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Fall is here, that means a number of things in Colorado. The aspens are turning. With cooler evenings the fire pit is open, and soon the local corn maze will be running, Haunted Houses and Halloween – My favorite holiday, are just around the corner. It also means that a ton of hard work is about to burst through into the light of day:

First up! Hollow Threats – A story in “And Then It Got Weird” an Anthology Edited by Jamie Ibson and Chris Kennedy coming October 22nd.

700 years in the future, almost everyone lives a life of enhanced virtual reality, but when Cthulhu cultists are up to no good, it’s up to Private Detective Irving Tolliver to journey into the Hollow Earth and stop them!

Next! Whatever Happened to Charlie Biggs? will be in “It Takes More Kinds” The second Anthology in the Salvage Universe of Kevin Steverson Edited by Kevin Steverson and Chris Kennedy Coming November 1st.

It’s another boring day for Charlie, a career security guard working the space docks on the Benth Orbital ring. When a routine check into a noisy alien tourist group coincides with an attack on the station, It’s up to Charlie to sort things out.

This story gives a preview of events happening in my upcoming novel also in the Salvage Universe, but you won’t have to wait long!

Last but not least – “A Nest of Stars!” will be released November 5th!

Rath Peterson and the Seven Deadly Sins Mercenary company are ready to call it quits, and after a last successful mission, they return home for some well-earned R&R.
As they settle their affairs and prepare to say their goodbyes, they are offered one last run from a species not often seen in the Benthi Federation, a simple job that will add enough to the balance sheets that none of them ever need to stand in harm’s way again.

The Votha have rediscovered technology that will allow them to defend their home system, and all 7DS needs to do is evacuate a research team from an isolated outpost back to their home world, but within hours of accepting the contract 7DS is attacked, and in the aftermath they discover that nothing is the way it seems. Word of the Votha find has leaked, and others will stop at nothing to take it for themselves.

At the same time, powerful interests at home have thrown the Benthi Federation into chaos, leaving the team with nowhere to run – but the 7DS have never been ones to run from a fight, and the answer to the fate of four systems may be sitting in the Merry Dreamer’s cargo bay.

I’ll have two more story announcements for you in October! Thanks for looking in, and as always,

Keep Reading!

Matt

This summer has gone by in a flash. How is it August already? It seems only yesterday it was May and I was at FantaSci for my first convention as an Author. I had a great time, and seeing my work in the wild, meeting a bunch of other Authors I had only met online until then, as well as meeting some great 4HU fans and talking with them about “Prodigal Son” were absolute treats!

Since I got back I’ve been working on a number of stories and there’s a bunch of good things happening, the first of which was the cover reveal for the first of back-to-back anthologies in Kevin Steverson’s Salvage Title universe.

The first is “It Takes All Kinds” My story “Whatever Happened to Charlie Biggs?” will appear in the second anthology “It Takes More Kinds” and will give you a sneak peek into the events happening in “A Nest of Stars” If you haven’t read the Salvage Title series yet, now would be a great time to dive in!

“Hollow Threats” has also been accepted and will be coming soon to an anthology near you.

I have three other shorts in the pipeline, and three novels in planning and plotting stages that I’ll announce as soon as there is something solid I can share.

After a bit of a break, I’m back in front of the keyboard and working on the next round of stories..

If you are looking for more frequent updates, please check my Author page at: https://www.facebook.com/MattNovotnyW…

Until next time, thanks for being a part of my Writer’s journey.

Keep Reading!

Welcome to the next installment of the MattLand times. This month is all about work. work completed and work yet to come.

Last night I typed “The End” on HOLLOW THREATS a short for an anthology with release date TBA. Like Sci-Fi, Detective Stories, and H.P.L? This story will scratch that itch.

Work in progress (working Titles):

I’m currently about 40K words into A NEST OF STARS. A novel for Kevin Steverson’s SALVAGE universe.

VERUM EST IN SANGUINEM 1k into another short, this one will be a Supernatural Thriller/Urban fantasy also for an anthology TBA.

I have one more short currently in queue, there’s nothing firm on that yet, but more on the way.

Word count is averaging between 800-1K a day 6 days a week. Day 7 is catch-up or movie night.

I’ll be attending FantaSCI 2021 in NC may 21-23. Come meet me and a whole slew of Authors. Books Galore! For more information, check here: https://fantasci.rocks

Keep Reading!

Matt

It’s been just over a month since the release of Prodigal Son and it currently has 52 ratings and 4.8 out of five stars on Amazon.

A big thank you to anyone who has read the book and especially to anyone who took the time to leave us a review!

