It’s one of my favorite days of the year and in celebration I’m having a one day only sale. Click the covers to go to Smashwords and enter the coupon codes!
Coupon Code GB84K makes The Grim Reader free!!
Coupon Code LC25S makes Through a Glass, Darkly $.99!!
Here are parts of the readings that I did at Barnhill’s. The bookstore was kind enough to put them on Youtube. Have a look and if you’re in the area, drop by. They carry a lot of local authors and some mighty fine wines.
Enjoy!
Ed and I have been talking and here’s a soft game plan. We want to work on M&M in the background for the next six weeks or so, releasing little nibbles like this. Then come December we’ll be gearing up our Kickstarter. I envision a softcover book (maybe a few hardcovers for special supporters) being the end result as well as an e-book version and maybe an app. If you’re a developer who’d be interested in joining us in the chase drop me a line.
As we get closer the the Kickstarter we’d love you to help us spread the word, but don’t wait til then. Share these posts with friends. And if you’d like to have one or both of us on your blog or podcast to talk about our entrance into the world of children’s books then I think that can be arranged!
Here’s Ed’s first take on the Mummy. We’ve talked about giving him a sword. The ankh might be a melee weapon or a spell focus. He’ll be the mummy of a priest and will be a fairly intelligent baddie. What do you think?
Mom and Dad are busy a lot, so mostly it’s just me, Molly, and Cyril. We go all kinds of places and see things other kids never believe. Cyril taught me real sword fighting, but he says I can’t have a real sword until I’m thirteen. That’s a long way away, but I can make do with Glamdring until then. I’m not scared of much. I can’t swim too good, but I’m learning. I don’t like school much, but we’re takin’ a year off for travellin’ and Cyril will be our tutor too. I don’t think I’ll get bored.
I’ve decided, in the tradition of this great on-going electronic publishing experiment, to drop the price on the e-pub version of Ginnie Dare. Use the link below you’ll get it in e-pub and mobi/Kindle formats for $4.99 $2.49.
If you prefer to get it another way it’s available on Smashwords for $2.99 and will be available on Amazon for the same price later in the week. I don’t have an end date in mind on this, but I’ll make an announcement before the price change. Why wait though?
My brother’s a little spastic, but I love him. He thinks he’s King Arthur, and it’s kinda cute. The main thing that gets on my nerves is he jumps first and thinks later.
I like working on anything with wires or gears and my favorite thing to do is make something work differently than it’s s’posed to do. Like I made a clock that told you what time it wasn’t. Anyone can fix a clock, but can you make a clock that flashes a new random time every second?
I wanted to write a children’s book with some scary elements, but unleashing Monte and Molly into a world filled with mummies, vampires, mad scientists, and the like without any safety net seemed like it would be too dark. As a result we’ll be giving them a “nanny”. This is no Mary Poppins though.
Cyril – Equal parts bodyguard and nanny, Cyril has been charged by the Zealander’s to take care of Monte and Molly. He can never quite seem to keep up with the “tykes”, though he’s never more than a few steps behind them. Not much is known of his past. While he’s quite large, well over six feet, most of his height is in his torso (about 2/3s from the waist up). He is broad shouldered and barrel chested, leading the kids to joke that he might be a robot being run by a much smaller man on the inside.
He is a natty dresser, given to wearing the same dark suit and sunglasses. His white hair is brushed back, never a lock out of place. As big and slow moving as he appears to be, his hands are fast and can palm a bowling ball. He will occasionally entertain the tykes with a bit of close up magic, making coins, scarves, and small toys appear and disappear at will. He does not go around armed, typically able to disarm any opponent with charm and failing that intimidation. On the odd occasion he’s had to resort to violence in front of Monte and Molly he always apologizes.
Here’s what I have for step four of the snowflake. It’s based on what I wrote here. I probably won’t be using what I wrote there, since some things have changed, but it gave me a feel for where I wanted to go.
A small portion of humanity, called “Schrecks”, are able to ingest human blood and gain strength, health, and nearly superhuman abilities. Samantha Chambers, a Schreck police detective, is one of the few she knows of that hates her “gift”. Still, it’s let her pursue the police career that she’s always dreamed of. Her first six months on the job are pretty mundane until she and her partner, Bill Jordan, are called in on a case that involves a Schreck attacker. When they arrive at the scene she’s shocked to find out that the woman looks just like her, practically her twin.
After some digging, they find out that this isn’t the first incident. This victim, a fashion designer, was the third in a string of murders. All of the women had the same build and general description as Sam. A homeless woman in San Francisco and a doctor in Oklahoma City. They were all killed by a Schreck or at least someone pretending to be one. The most recent victim has actual evidence that the attacker is one of them. He made the mistake of leaving some DNA behind.
The killer is identified as one Seth Marks. He’s a registered Schreck and is suspected of hunting people for food, though there’s no proof. Given his lifestyle it’s possible that he was responsible for the other deaths. When Sam and Bill arrive at his apartment they find it a complete wreck with blood everywhere. The partners go their own ways attempting to track him down. She follows a lead to another residence he keeps. There she’s attacked by someone much more powerful than her. Seth comes to her rescue and together the two are barely able to fend him off.
Seth reveals that he’s been able to find out some things about the victims. They’re Shrecks too and based on the evidence he’s seen they share DNA. The victims are all related. Convinced by the attack that’s Seth’s innocent and intrigued by the evidence that the victims might be related she goes to her partner. He tells her that she’s digging in some dangerous territory and that they should just bring Seth in and let the system deal with him. Unsatisfied with that answer she takes it to the chief. He assures her that it will be looked into. Shortly thereafter she’s attacked by some normals with some VERY hi tech gear.
Seth and someone who appears to be their attacker come to her rescue and they are able to escape. Once safe, she and Seth confront this person. This mysterious person reveals yet another layer of mystery. The three people killed so far are indeed all related. They are part of a set of sextuplets. Sam and one other woman are the only ones left, the sixth having died in childbirth according to the official records. They are part of an experiment to take the Shreck gene and refine it, creating a more powerful version on purpose. The fifth child is located in Canada and the stranger believes her to be safe at the moment. She reveals herself to be the sixth child, Andrea. The person killing them all is an unknown force. Seth and the Andrea convince Sam that it’s best if she disappears for a while. The government is after her and so is this stranger. Sam agrees to go underground with Andrea to root out the killer and evade the government.
They decide to head north and make sure that their last living sister is alright. They arrive at the safe house only to find that they’re too late. The three of them do face off with the killer though. A person claiming to be a “real” vampire found out about the government experiments. Its primary purpose was to create a force capable of rooting out and destroying his kind. Secondarily, the force would be a practically unstoppable weapon. The government was about to take all five of the known living sisters and begin stage two. The real vampire couldn’t let that happen. Together the three Shrecks are able to defeat the vampire, but they realize that if he’s right the government will still be after Andrea and Sam as will the vampire’s kin.
End of book one.
Thoughts?
Here’s where the votes stand so far.
I’ll leave this open until week’s end.
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