Paradigms Lost: Chapter 2

Finding a dead man on your doorstep does take a lot of time in paperwork...   Finding a body on the doorstep does keep you up with paperwork...         Chapter 2: Picture Imperfect I got back to Wood's Information Service at 2:45. The cops were gone but one of those wide yellow tapes was around the entire area. Damn. I went to the pay phone on the corner (lucky there still are any… pretty soon I'll have to get a cell phone myself), dialed the station, asked for Lieutenant Reisman. I was in luck. She was still in. [ Continue reading... ]

Paradigms Lost: Foreword and Chapter 1

  Here begins my "snippeting" of Paradigms Lost, my vastly expanded and revised version of my first novel, Digital Knight. This will continue until the e-ARC of the novel is released by Baen, probably in late August or early September.    Foreword             Paradigms Lost is a greatly expanded edition of Digital Knight, my first published work. It is not just a polishing and slight reworking of Digital Knight – indeed, in many areas I have tried not to touch the writing overmuch, as I don't want to damage the "flavor" that made it [ Continue reading... ]

What is an Editor Good For?

       A lot of people who are not published authors don't have a clear idea of exactly what an editor does, or why they're needed by an author. In addition, there's a lot of stories out there about horrible things editors do or have done to people and their stories. This is becoming a VASTLY more important issue because so many people are going the self-published route and really, honestly don't understand why they might need an editor at all.           I want to talk about my own experiences and views of editing, garnered over the [ Continue reading... ]

Under the Influence: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  "It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment."        My last post reminded me that I hadn't yet posted anything about the original -- an oversight that I now rectify!        Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a man of wide experience and education – a doctor who served on both a Greenland whaler and a steamship on a voyage to western Africa, a scientist with a keen sense of justice, a man fascinated with the unknown and unknowable. Though he had many notable achievements in his [ 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... ]