This blog tracks the epic of kick-starting a whole writing career, with spies and thrillers, now saints and vampires. I cover the creative process, stuff that blows up, history, philosophy, and theology. If you like any or all of the above, you'll like this one. We talk about comic books, movies, music, and writing. Usually, all at the same time.
[Note: All Amazon links here are associate links. Which means nothing to you, but it means Declan Finn gets a few pennies for the sale. Thank you.]
I know I’ve been incommunicado for weeks now. Part of that is that I drove all the way to Ohio for Thanksgiving… then I drove back. Yes, that’s an 11 hour trip, and about 700 miles. One way.
I’ve started work on my next book series: Honeymoon From Hell. Book 1 is The Neck Romancer.
More on that later.
I’ve been setting up advertising and future podcasts for my new release, White Ops — which is just book one. Feel free to click on the link, for the simple reason that this one is going wide. It’s not in pre-order for hard copy yet, but that’s coming. But if you don’t want to go near Amazon, you don’t have to.
This of course, doesn’t even count that I have more books in White Ops in the works. They are already drafted. They just need me to hit them with a hammer some more.
Yes, I know, I’m juggling the creation of one series while editing the other. But remember, this is me. With my writing speed, I hope to have all five books done by the time I have reports on the White Ops series already in the queue.
But that’s one disaster at a time.
As for Honeymoon From Hell…
The late and somewhat lamented Harlan Ellison used to perform a trick.
He would sit in the window of a bookstore and pound away at a typewriter, grinding out short stories. As each page was written, he would post it in the window of the bookstore so people could read the short story as it was written.
So far, the outline to Honeymoon from Hell is like this.
Book one: The Neck Romancer: Our heroes get married and go on a honeymoon (by train). The first stop is Chicago (only the good parts). So of course they run into a Necromatic alderman.
Book two, Blood Country: Marco and Amanda go to California (wine country). They get sucked into a problem involving state senator Roland Lee, who is also dealer in magical weaponry.
Book three, FangCon: The honeymoon ends with WyvernCon, and an old enemy of Amanda’s surfaces.
Book four: Saints and Monsters, THE NOVEL. Marco needs some training in Rome. And he’s going to meet a New York cop who’s a little saintly.
Book Five, Family Business: Someone was behind the monsters of books 1-4, and he's sick and tired of our heroes screwing around.
My White Ops space opera is set in the 2360s. My main character, Sean Patrick Ryan, is different from Sean A.P. Ryan of It Was Only On Stun!and Pius.
First, this is the original Sean Patrick Ryan. His temperament is more… even. He likes to read books. He doesn’t exercise an insane amount, but he’s 6’6,” he’s a tough sumbitch.
But he’s a Ryan. Being forced to relax and have fun … isn’t in his nature.
Unfortunately, he’s also a smartass.
So, when his alien boss asks “Sean, you’ve been through three wars in the last two years. What are you going to do now?” His kneejerk reaction is to say “Of course, I’m going to the Happiest place in the galaxy.”
The joke doesn’t translate.
Which is how Sean Patrick Ryan and his team of interstellar Knights Templar end up being sent to an amusement planet.
At least for a few days, Sean is going to content himself by looking at the security arrangements. Genetically altered dinosaurs and prehistoric sharks aren’t his thing. Nor animatronic tour guides.
But when terrorists take over the planet, this is Sean’s idea of a party.
It’s time for a show down on Main Street: DOA.
It comes out in the ides of March.
You can pre order the book here: https://books2read.com/WO3
In the first novel of the Space Opera White Ops, I explode a looming threat to the galaxy from a Mongol cannibal horde from another galaxy. They are dark. They are evil, and they are HUNGRY.
Unfortunately, they’re also really powerful, and that’s when the fun starts.
By book two, there is no hiding from the threat. It’s out, it’s ready to declare war on … everything.
Many moons ago, when I was 16 (1998), I started writing. Soon what started as one lousy collection of short stories spiraled into a Space Opera epic over 4000 pages. I wrote all six books of them in 15 months.
Does that sound impressive? Well, I was under the impression that a book was 300-400 pages.
I did not know at the time that the pages of any given novel DID NOT EQUAL the same number of typed pages… on 8.5 x 11 paper… single spaced.
So, yes, this spiraled a little. I don’t even know what the original word count is on each book.
In the years since, I’ve rewritten these Space Operas countless times. Seriously, I’ve completely lost count. There are few things that resemble the first draft. There are days I can’t recall what’s in the final draft (I hear Jim Butcher has similar problems with some Dresden books).
Think Space Templars versus cannibalistic Mongol hordes from another galaxy.
Why is it White Ops? Because unlike Black Ops, this is covert ops for the army of light.
Louis Antonelli was a relative latecomer to being an author. He didn't publish until he was 46 years old, in 2003. But in less than 20 years, he wrote over a hundred stories to publications around the world.
His dayjob was a professional journalist, For the past six years, he was the managing editor of The Clarksville Times.
