https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1 daily 1.0 2026-03-22 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/life-changes monthly 0.5 2026-03-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/d54a4492-2b81-419a-97f9-081e8ed1f217/sv4.jpg Blog - Life Changes! - I’ve left my job. It wasn’t all that much of a surprise, and these last few months it had becoming clearer and clearer that I needed to move on to whatever is next. I’m not at the point where the books can sustain / replace my work income, so I’m entertaining other options in that regard. But it does mean that I’ll have some extra time to dedicate to writing, when I’m not traveling or interviewing with new companies. Book Four is nearly finished, though the editing is going a bit slower because the editor has a lot of projects he’s working on. The cover designer as well. I guess its a good time to be in the design and editing business. This next week I’m going to attempt to wrap everything up and get the manuscript to the editor in full. I do have a trip to Houston mid-week. Wish me luck! https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/on-reviews-timelines-and-content monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/meanwhile-321-ly-from-sol monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/on-advertising-and-cpc monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/merry-christmas-and-a-trailer monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/pilgrim-and-the-wolf-released-on-audible monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/07e716b0-7983-4a86-986a-6b2b7c95ccd7/asset-2bef3.jpeg Blog - Pilgrim and the Wolf - Released on Audible I tell ya, the review process on Audible is one of the most annoying facets of dealing with them. We turned in the final product on November 18th and it was just released today. Still, I’m glad it’s finally released, and now I can put that to bed and focus on getting Book 4 done. If there are any of you who would like to listen to the book rather than read it, send me an email and I’ll happily give you a promo copy. All I’d ask is that you leave a review (as the promo copies are designed to drive reviews). -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/excerpt-from-severant monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/385cc15b-3357-4187-b49e-3c575ab7890b/RAV1.png Blog - Excerpt from “Severant” The entrance to hangar 142-G was right outside the maintenance corridor. Two security guards in Ceres Station Authority security uniforms stood there with non-lethal PADS rifles, making themselves a bit taller once they noticed Figaro Conti approach. One of them nodded a greeting. There were three crew members of a visiting vessel a good ways down the hall, walking the other way, but Conti did not recognize them. This was the disembarkment hallway. All small and medium voidcraft stored on this level via the dock’s rack system would have access here. “No one’s been in or out since you got here?” Conti asked the two guards. Both men shook their heads. “Just the maintenance crew that made the initial call,” one of them answered. “We did a sweep but there’s no one else in there, unless there’s someone aboard the ship. But Barkley’s got the deck on lockdown.” The AI would ensure that the rack system would not allow this ship to be pulled from the bay—assuming, of course, that whoever had messed with the system data could not override that feature as well. “Alright, come with me,” Conti ordered, using his implant to send an override command to unlock and open the bay door. It slid to the side and he entered, flanked by the two guards, with the customs supervisor trailing. There it was: a ship, as plain as day—a resource acquisition vessel, by the looks of it. It appeared to be in banged-up condition. “Barkley,” Conti called his artificial assistant, who was also the CSA’s official AI. “Give me the DCM on this ship?” He was looking for the digital cargo manifest that every vessel had, providing ownership and registration information as well as a whole host of other information such as cargo history. “I’m sorry, chief,” the AI replied, its trademark English butler personality sounding genuinely disappointed. “What ship are you referring to?” Conti raised an eyebrow. “This ship,” he repeated, pointing. Barkley had access to his senses—could see him point at the ship. “I do not see any ship, chief,” Barkley insisted. Figaro Conti sighed. “Barkley,” he said in a frustrated tone. “What am I currently looking at?” “You are looking at the interior contents of a hangar bay,” Barkley replied cheerfully. “Going by your location data, you are in hangar 142-G.” “Good,” Conti said patiently, pointing more insistently. “And what is that?” “That is hangar 142-G, chief, but there is no ship there,” Barkley replied. “Are we playing a game?” Conti turned to regard the customs supervisor. The man was waiting patiently, aware that the security chief must have been conversing with someone via his implant. “Ask Barkley to identify this ship and let me know what he says,” Conti told the man. After a momentary pause where the chief watched the supervisor’s expression become more and more frustrated, the man sighed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/2f3c8739-aca8-40e6-a2c5-f5c1faa89d50/RAV2.jpg