How's everybody doing? I'm still here, plugging away. Those are a pair of my goofy reading glasses. I like the style because if I'm doing something else at the same time as I'm using them, I can easily look up over the top. Plus they were inexpensive...
Yeah it's been far too long since I posted here. Life and extra writing this year have conspired to keep me fairly busy. Truth be told though, blogging hasn't been high priority on my agenda for quite some time. Even during the viral pandemic that has been sweeping the world and keeping most of us close to home, I concentrated on writing fiction more than anything else. And much has been done.
So I figure, let's get caught up first with books and stuff I've written that have already been released.
Going back to last December (2019), SINBAD THE NEW VOYAGES VOLUME 6 came out just in time for holiday gift giving. Author Greg Hatcher and I shared the book, I had a novella length tale of Sinbad & Company in an ice age land, while Greg told of Viking crew member Ralf's imminent wedding being interrupted when some nasty mages decide to show up. If you're a fan of the old Ray Harryhausen stop action movies (which still hold up well in this CGI age) you're gonna love this series of tales, no matter who is writing them. They're a rollicking fun adventurous read with an interesting cast and plenty of magic and mayhem. And don't forget, Airship 27 also has interior art in all their releases, a nice bonus for readers. I love writing about Sinbad's adventures and I'm currently picking away at another one, though it's been temporarily set aside while I work on other things that have more hard deadlines. More about what's coming later on in this post, so keep scrolling!
In March of this year, Airship 27 released my 6th Jezebel Johnston pirate novel, SISTERS OF VENGEANCE. This one takes place in India, where our Jez has been marooned ashore while ill and then is sold to a slaver. Along the way, she has some adventures on land and becomes close friends with two women from disparate African backgrounds who have also been taken as slaves destined for the brothels. A chance encounter with the historical Maratha warlord Shivaji sets the three women on a brand new though perilous path to freedom. I'm currently working on the 7th book in the series detailing their exploits. As always this one has interior art by Mr. Rob Davis, and he also did the cover.
In March of this year from Pro Se Press came BY THE WAYSIDE TALES, a three story anthology featuring the diminuitive rapier-wielding adventurer Alexandre Louis Edouard Lebeau and the half-elf beauty Danika, who is also known as the road agent and con artist, The Phantom Rose. The duo was introduced in the third story in TALES OF THE VAGABOND BARDS, "The Cavalier In The Cathouse", and they resonated with both me and readers. So they now have their own trio of stories in a novel of their own. Alex and Danika are now fugitives on the run, trying to clear their names while stumbling into adventures along the wayside. In "The Reluctantly Betrothed", the niece of an aged local lord is being forced into a marriage she doesn't want in order to save their estate. In "The No-Count Count", while on the run in almost constant rain, Lebeau tells Danika the story of his background on another continent, of the woman he once loved and the terrible secrets she held back from him for so long. Lastly is "The Winsome Maid Of Trypton Lane" where the murder of a local man is blamed on a woman who spurned him, and yet things are not how they appear at all. Through it all, the dashing little cavalier and his beautiful and sly companion continue to bond as they travel onward, helping others while hoping to somehow win a pardon for their unfortunate though necessary former transgressions. Three solid stories of adventure and intrigue, and yes, I do plan to revisit their corner of my overarching Terran World again. That ties By The Wayside Tales into the same world setting and timeline as my other Terran World series in The Greenwood Cycle, The Sudarnian Chronicles, The Windriders of Everice, and The Vagabond Bards. I'll have more overview details on just what books are included in those series and what else might be upcoming in another post.
In May of this year, came my first release across the big pond known as the Atlantic. UK based Occult Detective Magazine #7 has my premiere short story of the Punjabi/American psychic investigator Chandra Smoake and her faithful companion Emma Gilbraith. "Smoake and Mirrors" takes place in the 1950s during the baby-boom beatnik era. The duo help a harried housewife chase away something evil that has taken residence in her family's city brownstone apartment, something demonic that has been plaguing her daughter into mental illness. I haven't written a lot of horror, but I always preferred reading the old fashioned kind where the tension and otherwordliness of the tale made it more foreboding than page after page of chases and gory demises. I was very humbled to have this seminal tale accepted and now that I have a handle on the characters and setting, I'm working on a second one. This magazine is always a great read, with not only a diversity of authors and stories, but reviews and other non-fiction goodies included.
Now, as far as the up & coming stuff...
So, what else have I been working on this year? Well I have been busy. First of all, as mentioned above, I'm continuing my Jezebel Johnston pirate series, currently working on book #7. It doesn't have a subtitle yet, but will shortly. I'm rapidly approaching 52,000 words on it, and just getting into that big climatic battle scene that will close out the adventure started in this book. I'm not completely sure how it turns out yet, but whatever happens there and in the wrap-up will be reflected in the title. No, I don't plot these things out, I'm what they call a 'pantser' as far as writing goes, meaning I fly by the seat of my pants. It's what works for me. Somehow the books and stories always get done. This has proved to be a popular series so I guess I'm doing okay. Pretty ironic though that my characters are far more well-traveled than I am!
