Month: March 2022

Antagonists are tricky. Traditionally, they’re the Bad Guys who stand in the way of our protagonists. The most basic antagonist is the clear cut villain. These sorts of antagonists work because they’re easy to root against. They might not even have much of a personality at all. Xenomorphs just want to kill and impregnate without discrimination. Many thugs in adventure stories are interchangeable. We don’t know much, if anything, about them. We just know they’re trying to stop the protagonists.

Some stories deliberately make this clear. The alien invaders in Independence Day are a race of ruthless conquerors who move from planet to planet, destroying the native life, consuming all the resources before moving on. There is nothing redeemable or sympathetic about them. Heck, they even look weird and don’t make any effort to communicate in any relatable fashion. And that’s fine.… Read the rest “Doctor Death Does a Villainy”

Here’s a little something. One of the ideas I’ve been toying with is a novel involving a classic pulp fiction team-up. This is the introduction of Nick Errant, inspired by detectives and weird menace fiction. I don’t know if it’ll go anywhere else, but thought I’d share this bit. Enjoy.

Prospero punched Nick Errant in the gut. A lot of your less respectable hired muscle might smack you in the face to make a stronger impression, but the risk was that you might break a jaw. Guys with broken jaws couldn’t talk.

Prospero worked him over for a bit until Nick couldn’t breath. Then the two guys holding him dropped Nick in a folding chair.

He gasped. Something might be broken. He couldn’t always tell.

Prospero offered Nick a cigarette, but he waved it off.

“Never picked up the habit.” He nodded to a bottle of scotch on his desk in the darkened office.… Read the rest “Nick Errant”

With the third Constance Verity book coming out this week in the US (and already out in UK), I’m officially wrapping up the Constance Verity trilogy. I’m not saying there won’t be more Constance books, but right now I’m pausing to work on other projects.

My first ten novels are all standalone stories set in their own distinct universes. I remember once I was on a convention panel discussing Standalones VS. Series. At the time, I wasn’t interested in a series, which made me a bit of an anomaly in the field. One of the panelists even remarked that “Maybe one day you’ll be a strong enough writer to create a series.”

It was a silly comment. At the time I thought a series would be easier than starting from scratch every time. You’ve already done half the work by reusing characters and concepts, right?… Read the rest “It’s All Hard”

Constance Verity Destroys the Universe is out now in the UK and will be out on March 8th in the US. If you’re visiting this site, then you probably already know if you’re interested in it or not, but if you’re on the edge and need a push or maybe just eager for a bite, please enjoy this first chapter of the book.

Also included is a version of the cover copy that didn’t make it onto the US version. Don’t know why. The online cover copy for Constance Verity Saves the World has never been right, but these things happen.

Enjoy.

The Adventurer. The Great Snurkab. The Caretaker. Constance Verity returns, having accepted and secured her place in the universe while juggling her expanded life. There isn’t a foe she can’t outfight, a peril she can’t outwit, but what happens when Connie discovers she just might be the greatest threat to the world she regularly saves?… Read the rest “Constance Verity Destroys the Universe”