Would you look at that!? Updates are only about two weeks apart for a change.

That’s one of those things that most authors I know have trouble with, regularly posting to their main sites. It generally comes down to that evil enemy to all of us creative types, Time. Which is why this past weekend was so productive.

Writing Retreat

So over this past weekend, I disappeared to “Mom’s” place. And to be honest, not my mom’s place. It was actually Jenny Wren’s Mom, who invited our little crew to come over for a quiet weekend so that we could just disappear into our work and put words to paper.

Unfortunately, Philip K. Booker couldn’t make it because they were moving his oldest back to college.

His loss.

Cause we had fun.

I even brought along something special that Meg and the kids found just for the Wren.

And both Jenny and I got lots done. I managed to knock out about half of my B.E.N.T. novel, currently untitled for Christopher Wood’s superhero universe.

What is B.E.N.T.?

1954, the year of the asteroid, the year of change…

It altered the world forever.

People began to develop unexplained abilities. Biologic Enhanced Nascent Talents seemed to appear at random. There was no particular genetic reason for fifteen percent of the human population to be affected. Talents developed skills that set them apart from the great majority of those affected.

The others… they were just BENT.

And my story, follows Robert “Robbie” Rogneby, an almost normal blue-collar dude with a minor BEND, hunting for the people responsible for his daughter’s death.

Now, I won’t give away too much, but I will say that I’m a sucker for a barbarian. I always have been, and I love playing with the character type. And pulling from some of my favorite comics from back in the day for influence, you might see things that feel familiar.

What were my favorite comics?

Conan The Barbarian, Conan The King, The Savage Sword of Conan, Wolverine, Deadpool, Punisher, and Lobo, to name the main ones.

I’ll be disappearing once again the weekend after next for another retreat with Philip K. Booker and Christopher Woods where I hope to wrap up the first draft of the novel and be ready for edits, completing my own challenge of 45 days to write 50,000 words in the B.E.N.T. universe.

Garden update

The garden has not been doing great. Mostly from my lack of attention, but we’ve managed to get a rust blight on our tomatoes this year, but at this point most of the plants have ran their course and we’ve gotten more than a few gallons stashed away in the freezer.

My peppers, on the other hand, are just blowing up.

Especially the Habenaro’s, and man are they tasty.

The majority of my peppers this year have been going straight into the dehydrator to be ground down as pepper spice at a later date. Since I’m the only one in the house that uses any of it, I’ll most likely just grind them all together for a pepper-medly spice mix.

Food and drinks

Because we’d been talking about it a good bit here recently, I picked up a small bottle of GoldSchlager as well as a small bottle of Jagermeister for the kids to smell and gag.

And just because we acquired a bottle of Creme De Menthe from somewhere, I gave it a little try. And as something to sup on for flavor, it ain’t too bad. Then I started to think about what else we had in the cabinet and I mixed in equal parts Creme De Menthe and Chocolate liquor, creating this peppermint patty drink that was freaking wild. Not an everyday thing, but still damn tasty.

Listening/Reading/Watching

I managed to finish two audiobooks this week. Depending on what I’m doing, I may or may not have multiple audiobooks on the current listening pile. And part of that just depends on the mood or format.

Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard.

First off, this book is one hell of a beast. Over 1,000 printed pages or over 47 hours via the audiobook.

You will not be left wanting for a great sci-fi read.

Here’s the blurb

Battlefield Earth is an enormous epic of adventure set in the year 3000, when the future survival of what’s left of the human race is at stake. When Jonnie Goodboy Tyler decides to venture out of the small and dwindling community of humans barely surviving in their Rocky Mountain retreat, he has no thought of challenging the order that for a thousand years has held the earth prisoner to the oppressive alien race of the Psychlos.

The Psychlos and their vast intergalactic mining corporation have dominated and exploited all known galaxies for centuries, ruthlessly destroying races who dare to resist. How one man – with the aid of a few surviving Scotsmen—tackles the greatest malignant power in the universe makes for a sprawling adventure of thrilling heroics, full of dangerous underground work, interplanetary wars, intergalactic financial intrigue, monster races, and complex political manipulation spread across a vast canvas of epic scale.

The first third of the story was a great Sci-Fantasy. Where the “primitive” main character Jonnie is fighting for his life against his Psychlo captor. The way that the Psychlos are portrayed and how the fall of mankind happened is a great alien invasion story.

After lots of subterfuge and strategic planning, Jonnie and his acquired clan of Scottish soldiers manage to eliminate the Psychlo threat and take back the Earth, saving humanity.

Now, this book being written back in the late 70s to early 80s, I understand why it was a nice thick tome. At that point of the Psychlo defeat, it could have been broken off and two more books created from the remainder of the novel.

I can see Three distinct parts to this novel.

Part 1: Psychlo defeat

Part 2: Rebuilding

Part 3: Beyond Earth

But hey, it was a different time, and these days trilogies are all the rage.

