Thursday, July 26, 2012

London Calling...?

Tired of querying and querying and getting no responses on my crime/thriller novel, I tried something a little different. In a completely random internet search, I ran across this, a competition sponsored by a literary agency seeking to start a line of crime/thriller/suspense books. They wanted the first 8,000 words, a synopsis and a couple of other little things that I had at my fingertips. Wow, I thought, when's the deadline? End of July. Okay, that's soon, but I can certainly do it. What's at stake? The winner, or winners, get an offer of representation. Runners up get detailed editorial feedback. Awesome, frankly, I'd be happy with feedback. I looked up the agency, and they seem to be reputable, but based in... London. Do I care? I paused for a couple of minutes thinking about it. No, I don't, especially after learning they have a US subsidiary agent to handle stuff in the states. Besides, I'd just be happy with some meaningful feedback. So I put the submission together and sent the whole thing off. Cheery-o, mate!

In other news, I finished my Treasure of the Moon Goddess story for the Pirates and Swashbucklers II anthology, published by Pulp Empire. I'm very happy with it, though it did run a bit long. The editor asked for about 10,000 words, and it came in at 13,000. I mean, once it gets that long, does a little more really matter? I don't think so either! :) So I sent it in, which took a big load off my mind since he wanted it by end of July. Haven't heard back, though, so fingers crossed and hope he likes it!

Anyway, now that that's done, I can hopefully steam ahead again on the Dark InSpectre. We're really coming down the home stretch of episodes as I can very much envision the end now. Hang on for the ride!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Episode 53

Episode 53 of the Dark InSpectre is now online, in which our hero learns of a shocking threat to a family member.

Here’s an excerpt:

The words replayed in my head again. We have your sister. Fear and panic began to give way to something else, something that swept aside every other impulse as I half rose out of my chair, teeth clenched, fists gripping the side of my desk so hard I thought I might break a piece off. It was a cold anger that burned in my veins.

All I could see were dark shapes twisting and turning on the screen. Could they see me? See in my eyes what I wanted to do to them? The pain and destruction my vengeance would wreak? It would be a holy thing, Old Testament kind of wrath. I would lay waste to their cities and leave nothing but twisted wreckage in my path. And their broken bodies would serve as a warning to all who would seek to harm my family.

Check the episode here.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Treasure of the Moon Goddess

That, my friends, is the title of my story for the second Pirates and Swashbucklers anthology. I finished the story and went over it last night, so now the wife gets a read. I'm very relieved and happy to be sending this thing off to the editor/publisher right on schedule by the end of July, which is when he wanted all the stories in. Of course, it came in a bit longer than expected, but well...

The story also changed a bit around the edges, but I'm quite happy with it. Another good adventure on the high seas with Will and Hanaam! In other news, it seems like the abandoned towers web site is toast. They still haven't posted the prompts column I submitted in June, and there isn't any new content in general since April. I think I'm done with writing the columns anyway, too much time and effort, too little in the way of ROI. I've also done it for about two years, so time to move on.

Which means back to writing the Dark InSpectre. I took a couple weeks off to finish up the Moon Goddess story. Now I can get back into it. We're definitely coming down the home stretch!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Miss Me?

Hi all, I know I've been away for a few weeks. Truth is, I was at the beach for our annual summer family vacay, so my Internet access was spotty at best. But I"m back now, tanned (relatively) and ready for action. I'm happy to report that I've gotten to the climactic sequence of my story for the next Pirates and Swashbucklers anthology. After that's done I'm very much looking forward to going back over it and revising the thing. I've also been querying all over the place for my crime/thriller novel. No takers yet...

And, of course, the next DIS episode is up. Full of telepathic goodness and bad people being bad. Check it:

Episode 52 of the Dark InSpectre is now online, in which our hero finds that kids can say the darndest things.
Here’s an excerpt:

A second later I realized what just happened. My hands started shaking so bad I couldn’t hold onto the wheel and I pulled over to the side of the road. Memories I’d never dealt with flooded through me as my heart pounded and a cold sweat soaked through my shirt. I bent over and pressed my head to the wheel, squeezed my eyes shut. Memories of a girl’s face framed in golden hair, peaceful, eyes closed with the certainty of never opening again. Desperate hours in a wine cellar, certain I’d never get out. Murderous tel psychopaths and a killer who’d once been my friend.

Check the episode here.

Enjoy!