Prequel Novellas

This is a great time to be writing fiction.  New technologies allow a closer interaction with readers, which is an amazing thing.  Of course it is (and always has been) nice to get good reviews, but it is another thing again to get emails with specific feedback from readers...what they liked, what they want to see more of in upcoming works.  The ability to feasibly offer shorter works also allows a lot more flexibility in how a story is told.

I've had a number of people email and say they'd like to see some side stories set around the main Crimson Worlds storyline.  As it happens, I had done some work on something very much like this, so I decided to take a couple weeks away from finishing book three to polish one of these and throw it out there.  It should be available in about a week, and I will be offering it free to members of my mailing list (you can join at http://www.crimsonworlds.com).

There will be at least three in all, and each will be a prequel novella covering the earlier life and career of one of the Crimson Worlds characters.  The first features Darius Jax, and the next two will be about General Holm and Admiral Garret. They will all be outside the main storyline, so a reader who just wants the novels will not be affected.  But those who want a little more on where these characters came from will have the option.

The Cost of Victory Released

The Cost of Victory was just uploaded to the various sites and should be available within a few hours.  COV is the second book in the Crimson Worlds series and the follow up to Marines.

Marines was very focused on the early career of Erik Cain, but the second book expands the viewpoint, introducing a number of new characters and looking more broadly at the Superpowers and their struggles.  I've always enjoyed science fiction with rich backgrounds, and that is what I try to write as well, so COV takes a closer look at the Crimson Worlds universe.

I'm busy finishing the third book, A Little Rebellion, which will be released in December.

First Post

This is going to be a blog to support my science fiction and fantasy writing, which means that is mostly what I'm going to talk about.  I'm going to try to post 1-2 times per week, but that's subject to deadlines and workloads. 

Right now, I'm reviewing the final edit for book two of the Crimson Worlds series, The Cost of Victory, which is launching in e-book format in a couple days.  I'm also finishing the writing on book three, A Little Rebellion, which is being released on December 17, 2012.  In between these two releases I'm putting out another novella in the Shattered States series and the print versions of Marines and The Cost of Victory are coming out by the end of the month.

So the current workload is pretty significant, but I intend to find the time for this blog.  I feel very strongly in interaction with readers.  To me, there is no greater inspiration or influence on future work than the people who read (and hopefully enjoy) my books.  Hopefully some of you will engage in some discussions on here and let me know what you liked (and didn't) and what you hope to see next.

I'm also going to do some posts about other science fictions and fantasy books I have enjoyed.  Some of these may be older classics, while others may be new works.  I think it might be enjoyable to discuss some of the works that have influenced my own.

The rest I will make up as I go along.