Alpha Redemption Press Release

Debut SF Novel Delves Into Science and Spirituality

September 1st 2010 sees the release of P.A. Baines’ debut novel Alpha Redemption, a story about a man who rediscovers his faith in God through the friendship of a sentient computer.

Auckland, New Zealand – Splashdown Books is pleased to announce the release of an exciting debut novel from a talented new author. It is a tale of lightspeed travel, and also of an inner journey from pain to peace.

Brett Denton is unemployed and has lost his will to live, as well as everything else – his faith, his family, his career. When offered the chance to leave his old life behind in an experimental mission to Alpha Centauri, he gladly accepts, knowing that he may not survive the hazardous journey.

With only the ship’s intelligent on-board computer, Jay, for company, he crosses the depths of space in an epic voyage of discovery. At first he just wants to enjoy his solitude and finds Jay’s quest for knowledge an annoyance. Over time, however, they become friends as Brett slowly begins to heal from a life of heartache.

On arriving at Alpha Centauri they find a planet very similar to Earth, now deserted but showing signs of a once-powerful civilization. When an emergency situation arises, it soon becomes clear that Brett may not be able to make it back alive. And Jay discovers that Brett is not alone on the ship.

Alpha Redemption is 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Robinson Crusoe, with soul. “My idea for Alpha came from wondering what a purely logical being would make of faith and God. If such an entity were to learn about God, what would it make of this knowledge, and would it be able to sway the opinion of an atheist?” said Baines.

For more information on Alpha Redemption, visit www.splashdownbooks.com or the author’s website at www.pabaines.com. The book is available from Amazon.com and other online retailers, and discounted direct from the publisher.

About Splashdown Books:

Begun in 2009 as an independent publisher of inspirational science fiction and fantasy, Splashdown Books has a vision to provide a connection between authors and fans of a genre with the capability to transport the reader to other worlds in their mind.

P.A.Baines was born in England and currently does contract work in Europe where he lives with his wife and two children. He writes computer programs by day and speculative fiction by night, although his dream is to swap those two around. His aim as a writer is to create science-fiction where God is not just present but at the very core of the story. He hopes one day to get a proper night’s sleep.

Yet more excuses not to write

I’ve been trying my best to think of something interesting to tell you in the lead up to Alpha (sorry, Alpha Redemption) being let loose on an unsuspecting world. I was hoping to have some fascinating snippets of esoteric information to share with you regarding the arcane inner workings of the publication business. The only interesting thing I’ve done (no, really) is to sign up with the Chicago Manual of Style Online in the hope that I could, hopefully, pick up some tips on how to improve, where possible, my use of and application of, commas, because, apparently, too many commas, can make, your, text, virtually, unreadable. Or so they say.

I suppose I could tell you about the re-reading, and re-checking, and re-re-reading. Or I could tell you about the gnawing feeling that you’ve missed something somewhere in the manuscript that you’ll only spot when the thing hits the shelves. Or maybe I could mention the glaring error I spotted this weekend in a rather important plot point that required a quick rethink and some hasty alterations but which, ultimately, actually turned out for the best. Or I could tell you about the anxiety that comes with suspecting that this is really all just a weird but wonderful dream and that any moment now you are going to wake up. I could tell you about all these things but, to be honest, all that has happened is that I have found yet more excuses not to write.

Does editing count as writing? I’m not sure. Certainly I’m thinking about writing but that’s not the same as tapping away at those keys as if your life depended on it. I’m making corrections but that’s nothing close to hammering out a brand new, fresh-out-of-the-box story complete with that wonderful new-plot smell. Does fretting about character and development and pace count as writing? In my dream-world it does, but this is not that world (I know this because donuts do not grow on trees), and so I have to log those hours in the “Time Wasted” or “Not Really Doing Anything Constructive” columns of my swanky new time-management system that basically consists of my desk disguised as a post-it note.

Sometime over the next few days I have to stop tweaking the manuscript and hand it over so that Splashdown Books’ editor, Cat, can have a good laugh. This, too, makes me nervous but then I bet that doesn’t surprise you. I enjoy writing but I also take it a little too seriously and so always want to improve on it. And I always think it could be much better. I’m told this is a common trait among the artistically inclined. Normal people look at what we’ve done and see a story that they like or don’t like. We look at it and see dodgy dialogue, problematic punctuation, clumsy characterisation, and annoying alliteration. To be honest, at this point I can’t see anything anymore, never mind a story. So maybe this is a good time to hand it on to someone who knows what they’re doing and trust their judgement. Between Grace and me, we should have found most of the errors, so hopefully Cat won’t laugh too hard.