August 2024

Meet Iggy…

When I was young some of my best moments were when I got to go to the library, or the used bookstore to pick out a stack of books, or even pick a few comics from the spinning wire rack at the grocery store. Once I knew that was the day’s outing would take me there was no containing my excitement. There were new stories in the offing for me to READ! New worlds to conquer.

Being of a certain age, I wasn’t told to settle down. I was told not to freak out.

I wanted a mascot that like me – is a Reader Freak – and who has the same excitement for every new story. Being somewhat grown up now, I can pick my own imaginary friend. Someone who enjoys all the dark places, from the haunted wood to the depths of space, and who wouldn’t want to hang out with a half-mad undead alien cyborg?

At any rate, you’ll be seeing more of Iggy. Disclaimer time – when you see the Reader Freak – It’s not you. It’s me.
Unless you want it to be. I’ll share. Iggy looks a bit scary – but he’s got a big heart.

It doesn’t feel like summer to me until we get the fountain flowing. This year we had an early appearance from the tiger lillies. I got some good exercise replacing the rotted wooden garden border with stone, and George the Greenman got a new home by the fountain.

The Devil Rides Out

I watch a lot of horror films. Recently I took some time to re-watch some classics. You just can’t beat Hammer horror when you want to scratch that nostalgic itch. I have a special place in my black little heart for The Devil Rides Out. Based on the 1934 book of the same name from horror master Dennis Wheatly, it was one of the first non-Lovecraftian horror novels I read. If you enjoy classic horror, this is a must see.

I was lucky to be invited to submit a story for the new Peacemaker anthology – Bureau 42! In this collection of cold-case files from a fantastic cast of authors I got to kick things off with a new story featuring the Ragin Cajjins! Join me in a little space haunt action in “The Ghosts of War”

It doesn’t happen often, but when a Peacemaker can’t solve a case, it goes to the Peacemaker Archives, as all Peacemaker cold cases reside within “Bureau 42,” as it’s also known. Cases dealing with ghost ships, missing Peacemakers, mysterious killers, and even a few cases that aren’t even really cases can all be found in the files of Bureau 42.

Fourteen authors present thirteen all-new stories from the depths of Bureau 42. Take a look into the forgotten files of the Peacemaker Guild and find never-before-seen secrets, some of which herald the future of the Peacemaker Guild and even the Galactic Union itself.

These stories honor the threat, set the terms, and walk the knife edge between standing or falling. Step inside, Candidate, and see what our files hold…

Worried about the relentless advance of AI? Skynet got you down? Call Reynard Dupree!
I released ContAInment as a stand alone short story at the end of March. It’s also the first short I released a paperback version of.

Reynard Dupree is a hunter, but not a hunter of men.

He searches the peaks and valleys of signal, the oceans and rivers and streams of data.
The world behind the world.
His bounties are AIs that have gone rogue or missing. Unfortunately, sometimes the worst part of his job is having to deal with the humans who hired him…

ContAInment is a short story of 10,000 words in the StarPunk Universe.