StoryHack!

Looking for some fast action at the lowest price possible? Bryce Beattie has a deal for you.  It isn't clear how long this deal will stick around, but for now you can get the first issue of StoryHack for free.  My own contribution features Karl Barber, modern day adventurer, stalking the bottom layers of a vast child-trafficking ring.

 

With stories by Alexandru Constantin, Jay Barnson, David Boop, Steve Dubois, Julie Frost, Karl West, David J. West, and yours truly, you can't go wrong.  This one features a little true-world fiction, a little fantasy, a little modern day magic, and a little science fiction.   Download it today, and get ready for the crowdfunding campaign to make this magazine a part of your regular reading rotation.

Another Round

A Teaser for my next release

Things are really starting to cook here at Chateau Seagull.  The first draft of my next novel is complete.  It's going to simmer for a while before the second pass through, but it should be available before the end of the month - mid May at the latest.

In addition to that big announcement, I've also written two more Karl Barber short stories.  Those have been submitted to editors for consideration to be included in collections of one sort or another.

I've upped my game for the Hugo Nominated Castalia House Blog (run by Hugo Nominee Jeffro Johnson) to posted a short review every week.

As if that wasn't enough, the audio files for the audiobook presentation of Forbidden Thoughts, by Superversive press are in the can.  They need to go through editing and polish, but you can expect that to hit the market in the next month or so as well.

Which leaves me with a little free time at just the right time.  The Puppy of the Month Book Club is reading and discussing Souldancer this month and at 500+ pages, it's one of the longest we've ever read.  It's such a great book, I have a hard time stopping to write, as I'd rather just keep reading it.

It's a good time to be a fan of sci-fi.

Street Fight: The Karl Barber Collection

Karl Barber is a modern day action hero fighting the good fight to make the world a better place, one job at a time.  From stopping rapacious transnational lumber corporations in the jungles of Cambodia to fighting violent human traffickers in the southwest American deserts, Karl sets out to do the right thing and won't let up until the job is done.  These aren't stories of complex human relationships or deep philosophical navel gazing with a few paragraphs of action thrown in to check off the 'thriller' box - these are stories of pure adrenaline fuelled action, not suitable for the Ladies Auxiliary Book Club. 

Now Karl Barber returns for a fourth thrilling installment, in "Street Fight".  For the first time ever, Karl's fight against the evils of the world occurs on his native American soil.  On his way from a downtown hotel, he leaps into action when a mob of violent thugs attempts to disrupt a peaceful political rally, and winds up in the fight, and flight, of his life.  "Street Fight", is only available inside this collection of his first four adventures.

Coming Soon: It Takes A Man to Raze a Village

Karl Barber returns to action as a one-man army.  Sometimes a good man who doesn't care what the world thinks can do more good than a standing army hampered by international politics.  In this story, Karl wastes no time in tracking down a village full of girls taken by religious fanatics eager to prove that their god is greater.  If proving that means the fanatics come away with plenty of child brides sex slaves, so much the better for them.

Until Karl shows up, that is.

Once again, this adventure novelette clocks in at roughly 10,000 words and costs less than a buck.  That's less than 100 words per penny - what a bargain!

This story has been languishing for a week while your humble blogger has been fulfilling family obligations in what purports to be a vacation.  With no access to a real computer, there's been a dearth of work and posts here - with the fun of the twin political conventions, it's been a bad week to be out of contact - but starting this weekend, things will start to pick up again.

Coming Soon: More Karl Barber

Thank you everyone who purchased my first independently published short story, Hot Sun, Cold Fury.  The second title in the series is available...now.

Pennies on a Scale follows Karl Barber on a planned expedition to a remote corner of Cambodia where he finds himself outnumbered, outgunned, and almost out of time.

This time Karl has more time to prepare, more time for romance, and more time to get himself into trouble.  The world may be too big for one man to save, but Karl knows that small actions can have big consequences, and so he sets out through the remote jungles of Cambodia to tip the scales back towards the side of the good guys.

It's been available for pre-order for a while, but now you can purchase it here today, and look for the third title in the series, Bring Back Our Girls, coming in the next week or two.