Confluence

Sometimes in the act of writing a book, unusual creative events occur that have no easy explanation. Such is the case with the trilogy of novels I'm currently working on. The first novel, Race the Sky, is something I've been working on for close to fifteen years. The second book, The Hammer of Amalynth, was originally a novel about relativism and the third book, The Fire and the Anvil, started out as a short story collection. Each book had its own individual problems that seemed insurmountable at the time.

But then something funny happened. One night I decided to experiment and I put all three ideas "side by side". Over the course of an hour, many of the initial problems disappeared and plot elements (and characters) from the individual books started solving the problems in the other books. The third book turned into a novel and the Secrets of the Elements trilogy was born.

In my previous post, I listed the probable back cover copy for the next novel, Race the Sky. Like any first book in a series, there is some setting up of larger narrative arcs and several of the characters in this novel will return for the other two. All three books will follow John Sayers (a stormchaser) and Madeline Kinney (a cult researcher). In the second and third books, Dr. Ferganut will join them (from the short stories Dust in the Whirlwind and Firebugs). At that point, the Dust in the Whirlwind and Firebugs will takes on whole new meanings.

More updates will be coming shortly. Race the Sky should be available sometime in January of 2016.

Vista

When hiking up a mountain trail, sometimes it's difficult to see the summit, especially if the mountain is covered in trees. Although it is encouraging to think about the view at the top, often times a hiker has to focus first on the obstacles before them such as tree roots, rocks, and mud. Even near the top, when a hiker knows the summit is near, it can be easy to want to call it day due to exhaustion.

When you finally make it to the top, though, the view can be worth all the effort. That's where things are at with the novel, Race the Sky. There were some unresolved narrative issues with the manuscript up until recently. Suddenly, as if reaching a summit vista, the final pieces "clicked" into place. This all occurred as I was trying to hammer out the back cover copy for the book.

Here, then, is a glimpse of that vista and a working version of the back cover copy:

John Sayers is a storm chaser determined to crack the mystery of the violent weather that is ravaging his home state of South Dakota. He crosses paths with Madeline Kinney, a cult researcher who is pursuing a nefarious "church doctor" across the region. Together, they find there is more to the secrets of the sky and the church doctor than just anecdotes and hard data.

Of course this is subject to change, but it gets the idea across.

More novel news soon. Stay tuned.

Editing Update - Race the Sky

Just a brief editing update today. I'm still working through the edits of the next novel, Race the Sky. I figure there are probably at least 2-3 more editing passes left to go. The reason this particular book is taking so long (along with the cover art) is that it sets up the foundation for the other two books to follow. Things are still on track for an early January 2016 release, however. I'll also making an audio version of the first chapter available soon.

After that, a new science fiction short story collection, Windows Out, will be released. The stories are finished, but they still need some editing before I'll publish it. One story from Windows Out, Fermat's Last Theorem of Robotics, is available here.

And...if you haven't seen it, The Chronopticus Chronicles is available here, here, and here. It contains the short story, The Mines of Mars Part I, along with Fractal Standard Time, Ionotatron, and Chronopticus Rising. Here is the book trailer for the entire series, too. This collection is on sale for a limited time.