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!

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!

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!

New Episode!

Episode 51 of the Dark InSpectre is now online, in which Jack and Mary finally let nature take its course.

Here’s an excerpt:

The anger in her thoughts roiled out of her brain, and I marveled at how protective she was of me. I reached out and touched her arm, which caused her to jump. “Hey, Mare, you don’t have to worry about…”

She shrugged me off, which surprised me, but I could tell she wasn’t finished so I just waited. She took a deep, shaky breath. “Jack, what I wanted to say is that if you didn’t want to… I mean, if it were better for you to… not be here anymore, what with the press and all, I…we… would understand…” Her voice trailed off as her throat muscles worked and she stared into her glass. She seemed so small all of a sudden.

I reached out and touched her shoulder and this time she did turn toward me, the overhead light glinting off the tears in her eyes. “Do you want me to go, Mare?”

Check the episode here.

Enjoy!

Story Time!

After a long drought when I hadn't sold anything, I finally placed a story! My short story Carousel will appear in the Jan. 2013 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly. I'm extremely psyched because I really like the story (duh), and it's something pretty different from the other stuff I've written. It was inspired when I went with my wife and kids to the old fashioned carousel in Park Slope, Brooklyn (that's where I live). I thought to myself, hmmm, wouldn't it be cool if there were like, living beings inside those wood carvings? Throw in a young girl and her grandmother's magic necklace, and voila! It's also an actual short story, and by that I mean around 4,000 words, which is shorter than most of the stuff that comes out of my head, thank god.

In other news, I'm well into my story for the second Pirates and Swashbucklers anthology. I got a lot done on a business trip to Paris a couple weeks ago. God I love long business flights. I get so much writing done, especially when the on-board movies suck! It's a little less than half done, so hopefully I'll be able to keep chugging along and finish it well before the July 31 deadline. I don't really know, but maybe it'll come out in Winter 2012?

And of course the Dark InSpectre keeps rolling along. I'm now into the sequence of events that will lead right to the conclusion. The end is actually in sight. And then what? Oh, right, got a novel to shop around...

Episode 50!

Episode 50 of the Dark InSpectre is now online, in which our hero finds himself in the uncomfortably hot glare of the media spotlight.

Here’s an excerpt:

Ben moved to shield me as the mass tightened around me, the pack closing in on its prey. There were some tels among them, darting in with their senses to get a taste of my psychic reaction, eager to report on any traces of fear or guilt. I snapped my shields shut as Ben dragged me through the crowd, pushing reporters out of the way.

“The lieutenant has no comment. He was here to answer routine questions in an investigation, nothing more.” Ben kept repeating it like a mantra as we forced our way through the gauntlet, senses pawing at me while a hundred small vid screens reflected my stunned features.

Check the episode here.

Enjoy!

Prompts Blog

Not sure what took so long, but my guest column is finally up over at Abandoned Towers Magazine. Take a gander over that way and soak up the golden rays of my knowledge! Nah, but it is kinda fun. Here's he link.