Katherine Forrister commented on Curio Citizen

Hello all again!

I am happy to say that Curio Citizen is still in 4th place! We are climbing rapidly, and I have all of you to thank for that. I am truly humbled by your support. However, we still have to get into the top 3 for Curio Citizen to be published. We are getting fresh pre-orders every day, but so is the competition. There are only 12 more days in the contest. That’s enough time for us to keep climbing to the top 3, or we could fall far behind if we lose momentum. That’s how tight this race is! Please consider asking one person today to pre-order. It would help me and my daughter so much if Curio Citizen could be published and launch my writing career.

Here’s the link to the book trailer to help you spread the word! Curio Citizen Book Trailer

Prefer Youtube? Click here.

And, as promised, here’s today’s look into the world of Curio Citizen:

Void:

Void is a super dense metal found within the bedrock of Paz. It is so dense that it can be used to generate a gravity field within the space ships that seek out curios across the galaxy, as well as a slight grounding of a person within a vehicle as normal as a hovering taxi to ensure the rider’s safety.

Its most important function, however, is to facilitate interstellar space travel.

                             "’Let me see...’ Inquieto murmured, tapping his finger on his chin as he searched for words. When he spoke, his words came slowly, and I suspected he was greatly dumbing down the description.

                            ’Within the vacuums of void, the cracks are so thin, and often positioned in such a way near one another, that they become plates of refracted metal, which can produce negative energy between them through vacuum fluctuations. As you said, we can create vacuums, and two simple metal plates placed close together within a vacuum can produce the same effect in a small amount, but void aids the process so that the negative energy and exotic matter it produces is much higher.’

                            ’Oh,’ I said, vaguely following him.

                            ’We have developed technology that can further extrapolate this energy and matter to such a degree, it can surround our ships to create a bubble that will keep the ship and crew unaltered while the exotic matter warps space. It contracts space before a ship while expanding that behind it to create, essentially, a short-cut to circumvent the speed of light and travel otherwise impossible distances.’"

Without void, space travel would be nearly impossible for the paz, and certainly too costly to enact. And it is because of the lack of void that the other two intelligent species of planets within Paz’s solar system are mostly confined to their respective planets, for which the paz are grateful.

,

Thank you for your continued support for Curio Citizen. Once again, if you know anyone you can personally ask to pre-order this book, please do so. We are so close to getting into the top 3 and realizing my dream of becoming a published author. This could be the start of my career and be the beginning of an exciting Curio Trilogy, which is now in the drafting phase. If we reach 80 pre-orders from separate readers, I will release the names of the second two novels of the trilogy. If we reach 100 pre-orders, I will give you all a sneak peek (sans spoilers) of the next two books!

You all are so amazing!

--Katherine

like

Katherine Forrister sent an update for Curio Citizen

Hello all again!

I am happy to say that Curio Citizen is still in 4th place! We are climbing rapidly, and I have all of you to thank for that. I am truly humbled by your support. However, we still have to get into the top 3 for Curio Citizen to be published. We are getting fresh pre-orders every day, but so is the competition. There are only 12 more days in the contest. That’s enough time for us to keep climbing to the top 3, or we could fall far behind if we lose momentum. That’s how tight this race is! Please consider asking one person today to pre-order. It would help me and my daughter so much if Curio Citizen could be published and launch my writing career.

Here’s the link to the book trailer to help you spread the word! Curio Citizen Book Trailer

Prefer Youtube? Click here.

And, as promised, here’s today’s look into the world of Curio Citizen:

Void:

Void is a super dense metal found within the bedrock of Paz. It is so dense that it can be used to generate a gravity field within the space ships that seek out curios across the galaxy, as well as a slight grounding of a person within a vehicle as normal as a hovering taxi to ensure the rider’s safety.

Its most important function, however, is to facilitate interstellar space travel.

                             "’Let me see...’ Inquieto murmured, tapping his finger on his chin as he searched for words. When he spoke, his words came slowly, and I suspected he was greatly dumbing down the description.

                            ’Within the vacuums of void, the cracks are so thin, and often positioned in such a way near one another, that they become plates of refracted metal, which can produce negative energy between them through vacuum fluctuations. As you said, we can create vacuums, and two simple metal plates placed close together within a vacuum can produce the same effect in a small amount, but void aids the process so that the negative energy and exotic matter it produces is much higher.’

                            ’Oh,’ I said, vaguely following him.

                            ’We have developed technology that can further extrapolate this energy and matter to such a degree, it can surround our ships to create a bubble that will keep the ship and crew unaltered while the exotic matter warps space. It contracts space before a ship while expanding that behind it to create, essentially, a short-cut to circumvent the speed of light and travel otherwise impossible distances.’"

