Happy Release Day to WOLF SMOKE

Now available in paperback and e-book from Sky Forest Press

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold, or ask your library to purchase a copy

Add it on Goodreads today, and check under the cut for an excerpt

COVER REVEAL: Wolf Smoke by Poe Casavant

They were chosen to save their country. First, they'll have to save themselves. 

Following a decade of nuclear war, the population has plummeted, forcing the world to find a civilian-saving alternative. They settle on the Langyan Series, where, in order to decide international disputes, twelve-person teams from each country will compete in paintball battles inside a specially designed arena.

Sarah Charlton—a depressed, destructive, and anxiety-ridden college dropout—is the last person anyone expects to lead the USA team. Cut off from the outside world, she and her eleven teammates, including an old friend and an old flame, must rely on one another for safety and support. To prove her worth as a leader, Sarah first has to learn to trust in herself.

But then the Series turns deadly, and as the team fights to stay alive, Sarah fights to hold onto her humanity.

A thrilling science-fiction story by Poe Casavant

Cover art by l0cke

February 26, 2019 from Sky Forest Press

Add it to your Goodreads today

About the Author: Poe Casavant is the author of the first book in the Langyan Series and its upcoming sequels. By day, she designs robotic props and hairpieces for the fashion world. When not working, you can find her crashing through waves in her sea kayak, jumping out of airplanes, or training for her current goal of climbing the highest peak on every continent. (Five down, three to go!) Poe’s passion is creating high-octane stories with characters who shatter traditional stereotypes.

Poe lives in sunny Silicon Valley with her husband, cat, and two parrots.

Find Poe on Twitter and her website.

Writing Update, February

February's been . . . interesting. Every once in a while, I hit a wall creatively. I think it's because I don't like to take breaks. So, I finished the draft of book two in mid-December, and by the middle of January, I'd added 30,000 words to a romance manuscript to finish it. Even though I did a lot of reading at the beginning of February to help cleanse my palate, I tried to jump straight into other projects instead of giving myself a breather, and it didn't work out that well.

My main goal was to write four short stories to submit to anthologies before March 1st. I wrote and submitted two. 50% isn't bad, but I'm a little disappointed. I also had the goal of increasing my science-fiction manuscript from 9,000 words to 30,000. I increased it to 10,000 words. At least that's some forward momentum, even if it's slow.

One thing I'm going to try to do is outline the sci-fi novel more deeply. Right now, the outline is a page long and just major story beats. It'll help to flesh that out, figure out more about the characters, and do some world-building before I really dive into the manuscript.

I've also decided to indulge myself in my pet project, which is an epic fantasy with a cast that's almost entirely female just 'cause that's what I wanna write. From the outline, it's going to be a long, long book, so the number-one rule is that I can't get consumed in it. I'm only going to write a bit here and there when I need help getting into the flow. And I'm giving myself permission for the first draft to be terrible. Because it will be, and I don't want to scare myself away from writing it because I want it to come out perfectly the first time.

So, there are my new goals! Stay tuned for whatever progress I end up making. And an extra bit of good news: I sold a short story today. It's supposed to come out tomorrow, so I'll keep you updated!

Writing Update, January

You might have noticed that I added another manuscript progress bar to the right side of the page (and yes, I'm keeping the YA post-apocalyptic one even though I haven't worked on it in a while). The first draft of book two is currently with readers, so I find myself mostly twiddling my thumbs while I wait for their comments. To keep myself productive, my main focus over the next few months is (hopefully) going to be this manuscript, tentatively titled To the Edge of the Galaxy.

While I've written sci-fi short stories, this is the first sci-fi novel I'm embarking upon. I'm more familiar with SF movies and television than I am with SF novels (and the other way around for fantasy), so I'm also going to try to prioritize reading SF over fantasy in the foreseeable future. If you have any books you think I should read, feel free to suggest them.

My goal is to finish the first draft by the end of April. I'm shooting for 70,000 words. I have almost 9,000 right now, which means approximately 20,000 words per month. That's certainly doable, providing I don't let myself get distracted by shiny new ideas. I'm posting here to keep myself accountable.

