Here's a little taste of what I've written today:
***
In immediate response to the explosion, six blue flashes occurred almost simultaneously as Confederates dimensionally jumped in from the level above. It took a moment for them to materialize, coalescing from nothing into a fully formed corporeal being. That split second bought the Allies a moment to prepare.
Gardiner, Rivetti, Carina and Ray were each armed and ready, as were Lindner, Milner and Gray. Two of the other grunts, Burke and Nergaard, had their pieces drawn. Nergaard even backed up his gun with his knife, in his weak hand, ready for close combat if the need arose.
Corporal Macaluso tackled one of the Confederates as he materialized, using the momentary advantage as an opportunity to kill a man with his hands. He preferred to end someone's life intimately; he found guns too impersonal. Knives were better, but hands were best.
Macaluso was a big human—tall and broad, built like a bear and just as fearsome—and he was always well-prepared for a fight, even when off-duty. He believed that, during war, a battle could break out at any time, and he never wanted to be at a disadvantage. He was decked in a light exo-suit with armored mitts that increased the power of his punches by a factor of ten.
He wrenched the corren's helmet from his head and with one punch collapsed the man's face. For good measure, he kept punching until he cracked the correns skull and ruptured his scalp.
The Confederate's brains oozed out onto the floor like porridge from a broken bowl.
Was looking through the folder on my computer with all of my story bits in it and came across a map I made of Umberland, years back, the fictional landmass where the bulk of Disintegration takes place.
As you can see, it's an almost UK-sized landmass. I came up with its general shape by looking at a bathymetric map of the Atlantic (thanks Google!), and then I extrapolated high points on the seafloor to be above sea level.
I just added a few names to it, in honor of a few multi-copy supporters of Disintegration: Kay Prunty, Brian Whiton, Dan Broyles and Dan Paskell all have place names on the island. Map's probably hard to read, but the places are: Prunty's Quay (at the very bottom of the island), Whiton's Heath (a major trading post), Broyles Moor and Paskell's Moor (which are the anchor points of a bridge). The bay created by the upper peninsula isn't marked, but I'm thinking naming it for Bob Broad. Broad's Bay? Broad Bay?
There are plenty of place names up for grabs, and character names, too. So, if you ordered more than one copy, let me know what you might like to bear your name and ...