A Look At M. Pax & 'Precipice' @mpax1 @GoddessFish #SciFi #spaceopera

Today we have author M. Pax visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* M. Pax is author of the space adventure series The Backworlds and the contemporary science fiction series The Rifters, plus other novels and short stories. Fantasy, science fiction, and the weird beckons to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless inspiration. She docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers as a star guide, has a cat with a crush on Mr. Spock, and is slightly obsessed with Jane Austen.

Today M. Pax will be talking about...
Five Steps to Balancing Life and Writing
1. Make a list of priorities and times they take place.
2. Where can you squeeze in writing/writing related activities?
3. Make a schedule of writing times/activities.
4. Stick to the schedule.
5. Adjust where necessary.
* It sounds so simple, right? Yeah, way easier than it is to do. No matter if an author writes full time or in her/his spare time, life loves to creep in and steal the writing time.
* The less distractions I have, the better I do at hitting my goals. I rarely succeed at turning away from the internet, so require myself to get to a certain point before I check in with social media. It helps. There are programs you can purchase to temporarily turn the internet off. Google “program to temporarily disable internet”.
* Like anything else, finding balance is about figuring out how to work with yourself instead of against yourself. If writing time is scheduled during a conflicting with another priority, it’s never going to work.
* I know many writers who get up before dawn or stay up extra late to get some coveted time for their manuscripts. I write in the mornings. It’s my most creative time, and I have the most energy. So I’m working with myself.
* Setting manageable goals helps keep projects on track. Just be sure to make them ‘manageable’. If the set goals are unrealistic, frustration and disappointment will soon be on the desk with the manuscript gathering dust.
* In the end, there are always bits of life that come along to throw everything out of whack. Let the balance be out of whack. We’re only human, and can only do what we can do. It’s OK.
* There are places chunks of time can be stolen. For instance, at a kid’s sports practice or waiting to pick up the kid from school. Little bits of work add up to a whole manuscript over time. A look into the story

~ Blurb ~ * In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendants to survive in a harsh universe. This is the sixth book in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.
* The Backworlds hang by a Quantum string, a thread about to snap. Annihilation is coming if Craze can’t stop it.
* The genocidal alien he had trapped breaks free, destroying a ship belonging to the Backworlds’ oldest enemy, the Fo’wo’s. The murderous alien wants to overtake the galaxy. The Fo’wo’s want another war.
* The Backworlds’ best chance to survive is to overcome a century of hate and forge an alliance with the Fo’wo’s. Because of his history with the alien, Craze is recruited to represent his people. Now he’s the most hated man in the galaxy.
* The looming war will be a holocaust unless he can stop it, knowing salvation comes at a price.
* Boing Boing gives The Backworlds 5 stars! "This is a fun, fast paced novel that reminded me a bit of early Heinlein". ~ Excerpt ~ * Engaging the thrusters on the jetpack strapped to her back, Rainly steered herself through space. Its vastness terrified her. Her skin prickled. The man in the white robe jabbering in her head overwhelmed her, blocking out all until she found herself back on the Sequi opening the box she had retrieved. She had hoped answering the man’s summons would end her blackouts.
* “I don’t want to know what I did,” she whispered, her teeth chattering and limbs quaking. She couldn’t take much more of this.
* The size and dimensions of a coffin, the box was also a ship. One more sophisticated than the Sequi. Using a control paddle, Rainly maneuvered a dolly under the box, then she wheeled it into the living quarters. Her sister had moved the couches, creating ample space.
* Her hands clapping, her sister beamed. “Let’s meet our master.”
* Together they pried open the chamber per instructions pulsing in Rainly’s head. The flood of data had to be making a clamor in her sister’s mind too, because she moved in the same ways.
* Inside the box lay a brain in a sac of goo. Nothing like Rainly expected. “Is it a Fo’wo?” she asked her sister.
* “Not yet. We have to reboot him first.”
* Rainly had to wonder whether she and her sister had gone insane. Buy Precipice here... Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords | the-backworlds-series Find M. Pax here... Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Website Thank you for joining us here today, M. Pax! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! M. Pax is giving away a $40 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use the Rafflecopter below. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway