Failure…is not an option. Surrounded by enemies, Lydio Malik, the Royal Bodyguard to the infant Princess Analisa, will do ANYTHING to save the sole heir to the throne. Imagine “Die Hard, on the roof of a castle tower”…and you have the distilled essence of this action-packed story.
In print and ebook, with the ebook at the low, introductory price of just 99 cents.
This is a preview of the raw cover image for my story, Road Trip, which will be published in December.
Here’s the description of the story:
Rocco Fitch is a down-and-out disabled veteran of the War Against Terror, having been severely injured by an IED in Afghanistan. Since his return, his wife has left him (taking his daughter with her), he can’t get a job, unemployment payments have run out, his car’s been repossessed, the bank wants to foreclose on his house and life just isn’t working out well…
Then some beggar tries to sell him a road. Sensing that the beggar is a war vet like himself, Rocco buys the road from him for all the money he has left: $3.37.
At first, Rocco thinks the sale is just a strange way for the beggar to talk himself into accepting a handout from a fellow vet. But then he wakes up the next morning with a road, a magical road, crossing his backyard. A road that nobody else can see…
Besides the mysterious road that he now owns, the one bright spot in his life is his unlikely friend, his neighbor Sammie, an aging black rogue with a diabolical sense of humor, a foul mouth, friends in low places and a rather piratical way of looking at the world.
Between the two of them, they might just be able to set Rocco’s life on a new and different path.
Look for it on Amazon in the November/December timeframe.
Well, apparently I am (temporarily) a full-time author. The Day Job ended on Friday and the New Day Job has not yet officially started (due to paperwork, drug testing, bureaucracy, etc.). So this was my post-employment lunch at Taco Bamba, with their patented steak taco, a crispy shrimp taco, tortilla chips and four kinds of salsa.
It’s a fast casual dining place, with a few indoor tables, a few outdoor tables, a standing table, and a bunch of stools lining a ledge eating area. It’s casual, but it’s good food. They also have other things on the menu besides just tacos (although I’ve never actually gotten past the tacos, myself).
Did I mention they have four kinds of salsa?
Yes, indeed, my kind of place…
I ran my latest workshop, “Writing Killer Fight Scenes That Matter,” at Capclave 2018 on September 30. I had a lot of fun and the workshop was well received by the audience (I know this for sure, because I distributed a Workshop Evaluation Form at the end).
At conventions, the workshops are two hours long. The first hour was focused on violence: how people react to violence, different types of fights, gender differences in danger scenarios, and decision making in fights. The exercises were real life scenarios; attendees then had to figure out the best way to survive the situation presented. It was rather eye-opening and shocking for a bunch of them.
In the second half, I described a basic framework for fight scenes. We also discussed how to make fights more realistic, and more plausible, by leveraging the lessons from the first half of the workshop.
All in all, I thought the workshop went well. I look forward to conducting it at other conventions in the future.
I’m standing with Martin Wilsey, the proprietor of Tannhauser Press at Capclave 2018. We had a nicely successful weekend selling books, with seventeen products on sale (and Square for taking credit card payments).
Many thanks to all the people who stopped by our table, and especially to those who bought from us. It was especially gratifying since this was the first time we’ve done a full court press like this for all of the books published under the Tannhauser Press umbrella.
We were successful enough that we’ll be doing more of this in the future.
OK, by popular demand, I’ve added a couple more photos above. This is me with Lou Lamoureux in one photo and Liz Hayes in the other.
Here’s a preview of the artwork, called “Towers,” that I’ve licensed for use as the cover of my upcoming book, Bitter Days, due to be published in late October. It’s by Martina Stipan, an artist in Croatia that I found on Deviant Art. When I first spotted the picture, I thought it would make a great wraparound cover for a fantasy story about a poor homeless girl growing up on the streets of a gritty port city.
As is often the case with licensed art, it’s not quite a perfect fit for the story, so some alterations will be needed. The most obvious one is the elimination of some electrical wires, since my story is set in a pseudo-medieval fantasy setting.
Still, I thought folks would appreciate this preview.
In case anyone is curious what the life of a writer is like, especially an indie-published writer. In addition to the Day Job, and looking for a new Day Job since the old contact is ending, I’m doing the following stuff for the writing side of the house:
Edits on "Clash By Night," targeted for an October publication in the anthology, The Curator.
Getting ready to staff and run my first table at a convention. I’ll be at Capclave 2018 with Tannhauser Press in Rockville, MD on Sep 28-30 selling books.
I’m on Programming at Capclave 2018, so I’m prepping for four panels, including one that I’m moderating.
I’m putting the final touches on the 2-hour workshop I’ll be conducting at Capclave: "Writing Killer Fight Scenes That Matter."
I’m in the middle of writing a time travel story (the working title is "Time Vortex").
I’m prepping for second draft edits to "Pivot Point," a military steampunk story with airships, elves and dangerous science.
