From a Kitchen Drawer to the Stars!

Hi Reader,

If you’ve ever visited my website, you’ll know that I was born in the east end of Glasgow, and spent the first few weeks of my life in a kitchen drawer, as my older sister occupied the only cot my family could afford. Now I travel the stars creating exciting, fast-paced science fiction stories.

If you’ve read Honeytrap, Star Lords, School Trip, Chasm City, or Tough, then you’ve already stepped into the galaxy I’ve been building quietly for the last 18 months, one story at a time.

Now, the full-length novel that ties everything together is finally available for preorder.

What would you prefer to do?

You can wait and buy it for $2.99 after launch.

You can preorder it now for 99 cents and have it land in your device the moment it goes live on June 17th.

The barman at The King’s Arms in Prestbury, my local pub just outside Cheltenham, suggests you wait. That way, your $2.99 can help fund my beer tab. I could sit by the fire, pint in hand, spinning new tales with my mates and hoping I don’t forget them with my fuzzy head the next day.

But it’s probably best if you preorder it. If too many people pay full price, I might end up with so much beer I can't finish the next book, and none of us want that!

Please help a starving author get his first break.

(Okay, okay, if you looked at my waistline you would instantly know that the “starving” bit was a tad misleading. But I do need your help. Over 200,000 books get launched on Amazon every month. Preorders and reviews are the only chance a new author has to get noticed.)

If you’ve enjoyed any of the stories I have written so far and have given away for free, please consider preordering Return to the Galaxy now for 99 cents:

Pre-Order Here!

This universal book link will take you to your local version of Amazon, no matter where you live.

The original version of Return to the Galaxy won the London Book Festival 2025 and was 1st Runner Up in the Los Angeles Book Awards 2025. The version on Amazon is the updated version with several new scenes and even faster pacing.

This is the one where everything collides.

The covert missions. The betrayals. The gold, the ghosts, and the alien tech that binds it all.

You’ll meet Velal, Ewan, Shona, Jamie, Alex, Gwyn, and Beryn again. Only now, the stakes are galactic. The second volume will launch in August and the third in September.

Here is the book description -

Return to the Galaxy

The Humans Are Coming. The Galaxy Better Be Ready.

The astonishing truth? The human race didn’t evolve on Earth.

Ewan Scott was a dying SAS veteran, until a 300-year-old alien AI Avatar offered him a second chance: rebirth in a bio-engineered body, fitter, stronger, and movie-star handsome. His mission? Reunite humanity with its parent civilization, the Saret Federation, before merciless enemies erase all life on Earth.

Frigate Captain Velal, haunted by her past and bound by impossible orders, fights to save what’s left of her civilization. As worlds fall to nuclear fire, the ancient monsters she dreads are hunting for Earth.

An ancient empire falls to betrayal. A merciless enemy closes in. Earth lies defenseless. Its last hope a flawed hero reborn, and a woman who will fight until the stars go dark.

Join Ewan, Velal, and wise-cracking Jera in an epic, fast-paced space opera packed with:
– Savage interstellar war
– Planetary colonization
– Special Forces warfare
– Found alien tech
– The secrets of a dying empire

If you love John Scalzi, Craig Alanson, and David Weber, the epic scale of Peter F. Hamilton, and the military brilliance of Elizabeth Moon.

Get the book for $0.99 cents here:

Grab Your Copy Now!

Still catching up on the short stories?

Some stories unfold centuries apart. Some on distant worlds.
Some right under our noses, here on Earth.

But they’re all part of a shared timeline, a single galaxy where choices ripple, tech evolves, and empires rise and fall.

Return of the Star Lords – Kya will do anything to save her sister, even help kill a god
When the Going Gets Tough – A mission gone wrong. A soldier pushed too far
The Honeytrap Protocol– Seduction, betrayal, and a target who won’t play along
School Trip to the End of the World – He stole a starship to save his family
Chasm City– This city breaks people. Not all of them stay broken

You can download any you missed by clicking on the books on my website right here:

Catch Up With The Galaxy!

Can I please ask you for one small favor?

If you enjoy Return to the Galaxy, I’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider leaving a review when it goes live. Even a single sentence makes a huge difference to visibility.

I’m not asking for gushing praise. Just your honest thoughts. But if you really hate it, please send the negative reviews to Brandon Sanderson. He’s far too popular and successful already.

Thanks again for being part of this journey. I’ve got readers in over 30 countries now, which still feels surreal given I only started publishing my stories 15 weeks ago.

It has been a crazy and exciting journey. Thanks so much for being part of it. You are the reason this is such a fun job to do

Warm wishes from Cheltenham,
BA Gillies

(The man who went from a kitchen drawer to a Galaxy Far, Far Away)

*******

The Coming Merge: What Will We Become?
(3-minute read)

To reach the stars, we may have to stop being who we are.

Let’s talk about evolution, not the kind in our past, but the kind waiting in our future.

Homo sapiens have existed for around 300,000 years, on a planet that’s 4.5 billion years old. In cosmic terms, we’ve barely arrived. We are new. Fragile. Conflicted. Inspired. Dangerous.

We dream of the stars, but we are ill-suited to live among them. We need oxygen, warmth, pressure, gravity, food, sleep, emotional connection, and occasionally, a good slice of pizza. We are not built for space. Not yet.

So, here’s the question. What if the beings who finally reach the stars are no longer fully human?

Welcome to the concept of the Merge—the fusion of humans with artificial intelligence, and eventually, alien technology. This isn’t a sci-fi fantasy anymore. It’s on the horizon.

We’ve already started. Pacemakers, prosthetics, neural implants, gene therapy, machine learning tools, they’re all stepping stones. Within a few decades, we may see brain-to-computer links, memory backups, and bodies adapted for alien environments.

In Return to the Galaxy, Earth’s backward status is a running joke to more advanced species. The Saret have already moved beyond flesh. Their greatest thinkers are AI minds in synthetic shells, paired with organic processors. Their war leaders are chosen not just for intellect or courage, but for how well they integrate with technology, memory cores, and coordinated swarm tactics.

When Ewan is reborn in a bioengineered body, he becomes more than human. He’s a glimpse of what we might become.

But that raises the deeper question.

If merging with machines helps us survive, will we still be human?
Will a mind that lives for centuries still feel love? Grief? Wonder?
Or will we lose something sacred in the process?

Some believe this is our destiny. Others fear it is the quiet death of humanity.

Either way, the future is coming. It won’t wait for us to decide.

So, what do you think? Should we hold on to who we are, and risk being left behind?
Or embrace the Merge, and become something new?

Hit reply. I’d genuinely like to know what side you’re on.

Until then, keep dreaming forward.

BA Gillies
Human. For now.

***

Discover More Free Sci-Fi Adventures

Each month, I’ll team up with a group of talented sci-fi authors to bring you an incredible selection of free books. Whether you’re looking for thrilling space battles, deep space mysteries, or first-contact encounters, these promotions are packed with stories to fuel your imagination.

Each book is completely free to download—just follow the links below and explore new worlds. Don’t miss out, as these giveaways are only available for a limited time!

Author Spotlight: