Dr. Hsui has an unexpected visitor... ----- Chapter 12. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the blonde young man, not much if any older than she was, wave at her from across her own office. An office which she had just unlocked. "Who are you, and what are you doing in here?" "A service call," he said with a grin. "Legend wouldn't have asked himself, but Jason figured you needed more security here. He was right, too. That so-called security system you've got could be broken by a one-armed blind man using a [ Continue reading... ]
LEGEND: Chapter 8
March 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Jennifer was meeting with someone my readers have met before... ----- Chapter 8. "Thank you so much for agreeing to see me on such short notice, Mr. Wood," Jennifer said. "No problem," Jason Wood said, waving her inside his office. "Call me Jason, as long as I can call you Jennifer." He gave the trademark slightly-lopsided grin that was familiar to just about everyone on Earth by this point and ran his fingers absently through streaky-blond hair. "I don't think I've ever had a psychologist . . . sorry, psychiatrist . [ Continue reading... ]
Just For Fun: What I Have Planned
July 26, 2018 By 3 Comments
A version of this column was one of my All-Patron rewards well over a year ago; I thought it might be of interest here. Minor edits were done for things that have changed since that time. Stories I Have Planned I have a lot of novels in various stages of planning, ranging from essentially finished/in progress to "I've sketched out the idea". This will cover the range – though it doesn't in any way cover *ALL* the ideas I'm working on. Does NOT include things I have contracted with Baen as collaborations with Eric Flint. If you feel inclined, [ Continue reading... ]
Why I Write the Way I Do
September 20, 2016 By Leave a Comment
All authors develop a style of writing – something that makes their stories theirs. Some of the "signature" is in the way they use language – particular turns of phrase and patterns of prose – while other parts of the signature will show up in the themes they like to revisit, the types of characters they like – or don't like – the things they'll show or hide, and of course the plots they choose to do, or not do. Now that I've been doing this for well over a decade (which seems so strange to me – it doesn't seem that long, unless I [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher
August 16, 2016 By Leave a Comment
When I first published Digital Knight in 2003, there were some people who commented on its being similar in some ways to another relatively recent (2000) entry into the Urban Fantasy genre: Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, beginning with Storm Front and continuing up through what is now fifteen books (slightly less than one a year), the most recent being Skin Game. There is something of a surface similarity between the early Dresden novels and Digital Knight/Paradigms Lost, although I think a great deal of the impression of similarity [ Continue reading... ]
Just For Fun: My Favorite Moments Part 1
April 14, 2016 By 1 Comment
I have often been asked what my favorite events, lines, or moments in my own books are. These favorites tend to shift some depending on my mood, and it's certainly hard in many cases to choose just ONE such for any given work. So I thought it might be interesting to describe and talk about up to three from any given work. Paradigms Lost: The first, and probably still my favorite of all, comes at the climax of the section titled "Lawyers, Ghouls, and Mummies", that ends with the simple line: Verne Domingo had come [ Continue reading... ]
Just For Fun: My Top Ten Videogame Music Selections
September 3, 2015 By 1 Comment
As I have mentioned more than once, when writing I usually listen to music. I look for music that inspires and shapes my imagination, often becoming themes for events or characters or settings. As the technology has progressed, I have found that video games often provide some surprisingly inspirational themes. Here, then, are my top ten favorite pieces of music from various video games! Silent the Universe: Star Ocean 2 Opening Theme. Composed by Motoi Sakuraba, this beautiful piece of music opens the game with a deep-space object [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 46
October 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Now we come to the end of this adventure.. and the end of the snippets of Paradigms Lost! I hope you've enjoyed them. If you can't wait to read the rest, the eARC is now available at Baen Books! ----- Chapter 46: Explanations "I must confess, Jason, that there are a few things which remain unclear to me." Rebuilding Verne's mansion was taking some time. It had also taken a lot of fast talking to keep Jeri from poking her nose too far in; even though the mansion was relatively isolated, the battle between the [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 45
October 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had one more idea to try... ----- Chapter 45: That Future is Past Morgan opened the door, startled as I pushed past him without so much as a "hello." "Master Jason… ?" I looked around, shrugged, jogged into the living room and climbed up on a chair. Verne was in that room, staring at me curiously out of hollow eyes set in a leathery, lined face and framed by pure white hair. "J… Jason," he said slowly, as I mumbled a curse to myself and dragged the chair over a bit, "what… are you [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 44
October 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason has to do a bit of political outreach... ----- Chapter 44: Paternity and Possibility "Senator MacLain?" The voice on the other end was as distinctive over the phone as it was in public address or on television: precise, educated, a pleasant yet cool voice that carried both authority and intelligence—it reminded me somehow of Katharine Hepburn. "This is Paula MacLain. Mr. Jason Wood?" "Yes, ma'am. I don't know if you know who I am—" "Young man, if I didn't, I wouldn't be speaking [ Continue reading... ]
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