Less than a week remains until Alpha. We've already covered Sammy's mother, Sarah Pretorius. Now it's time to learn a bit more about Sammy's dad, Sammy Sr.

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       On October 3, 2050 Marvin Berhane introduced his young son, Samuel, to the game of chess. Marvin held no special regard for the game, but Samuel took to it instantly. The next day, Samuel spent three hours online watching videos and lectures on chess strategy. His father found it amusing and paid it no mind. But when the behavior continued day after day, Marvin took notice. He enrolled Samuel in a local chess club and encouraged him to pursue his passion to its fullest extent. Samuel’s after-school hobby quickly transformed into chess matches against older opponents. His first breakthrough came in 2060, at age 15, when he won the territorial championship in the youth category. The victory did not satisfy him. He only competed against six kids from the entire territory. The next year, at age sixteen, he entered the adult competition and finished fourth. He finished third the next year. In his third year of competition at the territorial adult level, Samuel finally won, defeating the same person who’d knocked him out in the semifinals the two previous years. Pressure mounted on Samuel to enter the World Junior or World Senior Championships and pursue the rank of Grandmaster, but he declined, choosing instead to focus on college applications.

       Samuel enrolled at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and started at the age of 17. He listed his major as History with an emphasis in 21st Century Events, but found it so easy that he added Political Science as a second major. On a whim, Samuel decided to audition for a new play called All is Fair. Very few men showed up for the audition, leading to Samuel’s selection as the male lead opposite a woman he’d never met, Sarah Pretorius. Samuel was attracted to her the moment he saw her audition and was thrilled to see her get the part opposite him, especially knowing that the script called for three kissing scenes. The day they married was the second happiest day of his life. The first was the day Samuel Jr. was born.

       After graduation from Wits and then law school, Samuel took a job in the office of the Director of Public Prosecution in Johannesburg. His superiors quickly identified him as a rising star with his near-perfect success rate at prosecuting criminals. By age 30, he was offered the job as director of the office when the former director was caught having an affair with his administrative assistant. Unfortunately, Samuel’s success made him enemies with both criminals and lawyers.

A week remains between you and reading Psion Alpha. Today's profile is Martin Trector, the first character I killed in the series. Trector, as you recall, gave his life on the Rio mission. I hope you enjoy today's read.
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       Martin Trector was the youngest of eleven children. His strictly religious mother and father were 46 and 54, respectively, when he was born. His next oldest sibling was over seven years his elder. Martin was a stellar student in his first six years of public school. But in the first month of his seventh year, his 19-year-old brother died in a plane crash en route to a remote area of Central America. After the tragedy, Martin’s grades took a turn for the worse. At thirteen, his life was consumed by drugs and parties. During a particularly wild rave, Martin, high on a cocktail of drugs, jumped from a hotel balcony ten stories up and survived with a shattered arm, seven busted ribs, and a severe concussion.

       Commander Byron arrived at the hospital two days later with Dr. Rosmir to perform tests on Martin. Tests showed that of all the Trectors, only Martin had Anomaly Fourteen. It was a rare occurrence for it to be found in just one member of such a large family. His parents refused to believe Byron when he told them about the Psion abilities. To them, Martin’s survival was an act of God, a second chance at life. Even after multiple demonstrations of Anomaly Fourteen, the Trectors refused to believe that what they saw was real. Fortunately, Martin was able to demonstrate a blast with his good arm despite having no training or practice.

       Ultimately, Martin convinced his parents to let him go to Capitol Island. He confessed to them his drug use, the partying, and how he felt like they were too old to be bothered with raising him. He promised his parents that if they let him train, he’d clean up his act and make the necessary changes in his life. Byron refused to let Martin attend Psion Beta headquarters until he went 6 months without using any illegal substances. 6 months later, Martin joined the next class of recruits and began training.

       Three months after Martin’s death in Rio de Janeiro in November of 2085, his older sister gave birth to identical twin boys. She named them Martin and Marty. Dr. Rosmir, on Byron’s request, flew to Australia to test the babies. Martin’s sister gave her permission against her husband’s wishes. Both infants tested positive for Anomaly Fourteen.

