Home Stretch

The 50K mark went flying by this past week, which makes my current work-in-progress officially a (short) novel. If I had to guess, I'd say it's maybe 10K away from the finish line. And I'm planning to complete the first draft over the next week because...Spring Break!

With a May release looming on the horizon, now's as good a time as any to share the cover art and blurb with you. So here they are, in all their glory. No pre-order option yet, but if you subscribe to my newsletter, you'll be the first to know when Vic Boyo's Book 3 is released into the wild.

Third time's the charm? 

With Detective Vic Boyo, anything's possible. 

1933, New York City: Prohibition may be over, but that doesn't mean things have cooled down any for our intrepid hero—even when a massive blizzard strikes the Big Apple hard. Good thing Boyo's always got his trusty heater. When an old flame shows up on his doorstep seeking help, Boyo promises to do everything in his power to protect her. Problem is, she's not telling him the whole story, and before Boyo knows it, he's caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between powerful political and underworld forces who aren't playing pattycake. No, they're playing for keepsies.

Announcing: The Magic Noir Bundle

What happens when the bad guy lurking in the shadows is actually one of the shadows?

Welcome to a collection of works that fall under the magic noir umbrella: gritty worlds full of supernatural danger and mystery. And rain. Quite a bit of rain. These are stories about investigators solving mysteries, uncovering dark truths and facing impossible odds. Here you'll find worlds where magic works, but where it isn't always the sparkly, easy sort of sorcery that sets everything conveniently right.

You choose how much you want to pay for these awesome books. You decide how much of your purchase goes to the author and how much goes to help keep StoryBundle running. Pay $5 for the first 3 books or $25 for all 14: Dexter & Sinister by Keith W. Dickinson, The Inside Story of the British Bureau for the Arcane by Phil Parker, Resurrection Men by David Craig, Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson, Kalanon's Rising by Darian Smith, Duckett & Dyer - Dicks for Hire by G.M. Nair, The Hallows by H.L. Tinsley, Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar, Poison and Power by M. Patrick Duggan, Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque by Milo James Fowler, Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire, Kept From Cages by Phil Williams, The Eye Collectors by Simon Kewin and New York Minute by Stephen Aryan.

This bundle is available for a limited time. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer or email. You get a DRM-free EPUB of each book. And you'll show your support for indie authors. Why wait? Get your bundle today!

March Reading Deals

Check out these multi-author book promotions. You're sure to find something you like:

Book Madness  |  Novellas  |  Historical Fiction  |  Mayhem & Motives  |  Time Travel

Crime Stories  |  Into the Shadows  |  Crime Sequels  |  Everyone's a Suspect  |  Fantasy

The Supernatural  |  Mystery & Mayhem  |  Space Opera  |  Strong Female Leads

Fantasy & SciFi Sales  |  Epic SciFi & Fantasy  |  Exclusive SF&F Deals  |  Kobo Plus

Horror Sale  |  Whodunit & Hot Cocoa  |  Cozy Mystery Cravings  |  Feeling Lucky?

Mysteries & Thrillers  |  The Sound of Stories  |  Fantasy Audio  |  SciFi Audio

Short and Direct

All of my short story collections are now available wherever eBooks are sold, so that means I've got a new section for them in my Payhip store. When you buy direct, more of the purchase price goes to the author instead of a massive megacorporation, and the author gets paid immediately instead of having to wait a couple months to see those royalties. You also get an actual EPUB copy of the book to keep instead of just a license to view the content on your device. Sounds like a real win-win, don't you think?

But since I like giving my readers all sorts of options, you'll also find these collections on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Kobo and everywhere else. A few of the books are even free. How about that?

Over Halfway There

I've passed the 30K mark on my current work-in-progress, and things are shaping up nicely. Been doing a lot of plotting on this one. Not sure if that means I'm getting old and scatterbrained or just more organized. I don't know how I used to draft 100K manuscripts without notes. This one will probably end up being between 50-60K, and I've had to outline almost every scene in order to keep track of what I'm writing about. But it's turning out well, and that's what matters. Slow-going, as seems to be the case lately, but every step in the right direction is progress.

