I got back late last night from a wonderful weekend in Seattle as the guest of my publisher, Thomas & Mercer. There were more than sixty writers there and T&M really spared no expense in making us feel welcome. The highlight of the weekend for me was dinner in an atrium attached to the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum with the Space Needle right overhead. The combination of the great food, the gorgeous setting, and the wonderful company of writers and editors made for one of the most memorable meals of my life. Other highlights of the weekend include a harbor cruise and a wonderful Argentine steak house, where our little group ate in a wine cellar.
But really, the best thing about the weekend was the opportunity to meet so many of my fellow mystery and thriller writers, as well as the people who actually work on the Righteous Series at T&M. I met David Downing, my developmental editor, and Megan Jacobson, who was the first one to offer me a contract after having read my book. That was pretty special to me. In addition, I really liked several of the other T&M employees who I had the chance to get to know in real life for the first time, including Jacque, Danielle, and Terry. Really, everyone I met with the company was great.
So now I'm back to working on Righteous #7. I have a deadline in the near-ish future, and right now all I have is a (solid, thankfully) first draft. Time to buckle down and get to work.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The Devil's Cauldron
I'm pretty excited to finally get The Devil's Cauldron out there. I've known for a while that I would write this book, but a few other things had to come into place first. When I had a space opened this spring to write the third book in the Devil's Deep series I grabbed it. I'm really happy about how it turned out and hope my readers enjoy it as well.
I hope you'll take a look when you get a chance.
I hope you'll take a look when you get a chance.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Interview About the Righteous Series
Joanna Penn posted a video interview with me that you may find interesting. We mainly talked about The Righteous series, but also a little bit about my background, the writing process, and various subjects of interest to writers and readers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opL_id46-ek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opL_id46-ek
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Writing and Pub Update
I've had a few emails lately asking what's going on with the writing, the publication schedule, etc. Always nice to see that people care and are excited to see what comes next. Briefly:
1. The Devil's Cauldron is done and will be released on July 15. I'm really happy how this turned out. I flamed out on a project this spring (see below), and my confidence was a bit shaky going into this. I think the third book in the Devil's Deep series is as strong as anything before it.
2. The Bone Cage is dead (or at least on life support). This was my spring project, and I got about 200 pages into it when I realized that I'd gone off the rails somewhere. It was a modern telling of The Count of Monte Cristo with a female protagonist and seemed to be going fine. Then, crash. I don't know how to fix it, so I've put it aside for now.
3. The Wolves of Paris is seeking a home. This is a novel surrounding the true events of a pack of ravenous wolves that infiltrated the city walls of Paris in the frigid winter of 1450. It's some of the best writing I've ever done and my agent really wanted to try it with a few editors, who are considering it now. One way or another this will find its way into the hands of my readers, who will love it.
4. The Righteous #6, The Gates of Babylon, is finished and available for pre-order. The release date is February, but there's a chance that people on my mailing list will get a chance for some sneak peek reads, so sign up for the list if you haven't yet.
That's the part that's certain. Here is the speculative, near-term stuff.
5. I'm just starting Righteous #7, Hell's Fortress. I have a publisher deadline of October 1 to deliver the manuscript, so it's time to get cranking. Right now, the book amounts to a bunch of notes, but no actual story yet.
6. Because there's a bit of a wait between Destroying Angel and The Gates of Babylon, I'm thinking about taking this other story idea I have and releasing it separate from the main series sometime this fall. Call it Righteous 5.5. It's the aftermath of the Kimball doomsday cult and the stories of a few of its survivors.
7. After that, I would like to write a sequel to Wolf Hook, tentatively called The Empire of the Wolf. I also have thoughts of turning The Wolves of Paris into a trilogy, with the other two books called The Wolves of Florence, and The Wolves of Dalmatia. By spring I need to work on the final book of The Righteous series, called Final Sanctuary. I also have an idea for a fourth book in the Devil's Deep series, but since these books all stand alone, when and if this happens will not keep people hanging.
1. The Devil's Cauldron is done and will be released on July 15. I'm really happy how this turned out. I flamed out on a project this spring (see below), and my confidence was a bit shaky going into this. I think the third book in the Devil's Deep series is as strong as anything before it.
2. The Bone Cage is dead (or at least on life support). This was my spring project, and I got about 200 pages into it when I realized that I'd gone off the rails somewhere. It was a modern telling of The Count of Monte Cristo with a female protagonist and seemed to be going fine. Then, crash. I don't know how to fix it, so I've put it aside for now.
3. The Wolves of Paris is seeking a home. This is a novel surrounding the true events of a pack of ravenous wolves that infiltrated the city walls of Paris in the frigid winter of 1450. It's some of the best writing I've ever done and my agent really wanted to try it with a few editors, who are considering it now. One way or another this will find its way into the hands of my readers, who will love it.
4. The Righteous #6, The Gates of Babylon, is finished and available for pre-order. The release date is February, but there's a chance that people on my mailing list will get a chance for some sneak peek reads, so sign up for the list if you haven't yet.
