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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.

Order your copy today:  Amazon

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.

Order your copy today:  Amazon

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.

A New Trilogy Begins...

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The meek have not inherited 
the earth.

The world isn't how they left it. When the bunker airlocks release them after twenty years in hibernation, the survivors find a silent, barren landscape outside. But they are not alone. There is a presence here, alive in the dust—spirits of the earth, benevolent and malicious as they interact with the human remnant.

Milton is haunted by a violent past he's unable to escape, despite the superhuman speed the spirits give him. Not interested in bearing the next generation, Daiyna is determined to destroy the flesh-eating mutants lurking in the dark, pierced by her night-vision. Luther is a man of conviction who believes the Creator has offered humankind a second chance, yet he's uncertain they deserve it—and he's perplexed by the talons that flex out of his fingers. Willard is a brilliant engineer-turned-soldier who refuses to leave his bunker, afraid of becoming infected and willing to destroy any obstacle in his way. 

As their lives collide, the mysteries of this strange new world start unraveling, culminating in the ultimate life-or-death decision one survivor will make for them all.

Order your copy today:  Amazon

2019 in Review + Cover Reveal

This year was all about my novels: writing, editing, revising, and at long last, signing book deals! 2020 is shaping up to be a good one with six of my books tentatively scheduled for release throughout the year. The first Captain Quasar novel will be re-released, and the other five are brand spankin' new. First on deck is After the Sky, Book 1 in my Spirits of the Earth trilogy. I'm really liking the cover art, and I can't wait to share these characters with you.

Book Deals Signed: 4
Spirits of the Earth Trilogy — Aethon Books
Captain Quasar & the Space-Time Conundrum — Aethon Books
Captain Quasar & the Mass-Exodus Reversal — Aethon Books
Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque — Montag Press Collective

Novels Written: 2+

Captain Quasar & the Mass-Exodus Reversal — 80K
City of Glass (Spirits of the Earth Book 3) — 125K
Current Work-in-Progress — 28K

Novels on Submission: 2
Those Who Wait
BackTracker

Short Stories Published: 2

"Absolute Magnitude" in Theme of Absence
"Monochromatic Mandate" in Factor Four Magazine

Short Stories on Submission: 10

Audiobooks Released: 4

Into the Wastes
Deep Space
The Suprahuman Secret
Unreal Encounters

Audiobooks in Production: 2

The Gifted Ones
After the Sky

Blog Posts: 25

Back Aboard the 1K a Day Train

I started drafting a new novel on December 1, and I've managed to write 15,000 words so far. My goal is between 30K-40K per month, so I'll have the first draft done by the end of January. This past summer, I was able to write 120K in two months, so we'll see if I can reach 80K during the school year. It's a whole different beast, energy-wise.

After spending August through November on edits and revisions, it's good to be creating content again. These are characters I know pretty well, and I'm enjoying their latest adventure. I decided to take a break from my laptop and scribble this one longhand in a composition book, like I used to. It's keeping me focused on forward momentum instead of revising as I go, but it does take longer.

In other news, I submitted nine short stories that have been collecting dust to a variety of publications, most of them new to me. Here's hoping a few tales find good homes. On the novel front, my publisher shared the final cover art for the Captain Quasar books, and they're looking good — nearly as impressive as the art for my Spirits of the Earth trilogy. Stay tuned for a slew of cover reveals early next year!