A little more than a week remains. I hope you enjoy this character profile. A bit of love and tragedy:
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       Sarah Pretorius was struggling through her Economics major at Wits University when her best friend and roommate, Martha, recommended she do something different to inject a little excitement into her life. The next day, Sarah noticed a flier asking for auditions for a student-written play called All is Fair. Sarah auditioned for the lead role and got the part after two sessions of callbacks. Her opposite: a tall, black History-Political Science dual major named Samuel. He was a complete nerd, and when Sarah realized she had to kiss him, she almost turned down the role. The director talked her into staying, which culminated in a show which received poor to mediocre reviews, a two-year courtship, and, finally, marriage.

       Sarah had never had much ambition in the career world. However, she worked in finance until Samuel finished law school, then quit the day he graduated. Six months later, she was pregnant with their first child. Unfortunately, the pregnancy lasted eight weeks before resulting in a miscarriage. After her third failed pregnancy, Sarah and Samuel visited a fertility specialist, who told them there was absolutely nothing wrong with either of them. Sure enough, he was right. Eleven months later Sarah and Samuel welcomed Sammy Berhane Jr. into the world.

       Having Sammy only encouraged Sarah to try for more children. Her wish would never come true. After Sammy’s birth, Sarah experienced five more miscarriages, the final one being when Sammy was ten. The failed attempts brought on a depression so profound that Sarah thought she’d never shake it. She tried therapy, medication, holistic remedies, and anything else she could find in books and articles. The results varied, but nothing she did brought back her true sense of self. She felt cold and passionless toward her husband; and, whether real or imaginary, she sensed an emotional barrier between herself and Sammy Jr.

       Things changed when, at the mall, she bumped into her old friend and roommate, Martha. During lunch, Sarah opened up to her friend about her troubles. Martha pushed her solution across the table in the form of a medicine bottle. The way Martha explained it, the pills were special anti-depressants that could only be purchased from CAG pharmaceutical companies, and were almost impossible to obtain except from black market sellers. In order to protect the sellers’ anonymity, Martha suggested that Sarah purchase the pills from her if they worked. Sarah thought of her son, Sammy, and how difficult she found it to connect with him lately. She thought of her husband, and how distant he said she sometimes seemed. Desperate to pull out of her months-long funk, Sarah accepted the pills, not knowing they were actually powerfully addictive amphetamines.

 Celebrate with me the single digits! Only 9 days left before the next book is released. Today we learn about a character who will appear in Psion Alpha in a minor but important role. Don't worry, there are NO SPOILERS.
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      Born in Lucknow, Territory of India, Harsh grew up a rabid fan of cricket. Part of this was due to the fact that he was born August 27, 2058, exactly 150 years after the birth of Don Bradman, considered by many to be the greatest cricket player of all time. However, by 2058, cricket was a dying sport except in India.

       During a cricket match at age 10, Harsh suffered a traumatic injury to his left leg when a ball struck him above the knee. An intoxicated doctor’s misdiagnosis and a large blood clot compounded the problem, ultimately resulting in amputation at the mid-thigh. The experience had such a profound impact on Harsh that he transformed his cricket obsession into an interest in medical law.

       At age 16 he chose to forego his last year of secondary school to enroll in Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He graduated with honors in three years, and finished law school at Oxford before age 23. Two years later, he was selected to handle a high profile case involving the brother of the Governor of the Territory of India. Kansagra’s brilliant work led to a great surprise. Four years after graduation, at age 27, he was selected by the Governor of the Territory of India to be the junior Senator in the New World Congress, replacing the former senator who died in office. Senator Kansagra is known for his willingness to compromise to accomplish goals, his impeccable moral character, and for once removing his false leg and brandishing it on the Senate floor to make his point during a debate on a major reform bill.

