(**This is the last day of the 15th Annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale! Swordsmaster and all my collections are available at 50% off – you can find the links on my Current Book Promotions page.) Every time I try to turn on the light by the kitchen sink, I get the disposal instead. Someone must be … Continue reading
Jimmy was a good cop, but age and changing times were getting the better of him. If he could only get an edge, take advantage of some of that new-fangled tech – what would be the harm? I mean, everybody cheats a little, don’t they? Just be careful not to get caught… Read “In a Flash” to see how Jimmy gets himself out of trouble. Continue reading
First off, I will say again that I am still pleased with Swordsmaster (SM#1) as originally written.
But now that there are at least two additional novels to follow it, it seems important to me to have some consistency in style/voice between them. This involves some different characteristics. Continue reading
(Okay, you can take a breath now…) I believe we’re in a mess today because for too long people who hold to traditional views and long-proven facts of life (this includes REAL science) have censored themselves to avoid unpleasant interactions (being polite to others is actually one of those old-fashioned traditions.) You’re having dinner in … Continue reading
Herc Tom hasn’t been treated like much of a champion lately. Ever since returning from his latest escapades on Baast he’s been kept under house arrest. It doesn’t seem fair. He didn’t ask to be brainwashed by the evil Doctor Inga Quin, and besides – that’s all been cleaned out of his mind. And it’s not his fault that she made a homicidal clone of him. After all, he foiled the clone’s attempted assassination of both Ramses’ Emperor Octavio and Baast’s Supreme Leader Pang, didn’t he?
Pang and the enigmatic Colonel Tulin are coming to Ramses for a state visit, and they want Herc to be their host. Pang he could care less about, but the thought of Tulin has him purring. Maybe that brainwashing isn’t quite out of his system. Continue reading
I don’t revisit my works once they’re DONE. I know there are writers who do this – some will go back to a published work and spruce it up.
I decided to revisit Swordsmaster now (four years after publication) because when I wrote the book it was intended to be a stand-alone novel. Now that it’s the first of a series of three or more, I wanted to ensure consistency within the series. Continue reading
(This was originally posted 07/14/2014, when I still blogged from Facebook. Considering that my ability to sell still has not improved, it illustrates the adage of TEACHING AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS. I yam what I yam…) I’m not a salesman. In my youth, I tried selling door to door (not my idea – a … Continue reading
The filthy Canines have taken the Quartz Sector and overthrown Ramses’ nemesis on Baast. The Emperor has vowed that the feline systems will NOT go to the dogs, so it’s up to Herc Tom to once again to save the Empire AND the Baastards.
But unbeknownst to our hero, Inga Quin left a surprise the last time she was in Herc’s head, and he may not be quite himself. But someone else might be… Continue reading
You already like your story – unless someone else made you write it, you had what you thought was a great idea, which is what got you to write it in the first place. But as a result, you suffer from confirmation bias – you think the story is good, so you see a good story whenever you try to reexamine it. You’ll overlook missing words – even repeated words. You see what you meant to write – even if you didn’t. Continue reading
How much detail should you put in a story? Some say you need as much as possible, in order to immerse the reader in the world you’re creating. That may be the case when you’re dealing in speculative elements – in many cases, you are trying to describe something that doesn’t exist, which means your … Continue reading
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