Blog - Excerpt from “Severant” Conti looked at the supervisor. “See if his biochip is recognized by the station database. Just don’t move him if possible.” The customs agent groaned slightly, a look of distaste on his face at the task he was being told to perform. He peered about the inside of the container, trying to figure out how he could scan the man’s hands without having to touch the body. The corpse’s right hand was visible, but the left was pinned under it. He reached to his belt and took off a scanning tool and bent forward, holding his breath, and ran it over the right hand. Hopefully, that’s where the chip would be located. To his moderate relief, the scanning tool returned with a green light. “The identification of the deceased is one Levi Brockman, with ship registration out of Portugal,” Barkley supplied helpfully. “The prior owner of the Gambler,” I added. “The UHS Santiago interdicted the Gambler in Beta Leonis. When they did, the two surviving crew members reported Captain Brockman as being left on the surface, a victim of an attack by a species we now know to be the Kruyisynth.” “The what?” Conti asked. “An hostile alien species,” I clarified. “If Brockman is here, then he came aboard when Gambler was left near Denebola 2, somehow making it back from the surface. It is likely a highly intelligent and parasitic variant of the Kruyisynth was in control of him at that time. While I do not have specific data that states that this species variant can hop from host to host, it would be a logical hypothesis. Either that, or we have to believe your customs officer decided to murder him and stuff him in his ship before stealing control of it. Given Mr. Dzuiba’s rather unremarkable career and marriage, this is unlikely. Once his implant is extracted, I can access it for more information.” Conti was growing more and more alarmed as I explained. “Max, I’m getting a security team over to Dzuiba’s residence.” Before Mr. Kalev could comment, I informed them both of my next steps. “Since this discovery has relevance to State Security and the Hegemony navy, I will need to report it to HISOC command immediately. General Ricter is in that group and will likely reach out to you, Mr. Kalev.” “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Mr. Kalev muttered distractedly. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/i-gave-it-a-title monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/up-and-coming monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/1650ab85-6846-487f-a512-8cb46fa795a5/a_dark_nebula_crosses_deep_space_with.jpg Blog - Up and Coming! - Incoming! To show my appreciation for all of you who were interested enough to seek out and become a part of this site, I will be releasing an excerpt of Book 4 (title not yet shared) here in about a week or two. Somewhere around 40 pages worth. Although I have a presence elsewhere (Facebook, Instagram, etc) I only post that content here. This will, at least, hold you over until the book is out, as the section I’m going to post addresses the cliff hanger in book 3’s ending. So stay tuned! In other news, Ms. Santomasso has begun recording for The Pilgrim and the Wolf and expects to be done toward the end of October, for audiobook release (Audible dependent) by Halloween. I have the utmost respect for her skill. I know my books are not easy to read for, considering all the characters. Think about how she has to find a voice/accent combination for all of them, and make sure they are easy to differentiate for a listener in each scene. Remarkable. Thanks to her for her effort, and thanks to all of you for being a part of this journey. It’s been far more successful than I ever imagined, and we’re not even at the one-year mark (Oct 27th, 2024 was when Species Seventeen was released). -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/book-4-well-underway monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/77d34fa2-6fbf-4950-a2e4-cf9af6a29aca/Severant1.jpg Blog - Book 4, Well Underway - Well, it has begun. I’m done with research, got everything fleshed out, and now the easy part - yeah right. Prologue and Chapter 1 are all but completed, and I hope to have a chapter or so a week done, though we’re entering the busy season at work with 2026 budgeting. While the book sales are doing well - better than I could have hoped - I’ve a long way to go to get to the point where I can be a full-time author! That’s ok. I had planned to do that in 6-7 years when I retire. But work puts the food on the table, and pays for the lights and AC, so it gets the priority. Once budget season is over at the end of October, output should increase! In other news, Ms. Santomasso is busy planning to start on The Pilgrim and the Wolf next week, with hopes to have it out by the end of October on audiobook format. The picture to the left is some sketch imagery I’ve been playing with for book 4, the title of which I’m keeping secret for now! CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/sometimes-they-have-to-die monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/37c03c20-471c-4adc-81d8-d30a2cb96b59/u9248764141_A_marine_in_power_armor_stands_over_another_marin_18f20e1b-7665-446d-8790-055b6f6802f8_3.png