Without void, space travel would be nearly impossible for the paz, and certainly too costly to enact. And it is because of the lack of void that the other two intelligent species of planets within Paz’s solar system are mostly confined to their respective planets, for which the paz are grateful.

,

Thank you for your continued support for Curio Citizen. Once again, if you know anyone you can personally ask to pre-order this book, please do so. We are so close to getting into the top 3 and realizing my dream of becoming a published author. This could be the start of my career and be the beginning of an exciting Curio Trilogy, which is now in the drafting phase. If we reach 80 pre-orders from separate readers, I will release the names of the second two novels of the trilogy. If we reach 100 pre-orders, I will give you all a sneak peek (sans spoilers) of the next two books!

You all are so amazing!

--Katherine

like · liked by Kendra and 2 others

Katherine Forrister sent an update for Curio Citizen

Hello all!

I have an exciting announcement to make--a brand new book trailer is up on Inkshares! Click here to view it now!

Curio Citizen is in 4th place! This is great news, but 5th place isn’t far behind, and 3rd and 2nd are gaining pre-orders fast! Please keep asking your friends, family, and any other fans of sci-fi you may know to pre-order their copy of Curio Citizen. We are so close to getting in the top 3, and once we get there, we have to keep getting more pre-orders to stay there for the next two weeks!

Here’s today’s fresh look into the world of Curio Citizen:

Family Structures--Houses:

Every person on Paz belongs to a familial "house". Every person within a house wears a unique pin as an emblem for their house. In addition to a pin, each individual family unit wears the same color clothing to unite them further.

But instead of creating rivalry, the house social structure is a way of encouraging and maintaining peace throughout the globe. They connect not only immediate relations, but also distant relatives with shared ancestral beginnings. Why should you care about someone in a far away city and their problems? Because they are a part of your house!

"I stood, getting the distinct impression Marea did not want me dirtying her furniture.

      Inquieto hurried over to my side. ’Mother,’ he said stiffly. ’May I introduce you to Carmen?’

            Marea’s eyes scavenged my appearance, and they finally landed on the small jewel upon my breast.

’Inquieto,’ she said in a polite tone that was iced around the edges, ’why is it wearing our pin?’

I drew a breath.

           ’She lives in my household, Mother,’ Inquieto answered steadily. His words were careful and precise, as if he had practiced ahead of time for this conversation.

   ’So, get her a tag,’ Marea uttered coolly in breathy elegance."

,

Orphans exist on Paz as they do everywhere else. The Paz government provides the Salvan House for these special cases.

            "’What did Oyente mean when he suggested I be placed in the Paz House?’ I asked.

            Inquieto sighed. ’The Paz House, Salvan, is that of the government. It is rare an individual does not have a house of their own, but Salvan provides a place for such instances, most often due to orphans who were lost and could never be reunited with their parents. Salvan offers all the services a house would normally provide. Medical decisions when an individual is too ill or injured to make them alone, representation in court if needed, that sort of thing.’

            ’Oh,’ I said. I frowned. ’Inquieto...that does make sense. Why would you put me in your house? Clearly, your family doesn’t like it.

            ’Carmen,’ Inquieto said. ’You were taken from your family. I know I may not be much...and I know today was not a good impression of my family, but...you need a family. You deserve a family.’"

,

As perfect as Paz strives to be, there is still an undercurrent of resentment among some of the Salvans.

"...I stopped in front of this paz woman, dressed in robes as gray as her skin so she resembled a pale ghost. She wore no pin. Her eyes glared at mine on my chest. I wanted to say something, though I didn’t know what, but Inquieto placed his hand on my hair and nudged me away.

’Come on, Carmen,’ he said, nodding politely to the woman as we left, and I noticed that her bitter enmity was aimed at Inquieto just as much as it was at me."

,

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into paz life. Please pre-order a copy of Curio Citizen to dive deeper into this universe. I can’t wait to share this world with you!

--Katherine

like · liked by Kendra and 1 other

Katherine Forrister sent an update for Curio Citizen

Alright, everyone, guess what? Curio Citizen is now in 4th place!! We are only 4 orders away from reaching 3rd, and 10 orders away from 2nd place! Remember, I only need to be in 3rd to be published, so please continue to spread the word. If you haven’t pre-ordered, please consider doing so. It would mean so much to me and could help launch the Curio Trilogy!

In addition to hitting 4th place, we have also reached 51 readers! As promised, I have posted a brand new excerpt which delves into Paz technology, and in so doing, reveals a deeper level of the species’ psychology, which Carmen must face and overcome if she wishes to gain acceptance in this new world. Check it out here!

