Portrait of the Artist as an Old Fan

Back when I was a kid, growing up in Washington, D.C., I occasionally delivered the Washington Post newspaper for a friend of mine when he went on his annual summer vacation. Back in those days, a paper route catapulted you into the big-time, you had money to burn, you had all of the "first-kid-on-your-block" toys, you ruled the streets in your new Chuck Taylor high-tops and you could blow wads of cash down on 9th Street at Corr's Hobby Store.

There were three substantial papers back then: The Washington Post, The Times-Herald and the Daily News, an afternoon tabloid format weekday-only rag with all the best comics and the best sports section in my humble opinion. Each and every day during baseball season, I would cut out the latest box score from the previous day's loss by the Washington Senators and glue it in a notebook. The Senators were, by far, the worst team in baseball when I was growing up. The old joke was, "Washington: First in War, First in Peace and Last in the American League." I would dutifully go to the games at the old Griffith Stadium, sit in the cheap upper-deck seats, wear my "W" hat proudly and root for the losers.

Now, they have a new team, the Nationals. I don't get to see many Nationals games out here in the west, the market dominated by the LA Dodgers, the SD Padres and the SF Giants with an occasional Angels or Diamondbacks game thrown in on local cable to add some spice to the strong California mix. Anyway, for my last birthday my brother, a Nationals fan, sent me a jersey for a present. A Bryce Harper jersey. For those of you that don't know of Mr. Harper, he's a local Henderson kid that first attracted my attention when he was only 15 years old and whacking 450-foot homers all over Southern Nevada. I remember sending my brother a video of him hitting a monster 500-foot shot in Tropicana Park when he was 16. Now Mr. Harper is the Nationals latest bonus baby, having signed a 9-plus million dollar contract to play for Washington. I donned the jersey and had the following picture made, and titled it, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Fan. My apologies to Joseph Heller.

Photo by Shirley A. Bova
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Ahhh, if I could only return to those golden days of yesteryear, those halcyon days of my youth. Such are the dreams that keep us alive, rememberances that propel us to look back on kinder, gentler days.

Book One Review

Tense and gripping, October 27, 2011

By 

Elizabeth Jasper "-Liz" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Belt Loop (Book One) (Kindle Edition)

I'm not a huge Sci-Fi fan, but this story works not just on a sci-fi level, but as a gripping story about relationships, teamwork, leadership, danger and courage.

Right from the off, the reader is transported into a well-constructed alternative world in the far future where the crew of a time and space-travelling ship is forced to investigate another, alien vessel where they find new, dangerous species. I'll say no more as I would hate to give too much away, but anyone with an imagination and an interest in Sci-Fi will love this one. Highly recommended.

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Thanks, Liz, I'm always glad to hear from my readers. The Belt Loop (Book One) is now in the top 100 in the Science Fiction & Fantasy/Space Opera category on Amazon. I encourage all to help me push this exciting saga to the top spot, or just read it for the sheer enjoyment of a look at worlds you have never seen before.

Thank you to all my friends and followers, it gives me the impetus to push on with Book Three.

Book Three coming soon

Okay, here's the deal. The Belt Loop (Book Three) is well enough along that I can speculate on a release date: Sometime in the first week of December. Call Miss Cleo and confirm my psychic prediction. Since I can control the horizontal, the vertical, the focus, the sound of this story, the release date just serves to push me to write more each day instead of sitting here reading. I like reading almost as much as writing and sometimes that hurts my production.

History Repeats Itself © 1991 R. Jones
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Just as in the drawing above, there is a lot of strange stuff going on in the universe and this picture is my feeble attempt to show it. Completed during Easter Week in 1990 and subsequently published the next year, this is one of my favorite images. I was sitting on top of Conifer Mountain in Colorado when I drew this and, at a height of 10,000 feet was probably suffering from oxygen deprivation of some sort.

A lot of my writing is derived from snippets of story ideas I have dreamed up over the years; stories about the future, about space, about time. Science fiction is a wonderful place to lose oneself in any and all three of the aforementioned dimensions. In Book Three I make mention of Colonial Navy ships lost to the void, ships that approached folded space at speeds pushing the limits of causal uncertainty, destined to reappear where- and when-ever, but certainly not in the place they set out to travel to. Who knows, maybe they wound up in this drawing.

Perfect Weather

This is the best time of the year in the Las Vegas Valley. Clear skies, temps in the 80's during the day, clear crisp nights in the 60's. It seems like we go from summer right into a one month autumn then on to our brief winter here in the desert. April and October, the two most pleasant months out of the year.

Photo by R. Jones
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Sometimes I take the dog out for a walk while it's still dark. We explore a 2-mile radius from the house and often I have the camera with me. Sunrise over Henderson is beautiful most mornings and by the time I return to the studio I am all fired up to write or draw. I use the dog-walking time each day to plan my next plot moves in my books, try to define where the story is going, and generally just have to fill in the blanks when I sit down to the keyboard.