Blog - Sometimes, they have to die - It’s just the way it is. I often suffer wrath from my wife when a character she loves dies in one of my stories. It’s understandable, and I know how I feel when I’m reading a book and one of the characters who I’ve vested my emotions in dies suddenly. If you’ve ever read Game of Thrones and recall the “Red Wedding”, you know what I mean. After reading that scene, I was so pissed off. How could they do that to the Starks? Outrage was all I could remember. I recall going to a forum somewhere and seeing pages after pages of hate comments against George R.R. Martin for writing that scene. Later, I recall how he mentioned that he actually got death threats from it. True or not, I have no idea. But some characters are just loved, and removing them from the story drives people (including me) nuts. The problem, for me, has always been the experience of fear and anxiety inside stories. I can’t get there without death. It doesn’t matter if I’m watching a show or reading a book, if I know for certain that the author is not going to kill anyone, then how can I be afraid for the characters during the scene? Think about Star Trek. No one ever dies in a Star Trek episode. Pick the franchise. For me, it was always TNG. Picard, Riker, Worf, etc…you knew they were never going to die no matter how bad it got. So in the back of your mind, you’re always thinking “they’ll find a way out of it.” And that blunts the fear. True entertainment in stories comes from pulling out the emotions of the reader. Laughter, tears, fright, anger. If you find yourself angry at something a character did in a story or wanting revenge - GOOD! Then the author did his/her job. If you shed tears in a scene, outstanding (unless you’re weeping over how bad it sucked). The death of a character should be surprising, and it should invoke emotion. Sometimes, it invokes a sense of justice, as a bad guy got what was coming to them. Other times, the bad guy needs to get away. Maybe justice never gets served. That pisses people off, but you know what? It’s realistic. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/the-journey-to-book-four-begins monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/48f068f2-675f-4039-847b-5066ec02a10f/Book4.png Blog - The Journey to Book Four Begins - Humanity’s Leap Continues… My summer vacation (a week in the islands every year) is over - it just happened to coincide with the release of The Pilgrim and the Wolf this time around. Of course, when I came back, I had to immediately prep for business reviews with our parent company. But finally, after today, all that is over, and I can finally dedicate my spare time (that which I have) toward the next project. I’ve got the plot pretty much outlined, though if it is one thing I’ve learned it is that the plot has to be flexible, because the story comes to life and changes your expectations as it is written. I hear the stern voice of Gunnery Sergeant Dixon in my mind: “No plan survives contact with the enemy, Garrand.” For me, the next few weeks will be in research. Do my ideas have merit, and are they realistic / based in reality? I absolutely cannot stand writing things that are not possible and rooted in space magic and fairy dust. That may work for some authors, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I need to be able to explain that the ideas are at least possible. After research, I’ll begin putting down the prose. I usually just “flood” the paper with text, as I’ve learned that editing as you write is painfully slow and holds back creativity. The initial writing is messy. Think of it as a sketch an artist would make before drawing the final product (or many iterations of it). My goal - which is very fluid at the moment - would be to have a beta product to those of you who like to help me pre-read, by first quarter of 2026. The audiobook for Pilgrim will be released around the end of October, and by then I should have some teaser info on Book 4, including a title, perhaps some art and trailers. Until then, please let me, once again, tell you how appreciative I am for all of your support. You honor me by joining me on this journey. -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/the-economics-of-independent-publishing monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/f8961976-e535-45e3-b7d4-8eaf4d2bccc9/MarineMath.jpg Blog - The Economics of Independent Publishing - In case you were interested, I figured I’d explain the economics of publishing a book independently. I am a finance guy by trade. Some of you may know that. So, even though every author should consider the costs to publish a book and the profits made after publishing it, I tend to take it a step further. I’m also a bit fan of open transparency, so I thought I’d share the economics of Species Seventeen, the first book in the Humanity’s Leap series. Have a look at the (admittedly quickly constructed) table below as an example, and for reference. As of this writing, I’ve sold 2,258 copies of Species Seventeen, counting all formats (Kindle, audiobook, paperback, etc). Royalties on Kindle sales are the lowest, and on hardcover books are the best. But the vast preponderance of sales are on Kindle. That means the mix of royalties is lower, and that