His first novel was alternate history novel Another Girl, Another Planet, which was reviewed here at Upstream Reviews. When it first came out, I insisted that it be nominated for a Dragon award. He said that if he was nominated, he owed me a beer. Lucky for him, I don't drink. When a rain storm and massive traffic problems prevented him from attending DragonCon that year, he sent me his speech, just in case I had to give it for him. Sadly, it was a year Harry Turtledove was nominated.
When I came down to Dallas in 2019, Lou and his wife drove out to meet me and my wife Vanessa, and we hung out with Moira Greyland. Lou joked that it was "PuppyCon 1," and all we needed was Larry Correia.
When the Upstream Review went live last week, he texted me to thank me to the review. I was happy to hear from him, since I wanted to see him while I was visiting Texas this week. But he told me he was texting from his hospital bed. He was in for heart troubles. When I asked him how serious it was, he did not reply.
Lou Antonelli died on yesterday, October 6th, he was 64 years old.
I am in Texas for a wedding. I may have to stay for a funeral.
If you’ve tracked … any of my movements on social media lately, you’ll know that I’ve talked often about the Dragon Awards.
What I have spelled out lately is… well… why I care. And why you should care.
Many on the right will cite the old adage “Politics is downstream from culture.”
If that’s the case, our culture is heading for a sewer.
Frankly, we should fight back. And I mean on every conceivable level.
Before you think I’m saying “Fight them except for…X.”
I’m not. But that’s another post, probably hidden behind a paywall so people who want to cancel me will have to pay for the privilege.
Why are the Dragon Awards a front in the culture war? Nerd culture is important. If you don’t believe me, look up “GamerGate“ sometime. While GG has been out of action for years (at least five years, IIRC) you’d think that it was a massive conspiracy theory on par with the Illuminati. It left a mark. You’d think the line was that “the Geek shall inherit the Earth.”
In 2020, no one cared. That front was ignored entirely. The Leftist dirtbags who are interested in taking over every aspect of American life moved in. And while DragonCon is not a bastion of the Right (just look at the parade of Handmaiden cosplayers a few years ago) it has always been a place where everyone can show up, do their own thing, and be left alone.
From my varied and sundry sources, people are trying to make it not that.
So yes, we need to push back.
Voting in the Dragons is a way of making sure that we can all push back without any investment … aside from a little bit of time.
Yes, I have a list of who I’m voting for. Here, for you folks, I’m also going to give you my reason for why I’m voting for each, and why I think it’s important.
But first…
My thought process
I'm not nominating anyone who already has an award. Most of those who have won already have the attitude of “Oh, I don’t need more dust collectors.”
I’m leaving out Big Name Authors. Frankly, if you're Jim Butcher or a Baen author, you don't need my help.
If I leave the categories blank, it means I STILL got nothing.
You may wonder why I’m not having a full, massive, months-long discussion, gathering up every eligible author and product.
Been there, done that. It turned into an unmanageable mess. Authors came in a hit and run to my posts, screamed "ME ME ME" in the comments, then dropped links to their book and ran. There was no discussion. That’s it.
Because 1984 should be a warning, not an instruction manual. And I think shoving it in the face of the Left would be absolutely perfect.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that my friend Richard Paolinelli also has a book up for nomination, Galen’s Way. I’ve reviewed it over here. It was a hard-run thing, but Karl won out.
How do I put this … do you miss the days when science fiction didn’t automatically turn into “atheist fantasy“? I’ve seen very few who have Christian SF, and I see even fewer who do it this well. And those I know who do it this good … haven’t come out with anything eligible.
Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
Kai Wai Cheah, Unmasked. Half of this is a military engagement of one sort or another. And he gives Larry a run for his money in the gun porn.
Why nominate it? Because the last thing we want is for John Scalzi to get it. Ugh. He already won last year, which was bad enough.
Maybe the 2020 Dragons can have an asterisk next to it. It would only be fair. Heh heh heh.
Best Alternate History Novel
Educated Luck, Mel Todd. Heavily magic, heavy on alternate history and the development on the world. It would probably be best in fantasy, but I like it here.
This one was suggested to me. But from what I’ve seen, it looks kinda awesome.
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game
I have nothing. For any of the above elements. So if you have anything, you let me know, would you?
However, I must stress a few things
1) The eligibility window for the 2021 Dragon Awards is from 7/1/2020 to 6/30/2021
2) The Nomination Deadline is July 19, 2021. It’s two months away. If you you have a suggestion, or want in on this conversation, now would be a good time.
To begin with, you may already know that I've moved on to Substack. Largely, I'm using that in place of my mailing list. But I've discovered it doubled as a blog. And with Blogger no longer mailing out to my readers, I may move there lock stock and barrel.
ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT GREAT SCIENCE FICTION SERIES? THREE RAVENS PUBLISHING IS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE, STARFLIGHT: TALES FROM THE STARPORT LOUNGE ANTHOLOGY!
In 1986, Starflight, a video game so profound and cutting edge for its time was released, and the world of gaming was forever changed. Starflight was the first open sandbox game, where you could wander the entirety of the game, and never finish it. You could explore to your heart’s content without ever touching on the game’s primary storyline.
