I have so many stories started, many in various stages of completion. I don’t know what to do. So I decided to run a little poll here on the blog.
If you think I should write a certain story, you vote by buying a copy of the ebook that will count for that story. The link to the ebook will appear at the end of each description.
First: I’m working on a series of novels about a detective who becomes a vampire. I call it the Striker Files. The first novel is set after the events of the three short stories (already published) and describes a battle between rival vampire factions, and it is more or less complete. The second novel is set in France and pits my MC against something that’s more than a vampire, someone bent on destroying all the vampires who exist. It’s also more or less complete. The third is a work in progress. It is set back in the States and pits our hero vampires against the antagonists of both the first and second novels. When it is done, I’ll publish all three works. If you think I should work on this one, vote by buying THE STRIKER FILES: 3 in 1 Collection. (It costs $0.99.)
Second, I finished (but haven’t published) a novel about the moon striking the Earth, and about the bad things that people do when unfettered by the rule of law. I started a second novel with those same characters, in that same town, and someone is grabbing survivors of the disaster for their own nefarious purposes. My original group gets split up and they need to rescue Dr. Jessica Stewart from whatever has happened to her. After I finish this one, I’ll try to publish both of these in rapid succession. If this one interests you, then go ahead and buy a copy of THE CAVE. (It also costs $0.99.)
These next two are both post-apocalyptic and both have to do with pandemics. The first is a story about an engineered disease that kills adults and leaves kids approximately 18 and under to fend for themselves. I actually started writing this in the early 1990’s (or maybe even late 1980’s). It started off set in a fictional town in Wisconsin called Pond Lake. But as I started working on it again, I felt like I needed more. So I wrote four separate stories, the original Pond Lake story, a story set in Rochester, Minnesota (home of the Mayo Clinic), one set on the North Side of Chicago, and one set on the South Side of Chicago. The stories are starting to converge and the work is in the 60-70K range right now with a lot more to go. If this is the one you think I should keep working on, buy a copy of THE NEVER ENDING NIGHT. (Also $0.99.)
The second is a story that was inspired by Hugh Howey’s WOOL. If you haven’t read those stories, they’re about a nanomachine that’s released around the world, and has a timer as to when they will become lethal to those who are infected with them. The people who did this have selected certain folks as survivors and sequestered them in “Silos,” vertical dwellings that are underground. There are fifty such silos and Howey’s series is set around what happens in them as the plot is revealed.
I wanted to write something based in his world (Mr. Howey had graciously opened the world for others to write stories in), but I didn’t want to write about the silos. I wanted to write about potential survivors elsewhere in the country who were not in the silos. When I realized that this wasn’t going to work, I decided instead to just continue the story I was writing. I made it another biological thing, with a small percentage of survivors. It’s an engineered disease again, with very few survivors. When I lost my way, I incorporated another story I’d been working on into the narrative (sort of like McCartney and Lennon combining two songs to make one). The first part follows a group of college engineering students as they attempt to build a shelter to survive the release of the disease, which they know about because of leaks and such. The second part goes to the shelters where the people who were behind the whole thing were waiting things out, waiting to emerge and repopulate a world built in their own image. The third follows one of the immune survivors as he makes his way to try to find his daughter. If you think I should continue working on this one, buy my story ODD MAN OUT. ($2.99.)
I’ve told some people about Addison Falls, the shared world that was created by Alan Mietlowski back in the 1990’s when we were all online at Delphi Internet Services. Alan compiled a list of locations, stories and characters that we could all use to create new characters. A few others were added as we wrote our stories in Addison Falls. I felt that I should set a novel in the Falls, and so I began writing the story of a teacher who is concerned about a missing student, and his investigation leads him to discover the weird and dark underbelly of the town. Teamed up with a pretty reporter for the local newspaper, he tries to discover the reason that not just one but several students have gone missing over the past year, as well as why few of the townfolk seem to care much about it. If you think I should write this one, buy a copy of THE INN. ($2.99.)
I had a dream. In this dream, I was at a retreat with some other authors (none of whom I’ve ever met in real life). I don’t remember much of the dream, but when I woke up, I had this idea to write a novel or novella about this scenario. So I made a list of my horror authors who’d be attending, and correlated them to some real life authors, none who I know much about — just what they post on Facebook and such. So I’m inventing personalities based on their FB personalities. What sort of bad things are going to happen at this retreat in the middle of nowhere? I don’t know yet. But if you want to know, vote for this project by buying my book RECIPROCAL EVIL ($2.99).
Okay, and finally, science fiction (ish). A few years ago, when they announced that THE FORCE AWAKENS was coming to the theaters, I thought, what a great time to write some space opera! So I started one. Got quite a few words into it, then went back and rewrote the entire beginning of the story. Also threw out some of what I was doing and where I was going with it. The idea is that there is a code to the further evolution of humankind that is found — somewhere — in our galaxy. I have a princess of sorts — actually an empress — who a space junker finds when he salvages a derelict spacecraft. And she’s running away from a rebellion that threatens her back in her own galaxy. And in my view, humans are ubiquitous around the universe. Someone has “seeded” their DNA throughout the galaxies. But they aren’t alone, at least in other galaxies besides the one where the empress is from. I like the ideas I have for this, but I haven’t gotten very far. (Maybe I need a cowriter.) And I also gravitate toward horror thrillers. So in order to get me to write this one, you have to buy two (short story collection) books. Don’t worry; both are $0.99. Here’s the links: 14 DARK WINDOWS and DIE 6.
Obviously I’m sort of joking here. First, no one is probably reading this (my blog isn’t exactly a destination blog). Second, I’m gonna write whether anyone buys anything or not. But it would be nice to sell a few copies, too. Third, if you really were interested in one of the story ideas I described over another, you could just leave a comment and tell me.
But if I check my Amazon sales in the next few days and see that 100 copies of THE INN were sold, you can bet I’m going to finish up that Addison Falls story!
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