is as I expected - so it’s not a surprise. Total royalties on the book - since the November 2024 release - have been $4,878, which comes to $2.16 a book. That will continue to increase in total sales, but the revenue-per-book will stay the same. But more books means more sales. Fixed costs (one-time costs) for the book amounted to $9,000, but those don’t recur. So the fixed cost per book (just shy of $4 a book) will decrease as more books are sold. The variable cost - which is marketing - will stay roughly the same, because marketing is a continued expense, every month, unless you want sales to fall off. So once the sales $$ hits $9k, I will have covered those one-time fixed costs. Then I just have to worry about the variable cost. Said another way, although I get royalies of $2.16 a book, $.80 of that is eaten by marketing, and that will never change. I need to sell another 6,600 books (roughly) just to break even on the work. That’s just how it functions. Sometimes I get flak from folks on Facebook for using AI trailers to market my book. They’re mad because I didn’t hire a digital artist to do the work. They’ve got a personal mission against everything AI, and that’s fine - they’re welcome to it. But to ask me to spend thousands more dollars on hiring someone to do the marketing (many of which will just use similar AI tools) is just bad ROI. Don’t hate the playa, hate the game. Sure, I’d love to hire yet another person to promote the book, but until Amazon wants to share more royalties with me (fat chance), it’s not going to happen. Big publishers can do that sort of thing. Indies, can’t. That’s just economics. -CS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/70979cc3-938f-4e64-b717-cdc1e94147c8/Picture1.png Blog - The Economics of Independent Publishing - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/happy-release-day monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/beta-read-underway monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/six-month-anniversary-video monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/the-pilgrim-and-the-wolf-complete monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/progress-report-pilgim-and-the-wolf monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/audible-sure-took-its-time monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/beta-readers-i-salute-you monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/bfc83a8b-c1ec-4b56-b7fd-5abd6fd2c05b/a_mountain_scene_the_suns_rays_come+%283%29.jpg Blog - Beta Readers, I Salute you - Irina Orlova is off to Mordor? Yeah, I know. It has a very Lord of the Rings feel to it, which is why I didn’t use it. This isn’t a “fantasy” book, it’s a SciFi one. But when you ask the AI to create images, you get a whole host of things you didn’t expect. Maybe I’ll make a post with all the random images so you can have a laugh. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty image. But the concept of the Pilgrim (no spoilers, thank you) isn’t traveling to destroy the one ring of power. It’s very different. And there’s no actual wolf as a traveling partner. It’s more like a (SPOILER REMOVED). Er…sorry. I’d like to thank all those who emailed and contacted me about being a Beta Reader / Listener for the third book. I’ve compiled your information and will be getting out to you in the next month. I have enough for this project at this point, which is wonderful. The book’s popularity has taken off, hitting a new low (lower is better) of #42 in Amazon’s SciFi rankings. Facebook and Instagram posts have driven a lot of engagement, but this website will be where I share exclusive content. All of you are, after all, my pals! -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/pilgrim-and-the-wolf-trailer-2 monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/wanna-be-a-beta-readerlistener monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/4d715758-9cfb-4478-b14e-8d8172733f9a/the_view_from_a_space_station_in+%2819%29.jpg Blog - Wanna Be a Beta Reader or Listener? - EDIT - No more slots! Thanks to all those who applied As I get closer to finishing The Pilgrim and the Wolf , book three in the Humanity’s Leap series, I’m on the lookout for folks who would want to be a part of the pre-read/pre-listen of the copy. Beta readers will get a copyrighted version of the book, and if you’d prefer to listen, you’ll get access to the audio files. Please note that the audio files are not done by Santomasso (the narrator) but by an AI voice generator. Yeah, don’t give me crap for using AI for the BETA as it costs around $6,000 for Patricia to read the final version for me, and I’m not about to pay that multiple times while the book is in copy-edit and not final. So I use a generator with multiple voices. If you’re interested, what I’d need from you is to send me a note saying so to cs@csgarrand.com . After that, I’ll be in touch with what is required (the only real requirement is to get the beta look done within a 3-4 week time period). I only post this opportunity on this site - not on Facebook or Instagram, etc. So let me know! You’ve obviously Joined the Mission up to this point, why not continue? -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/the-pilgrim-and-the-wolf monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/f4da0040-7972-440c-a70c-7514b206de9b/Cover2+copy.jpg Blog - The Pilgrim and the Wolf - The Pilgrim and the Wolf - Book 3 of Humanity’s Leap Have a look at the cover for book three - or at least the cover as it stands now. I’ve gone through several iterations, and I really like this one. What I’m not sure about is the title text. Have to think about it. The wife offers her many opinions as well, confusing me further. One day I’ll sit in the garage and just make random suggestions about all the chairs she works on, and we’ll see how it goes. Probably not good for me. The Audio files for The Architect are in final production. I know I keep saying that but I mean it this time. All that needs to happen is my final approval, and then the ACX dance to get Patricia paid and the audio book is released. Lastly, I now have a Facebook and Instagram account - God help me. I despise social media, but if you want to sell books, you have to have social media. Feel free to reach out and connect to me here: Facebook Instagram https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/alpha-team-marketing-promo monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/species-seventeen-promo-video-2 monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/species-seventeen-promo monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/local-article-on-species-seventeen monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/3e22b419-9544-4983-96f4-9955f9ee79b4/books_.jpg Blog - Local Article on Species Seventeen - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/prospecting-in-beta-leonis monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/ac0fe27f-b7b3-44c1-b3a0-549f68d6f95a/Horror+2.jpg Blog - “Prospecting in Beta Leonis” - The Gambler “I gotta tell ya, boss,” Shandia called over the radio, her smarmy tone mixed with atmospheric static. “You really take a girl to the nicest places. Twenty seconds to contact. RASA, confirm LZ is stable?” “The landing zone is confirmed stable,” the ship’s artificial intelligence replied. “There is no thermal vent activity at the site.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/9cfe19a3-f22f-4d19-b6b1-5bf490f07f43/Horror+3.jpg Blog - “Prospecting in Beta Leonis” “Thanks, darlin’,” Buck replied, and Levi could see the Beetle he was in begin to lower itself to the ground. When it was a meter or two above the surface, the four clamps holding it all detached at once and the SRV dropped, bounced and came to a halt. The clamps all retracted into the ship, and the SRV lit up with a bar of lights along its roof, shining out in all directions. It moved off in the direction of RAD 2. Levi triggered the release servos. “Remember, we’re just retrieving drones and mapping the find,” Levi said over the radio. “Don’t fuck around out there.” “Not my first time, boss,” Buck said. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/9f21eeb5-4710-4e0a-85e2-dc8092cd52dd/Horror+4.jpg Blog - “Prospecting in Beta Leonis” “Tracking in on its last known,” Buck said. Levi rounded a side of the canyon and the ground opened up somewhat. The boulders that had been everywhere were more smaller stones now, and the Beetle crossed over them with ease. RAD 1 should be just ahead, likely on the other side of the small incline he was now heading up. “Ah, shit,” Buck swore over the radio. “Canyon narrows here. Can’t get the Beetle through. Drone should be on the other side of the opening. I’ll check it out on foot.” “Copy, Buck,” Shandi replied. “Your suit will be fine just so long as you don’t bump up against a thermal vent.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/0052d721-d85b-4ee8-ac2c-1859545fe679/Horror+1.jpg Blog - “Prospecting in Beta Leonis” “Buck, get the fuck out of there right now,” Levi said. He watched Buck turn and could see that he had pulled a pistol from his suit and was pointing it into the darkness. The view point shifted back and forth, as Buck surveyed his surroundings. “Yeah, I think you’re right,” he said. “There’s something out here. I can hear it moving around. Sounds like scraping. Like sand paper or, I don’t know.” Levi watched as Buck started to withdraw, keeping the light and the gun angled toward the area he was retreating from. He was walking backward. A flash of the silent purple lightning illuminated the entire area, casting shadows from rocks and crevices, but providing just enough time for Buck’s camera to pick up something moving off to the far left. A dark form had crawled quickly behind one of the larger rocks. In the brief second, it had appeared low to the ground, moving on many limbs. Some sort of animal? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/35799991-dc1f-49c4-bc8b-8f7bfebdda50/Horror+5.jpg Blog - “Prospecting in Beta Leonis” “Get out of there, captain,” Shandi whispered over the radio. Her voice broke up with the last word, but he got the message all the same. “Can’t,” he replied. “Gotta find Buck. He might still be alive.” “Not without his suit, he ain't," she disagreed. She had a point. The distorted growl sounded again back to his right, closer this time, and he turned to see an enormous dark form in the suit’s light right in front of him. A claw clamped down on the shotgun as he tried to bring it over and fire, but whatever it was held the barrel fast. He noted it had several arms and a posture bent forward toward him, but no head that he could make out. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/upcoming-excerpt-of-book-three monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/89878c3d-83ea-4535-8238-31e2926970a7/Excerpt.jpg Blog - Upcoming Excerpt of Book Three I’m putting the finishing touches on an excerpt from Book Three, which is roughly 40% or so done at this point. I’m hoping to have it here by the end of the weekend. I don’t have a name for the book yet, but I do have some ideas. -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/ive-come-out-of-the-closet monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/ef13536e-e00c-4d92-9f25-c5c11a261e47/Twitter.png Blog - I’ve Come Out of the Closet - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/au5ron0djr10kas6n6ii85bxhcjahq monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/5e2d795f-df70-49e3-9f2e-8d8967414965/SpeciesSeventeenAB.png Blog - Audiobook Finally Goes Live! I don’t think I ever expected the audiobook production process to be so complex. Ms. Santomasso completed it back in January, and it has taken the better part of two weeks for ACX/Audible to finally approve it. Species Seventeen on Audible If you’re like me, and prefer listening to books rather than reading them, you won’t be disappointed. Tricia has now started on The Architect which will have a completion date in March, and then maybe 10 years from now, Audible will approve it. Even though I’ve listened to the book 100 times over by now, I’m gonna listen to it once more. Officially, ya know! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/c5b6a682-00cb-4761-89d0-4e53ba845982/Audiobook.jpg Blog - Audiobook Finally Goes Live! - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/species-seventeen-wins-imbue-editing-2024-award monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/3e74a3aa-3476-4bfd-b09a-31ce41bbe221/old-man-admiring-major-award.jpg Blog - Species Seventeen wins Imbue Editing 2024 Award - It came in a box marked “FRAGILE”, which I believe is in Italian. In all seriousness, thank you to Jason Letts and Imbue Editing for the 2024 Top 5 Book Award for Species Seventeen. Imbue Editing While not a pretty lamp, I did catch hell from the wife for putting a shadowbox of the book over our bar in our great room. It doesn’t glow or anything, and the neighbors can’t see it. I’m still working on that. -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/the-architect-kindlepaperbackhc monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/162d469a-f2b8-43b9-a4e6-6057c62e32d4/Image1.jpg Blog - The Architect - Kindle/Paperback/HC - This was the original cover design idea for Species Seventeen. I had wanted Audacious to be in the picture somewhere, but once we started adding the Norse runes, the Leap Point, etc…it just got too noisy. Original cover idea for Species Seventeen before I went with the redesign by Daniel Pyle. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/cover-re-design-and-other-news monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/867a1184-0563-4f01-8fa5-3136f019b3b5/the+Architect.jpeg Blog - Cover Re-design and Other News Redesigned the cover for book two, which will be released this week on Amazon. Something had been annoying me in regard to the original cover. I just didn’t like the walking marines in the pic, after using the marines in the first book’s cover. It needed something different. Since the scene is the “Fabrication Facility” on the moon Ross 627-6D1, a better version included the (spoiler) wrecked vessel of Species Thirty-One that had smashed into the surface. Cover artist was the same individual (Daniel Pyle) that had so patiently worked with me on the first book. In other news, I received the first 15 minutes of audio for the Audbile release of Species Seventeen, and it was excellent. Ms. Santomasso is now working on the rest of the book, and we estimate sometime around the holidays for a release time. Lastly, I’ve started on book three, which is yet untitled. Lots of action in the opening scenes, with maybe a preview or two to come down the line. Thanks for all of your support. https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/smd6xkp3r4zoofka3pok9ymilfrzfs monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/96f460a1-e143-427a-b73d-c64dc38e360e/SpartanSoldier3.jpg Blog - Syncronization Update 11-26 - The Warriors of 18 Scorpii? In Book 2 (spoiler alert), CAIPARR integrates an artifact into memory that details how Species One removed Spartan soldiers for their project in the 18 Scorpii system, 46.1 light years from Sol. As I begin to write book 3 (did I mention that I started?) part of the plot involves how this culture of humans has evolved over the many centuries from when they had been taken from Earth, back during the Peloponnesian War. Part of the challenge in writing this is to imagine how the Spartan culture - one of the most war driven cultures of ancient Greece - could have evolved during the course of the many centuries since the warriors of Sparta were removed from Earth. On the left is a quick render of how the Spartan armor of today would look, though I