Just For Fun: The Annotated Evil Overlord, part 3

  For convenience, I'm including our panel listing in each post. Our Expert Panel We have assembled for this special conference several fine villains who have wreaked havoc throughout the known multiverse. Let's meet them: Virigar. King of the Great Werewolves and progenitor of the species, Virigar is the most-feared monster on all of Zarathan. A soul-eating, nearly indestructible being, Virigar's age is unknown, his full powers a mystery. He has killed gods and demons and men, shrugged off or consumed spells and energy weapons, and [ Continue reading... ]

Just For Fun: The Annotated Evil Overlord, Part 2

For convenience, I'm including our panel listing in each post. Our Expert Panel We have assembled for this special conference several fine villains who have wreaked havoc throughout the known multiverse. Let's meet them: Virigar. King of the Great Werewolves and progenitor of the species, Virigar is the most-feared monster on all of Zarathan. A soul-eating, nearly indestructible being, Virigar's age is unknown, his full powers a mystery. He has killed gods and demons and men, shrugged off or consumed spells and energy weapons, and survived [ Continue reading... ]

Just for Fun: The Annotated Evil Overlord, Part 1

  Back in the days when Usenet was the largest discussion forum on the Net, there was a discussion of all the things that an EFFECTIVE Evil Overlord had to do -- and NOT do -- that were often overlooked, or directly worked AGAINST, in many works of fiction. It became a thread of discussion titled "If I Am Ever the Evil Overlord...", and various people (including myself) contributed to it as it grew. Eventually it (and its successors/companion pieces such as If I Am Ever the Hero, If I Am Ever the Sidekick, etc.) was gathered together and [ Continue reading... ]

Just For Fun: Teaser Chapter: _Paradigms Lost_

  My vastly expanded and revised version of Digital Knight, titled Paradigms Lost, will be released next year. Here's the first chapter. Readers of the original will note there are already a few subtle differences -- not the least of these being an explicit date for when everything starts...    -----     Part 1: Gone in a Flash April, 1999: Chapter 1: Dead Man Knocking I clicked on the JAPES icon. A second picture appeared on the Lumiere RAN-7X workstation screen next to the digitized original, said original being a [ Continue reading... ]

Just For Fun: Teaser Chapter: Stuff of Legend Prologue

  The Stuff of Legend is my attempt at a superhero novel. It takes place in a possible near-future (~15 years) of Jason Wood's universe, if certain events happen in a certain way. It is currently in the hands of my agent, Marisa Corvisiero, so hopefully someone will pick it up soon!         THE STUFF OF LEGEND Prologue.      It's going to be a chilly night.        Virginia shivered, even though it wasn't cold yet. But she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to the apartment; her father might be chasing [ Continue reading... ]

On My Shelves: TERMINATOR

    "Come with me if you want to live." --Kyle Reese/The T-800        One of the most iconic cinematic inventions of our time was born from a nightmare. James Cameron, fevered and ill, dreamed of a metallic skull with glowing eyes emerging from flames… and from this image came The Terminator.        Most people know the basic story: sometime in the future, the computer called Skynet is given control of America's nuclear defenses… and becomes self aware. Partly out of fear of its own destruction, Skynet then initiates [ Continue reading... ]

On My Shelves: Spider-Man

    "With great power comes great responsibility."        As I've mentioned before, my first major exposure to comics occurred at the age of 18, when I was living in my first apartment with two other guys, Steve Reed and Ed Lord. Steve was the SF book collector of the pair, while Ed Lord was the comic collector. It was in his collection that I first encountered the Amazing Spider-Man.        His basic origin is known to virtually everyone these days, given that there've been two movies in the last decade or so which [ Continue reading... ]

Teaser Chapter: Castaway Planet Lincoln

  Today, a sample of the book Eric and I have been working on lately (I just finished the first draft edits). It's a YA space adventure, set in the future of the Boundaryverse! Note that the title is subject to change -- it hasn't been officially confirmed yet -- and since this is a first draft much may yet change.     -----     Chapter 1. Sakura Kimei lay as still as possible on the set of pipes, listening for the creature's approach. Could be very near. She gripped the weapon in her right hand  and steadied [ Continue reading... ]

Just For Fun: Covers/Cover Art

         The first thing anyone sees of one of my books (well, except for my beta-readers!) is the cover. The cover is the living embodiment of "first impressions", and it's proven that a bad cover can be death to a book's sales. I've been fortunate in my covers, so far, and hopefully I will continue to be.   How the Covers are Made      Different publishers approach this in different ways. Some publishers have historically directed the art completely separate from the author – the author never knows anything about the cover [ Continue reading... ]

On My Shelves: Primeval

    You spend your entire career planning for just about every crisis imaginable - up to and including alien invasion - then this happens. So much for thinking outside the bloody box.           -- James Lester        The first episode of Primeval opens up like a classic monster movie flick; a young woman in trouble, chased by something we don't see clearly but is definitely huge and hostile, and then a quick chase sequence which indicates our momentary heroine is a goner.        But Primeval is nothing like your [ Continue reading... ]