Ten days to go. I hope you're getting excited. I'm excited. I'm very very excited. I hope you're enjoying the countdown, too. Speaking of which, here's today's profile:
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At age 10, Strawberry Plack entered a major fashion contest. The rules stated she had to submit a photograph of herself after doing her own hair, makeup, and designing her own wardrobe. Unfortunately, the rules also stated that entrants had to be 18 or older. Three days after she sent her submission, she received notification that despite her automatic disqualification she had impressed the judges. The sponsors of the contest flew Strawberry and her mother to Paris, where Strawberry met with several designers and artists about her natural talent for fashion. The trip culminated in a scholarship offer for Strawberry to attend the top fashion-oriented secondary school in the NWG.

Elated at her good fortune, Strawberry and her mother returned to the Plack home near Killarney, Territory of Ireland, to discover that Brickert had manifested some strange powers. The whole family had to be tested for the same abilities. Strawberry dreaded the day the government people arrived at the house to test her. Secretly, she hoped she wouldn’t have the ability. While it fascinated her that Brickert had it, her dream was to go to fashion school. Having some weird superpower would complicate things.

When word came that she did indeed have the ability, Strawberry cried for an entire day. Commander Byron told her she had several months before she needed to make a decision. But Strawberry’s mind was already made up: she was not going. When Brickert left for his new school, Strawberry’s problems slowly faded away, out of sight, out of mind. Six months later, two letters arrived in the mail for her. The first informed her that she had been accepted into the Lyon Fashion and Design Secondary School on a full tuition scholarship, the other was from Brickert. She read the acceptance letter first. By the time she finished it, she’d forgotten about her brother’s letter. She remembered it a week later while doing homework at her desk. As she read the note from Brickert, tears fell onto the paper. Without a word to her parents, she got on the phone, called Commander Byron, and informed him of her decision to go to Psion Beta.

If you haven't reread the books to refresh your memory on what's going on, now would be an excellent time to start. I hope you enjoy today's character profile:
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       Born in Sao Paulo, Floyd Hernandes was the son of a renowned surgeon and her husband, a surgical technician. Floyd lost his mother during the Scourge and for years planned on following her footsteps by going to medical school. However, Floyd’s father pressed his son to be sure he was pursuing his education for the right reasons. With some embarrassment, Floyd revealed to his father that he’d had an interest in butchering. After convincing his father that he was indeed serious about his ambition, Paul Hernandes helped his son find a job in a butcher shop for a year. Twelve months later, Floyd was certain he’d found the right profession. His father agreed to help Floyd start a shop in Sao Paulo using some of the money inherited from his mother’s death.

       Two months after opening his doors for business, while staying late to complete shipping orders, a masked man entered the shop through the back and nearly strangled Floyd to death. The masked man stole all the meat and equipment from Floyd’s store. After a five-day recovery in the hospital, Floyd was released. The first thing he did on his release was permanently close his shop. Two weeks later he sold his premises and relocated to Rio, where crime rates were lower and neighborhoods safer. The first customer to walk through his doors in Rio was a woman named Karéna. They married nine months later.

       Floyd never attained the level of wealth his father and mother enjoyed from their professions in the medical field, but his business stayed steady. He stood to inherit almost two million dollars upon his father’s death, which he planned to use to renovate his butcher shop, his home, and then put the rest away for retirement. Unfortunately, those dreams ended on March 16, 2086 when a woman calling herself the Queen broke into the home where the Hernandes family was staying in Sao Paulo. He watched in horror as the woman slaughtered his children like a butcher. His last thoughts were directed toward his wife, hoping she would stay strong and keep Samuel’s location a secret.

I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving. There are only a dozen days left for you to wait. Here is the next character profile:
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    In 2045 Calven Bredenkamp was born six months premature. Doctors gave him less than ten percent chance of surviving due to his weak heart. Fortunately, Calven was a fighter. As his health steadily improved, he was released from the hospital to his parents, Freddy and Marnie. Freddy, a professional rugby player, raised his son to love the sport. Calven played rugby through the university level. His prospects at playing the sport professionally were high until a physical showed something doctors had missed for years: a potentially fatal heart condition. Heeding the counsel of medical professionals Calven switched gears and went into coaching. It was through community outreach programs that his eyes were opened to the dire need his city, Johannesburg, had for foster parents. After lengthy discussions with his wife, Calven enrolled his family in one of the foster programs. Six months later, they were asked to accept a foster child in their home. When Calven found out about Sammy’s situation, he learned all he could about the boy. Through his research, he decided to study chess because it was Sammy’s favorite hobby.