Also, to count down the last two weeks of the contest, I will be posting a new look into a part of Curio Citizen’s world each day! Here’s today’s:

A look into the Paz Species:

The inhabitants of the planet Paz are known simply as the paz species. They are humanoid beings with an intellect that soars above the level of the average human. They are inherently peaceful, a state of being many humans seem to find difficult. However, paz are less vivacious and emotional than humans, and some would say they have lost the tenacity needed for survival.

There are pros and cons to each of these traits, of course, and Curio Citizen explores those differences so the reader can form their own opinion of which species is preferable. Should humans become more like paz? Or should paz learn from humans? Are there lessons we can learn from each?

Though there are surface-level differences, physically, paz and humans are very alike. They are genetic kindred, despite the light-years between their planets. How that came to be is one of the countless mysteries the universe holds. Why the paz cannot see the similarities is a mystery Carmen needs to uncover before she can gain acceptance on Paz.

"Their skin was pale slate, a smooth gray with a subtle tint of blue. None had hair whatsoever, not even eyebrows that I could see. Two of the five had arcing, bony ridges along their shoulders, partially visible before the outer edges were covered by the coarse fabric of varying, worn hues they all wore. Otherwise, their features appeared human, but it was difficult for me to see the similarities past one other striking difference.
Their eyes were haunting, the same shape and size as any person’s, but completely black, with no whites or distinguishable pupils or irises at all. I could only tell they were appraising my features by the glitter of the light that caught their dark orbs with each of their stares’ subtle shifts. They were all roving my hair, my face, my torso, my limbs.One spoke, a smooth, low voice in a foreign tongue. A couple of murmurs swept in from others. One of the two with shoulder ridges responded to his words and stepped forward. This individual’s voice was lighter, and as I listened to the other one with similar ridges, I decided both must be female..."

             "...A short one, small in frame, pointed a little blue finger right at me and shouted a high-pitched word. Taller, grayer beings, like all I had seen so far, spoke in a hubbub of interest as they followed the little one’s scamper towards my invisible wall. A gaggle of more little ones, all dull blue with pale gray spots, pressed their palms against the barrier, skin smushed flat, spreading their fingerprints wide.
            I needed no interpretation to guess the meaning of their thrilled words.
            Look!
            The tiniest ones, clearly infants, stayed in the background, clinging to their mother’s backs by clasping the shoulder ridges, revealing the boney projections’ use. They were almost entirely a dull shade of blue, with big black eyes that stared at everything around them with an infant’s wonder. Their heads were smaller in proportion to their bodies than any infant’s I had ever seen, and they had no trouble swiveling their necks as they stayed upright with ease.
           Their pubescent siblings resembled a bad case of acne, the large, round spots of childhood fading to leave the opposite coloring of tiny specks of blue as the slate gray pallor of adulthood took over. The wonder faded as well. The youths looked bored, lurking behind their parents in protest.

Seeing the unexpected children made me consider that these beings, whether human or not—a distinction I still had yet to decide—were not so very different than those I knew as family, as friends, as any people I had seen on my numerous travels. And yet they clearly saw me as something other, something lesser."

Please SHARE on social media, personally tell all your friends and family who would love to read a book like this to pre-order, and comment on the Discussions page on Curio Citizen’s Inkshares page with any questions, ideas, or anything that comes to mind involving Curio Citizen.

Pre-order your copy here!

Thank you so much!

-Katherine

like · liked by TCC and 4 others

Katherine Forrister sent an update for Curio Citizen

Hello my dear followers!

I have exciting news! I was a little bummed last night because we dropped from 9th place to 10th, but today, we have jumped from 10th to 6th place! Thank you so much to everyone who pre-ordered today. and to those who have pre-ordered in the past week.

The race is till extremely tight, however. One pre-order could make a difference. As of right now, I only need three more to put me in 5th place! Curio Citizen is climbing the ranks. Please help me get into the top 3! If you haven’t pre-ordered, consider doing so today. If you have, please tell one friend or family member personally about my book and encourage them to pre-order. If everyone who has pre-ordered already got just one more person to pre-order, I would be in a solid 2nd place!

My updates for Curio Citizen are about to get more exciting! A book trailer is on the way, and starting tomorrow, I will be sending out fresh tidbits about the characters and world of Curio Citizen daily. There are two more weeks left in the contest, and anything can happen!

Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you enjoy Curio Citizen. Let’s get it published so you can read it!

Katherine

like · liked by Johnny and 2 others