Although I have some words already, I'm very much still feeling this project out. I originally envisioned one point of view, but now I think two might serve the story better. I'm dealing with all the exciting and scary questions that come with starting a new novel. I'm excited to see where this journey will take me!

FRIDAY FIVE: Favorite Supergirl Episodes

The third season of Supergirl started last week, and so far, I've been enjoying it! I'm not invested in much television anymore, and I didn't agree with every creative decision they made in season two, but this show is always a solid bet for me. So, this week, I'm talking about my five favorite episodes, which were frustratingly hard to narrow down. These are in chronological order. First up:

Episode 1.06, "Red Faced"
Kara faces frustrating circumstances in her job at CatCo and in her life as Supergirl. Meanwhile, in the non-superheroic story line, James has dinner with Lucy and her Army general dad who disapproves of him. What makes this episode stand out for me is the exploration of anger. Kara and James bond while boxing (James with a punching bag and Kara with an actual car) and talking about how, as a woman and a black man, they're often told not to express their anger. It's a good reminder that anger can be a force for good.

1.13, "For the Girl Who Has Everything"
I'm a sucker for episodes focused on the Danvers sisters. They're definitely my favorite relationship on this show (with Alex and J'onn being a close second) and pretty much my favorite relationship on television. With that said, it's no surprise this episode is on my list. It features Kara succumbing to a Black Mercy, a parasite that traps her in a vision of a life on Krypton had the planet not been destroyed, and Alex risking her life to save her. I love that the show allows Kara to be saved because it argues that strength doesn't have to mean being the hero and being alone all the time. Sometimes, it means letting people help you. It's pretty wonderful, too, that Alex is the one doing the saving because fiction, in my opinion, doesn't focus enough on relationships between women, sister relationships included. The Danvers sisters save each other because they love each other, and I love them.

2.04, "Survivors"
I love this episode not because it's heavy on the drama and mythology (as much as I appreciate the feels) but because it's just bad-ass and fun. Dichen Lachman guest-stars as Roulette, a villain who runs an underground alien cage-fighting club. That single sentence in promo form was enough to get me excited about this episode, and it really followed through with the premise. This episode also introduced us to M'gann M'orzz, a white Martian living in self-imposed exile, and lets Alex get to know Maggie, who was introduced in the previous episode, a bit more. And since Maggie's a National City detective with the science division, I like getting to know her more.

2.09, "Supergirl Lives"
Another one of my favorite things this show does is explore Supergirl's humanity. Sometimes, that exploration is figurative, like when Kara has to deal with very human emotions. But sometimes, like in this episode, it's literal. She ends up on the planet Maaldoria, which has a red sun. Since her powers come from Earth's yellow sun, she has to figure out how to be a hero without them. The ending isn't a surprise. She's our protagonist. Of course she's going to save the day. But the fun comes from watching her figure it out, and there's something to be said for stories where you know the good guys are going to win.

2.15, "Exodus"
This episode has so much going on. Jeremiah betraying Alex and Kara. Forced alien emigration. Alex getting benched at the DEO. Maggie figuring out just what "ride or die" means when talking about a Danvers sister. Kara facing a crisis of conscious at her job. But amidst all that, this episode has what might be my favorite moment of the entire series. Alex hops onto the ark that Cadmus is using to forcibly emigrate aliens right before it launches, because she's selfless like that. The only catch is once it hits the upper atmosphere, it's going to jump right to FTL and take her and everyone else to who knows where in the galaxy. Supergirl diverts from her original mission to help stop the ship, but it seems she might not be strong enough. She's pushing against the ship right below the windshield, which means she can see Alex in the cockpit and Alex can see her. Alex puts her hand against the windshield to give her sister strength, and I'm getting all goosebumpy just writing about it because it's such a great moment between the sisters. They use the same music theme from "Red Faced," and I love the Supergirl soundtracks (by Blake Neely) in general, but that's one of my favorite themes.