That's the part that's certain. Here is the speculative, near-term stuff.
5. I'm just starting Righteous #7, Hell's Fortress. I have a publisher deadline of October 1 to deliver the manuscript, so it's time to get cranking. Right now, the book amounts to a bunch of notes, but no actual story yet.
6. Because there's a bit of a wait between Destroying Angel and The Gates of Babylon, I'm thinking about taking this other story idea I have and releasing it separate from the main series sometime this fall. Call it Righteous 5.5. It's the aftermath of the Kimball doomsday cult and the stories of a few of its survivors.
7. After that, I would like to write a sequel to Wolf Hook, tentatively called The Empire of the Wolf. I also have thoughts of turning The Wolves of Paris into a trilogy, with the other two books called The Wolves of Florence, and The Wolves of Dalmatia. By spring I need to work on the final book of The Righteous series, called Final Sanctuary. I also have an idea for a fourth book in the Devil's Deep series, but since these books all stand alone, when and if this happens will not keep people hanging.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Devil's Cauldron pt. 2
I received my final cover yesterday from the talented Damonza. It captures both the atmosphere of the book and the horror of locked-in syndrome. The book is still several weeks out from release, but I hope to post the blurb here shortly. I'm excited about how it's turning out.
The next project to tackle is The Righteous #7, Hell's Fortress. I've been brainstorming my plot and hope to start work in a few weeks.
We have just about finalized the cover for #6 (still waiting for the final decision by the publisher), but The Gates of Babylon has survived the gauntlet of copy edits and is available for pre-order.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The Devil's Cauldron
After the Righteous series, I get more requests for more books in The Devil's Deep universe than anything I have written. I've had the bones of an idea for a third book for several months now, but it hadn't quite come together and so I kept working on other projects while I let what Stephen King calls the Boys in the Basement continue to work around with the idea.
This past week the angle came to me. It involved a woman suffering from locked-in syndrome, Wes's sometimes-institutionalized brother Eric, and the concealment of a family crime. I sat down at the computer and typed a few thoughts and within about ten minutes the rest of the plot came together.
I've got to finish the current work in progress first, but it looks like all the elements are there for me to write Devil's Deep #3, which I'm going to call The Devil's Cauldron.
This past week the angle came to me. It involved a woman suffering from locked-in syndrome, Wes's sometimes-institutionalized brother Eric, and the concealment of a family crime. I sat down at the computer and typed a few thoughts and within about ten minutes the rest of the plot came together.
I've got to finish the current work in progress first, but it looks like all the elements are there for me to write Devil's Deep #3, which I'm going to call The Devil's Cauldron.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Wolf Hook - New Historical Thriller
My new historical thriller is out and I hope you'll consider taking a
look. See the blurb below. It's a full-length novel, but I'm running a
few ads to kick off the release and so it will be priced at 99¢ for the
first three days before it goes to its regular price.
Kindle Link: Wolf Hook
Jim Heydrich is the Canadian-born nephew of one of the most feared men in the Gestapo. When his family returns to Germany just before the war, Jim arrives in the Third Reich as a young, sensitive theater student, both protected by and encumbered by his famous relation. Resisting an invitation to join the Nazis, he instead finds himself a member of an English-language theater troupe working in Occupied Europe. Unbeknownst to Jim, the leaders of the theater troupe, Nigel Burnside and his sister Margaret, are not the English fascists they appear, but members of the British Secret Service, using the theater troupe to recruit spies from among the Anglophile German officers who come to their productions.
Disillusioned with both sides of the war, Jim is trying to defect to neutral Ireland when he stumbles into one of Nigel and Margaret’s most closely held secrets—a Hungarian physicist they are smuggling out of Europe. While trying to extricate himself from this unwelcome knowledge, he both manages to draw the attention of the Gestapo and to convince the British Secret Service that he is a Nazi spy, a threat to their plans who must be eliminated.
Kindle Link: Wolf Hook
Jim Heydrich is the Canadian-born nephew of one of the most feared men in the Gestapo. When his family returns to Germany just before the war, Jim arrives in the Third Reich as a young, sensitive theater student, both protected by and encumbered by his famous relation. Resisting an invitation to join the Nazis, he instead finds himself a member of an English-language theater troupe working in Occupied Europe. Unbeknownst to Jim, the leaders of the theater troupe, Nigel Burnside and his sister Margaret, are not the English fascists they appear, but members of the British Secret Service, using the theater troupe to recruit spies from among the Anglophile German officers who come to their productions.
Disillusioned with both sides of the war, Jim is trying to defect to neutral Ireland when he stumbles into one of Nigel and Margaret’s most closely held secrets—a Hungarian physicist they are smuggling out of Europe. While trying to extricate himself from this unwelcome knowledge, he both manages to draw the attention of the Gestapo and to convince the British Secret Service that he is a Nazi spy, a threat to their plans who must be eliminated.
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