NEW BOOK: What Was Your Name Downriver?: Tales of the Shattered Realm

Another product of prolonged self-quarantine comin' at ya!

I've just gotta say, I'm so happy that I'm finally able to put this out in some way. These stories are the product of a lot of work and a lot of encouragement from interesting places. They're some of my favorite stories in that I love the characters and loved playing in their world.

WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? is a collection of three stories (one novella, two short stories) that take place in my fantasy western setting, The Shattered Frontier. They follow the adventures of war veteran, bounty hunter, and famous/infamous gunslinger, Evaline Cartwright, as she endures the travails of one of the most lawless counties in the nation. The kind of fun place where Evaline might fight your average brigand one day, and the next day a volatile mage who can destroy entire cities on accident.

Here's the synopsis:

TALES OF SIX-GUNS AND SORCERY! 

Evaline Cartwright: war veteran, bounty hunter, known to many in Ariasun County by her thoroughly-earned appellation, "Calamity Cartwright." 

Trivan Esterhazy: a woman gravely wounded, hoping to find a better life for herself in more civilized parts of the nation. 

The two have only just met, both riding a steamboat north through the county to escape foul dealings in their respective lives, but a violent attack by a rogue mage has ensured their abrupt alliance. Armed with Evaline's wits and weaponry and Trivan's instincts and common sense, the women will have to plot their way through hostile territory and wild woods in the hopes of defeating the mage and freeing themselves of its volatile magicks.

History Time! If you don't mind indulging me!

Evaline has appeared in a few other places publicly:

• The first short story I ever sold was the first story I ever wrote about Evaline called "The Lonesome Dark." It appeared in BLACKGUARDS and was recently republished in BRIGANDS.

• Michael J. Sullivan put out an open call for short story submissions to be published with the third book of the Ryria Chronicles, THE DEATH OF DULGATH, and, while it didn't make it to publication, "The Horse Thieves of Ariasun County" was a runner-up.

• "Gunfight at the Thornmount Colossus" was a runner-up in the 2016 Baen Books Fantasy-Adventure Award.

After getting that kind of positive feedback, I spent some time really fleshing out the world and the characters themselves, and doing research into American history for flavor, with the intention of writing a novel tentatively titled RIDERS OF BITTER PROSPECT. Another novel commitment was something I couldn't realistically do while I was at university and, subsequently, abroad for a year. The Japanese work week just didn't frequently allow for it.

So I opted for a collection of short stories which, again, was a pretty tough commitment. You might have noticed that progress bar on the side that hasn't moved in a while. One of those short stories just kept going until it became a novella, the anchor story WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? It's a straight-forward adventure, but it does the heavy-lifting as far as providing a cross-section for what the setting is all about and what potential stories might emerge as a result.

That's it! I hope you'll consider giving it a try. If this book does well, I'd like to work in this setting indefinitely. Love hanging out there!

Be safe!

NEW RELEASE (Kinda): Brigands: A Blackguards Anthology

A lot going on these days! I'm back from Japan and I've got a new-ish project to talk about!
The first story I ever published was "The Lonesome Dark" back in BLACKGUARDS by Ragnarok Publications. Since then, Outland Entertainment has taken over publication duties, and their first act was to take all of the BLACKGUARDS stories (even those of us published in the e-book and extra digital material) and give the whole thing a proper physical re-release. Pretty exciting!
So while you couldn't get a physical copy of "The Lonesome Dark" before, you absolutely can now!
It currently seems to only be available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but I'll update this post and the My Books section if I track down any further marketplaces.
"The Lonesome Dark" is a fantasy western set in Ariasun County, a secondary world where a lot of my current projects are taking place. The main character, Evaline Cartwright, is a bounty hunter/hand-for-hire in a part of the world where it's really hard to find work that doesn't end in some kind of betrayal or undue violence. She takes a job bringing the body of a Sharath boy back to a commonage, which sounds innocuous, but the trip starts to unravel as she draws closer to her destination.
Hope you consider checking it out!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Evaline Cartwright makes a return trip!

"The Lonesome Dark" was the first short story I ever got published. I had a fantastic time during the process and was very thankful Ragnarok Publications tossed me into a volume with other authors that I respect immensely.

While I continue plotting out further adventures with Evaline Cartwright, the magick-scarred gunslinger of "The Lonesome Dark," the original short story will be making a comeback thanks to Outland Entertainment.

The new volumes, entitled Brigands and Scoundrels will have all new cover art by Daniel Rempel, and editing will be done by Alana Joli Abbott and Melanie R. Meadors (with first edition credit going to JM Martin). The books will have stories in them by Bradley P. Beaulieu, Lian Hearn, Rob J. Hayes, Anthony Lowe, Anthony Ryan, Linda Robertson, Cat Rambo, Erik Scott de Bie, and many more. Not only will the books have stories that appeared in the original anthology, but each volume will feature a brand new story from fantasy authors not included in the original volume or the ebook companion.