Right now, I am heavy into The Belt Loop (Book Three) and so far the working title is up in the air. I think the destruction of a couple of human colonies by the Varson will upset a lot of folks in the Colonial Navy and I look forward to writing the  pivotal chapters in this continuing story.

Unlike the Mojave Desert, the Loop and the Fringes are very dangerous places. People meet sudden death at every turn and sometimes the outcome of the battles do not favor the home team. There are no easy solutions to war. Violence begets more violence and each and every time mankind has tried to carve out another foothold in our vast universe, many don't make it home. We have seen this scenario repeated many times in the pageant of life here on the planet; here in our orbital skies; here in our oceans. Thousands of years from now, in my mind, these scenarios will often repeat. In an infinite numbers of universes, they will repeat an infinite number of times.

The Belt Loop (Book One) Review

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Belt Loop (Book One): A Review

Product Description:

Captain Uri Haad is plunged into one of the most terrifying voyages of his Colonial Navy career. His ship, the CNS Corpus Christi, stumbles upon a derelict alien vessel out in the void of Orion's Belt -- The Belt Loop as it is known by the sailors of the Third Colonial Fleet out of Elber Prime. He launched a Search and Rescue mission to the hulking derelict after his scans detected surviving life forms. What started as a mission of mercy quickly turns into a nightmare of epic proportions and as the horror spreads to his ship and crew, Captain Haad must make life and death decisions to avoid his own destruction and possibly an interstellar war. This taut deep-space adventure bridges the gap between distant suns and gives us a glimpse into the workings of the Twenty-eighth Century Colonial Navy.

My View:

The Belt Loop (Book One) takes the reader on a mundane, routine deep space patrol with the crew fast attack boat CNS Corpus Christi. Captain Uri Haad and his crew simply go about there business unaware of a 12 year old Stowaway lurking about their ship. Of course, if the Belt Loop patrol stayed mundane and routine, I doubt we'd be reading about it.

Soon enough, the Christi stumbles upon a derelict craft launched by a previously unknown species. Haad and his crew began referring to the segmented and tubular vessel as "The Worm". Given that humanity's only other contact with an alien species resulted in a destructive and costly conflict known as the Varson War, tensions run high among the crew, many of whom are veterans of the Varson War and have the scars to prove it.

 A S&R team is dispatched to the Worm to securing it and located the 12 surviving alien crew, While the Corpus Christi stands by to assist, or destroy the worm if needs be. The team quickly discovers, not one, but two sentient alien species aboard. The Birds and the Worms. The Birds appear to be captive in a large cargo hold, Communications Officer Maxine Hansen quickly draws a parallel to Ancient Earth History. The Worm is a slave ship.

Then things it ugly. Security measures aboard the Worm gruesomely and quickly down a contingent of the Marines sent with the Away Team.

The rest of the story is a tense, exciting read, that takes an interesting approach to Science Fiction. With a focus on exobiology and the moral implications of what is a fundamentally culturally based conflict, Robert B. Jones' "The Belt Loop" Series is off to a great start and frankly grabs the reader by the face and refuses to let go. The author does a great job of pulling the reader into the Colonial Navy, where the enlisted and officers lead boring routine lives that are punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Overall The Belt Loop (Book One) is a great read and priced great at $2.99. I'll be picking up the next one as soon as I'm able.

If you're a sci-fi fan, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. 5/5 stars

**note: I was in no way paid for this review. The only compensation I received was a promotional copy of the book and advertising revenue from this site.

5-Star Review!

Excellent Sequel!!!!, October 16, 2011

By 

jt kalnay (cleveland, ohio) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: The Belt Loop (Book Two) - Revenge of the Varson (Kindle Edition)

The Belt Loop (Book Two) Revenge of the Varson.

The war between the Varsons and humans went very badly for the Varsons. But now, a decade later, they have a plan to achieve by subterfuge what they had been unable to gain through force of arms. The plot has been hatched by a brilliant and ruthless leader who single-handedly is relentlessly whipping the men and weapons of the Varson fleet into fighting trim. Captain Haad, XO Yorn, Chief Penny, and even stowaway Har Hansen have nursed the Corpus Christi back from their encounter with the Kreet worms just in time to land in the middle of the Varson plot. See what hapens when the irresistible force of revenge meets the immovable object of brains and bravery. Midshipman Hornblower, Master & Commander Aubrey, and Dr. Maturin would all feel right at home on board the Corpus Christi and at the Naval Headquarters where battles, intrigue, and traitors are confronted with bald-faced bravery. Keep 'em coming Sir! This series has a chance to be great...

JT Kalnay
Author of The Pattern and Mina's Eyes.
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Thanks JT, always great to hear from the fans.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SC002S (Book Two)
http://www.amazon.com.dp/B005HRNKA8 (Book One)

The Belt Loop - Book Three

The third Belt Loop novel is underway, should have it ready before the end of the year. The saga continues with the all-out space war between the Colonial Navy and the Varson Empire. No spoilers, no red alerts, no DefCon announcements, just another action-packed space opera starring Uri Haad and Davi Yorn, keeping up the colonial end out in the Orion-Cygnus arm of the Milky Way.

