Regina Shen: Resilience (Book 1)
Regina Shen is an outcast forced to fend for herself in a world that bans books and artifacts from before the Great Collapse. An approaching storm could be the least of her problems. The World Federation condemns Regina and her family to live on the seaward side of barrier walls. Those walls were built to hold back rising seas caused by abrupt climate change and as a place to dump outcasts.
A hurricane threatens to destroy Regina’s world, tearing her from sister, mom, and home. Now Federation agents claim she has unique DNA that could prevent human extinction. It's too bad she doesn't trust them enough to barter fairly, let alone with her life. Three-hundred-plus-year-old Grand Old Dames rule the all-female Federation using a rigid caste system. Their notorious Department of Antiquities, under the command of Chief Inspector Joanne Demarco, polices barrier walls, destroys knowledge from the past to suppress dissent, and pursues Regina for her genome.
Regina survives by her wits on swampy islands and thrives on salvage from sunken cities, including illegal print books from before the Federation. With her photographic (eidetic) memory, she defies Antiquities by consuming salvaged books not available in the Federation, which makes her an outcast even among her exiled peers. With Antiquities in pursuit, Regina fights to stay alive and avoid capture while hunting for her family. Does she have the resilience to survive both the storm and Antiquities?
Regina Shen: Vigilance (Book 2)
After two years of training, outcast Regina Shen prepares to jump the barrier wall into the World Federation to hunt for her sister, but nothing goes according to plan. The Federation condemns Regina and her family to live on the seaward side of barrier walls.
For two years she avoided capture. Now the Federation is desperate to exploit her unique DNA in order to prevent human extinction. She would rather die than help the people who kidnapped her sister. The Federation’s notorious Department of Antiquities, under the command of Chief Inspector Joanne Demarco, polices barrier walls, destroys knowledge from the past, and pursues Regina for her genome. Now Demarco has a ruthless rival who aims to capture Regina as a means to overthrow Demarco.
Regina has survived by her wits on swampy islands and salvage from sunken cities, including illegal print books not available in the Federation. Her photographic (eidetic) memory, access to these books, and an amazing teacher just may help her reach the university town in the Federation where they’re holding her sister. Pursued by Antiquities, Regina jumps the wall into the Federation.
While making new friends and enemies, she must use her wits to avoid letting either of two rival inspectors capture her. Can she rescue her sister from an obvious trap?
Regina Shen: Defiance (Book 3)
On the run, outcast Regina Shen is determined to stop the Federation’s relentless attacks on her family and friends, but the stakes are much higher now and she is deep in foreign and hostile territory.
The Federation condemned Regina to live on the seaward side of barrier walls, but she crossed into the Federation where she continues to survive by her wits. Competing Federation agents vie to capture her and use her to acquire power, based on her genome being the key to prevent human extinction. When her sister is kidnapped again and agents close in, Regina flees west with a friend across deserts created by abrupt climate change.
Raised on swampy islands and underwater salvage, they must adapt to different harsh environments. Guided by her photographic (eidetic) memory of illegal print books from before the Federation, Regina is determined to defy the Federation and find a treasure big enough to barter for freedom for her and her sister. In the cat-and-mouse game, can she find allies and ways to escape the Federation dragnet long enough to discover something to trade?
Book Description for Regina Shen: Endurance (book 4):
Betrayed by her own mother, outcast Regina Shen has been trying to free her sister. Instead, she becomes a pawn in the World Federation’s struggle for power and succession.
Worldwide fertility has collapsed and the World Premier is dying, leading to a crisis of leadership. Battle lines are forming and Regina holds the keys to resolving the fertility crisis with her genome and elevating whoever can capture and control her into positions of power. Using her photographic (eidetic) memory of illegal books, she also holds the key to locating ancient artifacts that could save or destroy the Federation. In holding these keys, Regina should be treated as a queen, but outcasts aren’t even allowed to become citizens.
Having survived the swamps, deserts, and wilderness, Regina continues to try to barter for freedom for her and her sister, but the stakes are too high. Federation agents hound Regina to uncover ancient artifacts and serve herself up as a lab specimen to prevent human extinction. The disgraced Inspector Joanne Demarco pretends to be Regina’s ally to get her to deliver the location of ancient DNA vaults that could change the balance of power. Meanwhile, ruthless rivals are willing to do anything to destroy Demarco and control Regina.
Regina’s new journey will test her endurance, her ability to recognize opportunities, and her knack for avoiding capture. She will also face a tragedy and a strange twist of destiny that will shake her to her core and get her to question everything. Will she be able to overcome adversity or will she descend down an even more dangerous path?
Buy the book: Amazon Barnes & Noble
Author's Bio:
He was raised by a roaming aerospace engineer, growing up in various parts of the United States and Europe, as well as traveling through Asia. He took to stories as his anchor, including the works of Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein, and has been writing since age eleven.
Growing up, he was inspired by his father’s engineering work on cutting-edge aerospace projects to look to the future.
In an ideal world, Lance would find time loops where he could step out for a week at a time to read and write. Then he would return to the moment he left, without life getting in the way. Of course, since everyone would have the same ability, he suspects life would still sneak in.
Lance is also the author of short stories and novelettes.
AUTHOR'S INTERVIEW
How did you do research for your book?
I did internet research on abrupt climate change. That included long term temperature changes and the impact on sea level rises. In fact, the past 200 years have been the mildest during human history and are unlikely to continue. In addition, I searched for maps and descriptions of flooded coastlines. Beyond that, I’ve collected research over the years on survival tactics in difficult situations.
Where do you get inspiration for your stories?
Story ideas and characters grab me whenever I’m not writing. The seeds for them come from news, daily life, and what I read. They often center on “what-if” situations. A cornerstone of the Rebel series is a civil war between hard core believers on both sides, which was inspired by the angry politics we’ve seen in this country over the past couple of decades. The question I asked was what happens if both sides win. For the Regina Shen series, there has been much talk about abrupt climate change. I wanted to explore a world where it has already happened.
Do you ever get writer’s block? What helps you overcome it?
I rarely get writer’s block anymore. I’ve found that one cause was letting the editor in me stifle the creative writer. I’ve learned to turn off the editor entirely and let the creative process flow. I can always come back later and edit, but if I don’t create, there’s nothing to edit. The other thing I’ve found is that when I feel stymied, it’s best to step back and work on something else. I often think about a writing problem before I go to bed and wake up with solutions.
What is your next project?
I’m working on several projects. One might be a fifth book in the Regina Shen series, not sure. Another is a time travel story back to ancient Rome. A third one I’m hoping to come out with later this year. This one is an alien/first contact/space story that takes an interesting twist on the “illegal immigrant” question.
What genre do you write and why?
I have been drawn to science fiction from my early reading of Asimov, Heinlein, Wells, and Verne. The first of my published stories written was Rebels Divided. It did not set out to be young adult in particular, but when I asked what protagonists had the most at stake in this story, it turned out to be a young man and young woman, aged nineteen. When I wrote Annabelle’s story, she was sixteen and before I knew it, I was writing YA science fiction. I enjoy the genre and the characters, but will follow story and characters first and foremost.
In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper?
I wrote my first novel on pads of paper. When I finished, I realized it needed a lot of editing and I would have to key it all into a computer before I could edit. When I looked at that story and what my next project was, I abandoned that story and launched into the new project on a word processor.
GIVEAWAY
Thanks for the post and the delightful interview.
ReplyDelete