Upcoming e-book releases...

This is a list of my upcoming e-book and serialized fiction releases, along with brief descriptions for each story. So it is a bit of a long post.

The list begins after the cut.

This month I’ve mentioned the release of Little Monsters, book one of the Collins family trilogy. But what I haven’t said is that the trilogy is already written. As soon as I release Little Monsters, I have to start editing the sequels, In the Grasp of the Devil and Shattered Prophesies. Both fall into the same genre of tragic fantasy, so consider yourselves warned: this won’t end well for the Collins family.

I’d love to tell you what the other two books are about, but if I did, the first book really won’t make sense. Because of the slower pace and longer chapter format, the trilogy will be released directly to e-books.

Once I’ve got the Collins family trilogy out, I’ll be releasing another tragedy that will seem to have a similar theme to Little Monsters at the beginning. The Books of Daniel is a lark for me, since there are no fantasy elements. It’s a coming of age tale about Daniel Rafferty, an ex-con who begins a complex relationship with the children of another pair of ex-cons. While he acts as an uncle to brothers Patrick and Matt Campbell, he tries to maintain a discreet distance from their older sister Miranda. Despite his attempts to hide from her, Miranda learns more about Daniel, and she begins moving closer. Hoping to draw him out of his shell, she secretly takes one of his stories. Making edits, she sends it in as an entry in a short story competition. Her interest is platonic at first, but Miranda begins to press for a more intimate relationship. Daniel is determined not to go back to prison for any reason, and with his boss, coworkers,  Miranda’s parents and a stalking ex-girlfriend all watching his every move, breaking out of his shell feels like the worst mistake he’s ever made.

This probably won’t work for the dark fantasy fans. So this is why it will go direct to an e-book release instead of being run as a serialized story.

On a side note, I don’t foresee myself taking on a pen name to differentiate my styles of writing. I’ll label the books in whatever genre I think fits best, whether that genre exists yet or not. (narf!) It’s up to readers to decide if they want to play along with my experiments or just stick to one style.

So these are the direct e-book releases, but what am I going to do for serialized fiction once Zombie Punter is done? I’m glad you asked! (Lord, I hope you ask. -.-*)

In Blind Rage, I’ll cover Jobe and Gavin’s efforts to track down both a werebear and a wounded hunter who’s sworn revenge against the roving werekin cursed orc. In roughly 75% of the book, the personality in charge of Jobe’s body is actually his berserker, who has only been glimpsed for a few seconds at a time in Touched and Redemption Lost. Now the berserker is out, but he’s being forced to resist his natural instincts to kill by an order from his new boss, FBI supervisor Gary Wagner. If the berserker can’t control himself, Wagner has promised him a quick trip to an electric chair. Despite these threats, the beserker’s body is swelling every time he gets near the werekin, and so long as he’s enraged, not even medication can bring Jobe back. Major changes are also in store for returning characters Gavin and computer guru Rachel Lin. Add to this Erick the black elf, another berserker, a Boerne Sheriff’s Deputy with the werekin curse and a blood drinker unlike any other you’ve seen in the series thus far. O.o* Oh yeah, you’re going to like this one.

After Blind Rage concludes, I will take a vacation.

Once I get back, I’ll do a short story frenzy, starting with a somewhat humorous account of Amber McKenzie trying to make a new friend. A Phone Man Visits the Vampires will chronicle one man’s hellish nightmare whilst trying to install a new ISDN line in the house of coven leader Emil. But even being polite, the vampires and Amber are starting to freak out Mortimer Gorski. Morty’s tale will be in several parts, though I’m not sure how many right now.

Whenever Morty’s story ends, I’ll release Served Cold, the tale of a young boy seeking revenge against a bully. Even after a year of reading through my newer stories, hubby still thinks that Served Cold had the most disturbing ending I’ve ever written. We’ll see if you agree. I think it will take two parts to tell, maybe three.

I’ll cap off this series with Haunting Sins, a ghost story that takes place in the unique setting of an adult web hosting office. The ghost in question is just getting angry enough to become a full blown poltergeist, and webmaster David Sands has very little time to figure out the dead teen’s identity before she goes on a murderous rampage. But if David’s dreams are clues passed to him from the ghost, then the man who killed her may still be working for the company.

So, hopefully by then, I’ll have back reports from my first beta readers on Changeling: An Urban Musical Crime Fantasy. If not, then I’ll have to take another vacation and then toss something else out in the interim. But if I can get the revisions made in time, Changeling will be the opening in yet another series, in this case following the further mishaps of shapeshifter Jenny/Marcus Wrigley. If you think Amber took a turn for the worse by agreeing to have a vampire baby, just wait until you see what kind of trouble Jenny gets into when she becomes part of another shapeshifter’s complicated cloning scams. There will be magic, sex, miscast spells, oral sex and musical numbers. Did I say musical numbers? Because I meant a musical gunfight. And no, this isn’t a comedy. It’s the first serious tale about the modern day bards of my world, and while Jenny does have some classically blonde moments, most of the story is very serious…did I mention that there’s a soul sucking office building (+2)? Yes, this is dead, fucking, serious. |=^\

Ahem.

This busy schedule will leave only one other book in the queue, and it’s also the only title slated for a print run with Lightning Source. Because of that, I cannot give an exact date on when Wendy Stoffel’s next book, A Perfectly Empty Vessel, will be ready. I can say that Wendy will be having an unpleasant reunion with a former occupant of the same mental hospital where police held her in Scottsdale Arizona. Still wounded from her final battle with Eric Richter, Wendy is also trying to recover from the death of her brother when she stumbles across the gruesome handiwork of Phillip Cassidy, AKA: 33. Phillip isn’t just another insane killer. He’s got a deadly secret that even the devil himself would like to find out, and he’s got an old flame burning for Wendy. I make no false claims when I say that Wendy has met her equal in this book, and Phillip takes her and all of her allies to their very limits. Wendy’s “team” now includes FBI agent Stephanie Callaghan, former homicide detective Davis Briggs, halfling Cora Collins, Emilio Montoya, a private investigator who was fired from the FBI for having visions of a daemonic invasion, and his son Rafael, a young necromancer who is partnered with a spectral guide nicknamed Grim. With the local police backing her team, the odds should be in Wendy’s favor. But several daemons have also taken an interest in 33, and Wendy soon finds herself standing alone on the front lines of a battle with the daemonic forces of Heil.

The book is written and in a third draft stage. But I still need to pay my editor to go over it, and I need to commission a cover for it. If I can find a few more side jobs to pay for editing and artwork, I’m hopeful to release the start of the Sin City trilogy within 2009. *crosses fingers*

So, there you go, the publishing schedule for the next few months. That’s 4 e-novels and 4, possibly 5 serial stories to keep you reading free stuff for several months. And if at any point you realize, “Hey, this shit isn’t bad at all,” I’d certainly appreciate links, reviews, or kind e-mails. Corrections and criticisms are also gratefully accepted. Flames will make me cry, but if you must, fire away!

The point is, If you want to help support me, you don’t have to send cash. Just send more readers, please. ^_^ And if you made it all the way down to this, thanks for reading!