Guest Post by Timothy C. Ward

Hi guys! This is the penultimate week that the Sci-Fi StoryBundle is available, and I have a guest post today from Tim Ward, one of my fellow authors. His book Scavenger: Evolution is one of the bonus books, and it takes place in the universe of Hugh Howey’s Sand. To talk a little bit about that, here’s Tim:

My debut novel, Scavenger: Evolution was inspired by a time in publishing where “fan fiction” evolved into shared world fiction, and the weakening of a stigma that it would be lesser quality than the original source material. Kindle Worlds gained popularity through shared world stories set in famous works, with Hugh Howey’s Wool as one example.

I met Hugh through some podcast interviews I did for my first podcast, AudioTim. I loved his story of long term, overnight success, but more so, I loved his stories. Sand told the tale of a family adrift in a world covered in sand, where sand divers hunt for buried treasure and the lost city of Danvar.

In one scene, after a catastrophe, an unnamed sand diver is noted for scavenging in the rubble of a newly buried location. Knowing that Hugh allowed people to write in his Wool universe, I asked him if I could write a story in his Sand world even though it wasn’t yet open in Kindle Worlds. He gave me permission, and I took off with the idea of who this sand diver was and whom he was searching for.

The characters of Scavenger: Evolution became a former dive master, Rushing Stenson, and his wife Star, who lost their infant to a sand spill two years earlier. Their relationship never recovered, and the story starts with Rush as a custodian at a saloon, struggling with giving up on life and giving in to the temptations that surround him. He is offered a job that could give him the financial freedom to leave, and in the midst of his adventure, he will be forced to examine what life he could have with his wife if he decided to fight instead of giving up.

The story works as a stand alone, with really only the world and the starting point of the sand diving technology as the hooks that keep it in Hugh’s universe. I wrote a sequel, Scavenger: A.I. where I expand on my idea of what caused that portion of a future America to be covered in sand. Our heroes uncover the technological cause of the apocalypse, and then struggle to keep it contained before it makes them pawns in its resurrection.

Joe mentioned earlier posts on his blog that discuss TV tropes that inspired stories. In mine, I’d have to credit Stargate: SG-1 as a main influence in its story threads surrounding the replicators. The tone of my story is more along the lines of Alien, and its trope of terror in entering a lost civilization to discover ancient technology. Anyone who enjoys discovery, pulse pounding action, and a foundation of emotional turmoil between loved ones, should find a solid read in my Scavenger duology.

Scavenger: Evolution is the first book in the series, and is available as a bonus book in the Sci-fi Adventure Bundle.