Novels

THIS PAGE LISTS my book-length works, including some now underway. Check back for updates and news! Like everyone else, I also wrote a practice novel or two not listed here; no need for details except to say I learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn't. Ahem.

Want to get a glimpse inside? Click the links to read sample chapters or full downloads of my released work. I'll continue uploading works as they reach publication!

Transcendence

The Galactic Adventures of Jack and Stella

Present-day YA SF. When a brother and sister reach adolescence, they begin to "remember" things they never studied - ancient, secret keys to the universe buried in their DNA. To save their lives, their mother kicks them out of their home and sends them on a road-trip to danger and discovery, where they learn they're more than human, children born into an interstellar game of politics where worlds stand in the balance. This revelation drops them into the middle of a millennia-long galactic conflict that threatens not only to destroy Humankind, but throw all of galactic society back into devastating war!

While on the run first across Kansas and then to other worlds, they must discover whom they can trust: human, alien, AI, or just each other. Along the way, they must also evade powerful forces, build a stardrive, and save Earth's population from a winnowing plague unleashed upon our people. By the end of the first book, they are capable of traveling to the stars, destroying entire planets... and surviving on their own. Through their actions, all of galactic society is tossed into turmoil, and Earth becomes a symbol of hope and change for all intelligent species... if they can survive.

This is an ongoing series that follows our heroes across the galaxy as representatives of Humankind, traveling to alien worlds - some inhabited by strange and wondrous beings, and some ruined by the last war - and facing crises that they can only solve by building alliances, mastering their new-found talents, and controlling the vast powers they're beginning to sense within.

The Galactic Adventures of Jack and Stella
progress:

NEWS

• March 25, 2013: Progress continues - just completed revising the first chunk of the novel and outlining Book 2 and much of Book 3....

• Nov. 12, 2012: Our young heroes have been tracked down and taken into custody by their stepdad and other operatives of the Alien Management Agency. Right now, they are being subjected to interrogation and tests - which, because the results are inconclusive, are threatening to escalate to brain biopsy.... The notes document has reached 18,000 words - including further fleshing-out of Book 2.

• Oct. 28: Of note to people interested in the writing process: While the book's wordcount has finally breached the 20,000-word milestone, the notes document has also just surpassed 17,000 words. That's only the .doc file, not counting dozens of pages of hand-written notes. Taken together, Jack and Stella technically comprises nearly a novel's worth of writing so far. Huh. And still I regularly encounter challenges where I need to stop and re-outline scenes before jumping back in.

• Sept. 19: Just a note to report that progress continues. Wordcount went down despite continued writing: such is the nature of the work. The notes file has nearly doubled in length this year, and I'm in the middle of a new set of scenes that drop Jack & Stella into the world of adult trouble....

• June 4: Jack and Stella have been kicked out of their home, hit the road, and had an emotional bombshell dropped on them....

• May 25: Reading at ConQuest! Also donated a Tuckerization - a local fan will make (a bit more than) a guest appearance in the novel....

• May 23, 2012: Draft underway! ETA to agent: Spring 2013.

• December 14, 2011: Outline complete!

Empire Ship

Hard-edged far-future SF. A menace from the ancient past threatens galactic civilization. Aboard a world-sized Empire Ship, a boy comes of age in a society that sharpens men into weapons while the ship's Captain plans to resurrect the Empire. Meanwhile, a woman launches a mission to destroy the threat and must decide how best to save the human species. Along the way, she works to save her father from her boss while teaching a couple of borderline-psychopaths about loyalty and love... sorta.

Click here to read an excerpt.

NEWS

• Just now finishing revising the final draft, then off to agent-land! Fingers crossed for 2013 release.

• Novel complete!

Time Clogged with Space

Medium-future SF. Two hard-drinking spacecraft pilots wreck their supercargo ship on an alien planet and stumble into a secret interstellar war. While dealing with the fallout, one man comes to terms with losing his son while the other falls deeper into the external drama.

Status: Draft complete, needs revision.

One Good War

Near-future SF. A disturbed software engineer tells two parallel tales: The first is his personal story of coming of age in small-town America; the other is an adventure arising from first contact with aliens and conspiracy to commit terrorism on a vast scale... and why he ended up saving the human species he sought to destroy.

Status: Draft complete, needs revision.

Breakthrough

Near-future SF. Beings from another universe tunnel into ours and download a vast amount of data into one man's mind. They tell him that they hope to save their vastly superior civilization by enlisting us in a grand scheme: For those willing to help, they promise eternal life and paradise... but - even if they can be trusted - the price might be the destruction of our universe and surrendering our humanity. Our protagonist must decode the aliens' agenda while human civilization shudders under the revelation he offers. Only when he recognizes that he holds the key to unlock the passage between our universes does he realize how he can save both... but time is short as the Earth teeters toward self-immolation: Religious ideologies first reject the news and then fight to incorporate what they have learned into their structures, economic and political structures are shaken to their roots, and our protagonist faces not only the loss of his world but the woman closest to him if he cannot solve the problems he has caused.

Status: Outlining phase.

The Vivisectionist

Modern SF-horror. One of our main characters is "the Vivisectionist," a self-styled superhero... and serial murderer. He decided at a young age to use his power to sustain life (while doing horrible things) for good; that is, to remove bad people from the streets, torture confessions out of them, distribute their detailed confessions, and then transform his subjects into tools to help perpetuate his mission. The other main characters include a man who receives one of these confessions - a recording of his child's murderer - and a cop who discovers the Vivisectionist's identity.

Status: Draft begun, researching.