ago I did this planning on paper, but technology has moved on for all of us and now I use Sketchup to throw together the layouts and designs. Below are a couple of example views from the designs for the setting of the latest Astronomicon novel. These show the passenger deck of interplanetary freighter Celtic Conveyor.

The undecorated area to the left of the first picture is the cabins area. The bridge and administration areas will be on the deck above. There are two lower decks below the passenger level. The upper one contains the crew quarters, stores and service areas (laundry, wastemanagement etc.) and the lower one houses most of the automated systems such as air processing.