For me as a fan, it inspired my sense of adventure and exploration. I would imagine myself exploring the unknown like Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. Not only that, the game inspired me to learn more, about things like the elements of the periodic table and chemical compounds encountered on these planets. It inspired my imagination with images of these alien worlds, their landscapes, and the life forms inhabiting them.
One day a few months ago, I had this thought pop into my head. Why hadn’t anyone written stories in this amazing game universe? After some searching on the internet, I hadn’t found anything, even fanfiction, so I went on the hunt to ask that exact question to the creators of the game.
Soon after I had managed to track down Rod McConnel and Greg Johnson, part of the original game development team from Binary systems. And before I knew it, I had struck a deal that allowed Three Ravens Publishing to write stories and create official content for the Starflight Universe. Thus was born the first anthology of short stories, Starflight: Tales From The Starport Lounge, to kick off a series of novels that I’m sure any fan of the original games, or good old-fashioned science fiction will enjoy.
We have gathered a team of talented authors from a wide range of experiences and genres to flesh out the universe in its entirety. From pirates to smugglers, to colony ships and the seedy underside of Arth society, there will be something for everyone to enjoy.
So join us and the Starflight Series team in bringing this beloved classic to life for us, the fans of the original games, and the generations of science fiction gamers to come.
Like, follow, and subscribe to any of our social media pages or sign up for our newsletter at https://www.threeravenspublishing.com to keep up to date on the Starflight series of stories.
Stories by:
Robert Silverberg D.J. Butler Michael J. Allen Christopher Woods Bart Kemper Benjamin Tyler Smith Brisco Woods David A. Tatum Declan Finn J.F. Posthumus Marisa Wolf Michael Gants M.J. Ciaravella Nick Steverson Philip K. Booker R.J. Ladon William Joseph Roberts
Last year for the Dragon awards, many people in my circles hated the finalists.
And trust me, I mean it when I say that they hated the finalists. There was one caveat to that, but that's all I recall.
My response was simple
"DUH! Why do you think I try to have this discussion EVERY MONTH FOR HALF THE YEAR? YOU THINK I LIKE THIS? IF I WANTED IT FOR MYSELF, I'D ONLY TALK ABOUT MYSELF." [Insert sound of hair pulling and rage]
So, I have put together things **I'm** considering voting for. (Because we all know it's going to change in the next few months).
To share some of my thought process on the matter: I'm not nominating anyone who already has an award. And frankly, if you're Jim Butcher or a Baen author, you don't need my help.
If I leave the categories blank, it means I STILL got nothing.
Fair warning: if you come to my blog and screaming "ME ME ME" in the comments before you drop links to your book and run, to Hell with you. I am NOT having another Dragon Awards discussion that rolls like that. It's happened every damn year, and I'm DONE playing those games. I tried to be nice about listing EVERY LAST THING that's eligible, because I though that would mean we'd all have a discussion about it. It never happened and I'm sick of it.
At the moment, my best guess is Kai Wai Cheah, Unmasked. Half of which was a military engagement of one sort or another. And he gives Larry a run for his money in the gun porn.
Best Alternate History Novel
Educated Luck, Mel Todd. Heavily magic, heavy on alternate history and the development on the world. It would probably be best in fantasy, but I like it here.
Best Media Tie-In Novel
Everyone, feel free to suggest something. I'm going to just assume hat Timothy Zahn is going to get it. After all, he wrote a Thrawn novel in the past year.
Inspired a bit by a recent post by fellow author Ben Cheah. Check his stuff out, btw.
People tell me they **want** to be a writer.
No, you don't.
Seriously, you don't.
Look, you can hotwire your brain to write. It's relatively easy. I did it to myself when I was 16. I wasn't even trying. I just wanted this idea out of my head. Half a million words later, I had novels on my hands.
To be a writer, your brain is basically ON all the time.
You're (re)writing TV shows and books. You're calling plot twists.
When the story goes a different way, you want to rewrite it because your idea really was better.
That news story is now part of your thriller.
Your demonic plot to destroy a city becomes current events within a year or two.
You're basing people on friends.
If you're male, you ask the women you use as models what their bust size is, because bra holsters are dictated by boob size.
Then your friends are asking how you came up with this great character... that they don't recognize as themselves.
You didn't pay attention to that conversation with friends / family about something really important to them, because something they said ten minutes ago started a plot outline in your brain.
Your brain occasionally overclocks from writing from 8-6, occasionally remembering to eat.
You take a break so your brain can cool down, but then the compulsion to keep writing presses on your brain like a heavy blanket.
You need a notebook next to your bed so you can make notes--because the ideas don't let you sleep until you write them down.
It's why I tell people that there's a difference between "I want to be a writer" and "I have to be a writer." Because there is.
If you want to be a writer ... no, you don't. If I had my druthers, I'd have been an electrician or a plumber. I'd probably be using electricity to kill people in murder mysteries, but I'd have a 9-5 I didn't have to take home with me.
If you HAVE to be a writer, you don't have a choice. Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead.
But it's binary. You are a writer, and you write, because you have to.
