Live in the Pod and Eat Bugs

Bob, who lived in the pod above Jake, was masturbating again. Jake peeled his eyes open. They felt like oranges that had been cut open and left in the sun. It wasn’t something out of the ordinary – watching the standard government-funded porn before getting up for work – but Bob was far too indiscreet about it. He moaned and rocked as he got off, making the old steel and fiberboard of the pod creak in time with his ugly incantations. Jake looked at the clock next to his mattress, in the single shelf that housed his personal effects. He…

Continue reading

Planning your book (Writestream University)

“Writestream university” is in full swing – last night’s livestream focused on book planning (phase 1 of my four phases of book creation). Find the planning document above and feel free to use it however you want.

Continue reading

Voices of the Void, part 3

You can get the ebook for Voices of the Void right now on Amazon – free with kindle unlimited – or get the paperback (ebook always free with a physical purchase) Read part 1 | Read part 2 He turned away from the hall and ran back toward the elevators. As he did, the screaming finally stopped. The vision of the dead, forgotten child, seared into his retinas, burned into his memory forever, suddenly waned and began to disappear. By the time he reached the lift, the images had nearly evaporated, becoming a dream after waking, or a half-memory of a blurry photograph. He…

Continue reading

Voices of the Void, part 2

You can get the ebook for Voices of the Void right now on Amazon – free with kindle unlimited – or get the paperback (ebook always free with a physical purchase) Read part 1 When he reached the elevators, he noticed the doorway to the dormitory overflows was open. The lights were shining brightly all the way down a long, straight hallway. He could only see the first few doors, and they were all shut. Andrew looked back at the slick steel doors of the closest elevator. A glowing panel above indicated that the car was paused on the sixth…

Continue reading

Voices of the Void – How I wrote it, and what’s in it (video)

Here’s a video I did talking about how I wrote my newest book, Voices of the Void, as well as what sort of story it is. You can pre-order it now!

Continue reading

Karen the Moneywasher (Dialogue Demo)

The following is a short scene and a half of a story created on my livestream for the purposes of demonstrating dialogue writing. It begins with two characters who banter, revealing their character traits and also through that dialogue reveal the basic elements of a plot goal – Karen needs to launder money. The second (incomplete) scene introduces a third character, exposes his traits, and further develops the main plot goal. It was quite a bit of fun! Check out the entire stream here, then view the file below:

Continue reading

Sarah the Rogue

Sarah rushed through the narrow alleyway, brushing a stray red hair from her blushed lips as she went. The cold night wind drew moisture to her eyes, something that had grown unfamiliar to her in the days since she had offered her employment to the Order of the Black Lotus. She grumbled to herself as she stepped around a stray cat, causing the inky feline to tip over an empty bottle

Continue reading

New Scifi Horror – free for being on my email list

Yes! You can get my latest 2 hour read – this time scifi horror – for free for being on my email list. It’s something very different from what I’ve done before – a mixture of Lovecraftian themes, classic horror, dark scifi (with plenty of gore) – and in a fairly modern style. So join my list and check it out!

Continue reading

Interstellar Dragonships while singing Styx; Skeleton Feet

My dream: After travelling abroad, my wife and I decided to move to another planet. We packed the house (the literal house, not just our things) into a decently-sized star freighter. It was blocky, but roomy and agile in the atmosphere above earth. That star freighter was taken inside a dock near the “foot” of an immensely large star ship, with a robotic dragon head containing many ion cannons. It was a battle-ready craft, probably a kilometer long. It was colored red and green. The dragonship curled itself into a ball and attached itself to an exponentially larger ship, so…

Continue reading

The 5 phases of Corporate IP Ownership

For the purposes of this discussion, “IP” means “Intellectual Property” and comprises copyright and trademark ownership – such as the ownership of franchises like Star Wars. Phase 1: Creation A lone visionary or small team create something that is an unexpected success, usually on a small budget. Phase 2: Explosion The corporation looks to capitalize on the unexpected success of the creation. They buy up the IP to make movie and game adaptations, or order sequels to quickly deliver additional products to the market. The original team is still mostly intact with increased salaries to ensure they participate in initial…

Continue reading