Home © 2001 R. Jones

Look for excerpts from the new book around the first week in November. Well, back to the key pounding and thanks for your interest and support. So far, the  series is doing much better than even I thought it would.

Decision Time

Okay, here we go again. Should I continue my space-opera saga The Belt Loop and try to get Book Three finished before the end of next month or should I go ahead and finish The GOD Machine, the next Danny DeVille sci-fi adventure novel?

Right now I'm thousands of words into The GOD Machine and while I like writing about a future Las Vegas, I'm really drawn to the space-opera saga, and the book is already outlined, plotted and awaits a commitment from me to start pounding away at the keys. The story takes an unusual twist and some of the lead characters in Books One and Two don't fare too well in the renewed war with the Varson Empire. But, hey, space is a dangerous place and The Belt Loop is one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy.

Decision coming by Sunday. Watch this spot.

The Ring © 2000 R. Jones
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http://deevade.deviantart.com/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YTMNUS
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HRNKA8
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SC002S

Thanks Guys and Gals

Just a word of thanks to all of my friends and followers that support my writing and artistic efforts. I have a lot of fun writing and even more fun sharing my books and drawings on this site. Every day is a new adventure, each morning a new challenge waiting to happen.

The success of my space-opera saga, The Belt Loop draws me to the keyboard often, makes me want to continue the trials and trevails of my characters. The whole process of indie publishing still amazes me, still leaves me with an awesome sense of wonder that I can reach so many people from around the world and let them glimpse some of the things rattling around in my head.

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Amazing! © 1991 R. Jones

Hop aboard the CNS Corpus Christi for an exciting jaunt into Orion’s Belt:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HRNKA8 (Book One)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SC002S (Book Two) - Revenge of the Varson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YTMNUS The Hand Is Quicker (A Danny DeVille sci-fi mystery)

The Belt Loop (Book Two) - Revenge of the Varson

The new Belt Loop advanture (Book Two) is published. Description:

The Belt Loop saga continues with Captain Uri Haad and Commander Davi Yorn nursing their crippled ship back to port. It doesn't take long before things start to go horribly wrong in the Third Colonial Navy Fleet: one of Haad's crewmen is brutally murdered; one of his senior officers is kidnapped; a competition is instigated between Haad and several of the senior captains for a coveted promotion -- all seemingly unconnected events that plunge Haad's crew into a nightmarish fight for survival. Complicating matters, without warning hostilities begin anew with the once-defeated Varson Empire and spiral out of control as the new Varson madman launches his Operation Decimation against the Colonial Navy, the planets of the Colonial Alliance and Captain Haad himself. This soaring adventure is set in the Fringes, that gaseous portion of the galaxy light-years from the Belt Loop and both Haad and Yorn make discoveries that will alter their lives forever. Approximately 97,000 words.

In the Kindle store: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SC002S

Feedback is welcomed!

My Favorite Artist

It's raining in Henderson today and the forecast is for showers all week. Yeah, I know, we need the moisture. In an environment that is habitually dry an occasional shower sort of breaks the monotony of so many glorious sun-filled days.

I get asked a lot about the books and especially about the covers. My son Christopher has been my cover artist since the first book was published. He is easy to work with, gets my ideas in a heartbeat and has never missed a deadline. Now he is working on some "fan art" and will bring to life some of my fictional characters for the world to see. He sends me all of his sketches and notes, and he has his own art page on deviantart. In the future I plan to share some of his work, some of his "pre-cover" sketches with my followers here.

Christopher at the Grand Canyon, photo by R. Jones.

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The new Belt Loop novel will be available sometime tomorrow (10/5/2011) and once again I would like to tip my hat to my favorite artist!

http://mawnbak.deviantart.com/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SC002S

New Month

Greetings to all. Well, October is upon me and I have two things staring me in the face. The first: my birthday is this month and I'm not so much enthralled by the two very crooked numbers looking at me. Oh well, it could be worse. There is only one remedy to stop the aging process and I'm not quite ready for that cryogenic tank yet, too much dang work to do. Secondly, I have to put The Belt Loop (Book Two) to bed. The book finished at almost 97,000 words and all of the editing has been done. I only have to go back and check a few continuity facts from Book One to make sure that my facts in Book Two agree with those previouly published.

Finishing a novel is a major undertaking for me. It starts with an idea, is nurtured through its growing pains, it reaches a pleasant old age and then it gets published. Not many other endeavors have given me the same feeling of accomplishment.

The Great Ashtray Nebula © 1991 R. Jones
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It's hard for me to believe that this drawing of mine is now 20 years old. Boy, time really flies when you're having fun.

Look for The Belt Loop (Book Two): Revenge of the Varson to be available on October 5, 2011. Continuing with the saga starring Captain Haad, Commander Yorn and the rest of the crew of the Corpus Christi, find out what happens to them as they limp back into port and run smack into a Varson uprising.

When Book Two goes live I will post the appropriate link here.

Robert.