Polynya

There are subtle mentions of locations from a Proxima World known as Steam. These locales are first introduced in The Feedback Loop Book Two (Morlock) and Book Seven (Akrasia). There is also mention of Steampunk Santa, who appears in both those books as well. I will use the Proxima World “Steam” for a new series next year (2018// first book called Imperium and Beyond) starring “Sam Raid” who appears in the Last Warrior of Unigaea series.

Seriously, if you haven’t started the other stuff, now’s the time! I am planning a wiki in the future, alongside my facebook group (which you should join) to help people more easily jump into my Proxima worlds and see their connections.

REAL world locations

I lived in Japan off and on in 2014 and 2015 for a combined length of about 10.5 months. Many of the locations I mention, I’ve personally been to. This includes Ikebukuro, the location of Ryuk and Kodai’s mother’s office. I actually lived in Kami-iitabashi, which is about six or seven subway stops away from Ikebukuro.

Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to visit Japan to write any of the Fantasy Online series, using memories for inspiration. This may change with the last two books, as I truly miss living in the country.

All that to say – most of this book was written in Texas. I created the map of Polynya and outlined the final chapters in Chicago, and I reread/edited my final version of the book during an “Evacu-cation”.

What’s an Evacucation?

During the writing of Polynya, I lived an hour north of Houston. My wife and I evacuated the area because of Hurricane Harvey, which soon became a road trip vacation as we traveled to Santa Fe, Denver (do not eat the gummies!), Wichita, and Oklahoma City.

The “Snoop Dogg” ink shadow scene, as an example, was edited and improved upon after a discussion with Jeff Hays – Fantasy Online’s narrator who asked for the shadow to sound like Snoop – at a 24-hour donut shop in Wichita, Kansas. Other parts were edited/fixed/conceived in Santa Fe, at an airbnb near downtown Denver, at a Kroger’s knock off in Oklahoma City, and at a stinky hotel in Lubbock, Texas.

 

Thank ye!

Thank you, reader, for taking this journey with me and enjoying the Proxima Galaxy. I will continue to expand it going forward, so watch this space for exciting news and hopefully in the next year or so, a wiki page on the Proxima Books (Thus far: The Feedback Loop series, Fantasy Online Series, The Last Warrior of Unigaea series) and how they are connected.

Special thanks goes to Kay Smilie for killing the beta read of the book, to my editor Andi Marlowe @ Andromeda Editing for tackling this crazy book, to my ARC Team for taking a chance with this one and helping me spread the word, to my wife for letting me talk to her about goblins, Jeff Hays for voicing said goblin, to the members of the Proxima Galaxy on Facebook for making me laugh, the authors I know and enjoy speaking (here’s looking at you Luke Chmilenko, Apollos Thorne – Cherry Apollos!) and to my cover artists in Ukraine, who made Hiccup just as I had imagined him.

Mother of fick, I’ve said enough.

Harmon Cooper

[email protected]

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The Last Warrior of Unigaea PREVIEW

(aka, the back story of Oric and Wolf)

 

Out on Amazon now.

 

Chapter One: Cliffhanger

A small pebble bounces down into the valley.

I look up at the ledge to see my muscles bulge, my vein pulsing with blood. Digital life force. There’s a slight chill in the air but my body is warm from exertion. I’ve been hanging on the side of this cliff for twenty minutes now, waiting for my prey to walk along the mountain pass.

The things you can do in an online world …

My vision pane flashes and a couple pebbles skip past me.

I originally came to the Farthing Mountains to look for sunset roots so I could craft a few potions. I found one, but then I saw the orcs coming and figured at least one had to be a Player Character. If I’m lucky, two.

My grip loosens and I dig my fingers in tighter.

Don’t look down, I remind myself.

I still need to assign the attribute points from my last level-up – three points to be exact – and as I hang, I use the interface to transfer all three points into STRENGTH. My muscles expand and my chest plate made of Solidus steel tightens.

I feel myself get a little heavier, stronger, and more aggressive.

My character sheet appears:

Oric Rune

Class: Level 8 Player Killer

Subclass: Level 3 Herbalist