August 22, 2019

Take a look at my portfolio and you’ll note references to a number of Serpent’s Keep titles, including books, screenplays and games. Collectively, these titles comprise the Serpent’s Keep Universe (SKU). This universe continues to grow. Work has begun on the third title in the book trilogy; a short story and a flash fiction title are both in outline; the numerous games are in various stages of development. And I am currently developing an expansive website to bring all these titles and projects under the Serpent’s Keep Universe umbrella. In addition to offering access and a unique perspective to the existing SKU elements, the site will provide a ton of free stuff, including online games, stories, merchandize and much more. I hope to bring a beta version of the website online in a few months, and I’m looking for folks who would be interested in taking a look at SKWeb Beta and perhaps provide some feedback; nothing formal, just use the site and let me know what’s working and not working for you. Interested? Send me your name and email (use contact author link on this page) and I’ll put you on the list, let you know when the beta site is online. Exciting times ahead for the Serpent’s Keep Universe in 2020; books, short stories and novellas, games, screenplays and more. Stay tuned!

August 01, 2019

Just out... At Variance 3, collection of fourteen flash fiction stories, short stories and novellas, many of them adapted directly from short scripts, webseries scripts and pilot episode screenplays. Nine of them I wrote over the last year, five are short stories I wrote years ago and then later adapted to screenplays. You can pick up the collection in ebook and paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Paperback copies signed by the author are also available directly from greybeard publishing. Info and all the links (including international) are on the At Variance 3 book page on Greybeard Publishing. Check it out!

July 18, 2019

Projects, projects, lots of projects... Over the last year or so I've been developing short scripts, webseries and miniseries episode scripts. Now, this is important because of part two of each project. As I complete each screenplay I then adapt it to flash fiction or short story. Some of you have seen a few of these in the Short Story library in the greybeard subscriber page. I've posted some of them there as I go. If you’re a member, be sure to check them out. Main thing though, I’ve also been including the stories in a new collection I’m putting together. Be on the lookout for “At Variance 3”, coming soon to a website and/or author page near you. I should have the book page for At Variance 3 up and running on Greybeard in a few weeks. Head there for info and updates. I hope to publish the collection sometime in August.

July 12, 2019

Amazon has a tool that allows you to embed a link on your website that loads a preview window similar to their “Look Inside” feature. So I recently spent a few hours incorporating a link onto every book page on greybeard, displaying each link as “Read a sample”. Click the link and it will load a preview window for that title. Kinda cool. Readers on the greybeard website don’t have to go to Amazon to get a look inside the book. They can check it out right there. I’m considering creating a page with nothing but a list of all my titles and a “Read a sample” link for each. I might put it in the Subscriber Page on greybeard. What do you think? Drop me an email and let me know. And be sure to try the "Read a sample" feature on a few of the book pages on greybeard. I'd like to hear your experiences with it.

July 08, 2019

I created a micro-budget short script project a month or so ago, recently listed it as available for independent producers looking to produce short screenplays for festivals, etc. It’s a simple five page script with one exterior location and two characters, no SFX. A producer quickly requested the script, followed that with a desire to purchase, said he was looking for a location and cast. I sent him an option agreement, which he has yet to sign and return. A second producer has since requested the script, and has indicated an interest to purchase. I’m delaying sending him the option agreement to sign to give the first producer a chance to send back the agreement; meanwhile I’ve suggested other short scripts for them to look at. I’m giving the first one more week, then I’m offering it to the second. On another subject... the one-on-one consult with the producer re the Sisters in Space project is scheduled for August 2; looking forward to it.

July 01, 2019

I got some cool news yesterday regarding the Sisters in Space webseries. I entered Episode One “Awakening” into a screenwriting competition for webseries a couple of months back and the winners were announced yesterday. Sisters in Space Episode One won “Finalist”. Winner would have been better, the winner gets produced, but placing as a top three finalist is a nice recognition, very cool, and I do get a one-on-one with a producer out of it. Not sure what comes from the consultation, it’s still being set up. We’ll see. This is the first time I’ve put the project out there, and I was just testing the waters for Sisters in Space, wanted to see what the industry thought of it. Also, still exploring the whole idea of webseries, looking at the format as another screenwriting option. Sisters in Space is a fully developed project, with all episodes completed and a published novel adaptation. While I am currently working on several more webseries projects, Sisters will probably lead the way in that format.