I’m finishing a story called "Death Comes to Town" for publication in an anthology called Outsiders.
I’m getting ready to publish my story "Bitter Days" in print and ebook next month (October).
I’m finalizing the ebook for "The Rooftop Game," which will be published about a week after Capclave.
I’m prepping my story "Road Trip" for solo publication in December.
I’ve started writing a series of “Writing Exercises” for my Writing Group, the Hourlings. These will also be released for free on my web site in PDF form.
So, yeah, I’m staying busy.
Oh, and just for the heck of it, I highlighted in red all of the significant pieces of content I’m working on in one form or another right now. From copyedits to second draft changes to publication prep.
I’m proud to be on Programming for Capclave 2018, the DC area’s best SF/Fantasy literary convention. The event is being held in Rockville, MD from September 28 – 30. Here are the details of my schedule:
| Afternoon | Dealer’s Room Manning the table for Tannhauser Press and the Hourlings. |
| 10:00 AM | Blurred Lines: Writing & Marketing Mixed-Genre Books
Sometimes, the book you want to write doesn’t fit into traditional genre patterns. Sometimes, it fits into ALL the traditional genre patterns. Authors who write books that defy standard shelving paradigms gather to discuss the virtues and pitfalls of genre-bending: finding your audience, marketing through genre-specific channels, generating industry acclaim, finding your niche, and more. Join us as we talk about how it really is okay to write that historical fantasy murder mystery in space! With: David Keener, Jack Campbell (John G. Hemry), Brenda W. Clough, Andrew Fox (Moderator) |
| Afternoon | Dealer’s Room Manning the table for Tannhauser Press and the Hourlings. |
| 10:00 AM | Author Table: David Keener & Laura Montgomery Selling (and signing) books at the designated Author Table. |
| 11:00 AM | Making the Future Work
What things are necessary to make the future successful? What are the jobs and technology of the future? Which jobs are most likely to go away? Which jobs will stay and what will they look like? What should the underlying infrastructure of your future world look like? For example, what should go into planning for the city of the future. With: David Keener, David Bartell, Bill Lawhorn (Moderator), Joe Stech |
| 1:00 PM | Writing Killer Fight Scenes That Matter (Two-Hour Workshop)
Does your story come to a screeching halt every time there’s a fight scene? Do readers think your fight scenes are…tedious…instead of exciting? How realistic should your fight be? Discover how real people react to violence, and how you can use this information to make your conflict more believable. Learn how to craft fight scenes that engage your readers, advance your plot and reveal character. With: David Keener |
| 4:00 PM | Time Travel Storytelling
A discussion of the cultural implications of time travel. Should an author use appropriate to the time language in their time travel and historical stories, or is it OK to use modern sensibilities? Is it fair to readers to give historical figures beliefs that were never shown in their real life actions? With: David Keener (Moderator), Doc Coleman, Iver Cooper, Alan Smale |
My story, The Rooftop Game has just been published and is available on Amazon.
It’s the first story in the Royal Defenders series, which is set in my Thousand Kingdoms universe.
Here’s a description of the book:
Failure Is Not an Option
Lydio Malik is the Royal Bodyguard for the infant Princess Analisa of Salasia. He’s sworn to die before he’ll let any harm come to her. He may just have to.
Despite his position, Malik is ridiculed for his foreign heritage, his unpopular views on protection strategies, and his obsessive attention to detail.
While the King goes to show the flag in the troubled north, his enemies launch a brazen attack against the royal family. Surrounded by enemies, with no possibility of escape, Malik finds a unique and desperate way to protect his charge.
If they want the Princess, they’re going to have to pay the price…in blood.
The Rooftop Game is the thrilling story of a bodyguard who won’t give up, set in a bold new fantasy setting known as the Thousand Kingdoms.
As a bonus, the book includes “Winter Roses,” a short story set in the Thousand Kingdoms universe. It was the first Thousand Kingdoms story ever published, way back in 2015. And you also get a preview chapter of Bitter Days, my next book in that universe, which will be published in October 2018.
This is the Scottish wedding dinner provided by my brother-in-law, Tommy Brady, and his lovely bride, Jacqueline Mckweown-Brady, at their wedding reception on June 30, 2018. Easily one of the best meals I’ve ever had in Scotland.
Prepared by the Normandy Hotel, this is their sirloin of roast beef with a sea salt and herb crust, accompanied by Yorkshire pudding, a rich roast gravy and a selection of vegetables and potatoes. It was preceded by an Atlantic prawn salad with a marie rose sauce. And followed by strawberry cheesecake.
Another interesting feature, the “Hangover Kit” in the upper left corner, composed of Iron Bru (a popular Scottish soft drink; the other national drink, apart from whiskey), chocolate, a satchel of Nescafe coffee and several little packets of tic tacs.
My Scottish relatives have done a splendid job of feeding their “hungry American”…a most excellent roast beef dinner. And a fitting accompaniment for a truly special day.
Story: "Road Trip"