Leaving aside the fact that we know something's *going* to be strange about Jason's new client, his life does seem to be going more normal... Chapter 9: Join Me for a Bite? It is an immutable law of nature in any business that just as you go to hang up the "Closed" sign, the phone will ring or a customer walk in. It gets to the point that you automatically hesitate for a few seconds before finally turning the lock and setting the security system, not because you've forgotten anything, but because you're giving the [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 8
June 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had concluded one adventure. Now we move on -- and hit the first completely new chapter in the book! Part II: Lawyers, Ghouls, and Mummies May, 1999 Chapter 8: New Client, Closed Case For some reason, Syl's words echoed back to me at odd hours in the next few weeks. I did find myself glancing at shadows out of the corner of my eye more often, looking at mist-fogged streets with a different perception, but for quite a while nothing of any note happened. The only real reminder of the strangeness in my [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Prologue 1 and Prologue 2
June 13, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Just as I do with my other books, I will be snippeting pieces of Polychrome on Fridays every week until my projected release day in November. Prologue 1. The gray Dove, slightly larger than the others, sat silent on the branch, a branch tinged with the color of twilight shadows and pre-dawn sky. Despite the mildness of the day, the perfect time of near-awakening of the world, it did not join with its brethren in the cooing, mournful yet soft and comforting sounds that such birds usually made. The other doves [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 7
June 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment
So, Jason had managed to keep from getting killed... Chapter 7: Unwrapped Wrap-Up "So what are the police going to do about this?" asked Sylvie. It was the next evening. I was lying on my bed with my left ankle's cast propped on a pillow. "I was lucky. It was Renee Reisman who got there first. Between us and the ME we faked up a story that should hold." "So what's the official line?" "Klein was running a sideline of drugs and protection and was going to set Domingo up to take the fall. The victims like Lewis [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapters 4, 5, and 6!
June 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I'm posting these in a group to catch up to where I intended to be in the postings today. Snippets will be M-W-F until Baen releases the E-ARC. Chapter 4: Flirting and Clues Two hours later, I wasn't so sure. "Funny, Jason… that picture looks the same." "Oh, very funny, Syl." I stared at the screen, willing a faint outline to appear. "Sorry, Jason. But this is not exactly the most exciting date I've ever been on." "I'd have thought last night would have been all the excitement you could handle. Besides, we are not [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 3
June 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Well, Jason had accepted that Vampires were real... Chapter 3: Contingency Planning "What in the world are you doing?" Sylvie asked. I put down the loading kit. "Preparing. I figure that if I'm going to deal with a vampire, I'd better have something other than conventional ammo." She picked up a cartridge. "Silver? I thought I read somewhere that you actually couldn't make silver bullets; something about balance?" "I heard that too, but it's a silly statement on the face of it. Lead's softer and just as [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 2
May 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment
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
May 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
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... ]
On My Shelves: Dazzler
May 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Back in the 1970s, Disco was King. This is widely regarded in retrospect as having been a mistake, but it's a part of history that we must acknowledge. (Actually, I like some disco from that era. But let's not get too distracted here) Commercializing the current hot fad has always been an interest of comic companies. Casablanca Records asked Marvel to work with them in developing a disco-themed character – Casablanca would provide an actual singing artist, Marvel would provide the comic book,and they'd collaborate on [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Godzilla 2014
May 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I have previously written on Godzilla as a franchise and what he meant to me from my childhood onward. Now Legendary has finally released the second American-made Godzilla movie (after the disastrous 1998 movie) and I have seen it. THIS is what Godzilla is intended to be. Before I move into detailed and possibly spoilery discussion, I want to just say that this was a great Godzilla film, one of the best of the entire franchise. It includes all but one of the elements I outlined as key elements of Godzilla, and the one it [ Continue reading... ]
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