Even if you’re a fiction fan, it can be fun to throw some non-fiction into your reading pile. And, it can enhance your enjoyment of fiction!
Category Archives: About Me
I am serializing a couple of novel projects at Patreon: Xenes, a science fiction adventure novel, and Goodly Creatures, a gunpowder, age of sail fantasy about colonial ambition, with a large cast of characters. Humans from several civilizations to the west of the Apsamian Ocean have settled on the coasts of the vast and unexplored continent to the east, home to non-human races: the primordial giants and Peyri, and their mongrel creations, hybrid peoples who dwell in the wilderness of the eastern continent.
A newly elevated lord, Julius Blake, seeks to enhance his station by securing his governor’s trade routes through a wilderness plagued by mongrel monsters. He is confronted by a bear-man, Grigarius, raised from a cub among humans by the governor of Johannia colony.
The rogue Raf Arland, condemned to indenture for his crimes in the Old World, navigates colonial society to find a way to better his low station. He is joined by an unlikely ally, a seasoned sailor named Jefford Schank who is abandoned in the colonies by a brutal captain.
Lady Snow Bernes struggles to protect the ambitions of her father, the governor of the Royal Colony of Johannia, with the help of manservant Raymond Gamba. She is torn between her loyalty to her father, her admiration for Lord Blake, and her inexplicable attraction to Raf Arland. And, she has a magical secret that could determine the course of her schemes.
If you’re a patron, you can continue on to chapter five, ″Angel Shore.” Chapter one, “Kings Cove,” is available for free. If you like the story, consider becoming a patron so I can continue writing full-time.
I am serializing several novel projects at Patreon, starting with a few free chapters to let readers and potential patrons know what I’m about. My latest offering, patrons only, is from Xenes, a science fiction adventure set centuries after the humans’ first attempt to colonize nearby space had failed. In the aftermath, humans and their genetically engineered “types” have broken into multiple antagonistic factions that have been kept in an uneasy peace by androgyne somatypes.
But now, recluse Sandalfon Kaffel, androgyne diplomatic officer Vani Matoyan, and the mysterious girl Meyna Jeyen find themselves in an unexpected battle that destroys Sandalfon’s new home planet and corners them between the politically zealous Threaders, strictly religious Bahrí, and philosophical Smoke Hatters.
Xenes was originally serialized at Fresh Pulp scifi magazine, but now has new content as I firm it up for publication as a novel.
This offering is for patrons. If you’re a patron, you can continue to “Meyna Jeyen.” Chapter one, “Break From Juggler,” is available for free! If you like the story, consider becoming a patron so I can continue writing full-time.
I am serializing several novel projects at Patreon, starting with a few free chapters to let readers and potential patrons know what I’m about. My latest offering, patrons only, is from Xenes, a science fiction adventure set centuries after the humans’ first attempt to colonize nearby space had failed. In the aftermath, humans and their genetically engineered “types” have broken into multiple antagonistic factions that have been kept in an uneasy peace by androgyne somatypes.
But now, recluse Sandalfon Kaffel, androgyne diplomatic officer Vani Matoyan, and the mysterious girl Meyna Jeyen find themselves in an unexpected battle that destroys Sandalfon’s new home planet and corners them between the politically zealous Threaders, strictly religious Bahrí, and philosophical Smoke Hatters.
Xenes was originally serialized at Fresh Pulp scifi magazine, but now has new content as I firm it up for publication as a novel.
This offering is for patrons. If you’d like to support my Patreon page, check out “Pax Androgyna,” available now!
I am serializing several novel projects at Patreon, starting with a few free chapters to let readers and potential patrons know what I’m about. My second free offering is from Xenes, a science fiction adventure set centuries after the humans’ first attempt to colonize nearby space had failed. In the aftermath, humans and their genetically engineered “types” have broken into multiple antagonistic factions that have been kept in an uneasy peace by androgynes somatypes.
But now, recluse Sandalfon Kaffel, androgyne diplomatic officer Vani Matoyan, and the mysterious girl Meyna Jeyen find themselves in an unexpected battle that destroys Sandalfon’s new home planet and corners them between the politically zealous Threaders, strictly religious Bahrí, and philosophical Smoke Hatters.
Xenes was originally serialized at Fresh Pulp scifi magazine, but now has new content as I firm it up for publication as a novel.
Take a glance at chapter one, ″Break From Juggler.” And, if you like the story, consider becoming a patron so I can continue writing full-time.
It’s Springtime and that means cleaning. Adding bits and pieces to the “Readers Choice” page, by means of The Ends of the World, I realize that I’m no longer really treating as a readers’ choice page. I write what I want and the page has several openers for stories that just never hit it off with readers or me.
So, this weekend I’m going to rearrange the three stories that will remain under the Writing tab (All the Seas and Rivers, High & Hard, The Ends of the World) and nix the following seven:
On 1 May 2016, the world learned that Jon Snow from Game of Thrones was still alive.
On 1 May 1746, exactly 270 years earlier, the John Snow (a “snow” is a type of sailing vessel) was captured by the French off Newfoundland, plundered, and scuttled two days later. It’s part of my Synoptic Journals living history project.
The other day, I was discussing the concept of synchronicity with my co-workers. As first described by Carl Jung, a synchronicity is a coincidence that has no causal relationship but nevertheless seems to have meaning. Doesn’t really matter how you want to explain it: God, dharma, fairies, or whatever.
And, honestly, for this little post o’ mine, it doesn’t even matter if you believe in synchronicities at all. Let’s just talk.
The reason I was having this discussion is that I’ve been experiencing a lot of (alleged) synchronicities lately. I had a particularly surprising one yesterday, after the co-worker discussion and a coffee shop follow-up with fellow writer and misanthrope John Austin.
[Update: This project was discontinued]
During King George’s War (1744-1748), a remarkable literary coincidence happened. Four British captives held together in French Canada kept journals of their captivity that were later published. Three of the journals—those of schooner captain William Pote, the Reverend John Norton, and a man named Nehemiah How—are available free online. The fourth, by a writer who never names himself, I stumbled upon in a used book store in Old Town Alexandria.
Reading the journals in parallel was fascinating, particularly as the writers have individual quirks and vividly distinct personalities that show in their different takes on the same events. For example, Pote is grumpy and sarcastic while How is a pious positive thinker. It’s fun to look into the minds of these real people from hundreds of years ago.
So, as a sort of “living history” project, I decided to publish all four journal entries side-by-side in real time, 270 years after the events they chronicle. There are nearly a year of entries up now, and so far three of the captives (Pote, How, and the Unknown) have started writing. Norton’s journal will start in August.
If you’re a fan of early modern history or colonial North America, or you just like a good tale, start at the beginning with the capture of Captain Pote. Or, check out these neat tidbits:
- Getting beaten by scalps taken from other British prisoners.
- Being nicknamed “toy” as a form of humiliation.
- Christmas bringing out differences in personalities.