SFFS: A Final Snippet From Escape

Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. In fact, I posted up the first except just last week. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

Taking a deep breath, then letting it ease out, I gently peeled back the flap and slid the note out. Hands trembling, I held it up and read the words written in an old familiar style. At the contents, tears flowed from my eyes until my tender moment was interrupted by that scoundrel Tommy.

“Look at the big ol’ baby!”

I blinked away the tears and stared him down. He started to say something else about diapers, but I barely understood him before I jumped across the table and pummeled his face. I kept going at him until I was finally pulled off by two of the male staff members. Blood flowed from his nose, and his eyes had that dazed, not-quite-there look.

“Send him to the headmaster!” Mrs. Tittlesworth exclaimed over the heads of all the gathered children, who sat in shocked silence.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

SFFS: An Eighth Snippet From Escape

Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. In fact, I posted up the first except just last week. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

Slipping it onto my lap face-down, too nervous to look at it, I mumbled, “Thank you, Mrs. Tittlesworth.” She harrumphed and moved away.

The others just waited in silence and I caught Sadie’s eye. She gave me one of her looks. I sighed and glanced down, turning the letter over. Mouth wide, I nearly gasped. The letter was from my father!

I held it there as if opening it would bring about the end times they always taught us about in the Sunday services. Looking at the postmark, I saw it had been stamped nearly five years ago. I wanted to ask our headmistress why she’d waited so long to present this, but knew better than to cross her so soon after she’d offered me this gift.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

SFFS: A Seventh Snippet From Escape

Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. In fact, I posted up the first except just last week. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

I set my fork down, cleared my throat, and raised my hand. Mrs. Tittlesworth saw me but took a tour of the dining commons before coming up behind my chair. The other children stopped eating and tracked the headmistress’s every move.

“Yes, Mr. McCannor?”

I swallowed nervously. “If I may, ma’am, can I have my letter now? I...I would be truly grateful.”

“Hmm.” She frowned. Without fanfare, and to my great relief, she pulled out the envelope and gave it to me.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

SFFS: A Fifth Snippet From Escape

Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. In fact, I posted up the first except just last week. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

Twenty pairs of eyes were locked on the paper as she waved it back and forth. She stuffed it back into her apron and wiped her hands. “What are you all doing gawking like street urchins at a candy shop window? Bow your heads!” One of the church volunteers offered a brief prayer while most of us fidgeted in our seats.

After the ‘amen’ we all dug in. Well, except for me. I was too preoccupied with that letter! I caught Sadie’s eye from across the room and she gave me an encouraging nod.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

SFFS: A Fourth Snippet From Escape

Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. In fact, I posted up the first except just last week. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. I've skipped ahead a bit, and the boys have joined the girls in the orphanage's dining area. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

“Abraham,” called the headmistress, “you’re late. That’s one demerit for you and kitchen duty for the boys.”

We found our places in silence as Abe scowled at us, looking for someone to blame. His eyes narrowed when he focused on me. “Max McCannor held us up, Mrs. Tittlesworth.”

“Oh?” she said, eyebrows arched. “How unfortunate. I may have to hold on to this letter for another week.” The headmistress produced an envelope from her apron pocket and held it above the gathered crowd, taunting me with all the malice I’d expected from her.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

SFFS: A Third Snippet from Escape

Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. In fact, I posted up the first except just last week. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

Abe finished his morning inspection, then returned and stopped in front of my bed. “Whatcha have there, Max?” He extended his hand toward my pocket, waiting for me to produce its contents.

“None of your business, Abe, and you know it.”

Abraham Tate wasn’t really a bully, but sometimes power went to his head. That didn’t sit well, what with him being nosey and all. Plus, he seemed to think our lives were all like a plot in one of those penny dreadfuls he was always reading.

The boy next to me snickered. “It’s a picture of his daddy.” Tommy Jacobson. Now he was a bully.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

SFFS: A Second Snippet From ESCAPE

Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. In fact, I posted up the first except just last week. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

The younger boys all scurried to attention, satisfying Abe’s ‘Army’ illusions. I carefully tucked my personal treasure back into my pocket, and rose from my thin, fraying mattress.

