Looking back on 2014:
Another busy year! This year was a bit of a roller coaster ride for me personally, but as always, I powered through. Though it was my slowest year for book releases in the past five years, I really blossomed when it came to short fiction and poetry. Totals for 2014: six books and ninety-two shorter pieces published in magazines, anthologies, etc. Not bad!
1. Though I technically penned the final three books in the Pink Carbide series last year, they weren’t edited or released until this year. Bringing a series like this to a close is both exciting and sad. Seven books is a lot of material, and in that time, a writer really comes to know the characters of a series quite well. They become like friends or family. Fans have asked: will there be any more books in this series? The answer: no. Will I ever revisit the Pink Carbide universe? Only time will tell. It is a fun place to play.
2. This year, I finished a project that has been sitting on the back burner for a while. Black Magic: Shotgun Spacebabe is a thrilling tale of revenge in a high-noon sci-fi setting. It’s an action-packed, tongue-in-cheek trip through the stars with a woman too tough to bleed and too pissed off to die. This book has definitely become one of my favorite creations.
3. Another project that was on hiatus for a while, The Deyacadem Cycle finally rose from the ashes of an older fantasy project originally titled Arkenstride. Like a fine blade, this story has been hammered and reshaped a thousand times since the first seeds of its ideas sprouted in my mind. Featuring a bad ass woman of color as the main character, Rise of the Forgotten God and Sisters in Slaughter tell a tale that is both terrifying and thrilling. Are you ready to follow in the footsteps of a rogue knight from the desert nation of Liada? Pick up a copy of both books today and prepare to enter a world unlike anything you’ve ever seen (or read) before.
4. This year, I also did some editing work for Horrified Press and their imprint, Rogue Planet Press. Undead in Pictures, Plague and Dark Fairy Tales Revisited were cleaned and tightened up to sparkling for Horrified, while I edited and assembled Sex Droids and their Cyborg Toys for Rogue Planet. I also snagged some work editing manuscripts for Transmutation Press. Their production of Tau Palamas’s Gnostic Spaces was especially intriguing!
5. I also had the pleasure this year of working with poetess Lyla Sommersby on her book “Sketches of Someone.” This is a a hauntingly beautiful chapbook of powerful poetry paired with images of écorché figures from 18th century French art and anatomy manuals. Definitely worth checking out.
6. As mentioned previously, I’ve had 92 separate pieces published in various magazines, anthologies and journals this year. I’m especially proud of my story “Wolf” which was published in Immanion Press’s Para Kindred anthology. It’s always awesome when you get to share pages with your favorite author. It looks like I may also have another story upcoming in next year’s Para Animalia anthology, as well as a full-length novel set in the same universe! More details as they come.
7. Another project that I sunk about a month into this year was the exquisitely detailed sequel to Letters From A Dead Earth. Unlike “Letters”, The Wastes of Tulloch County was not released with an associated novel, but rather contains pieces of a short story that brings new light to the universe of LFADE. If you love Minecraft, take some time to try this map out, especially if you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction like the Fallout series, Mad Max and The Walking Dead.
8. This year also marked the release of the first (and so far only) two books in the Stormcloud Poets poetry anthology series. Currently, the series is on hiatus, but these two beautiful books are well worth checking out! Both contain the work of some really brilliant and talented poets! With a rejection rate of 96%, you can be assured that these books contain only the cream of the artistic crop.
9. Last, but certainly not least, I created the literary game titled “Zero Dusk.” This free-to-read, fully-online sci-fi novel/puzzle provides over sixty planetary systems (more are being added all the time!) for readers to discover and explore. Head to specific destinations to follow plot lines hidden among the stars, or just cruise from one destination to another like a tourist of the cosmos. It’s up to you! Check it out at: http://zerodusk.blogspot.com/
* All books mentioned (except those anthologies I contributed to) can be found at Thunderune Publishing: http://www.thunderune.com