In other news, all of the eBooks in my Captain Quasar and Spirits of the Earth trilogies are formatted and ready to go. Next up will be the paperbacks. I'm planning to release them all at the same time, most likely in April to coincide with my turning half a century old. Something to celebrate.

Next week, each of my short story collections will be dropping out of KU and going wide, so they'll be available wherever you buy such things—including my Payhip store. Coyote Cal has new cover art, which might be my favorite so far. I also tinkered around with BackTracker's cover again (since I was in cover-tinkering mode), and I'm thinking this one's a keeper.

Now to plant myself in the study and see if I can churn out a thousand words or so...

Bookshop.org

I found out this week that all of my novels are now available on Bookshop.org, an alternative to Amazon that has raised more than 45 million bucks for independent bookstores over the past six years. I'm all for selling my work wherever I can, and that includes Amazon. But I'm not a big fan of monopolies, so giving my readers another viable option to buy books is always a good idea.

There are a couple of ways you can support your local bookstore with Bookshop. First, you can search for a participating bookstore, order your book through them, and Bookshop acts as the distributor / online retailer, with the bookstore earning the full profit from your purchase. The second option is to make your purchase directly through Bookshop with 10% of the profits going into a pool that is then distributed to indie bookstores all over the country. Pretty nifty, eh?

Something else I like: signing up for an affiliate account earns me an additional 10% on every book I sell through a Bookshop link. For example, the Chronicles of AGROTHARN. Instead of making only $3 on a $4.99 purchase, I'll make $3.50. Yahoo!

So, if you're interested in buying books without supporting a megacorporation, give Bookshop a try.

Rights Reversion

Looks like I'm getting the rights back to my Captain Quasar and Spirits of the Earth trilogies sooner than anticipated. When I signed my contracts five or six years ago, I thought I'd have to wait 10 years before the publication rights would revert. But since the quarterly royalties have been steadily dwindling (down from four figures at the start to only two), I decided to take another look at my contracts.

Come to find out, there's a termination clause that allows me to request the reversion of all rights after a set period when royalties have fallen below a certain threshold over the course of a calendar year. Yep. So I submitted my request, and they were cool about it. The books are gradually dropping off Amazon, and after their Kindle Unlimited enrollment ends in April, I'll be able to release them myself.

The publisher did a great job of promoting the first book in each series for a week or two, but after that, they didn't put any effort into marketing. According to them, the ongoing marketing strategy consisted solely of keeping the books in KU. So, I'm looking forward to publishing both trilogies wide for the first time, introducing these books to readers who exist outside of the Amazonosphere.

Stay tuned for an April re-release of both trilogies with new cover art, available everywhere books are sold. It'll feel pretty darn good to officially have the rights to everything I've ever written. Going forward, I'm planning to keep it that way.

Off to a Good Start

I just hit the 10K mark in my latest work-in-progress: the third and final installment in the Vic Boyo, Doofus Detective series. I've got most of the story outlined in broad strokes, and I'm plotting each chapter before I draft it. This is the first Vic Boyo novel that isn't based on a wild and crazy manuscript from my misspent youth, so it's a little nerve-wracking (but fun) to be venturing into unknown territory. The first two books were maybe thirty percent original framework with plenty of twists and turns added to flesh things out; in book three, I'm building on the characters and relationships introduced thus far and amping up the conflict. Right now Boyo has trouble flying at him from three different directions, and if you know him half as well as I do, then you'll know that's just the way he likes it.

Year in Review: 2025

Another year bites the dust. It wasn't too bad, all things considered. Didn't write as much as I would have liked, but I accomplished what I set out to do, and I tried a few new things along the way. 

The first half of the year was all about wrapping up the Dome City Investigations trilogy. I'd already written 35K of Angels & Androids and had another 55K to go. The process was slow, but I got there eventually. Around the same time, the rights to Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque reverted, and I proceeded to quick-release the Interdimensionals trilogy over the summer months. By the time school started, I was halfway through drafting Less Than Meets The Eye, and by the end of November, it was ready to greet the world.

When I wasn't writing or formatting, I figured out how to sell my books directly to readers. No billion-dollar mega-corporation necessary. I decided to keep my short story collections in Kindle Unlimited for the time being, but I went wide with everything else. In so doing, I tried out Kobo Writing Life to see how their promotions work, but the jury's still deliberating. I'll give it some more time. 