Excited to see how it turns out! Check out the full post here: https://outlandentertainment.com/206648-2/

"Gunfight at the Thornmount Colossus" - Finalist in the 2016 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award

Hey, all!

With the publication date of ALIEN ARTIFACTS right around the corner, I got a nice little surprise a few weeks ago. One of my most recent short stories, "Gunfight at the Thornmount Colossus," is a finalist in the 2016 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award! Neat-o!

This story is an indirect sequel to "The Lonesome Dark," which was published by Ragnarok Publications in the ebook version of BLACKGUARDS: TALES OF ASSASSINS, MERCENARIES, AND THIEVES. Both stories take place in a fantasy world very reminiscent of the American Old West, which pulls upon all kinds of legends, folklore, and good ol' fashioned history texts to create a magically-charged patchwork where gunslingers are the new knights-errant.

Fingers crossed "Gunfight" makes it through to the grand prize, but there are nine other (very) talented authors in the running, as well, so I'm just flat out enthused to be up there with them.

Take care!

Blackguards and Other Such Things!

Been a long time! A little over four months, which is regrettable, but I have excuses. Here's what I've been up to lately.

1. School! - Feels like one of the busiest semesters so far. Sixteen units, which isn't so bad, but throw in a statistics class and I've been stressing to the max some days. I'm hoping to transfer to a university either this year or next year, so I want to get as many classes in as I can. Hoping by next semester I'll have more room to write consistently.

2. Revising City of Blades: I'm still giving my most recent novel a lot of attention, reading and rereading it as frequently as I can while my sister finishes up her semester. Fingers crossed that she'll have time to commit to a cover, but in the meantime I haven't been sitting on my hands.

One announcement: When I titled the book City of Blades, I swear to all of you that I did the research and ensure that there were no other novels by that name. As it happens, now there are two. One by Robert Jackson Bennett (author of City of Stairs)  and another by S.M. White (an anthology buddy!). Needless to say, I'll be giving Book Two another title, and I actually like the new one better. After a couple other prospects wrap up, I'll post it here formally.

But with its old title, City of Blades has been making the rounds in the agent circuit, since I feel it's more "publishable" in its current state. Additionally, it's also been entered in Mark Lawrence's "Great Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off!" This was a great opportunity for me, and I'm hoping to have good news to share in the coming months. My novel will be read by Mihir Wanchoo of Fantasy Book Critic. Really excited to see the feedback it'll be getting!

3. Anthologies: The ebook edition of Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues is now available on Kindle (EDIT: and other places!) It contains my fantasy/Western short story, "The Lonesome Dark."

I've also entered another short story from the same universe into another anthology competition, but I haven't heard back from them yet. When I get the word, I'll post it here.

That's about it for now! Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'll be starting work on Book Three of Lore of the Reluctant this summer. Already have a lot of fun ideas for it.

Take care!

Grimdarkness and BLACKGUARDS

It's official! My short story submission to Ragnarok Publications will be included in the soon-to-be-released dark fantasy anthology: BLACKGUARDS: TALES OF ASSASSINS, MERCENARIES, AND ROGUES.



I'm very excited about this for a few reasons. For one: this will be the first time I'll receive a paycheck from a publisher, which is an awesome kind of validation all its own. Two: I'll be thrown in with a talented bunch of writers. Paul S. Kemp wrote THE OLD REPUBLIC: DECEIVED, one of my favorite Star Wars novels, and Michael J. Sullivan wrote another one of my favorites, HOLLOW WORLD. (I've also begun reading Mr. Sullivan's first Ryria novel, STORM OF SWORDS, and I'm having a blast so far.)
For tree: "The Lonesome Dark" was a story that I was/am really proud of. It's an author's hope that their next project is always, always a culmination of what they've learned and how they've improved, and this story in particular (I hope!) shows how much I've grown as a writer and where my strengths are now at this moment. Plus, I had a lot of fun writing it, so that's pretty cool.
While I didn't make the cut for one of the two slots in the main anthology, my story will be included in the companion anthology, THE BLACKGUARDS BLACKLIST, which is composed of eleven stories that were selected from open submissions exclusively. THE BLACKLIST will be rolled into the ebook release of the anthology, and will be included as a backer reward to those who kickstarted the project.
If you have an interest in pre-ordering the book/ebook, you can do so through the BLACKGUARDS BackerKit RIGHT HERE.
Otherwise, the website says Ragnarok is aiming for a February 2015 release.
See you then!