    Calven was Sammy’s foster father for thirty-two days. He never was able to beat Sammy in a game of chess, though he tried mightily. Calven liked Sammy. He found Sammy to be an exceptionally bright and well-behaved young man. The thought even crossed Calven’s mind that adoption was something he might do if their relationship continued to blossom. Unfortunately, during one of their chess matches, Calven suffered a massive stroke and died nearly instantly. Sammy, so shocked by what he’d witnessed, ran from the house without even reporting the death to Calven’s wife.

To mark the days until Psion Alpha is released, each day I'm going to post a small profile of minor characters from the books to give them greater depth. The final character will be presented the day before Alpha's release. I promise that by reading these you'll be pumped up for the next book and also learn a thing or two about some FASCINATING characters. So, without further adieu, here is the first character profile:

Vitória Silva

    Vitória Silva was born on January 9, 2072 in Rio de Janeiro. Her parents called her “Tori.” Tori loved volleyball and football, and was an avid fan of the Botafogo Football club based in Rio. She dyed her black hair half-white when Botafogo won the Campeonato Carioca in 2085. The oldest of three children, Tori’s favorite game to play with her two little brothers, Hector and Raul, was Houdini. They tied each other up and raced to see who could get untied first. Tori was an average student in general, but excelled at football as a keeper. Many coaches in her league saw her as someone with enormous potential.

    Walking home from football practice January 3, 2086, Tori and her friends were crossing the street when a car ran a red light and slammed into Tori. Tori, however, was uninjured. Another driver witnessed the incident and phoned a special hotline, alerting the government of the strange occurrence. That same evening, Tori was picked up from her home and taken in for questioning. Her parents were too scared to fight against the men in suits who took her away. She was thirteen at the time of her capture, and turned fourteen after seven days of captivity. When Sammy was captured by the Aegis, he was placed in her cell. By this time, she had grown so distrustful of everyone that she refused to talk to him. She was held for a total of eighteen days before she broke and was taken to another facility for extraction.

Here are the final covers, front and back. The back cover shows the Elite Mantra, which features prominently in the novel:

"FEAR IS MY CLOAK. PERFECTION IS MY DAGGER. EXCELLENCE DRIVES ME. I AM THE BEST. I AM ELITE."

How do you feel about the cover? I think it's Britta's best work yet. When we designed Psion Beta, it was the first time either of us had undertaken such an endeavor, but I'm still proud of the work we did. Each cover has its own feel, but also the quality, I think, improves as Britta and I have gained more experience. I hope you all enjoy both the art and story! Only three weeks more to wait before you can read it. I look forward to reading your comments below.

Readers of the Psion series will notice that the price of Alpha has gone up a little bit from previous books, both for E-books and paperbacks. I wanted to take a moment to explain why that is.

First of all it's not an ego thing. Yes, like you, I do like money, but I originally had no plan to increase the price for the e-book. However, as the novel grew in length, so did the amount of time and energy and cost of publishing it. I use editors, both free and paid, to put out the best possible book I can. So a longer book means more cost.

Normally, I've charged 4.99 for ebooks. For Alpha I'm charging 5.99. I feel like it's fair to ask 6 dollars for a few hours of solid entertainment, especially since this book is significantly longer than previous books. Like 40K words longer. If Omega, the last book in the series, is shorter, I'll revert back to the 4.99 cost.

Paperback costs are determined by Createspace, the print-on-demand publisher which I use to make my paperback books available. I can't do much about the cost there. I wish I could make it lower, but I try to retain a healthy profit while the publisher takes the vast majority of the sales price. Hopefully the cost won't be too outrageous. I won't know for sure what that is for a few more days, when I load up the final file and save it to their servers.

So, thanks for being understanding fans. I hope you won't begrudge me the extra dollar or dollars, but they help offset the increasing costs of a longer book, which you, the reader, get to enjoy. Only 3 more weeks until the book is yours! Happy waiting.