I also got an invitation to write a western novel! That's an interesting story too, because when Paul Bishop, the acquisitions editor for Wolfpack Publishing contacted me on Twitter, I was amazed that he even knew who I was! I knew who he was though, because besides having had a long career in law enforcement and going all over the country lecturing on the topic, Paul is a well-established and respected author. So I was intrigued and we corresponded a bit, and I ultimately signed on. I learned that I was approached based on the one western short story I did for a Senorita Scorpion anthology published by Pro Se and my pirate series. It's no secret to those who are familiar with my writing that I tend to favor strong female characters from a diverse background and I'm comfortable with fight scenes and mayhem. I can't tell you a lot about the project other than this is a series of books about a character called the Black Rose, who is bascially part of a group of nuns who moonlight fighting local crime and taking out evildoers in the early 1900s in Southwest Texas. Some unusual circumstances, interesting weapons, and diverse skills are involved. All the books will be written under the house name A. W. Hart, and the first in the series, LEGEND OF THE BLACK ROSE, is already out on Kindle and in paperback. Mine will be titled FIRE OF THE BLACK ROSE, and I'll update you here, as well as on my Facebook and Twitter feed, when it comes out. Really excited about this one because I sweated it for over 5 months and was incredibly relieved when after I turned it in that it was well received. I don't take anything for granted when it comes to writing, because no matter how many stories and novels you've written, each one has to stand or fall on it's own merits.
Oh and as far as that house writer name? That's a new thing for me, but I think the Universe wanted me to say yes. You see, the surname 'Hart' was my family's name, though never mine (long story for some other day) and that was always an embarrassing issue for me, growing up. So by writing this one, I am now officially a 'Hart' family member. You can't ignore little nudges like that from the Higher Powers. Otherwise they tend to smack you upside the noggin the next time you're not paying attention or are too shy/busy/stupid/suspicious to take a chance on something that is offered you. Glad I did, I learned a lot more about writing westerns with this book.
I also mentioned another Chandra Smoake tale. That one is nearly done, and while it's a good story, it's kind of overweight for the magazine it's intended for. I'm currently forging ahead with what I have, and planning on making a brutal second pass to whittle it down to a more reasonable size. I'm sure there's some fluff in there I can take out. This one is more of a haunting, and the incentive came from a local inn building not too far from where I live that has a reputation for harboring a troubled Colonial era ghost. Things in this story get a bit 'interesting' during an attic exploration and a later séance.
I've signed up to write a second Monster Earth tale for Mechanoid Press. This is their third and final book (I had a story in #1) about giant Kaiju-type creatures that have been used as weapons of war and the people who have to live and deal with them. My proposal was accepted and I will be starting on what I'm writing for WAR FOR MONSTER EARTH shortly. I'll update when I have more info, I understand there will be a Kickstarter to get the book out.
I worked very hard at another new Vagabond Bards novel, and had most of it done when the western took over my life. I still have to go back to that. I love the story, about an unusual youngster who is spirited away from home when the totalitarian religious regime of the land decides that his adopted mother is a witch and he's her demonic familiar. A chase across country and sundry events lead to a standoff in a set-aside tract that the church covets for its own reasons, one of which is to erase the history of the peace pact that originally set the area aside as inviolable. I was just gathering the opposing forces when I had to break off, and I know basically how I want to handle the big climax as well as the resolution, but it has to wait for now.
This one began on an April morning in 2019 a week or two after my mother passed away, and I was afraid my grief and the things I had to face wouldn't allow me to write anytime soon. I woke up that morning with the thoughts of a favorite song in mind and the story idea unfolded itself like a brand new bud just waiting for a touch of sunlight. Being part of the Vagabond Bards line, it was intended for Pro Se, but they have another one I turned in quite a while ago that hasn't been published yet, and this one is already bigger than they usually take. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it will get finished. I had been reading it to our small writer's group on Facebook until the western took over my life, and the guys really enjoyed it. I may have to go back and work on it soon. This one introduces the dulcimer playing bard Jennet of Mayon's Ridge.
I think that about covers everything I have out, and all that I've been working on. Of course I have a lot more books and short stories in mind, and I'm always up for a new project. One thing I want to say here that has been both a great help and inspiration to me has been our Thursday night loyal cabal of writing friends in our Facebook Reading and Writing Group. In a time that has been filled with fear, frustration, disappointments, and just plain scary stuff, you guys have been my bright spot in the week more often than I could ever tell you. The comfort and support of a four more people who understand what this crazy writing life is about has become invaluable. Your comments, honest critiques, encouragement, generous sharing of sources, and amiable company kept me focused and working hard at my craft. Listening to what you-all have been working on is a great inspiration to me. I look forward to it every single week.
So thank you Wayne Carey, Teel James Glenn, Lee Houston Junior, and especially Jaime Ramos for starting the group and bringing us all together. Jaime, the naysayers said it couldn't be done, it wouldn't work well, and that we'd regret it; but we privately proved them wrong. We're still going strong after all this time and with all the ups and downs of our private lives. This group will continue to go on, and we'll always support each other, no matter what. That you can count on, as well as know that it will always be "the group Jaime started". That's how I see it and I'm sure everyone else does too.
That's it for now, I'll try and be better about updating here in the future.
Write on and read often,
~NANCY