reserve the right to change that! https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/interdiction-of-the-cairo-short-story monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/765ee594-3211-4d7e-8588-779e004c5865/Cairo2.jpg Blog - Interdiction of the Cairo - Short Story “Your bet, sergeant.” Specialist Collins nodded in the direction of Sergeant Leonard Dixon, holding two cards over her dwindling pile of chips. Dixon glanced up from his own cards, but was quick enough to see Collins’ eyes dart left to Ensign Charnesky and back again. Charnesky had nothing, and no real prospects for anything. He checked the first time and then only grudgingly matched a small bet from Dixon on the second time around. Dixon had an ace and an eight, and there were two cards in the center of the table facing up – a three and an ace. He was going for the dead man’s hand and pretty sure Collins was bluffing. She always covered her chips with her cards whenever she was betting on a hope and prayer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/61b1c6b4-515c-4b23-9cf8-6997ff855eea/Marines1.jfif Blog - Interdiction of the Cairo - Short Story “What do we got, sergeant?” Duffy asked him. Okimbo and Laurent stopped assembling their armor. Okimbo turned toward Dixon, and Laurent stood up. Okimbo’s massive frame, even outside his JEMAS suit towered over the smaller Marine beside him. Dixon thought back to what the LT said about being able to fit into the maintenance access on Cairo and wondered if the intel group had considered Okimbo’s size when they suggested the action. If the large Namibian could make it through, the rest of them should fit easily. “Interdiction,” Dixon told the others, walking over to his locker and undressing. “Continental transport vessel. We do infiltration while Alpha and Charlie break and enter. We got twenty minutes to get to an airlock on deck three.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/2dbf57a9-21a5-45d4-a48c-056b6bab78e1/Dixon2.jpg Blog - Interdiction of the Cairo - Short Story “Yes, sir,” Dixon replied in a steady voice, controlling his breathing and tilting his head towards Lance Corporal Duffy and then the airlock. Duffy hit the buttons to cycle the interior door and it slid to the side. Okimbo went in first, followed by Laurent and then Duffy, with Dixon bringing up the rear. Once they were inside, Dixon sent a private command to Felix to confirm suit integrity for his team, and to close the inner door. “All suits have good seals,” Felix said. “Closing inner door now. Airlock depressurization in five seconds.” Felix would remove the air to prevent explosive decompression when they had to open the outer door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/49f1d523-194a-4a13-ad1c-690674f1f596/Marines3.jfif Blog - Interdiction of the Cairo - Short Story Okimbo had removed his MX-50 and was pointing it at the door. Duffy stood to the other side of the door doing likewise. Dixon was back and to the left, in a position that would keep the others outside of the lethality envelope of his weapon, but still allow him to provide an overlapping field of fire. Laurent slid to his knees below everyone, pulling the panel out from the bulkhead door. Within two seconds, the door beeped twice and slid to the side. The interior beyond was cavernous and dark. Dim lighting came from far above, enough to illuminate the numerous stacks of cargo containers stored in rows throughout the main storage area of the freighter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/5874aed0-28f7-4d17-89ca-5491ba30f3ce/Interrogate+1.jfif Blog - Interdiction of the Cairo - Short Story Dixon eye clicked the link to activate it. “That’s good,” he said to her. “Stay in that position. Do you have any weapons on you?” “No,” she replied. “No weapons.” “Did you plant any explosives or booby trap anything?” Dixon asked. She laughed, a bitter sound that transmitted over the implant link. “I wouldn’t know how to trap something if I wanted to. I’m the ship’s medic. Just a medic.” “Why were you running?” Duffy asked. She glared up at him for a moment as if he were an idiot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/d7b8ba51-d19e-4093-b810-448c69285ea3/Dixon+4.jfif Blog - Interdiction of the Cairo - Short Story “I’m sorry, babe,” he said to her unconscious form. A small tube of oxygen was running from somewhere under the blanket into her nose, but otherwise she looked peaceful. “I can’t, I mean…I don’t know-” “Mr. Dixon?” came a female voice from behind him. He stood up immediately and turned to see the doctor. The woman’s eyes dropped for a moment to the chevrons on his uniform collar, and she was familiar enough with them to recognize what they meant. “Sorry, Sergeant Dixon.” He accepted her apology with a brief nod, and turned back towards his sleeping wife. “I just got here and-” https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/interdiction-of-the-cairo monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/e724121a-92d2-4cc7-8959-9bf3d9a1f3f3/Cairo2.jpg Blog - Interdiction of the Cairo As promised (I think I promised, but now I can’t remember), the first of many short stories in the Humanity’s Leap universe will be posted. Next week, I’ll post the one where Sergeant Dixon (not yet