Now for the other two parts, Hubbard touches base on many many aspects of rebuilding after a war, let alone the collapse of society, bringing what remains of mankind out of the new dark ages into a new age of enlightenment.

The third part expands on many other races that faced oppression by the Psychlos, and we find out more about galactic history, trade, and where the Psychlo threat even started.

The novel did leave me wanting more in the universe, which unfortunately there isn’t any. The epilogue wraps up many many loose ends, but felt maybe a bit rushed, like Hubbard was just done. Tired of looking at the manuscript and over it. I could have gone on for a few more chapters learning more, but I can completely relate to that sort of feeling. You get down to the end of the tale and you just want it to be done. Well, with the word count on this one, it was one hell of an undertaking and some great world-building on top of it that you didn’t need a decoder ring or master list to keep up with.

All in all, great read, lots of moments that made me laugh or that put me on the edge of my seat with the action going on.

Easily worth the money spent no matter if you got the hard copy, ebook, or audio.

Rating wise, I’d give it 4.5 of 5 if I was putting it on a scale.

Conan: Blood of the Serpent by S.M. Stirling

Now, most folks who know me, know that I love me some Conan. I always have, and have devoured everything Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, and L.Sprague De Camp put out. I even read through more than a few stories in the universe that Poul Anderson, Roland Gree, and Robert Jordan had written, but to my knowledge, I had not read any Conan novels written by S.M. Stirling.

I was in no way disappointed.

Here’s the blurb:

The pulse-pounding return of Conan, the most iconic fantasy hero in popular culture

Conan the Barbarian, the world’s most famous fantasy hero, returns in an all-new novel tied directly to the famous works by his legendary creator, Robert E. Howard.

In this story, set early in his life, Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age. A mercenary, a soldier, a thief, and a pirate, he faces conquering armies, malicious sorcerers, and monstrous creatures—against which he wields only the sword held in his powerful grasp.

Blood of the Serpent is a great tale set in the lands of Stygia, following Conan as part of the Red Brotherhood, where he leaves in search of Valeria, finding her on the edge of a great desert, threatened by a Dragon God that feeds right into the classic Robert E. Howard story, Red Nails and is included at the end of Blood of the Serpent.

Stirling does an amazing job, bringing the world of Conan to life while giving the storytelling an updated feel.

Audio quality, narration, and story, all were great, but being a fan of all things Conan, I may be a bit biased.

Rating wise, 5 of 5, hands down. If you love sword and sorcery, you’ll want this story by Stirling added to your list.

Outsystem by M.D. Cooper

Since finishing those other two novels, I’ve dove into the next one while working on the dishes, and if you wan a kick ass space opera with lots of tech and Military bits, you’ll want to give Outsystem a read. I’m enjoying the hell out of it so far, but I’m also only five chapters in.

Here’s the blurb:

Major Richards needs to get out of the Sol System.

Demoted by the military and hung out to dry, the media labels her the Butcher of Toro. Despite her soiled record, Tanis still one of the best military counterinsurgency officers in the Terran Space Force. They need her to find the terrorists responsible for trying to destroy the GSS Intrepid, a massive interstellar colony ship in the final phases of construction at the Mars Outer Shipyards.

It’ll be her ticket out of the Sol system, but Tanis discovers she is up against more than mercenaries and assassins. Major corporations and governments have a vested interest in ensuring the Intrepid never leaves Sol, ultimately pitting Tanis against factions inside her own military.

With few friends left, Tanis will need to fight for her life to get outsystem.

My next release: Imagine That!

Some of you maybe have seen the Postcard collections that Raconteur Press has been producing. They are collections of story prompt art combined with 50 word stories and was one hell of a challenge, because it had to be exactly 50 words.

I cussed them more than a few times, but it was still fun and releases this Friday.

You’ll be able to find it here in the Postcards Collection: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BW849JG9

Car Warriors: Autoduel Chronicles GameLit Kickstarter!

I think most everyone around me are pretty sick of hearing about the Car Warriors Kickstarter, but it just keeps growing. And for my first Kickstarter to fund in three hours and do as well as it is, I guess all of the research paid off.

If Kickstarters are your thing, click the image to give it a glance. Every little bit helps, and the current backers have already unlocked tons of cool extras.

If you’ve already jumped on board, thank you!

If you’re looking for another literary Kickstarter to check out, I know one you might dig.

About the Anthology

We solicited three months of submissions with one goal in mind, finding the best horror stories for this anthology. We’ve had a blast! As a group, we dug up Eldritch beings from beyond, raised the dead, and dove into the very horror films we loved. Our process was so terrifying that some of our slush readers had to run away. (Okay, just Kalyani)

Sara Jordan-Heintz brought her established editorial skills and a love for horror when she selected and edited the stories. You’re going to love her choices.

We survived. We think. We hope.

Now, if you’re going to be at DragonCon, come hunt me down. I’ll be at the Page to Stage show on Thursday night, Fantasy Gather Friday, as well as a number of panels all weekend.

Until next time. Keep your heads up and your Pens Sharp.

~Hillbily~