Navigating an asteroid field was just the start of the hazards…

DARTFORD, U.K. - Sept. 3, 2018 - PRLog -- Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Franchise by New Zealand author Peter Glassborow. His first venture into space opera, it is very much in the style of traditional science fiction, which Peter expects to appeal to "anyone who likes space opera with aliens, terrorists, good versus evil, and speculation that humanity will survive".

When Pam Rakai convinces her husband Jack to write an article for the 'My Job' section of The Modern Earth Woman's Weekly, he starts to keep a record of their day-to-day life.  A franchise holder from the Inter-Galactic Vending Machine Company, Jack's daily routine is not usually glamorous or exciting. He and Pam, along with their three children and sundry alien pets, travel to various spaceports and refuelling stations to service and restock the company's massive vending machines. In the process, they encounter aliens from many of the 739 species of intelligent civilised life who make up the Conglomerate that Earth joined 114 years earlier.

  Their next call is to the Afgfun Seven spaceport to deliver supplies that the company hope will defuse a miners' sit-in. It's a trip Jack is dreading as he's not confident that he can safely navigate their new spaceship through the asteroid field that surrounds the spaceport. The perilous journey is just the first of the unexpected hazards that lie in store as he and his family get caught up in a dangerously escalating situation. Jack and Pam must protect their family, keep their employer happy, deal with some very unsavoury characters (alien and human alike) – and remember to keep a log for the readers back home.

Written as Jack's personal log of what happened on Afgfun Seven, Franchise is the first in a series of logged events from the crew of the spaceship Cornucopia.

Complementing the author's style, the retro look of the cover, designed by legendary space artist David A. Hardy, captures Jack's efforts to manoeuvre through the Afgfun Seven asteroid field to dock at the spaceport.

Peter Buck, senior editor at Elsewhen Press, said of Franchise "This is classic science fiction with spaceships, spaceports, aliens, and derring-do; but has a modern sensitivity and addresses contemporary issues such as terrorism, the rise of neo-nationalism, and the hegemony of multi-national (multi-planetary) corporations".

Franchise will be available on all popular eBook platforms from 28th September 2018.  The paperback edition will be available in December 2018.

Notes for Editors

About Peter Glassborow

Born in London, Peter wrote his first short story when he was thirteen. His father told him it was rubbish, which it was. However the writing bug had seized him and he wanted to be a published writer. Roll on fifty years or so and now he is living in New Zealand after his family emigrated there. He has had many jobs including twenty years in the NZ army, and writing stories is his main hobby.
 Taking a correspondence course in creative writing, his first assignments showed him how bad he was at spelling, punctuation and general self-editing, but his tutor's help gave him the confidence to finally send out submissions. One was accepted, and his teenage ambition to be a published author was finally realised. Now retired, he writes in several genres and has become ambitious enough to write and self-publish a historical trilogy. Franchise, the first book in the Cornucopia Logs series, is Peter's first foray into space opera.

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About David A. Hardy
David A. Hardy, FBIS, FIAAA was born in Bournville in the UK. In 1950, at the age of 14, he had already started painting space art. He has illustrated many books, including more than one with astronomer-author Patrick Moore, and has been the recipient of multiple awards. His artwork has also graced the covers of classic SF magazines and books. In 2003, asteroid 1998 SB32 was christened Davidhardy. Find out more about Dave's work at http://www.astroart.org

About Elsewhen Press
Elsewhen Press is an independent publisher of Speculative Fiction.  Based in the UK, in the South East of England, Elsewhen Press publishes titles in English in digital and print editions, adopting a digital-first policy for most titles.  Elsewhen Press is an imprint of Alnpete Limited.

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Elsewhen Press contact: Al Murray
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