Category Archives: Books

So I finally figured out how to get through the whole CreateSpace process, and the print edition of my novella The Pathless Void is now available. For those of you who were asking about a print version, this is it. From the proof it turned out quite nice, and I think you will enjoy it.

I also did some additional edits as I was putting together the print edition, and the ebook versions on Smashwords and Kindle now reflect those changes as well. I think Kindles update automatically, but I don’t have one so I’m not sure. If you bought the ebook already and need to do something to refresh it with the updated version, now would be the time for that.

The print edition should be available on Amazon in a couple of days here along with the ebook, but if you really want to support my writing you should buy it directly from the CreateSpace link above. That gives me the best royalty percentage, since if I sell through Amazon they get a cut of the profits as well.

My new science fiction novella The Pathless Void is now available to buy from Amazon and Smashwords. If you’re a fan of old-school science fiction, check it out. I think you will like it.

As an aside, I think this is the first story I’ve ever published anywhere that doesn’t have anything paranormal in it whatsoever, unless you count speculative future technology and a salvaged alien spacecraft. But there are no spells or psychic powers or anything like that, just aliens and tech. Enjoy!

For years my Welcome page has said that I write science fiction, but up until now I’ve never actually published any.

The Pathless Void was an unofficial NaNoWriMo project from years ago. It was my first attempt at writing anything so quickly, and I was happy with how the first forty thousand words turned out. But while I did clear fifty thousand words during the month, I decided that the last ten or twelve thousand were not very good. So the project has languished since that time.

What I’ve decided to do is go ahead and publish the first forty thousand words as a novella in ebook format. The original book was intended to consist of two sections about that length, each a mostly self-contained narrative, and what I’ve published now is the first of those two. Down the road I plan on serializing the story in order to continue it, but the second section will go in a very different direction from what I wrote the first time around.

The upside is that you will be able to get the ebook and read and the story as soon as it’s reviewed and accepted on Smashwords and Amazon – at least the first installment. It reminds me a lot of some of the “Golden Age” sci-fi that I read when I was younger, with speculative space travel technology based on our current scientific understanding but extrapolated into the future. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did when I was writing it.

As soon as I have links where you can order the new ebook of The Pathless Void, I’ll post them here. Watch this space for updates!

As it turns out, I’ll have two new novels coming out this summer from Moonfire Publishing.

I already mentioned Ipswich, the long-awaited sequel to Arcana, in an earlier post, back when it was originally accepted for publication. It was tentatively scheduled for a spring release, but it’s looking like it will be summer now. We’ve been working on the editing and the manuscript is shaping up great. I’m very happy with it. I think you will be too.

If you liked Arcana you’ll love Ipswich. It’s a tighter, more accessible story that doesn’t skimp on the elements that made Arcana a unique novel. There’s magick, of course, along with necromancy, witchcraft, and spirits.

The second novel is a collaboration with Sheila Marshall, a paranormal vampire tale titled Written in Blood.

Written in Blood is set on the North Shore of Lake Superior, around Two Harbors and the evocatively named Castle Danger. In case you’re wondering, the latter is a real town. You can find it on a map and everything.

It tells the story of an ancient vampire with the power to write the fate of the Northland in his blood. He uses this power to write his ideal companion into existence, and summons her to Castle Danger. But she carries with her a secret that may lead to both their undoing.

Fans of vampire and paranormal fiction will love Written in Blood. It has mystery, romance, action, and of course plenty of bloodletting. Watch for it along with Ipswich this summer, and check out the Moonfire Publishing website for updates and announcements.

It’s been a while since I published my last fiction piece, but that’s not because I haven’t been writing any. Arcana, my first novel, was published by Pendraig back in late 2009. At the time, Pendraig was primarily an esoteric press, and my debut novel was their first fiction release. Arcana did what most indie novels do – it racked up some sales the first year it was released and then tapered off substantially.

Pendraig would go on to publish my Enochian series, but over the last couple of years the company made the decision to focus on esoteric titles rather than pursuing more fiction releases. As their esoteric titles are their best selling books, that probably is a good business decision for them. But it also meant that Ipswich, the second novel in my Guild series, was without a publisher. Fortunately, that has now changed. Ipswich was picked up by Moonfire Publishing, a new independent press here in Minnesota. The novel has been scheduled for a spring release if all goes according to plan.

Ipswich was shaped by some of the feedback I received from Arcana. The biggest problem with my debut novel is basically that people either loved or hated all of the technical magical exposition. All of that is in there by design, but treating urban fantasy more like hard science fiction was not what mainstream readers were used to, and resulted in a book that mostly appealed to folks already interested in esotercism. And the fact is, statistically speaking, there aren’t very many of those. So the idea behind Ipswich was to write a novel that was less heavy on the technical magick side and structured more like other urban fantasy titles that are currently popular.

I suppose time will tell how popular Ipswich turns out to be, but so far my trial readers have agreed that it is more readable, more fun, and less technical than Arcana. It tells the story of Sara Winchester, a young heiress and newly empowered magician. With the help of the Guild, she explores her newfound powers and the mystery of her mother’s untimely death. In her search for answers, she confronts a killer who can control the spirits of the dead and the machinations of a rival order seeking the Guild’s destruction. It also introduces some of the alternate history of the Guild universe, in which the direct Winchester family line never died out and the Winchester corporation became one of the world’s major multinationals.

I am currently in the process of working with an editor on the manuscript, but once it is released you’ll be the first to know. Watch this space for future announcements.

I have just received word that the deluxe edition of Liber Spirituum, the new anthology containing my essay “Evoking Zodiacal Angels,” is now available from Azoth Press. It is limited to 28 copies, so if you want one, get it while you can.

The deluxe edition is admittedly pricey, but the standard limited edition that I have in my possession is a beautiful book. I expect that the deluxe edition meets a similar standard of excellence, and it looks fantastic from the images that I have seen at the publisher’s web site.

Also, as a collector of such volumes, I can testify that they generally appreciate substantially in value after only a couple of years. So not only do you wind up with a lovely edition of an excellent book, it makes a solid investment as well.

The deluxe edition of Liber Spirituum can be ordered here, direct from the publisher. There are also more images at the link for you to check out.