Time Yarns Publishes Book Two Of The Punch Series

Online, July 27, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Shared world transmedia publishing company Time Yarns has released Punch book 2: Dark Horse by Erin Lale. Punch is a seven ebook science fiction series being published one book each month from June to December 2011.

Time Yarns intends to be on the cutting edge of publishing with transmedia ebooks that blur the lines between what is a book and what is a film, game, music video, graphic novel, or other internet-based medium. The Punch series is designed to be a transmedia experience with pictures, videos, and sounds included in the ebooks.

The Punch series follows the story arc of ex-Marine Carla Punch. In book 1: The Loribond, she travels to alien space to get over her fear of aliens and succeeds beyond her wildest nightmares. Her life becomes intertwined with the Galactic Emperor's through their mutual alien friend, Firuun. In book 2: Dark Horse, we find out why Major Sands made a peculiar propaganda broadcast at the end of book 1, and how that results in Carla, Emperor Xywanda, and Firuun fighting alien pirates who are not quite what they seem.

Erin Lale is also the editor of the upcoming Time Yarns anthologies of other authors' short stories. Time Yarns has six other authors besides Lale so far, and is still accepting submissions until the end of the year. In addition to science fiction authors, Time Yarns is also looking for film cast and crew, book cover artists, graphic artists, musicians and composers, and game designers and developers.

Lale says, "In the future, there will be no separation between writer, artist, filmmaker, game designer, and musician. Everyone will be a transmedia artist. All those works will be published on the same electronic platform, and the idea that what sort of creative you are depends on whether your work is produced on paper, vinyl, or cellulose will be quaint."

Although that future has not quite arrived yet, Lale believes that micropresses like Time Yarns are positioned to drive technical innovation by pushing the envelope of what today's ebook platforms are able to support. Lale says, "It's no surprise that most of the authors who have decided to place their work with Time Yarns are serious, distinguished scientists like Humberto Sachs, co-designer of the International Space Station, Ian Miller, inventor of algal biofuel, Ralph Ewig, rocket scientist, and Tony Thorne MBE, who was awarded a chivalric order by the Queen of England for innovations in cryosurgery tools and carbon fiber furnaces. They are interested in creating the future they want to live in. In fact, that's the slogan of Humberto's company, TechnoX, which is designing an integrated hardware / software design and production open source platform. Of course, the Time Yarns authors are also hoping that publishing short stories in the Time Yarns anthologies will draw new readers to their other books. All of them have published books available on major internet book selling sites."

Asked about why most of the Time Yarns authors are scientists writing hard sf, Lale says, "I admit that it's likely that the physics-heavy Shared World Guide, which is designed to keep all the stories published in the Time Yarns shared world within the same set of theories about time travel, FTL travel, and the nature of magic and the potential of the human mind, might have intimidated some authors who are not accomplished scientists. But the Time Yarns books are not full of theory like the authors' guide is; they are fun! The Time Yarns anthologies are shaping up to be mostly hard sf. The Punch series is also built on a hard sf foundation, examining the question: what if alien psychiatric drugs were used on human POWs? That is hard sf in that the plot could not happen without the technological innovation in biowarfare that it examines. But Punch is actually written as space opera, and it's a real blast. Even though it has some really serious parts, it's also full of funny sf in-jokes and lots of fighting. In between being enthusiastic about the cool geek techno stuff, I have not forgotten that sf is entertainment, and it's supposed to be fun! In fact, Time Yarns is a universe built from the ground up for fans to have fun in. I have actually already posted links from the official Time Yarns site to some Time Yarns fan fiction, and I'm running an Alien Death Song Contest, a competition to see who can record the coolest version of the dalshon pirates' death song from the Punch series, and whoever wins will get published! Science fiction is not only about predicting the future; it's also a great ride in the present."

Lale will be at the World Science Fiction Convention in Reno next month, where she will be presenting a short performance art piece from the Time Yarns universe and recruiting science fiction authors and artists. "WorldCon is the business convention of the science fiction publishing world, where all the writers, editors, agents, and so forth go," Lale says. "Introducing Time Yarns there is an exciting opportunity, not just for my publishing company, but for all the Time Yarns authors whose names will be celebritized for the major publishers and agents who will be there."