So far, this week has been a lot of prep work. I've been writing a lot of pitch material, and crafting some more in-depth treatments for various projects I have in the pipeline. I managed to get a few paragraphs down on the Six-Gun Conjurer, and hope to finally settle in to finish it off in the next few weeks. Things are getting interesting.
Moving on to this week's Sneak Peek, we have another sample from The Guns of Mars (a book you should all consider buying, as it's one of my best). This snippet is part of an intense exchange among some of Villas Colony's more prominent citizens. Congress has just cut the space program budget, and the colonists of Mars must find a way to make ends meet to survive. When economist Petra Euchland proposes an elimination of all salaries and that the colony be run as a "moneyless" society, Police Chief Timothy Keene doesn't take it lying down.
“A lot of us aren’t going to take a cut in pay lightly,” Tim added. “We may not have anything to buy now, but come retirement age, this planet will be hopping. A nest egg would come in handy.”
“What do you plan to buy?” Petra asked, amused by Tim’s defiance. “We’ll always have everything we need and simple luxuries. In fact, if we put our salaries toward the needs of the colony, and the next Congress decides to restore our budget, we’ll have a healthy surplus to provide all kinds of extras.”
“Hey, now you’re just talking crazy,” Tim countered. “Putting our salaries toward necessities is one thing, but if we get our funding back, I expect my salary reinstated—along with all my back pay! You’re not confiscating my wealth to buy luxuries for everybody else. I earn that money. I decide how it’s spent.”
“Wouldn’t you rather everyone in the community benefit by pooling resources, rather than you alone wasting it frivolously?”
“Who says I want to be a part of this ‘community’ forever? What if, in another fifty years, I get tired of that little gray box I’m living in and want to buy myself a hunk of land and go prospecting? There’s a future in micro-dome housing, and plenty of Martian real-estate to purchase.”
Petra laughed rudely. “You’ve been reading too many fantasy novels, Tim. Real-estate on Mars? Really? This isn’t the wild west. You can’t go out and stake a claim. Private property is never going to be an option in this kind of environment.”
“That’ll change someday!” Timothy shouted.
I've read Guns of Mars and would highly recommend it. A fantastically well-written and enthralling novel.
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