Q3 Noveling Progress

We're halfway through 2020, and I've managed to draft two brand-spankin' new novels. Feeling pretty good about that, despite all the craziness going on in the world. I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future. So until He tells me otherwise, I'm going to keep sharing my stories with anybody who will read them (or listen to them). As this life gets stranger around us, tales of good conquering evil will be in high demand.

Captain Quasar Book 3 is undergoing edits and should be ready for Aethon Books by the end of the month. Madame Antic's Book 2 (working title: Underground) will be sitting and festering for a while, as I wait on Book 1 edits from Montag Press. I had a slew of ideas for my third quarter novel, but I decided to go with Madame Antic's Book 3 while the story's still fresh in my mind. The working title is Airship, but it's not steampunk; it's Victorian Surrealism with plenty of mind-bending inter-dimensional action and adventure. If all goes according to plan, I should have this one finished by October, when it will be time to decide on my last novel of the year.

2020 will live in infamy for a variety of reasons, but I hope to remember it as the first year I drafted four novels. Taking this challenge one day at a time has gotten me halfway there already. Perseverance and perspiration will see me to the finish line. Then it'll be 2021: The Year of Edits.

New Audiobook Now Available

At long last, the sequel to The Suprahuman Secret (Books 1-4) is now available in audio, produced by the same talented voice actor who brought hard-boiled detective Charlie Madison to life last year: Robert Rossmann. In The Gifted Ones, Charlie is up against all-new obstacles as his past returns to haunt him. Along the way, he discovers answers to questions that have plagued him since Girl of Great Price. It's bittersweet, but a fitting end to this future noir series full of sci-fi adventure and intrigue. Enjoy!

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Victorian Surrealism

I'm about 50K into the sequel to Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque (working title: Underground), and I've been pondering the genre. When I wrote the Spirits of the Earth trilogy, I knew it was post-apocalyptic science fiction (Mad Max meets X-Men). When I wrote the Captain Quasar trilogy, I knew it was comedic space opera (Buck Rogers meets Galaxy Quest). When I wrote the Charlie Madison, Private Investigator series, I knew it was future noir (part Maltese Falcon, part Blade Runner). But my current project has defied genre classification — until now.

Whenever my inspiration doesn't start out as a "What if?" question, it's the result of a vivid dream or nightmare. That was the case with Madame Antic's; all the worldbuilding I needed to do was right there for me to see, and I just had to put it into words. But now with the novel forthcoming from Montag Press and most of the sequel drafted, I've been looking for artwork that really conveys the mood and style of this series. My search for "uncanny Victorian artwork" brought me to this artist's site where I discovered the term "Victorian Surrealism." And it fits like a misshapen glove.

While nothing like Mr. Harp's creatures appear in my novels, they very well could. Looking over his artwork is like peering into a pocket universe inside the world I've built, as every image conveys a similar sense of wonder and dread. Add some menacing robots, weapons firing lightning bolts, aerovehicles careening through the sky, not to mention plenty of blood and gore, and you've got the alternate history / Gothic horror / sci-fi adventure I'm working on. And I couldn't be having more fun.

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Dahlia, the last human child, has been summoned to a banquet in her honor by the Elders of the Great Council.

Her escort, Brawnstone the trollgre, must carry her through the dangerous ruins of an ancient human city, deep into the abandoned warehouse district where the feast is to be held.

No one knows this little girl's dark secret — not even Dahlia herself.

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Science Fiction / Fantasy

Short Stories originally published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Perihelion Science Fiction, and Triangulation.

Q2 Noveling Progress

We're a third of the way through the second quarter of 2020, and I'm 15K into my second novel. The Phaze-Worlds Dilemma ended up being around 80K, but this one should be closer to 60. It's a direct sequel to Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque, and if I maintain my current 1K/day writing regimen, I'll have the first draft finished by mid-June. My goal is to draft four novels this year, something I've never attempted before. Writing two last year was a first, but I'm always up for a challenge. So far, so good!

Spirits of the Earth Book Tour

With the Spirits of the Earth trilogy now complete, it's time for (you guessed it) a virtual book tour!

Click the banner below, and you'll find the dates and websites for each day of the tour:

The Trilogy is Complete

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The future is now.

The children of the remnant are adults living in the 10 Domes of Eurasia, self-sustaining biospheres along the Mediterranean Sea. Aerocars fly, clones work as security officers, and every citizen's words and actions are monitored via their neural implants. Peace reigns over all—until a group of terrorists targets government buildings, and Chancellor Persephone Hawthorne is kidnapped.

Sera Chen, Dome 1 law enforcer, is drawn into the conflict after chasing a curfew violator capable of leaping from one skyscraper to another. When her augments go offline due to a localized EMP burst, she starts hearing voices. The band of survivors in North America is fractured. Daiyna roams the Wastes with a bounty on her head, refusing to confront her demons. Samson and Shechara target UW raiders who are pillaging ruins for resources the remnant needs to survive. James Bishop struggles against unexpected obstacles to be reunited with his family. And Luther is determined to find a way into Eurasia to meet the twenty children taken from Eden.

As their lives converge, unlikely alliances will form to combat an emergent enemy with plans to undermine the course of humanity's future.

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New Novel Drafted

I finished the first messy draft of The Phaze-Worlds Dilemma (Captain Quasar Book 3) last week, and I've been revising a couple thousand words a day. If I double-up on weekends, I should have this 80K manuscript ready for edits by mid-April. I've also started drafting my second-quarter novel, a sequel to Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque. I'm about 2K into it, and the goal is 60K. Hoping to have the sloppy copy finished by the end of June.

The Trilogy Continues...

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The future is in their hands.

The post-apocalyptic world is bigger than the remnant imagined. Across the ocean, the domed cities of Eurasia have survived the nuclear holocaust that ravaged the rest of the planet. But only the survivors from the North American Wastes can give the sterile Eurasians what they need most in order to continue existing as a society: children.

Sergeant James Bishop, United World Marine, leads his team across the desert wasteland in order to make first contact with survivors in Eden, who are rumored to have a lab full of viable embryos. Meanwhile Cain, a coastal warlord dedicated to repopulating the planet, follows the will of Gaia, a malicious spirit of the earth with no love for humankind. Margo, telepathic geneticist responsible for designing the next generation, struggles to balance the will of a selfish dictator with what's best for humanity. And Tucker, an invisible man on a mission, carries precious cargo across the Wastes in an effort to rally a group of survivors into action against Eden.

As their lives intersect, agendas collide and tensions reach a breaking point. Twenty unborn children in incubation chambers hang in the balance—along with the fate of the world.

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Q1 Noveling Progress

It's the first quarter of 2020, and I've managed to write almost every day. Often less than a thousand words, but lately it's been close to a couple thousand. When I started my current WiP on December 1, I had high hopes of finishing the first draft by the end of January. That didn't happen. 

Reason #1: I decided to spend a couple weeks revising BackTracker so I could get it out the door before a certain publisher closed submissions. 

Reason #2: I had a novel release to celebrate, which was distracting in a good way.

Reason #3: I was stuck, truth be told, and didn't know where the plot was going. But that's been remedied, and the words are flowing like warm molasses again.

I've reached the 50K mark and plan to scribble another 30K before I start typing it up, revising and editing as I go. Current working title: PHAZE. (How's that for not giving anything away?) My goal this year is to draft four novels, one per quarter. I have notes ready to go for three, each in a different series, so I know what I'll be working on after Phaze. I've never written more than two novels in a year, so we'll see what happens. Succeed or fail, I'll be writing.