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!