Abe strolled down between the rows of equally outdated beds, gazing upon the troops. We were a motley bunch if you ever saw one. Everyone stood around in our dirty, hole-ridden hand-me-down rags donated by mining town children we often heard stories about from out west. I’d long since grown out of the clothes my grandmother had handmade for me almost a decade ago. Those shirts and slacks had supposedly been stuffed in a closet, waiting to be brought out once one of the younger boys grew into them. ‘Waste not, want not,’ the orphanage staff would always tell us. But since there had been plenty of younger kids come through the orphanage and I’d never seen my clothes reappear, I figured they’d sold them and pocketed the money.

People tell me I shouldn’t be so pessimistic.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

SFFS: A Snippet From "Escape"

It's been quite a while since I've posted a snippet (and if I'd remembered, I might have posted one earlier this month). Welcome back, everyone! For those who haven't kept up with my latest releases in the past several months, Escape is a brand new novella I have out (a collaboration with Lyndon Perry), the first in a young adult steampunk alternate history series. It's been a while since I've written anything outside of the Aston universe, so I'm excited to see how my fans react to this new title. And now that it's finally out over at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, you can pick it up today (of course, you can also get a paperback too). Be sure to check out all of the wonderful authors on the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blogroll. And now, here's a snippet from Escape:

Being alone in this world sucks, and don’t let anyone tell you different. It’s horrible as a little kid, and even worse as a teenager.

As I sat and stared at the small picture in my hand, one I’d kept in my jacket pocket for almost nine years now, my mind raced to California. I wished for maybe the thousandth time that I could just make my dad instantly appear by my bed and stand beside me like he was in the photograph.

But that was the way of fairy tales, and not the nightmare I lived on a daily basis.

“Meal time, ladies,” one of the older boys, Abe, called out. He always acted as if we were in the military rather than the orphanage we all lived in, The New York Charitable Orphanage for Wayward Boys and Girls. I wouldn’t say we called this place home, because I still had far better memories of a home, two homes in fact.

Unfortunately, fate had dealt me an ugly hand of cards, twice in a row, even worse than the ones Abe dealt us during our illegal poker games after lights were out for the night.

Not to worry, I do plan on coming back to post another snippet from this one next week. But why wait? Pick up a copy of Escape using the links above!

New Novella - ESCAPE

Just in time for your Christmas shopping...I have a new novella (a collaboration effort with Lyndon Perry) available in print. Although this isn't an Aston title, it's a great story (the start of a series) that we've put together.

Max McCannor and his friends all suffer under the cruelty of their orphanage headmaster. Finally reaching a breaking point and spurred on by the hope of finding his long-lost father, Max convinces the others to flee their captors and head west. But the headmaster has much to lose, and hires one of his former orphans to track the children down and return them to the orphanage before they ESCAPE for good.

A Brief Update - November 12, 2013

Since it's been about a month since I updated my site (sorry, loyal SFFS fans), figured I'd give a brief update on how things are going on all the latest projects...

Escape, my collaboration project with Lyndon Perry is nearly finished. Final chapter is in place, and editing is nearly completed. Cover art is getting the final polishes, and we're hoping to get it out for public consumption in the next few weeks. This is a departure from my usual Aston West universe material, with a steampunk/historical fiction bent. More info as the release date gets closer (and hopefully I'll get to post up some cover art before long)...

Sadly, most of my other work has been stalled out for one reason or another, with little to no progress. Still...

Fallen is about three-quarters of the way through the first draft. This one is another Aston West novella, along the same vein of Seeker and features Aston crash-landing on a planet where the natives mistake him for one of their gods. What could go wrong with that? Don't worry, Aston can always find a way. My hope is that I'll have it out early (maybe in the first quarter) next year.

Resurrection (although I'm contemplating a title change) is still only about half through the first draft. Aston meets up with some old friends, yet again...but with a little kick to keep things interesting. My plan with this one is to take the storyline from Friends in Deed and Death Brings Victory, and carry the ball across the goal line. With all the other projects (and life getting in the way), things have been extremely slow on this front. Still, hopefully I'll have it out sometime next year.

The only other item on my plate is one that I can't yet talk about...but I'm a bit excited about it, and hope that it boosts some sales...which I'll need to provide numbers for again before long.