Higgins World
Higgins World is the story of three groups of humans stranded on an earthlike planet. The NeoUtopians paid to settle the planet. The NeoEspanian Mining Corporation was planning on mining the asteroid belt around the planet’s star. The crew of the Galactic Consortium transport were grounded by an asteroid destroying the transport ship. The crew and the mining company were sure GC was coming to rescue them. A couple hundred years pass with no rescue. You then mix in psychic powers developed by children born on the planet and you have a story worth telling. Each group deals with survival differently. It is clear they need to cooperate, but change is hard.
How this story came about: My son Charlie and I shared a love for science fiction and fantasy. After sharing several books one summer, we both complained about how the story treated women. Charlie challenged me to co-author a science fiction book with a better plot. We began that summer and worked on it off and on as he finished his Navy service. We had about four chapters written when we lost him.
Charlie had long struggled with mental illness. He had bad days and good, but one especially bad day, he hung himself. I put the book away for a couple of years. Joining a study group of local writers, I read some of the book to them. They urged me to finish it as a memorial to my son.
I have two books finished and available on Amazon. The first is Change is the Only Option. The second book of the series is Change or Chaos. In the meantime, I am working on book three. Because I want you to enjoy reading these stories, I will be posting chapters of the books here. The story has evolved and become a series with book three coming soon and book four building as I hike among the tree here above Sulfur Creek.
Above Sulfur Creek
In the center of Austin, Texas, you will find Lady Bird Lake, formed by a dam on the Colorado River. About halfway along it, west of the freeway, it is joined by Barton Creek. Barton Creek rises west of town in Hays County among the hills where it has cut deep canyons. It is joined out near the county line by a small, seasonal creek which we call Sulfur Creek. (The county has a different name on the map, but they have never smelled the spring water seeping out of the banks into pools.)
On a hill above the confluence of Sulfur and Barton, we built our home more than 50-years ago. Over the years we raised five children, cut a bunch of cedar trees, and enjoyed Texas country living. Over those years, I have been a Girl Scout leader, a school bus driver, a substitute teacher, and a newspaper reporter. As a newspaper reporter, I did a weekly column of general observation on nature, raising children, and other personal reflections. I will share some of those with you here.
Patricia K. Gibson
I am an Army Brat who attended 14 schools in 13 years but finally graduated from high school in Littleton, Colorado. This marks one for life.
I am a late bloomer. I attended the University of Wyoming for three years but received my bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Northern Colorado in 1966. My MSIS (Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies) was a specialization in Career and Technical Education and was earned at Texas State in 2001. My doctorate was awarded in 2014 from North Central University in online education. Made it before I turned 65 but missed out on being the oldest one in my class. A gentleman from Africa got his doctorate just before his 85th birthday. I’ll bow to that accomplishment.
I have been involved in adult education for over 30 years. I was an adjunct instructor for over twenty years at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. In my spare time, I have been a school bus driver, a newspaper reporter and editor, a web master, worked in a print shop doing typesetting and graphic design, written computer training manuals, and raised five children.
I have always been a reader with a book or magazine or newspaper close at hand. My favorite genre is Science Fiction and Fantasy. I follow the Liaden Universe faithfully, have read all the books about Pern, and grew up with Lee and Miller, Anne McCaffery, and Alan Dean Foster. While I have spent many years writing peer reviewed, academic articles, retirement allowed me to finish the first volume of a science fiction series. The story kept growing and book two is now available. Stay tuned, book three of the struggle for Terrans to survive if not prosper on Higgins World is underway.