Hello all pledgers, potential and confirmed!
It's the first week into this project, so naturally some news is in order. So far, although the pledge levels haven't quite been what I'd hoped for at the start, I'm immensely pleased at the views and responses coming in so far as to the video and the draft excerpt, and even more towards Emily, Matt and Kevin Bragg, the three who've helped kick off this campaign. If you haven't pledged yet, PLEASE consider doing so, or pass the word on to others looking for a good scifi, or just a new read.
Discarded is my first attempt at publishing a novel-length work anywhere; even if you can't pledge, please don't hesitate to ask questions about the draft, and the process. This is a work I've labored over for quite some time, and I'm more than happy to discuss any aspects of it, and take any pointers, whether here or on my Wordpress and Facebook author pages; feel free to check these out as well!
https://www.facebook.com/Mark-A-Ciccone-118412591868473/
https://markaciccone.wordpress.com/
One aspect that helped a great deal with writing this novel was creating a rough timeline of preceding events; no matter what the genre, seems the historian in me always insists on one. For those of you who want more background before discussing, or just have general questions on the draft and characters, I'll be posting snippets of this timeline periodically over the campaign, and possibly more excerpts from the book itself as the project edits progress. The first tidbit is included below; writing this was almost as fun as the draft, so I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!
2018: First successful test of ARC (Accelerated Regeneration Compound)-26 in human cells at the Seattle-based CellWorx Laboratories (a private research entity tied to the NIH), by Drs. Richard Garrett (geneticist, cellular microbiologist, and general surgeon) and Samuel Hunter (geneticist, neurobiologist, and general surgeon). This test opens the door for tremendous possibilities in the field of tissue recreation…and enhancement.
2020: Conservative, militaristic government comes to power in Washington, D.C. in the form of the newly-created Vanguard Party (a blend of old-guard hawks and moderate social neocons, drawn from across the doddering two-party system), headed by President Nathan Daniels; similar groups begin to emerge in Russia, China, and several European nations. Shortly after its swearing-in the following year, the new administration approaches Garrett and Hunter with the offer of developing their new compound further as a form of treatment (and augmentation) for the VA and the armed forces in general. Garrett is reluctant, but intrigued; Hunter is enthusiastic.