I sampled Substack for a few months, but it was too much like social media, so I called it quits. I also experimented with Amazon ads and learned a lot in the process—and managed to recoup my losses after pausing the campaign. I may have participated in too many Bookfunnel promos to count, but I'm planning to scale back on those since returns have diminished. 

My goals for next year: Stop checking sales numbers every day and just let the royalties trickle in. Find ways to free up more head space. Enjoy writing, and enjoy God's blessings.

Novels Written: 

Angels & Androids (55K of 90K total)

Less Than Meets The Eye (55K)

Vic Boyo, Book 3 (4K and counting...)

Books Published:

Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque

Monsieur Moule's Subterranean Casino

Peter Gideon's Aeroship Extraordinaire

Angels & Androids

Less Than Meets The Eye

Blog Posts: 26

Release Party

Detective Vic Boyo returns

in the sequel nobody asked for!

1932, New York City: When a good pal needs help rescuing his kid sister from a speakeasy run by a psychotic mobster, Boyo knows he's up to the challenge. What he doesn't know is by agreeing to lend a hand, he's placed a big red target on his back. The mobster in question is a dangerous predator who likes to play with his prey, and what follows is an unhinged cat-and-mouse game unlike anything Boyo has ever encountered. 

Only one thing stands between Vic Boyo and saving the day. Well, maybe a few things. But with a little luck and a whole lot of gumption, anything is possible—even for him.

eBook       Paperback

The big release day was officially this past Tuesday, but it's never too late to celebrate, right? Now's a great time to grab your copy while the low introductory price is in effect. Next month, I'll be raising it to $2.99, the same as the sequels in my other series.  

Speaking of series, I'm in the process of outlining the third and final installment in the Vic Boyo, Doofus Detective trilogy. That's right. Unlike the seven-year gap between Books 1 and 2, Book 3 should be out sometime next year. I've got multiple sources of conflict I'll be tossing Vic's way, loose ends from the series in need of resolution, which should make for an entertaining ride along. After a bit more plotting, I'll be able to devote some time to drafting. Who knows, maybe by the end of Christmas break, I'll have a few thousand words typed up. 5K? 10K? We shall see.

How to Gift an eBook

Ever wondered how to send a friend or family member an eBook as a gift? Look no further. Here's the easiest way to go about it on Amazon:

Let's say you wanted to gift a copy of Double Murders Are Twice As Bad because your pal or loved one is sorely in need of chuckles. Once you've clicked the book link, scroll down on the right side until you see the "Buy for Others" or "Gift Kindle Edition" option (located an inch or so under the orange Buy now with 1-click button).

Once you've selected "Buy for Others" or "Gift Kindle Edition", you'll have two options: 1. Amazon will email the redemption link directly to your recipient. 2. Amazon will email you the redemption link, which you can then send to the recipient yourself.

Next, enter the recipient's email address. Type a personal message like "Hope you enjoy this hilarious book!" Pick a delivery date. Then place your order. You'll be charged for the eBook, and your recipient will be able to read it on any device, thanks to the free Kindle app.

Easy, right? The process on Barnes & Noble and Apple is a similar one, but as far as I know, Apple eBooks can only be read on Apple devices, while B&N's Nook app, like the Kindle one, can be installed on any device. As of now, there is no way to gift eBooks on Kobo, but gift cards are available.

I hope you found this to be informative and helpful. Let the eBook gifting commence!

Novel #25

Detective Vic Boyo returns in the sequel nobody asked for!

1932, New York City: When a good pal needs help rescuing his kid sister from a speakeasy run by a psychotic mobster, Boyo knows he's up to the challenge. What he doesn't know is by agreeing to lend a hand, he's placed a big red target on his back. The mobster in question is a dangerous predator who likes to play with his prey, and what follows is an unhinged cat-and-mouse game unlike anything Boyo has ever encountered. 

Only one thing stands between Vic Boyo and saving the day. Well, maybe a few things. But with a little luck and a whole lot of gumption, anything is possible—even for him.

Buy Direct  or  Pre-Order

I'm trying something new with this one. While the pre-order option is available for folks who like to buy their books via the regular sales channels and can wait until the December 16 release date, I'm also making it available right now for readers interested in buying direct. Order it today from my author storefront, get it today. No wait. Cool beans, right?

