As many of you know, this summer I released a 26,000-word novella as a serial here on Substack. Field Station Delta is a paranormal sci-fi military thriller and is a sequel to
’s short story “Operation White Phantom”, which can be found in The Third Crown and Other Weird Tales.Field Station Delta has been in development for at least the last two years. In the summer of 2023, Paul and I began tossing ideas back and forth and an outline emerged. Delta began its life as a short story. But by the time I finished writing the first draft, the tale already sat at a hefty 12,000 words. At that point I thought, why not expand it to novella-length? (The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association defines a novella as running anywhere between 17,500 to 40,000 words long.)
So, over the summer of 2024, I rewrote and expanded Delta, doubling its length to 26k words. The plot became more complex, I strengthened the protagonist’s character arc, and I enlarged the roles of several supporting characters. Then I let the manuscript sit for a while before deciding that I wanted to serialize it for my Substack readers.
I revised the text again, chapter by chapter, incorporating the excellent feedback I received from the Stories: Live critique group run by
on the LegendFiction forum. I also broke the novella down into shorter chapters (thirteen in all—plus an epilogue). Field Station Delta made its Substack debut in this form.
While the serial did not take off in popularity exactly as I’d hoped, I’m glad I pushed myself to take the risk and bring my first long-form piece of fiction directly to an online audience. Admittedly, the text was still in an unpolished state, and I am grateful to the insightful pointers I gleaned from the small cadre of devoted readers.
I’ve decided the time is right to prepare Field Station Delta for release as my first self-published book. Securing a traditional publisher for this particular manuscript is simply out of the question. Firstly, novellas (especially speculative fiction) are a hard sell. Also, the main character (Senior Airman Emily Metzger) is not my sole intellectual property and her story is based on Paul Leone’s preexisting work, both of which would be deal-killers for a traditional publisher. Finally, traditional publishers generally won’t consider working with any previously-published material (whether on Substack or elsewhere).
When I wrote this novella, I set out to do two things: 1.) Write an entertaining sci-fi action-thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton and Stargate SG-1 and 2.) to teach myself how to write long-form fiction. I am under no illusions that Field Station Delta is high literature of any sort. It’s a sci-fi action-adventure story through and through. It unabashedly leans into the tropes of its genre. And I think, based on the enthusiastic comments I got, that it’s a fun book to read.
Last month, I began working with freelance editor
to copyedit the manuscript. The first round of edits and revisions are complete. My goal over the next couple of weeks is to finish the second round. Allison’s incisive feedback and attention to detail have improved the text immensely. I highly encourage my fellow independent authors to check out Allison’s website Trinity Tree Publishing to learn more about her excellent (and affordable) editing services.I want to reward those who have read the Substack serial version of Field Station Delta. Here’s what you can expect in the final self-published book:
An updated and revised text.
A forward by Paul Leone.
A new introduction by me.
Two bonus stories exclusive to this version.
“Site J-7” is a coda in which Airman Metzger considers a tantalizing offer with ominous implications.
“Horizons” follows the further adventures of Airman Valdes and his sweetheart Mary Bonds.
My aim is to release Field Station Delta in Kindle and paperback form via Amazon before the end of the year, ideally in November. To celebrate, I’ll be appearing at the LegendHaven online fiction convention on October 19 for an exclusive cover art reveal and author AMA (ask-me-anything) session! I hope you can join us for this exciting conference. I’ve been attending LegendHaven since it launched four years ago and this will be my second year presenting officially as an author!
If you’ve read this post to the end, thank you so much for your support! It means the world to me. I’ve wanted to be a writer for almost as long as I can remember. The little ten-year-old Thomas who was routinely caught reading Jurassic Park by flashlight under the covers late at night couldn’t be more amazed that he actually got to write books when he grew up!
I hope you’ll continue to follow along with my writing and publishing adventures. And if you’re an aspiring writer—don’t give up!! Keep writing. I promise you, whether you hit it big or not (and I’m certainly no big-shot) the writing life is totally worth it. Creating stories is the best thing in the world. So don’t stop!
It was great working with you on FSD, Thomas! Thanks for the shout-out. :)
It was a great pleasure collaborating with you on the prototype version of the story - I can't wait to see it in print!