promoted to E6), while serving aboard the UHS Valkyrie, leads a fireteam aboard the Cairo, a Continental class freighter. The Valkyrie catches up to the Cairo near Jupiter and interdicts the transport vessel. Things go wrong during the stop, and Dixon and his team (with a younger version of Duffy) get into a firefight. All of this happens as Dixon has to deal with a personal crisis at home. Just one of many in the series where I try to provide some backstory to the characters of theHumanity’s Leap series. I’ll include some AI images for the story, but its not meant to be studio ready. It’ll be posted soon, and I hope you enjoy it. -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/book-2-cover monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/f93b2f4a-c1d5-4415-a6d0-8c32d4b31528/IMG_2199.JPEG Blog - Book 2 Cover The Architect - Mid December Release https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/species-seventeen-audio-book monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/7ba3f245-bf06-4eb6-b420-2b59556cf46d/patricia-santomasso_orig.jpg Blog - Species Seventeen - Audio Book Patricia Santomasso https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/caiparr-in-the-flesh monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/d18eab82-d5ce-4d9e-86ec-b0e1e6bf7c84/CAIPARR.jpg Blog - CAIPARR in the Flesh? - Make it stand out CAIPARR in Species Eleven, Book 2 of Humanity’s Leap - coming out in December! https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/paperback-and-hardcover-available monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/0af8e9f6-4e88-43a9-9016-129cfb023aba/Starship.jfif Blog - Paperback and Hardcover Available It’s been an interesting experience posting to Kindle Direct Publishing and getting the book on Amazon. Royalties are dependent on whether you give them exclusivity or not, and the pricing model doesn’t exactly favor the author, but that’s okay. I’m not doing this for the money at this point in my life anyway. In case anyone is interested, the Kindle version at $4.99 gets me $3.43 (69%). The paperback at $14.99 gets me $2.93 (19.5%). The Hardcover at $20.00 gets me $1.86 (a paltry 9%). I suppose it’s a good thing I’m not doing it for money! Total book investments to self publish will be somewhere around $10,000. That’s just for Species Seventeen. But a good accountant understands that you can chalk up these costs to R&D, and not pay taxes until you begin to turn profitable, at some point in the far off future. As Dixon would say, “they tell me to jump, I ask how high.” -CS https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/its-official monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/c2f53369-3828-498a-861b-f08bcc30fd93/Denebola+Five.jpg Blog - It’s Official! - Make it stand out Denebola Five isn't always cloudy, Staff Sergeant. - CAIPARR https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/irina-orlova monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/f5b8b1c7-bc13-436c-bbd8-0654e8c993e3/Irina+Orlova2png.png Blog - Irina Orlova - Make it stand out Ms. Orlova on Denebola Five. An uncharacteristicly clear-sky day! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/320b1236-2523-42f3-94f3-ee37dd76e469/Irina+Orlova.png Blog - Irina Orlova - Make it stand out Ms. Orlova on Al'harisin? Calm, because there are no Olmat nearby! https://www.csgarrand.com/news1-1/Blog Post Title One-585nj monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6702987de6e056298379bc1b/18b75fcb-8ca7-40f9-aa1e-5402510e8bb2/Book+Cover.jpg Blog - Species Seventeen Well, here goes nothing. My foray into the jungle of science fiction begins with Species Seventeen. I suppose it would only be proper to thank those who served as beta readers - sometimes reading several versions - and giving me feedback for each one. Now that the e-book will be put out there, the next job is to hire a narrator for the audio version. I can't wait to audition all the talented folks out there for the right voice for CAIPARR! And of course, thank you to my beautiful wife Katya, who encourages me every day by just being herself. I’d also like to thank Jason Letts at Imbue Publishing who has taught me how to hone the book to get it to where it is. Additionally, his group does great cover work (Daniel Pyle). Once this book is everywhere I need it to be, and I’ve gotten busy hiring the narrator for the audio version, I’ll do the same finishing touches on Book 2 of Humanity’s Leap - which is finished and in edit at the moment. Then I plan to begin Book 3 and beyond, with some occasional short stories and character background novellas to add some depth to the characters who I’ve grown to love as I’ve written these two books this last year. These stories will only be available to those who come to this website and join the email list. I’ll also be looking to incorporate suggestions from readers to round out the characters further. Of course, I’d also like to thank the very accomplished Jason Anspach for his invaluable advice during the writing period. If you’re not familiar with his work, check him out at https://jasonanspach.com/ Finally, thank YOU - the reader - for being interested enough to join me on the journey. 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