First Draft Done

Mission accomplished: I managed to finish the first draft of the Vic Boyo, Doofus Detective sequel before the end of the year. Feeling pretty good about that. The last two chapters are still rough, but I'll polish them up next week. Then I'll give the whole manuscript a once or twice over before I start the formatting process. As long as all goes according to plan, a mid-December release date should be doable. Just in time for Christmas.

Stay tuned for the cover reveal, blurb, pre-order window via the usual retailers, and pre-release availability, which I'll be trying out on my author storefront. I'm planning to make the book available to buy direct (at a reduced price) a week before it releases wide. And unlike a traditional pre-order, where you have to wait until the official release date to get your copy, when you buy direct, you'll get it the same day you order it. Spiffy, right?

Writing Update

I'm halfway through my current work-in-progress, a sequel to Double Murders that I started drafting during the summer. That's right, Vic Boyo the doofus detective is back in action, just as confident and clueless as ever. Hard to believe it's been seven years since the first book came out. Guess I've had other trilogies to work on in the interim. But now it's time to give Boyo his due.

Like the first book, I'm using a manuscript I wrote back in high school as the framework and fleshing it out as I go. So far, the first 25 pages of the original novella have swelled to over 100 in the latest iteration. That ratio won't continue; otherwise, the final draft will be 400 pages. Book 1 is under 250, so that's the sweet spot I'm aiming for.

It's been fun bringing back characters while adding new ones, and Boyo's internal monologue is unlike any of my other protagonists'. Half Sam Spade, half Michael Scott. Hard-boiled screwball crime noir that doesn't take itself too seriously, but where the good guy always wins in the end. 

I was making pretty good progress on it—three chapters a week—before the school year started. Now I'm averaging about one chapter a week. But progress is progress, and if I can get the first draft done by end of year, I'll consider that a win.

Two New Collections

 

You'll notice something when you click on either one of those covers: a Buy Direct option. I'll be adding this feature to all of my novels as they drop out of Kindle Unlimited and become available wide again. If you'd like more of the purchase price to go to the author instead of a massive megacorporation, buy direct.

I've decided to take a different route with my covers. Instead of making those fun 3D box sets, I'm going with this triple flat-panel look. For one thing, as cool as the 3D covers are, they're false advertising. Because readers aren't getting an actual boxed set when they buy a collection of eBooks. And since I'm going wide, distributors like Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Apple don't allow the 3D boxes anyhow. So this way I'm keeping things consistent across all sales channels.

Taking the Plunge

Tackling Amazon ads has been on my to-do list for a while, but I haven't had the mental bandwidth to give it a go. With real life and the day job constantly vying for my attention, not to mention projects around the house, it's been tough to stick to my writing regimen, let alone learn a new skill. Excuses, excuses. The timing for things is seldom perfect. Sometimes all you can do is say enough with the procrastinating. So that's what I did. And then I put on my student hat.

My first step was to take the free Kindlepreneur course. Venturing into advertising blind, I figured it couldn't hurt to get some sage advice. The online course was helpful and explained everything in a way that made sense. What more could you want? It's definitely an advertisement in itself for Publisher Rocket, a book marketing software program that has some very cool features. But instead of shelling out $200 for that, I used Gemini (the Google A.I.) to come up with 50 keywords related to Murders at the Manor, one of my better-selling titles. Then I plugged each of those keywords into the Amazon search bar, one at a time, to see how many were used by shoppers. That narrowed the list down to about twenty-five, which I deployed in my first ad.

Following the Kindlepreneur directions step by step, I ran a sponsored product ad with manual targeting, a daily budget of $10, and set my bids at $0.65. (Anytime a shopper clicked on my ad, I would be charged 65 cents.) These amounts were based on best practices; however, Amazon made it clear that I would do better if my budget were $25 each day and my bids were well over a buck per click. But I held my ground. Because going broke is no fun. At the end of my three-week experiment, I had 166,000 impressions (that's how many shoppers saw my ad), 228 clicks, and 8 orders. Overall, I spent $160 and earned $16. But if I factor in sequel sales and Kindle Unlimited reads occurring at the same time, I earned $90 in total. Better, but not great. Not by a long shot. 