June 23, 2019

Several of my most recent titles haven’t yet gone to Large Print Edition format. I do apologize. The subject came up a few days ago, and I haven’t forgotten. I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping up on it. I am working on it. I hope to have them published and available on Amazon in the next week or so, and available here in inventory in a couple of weeks. I also need to build up inventory on regular paperback for greybeard direct purchases, including signed print editions, and will do this at the same time. BTW... “Sutherland House Episode One – Andover” will be published next week, available in print and ebook (and soon in LPE). Kindle ebook already available for pre-order. Head over to the Andover book page on Greybeard.

June 10, 2019

Okay… I might be overextending myself. An idea popped into my head, won’t go away, and I’m probably going to start working it, though where I’ll fit into my schedule may be a project in itself. At the moment I’m working on two short stories, a novel, a novella adaptation from one of my scripts, and a really cool feature film screenplay. Oh, and I’m developing the Serpent’s Keep Universe project (more on this in a later blog and newsletter). And it isn’t as though I don’t have even more projects waiting in my queue, ready to develop. But I can’t get this idea out of my head. I just finished watching the 1975 version of “The Land That Time Forgot”. This was a fun adaptation of the novel, despite the absolutely horrible special effects and the rather creaky 70s era B movie atmosphere. The movie was an adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, written in 1918. I read the book several years ago and liked it a lot. The underlying science in the story is crap, but I liked it nonetheless. Just ignore the flaws and go with it. The movie adaptation keeps the same flawed science, and is also hampered by having to toss out a lot of the story in order to cram it into 91 minutes. And again… the awful special effects. IMPORTANT: Ignore the 2009 movie of the same title at all costs; very cheap knockoff that bares absolutely no resemblance to the book other than the title. What I want to do is write a six hour, three episode miniseries that follows the book as much as possible, flawed science and all. Adapt the story and the characters directly from the novel, and keep it set in 1918. The novel is only 40,000 words, so the six hour adaptation would be able to keep the story pretty much intact. At least, my initial analysis tells me so. And with the CGI of today, the visuals would be great, would enhance the story. “The Land That Time Forgot” is in the public domain, so I don’t believe there would be a problem with the project. In any event, I intend to do an analysis and outline of the project and see where to go from there.

May 25, 2019

Really, really busy these days, a lot of projects in the works. Kinda’ always been so, but at the moment I have number of them reaching milestones... some completing and publishing, others reaching targeted stages in development or draft, and so on. Kimara Crossing, sequel to Shipwreck on ShadowWorld, is coming out of pre-order and will officially publish tomorrow (May 26). If you’re one of those who pre-ordered, the ebook will auto-deliver to your Kindle device. The paperback edition should publish in a few days, so watch for that. I’ll have links to both ebook and paperback on the Kimara Crossing book page. As some of you already know, I’ve been adding new features to the Subscriber Page on greybeard. I had previously developed the Sisters in Space feature, with all episodes in an online document reader. I’ve now added a Short Stories library and an Audiobooks library. I’ll be adding new entries to each of them every week or two. Watch for those. I’ve completed several short scripts over the past month and a half or so. I’ve added these to the listings on my screenplays websites. One is episode one of a new webseries I’m developing, which should be fun. I’m outlining another short script now, but I’ll probably put that project into my holding queue for a few months while I complete other projects. Two of those other projects are the short story adaptations of those two short scripts. I’ll be adding them to the Short Stories library in the Subscriber Page module as I complete them. So check there often. I’ve recently taken a feature screenplay project from outline into development. This is a quirky story with very quirky characters and I’m looking forward to diving into it. It looks like about an eight to ten week project, though could go longer if I get lost in the weeds of my other projects. Once completed, I will be adapting the script to novella format, another four to six weeks. So look for the script sometime in August, the novella sometime in September. I’ve also finally returned to the Serpent’s Keep game development project, including card, dice, board, a PC game and a game app. This will be a fully involved, integrated project. Outlining now, look for more info this summer. Speaking of Serpent’s Keep, the third and final novel in the trilogy is in early outline; I probably won’t begin writing for a few months. I’m tentatively targeting January for publication.

