Emit (a short story) is now available through Amazon US and Amazon UK.
I’m so excited to share my first short story with you!
But before I tell you a little bit about it, I want to make sure to mention that Emit is not, in any way, related to The Awakened or Wandering Stars series.
In fact, Emit is a departure from what I normally write in almost every way. The first and most obvious is that it’s a short story (roughly ¼ the length of one of my novels). While this provided a more efficient path from concept to execution, it also presented a unique challenge—how to grab your attention and immerse you in the story as quickly as possible.
In terms of genre, I stepped away from my comfort zones of Fantasy, SF, and Military-Fiction. Emit is a Thriller (psychological/cerebral/suspense/satire). I know—that’s a lot of forward slashes. It may not appeal to a wide audience, and that’s okay with me. I’m a bit of a nerd and my interests are pretty diverse. I was inspired and I went for it. Hopefully there are a few other nerds out there who will enjoy it 🙂
All of my novels to this point have been written in past-tense with a close-third-person point of view, which is the most popular combination for fiction. For Emit, I chose to write in present-tense with a first-person point of view. Even though this is the POV we naturally use when telling stories to people around us, we don’t generally enjoy it for fiction. I chose it anyway, not just to defy convention, but because it fits and reinforces the storyline, which takes place in a current setting and is experienced from inside the protagonist’s head.
Even the cover art is different—I used a bold, graphic style instead of the complex layered images that I normally create for The Awakened books.
From start to finish, it was a fun, inspired project that allowed me to stretch my creative muscles and even challenge my own assumptions about what a story experience is supposed to be. I hope you’ll find it to be a breath of fresh air like I did. And if not, don’t worry; The Awakened and Wandering Stars series aren’t done yet!
– Jason Tesar