I've decided to put the ad on pause while I recoup my losses. Once I break even, I'll try it again with automatic keyword targeting, or I might go with a book in a smaller category. (Something like space opera sword & sorcery, perchance?) This was a good learning experience, and I no longer feel clueless about advertising on Amazon. Some authors have lost thousands of dollars on their ads, and I understand how easily that can happen. But if you set your budget, stick to that budget, and pause things before they get out of hand, you can learn a lot from the data you've collected. Then regroup, course-correct, and give it another shot. 

To be continued...

Eliminating the Middle Man

As my books drop out of Kindle Unlimited this fall and I start releasing them wide again, I'm going to try something that many other indie authors have been doing for a while now: selling direct. Instead of only offering my work via distributors like Amazon or Draft2Digital who take a 30-40% cut of every sale, I've decided to start using a platform called Payhip that takes a low 5%. It's just another option for eBook readers who might not want to financially support the megacorporations and would rather have more of their money go straight to the author.

How does it work? Glad you asked. Just click on the book you want, like you would on Amazon. Choose Add to Cart if you plan to do some more shopping or Buy Now if you're good to go. All sales are secure through PayPal, and the eBook you download is in EPUB format, the most widely supported.

On each of my landing pages, I'll be including the new Payhip option, but there will also be the usual links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Kobo. The more options, the better. You can check out the humble Speculative Fictioneer store right here. Only a few books are available at the moment, but expect plenty more on the way in the coming weeks.

New Release: Angels & Androids

A new player has entered the game. 

As Dome 10's criminal underworld destabilizes with bosses vying for the role of kingpin, assassins target Drasko in an effort to silence him. Hot on a sniper's trail, Investigator Sera Chen makes a terrifying discovery: one of the most powerful men in the Domes is building an army of killbots.

Meanwhile, someone is hacking into citizens' neural implants, forcing them to act against their will. But before Sera and Dunn have a chance to find out who's pulling the strings, they're sidelined. Sera is suspended, and Dunn is assigned desk duty.

That doesn't slow them down for long. Confronting zombies and zealots, mutants and madmen, Sera tries to connect the dots. She'll need people she can rely on, but with a sadistic puppeteer able to control anyone, who can she trust?

eBook       Paperback

Going Full Indie

Since 2010, I’ve had 130 short stories, 2 novellas, and 8 novels traditionally published. I submitted my work for consideration, waited weeks (or months) for a response, collected hundreds of rejections, and celebrated the acceptances. I was an active SFWA member for two years. I had an agent for a while. I felt like I was doing everything right. There were certain hoops to jump through in order to be considered a "real" author, so jump I did. And I learned a whole lot along the way.

But there came a point when I decided No more. I just wasn’t finding joy in the process. I felt like it was holding me back creatively. I tried being one of those hybrid authors for a while, publishing some things on my own while submitting other manuscripts via the traditional route. A route which, as far as my novels were concerned, left me disappointed at every turn. 

I needed to stretch my wings and go full indie, leaving the old ways of doing things behind. So that’s where I am now. No more submitting my work to publishers and waiting on them for a seal of approval. For better or worse, I’m taking care of it all myself. And I’m having more fun at this writing hobby than I’ve had in a long while. 

The rights to six of my novels are still with a trad publisher, but when those rights revert in five years, I’ll be re-releasing them with all-new cover art and maybe some bonus material. Until then, I’ll see how many novels I can write and release on my own. Already, I’ve managed to independently publish 15 books since I fired my agent and forged ahead on this road, no longer shackled by the ways of the past. 

Freedom is a beautiful thing. So is rediscovering the joy of storytelling that my 12-year-old self knew all about. Got a little lost in the weeds for a while, but not anymore. Goodbye, gatekeepers. Hello, new books, new readers, and new adventures in publishing.

Book Cover - Take 5

I've revamped most of my book covers once or twice over the years, but none have gone through more transformations than my time-traveling detective novel BackTracker. Here they are, from the very first to the latest, which just went live this week:

The first one was all about that noir; the second emphasized the hard-boiled detective; the next two focused on the time travel aspect; and the new one places the futuristic setting front and center. Tough to pick a favorite, but I'll stick with the current iteration for a while and see how it does.

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