May 14, 2019

One of the projects I’ve been working on for several months now has been the sequel to Shipwreck on ShadowWorld, a young adult novella I wrote a number of years ago. Kimara Crossing is now available for pre-order at: Kimara on Amazon, and I’ll have it all put together by May 26, the official publication date on Amazon. Kimara Crossing picks up Jim’s story two years after ShadowWorld. Jim is now fifteen years old, and the look and feel of the novella reflects the protagonist’s age. Those who read the first novel will remember that young Jim saw the world around him through the eyes of a thirteen year old. He’s matured some since then, though he’s not yet an adult. While Kimara Crossing is the second in a series, it is a stand-alone title. Fans of the first book should appreciate a chance to see Jim again, but Kimara works on its own. I hope to publish a third title in the series in 2021, and it too should also work as a stand-alone title. In addition to Kimara Crossing, I’m also working on a short script, a short story, a novel, a feature script and game development. I should be able to complete most of these projects over the next two to six months. I’ll be detailing them here on my blog and in the monthly newsletter as work progresses.

May 04, 2019

I want to take a moment to let everyone know about the latest audiobook, released just a few days ago. Serpent’s Keep Two – the Six Temples is the third of my titles to be produced and narrated by Michael T. Bradley. You may recognize his name… he also narrated Serpent’s Keep (the first SK title) and KHDZ, my fantasy / dark satire. The Six Temples is the 23rd title to go to audiobook. Eleven are one hour Black Tower episodes, six are novellas, and six are novels. You can listen to audio samples of each by going to the book pages on greybeard or on Amazon. Some nice work by nine great producer/narrators. You should give them a listen. I’ll be reaching out to Michael to narrate when I publish the third and final book in the Serpent’s Keep trilogy next year, and to Benjamin Armstrong next month when I publish Kimara Crossing, the follow-up title to Shipwreck on ShadowWorld.

April 27, 2019

I’ve been writing for fifty years, beginning when I was twelve with my first short story. Through most of those years I’ve had to divide my time between writing and outside work, but still managed to publish scores of novels, novellas, short stories, and write several dozen screenplays. Okay... ‘divide my time’ may be the wrong way of putting it. That would imply part time, while for the last thirty years or so I’ve actually been writing fulltime while also working fulltime in application development. The situation changed and about seven months ago I was able to drop the whole ‘time-dividing’ thing. I have since been able to devote 100% of my time to my writing. I have to say… being a fulltime writer and only a fulltime writer is really, really good. Well, except for one itty-bitty little thing. There is the matter of publishing and marketing. Royalties depend on sales, and sales require marketing. Not my favorite thing, but necessary, so okay. And I am having an absolutely amazing time. Life is great. A heads-up... watch for an audiobook, a novel, a handful of short stories and two short scripts, all coming in the next two to three months; latest news on greybeard publishing and in upcoming newsletters. Till next time...

April 22, 2019

Demand for my short scripts over this past year has been very strong. With such intense interest in the short script format, I adjusted my development schedule to direct more of my time to this medium. I outlined seven new short script projects and have been working on these screenplays parallel to my other projects. I completed the first of these scripts a couple of weeks ago and have added it to the half-dozen short scripts already completed. My plan is to complete a short script every six to eight weeks, though much will depend on where I am with my novels and feature screenplays that I have in development. I am well into the second script, it should be completed in the next week. The short script projects that I have in my queue include both stand-alone scripts and webseries episodes; all are low budget or ultra-low budget. If you know anyone who might be interested in producing a short script, send them to my screenplays and short scripts websites. Screenplays will be added to the sites regularly as they are completed. I am outlining a related side project... I will be adapting all the short scripts to short story format. I will then adapt these for the online reader on my subscriber-only page. All registered subscribers will be able to read these for free. More on these in a subsequent blog post and in my monthly newsletter.

April 19, 2019

This being the first entry in my author blog, first up I bid you welcome... My plans for the blog are a bit open-ended, but I figure to use this site to talk about ongoing work on my literary and screenwriting projects, send out word on updates to my websites and my author platform, and provide heads-up on upcoming events and appearances. I also hope to post regular entries about my hikes. As most of you know, I am rather fond of my northwest hikes and try to get out whenever I can. You can find more on my favorite mountains and other trails on my hiking website. I don’t have a regular schedule in mind, but I should be posting blog entries a couple of times a week. You can put the link to the blog in your browser favorites. I will also have links on my author page and greybeard publishing websites and some of my social media platforms.