FRIDAY FIVE: Summer Sci-Fi

Although I'm more of an autumn person, there are a ton of things I love about summer--sunshine, storms, ice-cold lemonade, fireflies, reading in a hammock. Plus all the science-fiction television shows that come around. I read a lot of fantasy, but I tend to watch more sci-fi. Maybe it’s because sci-fi shows are easier to find. Maybe I haven't been reading the right sci-fi. Whatever the reason, one of my favorite things about speculative fiction in general and science fiction in particular is that a lot of it remains grounded in humanity. Even though the settings and plots are outlandish, the characters and relationships are ones we recognize and connect with. This summer, my favorite new spec-fic shows were Fox's Wayward Pines and AMC's Humans. In honor of the summer sci-fi tradition, here are some of my all-time favorites.

The 100

This is a gem of a show. I discovered season one on Netflix halfway through the airing of season two and scrambled to catch up. It starts a bit slowly, but once it gets rolling, boy, does it get rolling! 97 years after a worldwide nuclear war, the last of the human race survives on a giant space station called the Ark. Air is running out faster than they thought, and they send 100 underage delinquents down to Earth to see if it's habitable. The kids face threats from each other, nature, and Grounders, the humans who managed to survive on the surface for nearly a century.Along the way, the show asks big questions, like what it means to be human and whether they can hold onto their humanity while fighting for their survival.

That girl in the middle up above is Clarke Griffin. Even though this is an ensemble show, she's the main protagonist, and she's awesome. She's smart, bossy, courageous, and an all-around badass. Her season two arc, in which she takes on the burden of protecting her people and fully realizes the consequences of it, is exceptionally complex and heartbreaking. The rest of the main crew--Octavia, Raven, Bellamy, Lincoln, Lexa, and more--is just as compelling. In a show with no black-and-white morals and no true "heroes," it's easy to root for nearly everyone (with the exception of the Wallaces, of course).

Orphan Black

Orphan Black's opening scene is one of my favorites of any TV show. Sarah Manning gets off a subway at night, makes a phone that does not go well, and then hangs up and sees a woman taking her shoes off and setting down her purse. The woman turns and looks exactly like Sarah. Then she jumps onto the track. Talk about a hook!

The first two episodes are chock-full of suspense as quick-thinking small-time grifter Sarah snags the woman's purse and takes over her identity. Until she finds out that, rather than having a long-lost twin sister, she's in fact part of an illegal cloning experiment. Then the story gets kicked into high gear, and we're introduced to Alison, Cosima, Rachel, Helena, and others, all played by the superb Tatiana Maslany. It's about women joining together to take ownership of their bodies and lives, and it's great to see a show with an ensemble cast that's mostly women (even if it's all the same woman), all distinctive and interesting in their own right. Solid all around, the show's at its best when it gives in to dark comedy.

Battlestar Galactica

I've told this story a bunch, but I'm going to tell it again. I took a class in undergrad on Renaissance drama at the same time the last season of this show was airing. Every Monday before class, my teacher, a classmate, and I would discuss Friday's episode. And then she'd find away to talk about it in class and relate it to the Renaissance plays we were reading. The lesson I walked away from that class with was: stories last because, despite their period trappings, they're about human beings. The space trappings are wonderfully designed, and the characters will all have you rooting for them in different ways, but BSG's greatest strength, like The 100's, is in raising the question of what it means to be human.

Fringe

This is such a wacky and engaging show. It centers on Olivia Dunham, an FBI agent who is drawn into the Fringe Science division following a biological incident on an airplane. She enlists the help of Dr. Walter Bishop but needs his son, Peter, to act as a handler of sorts as they solve cases. The mythology deepens and the story arcs become longer as the seasons go on, culminating in a shorter fifth and final one that revolves around the Bishop/Dunham family and their fight for their future. Throughout the many imaginative developments, such as parallel universes and alternate timelines, the relationship between Olivia and Peter anchors the story.

 

Chuck

Definitely the most lighthearted show on this list, Chuck is about a regular guy who works as a Nerd Herder computer repair guy at Buy More until his ex-best friend sends him an email that downloads a government super computer into his brain. Enter NSA agent John Casey and CIA agent Sarah Walker, sent to protect him until they can get the secrets out. It's an outlandish premise but one that works because of the strength of the characters. Chuck and Sarah's will-they-won't-they relationship is the heart of the show, and Chuck's lovable family--sister Ellie, brother-in-law Devon, and best friend Morgan (who takes a little while to grow on you)--round out an endearing cast.