Spring in Colorado always comes with the urge to be out and about, something that doesn’t mesh well with the wrap up of the pandemic, or with the need to have my butt-in-the-chair writing, but it’s good to see the light past 5pm again. With any luck the world will be a more normal place all around by the end of summer and I’m hoping to have at least a couple backpacking trips this year. As John Muir said “The Mountains are calling and I must go.”

When I’m not working or writing, I feed our neighborhoods pack of wild peanut devouring squirrels, and as soon as we are past the major freeze warnings will set up our fountain – that means the return of the ravens and most likely a coopers hawk or two.

On the writing front I have four projects currently on deck. One novel and three short stories. Right now I can tell you that the novel takes place in another SciFi shared universe and I’ll be able to tell you more in June or July, and that one of the shorts is on the same timeline.

For the other two, one will be turned in in May and the other is for a 2022 project, but I hope to have the story completed by August as I already have a sequel and possibly a novel in mind for that universe. There is also another the possibility of another book starting this fall, but at this point its too early to say. There has been a lot happening since the start of 2021 and I’m grateful for the wealth of opportunity.

Moving on from SciFi, I’ve started sharing some of the Dark and Stormy bits I’ve collected over the years on my author page at https://www.facebook.com/MattNovotnyW…

I’ve started a newsletter that will contain a copy of this blog and eventually some other material if you would prefer to have news delivered direct to your email.

That’s the news for now.

Matt

The last two weeks have been really busy. The PRODIGAL SON book launch happened on Feb 12 and both Mark and I are thrilled with the response it has received so far. Thank you to everyone who has supported PRODIGAL SON and especially the readers that have provided reviews. It means the world to us. There are some special thank-yous I want to get out there.

Chris Kennedy at CKP (Chris Kennedy Publishing) for everything he does to bring new writers into the fold.

Mark Wandrey for creating the Four Horsemen Universe with Chris.Kevin Ikenberry for creating the Peacemakers and Inviting me to play in his sandbox.

Mia Kleve for her endless patience and fantastic editing.

My Co-Author Mark Stallings for all the long evenings where we plotted confusion to our Characters.

The Authors and Fans of the 4HU for being a fantastic community to be a part of. You all ROCK!If not for all of you PRODIGAL SON would not have been written.

I’ve been busy continuing to set up all the things Authors are supposed to do besides writing. You can now reach me through my Author page at:
https://www.facebook.com/MattNovotnyW…

Sign up for my Newsletter at:
https://sendfox.com/mattnovotnywrites

Soon I’ll be working on a website. In the meantime, I can also be reached via email at:
Matt@mattnovotnywrites.com

In addition to the social media work, I have several new writing projects lined up and announcements for those will be coming soon.

That everything for now. Be seeing you soon!

Matt

I had a great surprise tonight! The cover for my upcoming novel in the Four Horsemen Universe “PRODIGAL SON” has been released. This is the next story in the Rise of the Peacemakers series. Written with my co-author Mark Stallings, this book continues the story of Peacemaker Jackson Rains and some of the characters from my short story “Gumbo” that appeared in the “SET THE TERMS” anthology. It’s a real milestone for me to see my name on the cover and realize that this is going to happen. We wrote a book! I feel grateful for the advice and support from all of the great writers I’m privileged to know. I learn from them every day. Prodigal Son will release February 12.

When Peacemaker Jackson Rains must weigh the survival of his family against the future of the Peacemaker Guild – How can he decide?

I’m happy to announce the manuscript for PRODIGAL SON is through final edits and safely in the hands of the publisher. Currently set to release on February 12.
PRODIGAL SON will follow up on Jackson Rains after Kevin Ikenberry’s FIELDS OF FIRE – You will spend time with old friends and new.

If you prefer audio books – the Audible for SET THE TERMS was released on Dec 22, 2020. Grab yourself a cup of GUMBO and settle in for over 13 hours of great peacemaker stories.

I’m excited to see my first novel in print. I learned a tremendous amount in my collaboration with Mark and in working with Kevin Ikenberry and Editor Mia Kleve on this tale in the Four Horsemen Universe (4HU) – now it’s time to apply all those lessons learned and sharpen up those tools for the next project.

I hope you and yours have a fantastic Holiday Season!

The Draft for the new 4HU novel is nearly complete. We have already started the work of polishing and smoothing out our transition scenes. Then the work is off to the publisher for approval and the work of editing begins.

Mark and I have both had bits and brainstorming that has resulted in “There’s no room to explain that in this novel, looks like I’m going to have to write that someday so I can find out what happens.” And of course, any time you aren’t working strictly out of your own head, there are differences in style to account for, schedules to balance, bumps to smooth and dragons to slay.

For anyone waiting on to see what’s next for Peacemaker Jackson Rains, Amos and the Cajuns, old friends from the run on Avbo, and a bunch of new family, well, it’s almost time to belly up to the bar and grab an Abita.

Them dice, they be rollin!